Full Shares: Sugar snap peas, Graffiti cauliflower, Romaine lettuce, Broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Mesclun Mix, Basil, Zucchini and Carrots
Partial Shares: Sugar Snap Peas, Broccoli, Carrots, Purple Peacock Broccolini, Green Romaine Lettuce, Basil and Zucchini
Hello CSA Members!
Holly Cow, I feel like I’m farming in coastal Oregon during the spring! We’ve had lots of unusual weather since we’ve started farming, but I would have never predicted a cool, wet July. On any given year, March, April, May and June can all be wildcard months, but July is always sunny, warm, and dry. It’s certainly a first for us, not that I’m complaining! This is one weather anomaly that I am quite enjoying while it lasts. With the warm spring to get the plants growing, and now plenty of natural moisture, things are starting to pop on the farm. We are up to our ears in broccoli, summer squash is starting to produce, the cauliflower is coming in, and even the first tomatoes are being harvested. The spring crops like kale, chard and cabbage are still looking great, the garlic is about ready to harvest, and I’m guessing the first baby potatoes are in the near future. There is so much food out there it’s hard to know where to start picking. The sweet corn was even busting out of it’s covers, so we liberated it today!
Dane gauging the newly uncovered sweet corn height….it was definitely knee high by July!
Did I mention it is week #10 of the CSA? That means we are at the half way point of our little journey through the Montana growing season. This time of year, the warm weather crops can tend to come in slowly before they reach their peak, which requires us to sometimes split things up by the CSA day, or between Full and Partial shares. For instance, their isn’t enough Graffiti cauliflower ready all at once for everyone, so we’ll be phasing it in….Full shares this week, and hopefully partial shares in the near future. And it’s taken 10 weeks, but we have finally gotten Wes Reynolds his Broccoli Raab! We try to give this green out one time per year because there are those who really love it (they tend to be Italian). Broccoli Raab is traditionally lightly sautéed in olive oil and garlic...nothing fancy.
Steamed cauliflower is delicious in it’s own right, but for full share members looking for something unique to do with the cauliflower, how about roasting it or adding it to pasta with cheese? Or how about this decadent dish! Or slightly lighter fair, with bread crumbs. And really, I would guess all of these dishes would work equally well for broccoli or the purple peacock broccolini as well. Maybe not recipes you’d want to make on a blazing hot July day, but we don’t have to worry about that 🙂
Thanks for making it to the 10 week mark with us…..we hope you’ve been enjoying all your fresh produce that has been grown with great care!
Todd and the Two Bear Farm Crew
