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!