Greetings!
 
While we haven't talked about it, we have stayed abreast of the coronavirus situation and have constantly had your health and well being in mind. You may not be phased by Covid19 or you may be feeling worried. Either way, the virus is now in Michigan and beginning to affect our daily lives, with k thru 12  schools closing and no toilet paper anywhere to be found.

Please Note:
Nothing I am saying here is meant to be inflammatory or cause distress, my only intention is to be sure we are calmly prepared to care for each other. We want to let you know that we are taking this seriously and consider it better to be cautious in matters concerning public health and safety. We want you to know what we are doing to keep you safe and make sure you continue to have access to fresh, healthy food. 

On the farm:
We have reviewed food safety practices and expressed the importance of staying home when sick. Because we have been carefully and safely producing food for the public for a time now, we feel confident in our ability to continue to do this.  

We plan to do things a little differently at the farmers market as well:
We will have display vegetables on the table.
Customers will tell us which they want and we will collect them from behind the table (minimizing touching of vegetables).
We will bag them and then handle the cash exchange.
After every cash exchange, we will sanitize our hands. 

Things to do in general and at market:Be aware of the symptoms.

The CDC says patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath

The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is to:

• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
• Avoid contact with people who are sick.
• If you are sick, stay home, and avoid contact with others.

For the future:
We are not sure how the coronavirus is going to affect the market season. What we do know is that everyone has to eat and we want to provide that food. 
In case of market cancellations or reluctance to attend markets, we are considering offering pre-ordered, pre-packed, pick-ups to customers. We are still getting the details together, so if you are interested please keep an eye out for information in future emails. 

Ann Arbor Market is closed through April 4th:
We plan to offer pre-packed pick-ups as early as next Saturday but still need a little time to prepare. Expect to receive an email as early as Tuesday regarding this. 

To note:
Our markets this week:
Saturday: Eastern, Royal Oak, and Stockbridge

CSA- Our Flexible Farm Membership: So what is our farm membership? In short, members open an account with us, receive a bonus for their commitment, and then use their accounts at market just like cash. You can find more details here. And let me say, if this is something you are considering, now is the time! We won't let you down!

Additional Reasons you should consider signing up for our CSA or any other CSA:
To reduce the exchange of cash at market. 
To assist local food growers during an uncertain market season. 
To ensure a connection to fresh, nutritious food. 

Recipe:  Microgreens!
Back at last! Delicious tender morsels to delight every meal. Sprinkle them on eggs. Deluxe a sandwich. Infuse a smoothie. No recipe involved! Come and grab a bag or two!

Food for thought: 
After all that discussion and planning, the farm must continue. The days are still lengthening, the soil is still warming, we will still need to eat in July. And we are as busy making that happen as ever.
We did it! We got all the seeding that we intended done last week. Now on to building tunnels over the crops to protect them from the volatile vernal weather. These seeds bring me hope: Hope that we will have an increasing amount of fresh delicious food come April. 
So this week we are back to construction. We will be bending the rest of our hoops and cutting rebar and then assembling it all in the field. We will pull plastic over and tie it down and then keep a close eye and watch for green! I will try to post a picture of it when it happens!
And while we do this, we are starting more seeds in the greenhouse! In the most not hilarious way, the greenhouse is already just about halfway full. By the time we finish with seeding this week, it may be completely full (hyperbole)! I guess we will build some more shelves like last year and pack those little plants in! Hopefully the weather breaks soon and we can put them out into the field. 
And like I said at the beginning of this note, we will be getting ready to prepare the soil where all these little plants go. This means making sure the machines are in working order, creating a field layout plan and deciding where all these lives will go, and making sure we have all the materials that we will need.
All of these activities will move us towards readiness for the spring. 
Onward and farmward. 

Helen and Lizz writing for the Lake Dividers!

Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. The Trifecta of sustainability. Good for the earth: Taking care of the natural world is a important, after all, it takes care of us; Good for the farmer: We believe farmers should have livable hours and livable wages; Good for the people: We believe in food equality and bringing our produce to market at an affordable price and keeping it accessible is important to us.

• Looking to join our CSA or renew your membership? Find more details here. The basics? Open an account with us, get a bonus, and use your account to purchase produce with us at any of our markets. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

​At market this week! 

Greens: All may be limited
Kale
Head Lettuce
MicroGreens! 

All manner of deliciousness:
Cabbage
Carrots- (From or farm friends at Tantre- at Eastern and Royal Oak only)
Kohlrabi!
Onions- All types, sweet and pungent, yellow and red!
Daikon Radish- White- Chinese type and the spiciest of the three, Purple, and green Korean daikon
Watermelon Radish
Rutabaga: Purple and Green! Lovely texture. Great roasted. Great mashed. Great in soups!
Turnabaga: As sweet as a sweet turnip but with the texture of a rutabaga!
Potatoes - (From or farm friends at Tantre- at Eastern and Royal Oak only)
Purple top and golden roasting turnips- Excellent for roasting!

Herbs:
Parsley

Coming soon:
Pea Shoots

Birds. We all hear them! Red wing blackbirds! A reminder to get out there! Out into the wild world! Witness the reawakening! Take a deep breath and a deep sigh.

To note:

Our markets this week:
Saturday: Ann Arbor! Eastern, and Royal Oak! 

Still couple more slots for crew this year! We are looking for people that want to join our team and grow great food. It is a hard job but it is extremely rewarding. Check out our work with us page to see if you match the description.

