Hi everyone,

We hope you enjoyed your first share of the season! It’s been wonderful getting back into the swing of things. I’ll admit—at the start of every season, I feel a little stress about whether we can meet the demands of our ambitious growth goals (sometimes, I even turn into a bit of a curmudgeon). But the moment the vegetables start rolling in, it’s nothing but joy for me.

I follow a number of local farms—Nichols and Otter Oaks of course, but others as well—because I love hearing different perspectives on the growing season. One of my favorite newsletters is from Tracey from Three Sisters Garden, whose recent one really resonated with me. She wrote about the challenges of quality standards as a small business, and I loved how she put it:

We don’t have an advertising department, using only social media, and word of mouth to attract new customers. That means we must be brutally critical of what we do here. Keep the bar high, and do everything we can to cleanly make our way over that bar with each bag and box we pack, every time. With many of you, I do not necessarily meet you, so our relationship develops entirely with your satisfaction after receiving your order….

We want you excited to look into your box or bag, anticipating all the goodness inside. We know you could be purchasing from other, larger, more diverse, farms, but the vast majority of you have chosen to stay with us since the very beginning. That says to me that we are doing something right.

Gard Mo and the CSA Club have been incredibly fortunate to have steadfast support from the beginning, and we’ve always strived to deliver the highest quality produce to you. But once it leaves our hands, we don’t always know how it holds up—or whether it fully meets your expectations. That’s where you come in!

Your feedback is invaluable to us. If something isn’t quite right—whether it’s produce that doesn’t last as long as it should, a share that feels a little light, or even just a preference for how things are packed or prepared—please let us know. We’re always looking for ways to improve and make the CSA Club an experience you’re excited to share with friends and family.

We hope you love this week’s veggies, and as always, don’t hesitate to reach out.

—Ben


This week’s recipe: Stir Fry Bok Choy and Hakurei Turnips (replace the turnips with kohlrabi!)

Leave a Reply