A Tale of Two Customers

April 7, 2025

It is the worst of times, it is the best of times.

Given the daily news pelting us about war, censorship and the economy it is easy to despair and want to hide our heads. Yet some things give us great hope, particularly the broadening national recognition about the role food and farming play in building or destroying our health. What we put into our bodies has consequences, and educating about this is something to which Julie and I have devoted much of our lives.

Last week we received notes from two customers. One, to a member of our staff in reply to a CSA reminder, said:

“Thank you, Leslie, for your outreach about the upcoming CSA season. We enjoyed the vegetables last year and were so appreciative of how easy and fluid you made pickups. We’ve decided not to renew this year as Julie’s emails were consistently too political.”

The other was unsolicited from a newsletter reader who said:

“I so enjoy your newsletters and positive attitude…Thank you for all you do.  You have built community that is kind, and your newsletters bring me peace during these chaotic times.”

Both writers are thoughtful and appreciative, however one is upset by our politics and the other thanks us for bringing her peace. We understand the desire to avoid controversy, but feel the poor state of health in America is too important to avoid discussing. Part of what we are doing here is not just raising healthy food but teaching others how and why to do that as best we understand it.
We want to continue that discussion in a respectful but unflinching way and would love to have customers participate. We will print disagreements and contrary opinions to be fair. Let us know your thoughts and if our treatment of this topic is useful to you and the health of those you care about.

Expressing Gratitude This Week 

This week’s winner is the grapevine. I have spent a lot of time with grapevines over the past 2 weeks and have come to really appreciate their tenacity. Tenacity is a good thing, I believe, and they have it in spades. As we have been pruning and clipping and retying, I noticed something about their tendrils. They send them out regularly to help the vine stay connected to the host, whoever that might be. And cutting the dead ones off is seemingly almost as hard as clipping a piece of fine wire. Think of the intelligence that has gone into this system of self-care! I always used to write grapes off as freeloaders, hanging all over somebody else in order to get to the sun. But the creator made them that way, and they have lived up to all expectations from the vine gods. Alongside that, of course, we get amazing fruit from them.

On a side note, Marissa, Justin, Leslie and I were cooking on all four burners on Wednesday as we pruned and tied the grapes on the annex trellises. It was truly a highpoint for the week that we were one with the grapes and each other.

Many Hands Sustainability Center – Supporting Food Sovereignty

Wow, folks, we are now down to only $350 needed for fridge share. Thanks this week go to Margo and Andy, Holli, and Brenda and Joe. Jack and I are so grateful.

You can donate here. Once we reach this goal we will be aiming to raise $2000 to provide food to the Barre Food Pantry.

Donate Now

2025 MHOF CSA

I enjoyed presenting to the folks at the Gardner gym Tuesday night, about our CSA. And in the true cross-promotional spirit, I am letting you know about their May food and fitness challenge.

Here’s the link to the full-length YouTube version.

Here’s a short synopsis of our 28-day challenge launching May 3rd and the signup page:

Ready to build healthier habits and feel your best? Our 28-Day Challenge kicks off May 3rd, focusing on sleep, stress management, movement, and nutrition—the foundations of long-term health.

What’s in it for you?

• Expert coaching to guide you every step of the way
• A supportive group environment to keep you motivated
• Fun challenges & cool prizes to celebrate your progress

Whether you’re looking to boost energy, improve recovery, or just feel stronger, this challenge is for you!
Spots are limited—sign up now.

Matt Cali
Nutrition+CrossFit 696
696 West Broadway,
Gardner, MA 01440
978-502-1443
www.crossfit696.com

Of late we have been receiving a share a day either by USPS or PayPal. Now is a good time to make that commitment. I promise you will not be let down.

Sign Up Here

Sorry, no veg write-ups today – ran out of time! 

Back next week!

Download the 2025 CSA Order Form

Volunteering at MHOF

Michele was here with Jaden, Anneliese and Margaret and Nick came back on Friday too; and Sophie was here on Saturday. We had a very long and enjoyable week of work, and dodged the rain while getting some fantastic weather. We would love to have you as a regular for a large produce share, or when you can make it, for a share that day.

