CSA Newsletter for June 21, 2015

Farm Update

Fred harvests some of our
microgreens by hand.

Hello everyone! It's a busy time at the farm, but things are looking good.  This last week we had a lot of rain, and we were fortunate that we did not have much damage from flooding or rot, which is a big risk with so much rain.  As it was, we lost a few plants in the back field (which has a tendency not to drain as well as the rest of the farm) and lost a few strawberries in our older plantings.  It turned out the biggest hassle was just trying to wash the muddy soil off the veggies.  The chickens are doing well and our young hens are starting to increase their egg size very gradually, which is normal for young hens.   At the end of this rainy week we were finally able to get a lot of transplants planted into the ground, though the soil was a bit moist. The potato beetles have come out in full force after the rain, so we will be spraying them with our organic spray mix Sunday.  The blueberry patch has definitely enjoyed the rain and the berries are sizing rapidly.  Weeds are still growing fast with the moisture, but hopefully this week we can get them back under control. This time of year everything happens so quickly, but this early on in the season, we still have the energy and enthusiasm for all the running, and we're thrilled to be doing what we love!

What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:

Mary harvests kale for the CSA
drop-off.

• Choice of strawberries or snap peas
• Choice of romaine lettuce or spring mix
• Choice of bok choy, cooking greens, or Chinese cabbage
• Choice of radishes, kale, or chard
• Choice of green onions, kohlrabi, or fennel
• Choice of broccoli or beets
• Choice of red head lettuce or herbs (might be basil, cilantro, or chives)

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:
Strawberries
Romaine lettuce
Bok choy
Radishes
Green onions
Beets
Herbs

B Share:
Snap peas
Spring mix
Chinese cabbage
Kale
Fennel
Broccoli
Red leaf lettuce

June at the Farm:  A Typical Week

While harvesting for the various
orders and CSA drop-offs takes the
bulk of our time, we also spend
plenty of time seeding for future
weeks of veggies with our push seeder.

The month of June is the busiest month of our farm and our family life every year.  During the week Fred gets up to make breakfast for the family around 5:15-5:45 using mostly our veggies, eggs, and few other locally sourced items like bacon or bread.  After breakfast Michele does as much farm work as she can before our girls get up, answering emails, making drop-off signs, creating harvest lists, financial record keeping, etc.  At the farm Fred starts the farm crew out harvesting different items for both our wholesale accounts and the CSA.  Then as the veggies start coming up to the wash area, Mary, Aram, and Fred start washing, drying, packing, and doing quality control for the veggies we will distribute that day.   This is where we also bag the produce and then put it into our refrigerated delivery truck or the cooler that is attached to our small greenhouse. 

Harvest takes up most of everyone’s time out at the field, but after harvest (most of which happens in the morning), there is still a lot of work to do.  At that point there is plenty of weeding, cultivating, planting, spraying (organic sprays, usually made from plant extracts), and other maintenance work to be done.  Weeding especially takes a lot of time at the farm, as nature tries to cover bare soil areas of the farm with foliage.  With warm (but not scorching) temperatures and plenty of moisture, there are ideal conditions for both crop and weed seed germination.  Most weeds are taken out with tractor-driven cultivators, but weeding inside the rows of the crops by hand is what takes most of the time. 

With these warm air temperatures and adequate moisture comes incredibly fast growth, especially of plant foliage.  Since our farm’s specialty is leafy greens, June is a very heavy harvest month as hundreds of pounds of mostly leafy veggies go out to the CSA, restaurants, stores, and local distributors every day Monday-Thursday.   All of our leafy green harvesting is done by hand (usually with a knife) so our time into harvesting is considerable, but the quality is really exceptional compared with mechanical harvesting, which we have tried.  Everything is fast paced at the farm, occasionally bordering on frantic, as we try to meet delivery and pick up times under the heavy harvest load during this time of year.  

A lot of planting is also occurring in June as we try to seed more plantings for future weeks later in the year.  There is also a lot of transplanting going on (which is done by hand), especially of crops like romaine lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage. Transplanting is more labor intensive than seeding directly into the field, but it cuts down on hand weeding considerably since the weeds will be 4 weeks behind the growth cycle of the crop. 

Mary washes spring mix at our
wash station.

For the CSA drop-offs, Michele drops our little girls off at Grandpa and Grandma's and meets Fred at the farm to get everything packed, bagged, and organized, and then we head to the drop-off and set up.  Most places where we have CSA drop-offs, we also deliver to restaurants, stores, and our home delivery customers on the same trip, making timing critical on these fast-paced days.

With so many aspects of the farm moving so fast there are a lot of balls to juggle at the same time in June.  Getting all our workers, customers, crops, and equipment moving together in the same harmonious direction, and managing all the information that flows in and between, is a huge almost crushing undertaking this time of year. However, it is very gratifying to see so much of the planning, preparation, stressing, and short nights come to fruition to daily send off hundreds of pounds of truly good food to people who really value the food they are getting.  It is also great to have a farm where we can bring home really fresh food everyday and have closer connections with our community and the many personalities that make up our local food system.

Recipes

Beets are one of the new choices in this week's shares, and for us, they're kind of like an old friend.  Because we have them around for most of the year (the fall beets will even last in the fridge until well into the winter), we can kind of start to take them for granted.  So I'm always looking for new things to do with beets.  Check out this Cavatelli with Beets and Swiss Chard recipe from Martha Stewart for a delicious recipe to bring to your next potluck!  Just note that the first step does need to chill in the fridge for at least an hour before you can do the rest of the recipe, so you don't want to start it right before you leave for the party.  Or, for a very fast, very easy, and very delicious beet recipe, try our old standby:  Coarsely dice the beets, sautée them in olive oil until they are fork tender but not mushy, add some rosemary, and serve as a hearty side dish.  That's our go-to beet preparation, and it is always excellent!

Fennel is one of those things I always get a lot of questions about, so if you're not sure what to do with it, try out one of these Fennel Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again.  You're sure to find several recipes you love in here, because there are ideas for every taste preference and skill level!