What’s in the Box: Sugar snap peas, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, cabbage (savoy), cucumber (sweet english), sage, chioggia beets, fennel (bi-weekly only), swiss chard, green top red onions.
What’s going on at the farm: Things are heating up on the farm as we head into summer. We had another busy week of work here on the farm as the sugar snap peas are in and picking them requires much time and effort. Now that strawberries are finished these are sure to keep us very busy. Our carrots are in as well! These are one of the family favorites here on the farm. They are very sweet and crisp and the tops can be used as well although they are not nearly as good as the roots. We have some more new crops this week for some including fennel for our bi-weekly members, and sage which is a savory herb that goes well with the summer squash, beets, fennel, or such in a roasted root dish or perhaps infused with some butter to make an herbed butter roll. Savoy cabbage is a great cooking cabbage with some very large outer wrapper leaves that hold up well for cabbage rolls, stir fry and more. It can still be used raw of course but holds up better then green cabbage when cooked. Our cucumbers are back this week with excellent sweetness, smooth skin and no spines. They are always non bitter with a thin soft skin so I never bother to peel them myself, and they are excellent paired with the onion for cucumber salad with vinegar and sugar! Lastly the chard is great anywhere you would use spinach and some of my favorite uses are with lentils, eggs, or pasta. Same goes for the beet greens which have some insect damage this week but are still just as tasty and nutritious. There are still plenty of weeds to pull, tomatoes to trellis, and planting to be done for late summer and fall crops. I spent fathers day squeezing in a planting of winter squash and romanesco cauliflower which is a new crop for us. Hoping we will have the brussel sprouts and the celeriac, and the last of our watermelons out this week as well and escape any strong early summer storms. Enjoy all the early summer crops and we’ll keep busy trying to keep up with everything out here as we head into the second quarter of the season and the official beginning of summer this week! Enjoy the veggies everyone!