Spring CSA

Week Thirteen of the Spring CSA will include the following: Bok Choi, Spinach or Lettuce, Mesclun Greens, Root Veggies (either parsnips, beets, or carrots), Onion, Apples, and Kohlrabi. Please note that the weekly photo is not an exact depiction of what is in your share, but rather a reference image.

The weekly letter will be coming to your inbox the day before your pickup and is also available at stillmansfarm.com/blog and stilllifefarm.wordpress.com.  

Weekly Featured Item: Kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi is a Cole crop in the Mustard/Brassica family, all of which are decedents of the wild cabbage.  This crop is very popular in Europe and Asian cuisine and is gaining popularity around the world (at one point I was hoping kohlrabi was going to take the place of kale as the US favorite power veggie, but that hasn’t happened yet…lol).  Kohlrabi root is super crunchy and has the flavor of broccoli stems, just delicious.  Very high in Vitamin C and fiber, can be eaten raw or roasted in salad, stir-fry, slaw, soup, and more. To eat this tasty treat, simply take a paring knife and peel away the tough outer skin.  The inside is crispy and sweet and can be cut into sticks and dipped in hummus, shredded and used in slaw, or cubed and roasted.  The leaves can also be cooked, treat them like collard greens.

Farm Dirt

Stillman’s Farm.  Well, I think it’s been established that Farmer Glenn and Farmer Curt have been doing TONS of field prep to try to stay ahead of the planting crews, on both farms.  Everything needs to get into the ground, and it needs to get into the ground now.  The kids (Reid and Kirsten) have also managed to transplant their very first official crop, green cabbage to be used for sauerkraut, I guess that officially makes them farmers!  The early corn that we have out in the fields is already a foot tall…one step closer to summer! Another baby calf was born at the farm this week, bringing the season total to five.  And an Osprey was sighted at Stillman’s, flying low enough to clearly see his masked markings.

Still Life Farm.  We started picking zucchini and squash out the greenhouse this week and had our first little bit available at Tuesday’s Copley market.  Today our crew finished with planting the SLF onions, about 50K in total.  Kip didn’t have daycare this week, so even he got in on the transplanting action and was helping place onion starts in the holes while demanding sing-along time. Onion planting always seems like a major milestone for the spring season.    We hosted berry consultant Nate Nourse at the farm this week.  He conducted a walk-through of our berry crops and brainstormed solutions to some of the issues we encounter growing our small fruits, very informative and helpful. Lots of happy birds at the farm – yellow warbles, phoebes, rose-breasted grosbeaks, orioles.

If you have not signed up for our CSA programs, I recommend you do so quickly and lock yourself into reasonable pricing…. expenses and prices are going up and the farms are beginning to feel these increases.  

Still Life Farm’s WINTER CSA is now accepting members for 2022-23 Season.  Please visit the link to sign up: Still Life Farm Winter CSA. Email StillLifeFarm@aol.com with any questions.

Stillman’s Farm SUMMER CSA will be kicking off mid-June…with a weeklong gap at the end of the Spring CSA. If you were wondering about timing, the Summer CSA ends a week or two before Still Life Farm’s Winter CSA begins, so there’s no overlap and no need to go too long without fresh, local produce form your farmers! Sign up for Summer CSA here.

Eat well & love your food,

Halley Stillman (Still Life Farm) & Genevieve Stillman (Stillman’s Farm)