Welcome to your first Winter CSA Share!
Thank you so much for joining us.
Administrative Details
Each week you will receive this share customization email, either end of day Friday, or occasionally Saturday morning. If you’ve set your preferences then Harvie will use them to populate your share with items you like, if you haven’t set your preferences then the share will be more random. More on how preferences work here: https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021794754-How-do-preferences-work-
Once the email arrives you can log into your profile and customize your share.
Please, please, read this help file on how to customize:
https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001667414-How-Swaps-and-Extras-Work
It’s important you use the SWAP button and not the REMOVE button, otherwise you may not get the full value of your share.
You will have until 10:00 p.m. on Monday evenings to customize your share for the upcoming week. After that we need to start harvesting and need firm harvest numbers so we can fill your orders.
Harvie has some other great help files on how to use the program. You can check them out here:
https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/115001112094-Customer-FAQ
I’d suggest reading the one on holds, rescheduling and changing delivery locations:
As always, please feel free to reach out with questions to Tamara at firmlyrootedfarm@gmail.com.
What to Expect in your Share?
While the weather holds, we are going to focus on providing the crops that will be less abundant (but still available) once the real cold sets in. This means lots of cooking greens, salad greens, microgreens, radish, turnip, fennel, and the last (or second to last) of the ginger and celery. Here’s a tip on how to use and preserve our ginger: http://www.windcrestorganics.com/ginger.html
We’ll also offer the staples: potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, and some squash. We are having a real issue with some broccoli pests and have less then I would like, but there will be some available for the next few weeks at least.
The sweet potato is nearly cured and we’ll begin to offer it in late October. You can expect winter radishes (watermelon and daikon), celeriac, and parsnip to make an appearance at the same time.
On the Farm
I’d like to give a brief introduction to our farm and our family. Firmly Rooted is owned by Brian Wiley and Tamara McMullen. We farm with our son, Jack, and our amazing staff: Michelle, Jacqueline, Erika, Amy and Ros. In two weeks or so our daughter will join the farm family.
We farm 3.5 acres during all four seasons, growing 40 different crops with a focus on baby salad greens. We are certified organic and this is our 8th year with our own farm.
Brian and I met at University of Guelph while studying Landscape Architecture. We were both interested in food and farming but hadn’t thought it could be a viable career. After I graduated, I started working at an engineering firm while Brian completed his studies. He managed to convince me to leave it all behind, move to Huron County, plant a garden and live a simpler life.
While in Huron, we ended up meeting the Executive Director from Everdale organic farm and environmental learning centre. We volunteered for a day, fell in love, and decided to apply for their 9-month internship program. We worked with a local contractor to build a tiny house on wheels and brought it with us to Everdale where we learned how to farm and met many farmers who were making a living doing what they loved.
The next year we started Firmly Rooted on family land where we were two farmers and two cats living in 200 square feet and farming on two acres. Our son joined us the next year and we added a Mongolian yurt (https://groovyyurts.com/) to the tiny house to accommodate him.
A few years later we found our forever farm in Belgrave. We love our farm and the work we do here, and are so grateful to be growing food for this community. Thank you all for being part of it.
