Monroe Family Organics CSA Newsletter for Week 7

Farm Update

Bags of our spring mix getting labeled and ready to deliver to GreenTree Cooperative
Grocery on Tuesday! Like the bags of spring mix you get in your shares, these were all hand-packed with care by me, but these ones get our pretty label so shoppers know where they came from. :-) 

Hi everyone!  I can't believe we're headed into August already!  It's starting to feel like the glass of summer is more than half empty, and I'm not ready for that yet.  But alas, you can't just refill summer from the faucet, so I guess I'll have to get used to the idea that winter is, in fact, coming.  Maybe it's just the fact that this week was a little cooler, and we were really gunning it at the farm this week because one of our employees was out sick, and cool weather and constant rush mode are both things I associate with fall.  But it feels like high summer is tipping into waning summer, and pretty soon those back-to-school vibes will be coming on.

Another thing that feels more like fall than high summer is all the rain we got last week!  The farm really needed it, and it definitely spurred on the growth of a bunch of crops, as well as several new plantings Fred put in the ground last week.  It also caused a bunch of weeds to germinate, so this week I will be spending all of my spare time heading out to pull our little green nemeses out by the roots so that we can save a really nice planting of carrots from being overtaken.  I'm actually looking forward to spending some time weeding this week though, because most of last week we were so focused on getting everything harvested, washed, packed, and loaded on the truck in time for delivery that a lot of other necessary farm tasks got away from us.  As I mentioned, one of our full-time employees was out sick last week, so that left three people to do the work that normally requires four people, which meant that a lot didn't get done.  And with weeds (as with most things around the farm), a stitch in time really does save nine.  If you get them when they're little, they are so much easier to handle than when they get bigger and more rooted.

But time marches on, and the farm waits for no man.  Fred is out there as I write this, putting in new plantings of carrots and spring mix that will make their appearance in the CSA shares later this fall.  It's interesting that even after 11 years of this work, I am still learning new things all the time about the science of growing food.  Fred was telling me this morning about why planting seeds is a much more involved process this time of year than it is in the late spring.  He headed out bright and early this morning to get the seeds in the ground while the soil was still at its coolest, and he'll need to water that ground immediately after he gets the seeds in.  If he were to neglect to give the ground a good soaking, the soil would soar to temperatures above 100 degrees, and that would cause all of our new little lettuce seeds to go into a heat-induced dormant state called thermodormancy.  Each crop and each type of seed has its ideal temperature range, and if the soil gets too hot or cold, it affects the seed's ability to germinate. With most plants, the percentage of seeds that germinate goes down a lot when the soil temperature isn't ideal (which is still bad), but with lettuce, a soil temperature of above 85-ish degrees will actually prevent the germination of any lettuce seeds.  When we plant seeds in say, May, much more of the each day stays within that ideal temperature range for seed germination, and there is usually much more moisture naturally in the soil because May is a rainier month in general.  But planting this time of year is a touchier business with a more limited window of time.  I realized this morning that every time Fred goes out to plant, he is playing a mental Tetris of soil temperatures, crop types, predicted time from planting to harvest (so we can make sure that the crops are the right size at the right time, so we always have the right amount of variety for the CSA), rainfall, and labor availability, and weighing that against all the other things that need to get done to keep the farm running.  It's an exact science, but without a lab where you can manufacture the conditions you need.  When I think about all that goes into bringing this much produce variety to this many people for this many months each year, I get amazed all over again.  I've been married to the guy for 17 years, and he just keeps blowing my mind.  :-)

So that's it for this week!  See you all at the drop-off!

What to Expect in the Shares this Week

 

If you pick up at our Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland drop-off, here are the options for your shares!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item from each choice category, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.  And if there is something you don’t like or can’t eat, you can bring it to the trading station at the end and trade it for something you like better. 

