Farm News- June 14, 2012

Hello Folks,

We have arrived at the week you’ve been waiting for, when your investment in my farming endeavors begins to pay dividends. I truly appreciate the faith and confidence that the members have in the farm. My crew and I have been working hard these last 3 months and now you will begin to taste the results. The farm looks fantastic right now and I anticipate a great season. I will forego the customary griping about the weather for this episode, except to say that it’s been pesky but adequate. We are neither too wet nor too dry; neither too hot nor too cold. Due to the frequent storms, we are a little behind on the planting schedule, but then we almost always are at this time of year.

For the first share we will offer a choice of arugula or broccoli raab. The arugula is very peppery as it always is this time of year. The broccoli raab will have some flower buds though probably not that many. We have lots of beautiful lettuces, so we will be shipping 2 heads per share this week. One is a gorgeous red romaine called Outredgeous (be quiet, spell check). The second will be a Boston lettuce. The first planting of peas germinated poorly due to the dry conditions in the early spring. The second planting came up much better, are now flowering heavily, and should have lots of peas ready to pick by next week. We will have some peas for the first share, though not in great quantities. It is also possible that there may not be enough for all groups. I keep careful track of what each group receives, so this will be compensated for when we are reaching the end of the pea crop. The first variety of broccoli has already headed and been cut. It was a smaller planting primarily intended for one of my farmers’ markets, which starts early.

There are some extra bunches so we will send it to a few of the Tuesday groups, as supply permits. The second round should begin soon and I expect all members to receive broccoli at least 3 times in the coming weeks. We also have beautiful kale and Bok Choy right now. The radishes are a French breakfast type called D’Avignon. I know that many of you don’t like radishes and even those who do are unlikely to eat them for breakfast (sliced into your corn flakes perhaps). Keep in mind that they can be cooked, in a stir fry or soup, and will lose their spiciness. The herbs are still a bit small so we will wait a week to begin including them in the shares.

And the first delivery would not be complete without garlic scapes. These are the flower buds of the garlic, flowers that don’t produce seed, but rather bulbils. Garlic is a strange plant. The garlic scapes can be chopped finely and sautéed, grilled, pickled, or blended to make a kind of pesto. They also store for weeks in the refrigerator, so don’t feel you need to use them up quickly.

The share for this week will be:
Red Romaine lettuce, Boston lettuce, radishes, garlic scapes, sugar snap or English peas, choice of arugula or broccoli raab, kale, and bok choy

Enjoy!
Farmer John