CSA Newsletter for Week 6

Farm Update

Have you guys ever wondered what the process
is for bagging up all of the prepacked shares?
Here's Abby, our one-girl assembly line, packing
up a bunch of shares!

Hi everyone!  It's been another busy week on the farm!  Most farm seasons have a similar rhythm year after year, with similar tasks and a similar pace in any given month.  Normally we expect it to be absolutely crazy from mid-June until mid-July, and then it tapers off slowly.  Usually we're able to figure out how to schedule in a chance to get away overnight and go camping sometime in August so we can recharge for the rest of the season, because most years we have plenty of workers, and the sheer amount of work to be done has stabilized.  This year, not so much.  Because we couldn't get enough people during our crazy-busy period, there was a lot of important work that went undone, and as we all know, "a stitch in time saves nine".  So now we're hitting the point where we have to put in nine times the effort to make up for what we weren't able to do when we needed to.  There's a reason that many of the idiomatic expressions that came out of a more agriculturally oriented time (like "make hay when the sun shines") are about getting things done at the proper time.  Because if you don't get the weeds out when they're smaller, they take over a few weeks later when they're huge.  And if you don't put in the next succession planting of various crops when you need to because you're busy getting everything harvested and on the road to the CSA drop-off, then you don't have those crops six weeks later when you need them.  Another idiom I love is "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."  I often cite it when it seems that someone is overthinking a solution to a future scenario that may never occur, or letting worries about what they will do several steps later in the process interfere with the work they are doing now.  However, now we've come to the river crossing to find that the bridge hasn't even been built, because we were too busy three weeks ago to spare people to build it.  So now (to extend the metaphor), instead of being able to step back and take a breath, it's all hands on deck to get the bridge built.  

So to free Fred up to lead the bridge-building crew (so to speak), it's going to be just me at the drop-offs for the next few weeks.  That will free up tons of hours for him over the next few weeks to get the farm back on track.  Because we don't want to get to a point where we don't have enough variety to bring you guys a good CSA share a few weeks down the road.  August is going to be a transitional month, and there may be some weeks where a particular crop becomes past its prime midweek and another one becomes available to take its place.  So it's highly likely that some of the stations at the drop-off might change from our Alma drop-off on Monday to our Midland drop-off on Thursday.  The same might occur in our prepacked shares, where a particular item in one of the shares becomes unavailable later in the week, so we have to replace it with something else.  If we need to do that, I'll try to keep you apprised if the share you requested has a change to it.  

We so appreciate all of the encouraging words so many of you sent us last week after the birds took out so many of our blueberries!  Thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement!  Fortunately, more of the blueberries have ripened since the great bird attack, so we'll still have some blueberries in the shares next week!  Next week's shares should be pretty nice.  Many of the items will be more compact, so it might not look as voluminous as it does some weeks, but there will be a lot of great stuff in there.  (Think smaller items like blueberries and cherry tomatoes, rather than bulky items like kale.)

So here we go into Week 6 of the CSA!  Just let me know if you have any questions about anything, 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! 

• Zucchini, cucumbers, or basil
• Blueberries or cherry tomatoes
• Lettuce or carrots
• Green beans
• Potatoes or beets
• Cabbage or Swiss chard
• Green onions, garlic, or okra

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:  zucchini, blueberries, carrots, green beans, beets, cabbage, and okra.

Share B:  basil, blueberries, lettuce, green beans, potatoes, cabbage, and green onions.

Share C:  basil, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, potatoes, chard, and garlic.

 

Recipes

If you were born and raised here in the North, you may never have experienced okra, but I'll tell you what, our friends in the South know what they're talking about when it comes to this awesome treat!  I experienced okra for the first time last year, and it is one of my favorite foods ever!  Try out this Fried Okra Recipe for a traditional Southern favorite, or this Red Lentil and Okra Soup, which is very similar to a delicious soup Fred made yesterday!

CSA Newsletter for Week 5

Farm Update

Bunching carrots is a messy business!  You'd
never guess it when you get the carrots in your
shares, but we are always covered in mud after
a carrot-bunching session!  Here, Jen, Brayden,
Charlie, and Max are laughing at some oddly
shaped carrots.

