CSA Newsletter for Week 4

Farm Update

Brayden and Nolan hang out with
Molly, our farm cat and chief
mouse catcher, on their lunch break.

Hi everyone!  We hope you are all having a great 4th of July weekend!  Things are still going strong at the farm, especially the weeds, which are growing at an amazing speed and keeping us busy!  We've also been seeing quite a lot of snakes, frogs, and toads lately.  This is the weather they love, so they've come out of hiding and are spending their holiday weekend lounging in the fields.  As odd as it sounds to say after the wet spring we had, we could actually use some rain again!  We've been irrigating quite a lot, but there's nothing like a good soaking rain to help everything grow.  (And it also means we don't have to move around a bunch of irrigation lines all over the farm!)  But we're so pleased to have such an abundance of good veggies growing right now!  The carrots are doing really well, we've picked the first few ripe cherry tomatoes, and we'll probably have a few pints of strawberries left next week.  We've definitely hit our stride now, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store!

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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!

• Carrots
• New potatoes, cucumbers, or beets
• Spring mix or romaine lettuce
• Zucchini
• Pearl onions or baby leeks
• Bunched greens or fennel
• Kohlrabi, microgreens, or basil

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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 email me by the 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: Carrots, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, zucchini, pearl onions, basil, and kale.

Share B:  Carrots, potatoes, romaine lettuce, zucchini, baby leeks, microgreens, and fennel.

Share C:  Carrots, beets, spring mix, zucchini, pearl onions, kohlrabi, and Swiss chard.

             

Recipes

We've been making a ton of grilled zucchini lately, because it's definitely the season for it!  This recipe for Balsamic Grilled Zucchini is pretty similar to what we make, but we also grill up baby leeks or pearl onions with the zucchini, and it is awesome!  There are so many options, and this is the perfect week for some experiments with veggies on the grill!

CSA Newsletter for Week 3

Farm Update

We harvested a ridiculous number
of carrot bunches last week!  Here is
just the top row of a three-deep
 stack of crates, all containing carrots!

Hi everyone!  The farm is really going strong now, and we're operating at the busy pace the pretty much always characterizes late June for us.  In June, we do a lot of planting, a lot of harvesting, a lot of irrigating and weeding and washing and packing.  It's a busy month, but we've noticed that our energy levels are pretty much in lockstep with the number of daylight hours, so we're running at maximum energy capacity right now.  And it's a good thing too, because there is a lot to be done!
     We also wanted to let you all know that we will have extra strawberries for sale in bulk this week!  They'll be $40 per flat (which is eight quarts), and they'll be available on a first come, first serve basis.  So if you're interested, you can just email me and let me know, and we'll bring you some at the drop-off!
     Speaking of the drop-off, this Thursday is 4th of July!  Our July 4th drop-off will be occurring as usual, but we know a lot of people have plans and can't make it this week.  So if that's you, and you haven't already, please check in with me by the day before the drop-off, and I'll plan on postponing your share this week and getting you a double share next week.
     Also, if you have your share prepacked for home delivery or our Lansing, St. Johns, Okemos, or hospital drop-offs, I'm going to make a slight change to how we take requests for the A, B, and C shares.  I usually finalize the harvest list the evening before the drop-off, and I've found that some of the requests that come in later at night don't get seen until the next day, sometimes after we've already packed up the shares.  So I'm going to say that requests should come in by lunchtime the day before the drop-off to make sure you can get the share you requested.  Anything that comes in after that, I can't guarantee that I'll see it in time.  The exception will be for the folks who have their shares delivered in Alma on Mondays.  Since the newsletter sometimes doesn't hit your inbox until Sunday morning anyway, that is a definite stretch to ask you to get your requests in by lunchtime on Sunday.  So the Alma folks get until 7 PM on Sunday evening to get their requests in.  Just let me know if you have any questions!  Thanks so much for bearing with me while we work out the kinks in the system!

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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!

• Strawberries
• Spring mix or head lettuce
• Carrots or new potatoes
• Zucchini or radishes
• Cucumbers or beets
• Bunched greens or fennel
• Microgreens, pearl onions, or kohlrabi

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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 email me by the 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:                      Share B:                            Share C:
Strawberries                Strawberries                      Strawberries
Spring mix                   Romaine                           Carrots
Carrots                         New potatoes                    Radishes
Zucchini                      Zucchini                             Beets
Cucumbers                  Cucumbers                         Fennel
Kale                             Swiss chard                       Bibb lettuce
Kohlrabi                      Pearl onions                      Microgreens
       

             

Recipes

It's strawberry time!  Strawberry season is a joyous time every year, made all the more so by how ephemeral it is.  So what better way to celebrate this short but wonderful time than by eating lots of strawberries!  You can go simple, like slicing strawberries into your salad, to a little more involved, like making a strawberry pie.  Try out this wonderful pie recipe (that is, if your strawberries even make it home before you eat them!)

