Full Shares: Red Norland potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, carrots, summer squash, cucumbers, purple cabbage, and purple bell peppers
Half Shares: Tomatoes, red cabbage, basil , carrots, summer squash, cucumbers, cauliflower, and purple peppers
Hello CSA members!
It’s high summer in Montana! Knowing that fall is not far behind, we escaped to Glacier on Sunday to hike the Floral Park traverse. But a farmer can never really escape the farm during high summer. While hiking through the melt ponds below Sperry Glacier, I turned to look behind me, and what did I see? Cauliflower.
You say Thompson Creek Fire, I say cauliflower.
It’s everywhere this week, including your shares. Some of you will see white, some purple graffiti, and some will get Romanesco.
Romanesco and Graffiti cauliflower
It’s been a long, hot summer so far, with more heat on the way. It’s been so warm for so long, that I do think many of the plants think fall is right around the corner. The pumpkins are even starting to turn orange already.
First glimpse of the pumpkins
The main issue this time of year for us is getting all the diversity of vegetables into your shares without overwhelming you. This is especially difficult for partial shares, as fitting 9 items into a share with a weekly value of $16 results in ridiculously small portions of each item, which is why you find certain items left out each week. It’s also important to understand that a CSA is intended to supplement your diet, but not necessarily provide all your vegetables for the entire week, as this is hard to achieve within the value that you paid for. Many share members supplement their veggies by shopping at our market stand (more on that later). And all the requests for salad mix have not gone unheard….it should be arriving in your shares next week. I know I’ve told this story before, but lettuce does not typically do well in heat, as it gets tip burn and becomes bitter. As a kid, mid-summer was a time when lettuce disappeared from the dinner table and was replaced by “summer salad” , which was sliced cucumber, tomato, basil, onion, and celery marinated in oil and vinegar. The other issue with salad mix is that it takes a lot of labor to harvest, wash, spin and bag mix for 200 CSA members, which is why we don’t include it every week in the share (although last year there was lots of it because we didn’t know what else would grow on the new farm). Perhaps when we get that mechanical harvester, salad mix frequency will increase. And we have appreciated all the feedback this year, as it has helped us refine how we will do things for next year and improve our offerings.
One issue that has come up recently in Whitefish is the desire for CSA members in the CSA line to purchase items off the market table. This one is my fault, because when things are slow, I will typically entertain these types of requests. However, it was a poor precedent for me to start, especially when people are asking for market items as 15 CSA members behind them have to wait ( ever so patiently, of course). The CSA pickup in the back tent was created solely as a way to expedite CSA pickup so members could get in and out quickly (not including finding a parking spot), not as a way for members to shortcut the market line, and we would like to keep with that theme. Many of our CSA members will pickup their shares and then move to the front to shop off the market table, and we would like to request that it be the standard practice. I know the line can be intimidating, but it moves fast once the market actually opens and selling can begin. We appreciate all the love and support you’ve given us over the years, but this is a call we need to make out of fairness to all parties involved. Thanks for understanding.
For those you looking for something new to do with your cauliflower, how about turning into a bed of rice for your stir fry (coconut milk, anyone?).
Or, if any of you made it out to the CRYJ fundraising dinner at the farm last week, how about those batter fried cauliflower florets….I think they were the hit of the night. These were corn meal battered, but I think tempura would work just as well. And the cook forgot the soda water, so they used beer….delicious!
See you at CSA pickup!!
Todd and the Two Bear Farm Crew
