CSA Newsletter for June 7, 2014

Farm Update

During this dry weather, we irrigate
 our plants using a drip line system.
  Little perforated hoses run along
the base of the plants, putting water
only where it is needed.  This saves
water, and also keeps the plants'
foliage dry, which helps prevent
plant diseases.

Hello everyone!  The CSA is officially kicking off this week, and we really look forward to seeing you at the drop-offs, and meeting you for the first time if you're a newbie!  Things at the farm are coming along; the dry weather has caused most of the veggies to grow more slowly than we'd like, but we've been irrigating a lot so they're still hanging in there.  We've had a little more insect pressure than usual too, also due to the lack of rain.  When everything gets dry, the bugs start looking around for the juiciest things they can find, and right now, that happens to be our veggies because we've been irrigating so much.  But the upside is that there have been virtually no plant diseases trying to take hold in the field, because plant diseases thrive in moist weather.  So you win some, you lose some.  Fred has also been planting a lot this week.  He and the field crew put in 3,000 sweet potato plants on Thursday, and they have been really pushing to get everything in the ground before we get really busy next week.  The orchard is also coming along really well.  We've also gotten a few loose ends tied up; our cultivator is back up and running, and we've finally gotten our new well in the blueberry patch!  That made me breath a huge sigh of relief, because it means that no amount of dry weather can mess up our wonderful blueberries, which was a huge disappointment last year.  But this year we are ready to roll, and especially ready to get the CSA started!

What to Expect in Your Share This Week

We'll have lots of gorgeous head lettuce 
in the shares this week, including red 
head lettuce like this, and also some green 
head lettuce.

Here are your choices in this week's share!  If you have a half share, you'll choose one in each group, and if you have a full share, you'll choose two in each group.  If you're unfamiliar with something in the share, just click on the name to see a picture of it.  Also, we'll have some recipes below that feature these spring veggies!

• Bok choy or cooking greens mix
• Spinach or Swiss chard
• Napa cabbage or frisee
• Salad mix or head lettuce
• Kale
• Green onions
• Cilantro, baby leeks, or a surprise veggie

The Best Way to Store your Spring Produce so it Will Last a Really Long Time

The most common question I get asked at CSA drop-offs (aside from "So what exactly do you do with kohlrabi?") is "How do I make this last a while?"  So here is your guide to answer exactly that question, so all of your veggies will last long past when you thought you'd be throwing them on the compost pile.

The first rule of thumb with all of the lovely leafy goodness that spring gives us is to keep it wrapped up, preferably in the bag it came in (in the case of salad mix, cooking greens, or spinach), or in a grocery bag.  Leafy things have a tendency to get wilted really quickly if they are left uncovered in the refrigerator.  And that brings me to the next point:  Put them in the refrigerator, not on the counter.  There are a lot of late summer items (such as tomatoes and peppers) that are better left out at room temperature, but the green leafy veggies are not in that category.  They are best kept cool.

Also in this week's share will be some
of this great bok choy!  If you're not
sure how to prepare it when you get
it home, check out the recipe
suggestions below!

Another thing to know is that you should be cautious about rewashing your salad mix.  Once a CSA member asked me how to store it so it would last longer, because hers started to go bad less than a week after the drop-off.  That really surprised me, because I've known ours to still look really good three weeks later.  After asking her more about it, we figured out that it was because she was rewashing it once she got it home, and the moisture was getting trapped in the bag.  Legally we can't call our salad mix pre-washed because we don't have a licensed processing facility.  But I can tell you this: we rinse it really thoroughly several times at the farm, and when we bring bags of it home, we eat it straight out of the bag without rewashing it.  Hopefully that will save you some time, and also help your salad mix last longer!

Besides that, the only other thing that you'll want to know is about the bok choy.  Both the stem and the leaves are great to eat, and if you think you're going to have it for a while, it's a good idea to separate the leaves from the stem.  If you use it up within a week or so, then don't worry about separating them; they'll be just fine and delicious the way they are.  But if it gets to be more than a week after you got it, it's a good idea to remove the leaves, because that helps the stems stay good for way longer.

I hope this helps!  If you ever run into something that's not lasting very long once you get it home, let me know, and we'll see if there is a better way you could store it to make it last longer.  Chances are, it will already last a lot longer than veggies you get at the grocery store since most things you get in your CSA share are harvested the very same day, whereas veggies you get at the store have usually been out of the field for more than a week.  We want you to get the most use possible out of all your veggie goodness, and this should help!

Recipes

A lot of people ask me what's the best way to cook bok choy, and there are actually several really excellent ways to make a delicious meal out of it.  Check out this feature from Williams-Sonoma, 5 Ways with Bok Choy, for ideas.  We have used all of these methods in our kitchen, and they are all great!

And here is a recipe for Colcannon, which is a traditional Irish dish made with potatoes, greens, and green onions.  It also has the added benefit of being very kid friendly, so if your little ones usually object to eating their greens, try this out!