Strawberry U-pick Open to Returning Members!

Dear members,

We are excited to let you know that our bodacious new strawberry patch has started producing the first berries of the season, and boy are they beautiful!

Starting today, strawberry u-picking is open to returning members. This is little perk we like to offer folks who already know their way around the farm and want to check in the on the verdant progress of spring, pick a few strawberries and enjoy the first garden blooms. Please note, if you are alternating weeks with someone who is not a returning member, they will not have received this email

The new strawberry patch is located next to where last year’s new patch was. Weekly u-pick limits will be posted on the u-pick board in the barn just like always. Please bring your own pint basket(s) and/or a container for your strawberries.

NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRIES:

How many can I pick? We will run the u-pick just like we do during our regular harvest season by posting the weekly u-pick limit on the u-pick board in our barn. The limit will change each week as the plants ebb and flush berries throughout the Spring. We will start this week at 2 pints per share. Please mind u-pick limits when you are picking strawberries to ensure every share gets an equal share. If you are alternating weeks please coordinate with your share partner.

Can new members pick? Unfortunately, no, this is a perk we like to reserve to returning members who have already been oriented to the farm and know the ropes.

What is a pint? See the picture a below. A pint is the green guy on the left, a two-pint container is the guy on the right. Please bring and re-use your own pint baskets.

FLOWERS & HERBS:

The garden is starting to wake up — there are a few perennial flowers and herbs ready for your enjoyment.

Herbs: In the herb world the Oregano and Thyme never look better; Mints, Marjoram, Tarragon, Sorrel, Chives, Lemon Balm, Sage. As usual, we will put signs on the herbs ready to pick.

Flowers: The earliest of the perennials — mainly Foxgloves — are starting. More flowers will unfurling as things warm up.

As usual with flowers and herbs, please pick with your fellow members in mind and according to the plants size and the abundance of foliage and blooms.

CAREFUL! This is also the time of year where there are tons of vulnerable young seedlings and transplants in the garden. Please watch your step and train your kiddos not to walk on beds!

Happy spring & see you in the fields!
David & Kayta

Spring Update

Dear members,

We’ve been sowing so many seeds thinking of you all lately that we thought it was high time to update you and give you snapshot of what’s been happening out here in the verdant Spring fields!

WHEN WILL THE CSA START?

After this abundantly wet winter our fields are just now drying out enough for us to start working the soil. Because of this, the season’s start will be a little later than previous years, with our goal being a first CSA pickup on Saturday, June 24th. The six months thereafter will, as usual, be an avalanche of free-choice, farm-fresh produce, flowers, strawberries and herbs… all for your culinary enjoyment!

Our amazing crew hard at work giving some love to the perennial herb and flower beds and prepping our annual beds.

HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN PICK-UPS START?

All our important CSA communications are sent via this email and posted on the Newsletters page of our website. We will send out a Newsletter announcing the first week of CSA pickups one week beforehand. The email will contain logistics (like how to find us) and a link to sign-up for an orientation time so we can show you around the farm so you can make the most of your harvest share this year!

CSA SHARES STILL AVAILABLE!

We still have about 5 slots remaining in our 2023 CSA program! If you know anyone who might be interested in signing-up, please encourage them to join! Because, there is really nothing better than spending a Sunday in a garden of flowers nibbling sun-warmed strawberries with your favorite people.

Thanks to contributions form our amazing community, we still have ample Share Price Assistance Funds available to help lower the cost for folks in need of a reduced price share.

A glimpse of the greenhouse, including the first cucumbers and cabbage of the season, hot peppers, tomatoes, and all of the year’s onions.

What's happeninG ON THE FARM?!

Those of you who live close by, or who’ve been picking up veggies from Winter Sister Farm over the winter have probably been following the spectacular drama of the Laguna’s endless rise and fall this winter. It was incredible to have a front row seat to its daily changes, and to the immense amount of water moving through the county. With our lower fields completely covered by water for much of the winter, we felt grateful to be a seasonal farm, with all our tools and materials safely tucked out of the way, able to sit back and enjoy the throngs of waterbirds who seemed so delighted by their newly-created habitat.

Top row (left to right): photos from January 5th and January 9th, Bottom row (left to right): March 10th, and March 15th

We used that rainy, inside time to craft a plan for a season that includes all of our favorite varieties, some exciting new experimental varietals, and an incredible crew and a fleet of new tools to help us pull it all off with a Spring baby in tow!

The greenhouse is filling up with the plants that will take us all the way through the end of the year. Tiny baby celeriac shares space with the first succession of tomatoes, and hot, sweet and frying peppers. This week, it feels like every time you turn around the baby sugar snap peas have grown an inch, and the onions get chunkier by the day. We’ve got some exciting additions brewing in the garden, including spectacular new varieties of Rudbeckia and fragrant Centaurea, just to give you a taste.

We are so excited for you to meet the crew, to get lost in the garden, and to sink into the seasons this coming Summer and Fall.

Until soon...

See you in the fields,
David & Kayta

Click here for an archive of past newsletters

2023 CSA SIGN-UPS REMINDER!

Dear friends,

We wanted to send you a quick reminder that sign-ups for our 2023 CSA program are now open to returning members.

We will be opening up sign-ups to the waitlist this weekend, and while we will likely not fill up immediately, we recommend signing up soon to reserve your spot.

We hope to enjoy another bountiful and buzzing harvest season with you this summer and fall!

See you in the fields,
David & Kayta