Howdy Folks, 

I hope this letter finds you all well.

A couple things on produce:  We trialed a late planting of watermelon which worked out so we’re sending watermelons out, I hope, to everyone.

We’re looking at night in the 40’s here which means basil season will come to an end…although we’re going to double cover it every night and uncover it in the morning to carry it as far along as possible.  This is why you might get basil a few weeks in a row.  Go out with a bang!

Golden Berries are a tropical fruit that are just finally producing after being seeded in February.  They are in the same family as Ground Cherries.  Eat them raw.  I absolutely love these berries.  They have a very strong flavor so be prepared!  I’m hoping to get these out to everyone in the coming weeks.  As of now, they are only going into large shares.

Every year in Spring, there are birds that nest in the same exact spots on the farm.  I mean exactly the same sort of weird spots.  Are these the same birds?  I would say yes or one of the offspring.  I would say this simply b/c the spots aren’t really good spots for them to nest peaceably.  For instance, right outside of our front door we have successful nests of barn swallows every year.  It’s an area that gets a lot of traffic, lots of noise, and lots of human interference.  There are many great spots in the barn to nest where most of the barn swallows nest.  I mean, I’m not pretending to be able to think like a bird but it’s pretty obvious considering the others.  

I see robins, too, nest in the same exact weird spots.  Might be the same ones.  Let’s assume they are the same from the previous years family.  It’s a really nice thought.  It makes me think we have a really nice spot here for them and that we’re doing something right.  When I look out at the farm I see huge amounts of native flowering plants.  Some might see an unkempt yard.  During the day its incredible how many pollinators we see at these wild spots of flowers and, at the lights at night, I see huge amounts of insects…Like quantities of bugs when I was a kid and I was scared to open the door at night for fear of letting in millions of bugs.  Insects play various roles.  A big one being a food source for lots of birds and other creatures.

All I want to mention is that I see a connection between the way the farm operates and the overall health of the wildlife we see out here.  We leave large areas of land feral where the weeds produce flowers and incredible populations and species of bees and other pollinators follow.  That’s what I see when I see fall fields of goldenrod and aster.  I see food.  A critical food source for the insects to overwinter and continue to drive the food chains of this planet.  

As I look out the window and see the seed of wild lettuce floating in the breeze right into our farm fields, I am not at all worried about the ‘weed’ seed.  I’d rather kill those weeds so our fields are kept cleaner, but I now have grown to understand that when I’m killing the weeds I am killing the food source for the very insects we need to do our job.  Do you know how hard it is to justify mowing!?  

But weeds can get very intense and invasive so we leave large margins of the farm to grow wild every year.  The farm doesn’t look perfect but we are fulfilling our mission which is to create an environment where we can produce super healthy food for not only our customers but for all of our wildlife allies, as well.   

Your Farmers,

Chris, Aeros and The Who Crew