Finding the Truth About Food

Farm Update

These red lettuces are looking really nice now that the weather
is getting a little cooler, and since we've been irrigating
a lot lately.

Hi everyone!  We are squarely into the second half of the season, and we’ve noted the subtle shift in weather that generally accompanies this time of year.  In fact, we had the first frost last night, which is unusual.  Normally we don’t see any frost until mid-September, and we were really surprised to get hit with it so soon.  We assessed the frost damage this morning, and because it was a fairly light frost, most crops made it through just fine.  We did see some damage on some of the green beans, and it seems to have hit the winter squash fairly hard as well.  A few more days will tell if the squash are going to swing back, or if they’ll be consigned to oblivion.  Fortunately, we don’t have another chance of frost for at least a week.   Another change around the farm is that our crew is two people smaller than before!  Mary and Therese have gone back to college, and Emily is soon to follow in a few weeks.  Fortunately, the rest of our crew (Carson, Logan, Ben, and Jewel) will be able to work at least part time for the rest of the season, so we are going to be in great shape going into the fall!  Because once the weather gets cold and wet, it seems like just about everything takes longer than it used to, so we’ll really need all the hands we can get.  We are so glad to have such a great team this year!  In other news, we had our annual organic inspection today, which is the culmination of tons of careful record-keeping and saving everything.  Fred has been going through our files for the last few days, both physical and digital, compiling all of the information he’d need to show our inspector this morning to verify that all of our seeds and plants are from organic sources, that we haven’t applied anything synthetic to our fields, that none of the posts from our new deer fence were made of treated lumber (to protect against chemicals leaching into the soil), etc.  It was a huge job, but it’s done now, and we can breathe a sigh of relief.  And now we’re launching into week 12 of the CSA!  Just a reminder that this Monday is Labor Day, so if you’re unable to make it to the drop-off, let me know, and we can make arrangements for your share.  See you soon! J

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Fennel or 4 tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Potatoes
Carrots
Onion, shallot, or 2 jalepenos
Kale or herbs
Lettuce, beets, or cabbage

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

4 Tomatoes                           4 Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes                   Cherry tomatoes
Carrots                                  Carrots
Potatoes                                Potatoes
Onion                                    2 Jalepenos
Herbs                                    Kale
Lettuce                                  Beets

Finding the Truth About Food

So as a farmer, former teacher, and accidental foodie, I have read a lot of literature about food.  And it turns out that food isn’t just food; there are so many aspects of a topic so fundamental to human life and culture.  There’s nutrition, which deals with the chemical breakdown of what we eat, and how it interacts in our bodies.  There’s cooking, whereby we take ingredients and turn them into meals (wonderful or otherwise).  There’s food culture, about how people groups interact with and build systems, and norms, and traditions around their food.  There’s food activism, where food and the production and procurement thereof becomes a jumping off point for positive social change.  There’s the relationship between food production and the environment in which it is grown, raised, produced, or created alchemically in a lab, as the case may be.  And since there are so many topics surrounding the concept of what we eat, and when, and why, there are plenty of well-intentioned and respectable authors who completely disagree with one another.  So how do we cut through the noise and get at the truth?  Quite simply, I don’t think we do.  It’s probably possible, but I am definitely not qualified to be the sage advisor when it comes to processing all of the entirety of human food knowledge.

But here is what I do know, or at least think I do:

·        Food should be savored and appreciated.  I think traditionally in the US, we’ve had a tendency to vilify food, because we were never quite sure whether what we were eating was “good” or “bad” for us.  It’s hard to be 100% certain when even the experts change their minds every decade or so.  I think some people are so paralyzed by food choices that they would opt out of eating altogether if they could.  Which is kind of sad, really.  Because enjoying food should be a pleasurable experience, without stressing about whether you’re getting the right mix of nutrients, or worrying that something you’re eating might be found to be deleterious to your health in a few decades.  The best way to stay sane is to be mindful about appreciating your food, rather than being anxious about it.

·        Natural whole foods are better than foods created in labs.  While food scientists have tried for decades to break foods down into their constituent parts and rebuild them better, they haven’t managed to get it right, because there is still so much we don’t know.  But what we do know is that traditional foods have been nourishing people for millennia.  A good rule of thumb is to stick with foods that can be seen growing, walking, or swimming in nature.

