Farm Update
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| Fred and the crew harvested a whole bunch of carrots for Monday's CSA drop-off! All of these carrots are headed back to the barn to get washed and bagged for the CSA! |
Hi everyone! The first week of the CSA was a success! It's always a big production to get the CSA up and running each season, and there are always a few bugs to work out, but this year was the smoothest start yet. It was so awesome to see everyone again at the drop-offs too! And speaking of the drop-offs, this Tuesday is 4th of July! All of the drop-offs are going to be occurring as usual, but I know a lot of people have vacation plans, parties, and other things that will prevent them from making it to the drop-off. If that's you, you have a few options. The first one is to simply have a friend pick up your share for you. They can just come to the drop-off, initial next to your name, and pick out your veggies. Or if you usually go through the line but you'd like to have your share prepacked this week to make it easier for someone to pick up, just fill out the quick form below in the "What to Expect in the Shares this Week" section, and we'll prepack your share this week. The second option is to plan to pick up your share at one of the other drop-offs this week. For example, if you can't make it to the Mt. Pleasant drop-off this week because you're going to be at a party, you can pick up your share on Monday in Alma instead. I just need to know a day ahead of time so I can make sure to put the right number of shares on the harvest list, so if you want to do that, just be sure to let me know by Sunday afternoon. You could also pick up in Midland on Thursday, and then I'd just need to know by Monday afternoon so I can adjust the harvest list for Tuesday. Or, the third option is that you could just plan on postponing your share this week entirely, and picking up an extra share next week. If you want to do that, I just need to know by the day before your missed drop-off. And any of these options are available anytime you have plans during the CSA drop-off, not just holiday weeks!
On the farm front, things are growing really fast now that we've gotten some rain! We could even actually use some more rain, so I'm glad that we're supposed to get some more tomorrow. We've been continuing to irrigate some plants (such as our potatoes, which are so big that they just need tons of water). But everything is looking a lot healthier and less desperate out there, and that is definitely a relief! The weeds are also growing fast now, so we are doing a lot of weeding lately. I actually really like weeding, because I like restoring order from chaos. Sometimes the weeds just get crazy all of a sudden, and it's nice to be out there in the sun, getting plant beds under control while I listen to music or audiobooks or podcasts on my phone. And then when I get done, my back usually hurts, but it's so nice to stand up, stretch out, and admire how nice those previously weedy beds look.
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| A whole coldframe full of zucchini plants. These are the same zucchinis that you got at the drop-off last week, and we'll have them again this week! |
Another big thing we've been spending a bunch of time on lately is harvesting! It probably comes as no surprise that harvesting veggies for 320 CSA members, as well as our stores, restaurants, and food hub partners, takes a lot of hours every week! When many people think of harvesting, they think of large tractors driving around in huge fields of corn, soybeans, and wheat. That is definitely not what harvesting looks like at our farm, simply because we're on a much smaller scale, and we grow so many different types of vegetables that mechanical harvesting just doesn't apply. We harvest everything by hand, so what that actually looks like is Fred and the crew walking out the field with knives and crates and sometimes rubber bands, and cutting/pulling/plucking whatever we need for that day's shares. It is pretty labor intensive, and since Fred is by far the fastest harvester at the farm, most of that work falls to him. So he gets an incredible amount of exercise bringing in all of the food that goes out on our truck every day. While he is doing that, the rest of the crew is in the barn, washing and bagging all the veggies that Fred brings in, and putting them in our walk-in cooler until we're ready to load up the truck and hit the road. Then once the veggies are washed and packed up, we go out to do whatever weeding, planting, seeding, or field work needs to happen to keep all of the plants growing and healthy. The work is pretty fast and intense, sometimes really hot (or cold, if it's spring or fall), and always very immediate. But it keeps us outside in the sun and physically active all summer, and it also allows us to have some spectacular food on our table when we do come in. For me in particular, it gives me the ability to get to know some awesome people and talk with you all at the drop-offs every week, which I love. So while there are definitely times when I can barely stay awake by the time I get home from the drop-off, or when I'm grumbling about some Sisyphean task like cleaning ramps, I can't actually imagine not doing this. And we've got 18 more weeks of the CSA, so there will be a lot more work, joy, exhaustion, good food, exercise, community, and all the rest of it coming down the pike!
So here we go into week 2! See you at the drop-offs! :-)
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| It's basil season! I am so excited to be bringing this lovely basil to you all this week! |
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 Swiss chard
- Carrots for everyone!
- Snap peas or beets
- Zucchini or frisée
- Basil, microgreens, or kohlrabi
- Green onions, pearl onions, or radishes
- Cucumbers, bok choy, or kale
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
- Beets
- Frisée
- Microgreens
- Green onions
- Cucumbers
Share B:
- Spring mix
- Carrots
- Snap peas
- Zucchini
- Basil
- Pearl onions
- Kale
Share C:
- Chard
- Carrots
- Snap peas
- Zucchini
- Kohlrabi
- Radishes
- Cucumbers
Recipes
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