It was quite an interesting day last Thursday with all the storms blowing through on a share pick-up day.  We were amazed to have a dozen or so daring members make their way to the farm through wind, rain, and flooding to pick up the veggies we harvested that morning!  Again we apologize for the poor communication on our part regarding the difficulty getting here.  If a weather event such as that were to happen again, we would be sure to send our members an email with instructions.

Due to the damage that some of the crops sustained from the storm, our shares will be slightly smaller this week.

Beginning this Friday, April 1st Sweetwater Farm will begin selling NEW memberships for next season.  We’ve had lots of folks visiting the farm and waiting for the opportunity to become part of our community.  We welcome you and encourage you to pass the word along to your friends and family as well.

Current members still have the opportunity to receive the “Renewal Rate” until the end of this season, May 31.  St Pete members should be especially diligent in getting your membership renewed during this time period as we expect to fill our 50 open slots before this summer.

This week we are making a large fresh produce donation to the Feeding America Tampa Food Bank and The Children’s Home. Last week many CSA members did not pick up their shares. Since shares are harvested fresh on pick-up days, if the shares do not get picked up by our members, members can feel good knowing that their shares have been donated to local people in need. Remember shares cannot be “made up” by picking up on a subsequent day. Thank you.

Its lettuce season again! We have many varieties ready to harvest so enjoy your colorful, flavorful salads. And to top it off we have many herbs in the share that are a great addition to salad dressing.

Not sure what to do with the Kohlrabi? Try making mashed kohlrabi, just peel and boil and use as you would potatoes. Another great idea is to shred the bulb to use in coleslaw.

Peace

A friendly reminder to our St Pete Members – you know the old saying “the early bird gets the worm”?  Grab your pen and checkbook because it really does apply in your case.  There are only 50 memberships available for pick-up at our St Pete location because of limited space in our van to transport the fresh veggies!  March is your chance to renew your membership before we open to the public.  On April 1, memberships will become available to new members.  Once we are sold out, we are sold out, and the early bird gets the worm.

But everyone gets the mint… it is growing out of control! Mint makes a very refreshing tea which aids in digestion, just steep a few sprigs in hot water. Or use fresh leaves in a wrap with lettuce, shredded carrots and shredded Daikon, enjoy. Or you can simply hang bunches in a room or car as an all-natural air freshener.

Peace

Spring crops are in the ground and growing. Last week we planted zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and sweet peppers. The potatoes have been in the ground over a month now and are growing very nicely. We have also begun hilling the potatoes, which consist of pushing soil over the emerging plants while just leaving the tops above the soil. The stem part that we cover will be able to root and give us a higher yield of tators. With this warm spring weather, not only are the vegetable crops growing well but so are all the weeds. We could use some help hand weeding, please join us at the farm Wednesday through Sunday from 8:30am on. This is very rewarding work sharing with nature and all the good people that make up the Sweetwater community. Peace

About this time every season, I am reminded how lucky I am to be working as a farmer and feeling the support of the Sweetwater Community each and every day.  Growing food for a Community Supported Farm makes the farming experience more challenging but significantly more rewarding.  Every week the other farmers and I get the chance to interact with the very people who are eating the veggies we grow for them.  It is unfortunately a rare experience in the times we live in.

I hope we are meeting your expectations this season and do hope that you will consider joining the Sweetwater community again for the 2011-2012 season.  We are accepting Member Renewal applications exclusively for the month of March.  In April we will open membership to the public.

See you all very soon.

Peaceful Greetings Sweetwater Community!

The weather is starting to warm up but we still have time for at least one more share of spinach this season. And as another sign of spring, our first green bean bed is starting to grow. This week we have to clear out a bed of green cabbage that has not sized up because of the warmer temperatures, so cabbage in the share will be one pound consisting of 2-4 small but tender cabbage heads.

Here is a simple Cole-slaw recipe suggestion using mostly CSA share items. Start by shredding the green cabbage, green kohlrabi, fennel bulb (all from this week’s share) and a couple of carrots (if you have some left over from last week’s share). You can dice the fennel leaves and parsley to add as well (save the thinnly chopped Kohlrabi leaves for a mixed salad). Finish with your favorite dressing or make one with diced garlic or scallions, some lemon juice, olive oil and any spices you wish. Enjoy!

One of my family’s favorite Sweetwater vegetables that is in the share this week is Fennel, a culinary and medicinal herb known in Italy as Finocchio which has an anise-like flavor. The bulb can be used in many ways including root bakes, diced in salads or shredded in Cole-slaw. The leaves can be chopped and added to salads, juiced or infused as a digestive tea.

A huge “thank you” to all of our Sweetwater Community for supporting us with your letters and petitions for our rezoning hearing last night.  Check out our letter from Sweetwater’s founder, Rick Martinez.

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather. The crops are growing well and we are on our way towards growing the spring crops. Today we are seeding our cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini.

This week we will have mint leaves in the share. It can be used fresh or dried for storage. Mint makes a refreshing tea that soothes the stomach or can be used as a garnish or in desserts. Peace

By this time next week we’ll have had our first hearing on our Rezoning application we submitted to Hillsborough County.  While we are feeling confident that the application will be approved given the complete and total outpouring of support we have received from members, neighbors, school children, and even folks who have never visited our community – we want to continue to encourage our members and supporters to send in your letters and sign our petitions in support of the rezoning.  Please help us in keeping all fingers and toes crossed!

