Dear Farm Community -

Spring is knocking on our door, and so is our Spring CSA!

First some quick CSA member housekeeping!
This marks the last week of our Winter session which means we’re rolling right on into Spring next week. If you’re a Weekly-Pay Member, purchased a Four-Season Share, or have already purchased your Spring or Three-Season Share - no need to do anything, you’re on our list for Spring! If you purchased a standalone Winter session share, make sure to sign up for a Spring share or weekly-pay share this week so you don’t miss out on any CSA shares! If you are unsure - please reach out to us, we are happy to help get things sorted out!

ALSO - if you would like to switch your pickup day (beginning next week), please reply to this email with your name and new preferred pickup day. Our full options are:

Tuesday at Athens Montessori (4-6pm)
Wednesday at Creature Comforts (5-8pm)
Thursday at Athentic Brewing Co (4-6pm)
Saturday at Athens Farmers Market (8am-12pm)
Home Delivery on Wednesdays (+$5/week)

In your veggie shares this week we’ve got some of our delicious and nutritious curly kale! This brassica is a nutrient powerhouse with tons of vitamins A, C, and K, fiber, and antioxidants to keep you healthy through this last stretch of winter! Whether you’re whipping up a protein packed kale quinoa salad, crisping it into a satisfying kale chip snack, or wilting it in a soup (like this creamy white bean soup with kale, rosemary, and lemon), kale brings a deliciously rich earthy flavor to your meal. If you’re still want for kale ideas or inspiration for the other items in your share this week, check out our recipes page :)

Now, some exciting news for the flower lovers reading! Our WEEKLY FLOWER CSA is now live!

We’ve put together a special bonus blog post to get you excited for an incredible year of flowers—our 2024 Bloom Recap! 🌸✨ This post is a dazzling month-by-month stroll through last year’s floral abundance, offering a preview of the kaleidoscope of color, scent, and pure botanical bliss that 2025 has in store.

It’s not often that we get to step back and see our work summed up like this. Looking through the calendar, we’re reminded of the countless hours spent seeding, transplanting, harvesting, bunching, sweating (a lot), laughing, and sharing. It’s a true labor of love, and we hope you feel that same excitement and satisfaction when dreaming up your own floral-filled year ahead!

Just like last spring, this March we’ll be harvesting ammobium, anemones, bachelor buttons, daffodils, dianthus, poppies, ranunculus, snapdragons, tulips, and more! Our CSA is the most personal and connected way to experience these blooms—you’ll get to enjoy the freshest flowers straight from our fields, all season long.

The first Spring CSA pickup is next week, and we can’t wait to start sharing the bounty with you. Take a look at the blog, soak up the floral inspiration, and let your flower dreams run wild! 🌿💐

For our Know Your Farmer segment this week, it only makes sense to feature another one of our incredible flower farmers. Meet Morgan - a brilliantly talented grower with an ever-curious mind and a deep love for flowers in all their wonderful forms. She’s constantly expanding her knowledge, always eager to learn more about the art and science of cultivation. If we had an official farm superlative, Morgan would easily take the title of “Most Calm, Cool, and Collected”—the kind of person who brings a steady hand and a peaceful presence to even the busiest harvests. With her keen eye for design, she’s one of our resident bouquet whisperers, weaving together colors, textures, and shapes into pure magic.

We hope you’ll love getting to know a little more about the heart and hands behind your blooms!

Know Your Farmer:
Morgan

What is your role on the farm?
I’m part of the flower team at the Beaverdam Rd farm! For most of the year it’s harvesting and bunching bouquets the majority of the time, but we really do a little bit of everything depending on the day.

Please share your farming journey!
I’ve always been a big gardener (both food and flowers) but didn’t really imagine farming as my career path! I studied engineering and graduated/started a job during the pandemic, which really made me reevaluate what was “worth it” in terms of where I spend my time. After a while I was ready for a change and applied for a flower farming job at the end of 2021 and have never been happier with my day-to-day work :) I get to be outside and work with fun people and use my hands and my brain and sleep really well at night. It’s great.

What makes you passionate about organic farming?
Watching the whole process is super rewarding, especially on the small-ish scale of a local organic farm. From knowing a seed’s germination preferences to watching the weather for a good planting day to making choices to benefit soil microbes to harvesting at just the right stage, there are a billion factors that go into growing anything but at the end of the day, it’s intuitive and natural and just a really fun thing to be part of when you’re paying attention.

What do you like to do when you're not at the farm?
I’m usually in the middle of at least 5 house projects, crafting, cooking, walking my dog, or working in my garden with my husband. My family likes to roll their eyes and say that I’m “always making something” and it’s true! I don’t sit still very often. Except lately because I’m pregnant and sleepy, haha.

Fun fact about Morgan
I’m having a baby this spring and I am SO excited to be a mom!

What’s something you’ve done on the farm that you are proud of?
I’m proud of the flowers we grow <3 I love seeing pics of them in peoples homes and knowing that they bring beauty to other people’s lives!

What’s your favorite crop to grow?
Maybe sunflowers! They wouldn’t make my top 5 flower list but they’re incredibly consistent when done right. Plus harvesting them is so fast and satisfying.

What’s your favorite crop to eat?
Tomatoes. I eat at least one tomato sandwich a day in the summer.

What is a small thing on the farm that you are grateful for?
The bees! Even though they’re usually working against us while we try to harvest before the flowers get pollinated, it’s always nice to see all my hard working little friends out there hustling.

If you were a farm tool, what would you be and why?
A collinear hoe. If you let the weeds get ahead of you it’s almost useless but with a little planning/the right timing, it’s SO efficient!!!

What do you think about when you’re harvesting?
I try to limit the decisions my brain has to make at one time so I have a set of standards for any given crop and stick to them pretty firmly, so that every cut is just “yes” “no” or “deadhead”, and we don’t end up having to sort through for quality later on. If I’m alone I’m usually listening to “How I Built This” or a farming podcast and just getting in a groove where the cuts can be easy and consistent! No analysis paralysis.

In your opinion, what is the best season and why?
Summer!!!!!! I love to sweat and eat tomatoes and berries and swim. But I am partial to spring flowers.

What are your aspirations at the farm?
To be the best grower I can be! Sounds cheesy but I’m a flower nerd and am constantly collecting info and experiences, good and bad, to try to do it better the next year.

We’re all in the pack shed finishing up a big market harvest and you’re handed the AUX. What do you play?
Dua Lipa’s “Radical Optimisim” album is my flower-bunching favorite, it’s the best 36 mins of the day.

What is your favorite thing about Diamond Hill Farm?
Everything! It’s such a good place. Carter is a great farmer and has built a really healthy environment where everyone at the farm is genuinely happy to be there, even on the kinda miserable cold days. There’s room for everyone to really find their place, buy in, and take pride in what we do. It’s just an honor to be part of it and to grow for all our customers in every season!

Blossoming together, petal by petal,
Diamond Hill Farmers

soak in the splendor of spring:

shop CSA