CSA Newsletter for Week 4

Farm Update

Hi everyone!  Here we are, entering week 4 of the CSA!  Last week was a hard-hitting week with tons of work, but this week should be a little less extreme.  We got some rain last week, and we’re likely to get more this weekend, and we are so thankful!  The plants are a little less desperate, and we’ll have to spend a little less time on irrigation, so that’s a huge win!  The recent hot weather was longer than we’ve had in a long time; Fred was talking with our neighbor the other day, and Mike doesn’t ever remember a stretch of 90-degree days that long in his seven or so decades of life.  But the heat has broken, and the plants (and farm workers!) have made it out safely on the other side.  This heat has really spurred on our tomato plants, which are now about 8 feet tall, and are having to be re-trellised regularly.  To keep our tomato vines up off the ground, we have them held up by two rows of twine close together, which are wound tightly around metal T-posts.  Trellising is the process where Fred takes all of the new growth on the tomato plants and wraps it into the rows of twine, and it has to be done periodically throughout the season as the vines grow longer.  They’ve been growing so quickly lately that Fred has had to trellis the tomatoes way more frequently than usual! 

If you remember a few months ago, I had information in the newsletter about a great source for pasture-raised, non-GMO, non-hormone chickens from a local Amish farmer, Jonas Weber.  Jonas is currently taking orders for turkeys for Thanksgiving or Christmas if you’re interested!  The turkeys will be 15 to 25 pounds, and they’ll cost $2.25 per pound.  He’ll be taking orders for the next week or two, so if you’re interested, get in touch with Corina Thomas at 989-304-0077.  Since Jonas is Amish and doesn’t have a phone, Corina is a neighbor with a phone who will be answering questions and taking turkey orders.  So if you are interested in getting a really great Thanksgiving turkey, give Corina a call!

Jonas is also considering starting a periodic farm box that will include a gallon of raw milk, some butter, cheese, eggs, and a chicken, and he’s looking for input from our CSA members on whether people would be interested in this option!  All of the aforementioned products are produced by him and his parents, and they’re all pasture-raised, non-GMO, and non-hormone.  I stopped by there Friday morning to get some more information about their products, and he gave me a sample box of what their meat and dairy share would include, and I just have to say, I am so excited about this!  The thing about a lot of Amish farms is that they have really top-notch products, but not really a good way to market them.  So Jonas and his folks are wanting to get some feedback from our CSA members about whether this is something people would be interested in, and whether it would make sense to hire a delivery vehicle to bring their meat and dairy shares to our drop-offs!  So if this is something you’d be interested in, just send me an email, and I’ll let him know the level of interest in these awesome local farm products!  Or if you’d be interested in some items but not others, let me know that too!

In other news, we’re going to have blueberries for everyone this week!  The heat over the last week has really ripened the berries, so they’re a full week earlier than we thought they’d be!  We’re also going to have enough berries to take some bulk orders this week!  The bulk blueberries will come in 10-pound increments (which is about 13 pints), and they’ll be $37 per 10-pounder.  We don’t know how many blueberry orders we’ll be able to fill this week, so if we get just a ton of orders and can’t get you blueberries this week, we’ll try to fill the requests as we can over the next few weeks.  So if you’re interested in getting a bunch of blueberries for freezing, making jam, etc, just let me know and I’ll put you on the blueberry list!  

Also new this week, I'm going to experiment with a new way to collect requests for prepacked shares!  In the interest of saving me several hours a week doing emails, as well as increased accuracy, I'm going to try out a Google form instead of having you guys email me.  So when you choose which share you want, just fill out this quick survey by noon the day before your drop-off.  And if you think of anything that should be on the Google form and isn't there, let me know so I can tweak it for next week!  Thanks so much! See you later this 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! 

• Carrots or beets
• Potatoes
• Blueberries!
• Lettuce or cabbage
• Kohlrabi or basil
• Zucchini or cooking greens mix
• Green onions, pearl onions, summer savory, or microgreens

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 fill out this Google form 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:  Carrots, potatoes, blueberries, cabbage, basil, zucchini, and green onions

Share B:  Carrots, cucumbers, blueberries, lettuce, basil, zucchini, and pearl onions

Share C:   Carrots, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, kohlrabi, cooking greens mix, and pearl onions

 

Recipes

If you're one of the many people who have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with zucchini because your mom's/grandma's/neighbor's garden produced way too much of it when you were a kid, hopefully these 41 Best Zucchini Recipes from Bon Appetit will help change your mind!  Enjoy!