Hi everyone!  Each week you win some and you lose some, and I think this week we came out about even.  On the upside, we're very pleased to have gotten a few more workers!  We were starting to fall behind on some important things because there were just not enough hours in the day.  Finding good workers for the farm is especially difficult, because not only do they have to be able and willing to work long hours in the hot sun, but they also have to be strong, fast, make good decisions on the fly, and have a good eye for what quality produce looks like.  And there aren't too many people who possess all of those qualities.  But we've had a few faithful teenage farm workers who have recruited some of their most capable friends, and suddenly, we're able to get things done!  Now we're making a dent in the weeds that were threatening to take over, we got a new round of lettuce planted, and we got our garlic harvested and curing.  We've also been harvesting a ton of blueberries, but we actually have a local guy named Tomas bring a crew of a few friends or relatives, and they harvest our blueberries for us every year.  The blueberry harvest is such a huge job that we wouldn't be able to get anything else done if we were doing it ourselves, so we're always glad to have Tomas and friends come out and do the blueberries!  

But with the good also comes the bad, and there has been some of that this week too.  We've discovered a new insect pest that we've never had to deal with before, the squash vine borer.  These annoying bugs do exactly what their name implies, boring deep into the vines of our winter squash, where they're nearly impossible to get to, and killing our squash plants.  Fred did some research, and it's likely that they're affecting us this year for the first time because last fall was so wet and we weren't able to till last year's squash planting under until months later than we usually do.  So we're doing our research and trying to figure out how to meet this latest challenge, because we want to be able to bring you guys a bunch of yummy squash this fall!

It's actually good I'm writing this now and not last night, because yesterday we were so dispirited that this would have been a completely different newsletter.  Fred stopped by just as I was about to mow the lawn yesterday and told me that he had been out to the blueberry patch, and a massive swarm of birds had come through and eaten most of our beautiful blueberry harvest.  We would probably be able to cover the CSA, but there would definitely be no berries for bulk orders, and none to sell to the stores we supply or the other CSAs to which we contribute.  We would have to tell the people we had offered blueberries to that we wouldn't be able to come through with their orders.  And let me just tell you, I HATE not being able to come through on something I said I'd do.  I actually wrote the beginning of this newsletter while riding around doing our Midland deliveries on Thursday, because the cardinal rule of summer on the farm is that you don't waste time.  And being a passenger in a vehicle and not doing something else productive is wasting time.  But when Fred came home and told me about the blueberries, I was devastated.  I planned to scrap the newsletter I had written, and as I was riding around on the lawnmower, I was mentally composing a new newsletter about heartache and resilience that pulled in quotes from Teddy Roosevelt and Rudyard Kipling, and acknowledged the collective heartache that our local community and our world at large has been through this year.  But there was no time to sit down and write that newsletter last night, because we had longstanding plans to have some friends over for dinner, and I had to get that started.

So when Fred texted me this morning saying he and Tomas had taken a look at the blueberries, and Tomas thinks he can still get about 60% of what we expected to have this week, it was an enormous weight off my shoulders.  Maybe we could fill some of the bulk blueberry orders that you all requested last week after all, and maybe we wouldn't have to leave another CSA to whom we promised blueberries in the lurch!

The bottom line is that I don't know what to expect for next week as far as blueberries go.  If you already put in an order for bulk blueberries, I can't guarantee that we'll be able to fill it, but I will try my best to fill as many as possible.  We can't guarantee that the birds won't come back to finish off the blueberry patch, but I am pretty sure that we'll be able to get you each a pint of blueberries in your share, and cautiously optimistic that that we'll be able to fill at least some of the bulk orders. 

So I'll just keep that newsletter I composed while mowing the lawn in my back pocket for a rainy day (or drought, or flood, or hailstorm, or plague of locusts).  Because with the farm, you just never know when I'm going to need it!

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! 

• Cucumbers
• Carrots or beets
• Blueberries
• Lettuce or potatoes
• Zucchini or green onions
• Swiss chard, kale, or fennel
• Basil or kohlrabi

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:  Cucumbers, carrots, blueberries, lettuce, zucchini, fennel, and kohlrabi.

Share B:  Cucumbers, carrots, blueberries, potatoes, zucchini, kale, and basil.

Share C:   Cucumbers, beets, blueberries, potatoes, green onions, chard, and basil.

 

Recipes

It's basil time!  If you're not sure what to do with basil aside from making pesto, here are 20 delicious ideas!  There's a great cucumber basil mocktail recipe in here that is extremely similar to one I made last night for the kid contingent at our dinner, and it was a hit!  So definitely check out these great recipe ideas! 

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!

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!