You MAY have these things: Summer squash of some variety or color, lettuce (of some variety), beans, cucumbers of some variety, chard or beets, beans or peas of some variety, some kind of berries, kale… It is still early in the season, but now that we are picking more variety, you will start to see some of the greens available as a choice.

lettuce and greens growing
lettuce and greens growing

Some of you are asking about coming to the New Braintree farm. Here’s the recap: You are welcome most anytime. Please email me in advance, if you can. I will try to leave a farm map out for you – that way you can navigate to the crops of your choice. Please park on our driveway and do not drive into the fields. Otherwise, you can roam freely and happen upon what you like 😉 As I said last week, you can pick anything you like and only ask you to please be fair to the farm if you would like anything in quantity. I had a few members come last week and I think they really enjoyed seeing the farm and how thoughtfully their food is grown. I really enjoyed seeing a very young, sweet face with strawberry juice on it!

This is great salad weather and I find many salads become the full meal when I add a little grilled steak or fish or whatever. I also LOVE kale salad, sometimes with a little quinoa – yum! There are several kale salad recipes on the blog, but oddly, I have never put up the one I make. here it is, but I will post separately too!

Kale Salad

  • one bunch of kale cleaned, ribs removed, and chopped fairly small.
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 TB balsamic vinegar
  • 3 TB fresh lemon juice
  • 1 TB Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp coarse salt (start with less if that sounds like a lot)
  • At least 1 clove of garlic
  • Fresh black pepper, to taste
  • Whisk the above together and pour over kale. I mix it well with my hands to make sure everything is well coated. It is best if it can rest for a little bit before eating and the kale gets all soft and wilty. Sometimes I add a cup or so of cooked quinoa. It is even better the second day, but it has never lasted beyond that 😉

Farm Dirt

Purple beans..taste like the green ones but don't cook them for too long ;)
Purple beans..taste like the green ones but don’t cook them for too long 😉

It is a joy to be harvesting wonderful beans now – and SO early! This is the time for cucumber or squash preserving, so let us know if you need a case; we will give you a hefty CSA break 🙂 I make a lot of chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini squares, and zucchini bread and freeze it…so handy all winter. My kids pack zucchini squares in their lunch – what a great snack! Speaking of snacking, I want your recipes! Please let me know if you have your own blog, Pinterest, etc for me to link to. Your fellow members may really enjoy your personal CSA experience. Also, don’t be shy about asking out loud what to do with something…you’ll find fellow members will pipe up and give you advice.

We’ve been seeing bear tracks, but not the bear…good thing the bee hives are surrounded by electric fence 🙂

The Barn Swallows fledged last week and are already looking to nest again. We counted 6 male Rose Breasted Grosbeaks at the feeder yesterday! That was amazing!!! The most exciting wildlife last week was listening to the Bob White Quail sounding around the house – we had not heard one for 15 years or so. Then he even made an appearance on the 4th, walking right along the back yard! So sweet 🙂


picture from ALLABOUTBIRDS.ORG ..I did not have my camera

Geneviève Stillman

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