CSA Newsletter for Week 3

Farm Update

Hi everyone!  We're gearing up for another busy week!  But actually, the busiest portion of our week is actually Saturday and Sunday this time around, because we have a humongous order going down to Ann Arbor on Monday morning, and most of our farm workers are off for the holiday weekend.  So that leaves Fred and me harvesting, washing, and packing like crazy for the next two days to get everything ready to hit the road early Monday morning.  Then we start all over again harvesting, washing, and packing for the CSA drop-offs.  Actually, we may have gotten in a little over our heads this weekend, so keep your fingers crossed for us!  Yikes!

In other news, this extremely hot weather has also changed up how we're doing things at the farm lately.  For one thing, we've been irrigating like crazy to keep all of the veggies from drying up and wilting away.  We've also had to start a lot earlier in the mornings so we can get the green leafy veggies harvested before it gets hot.  If we were to harvest leafy greens in the heat of the day, they would wilt way too soon and not last very long in your fridge.  So it's early mornings for us until this heat breaks.  We are super thankful that we improved our blueberry irrigation system this season, though!  Fred reworked how we had our irrigation lines laid out in previous years. Now it requires a lot more irrigation lines, but has enough water pressure to reach all of the blueberry bushes simultaneously, rather than having to run different lines at different times.  And the blueberries still look fantastic, even despite this heat and lack of rain.  So we're expecting a great crop of berries in about three weeks!

As of last week, the weed pressure was mounting but we were staying pretty much on top of them; now they're officially out of control!  We're hoping to be able to knock out some weeding this weekend if we can get the harvesting done with any time to spare.  We've pragmatically let some of the weeds in our lettuce beds go because they provide some shade for the lettuce in all this hot sun, but alas, we can't rely on that as a general principle.  Something will need to be done soon so that we don't have a significantly lower yield.  A lot of the time, the farm is a series of moving parts and competing priorities, and managing time, labor, and resources to their best advantage is like playing a really intense game of Tetris.  Fortunately, Fred is a logistical mastermind and somehow manages to keep all of the various balls in the air.  But it will be a relief when things slow down a little bit and we get some rain.  So if you know any rain dances, now is the time to employ them!  Have a great 4th of July, and we'll see you next week!

What to Expect in Your Share

If you are going through the line at one of our traditional style drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland), here’s what the options will be at the different stations.  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you choose two items at each station! 

• Green onions or pearl onions
• New potatoes!  We're so excited!
• Carrots
• Lettuce, spring mix, or cabbage
• Basil, summer savory, or kohlrabi
• Cucumbers or beets
• Zucchini, kale, or Swiss chard

If you have a prepacked share, here are your options.  If you have a half share, you’ll choose either share A, B, or C, and if you have a full share, you can choose two of them.  So just email me by lunchtime the day before your drop-off to let me know which share you want for this week!  If I don't hear from you, I'll just choose for you. :-)

Share A:  Green onions, potatoes, carrots, romaine lettuce, basil, cucumbers, and kale.

Share B:  Pearl onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, basil, beets, and Swiss chard. 

Share C:   Pearl onions, potatoes, carrots, spring mix, kohlrabi, beets, and zucchini.

 

Recipes

'Tis the season for grilling!  While most people think of burgers, hot dogs, and steaks when they think of firing up the grill, you can actually grill almost any vegetable as well!  Check out these handy vegetable grilling tips from The Kitchn for ideas!