After our morning tour of the farm today (something we do daily, to check on the crops & decide what needs to be done that day …) it was pointed out, that I had not once mentioned, nor moaned or lamented about all the weeds.

Of course not! Embrace the weeds is what I always say!

And WOW! There are lots to embrace!

Weeds grow well in most conditions, but this year they are especially prolific. Due to the abundance of rain earlier, and warm temperatures lately, conditions have been ideal for weed growth. Also, it has often been too wet to get in to cultivate, hoe or even hand weed at times, resulting in more weed pressures.

We lost some crops at the start of the season to weeds, but since then we have been handling them ok. A few extra helping hands and timely weeding have gone a long way to keeping things under control. We concentrate our efforts on the new transplants and seeds that have just come up. Minimizing competition from the weeds for space & sunshine gets the seedlings off to a good start. Then if we can’t get to everything, the larger plants can handle the weeds better. And so far, there has been moisture enough for all!

Our newest crops – happily growing weed-free!

Carrots – which we have not grown for years because of the weeding required – looking clean.

Mature vegetables successfully co-existing with the weeds.

Even the onions & leeks which were buried deep under weeds have been successfully saved!

The big problem with allowing some weeds to grow & mature, is that they will go to seed, and we’ll be dealing with them for years to come.

But that’s next year’s problem. This season we embrace the weeds!

What’s in the box?

Blackberries, bok choy, beans, fresh basil, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, onions, garlic.

• Looks like another big pick of blackberries this week. Enjoy some in your box again! See below for a recipe for Blackberry Lemon poppy-seed Muffins from one of our CSA members (thanks Shelley!).
• We have a lovely planting of bok choy ready to harvest. Perfect for a delicious stir-fry – maybe with beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions & garlic!
• A beautiful bunch of basil – perfect for pesto (see recipe below) – is part of your share this week. Choose from lemon basil or regular basil.
• Summer is salad time – made with our fresh lettuce mix. 

Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

1 and 3/4 cups (220 g) all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup (120 g) Greek yogurt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60ml) milk

2 Tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

1 and 1/2 cups (250 g) fresh or frozen blackberries (do not thaw if using frozen)

Glaze

• 1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2-3 Tablespoons (30-45 ml) fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. Make the muffins: In a large bowl, toss the flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high-speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat on high until creamed, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, then turn up to high-speed until the mixture is combined and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low-speed until just about combined. Add the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and continue to beat on low until combined. Fold in the blackberries with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. They may bleed a little.
5. Spoon the batter evenly into each cup or liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 22-23 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack and drizzle with glaze. Muffins stay fresh stored in the refrigerator for 1 week.
6. For the glaze: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice together. Drizzle over muffins.

Make ahead tip: For longer storage, freeze muffins (without glaze) for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm up in the microwave if desired. Glaze before serving.  (from www.sallysbakingaddiction.com)

Pesto

1 cup packed fresh basil
1-3 cloves fresh garlic
1/3 cup walnuts, or pine nuts
3-6 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
2 sprigs parsley (optional)
Finely chop in food processor
Gradually add 1/3 – 1/2 cup olive oil while the food processor is running. Once it is a thick paste you’re done!
Freezes well in ice-cube trays. Once frozen, pop out and freeze in baggies. Take  out one or two at a time to use in your recipe.

(based on a recipe from Simply in Season cookbook)

A few pictures from Saturday’s market in Georgetown. It’s a beautiful, bountiful & colourful time of the year.

Here’s a picture of our tractor & sprayer.

I used to spend more time on this equipment, back when we grew peaches, pears, cherries … and all the other tender fruit. Now that we are concentrating on vegetables, I don’t use the sprayer much. We try to grow our crops without the use of pesticides, whether organic or chemical. Now I mostly use the sprayer for watering – transplants when we put them in the ground, or crops when it gets really dry (like last year – not this year!).

However, we will use the sprayer for its intended purpose – to spray pesticides – when we feel it is necessary. After our first 2 hail events earlier this season, I did apply a fungicide on our tomatoes to try & prevent or at least slow down blight & other diseases.

