Hello
The last few weeks have flown by in our world. The new seasonal staff at the warehouse is really catching on, and our trucks have been burning up the asphalt (and expensive diesel) to source all the strawberries. Well, strawberry season is coming to an abrupt end and cherries are a timely replacement.
This week, in the education section, I'm excited to share some fun info with you about compost. This year at Wholesome Valley, we experimented with a new potting mix in the greenhouse. Our mix was from our friends at Rust Belt Riders. Their Tilth brand compost showed great results, and it got me thinking about how to share with you. Read below to learn about the good work they are doing, how it impacted our crops, and how you can join their program at a promotional price just for Fresh Fork members.
New Bent and Dent: Each week, we fill hundreds of special orders. Then some customers forget to pick them up. Putting that inventory back away is a nightmare - it is not efficient, backs up the freezer, and throws off our inventory numbers. Then, we end up with random sized boxes and pallets of misplaced product jamming up our freezer. It's a problem that compounds and spirals out of control.
I've been trying to figure out how to tackle it for years. We have a new idea. We just have to get rid of the product fast. Our solution - a "last call" for these products - 50% off in our bent and dent section. The selection is completely random, changes week to week, and all sales are final. Packages have gone out for delivery once already, so there is a chance that the vacuum seal is broken or the package is damaged.
Shop the "Bent & Dent" category on the website to take advantage of these savings.
Administrative Notes -- Vacation Policy: As a reminder, vacation request must be submitted by Saturday at midnight for the upcoming week. For example, if you are traveling next week (June 29 - July 2) and cannot pickup, you will need to submit a vacation request by this coming Saturday (June 25th) at midnight.
Next week is the week leading up to Independence Day weekend. We have a great bag planned. We know you may have plans for the weekend, so consider picking up early instead of skipping. To pickup early, simply show up at the stops that may be convenient to you. We know there is some shifting around next week so we plan accordingly.
New Sausage & Ground Meat category: Last week, we changed how we organize some items in the freezer to allow us to pull orders faster. That meant we had to recategorize some items. We moved sausages and ground meats, such as ground beef, ground chicken, and ground italian sausage, chorizo, etc. into a new category called "Sausages and Ground Meat." You can find all your favorite sausages in there.
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*items in the online shop are available only with a current season subscription. From time to time we do open the shop up to the public and we'll include an update about that via email* |
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Still Time To Join this Season - Prorated |
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As our season continues, please tell a friend to join us for the remainder of the season.
All subscriptions are prorated for upfront payments and the weekly payment plan, so you only pay for the remainder of the season.
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The Wonderful
World of Composting
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To the left is a photo of nearly finished compost. I imagine this is a lot tidier looking than most home "compost piles."
On the farm, my pile looks nothing like that. It's about 15 feet tall, 50 ft wide, and 100 feet deep. Our compost is mostly animal manure - beef from the barn in the winter, chicken and hog from the brooder and farrowing barn. We capture the nitrogen in the manure and urine with straw and sawdust, then pile it up, turning it periodically with the bucket on the tractor.
For us, our compost is clumpy and maybe not fully composted. We spread it on the pastures and produce fields in the winter.
"Professional" compost is often managed in a more precise way - the "green" materials (nitrogen) and the "brown" materials (carbon) are measured and mixed in such a way to get a more precise 30:1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen. Then the compost is spread in what's called windrows and turned regularly to introduce oxygen and moisture to feed the microbes. The end product is then "cured" to allow for even distribution of the nutrients and then screened before bagging (to ensure good workability and texture).
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Have You Heard About Rust Belt Riders?
Cleveland is very fortunate to have such a mission driven business as Rust Belt Riders. They are professional composters, servicing the home consumer thru a unique food scrap pickup program. Their service helps divert food from the landfills. And not just some food, a lot of food.
Last year, they diverted 3,900,000 lbs of food from landfills. They take this food waste and mix it with wood chips and leaves, collected from area landscaping and tree services. After about 90 days, each 700# of food scraps is turned into a yard of nutrient rich compost. This product they call "Tilth" - that's their brand of compost.
