Lloyd Craft Farms Fresh Produce, Locally Grown

We finished packing the Special Box of fruits and veggies and they are in the cooler, ready to be loaded tomorrow morning for the trip to Bee Healthy. 

We harvested some of the stuff from our high tunnels to sell:  Mid-sized Bok Choi, 5 oz bags of fresh Spinach, Lacinato and Curly Green Kale.  (We will be stocking Spinach and Kale at Bee Healthy next week and throughout June before the CSA gets going!)

Fruit for sale tomorrow:  ORG Lady Alice Apples (the tail-end of the case), Heirloom Oranges (over 40#), and 3 ripe and ready Dole Pineapple Golds!  In addition to the fruit and veggies from Lloyd Craft Farms we also have ginger root and turmeric.

All the Special Boxes are spoken for–contents are 2# ORG Red Seedless Grapes, Hass Avocado, 1# bag Meyer Lemons, 3# ORG Red Potatoes, ORG Green Onions,  Garlic Bulb, our own Broccolini, and a Pete’s ORG Living Butter Lettuce…and an INFO Sheet—all for $25.  Checks and exact cash appreciated!

See you tomorrow!  The Farmer’s Wife–

You can now sign up for the CSA at http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com , CSA tab, Sign up for CSA page.   Pay using your debit or credit card at our PayPal link, or email me that you are sending your check in the mail.  Deadline is June 1st.

What is CSA?  It’s a business plan or distribution system and stands for Community Supported Ag–locally and fresh grown garden goodies direct from The Farmer…organically raised and fresh picked. Share Costs are $100-$400 for July-September, with an option to extend into Mid-October:  Weekly, Leap-Frog, or Monthly Shares from which to chose.

The garden isn’t done with the first frost!  We have late season Brassica’s (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage), and lots of onions, potatoes, greens, acorn and butternut, and more…just no more corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, melons, or eggplant.  But believe me!  You’re going to be tired of them by October!  

Join us and Come out to The Farm every Thursday–even if it’s not your turn for a Box of FRESH GOODNESS–and shop The Store for regional fruits, our own herbs, mushrooms, garlic, and specialty veggies.  Chit-Chat with Kris from Diamond S Delights and take advantage of her enzyme filled cheeses and milk products.  Breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery and good-hearted folks!

Looking forward to seeing you–The Farmer’s Wife

For those that signed up and reserved a box for this LAST week at Bee Healthy–

5th THURSDAY SPECIAL BOXES:

Hass Avocado, 1# bag Meyer Lemons, ORG 2# bag Red Seedless Grapes…Our own Galion X Broccolini, ORG Green Onions, ORG Garlic bulb, ORG 3# bag Red Potatoes, & ORG Living Butter Lettuce……….$25

5 EXTRA SPECIAL BOXES for sale–TEXT TO RESERVE   431-1219

We will only have apples, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, garlic, ginger root, and turmeric….and some of our own high tunnel KALE–for sale.

The tired and exhausted Farmer’s Wife

4 Boxes of great produce to reserve and pick up tomorrow at Bee Healthy:

Gem Avocado, 2 Limes, & 2 Kiwi

ORG Yellow Pear Tomatoes (pint).  ORG Cucumber, 2 ORG Zucchini, 4 ORG Roma tomatoes, ORG Cauliflower, ORG Living Butter Lettuce, 2-1/3 # Red & Yukon ORG Potatoes—valued close to $30, cost $25!

Text 431-1219 to reserve Box, pick up Friday at Bee Healthy.

FIRST–thanks to all you wonderful folks who bought our EXTRA boxes on Friday’s!  Produce don’t hold–it needs to mooove–   

SECOND–Thanks to all you folks who visited us Thursday’s, some even weekly, and since January through winter snows, and icy roads…Just to get some of the freshest organic foods, and Heirloom Oranges, Lady Alice Apples, Tropicana Pineapples, and Hass and Gem Avocadoes! 

BUT FOREMOST–Thanks to those who joined Group A or Group B (or A & B–Christina!) and committed to a box of fruits/veggies twice a month, no matter what!  Month of May will come to a close and we have kept the produce flowing over the winter months, thanks to the community and all you great folks–

AND NOW WE TRANSITION TO THE NEXT PHASE:  Lloyd Craft Farms fresh and local veggies and all the fun on Thursday Pick Up Days at The Farm on Washakie Ten.    Come GROW with us!  Deadline to join is June 1st…You can now sign up on-line at http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com and pay using PayPal!

Now…for this Thursday– Last Box for Group B, lots of goodies for sale at the back of Bee Healthy.  Diamond S Delights, and don’t forget to shop Bee Healthy!  Updated list of produce for sale is now posted at http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com , Buyer’s Group Tab, Page “What Produce at Buyer’s Group”–

New items –ORG Red Seedless Grapes, ORG Corn on the Cob (I know–CRAZY), ORG Lady Alice apples, Gem and Hass Avocados (special on the Hass of 2/$3.75)  Items from Lloyd Craft Farms are Spinach, first harvest of Bok Choi, more Broccolini and Broccoli Raab, hopefully some of our own Kale, and a variety of fresh herbs….and, oh yes, I ordered some more of those Specialty Mushrooms, Chef’s Sampler!

