CSA Newsletter for July 11, 2015

Farm Update

All the veggies are set up and looking great at
last week's Alma drop-off!

 Hello everyone!  The crops are looking pretty good this week at the farm!  Our cool season crops continue to have really excellent quality since it has been a cooler summer so far, and our warm season crops continue to be slower to start.  They've had more growth over the last few days though, as it's been a little warmer.  We've had quite a lot of weed pressure, and we actually had a contract crew come out a few days ago to weed our onions and carrots, because there was just no way we'd be able to get all of it done ourselves.  We've also been irrigating a lot this weekend, and we're starting to put in our larger plantings of fall veggies!  We've actually been having a lot of trouble with rabbits lately; they've done some significant damage to our sweet corn and beans, and they also ate an entire planting of small kohlrabi.  Fred has been taking care of the rabbit issue the last few days.  There are six of them who are no longer with us, and many more of them seem to have gotten the message and made themselves scarce.  There are plenty of animals around the farm that we are happy to see, though!  The population of snakes, frogs, and toads is out in full force, which is actually a very good thing.  They are indicators of a strong and healthy farm ecosystem, and we love to see them thriving.  The snakes also keep any rodents under control who might think about moving in and giving us trouble.  I never would have thought in my younger years that I would ever cringe at bunnies and be happy to see a large snake population, but that's farming, I guess.  Over the last five years, it has already grown and changed me in ways I never saw coming, and I know there are plenty more lessons coming in the next few decades of battling animals, weeds, insects, and the weather in order to bring healthy and delicious food out of the ground.

What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:

The tomato plants are getting a slow start due to
the cooler summer, but they've put on some growth
in the last few days.

• Cabbage
• Choice of head lettuce, spring mix, or large salad mix
• Choice of carrots or cucumbers
• Choice of kale or chard
• Choice of blueberries or beets
• Choice of zucchini or small head lettuce
• Choice of herbs or onions

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:
Cabbage                    Cabbage
Head lettuce              Large leaf salad mix
Carrots                      Cucumbers
Kale                          Chard
Blueberries               Blueberries
Zucchini                   Zucchini
Herbs                        Onions

Fruit and Veggie Spotlight:  Blueberries

One of our blueberry bushes full of
unripened berries.

Unlike many fruits and vegetables that migrated from Europe or Asia to the New World, the blueberry was already here when European settlers arrived centuries ago. Many Native American tribes, most often in northern regions of the Americas, used blueberries in many ways. It was very common for them to dry them during the summer to eat during the winter months, but they also used the plant for dyes and medicinal purposes as well. The modern blueberry varieties that we have today are actually not far removed from the original wild plants here in the Americas, as the first significant varietal selection from wild blueberry plants did not occur until 1908. Michigan is currently the leader in blueberry production here in the United States because the berries thrive in the high water tables and acidic sandy soils that are commonly found throughout the state.

At this point in the season,
not all of the berries are ripe,
but in a few weeks, they'll all
be blue and delicious.

Our blueberry patch actually predates both of us, and we are not even sure of when it was planted, but we do know that it was at least 40 years ago.  It is actually on the property of our neighbors, Mike and Sherri Isenhath, a retired couple who live up the road from us and have let us manage the blueberry patch for the last several years.  We were able to have the patch organically certified in our first season of management, because it has been a very long time since anything had been sprayed there, and Mike and Sherri have given us great advice on how to care for the plants.

Blueberries are always formed on the new growth held on the woodier parts of the bush. In the spring there are new shoots of vegetative growth that grow longer throughout the season. In the fall, the leaves fall off the plant as the bush goes into dormancy for the winter. Then in the spring the new shoots that were formed in the last season bloom. There are millions of blooms at the same time, and the patch hums with the sound of bees and other pollinating insects. Then the leaves come out and the flowers turn into berries that began to ripen and fill out.  Blueberries are actually extremely cold-hardy; this year we had three frosts while the blooms were on the bushes, and they still formed berries without any trouble.

Our blueberries are pretty easy to raise most of the year, and picking is the most labor intensive part of raising them.  We have been able to get bigger berry size this year due to better irrigation and a better organic fertility mix. This year the bushes look nicer than in any other season, as the weather has been favorable and our own experience raising them has improved plant health and vigor.

Our little girls are excited blueberry season has begun, and so are we!  This week we should have close to enough blueberries for everyone in the CSA, but we will still offer it with another option to be on the safe side. We should have blueberries for the next few weeks, so if you don't happen to get any this week, there should be a few more opportunities!  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Recipes

Chances are pretty good you already know exactly what you'll be doing with your blueberries, if they even make it all the way home. :-)  So I'll give you some recipes for the other thing you might be wondering about: cabbage.  Check out these 23 Easy Cabbage Recipes for everything from your traditional cabbage soup to Baja Fish Tacos and Buffalo Burgers with Cabbage Slaw.