Week 4; July 25, 2013
What's in the box?
Full Share
curly kale
green onions
fennel
zukes/ summer squash
cukes
asian eggplant
broccoli
curly kale
zukes/ summer squash
cukes
fennel
broccoli
green onions
Notes on the box...
Fennel might be new to many of you. It's our first time putting it in the box since Josh managed May Farm! This vegetable was requested by a number of members, so we thought we'd give it a go. If you've never tasted it, it's best sliced very thin. The bulb is the main edible part and can be roasted or thinly sliced or grated and eaten raw, or used in place of celery. We also enjoy the leaves chopped and used in place of fresh dill. It has an anise flavor, but different. It's more fresh and almost citrus like. Store it in a plastic bag in your fridge. You can take the fronds off of the bulb if it takes up too much space. Some folks wrap the leaves in a damp paper towel for storage. See recipes below...
Full shares got Asian Eggplant. This is a crop that we can't believe was ready to pick already. What a strange season! Anyway, the plants look great, so we look forward to more eggplant for the single shares later, and also some of the Italian type and maybe also an heirloom variety later in the season. These smaller ones are great in stir fries or sliced lengthwise and grilled, but Derek roasted some along with fennel and summer squash for a really wonderful lunch.
Summer Squash and Zucchini are looking good. We had quite a bit less than we had expected since we didn't get any rain (and to think we were just complaining about how wet it's been. We farmers are a hard lot to please, it seems!) But we are irrigating and hope to make it down to the squash soon so they can be nice and healthy.
Cukes are just getting started. They are a favorite around here. A few years ago we were just swimming in cucumbers and had several members say they got too many. We have planted less for the last two seasons, but we think we will plant more again. The plants are looking really nice with lots of flowers and little cukes setting on the plants. We will continue to give all the cukes we can until the plants give up! Cucumber water, cucumber on sandwiches, diced cucumber and yogurt, refrigerator pickles.... we love them!
Broccoli is still just putting on some heads here and there. This week gave us more heads, and nicer ones, but still not what we were expecting... we are watering and the cooler weather might make those particular plants pretty happy. We will hope for the best!
Kale is one that we love around here. I think I mentioned that every season we have an almost exact split between members that say they got too much kale, not enough kale, and just the right amount of kale. The plants looked too good to pass up, so here it is! If you aren't a fan, at least try kale chips before giving up on this nutritional powerhouse!
On the farm...
Today I saw a deer standing next to our deer fence (on the outside) staring at it and looking pretty confused. There is wildlife and fisheries land right next door and DNR land as well, so once their new path is established, I'm sure the fence won't be such a source of consternation for them. We love the wildlife around the farm (we've seen black bears, so many different types of birds, as well as ample deer) But sometimes a barrier is needed to protect your crops! Deer can do some serious damage in a short amount of time. We are glad to have them around, just outside of the fence, now.
We got missed by the last rains, so we have been irrigating. We put in a really nice set-up this spring (after farming in several dry seasons, the need for irrigation was very apparent to us). We thought with the wet spring we might not get to use it this season, but the time has come. We are so glad this investment was made. The weather has been turning all over the place. Record lows are expected this weekend after some solid summertime weather. Some crops will like the cool weather, though. And it's not supposed to frost, so our hot weather loving crops should be fine (as long as it warms up some again after this dip!) At least the cooler weather will give you the chance to try out roasting some of your veggies!
We visited our former farm to pick up a few more things and saw a bittersweet sight, the pear trees that we planted our first season there were finally bearing fruit! We didn't have the benefit of being able to taste any (or to put any in the CSA boxes) but we are glad that they are producing for the new folks who will live there. One of the new owners is a horticulturist, so we were pleased to see lots of flowers and plants being put in. The land will be there forever, and our years there were brief by any measure, but the impact of that land on our lives will be with us. We were so blessed to call that place home, but we are really happy to be in a place that we can see ourselves staying put.
Can't believe that July is almost over! We are planning a party in September, but we have not decided the date yet. We will let you know next week.
Recipes...
Kale Market Salad from 101cookbooks
Dorito flavored Kale Chips ??? Let us know if you try this recipe!
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