2024 CSA Newsletter Week #1
/Let’s get this party started!!
Welcome to the 2024 growing season and CSA program at Turner Farms!! We are so excited to kick off the season and have you picking up your bags of fresh produce and meat!
It has been a spring for the record books! Starting out so warm then turning pretty nasty. Even today, June 18th, it is not typical and we have been on frost watch for the last few days. So far, we have avoided any damage but I’m a little worried about tonight as the clouds start to clear out. Let’s all say little prayer that it stays above 40 degrees!
Tips of potato plants which were nipped by frost on june 1st.
Here is some general information as we begin!
We are organically managed. That means we don’t use any chemicals (pesticides or chemical fertilizer) on our farm. Our beef and lamb are all grassfed/finished. Our pigs are fed a locally-made, all-natural grain diet along with lots of garden produce. We also just began running the pigs in the forest area of our farm so we are moving to more pastured pork. Our animals aren’t fed any hormones.
We run an Intern Program for young teenagers. If you need any hope in our future, it’s these kids who are up early 3 days/wk to come and work their tails off on the farm! The exciting thing is…we have 9 interns this year with a LONG waitlist of others who want to work! Isn't that great news in this “post-pandemic” era!
Their main duties include; field management, harvesting produce, maintaining the Farm Store, harvesting and prepping CSA bags, milking the goat herd and lots of other various tasks. While we try to train them on amounts, cleanliness of produce and appropriate presentation of the CSA bags sometimes they miss the mark. So, please bear with us and know that these kiddos are learning valuable skills. Please feel free to reach out if there is something egregiously wrong.
New this year is our Meat CSA! We were thrilled to have so many of you wanting to add that to your Veggie CSA! We will have the meat bags for you starting this week and then EVERY OTHER week after that! Farmer Jon, Farmer Ethan and the interns put the bags together each pick-up. They will always be in the small chest freezer in the middle room of the Farm Store. Since all the bags are the same, it doesn’t matter which one you select!
The Veggie bags will be prepped and ready for pick up anytime after 3pm each week. You can come whenever is convenient for you! The bags will be labeled with your name inside our walk-in cooler which is located to the (north) right of the entrance to the Farm Store. We have a sign on the door.
NEW THIS YEAR! When you pick up your bag, please check your name off the list on the wall. That way if someone doesn’t pick up, we can send a reminder since we will know who didn’t get their bag!
You will receive a yellow bag each week. Please return it each week and we will reuse it the following week. So, technically you are only using 2 bags each season.
If you are going to be out of town and can’t make pick-up, please let us know by texting (406)544-3854. You are always welcome to send a friend, neighbor or family to pick up the bag instead. Just let us know that so we don’t fight off your pick-up person! Haha!
If you forget to pick up, we will try to send an email to remind you. But we will save the bag in the walk-in for 24 hrs. After that, we will donate the bag to families in need. The produce just doesn’t stay fresh beyond the 24 hours and we HATE having it go to waste.
Kids are always welcome to come with you to pick-up! They can feed the goats in our Farm Yard area. It’s always a highlight for many kids! If you want to save your veggie scraps from week to week, they can feed them to the goats!
FALL SHARES: I know summer hasn’t even started but we’ll just let you know that we offer a limited 4 week FALL Share program. It starts after Labor Day and focuses on the late season crops (tomatoes, peppers, fruit, etc) along with winter storage crops (potatoes, onion, squash, etc). It’s a great value for only $140. We will send out a sign up in July for that. Current members are offered it first before we open it up to the public.
Part of our awesome intern crew! fantastic workers!
THIS WEEK’S BAG:
~Fall Onion—Farmer Jon LOVES these! They are the last of our 2023 harvest. They are a little soft but they have great flavor and are still completely useable!
~Radishes—We have a beautiful spring crop of radishes. We harvested the last of the first patch for you today. But don’t worry, we’ve got another crop almost ready!
~Garlic Scapes: The green curly stems are our FAVORITE spring delight! These are flowers of the garlic. We cut them off to encourage growth in the bulb. But the coolest thing is these are so yummy! We chop them and toss them into fresh salads, saute them with other veggies, make a lovely pesto with them or even pickle them! These are the bomb and this is the ONLY time of year you can get them!
~Eggs: Spring eggs are so special. The chickens have been feasting on new green grasses filled with so many nutrients. This shows up in the vibrant colored yolks and the mild but flavorful taste.
~Lettuce and Spinach—Just like the radishes, these are the last of our early spring harvest. These were harvested today so they are so fresh! Be sure to wash all the greens. In order to maintain their freshness, we avoid running them in water. We will field wash if produce is abundantly dirty but we try to maintain that “from the field” freshness and washing it starts the decline in freshness.
~Spearmint: The mint this spring has been so happy and is abundant as a result! Add to your water glass, chop finely and add to petite peas, make a pesto sauce with mint, walnuts, olive oil and salt and pepper! Or hey, just make a mojito and call it a day!
~Kale: The Thursday members are getting kale this week! (Tuesday folks, you’ll get it next week!). We love sauteing kale with butter or a flavored olive oil (which we sell in the farm store), fresh garlic and tossing in some beans. Finish it off with some salt and peppper. Yummy! You can also chop it for a fresh salad. If you like it a little more tender, sprinkle a little salt on it and massage the salt in for a few moments then let sit for a while. It will wilt the kale slightly and then gives you a more tender green.
We hope you enjoy your first bag of the 2024 Season! Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you next week!
The Turner Farms Family!
interns Jaden and elise harvested these gorgeous peonies for the farm store this morning!