Summer CSA Week 18, 2025

This week is always so bittersweet. On one hand we are all filled with a little bit of sadness. I have no idea how we got here already. This season seemed to fly by. I can’t believe we are on our final week of the Summer CSA season. On the other hand, our crew and volunteers have worked so hard these last 18 weeks to produce some of the fullest, heaviest, and most beautiful boxes I’ve ever seen. It is time that our volunteers get some well earned rest, and that our crew gets two more days each week to focus on harvesting the rest of our storage veggies from the fields.

Our volunteers: Sandy, Deb, Betsy, Rollie, and Particia. Not pictured:Karin, Joe, Tracy, and Wanda

If you’re new here, or didn’t already know, our farm crew is small but mighty. We have 8 full time employees who work so incredibly hard from mid May- mid November, to get everything from seed to harvest, and make sure the plants stay alive and healthy in between. The work that our crew does in only 6 months is incredible! The crew always works so hard, but sometimes they need a little extra help to make sure all the boxes get filled and delivered on time. That’s when our amazing volunteers step in and help out. We will never be able to thank our volunteers enough for all the time they give us! They showed up in extreme heat, crazy wind, rain, cold, you name it, they were here. All of these people have their own lives, and some of them even have other jobs, but they always made time in their schedule to be here when the farm needed them.

This year we wanted to highlight a special volunteer duo, Rollie and Tracy. This year is a big year for these two because it marks 30 years of volunteering on the farm. How incredible is that! Rollie and Tracy heard about the farm in the very early days of Harvest Fest. As soon as Tracy heard about us, she said “Yes!”, and they’ve been here ever since. Obviously a lot has changed on the farm in the last 30 years. The two of them miss when the farm used to have fresh chickens and turkeys. When turkeys were around, the majority of their Thanksgiving meal was made using items from the farm. They’ve had the pleasure of watching crew members, and Fisher-Merrit family members grow up, get married, and start families of their own. It was fun to hear Rollie talk about how packing used to be taking each vegetable to a stationary box. Now, the vegetables are stationary, and the boxes come to you in more of an assembly line fashion. Rollie was skeptical of the new method at first, but can now admit, he can’t believe it used to be done the old way.

Tracy is a full-time teacher during the school year, and loves getting to come home and smell what’s in each week’s box. It’s a fun surprise at the end of the day. Her favorite items in the box are peas, cauliflower, garlic, and tomatoes. She loves to can, so they also get some preserving shares to keep the delicious flavor going all Winter long. Rollie loves whatever Tracy cooks up from the box, but he gets most excited when potatoes show up. They admit that they love to garden, but aren’t great at it, so having local produce close by keeps them coming back year after year. We love having them around, so it’s a win-win!

Rollie and Tracy have also been long time site hosts. Agreeing to have boxes dropped off on your front step each week, tracking people down when they forget to grab their box, or take the wrong thing, and keeping an eye on the produce to make sure it stays fresh in the elements, that’s a big task. We are so grateful to all of our site hosts. We could not reach all the people we do without you. Thank you!

For the rest of the season, the crew will race mother nature to get all of the produce out for the fields before it gets too cold. With the end of our Summer season, we will also begin clearing out all of our greenhouses, so we can seed cover crops and let the soil rest before next year. We have lots to do, but our crew is ready for the challenge.

If you’re feeling really sad about the end of the CSA season because you’re not ready to say goodbye to delicious produce, there’s still time to sign up for a winter share. It’s filled with root vegetables, garlic, onions, shallots, squash, and some fresh greens to begin and end the Winter season. you can find the sign up on the Food Farm’s website. If you’re missing just one or two items (like our delicious carrots and potatoes), you can always find our produce at both Co-ops, Mount Royal, and a few Super One locations around the area.

