I hope everyone had a pleasant memorial day and was able to take some time to honor the men and women that have served our country. Monday cooperated with some sunny weather at least. 

To note:
We are  still hiring! Want to work on the farm part-time? We have 30 hour/week positions open. Send us an email if you are interested!

Find us at the following markets from now on:
Wednesday: Ann Arbor! WE will be THERE! Go visit Jim tomorrow!
Thursday: Northville
Friday: Stockbridge
Saturday: Eastern Market, Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, White Lotus Farm Cart, Chelsea
Recipe: 
Kale. Don't be over it. I know, it was a trend, but while trends may pass, the deliciousness of this leafy green remains. If you think you don't like kale, but have only had it from the grocery store, come by and take a taste of ours. Tender, flavorful, and fresh tasting. There are so many great things you can make with kale (kale chips, frittata, kale and black beans, etc) but one of the most simple is a salad. And it is so good with everything. I like to make a big one at the beginning of the week and then dole it out as needed, a scoop with breakfast here, a pile at dinner. As it rests in the fridge, the flavors meld making it even tastier. 

Simple Kale Salad
Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• oil (olive oil for me! but any type you like for you!)
• Touch of salt
• Optional: sunflower seeds, green pepper, onion, scallion, fresh oregano (my favorite), roasted chickpeas, parmesean. 

1. Rip the kale from the stem and then into smaller pieces. 
2. Pour on the olive oil and sprinkle some salt
3. Massage the leaves with oil until they are tender and then toss in any extra ingredients you want.
4. EAT IT! 

Food for thought: 
We have had lots of rain this last week. We are glad that we rushed ahead to prepare lots of ground. All that banked work is running low. By the end of this week, what we have prepared will be full and we will have to prepare more in order to move forward. 
There are quite a few tasks that the soggy ground is holding up: tractor cultivation, hilling the potatoes, mowing some of the wetter areas, preparing more ground and laying down cover crop. This is the most concrete example of how weather can jam up the farmer's plans. 
That is the see-saw of how it goes though. There is plenty to do in the meantime though, don't worry, our muscles won't languish with lack of activity. This week, we will plant all that we have room to put in the ground and weed. We will weed everything! Carrots, lettuce, cilantro, dill, fennel, onions, scallions, celery, celery root, cabbage, kale, squash, beets, choy, napa cabbage, chard. All of this is growing in our fields in massive quantities. All of it soon will be on your plate. 
The vegetables are coming, an invasion we can invite. 
Looking forward to see you at market.
 
Helen writing for the Lake Dividers

Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. (Notice our new catch phrase? We call it the trifecta of sustainability. It sounds a little cheesy but we mean it from the heart. 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 hiring! We have 2 part-time position open for the 2019 season. You can find details about the jobs on our website here. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please send us an email or pass along the information. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

This week we are buying in some produce from local farms to make up for some gaps. These items are noted with an asterisk (*). We will not be able to bring these items to the Ann Arbor Farmers' market because of their producer only rule (which we love). You will be able to find them at The White Lotus Farm Cart and Eastern Market. 
 Fresh From the Field!

Transplants!Peppers (Later in the week)
Tomatoes
Squash!Greens:Microgreens: Solo-Arugula and a Mustard Mix (At all markets excluding White Lotus)
Pea Shoots  (At all markets excluding White Lotus)
Mizuna- Limited
Kale- Beautiful bunches
Mustard-limited
Tokyo Bekana
*Spinach- only at Eastern and White LotusAll manner of deliciousness:Radish- French Breakfast and classic!
Sweet Turnips!!!Herbs:Mint
Thyme
Oregano

This weeks MarketsWednesday: Ann Arbor

In the same location as the Saturday market, the Ann Arbor Wednesday Market is a little more laid back.  If you don't want to fight the crowds. come out on Wednesday and take the chance to talk with all your farmers, chefs, and artisans.The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MIFind us there May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm.

