2012 Season, week two

May 12, 2012

This week's harvest:
Lettuce
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Tatsoi
Garlic "Scapes" (or Pigtails)
Choose between: Arugula, Beets, &/or Cilantro

This week's farm news:

Hello again and welcome to CSA week #2! Lots more salad fixings in your baskets this week. The tatsoi is good to eat fresh or lightly steamed or sauteed. (Please excuse all of the little holes...the flea beetles LOVE tatsoi, too! Just let it be a reminder that we don't use nasty sprays on our crops!) The "green garlic" that we are giving you right now can be used like a green onion - just chop it and add it to any dish that needs some delicious garlic flavor.

This week in the garden Eric, with a little help from Ira and Opal, transplanted all of our sweet peppers, hot peppers, and basil into the garden. Ira can easily be convinced to "help" when part of his work involves getting to drive our little golf/chore cart. (A fairly new farm tool and an eight-year-old boy's dream come true!)

Eric also got a little cultivation work done on some of the young crops...but it's that crazy time of year for us where a "little" cultivation work is a mere drop in the bucket! There's so much to do!

Early in the week we hosted an awesome group of home-schooled kids on our farm for a pretty awesome fun-filled day of play. We need to do this again soon!

2012 Season, week one

May 5, 2012

This week's harvest:
Strawberries!
Lettuce
Arugula
Spinach
Swiss Chard
"Green Garlic"

This week's farm news:

Welcome, everyone, to the first CSA delivery of the season! Most of you have been with us in years past but we have a few who are new to Bugtussle CSA - so a special hello and welcome to you!

These past few months have seen us becoming increasingly busy on the farm. We are not hosting any interns this season, which is the first time since before Ira was born, so it's just the Smith family in action this year! (Along with the occasional helping hand from a gracious friend or neighbor!) We certainly have mixed feelings about not hosting interns. Last year's dear interns, Jesse and Hannah (follow their adventures at Rough Draft Farmstead), were about as good as we can imagine interns being! (As those of you who have been with us for several years know - some interns are, well, not so good!) So we have decided to end, or at least pause, on a positive note with our intern program and spend this season focusing on our family and really trying to improve the quality of our farm and CSA. Here's to a good season!!

Otherwise, the farm is bustling with life! The gardens are full of growing baby vegetable plants, we have one new calf and 63 (and counting) baby lambs!

Hooray for spring!

More eggs this Saturday

Hello!! We are coming to Nashville this Saturday April 21st with eggs, sweet potatoes, and maybe green garlic. The West Nashville Farmers Market is now back outdoors in Richland Park. Check out www.westnashvillefarmersmarket.com if you need directions. We will be there from 9 am until 12 noon. So, starting an hour earlier than the indoor market. This will likely be our last trip to town before starting our CSA deliveries which will be the first or second Saturday in May. So, stock up! This will be the last bulk discount price sale of eggs until next winter.

Eggs: $5/dozen ($4.50 for shareholders). 5 dozen for $20 (shareholders only)

Sweet Potatoes: $1.50/Lb. ($1/Lb. for shareholders)

Green Garlic (if available): $1/stem

Please let us know what you want by mid-day Friday. But it's O.K. to show up unannounced for eggs. First come, first serve. But we'll do our best to honor egg orders.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you!
Eric

Eggs this Saturday

We are coming to the West Nashville Farmers Market indoor location again with eggs, sweet potatoes, and maybe, just maybe, a few greens. We will be there from 10-12 this Saturday, March 31st. If you need directions visit www.westnashvillefarmersmarket.com. We have an abundance of eggs so we hope your egg appetites are raging. And maybe you want some for Easter? The grass got really green. The bugs are out. That means extra good eggs. These birds are in chicken heaven here on this farm!

Hen Eggs: $5/dozen or $4.50/dozen for shareholders. 5 dozen for $20 (available to everyone this time). They keep very well for several months.

Ira's Duck Eggs: $7/dozen. $4/half dozen. $1/egg. He has about 15 dozen available.

Sweet Potatoes: $1/Lb. We have plenty so don't be shy.

Maybe Kale: $3/bag. We are super busy right now and short-handed so no promises.

Please let us know what you want (by email at info@bugtusslefarm.com or phone at 270-457-BUGS). Remember we won't come again for at least three weeks so buy plenty of eggs. Buy some for your friends too!

2012 Veggie Shares: we can take about 6 more folks and then we're full.

Lastly, if you haven't seen our new website and blog you should check it out. There are some sweet pictures of our children. www.bugtusslefarm.com

O.K., let us know what you want by Friday afternoon.
And yes, it's OK to show up without a reply if you're after eggs.

Thank you!!
Eric

Eggs and veggies this Saturday

We are coming to the indoor West Nashville Farmers Market this Saturday with eggs and veggies. We will be there from 10 am until 12 noon. Again, it is located on the corner of 47th Ave. and Alabama just a block off Charlotte Pike sort of right behind McDonalds. www.westnashvillefarmersmarket.com if you need a map.
O.K., so here it is:

Eggs are $5/dozen or $4.50/dozen for shareholders with a special of 5 for $20. Remember these keep very well for several months so stock up while you can.

Ira's Duck Eggs: $7/dozen, $4/half-dozen, $1/each. He has about 8 dozen.

Kale: $4/bag

Sweet potatoes: $1.50/Lb.

Butternut squash: between $3 and $5 apiece depending on size.

2012 CSA Vegetable share: our membership is presently half full. We are only offering shares to 50 members this year. We usually take around 70. We are attempting to respect our original holistic goal which states our desire to stay small and personal. Today, February 15th, usually ends our "early bird" price however we will extend that to this Saturday for those of you that want to pay us in person.

Please let us know your veggie and egg orders by mid-day Friday and we will do our best to honor them however we will be operating on a first come first serve basis.

We miss everyone and look forward to seeing you all!

Thanks, Eric and Cher, Ira, Opal, Olivia

Eggs and veggies this Saturday

We are planning on coming to Nashville this Saturday, January 21st. We will be bringing veggies and LOTS of eggs. We will be at the indoor market once again which is at the corner of 47th Ave. and Alabama behind McDonalds off of Charlotte Pike. We will be there from 10 am until 12 noon. We will be selling veggies "by the item" rather than as a basket. Here's what we'll have:

Kale: $4/bag
Chard: $4/bag
Sweet Potatoes: $1.50/ Lb.
Buttternut Squash: $3-$5 each

EGGS!! : $4.50/ dozen. 5 dozen for $20. *These eggs will keep for several months. Get them while you can!

Your response is helpful (especially if you want to reserve eggs) but not necessary. And this is a great time to secure your 2012 CSA vegetable share. If you pay before February 15th it is a reduced price. The form is on our website (www.bugtusslefarm.com) and the price is staying the same so GO FOR IT!

Hope to see you Saturday!!
Eric, Cher, Ira, Opal, Olivia

Missing Bugtussle

I hope everyone's winter holidays were wonderful! I don't know about you, but I'm really missing my Bugtussle veggies - only one butternut squash, a few sweet potatoes, and several heads of garlic linger on my countertop, and they'll be gone soon. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed we hear from our farmers soon about a January delivery...

So, in the meanwhile, I'll just have to satisfy myself by spending some time on photographer Tim Harris's website, looking at his amazing pictures of dear Bugtussle Farm. (Thanks Hannah and Jesse for the tip!)