One last thank you to all of our volunteers and site hosts. What we do wouldn’t be possible without your help. Our biggest thank you must go to all of you, our members. Thank you for believing in us. Believing that no matter what showed up in your box, that it would be delicious and grown with love. Thank you for coming out to visit us at events, and see all the hard work our crew has been doing. Thank you for endlessly supporting us and cheering us on even when the farming season and mother nature may not have gone our way. We will miss you, but can’t wait to do this all again next Summer.

In your share this week:

Tomatoes – Cucumbers – Zucchini – Brussels Sprouts – Leeks – Rutabaga – Potatoes – Arugula – Pole Beans – Broccoli – Beets – Carrots – Onions – Red Peppers – Spinach – Winter Squash

Rutabagas have a flavor similar to turnips and cabbage. Their texture when cooked is very similar to a potato, so they’re great mashed, roasted, or turned into fries. This Rutabaga Fry recipe is my favorite end of Summer way to eat rutabaga. The fries are served with a vibrant spinach and cashew cream dipping sauce. It adds a great amount of earthy, freshness to complement the richness of the rutabaga.

Brussels sprouts and leeks pair so well together. They’re creamy, crunchy, and down right delicious. This recipe for Brussels Sprouts and Leeks is one of my go to recipes. Often times recipes for brussels sprouts or leeks tend to heavy, but sometimes I want something a little lighter and brighter. This recipe is perfect for that. The veggies get mixed with lime juice and fresh ginger to help lighten the flavor. This goes great with fish, pork chops, or a spicy soy glazed tofu.

Arugula packs a peppery bite. It’s a great topping for pizza, salads, sandwiches, or can be added like any other green to pastas. With apples being in season, this Harvest Apple Arugula Salad is perfect. The apple and cranberries will add a touch of sweetness to better balance the peppery taste of the arugula. This recipe calls for sweet potato, but try swapping that for some of the winter squash in your box this week.

For the farm crew,

Jennifer

Summer CSA Week 17, 2025

We had so much fun seeing so many of you on Saturday morning! We love getting to show off the farm, and all the hard work the crew has been up to lately.

We are down to our final two weeks of the CSA season, but the farming season will continue on until November (or until mother nature kills everything with snow). That means things are about to get extra busy for the crew.

Last week marked squash harvest. We spent a foggy morning, early in the week, clipping half the squash and all of the pumpkins from the vine. The other half of our squash got clipped from the vine on Friday. Some of our squash gets clipped early because it has a thicker, wet stem. These varieties need more time to dry out before we put them in bins to start the curing process for long term storage. We plan to store them until February or March so they can go in most of the Winter CSA boxes.

After the CSA season ends, we will be in full harvesting mode to get the rest of the vegetables out of the ground and into storage. In previous years, this would mean filling our cooler and potato room from floor to ceiling, and wall to wall with pallet boxes of veggies. Thanks to our new cooler space, we should have a little more wiggle room this year. We plan to use the new cooler space to store our dirty carrots until we wash them this winter. We wash as many carrots as we can in the fall, but harvesting is much faster than washing so we usually end up with at least half the crop to wash over winter.

In your share this week:

Pole Beans – Carrots – Celery- Cilantro – Cucumbers – Greens Mix – Melons – Onions – Red Peppers – Red Potatoes- Spinach – Squash – Tomatoes – Zucchini

A great way to use up some of the peppers and onions we have been sending you recently, is this pulled pork skillet. It’s a great mix of comfort food with the warm pulled pork and melted cheese, while still having a bit of summer flavor from the fresh veggies.

This Greek rice bowl has been on repeat at our house recently. This is a great recipe to use up an abundance of tomatoes and peppers. It’s also a great recipe to use up any other veggies you want to toss in. Celery would be a great addition to this recipe as well.

For the farm crew,

Jennifer

Summer CSA Week 16, 2025

Last week was filled with more harvesting. We got the rest of our first planting of potatoes out of the ground. These will hopefully last us until close to the end of October when we will be ready to harvest the storage planting of potatoes.

