Summer CSA Week 3

These swallows are leaving the nest...perhaps you'll see them one more time at the farm stand!

Did you try the sheep milk yogurt last week?  Holy cow!  If you like yogurt, give it a try--you won't regret it!

In this week's share:

Spring onions--use the whole onion!  Very tender all the way up...

Beets--use the greens!  Tonight I chipped up the beets and leaves, braised them (covered) in olive oil and butter,  with garlic, salt and pepper, until tender (just a few minutes) and spooned them over sauerkraut pirogies...outstanding!

Dandelion Greens!  Hope you liked them the first time!  Remember to blanch or steam first to cut down on the bitterness.

Herb bouquet--parsely, garlic chives, dill--a csa member made a delicious pesto out of all 3 last week...

Kohlrabi!  Raw with salt, or shaved into a salad!

Strawberries.

Lettuce or turnips...I'm on the cusp for the lettuce being ready or the turnips being big enough to harvest...I'll know in the morning...

Spring CSA members get garlic scares.

Thanks!

Delivery from Red Jacket has been problematic...I sure hope I get the strawberries by noon!

Summer CSA WEEK 2

New chicks! 8 babies to help our egg production going forward!  Stop by the coop to check these little balls of fluff out!

In this week's share:

Garlic scapes!!!  This is the flowering part of the garlic plant, harvested before opening while still tender.  Chop them up and toss them in everything you cook! 7 awesome things to do with garlic scapes.

Pea shoots.  Great weather so far for pea shoots.  Very tender so far.  My son eats them by the fistful.

Radish microgreens.  Seeds are the most nutritious part of plants; as plants grow and fruits develop, all of that dense nutrition is diluted.  Microgreens get you as close to eating vegetable seeds as you'll get...

Kale--great tender crop so far.

Lettuce!!! Should keep coming all summer long.

Herb mix--a bouquet of chives, dill, and parsley.

Strawberries!!!

Spring CSA members will get an extra item again this week, likely kohlrabi or spinach.

At the stand, hopefully I'll have sheep's milk yogurt.  Supposed to be fantastic.

See you after noon tomorrow!!!

Last week spring/first week summer CSA 2015

Ok.  If you are not in the summer CSA, this is your last week of spring.

Most of you are in summer as well, so you will be taking a bag of kale in addition to the spring share.  Another heavy one!!!

Strawberries are due from Red Jacket Orchard tomorrow morning, so I should have them all ready by the noon starting time.  However, the deliveries have been chaotic recently.  If for any reason I don't have them by noon, please stop back in later in the day or over the weekend to get them.

In this week's share:

1 pint strawberries
1 bunch turnips
Mixed lettuce
Head of lettuce
Swiss chard
Parsley
Kohlrabi (just one tender one--peel, slice, sprinkle with salt, eat, enjoy!)
Italian Dandelion Greens!!!!! Ok, these cannot be eaten raw...well, they could, but they are very bitter.  However, when cooked like this: Dandelion Greens with carmelized onions they are fantastic and immensely healthful.  Adding a bit of bacon and Parmesan cheese never hurts, either.  If your children eat this, please let me know--I will present them with a prize.  This may be the most nutritious leafy vegetable there is. Enjoy.

2015 Spring CSA Week 5

When I grew tomatoes here in the Garden of Ideas, females snapping turtles invariably picked the day after I planted them to lay eggs...right where my plants were!  Now we grow them a mile up the road in hoop houses, and no turtles have claimed the area as sovereign egg laying territory.

Heavy share this week!  Rain was a bit much, but no complaints--it was badly needed!

Asparagus was a bit woody last week, so that's it for the year.  Now we let it grow leaves and store energy for next year.  It was a tough May for asparagus...vegetables like consistent weather, and we certainly did not have that!

We try to handle our greens as little as possible--they last much, much longer in your fridge that way, but the heavy rains did force me to at least rinse the lettuce.  You'll still need to wash it, for mud was flying everywhere this week.  Delicious stuff.

In this week's share:

Pea shoots! http://www.peashoots.com/peashoots-recipes.htm

Radish microgreens! Microgreens packed with nutrients!

Lettuce mix

Mixed asian greens  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/stir-fried-asian-greens-with-chiles-and-garlic-237115

White radishes

Baby kale (more like teenager kale, but still quite tender)  http://sixburnersue.com/cooking-fresh-eating-green/2013/03/new-at-the-grocery-store-baby-kale-10-ways-to-use-it/

Garlic chives

Rhubarb (likely the last of it)

Baby head of lettuce

Next week: strawberries!!!!!!!

At the farmstead:  pastured, antibiotic free, free range chickens!!!!!! Pastured beef, pastured bacon.