Jun 17

Summer CSA Newsletter Week #2 June 9-15, 2024 “B" week

One of our pigs grazing in the pasture.

VEG SHARES

(Photo of the "Default" FULL Share below. See listings to see which share size has what, how much, along with info, guides, recipes.)

FULL VEG SHARE:

LETTUCE MIX (1/4 lb) - Store in a plastic bag in your fridge. We consider it a “1st Priority Vegetable” and recommend you use it within the first 3 days, as it has a short shelf life. (Although our freshly harvested lettuce will often last a week or sometimes even more!) Guide & Recipes

ASPARAGUS (2 lb) - Can be eaten raw or cooked many ways—roasted, grilled, steamed, boiled, pan-roasted, fried and can be added to pasta, salads, soups, and stir-fries.Steam with butter or hollandaise sauce, blanch and chill with a vinaigrette, herbs, or other dressing. Generally speaking, thicker spears are better for roasting, grilling, and stir-frying, and thinner stalks are traditionally left whole so their tender, meaty texture can be appreciated. Trim before cooking by holding the ends and bending the spear until it breaks somewhere in the middle; everything from the middle up will be tender enough to eat easily. Store in the fridge either in a vase of water (cut a sliver off the stalk ends first if they are dried) or store them in a loosely wrapped plastic bag in the crisper drawer. Just remember that the sooner you eat it, the better the flavor. Asparagus can also be blanched and then frozen although it will be more mushy when thawed - perfect for soup! Pickling is another option. from our farm and New Forest Farm

RADISHES with greens (1 bunch) - Separate radish from leaves for storing! Keep the greens in a loosely wrapped plastic bag in the crisper bin of your refrigerator and eat them soon. Store the colorful roots in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for a week or so. Eat them raw with a sprinkle of salt, slice into salads or on sandwiches for added crunch, pickle or roast with carrots. Guide & Recipes

RHUBARB - (3/4 lb) - These tart green & magenta stalks this hardy perennial vegetable is generally thought of as a fruits. It’s mouth puckering goodness is often sweetened with a little sugar or honey and is used in dishes like crisps, compotes, and pies (from which it gets its second name, "pie plant"). Rhubarb also lends a fruitiness to savory dishes and pairs very nicely with pork and poultry. To use: wash and trim off any dry ends. Some peel the skin but there’s no need to do this and besides it holds lots of color and flavor. Store in loose plastic in the crisper drawer of the fridge, where it will keep for about a week or a little more. To freeze, cut the rhubarb stalks into 1-inch chunks and seal in an airtight bag and it will keep for up to a year.

GARLIC SCAPES - (2 bunches) These are the curlicue curiosities in your box. Store them in a plastic bag in your crisper. They’ll last about 2-3 weeks. You can trim off the bottom inch of the scape (if it’s woody) as well as the flowering tip (although that is also edible if you want to try it). Steam, saute, or grill them whole or chopped in pieces, similar to green beans, with some olive oil and salt/pepper. Or finely chop as a garlic substitute. Can also be sliced and included in fresh dishes - like you’d use green onions. Can also pickle or chop and freeze them in a Mason jar or Ziplock bag. Then you can use them all summer/winter as needed.

ADIRONDACK BLUE POTATOES (1 lbs) - Blue flesh and skin with a slight purple tint. Great flavor, hold color when cooked, and contain lots of healthy anthocyanins. This variety is good for boiling, baking, and mashing, and can be used for brightly coloured salads. Store in a paper bag in your pantry or on the counter for a month. Guide & Recipes (from Mythic Farm - organic)

SNOW PEAS () - Often used in Asian recipes, you eat the whole pod which is tender and contains baby seeds inside that are so small, you may not even notice them! Munch on this healthy snack and enjoy the crunch. Guide

HALF VEG SHARE: (see Full VEG Shares above⬆ for info on each item)

LETTUCE MIX (1/4 lb)

ASPARAGUS (1 lb)

RADISHES with greens (1 bunch)

RHUBARB - (3/4 lb)

GARLIC SCAPES - (2 bunches)

ADIRONDACK BLUE POTATOES (1 lb)

OPTIONAL ITEM: 1 dozen EGGS and/or extra Lettuce (1/4 lb)

MES SHARES

Week 1 of the rotation so MES is for Mazomanie, Dianne Dr, Home Deliveries

FULL: 2 pkgs Ground Beef, 1 Ham Steak, 1 pkg Bacon, 1 pkg Breakfast Sausage, 1 pkg Beef Brats, 2 doz Eggs, 1 Maple Syrup

HALF: 1 pkg Ground Beef, 1 Ham Steak, 1 pkg Bacon, 1 pkg Breakfast Sausage, 1 pkg Beef Brats, 1 dz Eggs, 1 Maple Syrup

EGG SHARE

WEEKLY = 1 Dozen

BIWEEKLY = 1 Dozen

RECIPES:

Click the link to more easily print recipe.

On the Farm

The snap peas are really blossoming now! I don't know about you but I love peas. I love to pick them, snap the string off and either eat the whole thing or open the pod like it's a present and eat each pea morsel individually and then the pod too! If really feels like summer to me when the peas start coming on.

When out weeding carrot beds, I mistakenly pulled out a tiny root. Although my photo is blurry, you can see they're starting to shape up and will most likely be ready for shares in just a couple more weeks.

This year, we're excited to be trying something new - - - growing our own sweet potatoes!

We all love sweet potatoes and know our members and customers do too as the ones we brought in last fall from a different organic farm were a huge hit.

We decided why not give it a try? So they came a little over a week ago, and we got busy readying beds and then planting the slip or sweet potato seedling. Below is Bill just about to make a very shallow furrow or line in the center of a bed for us to come behind and plant the seedlings in every foot apart.

Everyone pitched in, even the dogs tried to help! Lol.

Almost the whole section of twenty beds is planted with sweet potatoes. Aidan has been diligently watering them which other growers have shared is a very helpful practice for getting the slips to root in and take off. He and Bill have cultivating and hilling plans to enact when weeds start showing up.

I'm sure I'll be sharing the field's progress as the season goes on and hopefully there'll be loads of sweet potatoes for us all!