We’ve also been harvesting carrots weekly to keep up with shares and wholesale sales. We are down to about 4 beds ( a third of the field) left of summer carrots. We’re hoping these summer carrots can last us to the end of October. We really like for our Fall carrots to go through a hard frost or two to help sweeten their flavor in preparation for storage.

Last week was also packed with visitors. We welcomed a tour group from the University of Minnesota Extension. They were here to learn all about local produce and how the farm operates.

Our seed rep. from Johnny’s Selected Seeds stopped by. He got to tour around the farm with Janaki so they could talk crops, diseases, and equipment. Our seed reps are super knowledgeable in all things related to seeds. They help us learn about new varieties that are hitting the market (and which of our old favorites will be discontinued), and teach us about which varieties would be best to meet our growing needs in our specific climate. We appreciate their help every year.

We were also super excited to see more construction crew activity last week. Electricians and refrigeration guys were out, so the cooler units should be operational by tomorrow. The garage door company came to put our two new doors on the front of the expansion. The construction team was out on Friday to put up the frame for the lean-to, and to frame out our new bathroom. The lean-to will be a great covered extension that we can park our delivery van under in the winter. Having a covered space is nice to ensure the van can continue making deliveries all winter long and to give us much needed storage for all of the supplies we use. The crew is most excited about the bathroom. It will be the first bathroom for the farm crew with electricity and plumbing. No more freezing in the outhouse in negative temps!

The visitors we’re most excited for is all of you! We’re having our open house this Saturday, September 27th from 10am-noon. There will we hayrides, farm tours, and lots of dog snuggles. It’s free and open to everyone. Bring your friends, neighbors, or the whole family. We can’t wait to see all of you and show you around.

In your share this week:
Lettuce – Winter Squash – Tomatoes – Potatoes – Carrots – Zucchini – Pole Beans – Broccoli – Cucumbers – Melons – Onions – Parsley – Peppers – Hot Peppers

It looks like we’ll finally get some sunshine and warmer weather this week. If you’re looking for one more warm weather salad recipe, this Cantaloupe and cucumber salad is a great one. The melons are ripening like crazy on the farm, and pairing that with a fresh greenhouse cucumber, it’s like summer on the plate. It’s sweet, crunchy, and a little earthy. Perfect on its own, or get a little wild and try it as a topping to some fish or tofu tacos.

This time of year, I tend to crave cozy meals, but always have an abundance of veggies in my fridge that need to be used. This vegetarian lasagna is a great comfort meal that’s packed with veggies. I also love it because the recipe gives you a great base of flavors to start with, but leaves room for you to make it your own. You could swap kale or chard for the spinach. You could use eggplant or winter squash instead of zucchini. You could add sausage or ground beef for extra protein. Skip a layer of marinara and swap it out with a layer of pesto. The possibilities are almost endless.

Summer CSA Week 15, 2025

Last week was packed with harvesting. We got more potatoes, carrots, and cabbage out of the field. All of our shallots were brought in. They’re now on racks in the drying shed. They’ll stay here until they’re fully cured, or until the temps get too cold, whichever comes first. 

The farm is starting to look a lot different this time of year. At the peak of summer, about half of the fields have cash crops on them (edible crops that we sell for money), and half of the fields have cover crops on them(non edible crops used to improve the soil). This time of year, the fields are quickly changing from cash crops to cover crops. The cover crops are a great way to improve and protect the soil before winter arrives. We still have a few summer crops out in the fields such as melons, green beans, peppers, canning tomatoes, and zucchini that are hanging on and fighting through this gloomy, and cool weather. 

The majority of what’s left in our fields are storage crops. We’ve been slowly bringing in more and more of these vegetables as we get closer to October. Every time we bring the vegetables in, they get washed before being put into our coolers for storage. Every round of washing requires a lot of rearranging of our pack shed to move all of the equipment out, and make room for our elaborate set ups. Each round of washing, we bring up how grateful we will be once the pack shed expansion is done. Once completed, the washing equipment will have room to stay out rather than being put away after each round of washing. 

