I got a new laptop recently, and a lot of my emails to people have been going to their spam folder. I have no idea why, so please check your spam/junk folder and mark my email address (amy@nwpagrowers.com) as safe.
I have received a few emails recently about the veggie selection this year, so let's talk about it. All of our farmers are having a difficult growing season. Of course, the lack of rain is one issue. Our farmers do water some crops sometimes, but well water through a drip irrigation system isn't the same as a good soaking rain. One farmer is dealing with unexpected weed pressure, leading to losing entire plantings of crops. Another farmer has had multiple crops mowed to the ground by deer that have knocked down his newly constructed deer fence. Another farmer has had poor production due to greater than normal insect pressure. All of this has led to smaller crop yields than we had planned.
We increased share sizes this year to include more grocery items. I know that some of you want only produce in your share, but I encourage you to try some of our additional products.
This is how we are dealing with our veggie shortage: Say Farmer A has 50 heads of lettuce. I will include 35-40 of those in my crop estimate that Harvie uses to build shares based on your preferences. The remaining 10-15 will be available in inventory for swaps and additions to shares. These extras are on a first come basis, and the popular veggies will be scooped up quickly on Friday morning. If you miss any items that you were hoping to add to your share, check back throughout the weekend to see if anyone swapped it back into inventory.
Here's a trick to get more of what you want in your share: make sure your preferences are up to date. You can change your preferences seasonally, so if you want to see fewer greens when they are so abundant in the spring, rate them lower, but then change your rating in the summer when they aren't as plentiful. Even if you rate an item 1 (Never Include), you can still add it to your share. That just means that it will not be included in the initial share build.
This week's features
- Sweet Corn from Detweiler Farm
- Basil from Harmony Grove Farm
- Candy Onions from Detweiler Farm and Glacial Till Farm
- Red Potatoes from Detweiler Farm
- Lots of Carrots from Glacial Till Farm
- King Salmon portions from Wild for Salmon. They are sold out of their Keta Salmon until their big fishing trip to Alaska in the fall, so we are offering their King Salmon portions until then.
Farmer News
Glacial Till Farm: In response to market demand we continue to focus on carrot successions. Two beds every other week. The peoples carrots are fresh and delicious. Grown in living soil they deliver the nutrients necessary for a healthy productive life! Zero chemicals are used, these carrots are grown very similar to methods used by the French peasantry of the 1800’s, that supplied the fantastic Paris markets. My kids eat them right out of the ground.
Spur Hollow Farm: Pruning field tomatoes for airflow, to prevent disease and encourage ripening! They are starting to ripen this week! We enjoy our varieties of tomatoes we grow.
The Way Nature Intended: New product: lotion bars.
