Do you pick up in Ludlow? Starting this week, bags will be delivered to the south side of the building of the Okemo Mountain School, at 53 Main Street. (Pull onto Deeplawn Court, drive past the first parking area for the Ludlow Farmers’ Market, and the bags will be under the large overhang on the south side of the building.)

*Taylor, Molly, and Katie transplanting lettuce heads after removing baby kale, photo by Adam Ford*

Click here to order your veggies for a delivered bag

This Week’s Availability

This week we will have red beets, watermelon radishes, orange carrots (Juniper Hill), rainbow carrots (Juniper Hill), shallots, red and yellow onions (Juniper Hill), garlic, red and yellow potatoes (Atlas Farm), spinach, mesclun mix, baby chard, green curly kale, arugula, pea shoots, baby kale, claytonia, and frozen heirloom/beefsteak tomatoes.

The frozen heirloom/beefsteak tomato bags are “2 items worth” and are delicious for stewing.

Click here to order your veggies for a delivered bag

Ordering closes at noon on Tuesdays for Wednesday bags, and at midnight on Wednesday for Friday bags.

You do not need to fill out the form if you plan to come to the barn on Wednesdays or Thursdays to pick out your items yourself.

CSA payments

No surprise that we are still working the kinks out of the new software system, so my apologies if the balance function on your dashboard has been confusing. If this is the case for you, here is an explanation: instead of indicating the balance due for the full season cost, the system gives you the balance due for the next payment, which you set up during the sign up process. So for instance, if you signed up to pay in two chunks, you may have seen a $0 balance for the first half of the season, and then all of a sudden noticed a large negative balance. That means the second half is due. We are trying to have them change it for our setup, so that people can always easily see the full cost for the season, and the full amount they still have due, regardless of the due dates set up during sign up. (But you can always find the full price of a CSA season on the CSA page on the website.) If you have any questions about what you owe, just reach out. If you have a negative balance, you can pay that or reach out if you aren’t sure why it’s like that. Thanks!

Farm News

This week our neighbor, Podge, started running his sawmill to turn the trees into lumber. A running sawmill is excellent TV for preschoolers, so this project is simultaneously getting materials ready for the new building and babysitting our kids. (Stacking functions is always welcomed on our farm.)

We keep filling up the propagation house with new seedlings, and transplanting anything that’s ready into the tunnels. I got to repot all the perennial herb starts: rosemary, lavender, thyme, sage, and oregano. (If you haven’t already pre-ordered plant starts for a summer garden this year, now is the time.) The team also uncovered many outdoor growing areas to get them ready as well.

What feels like the biggest news is how our dear friends and neighbors, (the Martin/Gillhouse family) lost their barn to a fire on Sunday night. Shrewsberries already know this, but this family is simply put— top notch, and they are always giving and caring for their community. While its a blessing that no one was injured in the fire, their barn housed an incredible amount of useful tools and functions for Terry’s carpentry business. His family has volunteered countless hours to projects at the Vermont Farmers’ Food Center in Rutland, as well as being in charge of many of the renovation projects at that site. Even closer to home for us, Terry was integral in our farm’s process of rebuilding after Irene: He and his crew built the barn, and did all the structural and exterior work for the house. He and his family helped us pour the slab for the new building last fall, and we are planning to have him build the new building that is going up there year. Especially as young farmers years ago, it was a dream to work with someone like Terry: He is smart, skilled, patient, flexible, and an excellent listener. Also, during Irene, they came down and evacuated our goats to their place to care and milk for them until we were back at home. And though Vickie’s business operated from a different space, it’s important to give a shout out to how her IPT (Integrated Positional Therapy) bodywork practice keeps many of our farmer bodies strong and able to do this work. These bodies couldn't do what we do without her skillful care. If you know them or have the ability to share, check out the GoFundMe set up for them. As folks who have gone through our own very different disaster years ago, we know how uncomfortable it feels to accept financial help, but we also know how much trauma comes with catastrophe, and that financial support can help deal with all the pressing adult things amidst all the hard emotions.

Have a great week,

-ESF Team: Kara, Ryan, Cindy, Taylor, Molly, Katie, and Vanessa

This Week's Recipe: Baby Kale Pesto