Thursday: Northville

The Northville Market is located at the corner of 7 Mile and Sheldon Roads. It runs May thru October, 8 am - 3 pm

Friday: Stockbridge

The Stockbridge Open Air Market is located on the square in downtown Stockbridge. It runs from May thru October from 4 pm - 7 pm

Saturday: Ann Arbor,  Chelsea, Detroit's Eastern Market, The White Lotus Farm Cart 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 Chelsea Farmers' Market is located in the Palmer Commons at 304 S. Main St.. It runs May thru October (then moves inside thru December!) from 8 am - 1 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 White Lotus Farm Cart is located at 7217 West Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. It is open Saturdays from 9:30am-1:30pm, May thru December. There is a collection of vendors there selling produce, bread, cheese, artisanal produces, along with brick oven pizza and the opportunity to roam the gardens. 

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.

Lake Divide Farm Newsletter:
A window into the production path of your food.

I made it out on the canoe this weekend. It was a magical time on my favorite lake with a great friend. We saw chickadee nest, shrubs to be known, a glider plane, and so many other exiting things. But mostly, we indulged in a cool morning with the sounds of nature. I am so grateful that among the chaos, we are still able to carve out moments of peace.

To note:
Find us at the following markets from now on:
Thursday: Northville
Friday: Stockbridge
Saturday: Eastern Market, Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, White Lotus Farm Cart, Chelsea

Ann Arbor Wednesday, we are coming for you! Give us one more week to get our feet under us. Look for us Saturday!

Recipe: Sweet Turnips
Hakurei Turnips are turnips for people that don't like turnips! I don't like turnips myself (this is Jim by the way), but I love to slice off thin slices of Hakurei turnips and eat them like a snack, they are that good. If you want to get fancy with em...

Glazed Hakurei Turnips- from Epicurious!
Ingredients

• 3 bunches baby hakurei turnips, baby turnips, or red radishes (about 2 pounds), trimmed, greens reserved
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Kosher salt

1. Place turnips in a large skillet; add water to cover turnips halfway. Add butter, sugar, and a large pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is syrupy and turnips are tender, about 15 minutes. (if turnips are tender before liquid has reduced, use a slotted spoon to transfer turnips to a plate and reduce liquid until syrupy. Return turnips to pan and stir to coat well.) 
2. Add turnip greens to skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until just wilted, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt.

I haven't done this before, but I am always looking for new ways to try turnip greens. Get ready for a world of flavor!

Food for thought: 
Well folks, we have some vegetables this week. Greens. Radishes. Yes. And we will continue to have our delicious micros and shoots. I am glad some hints of what's to come are finally gracing our plates. Thanks for being so patient. 

Now let me tell you what is one my mind.  Last week we planted a little over a half acre of tomatoes. This is more tomatoes than we planted in total last year, and we still have more to go. What is another outlandish planting? Double the wintersquash. DOUBLE! For those of you that know we had a rough wintersquash year, just know, we have some real plans for how to care for them. We are switching from using a weed barrier to bare ground with cultivation. This is just a symptom of what is going on for us. We are scaling up. Hopefully, we are reaching our scale plateau this year. But the real point is, we are moving to a scale that makes this year feel like another first year. That is both exciting and exhausting. Mostly exciting though. 
It is fun because every time we do something, it feels new and amazing! "We planted so many tomatoes!" I mean, I can imagine how many tomatoes we planted, and that harvesting them is going to be extreme, but I can't quite wrap my head around it. We also planted so many peppers, onions, lots of greens and beets. Our carrots are looking classy. The potatoes are all up and we are just waiting for the ground to be dry enough to hill them. The onions are moving out of their transplant shock and looking vibrant.
And it is all more than ever. And we are working with more people than ever! The team is doing a great job learning and keeping up. They are rapidly taking on more and more responsibility and handling it very well. And as the team has expanded, so has the farm community that we are connected to. Last week was our first time doing 5 farmers' markets at once. We pulled it off just fine (with room for improvement) and are feeling more easy about the upcoming week. The final market in the quinte was Royal Oak and we are so glad to have added it to the market fold. We were welcomed in with some of the warmest greetings you can expect to get from a new market. 
As a new businesses and farm, we are doing our best to find the safest pace to scale up to adulthood. Too fast, and we implode like dough that has risen too long, too slow, and we won't be able to support the expanding needs of the farm. Our long term goal is to have a team of people that stay with our farm, all working together. We want to farm at such as scale that we are able to pay them and care for them well (and us for that matter), with time off and benefits,  while still keeping our produce affordable and accessible. Finding the sweet spot of scale is the heart of this and I think we are close to the balance. 