·        Food that is grown or raised closer to where it is consumed is better than food grown far away.  There are plenty of economic arguments for shipping in food from regions where it is more efficient to manufacture to places where it isn’t; in fact, I’m pretty sure Adam Smith would heartily disagree with me on this.  But I’m basing my decision to favor local food over distantly-produced food on a different set of criteria than the father of modern economics.  For me, eating local is a means to reduce the negative impact on our environment, as well as a way to support my local community and economy.  I love that I can use my food dollars to support people I know who grow and raise quality food, and that when I do, my money has a better chance of continuing to circulate around the local community to the benefit of my friends and neighbors.  I also know that the more industrially-produced or far-flung food I consume, the more resources are consumed in order to bring that food to me.  If I eat locally-produced food, I reduce the potential negative environmental impact of my food choices.  That said, there is no way I am ever giving up coffee.  (See the above section on enjoying food without stressing about it. J)

So I guess that’s my food manifesto, if you want to call it that.  I know that it is pretty simple, and perhaps overly simplistic (for instance, I ignored the whole debate about what constitutes a whole food).  But just in case you’ve been struggling to work your way through all the conflicting opinions, I hope this additional opinion is more beneficial than detrimental in your search for what works for you. 

Recipes

One thing I love about the CSA drop-offs is getting to talk to people and find out how they prepare different veggies!  I was talking to a lady at our Midland drop-off this week who was telling me what she does with kale, and I realized that I am in a kale rut, always preparing it the same way (sauteed in olive oil with a little garlic and onion, and sometimes some shiitake mushrooms).  So if you're like me and you have been making kale the same way every week, here are some ideas to shake it up!  Check out these 16 Quick and Easy Kale Recipes from Good Housekeeping!

CSA Newsletter for August 27

Farm Update

A whole bunch of onions after the big harvest this week!

Hi everyone!  It's beginning to feel a little bit like fall out there!  We brought in a big onion harvest this week of about 3,000-4,000 pounds of onions.  Right now they're all spread out to dry in an empty coldframe.  We got an old root vegetable washer working that we found in an old outbuilding, so that should make washing all those onions a lot faster.  The insect pressure at the farm is still pretty mild, although we are starting to see some white aphids on the Brussels sprouts, which is pretty normal for this time of year.  The tomatoes really came on all of a sudden, so there will be lots of them in the shares this week!  We have tons of cherry tomatoes and also a lot of slicers, and our heirloom varieties are also starting to show some color.  They generally ripen later anyway, and it's been even more so this year because we planted them later.  This is also the time of year when the fields start to get a little emptier, because many of our spring plantings have been harvested and spent.  When this happens, we turn the leftover plant remains under into the soil to increase the organic matter, and then we plant some of them with cover crops, which serve the same purpose.

Several people have asked me about canning tomatoes, and we will have some available this week!  They'll be available by the half bushel, and the cost will be $12 per half bushel.  These will be regular slicing tomatoes, as our Romas are likely to be pretty late this year because of the cooler summer.  So if you're wanting Romas specifically, you'll be better off waiting another month or so, but if slicers work for you, we've got them now!  Also, next Monday, September 4th is labor day.  Our Alma drop-off is still occurring as usual, but if you won't be able to make it to the drop-off, just let me know!  You can either postpone your share that week and double up the following week, or you can arrange to pick up your share at one of our other drop-offs that week if you're unable to make it on Monday.  If you want to make arrangements for your share, I'll just need to know by Sunday the 3rd.  Thanks so much!  See you all this week!

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Cherry tomatoes
4 Tomatoes
Potatoes or carrots
Green beans, beets, or lettuce
Basil, leeks, kale, or cabbage
Zucchini or green pepper
Onion or kohlrabi

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

Cherry tomatoes                   Cherry tomatoes
4 slicing tomatoes                 4 slicing tomatoes
Potatoes                                Carrots
Green beans                          Beets
Kale                                      Cabbage
Zucchini                               Green pepper
Kohlrabi                               Onion

Recipes

For most of his life, my dad has been absolutely certain that he hated cabbage.  Then a few years ago my folks started getting a CSA share.  Whenever my mom would make cabbage, he would always say, "Wow, what is this?  This is great!"  "It's cabbage," she'd respond.  So my dad has finally come to realize that he actually loves cabbage, and that there are plenty of really great ways to prepare it!  So in case you're like my dad and you're not quite sure what do to with this extremely versatile veggie, here are 29 Recipes to Make Anyone Love Cabbage from Bon Appétit!

