Author Archives: marenrb

Winter Share Fruit Update – November 3, 2022

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. Please also note that it is not possible to only receive summer share newsletters.

Hello to all you lovely people – Happy November!  We hope you are all doing well and enjoying this Fall weather.  

Update on Mid November’s Fruit – These offers are only available to the Winter Share members.  (Sorry Summer Share members) 

This is the information we received this morning from Kayce at First Fruit:  For the middle of November’s delivery, we should be getting Honey Crisp apples.  Each box should be around 19 pounds.  These apples are $60 per box, which comes out to around $3 to $3.25 per pound.  We will be turning in the total number to Kayce first thing in the morning of November 11th so he can start preparing for our delivery.  We will not be able to accept any orders that are not in the office by that morning.  If you have already contacted the office about this delivery, we will proceed with your request unless we hear back from you with any changes.  We prefer any new orders to be made by emailing the office with your request.  Chances are slimmer that your order will be lost or misplaced compared to leaving a message on the office phone.  

For the middle of December delivery, we are expecting Fuji apples from First Fruit again.  Each box hopefully will be around 20 pounds and $60 per box.  We are expecting those the week of December 14th, so once again we will need your request in by the morning of December 9th.  According to Wikipedia, Fuji apples are a great storage type of apple.  They have a very long shelf life compared to other apples, even without refrigeration.  With refrigeration, Fuji apples can remain fresh for up to a year.  The Fuji apple originated as a cross between the Red Delicious and old Virginia Ralls apples.  The name, of course is derived from the first part of the town where they were developed: Fujisaki, Japan.  (Interesting information)  

~~ Thank you all for your patience and understanding when we post to the blog. I know I have caused some confusion from previous posts.  If any of you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.  I am always welcome to suggestions and critiques.  I will try my best from now on to not be so confusing.  Linda ~~

Wishing all of you a Warm Fuzzy rest of your week with many blessings!  

Newsletter – November 1, 2022

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. Please also note that it is not possible to only receive summer share newsletters.

This week is week# 2 of winter distribution.  You should be receiving:  Yukon potatoes, onions, cabbage, leeks, turnips, beets, carrots, fennel, garlic, kale, and tomatoes.  The kale maybe a little wilted due to the temperature changes this week.  If you soak it in water for about 30 minutes, it will perk up.  

First Fruit – We are expecting 2 deliveries from First Fruit.  We believe each delivery will be all apples.  We are still working out the details as to how many pounds, what type of apples will be available and the cost per box.  As soon as we know, we will share to the blog .  We are expecting the first delivery the week of November 16th and the second delivery the week of December 14th.  We will need to let Kayce know our total for the mid November delivery by November 11th.  Please either call the farm and leave a voice message or you can email the office with how many boxes you would like.  No orders will be accepted after Friday November 11th for the November delivery.  

Steers update – We have 1/2 steer still available.  Let the office know if you are interested in a quarter or a side.

“Autumn is the season to find contentment at home by paying attention to what we already have.”  Author Unknown

Wishing you all many blessings of this season!  P.S. Don’t forget to turn the clocks back this weekend.

Workday & Animal Update – Oct 27, 2022

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

Sunday, October 30th Work Day –  Once again we are going to cancel the work day we had set up for this Sunday October 30th.  We had some unexpected help this week.  The garlic that needed to be split, is all done.  Thank you to all of you that had planned to come out to help!  We greatly appreciate you that you were on taking time out of your weekend to come! 

Update on Steers – Due to some cancellations, we have a whole steer available right now.  A side is $1500 and a quarter is $750.  That cost is for us to raise the steer and transport it to Valley Packing for processing.  You would still pay Valley Packing to process the beef.  That fee depends on the weight of the steer and how you would like it processed.  If you are interested in a quarter or a side, please contact the office as soon as possible to get signed up.   

Ela Family Farm – We are still taking orders for Winter Share members to receive a 10 pound box of mixed fruit from Ela’s Family Farm.  The box will have half Granny Smith apples and half of Harrow Sweet pears.  Each box is $36.00 and will be delivered to you next week for distribution November 2nd.  (With the exception of the Fort Collins DC, which will be November 1st)  If you are interested in a box or two, please contact the office by either email or leaving a message on voicemail.  We will not be able to process any orders that are not in the office by Monday morning.

Thank you all for your support of the Farm!  We greatly appreciate each and everyone of you!  Wishing you all warm blessings.

