Full Share: Carrots, Arugula, Cauliflower, Garlic Scapes, Cucumber, Basil, Romanesco Cauliflower
Partial Share: Carrots, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Garlic Scapes, Cucumber, Basil, and Beets.
Hello CSA members!
It’s hard to believe it’s the halfway point of the CSA season! I always have mixed perspective on this time of year. On one hand, we’ve been farming a long time at this point. Given how much planning we do leading up to the season, then all the infrastructure projects in spring, then the initial seedings, greenhouse work and field prep, and the 6 weeks it takes to grow the food for the first share…well, a lot of the work is front loaded in the season. And then on the other hand, the temperatures haven’t really gotten out of the 70’s yet, and the warm season crops are only now starting to show signs that they actually want to produce any fruit. Heck, I haven’t even gone fishing yet! And yet this is the week that we seed and transplant all of the final crops of the year for fall harvest. That’s hard to believe…it makes summer feel so short. I think what’s strangest about this time of the season is that for the past couple months the amount of the farm field that is planted has been getting larger and larger….and yet now it is shrinking. As I came in from the field tonight, I was amazed at just how many of the beds have been harvested and mowed down. Now is the time that the high tunnel tomatoes and cucumbers need to kick in. For the potatoes to start producing (they haven’t even flowered yet). For the zucchini and summer squash to explode. And yet there they are, contently putting on vegetative growth without much thought of producing fruit.
So, as a result, there maybe some surprises in your shares this week. While we are listing what we will try to put in your share, we may have to alter that if we run out of certain crops. You will still get your full value, but the contents may change. Maybe you’ll get a head of broccoli, maybe a bag of florets, or maybe some broccolini. You should definitely get a purple cauliflower. Hopefully there will be enough cucumbers. And then there are carrots….they are sooooo slow to size up this year. They are still delicious, but I feel like they are just setting there biding their time. Don’t they know it’s a short summer!
Speaking of broccoli, the highlight last week was stumbling upon a huge, yet still totally perfect, head of broccoli hiding out in the broccolini patch.
I have a big head (for reference), but this thing was huge. It made the rounds through the entire farm crew…it was more exciting than having Kim Kardashian visit the farm. For real.
Rather than sell it, we thought it would be way more fun to make people guess how big it was.
It took all market on Saturday for someone to guess it, but someone finally guessed right….5.3 pounds. Here’s the happy couple who won it. They are smiling ear to ear…really.
Well, maybe that was a lot of page space for one head of broccoli, but I think it deserved it.
As far as recipes go, I’m thinking cauliflower this week. Are you struggling to come up with ideas? Well, you should talk to Sienna…she managed to come up with 63 different ideas! Some look healthier than others, but what the heck, maybe Caulflower Tots are calling your name.
Enjoy the beautiful week of weather. See you at CSA pickup…masks are appreciated 🙂
Todd