And the farming goes on.  Brother Mark recently installed our drip irrigation, so this week the farm crew will plant our first spring tomatoes!

This week will also be a time to focus on our newly planted potatoes, we will be using a technique called flame weeding on the furrows where our potatoes are growing. With most plants you could us a hoe for weeding, but in this case the growth of the potato would also be disturbed. Flame weeding is a common organic practice that allows you to keep the weeds at bay until the potato sprouts. We can look forward to delicious potatoes at the end of the season!

Hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather lately, the farmers sure are and so are the crops in the field.

Thank you to Worm’s Way for donating a new greenhouse to the farm. We have already filled it up with transplants that will become our Spring crops. These “baby” tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and edible flowers are growing very well in the new greenhouse located right next to the large greenhouse.

Remember that the greens on the daikon radish are edible and can be used in stir-fry, soups or even juiced.

Thanks again to all of our supporters for continuing to send us your letters encouraging our commissioners to vote in favor of our rezoning application.  They have received hundreds of letters so far and even said their full time person couldn’t keep up with logging them all in!

Happy eating, Peace.

This week we are planting the potato crops! We will grow Cranberry Red, All-Blue and Yukon Gold Potatoes which should be ready to harvest in spring. In preparation for spring we have also started seeding Basil, Peppers, Eggplants, Tomatoes and many edible flowers. This week we will begin harvesting the green cabbage.

We’d like all of you to take a moment and VOTE for the Sweetwater Children’s Home Project on Creative Loafing’s “10-100-1000” contest.  Whoever gets the most votes will win $1,000 toward their community project.  It’s really easy and takes just a minute.  Follow this link…

Hope everyone is enjoying all the winter hardy leafy greens that have been in the share. Those crops are really enjoying this cool weather and are great in stir-fries and soups. This week we will again harvest Mustard Greens, both the red and the green varieties which can be used interchangeable. They have a strong peppery taste when eaten raw, but a mild flavor when sauteed. Try lightly sauteing with garlic and olive oil and topping with sesame oil. Great source of vitamin A.

Join our founder, Rick Martinez, this Saturday at the farm for his “Organic 101” workshop from 12-2.  An informative and fun class for members and non-members.  (A donation of $35 is suggested.)

Thanks to those folks that have been returning rubberbands, we are happy to re-use them. Have a wonderful week. Peace

This week we will begin harvesting the Daikon Radishes. The word daikon comes from two japanese words meaning large root, Daikon Radish originated in the meditereanean but became popular when introduced to the Orient. This is an extremely versatile vegetable that can be eaten raw in salads or cut into strips or chips for relish trays. It also can be stir-fried, grilled, baked, boiled or broiled. Use the daikon as you would a radish. They are also preserved by salting as in making sauerkraut. Daikon is also used in soups and simmered dishes. Don’t through away the leaves since they are rich in vitamin C, beta carotene, calcium, and iron and can be used as cooking greens.

This week we will again be harvesting Kohlrabi, the name means cabbage-turnip and refers to the flavor. Remember that the leaves, stem and bulb are all edible raw or cooked. Some more ideas for preparation are to use them for cole slaw, or boil and mash the bulb for mashed kohlrabi.

Peace

Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year!

Thanks to all this great cold weather, the broccoli is finally ready to be harvested and it is delicious. This week we will again have beet roots in the share. The bunches come with the greens which can be eaten raw in salad, juiced or thrown in soups. One of our strangest looking vegetables we grow is the Kohlrabi. The name means cabbage-turnip and refers to the taste. The stem, leaves and bulb of this vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked in as many ways as you can imagine. Very popular in eastern Europe, it is mostly eaten raw like an apple. My favorite is to cut the bulb into ‘raw chips’ for dipping and then adding the thinly chopped leaves into a salad.

Special thanks to those members that have helped us in the field these last couple of weeks. Your help is greatly appreciated and it is a pleasure to get to meet and farm with you all. Hope to see more members out in the field experiencing organic food production first hand. We are a community, let’s grow together! Peace and Love!

Welcome to the new year, may it bring us health and happiness and a bountiful crop. We have just experienced our third frost of the season. Not to worry – the crops are either cold hardy and enjoying this weather or protected under frost clothe.

Joi Choi is my favorite of all the Bok Choy’s. Its crunchy white stem is delicious cut up small in a salad, chopped in a stir-fry or smothered with peanut butter. And don’t through the leaves away, toss them in a salad or over a soup or stir-fry at the end of cooking. Also save the beet greens as a tangy addition to your salad. This week we are in need of volunteers to help with the seedlings in the greenhouse. This is a very meditative task that can be accomplished will sitting on the picnic tables. Please join us Thursday, Friday or Sunday.

Happy eating, Peace

Hope everyone had a happy winter solstice and enjoyed the spectacular event that was the lunar eclipse. All the crops are growing well in the fields, enjoying this cooler weather which means less insect pest and weeds. We have began seeding spinach in the fields, if the weather stays cool we should start seeing the first spinach harvest in a few weeks. May you all have a happy week, peace

Reminders:

Make sure to pick up your share only on designated days and pick-up location. Missed shares have been pre-harvested and will be donated to those in need. So absolutely no make-ups for missed shares.

Please make sure to take only the items and amounts for the share designated on the board. This will ensure that all members get there share.

Thank you for supporting community supported agriculture.