We are all looking forward to seeing you at our various markets this week! Thank you so much for being our wonderful farm community. 
Helen writing for the Lake Dividers

Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. (Notice our new catch phrase? We call it the trifecta of sustainability. It sounds a little cheesy but we mean it from the heart. 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 hiring! We have 1 part-time position open for the 2019 season. You can find details about the jobs on our website here. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please send us an email or pass along the information. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

​This week we are buying in some produce from local farms to make up for some gaps. These items are noted with an asterisk (*). We will not be able to bring these items to the Ann Arbor Farmers' market because of their producer only rule (which we love). You will be able to find them at The White Lotus Farm Cart and Eastern Market. 

Fresh From the Field!

Transplants!
​Herbs for your windowsill
Peppers!
Tomatoes
Cucumbers!
Greens:
Microgreens: Solo-Arugula and a Mustard Mix (At all markets excluding White Lotus)
Pea Shoots  (At all markets excluding White Lotus)
Mizuna
Baby Kale (limited)
Mustard
Tokyo Bekana
Arugula (maybe)
*Spinach
All manner of deliciousness:
*Daikon Radish- purple and white!
*Green Garlic, Maybe! (not certified organic but responsibly done by our friends at Titus Farms)
Radish
Scallions (limited)
Sweet Turnips!!!
Herbs:
Mint
Thyme
Oregano

Lake Divide Farm Newsletter:
A window into the production path of your food.

So I ate the Polyporus squamosus, also known as Dryad's saddle. I was as they said, nothing to write home about, however, it was my first foraged and and eaten fungus so for that I am happy. This is a big week coming up. We are going to get about a half acre of tomatoes planted and staked. This will set our July scene. Yeah, it is a whole lot later than we wanted it done, but I am glad for it. There have been a few changes to our market start dates. Just take a look below. 
I hope everyone had a happy mother's day celebrating all the wonderful mothers we have. I was lucky enough to spend part of the day with my my wonderful mother and my sister (and my nephew!) It is just so wonderful to be around them.

To note:
Find us at the following markets from now on:
Eastern Market
Ann Arbor Saturday
White Lotus Farm Cart
Chelsea
Stocbridge
And back at Northville on Thursday and starting at Royal Oak this Saturday!

Here are all of our markets and their expected start dates:
Ann Arbor (Wednesday): May 22nd (holding off one more week- look for us Saturday!)
Recipe:
Radishes. One of the first spring beauty to climb back into our hearts. There is more to them than chopping them in a Salad. It is looking like the french breakfast radishes are going to come into their own this week. Get ready!

Radishes sliced with butter or cheese or olive oil on toast!
That is all! Good bread, tender, tasty radishes sliced thin, a sprinkle of salt, and a lipid. Beyond delight.
 
Food for thought: 
As we switch from writing the email towards the end of the week to writing them towards the beginning, you get a chance to see what the weeks looks like from this side. There is just so much on the docket! The big goal for this week is as I already said, getting those tomatoes planted. With the risk of frost all but passed, we have the green light to work like lightening, zapping plants into the ground. Weeding, planting, trellising. Hopefully (and it looks like it is true), we will get a chance to prepare more ground too.
We are also hoping to finish the repairs on our cultivating tractor, the project that is so close to completion we can taste it, but has been back-burnered so many times I can't count. It isn't that it isn't important and we aren't waiting for any parts. All it is, is time. Tasks elbowing their way ahead one at a time. 
And the other large under-taking (other than everything else) is to install the trellis lines for our cucumbers. This year we are growing them in the hoop house and using a vertical trellis to get the most cukes for our jukes. I am really excited to see how it turns out. 
We also hope to get our two smaller hoops prepped and planted in basil, install all the irrigation for what we have planted so far, weed as needed, and hopefully, harvest some delicious vegetables. 

