Summer CSA 2023
Happy week #3!
How is everyone? I hope that you enjoyed the veggies in your box from last week. It’s fun to see more color fill in the boxes each week! The landscape of the farm changes so quickly these days as more veggies become ready for harvest. Everything is growing really fast!
First of all, I want to thank everyone who reached out last week after I sent my newsletter, it was really awesome to hear your voices, and hear your feedback about the first week on the CSA program! Definitely keep sharing your opinions, thoughts, recipes, ideas, etc. Your voice is what helps our farm grow and change!
Thank you to those of you who responded about pest management and the application of organic chemicals in our field. It’s not the easiest subject to discuss, but I am so grateful to know where everyone stands and grateful for the support as we make decisions on the farm to ensure our food security! To follow up; we did end up spot spraying our potato crop with a broad spectrum chemical called Spinosad that kills potato beetles on contact. Feel free to read the product label HERE if you’re interested in learning more. Using this will really help our potato crop survive until it’s time to harvest, around the beginning of September.
Anyways, this week wasn’t all chemicals! Most of the week was spent doing plot maintenance. We did A LOT of weeding, mowing, and yesterday we trellised all the tomato plants. Once the plants were tamed and trellised, I was amazed at how many green tomatoes were on the plants! We’ll be eating ripe, juicy tomatoes in no time.
We also harvested zucchini/summer squash every day this week. We picked over 150lbs in just a few days! We grow three different varieties of summer squash, and essentially they’re all just different colors of zucchini. You all have summer squash in your share this week, so play with them in all your dishes and meals! Next week I’ll be launching a recipe challenge for all of you to participate in, featuring summer squash! Stay tuned for details 🙂
We were also so happy about the rain storms over the past few days! It’s been BRUTALLY hot, which makes working in the field really exhausting. Today, during the CSA harvest we had a nice storm roll overhead while we were harvesting green onions. Pearce and I found ourselves hiding in the van, eating chips while we waited out the storm!! The storm brought some clouds and cooler weather, so the rest of the harvest was very pleasant.
The hot working conditions have also brought us to the beach in the afternoons. We’ve had a lot of fun splashing around in the water with baby Milo. We’re always finding ways to make working outside worth it at the end of the day!
This week we also worked hard to feed the soil that nourished our plants! Our pepper plants were looking a little nutrient deficient, so top-dressed them with some compost, chicken fertilizer, feather meal, humic acid, and alfalfa pellets. All of these nutrients will feed the soil food web which helps our pepper plants uptake nutrients from the soil.
Keep reading the newsletter to find out what will be in your box this week, and read on for my meatball recipe featuring our farm herbs!
In your box….
Here are photos of what you’ll find in your box this week!
Large CSA
Green curly kale, summer squash, salad turnips, kohlrabi, magenta lettuce, green onions, cilantro, herb trip (sage, thyme, chives).
Small CSA
Green curly kale, lettuce, green onions, summer squash, kohlrabi, herb trio (sage, thyme, chives).
Some inspiration…..
The most unique veggie you’ll find in your share this week is the kohlrabi. It’s a fun veggie to eat raw of cooked. It’s a crunchy, bulbous vegetable. You can eat the bulb and the leaves. I recommend peeling the bulb before eating, the inside is crunchy and juicy and slightly reminiscent of kale, or broccoli in flavor. Feel free to add to salads, cook in stir-frys, or add to soups!
Recipe for the week!
This week you will receive a bundle of garden herbs: sage, thyme, and chives. I love growing herbs because they create a lovely habitat for pollinators on the farm when they flower, but they also have the power to bring tons of flavor and nutrients to our cooking.
Lately, I’ve been on a meatball kick. As a busy farmer, and breastfeeding mama, I need quick snacks, full of protein and healthy fats. Meatballs with garden herbs have been my go to! Since I’ve been so into them lately I figured I’d share my recipe/process for making them. So sorry to all the vegetarians/vegans out there! I highly recommend using your herbs to make an herbed butter instead (if you can do dairy). Here is a link to a video on how to make herbed butter:
Garden Herb Meatballs!
Ingredients:
1lb ground pork
1lb ground beef
Sage, thyme, and chives
2-3 green onions
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Directions: unwrap the ground pork and beef. Place in bowl. Finely chop all fresh herbs and green onions and toss into bowl. Measure out salt, vinegar, and spices. Mix all herbs and spices into the ground meat and roll into 1 inch balls. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 mins. Enjoy as snacks, salad toppings, for breakfast, etc!
I threw some extra garlic scapes in mine too!
Boxes will be dropped off at their usual times tomorrow! Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy the week! We’ll be back to out usual Tuesday deliveries next week.
Sunshine and soil,
Eleanor