Week 2: The beauty of variety

Need to weed after finishing spinach harvest!

The second week of CSA is dawning muggy, but the plants are loving it. The soil is warming up and drying out and the soil biology is going bonkers. We’ve literally watched the plants in the field double their size in less than two weeks as the soil temps make it up above the 60 degree mark. That means that our soils are finally waking up and getting going and it is a pleasure to watch.

The melons and second planting of tomatoes, first of cherry tomatoes went in today!  Later this week we will finally be able to plow one of our main fields and hopefully get the beans and rest of the cherry tomatoes planted by the end of this week. 

I wanted to talk superfoods with all of you. We’ve all heard of them, right? Superfoods- the foods we should all focus on eating because they have the highest nutrient profiles and supposed to be the best for us. Sort of a ‘more bang for your buck’ in the food world. Avocadoes, kale, and salmon to name a few. However, I sort of have an issue with naming something a ‘super’ anything when really, it is variety that is the best for the human diet. I tried to do a little research on the subject to find how it all started and it really seems to be mostly another hype to get folks to eat a nutritious, healthy diet. And, it apparently works, except when we take it too far in one direction and don’t eat enough of a variety to be truly healthy. One food thing won’t help us live longer, happier or healthier lives, it has to be a diversity of foods.

Spinach is beautiful

What this list (and really, there are many ‘lists’) of superfoods has meant for the food world is that everyone wants to eat the superfoods and ignore the vast variety of the rest of the veggie world. Not that I don’t LOVE an avocado, but we gave out soft, delicious, gorgeous, perfect swiss chard last week and no one wanted it. Kale, on the other hand, went out the door at an incredible rate! I have been farming long enough to tell you, no beating around the bush here either, I remember when you couldn’t get folks to take or buy kale to save their lives. It was a garnish. I could get folks to take collards and chard 50 times over more than anyone would take kale. That all changed when kale became a superfood and changed the veggie industry overnight. It used to sell for $1/bunch retail in the store…now it is over $3/bunch. We farmers have a hard time getting seed for it. Kale in smoothies, kale recipes, kale chips, kale flakes to sprinkle, kale in brownies. And the poor, lonely swiss chard in all its rainbow-colored glory, is just sitting by the wayside. I’m here to tell you that too much kale isn’t good for you either (actually, too much raw kale will interfere with proper thyroid function). Swiss chard is rich in nutrients (different ones, but just as good for the body), easier to cook, lower in sodium. Try it sautéed with a little lemon juice, sea salt and a sprinkle of Parmesan and you will see what I mean.

Week 2 distribution! Love Community!

Animal News

Goats are on the far side of the hill, in what we call the old gore, it is easier to find them by parking in the trailhead parking area and walking the pasture loop to the right of the parking. It’s a pretty walk and a nice view of the farm from up and behind the old hangar barn. The gore is a section of old stone walls that come together in a triangle. It was used as a way of gathering livestock for easier sorting or performing health checks. Unfortunately, these are places where invasive plants also manage to gain a strong foothold because they are typically difficult to maintain as open spaces with modern equipment and quickly grow up in saplings, bittersweet and honeysuckle. Which makes it the perfect goat habitat! They have access to almost two acres of their favorite foods, stone walls to jump on and lots of shade on these hotter summer days.

What’s in Your Share this Week (maybe):

And remember, box share folks, not everything always fits in the boxes, so we have to pick and choose sometimes, please know that we are not excluding you from something, we just can’t fit it all.

• ·         Napa cabbage
• ·         Spinach
• ·         Baby Swiss Chard
• ·         Baby bok choi
• ·         Radishes
• ·         Salad turnips
• ·         Lettuce

Fruit Share Pickup is this week!

We are so excited by this offering. We had a slight change in our offering for this first week. Our fruit provider was a little abashed, but it seems that his strawberry plants just up and plooped out on him. When we frantically called other growers in the area (literally called something like every orchard/fruit grower on the eastern part of the state) and found that the same thing had happened to a lot of them. We were finally able to locate berries from Brookdale Fruit Farm just over the border in NH and they will be arriving fresh in time for CSA. If you haven’t paid, then please do so when you pick your berries up!

Pick Your Own

Okay. It is Strawberry time! However, unlike those fabulous berry farms that have the time to really micro-manage their strawberry beds, we don’t and despite ridiculous amounts of weeding last season, this season’s rain has made for a jungle in the strawberry fields. Really. It is adventure picking out there, and it also turns out that one whole variety really really didn’t like the cold and wet and is making sort of gross, flavorless berries that look beautiful. We will mark out where those are and encourage picking the berries that look and taste good. For those more adventurous, there are berries everywhere in that section of the field, but will take some looking for. Good luck!

Upcoming Events:

 A new series of farm dinners starts in the beginning of July! These are casual, farm-based dinners prepared by professional caterers and served in the gorgeousness of our orchard.  The food is awesome, the company is fabulous. Last year’s farm dinner SOLD OUT of the 75 tickets offered so don’t wait until the last minute. We had to turn folks away last year and we hate that. So get your tickets asap. First dinner is Friday, July 7^th. Now that the store is open four days a week along with CSA, remember that you can purchase your tickets right at the farm!!!! Or if you would like to sign up online you may do so with this link: https://goo.gl/NPBu8V

Our Little Sprouts Program starts up on July 6^th! This is a fun, drop in program designed to get the kids outside and hands in the dirt! It is every Thursday morning from 930-1030 and is all about our new learning garden! Come help us design, plant and enjoy this kid-friendly space.

We are also having S’mores Night. Come bring the kids after dinner on Saturday July 15^th for some fun on the farm at sunset (7-830 or so). We will have the campfire going and s’mores makings. Hopefully there will be fireflies and we can play some twilight lawn games. Bring your instruments and favorite songs and maybe we will get everyone singing to the stars. There might even be a contest to design the most delicious s’more!  This is a free event for CSA shareholders. 

Recipe of the Week:

So it’s all about the chard folks. I made the most delicious dinner after CSA on Tuesday night. I’m a crepe fan, so I made up some buckwheat crepes and then filled them with baby chard sautéed with chorizo sausage and a little feta. I then made the béchamel sauce recipe from last week’s lasagna recipe and drizzled that over the top. SO GOOD!!! If you don’t have a favorite crepe recipe or don’t regularly make crepes, I highly suggest these easy thin pancakes for folding around our gorgeous veggies, wrapping around cheeses and drizzling with creamy sauces, jams, dressings or nut butters.

Easy Crepes, from Martha Stewart. Use a blender and this makes it easy to pour. And, just a note, I’ve been making crepes for a very long time and I have fancy crepe pans and I still mess up the first one.

IngreDIENTS

·         1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

·         1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

·         1 1/2 cups whole milk

·         4 large eggs

·         3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1.      In a blender, combine flour, salt, milk, eggs, and butter.

2.      Puree until mixture is smooth and bubbles form on top, about 30 seconds. Let batter sit at least 15 minutes at room temperature (or refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 day; whisk before using).

3.      Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly coat with butter. Add 1/3 cup batter and swirl to completely cover bottom of skillet. Cook until underside of crepe is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

4.      Loosen edge of crepe with a rubber spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip. Cook 1 minute more. Slide crepe out of skillet and repeat with remaining batter. (Coat pan with butter as needed.)