We are so excited to see you for your first farm share pick up. For Great Falls and Power members, your first pick up will be Thursday June 9. Helena and Choteau members will pick up Thursday, June 16.
Full share members will pick up every week. Half share members will pick up every other week. Following is the schedule for half share members:
Great Falls, Power:
June 9
June 23
July 7
July 21
August 4
August 18
September 1
September 15
Helena, Choteau:
June 16
June 30
July 14
July 28
August 11
August 25
September 8
September 22
Here are the details for pick ups:
Great Falls:
Where: 2509 Upper River Road, Great Falls, MT 59405
When: Thursdays (starting June 9) from 4:30-6 p.m.
Helena:
Where: 705 Saddle Drive, Helena, MT (our super volunteer Susan's house)
When: Thursdays (starting June 16) from 5:30-7 p.m.
Power:
Where: On the farm
When: Thursdays (starting June 9), 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (please contact us if you need to make other arrangements)
Choteau:
Where: To be determined
When: Thursdays (starting June 16), To be determined
A few notes:
>These first few shares will be early-season crops like greens
(galore) and cold-hardy things. We'll ramp up as the summer progresses.
This is truly eating in season. By July and August, we'll be getting
into tomatoes and peppers and eggplant and cucumbers and summer squash
and the like. By fall, potatoes, onions, garlic and other fall crops
will come on. The season runs 16 weeks.
>Each pick-up day, look for an email from us with a reminder as well
as some recipes to inspire you in the kitchen. (We love to use recipes
from members too, so share if you have a great one!)
>Please remember to bring bags or boxes to pick up your veggies.
>Each week, we create the shares based on what's fresh and ready for
picking. Within those constraints though, we aim to please, so as the
season gets rolling, if there's anything you'd like more of, or less of,
in your share, let us now and we'll do our best to accommodate. And, if
ever you'd like to stop by our market stand at the Great Falls Farmers'
Market and pick up extras, we'd love to see you there!
>If you can't pick up, we're happy to make other arrangements, but do
try to give us at least 24 hours heads up so we can make those
arrangements and don't end up with more veggies than we need for the
pick up.
>We also have our heritage and ancient grains, flour, and sourdough
bread available for add-ons. We do round out the early summer shares
occasionally with samples of our grains, but if you'd like to purchase
any in larger quantities, let us know!
We are so looking forward to growing your food this summer. Thanks for supporting local food and family farming!
As the 2016 Season Begins, Prairie Heritage Farm Pivots
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| Photo by Missy Sprouse. |
This winter was a long one (aren't they all?) as we grappled with some health issues (mostly fine now!) that gave us a late start but also helped us better prioritize by focusing on what's important.
So, this season will bring some changes at the farm. We've scaled back on a few things (we've capped the number of traditional summer CSA shares and reined in vegetable production somewhat) so we can expand other enterprises (like the Farmers' Market Share program and a double-down on grains and sourdough bread).
Life (and business) lesson #458: Sometimes you have to say no to some things so you can say yes (and not just a yes, but a Heck Yes!) to others.
It's a tricky balance. You might even call it precarious, but that's running a small business or a family farm for you -- living in an almost constant state of flux. It means being vigilant in choosing which enterprises and crops and markets are going to best serve your land, your community, your bottom line and your family.
Sometimes, it feels like we should have it all "figured out" after seven years in business. But if we've learned anything, it's that "figured out" is like "caught up" -- a fictional state of being.
And with the right intention and mindset, flux isn't chaos. It's innovation and experimentation and the latter two is where true change and true progress happens.
So, here's what we're working on in 2016 on the farm:
Artisan sourdough bread made from the Sonora Heritage Wheat we grow, grind and bake. We're expanding the baking and adding in some variety: Seed bread, olive rosemary bread, focaccia and straight up sourdough, which we call "Papa Bread," because that's what our 3-year-old yells (and we mean YELLS) for in the morning. We will be selling bread at the Great Falls Farmers' Market (Saturdays starting June 4) but we're also in the midst of applying for a wholesale license, which will allow us to sell bread farther and wider eventually.
More sales and production of our ancient and heritage grains, both for home bakers and cooks and as seed for farms like ours. This year, we're focusing on Prairie Farro, Bronze Barley, Sonora Heritage Wheat, Einkorn, Japanese Hulless Popcorn (Popcorn!) and Early Riser corn (For cornmeal! Tortillas! Polenta!). We will continue to offer these grains whole but also hope to have our big mill up and running this summer to be able to start offering fresh flour as well. And soon, we'll start selling some of these grains as seed to other farmers interested in these unique, important varieties.
Fresh vegetables sold at the farmers market, through some grocers and restaurants and in our CSAs. As we mentioned above, we're focusing on a smaller traditional CSA this year to best serve that membership and offering more Farmers' Market Shares, which are like pre-paid cards for shareholders. Instead of us picking what veggies to include, customers get to pick whatever they'd like from our market stand at the Great Falls Farmers' Market. We're still growing all kinds of veggies, but we are scaling back somewhat to hone in on specific crops. You'll also find some of our fresh veggies at 2Js Fresh Market in Great Falls and on occasion at awesome local restaurants like Electric City Coffee.
Hearty, high quality vegetable seed, which we sell through the Triple Divide Seed Coop but also to national companies like Fedco, High Mowing Seeds and Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. This year, we're planting for seed: Snow peas, mustard greens, arugula, fava beans, pole beans, lettuce, kale, chard, carrots, onions and tomatoes.
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| Photo by Missy Sprouse. |
In the tech world, they'd call all of this somewhat of a "pivot" and that seems particularly applicable considering the other, agricultural, definition of pivot. We love the imagery the term gives -- the water direction and flow may change slightly but the whole thing still operates from its center. The engine driving the center of our pivot is running a farm that nourishes our family, our farm, our communities and our planet.
So, let's get this truck (farm) moving!
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| Photo by Missy Sprouse. |
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