CSA veggie pickup reminder

Hello everyone,
We couldn't ask for nicer weather this week until yesterday evevning..70-80 degree days..40 degree nights..lots of sunshine..little to no wind..THEN..yesterday as we were finishing up for the day, the wind started howling..lasted just long enough for us to get the kids under shelter and the greenhoused all closed up..and it quit!! A little later it was breeezy with a few drops of rain here and there..THEN.. we woke up this morning to a little bit of snow..It was a bit blustery and chilly this morning, but cleared off nicely..a bit breezy at times and much colder than it had been earlier in the week..It is supposed to be much colder tonight..we'll have to see what happens with the apricots..if we didn't lose much of the crop last night we may lose it tonight..and I was so looking forward to cots this year!!

In the propagation house we are busy pricking up and starting more transplants..cucumbers for outdoors, okrafor the high tunnel, more lettuce, basil, tomatillos, sunflowers..Della is getting ready to start melons and winter squash this week.

In the high tunnel we are pretty much through planting until we harvest more of the early season stuff..mostly we just weeded and admired every thing..the tomatoes are about ready to come out of their walls of water..they are just about ready to start trellissing..most all the peas have started to bloom..we will have a few in the next couple of weeks to give us all a taste of things to come when our main crop outdoors gets to producing..last week I said it looked like we could start harvesting lettuce, carrots and chinese cabbage..Well, the lettuce is ready, the carrots are sizing up nicely but just need another week to flavor up, the chinese cabbage is heading up but isn't quite ready.

Outdoors we have been busy, busy , busy,..On our workday Sunday we worked on planting potatoes..huge thanks to Mable, Kat, Stan, Eric, Paul, Jeff, Suzann, Liz, and Sam for coming out..this was probably one of our hardest workdays..you all were wonderful!! It would have taken Della, Micheal, Denice, and I several days to get all those taters in and covered!! {Astrian crescent is the variety I couldn't remember last week}
The rest of the week we worked on getting the leeks, shallots, and cabbage planted. We have also spent several days working on getting the drip system up and running..checking all the tubing for leaks, flushing them and getting them tacked down in the beds..I think we are about 1/4 of the way done getting it ready for the summer..

We are still working on adding a fruit share from Ela Family Farms this year..to simplify things on Ela Farms end looks like we will do only one smaller size share of fruit..the 3 lbs a week..Those folks who would like more fruit can sign up for multiple shares..we are not certain on the cost yet..what the weather does in the next 4 or 5 weeks will determine what the fruit crop will be..So while you are sending us those warm thoughts for the apricots, please send a few up Steve's way!! We are hoping to get pricing information out to you by mid-May.

What's available for the CSA this week? 
From the high tunnel;
lettuce
spinach
kale
bok choi
swiss chard
mustard
collards
green garlic
green shallots
radishes
salad turnips
leeks
salad greens
edible flowers {pansies}
chives and oregano
Please be aware that our spinach and salad greens are not "ready to eat"..we do chill them in a cool water bath but recomend you wash them before eating!! also please use a bag over your hand as a glove when you are weighing them out!!

From Della's green house;
a good selection of herbs to chose from; camphor, rosemary,mayan mint, marjoram, pineapple sage, sage, lemon balm, thyme

From storage {these are crops that were harvested last fall and stored over the winter}
shallots and maybe onions and gerlic..we are getting to the end of the road on storage crops

From outdoors;
just a few sunchokes..then we are done with them until fall
we may have a few other goodies from outdoors this week..it will depend on how much of a freeze we have tonight

Our setup this season will be pretty much the same as in the past..we will have several catagories of veggies for you to chose from..not sure just what they will be untill we start picking tommorow but it looks like it will be set up as follows;

choice of spinach and /or salad greens
choices from kale, bok choi, bok choi, and mustard
choices from leeks, onion, shallot, garlic
choices from sunchokes, radishes, turnip, green garlic, green shallot, and more greens..
choice of herb
amount and number of choices will depend on what we harvest tommorow and what size share you have..we will be on hand Saturday morning to help you out and answear questions..