GROUP B BOXES:  3# ORG Lady Alice Apples, our own Broccolini and Bok Choi, 1# bag of Spinach (great to boil, or chop and add to lots of dishes), Red Zeppelin Onion, Corn on the Cob, and 1# Red Beets–$25

See you Thursday!  AND don’t forget to sign up for the last box (5th Thursday–May 31st)–The Farmer’s Wife!

June 1st is the Deadline to sign up for the CSA and get your veggies starting in July.  To help out with this process I have now added a page at http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com under the CSA tab.  It is called ‘Sign Up for CSA’.  You can complete this fill-in form, pay by PayPal, and be done!

But first, start with the information under the CSA tab including 2018 Share Prices, Upgrade option, “What to Expect at Pick UP”... Fill in the form and Submit, then you can pay by PayPal with your debit or credit card.  (Don’t forget to include the PayPal fee–info on the PayPal tab.)

Come and grow with us!  Healthy food for healthy bodies– The Farmer’s Wife

We have 5 FRIDAY SPECIAL BOXES to reserve and pick up tomorrow (Friday) at Bee Healthy.  Boxes will be dropped at 10:00 a.m. and can be picked up anytime before 5:30 p.m. when The Bee closes.  FRIDAY SPECIAL BOXES are from our surplus from Thursday Market at Bee Healthy–  Don’t miss out!  Good quality and great price–

BOX CONTENTS:  Bagged ORG Taylor Farms Broccoli, head of ORG Cauliflower, ORG Green Onions, ORG Yellow Pear Tomatoes (pint)…2# Heirloom Oranges, Large Gem Avocado with a Key Lime…Organic Girl 50/50 Salad Mix in the clamshell…………..$25 (10% Discount!)

Text 431-1219, or email craftterri@rtconnect.net, or respond to this POST!

The Farmer’s Wife

The truck order came in today!  For Group A Special Box–no green beans, but instead we will substitute our own Broccoli Raab and 1/2# bag of Spinach from Lloyd Craft Farms.  Sorry for the change, but you can’t put in what doesn’t come in!

Lots of other goodies to buy–fresh and reasonably priced, especially for USDA certified Organic.

3 more Thursday’s at Bee Healthy–Group A this week, Group B next week, and then our Fifth Thursday Special Box.  Sign up for that last Special Box (May 31st).  Deadline to reserve it is Friday, May 25th.  (email craftterri@rtconnect.net, text to 431-1219, or respond here.)

Also will be selling veggies from our high tunnels Thursday’s at Bee Healthy (as they are ready):  Broccolini, Kale, dwarf sized Bok Choi, and Romaine Lettuce.  (Spinach at Bee Healthy NOW–all week!)

The Farmer’s Wife!

Territorial Seed says this about silver plastic mulch for our beds:

Drives bugs away!
This amazing plastic mulch repels hungry, disease-carrying insects. The shimmering silver, high-density polyethylene plastic causes insects such as thrips, aphids, and white flies to avoid the area near your plants. Experiments have shown that Silver Mulch is as effective as regular pesticide applications for protecting tomatoes from spotted wilt virus. Good for all types of plants. We use it regularly on all brassica crops. It’s the best defense mustard plants have against flea beetles. A must in the organic garden.

With the increasing visits of aphids each year–to more than just the Salanova lettuce–we decided for 2018 to use it extensively in the garden, especially for the Brassica’s:  Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli…including the Galion X Broccolini…afterall, everyone admits, Aphid-infested broccoli is a crop dump!  Not that aphids taste bad, or that they render the produce inedible, but it is not appetizing to have little green specks crawling out of your food! 

But, here’s what we have discovered today–The silver mulch can also scramble our brains and make us want to avoid it!  NOTE TO SELF–work the silver mulch beds early in the morning, and always wear sunglasses, a shade hat, and sufficient skin protection!

Two more interesting facts on silver mulch–we have used it for the past 6 years for the bell peppers–no aphids and few other sucking pests!  AND, the soil temperatures can be as much as 20 degrees cooler under the silver mulch than the black!  Brassica’s love cool ground for their sprawling roots–hope this helps with the early season heat we have experienced the last two springs…Such that it rendered some of the cauliflower and broccoli bitter and ‘hot’–

GARDEN Report for today:  Transplanted 2,640 EARLY season Brassica’s:  1,104 cabbage plants (7 varieties), 864 broccoli plants, 672 cauliflower plants (Flame Star in light yellow, and Bishop in bright white)–these are the early season crops for the CSA and sales up north in Montana and regionally.  Tomorrow’s garden plan is to set out the onion plants!  (And me?  I’m getting ready for Thursday Market at Bee Healthy!…3 more left!)

The Farmer’s Wife

Don’t miss out on Fresh, Locally grown veggies every Thursday at The Farm beginning in July.  Membership affords you the opportunity to shop The Store for fruit, herbs, specialty veggies, Blue Heron Ranch eggs, and mushrooms every Thursday from 4-6 pm.  Cost to join is $100 to $400 depending on how many weeks.  CSA runs from July through October.  Pick up and shopping every Thursday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.  Diamond S Delights is also there with their fresh raw milk products!  Visit http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com, CSA tab for more information!  Applications at Bee Healthy. 

Questions?  Call 431-1219 or send email to craftterri@rtconnect.net–