Greetings Country Valley Farm Members,
This is week 2 of the season and oh what weather we have been having. It went from a very cool April and early May right into this amazing heat and sunshine. Shaping up to be a great year for Michigan produce! This week’s share contains asparagus and we are excited about that.
A bit about what is going on the farm:
Lots of planting going on the past few weeks. The following plants were transplanted in the ground and are finding their way:
- Green curly kale
- Red/Purple curly kale
- Lacinato/Dino kale
- Collard Greens
- Rainbow chard
- Red leaf lettuce
- Green leaf lettuce
- Mountain Spring tomatoes
- Saladette tomatoes
- Yellow mini sweet peppers
- Orange mini sweet peppers
- We also have 2 varieties of potatoes planted and will plant the other 3 varieties soon.
- The onions we planted a few weeks back are sending up dark green shoots, we are hopeful for a great onion year.
- The perennial herbs are waking up too – we should have chives with blossoms and fresh oregano in the next couple weeks or so, and then fresh thyme, peppermint, sage, etc.
- Parsley transplants will go in the ground this evening.
- We will be planting a lot of basil the week after next, many varieties too.
- The French breakfast radishes, tatsoi, turnips, and cilantro that we direct seeded many weeks ago are moving slowly. We anticipate they will start to grow a lot soon enough.
- The lemon balm, echinacea, and lavender are also waking up and will be in shares later on in the season.
This week’s small shares contain the following items:
- Green Onions – 1 bunch from our farm
- Asparagus Spears – 2 bunches from Cinzori Farm
- Russet Potatoes – 1 quart from Cinzori Farm
- Spinach – 1 bag from Cinzori Farm
- Sno Pea Shoots Microgreens – 1 package from Gardenworks
- Medium shares will receive an extra 2 bunches of asparagus and an extra bunch of green onions
- Large shares will be packed as 2 small shares.
Some preparation and cooking tips:
- Green Onions were started last year and wintered over and resumed growth this Spring. The entire portion is edible except the roots. We love them cooked as well as raw, simple soups, rice or noodle dishes are vastly improved simply by topping with fresh chopped green onions.
- Asparagus is hand harvested and trimmed so there really shouldn’t be much if any woody bottom part to remove. We like it roasted with just a little salt, pepper, olive oil and now and then a squeeze of lemon juice. It is also excellent in a soup paired with the russet potatoes.
- Russet Potatoes were harvested late last season and have been kept in cold storage through the winter. Also known as Idaho potatoes by many. They have a white flesh and are great baked, mashed, roasted etc.
- Spinach is a Spring favorite among Michigan farmers. It grows great during the cool and changing weather. This spinach was grown in a hoophouse and is of excellent quality. It can be eaten raw or cooked (fresh spinach cooks very fast so be careful it only takes a minute or so at a low heat).
- Sno Pea shoots are the largest of the microgreens. They are great raw as with any microgreen, in almost anything like a salad, sandwich or entrée topper etc. But they are also delicious lightly sauteed with other veggies, Basically add them at the end of cooking the other veggies, stir a few times to allow the heat to gently wilt them, and serve.
For those members who have elected for home deliveries, they will be at the same time as last week. We may be within 30-60 minutes, earlier or later, of the time we communicated last week. It is our goal to be as close to on time as possible, leaning toward early not late :).
The below is important information we like to include in the newsletters frequently in the hopes everyone sees it.. Please read reach out to Adam with any questions.
CSA share boxes are distributed on Sundays weekly.
Deliveries will occur between 9am and 3pm Sundays. If you won’t be home during the delivery, please leave a cooler on your front porch with some ice packs or frozen water bottles etc.
For all the members who pick up shares – that happens at Genesis of Ann Arbor (St. Clares Episcopal Church/Temple Beth Emeth) 2309 Packard. Please come to the back parking lot behind the building. Adam will be there from 4pm-6pm distributing shares. We arrive right at 4pm and leave at 6pm promptly every week – please be on time to pick up your shares.
CSA shares are packed in clear half bushel plastic totes. We purchased 2 totes for each member to last for the entire season. Please return your empty tote each week so we can sanitize it and use it for the following week’s shares. Please don’t use the totes for any purpose other than the transferring of CSA shares.
Most produce is washed and cooled before we pack it (we don’t wash tomatoes and peppers and items that don’t like to be washed in advance). That said, this is farm-level washing to remove most of the soil and to ensure the produce is well hydrated and super fresh. We very much recommend washing at home before preparation. Personally, we like to do a triple wash before we cook anything.
Most items should be placed in your refrigerator as soon as possible after receiving your share. We don’t recommend transporting the produce in the trunk of a car, as there is no airflow and temperatures can really heat up fast. Any item that should be stored in the refrigerator will be packed into new plastic bags, items that can be stored on the counter will be packed into pint or quart recyclable cardboard containers or packed loose in the tote. Most of these okay on the counter items will have a much longer shelf life if you store them in the refrigerator also – it all depends on how soon you plan on eating them. Tomatoes are an exception and item that we don’t recommend refrigerating.
That’s all for now. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
Adam Mitchel
Country Valley Farm