Thank you for all the confidence and support in this seemingly endless wait for spring. See you at markets this week.
Helen writing for the Lake Dividers

Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. (Notice our new catch phrase? We call it the trifecta of sustainability. It sounds a little cheesy but we mean it from the heart. 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 hiring! We have 1 part-time position open for the 2019 season. You can find details about the jobs on our website here. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please send us an email or pass along the information. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

​This week we are buying in some produce from local farms to make up for some gaps. These items are noted with an asterisk (*). We will not be able to bring these items to the Ann Arbor Farmers' market because of their producer only rule (which we love). You will be able to find them at The White Lotus Farm Cart and Eastern Market. 

Fresh From the Field!
Transplants!
Head lettuce and kale
Basil for your windowsill
Greens:
Microgreens: Solo-Arugula and a Mustard Mix (At all markets excluding White Lotus)
Pea Shoots  (At all markets excluding White Lotus)
*Spinach
All manner of deliciousness:
​*Daikon Radish- purple and white!
*Green Garlic, Maybe! (not certified organic but responsibly done by our friends at Titus Farms)
Bunched Radish- super cute and the first taste of our field crops coming in
Scallions
Parsley 

​This weeks Markets

Thursday: Northville

The Northville Market is located at the corner of 7 Mile and Sheldon Roads. It runs May thru October, 8 am - 3 pm

Friday: Stockbridge

The Stockbridge Open Air Market is located on the square in downtown Stockbridge. It runs from May thru October from 4 pm - 7 pm

Saturday: Ann Arbor,  Chelsea, Detroit's Eastern Market, The White Lotus Farm Cart 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 Chelsea Farmers' Market is located in the Palmer Commons at 304 S. Main St.. It runs May thru October (then moves inside thru December!) from 8 am - 1 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 White Lotus Farm Cart is located at 7217 West Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. It is open Saturdays from 9:30am-1:30pm, May thru December. There is a collection of vendors there selling produce, bread, cheese, artisanal produces, along with brick oven pizza and the opportunity to roam the gardens. 

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.

Lake Divide Farm Newsletter:
A window into the production path of your food.

Off we go! We are getting so much done. Onions in the ground, Check. Lots of ground prepped? Check. Just yesterday we put in a driveway short of an acre! Go team go! I think we passed the last stop before fall. Now we are all strapped in for the ride. For all of us. All of us: farmers, plants, animals. The signs of spring are kicking us into high gear and, although tired, I LOVE IT! 

This weekend I helped my beekeeper friend from The Sand Hill. She has lots of bee yards in the area, even one on our farm! It was wonderful to work for someone, learning, and not having to make any decisions. I really learned so, so much too. If you read on, I will tell you about it.

To note:
Find us at the following markets from now on:
Eastern Market
Ann Arbor Saturday
White Lotus Farm Cart
And back at Stockbridge this Friday and Chelsea this Saturday

Here are all of our markets and their expected start dates:
Ann Arbor (Wednesday): May 15th
Northville (Thursday): May 23rd
Royal Oak (Saturday): May 18th
Recipe:
Because we have different produce going to different markets, here are two brief recipes. 

Green garlic. It is garlic pulled before it forms a head. Fresh, tender, and delicious. Use the whole plant. Make a pesto. 

