I cannot tell you what a relief it was to kick off our week both on time and above freezing.   We haven’t had a normal Monday in over a month.  I was starting to think that the farm had been spellbound at some point in mid-January, leaving us shivering, stir-crazy, scrawling more and more items onto our to-do lists than we could physically do anything about.  Even though it looks like the fields are about to be drenched and quenched this week, Mark and I are relieved that we can finally start making moves that feel Spring adjacent.  After all, rainy days like these are perfect for plant propagation and greenhouse time.  We’re very thankful for our high-tunnel greenhouses this week–thanks to them, we’ve got some sweet little Bok Choy, Tokyo Bekana and mixed Mustards for fresh harvest.  They’ll be great, as always, with winter Carrots and our Purple Daikon from the root cellar.  Along with a sweet round of Frozen Blueberries from Shelby Summer at Sunrise Farm, things are looking pretty bright, delicious and nutritious for a gray week February. 

Who’s read for something PINK?! I sure hope you are, because we managed to rescue a section of our Winter Radicchio patch for this week with you in mind. Chicories like these are a true Winter delicacy. These varieties stand up to cold in ways that lettuce could never, and uncannily, they brighten in hue as the temps drop. However, they’re not totally impervious to frost, so we’ve had our work cut out for us, knowing that the temps have been dropping into to the low twenties and potentially teens this week. Sheesh. So, what you’re looking at is a real labor of love—a stunning mix of assorted varieties of Radicchio that have been hand harvested, hand sorted and mixed by your farmers so that you can have a bit of something that looks sweet but is deliciously bitter this week—pretty much has Valentine’s Day written all over it, no?

While I’m looking at a clear driveway at the moment, the next round of Winter Weather is due overnight. As of 5pm on Monday, I’m working on the assumption and sincere hope that we can open for business as usual this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. CSA Members can come on either Tuesday or Wednesday interchangeably, so if you typically pick up Wednesday and Tuesday looks better this week (or vice versa), go for it! If the situation changes and we need to close, I will notify and update folks using as many of the following methods as possible:

• Updating the farm Voice Mail Message (253) 778-6257

• Posting updates to our Facebook & Instagram pages

• Sending an Email Blast (if we have electricity and internet access)

• Posting an update to our Website (if we have electricity and internet access)
  … so feel free to check ahead before you make the drive if things look dicey.