Hello CSA Members!
June and summer is officially here with some real hot weather and no rain its been challenging on us. We’ve got a great crop mix this week for you this week regardless. Between all the harvesting and washing of crops coming in we have spent all our time picking strawberries! They have been ripening fast in the heat and are so tasty and sweet! My daughter graduated middle school this week and i’m happy to be driving the kids around less in the mornings now and have more time for the farm, with all this heat it really takes all the energy I have to keep it rolling. The heat made growing micro greens incredibly difficult this week also and we had some crop loss on that. Really hoping for rain but it just isn’t coming this year so lots of time has been spent moving water around and keeping the crops irrigated including some tasty new crops this week like broccoli, kohlrabi, and green onions.
This week in boxes we have a great list of crops for you and some of my favorites including.
Broccoli: Broccoli is so good farm fresh! These heads are dense and tasty, I would try to use the broccoli before other items as it has the most vitamins the fresher it is from the field! Don’t overcook it also for the most nutritional value.
Strawberries: I don’t think i need to describe many suggestions for uses of these deep red organic vine ripe berries we like to eat them with whip cream. We have two varieties of berries, one is smaller and one larger but both have really good flavor.
Kohlrabi: There are purple, white, and green kohlrabis coming in so you will receive a random selection from those. They can be enjoyed raw once they are peeled and sliced up or are great in a slaw or cooked in cream or butter. The bulb is the best part to eat after removing the root at the base and peeling it but we do send them out with greens on and the greens could be used for a soup stock.
Lettuce Mix: Our red and green lettuce mix is great for salads and sandwiches.
Joi-Choi: These chinese type cabbages are great for stir fry or just as a side green with some garlic.
Red leaf lettuce: These beautiful frilly heads will pair well with the salad mix or can even be used for lettuce wraps.
Green onion: bunched green onions great for salad, sautéed dishes and more
Swiss Chard: Last week you had the first of the chard and it continues on this week with this richly flavored and colorful green. Anywhere you use spinach you can use swiss chard and its’ great in pasta dishes cooked with olive oil or butter with eggs…. the stems and leaves are edible but chop the stem up and toss that in first as it takes longer than the greens to cook down a little.
Thanks everyone and enjoy the early summer crops! There is just not enough time in a day even with these longest days of the year coming up right now. We are working all day every day to keep up with the heat and lack of rain and keep the crops we have going in good condition. IF we have time and space in the share box we may add kale to the list this week in either mixed kale or bunching kale. I’m going to get back outside and get back to work and stay focused on growing so we can get you all fed with some good food, so for now eat well and be well! -Kyle
