Greetings Everybody,
Now that we are officially a few weeks into Spring, we will begin sending newsletters each week. We utilize the newsletters as our primary method for communicating with CSA members and our community. We try to keep it brief yet informative. Oftentimes the newsletter will contain vital need to know info. It will also include a list of what is coming in each week’s CSA member share farm box and some preparation/cooking tips along with recipes.
There is always something exciting happening on the farm. We find that sharing updates and details each week is a good way to connect with the changing of the seasons, and raise awareness to some of the wonders of nature. We haven’t included many photos in our newsletters in the past but are looking at how to best do that. We encourage folks to view our farm page on Instagram @ CountryValleyFarm for photos and additional updates. If there is info you’d like to receive about the farm or other details, we love to talk about and are happy to share.
What’s going on at the farm?
We’ve been experiencing the usual Michigan weather which is rapidly changing and gives us some warm days, some cold days, some wet days and some dry days.
The garlic crop has emerged and is showing little green leaves all across the garlic field. Last week we amended the garlic beds to help them have the nutrition they need to carry them through their season. This garlic was planted last fall and will begin harvesting as green garlic in May, will provide garlic scapes in June, will be fresh garlic bulbs in July, and will be harvested and cured and stores as garlic to be stored through the summer and fall. Our hardneck garlic is one of our primary crops and something we are very proud of. We appreciate hearing stories of how folks enjoy the garlic and brag about how great it is.
We are preparing onion beds now. We had covered some areas of the field with sileage tarps last summer to solarize those beds and help minimize unwanted weeds and grasses. We moved those tarps to another field a few weeks ago and are now digging furrows in the beds for the onions to be planted in. We are planting yellow, red and white onions. We will harvest green onions first, then spring onions, then knob onions with tops, and then onions as mature bulbs to be stored through the summer and fall.
After we get the onions planted we will prepare the potato beds. We are growing 6 types of heirloom and fingerling potatoes this year. Last year was our best potato crop ever – we are planting quite a bit more this year in anticipation of another great season. The potatoes will be planted around the end of April/beginning of May and will begin being harvested in July. We will then have a continuous harvest weekly through the rest of summer and fall.
Everything on our farm is done by hand with hand tools. This includes field preparation, planting, weeding, and harvesting. While it is more work than using machines, we find that it is another part of what makes our small family farm special.
We are also planning on planting a variety of other herbs and veggies after the potatoes get planted and will include more details in upcoming newsletters.
Our CSA model includes working with a few other certified organic farms that we have long term relationships with. This helps us ensure that each and every week the member share boxes have a great variety. It allows us to focus on crops that do well on our land, trial new crops to see how they perform for us, and continue to plant more perennial herbs as well as flowers for pollinator and beneficial insects and birds etc. We are thankful to the other farms we partner with and how it helps us make our CSA member share boxes as great as possible consistently.
We are still actively signing up CSA members. If you already signed up for this year – thank you for your support. If you were a member last year and renewed for this year, we greatly appreciate your renewed membership. If you are new to our CSA, we welcome you and look forward to a wonder-filled season of sharing our farming journey with you on your culinary adventure.
If you haven’t signed up or know of someone who is interested, please reach out with any questions. You can simply sign up at our website www.countryvalleyfarm.com or you can send us an email at countryvalleyinfo@gmail.com or you can text or call Adam at (831)706-1237. We are here to help! If you’d like to be removed from our newsletter list, just reply to Adam and let us know – we understand folks are busy and it is all good.
That’s all for now.
Warm regards,
Adam Mitchel
Country Valley Farm