Newsletter June 19, 2026

Orders for a next Wednesday delivery on June 24 is due on Monday June 22 by 9:00 am.

Our home delivery CSA will start on either July 8 or July 15 depending on your area.  

We have all of our main season crops in the ground.  The cold and wet weather has slowed development a fair bit.  We are weeding at a good pace and still transplanting succession crops on tick.  

This weeks lettuces have not been as big as we want, but next week's planting is looking much better.  The other greens are really looking nice!

We are offering a mixed box of Plato Dale freshness this week.  The box will have snap peas, lettuces, a couple different greens, a couple herbs and maybe another surprise.  In addition the box will include a ground beef, beef breakfast sausage, dozen eggs and an organic sourdough bread.

Link for Box: June 24 Plato Dale Farm Box Special

We are excited that our sheep flock is having a very good lambing season.  We have had 10 new babies that will be headed to pasture this week.  They bounce, zoom and are a joy to watch!

We have built new cross over sluice sections for two pastures this year.  We have also fixed a lot of fence and put in about 50 new posts.  We reattach wires, replace broken posts and make sure we have good electrical connectivity. The worst is cutting the raspberry canes, honeysuckle and wild rose out of the fence line.  Eric, Erin and Phoebe have been the fence warriors this year.  

There is so much uncertainty around our costs this year that we will need to ask for some grace.  Fuel, electric and fertilizer are the obvious ones, but things like mulch, sawdust, straw, hay, gravel, parts and crop protection materials are all up by 20% or more.  In the kitchen; chocolate, sugar, butter and flour have all gone up significantly. We do our best to keep costs in check, but we use premium and organic ingredients that can not be "shopped around" too much.  We also buy local, which means that other farmers and suppliers have the same cost structures as us, and we feel that it is important to keep our supply chain close to home.

The other thing that is premium on our farm is our staff.  If you have a chance to interact with them at market, in our wholesale outlets or at the farm, you know what I mean.  I am very grateful to each of them.  They work extremely hard and are the most important part of the farm.  I continue to hope that we can develop our markets in a way that allows them to flourish professionally as well as financially.  We all have a vested interest in making sure a next generation is willing to farm, and that they can have a secure future.  This isn't about money, it is about dignity.  They work harder than most and deserve more than they get.