Greetings Country Valley Farm Members,
This is week 13 of the season. We are about a month out from the Autumn Equinox. We hope everyone is getting some time to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine.
A bit about what is going on the farm:
We are starting to see more than usual deer damage on some crops. They are decimating our early greens beds, usually we don’t expect that issue until October or November. It also appears that rabbits are eating quite a few baby bean plants. We will be working to cover more beds with hoops and row cover in the coming weeks. Farming involves some losses, and organic farmers often experience loss even moreso – that said, we work hard to be able to harvest as many crops as we plant of course.
We didn’t get the lettuce plants transplanted yet but have the trays in a nice spot and they will be transplanted soon.
The tomatoes are still in their peak. We will include a lot of tomatoes in the shares this week.
The basil plants are still thriving. We will include Genovese Sweet Basil in the shares this week.
The yummy orange sweet peppers and baby bells are really loading with fruit, and will be in the shares next week or the week after.
The fall turnips, cilantro, and dill that we direct-seeded is showing a good stand and germinated well.
The potatoes are happy and will be in the shares again next week.
This week’s small shares contain the following items:
- Genovse Sweet basil– an extra big bunch from our farm
- Garlic – 3 big bulbs from our farm
- Vine ripened tomatoes – a big bag of em’ from our farm
- Bok Choi – 1 head from Cinzori Farm
- Yellow summer squash – 1 quart from Cinzori Farm
- Green Beans – 1 quart from Cinzori Farm
- Medium shares will receive extra garlic, extra tomatoes, and a pint of yellow onions
- Large shares will packed as 2 small shares.
Some preparation and cooking tips:
- Genovese sweet basil – this is the standard pesto basil and we are thankful to be able to include extra big bunches again this season. If you aren’t a pesto person, basil is also great in a homemade salad dressing, can be chopped and added on top of many different entrees for a fresh and aromatic addition, it also can be washed chopped and frozen or dried for use later in the year when local basil is no longer in season.
- Garlic – we are thinking pesto, but of course garlic has many uses and a nice long storage life if you aren’t using it all up quickly.
- Vine ripened tomatoes – we are continuing to harvest quite a bit of tomatoes and will be packing nice amounts in the shares this week.
- Bok choi – a nice Asian green with large edible stems and leaves. We love this in a stir fry or ramen soup. It also can be steamed or sauteed on it’s own with a little garlic and soy sauce for a tasty and healthy dish.
- Yellow summer squash. An old standard, with a nutty flavor and an excellent texture. Great on the grill, roasted in the oven, sauteed, they can even be shredded and eaten raw.
- Green beans – these would go well as a simple side dish and served with pesto, they also pair nicely with bok choi.
A bit about hot peppers and a request for your input:
The hot pepper season is beginning. We like hot peppers and include them in our menu this time of year. We’d like to include some hot peppers in the shares for folks that want them.
We want to get a better sense of who likes what and who doesn’t want what when it comes to hot peppers. I’ve listed a few questions below.
Please reply when ya can and let us know.
- There are many varieties and heat levels of hot peppers. Do you like hot peppers and want them in your CSA Farmshare boxes, when they are in season?
- If your answer is no, the below questions do not apply to you and we won’t include hot peppers in your shares.
- If the answer is yes, please reply to these additional questions.
- What is your favorite hot pepper?
- What heat level do you prefer (from 1-10, with 10 being a super hot pepper like a habanero, scotch bonnet, ghost pepper etc.
- What hot peppers do you want to try that you haven’t?
- Is there anything else you’d like to share about your hot pepper preferences?
Thanks for your time and input. We value your feedback to help us make the farm shares as positive as we can.
Check out our website and peruse old newsletters for additional cooking tips and recipe ideas: https://countryvalleyfarm.com/newsletter/
That’s all for now. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
Adam Mitchel
Country Valley Farm