Microgreens with boiled potatoes: I do a lot of meal prep. It is the only way that I manage to feed myself through the week. Often, in the beginning of the week I will boil a bunch of potatoes and then tuck them in the fridge. A real quick meal can be made: heated potatoes, a couple sprinkles of microgreens, a scoop of sour cream, a drizzle of oil, and a little salt. That is all you need and you can be sated. And you can spend the whole meal making the perfect bite. 
Food for thought: 
But seriously guys, we are getting so much done. We really did get just a sliver less than an acre planted yesterday, between the onions, shallots, and whole lot of direct seeded items. I don't think that we have ever planted all the onions in one day. What a crew to stick it out because that is some really tiring work. Most of the day is spent remembering not to arch your back while placing plant after plant in the ground. One day we will have a riding transplanter that can accommodate the job. Until then, sturdy, determined people. (I actually don't think we will ever not need sturdy, determined people but...)
It was a real joy for me planting the onions be cause we were working into raised beds, made under the gun over the "weekend". 
Going into Sunday morning I thought for sure the ground would be too wet to get any responsible tractor work done. But lo and behold, when I took the soil up into my hand, its crumbling disposition told me it was time to get a move on. Rain loomed on Monday, so Jim and I work all day Sunday to get the ground ready. We fitted the bed former, tested it out, adjusted it, decided what "good enough" looked like, and went for it. 
Why raised beds? They offer better drainage for our plants, allow the soil to warm to a greater extent, and provide an accommodating root zone for our plants. One additional thing that I really love is that the topography of the beds reduces water run-off on our sloped fields. After all our hustle, we did get a real rain on Monday night. Previous rains, you could see where the water had run across our land, moving our precious soil. After this rain, there was none of that. On top of that, you could see where the beds caught water between them, allowing it to seep in to the earth be used later. 

I want to note that we still don't have a diverse crop selection. It is looking like our greens are on the verge. Please be patient. We are working our hardest to bring the vegetable heat! They will be here soon.

And now, can I tell you about the bees? They are so cool! It is hard to narrow everything I learned this weekend down to the few coolest, but here is my best.
***Fun bee things I learned: 
Fun fact one: You can picture the rectangular hives that beekeepers use, right? Stacks of boxes. Inside those hives are rectangular frames filled with comb. The bees fill the comb with food or brood (the collective term for immature bees- eggs, larva, and pupae). The brood is in the center. Pollen, the high protein food is eaten by the nurse bees and turned into Royal Jelly which is feed to all the larva and the queen, surrounds the brood. Honey, the food that the other bees eat, surrounds this. It is has a spherical layout. Inside that rectangle, the hive is still a sphere. I don't know why that was so amazing to me but it was. Maybe I thought that they would have conformed to the rectangle. 

Fun fact two: During the daytime, the many of the bees are out on the town, foraging for pollen and nectar. Because of this, when you open the hive during the day, there are a lot less bees present than when you open the hive in the early morning or in the evening. 

Fun fact three: You can be overwhelmed by bees. Especially bees in the morning or night. There are so many of them! And when it is cooler in the morning and evening, they don't fly. So if you open a hive in the morning, all the bees are there, and they don't fly around as much. Woah bees! (Sidenote: this may also have something to do with how they use the sun to navigate so don't fly at night or when it is dark, but I don't know)

Fun fact four and final: This time of year is know as swarm season (or maybe we just passed it), often corresponding to nectar flow, spring blooms, and other phenological indicators. If a hive survives the winter and is large in the spring, the bees may very well head out to find a new home. So in the spring, beekeepers all across the land are getting antsy, waiting for the perfect time to make their splits. Too early could be bad for the bees (?) too late, the bees may be lost to swarming. Making a split is kind of like dividing a clump of chives, except more complicated, more buzzing, and more stinging. If the hive is healthy and large, a beekeeper can split the frames from the main hive into smaller units that have proportionately balanced amounts of brood, food, and a little room fro growth. (These can also be called nucs, short for nucleus colonies). These splits can be taken to a new location, a least two miles from the mother hive, and turned into a new hive. If the beekeeper waits, the bees will make their own queen by feeding one lucky larvae copious amounts of royal jelly, usually within 3 days. If the beekeeper is quick about it, a she can carefully introduce a queen of their choice to the hive. 
***It should be noted, I don't know that much about bees. All that is written here is from me asking excessive questions. This information could be a little off but is likely right, enough. 

Okay, well. Now you know what we are doing on the farm, and just about everything I know about bees, except for a few random things like "You can pick a queen up without hurting her!" and "All the cells in the comb are at a slight angle so the honey doesn't drip out. This also means they can hold water!" and "The bees will clean that up."

We are looking forward to seeing you all this week!
 
