NEWSLETTERS

McDougal’s Farm LLC

What’s Growing On !

June 18th, 2020

Farm News

First CSA delivery for every week deliveries starts this Thursday! Every Other Week will start next week June 25th

The first box is always an exciting one and this year it was no different. Saturday morning we woke happy to see the temperature held a half degree above the ‘freeze’ mark. Then right before the sun rose, the temperature dropped and frost covered the garage roof! The coffee we were enjoying, suddenly didn’t taste so good. We had just planted out all your tenders…700 tomatoes, 2000 pepper plants, 400 cucumbers, all the flowers and a field of delicate squash transplants. They all pulled through..whew! but they do bear the mark of a couple nervous farmers. The night before we covered them in white Kaitlin Clay.  Better frosted plants, than frost-dead plants,… right? This spring has certainly been a roller coaster ride. Today it is sunny, 80 degrees, our helpers just arrived… a good day to be a farmer.

We have always used waxed cardboard boxes in the past for our CSA deliveries. This year, due to the Coronavirus, we have chosen to use disposable, non returnable paper bags. We are pretty sure we don’t like them already but  need to give it a try as a safety precaution. Will this be another inconvenient cautionary step or will you all love the convenience of not having to return your boxes? Whichever way it goes, we are asking for a little constructive feedback. Is your romaine still crisp? How is it going on the receiving end? We know we will have to switch over to the boxes later when the harvest gets hefty, but even for now…”Hold the bottom!” We will figure this all out together.

Food is a powerful thing. It is key to good health. And when grown properly, it can be good for the planet’s health too. Where and how you spend your food dollar is as important as voting…because it is voting. Thank you for joining our CSA this summer and voting for a local, healthy food system.

Honored to be your trusted farmers. Good things up ahead:))

Jerry and Maydene

What’s in the Bag

Appreciate every item in your bag this week. Each has had several opportunities to die, but chose not to:). They have survived lows of 23 degrees and highs of over 100 degrees…Yet in all past 11 years, we have never had such beautiful produce come out of the hoop houses. This week in your bag you will find Romaine, Rhubarb, a bundle of radish, a bag of spinach and a welcome chive bouquet. To the farm members that start next week; you may have missed out on the welcome bouquet, but we have decided to place random flowers in the bags throughout the growing season, because this year, we all need more random flowers. Agree?

Wash those veggies!

Though the veggies in your bag may look clean, they have only been “field washed”, meaning; wash just enough to get the mud off. The romaine is grown under row cover so it looks clean but has not been washed at all. Later in the season you may even get some root vegetables with the dirt on them. We are not just being lazy, we have found root crops in particular, store longer and retain more of their nutrients with some of the dirt left on them to help seal them.

Just a reminder: The weekly shares get heavier, as the season goes. Though the first few weeks may be light, they do get much heavier with more variety as the summer progresses. Stay tuned…much goodness to come.

Anonymous Gratitude

You know the old saying, “You don’t know what you got, till it’s gone!”? For some of us, material things may come to mind,  but usually, it is the  people we have lost that shake us to the core. Our eyes, mind and heart are completely opened…but only after we lose them. That is why it was so inspiring to meet a family who decided not to wait till it was too late to show gratitude for all they have…particularly their healthy family. So in gratitude, in the name of family and blessings, they anonymously chose to make a large fresh food donation to the Antigo Food Pantry. They wanted it to be fresh, organic, and available to anyone who doesn’t have the opportunity to enjoy what they do every day. On their behalf, McDougal’s Farm will proudly be delivering weekly produce to the Antigo Food Pantry this summer. We just wanted to give the spirit of “Anonymous Gratitude” a big shout out. The world needs much more of it.