Dear Country Valley Farm Community,
This is week #21 of the 2023 season, and will be the first share of October. We are bridging the summer into the fall in a good way. It is interesting to think about what fruits and vegetables we consider to be summer veggies. Many traditional summer vegetables like heat and often can’t be planted until the end of May or beginning of June. Most fruiting veggies, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant take 2 months or more from the planting time before they have anything ready to harvest. Every year it is a race for these plants to grow, produce a crop, and continue to produce until the cold weather signals the end of their season. There are also many vegetables that prefer cooler weather and are great spring and fall items. As the weather can be erratic, sometimes the temperature swings help these veggies and sometimes it doesn’t. It is always an adventure growing food in Michigan. There are more blessings than burdens as we look across the fields!
Thank you for your support and participation. It means a whole lot and makes a big difference.
This week’s shares contain the following, some preparation inspiration is below:
- Amarosa Fingerling Potatoes – 1 heaping quart from our farm
- Tulsi Holy Basil – 1 big bunch from our farm
- Red Slicer Tomatoes – 1 pint from Sunnyside Produce in Homer, MI
- Gala Apples – 5 apples from Almar Orchards in Flushing, MI
- Delicata Squash – 2 squash from Cinzori Farm of Ceresco, MI
- Yellow Bell Peppers – 3 peppers from Cinzori Farm
Medium shares contain the above listed items, and:
- Mixed Cherry Tomatoes – 1 pint
- Gala Apples – 5 extra apples
- Delicata Squash – 2 extra squash
Some preparation inspiration: Remember to wash all produce thoroughly.
- Amarosa Fingerling Potatoes – this variety is red inside and out. It is higher in antioxidants than purple potatoes even. A wonderful waxy fleshed potato that is great for roasting, grilling, and frying. We recommend cooking them whole or in half to enhance the presentation on your plate and get the full enjoyment of the fun fingerling shape.
- Tulsi Holy Basil – we received a lot of positive feedback about the tulsi and wanted to include it in the shares one last time before the season ends. We recommend submerging the whole bunch in water to thoroughly rinse it, then strip the flowers and leaves off the stem. Add it to most any dish you are cooking in the last minute or two of cooking, and then cover for a few minutes to let it simmer in. We have experimented with using the tulsi in all different kinds of cuisines, from simple Italian style tomato based dishes, to complex curries, soups, fruit salads, stir fries, baked tofu, etc. the tulsi seems to make everything taste better. It also can be used to make a simple tea or can be mulled in cider even. This bunch is enough to make a quart to a half gallon of tasty tea.
- Red Slicer Tomatoes – this is likely the last week of tomatoes for the year. We hope that everyone has enjoyed the nice long seasonal stretch of tomatoes as much as we have.
- Gala Apples – an excellent early season sweet and crunch apple. They are best for fresh eating. We like to cut them up and enjoy with some peanut butter as a healthy and simple snack. This will be the last week of galas, as we will rotate through other varieties of apples in the weeks to come.
- Delicata Squash – they are as tasty as they are beautiful. A quintessential early season squash that signals the beginning of fall. Delicata has a thin and tender skin as far as hard/winter squash goes – it is edible and nutritious. We like to cut delicata into 1 inch thick round coins and use in soup or bake on a cookie sheet. Did you know that all of the winter squash seeds are edible and nutritious – locally grown organic protein and good fats! Remove the seeds before cooking the squash, wash off the string/squash and roast in the oven at a low heat, stirring every 5-10 minutes so they cook evenly and don’t stick to the pan. You can use a tiny bit of oil and salt if you like, sometimes the seeds are so good they don’t even need that.
- Yellow Bell Peppers – they sure took their time to mature and color up! We are thinking stuffed peppers, or fajitas, or maybe a coconut based soup with tofu and yellow bell peppers. They also go great on the grill, while the weather is still grilling season.
What is going on at the Farm:
We will include a detailed farm update again next week.
We are also doing our best to commit to as much great fall items from the other farms we collaborate with, so the fall shares can be as awesome as possible!
Here is the plan for deliveries:
Route:
8-10AM Ypsilanti and Milan
9AM-1PM Ann Arbor and Dexter
12PM-2PM Canton, Plymouth, and Northville
1PM-3PM Farmington, Farmington Hills and Bloomfield Hills
2PM-5PM Troy, Hazel Park, Gross Pointe, Detroit
We understand that there may be weeks that folks want to skip their share. That is okay so long as you confirm with us at least 7 days in advance of the skip week. In those cases, you can let us know if you want to add a share to the end of your season, or receive double shares some weeks etc. We encourage members to find a friend, family member, or neighbor to pick up your share from your porch and share the bounty of the harvest, instead of skipping weeks – if that is a viable option for you. Some members opt to notify us of skip weeks and ask that we donate the shares – we are happy to do that. We don’t donate to a food bank in those instances, we give the food directly to our neighbors or folks in the community that would benefit from it.
Email is the best way to communicate with me. My phone number is (831) 706-1237. You can call or text if it is the day of or day before delivery if you have anything urgent to communicate. I don’t usually check emails much over the weekend but I do have my phone on me if you need to touch base.
There is lots of good info on our website www.countryvalleyfarm.com
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions at all.
Thank you for sharing this message and our contact info with anyone who you know who may be interested. We appreciate the community support.
Kind regards,
Adam Mitchel
Country Valley Farm
Follow us on Instagram @ countryvalleyfarm