• Spring mix or romaine
• Carrots
• Potatoes or cucumbers (mostly pickling cucumbers)
• Cherry tomatoes or beets
• Zucchini, kale, or chard
• Basil, microgreens, or parsley
• Onion or garlic

 

If you pick up at our Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Midland hospital, or Alma hospital drop-off, or if you have home or workplace delivery, here are your options!  We have three different prepacked shares, and you can let me know which one you want by filling out this quick form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off.  If you have a half share, you can choose one of these options, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Share A:

• Spring mix
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kale
• Parsley
• Onion

 

Share B:

• Spring mix
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Basil
• Garlic

 

Share C:

• Spring mix
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Zucchini
• Microgreens
• Onion

 

Recipes

This is the time of year, when full summer starts to feel like summer half empty, is the time of year to start preserving what is coming out of the fields and coldframes to prepare for the wintery months ahead.  A lot of people don't realize that you can easily freeze kale and cabbage to pull out for soups a few months down the road, which we do a little bit of.  But usually in late July or early August, I make a Saturday of it and can a bunch of pickles for the pantry and make a bunch of zucchini bread for the freezer.  Then a few weeks later when the tomatoes are in full swing, I can enough sauce to get us through until next year's tomato season.  So if you are also in the mood to make zucchini bread this week, here a great zucchini bread recipe! 

Monroe Family Organics CSA Newsletter for Week 6

    Farm Update

This Swiss chard is looking
bright and lovely in the field!

Hi everyone!  Man, it got hot again in a hurry!  Last week, we were breathing a sigh of relief that we had gotten some rain and we could take a break from irrigating.  All of the moisture that made its way into the soil last week is now long gone, and now we're back to irrigating like crazy to keep all of the veggies from wilting in this heat!

You know when you're in rush mode trying to get out the door on time, or you're pushing against a major deadline and you can't think about anything else until you finish your project?  That was pretty much us every day last week.  We have a pretty good crew that consists of me and Fred, two full-time employees, and two part-time guys who each come in one or two days a week.  Well, one of our full-time employees was out for three days last week with what we think is the stomach bug that's been going around.  (He took a Covid test that came back negative, so probably no worries there, but he was feeling pretty awful.)  So the rest of us were in major hurry mode to get everything harvested, washed, packed up, and on the truck in time to leave for the drop-offs.  Fortunately, we got it all done, and we didn't fall down on any of our commitments, but it was intense.  I was definitely glad to return to the farm after the Midland drop-off on Thursday, put the remaining veggies in our big walk-in cooler, and know that we were done with the harvests and drop-offs for the week.

And on Friday morning, we got an unusual treat!  We had the school-age students from our local nonprofit childcare center, the Children's Discovery Academy in St. Louis, come out to the farm for a field trip!  I got to give them a lesson on ecosystems and all that goes into making a farm work, and it was super fun!  The kids enjoyed walking around the fields and identifying the various plants growing, talking about which parts we eat from each plant, and seeing how we weed and water everything.  They also got to see our wash/pack area in the barn and get an idea of how our system works on harvest days.  Then I brought the veggies that we had leftover after our Thursday drop-off out of our walk-in cooler, and the kids got to choose some veggies to take home to their families.  Their favorite part, though, was the little machine we have to close up the bags of veggies that go to the stores we sell to.  It's just a little machine that quickly applies tape to our plastic bags, and we call it the kachunker, because it makes a ka-chunk sound when it does the tape.  The kids got to use the kachunker to close up their bags of veggies, and that that was their favorite part by far!  Who knew? :-)

In other news, the tomatoes are ripening!  We're going to have our early variety of Gold Nugget cherry tomatoes in the shares this week, and we've harvested the first few ripe romas for our own kitchen, so it's only a matter of time before we have enough to bring to you!  Like the blueberries, tomatoes are one of the sure signs that it's the height of summer!  And speaking of blueberries, we'll have them in the shares again this week,  but it's not looking like we'll have a lot for bulk orders. I'll keep you posted, but if you have the opportunity to get bulk blueberries from another farm in the meantime, I'd take advantage of that.  Each season, we win some and we lose some, and it looks like the blueberries will be a little less profuse than in many other years.  But showing the kids around the farm this morning, I was struck again by just how much life is happening out there.  The end of July is my favorite time of year, and I am relishing all of the sun, the abundance of produce from the farm, and the vibrant outdoor world around us!  

So that's it for this week!  See you all at the drop-off!

What to Expect in the Shares this Week

 

If you pick up at our Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland drop-off, here are the options for your shares!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item from each choice category, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.  And if there is something you don’t like or can’t eat, you can bring it to the trading station at the end and trade it for something you like better. 

