Week #7 CSA
Full Shares: Broccoli, green or napa cabbage, Lacinato Kale, Hakurei turnips, sugar snap or snow peas, salad mix, basil, and garlic scapes
Half Shares: Broccoli, Lacinato kale, Hakurei turnips, basil, sugar snap or snow peas, red head lettuce, basil, and garlic scapes
Hello CSA members!
I have to tell you, 86 degrees never felt so cool. What a weekend. New all time high temperature of 102 degrees for the month of June in Kalispell…crazy. Fortunately, the weather service knew it was coming and gave us plenty of heads up. We spent the prior week really getting the soil moisture levels up, and so the plants handled the heat better than expected. Well, most of the plants. There were definitely some cool weather crops that went from almost ready to bolting in a matter of days. But on the flip side, the warm weather crops are thriving. We just transplanted our little corn and squash plants at the beginning of the month, and this is a photo of them today:
June squash and corn?
The squash plants are 3 feet tall and we just picked the first zucchini today! The peas have shot up and set, and the tomatoes look like it’s late July. Spring in Montana is always heavy on the greens, and that’s just the nature of the climate…but that is about to change. This week marks a significant shift towards early summer crops. Peas, broccoli, basil, and salad turnips all show up this week, and squash is in the near future.
Aside from the epically warm growing season, there’s also some other exciting news on the farm this week. Some of you may have heard already, but Two Bear Farm is launching a mobile kitchen (i.e. “food truck”) in collaboration with two young, talented, local chefs Sam and Sarah. The truck, which is actually a trailer, is named The North Fork (Farm to Table). The idea surfaced last winter (see what happens when you actually take a vacation!) when we were trying to figure out how to deal with some food processing, but also wanting to get our food out into the community in more ways than just CSA and markets. Rather than start wholesaling, we thought why not go the opposite direction and literally bring the farm to people’s table. So, in the past six months, we basically started this project, and through a ton of effort on Sam and Sarah’s part, The North Fork officially launched yesterday with a soft opening dinner at the farm. And it was delicious. Given our passion for good, responsibly-grown, nutritious food, the concept of this truck is to source and prepare regionally-appropriate food, meaning only food that is in season and sourced regionally (primarily in Montana), and grown with organic or sustainable practices. Our goal is to really push the idea of seasonal, regional cuisine, and to provide folks with a delicious example of how good this type of eating can be, while also being good for you. Sam and Sarah are super talented, and will be kicking off the season this Thursday at the Columbia Falls Community Market, and will also be at the Downtown Whitefish Farmers Market every Tuesday starting next week. But more exciting, they will be available to cater special events, weddings, and on-farm dinners in the hopes of really adding a unique Montana experience to special events and celebrating Montana’s agricultural heritage. And special thanks to the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Growth Through Agriculture program for believing in the project and awarding us a grant to help with the purchase of the trailer. If you are planning any events, and are in search of a unique caterer and some healthy high quality food, check out The North Fork. The website will launch soon, but you can find them on Facebook for now.
Here are a few recipes to try for this weeks bounty: turnip recipe , ” cheezy ” kale chip recipe , and 10 Cabbage recipes.
Enjoy the weather (before the smoke rolls in), and we’ll see you this week at distribution.
Two Bear Farm team