Helen writing for the Lake Dividers
Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. (Notice our new catch phrase? We call it the trifecta of sustainability. It sounds a little cheesy but we mean it from the heart. 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 hiring! We have 1 part-time position open for the 2019 season. You can find details about the jobs on our website here. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please send us an email or pass along the information. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

This week we are buying in some produce from local farms to make up for some gaps. These items are noted with an asterisk (*). We will not be able to bring these items to the Ann Arbor Farmers' market because of their producer only rule (which we love). You will be able to find them at The White Lotus Farm Cart and Eastern Market. 

Fresh From the Field!
​
Transplants!
Head lettuce and kale
Basil for your windowsill
Greens:
Microgreens: Solo-Arugula and a Mustard Mix (only to be found at Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Stockbridge, and Eastern)
Pea Shoots  (only to be found at Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Stockbridge, and Eastern)
*Spinach
All manner of deliciousness:
*Carrots
*Daikon Radish- purple and white!
*Green Garlic (not certified organic but responsibly done by our friends at Titus Farms)
*Potatoes- yukon gold and Kerr's Pink
Bunched Radish- super cute and the first taste of our field crops coming in (only at Ann Arbor, Stockbridge, and Chelsea)
Scallions
Parsley (limited and only in Ann Arbor, Stockbridge and Chelsea)

This weeks Markets

Friday: Stockbridge

The Stockbridge Open Air Market is located on the square in downtown Stockbridge. It runs from May thru October from 4 pm to 7 pm

Saturday: Ann Arbor,  Chelsea, Detroit's Eastern Market, and The White Lotus Farm Cart

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 to 3 pm.

The Chelsea Farmers' Market is located in the Palmer Commons at 304 S. Main St.. It runs May thru October (then moves inside thru December!) from 8 am to 1 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 White Lotus Farm Cart is located at 7217 West Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. It is open Saturdays from 9:30am-1:30pm, May thru December. There is a collection of vendors there selling produce, bread, cheese, artisanal produces, along with brick oven pizza and the opportunity to roam the gardens. ​

Lake Divide Farm Newsletter:
A window into the production path of your food.

There was no snow. But let it be known, so much rain. I am not trying to turn into your weekly weather exclaimer. I am not even making original predictions, just parroting what I have heard on the radio or, even more ludicrous, what I have seen. Yes. We can observe. As, too can you. But I was thinking the other day about my relationship to the weather. The thought rose to the surface while watching some t.v. nonsense. The characters experienced a touch of rain. It had no effect on them personally. They just went on about their lives. They didn't discuss the work it was creating or diminishing. They didn't sigh with relief or shudder. They just floated on.
The weather barely effected them, or so they thought! If this story continued (and took a drastically sharp turn from ridiculous crime drama to causal attention to daily life) we would find it was two months later, towards the end of June, when these non-farmers at last noticed the effects of the week of straight rain at the end of April. They were accustomed to getting tomatoes from the farmers' market by then. Those are the early tomatoes. Those are the ones that should have been planted a week ago to be swelling up to vine-ripened sweetness as June rounds the bend. Well, ours will be there in time but not on time. So let it be known: this is the fishhook weather that made them late for their date. 

To note:
Find us at the following markets from this Saturday onward!
Eastern Market
Ann Arbor Saturday
White Lotus Farm Cart! That's right, from now on you can find us in the bucolic setting of White Lotus Farm! The farm cart is open Saturdays from 9:30am-1:30pm, May thru December, and is located at 7217 West Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. There is pizza, there are gardens, there are wonderful people. Find The Brinery with their delicious fermented products, Whitney Farms with their meats and hand-crafted arts, White Lotus Farms wit their exceptional bread, cheese, and botanical products, among others. 

Here are all of our markets and their expected start dates:
Ann Arbor (Wednesday): May 15th
Northville (Thursday): May 23rd
Stockbridge (Friday): May 10th
Chelsea (Saturday): May 11th
Royal Oak (Saturday): May 18th

To our Howell Farmers' Market patrons: Sadly, we are no longer going to attend the Sunday Howell Farmers' Market. We will miss everyone, but it makes a lot of sense for our business and our family to cling to one day of solitude in the storm that is farming. Please come visit us when you can at our other markets. In the meantime, we are we don't feel completely terrible about leaving the market because we know Renegade Acres (certified organic and out of Howell) and Two Track Acres (not certified but wonderful growers with a growing family, out of Grass Lake) are still attending the market. Between those two, you are definitely covered for spirit and most likely covered for all the produce. Additionally, if you add in Cinzori farm, a certified organic vegetable farm that is also at the market, you are covered for all the possible vegetables. 

