Dear Country Valley Farm Community,
This is week #4 of the 2023 season! Last week we reported a freeze on Friday morning. Well… it got a lot hotter. Still no rain. We are thankful for our well mulched and healthy soils along with the help of some irrigation. Most of our crops are growing well and holding strong.
We have a slight change to the delivery schedule – please see details towards the bottom of the newsletter.
Reminder to please have your empty bin from the prior week outside so I can pick it up when I drop off your full box each week. If you haven’t already, please consider a cooler that can hold the bin and an ice pack if you aren’t home to bring the share inside and put in the refrigerator when it is delivered.
This week’s shares contain the following, some preparation inspiration is below:
- Red Romaine Lettuce – 1 head from our farm
- Baby Tatsoi – 1 bag from our farm
- Leeks– 1 big bunch from Cinzori Farm
- Fuji Apples – 1 quart from Almar Orchards
- Asparagus – 2 bunches from Cinzori Farm
- Sunflower Sprouts – 1 package from Gardenworks
Medium shares contain the above listed items, and:
- Asparagus – 1 extra bunch
- Lettuce – 1 extra head of green buttercrunch
- Leeks – 1 extra bunch
- Baby Tatsoi – 1 extra bag
Some preparation inspiration:
- We recommend that everyone wash all produce before eating. We are an organic farm and you may find an occasional insect as well as a clump of soil now and then. We like to wash produce 3 times to ensure it is nice and clean and has no debris.
- Red Romaine Lettuce is not only beautiful and with striking colors, it also tastes great. We hope to continue to have lettuce in the shares for a few more weeks, and then it will return again in the fall shares.
- Baby Tatsoi, aka Asian spinach. These are a step larger than microgreens and grown in the field on our farm. They are super tender and have a mild spinach flavor with notes of broccoli. They can be eaten raw or cooked. If cooking, they can substitute for spinach and will cook just as fast. The stems and leaves are all edible and delicious.
- Leeks, these are wintered over and are a special treat. There is something about a crop that began growing last year, made it through the winter, and are ready to harvest the next spring. Of course, potato leek soup is always delicious and a simple pleasure. You can also sauté leeks with other veggies or as a stand alone side dish. They are excellent on the grill too.
- Fuji apples, known for their sweetness and crunchiness. They make a great juice or sauce also. If used in a pie they will tend to be mushy, but tasty still. Did you know that Almar Orchards uses no waxes or shellac or any of that on their apples? There is a difference and we are so proud to continue to offer their apples in our CSA shares. Next week we will include honeycrisp apples in the shares.
- Asparagus is a great spring vegetable and Michigan is a perfect climate for it. These are hand-harvested and are usually spears/tips with very little to no woody bottoms. While we can get asparagus year-round at the supermarket, it is only available from Michigan for 4-8 weeks per year (every season may be different for it as it is sensitive to extreme cold or heat. Organic asparagus is grown without the use of herbicides and is quite a special item.
- Sunflower Sprouts are a distinctively different microgreen from all others. They are thicker and have a nice mild nutty flavor. You can use these like you would any sprouts or microgreens, in salads, on sandwiches, atop a savory entrée. They even go great on granola and add some nice vitamins and green veggies to the breakfast meal.
What is going on at the Farm:
We will include a detailed farm update again next week. A lot is going on and we are working hard to keep moving through the season in a good way. 
Here is the plan for deliveries:
Route:
8-10AM Ypsilanti and Milan
9AM-1PM Ann Arbor
12PM-2PM Canton, Plymouth, and Northville
1PM-3PM Farmington Hills and Bloomfield Hills
2PM-4PM Troy and Hazel Park
New members in areas not listed, to be added as new folks join
We will try to stay on schedule. Our plan is to put the CSA boxes on folks’ front porches and ring the bell once and leave.
We also 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.
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.
Snake sunning in the kale Baby Tatsoi
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