Winter Share & Animal Update – Oct 14, 2022

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

Winter Shares –  We are no longer taking anymore sign ups for Winter Shares through our website, through email or through the actual mail.  We have reached the limit of how many members we can accommodate over the winter.  Thank you all for the tremendous response and your continued support and love of the farm.  We greatly appreciate each one of you!

Animals – We are completely sold out of the animals we have available.  Please watch for an email about your animal going in for processing and please reply back so we know you have received the information.

Happy Fall y’all!

Winter Share & Animal Update – Oct 11, 2022

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

Update on the animals – We have 1 steer still left.  The hogs are sold out.  

Winter Shares – we have less than 20 spots open.  This is on a first come, first serve basis.  We may have to decline some of the sign ups.  The interest in Winter Shares this year has been great!  We apologize we will not be able to accommodate everyone.

Newsletter – October 10, 2022

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,

This is our last week of Distribution. You could see the following combination of produce in your bags: Yukon gold potatoes, onions, turnips, broccoli, beets, leeks, bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, Jalapenos, tomatoes, honeydew and muskmelon.

Honey: This is the last delivery of honey for the year. Those of you who ordered monthly and bimonthly will see jars sitting at your distribution center. Please do not take anything unless checking in with your distributor.

Mushrooms: We apologize, but there will not be a final delivery of mushrooms. The grower says that because of the colder temperatures the mushrooms did not fruit like they expected. There just isn’t enough to warrant a delivery to the farm. We will work on this for next year and hopefully, the grower and us, will have a better understanding of what we need to do to get mushrooms on a regular basis and how many we will need.

Hogs, Lambs, and Steers: We are starting to take animals to Valley Packing of LaSalle. We use this processor because we like the fact that they wrap the meat with plastic to keep air out and then wrap it in paper to keep light out. This procedure will extend the life of your stash in the freezer. Hogs are going in first, then the lambs and finally the steers.

All animals should be paid in full by now. If you receive a bill this month, please pay it in full. The only exception would be for those of you who have also ordered a Winter Share and are spreading out your payments over the next three months (including October).

If you are interested, we still have half a hog, one full steer (four quarters) and 0 lambs available. Contact the office for more information. A quarter beef costs $750 if purchased through the office and take home is around 125 pounds. Valley Packing charges by the pound for processing, so we cannot tell you what that will cost. You will pay those charges when you pick up your cut and wrapped meat. Approximately your cost per pound is right around $7.50.

Half Hogs cost $325 through the office. Take home will be around 75 pounds. Processing is by the pound and what type of sausage you get. Approximately your cost per pound is right around $6.50 to $7.50.

Winter Share: There are still some shares available. I know that $500 sounds like a lot of money, but we are talking about the cost being $27.78 a week for the best tasting winter vegetables around. As far as we know, we are the only CSA that has an 18-week season. The first week of distribution will be Oct 26th and will continue through February 22nd. We have 20 spots left, so don’t wait to join the farm for the winter!

Workdays: Please join us for the next three Sundays to work on separating garlic and/or harvesting beets, turnips, or carrots. Wear layers that can be removed and clothes & shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. Bring water, hat, and gloves. You will appreciate having them. Contact the office as soon as you know you will be joining us so we can keep a record of it just in case we have to cancel. You are welcome to join us if you discover that day you are available. We start at 8am.

Jerry: Thank you for all the notes and cards giving Jerry well wishes in his recovery from his back injury. A special thank you to all the members who contributed to the gift cards at the Monaco DC. It was a big surprise, and we will find something special to do with them.

Jerry is doing really well. He has very little pain but still cannot pick up anything. He is halfway through his recovery, and we are ecstatic about his progress. He has been told he will make a full recovery. Yippee!!!

Overview: This has been a trying summer for Kyle. First, we had crazy strong (and consistent) winds in the spring, and it blew out many of the first crops planted. All of which had to be replanted, for instance potatoes and carrots. The transmissions went out on both of our main tractors. This cost a cool $10,000 each to replace. One we got back five weeks later, the other four months. Just about every truck, tractor and water pump broke down at some point this summer ~ making it a very expensive year.

It was also a very hot and dry summer. This year was the third hottest in Colorado history; #1: 2012, #2: 2020, #3: 2022, #4: 2021, #5: 1934. (Now isn’t this a scary statistic!) We did not get the nice rains many of you received. We had a beautiful fall, but our water was shut off early leaving many crops without water to finish the season. Needless to say, this was an interesting year to be a young farmer!