Veggie Spotlight: Tomatoes

Farm Update

Mary, Therese, Jewel, Ben, Carson,
 and Logan (our newest team
 member!) getting ready to do some
weeding earlier in the week.

Hi everyone!  Things are looking pretty good at the farm.  The rain we had on Thursday really helped things along, especially the cool season crops like lettuce.  Most of our plants are looking really healthy right now, but we are starting to see some disease, mostly because of the cooler night temperatures and morning dew.  Anytime the plants' foliage is wet for an extended period of time, that allows diseases to proliferate, so that is more common this time of year.  We've noticed over the last few days that our Brussels sprout plants are looking especially big and healthy, so we're hoping for a good crop this year!  Our warm season crops (such as peppers) seem like they're a little bit behind, but they're coming along.  Same thing with the tomatoes; we still have plenty of green tomatoes on the vine that are gradually ripening, which is actually pretty great!  A few years ago, we had a heat wave and all the tomatoes ripened at once, meaning we had massive numbers of tomatoes for a very short duration of time.  So when they ripen slowly, that means we have them for much longer, and we may be enjoying tomatoes well into October.  Only time will tell though, so I intend to eat as many tomatoes as possible in the meantime.  See you all this week! :-)

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Carrots or green beans
Cherry tomatoes
Potatoes
Beets, slicing tomatoes, or lettuce
Kale, Swiss chard, or cabbage
Onion, kohlrabi, or garlic
Zucchini or herbs

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

Carrots                                  Green beans
Cherry tomatoes                    Cherry tomatoes
Potatoes                                 Potatoes
Beets                                      Slicing tomatoes
Kale                                       Cabbage
Onion                                    Onion
Herbs                                    Zucchini

Veggie Spotlight: Tomatoes

There's nothing like brilliant red just-harvested tomatoes!

There are few garden plants more popular than the tomato, and it is one of the most widely eaten vegetables in the world. However, this widespread use of the tomato as a food has really become a lot more prevalent since the 19th century. Before this it was thought by Europeans to be poisonous, and it was often used for more ornamental purposes, both on the table and in the garden. (The tomato foliage does have mild toxins; however the fruit has very little, and you would have to eat a lot of tomato foliage to get ill.) The tomato’s origin is still debated in academic circles, and is thought to either have come from modern day Peru or somewhere in Mexico. However, most of its early recorded use is in Mexico, where evidence of its cultivation dates back to 500 BC. From then until the very early 1500s the tomato was only found in the Americas, but after Spain began its exploration and exploitation of the Aztecs and their land, the tomato soon made its way to Europe and quickly spread over the rest of the world. The first tomatoes that came over from Mexico to Europe were yellow, which remained the most common color of the early tomatoes in Europe. The tomato varieties that we grow today are mostly the result of a plant breeder from Ohio named Alexander Livingston, who greatly improved the flavor and eating quality of tomatoes that we enjoy today.  Before his work, tomatoes were commonly hollow with a hard core.

You’ve probably also heard the debate over whether the tomato is a fruit or vegetable. This issue was even taken to the Supreme Court in 1893 in the case of Nix v. Hedden, which determined that for U.S. customs purposes, the tomato should be considered a fruit.   Actually, it is both. Botanists consider it a fruit, because it forms from the ovary of a flower (it is considered a berry fruit). However, it is considered a vegetable to horticulturists, due to its annual growing culture and lower sugar content than other fruits.  The fruits vary widely in nutrient content and antioxidants, depending on variety and color. However, all tomatoes have a lot of vitamins A and C and contain the antioxidant Lycopene, which is thought to prevent cancer and heal the skin, especially from the effects of UV rays.

Green beans and cherry tomatoes
about to head out to the CSA drop-off.

On our farm, the tomatoes start in the greenhouse as seeds planted in trays in mid-March. These seeds turn into fast-growing plants that are transplanted into our coldframes and field. The planting of the tomatoes took place throughout May this year, both inside and outside. The plants that go in the coldframes are put into raised beds with plastic mulch. Stakes are put in the rows of plants every 8 feet. Then as the plants grow, lines of twine are put tightly around the rows of plants to guide their growth upward so they are not sprawled over the ground. At the end of the season most vines are 10-15 feet long. The system we use for the tomatoes improves the quality and flavor of tomatoes. This time of the year, we only water the tomatoes a little bit, so they can concentrate the flavor and sugars of the fruit for better eating and nutrient value. When tomatoes are overwatered, the taste is less intense and the nutrients are more diluted. By only giving our tomatoes a little water, we sacrifice a little on total yield, but we feel it is way worth it in flavor.  The outside tomatoes are exposed to more difficult conditions, but since we need more tomatoes than the coldframes can produce, we plant a few outdoor beds each year.

