Welcome back to the farm. It was great to see all of you last week. Your weekly farm visit completes the circle for us; we are gratified seeing you take fresh food home to prepare for your families.
Things are popping in the fields, including the weeds. We started picking zucchini this week and hopefully the plants will be in full production next week so that we can add some to your shares. Strawberries unfortunately drop off the list. The wet weather over the past two weekends destroyed major amounts of their fruit. Carrots and scallions are coming along though and we should see kohlrabi soon too. Here’s a list of what to expect in your share this week:
Lettuce Baby Bok Choi
Chard Broccoli
Kale Asian Greens
June is typically our “lightest” month for the CSA. Greens make up the bulk of your share for these first few weeks. Once we get into late June, heavier stuff arrives like zucchini, carrots and cabbage. For those of you new to CSA this year all these greens to start may be a bit daunting. Try looking on our website for recipes, ask the farmers for tips when you come to the farm and check out the CSA cookbook we have for sale.
Kale Chips: Some of you already make kale chips at home, but they are so good it is worth mentioning at this point in the season, to alleviate any feelings of having too much kale as the season progresses. To make kale chips, just make sure the leaves are relatively dry. You may tear them into smaller pieces or leave them as is. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, use your hands to make sure each leaf is coated in the oil, and sprinkle a little salt. Lie flat on a cookie sheet – making sure not to overlap, and bake on 300 for 15-20 minutes. They should be crispy – not chewy at all. Put on a plate and watch them disappear. You can also crumble the crispy “chips” onto salads, popcorn, rice, anything! Our kids love these things. Let us know what you think.
Every summer is a process of working up to June, which is typically the busiest month on the farm. Relaxed seedings in the greenhouse in February while snowstorms whip about outside give way to the arrival of the apprentice crew in April and heavy transplanting in May. When June hits we always have a heavy load in the fields and then harvest starts. It’s exciting to cut wash and present to you all the food we’ve been raising up to this point but losing two field days each week to harvest really puts the pressure on. In the next week we have to till 4 acres, make up over 20 thousand feet of raised beds, transplant 10 thousand pumpkin and winter squash plants, stake 600 tomato plants, weed a couple thousand feet of various beds, and the list goes on. It’s lucky we eat well and have all of you for moral support.
For those that would like to go beyond moral support…Weeding Wednesday Tomorrow! Every Wednesday we’ll be ready to weed with your help. Join us Wednesday mornings at the farmstead at 8:30 am and work with the farmers weeding in the fields. Many hands make light work…the work is heavy for our few hands right now!
Field walk with Seth today (Tuesday) 4:30! The third Tuesday of each month at 4:30 pm we will have field walks for CSA members who would like to see what we’re doing in the fields up close. This is a great time to see what kohlrabi looks like in it’s native habitat and ask all those questions about unknown bugs in your home gardens.
See you at the farm!