Newsletter: Here I Go Again (With Help)
Growing inside the hoop house.
And just like that, we're off! Spring for me always brings the joy of new growth. Watching the brown, inert landscape quickly transform into a lush vibrant green fills me with childlike wonder, every time. Of course, it also signals the beginning of another year's work growing and tending to our fruits, veggies, and animals. After months of planning and a little bit of R&R, the growing season at Foxtail has begun.
That said, naturally we've been at it for months already. Between spreading compost and prepping our hoop house beds, starting plants in cells and transplanting them into the houses, direct seeding, and weeding, Emmalyn, Andy, Marlee, Ashley and I have been cultivating our callouses since mid-February. During the two weeks of bitter cold in February, we built a small grow room in our basement to start all of our early season plants. Normally we'd start them in our propagation house, Bottsville, but the temperatures forced us to change plans. I received a few funny looks checking out at Menards with a couple hundred dollars worth of LED grow lights, that's for sure!
As I mentioned in a previous email, another project we undertook earlier this year was rehabbing and updating one of our four hoop houses. Unfortunately, for the second year running, one of our houses had it's plastic cover tear completely off of the structure. We decided to spend a little extra time and money to upgrade and replace some of the components to ensure that this house will stay upright and rigid for the foreseeable future. Gone are the rotted pine baseboards and end walls, replaced with cedar boards and steel walls.
For the next three weeks, all energy will be devoted to the 2021 Spring CSA. Once May hits, we'll be pulling double duty, as that's when our Farmers Markets begin! (Don't worry, we'll save all of the good veggies for y'all...) We'll be at the same markets we were last year; in Minneapolis on Saturday mornings at the Midtown Farmers Market starting May 1, and Fulton Farmers Market beginning May 15. We'll also be at the local Osceola Farmers Market Friday afternoons beginning in June.
The plant sale continues as well, pick-ups will start May 15. If you haven't placed an order yet and would like to, you can still use the promo code GROWINGUP for 10% off of your order. We'll be opening the sale up to the general public this week, so I'd order sooner rather than later.
I think that's all I have for now, as always, feel free to email us any questions or comments. We also love to see photos of how you're using our produce! If you're an Instagram or Facebook user, please tag Foxtail on your posts.
Thank you again for making the choice to support this local food system. As Buck said, "It takes people like you to make people like me."
-Cody
What’s in the Box?!
-Spinach (Bunching): Thanks to the warm temperatures, we have fully grown delicious spinach!
-Baby Spinach: These leaves came from a later seeding, they're incredibly tender and sweet. Eat these raw in a salad.
-Sauerkraut: Expect a prepared goodie in your boxes every now and again. This kraut was made from some of our fall cabbages, and is delicious with a brat or just on it's own!
-Carrots: These aren’t the Sweet Mokums, but they’re good in stir fry or stew.
-Baby Mix: A combination of baby chard, baby kale, and radish microgreens.
-Kennebec Potatoes (St Croix Valley Produce): These thin-skinned, white-fleshed spuds are great roasted. We like to make homemade chips out of them.
-Daikon Radishes: Milder than their red counterparts, these giant white radishes are creat sliced into a salad for a little spice and crunch, or shredded into a slaw.
-Onions (Turnip Rock Farm): Onions are a staple crop used in cuisine all over the world. How cool is that?
-Squash Puree: This came from our fall squash. We did all the hard work of roasting, peeling and pureeing for you!