Greetings Country Valley Farm Members,
This is week 4 of the season. There is an exciting feeling on the farm lately. For the first week of June, things are shaping up nicely and plants are growing well overall. The various flowers, trees, and shrubs continue to blossom and the scents are delightful.
Members who have signed up for home delivery – will receive their delivery about the same time as the week before last; still allowing a 30-60 minute window for traffic and other potential slowdowns. We are still working out the schedule and adjusting the route. It is our intention to be on time consistently. 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.
A bit about what is going on the farm:
- All of the potatoes are planted and we are seeing good growth in the first few beds we planted some weeks ago. The basil and dill seeds are showing good germination and filling the rows with tiny little sprouts.
- We will actually begin some fall crop planting next week, with leeks and kohlrabi.
- We will have green garlic in the shares next week.
- Soon we will be harvesting garlic scapes, which will be in the shares. Then in July, we will harvest garlic bulbs to get us through the season. After the garlic is harvested, late-summer and fall crops will begin to be planted.
- The onion crop is looking healthy. We will have spring planted green onions in the shares next week.
- The lettuces and other greens are growing well and will rotate through the shares for the coming weeks.
- A bit on rubber bands – as we pack items in bags, we are moving away from using rubber bands. They impose a bit of pressure on tender veggies and there is no need for them in pre-bagged produce.
This week’s small shares contain the following items:
- Chives with blossoms – 1 bunch from our farm
- Tender green curly kale – 1 bunch from our farm
- French breakfast radishes – 1 bunch from our farm
- Red and green leaf lettuce – 1 small head of each from our farm
- Asparagus Spears – 1 bunch from Cinzori Farm
- Baby golden beets greens – 1 bunch from Cinzori Farm
- Sno pea shoots Microgreens – 1 package from Gardenworks
- Medium shares will receive an extra 2 bunches of asparagus, 1 extra head of lettuce, and a bunch of green garlic (along with 2 bags of spinach that were shorted in week 3)
- Large shares will packed as 2 small shares.
Some preparation and cooking tips:
- Chives with blossoms are a super short season specialty item. The blossoms and chives are all edible raw or cooked. Here is a link to some cool info and a recipe using chive blossoms: https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/chive-blossom-vinegar/
- Tender green curly kale – this is the first picking from spring planted kale. Some of the leaves are baby sized and some are a bit bigger. These can be used raw or cooked. If you don’t include greens in your weekly menu, now is a great time to make the change. Greens can be used in a salad, they can be steamed, sauteed, stewed, cooked in a soup, even made into baked chips.
- French breakfast radishes have tender greens that can be eaten with the roots. If you like the heat, they are both great raw in a salad or on a sandwich. If you prefer a milder menu, sautee these in some olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper to taste and you have a simple and healthy side dish. They also are excellent in soup, especially with miso and tofu or your meat of choice.
- Red and green leaf lettuce – these are our first heads to be harvested this season. They are on the small side, but the leaves are very delicate and tasty. You will want to triple wash this lettuce and make sure to get any soil removed – this is not store bought commodity lettuce, there is a difference.
- 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. This may be our last week with asparagus for the season.
- Baby golden beet greens are known for their mild flavor. We like to rotate various greens through our diet as they each have different nutritional content, so eating a wide variety seems to be a good and healthy thing to do. These can be made into a salad with the lettuce, or can be cooked with the kale – you can’t go wrong either way.
- Sno pea shoots return to the shares this week. We encourage folks to continue to experiment with different ways of enjoying them and incorporating them into different recipes. There is always the eat them fresh out of the package as a snack – which is also a great way to go.
Check out our website and peruse old newsletters for additional cooking tips and recipe ideas: Newsletter | Country Valley Farm
That’s all for now. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
Adam Mitchel
Country Valley Farm