In Good Heart Farm

I went through Ben's phone today and found some good ones, so I thought I'd share. Most of the time, he has no time for stopping to take a photo, so I was pleasantly surprised to find these.

Here's one of our member's (Jackie's) Week 9 CSA share. She always takes such beautiful snapshots of her shares, and I'm here for it 🤩

What does your to-do list look like? 💪

I can't wait until we're swimming in summertime flowers! But until then, I'm happy with an evening farm walk and bouquet gathering post dinner and farm chores.

Members get to choose 7-14 items per week, depending on their share size. And some members opt for the curated shares. Here's this week's (8/10) curated share: bulbing green garlic, purple Spring onions, wild purple potatoes, carrots, cilantro, and zephyr squash.

Calendula, flowering dill, Genovese basil, and oregano - oh my 🥿

I know this pre-order thing isn't for everyone, but it's working really well for some of y'all 😁. And it really does seem to be a nice way for folks to get out and on the farm for a bit and grab some groceries, too. If you're interested in knowing more, check the link.

It's driving me nuts - a chef we know was looking to source coriander flowers, but I don't remember who it was. We're swimming in them. Reach out if it's you and you still want them.

It has begun 🍅

Thanks so much for all of your birthday wishes yesterday! Ben and I hung out at enjoying the gorgeous pollinators garden, some kombucha, and each others' company.

We dined at for the first time, and it was as good as we knew it would be! It was especially lovely to dine somewhere where they understand our Alpha Gal Sydrome dietary restrictions. We felt cared for, and didn't suffer any consequences after a meal out (always a rarity). If you have a special occasion to celebrate, we highly recommend the Sycamore!

It was also so nice to finally support a place that has been ordering produce consistently week-to-week for a few years now.

This is Finn. When he started volunteering on the farm, he was 12 years old and homeschooling. When the lockdown happened, he helped Ben at every for almost a whole year. Now Finn's attending a brick and mortar school, and he's a paid employee.

Finn's mom, Joelle, is our Bynum General Store host site person. We are so very thankful for this entire family! They are solid community members, the kindest people around, and well, they're just the best.

44 years earthside. Wish my mama were here, too. I always got her flowers for my birthday, and I always will. There were just enough in the garden to make this birthday bouquet. 💐

You know how when you concentrate on something, you make a silly mistake, like misspelling "the" or something? I messed up the date. Today is our actual deadline for placing orders. We need tomorrow to harvest your items for Saturday pickup 😉.

You know how when you concentrate on something, you make a silly mistake, like misspelling "the" or something? I messed up the date. Today is our actual deadline for placing orders. We need tomorrow to harvest your items for Saturday pickup 😉.

Here's what we have available:
Beets, chiogga
Beets, golden
Beets, red
Cabbage, green
Carrots
Fennel
Kohlrabi
Scallions
Spring onions, purple
Spring onions, yellow
Turnips, hakurei (roots only)
Summer squash, zephyr (similar to yellow crookneck)
Summer squash, zucchini
Arugula
Mesclun, lettuce mix
Lettuce, green oakleaf
Lettuce, green oakleaf
Swiss chard
Dandelion greens, Italian
Endive frisee
Kale, toscano
Kale, green curly
Kale, red Russian
Herbs: cilantro, dill, lemon balm, mint, thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, Mexican taragon

More details available in the newsletter linked in our comments.

Here's one of our CSA members, Jackie's, share for Week 7 - a great mix if delicious Spring and Summer veggies 😋

Go getcha some seedlings 🌱

Free seedlings!

Thanks to In Good Heart Farm, the library will be giving out a variety of tomato, pepper, and herb plants. Until supplies last.

They will be located outside in the picnic area.

Good morning! ✨️

The flower patch is coming along nicely! It won't be much longer before we're swimming in all the pretties 🌻

And do you see how healthy and tall the tomato plants are inside the mobile tunnel? They're starting to ripen. Cherry tomatoes are coming soon! 🍅

This week's curated share is so pretty: hakurei turnip roots, kohlrabi, green oakleaf lettuce, red oakleaf lettuce, yellow spring onions, green cabbage, and carrots.

Do you see those ripening cherry tomatoes in the bottom mid-left? 🍅

We've got so much bounty on the farm, so we're opening up pre-orders again this week!

If you're interested in taking a country drive to the farm to pick up delicious and nutrient dense produce this Saturday, check the link in our comments for availability and instructions. We've got lots of sprint and summer goodies!

It's been a decade, almost exactly, since this Unsung Heroes article (written by Emily Uhland) was published in Cary Magazine. We were on our 5th year farming then, and here we are on our 15th. We've come a long way! Even so, much of what's said in this article still rings true.

“Asking us if community is important is like asking if air or water is important,” said Parker. “It really helps us survive and thrive. We need it.”

Unsung Heroes | Cary Magazine Unsung Heroes May 5, 2014 By Emily Uhland Photography By Jonathan Fredin May 5, 2014 Western Wake is flush with behind-the-scenes heroes, people who get up every day to do tough jobs like maintenance, construction, farming, landscaping and clean up, in service of the area’s towns and people. Witho...

Did you know there's such a thing as flower flies? I totally thought this was a bee at first glance. But Elliott noticed, "It has fly eyes!" They're also known as hover flies.
🌈

Ooooooowie! Look at what's coming up just around the corner! 🍅

Every day isn't sunshine and flowers. Yesterday, our whole family was tired after dealing with a night of rough allergic reactions Friday, we pushed through Saturday and then felt the lagging exhaustion that followed Sunday.

So, we took it easy. Each of us found something to do that made us feel good - Ben replaced our broken ceiling fan and had his usual Sunday chat with his dad, Aby organized her room, Elliott read and read and read (and both kids spent some time playing switch), and I puttered around the garden, pinching holy basil, harvesting calendula, and getting to know some of our new CSA members (but long-time market patrons) better as we picked sugar snap peas together.

We have fully customizable CSA shares (choose what you get in your share week-to-week!) available for the Fall season, with flexibility in scheduling, and opportunities to add on ala carte items like extra produce or seedlings, but also farm goods such as salve, body butter, braided garlic, flowers, and more!

🫛 We send members a weekly newsletter full of farm news, recipes, and ideas from our kitchen to yours.

🍓The online store opens Saturdays at noon, and closes by 6 pm Sundays. You will choose items for your order each week during this window, or we will curate a share for you.

🥕You go to your pick up location during the pick up window. You’ll find a box with your name on it, as well as a list of the items you either ordered or we curated for you. You will pack your items into your own bag (or use one we provide), and leave the box.

🥦If you are unable to pick up your share on a given week, no problem! Simply schedule a hold for that date, and reschedule your make up pick up.

This morning was a glorious morning to join in on the CSA harvest. I joined Ben and Jenna as they were wrapping up the lettuce harvest.

This spring CSA season, we typically harvest our root veggies on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Leafy greens and such on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Wash and pack in there between the two harvest days - and then I do deliveries on Wednesdays and Fridays.

I'm digging the routine.

Our Spring season is right at the half way point. Hard to believe Summer is just around the corner!

This week's personal share is SO PRETTY! I love seeing y'alls orders roll in week-to-week, and I especially love seeing y'alls CSA share 📸. If you share them, please tag us so we can be sure to see your beautiful bounty and combos, too!

Check out the awesome new produce cooler at Chatham Marketplace ! Owners, don't forget to grab a complimentary tomato seedling (grown by us!) and get 20% off your produce while you can!