We also spray our blackberries.

For many years we did not. That was one of the good things about growing blackberries – no spraying necessary!

Then along came the spotted wing drosophila. Spotted wing drosophila is an invasive vinegar fly that has the potential to cause extensive damage to many fruit crops (especially soft fruits like berries and dark coloured fruit like blackberries). In the last few years it has been found throughout much of southern Ontario along with most of the fruit-growing areas of North America. It has become a chronic pest in berry and tender fruit crops in Ontario. Effective biological controls are not yet available. There are cultural practices that we use to help reduce the insect populations, but the only effective control right now is chemical.

And so we spray regularly to try to kill the spotted wing drosophila and protect our blackberries (and elderberries). We would rather not! But then again, we would rather not have worms in our blackberries – would you!?

(not sure why I only remember to take pictures of the blackberries after picking, and not before?)

What’s in the box?

Blackberries, kohlrabi, green beans, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic.

• The blackberries are great again this week! We harvested a huge amount today – which means another couple pints in your share this week. In the unlikely event that you cannot eat them all, remember that they freeze very well. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze overnight. Then scoop them into a bag. That way you can grab as many as need this coming winter, for using in smoothies, on ice cream, yogurt or pudding, or for baking …
• Two weeks ago I posted that the new planting of kohlrabi was ready but the rain had cracked & rotted them. It was disappointing to say the least, so I ignored them for a while! But this week you will find a kohlrabi in your box.  While some rotted or were cracked & misshapen beyond use, many are still salvageable. Most do have a crack or 2 and will require a bit of extra peeling & cutting  – which is why we let them get bigger before harvesting them. You will still get a lot of good eating out of them. I know I did when I picked them today!!  (If you have forgotten what to do with kohlrabi, look back at the CSA newsletters of weeks 4 and 5 for suggestions.)
• A new row of green beans is ready. The quality is great – the quantity not so much. For years we have grown the same variety of green beans, but this year we tried a new kind that promised to be easier to pick with most of the beans held on stems above the leaves. Indeed they are a treat to pick, but unfortunately they don’t produce as heavy a crop. For our next planting, which should be ready in a week or 2, we have returned to our old faithful green beans – harder to pick, but better production. Live & learn!
• A new crop of lettuce mix is also ready. Enjoy it in a fresh salad along with the other contents of the box – peppers, tomatoes, onions & garlic.

________________

– new zucchini planting

– tomatoes struggling to outgrow the blight.

– last week’s box.

What’s in the box?

Green peppers, Swiss chard, blackberries, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, garlic.

• The peppers are hanging thick on many of our pepper plants – but they sure are slow to change colour! So rather than wait for them to turn red, orange, yellow … we’ll pick some green peppers this week.
• Swiss chard is a beautiful & delicious leafy green – but not that well-known. The stems come in a rainbow of colours – white, red, pink, yellow & orange. The wrinkled leaves can hold a lot of dirt & grit so they may need several washings. The simplest way to prepare them is to just wilt them in the saute pan then season with oil, butter and salt & pepper, and enjoy.

I have included several simple recipes using Swiss chard below.

• After a pleasant & warm weekend, we had an amazing pick of blackberries today. Enjoy a larger taste of these sweet & tart berries in your share this week. Store them in the fridge uncovered and eat them within a day or two.
• We’re finally picking some larger beefsteak tomatoes along with the cherry types. Tomato sandwiches anyone? Find all sizes of tomatoes in the box this week.
• Lettuce, onions & garlic continue to be a part of the share again this week.

