week 1!!

Welcome to the first week of the 2018 CSA! If this is your first year with us, you can use this blog as a reference to keep up with the farm. I will update it every week before the Pickup with news from the farm or some farm musings, pictures, a list of what will be available in the share that week and one recipe that uses one or two items from the share.  

Week #1:

We are so happy to finally have some produce to share with you. This spring has been the most challenging of all my years of farming. Such consistent rain in such large quantities is about the worst type of conditions for a small vegetable farm such as ours. Too much rain means we can't get into the fields to plant, weed, prep beds, or seed. It also means that the plants we manage to get into the ground suffer from their roots being too wet. In saturated conditions, nutrients do not run through the soil and cannot be taken up by plants and without the sun our poor crops can't dry their leaves to fight fungal diseases or grow at normal rates. 

All that being said, our crew has been in great spirits. And we have done what we can when we can to get through these challenges. It means later nights on the tractor to finish before the next rain or long days weeding by hand since we can't get our cultivators in the wet fields. We have managed to get lots of plants in the ground now waiting for their time in the sun. The new drainage systems and designs we implemented in the beginning of the season have definitely helped and we are so thankful for all of the community support we've gotten these last few months from other farmers, customers and all of you. 

Here are some scenes from the last couple months: Remember when it snowed in April?

The Share:

salad mix 

head lettuce

tatsoi (like a spinach- bok choi combo!)

broccoli raab

kale

garlic scapes

sugar snap peas

spicy greens

dandelion greens

radishes

kohlrabi

napa cabbage

scallions

 

Recipe(s) of the week:

10 Things to Do with Garlic Scapes

https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/garlic-scapes

  1. Blitz some stalks into a garlicky pesto. If you're a hardcore garlic fan, leave out the basil altogether in favor of the scapes. Otherwise, substitute garlic scapes for up to half of your greens and proceed as usual. (Don't have a go-to pesto recipe? Find one here.)

  2. Fold chopped and sautéed garlic scapes into frittatas or our best-ever scrambled eggs.

  3. Chop garlic scapes into little coins and add to stir-fries and fried rice.

  4. Finely dice a couple of garlic scapes and and mix into a vinaigrette. (They also make a tasty addition to green goddess dressing.)

  5. Throw whole scapes on the grill, just like you would make grilled scallions.

  6. Fold chopped scapes into a dip for grilled meat or roasted veg.

  7. Cut garlic scapes into 6-inch pieces and pickle them. (Think pickled green beans or thin kosher dill pickles.)

  8. Sauté scapes and use them as a pizza topping. Don't forget to save any leftover sautéeing oil for drizzling.

  9. Use the scapes whole in a warm-weather-friendly braise.

  10. Mix chopped scapes with a stick of butter to make a garlicky compound butter for grilled or pan-fried fish.

 

 

Malaika SpencerComment