Lloyd Craft Farms Fresh Produce, Locally Grown

If you had a cooler full of melons, and were half crazy with a lack of sleep, you would be in a panic, too!

Here’s the honest truth…the melons are in the cooler…the cooler is 38 degrees which is optimal for cantaloupe…they will keep 10-14 days at that temp…it is a holiday…we have been going 100 miles per hour getting the garden harvested…it is Labor Day Weekend but we don’t HAVE to labor.

Won’t be on the corner of 10th and Big Horn today–see you all next week 4:30-6:30 for Fruit Pick up, CSA Pick up, AND MELON SALES! For those following this blog that are not members–come, too, and buy at that time.

If you have your heart set on that juicy watermelon for the family picnic don’t go to the store and buy one from TEXAS that came off the vine before it was completely ripe–COME HERE TO THE FARM FOR TODAY AND BUY DIRECTLY OUT OF THE COOLER! (SALE PRICE POSTED EARLIER STILL HOLDS FOR TODAY)

Happy Holiday–The Farmer’s Harried (and half crazy) Wife

We will be at Big Horn Federal, Saturday morning, August 31st–Labor Day Weekend SPECIAL. Cantaloupe are marked $2 to $4–comparative is 50 cents a pound instead of 75 cents! Watermelons are the Mini-Bite Seedless– 5-8#’s in size…$3 instead of $5. No limit to the amount you can buy!

Hope you’ll stop and pick up a few for the holidays and your company. They taste good on the mountain or at the lake…and definitely a plus for that family BBQ.

Enjoy!!

As I suspected when I posted on the Melons–no Farmer’s Market because of the Labor Day Weekend-

SOOOOO….Plan B
Because melons don’t care what day it is…they just grow, ripen, are squeezed off the vine, and either eaten or not–and then begin their rot cycle…We just might be downtown on a street corner selling the melons in the morning. Look for us! Otherwise–see you next week!

Have a great weekend–HEY! How about some melons for those special people visiting?? Or a couple of cooled melons to float in the creek while you fish?

The Farmer’s Trucking Wife

The MELON SEASON has started at LLOYD CRAFT FARMS!–With a BANG as usual–I’m taking a van load to Billings today and Elizabeth will be selling them Saturday morning at Farmer’s Market, downtown Worland at Pioneer Park. (Assuming it has not been co-opted by Labor Day Weekend–)

Varieties available: Athena and Avatar–both firm-meated oranges with a sweet Cantaloupe taste–Cost is $.75/pound, prices marked on cantaloupe. A limited amount of Honey Dew and Galia (Honey Dew/Cantaloupe Mix) may also be ready.

Watermelons: Mini-Sweet Bites for $3 – $4 depending on size.

All are vine-ripened and organically grown with no artificial fertilizers or chemicals.

Tuesday through Friday, during our regular Pick Up Days 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Melons can be purchased at The Farm–1049 Washakie Ten.

Tell your friends and neighbors and help to get the word out– THANKS!

Time is a whirling right now with so much to do on The Farm. The Farmer and I are moving as fast as we can being farmers, harvesters, and CSA directors. I am also a Fruit Buyer now– WOW!

So, want to take this time to make a quick post and say I will response in the briefest format I can to your orders for Raspberries or the Utah Fruit Truck. Purpose of the response is to let you know I got it. If you ordered and you do not get an email from me, I may not have gotten your order, or my response has been filtered out in your Junk. Either way, I’m sorry I can’t spend more time with the email–A long winded lady as myself is not used to or comfortable with short concise responses…but time dictates and sleep I must.

So, here is my report:
Raspberries have been ordered with FIVE extras for those slow to respond. ALSO NOTE–If you have a FRUIT SHARE you will be getting one pound of raspberries on Monday. Raspberries can be picked up Monday at THE FARM between 4:30 and 6:30–same time as the Fruit Share members will be rendezvousing.

Thursday night is the deadline for the UTAH TRUCK order–peaches, pears, and tart cherries. I will order a few extras to break into 5# units for those that want to enjoy and don’t need to can…there is some wisdom to that me thinks… The UTAH FRUIT will be delivered sometime between September 3rd and the 5th. Watch for a post to let you know it has arrived!

Payment due upon delivery–Raspberry price includes transportation and handling; UTAH FRUIT does not–

Fruit Share will be ready for pick up on Monday, September 2nd, between 4:30 to 6:30. I think you will love the share this week: Organic New Haven peaches, tropical fruit theme, and the pound of raspberries.

Gotta go to bed–BIG, BIG Harvest day tomorrow…Our Thursday people and preparing for the Friday’s as well. We are so excited to be taking some melons to Montana to sell through Market Day Foods of Bozeman. That excursion will take place Friday–Garden produce and melons up, and Fruit and Eggs on the back-haul! The Farmer will be handling the Pick Up without me 🙁

Hey, I’m not only a Fruit Buyer, but I’m a trucker, too– 🙂

The Farmer’s Silly Wife

It is CRAZY here–everything is ripe and ready!

