Farm News – June 10, 2019

Hello Everyone! So, we have arrived at the week many of you have been anxiously waiting for – the first CSA share delivery. In spite of the weather-related challenges we have faced this spring, we have a nice share for you to start out the season.

The main weather issue has, of course, been too much rain and not enough sun. The main effect of this is that we have been delayed in getting some of our planting done. We did get poor germination on the first planting of beans but I will be replanting later this week. We also lost about a thousand broccoli plants which were in a low spot in the field and sat in super saturated soil for too long. C’est la vie!

The peas are just starting to come in so they are not abundant just yet. We will send them to some groups as availability allows. We keep track of who has received and who has not so we will keep things equitable when we come to the end of the pea production period.

We have a couple of unusual items for you this week at least for the CSA neophytes among you. Garlic scapes are the flower tops of the garlic plant and can be grilled (my favorite way), chopped finely and sautéed, pickled or blended with cheese and nuts to make a garlic pesto. They keep for weeks; even months in the fridge so don’t feel as though you need to use them up quickly. In the brassica slot we begin with kohlrabi which can be cooked or eaten raw – grated into a salad or to make kohl-slaw. Our chervil is already starting to flower and yellow a bit so rather than include it as an herb choice we are sending it as an “extra”. Chervil is a French fin herb and is difficult to find fresh since it doesn’t like hot weather so the Francophiles among you will appreciate it.

The share for this week will be: Lettuce (red leaf or Boston), spinach, radishes, kohlrabi, garlic scapes, maybe peas and choice of cilantro or dill. Premium shares will also have a choice of escarole or endive (frisée).

Enjoy! Farmer John