Full Share: Salad Mix, Carrots, Beets, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Zucchini, Summer squash, Basil, Yukon Gem Potatoes, Music Garlic, and Peppers.
Half Share: Salad Mix, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Basil, Yukon Gem Potatoes, and Music Garlic
Hello CSA Members!
People keep talking about the fact that the end of summer is just a few weeks away, and it’s freaking me out a bit. Where does time go? It’s been an amazingly mild July and August, which has made for very pleasant work conditions on the farm. Really rather ideal. All the frivolous planting projects I started earlier in the year are starting to pan out. There are a couple of fields of oats I planted with the intention of combining them to harvest our own cover crop seed for next year, and they are looking good. I also read an article that said that industrial agriculture has doomed the planting of buckwheat in this country, which immediately inspired me to go out and plant buckwheat. Not only is it a great summer cover crop for building soil organic matter, but the bees absolutely love it… which are good enough reasons for me. I think all that Wendell Berry is starting to rub off on me.
And as we head into the 14th week of CSA, I’m happy to report that the crew is humming along like a well oiled machine. At this point, our all female apprentice squad has settled in and are really excelling. Not only do they seem happy and have fun personalities, but they are confident, skilled, and even starting to take over some of the tractor tasks. If you attend the Whitefish Farmer’s Market, you may have seen or interacted with them some at this point, but for everyone else, the workers on Two Bear Farm can go unnoticed during a season. I have to admit, I do love it when folks come out to the farm for the first time and see what is going on here. And then when they learn that all this food is grown by just six people, four of which are women, they are quite shocked. And rightly so…it takes a lot of work and dedication. But you’ll never meet a group of people who seem as content to work as hard as they do to do good for the community. It’s fun to be around.
What’s also fun to be around is Rebecca. I drove out into the field today to harvest potatoes, and I saw Rebecca, in her shorts and tank top, ripping huge prickly squash plants out of the ground and throwing them in an apparent fit of rage. Turns out she is not impressed with the lumpiness and overall unimpressive appearance of the Romanesco zucchini, and she is officially done harvesting them for the season. And frankly, I have to agree with her…not a variety we will grow again.
As for the CSA this week, we are really starting to roll into the late summer goods. The tomatoes are getting up to peak production, so hopefully there will be a bit more this week. There is also basil and cucumbers, which make for a great summer salad. And salad mix makes it’s return to all the shares this week. The garlic has begun to dry down, so we are including a bulb in each share this week. This is gourmet garlic, which will have a deeper and more robust flavor than you might be used to from grocery store varieties. You’ll also notice that the individual cloves are Yuge ( in honor of Bernie Sanders), which is a characteristic of the Music variety. Got any of that cauliflower left in the fridge from last week? Break it up and sauté it with olive oil and a diced clove of garlic, and it’s hard to beat. Or you can make fritters out of it! I know you didn’t get cauliflower this week, but some of them last week were rather large, and I felt an obligation to help. Full shares this week will also be seeing either a green Bell pepper (very mild), or a couple of Shishito peppers, which are also milld but with more of a chile flavor. With these ingredients, there are lots of options for great salad. Whether it’s salad mix with grated carrot and beet and sliced tomatoes, with a balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic dressing, or a true summer salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and basil, both are great options. And have you tried grilling your zucchini or summer squash yet? Here’s a lighter option as well.
Enjoy this mild, smoke free weather! See you at CSA distribution!
Todd and the Two Bear Farm Team