We hope that you understand our decision and want to emphasize that your support of us over the last few growing seasons has made a huge difference for us. Thank you so much for being part of Lake Divide's formative years.
Recipe:
Pea shoots are delicious. I told lots of you all about how delicious they are last week. Here is one of my favorite things to do with them. Keep in mind, you can chop them up and add them to anything for an extra crunch. In hot dishes, I like to stir them in at the end, so they just turn bright green with out losing their texture. 

Pasta with wilted Pea Shoots:
Cook pasta. While the pasta is cooking, chop up some scallions and pea shoots. Drain the pasta and return it to the hot pot. Toss in the shoots and scallions along with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and some grated Parmesan cheese. If you like, you can also add pine nuts, but it is great on its own. 
This is a wonderful dish with any green and pea shoots are no exception. Make a large portion and dole it out through the week for lunch and dinner. See if you can make it last longer than a sitting. I barely can. 
Food for thought: 
The weather, as my upwards rant focused on, is a huge wrench in our plans. But it is to be expected. We were supposed to be doing all kinds of field work that just can't be done when the ground is this wet. Tractor stuff, which would then lead to building stuff, which would then lead to planting stuff. But, instead of moping about resenting the inevitable, we decided to use this time to fill in all the gaps that we ignore when the world is streaming past our faces. We are fixing, cleaning, moving, arranging. We are focusing on making the busiest of times smooth. 

And we are getting so much done. Yesterday we weeded almost every planting that we have in the field and caught up on some important office work. Today we divided into two teams of two and one team of three (SO MANY PEOPLE!) So far we caught up on seeding, potted up some adorable plants for your gardens, rearranged the greenhouse, planted a hoop house full of cucumbers and squash, updated our deer fence for increased efficiency, and retrieved more potting mix for yet more plants. And this afternoon, we are going to get a bunch more planted in the field- napa cabbage (which is looking awesome this year, by the way), chard, and oh yeah, that delicious kohlrabi we can't wait for! It is amazing what a team of focused folks can accomplish and how us working together amplifies all of our abilities. 

A couple weeks ago, the greenhouse was so full, I thought we were fools for thinking our greenhouse could contain all that we have planned. Over the last few weeks we have been emptying it out. I built some shelves. There was more room. And I started to wonder. What was I worried about? And now, the ramp up is back at it and it is almost a full house again. Okay. We are certainly entering the time-flux! 

We are excited and looking forward and glad to be here.
And everyone, including you, should start hoping for less rain please.
Helen writing for the Lake Dividers
Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People

• 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 hiring! We have 1 part-time position open for the 2019 season. You can find details about the jobs on our website here. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please send us an email or pass along the information. 
• We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details. 

This week we are buying in some produce from local farms to make up for some gaps. These items are noted with an asterisk (*). We will not be able to bring these items to the Ann Arbor Farmers' market because of their producer only rule (which we love). You will be able to find them at The White Lotus Farm Cart and Eastern Market. Fresh From the Field!Greens:Microgreens: Solo-Arugula and a Mustard Mix (only to be found at Ann Arbor and Eastern)
Pea Shoots  (only to be found at Ann Arbor and Eastern)
*Spinach
All manner of deliciousness:
*Carrots
*Daikon Radish- purple and white!
*Green Garlic (not certified organic but responsibly done)
*Potatoes- yukon gold and Kerr's Pink
*Onions- yellow (not certified organic but responsibly done)
Scallions
Parsley

This weeks Markets
Saturday: 
Ann Arbor,  Detroit's Eastern Market, and The White Lotus Farm Cart

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 to 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 White Lotus Farm Cart is located at 7217 West Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. It is open Saturdays from 9:30am-1:30pm, May thru December. There is a collection of vendors there selling produce, bread, cheese, artisanal produces, along with brick oven pizza and the opportunity to roam the gardens. ​