Even with all these setbacks, the farm produced a wonderful variety of produce. Everything was so tasty. Wouldn’t you agree the tomatoes were possibly the best you have ever eaten? And those melons! Wow, fantastic!

We know you will miss the great produce and the weekly deliveries. But here at the farm, we are ready for a break. Kyle and crew have been working diligently six to seven days a week since the first week of March. It’s starting to cool down and the days are getting shorter. It is such a nice reason to harvest winter veggies and get them into storage and shut down the farm for the winter.

Winter Share & Animal Update – Oct 7, 2022

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

Hello Farm Friends…   

The Winter Shares we have available are filling up.  We have sold approximately 155 shares with the limit of 200.  With that being said, we have about only 45 spaces left.  If you haven’t ordered online or mailed your sign up form in yet, now is the time to do that if you would like to be included in the winter distribution.  We do have 2 new DC’s for the winter – Wheat Ridge off of 32nd & Federal & also Denver off of Dexter & 6th.  

Animals – Hogs have started going in for processing.  Lambs will start going in for processing November 1st.  Steers will start going in for processing December 1st.  If you have an animal, please watch out for emails from Linda regarding the date your animal will be going in and when it should be ready to be picked up.  It is extremely important to reply back as soon as you can, either by calling the office or sending an email.  If we don’t hear from you by a certain time, your name will go to the bottom of the list, and someone else will be moved into your date for processing.  If the dates don’t work for you, we will gladly try to accommodate you as best as we can. 

Thank you to all of you for your continued support of the farm and dedication!  You all are greatly appreciated – Happy Fall! 

Newsletter – September 12, 2022

25525 WCR 48
Kersey, CO 80644 jacquie@monroefarm.com

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,

This Week you are should be getting: yellow onions, turnips, squash, cucumbers, broccoli, kale, tomatoes, muskmelon & peppers: yellow bell, bell, Anaheim, Poblanos, jalapenos, and banana peppers.

Fruit Shares should be receiving a 20lb box of Bartlett pears & Akane apples mixture.

Olive oil should be delivered this week to those members who receive it monthly

Honey should be coming next week for those members who receive it monthly & 1 time.

Sorry we missed a newsletter last week. Jerry fell backwards off the high clearance tractor and hurt his back on August 26th. He went to the emergency room and stayed in the hospital for three days. Of course, he was in a hurry, like he always is and missed a handhold. Since he was on his way down, his momentum threw him backwards. He now has a hairline fracture in his lower back. He will make a full recovery, but like all bones, it will take 8 to 12 weeks. He now wears a brace to keep him from slouching or bending over. Jerry has already made significant improvement because his pain level is low and is already taking long walks. Thank you for understanding!

Water: Denver and south has gotten nice rains this year, but we have not here at the farm. We are still in drought conditions with 102-degree days all last week. We have been notified by our water company who manages our water usage that the main ditch that brings water from the lakes will be shut off the third or fourth week of September. Most farmers have used all their water and the lake is basically too low to continue to deliver water. This is huge to us since we are used to getting water all through October. We are unsure how this will impact the farm. But we will be harvesting like crazy before the ground turns to concrete over the next four weeks.

Boulder Mushroom: With 7 years teaching within his local community about the wonders of mushrooms, Zach Hedstrom, founder & owner of Boulder Mushroom, has dedicated its mission to the development of prolific mushrooms strains which are adapted to locally available substrate materials, while also cultivating the highest quality culinary & medicinal mushrooms. Boulder Mushroom serves in producing the highest quality fungi available for our customers. Our locally grown spawn, produced in Boulder County, Colorado is guaranteed vigorous & viable. Boulder Mushroom offers unique strains of mushrooms, which have been adapted for production from within our own local environment. Our cultivated culinary mushrooms are guaranteed high quality, recognized for impeccable flavor, texture, and beauty.

Many members have been asking where the mushrooms have been coming from. Sorry I did not do this sooner! This was taken from their website, and this is who we have been working with. Because we found this company too late in the season for them to grow mushrooms for us, we have been getting their surplus mushrooms. We intend to sit down and map out a direction in producing mushrooms specifically for our own membership for next year. With the survey we took earlier in the season and the response to making actual orders, we will have the information we need to get a nice variety of mushrooms next summer.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Jerry, Jacquie, Kyle, Sam & crew