We absolutely love tomatoes at our house, and we are thrilled each year when the first tomatoes start to come in.  We leave cherry tomatoes out on the counter, and our kids eat them like candy.  We also use slicers for caprese salads, bruschetta, on top of omelets, on BLTs… the uses are endless!  Tomatoes are one of those things that really ought to be eaten in ridiculous quantities in August and September when they’re in their peak season, because the February grocery store tomatoes really aren’t worth eating.  So to aid you in that plan, we have a lot of tomatoes in the share again this week!  Enjoy!

Recipes

And here's another idea for your tomatoes!  Try out these Parmesan Roasted Tomatoes, which are so quick and simple, and so delicious!  Or try this excellent Garden Fresh Bruschetta with some good bread!

Hunting, Fishing, and Food Values: A Research Survey by our Very Own Grad Student, Carson

Farm Update

Jewel, Ben, Therese, and Emily
bring bins of veggies up to the
packing area after harvest.

Hi everyone!  Even through we have another month and a half of summer according to the calendar, we're starting to see subtle signs of the shift from summer to fall at the farm.  We have some summer issues (such as the hot weather causing our lettuce, which is a cool season crop, to struggle a little bit) overlapping with some fall issues (like the pretty persistent morning dew that promotes the growth of plant diseases).  But that's pretty much par for the course this time of year.  Part of the art and science of organic farming is knowing how to adapt to the ever-changing conditions of flora, fauna, and weather as the year progresses.  We've been planting a lot of the veggies that will make their appearances in the shares throughout the fall, and we pulled over 5,000 pounds of potatoes out of the ground last week as well!  I was also able to put away the first few quarts of tomato sauce (out of about six dozen I'll make in the next month or so) with the leftover tomatoes from Thursday's drop-off.  So while we're very attuned to the particular feel of each part of the season, there are some aspects of the farm that feel like it's always simultaneously spring (planting), summer (canning), and fall (harvest).  That's the rhythm of life at the farm, and although I mostly take it for granted, I can't help but be grateful for such a distinctly seasonal lifestyle when I stop to think about it.  Thank you also to all of you who help us make this happen, and in turn get to enjoy the fruits and veggies of each particular season!  

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Cherry Tomatoes for everyone!
Green beans or several small slicing tomatoes
Potatoes or broccoli
Carrots or Swiss chard
Kale, basil, or cabbage
Onion or kohlrabi
Zucchini, cucumber, or slicing tomato

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

Cherry tomatoes                   Cherry tomatoes
Green beans                          Slicing tomatoes
Potatoes                                Broccoli
Swiss chard                          Carrots
Cabbage                               Kale
Onion                                    Kohlrabi
Zucchini                               Cucumber

Hunting, Fishing, and Food Values:  A Research Survey by our Very Own Grad Student, Carson

This is Carson, setting up irrigation lines
last week.

A few weeks ago in the newsletter feature about this year's awesome farm team, you probably remember me talking about Carson, our crew member/ CMU grad student.  Well, he's working on a research project and would super appreciate you guys filling out a short survey to help him gather data for his study.  His research focuses on food values, and how people's support of local organic food production relates to their participation in hunting and fishing.  So instead of an article this week, we would really appreciate it if you would hop over to Carson's survey and fill it out!  I completed it, and it took me about 15 minutes.  Thanks so much in advance for helping Carson out with his research!

Fill out the survey here!

Recipes

Oh, cherry tomatoes!  So small, but so delicious!  Just in case you're wondering what to do with them besides putting them in salads and just snacking on them, here are 21 amazing cherry tomato recipes from Rachel Ray.  Enjoy!

At the Farm: This Week in Pictures

Farm Update

We brought some of the first tomatoes of the year to the drop-off
this week, and there are more to come!