CSA Newsletter for Week 2

Farm Update

The carrots and potatoes are growing up really
nicely in the coldframes!  They're much farther
along by now than they'd be if they had been
growing out in the open field, because the
greenhouse has protected them from all of the cold,
wind, and rain of spring. 

Hi everyone!  Now that the weather is finally warming up, things are really coming to life out there at the farm!  The lettuces are really doing well, so expect plenty of your favorite spring mix, romaine, and head lettuces over the next few weeks.  The strawberries are also taking off, so we'll have some in the shares this week!  If you don't happen to get some this week, we should have a bunch for everyone next week.  We also had several people asking at the drop-off how we were able to get carrots and zucchini so early, and the answer is our coldframes!  We grow a lot of our early veggies in the coldframes (also called hoophouses), which are basically unheated greenhouses.  They protect young plants from the cold, wind, and damp that is prevalent in spring so that they can be planted and reach maturity a lot earlier than they would in the open field.  The coldframes also allow us to grow many veggies later in the fall than usual, to protect from the fall cold, wind, and damp that often produce plant diseases and signal the end of the growing season.  That's why we're able to provide everyone with 20 weeks of veggies in a climate that doesn't usually allow for that long a season.  So we are extremely thankful for our coldframes!


In other news, it was so good to see many of you again at the drop-off!  We started the Midland, Lansing, Okemos, and St. Johns drop-offs last week, and we'll be kicking off the Alma and Mt. Pleasant drop-offs this week!  For those of you who haven't had their first drop-off yet, I'll see you in the next few days!  

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up 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!

• Broccoli
• Carrots or strawberries
• Spring mix or head lettuce
• Green onions
• Kale, chard, dandelion greens, collards, or bok choy
• Zucchini or kohlrabi
• Microgreens, garlic scapes, or radishes

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), 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 email me by 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:                      Share B:                            Share C:
********Either carrots or strawberries in all shares******** 
Broccoli                       Broccoli                            Broccoli
Spring mix                   Romaine                           Head lettuce
Green onions               Green onions                    Green onions
Bok choy                     Kale                                  Bunched greens
Kohlrabi                      Zucchini                           Zucchini
Microgreens                Radishes                           Garlic scapes
       

             

Recipes

It's a broccoli kind of week!  Everyone gets broccoli in their shares this week, so if you're stumped on what to do with it, or are just looking to try something new, here are 27 Broccoli Recipes You'll Want to Make Tonight from Bon Appetit.  Enjoy!

CSA Newsletter for Week 1

Farm Update

The potatoes are in bloom!  Most
people have never stopped to consider
that potatoes do indeed have a part that
grows above the ground, and this is
what it looks like when it's flowering!
These potatoes are growing in one of our
coldframes so we can have them a lot
earlier than we normally would.

Hi everyone!  Welcome to the first week of the CSA!  Just in case you missed the announcement a few days ago, we are going to be starting half of the drop-offs this week and half of the drop-offs next week.  So if you pick up in Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, or Midland (or have your shares delivered to your home or office in those areas), you'll have your first drop-offs on Wednesday and Thursday of this week!  Everyone else is starting next week, but the good news is that you'll have an extra week of goodies in the fall!  It's been such a weird year, with the cold, wet spring, and it has definitely pushed back the schedule we have come to expect from the crops.  Hopefully we'll start getting some warm weather soon, and we can get summer on its way!  In the meantime, we have a nice lineup of cool weather veggies this week.  And if this is your first drop-off, welcome to the CSA!  If you're not quite sure what to expect, never fear!  Here is a post I did last year, which details all you need to know for your first week of veggies!  And if you have any questions, definitely feel free to send me an email or give me a call at 517-896-6884.  See you soon! :-)

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up at one of our traditional style drop-offs (just Midland this week), 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!

• Baby carrots or spinach
• Green onions
• Spring mix
• Bok choy, kale, or red-rib dandelion greens
• Broccoli or zucchini
• Frisee or head lettuce
• Cilantro, microgreens, or garlic scapes

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), here are your options.  If you have a half share, you’ll choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you can choose two of them.  And next week when more of the crops are ready, we'll add in share C for even more variety!  So just email me by the day before your drop-off to let me know which share you want for this week!