Speaking of which, we haven’t given an update on that in a while. Big things have been happening with the construction! The siding and roofing went on about a month ago, so now it all looks like one cohesive building. The cooler door went on a few weeks go. Once the cooler door was installed, the refrigeration team was able to come set everything up. The electrician was out last week to get new wiring added. The garage doors are going on this week. This new space is really taking shape!

If you want to come see it in person, make sure to mark your calendar for our farm event on Saturday, September 27th. 

In your share this week:

Basil – Green Beans – Red Cabbage – Carrots – Cucumber – Garlic – Greens Mix – Lettuce – Onions – Peppers – Potatoes – Acorn Squash – Zucchini – Tomatoes

When Fall rolls around, I love to bake things. One of my favorites is this Winter Squash Coffee Cake. It’s warm, moist, and packed with flavor. Plus, it has a crumb topping. I can never say no to a baked good with a crumb topping. The recipe lists a few squashes you can use, but my favorite is using acorn squash. It adds a nice nutty and earthy flavor that pairs so well with the ginger caramel sauce.

Whenever I find myself with leftover cabbage, and no idea what to do with it, I make these Cabbage and Carrot Fritters. They’re an easy snack to make that’s loaded with texture, flavor, and lots of great nutrients. The recipe is written for you to fry the fritters, but check out the notes above the recipe if you want to bake them instead.

For the farm crew,

Jennifer

Summer CSA Week 14, 2025

It was wonderful to see so many of you on Saturday at Harvest Fest! If you missed getting to see us and meet some of our crew, don’t worry, you’ll have another opportunity in a couple of weeks when we welcome all of you to the farm for our annual tour. We usually do this in late August, but this year our schedule worked better for Saturday, September 27th from 10-noon. We’d love to have you out for coffee, treats, and to show off all of our hard work!

Some of our amazing crew/volunteers, and our beautiful veggies at Harvest Fest

There’s no denying the seasons are changing. The crew has been pulling out their hats, lined pants, and thick socks. In this area we’re used to chilly weather, but usually we get until later in September before we have to worry about frost. It’s also unusual this year because we generally have one cold day in September, but it jumps right back to 70s the next day. Having multiple cold, cloudy days in a row has been hard on our warm season crops. The cucumbers and zucchini have slowed down, but we know they’ll bounce back this week with some sun and warmth. Our melons are slowly trying to ripen. Usually at this time of year, the share boxes are HEAVY with melons. We also hope these will get back on track with the warmer weather this week because they were already way later than usual.

Thankfully most of our cool season veggies are un-phased, or even getting better, from the cold weather. We have a pretty full box this week and need to dig more carrots this week, but they’ll be back next week and for the duration of the season. This time of year is our prep time to work out any kinks, and make needed adjustments to our equipment before the big push in October. We recently got a conveyor belt to help us get squash and cabbage from the field, onto racks or pallet boxes on a trailer. In the past, we’ve thrown the vegetables up onto the trailer. It’s super fun, but not as efficient and pretty hard on the body when you do it for a few full days. Our crew is excited to test out the new conveyor belt in the coming weeks.

In your share this week:

Tomatoes – Leeks – Potatoes – Bell peppers – Jalapenos – Green Beans – Cucumbers – Onions – Zucchini

When most people hear about leeks, their mind immediately goes to potato and leek soup. While that is delicious, sometimes it’s nice to switch things up. If you’re looking to enjoy your leeks in a fun and new way, check out this steak salad recipe. It’s the perfect salad to bridge the gap between summer and fall, and it will use up lots of veggies from this week’s box.

If you’ve ever wanted to try pickling something but are too afraid of full on canning, or maybe you just want a new green bean recipe, check out these pickled green beans. It’s a simple recipe that will make a fun snack or side dish. It will only take about 40 minutes. The longest ( and hardest part) will be letting these sit in the fridge for a couple of days before digging in.

