Happy Canada Day, everyone!
It's another rainy one out there but maybe we'll see July warm up a bit. As it is with a drier summer, there are pros and cons to lots of rain when it comes to the garden: crops flourish for sure, but so do weeds! And it can slow down the hot crops a bit, as well as create some rot around closely planted beds. But for the most part, it is good because it maintains better flavour than really high temperatures, for most crops.
I am really happy to have some new items to choose from this week! But a couple housekeeping bits first:
MISSED SHARES: There were a few boxes left at Mint & Lime yesterday, so - with them being closed today - I don't want those folks to miss out on their shares. If you didn't pick up yesterday, please do let me know! (you can just reply to this email). We can work something out for Friday.
CREDITS: there is a tab on your Harvie profile for any credits you might have: if we've missed or replaced an item, you will see the credit for that item there, and it can be used for extras. Let me know if we've missed anything in your share and I will add a credit for you!
CHERRIES: we were shorted on some of the cherry orders, so I was able to fill only some of them. Apologies for that! We just didn't get as many from the farm as we had orders. But we have some more fruit options coming soon (more info below)
NEW crops to choose from this week are:
- carrots! the first beds are ready so we'll have bunched baby and medium carrots for the next few weeks
- Romaine head lettuce
- Summer squash: Romanesco zucchini, Ronde de Nice zucchini (round), and pattypan squash
- green cabbage
- broccoli
- purple & green kohlrabi
Some quantities on these will be limited for a bit, until more of them mature, mainly the broccoli, cabbage, and summer squash. But they're coming on pretty quickly.
BLUEBERRIES: we are taking pre-orders for blueberries now, as they will be ready in about 2 weeks! They are also certified organic, from Snowy Mountain Organics, and will range between $5.50-$6/lb most likely. I will add them to the list of add-on items to choose from so that you can order from there and it will be easier to keep track of, but let me know in the meantime if you'd like to be on the list, and for how much.
BREAD: We are also super excited for another add-on that we secured last week: we had a special visit with Annette Fischer this past Saturday. Some of you may know her and/or her amazing baking. She runs From Scratch Fischer Products with her family, from their home in 150 Mile House. We are SUPER excited and honoured to be able to offer some of her products to Puddle Produce Farm CSA members! So we wanted to let you know what she is able to bake for you all, and how to get it. But first, a little bit about Annette!
Annette and her family moved from Switzerland to Williams Lake in August, 2013, when her husband Kurt secured a job building for Pioneer Log Homes. Before that, Annette actually got her red seal in horticulture before training as a baker! She has a beautiful garden , from which she harvests a lot of ingredients for her breads, desserts, syrups, jams, and dried herbs. It is full of interplanted veggies, fruit trees, perennial herbs and medicinal plants, a small greenhouse for hot crops, and a big, nutritious pile of compost! She is a very talented woman, and she is also just a really lovely person. I think it probably makes her bread taste even better :P She believes strongly in bringing back healthy, homemade products into peoples' lives.
She makes a lot of amazing things, but we are going to offer the staples to start. Here is what you will see as add-ons to your veggie shares:
- House Bread (multigrain)
- Farmer Milk Bread
- Spelt Bread (organic)
- Witch Stick Bread
- Zopf Bread
Descriptions, ingredients, and pricing of each will be listed on the add-ons page.
THE SCHEDULE: Annette has other customers she bakes for on a bi-weekly schedule, so she is able to offer us her products during the alternate weeks. The 1st week for which we can take orders for Annette's baking will be July 13th. We will add a reminder to the customization email going out the Wednesday before that week of shares (July 8th), and you will see her products listed as add-ons to your veggie share for that week (so you will need to have a credit card in the Harvie system). You can then order bread from her, with your veggie share, every 2 weeks thereafter. She says they all freeze well if you want to stock up!
M&L or HOME DELIVERY ONLY: If you are a CSA member who picks up at the Williams Lake Farmers' Market, and you want to order bread, you will have to pick up your share on those weeks at Mint&Lime, or have them delivered within City limits. This is because vendors of the farmers' market are not permitted to bring someone else's products to the market. So just something to keep in mind if you order bread: drop me a line the week you're going to order bread and need to change your pick-up location!
So you will see Annette's baking & the blueberries as an add-on in your customization email for the week of July 13th. How exciting is that?! Let me know any questions you have in the meantime.
Thanks so much for the support, everyone!
- Brianna and the Puddle P team