Quinoa with Swiss chard, garlic & tomatoes 

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup Swiss chard stems, finely chopped (about 4-6 stalks)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 medium size tomatoes diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups Swiss chard leaves, roughly chopped
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Set aside on a serving platter.
2. In a large saute pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil.
3. Saute the Swiss chard stems and shallots until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and saute until they have lost their firmness.
4. Add the garlic and Swiss chard leaves and continue to saute until the leaves have softened.
5. Remove from heat and slide on top of the cooked quinoa and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.  (recipe from myhalalkitchen.com)

Swiss Chard stalk Hummus

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add 2 cups chopped chard stalks and boil for 5-10 min.
Drain well, squeezing out any excess water, and add the stalks to a food processor, along with 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup tahini, 1/2 tsp salt and juice of one lemon. Pulse continuously until dip is slightly chunky. Serve with a generous swirl of oil on top and sprinkle a handful of chopped parsley if desired.

Some newer plantings of vegetables including beans, cabbages, Swiss chard …

… carrots, lettuce, spinach, Chinese cabbages, bok choy.

You know it’s wet when …

… the puddles on the farm never seem to dry up,

… the vegetables are growing – but not as well as the weeds (find the onions to the right in the picture!),

… you have not had to water the pots of herbs in the yard for almost a week,

… the new patch of kohlrabi is ready to pick – except it is mostly cracked & rotting,

… the tomatoes are just starting to produce, but the plants are already dying,

… 5 days out of the last week had rain (and it hailed twice)!

You know it’s wet … when you no longer lament all the vegetables that are diseased, rotting & dying, but instead are amazed (and thankful) at those vegetables that are still looking healthy & doing well.

What’s in the box?

Blackberries, tomatoes, beans, beets, garlic, onions & zucchini.

• The first taste of blackberries is in the box this week. We only have 2 rows of blackberries – but they are one of our most important crops. This season especially, we are hanging our hopes on the blackberries. They look outstanding so far & we’re optimistic that the harvest will be long & fruitful!

• As mentioned above, the tomato plants are failing rapidly even though we have barely begun the harvest. Fingers crossed that their growth outpaces the diseases and they keep producing – at least for a while. Find some cherry tomatoes in your share & perhaps a larger slicing tomato as well.
• The beans this week will be mostly dragon’s tongue – a flat, yellow bean with purple stripes. We started growing these beans years ago, because of the name & their beautiful looks. We continue to grow them for their great taste – better than any green bean in my opinion!
• We are cleaning up the first planting of beets. The size might be varied, and the greens are not too good anymore but the beets still taste good. The next patch is ready & will have some yellow beets too. The final planting – we just transplanted them last week – is growing well. It includes dark red beets, yellow beets & the candy-striped beets. So there should be beets on & off for the remainder of our CSA program.

• How was the fresh garlic? We are including another bulb this week. Remember – it is not yet dried. Store it at room temperature in a spot with good air circulation.
• Onions grow best in sunny, moist, weed-free conditions. We’re doing really great with the moisture, so-so with the sun but very poorly with the weeds. The result is that the onions are not getting much bigger. But we have lots of this very useful & delicious vegetable.
• The zucchini plants continue to amaze me. While they are producing very few zucchini – most plants have wilted & are dying – many are throwing out new vines with fresh green leaves and even blossoms. Will they turn into fruit or will disease overtake them first? We’ll find out! But we do have several new plantings of zucchini coming soon.

Please remember to return all containers – big & small – so we can reuse them.

Here’s hoping for a warm, sunny (rain-free) week!

Harvest is always the high point of our day.

And when we can pick something that is a favourite of our CSA members & market customers, and a crop that is eagerly awaited – well, that’s even better!

Something like …. garlic!

Garlic scapes are good, as is green garlic, but everyone awaits the new crop of those pungent, tasty bulbs of deliciousness.

We pulled much of the crop today – mostly large, firm, beautiful bulbs of garlic. They are now spread on the drying racks in the barn, filling the air with their perfume.

Another favourite crop – or at least one that brings a big smile to people’s faces – is sunflowers.

Our sunflowers are blooming! The first few that we brought to market on Saturday were snapped up in a hurry. People love sunflowers!

We will have lots of sunflowers for sale at market this week and at CSA pick-up.

What’s in the box?

Fresh garlic, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers, onions.

