Hello CSA members,
Hello, spring?
Welcome to the 20022 CSA season! It seems spring, and the growing season, are off to a slow start, and the forecast this week does not look promising. And so it goes with weather. I’ve put a lot of effort this off-season into addressing burnout, stress management, and changing my habits for better mental resilience, and one of the key lessons is acceptance and surrender. Our ego’s always want to be in control, but when you live and work in a natural system, that approach leads to a lot of stress and anxiety. You can’t change your ego, it does what it does, but you can decide if you are going to let it drive the bus, or take a seat in the back. All we can do is make a good effort (within reasonable limits), and then accept and surrender to the things in our lives that we cannot control. I suppose that’s the Stoic philosophy that’s been around for thousands of years, but it’s easier said than done, especially when you were raised to have really high expectations. And so as we head into the 2022 season, we are taking care of the things we can control, and waiting on the warmer weather. The high tunnels are all planted, and we already have a couple of acres planted out in the main field (and covered with row cover to protect from frost). And we’re busy training our new crew of young farmers on all things Two Bear Farm.
It was our hope that we would start the CSA on the week of May 23rd this season. However, with the cold conditions, we’re not sure if the salad mix is going to be big enough to harvest. So, it’s a bit of a game time decision based on growth, and we will keep you posted. For now, I wanted to check in, say hello, welcome you if you are new, and get you thinking about CSA season. There are some important changes regarding how the CSA will work this season, so please review them here . If you don’t want to read that entire newsletter again, just jump to points 2 through 5 at the bottom.
Also, as a reminder, here is a summary of the pickup locations and times:
The Farmers’ Stand – Wednesday between 3pm and 6pm in front of the store. Look for our truck.
West/East Glacier – Friday at the Discovery Center in W. Glacier between 11am-6pm
Two Bear Farm – Friday in the first brown barn w/ parking lot between 4pm-7pm
Kalispell Farmers Market – Saturday at our market tent between 9:30am and 12:30 pm (market hours)
If you are looking for fresh veggies from now until the CSA starts, you have a couple of options. We are currently harvesting small batches of salad mix, spinach, Baby Boy Choy, and radishes for The Farmers’ Stand, and we drop a fresh batch off every Tuesday morning. The Kalispell Farmer’s Market just started yesterday, Saturday, May 7th, and runs each Saturday from 9am to 12:30. And if you are planning to plant your own garden this season, I recommend waiting until at least Thursday this week 🙂
Thank you for signing up for our CSA season, and we are hopeful that it will be another nourishing season! And over the next couple of weeks, we will be dealing with any billing issues, or lost checks 🙁 , to try to get those all straightened out, so we appreciate your patience on that front. I will be sending out another newsletter to announce to formal start date within the next few weeks, and I will cover some more CSA specifics at that time.
Oh, and Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, including the biggest mother of all…Earth Mama!
Todd
