I’ve never seen our third CSA deliveries looking so good! We actually had to do a little tossing up on what to put in the boxes this week. We took a look at what all it was that we had to give, and had to decided to not to give a few things because of too much quantity and not enough time to harvest it all. In years past we were finding creative ways to fill boxes, sometimes resorting to digging up wild burdock root or giving tomato plants and dried nettles from the farm. We’re quite pleased to see the season progessing along so nicely. Never before have we had broccoli in week 3! Things are shaping up quite well here on the farm. We’re in for a bountiful summer, providing that the natural disasters hold off for a while.
The flow of volunteering and worker-shares is also flourishing. I am reminded of the phrase, “If you build it, they will come” from the old classic ‘Field of Dreams’. We built this beautiful vegetable collage and more and more helping hands are wanting to be a part of it, and we are so blessed! This year we have 5 consistent helpers that have been coming to the farm frequently to either work for their CSA share, or to just learn from us about the CSA model and what it all takes to run a small scale vegetable operation like ours. If you add my sister, ,Julie and her boyfriend, Drew who are living with us, it makes 7 additional helpers on the farm! What more could we ask for?
Our helpers have been helping with the harvesting and the weeding mostly as of late. A couple of them have an interest in learning more about Biodynamic farming and the planetary influences that impact the vegetables. We have been keeping up with spraying the herbal and compost biodynamic preparations this year with the help of our workers and volunteers. It warms my heart to have so many folks interested in investing their time and energy into this farm. It truly does feel like a community supported farm when so many loving hands want to come and work with this earth. If you’re interested in joining in, any ol’ time works great. It seems like at least someone is in the fields all the time (or several of us), every day of the week.
As for our dogs, we’ve had a successful week of no dead chickens! We’ve been working with them quite a bit more and keeping them by our sides, instilling obedience and discipline in them that they seem to need in order to survive on this functional farm. We borrowed a couple shock collars from my father who used them for training his hunting dogs. We’ve bee able to shock them a couple times when we caught them following chickens around and taking more than a casual interest in a clucking chick. So far, we think they’re getting a little freaked out by the chickens, starting to realize the association with the chickens and a shock (we hope). But the trust isn’t there 100% just yet. These young pups need more than a week of off-and-on supervised chicken interactions. Thank you to those of you who sent us some words of experience and advise on training dogs that wish to eat chickens. We’ve taken everything into consideration and are working hard to train the dogs.
Mesclun Mix– This is our first time ever offering mesclun mix. There is a lot of works that goes into it, but I certainly can justify planting it at least once a year. With all of the head lettuce, we have never really needed to plant it. Stores best in a plastic bag in refrigerator.
Head Lettuce– A true sign of spring. I hope you’re all making meals out of lettuce! Stores best in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to preserve moisture.
Strawberries– Yes, red, ripe delicious strawberries, because we love you! Strawberries do not store real well. Best eaten soon!
Cilantro– Our fist annual herb to offer. Cilantro is one of the beloved herbs of the summer. Hope you enjoy it! See cilantro salad dressing recipes below. Stores best in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
Cherry Bell Radish– More of the yummy color red in your box. Definitely the last week of these lovelies until fall! Enjoy them while they last. Stores best in a plastic bag in the fridge, or with the tops cut off and floating in a bowl of water in the fridge.
Swiss Chard– More leafy greens to nourish your family. If you aren’t already madly in love with Chard, I hope that you can learn to love it. You will see it numerous times thru out the summer in your box. A member of the spinach and beet family. See recipe below. Stores best in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
Green Onions– A small bunch to start you out with. You will see green onions in your box every week for quite a few more weeks to come to hold us over until the real deals is ready to harvest. Stores best in a plastic bag in the fridge or standing up in a jar of water in the fridge with the tops trimmed off.
Broccoli– Blessed Broccoli. More broccoli coming your way soon! Stores best in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
Next Week! A short list of items that we may have next week, but will not promise to have. Due to the unexpectedness of the season and perishable nature of produce, anything could pop up or go down hill unexpectedly.
Head Lettuce, broccoli, kohlrabi, snap peas, dill, kale, garlic scapes, green onions.
