| Newsletter | 2-4 Weeks Until CSA |

What’s Been Happening on the Farm:
This month has been both beautiful & challenging. As two young farmers with two young kids in tow and really big dreams (who might struggle with an itty bitty bit of perfectionism at times...ha!) the reminder Nature gives us to let go of the need to control EVERYTHING and take a few good deep breaths is truly a gift to us. As the spring sun has begun to warm the soil & our newly transplanted baby cabbage has grown strong and the sweet earth-scented breeze rolls over us in the field...

...we remember it’s all in a day’s work and that we’ve got this. One day at a time. 
We came into March from February with seriously SO much rain. It would seem like something a farmer would want...but in reality the rain at the start of the season makes working in the soil, like we need to, quite difficult. It has been a weekly challenge to catch up with field work that can’t be done when the soil is saturated. We are still managing to get things done, slowly but surely, and we recently added 4 incredible Work-Trade Members onto the Farm Team. This weekend we will get to work on our first field project together as a team. The project: Bed preparation for ALL the nearly 800 nightshade transplants that will go into the ground in only a few weeks! We are stoked to get to work on this team project (while staying healthy and safe along our 50 foot beds). And we can’t wait to share these beautiful veggies with you all later in the season!!

As a nurse, I (Athena) have continued to work at the hospital. It’s a bit eerie at the comparatively empty hospital and the city downtown feels a bit like a ghost town. But, our unit (Oncology) is staying healthy and has a bit of protection from the fray because we have to keep very strict protocols in order to keep our particular patients safe… so in a way I’m a bit insulated from all that is going on with the virus right now. Both, as a nurse and as a farmer.

Kyle, as always, is a serious Dad-Boss and holds the fort down with our 4-month old and 4-year old while I’m at the hospital. Many nights he is up nearly the same hours as me tending to our littlest one who doesn’t quite understand why he’s giving her a bottle and not just giving her to mommy for the really good stuff! I am endlessly amazed by him. He carries the majority of the physical load on the farm  and STILL manages to cook, do laundry, & bake delicious chocolate chip cookies and fresh bread for us all with our 4-year old and the baby while I work (or sleep)!! I am blessed to work alongside him.

Our sweet Daughter Adaline turned 4-years old this month. We had planned a Celebration Hike with family and friends but, unsurprisingly, due to all that is going on we had to postpone the celebration for later this summer. We ended up having a wonderful day as a family exploring outside our home with her new Walkie Talkie set, tossing rocks in the small creek by our house and collecting pine cones. We also spent lots of sweet time in the kitchen together making chocolate chip chocolate cupcakes with coconut cream-cheese frosting, boiling sweetened condensed coconut milk into caramel for the first time (!- right, I know… it was so delicious!) for homemade ice cream and otherwise overdosing on our year’s worth of sugar, treats, hot chocolate and ALL the imaginative play! 

Earlier in the month we enjoyed an amazing time meeting literally hundreds of incredible folks at the ASAP CSA Fair at New Belgium Brewery. We sold out ALL our CSA Shares and most of those are those of you we met at the Fair that day! We are sincerely looking forward to connecting with all of you more, especially on the farm later in the summer and as things settle down a bit more.
<With All Our Love, A&K>

Recipes
If you have ever been interested in making your own sauerkraut or kimchi soon will be the time to start practicing. TRUST ME….it’s not the same as the store bought stuff. No hating if you like store-bought! But homemade is honestly better tasting!

Here is a great Vegan Kimchi Recipe (has an easy “fish sauce”): https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-kimchi/ 
Here is a simple yet unique Krout recipe I highly recommend:
https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-sauerkraut/ 
Here is a super easy 2-Ingredient Krout if you just want to test the waters:
https://www.ouroilyhouse.com/simple-2-ingredient-sauerkraut-recipe/ 
We purchased glass “Krout Weights” and Fermentation Self-Burping Jar Nipple-Tops from Amazon. They are SO helpful and highly recommended. 

What To Expect:
​CSA boxes will start smaller and less diverse at the start of the season and increase & diversify over the length of the season and finish smaller again at the end. 
Our Goal Start is Mid-May for Shares to Begin...Hopefully Sooner!
Produce boxes start smaller and less diverse and then increased produce yield and variety picks up in June and there is always an overabundance during the prime months of July and August. Due to rain and unanticipated field germination problems (thankfully we figured out and corrected the problem early) we anticipate about a 2-week delay for our Peas, Kale, Spinach and Carrots (later maturity anyhow). We are projecting to have CSA Boxes start Mid-May. We may have some greens before this (and maybe peas and radishes). If so we will make small boxes of these for each of you earlier on in May but for now anticipate the start to be Mid-May. And of course, as we near the end of the CSA weeks we will extend offers of extended season boxes after October for Fall veggies at no additional cost to CSA Members.