• Why wait? Enjoy a fresh bulb of new garlic. Because it is not dried, it should be kept someplace with good air circulation, and out of the sun. Do not put in plastic or in the fridge. Once the bulb has been started, try to finish using it within a few days.
• Our new rows of beans are healthy & producing well now, and back in the box this week.
• Every time we pick tomatoes, more varieties are ripe. There may even be a few large tomatoes by the end of the week.
• Last week the zucchini plants looked poorly. They still do, but at the same time they’re putting on new, fresh growth with lots of new blossoms. We got a nice pick today. Here’s hoping it continues. Today we transplanted a new batch of zucchini plants into the field. They should be producing in about a month.
• Onions & (the last of the) cucumbers round out your CSA share this week.

Saturday at market, a friend brought us some zucchini dip to try. The recipe comes from the summer edition of Food & Drink, the magazine put out by the LCBO. I have included the recipe below. It’s delicious!  (This is a large recipe. You may want to try just half)

Zucchini Dip

6 cups grated zucchini (about 4 medium zucchini)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

½ cup yogurt

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup lemon juice

1 tbsp chopped dried mint

Salt & pepper

Garnish – 1 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1. Toss zucchini with salt. Transfer to a strainer & set over a bowl. Drain off excess water for about 15 minutes. Pat dry.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini & sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant & zucchini is beginning to turn golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.
3. Stir in yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, & dried mint. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Heap into a bowl and garnish with cumin and fresh mint.

Brothers Flynn & Flynn enjoying the summer sunshine!

There are some weird & wonderful things growing on the farm this season.

For example …

** (None of these vegetables will appear in our CSA shares, as we are not growing quantities of any of them. They will only be available at our farmers’ markets – or not at all if they don’t turn out successfully.)

Cucamelons aka mouse melons, Mexican gherkins or sandiita. Sandiita means little watermelon which is exactly what they look like. The size though is slightly smaller. For comparison …

Cucamelons don’t taste like a watermelon, but rather like a tangy cucumber. They can be eaten out of hand or in salads, stir-fries, salsa or pickled.

These little guys are turning out great. We had a few to sell at market last week & they were snapped up in a hurry.

Growing nicely & spreading out on the straw are bitter melons – 5 kinds. We’ve tried growing them before with little success. Maybe this year is our year? While even the name bitter melons does not sound appealing to me, but they are a staple in many cultures & I would really like to be able to offer them to our customers.

Our artichokes were seeded, transplanted into the field and are growing well – but not as well as the weeds. The overwhelming crop of weeds this season, thanks to the abundance of rain, forced us to make choices as to where we would direct our weeding energies. The artichokes were not chosen!

Other less common vegetables that we are growing (or attempting to grow) include fava beans (total crop failure), radicchio (on course for a fall harvest), winter radishes & Asian radishes (to be seeded this week). Some seeds never even made it out of their packages (amaranth, quinoa, sesame, and huauzontle). Maybe next year!

Some crops we have not mentioned lately but are doing well.

We have made 4 seedings of sunflowers this year. Looking forward to these cheerfully bright blooms!

Our new raspberry rows were rescued from the weeds today.

What’s in the box?

Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, kale, (beans).

• There are finally enough tomatoes being harvested to include them in our CSA share this week. Not a lot, but a hint of what is to come.
• We are still planting lettuce – varieties that are supposed to be able to take the heat. Our hope is to have lettuce off & on for much of the summer. Enjoy your fresh salad again this week.
• Onions, zucchini & cucumbers are becoming a regular part of the box. A CSA member shared a recipe for zucchini fritters that I have included below. She claims they are great – and she’s right! We made them & loved them. Thanks Rachel!
• Farmers love kale – easy to grow, dependable, waiting in the field until we need it. Most members love it too. Kale is always a favourite.
• Beans are a big disappointment this week! We were anticipating big picks all week. However the plants have succumbed to rust & today’s harvest was small & of poor quality. The next planting should be mature for harvesting later in the week. Perhaps Friday pick-up will have beans again?