Summer CSA Week 13, 2025

This week is going to be an exciting week! This Saturday, September 6th is Harvest Fest down at Bayfront. It’s a really big farmer’s market style event. You can buy lots of fun produce, baked goods, canned items, and much more from local makers and growers. The Food Farm will be there with lots of your favorite veggies. Come down between 10am and 4pm to grab some veggies, and say hi to our awesome crew. Admission is free and it’s fun for the whole family. We hope to see lots of familiar faces there!

Last week was a busy transition week. We spent the beginning of the week getting the necks (stems) of the garlic clipped down, and cleaning up the bulbs to get them ready for storage. The bulbs still arent fully dry yet, so they’ve been moved to one of our work shops with a more stable environment. In the shop, we can add more fans, decrease the humidity, and give the garlic more space for optimal drying conditions.

Once the garlic was all moved to the shop, the crew quickly cleaned up any trace of garlic from the greenhouse, and set everything up to get ready for onion harvesting. 

Our onions and shallots have all flopped over, meaning their green tops are no longer standing vertically, they are now laying on the ground. This happens because the “neck” of the plant weakens and stops sending energy to the leaves. This indicates the onion is done growing and is ready for harvest. Our crew pulled almost all of the onions and shallots out of the ground, and laid them in nice neat rows on top of the plastic mulch. The bulbs will stay here for a few days to let the sun and it’s warmth begin the drying process. 

Over the next few weeks, we will begin bringing them inside to sit on racks and continue the drying process until they are fully cured.

In your box this week:

Carrots – Celery – Tomatoes – Broccoli – Zucchini – Jalapenos – Green Beans – Chard – Cilantro – Cucumbers – Onions – Sweet Peppers – Red Potatoes

With the cooler weather arriving, I know many people are excited for soup season. This Minestrone Soup is a delicious way to still enjoy summer veggies while feeling warm and cozy with a bowl of soup. Add some toasted bread or a grilled cheese on the side for extra comfort.

Wild rice harvesting season is happening right now in Northern MN. This Wild Rice Pilaf is a wonderful way to celebrate this special time of year, and mix your local produce with another local favorite. This is a perfect side to serve with fish, pork chops, or tofu.

For the farm crew,

Jennifer

Summer CSA Week 12, 2025

The weather this week is telling us that Fall will be here before we know it. 

On the farm, we’re keeping a close eye on our Fall crops, and enjoying our summer crops before we must say goodbye.

Last week we spent a lot of time with our winter squash. Holy moley it is all so happy this year! Our delicata plants are the largest they’ve ever been, and they’re producing big and beautiful squash. The acorn squash is already sizing up, and the sunshine squash are a beautiful light orange.  The plants have about 2-3 more weeks of growing before we plan to start harvesting them. 

There have also been talks about where we will put our Spring spinach. Our plan is to plant the spinach in the next few weeks so it has time to germinate and start growing a bit before it gets too cold out. Once it starts to get too cold, we’ll put a frost blanket over it, and tuck it in for the winter. During the winter, the spinach will enter a dormancy period (think hibernation but for plants) where it will stop growing, and instead conserve all of its resources until the Spring when the temperatures get warmer and the days get longer. Once Spring hits, the spinach will start growing again, and be ready to harvest for our final Winter CSA boxes.

Over-wintering frost tolerant vegetables is a great way to get a jump start on the growing season. Instead of having to wait the full 50 days for the spinach to be ready for harvest, we only have to wait about 2 weeks. This gets fresh greens in our bellies much faster, and seeing green gets everyone excited for the new season to start.

In your box this week:

Tomatoes – Zucchini – Cucumbers – Green Beans – New Red Potatoes – Cilantro – Basil – Sweet Onions – Jalapenos – Green Peppers – Carrots – Garlic

Shakshuka is a favorite in our household this time of year. Try out this recipe from Downshiftology for a great way to use up lots of produce from this week’s box. This recipe calls for Red Bell pepper, and a can of whole tomatoes. I’ve made this recipe hundreds of times with Green peppers, and using fresh whole tomatoes that you cook down. Yes, the fresh tomatoes make it take a little longer to cook, but you can’t tell the difference. Dice up your jalapeno for an extra kick!

