Happy Summer CSA season! Welcome to all of our new members, and welcome back to all of our returning members. We are so grateful that you’ve chosen to spend the next 18 weeks enjoying all of the delicious veggies our crew works hard to grow.
A lot has been happening around the farm since our last newsletter a few weeks ago. Our crew has been planting, seeding, and weeding like crazy. Our summer squash, winter squash, outside cucumbers, melons, peppers, outside tomatoes, leeks and another round of brassicas were all transplanted to their new homes in the field. Most of those get planted by two people riding on our transplanter that is driven by one of the tractors. It’s a beautiful blend of human power and machinery. However, the peppers and tomatoes (all 1,500 plants), are each put in the ground by hand. It takes a full 8 hour work day to get all of these in the ground. Thankfully they’re really tasty which makes all the labor more worth it.
We made it through our biggest brassica seeding of the year. This seeding includes all of the cabbage that we will store throughout the winter. That’s almost 10,000 cabbage plants that were seeded in two days. Thankfully we have some vacuum seeders that help speed up this process so we aren’t putting seeds into a tray one at a time. This cabbage will be sent to our winter CSA members, Spirit Creek farm kraut, and local wholesale customers.
When the crew isn’t planting or seeding, they can usually be found in the field weeding. We try our best to stay well ahead of the weeding. This time of year is challenging because we have so many things to do and not enough time in the day. Weeding is most important when the plants are small. The baby veggies are working so hard to grow, we don’t want them competing with weeds for nutrients and sunlight.
This week, the crew will be adding trellis to our peas, mulching our greenhouse tomatoes, transplanting more brassicas, and getting our next round of potatoes ready to go in the field.
In your box this week:
Green Onions – Spinach – Kale – Greens Mix – Radishes – Rhubarb
If you’re looking for a sweet rhubarb recipe, this Rhubarb and Almond Crumb Cake might be perfect for you. It’s an easy recipe with minimal ingredients, so the rhubarb really shines. The cake is light and moist. The crumb on top is sweet, and crunchy. It’s great with some ice cream for dessert, or topped with yogurt for a delicious breakfast/brunch cake.
If you want to enjoy your rhubarb, but aren’t a sweets person, check out this Rhubarb, Quinoa, and Spinach Salad. It’s nutty, crunchy, sweet, and oh so fresh. The quinoa helps to fill out the salad, but for a fuller meal, try adding chicken or tofu.
My favorite way to enjoy kale is in a breakfast hash like this one from Jar of Lemons. The kale gets slightly crispy, and it absorbs all the flavors from the spices. A breakfast hash is also great because you can customize it how you want. Aren’t a fan of sweet potatoes? Try swapping them for a different type of potato. Want more color in your meal? Try adding some bell peppers. Already ate all the kale from this week’s box? Swap the kale for greens mix (add it closer to the end so it won’t cook for as long as the kale would).
For the farm crew,
Jennifer
Food Farm 