CSA Y'all- We accept members on a rolling basis through the season. However! This is the time that signing up to be a member of our farm has the greatest positive effect on your farmers! CSA's help balance out cashflow variability and seasonal unpredictability with the farmer. For us, it makes a huge difference to know that people are committed to eating our vegetables and the early investments take some of the stress out of all the early season improvements that we are making. So what is the CSA? In short, members open an account with us, receive a bonus for their commitment, and then use their accounts at market just like cash. You can find more details here. And let me say, if this is something you are considering, now is the time! We won't let you down!

Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far! It is really making a difference for us!


RECIPE:  CRUSHED TURNIPS
Just like Smashed Potatoes, only without the carbs! This recipe is seriously delicious and can be prepped the night before so all you have to do is brush and bake them. I would recommend a variety of our golden and purple top turnips for some color variation. This also works  REALLY  well with our green Daikon,  simply cut into rounds before smashing.
 INGREDIENTS

• 12 small to medium turnips, peeled (~2 pints of ours, we can help you select small ones!)
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese  (or as needed)
• Chopped fresh chives (or dill, or parsley, or whatever herb your heart desires)

METHOD

1. Place peeled turnips in a pot of salted water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cook 20 to 30 minutes or until turnips can be pierced easily with a paring knife. Drain. Let cool slightly.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Place the turnips on a clean kitchen towel or double layer of paper towels. Gently press each one down until it's approximately 1/2-inch high. Let them drain for 15 minutes then carefully flip them over onto a dry section of the towel or onto fresh paper towels so the other side drains and dries a bit.
4. Combine garlic, olive oil and salt and black pepper, to taste in a small bowl.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil. Place the flattened turnips on the lined baking sheet. Brush each turnip with a little of the olive oil and garlic combination. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over each turnip, gently pressing it down.
6. Carefully and quickly flip each turnip over. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and garlic combination and cheese.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Flip each turnip and bake an additional 15 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh chives and serve

Recipe courtesy of  Fromachefskitchen.com
Food for thought: 
Lots to do, lots to do! With all this sun we are working on getting some seeds in the ground! 
With all this sun, some of our overwintered crops are thinking it is time to flower and produce seeds. You may see a decline in available greens in during the next month. This means get to market early if you want to get them. 
It is also why it is so so important for us to get these seeds in the ground. Here is the lists of crops that we are hoping to seed this week: Brassica greens (Arugula, Mustard, Tatsoi, Tokyo Bekana), SWEET TURNIPS, Beets, red spring Radishes, and some Carrots. They range in 'Days to Maturity' (how long it takes from seeding to harvest) quite a bit. The radishes and the greens are the fastest coming in at 28 days. Turnips take a little longer at 38 days. Beets and carrots take the longest at around 60 days. This translates to about a month, about an month and a half, and about 2 months. Now consider that these DTM are in ideal conditions. Most crops prefer warm, moist soil to start their lives. The soil of the spring is cold, like putting your feet on the bare floor first thing in the morning on a winter day. And sometimes it is sopping wet. We are hoping that the raised beds that we prepared last fall, along with the tunnels we are hoping to construct over the crops, will help with both of these factors. 
If we get these crops in the ground now, we could hope to have renewed greenery by the second week of April and some fresh roots towards the end of the month. Here to hoping it pans out! Wish us luck, dexterity and speed out there this week! 
Onward and farmward. 

Helen (email body) and Lizz (recipe and photo captions) writing for the Lake Dividers!

Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. The Trifecta of sustainability. Good for the earth: Taking care of the natural world is a important, after all, it takes care of us; Good for the farmer: We believe farmers should have livable hours and livable wages; Good for the people: We believe in food equality and bringing our produce to market at an affordable price and keeping it accessible is important to us.

• Looking to join our CSA or renew your membership? Find more details here. The basics? Open an account with us, get a bonus, and use your account to purchase produce with us at any of our markets. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

At market this week! 

Greens: All may be limitedBaby Chard?
Kale 
Arugula
SpinachAll manner of deliciousness:Cabbage
Carrots- (From or farm friends at Tantre- at Eastern and Royal Oak only)
Kohlrabi!
Onions- All types, sweet and pungent, yellow and red!
Daikon Radish- White- Chinese type and the spiciest of the three, Purple, and green Korean daikon
Watermelon Radish
Rutabaga: Purple and Green! Lovely texture. Great roasted. Great mashed. Great in soups!
Turnabaga: As sweet as a sweet turnip but with the texture of a rutabaga!
Potatoes - (From or farm friends at Tantre- at Eastern and Royal Oak only)
Purple top and golden roasting turnips- Excellent for roasting!Herbs:Cilantro! SOOOOO DELICIOUS! Seriously. So good.Coming soon:Parsley- 1 week out
Microgreens- 1 week out depending on how much sunshine we get!
Pea shoots-  1 week out depending on how much sunshine we get!
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This weeks MarketsSaturday: Ann Arbor, Detroit's Eastern Market, and Royal Oak Market

The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI. The market runs from May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm and January thru April from 8 am - 3 pm.

The Eastern Market in Detroit is located about a mile northeast of downtown. It covers about 43 acres, bounded by I-75 on the West and Gratiot Avenue on the South. It runs year round from  6am – 4pm

The Royal Oak Market is an indoor market located at 316 E Eleven Mile Rd, Royal Oak, MI 48067. It runs year round from 7am - 1pm.