WE WANT YOU!!  Eat Clean, Eat Local, Support your Farmer.  Sign up for our multi- farm Deep Roots CSA.  Tell all your friends, lol.  We harvested on the day you pick up your share.  You get the best out of the field before anyone else has a chance at it.  Heirloom tomatoes, pepper of all kinds, purple okra, yellow wax beans, its all coming your way if you become a member.

Our gardens are in full swing and production is ramping up quickly.  I always find it amazing how fast plants grow and produce in the spring time.  They start slow but as soon as the days get longer, man they spring into action.  We are harvesting all sorts of greens, brassicas, beans have hit the scene and squash is just about here.   Root crops like carrots, beets and potatoes are also starting to get harvested for shares.  WE would love to share the bounty with you.  We have open spots for our Spring season and Summer as well.  If you are interested in it or have questions, give us a call or email.

Seeding, Seeding, Seeding is what I have been doing lately.  My back is feeling the farm getting busy again and we love it.  The days are getting longer and this rain today is soaking those freshly planted seeds and spinach.  It is amazing what rain water can do for our crops.  We are a short 6 weeks from the first CSA share delivery and that is an exciting and scary feeling at the same time. Farming is so unpredictable, we can plan til our heads explode but with so many factors, you just have to wait and see sorta.  I have to admit that planning is my weakness, I have a hard time getting things down on paper and sticking to it.  Honestly, I wing most of it and just keep planting, that's what I do best.  My hoophouse is planted with greens (kale, chard, lettuces),  cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli.  In the fields so far we have onions, spinach and direct seeded crops such as radish, beets, turnips and mesclun mix.  Hopefully with this rain today and sunshine tomorrow they will sprout quickly.  Bobby has lots of crops planted and his Strawberries are looking great. Lots of Green berries on the plants and even a few red ones. Oh, I can taste those beauties already!! Barbara has been planting blackberries, carrots, garlic and onions.  She also has a greenhouse filled with seedling just growing so they can get planted out.

We have new reusable tote bags for this year.  If anyone has ideas of where we can place our info cards around town, we would love to know.  We still have open spots available and hope to fill up soon.  Please share with anyone you think may be interested in freshly harvests, ALL LOCAL, organically grown produce and egg/meat & herb options. 

We have been busy preparing in so many ways for Spring to come.  We have made a few changes to our CSA program this year, now offering 3 share options.  We had requests for a personal share so we made it happen.  That box will cost $15 a week with 4 items included, we are so happy to offer this option.   Also, lots of preparing on the three farms as well.  We are all sowing seeds in greenhouses to get the jump on the weather and plowing the fields for planting outside. Onions will be planted soon if not already.  Some crops like garlic, strawberries and perennials are already growing.  We are super excited to offer almost double the slots for members this Spring and even more for Summer.  We hope you recommend us to a friend or family that may want to eat fresh, clean and local produce this year.   Sign ups are open and the website has been updated.  We still have a few pages under construction but the store is ready for you.  You can now pay with credit card for your share directly through our website or you can fill out  form to pay by check or cash.
** If you purchase the 16 week season (Spring & Summer) and pay by March 1st, you will receive a FREE Early bird box the week prior to the season starting**

Call with questions 903-910-5663
Visit www.deeprootscsa.net for info

I thought maybe we could take a break from all the political madness happening out there and look at fun farm photos.  Most of you know that Thomas is involved in almost all aspects of the farm and he does a great job for the most part - as well as any 4yr would. Right now we have about 135 broilers out on pasture in three different mobile coops.  We move these each night and its a two person task.  So that means, Thomas and I!!  What an adventure we have together along with Honey and Mabel of course.  He has learned a great song from school, "What's gonna work? TEAMWORK"  We sing that tune quite often while moving coops.  In the hour, I am sure my blood pressure is at its highest and I probably go from happy, mad, frustrated, calm, irritable, and typically end with smiles all around.  Keeping a 4yr boy on task and out of the chicken shit long enough not to run over all the chickens is a job.  But I love that job and we love how we raise these chickens.   I hope you enjoy the farm pictures and the chicken too. 

Our CSA is in full swing and as summer crops finish up, cool season veggies are showing their face.  We LOVE broccoli at Chandler Family Farm.  Not only do we loving growing it but it is Thomas's favorite vegetable to eat.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as we have been.  Cabbages are starting to head nicely and hopefully the Cauliflower will do something soon.  I planted out some cheddar and purple cauliflower two weeks ago but the rabbits decided to eat each and every one, insert sad face here.  I was really looking forward to growing those but we will have to try again in the Spring. 

This week: Bok Choy and Broccoli greens from Highway 19 Produce.
Yellow wax beans, sweet peppers and sweet potato greens are from Gopher Knoll Farm.
Cucumbers, Broccoli and Radishes are from Chandler Family Farm

We are about to start planning for next year and I would love any feedback on what you want more or less of.  Any vegetable you haven't seen but you like to have in your box.  Please let us know, we are growing for you!!

We only managed to get a picture of the small box contents on Tuesday,  so sorry.  First day of csa harvesting and deliveries is a little more hectic until we get back into the swing of things.  I will get a picture of the large box on Friday.  So as you can tell we are in a transition period from summer crops to fall crops.  The summer stuff will fade out as greens come in heavily followed by the brassicas such as broccoli and cabbage.  My garden is about 80% planted and as more crops come out, I will just keep planting in that space too.  It has been an interesting few weeks of pest issues.  First was caterpillars and hundreds of them.  They were on basically every single plant at my farm, from the main garden to the small greenhouse.  I have to admit that I panicked and was concerned but some BT and spinosad, both organic approved sprays, took care of them so far.  Then the influx of wooly ahpids.  did you see them??  The millions of fuzzy white bugs flying in the air.  not ash or snow but aphids, ugh.  They have since moved on but eggs have been left behind.  Luckily, a jet spray of water can kill those guys. 
All of my plants are taking root and growing strong.  I have had some difficulty getting seeds to germinate outside in the garden but as the temperatures cool down they will do better.  We are excited about the fall season and hope you are too. 
Oh yeah, I picked up pork yesterday!  So now I have for the first time ever, sausage, ribs, roast and pork chops available.  I am pretty excited about this and even picking up two more piglets this weekend.  So, if interested, email or call me.   A few turkeys are available for holiday tables and as always eggs each week.  We hope to be a full service farm soon ;)
Thomas and I will keep farming as long as you want locally grown vegetables and animals raised right.  We sure love it and hope you do too.  Cheers!
- Jennifer, farmer - Chandler Family Farm

This week closed out our first Deep Roots CSA season.  We are thrilled with how it turned out and look forward to many more. 
From Gopher Knoll Farm: onions, leeks, blueberries, jalapenos
From Highway 19 Produce: cherry tomatoes, green tomatoes, red slicing tomatoes and Heirloom tomatoes
From Chandler Family Farm: Israel melons, okra, eggplant