Speaking of disappointments … other crops are showing signs of stress from all the rains. Zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, tomatoes, even onions & kale are all becoming diseased & declining. New plantings of many of these vegetables are growing, but there may be shortages in the next few weeks. More sunshine & less precipitation would be a big help right now!

Two views from our market stall last Thursday. Not a customer to be seen! We had almost 2 hours of heavy rains. Bad weather means lots of time to visit with the other vendors & share stories of the difficult season. Most growers have lost crops to the rain & some are not able to replant because the ground is so wet. I guess misery loves company – it’s oddly comforting to know we are not alone in our struggles with mother nature!

Zucchini Fritters

3 cups grated zucchini

2 eggs

¾ cup shredded cheese

½ cup panko bread crumbs

½ tsp basil

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Grate zucchini and squeeze to remove some of the water

Mix in rest of the ingredients

Scoop out onto parchment lined baking sheet (each fritter about 2 tbsp)

Bake at 425 for about 20 mins (until lightly browned).

This is a view of the area in front of our workshop/greenhouse. Rows of plug trays filled with seeds & seedlings, trays of pots also containing seeds – some germinated, others newly planted.

Normally (if there is such a thing anymore) most of these seeds would have been sown directly into the ground, out in the fields.

But not this year. It’s just been too wet to get on the land, prepare the soil and seed!

Our options are – wait until things dry up and then seed in the field (which will put us behind) or seed in trays & then transplant the seedlings into the field later (hoping it is dry enough when that time comes). We are doing both!

So far things are working out. Our soil is amazing & requires only a day or two to dry off after a big rain. Some seeds have been sown out on the farm when possible including beans, edamame, some herbs … Under more ideal conditions we certainly would have planted more. And we have managed to transplant most seedlings as necessary. We’ve lost some that had to wait too long – but not a lot! Things are never perfect! But our CSA boxes will be full & the tables at market will have a good variety of produce. All in all we have little to complain about & much to be thankful for!

The forecast this week calls for a lot of sun. We expect to be able to prepare this field for planting in a day or two.

Meanwhile, the weeds are not waiting. They are loving all the moisture & now the warmth and growing like gangbusters. We have finished mulching the peppers & eggplant with straw – out attempt to beat the weeds.

Cabbages, onions & lettuces … that were transplanted last week are also doing well.

We were able to seed buckwheat where the early peas, spinach & lettuce were growing. It has come up nicely. The buckwheat’s role is to smother weeds now, which will reduce weed pressure next year.

What’s in the box?

Green beans, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, salad turnips.

• The first planting of green beans (we’ve seeded 3 times so far) is ready. It is a reduced harvest – too much competition from weeds & too wet – but things should improve this week. Enjoy!
• When we checked the cucumbers late last week, surprise! There they were. Last Friday’s pick-up already got a taste. Everyone gets cucumbers this week! Probably my favourite vegetable, I eat them many ways – sliced paper-thin with a dressing of mayonnaise, together with tomatoes (they’re almost ready!) in a vinaigrette with lots of fresh dill, or just as a snack.
• The onion in your share this week – the first of many – will be the heirloom Ailsa Craig variety that we have been growing for several years now. They are a sweeter onion & very delicious. They are still small, but should be bigger each week.

• Another planting of lettuce is mature for harvest. After a 2 week break from lettuce it’s back in your CSA share this week.

• Zucchini, zucchini, zucchini! The harvest keeps increasing & increasing. They have almost outgrown the earlier hail damage – both the plants & the fruit.
• Broccoli & salad turnips make a continuing appearance in the box. Be aware that the broccoli might contain some “friends” or so we’ve been told. Soak them in some cold salt water if you are concerned and the worms should float to the surface. We figure this is a better way to remove them than spraying a lot of pesticide. I have included a simple recipe for salad turnips – something different then eating them raw.

PAN-ROASTED SALAD TURNIPS WITH HONEY

• 1 bunch small salad turnips, halved lengthwise
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 TB honey
• Pinch of cayenne
• 1/2 TB water

Toss turnips with 1 tsp. oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Combine honey, cayenne and water in a small bowl.