CANNING TOMATOES–We have started picking the tomatoes for the canners. Working on the regulars and will pick the paste next week. Cost is $42 for 40#’s. Orders are filled on a first come basis, starting with the people that ordered in the spring. We should have enough tomatoes to fill other orders.

OLD FASHIONED APPLES–I have 50 pounds left and will have them available in 10# bags for sale at Pick Up Days this week. I’ve dropped the price to $16.50–we need the cooler space for the Fruit Run this weekend! Great applesauce, but I’m impressed with the Apple Crisps I’ve made!

CANTALOUPE AND WATERMELONS ARE READY–as the Thursday/Friday people know, and now the Tuesday members: Cantaloupe and Watermelons are ripe and ready and Man OH Man are they good. Vine-ripened and firm-meated. Each Share Member will get a generous amount, but we will have extras for sale during pick ups starting next week! Cost is 75 cents/lb. for the Cantaloupe and 50 cents/lb. for the Seeded Watermelons, $3-$5 for the Seedless Mini’s, depending on size. If you are interested in selling them for us at Farmer’s Market, give me a hollar!

The FARMER”S CRAZY BUSY AND TIRED WIFE–Fruit anyone?!

The TRUCK is coming out of UTAH. They make their trek every year at this time. If we can combine our order to meet their minimum order they will eliminate an additional freight charge.

I’m ordering Peaches (Elegant Lady, Summer Lady, O Henry, or Angelus), Red Bartlett Pears (Jumbo or Large), and Tart Cherries. I’m considering 15 boxes of Peaches, 10 boxes of Pears, and 6 Tart Cherries. I will charge you what it costs me–

Peaches are $28.50 for 32#,
Pears are $27.50 for the Jumbo, and $29.50 for the Large–both weigh 38#,
Tart Cherries are $35 for the Sugared, and $37 for the non-sugared–weigh 30#.

Specify what variety of peaches you want, whether you want Jumbo or Large pears, and sugared or non-sugared cherries. The orchard will attempt to deliver what you ask for but will fill the order based on availability. The fruit has been great in the past–substitutions have not been an issue. This is the only load that will have peaches–The truck usually makes a second trip later in the month.

Send me an email to reserve what you would like! tcraft@rtconnect.net

We have ordered RASPBERRIES from Riverton–The Fruit Shares will have 1 pound each! YAY!!!

I need to know who would like a flat for canning, preserves, or just plain heavy snacking–this would be for the first or second week in September. Oops–forgot to track down my note with the price…I’ll have to follow with that later…gotta get out to the garden to start picking for Tuesday Pick UPS!

(This offer is for everyone that follows this blog!)

Assuming the price is right–send me an email if you want a flat… tcraft@rtconnect.net
THANKS!

As you are aware we’ve had trouble with a consistent supply of eggs this season–through no fault of the egg suppliers…chickens are about as predictable as the weather when it comes to their laying habits. We understand this as farmers!

Point at hand—I have found a supplier with over 150 laying hens that can provide all the eggs we need on Pick Up Day. The price would be $3.75 a dozen. Chickens are organically fed with no antibiotics or hormones.

This is $1.00 more than you’ve been paying–but the supply would be consistent and the eggs would be there when you need them.

Send me an email if you would be interested–then I can decide whether to take the steps to get the eggs for next week. 🙂 tcraft@rtconnect.net

The Farmer’s Wife

Sorry to bug you again so soon–like two minutes–I am beginning to feel like a swarmy salesman selling from the back of his traveling wagon with HEALTH TONIC written on the side–but…

I have five 10# bags of Summer Red apples left from the 300 pounds I picked up last Sunday from BOJA FARMS in Bridger. Old Fashioned variety, small in size, tart with a sweet edge, Organic. Cooking apple.

I have to confess that I didn’t make the applesauce as planned on Saturday, but I did make two batches of Fresh Apple Crisp from my Wholefoods for the Whole Family cookbook–one batch for the ladies who joined us in the kitchen to learn about Salsa making, and tasted kombucha, fresh batch of sauerkraut, watermelon and cantaloupe, too; and the other batch for my family with our Chicken Dinner. (Brenda Green, cooker/canner extraordinaire, bless her heart, took my box of apples home to freeze up 10 gallons for homemade apple pies I can make this winter and the rest into applesauce! She can do that for you, too! check out the Canner’s Page under CUSTOM CANNING section)

Next Fruit Run will be August 31st with Pick up on SEPTEMBER 2nd, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Trip planned to the orchard for organic New Haven peaches–just enough for the Fruit Shares…not enough for extra sales. 🙁 (NO Palisades Peaches–they lost 75% of their crop to late frost this spring. Looking into Utah for Canner’s–no harvests until late September and October.)