• Yellow cherry tomatoes or blueberries
• Carrots or cauliflower
• Potatoes or beets
• Romaine lettuce or spring mix
• Basil, microgreens, parsley, or garlic
• Zucchini or cucumbers
• Fennel, chard, kale, or onion bunches

 

If you pick up at our Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Midland hospital, or Alma hospital drop-off, or if you have home or workplace delivery, here are your options!  We have three different prepacked shares, and you can let me know which one you want by filling out this quick form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off.  If you have a half share, you can choose one of these options, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Share A:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Spring mix
• Basil
• Zucchini
• Kale

 

Share B:

• Blueberries
• Cauliflower
• Potatoes
• Romaine
• Microgreens
• Zucchini
• Fennel

 

Share C:

• Blueberries
• Carrots
• Beets
• Spring mix
• Garlic
• Cucumber
• Onion bunch

 

Recipes

 

If you've never eaten or worked with fennel before, you're in for a treat!  It looks like a pale green bulb with long, darker green fronds on top, and you can actually use both parts of the plant!  There are a bunch of great things you can do with the bulb, from shaving it in thin slices and eating it raw, to roasting fennel wedges (here are some fabulous fennel tips, tricks, and recipes from Love and Lemons).  The fronds are totally delicious on top of fish, and they actually also make a lovely and satisfying tea that has traditionally been used to sooth an upset stomach.  Whatever you decide to do with your fennel, I bet it will be a new favorite!  

Monroe Family Organics CSA Newsletter for Week 5

   Farm Update

Hi everyone!  I hope you're all enjoying your veggies!  We're definitely glad to have gotten some rain last week!  Fred and I breathed a huge sigh of relief on Tuesday night when we got our first big rain in weeks, and the plants are definitely looking perkier as well.  We got another good rain yesterday afternoon, and it's like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders.  So now that we don't have to spend so much time irrigating, we can get back to all the weeding that still needs to get done.  There will likely be more weeding in the upcoming weeks (since those rains inevitably also germinated plenty of weed seeds), but for right now, we are just thrilled to have some moisture in the soil.

These white onions will be in the
shares this week!

Most people think of fall as harvest time, and while we actually harvest a variety of crops five days a week throughout the CSA season, we also do several major harvests of specific crops as well.  On Thursday and Friday, we did our big annual garlic harvest, and now all of the garlic is out of the ground and curing in the greenhouse.  Many of you got some of our fresh garlic in your shares two weeks ago, which is the first garlic of the year, and because it's uncured, needs to be used up sooner than the garlic you're used to from the store.  Over the last few days, we pulled up all of the rest of the garlic from the field, loaded it onto our flatbed trailer, and brought it to the greenhouse.  Then we spread it out on the greenhouse benches, which are really more like wire tables.  The benches usually are covered with flats of tiny plants that are working on growing to the size where they can be transplanted in the field, but they are currently available to serve as a garlic-curing surface now that we are done with our major transplanting push.  For the next several weeks, the garlic will stay in the greenhouse until it starts to develop the papery skin we're all used to and which signals that the garlic is now ready to last for months out at room temperature.  Thus, even though it's July and fresh vegetables are almost at the height of their abundance, we're already looking ahead to the time when we'll need that preserved garlic that we harvested in the fullness of summer to get us through the leaner winter months.

This recently harvested garlic is waiting
on the trailer to be brought over to the 
greenhouse for curing.

And nothing signals that we are in full summer more than blueberries!  It is finally blueberry season, and there are a bunch of beautiful ripe berries on our bushes ready to harvest!  You'll all be getting a pint of blueberries in your shares this week, and we'll likely have them for a few more weeks after that as well!  

Because we never know how many will be ready to harvest at once, and indeed, how much labor we'll have available to harvest them, I am going to also tentatively start taking orders for bulk blueberries.  If you are interested in getting blueberries to put in the freezer or make jam, we'll have them available in 10-pound (13 pint) increments, and it will be $44 per 10 pounds.  Usually we get a flood of blueberry orders, so we might not be able to supply all the orders that come in.  I'll fill them on a first-come, first-serve basis, and we might not actually know until the day of your drop-off whether we'll have bulk blueberries for you (because they ripen at different rates and we have a varying availability of people to harvest them).  If you put in an order for bulk blueberries, I'll let you know as soon as we know whether we'll have them, but don't be entirely surprised if you get a text on the morning of your drop-off letting you know we'll have them.  Alas, that's just the nature of the blueberry beast.  But if you're interested in yummy bulk organic blueberries, they'll be $44 for 10 pounds (13 pints), and you can just fill out this form to put in an order!

