Farm Share Week 12 Newsletter

Now almost two weeks after the hailstorm, we have learned a lot about our community, our crops, and our financial outlook this year. First, our community. Wow. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the support and generosity we have received. For those of you not aware, we launched a Go Fund Me campaign last week and have now raised over $20,000 of our $50,000 goal. Donations large and small have come in from folks from all corners of our lives. Many current farm share members have already contributed - we are so grateful for you! We have also received financial support from distant relatives, high school friends, fellow farmers, former co-workers, and others who just heard about our story and wanted to help. We know this is a time of unprecedented inequality and so many people are in need. We have been conflicted about asking for help, knowing our privilege already puts us at an advantage in life. But in the end, we felt that "going it alone" would have jeopardized our future operations. And you stepped up to help us recover. It is quite humbling, and we thank you.

The crops most heavily damaged by the storm - peppers, tomatoes - seem to be faring about as we initially assessed. Our main season plantings of bell peppers were a total loss; the plantings were mowed down yesterday and the fields will be cover cropped next week. There are a handful of small fruits on our second planting that might size up to a harvestable green fruit in mid-September, so for now we are hanging onto that planting. Our large wholesale hot pepper plantings suffered substantial (50-70%) yield losses, but will continue to be harvested in the coming weeks. We may be putting out weekly calls for volunteers to help with this process. If you know you would be interested in volunteering, please send me an email with your availability.

Other crops are showing resilience and are coming back nicely. We expect to have some kale in next week's boxes, chard probably the week after that. The sweet potatoes have re-grown probably 75% of the foliage lost in the storm - a big setback for a crop that needs every bit of growing season possible, but I'm more optimistic about the outlook than I was last week. Lots of herbs are re-growing, and you'll see cilantro, dill, and basil showing up over the next couple boxes. Broccoli and cabbage were badly tattered in the storm, but are looking a bit better each week. Our main concern is that they will be more susceptible to disease after suffering so much damage; time will tell. We just seeded our first fall successions of spinach, red radishes, arugula, and salad turnips after being kept out of the fields for two weeks due to wet conditions.

Overall, we are cautiously optimistic about our financial outlook given the pace of fundraising and the volunteer help we have received. We will undoubtedly go into the off-season in a much tighter financial position than we ever have, but your support is preventing us from having to dig out of a hole next season.

Crew Bio

Written by postharvest manager, Sarah Lang.

This spring, Michael Wyrsch returned for his fourth season at our farm, making him our senior staff member. He is responsible for most of the tractor work, along with the bulk of the irrigation repair and maintenance. He’s also our microgreens specialist, seeding all of the plantings from spring through fall. During the off-season, he’s working to establish an orchard at his home in Missouri. He has about 7 acres planted in less-common fruits like jujube and persimmons, along with some perennial vegetables like Jerusalem Artichokes. When the plantings are established they’ll keep him busy full-time, but in the meantime we’re glad to have his help here!

He is responsible for many of the good smells coming out of our shared kitchen. Earlier this season he undertook a quest to develop the best pizza crust ever, which involved making and eating pizza for most of his dinners for a few weeks (truly impressive dedication!). He says he has it down, but I’m still working on getting the recipe. Maybe someday soon the stars will align……

Notes on items in this week's shares

• Tomatoes are again playing a prominent role in this week's shares. Even with the loss of most of our field tomato planting, we are thrilled that our high tunnel plantings have been producing better than ever. We will probably be leaning on them to fill shares the next couple weeks as our hail-damaged crops recover, but you should start seeing more diversity in boxes as we get into September. 
• The seedless watermelons we are offering this week are a larger type we typically sell to public schools, which have much reduced need this year. They are a seedless variety, although there are typically a few white membranous seeds that form. These have nicks on them from the hail impact, but there should not be anything that would affect the flesh of the fruit. We will be sending members the smaller tier of fruits, but that will still put them at 9-12 lbs apiece.
• Green peppers were again donated by Julie Grossman's lab at the University of Minnesota - thank you!
• We will again be sending unwashed green beans because they'll have more longevity than washed beans. We will be trying to sort out any hail-damaged beans, but keep your eyes out in case one slips past us.
• If you order bulk basil as an extra, you may see some very tiny white specks on the top surface of the leaves. This is caused by some minuscule insect pests that are common in the greenhouse environment. Overall the plants looks quite nice and green - you won't have any impact its culinary value for making pesto.
• Compared to earlier in the season, there are many high value items in shares this week, so you will be more likely to incur a swap change (think about swapping in an $8 watermelon for a $2 parsley) if you want to sub in different items. 
• We again have bulk volumes of different types of tomatoes available as extras this week, along with the basil.

Pastured pork pre-orders available from local producer

In the spirit of supporting fellow small farmers, we wanted to share some details from our friend Sarah Scheub of Cannon Valley Butcher's Block in Red Wing. She raises organically fed pigs on a small scale using rotational grazing in the bluffs near Red Wing. I've visited her farm - these pigs have a good life. (She also offers butchery classes, thus her business name. If you're up for getting the "full experience," consider signing up for a class.)

You can visit her website to get more information, but below is a summary of what she offers:

Whole Hog Details = Avg 180lbs hanging (smaller possible, sliding scale), $300 deposit

Half Hog Details = Avg 80-90lbs hanging, $200 deposit

Individual Cuts - Pick your own butcher box bundle! Cuts are Individually priced, select which you'd like and how to cut them. $100 minimum order, $100 deposit