Hi everyone!  It has been a great week at the farm!  Very seldom do we ever get a week where we feel like we got most of what we needed to done, and this was one of those rare weeks.  It was just an enjoyable week to work outside too. (Except for harvesting potatoes in the rain on Friday.  Major props to Mary, Therese, and Fred who braved the cold rain to get the first round of potatoes out of the ground!)  As always, there are so many tasks that need to get done at the farm, and this week I remembered to chronicle some of them in pictures.  In other news, our resident grad student, Carson, is conducting a research project about CSA membership.  He's created a research survey for you all to (please please) fill out that will really help him collect data for his project.  We're going to be publishing the link to his survey in next week's newsletter, so be on the lookout for that.  See you this week!

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Carrots or kale
Cherry tomatoes or sweet corn
Broccoli or potatoes
Lettuce or beets
Cabbage, fennel, or 2 zucchini
Herbs, cucumber, or garlic
Onion or slicing tomatoes

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

Carrots                                 Kale
Sweet corn(4 ears)               Cherry tomatoes
Broccoli                               Potatoes
Lettuce                                 Beets
Cabbage                               2 Zucchini
Cucumber                            Herbs
Tomato                                 Onion                                   

At the Farm:  This Week in Pictures

I always enjoy when news sources run "This Week in Pictures" type articles.  Perhaps it's because a picture is worth a thousand words, or perhaps it's because I just like a visual representation of the big and small things humanity has been up to.  So here are some of the moments I captured this week at the farm, so you can see what a week at the farm looks like.

Monday:  I discovered two volunteer sunflowers next to the
coldframes.  We never actually planted these, but we did plant
some sunflower microgreens earlier in the spring.  So we
suspect that a couple micro sunflowers somehow migrated over
here and took hold, growing to beautiful fruition.

Monday:  Carson moves and sets up some of our drip line
irrigation.  We irrigated pretty heavily during the early part of
the week, and moving all of the irrigation lines around is a
pretty time-consuming process.

Monday:  Jewel and Ben harvest green beans for the CSA
drop-off.

Thursday:  Ben shows off the unusual cherry tomato he found
wile harvesting.  This one has the appearance of a tiny pumpkin.

Wednesday:  Fred left the tractor at the end of a section he was
undercutting to make the carrot harvest easier.  Carrots can be
really hard to pull out of the ground, but if we go through with
this attachment that loosens up the soil underneath the carrots
first, it makes harvesting a much easier task.

Monday:  Mary weighs out carrots for an order in our makeshift
packing area.  When crops come in from the field, we wash them
in our repurposed restaurant sinks, spin the leafy stuff in our
giant salad spinners (that were clothes washers in a former life),
and bag them up for the CSA and wholesale orders.  We then
put them in crates and move them into our adjacent walk-in cooler.

Tuesday:  I set up the tables before our Mt. Pleasant CSA drop- off.

Monday:  Fred cultivates a lettuce bed to help keep the weeds
down.  The cultvator disturbs the soil in between the rows of
lettuce, pulling up the weeds.  That means that the only hand-
weeding we need to do is right in the rows, where the cultivator
can't reach.

Thursday:  We had a nice surprise visit at our Midland drop-off
from one of our old crew members, Nate.  He came by to
pick up his parents' share while he's in town, and we got to chat
with him for a while.  It was so nice to see him!

Thursday:  Emily shows off an oddly-shaped zucchini she found.
Usually when we find vegetables that don't look normal, we set
them aside and take them home to eat.

Friday:  Mary harvests potatoes in the rain.  After Fred drove
through the potato bed with our old potato digger (which picks
up dirt and potatoes alike and deposits the potatoes on top of
the soil, making the harvest a lot easier), Mary and Therese
would go along and collect all of the potatoes into crates.

CSA Newsletter for July 29, 2017

Farm Update

Fred harvesting some of the first cherry tomatoes.

Hi everyone!  Here we are, headed into week 7 of the CSA!  It's been a good production year in general, because the temperatures have been less extreme and we've been getting regular rainfall right when we start to really need it badly.  That in combination with our deer fence keeping out those four-legged harbingers of destruction has meant that everything is growing well.  We were really pleased with the rainfall we got on Thursday morning!  Even though the farm was kind of a mud pit that day, the crops definitely perked up after that good rain, and for happy crops, we'll gladly put up with any amount of mud.  This will be the last week for blueberries, and while we still have enough for the CSA, we won't be taking any orders for bulk blueberries this week.  This was a great year for the blueberries, and we had more berries for more weeks than I ever remember having.  We're also right on the verge of having tomatoes too, and we were able to have the first two perfect slicing tomatoes with dinner tonight.  Before too long, we'll have more than we know what to do with, and you all will be beneficiaries of the tomato deluge!  See you this week! :-)

