Dear Friends,
We hope that this newsletter finds you and your families doing well. October was a whirlwind, and it hard to believe that this coming Wednesday is our last CSA share pickup day (24 weeks flew by), and also our last farm store day until next Spring.
We have some great news though. This coming week, we will have five additional single CSA shares. You can find the $30 weekly share on our website, or click this link:
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We are grateful that in spite of challenging weather this season, the gardens have been abundant and we want to share that with you. We have also been donating to our local Peapack-Gladstone Food Pantry. There are so many people at risk of food insecurity right now, even in our own community, so please consider cleaning out your pantry, or adding to your weekly food shopping order to donate to your local food pantry. We know that fresh produce is especially appreciated by their clients.
We are deeply grateful to all of our CSA members, and thank them for their valuable feedback. We heard you loud and clear. We will be ramping up production in 2026 to offer a 50 person CSA share, so please stay tuned to our newsletters, as this is where you will find out when you can sign up online.
We would also like to remind you that even though our store may be closed for the season, we offer FREE DELIVERY over the Winter to addresses within 15 miles of the farm. If you are outside of our delivery zone, we can mostly likely accommodate, as long as you are located in NJ. Please feel free to reach out through our website with any questions.
If you would prefer to pick up your delivery in person, Farmer Martha can arrange to meet you at the farm store. Please send a comment in the notes section of your order to let us know what works best for you. We appreciate any and all support throughout the Winter season.
We are grateful to be part of the Willow School Holiday Bazaar again this year. We have a bunch of new products launching there that you won't want to miss!
We also have one last Summit Farmer's Market on Sunday, December 7th, so please stop by if you're in the area if you need excellent hostess gifts and delicious baked goods.
Speaking of gifts, you can always buy an electronic gift card for your friends and family who love a great Farm goodie basket. We offer $25, $50, and $100 denominations.
Some of our new products include Spun Honey, Peace and Joy Simmering potpourri, Fireplace starters, Firepit starters, Peach Vanilla Honey Jam, naturally scented beeswax candles (their scent smells like Honey), and crushed garlic coins (please stop by and we can tell you all about them).
We love when resources can serve more than one purpose. As you can see, our solar panels also act as a shelter from the elements for our sheep. This practice is called Agrovoltaics, or Agrisolar.
Our lambs are getting so big, it's hard to believe that they are seven months old already and almost fully grown. In October, they grazed their way through our riverside silvopasture for the first time. Their fearless leader, Fern decided to munch on some Pokeberries, which made her mouth purple. Thankfully, she didn't have any problems afterward, as they are slightly toxic to sheep.
Our ducks and hens are enjoying these last days of Fall. Our older hens are being temporarily housed in our sheep barn while we await the installation of our new chicken coop. Quietly over the Summer, we started our Resiliency Breeding progam, and thanks be to God, it's going really well. We have 18 birds that we purchased from a hatchery, and 16 birds that we hatched ourselves from Bricktop, and our healthiest, best hens (all pictured above). Our goal is to breed for temperament and also robustness in our particular environment. That way we can create a closed flock and not need to bring outside birds on the farm for 20 years!
Here's one of our new roos. His name is Johnny Cash, and he's got a bit of a teenager crow right now, but he's learning!
We have a bunch of great events coming up as we enter the Holiday season. While the craziness amps up in your world, you can choose to unwind with us and use your creativity to create beautiful wreaths, or participate in a relaxing and restorative Qi Gong/Tibetan Singing Bowl sound bath to recognize the start of Winter. You can find all of our workshops on our Events page. Just click on EVENTS on our home page.
Additional events will be added by Wednesday of next week, so please check often!
As the season continues to wind down and we eat our last tomato sandwiches, we'd like to express our gratitude to each one of you for supporting the farm and the work we do. Whether you came for a tour and told your family and friends about us, visited us at one of the farmer's markets, or you came to the farm week after week to pickup your CSA share, we appreciate each one of you. Wishing you and your families a very special Thanksgiving.
Please feel free to reach out through the website any time!
God bless you and your families, today and always.
Sincerely,
Michele & the Maranatha Farm Team