CSA Newsletter for Week 7

Farm Update

This is our potato digger, a very old and very useful
contraption that helps us harvest potatoes the easy way,
without having to dig them all up by hand.  The picture
itself is pretty old too, taken back in 2014!  The farm has
changed in many ways since then, and we've gotten many new
 farm tools, but a useful piece of equipment like this will
never go out of style!

Hi everyone!  Man, is it dry out!  Once again, we could really use some rain!  The blueberries are especially desperate for rain because the irrigation lines in the blueberry patch have recently been attacked and perforated by little mice.  We're not exactly sure why, but my guess is that, like everything else, the mice are thirsty and they know there's water in there.  So now the blueberries are also thirsty.  But that's farming in July for you.  

Fortunately, most of the other crops are doing well!  The tomatoes continue to grow and thrive, and we'll have some cherry tomatoes in the shares this week!  The onions are bulbing out, and the potatoes are maturing.  This is the time of year when the green part of the potato plant starts to die back, so the part of the potato that we actually eat is growing by leaps and bounds right now as the plants put all of their energy into the root.  So naturally, it's time for a major potato harvest!  We'll be out there tomorrow afternoon bringing in a bunch of potatoes, and this is the first year that our daughters, Jane (8) and Jessamine (7) will be able to help with the potato harvest.  They're young enough to still be excited about the prospect of helping out at the farm, and this is a job they can excel at.  We have an old-school potato digger that we attach to the back of our tractor, and it has a blade that goes under the soil and loosens the potatoes.  Then a conveyor system brings the potatoes out of the ground, and they (and a bunch of dirt) go down a series of rollers.  The dirt falls through the rollers, and the potatoes are deposited gently on top of the soil behind the machine, for us to collect in crates.  So our kiddos are going to be part of that collection effort this year, and they are pretty pumped about that!  Probably as they get older, they'll get roped into more and more tasks, and they won't find it quite as fun.  But for now, I'm going to relish their simple enthusiasm for helping out at the farm.  :-)

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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!

• Blueberries or cherry tomatoes
• Lettuce or beets
• Carrots
• Potatoes or green beans
• Kale, basil, or chard
• Zucchini or cucumbers
• Onion or microgreens

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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: Blueberries, spring mix, carrots, green beans, chard, cucumbers, and onion

Share B:  Blueberries, beets, carrots, potatoes, kale, zucchini, and microgreens

Share C:  Cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, carrots, potatoes, basil, zucchini, and onion

             

Recipes

One of the fun things about the CSA is getting to talk with people about what veggies they like and don't like, and how they cook them.  Especially when it comes to kale, I've found that some people are die-hard kale lovers, some people won't touch the stuff, and most people who like kale have one go-to way they prepare it.  That was true of me too, with my go-to kale and garlic sauteed in olive oil, with a little splash of soy sauce.  That was how I pretty much always prepared this lovely leafy green, until I went to my parents' house last summer, and my mom made this amazing kale salad.  I had never been into kale salads, but suddenly I was obsessed!  This Summer Kale Salad with Blueberries, Cherries, and Goat Cheese is extremely similar to the amazing salad my mom made that changed the way I look at kale forever.  And it has the benefit of including two of the superfoods that are coming out of the fields right now, kale and blueberries!  Enjoy!

CSA Newsletter for Week 6

Farm Update

Yikes!  The weeds are taking over!  This is the path
to the door of our greenhouse, and it feels like
going through a mini forest every time we walk in!

Hi everyone!  It's been another busy and productive week at the farm!  We finally got a good rain last night, and there's a pretty good chance of getting more tonight, so we're really excited about that.  Another exciting bit of news is that the blueberries are finally ripe, and we'll have them in the shares this week!  We won't be doing any bulk orders this week, but if it looks like we have enough to do bulk orders, I'll have some information about that in the newsletter next week.  Things are really growing around the farm now with all this heat, including the weeds.  The farm actually looks like more of a jungle at the moment, so we're going to try and hack through some of the tall weeds in the next few weeks so they don't completely swallow up every inch of ground that isn't a plant bed or a path.  Because that's definitely where we're headed right now.  The tomato plants are also going crazy, but those are plants we actually want, so we're pretty thrilled with that.  The vines are huge and healthy-looking and covered with blossoms right now.  We've also started to harvest the first cherry tomatoes, but they won't be out in full force until the next week or two.  In other news, our farm cat, Molly, had her kittens sometime yesterday or the day before.  We haven't seen them yet, because she has them hidden away in such a good spot that not even we have been able to find them.  But we know she had them because she's looking a lot skinnier than she was, and she's definitely acting like a nervous new mama.  So probably in a few weeks, we'll have a whole mouse catching team!  So that's what we've been up to at the farm lately!

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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!