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining tsp. oil.  Add turnips. Sauté for about 10 minutes, turning turnips frequently, until they are golden brown.

Add honey mixture to turnips and toss them for a few minutes until glazed and tender. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Thank you for returning all containers. We can reuse them!

This week brings us to the middle of July. The summer is flying along!

The farm is lush & green and looking good. Sure there are lots of weeds – we’re understaffed this summer and therefore always behind on the weeding – but we’re trying to embrace the weeds & accept them! More importantly, the crops are doing well overall.

 Raspberry rows with a small field of buckwheat behind. The buckwheat is grown as a cover crop to smother weeds & improve the soil.

Rows of zucchini.

This yellow striped zucchini is a new variety for us. 

New plantings of cabbages & lettuce. Weedy rows to the right!

Are there really brussels sprouts & eggplant hiding in the weeds?

Most of the tomatoes are now staked & tied.

What’s in the box?

Raspberries, zucchini, broccoli/cauliflower, beets & mint,

salad turnips, kohlrabi, green onions.

extras – garlic scapes

• The raspberries are actually improving! We’re getting bigger picks of better tasting berries. We’re excited to offer them again this week in your box.
• It is high season for zucchini! We got a massive pick today – of massive zucchini ( and lots of smaller ones too). Don’t be scared of the big ones! They are great for stuffing, grilling on the barbeque, or turning into zucchini bread (or brownies).
• I admit it. We do not grow the most beautiful broccoli & cauliflower. The broccoli is usually small & the cauliflower is rarely a pristine white. But they do taste good! Our 2nd planting of broccoli is just starting to produce, so there should be broccoli in your share for a few more weeks. Cauliflower might be an option – we’ll see how it is when we pick it tomorrow.
• The rest of the CSA box this week is roots … (didn’t see that coming!)
• We’re putting the beets & mint together. While it may seem like a strange combination, our favourite thing to eat these days is a beet salad with fresh mint. Find the recipe below & give it a try. It’s great!
• Salad turnips – one of our most successful crops this spring! You are telling us that you like them, so we’re pleased to have another bunch in your share this week.
• The kohlrabi are getting bigger & bigger … So far they continue to be juicy & delicious.
• This week should finish off our early planting of green onions. There will be more coming but they are still quite small & several weeks away at least.

Fresh Beet Salad with Mint

Ingredients & Instructions

Beets – spiralized or shredded.

Fresh mint – 2 tbsp. chopped.

Dressing – combine in a jar the following:

juice of 1 orange,

1 tsp honey,

1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar,

2 tbsp olive oil,

Salt & pepper to taste.

Optional – ¼ cup pistachios (we don’t use these)

Pour dressing over beets & add the chopped mint.

Oliver “helping” pick raspberries.

One Flynn catching up on his rest.

The other Flynn keeping watch.

(Our camera broke today as I was starting to take some pictures for this newsletter. Sorry, no pictures!)

I was determined not to mention the weather today.

But I have to!

Here are some ways it is affecting what is in our CSA share this week – and what isn’t. And what we will be selling at market – and what we won’t.

1. Raspberries.

It’s raspberry season – those bright red, juicy, sweet berries that just about everybody loves. We were able to pick a few last week, but not enough for our CSA boxes, so we took them to market. This week we hope to have enough for CSA. As we mentioned earlier, the drought last year was hard on our raspberries and we lost most of the patch. The few rows that we kept are not great. This year’s raspberries are produced on the canes that grew last year – and those canes are short & weak. Thus there are few quality berries. Enjoy them because we don’t know if there will be any more.

2. Zucchini.

Zucchini – one day there are none, the next day an abundance of them. This season we have green zucchini, yellow zucchini, long green ones with stripes, yellow with stripes, the round yellow patty pans, and some short, green striped ones. They all taste similar, have similar texture and can be used the same way. They also all got hit with hail last week. It left some of them looking a little rough & beat up, with small gouges in the skin. Fortunately they have healed over nicely. Just cut away the blemish.

