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!