What’s in the Box: Strawberries, kohlrabi (purple), chioggia beets with greens, arugula, lacinato kale, salad mix, lettuce head, flat Italian parsley, garlic scapes, broccoli (Bi-weekly only).
What’s going on at the farm: Strawberries are here! They should be around for the next several weeks but its hard to say depending on weather and a few other factors. Our current producing plants are in their fourth year so the berries are getting smaller and harder to fill pints with. We have a new field of them vegetating this year for production the next three years so back to larger berries after this season. Our peas are flowering heavily and setting pods so they should be in heavy production after next week. These two crops alone require many hours of picking as both need to be harvested every other day and of course require many many pieces to make a harvest. This week we are weeding all of the onions for the second time which is quite a lot, 12 100 Ft. beds to be exact. Garlic scapes are in this week and they are excellent used as you would garlic mincing them up or even blending them to make a delicious pesto! Our broccoli is heading up well and an item for bi-weekly members only this week with the rest of the harvest coming for regular members next week. Chioggia (kee-oh-ja) beets are new to some of you this week and are delicious sauteed and my favorite way, roasted. Remember to use the greens on your beets as well. They are very tender and tasty and should be used just like swiss chard. I love the rich flavor when they are sautéed with olive oil and find the taste resembles spinach and chard combined. They are best sauteed in olive oil in my opinion and very good for pasta dishes as well. The cool weather trend continued over the last week but it looks like some warmer weather will speed up growth for our summer crops like peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, melons, etc… and keep us sweating in the fields this week as we keep on working hard to bring in the harvests and control the weeds. More tomato pruning to do this week too. Our crop is looking great shooting up over 4 feet and setting fruit well. Looks like a nice tomato crop starting in a month or so. June is always a stormy month as warm summer winds come in so hoping for nothing severe and gentle rains as we approach summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and the beginning of the main part of the season. Other crops we have coming in soon include baby english cucumbers, squash including zucchini, patty pan, and summer, green top onions, radishes, lettuce heads, salad mix, sugar snap peas, cabbage, golden beets, and more coming soon. Enjoy!