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Blueberries
Carrots
Green beans
Kale or carrots
Surprise veggie!
Lettuce or 2 cucumbers
Zucchini, onion, or garlic

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

Blueberries                           Blueberries
Green beans                         Green beans
Carrots                                 Carrots
Kale                                     Cabbage
2 Cucumbers                        Lettuce
Surprise veggie                    Surprise veggie
Garlic                                   Onion

Recipes

What do you do when you have tons of veggies in the fridge?  Make minestrone!  I've been using this recipe for Jamie's Minestrone for years, and not only is it delicious, it's also a great way to use up veggies!  (Just switch out the canned green beans for fresh ones.)  We often have a ridiculous amount of food coming out of the fields this time of year, and this is a yummy way to make some more space in the fridge.  It also tastes even better the next day after the flavors have a chance to meld, and is great to heat up for a quick lunch.  Enjoy!

The Complete Guide to Getting the Most Out of Your Summer Vegetables

Farm Update

Our new (old) cultivator should definitely help us keep these
weeds in our drive rows under control!

Hi everyone!  It’s been a hot and humid week at the farm, pushing 90 degrees most days!  We’ve finally hit the point in the season where the weed pressure starts to abate.  Not only are there fewer weeds because it’s been so dry (the weed seeds don’t germinate as much when they can’t get moisture from the ground), but there seems to just be an invisible line on the calendar each year when, independent of all other factors, the weeds just slow down.  We’ve just hit that line, and it’s definitely a relief.  We’re also excited about our new (old) cultivator!  Fred was able to get one of the many old cultivators you often see around the countryside, left over from a time before GMO crop varieties when even conventional farmers had to do some cultivating.  Now very few conventional growers do any cultivating, so all of the old machines go for a song to those of us who can use them.  In our case, ours will be perfect for keeping the drive tracks between our rows of vegetables mostly weed-free, because they often do get a little out of control.  And the more weeds there are (even in the drive tracks), the more weeds that will go to seed, and the more weeds that will start popping up in the actual rows of crops.  So this should definitely help.  We also had an amazing crop of blueberries this year!  We did quite a few bulk blueberry orders on top of bringing blueberries to everyone in the CSA last week, and we’ll have more blueberries in the shares again this week.  Several people have asked if we'll be taking more bulk blueberry orders, and we will!  So if you are interested in 10 pounds of blueberries for $33, just let me know and we'll bring them to the drop-off for you.  Another thing we’ll have lots of is green beans, and I am so excited!  Even though the calendar indicates that it’s been summer for a month, the first green beans are the real start of summer for me!  We'll have enough of those to take bulk orders for preserving as well, and those will be $19 for 10 pounds.   I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! J

What to Expect in your Share this Week

If you are picking up at one of our regular drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland) this week, here are the options you’ll find at each station!  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.

Blueberries
Green beans
Carrots or 2 zucchini
Potatoes or beets
Kale, Swiss chard, or cabbage
Lettuce or 2 cucumbers
Onion or herbs

And if you’re having your share delivered or picking up in Lansing, Okemos, or the Midand hospital, here are your options.  If you have a half share, choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you get to choose two.

Share A:                               Share B:

Blueberries                           Blueberries
Green beans                         Green beans
Carrots                                 2 zucchini
Potatoes                               Beets
Kale                                     Cabbage
2 Cucumbers                        Lettuce
Onion                                   Onion

The Complete Guide to Getting the Most Out of Your Summer Vegetables

Right now is the beautiful time of year that marks the transition from spring to summer veggies!  It certainly feels like summer out there, and we’re just on the edge of many summer favorites coming out of the fields.  In preparation for all that veggie goodness, here is The Complete Guide to Getting the Most out of Your Summer Vegetables, from Quartz.  I’m actually out of town this weekend for a family event, so instead of spending a few hours writing a feature, I’m going to share this one, because it’s pretty much exactly what I would have written anyway.   Enjoy! J

Recipes

It’s green bean season, and I couldn’t be more excited!  Here is a super easy, super delicious recipe for Buttery Garlic Green Beans from allrecipes.com!  Or if you’re looking for something that’s still light, but a little more involved, check out this Frisée-Lardon Salad from Bon Appetit!  A lot of people have asked me what to do with frisée besides just mixing it with your spring mix, so here is a traditional French preparation perfect for a hot evening like the ones we’ve been having!