• Blueberries
• Carrots
• Kale, bunched greens, or fennel
• Beets, lettuce, or cucumbers
• Microgreens, pearl onions, or basil
• Potatoes
• Zucchini

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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 the 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: Blueberries, carrots, green curly kale, beets, micros, potatoes, zucchini

Share B:  Blueberries, carrots, red curly, lettuce, pearl onions, potatoes, zucchini

Share C:  Blueberries, carrots, fennel, cucumbers, basil, potatoes, zucchini

             

Recipes

One thing I hear pretty consistently from folks in the CSA is how much they love our carrots!  I have to agree that our carrots are pretty much the sweetest and yummiest carrots I've ever had, and I'm only just a little bit biased. :-)  If you're looking for ideas on what to do with your carrots this week, check out 5 Easy Ways to Bring Carrots into Your Kitchen this Summer!  Not only does this site give you several great carrot recipes for summer, it also has fun tidbits on how to store them, how baby carrots are made, how to make carrot flowers, and more!  Definitely check it out!

CSA Newsletter for Week 5

Farm Update

Timmy found the perfect hiding spot
in the back of the delivery vehicle
while we were all working on
Sunday evening!

Hi everyone!  I hope all of you are doing well on this hot, hot day!  At the farm, people and plants alike are feeling the need for this heat to break, and we're really hoping that the rain forecasted for midweek will actually fall on the us!  In the meantime, we've been irrigating like crazy, which is keeping the plants going, but there's nothing like a good rain to make the plants come out of survival mode and put on growth.  The lettuce in particular is having a hard time keeping up in this heat, so my guess is we'll have a limited amount of lettuce in the shares this week.  So this will be the week for all the other veggies to shine!

In other news, we had our annual organic inspection on Friday, which went really well!  It is nice to have that (and the endless hours of paperwork it entails) checked off the list for this year!  When we look back over the last few weeks, it's been extremely busy, but when we think of the sheer amount of produce that went out, it's kind of incredible.  Almost every single day, we've loaded up our delivery vehicle with just about as much produce as could possibly fit on there, and sent it out into the world.  And for a farm our size, putting that many tons of good fruits and veggies in stores, restaurants, and family kitchens around mid-Michigan is really gratifying and a little humbling.  So thank you to all of you for making this possible!

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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!

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Lettuce or cucumbers
• Bunched greens
• Zucchini
• Fresh garlic, kohlrabi, or fennel bulbs
• Baby leeks, microgreens, or basil

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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 the 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: Potatoes, carrots, romaine, kale, zucchini, kohlrabi, and leeks

Share B:  Potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, Swiss chard, zucchini, fresh garlic, and basil

Share C:  Potatoes, carrots, spring mix, collards, zucchini, fennel bulb, and microgreens

             

Recipes

Normally when I think of potatoes, I think of hearty, comforting fall and winter dishes.  After all, what is Thanksgiving without the mashed potatoes?  But potatoes can also be made into a bunch of really wonderful summer foods!  Check out these many Summer Potato Recipes from Saveur, which includes everything from potato salad to samosas to these yummy Patatas Bravas in the picture.  Try them out for some summer potato fun!

CSA Newsletter for Week 4

Farm Update

Brayden and Nolan hang out with
Molly, our farm cat and chief
mouse catcher, on their lunch break.

Hi everyone!  We hope you are all having a great 4th of July weekend!  Things are still going strong at the farm, especially the weeds, which are growing at an amazing speed and keeping us busy!  We've also been seeing quite a lot of snakes, frogs, and toads lately.  This is the weather they love, so they've come out of hiding and are spending their holiday weekend lounging in the fields.  As odd as it sounds to say after the wet spring we had, we could actually use some rain again!  We've been irrigating quite a lot, but there's nothing like a good soaking rain to help everything grow.  (And it also means we don't have to move around a bunch of irrigation lines all over the farm!)  But we're so pleased to have such an abundance of good veggies growing right now!  The carrots are doing really well, we've picked the first few ripe cherry tomatoes, and we'll probably have a few pints of strawberries left next week.  We've definitely hit our stride now, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store!

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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
• New potatoes, cucumbers, or beets
• Spring mix or romaine lettuce
• Zucchini
• Pearl onions or baby leeks
• Bunched greens or fennel
• Kohlrabi, microgreens, or basil

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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 the 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, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, zucchini, pearl onions, basil, and kale.

Share B:  Carrots, potatoes, romaine lettuce, zucchini, baby leeks, microgreens, and fennel.

Share C:  Carrots, beets, spring mix, zucchini, pearl onions, kohlrabi, and Swiss chard.

             

Recipes

We've been making a ton of grilled zucchini lately, because it's definitely the season for it!  This recipe for Balsamic Grilled Zucchini is pretty similar to what we make, but we also grill up baby leeks or pearl onions with the zucchini, and it is awesome!  There are so many options, and this is the perfect week for some experiments with veggies on the grill!