Hen advises as Nick fixes hanging feeder

I wonder if Michele is a pyro

Skippy spent a fair amount of time in dog heaven on Friday

This Week’s Recipe from Jennifer: Turmeric & Moringa Encrusted Salmon with Roasted Veggies + Ginger-Tahini Drizzle

This recipe is a deeply nourishing and vibrant expression of seasonal, Ayurvedic eating. Salmon is encrusted with turmeric, known for its anti-inflammatory and liver-cleansing properties, and moringa, a nutrient-dense rejuvenative that supports detoxification and tissue repair. The roasted summer vegetables—cauliflower, squash, snap peas, and onion—offer grounding, digestive stimulation, and cooling benefits, making this dish beautifully adaptable across all three doshas.

The ginger-tahini sauce brings it all together: warming ginger aids agni (digestive fire), tahini offers grounding healthy fats, and honey + lemon provide digestive activation and a touch of sweetness and brightness.

This meal is sattvic in nature—balancing for the mind and body—and offers a beautiful synergy of flavors and healing properties. It is tridoshic, but with slight seasonal and doshic customizations, it becomes a deeply personalized plate of medicine.

Get the Recipe at Jen Zen Living

Gut Health

The points below are from Kiran Krishnan’s course “Build Your Resilient Gut Biome and Beyond at Rebel Health. Check out Rebel Health for lots of good info and you can always google Kiran on the internet if you want to go deeper faster.

What is happening to our Microbiome? Some background

Some more of the bad news again today, but I kind of see it as good news, because if we can rebuild our health through proper care and feeding of our microbiome, we can have great health. I ended up with a hysterectomy at 45 because of PCOS – PolyCystic Ovary Syndrome. What if I had access to this information 27 years ago?

The microbiome can be the main driver of disease in these very specific ways

• Immune dysregulation / autoimmunity
• Chronic Inflammation
• Weight gain/metabolic syndrome
• Impaired detox / NonAlcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
• Acne and other skin issues
• Hypersensitivity / Mass Cell Activation Syndrome / Histamine Intolerance
• Mood disorders / Anxiety/depression
• Neurodegenerative disease / cognitive decline
• Chronic and more severe infections
• Blood sugar dysregulation / diabetes
• Hormone Imbalance / PCOS / Infertility / Low Libido
• Chronic fatigue / low energy
• Nutrient deficiencies / Anemia
• Brain fog / inability to focus

Farm Doin’s

When I looked back at our pictorial history of the week, Monday seemed a long time ago. But it sure was fun to start ticking stuff off the list. Each week adds new responsibilities (planting of peas and onion sets this week) and it is time to get done with the perennials management. I hope to have all of the small fruits pruned and cared for by month’s end.

Jack was directing on the ground, Leslie on the ladder and I supported from the deck

Monday, we put down some more tarps, and must finish all of them this week, as we will be starting to take them off again soon enough. Stu finished the picnic table in time to eat lunch on it! And we pruned more grapes, as we did every day. We also moved our chickens out to the orchard. They were quite unhappy for the first two days, but are grudgingly getting egg numbers back up by week’s end.

Matt and I cut and stacked all of our shiitake logs for 2025 and we will inoculate them in early May.

A wonderful April 1 surprise

We were unsuccessful at completely burning one of our three burn piles, but finished it off on Wednesday, and completed another one on Friday. We have one more to finish up this week.

Leslie bottled another batch of our bitters, just in time to get a bunch of orders from Ellen’s cleanse members (is this nepotism?).

We uncovered our strawberries from their mulch hay and they look stupendous.

Drew and Marissa did 1 ½ hours of spraying on Wednesday morning, giving a thorough scab/fire blight organic spray to all of our trees –

Recipe from AEA

• 6 quarts seastim
• 6 quarts sea crop
• 2 quarts rebound boron
• 2 quarts rebound copper

Mix these up and use 1 quart of mix per sprayer tank. Add 1 T Micro 5000 organic and 1 t. Spectrum
Suggested application timing is every 3 weeks as needed.

Matt and Nick fixed all of our broken hoses. It was a wonderful week with spring really feeling like it was here on Friday (not so much the next day!).

Julie

Our friend took this peaceful video on Friday evening