Hello Everyone!
I hope you enjoyed the first box of produce. True to form, it varied from what we had expected it to be. The nice part was the added bonus of the Arugula. If you haven't spent much time using Arugula before, it can make a great pesto. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/arugula-pesto-recipe.html This recipe calls for pine nuts, but that is not necessary. Pine nuts can be very expensive. Sunflower seeds or cashews make an acceptable substitution for most pestos.
The farm is looking absolutely beautiful these days. If you have not been out there, sometime you should drive through for a visit. This season we have hired our first ever employee. Laura Lentz has worked on many farms now, including the Sleeping Lady Organic Garden and at Gibbs Farm. She spent some time working on a 900 person CSA farm in Minnesota before she moved out to Washington. Needless to say, she is an incredibly hard worker and knows her way around a tractor. She has been helping Willy with the field work about 20-30 hrs/wk. This has been a big transition for us as we move into the realm of becoming an employer. We could not have asked for a better employee to get us started down this road. With any luck, we will have the capacity to continue to expand as demand for local produce continues to grow.
We also seem to have a great crew of work-trades at the farm this season. Some veterans keep returning again and again. Jeanne Miller is going to receive a trophy for her service as #1 Salad Weeder. I have lost track of the number of seasons that she has helped to keep the salad and spinach from getting swallowed up by the 'green carpet of death'. There are a number of new faces as well. There is good mojo at the farm.
The veggies are growing quickly but we are having a couple of trouble spots. The flea beetles are hammering the mustard greens. Flea beetles are usually only a problem in the spring but this year they are determined to stick around. Every year there is a pest of particular note....this is the year of the flea beetle. Also, we ended up with a bad seed lot on some of our broccoli so we will be missing a bed of it in the early part of the season. It simply did not germinate. Willy has re-sown with new seed in a new location.
As with every season, the first 3 weeks or so of the CSA are pretty heavy on the greens. This year, we decided to surprise you by growing a 'bonus' bed of carrots in the high tunnel. These were grown specifically for the CSA.....we hope you enjoy them. Also, the peas are starting to ripen. This is earlier than usual. It will help to break up the monotony of leafy greens. Overall, I think that this year has had the most variety available the earliest for our boxes.
We are trying to keep from overloading your fridges so we decided to withhold putting in another napa cabbage this week. They are delicious and one of my favorites (I like to finely chop them and add lime juice and the use them for tacos or burritos) but they are very large. We are thinking that another head of napa will go into the boxes next week. Willy has already made (and started to devour) his first batch of kimchi at home.
Have a great week!
In Your Box This Week:
Salad Mix, Snap Peas, Pak Choi, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Green Garlic, Garlic Scapes, Radishes, Cilantro!
Recipes:
Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Ginger http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/stir-fried-bok-choy-with-ginger-and-garlic-recipe.html
Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sauteed-swiss-chard-with-parmesan-cheese/
How To Cook With Greeen Garlic http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/inside-our-kitchen/article/how-to-cook-with-green-garlic
No comments:
Post a Comment