So that's it for this week!  See you all at the drop-off!

What to Expect in the Shares this Week

 

If you pick up at our Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland drop-off, here are the options for your shares!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item from each choice category, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.  And if there is something you don’t like or can’t eat, you can bring it to the trading station at the end and trade it for something you like better. 

• Blueberries for everyone!
• Beets or potatoes
• Carrots or cucumbers
• Zucchini or micros
• Garlic or white onions
• Cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, or cilantro
• Spring mix or romaine

 

If you pick up at our Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Midland hospital, or Alma hospital drop-off, or if you have home or workplace delivery, here are your options!  We have three different prepacked shares, and you can let me know which one you want by filling out this quick form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off.  If you have a half share, you can choose one of these options, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Share A:

• Blueberries
• Beets
• Carrots
• Microgreens
• White onions
• Kale
• Spring mix

 

Share B:

• Blueberries
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Zucchini
• Garlic
• Cabbage
• Romaine

 

Share C:

• Blueberries
• Potatoes
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Garlic
• Swiss chard
• Spring mix

 

Recipes

 

This Beet Salad with Lemon Dressing is just one
of these great beet recipes!

Beets are one of those things where you either love them and have several go-to beet recipes, or you've never really eaten them except as a side dish at Thanksgiving.  Whether you're a confirmed beet-lover or you've never really worked with them before, here are 22 of Our Best Beet Recipes from Taste of Home that will give you some great ideas, from beet salads to beet pizzas to roasted beets and pickled beets!  There is something for everyone here, so check it out! :-)

CSA Newsletter for Week 4

 Farm Update

We've been irrigating like crazy lately
since it's been so dry!  These green bean 
plants are getting a much-needed drink
of water.

Hi everyone!  I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your veggies!   We're definitely enjoying the farm's bounty in our own kitchen this week!  In fact, despite the fact that we spend so many of our waking hours this time of year working, the fact that we have such good food three times a day, made with the freshest ingredients summer has to offer, makes me feel like we are, in fact, living life luxuriously.  Even though I may have spent the morning bent over weeding a bed of carrots and come home for lunch covered in dirt and sweat (which is decidedly un-fancy), once I sit down to a fresh salad, grilled zucchini, and something Fred has expertly whipped up on the grill, I am reminded that this is, indeed, the good life.

And there has been a ton of weeding this week, so with the exception of Monday (which I always spend on the road doing our delivery route down to Ann Arbor, and eat leftovers while driving back so I can get the van back in time to load up for our Alma drop-off), that has pretty much been my week.  While the weeds aren't growing as quickly now, we're still trying to dig our way out from under all of the weeds that just explode in late June.  Slowly but surely, we'll eventually get to the point where the farm isn't on the edge of getting overrun by weeds, and our pace will be able to slow down a little.  For right now, we're trying to keep the weeds under control and keep everything irrigated as well as we can so nothing gets too dry. 

Many of you may have noticed that we haven't had rain in quite a while if your yard looks as crispy as ours.  And while it's annoying to see your grass get brown and lose its softness, the lack of rain is really a problem at the farm.  One good rain is worth about a month of irrigation, and it also means that we don't have to spend a bunch of time moving our irrigation lines around the farm to make sure everything stays alive.  We got a little sprinkle on Monday night, but other than that's it's been bone dry around here.  We're still actively planting, and seeds won't germinate if they can't find any moisture in the ground. 

Here is a planting of carrots we put in
the ground just this morning.  We've
set up our drip line irrigation system
right where the seeds are planted so 
they will have enough water to germinate.

 

Fortunately, we do have our drip line irrigation system that uses little flat plastic hoses with perforations every few inches.  We put the little hoses right next to the base of the plants, so the plants get the moisture they need without us having to use an excessive amount of water.  It also helps keep the weeds under control, because if the weed seeds don't get water, they don't germinate either.  

Depending on the weather, there are different types of work and different types of things to watch out for at the farm.  When it's dry like this, we spend more time irrigating and more time fighting insect pests.  Because all of the little quash bugs and potato beetles are also trying to stay alive, they're trying to suck the moisture from our plants.  Since we're organic, we can't just spray a bunch of pesticides all over everything, but there are methods we can use to keep our crops from being eaten alive by bugs.  There are a few organically approved pesticides (like Pyganic, which is made from chrysanthemum extract, and Spinosad, which is actually a bacteria that attacks insects but is perfectly harmless to plants, animals, and humans), but they're so expensive that we have to use them sparingly.  Another effective pest control solution for some bugs is diatomaceous earth, a gritty substance that cuts up the soft bodies of things like slugs so they stay away from the plants, but washes off really easily after harvest.  It also makes our crops less palatable to some four-legged pests, simply because they don't like the texture.  It's kind of like if you were at the beach, and someone kicked sand on your sandwich.  It's still edible, but you'd get a bunch of gritty sand in your mouth.