Now think about the teamwork here. Families around Cleveland put buckets of food waste on their porch. RBR picks up that bucket weekly. To get to 3,900,000 lbs, that's about 156,000 buckets per year! That food waste is mixed with the carbon, composted, and turned into over 5,500 yards of compost. To picture that, think about a tandem axle dump truck (two sets of rear tires). They generally hold 14 yards. Your pickup truck with an 8 foot bed holds about 2 yard, heaped up. So to get to 5,500 yards, that's almost 400 dump trucks or 2,750 pickup trucks!
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Our experience with RBR and their compost product - Tilth
In the past, WVF - like most small farmers - relied on a sterile growing medium in the greenhouse known as ProMix. It's a soil replacement that drains well and is easy to work with. What we noticed over the years was two things:
1) the transplants seemed to be stressed when they went from greenhouse to soil.
2) the potting mix lacked nutrients and foliar sprays became critical parts of the greenhouse
We've experimented in the past...but Tilth stood out
Over the years, we have experimented with many "real soils" as a replacement. Each time, we ended up back with ProMix because the "real soils" were difficult to work with, drained poorly, or came with weed seed.
This year, we tried Tilth from Rust Belt Riders. We ran a side by side comparison in the greenhouse of ProMix vs. Tilth. The results were "night and day." The plants grown in tilth germinated quicker, grew faster, and didn't seem to run out of nutrients.
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You Can Make a Difference Too by Joining RBR
Their Neighborhood Drop-Off Program is available to all people regardless of where they live. RBR recommends keeping your food scraps in a 5-gallon bucket and dropping them off at one of their 22 Neighborhood Drop-Off locations. Sign up online for their Neighborhood Drop-Off and save 10% with code "FF10".
Or subscribe to their Curbside Pick-Up Program for weekly to-your-door service and Save $40 with Code "FreshFork40". Learn more about how the Curbside Pick-Up program works by watching this video.
Year to Date Rust Belt Riders Residential Services have diverted 365,700 pounds of food waste from the landfill!
Join them today and reduce the amount of waste you create.
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Last Week for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie |
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Last week was a bit rough on making pies. That big storm that came through Holmes County left us with intermittent power throughout the week. This made it really challenging to keep the ovens running.
Anyhow, you may have noticed that last week you either were shorted a pie or 3 smalls were substituted for a large. In the end, we made it though with a bit of extra work and coordination.
Today is off to a better start in the kitchen. The ladies are thrilled to have lights and air conditioning, and the ovens are running as intended.
This week, we'll be offering our strawberry rhubarb pie one last time while berries are in season.
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Small Omnivore
Chicken Drumsticks - 2 packs
Broccoli
Asparagus
Zucchini
Daikon Radish
Lettuce
Cherries
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Small Vegetarian
Broccoli
Asparagus
Zucchini
Daikon Radish
Lettuce
Cherries
Spinach
Garganelli Pasta
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Mini
Zucchini
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Cherries
Daikon
Candy Onion
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Large Omnivore
Chicken Drumsticks - 2 packs
Broccoli
Asparagus
Zucchini
Daikon Radish
Lettuce
Cherries
Pork Shoulder Roast
Animal Stock (for braising or bone broth)
Edible Pod Peas
Strawberries*
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Large Vegetarian
Broccoli
Asparagus
Zucchini
Daikon Radish
Lettuce
Cherries
Spinach
Garganelli Pasta
Edible Pod Peas
Strawberries*
Candy Onion
Whole Wheat Bread
Eggs
Honey
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Small Vegan
Broccoli
Asparagus
Zucchini
Daikon Radish
Lettuce
Cherries
Spinach
Candy Onion
Tomato Juice
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*Strawberries -- they're tailing off fast. Zach is out on berry runs right now and it's a day-by-day harvesting for knowing if we'll have them each day. If we run short, we will provide a substitute.*
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