Happy Independence Day! There will not be a CSA pickup on the 4th, but Friday members will pickup an extra week at the end of the season J
Handy info out there: Stillman’s Blog, the Member Connect Page on the blog, Stillman’s Farm facebook page, and my CSA Pinterest Board that I hope to get lots of pins on J
I can hardly believe that July is upon us! Everything is looking really nice at the farm – I found myself snapping lots of pictures of the onion field and the new blueberry orchard. The nice warm weather is moving things along, finally, and lots of ripening is happening. Glenn told me they would start harvesting potatoes and beans Saturday…AWESOME! This a great time to visit the farm (because the weeds are still under control;)), so come on out and explore your New Braintree farm a little, pick your own peas or beans…
You MAY have these things: strawberries, lettuce, beets (Chiogga (red&white), Forono (long dark), Golden, White, Ace(dark red)), chard of some color (white, yellow, pink, red), I saw some shell peas being harvested, so you may have them in your box or as an option, kale of some type, and perhaps something else green. Lots of folks got fennel last week and I imagine it will appear again this week. This fennel is grown for its bulb, which is lovely julienned for a salad or even roasted with your beets. The beets are incredible right now. Did you know beets can naturally lower your cholesterol and blood pressure? Several studies show that drinking beet juice or eating beets can lower blood pressure 5 points for 24 hours. Cool, right? They are high in potassium and nitrates – plus, they are just downright yummy! The greens are high in potassium too J Try roasting your beets if you haven’t already done so. I quarter mine and toss them in olive oil and a little seasoning. The summer squash are coming in, so expect to see them in several forms. All the tender skinned squashes are referred to as summer squash: we grow yellow straight neck, zucchini, golden zucchini, the light green cousa, patty pan (little UFOs) and Costata Romanesco, a ridged green variety. Use them interchangeably in most any recipe calling for anyone of them 😉
More about fennel: It is high in vitamin C, potassium, folate, and fiber. Sounds like a super combo with beets, eh? Did you know the Greeks called it marathon and it actually was growing in the field where the epic battle was fought? Yep, the Battle of Marathon. It was also awarded to Pheidippides after his long run. The bulb is good raw or cooked, the leaves are nice for seasoning, the stems not so useful.
We could use some volunteer help at several of the CSA locations. I will try to get a sign up sheet going. It is not hard and it’s fun to help other members and it helps us a lot. It is also good perspective 😉
To reiterate from last week: please pick up your box every week, return your boxes without destroying them, read your letter, email us with questions (after you have read and re-read your letter ;)), login to your farmigo account to make contact and pickup changes, and have fun with all the goodies!
We grow A LOT of greens. We have a local guy (Paul) whose specific job is to seed the greens and lettuces for transplant. Most everything is seeded weekly. Everyone has their favorite in our house. Mine is arugula; I love the peppery bite in every salad, on a sandwich, under a steak, in mashed potatoes, pretty much with everything. Faith loves kale; sautéed, kale chips, or in salad; I think it is because I put a lot of kale broth in her water bottle as a baby ;). Reid likes spinach sautéed, in salad with bacon maple dressing, in calzones, or frittata. Glenn loves his chard or beet greens with butter and a drizzle of vinegar. On the blog you can use the search box to find “kale crunch” and lots of other kale recipes, “Rachel’s Red Salad”, ideas on “freezing greens”… Deb shared “Beet Greens Soup” with me this week. Please share your recipes too!
Farm Dirt
My major bird sighting was a pair of Orchard Orioles. They were actually nesting in the same small tree as a Kingbird. Gorgeous! I also saw my first bear crossing the road a few feet from our farm…everyone else sees them but me. So I am pretty psyched about seeing the Bobcats and a bear already this year.
Glenn and I saw plenty of deer prints of all sizes on our last walk. The turkeys are out with their poults too.
It will be raspberry season soon and they look wonderful. We welcome you to come and pick some for yourself to enjoy, as we do not include them in the boxes. We encourage you to come to the farm and pick anything you like and only ask you to please be fair if you would like any quantity of anything. In other words, a couple pints of berries or pounds of tomatoes are on the house but bushels may affect our bottom line or what we can offer to the other members 😉 If you have children, they will especially enjoy seeing how things grow, picking and eating right in the field. Sweet corn is the best experience!
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