Please remember to check your name of the check off list so we know who's been here..if someone is going to pickup for you please remind them to check you off


A few basic guidlines for the season..
*Pickup is 9:00am-noon April to about mid October when the time changes then it will be 11:00am-2:00pm..it takes us about 2 hours to set up {hence the time change in Oct..it starts getting awfully dark and chilly of a morning when we go back to MST} If you are running late, please give us a call so we know you are on your way..If we do not get a call before 11:30 we will assume that you don't want your veggies and will feed them to our interns or donate them to Christs Kitchen!!

*If you are unable to pickup your veggies on Saturday morning, please make arangements ahead of time..We will be happy to bag them for you {up to 6 times/season, more than that there will be a charge of $2.00/week to help cover labour and cooling expences} You will need to pick them up by Monday evening so we can clean out the cooler. We do have several folks that we bag for each week..The cost for bagging is $75.00 for the season..If you are interested in this option, please contact me to make arrangements.

*For everyones convenience we have a new feature on our website so you can check your balance. If you go to our homepage and look under our products..click on Your membership status..it will ask you for your e-mail address and should sent you an e-mail with your membership information..Please let me know if it doesn't work so I can fix it!!

*We will try to schedule a couple of workdays each month this season. We will try to mix up days and times..some on the weekend, some weekdays, some evenings..If these workdays do not fit into your schedule, please make arrangements for other days or times that will work better for you. If you have children and would like to set up a special time for them to come out to the farm we have a "Kids Program" as well..we do a small project geared toward their age and abilities..do a short tour..and harvest a few veggies that they can take home for their supper..it generally takes about
1 1/2 hours..then each week when you come to pickup your veggies they can visit "their" veggies and watch them grow.. 

*We love having folks visit us and tour the farm..BUT... please do not just drop by..If you want to visit the farm other than veggie pickup day or scheduled workdays..PLEASE call first.. one; we may not be available and two; we do have a watch dog..For her comfort and your safety, please let us know if you are coming out so we can put her in the house before you get here!!

*We encourage all our members to bring their own bags or boxes for their produce..we do have bags available if needed though.. We ask that everyone bring back any clamshells or fiber boxes that your produce is packaged in so we can re-use them.. we can also re-use other clamshells as well..It keeps them out of the landfill and reduces our packaging costs..

*This season we want to encourage you to bring us your compostables!! {unless you have your own compost bin going!!} We will take kitchen scraps {no animal products except eggshells,please!!}..please contact us before bringing us any lawn clipping or yard waste..we need to make sure they're organic and don't have a lot of weed seed!!!

*Each week throughout the season you should get an e-mail update on what's happening here on the farm and what veggies may be available for Sat...Please be aware that our produce is seasonal!! While we try to grow a pretty good variety what the weather is doing will affect the type and amount of veggies.. cold, heat, wind, hail, rain,{or no rain!!}, frost, snow, etc. may dammage certain crops, or delay when we can harvest them..That is one reason we grow so many differsnt things..if one crop fails, we have several others to take its place..I will try to keep you posted on what the weather is affecting us..if you have questions about a specific veggie, let me know and I can give you an idea on what's happening with it..

*Many of our veggies can be preserved for the winter..if you are interested in preserving, please let me know so I can keep you posted on when and what we will have in larger quantities..

*We thank all of you for supporting small-scale local farms!! If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know!! 


We need your help.. ..we are hoping for a full membership this season {50-60 members}..Please talk us up with your friends, families, and co-workers..I can tell folks all about what and how we grow our veggies, but it is your enthusiasm that bring in the most new members!! Please let me know if you have anyone who would like a tour or needs more information about our CSA..we can set up additional tours here in March.

Note: ...Please let me know if you need a partner. I will add it to this newsletter to see if we can hook you up with someone....
 we have an Ouray group forming..they would like a couple more folks from up that way to share pickup.

Returning members from 2009 will need to use this link;
circleagarden.com/members/returning   It should give you a place to type in your e-mail address {the one you used this season} It will send you an e-mail with a secure link that you can use to complete the signup process..{this verifies that you own the e-mail address}.. for those of you who are sharing..use the e-mail address of the primary user{should be whoever did the signup for this season}..If you have any problems please let me know..I did a test run and it looks like it all works, but..I am very new to all this and ....who knows when my little netherspere gremlin will pop up!!

New members will need to go to the website {www.circleagarden.com} and use the member signup.


Hope you all have had a good week

All of us at Circle A Garden