With the potential for rain this afternoon I don’t have a lot of time for chit-chat. So without further ado.
The season starts Wednesday! Plan to pick-up at your usual place and time.
We still have shares available so keep spreading the word!
What will we have this very first week of the season? I’m guessing lettuce, bok choi, green garlic, green onions, snap peas, maybe beets, maybe kale and maybe Swiss chard. These are maybes since they are all things that can get bigger without sacrificing quality so we have to determine if it makes sense to harvest some now or wait a week. Broccoli is about a week away. Kohlrabi is another week or two out. Zucchinis might make an appearance by the end of the harvest week but will be in small quantities. They will certainly be available in week two.
For those new to the farm and to our newsletter, when I mention something is available the first week it doesn’t mean you will get it. Vegetable availability is very bell-shaped. So early and late in a given vegetable’s season there will be less available than we have shares. So what we do is match it with other vegetables that are also in short supply so that the total of the group of vegetables is more than enough for the number of shares we have. On-farm pick-up members get to choose from each grouping. For delivery boxes we don’t put some of every vegetable in the box. Feedback from our members has said they prefer more of fewer veggies than a little bit of many veggies. It is easier to plan and make meals when you have a sufficient quantity of key ingredients. So if we have a group of two items we may just give you three of one item and none of the other for a FamilyShare.
If you are a planner type and need to know what will be in your share the best way is to wait until we post a picture on Wednesday afternoon to see what we are sending out. For those picking up at the farm you might have to plan as you “shop” the tent.
This week we have BreadShare and CoffeeShare (oh and MeatShare if you haven’t picked that up yet). CheeseShare, EggShare, IceCreamShare, SeafoodShare and FruitShare start next week. FlowerShare is at least a week out if not more.
Vegetable of the Week: This week, as seems to be the case in most first weeks of the season, the vegetable of the week is green garlic. Since members new to CSA may not have ever had it or have never seen it I feel it is important to educate them a bit. Green garlic is an immature garlic plant. The bulb may be forming but the clove skins have not yet. This makes it really easy to use — no peeling. You can use all of the green garlic though I tend to toss the leaves since there is enough tasty goodness in the bulb and stalk. Green garlic can be used just like fully mature garlic though it is milder. With its more mild flavor you can consume it raw in dips or spreads. We like to grind it up in the food processor then add a block of cream cheese for a delicious garlic cheese spread (you can also use garlic scapes, which we will get later this spring, the same way). Though I haven’t tried it I suspect it would grill quite nicely! It should be stored in the fridge and if you are really pedantic you can put its roots in water to keep it fresh longer! You might even be able to store it this way out of the fridge. If parts of it start to dry up simply cut them away before using. Don’t be shy, give it a try!
One last thing: One of our biggest pests is flea beetles. Ok, actually they are one of our smallest pests, but there are so many of them that as a whole they are a big pest. Their favorite food is bok choi. If we were to use pesticides to control them we’d have to spray practically every day to keep them from consuming our bok choi. So instead we use a floating rows cover. This keeps the flea beetles off the bok choi so that the leaves aren’t all holey.
Why do I mention this? Well this year, for the first time ever, we have a new pest on the bok choi. I have not been able to identify it yet. It is bigger than a flea beetle but seems to like bok choi just as much. And I have only seen it on the bok choi, well not on the bok choi but on the floating row cover. And the bad part is it can eat the bok choi through the row cover! So on windless days these bugs gather on the row cover and sample the tips of the leaves that are touching the row cover. So unfortunately the bok choi you receive may be a bit sampled. Nonetheless, it will still be quite tasty.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, recipes, jokes, etc. do not hesitate to send them my way!