Then of course, it's a different story when we get too much rain.  Rain during the hot part of the season causes vegetables and weeds alike to grow like crazy, but too many days of rain and clouds later in the season when the temperatures are cooler puts plants at risk of developing foliar diseases.  We're always on the lookout for signs of plant diseases when we get a lot of rain in September and October, because when a plant's leaves don't get a chance to dry out, those are prime conditions for foliar diseases to take off.  Basically, Michigan weather being as legendarily mercurial as it is means that we always have to be ready for whatever it throws at us.  We have to be ready to battle bugs or diseases or weeds, or just to spend a lot of time dragging irrigation lines around to keep our plants strong and healthy.  Then once we achieve that, we harvest them, wash them up, and bring them to you!

And that's actually my favorite part.  I love the inherent variety of the work that populates my week.  I love that I get to spend some hours on the road doing deliveries and listening to audiobooks, some time methodically pulling out weeds with the sun on my back and dirt on my hands, some hours in our wash/pack area putting together all of those little bags of spring mix and carrots and the prepacked shares for our home deliveries and Lansing-area folks.  And I get to spend some time connecting with all of you at the drop-offs, some hours doing bookkeeping, and some doing creative work, like writing this newsletter each week.  It's so varied that I never get a chance to be bored.  There will be a point toward the end of the season when I am bone tired and on the edge of burning out (because the CSA season really is a marathon), but that's not for several months yet.  Right now we've got all of that July energy behind us and lots of good summer food to eat.  And that really is the good life.

What to Expect in the Shares this Week

 

If you pick up at our Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland drop-off, here are the options for your shares!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item from each choice category, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.  And if there is something you don’t like or can’t eat, you can bring it to the trading station at the end and trade it for something you like better. 

• Potatoes
• Carrots or beets
• Cucumbers or pearl onions
• Zucchini
• Spring mix
• Basil or microgreens
• Kale, Swiss chard, or cabbage

 

If you pick up at our Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Midland hospital, or Alma hospital drop-off, or if you have home or workplace delivery, here are your options!  We have three different prepacked shares, and you can let me know which one you want by filling out this quick form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off.  If you have a half share, you can choose one of these options, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Share A:

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Pearl onions
• Zucchini
• Spring mix
• Basil
• Cabbage

 

Share B:

• Potatoes
• Beets
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Spring mix
• Basil
• Swiss chard

 

Share C:

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Spring mix
• Microgreens
• Kale

 

Recipes

 

We always get a ton of compliments on our carrots, which in my opinion, are the best carrots in the world.  I've heard the same thing from enough people that I don't think it's just my own bias either.  So if you love eating them raw, and they don't actually make it into your house after you pick them up at the drop-off because you ate them all in the car, more power to you!  But if you're looking for another really easy, really delicious way to enjoy your carrots this week, try out Fred's Sautéed Baby Carrots with Pistachios!  These make a fantastic side dish and will become a new favorite!

Fred's Sautéed Baby Carrots with Pistachios

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 CSA bag of baby carrots
• 1/4 cup pistachios without shells
• Salt to taste
• Whatever seasoning you like!  We've made this with chili powder, cumin, curry powder, and basil, and they're all great.  This is pretty versatile, and you can change the flavor profile depending on what seasoning you use. 

Instructions:

Splash olive oil in a pan over medium heat, and add carrots.  Sauté the carrots until they are soft, but not mushy.  A few minutes before the carrots are ready to take off of the heat, add the pistachios and stir them around in the pan.  When the carrots are properly soft, take the pan off the heat, add salt and preferred seasoning to taste.  Enjoy!

Monroe Family Organics CSA Newsletter for Week 3

  Farm Update

 

Swiss chard, growing bright and beautiful
in the field!

Hi everyone!  I hope you're all enjoying your veggies!  We've certainly been enjoying the abundance of wonderful fresh food that this time of year has to offer!  

