In spite of the rain, we were able to put together a wonderful CSA basket for our members, 1st one of the season. In the basket was fresh basil, rosemary, cherries, beets, French radishes, kale, Swiss Chard, bag full of spring lettuce, fava beans, snow peas, red and white onions, a ½ doz. Free range eggs, sample pound of grass fed beef from Douglass Ranch, sample of sausage or bacon from Llano Seco Organic Pork Ranch, and a sample bouquet of fresh garden flowers with lavender, roses and hydrangeas.
I had a chance to meet several of our members in person and it was so nice for me to connect with the people who eat our produce. That is the best part of community supportive agriculture. The members help me, a producer of fruits, vegetables and herbs and in return, the members get to eat fresh picked items directly from the people who grow their food, the farmers. It is hard for us to leave our fields to go to Farmer’s Markets or find businesses that will buy from small producers. CSA membership is a wonderful way to help me schedule my time in the fields and time to deliver to our members.
We received many positive comments about the baskets. In our effort to keep our costs down and to also be conscience of being able to re-use, re-cycle, I am having our members give back to me all the packaging items. That includes the bottom plastic liner, the clam shell packaging and the jars used for flowers. My daughter, Celli makes these cloth pouches for my granddaughter, Carli to put her school sandwiches in so they are not packaged in a plastic bag. I don’t know the name of them but it provides lunch bags
that are re-usable and washable.
Celli has made me similar items, cloth liners for my CSA baskets in all of these fabulous prints and colors. We will be using them on our #2 delivery date. The cloth liner will be useful to keep the items cool and also to cover up the produce when I leave the baskets on doorsteps. That will keep the moisture in the items, keep pests off until my CSA member returns homes from work or is able to put the produce in their refrigerators. The cloth liners are re-usable, washable and saves on having to use plastic. AND they are cute too!!!
We will have more cherries coming from our trees and the apricots should be ripe by next week. Hopefully, the crop will be large enough to provide my CSA members to receive cherries and apricots in the next 2 baskets and also enough to sell at myself service roadside stand out front of our house. I have signed up for the Gridley Farmer’s Market, Glenn Co Farmer’s Market and the Colusa Market. But at this point, if I have enough extra produce, I would rather add more CSA members from my “waiting list” than do the markets. It is a great feeling to know we are feeding families from Windmill Farm. It makes all our expenses and hard work worthwhile.
A big Thank You goes to my terrific members, customers and supporters of Windmill Farm. Keep checking back because we have the following items planted: eggplant, green beans, snow peas, 4 different types of squash, corn, 5 different types of cucumbers, peppers, heirloom tomatoes, hybrid tomatoes; potatoes, cabbage, green onions (scallions) , red and white onions, beets, kale, Swiss Chard, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, oregano and loads and loads of cut flower plants.
And then we have all our fruit trees such as apricots, cherries, and 6 varieties of peaches, pluots, pears, plums, apples, nectarines, table grapes, pomegranates, figs and persimmons.
We will keep you posted on this blog or my facebook page “Windmill Farm” so you know what is available and when it will be available to you out at our roadside stand, to our CSA members or at the Farmer’s Markets.
Frank and I want to give a special thank you to all the men and women in the armed forces for the sacrifices they have given and want to extend to them our love and prayers during this Memorial Day Weekend. God Bless You for making America safe.
I had a chance to meet several of our members in person and it was so nice for me to connect with the people who eat our produce. That is the best part of community supportive agriculture. The members help me, a producer of fruits, vegetables and herbs and in return, the members get to eat fresh picked items directly from the people who grow their food, the farmers. It is hard for us to leave our fields to go to Farmer’s Markets or find businesses that will buy from small producers. CSA membership is a wonderful way to help me schedule my time in the fields and time to deliver to our members.
We received many positive comments about the baskets. In our effort to keep our costs down and to also be conscience of being able to re-use, re-cycle, I am having our members give back to me all the packaging items. That includes the bottom plastic liner, the clam shell packaging and the jars used for flowers. My daughter, Celli makes these cloth pouches for my granddaughter, Carli to put her school sandwiches in so they are not packaged in a plastic bag. I don’t know the name of them but it provides lunch bags
that are re-usable and washable.Celli has made me similar items, cloth liners for my CSA baskets in all of these fabulous prints and colors. We will be using them on our #2 delivery date. The cloth liner will be useful to keep the items cool and also to cover up the produce when I leave the baskets on doorsteps. That will keep the moisture in the items, keep pests off until my CSA member returns homes from work or is able to put the produce in their refrigerators. The cloth liners are re-usable, washable and saves on having to use plastic. AND they are cute too!!!
We will have more cherries coming from our trees and the apricots should be ripe by next week. Hopefully, the crop will be large enough to provide my CSA members to receive cherries and apricots in the next 2 baskets and also enough to sell at myself service roadside stand out front of our house. I have signed up for the Gridley Farmer’s Market, Glenn Co Farmer’s Market and the Colusa Market. But at this point, if I have enough extra produce, I would rather add more CSA members from my “waiting list” than do the markets. It is a great feeling to know we are feeding families from Windmill Farm. It makes all our expenses and hard work worthwhile.
A big Thank You goes to my terrific members, customers and supporters of Windmill Farm. Keep checking back because we have the following items planted: eggplant, green beans, snow peas, 4 different types of squash, corn, 5 different types of cucumbers, peppers, heirloom tomatoes, hybrid tomatoes; potatoes, cabbage, green onions (scallions) , red and white onions, beets, kale, Swiss Chard, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, oregano and loads and loads of cut flower plants.
And then we have all our fruit trees such as apricots, cherries, and 6 varieties of peaches, pluots, pears, plums, apples, nectarines, table grapes, pomegranates, figs and persimmons.
We will keep you posted on this blog or my facebook page “Windmill Farm” so you know what is available and when it will be available to you out at our roadside stand, to our CSA members or at the Farmer’s Markets.
Frank and I want to give a special thank you to all the men and women in the armed forces for the sacrifices they have given and want to extend to them our love and prayers during this Memorial Day Weekend. God Bless You for making America safe.
1 comment:
I received one of the first CSA baskets from Windmill Farm and it was fabulous! I had relatives up from Southern California visiting for a week and we ate and enjoyed every bit of the box. We even cooked the beet greens and boy they were yummy! And of course, the flowers were beautiful and a happy addition to making our home look lovely for our guests. I can't wait to recieve my next box. Kudos to Windmill Farm for a bountiful and beautiful CSA box!
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