Lots of people will be having their goodbye summer parties this weekend. This Cucumber Agua Fresca is a great way to celebrate summer one last time. It’s light, refreshing, and a great way to use up extra cucumber. If you want to make it extra fancy, try freezing cucumber slices and/or mint leaves in your ice cubes.

For the farm crew,

Jennifer

Summer CSA Week 11, 2025

Last week was garlic harvest!

Last October, our crew lovingly hand planted thousands of cloves of garlic. We covered them with straw to tuck them in for their winter nap. This Spring we harvested and ate the scapes so the bulbs would grow big and beautiful. The lower leaves of the garlic plant slowly died. Once about half of the plant had brown/dead leaves, we knew the garlic was ready to harvest.

The first step of the process is to mow off the tops of the garlic. These plants can grow to be about 2-3 feet tall. All of the leaves and stem get in the way while harvesting and washing, so we mow the garlic down so only about 8-12 inches of stem is left. 

Janaki then drives the tractor over the bed and uses an attachment that gently loosens the bulbs from the soil. The crew then pulls out each bulb by hand, and loads them all on a wagon. The wagon goes back and forth from the field to our washing station by the greenhouse. 

Once the garlic arrives at our washing station, we give each one an initial inspection. This removes any garlic that might have gotten damaged during the harvesting process, or any garlic that didn’t form proper bulbs. All garlic that passes inspection gets a quick rinse to remove any remaining soil. It’s then placed on a drying rack in front of industrial sized fans. It will remain here for the next few weeks while the papery outside and the inside stem fully dry out.

Once it’s fully dried, some garlic will be saved for Summer Shares, some placed into storage for winter CSA boxes, but most will be sent out in our much sought after garlic preserving shares. Take this as your reminder that if you haven’t already purchased your garlic preserving shares, now’s the time. Once it’s cured, it stores great in a dry place with good air circulation, but this is also a great way to stock your fridge/freezer with minced garlic or power up your dehydrator to make your own garlic powder.

In your box this week:

Mini Carrots – Jalapenos – Green Bell Peppers – New Red Potatoes – Cucumbers – Lettuce – Onions – Tomatoes – Zucchini – Green Beans – Red Cabbage

I made this Panzanella last week, and I can’t stop thinking about how delicious it was. It’s a great way to use up an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers. We served it along side some grilled shrimp, but I also ate it on its own as a light and refreshing lunch.

Carrots are a staple here at the Food Farm. Most people eat them straight from the fridge, but sometimes you want to change things up. If you’re looking for a different way to use up your carrots, check out these Almond Flour Carrot Cake Scones. The warming spices make your house smell delicious, and the orange juice glaze is a wonderful addition. Bonus: they’re gluten and dairy free, with no mixer required.

Summer CSA week 10, 2025

Last week our hot weather crops finally started heating up. We picked the first of our peppers, outdoor cucumbers, and our outside tomatoes. The zucchini have been loving the hot weather as well. The melons are still small, but they are finally growing fast.

We also sent out the first of our carrots to our retail partners! If you or someone you know has been looking for our carrots, you can now find them on grocery store shelves around Duluth and at Super One in Cloquet.

Right now is kind of our “calm before the storm”. We spent a lot of last week weeding and hoeing things. Soon we will be so busy with harvesting, we won’t have time to deal with the weeds so now it’s extra important to stay on top of them. Most of them flower and put on seed really quickly thanks to the hot weather. If we don’t get the weeds out of the field before they drop their seeds, we will have an even worse problem next year.

We used some time last week to plant our final greenhouse items for the year, take down the fencing that holds up our peas, and get it put away so we can sow a cover crop on that field. Soon our attention will be shifting to garlic and onion harvesting and curing. Once the alliums come out of the field, we will be in full fall harvest prep. 