3. Hail update.

We were very fortunate to receive minimal damage from last Monday’s hail storm. The zucchini has the most visible damage. Our winter squash were newly transplanted & the leaves were really ripped up but they are growing fast & there are plenty of new, healthy green leaves. Same with the eggplant.

We were most concerned about our tomato plants. Those that were already pruned & tied to the stakes especially had a lot of cuts & wounds on their stems. Wary of blight & other diseases setting in, I sprayed them (and the squash & eggplant) with a protective fungicide. So far they are healing nicely & showing no signs of disease.

What’s in the box?

Raspberries, kale, zucchini, kohlrabi, salad turnips.

– broccoli, radishes?

extras – garlic scapes

• Enjoy a box of raspberries in your share this week (see above). In the unlikely event that any make it all the way home with you, uneaten, keep them refrigerated and use within a day or two.
• Kale – we have included a bunch of kale in your box, either plain or curly. We enjoy kale raw in our salads, but it is good cooked too. Kale tastes great with olive oil and garlic, onions or leeks. Combine it with sweet vegetables like corn or carrots. Unless the kale leaves are very small & tender, remove the tougher stems before using. The easiest way is to grasp the stem with 1 hand and use the other hand to strip the leaf away with a quick motion.Store kale in a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper for 3-4 days. * The longer it is stored, the stronger the flavour becomes.
• Zucchini (see above).
• The kohlrabi & salad turnips have grown larger since they last appeared in your CSA share. Here is a link to a recipe for kohlrabi fritters that a CSA member shared last year. Some of you have been asking for it again –  http://honestcooking.com/kohlrabi-fritters-vermont-csa/ . Lots of useful kohlrabi information is included.
• Broccoli & radishes have a question mark after them. We won’t know until we pick tomorrow how many there will be. Hopefully there will be enough!
• We still have lots of garlic scapes for those who want some. Garlic scape pesto anyone?

Last week’s CSA share …

Once again we found ourselves looking up at the skies today.

This afternoon, Amy was in the tomato patch, suckering & tying. I was transplanting lettuce seedlings into the field. But both of us were eyeing the clouds, marvelling at the lightning and listening to the thunder.

Mostly it seemed to be going north, over the lake …

Towards the south all looked clear …

But to the west the storm was building and approaching …

When the lightning got too close for comfort, we headed in to the barn and worked there.

The storm began with a bit of rain which quickly increased in intensity & then turned to hail. The hail lasted 8 minutes (we timed it) and was the size of peas, even large peas! Looking out the barn door, we could see it build up on the ground.

Hail is always an unwelcome event. It can cause a lot of damage, even devastation in a short time. What makes hail particularly cruel is that it usually happens in the summer when crops are ready or almost ready for harvest. It can also be very local and ruin one farm & leave surrounding farms untouched. Hail does not play fair!

Today’s hail appears to have been widespread in our area & caused varying degrees of damage. Some farms in our neighbourhood are reported to be wiped out. We were fortunate and seem to have experienced less damage – mainly rips & holes in leaves. While this will make the vegetable plants more susceptible to disease we think most will be okay. But we will find out the full extent of the damage when we harvest for CSA tomorrow.

After the storm the skies continued to awe.

What’s in the box?

Beets, broccoli/zucchini, snow peas, lettuce,

spinach, garlic scapes, green onions.

• The first of the red beets will be in your share this week. They will be baby beets, quite small, but very tender & sweet. Enjoy!
• We are picking broccoli (in fact last Friday’s pick-up got a surprise of broccoli in their box!) & zucchini – but not a lot of either. Depending on how the picking goes tomorrow, each share will have a choice of broccoli or zucchini but probably not both. We’ll see what happens for Friday?
• This is likely the last week for snow peas. Unfortunately they never last long.
• Lettuce, spinach, garlic scapes & green onions will all be part of your CSA share again. Remember to wash, dry, & bag them and store them in the refrigerator.

Here’s last week’s box.