It’s still too early to tell, but the apricot crop may have been damaged. And the strawberries will definitely be early this year. Our berry producers are blowing warm air onto their plants at night to try and keep them from freezing. What does this mean for you? If you have a fruit share, it may mean that our strawberry season will be very brief and early. We may have to start the fruit share a week early to make sure you get strawberries at all!

This is a good time to reiterate the fact that joining a CSA means you accept a certain amount of risk that comes with farming. We are always beholden to Mother Nature and the whims of weather. This year is bound to bring us a few curve balls — hopefully nothing as severe as last year. But we’re sure to see something go awry. When it does, remember that this is real life for a farmer. Your commitment to us through thick and thin is what keeps us feeling secure at night. We’ll do everything we can to give you a great experience. Thank you for believing in our vision and the local food movement.

Farm Spring Work Day — On Sat., May 19, from 9-11:30 AM, we will have a customer work day at our farm. Dress to work in the dirt. There are lots of things to get done, and we get some much accomplished if even a half dozen of you show up. There are bins to label with stickers, weeds to pull, plants to plant, debris to clean up, a packing shed to sanitize and organize, a sign to put in up front. Please RSVP if you plan to attend. If rain occurs, we will move it to Sunday, May 20.

Port Clinton Site Finalized — our host site for Port Clinton has moved to 7325 W. Harbor Rd, right next to the LaPointe United Methodist Church. This is a bit further away from Port Clinton than we had originally advertised, but our host family, Jim and Rebecca Cross, had a sudden house sale. The pick up time has been set for 7:30-8 PM on Mondays.

Elmore Site Now Mondays — Elmore customers are now picking up on Monday nights from 8-8:30 PM, instead of Wednesdays.

CSA Handbooks — This is a must-read. It explains and answers every question you can think of about our CSA, like when the delivery times are, what to do in severe weather, what to do on a vacation, and more. This will be emailed to you by the second week of May.

First Week of Delivery — The jury is still out on this one. But we are planning on the week of June 4.

Site Pick-Up Times

Here is the finalized schedule of pick-up times at each of our sites.

Elmore: Mondays, 8-8:30 PM at the packing shed on our home farm.

Port Clinton: Mondays, 7:30-8 PM at 7325 W. Harbor Rd, Port Clinton. This is St. Rte 163. It’s the parsonage house right next to LaPointe United Methodist Church, about a half mile east of the Ottawa County Fairgrounds.

Owens-Illinois: Tuesdays, 4:45-5:30 PM in the Plaza 2 Parking Lot. Look for our tent.

Jewish Family Service, Sylvania: Thursdays, 5;30-:6:30 PM outside the JFS building (not the YMCA building).

Perrysburg Farmer’s Market: Thursdays, 5-7 PM, next to the railroad tracks by the old vacant gas station.

Meet and Greet Orientation Schedule:

You are all invited to attend an OPTIONAL Meet and Greet Orientation meeting this May. These will be offered at each of our sites. All the information you need to know will be available to read in your handbook, but if you want to hear it in person, then you can attend a meeting. The meeting dates are organized by site:

Owens Illinois: Thursday, May 10, 12 PM in the cafeteria (P2)

Elmore site (SLFarms): Wed., May 16, 6:30 PM in our packing shed barn

Port Clinton: Mon., May 21, 6:30 PM at 7325 W. Harbor Rd, Port Clinton.

Perrysburg Market: Thurs., May 24, 6-7 PM in PBurg Way Library, Meeting Room C & D

Jewish Family Service: Thursday, May 31, 7-8 PM, at the Jewish Family Service Building (board room)

Yes it’s true. You have to wash your own bins this year. I know, I know. What a pain! But a simple 30 second soap wash in your sink saves us loads of time. Now that we have 175 customers, cleaning out the bins takes many hours to complete, and is back-breaking labor. So this year, we are making it mandatory that all customers must wash their bin out before they return it to us each week. And if you don’t, we’ll say something to you. Last year we found all kinds of fun things in the bins — rotting lettuce leaves, caked-on grime. That takes a lot of elbow grease to get off. Please use soap too, and get it clean! This simple step of washing with soapy water will eliminate 4 hours of labor for us each week. (And our packers will thank you!) If we notice that you aren’t doing it, we will mention it to you, so don’t be offended if you get slapped by the Mr. Clean Patrol!

Price per share: $80 for 19 weeks (19 loaves).

All of Catherine’s artisan breads are made with certified organic spelt grown right here in northwest Ohio. The spelt is milled in Millersburg, OH. Every loaf is hand-made using old family recipes with a twist — incorporating dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and her seasonal fresh and dried organic herbs. The taste is not unlike wheat bread, but nuttier in taste and softer and fluffier in texture. Delicious! All her breads can be frozen for up to 6 months.

What is SPELT? – Spelt is among the original grains known to man. Spelt contains more protein, and crude fiber than wheat. It is also an excellent source of vitamins B2, manganese, niacin, thiamine, and    copper. Spelt offers high water solubility, making it easier to digest. In fact, most people with wheat  allergies can eat spelt.

Bread Variety Each Week –  In an effort to keep your menu fresh and exciting, each week you’ll receive a different type of artisan bread chosen by Catherine. You are not able to place an order for a specific type of bread. Here’s a list of potential breads you might find in your bread share.

Focaccias (traditional, garlic-dill, rosemary, sundried tomato-basil)

French & Italian baguettes

Snail breads (cinnamon-raisin, cranberry-orange-walnut)

Coburgs and Bolles (all flavors)

We have 50 shares available, but we can only offer it to our JFS and Perrysburg Market customers this season. (She will only deliver our bread to us if we can guarantee 20 shares per delivery, and the other sites are not big enough to do so. Sorry!) To register, fill out our bread share form, which is on our website on the Sign Up page. Return it with your full payment to our farm. Feel free to order more than one share!

Next year, we hope to grow to 200 shares, so we are very keen on getting you on a wait list and keeping you interested! We hope you will wait. We would love to have you. There are still a few egg and fruit shares left this year. Check our website to keep track of our share availability countdown.

Kurt pulls a "bed-maker" behind his tractor.

After the ground is “worked” or tilled, it’s then time for Farmer Kurt to “make beds.” Making beds refers to the process of creating raised vegetable garden beds for his crops to grow on. The reason they are raised is to help protect the vegetables from too much rain. If we experience flooding, the water will run off the bed and lie in the furrows between the beds, keeping the plants safe from rot.

To make beds, Kurt attaches a bed-maker behind his tractor. This bed maker has three parts — a disk hiller, a bed finisher, and a marker. The disk hillers are basically two round disks that cut into the dirt to make the furrows and then throw the dirt into the center on top. The finisher runs over this dirt and flattens it into a nice “bed.” The marker is an arm that swings down on the side with a rolling wheel at the end. This wheel makes a line in the soil to help Kurt follow on the way back to keep his rows straight.

This year, we’ll be making about 35 raised beds to cover 100 vegetable shares. Each bed is 6 feet wide. All our vegetables are grown on the same size bed. Not all farmers do that. You can have different size beds, but it’s easier for us to just standardize everything. That way, we don’t have to change settings on the tractor implements throughout the year.