Greetings Country Valley Farm Members,
This is week 5 of the season. Pickups and deliveries will be at the normal times as they have been in past weeks.
We are skipping next week (June 19) , shares will resume as usual June 26. The skip week does not count as a CSA week, so June 26 will be week 6. There are 3 key reasons for skipping next week – we are taking the time to celebrate Father’s Day next Sunday, we have our annual organic inspection of the farm next Saturday, we are allowing some time for seasonal transition and varietal changes.
An early season weather recap: Late winter had ample precipitation and seemed mostly normal. Early to mid spring was colder than normal and dry with occasional heavy rainfall, but erratic and impactful on many crops. Mid to late spring has been warmer than normal, with continued erratic precipitation but less impactful it seems. This year was the earliest last frost date we can remember. We had some 90 degree weather in late May/early June, which is nice but a bit early. We are looking at a forecast of mid 90s for the coming week, thankfully we received good rains and coolish weather this week to help the plants establish strong root systems and resiliency.
A bit about what is going on the farm:
- We planted kohlrabi and leek transplants this week, those will be ready in the fall.
- We planted rosemary transplants, those will start to be ready in a month or two and will continue into late fall.
- We direct sowed seeds of red amaranth greens and more cilantro.
- The cilantro and turnips we direct sowed early in the spring are growing, we hope to include in the shares in a few weeks or so. We will keep planting cilantro seed throughout the season as it seems to be a fickle crop for us but we love it and want to have enough consistently. We will also plant quite a bit more turnip seed later in the summer to provide a nice fall crop.
- The tatsoi we direct sowed early in the spring took a long time to sprout and then went to flower after just a few inches of growth – that crop will not be harvested. We will plant more tatsoi late in the summer for a fall crop, it made nice rosettes for us last fall and we are working to repeat success this year.
- This will likely be the last week of green garlic. We do have some planted under shade of maple trees that may help us extend the season a few week’s longer, we will see what the coming week’s heat will do.
- We are starting to see a few garlic scapes forming, we anticipate those will be in the shares in 2 weeks and likely the following week (a true specialty item with a very short harvest and availability window). 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 – these will include lots of beans like green beans, yellow beans, purple beans, dragon’s tongue beans etc. as well as lots of lettuce, root crops, and more. While our lettuce heads are not getting as large as we hoped for, we are reminded how tasty local and fresh lettuce is. We are becoming better lettuce growers and are working to make it a staple item in the shares in the fall – fingers crossed.
- The tomatoes and peppers we planted about a month ago are having mixed results. Some of the tomatoes are growing well and some are not. The peppers are moving very slowly, and some of the plants were eaten by animals… We are replanting additional tomatoes and peppers in the week to come to fill the blank spaces. We also interplanted basil and dill seeds in these beds and those crops are showing good germination and starting to grow.
- The greens are off to a great start, rainbow chard should be in the shares next time.
- The potato plants are looking healthy. We have many successions and varieties that should begin harvest in July and continue through the fall.
This week’s small shares contain the following items:
- Green onions – 1 bunch from our farm
- Green garlic – 1 bunch from our farm
- Tender lacinato (dino) kale and collard greens – 1 mixed 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 – 2 bunches from Cinzori Farm
- Baby red beets greens – 1 bunch from Cinzori Farm
- Medium shares will receive an extra 1 bunch of asparagus, 1 extra head of lettuce, 1 extra bunch of greens, 1 extra bunch of green onions
- Large shares will packed as 2 small shares.
Some preparation and cooking tips:
- Green onions – these have nice size, the entirety is edible except the tiny root nub that should be cut off of course. Great raw or cooked, you can substitute these for bulb onions in most recipes even.
- Green garlic – these were planted in a partially shaded area under a maple tree. We like to do that with garlic so we can have green garlic later into the season when our main garlic field is in full sun and further along and making bulbs. The greens and the small bulbs (minus the root nub) of these are delicious and can be used anywhere you would use garlic. Green garlic mashed potatoes is an easy and tasty dish that is only doable during green garlic season…
- Tender lacinato/dino kale and collards – this is the first picking of these varieties from spring planted greens. These can be used raw or cooked. Collard greens actually make a great wrap if you are cutting back on bread or just want a light and healthy change. 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 – the erratic weather made for nice greens and tiny roots on our spring radishes this year. We will plant more radishes in for the fall and will see much bigger size. 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 – they are still 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.
- Asparagus – this will be the last week with asparagus this season. We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. Fresh, local, organic asparagus is a rare treat.
- Baby red beet greens – are known for their bold 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 and radish greens for a nice balance. If you’ve never cooked beets before, it is easy and fun – the greens are just like spinach and are fast cooking. The roots can be peeled or the peels can be eaten – they can be shredded, sliced, boiled whole or in chunks, chopped into a stir fry, roasted, curried, grilled….
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