Share A:                               Share B:

Baby carrots                         Baby carrots
Green onions                        Green onions
Spring mix                            Spring mix
Broccoli                                Broccoli
Bok choy                              Kale
Frisee                                    Romaine head
Cilantro                                Microgreens

Recipes

One of the fun things about being part of a CSA is getting to try veggies that may have never found their way into your kitchen before.  My guess is that there is at least one thing on the roster for this week that you've never tried, and maybe even a few things.  So here are some recipes for the more unfamiliar items to get you started!  Enjoy!

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Ginger and Garlic:  Really flavorful and amazingly quick to make, this delicious bok choy recipe makes a fantastic side dish!

Sauteed Dandelion Greens with Eggs:  Another really fast, really simple dish, this would be fantastic for breakfast.  Or any meal, really.... eggs and greens are great any time of day!

Frisee Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette:  So are you sensing a theme here?  This is another really fast dish that doesn't require any complicated techniques, but just lets the fantastic ingredients shine.  Which is basically how we cook at our house.  :-)

Official CSA Start Dates! ( CSA MEMBERS PLEASE RESPOND!)

Hi everyone!  After a long, cold, wet spring, we finally have official start dates for the CSA!  We've been watching the plants with bated breath to determine when they'll be producing enough food for us to start the CSA, and it looks like it's going to be next week!  BUT--- (And this is important, so don't just skim over this!) instead of starting on Monday the 17th like we had originally hoped, we're going to be starting the Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, and Midland drop-offs next week, and the Alma and Mt. Pleasant drop-offs the week after that.  Fred's expert eye has determined that the plants will be ready on Wednesday the 19th (and unfortunately, not in time for Monday), so that will be our first CSA drop-off!  Here are the official dates and details so you can mark your calendars:

Lansing, Okemos, and St. Johns:  Wednesday, June 19th.  The Lansing drop-off is at the Soup Spoon Café on Michigan Ave. anytime between 4:30 and 10 PM.  The Okemos drop-off is at Mert's Meats on Grand River anytime between 4:30 and 6:30 PM.  And if you're picking up in St. Johns, I'll be sending you a separate email with the address because it's at someone's house, but you can pick up your share anytime after 4 PM.

Midland and MidMichigan hospital:  Thursday, June 20th.  The Midland drop-off will be at the Eagle Ridge Church of God between 5 and 6 PM.  The hospital shares will be dropped off at the seating area/ delivery turnaround behind the Center for Women's Health, and you can pick them up anytime after 4 PM.

Alma:  Monday, June 24th.  The drop-off is at His Place on Superior St. between 5 and 6 PM.

Mt. Pleasant:  Tuesday, June 25th.  The drop-off is at Herbs Etc. on Broadway between 5 and 6 PM.

So mark your calendars, enter a reminder on your phone, and let me know if you have any questions!  And since I really really want to make sure everyone gets this message and doesn't miss the first week of veggies, can you PLEASE JUST SEND ME A QUICK EMAIL SO I KNOW YOU GOT THE MESSAGE?  I'll send another email to any CSA members I don't hear from by Saturday and try to get in touch with you that way, and if I still don't hear back from you, I'll give you a phone call.  But it would make my life a lot easier if you just let me know you got the message, so I don't have to track you down over the weekend.  :-)  Thanks so much, and we are so looking forward to seeing all of you at the first drop-off!

CSA Newsletter for May 2019

Farm Update

The first produce to come out of the fields each
year is precious after a long winter of preserved
foods and grocery-store fare, so we've really
been eating a ton of spring mix lately!  And look
how lovely these lettuces are!  I'm so thrilled that
fresh produce is coming back to even frozen
Michigan for the year!

Hi everyone!  It's been a busy month at the farm!  We've been doing a lot of planting (including planting 50,000 onion plants by hand... yikes!), a fair amount of harvesting (mostly for some of our stores and restaurants), and a bunch of ground prep, last-minute equipment acquisition, and even a little bit of weeding already.  Basically, all of the many things that need to happen on a diverse farm in May.  Even though we had a really cold spring, we're still hoping to start the CSA during the third week of June.  We don't have an official start date yet, but we're projecting that we'll kick things off the third week of June, and we'll definitely let everyone know as soon as we know for sure.  Usually the signal to start the CSA is when the strawberries are ripe, so we're really hoping that celebrated event won't be pushed back by the unusually extended cold weather.  And just in case you're wondering, we do still have a few spots available in the CSA, so if you or a friend wanted to sign up but figured it was too late, there's still time!  We have about 20 spots left, so you'd better act quickly if you're interested!  

