NOTE: This blog is posted by a volunteer. No one from the farm checks or responds to messages here. You must contact the farm directly with any questions, comments, etc
Dear Friends of the Farm,
Welcome to our first week of Distribution!! The entire farm is really looking good. This past May was rainy & cold but June has been warmer than normal. So far, we have kept up with planting, watering and weeding so everything looks terrific! Because of the recent rain, the entire area is so beautiful around the farm. Crops are rapidly growing and have a wonderful green color. We have an exciting year ahead of us!
Produce: This week you are getting garlic, garlic scapes, summer squash (either Q-ball (round zucchini) yellow squash or regular zucchini), kale and head lettuce. We are hoping all three distribution days will get these crops, but it is the first week and we may be short. We will make it up to you next week if your distribution center is shorted.
It is very important that you return all your bags every week! Food safety is important to everyone. Please take care of your bag and make sure animals do not lay on it, it’s not left lying on the floor of your car where people can step on it and please remove all food debris before returning to your distribution center.
It is a good plan to pre-wash produce outside to get the majority of the soil off in your yard (or an extra-large bowl set in your kitchen sink) and not down your drainpipes. Children especially love this task. Getting your kids involved in the pre-prep work, talking about the produce & asking them what they want to eat may help get them motivated to try the different varieties. Did you know children have to try something nine times before they get a taste for it?
Your Distribution Center: Please do not forget that your DC is a member too. They have offered to be a DC to make it as convenient as possible for you to get your produce. They too have busy lives and are trying hard to please everyone. A majority of our DC’s have 30 to 40 Members coming by. Respect their hours and if you need to pick up at a different time or have forgotten to pick up during normal hours; please call and make new arrangements; do not just show up after hours! They will hold produce for 24 hours. If there is no contact from you within that time period, the produce will be donated to a place of need; including your fruit. We encourage Members to donate their produce when going on vacation. Last year the Membership donated a whopping 1400 pounds of produce to various organizations. If you plan on having someone pick up your produce for you while you are gone; your DC will need their name and phone number. This gives them permission to hand out your produce to someone other than yourself and it gives them a contact number when they forget to pick up. Ask your DC questions! They are a wealth of information and will help you use your share. Consider getting our cookbook. There are ten recipes for every veggie we grow. It was lovingly put together by members of the farm! It is useful and the recipes are excellent!!! All DC’s normally have an exchange box for produce you do not want.
4th of July: This holiday will not affect the farm this year and distribution will go as normal.
Your Expectations from the farm: You are sharing the risk of farming with your farmer. This is no different than gardening yourself. Mother Nature does not always cooperate with our plans. It is unrealistic to expect everything to be perfect all the time. We grow varieties for their taste, not necessarily for their beauty! If there is an abundance of produce, you will get it. If there is a shortage of produce, you will see that too. Along with June/July rain we sometimes get hail. Don’t be surprised to get produce with scabs from the damage this causes. We work very hard to catch produce that is badly bruised. But sometimes this slips by us. We apologize ahead of time! We do not intend for this to happen! We love what we do and care deeply about the land we live on, the food it produces and the people it feeds.
Statements: We will send statements each month. For those of you who did not pay in full at the time you joined the farm, your first produce payment (including fruit, oil, honey & eggs) is due July 1st. You may pay these fees in full or in half and the other half is due by September 1st. If you are paying monthly, then continue making your agreed upon scheduled payments.
First Year Members: This year will be your hardest summer. It takes time to adjust to getting your produce this way! Plan on going to the grocery store after you get your share. You need time to process your produce by sorting and washing. If you are willing to put up with the soil, don’t wash until you are ready to use it, and it will last longer. Produce breaks down as soon as it gets wet. We also understand you might not want dirt in your crisper drawer! The more tender a crop is, the sooner it will need to be eaten, i.e. greens, summer squash, peas, beans, broccoli, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and tomatoes. We will give you hints on storage as we go through the summer.
Newsletters/Blog: A Member with a better Internet system (than we have) will post our newsletters to the blog. Please notify your DC if you prefer to get a hard copy at the distribution site. It is important to read your newsletters because they will inform you of additional “bonus” picking days, other events that may directly affect you or the produce you’re getting and fun things that are happening on the farm. Access the blog by going to: monroeorganicfarms.wordpress.com. Do not forget to check out our Facebook page or Instagram for pictures and videos. Please continue to contact us through the office by email or phone if you have any concerns rather than social media messaging.
The next u-pick crop coming up is pickling cucumbers and that will be sometime in July. We can start taking names of members who would like to pick pickles for canning. Please let the office know if you can come during the week or just weekends or both. This option is for you and your household only. It is not to be shared with another member and especially not with a household that does not have a membership!
How to contact us: The best way to reach us is by phone. We are very good about answering phone calls, not so much with email! (Though we are getting better.) Email us if you do not need an answer right away. But if it is about a change in your share or DC, please call us. We pick veggies on Monday for Tuesday, Tuesday for Wednesday and Wednesday for Thursday. Keep this in mind when you want to make a change! Whenever you call about your share, especially if needing to make changes, always identify your Distribution Center!
Thank you: Welcome to the 2021 farming season with Monroe Organic Farms. We hope you enjoy every morsel! We can’t tell you how excited we are to get started! This is just a sample of what is to come. Our family is looking forward to sharing a fantastic summer with you. Thank you for giving us this opportunity; we are thrilled to be your farmers!
Kyle, Sam, Jerry, Jacquie and Crew
Monroe Organic Farms 