Summer Begins

Here we go! Another farm season is underway this week as we begin to take back out of the fields some of the work we have been pouring into them over the past months. We hope you all enjoy your first share of the season, greens mostly, and just the tip of the iceberg (no, not iceberg lettuce). Every year I feel like I need to say again, especially to those new to CSA, that the size of the share starts slow. In June greens slowly give way to hard vegetables, which build rapidly to the crescendo of August and September. As you look at your bag of greens this week, imagine ahead to the onions, peppers, watermelon and tomatoes in the weeks ahead. The fresh taste of these greens hold all the promise of what we have coming.
In addition to our produce we also have several items available for sale each week. Most of these are high quality locally produced items that we think are outstanding. This week look for frozen natural meats from Maine Farms Brand, Seal Cove chevre (amazingly creamy goat cheese), Straw’s Farm raw organic milk and natural pastured eggs and our own natural lamb sausage. In the weeks to come we hope to have more local cheeses, bread, fair trade coffee, organic Maine ice cream, maple syrup, and honey. Starting at the end of the month we will be taking pre-orders for milk, eggs and bread so that you can rely on sharing these great Maine products with your families.
In response to the many “what do I do with this vegetable?” questions over the years we are selling a great cookbook, written especially for CSA members. “From Asparagus to Zucchini” covers all the bases on how to tackle a fresh seasonal produce diet. With 200 pages of recipes, cleaning, cooking, and storage tips for each vegetable, this book is an invaluable tool to get the most out of your CSA share we have them for sale at $18 ($2 off the retail price).
The Upic field is coming along and we hope you’ll be picking the first crop (peas) by the Fourth of July with green beans not far behind. We have had lots of help from CSA members Bob Leezer and Barb Harvey preparing and planting this field in the past few weeks. More on the upic field and how it all works in future newsletters.
The best place to view lambs is in the Upic field this week. They are pastured right next to the southern side (although it may be hard to see some of them as the grass has gotten away from them (and us). We finished lambing this past week and have over forty-five lambs in this group.
Please enjoy the farm when you come to get your share. You’re always welcome to hang out and check out what is going on. That being said, there are a few things to remember, especially if you have kids, when you’re here.
•    Watch out for fences –they are all electrified.
•    Please stay out of buildings and off of the equipment –neither are safe for the young or old.
•    Don’t open closed doors or gates, they generally are closed for a reason.
•    Keep an ear out for equipment coming through the farm. Tractors are working here seven days a week.

Crystal Spring Farm Day Camp has spaces available for the first week only (July 6th-10th) 9am-3pm, kids ages 6-10 are invited to join us here at the farm. Read more and register for camp at our website:  http://crystalspringcsa.com/farm-camp or contact Maura at maura@crystalspringcsa.com or 729.1112.

CSA Shares still available! Tell your friends, family, neighbors, strangers on the street! www.crystalspringcsa.com

Hope for more sun and we’ll see you at the farm.

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