These Easter Egg Radishes are among the prettiest
of spring vegetables, and they are plentiful
right now!

I've also had a few people ask if they could get their hands on any of our veggies even before the season starts, and the answer is yes!  You can find our spinach, spring mix, radishes, and (sometimes) even microgreens at GreenTree Cooperative Grocery in Mt. Pleasant, LaLonde's in Midland, Campell's Market Basket in East Lansing, and Argus Farmstop in Ann Arbor.  We are so excited to get the season started, and we are looking forward to seeing all of you in a few weeks!  I'll keep you posted as soon as we have an official start date for the CSA!

Recipes

This Vegan Creamed Spinach is just one of the many awesome
recipes (vegan, vegetarian, and carnivore-friendly) that are in
this collection of recipes!

Yay for spinach!  One of the first vegetables to become available locally each year, spinach is pretty much the veggie mascot of spring in our house, even before asparagus starts popping up.  In celebration of this wonderful, flavorful, nutritious green, here are 30 Spinach Recipes to Make You Stronger Than Popeye!  While I can't personally guarantee that they'll instantly make your biceps bulge, the fresh stuff is definitely better than that awful canned spinach that Popeye had to eat.  So enjoy!

CSA Newsletter for April 2019

Farm Update

Fred harvests spinach in the coldframe
to take to Lansing last Wednesday.

Hi everyone!  Things are really starting to pick up at the farm!  March is when we really get things started, and this year is no exception.  A few weeks ago, Fred spent two days spreading our specialized compost mix and getting the fields ready for planting.  Most of the veggies that we'll be harvesting later in the spring and early summer have gotten their start over the last few weeks, whether it's lettuce transplants that we've started from seed in flats in the greenhouse, green garlic that we've seeded directly into the ground in the coldframes, or microgreens that go from seeding to harvest in just two weeks or so.  Fred was also able to do the first big field planting last Wednesday!  That's one of the biggest days of the spring for us, because getting the timing just right on that first planting is crucial.  Getting seeds in the ground earlier allows us to get our first crop earlier, but if we plant too early, we risk any number of adverse weather scenarios wiping out the first planting.  So we were very happy to get things growing in the field last week.  Then Fred spent the next few days covering the first planting with a plastic row cover to protect our little baby plants from wind and cold until the weather is consistently nice.  We've also been able to harvest some of the heartier overwintered vegetables (like spinach and kale) for some of our restaurants in stores.  In fact, you should be starting to see our spinach and spring mix in local stores such as LaLonde's in Midland, GreenTree Co-Op in Mt. Pleasant, Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor, and the brand new Campbell's Market Basket in East Lansing.

These little lettuces were started from seed in the greenhouse.
They'll stay in the warmth of the greenhouse for a little while,
and then when the time comes, we'll transplant them into the
field.  This allows us to get an earlier crop in the spring, and
get them onto your plate sooner!

Aside from getting things growing, we've also been doing some construction projects around the farm.  Fred is finishing up the greenhouse he started building back in the fall, but on which he had to pause construction during the cold winter months.  We've also been meeting and talking with a wide variety of groups lately!  Two weeks ago, we got to do a question and answer session with an environmental studies class at Alma College about sustainable agriculture.  I was really impressed with how enthusiastic and knowledgable the students were!  We also recently got to speak to the Great Lakes Garden Club and the Lansing Raw Food Meetup Group about the Community Supported Agriculture concept, which was really fun.  All in all, the farm season is really picking up for us!  And ready or not, it's time to jump in with both feet!  

Also, if you haven't signed up for the CSA yet this year, now is the time!  The cost for a full share is $560 and a half share is $305, and you can just email me and I'll put you on the list.  We would absolutely love to have all of you in the CSA this season! :-)

Recipes

It's no secret that I love kale.  Some people just don't get the kale thing, whether it's because of the hearty texture, the strong, earthy flavor, or just that's it's so ubiquitous that they're weary of seeing it around everywhere.  But what you might not know is that before kale becomes the large, hearty bunch of greens you see at the CSA drop-off or farmers market, it starts off as light and tender baby kale.  I especially love baby kale, which works out pretty well for me, because we have plenty of it right now!  So in honor of this wonderfully flavorful, tender spring green, here are several recipes for baby kale!

Baby Kale Salad with Lemon, Parmesan, and Crispy Roasted Chickpeas:  Yum!  I love that this recipe is so simple to whip up, and so good for a side dish or the main attraction!

Best Sauteed Baby Kale with Eggs Over Easy:  This is another recipe that is so easy, and so delicious!  We make some variation of this most mornings for breakfast. :-)