Normally in August, we have an open house at the farm. This year we have decided to hold this event a little later in the fall. If you don’t wait to wait that long to come visit the farm, you are always welcome to come out on a CSA day (Monday or Thursday mornings) to volunteer by picking and/or packing vegetables. We will also be harvesting garlic this week–probably on Wednesday. We planted more garlic than normal this year, so we would love all the extra help we can get. If none of these days work, feel free to call or email Janaki to set up a different time to come look around the farm. We love showing off all this beauty!

In your box this week:

Green beans – Beets – Broccoli – Carrots – Cucumbers – Onions – Parsley – Green Peppers – Jalapenos – Potatoes – Tomatoes – Zucchini

It’s green bean time! This French Green Bean Salad is one of my favorite ways to use up green beans and potatoes when I’m tired of my usual recipes. The bright vinaigrette with the fresh parsley makes this perfect for a hot summer day.

This time of year, Zucchini are in abundance. Your friends and neighbors are probably begging you to take some off their hands. If you’re looking for a fun and new way to use up some of that abundance, check out this Spicy Roasted Zucchini Dip. It’s perfect with crackers, veggies, or spread on a wrap.

Summer CSA Week 9, 2025

Last week was a very exciting and much anticipated week on the farm. It’s the beginning of carrot harvesting!

Our beautiful carrot harvester ready for its first use of the season

We got to dust off the carrot harvester that has been sitting in storage since last Fall. It’s such a fun time on the farm when we start bringing out the harvesters. Whenever we bring out a harvester, we split the crew into two groups. One group is on the harvester using their quick reflexes to sort through the carrots or potatoes as they speed past on their way into the pallet box. This crew is in charge of removing any rocks, weeds, or defective veggies while we’re still out in the field so these things don’t make their way to our washing line. Group two is in charge of the washing line. This group accepts the pallet boxes when they come off the harvester, and run the veggies through our washing assembly line. This group is always working extra hard. The people at the beginning of the assembly line are sorting out anything that made it past our quick eyed harvesting team. The veggies then go through a rinse cycle to get nice and clean. After that, the veggies pop out onto a roller table where they go through one final round of inspections to ensure only the best veggies end up in our root cellar.

The carrots getting their final inspection and heading into the box for storage

On a typical day on the farm, the crew is spread out working on multiple projects at once, but on harvesting days, it’s all hands on deck focused on one task. It’s also a cool time because we get to see the carrots come full circle. We were there when the carrots got seeded, we crawled around for many hours weeding all of them, and now we get to see all of our hard work in a beautiful orange bundle as they head off to all of you in your weekly boxes.

Speaking of your boxes, you’ll find lots of new goodies in them this week. If you’ve never had them, or even heard about them, New potatoes are potatoes that are prematurely harvested. They’re generally smaller in size, a little sweeter, slightly less starchy, and have a very thin skin. The thin skin does mean you will want to enjoy these sooner rather than later, and it is highly recommended that you store them in your fridge rather than on the counter like you might with a mature potato.

We are also introducing peppers! I always like to give people a little warning before we send Jalapenos for the first time. The variety that we grow on the farm are big, beautiful, and incredibly spicy. Jalapenos are usually spicy, but the ones from the farm pack an extra punch, so I would recommend using just a little and adding more to your preference.

In your share this week:

Basil – Carrots – Cilantro – Hot Pepper – Bell Pepper – Cucumbers – Chard/Greens Mix – Lettuce – Green Onions – Snap Peas – New Potatoes – Tomatoes

This cucumber salsa is a bright and refreshing way to use up multiple veggies in this week’s box. This would be great eaten as is with chips or toasted bread. If you want to get a little more adventurous, try it as a topping for fish tacos or a beautifully grilled steak.

By now you might all be curious for a way to use up sugar snap peas that isn’t eating them straight out of the bag. If you need a little inspiration, try this Spring Garden Pasta Salad. It’s another great way to use up multiple veggies at once. The recipe calls for chard or kale, but a handful of greens mix would be perfect in this as well.

For the farm crew,

Jennifer