CSA Newsletter for Week 5

Farm Update

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's the end of July already!  Where has the summer gone?  

Things at the farm are humming along as usual. Aside from the usual massive amount of time harvesting, and we also managed to get a lot of the planting done that we needed to do!  On Wednesday while I was doing the Lansing area deliveries, Fred and the crew were getting a bunch of lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and kohlrabi planted.  Although it is the height of summer, we're in fall planting mode at the farm.  Different crops have different seasons, and we always have to be thinking a few months ahead. Fortunately we were able to get our fall brassicas and lettuce into the ground before the rains on Thursday, which is a huge relief.  We have been getting nervous about finding a period of time that was dry enough to prep the ground and get the next round of crops planted, and that finally happened this week!

Our tomato vines are getting really long!  This week, we 
raised the lines of our tomato trellising system for the fifth time
this season.  Keeping the tomatoes off the ground keeps them a lot
cleaner and makes them much easier to harvest.

Despite the more-than-sufficient amount of rain we've had lately, we're starting to have to irrigate some of our larger plants again.  Our potato plants, tomato vines, and collards are all pretty large right now, and when plants get really big, they require a lot more water to thrive.  Since these particular crops are planted in black plastic mulch to keep the weeds down and the water from our drip line irrigation from evaporating when it's dry, sometimes the ground around them doesn't soak in a lot of rainwater.  This is just fine when the plants are smaller, but when they are really big, this often means that we need to do some additional irrigation.  And in the greenhouses, the plants are protected entirely from the rain (which really helps prevent foliar diseases).  But that means we are pretty much always having to irrigate the hoophouses, even when it's raining cats and dogs outside.  The tomato vines are getting nice and long, and we spent some time this week trellising them.  For our tomato plants, we have a trellis system that consists of a long line of T posts with twine wrapped tightly around the line.  Imagine two clothes lines that are really close together, and it's pretty much just like that.  We then snake the tomato vines up through the two lines of twine to keep them off the ground, which keeps them cleaner and makes them a lot easier to harvest.  As the tomato vines grow out throughout the season, we have to keep raising the height of the lines to accommodate the longer vines.  For our determinate varieties (where almost all of the tomatoes are ready to harvest at roughly the same time), we'll end up trellising them about five times throughout the season.  For our indeterminate varieties (which have a much longer season because the fruit ripens at different times), we'll trellis them about eight times, because they keep growing for much longer.  Finding the best way to grow and care for each crop in the diverse system that is the farm is both an art and a science.  Being outside in a dynamic and vibrant natural system, even the science often feels more like art.

So here we go into week 5!  Next time I see you, I'll officially be in my next decade of life!  I'm actually turning 40 today, so I'll be spending most of the day celebrating with my family, and I'll catch you guys next week at the drop-offs!  :-)

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
• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrots or cabbage
• Fennel, chard, or kale
• Zucchini or green onions
• Basil, microgreens, or cilantro
• Cucumber, fresh garlic, parsley

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
• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrots
• Chard
• Green onions
• Cilantro
• Cucumber

Share B:

• Potatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrots
• Kale
• Zucchini
• Basil
• Fresh garlic

Share C:

• Potatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cabbage
• Fennel
• Zucchini
• Basil
• Cucumber

Recipes

You guys have probably noticed that there have been carrots in the shares pretty much every week, and this week is no exception.  More than anything else we grow, I always hear from people how much they love our carrots, and I totally agree!  In chatting with folks at the drop-offs, I've heard that either their carrots are always gone within a couple days, or that they have a few bags of carrots still in the fridge from previous weeks that they haven't eaten yet.  (Incidentally, whether you're in the first category or the second category appears to come almost entirely down to whether you've got kids in your house.  Kids seem to be carrot eating machines!)  But if you're in the second category, here is a great recipe to help you use up some of those carrots!  This recipe first appeared in last year's newsletter, so you might remember it from last July.  But this is one of Fred's classic carrot recipes, and I love it so much I'm bringing it back out!  Enjoy!

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!