Full Share: Rainbow carrots, green beans, swiss chard, onions, red/yellow/purple potatoes, summer squash, basil, sweet peppers, and tomatoes
Half Share: same in smaller portions
Hello CSA members!
As farmers, we know as well as anyone that the weather here in Montana can be quirky…but nature seems really determined to slam the door shut on this summer in a hurry! We’ve had 3 frosty nights already in the past week, and now the NWS is predicting 24 degrees on Thursday morning. At that temperature, there is really no way for us to keep green plants alive out in the field. This weather is typical for the last week of CSA, but not when there are 4 weeks remaining! It’s a reminder of just how important it is to get off to a fast start in the spring…if we were still waiting for our sweet corn or tomatoes to ripen at this point, the stakes would be much higher. Fortunately, we’re in a good spot. Many of our crops matured early and have already been harvested. We’ve spent the last week digging carrots (2,580 pounds washed and in storage already!), and harvesting winter squash and storage cabbage, and most of our sensitive crops are all in high tunnels or hoop houses where they will hopefully survive the first freeze.
On a lighter not, it’s amazing to find that if we actually leave the farm and go out into the world, we seem to bump into CSA members everywhere. From the trails of Glacier to the local ice cream shop…you are everywhere! This week was like “farmer appreciation week”. CSA members sent us a gift certificate for dinner, picked us up on the Going to the Sun Road and brought us to our trailhead, bought us ice cream, and dropped us free beer while we were cleaning carrots. There are lots of CSA members that we don’t often see face to face, so we appreciate your continued support!
Based on the weather, this weeks share may be the last of the green beans, but just the start of Potato season. It was exciting to see that our first potato crop on the new farm was blemish-free. These are the best looking potatoes we’ve been able to grow! I was so excited I couldn’t figure out which variety I wanted to harvest. So I harvested three. You will have a mix of Yukon Gem, Red Norland, and Peter Wilcox. Rebecca also wanted to give you some of the multi-color carrots, even if they are on the small side. They are not as good as the orange ones when eaten raw, but they excel when roasted. Roast at 400 degrees in a covered pan…perhaps you could add some potatoes, green beans, or those salad turnips that are still in the fridge from last week 🙂 Once done, and a little butter and herbs, and you have the first root roast of the season.
