What's in the box?

Green top carrots
Red Romaine lettuce
Red Russian kale
cucumbers
fresh garlic
yellow summer squash/ zucchini
green top beets
green onions
fennel (large and medium shares)

Notes on the box.

Remember to remove the tops from carrots and beets for best storage.
The Kale can be used the same as you would a curly kale or lacinato kale, but it is slightly more tender.
The garlic is fresh! It was harvested just last week. The rest of the garlic is currently curing in the barn. Curing dries down the papery layers of the garlic for storage. Fresh garlic is a nice treat and a preview of more garlic to come after it's cured. It's still safe for you to keep on your counter instead of the fridge, but it may not last as long as cured garlic.

Cosmic Wheel Creamery cheese shares.

Two aged cheeses this week. Moon Glow is similar to a Gruyere and Lyra is a young washed rind cheese with a creamy texture. Both are good melters for cooking. Hope you enjoy them! Ricotta is coming next week!

Recipes.

Cabbage, Cucumber, and Fennel Salad

Beet and Carrot Bake

On the farm.

Big Storms on Sunday brought us 2 “ of much needed rain, and made everything green up but also made a fair amount of standing water in the fields. We have been noticing this pattern of heavy rain falls over the past couple years. So this season we put much of our fields into raised beds. This allows the top of the bed to drain, and dry faster, while the walking paths hold water and stay wet longer. So far, so good, it has definitely saved us some crop loss and helped with seed germination. Every year we look closely at our weak links in our farming practices and try to make them a little stronger.

For those of you who wonder already, what am I going to do this winter for vegetables and farm direct food. Well, look no further than Foxtail farm in Osceola. These pioneers of CSA farming started a Winter only CSA that goes from December-April with deliveries every 3 weeks of fresh and storage vegetables, along with value added items made right on the farm, such as soups, granola, jam, kraut, and tomato sauce. AND! You can still get our farmstead cheese! (though we don't have the signup for that set up just yet) I mean you might have to make a trip to the grocery store just to remember what it was like. Here's a link to their website. You'll find information about sign-ups there. The food is magnificent. Paul and Chris have been mentors for many many many of the local farmers in our area, ourselves included. Plus you get the fun farmer musings of Dr. Dirt (farmer Paul) in their entertaining and informative newsletter.

Now for pictures! This week Otto was on assignment at the farm. Here's his photos...