One of the things I love most about this farm life is that when I sit down to a meal, I know exactly where the carrots or lettuce or kale on my plate grew.  I saw it in the fields, I pulled out the weeds around it so it could live its best carrot/lettuce/kale life, and I might even have pictures of it on my phone that I took with the intention of putting them in this newsletter.  And I love being able to give you all a glimpse into the place where your food grew up as well!  This week, we've been doing a little less planting, because we've been focusing on weeding.  We did plant green beans and winter squash that will make their appearance in the shares this fall, and we launched a major weeding offensive of various carrots, lettuce, tomato plants, peppers, and Brussels sprouts.  Aside from the constant battle with the weeds, we've also seen some increased pressure from the animals who like to hang out at our farm. This is a problem because they too love veggies, and if left unchecked, they can do a whole lot of damage.  We've seen a few deer getting a little too comfortable despite the 8-foot-tall deer fence that surrounds almost the whole farm. (There's a gap in the fence in the back field where we think the deer are getting in.) And we've had a lot more woodchucks than normal lately, for whom Fred has set a few live traps, but now we just need to wait and see, and hope they don't eat too many veggies before we catch them.

I am also excited to report that our blueberry bushes are looking fantastic!  There are tons of green berries on them, and it's looking like they'll be ripe and ready to harvest in two or three weeks!  We also have broccoli available in the shares this week, but it's just the beginning of broccoli season, so we don't have tons of it yet.  We'll be including it in the shares, but it's still pretty limited, so I wouldn't base your whole meal plan on it just yet.

I also just wanted to remind you all about the 4th of July on Monday!  If you normally pick up at our Alma drop-off (or you have home or workplace delivery in the Alma area) and you have plans that prevent you from picking up your veggies as normal, just let me know!  You can either postpone your share this week and get a double share next week, or you can arrange to pick up at one of our other drop-offs this week.  If you want to go with any of those options, just let me know on Sunday so I can adjust our harvest list for Monday.  You could also have a friend pick up your share for you, but I don't need to know about that beforehand.  Thanks so much!  Have a wonderful holiday, and I'll see you at the drop-offs!

The finger weeder attachment on our cultivating
tractor helps grab the little weeds out of this 
planting of green beans.

What to Expect in the Shares this Week

 

If you pick up at our Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland drop-off, here are the options for your shares!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item from each choice category, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.  And if there is something you don’t like or can’t eat, you can bring it to the trading station at the end and trade it for something you like better. 

• Potatoes or beets
• Carrots or broccoli
• Basil, frisee, or dill
• Kale, Swiss chard, or Napa cabbage
• Spring mix, romaine lettuce, or iceberg lettuce
• Fresh garlic, kohlrabi, or microgreens
• Zucchini or cucumbers

 

If you pick up at our Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Midland hospital, or Alma hospital drop-off, or if you have home or workplace delivery, here are your options!  We have three different prepacked shares, and you can let me know which one you want by filling out this quick form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off.  If you have a half share, you can choose one of these options, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Share A:

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Basil
• Swiss Chard
• Spring mix
• Kohlrabi
• Zucchini

 

Share B:

• Beets
• Carrots
• Basil
• Kale
• Spring mix
• Garlic
• Zucchini

 

Share C:

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Dill
• Kale
• Romaine
• Garlic
• Cucumber

 

Recipes

 

Napa Cabbage Wedge Salad with Apples and
Buttermilk Dressing

Every week when Fred lets me know what's going to be in the shares for the upcoming week, I get really excited.   There is almost always some old veggie friend that I haven't eaten since the last season, and some weeks, there are so many that it's like my birthday, opening several exciting presents!  This week, the exciting presents are broccoli, Napa cabbage, and fresh garlic!  Fresh garlic is slightly different than the cured garlic you buy in the store, and it can be used in two different ways.  It has a fantastic fresh, punchy flavor, and you can either put it in your fridge and use it up within a week or so, or you can leave it out on your counter to dry so that it becomes more like the garlic you're probably used to from the store.  Another veggie I'm really excited about this week is Napa cabbage!  If you've never cooked with Napa cabbage before, it's pretty similar to your standard green cabbage (and you can interchange the two in some recipes), but it has a more delicate flavor and soft crinkly leaves.  If you're looking for some inspiration on what to do with it, here are 17 Best Napa Cabbage Recipes from Food 52!