Week 4, CSA share contents

I'm behind on the posting this week, so I'm gonna give you a quit run down of the CSA contents for the week, without all the jibber jabber.

Here are some beautiful root vegetables (beets, carrots and Hakurei turnips and greens) with strawberries.

broccoli
red oak leaf and green butter crunch lettuces
herbs (dill and parsley - WWFM folks, we're sorry, we completely forgot to pick the herbs - we'll make up for it :)
red Russian kale (aka ragged Jack)
vates kale

more kale
you can eat the kale stems too. you've just got to cook em longer. you can substitute them in recipes that call for celery (unless, of course, you're going for the distinct celery flavor - but they're cook and crispy).
spinach
beets

Hakurei turnips
carrots
can you tell I think the veggies are pretty? ;)
so happy to have color variety!

cabbage (above)
the whole shebang!

Week 3, May 9-15 CSA Share Contents

Howdy do, folks? It seems I'm communicating with all of y'all via the blog and newsletters these days. I'm sad to say that I still haven't met everyone in the CSA yet, since I've been staying home studying for my prelim exam - but that's only going to be the case for another week and a half and then I'll be right there with Ben at the drop sites!

So, I did a little something different this week with the pictures of the share contents. I know a lot of CSAs use boxes and that's something we haven't really been doing. We don't use the boxes for a few reasons. The most important reason is because we prefer to keep the produce nice and cool so when you come to pick it up it's in great condition. Heat works wonders on these veggies and once they wilt, it's all over. Another reason, which will become pretty apparent once you check out these pictures, is that the produce just won't fit in one box - at least not a box with a lid on it. I took pictures of each of the items in the box and I also tried to include everything in the box, so y'all could get a nice view of what it would look like if you did get a box of your share.

So, without further adieu...

Here's the box with the contents of this week's share all together (minus the dill and cilantro - it seems I forget to take a picture of something every time!)

Broccoli

Dandelion greens

Rainbow chard

Strawberries (one quart for small and regular shares; 2 for large shares)

Berry close up

Snow peas

Close up

Baby leeks

Bok choy

Kale

Kale close up

Red bibb lettuce

Green romaine lettuce

Tatsoi

Scallions

The baby leeks are on top, scallions on the bottom here.

My, that sure is pretty!

Alrighty. That's all folks! See you in a week or two. Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Full of Life

Hi folks! I have a few pictures from the farm this week and I thought I'd go ahead and share them with you. Spring is in full force and the farm is a microcosm of all of the rejuvenation and new life that comes with the season. Enjoy!

It's hard to tell here, but these are baby birds in the weeping cherry. Their momma or daddy did not like me peeking through to photograph them, so I didn't get any good shots. They sure did open their little yellow mouths for some food though.

Snow pea flowers are beauty-FULL! And the peas taste amazing too (we have some from our first round of planting already)!

This is Beth's sour cherry tree. Ben and I are hoping we get to try a slice of her infamous sour cherry pie. 

The peaches are already getting pretty big!

Potatoes!

The first round of zucchini, squash and cucumbers (we planted 400 of each!)

I have no idea of what this flower on the vine is called, but it's gorgeous! It's on our front porch with kiwi and grape vines. 

These are in the ground now.

These too. I'm so excited about tomatillos!

Here's a shot of one of the sections. Most of what you can see is peas and oats (and the yellow stuff, well, that's wild radish - we don't care for it much but the bees and the chickens sure do!).

Can you believe there are already blueberries on the bushes?!

Poor Ben planted all of these tomatoes without me - since I'm still spending most of my time studying for prelims. I'll be out there picking them with him all summer though!!! 

Well, I guess that's it for now. Have a very Happy Mother's Day!

Week 2, May 2-8 Share Contents

Hi folks! I have pictures of the share contents for Week 2. To avoid forgetting to take the pictures, I photographed the produce pre-wash, so you'll notice soil on the veggies. They'll be nice and clean when you pick them up, of course. But it's always good to give them another cleaning before you use them. The only thing we don't wash at the farm are the strawberries, as they should only be washed right before eating them (to maintain their "shelf" life).

I also just printed out this week's newsletter. You can expect more in this newsletter compared with last week. This week we've included Michele McKinley's description of Farm It Forward, an idea Ben and I approached AHA (Advocates for Health in Action) in February. We're having our first fundraiser this Sunday at Market Restaurant. For more info on that, please see the preceding post. We've also include some basic information (storage and cooking instructions) to help members make good use of your weekly shares. We've highlighted bok choy, rainbow chard, lettuce and dill. And finally, Ben wrote a little segment we're calling "Farmer Musings" to let members know what's going on here on the farm. We hope you find the newsletters helpful.

Okay, now, for the pictures!

Here's a regular/small sized share. Everything is pictured here but the chard and the herbs.

Items in this weeks share include: strawberries, bok choy, tatsoi, beets, dill and cilantro, lettuce, spinach and scallions.

This is a green bib, called Nancy.

This is a red romaine, called Marvel the Four Seasons.

A recipe for tofu stuffed lettuce rolls is in the newsletter.

Tatsoi

Bok Choy. The newsletter includes a recipe for Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Cashew Sauce.

Spinach. We like to steam it all and eat it with eggs for breakfast.

These are scallions. The difference between scallions and green onions, is that green onions are basically baby (bulbing) onions, while scallions will not bulb.

Detroit Red Beets (for full shares only - but many more are on the way for all share sizes)

You can steam or saute the beet greens too!

Cilantro and Dill (a recipe for dill and horseradish biscuits is included in the newsletter)

Yummy, yummy strawberries! This variety is called Chandler. 

Here's Ben about to wash all of the produce. This week I completely forgot to get a picture of the Rainbow Chard, but I think y'all know what it looks like. And if you forgot, you can always check the Week 1 CSA Share post. We included a recipe for Swiss Chard Gratin in the newsletter.

Washing the spinach.

Well, I suppose that's it for now! If you have any questions or suggestions for how we can make your membership experience better, please feel free to send us email or give us a call.

Also, we would really love it if members would contribute some recipes of your own so we can share them with everyone.

Thanks for stopping by! Ben will see you at the pick ups and at market. I'm MIA for the time being, working on my doctoral exam (prelim) for global sociology. I take the exam Monday, May 16th. After that, you'll be seeing my face around a whole lot more! Ben told me a lot of folks from market wished me luck - thank you! I can certainly use it!

P.S. If you know folks that are interested in joining a CSA and you are happy with us, please let them know we are still accepting CSA members. We will prorate new members to account for missed pick ups.