Welcome to week one of this year’s CSA!
As always, it has been a busy spring. This is truly the time of year when we are living in three seasons at once! We are harvesting our Spring veggies, planting and tending to Summer veggies, and seeding our Fall veggies.This week, in addition to harvesting, we are planting at a furious rate, in order to take advantage of the rain this week. On deck this week to go out in the field: beans, winter squash, parsnips, and lots of greens.
We are also seeding large sections of summer cover crop to nourish the soil while it is fallow. We purposely leave ⅓ of our acreage fallow each season to allow the soil to rejuvenate itself. Our veggies are nutritious because they pull nutrients from our soil and it is important to allow for extended periods of rest to sequester carbon, allow legumes to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil (“free” fertility), and provide abundant blooms and habitat for pollinators.
Perhaps some new to you crops this week:
The beginning of garlic scapes. We have two varieties right now- regular garlic and elephant garlic. Both have a mild garlic flavor (elephant more mild) and sort of the texture of asparagus. We love these grilled or blended into a pesto. This is the beginning, so larger quantities will be available soon. Image above is of the garlic patch this year; its probably the best garlic patch we have ever grown!
Pea Greens- these are field grown from peas that overwintered. These are a little more fibrous that Pea Shoots but very flavorful. We stir fry these or chop them up finely and sprinkle on egg salad sandwiches.
Our many types of Asian Greens:We are growing a lot of Asian greens this year! Try them in our Stir Fry Mix (an always changing blend) or individually. Types this week include: Komatsuna (Japanese Spinach-Mustard), Tokyo Bekana (very mild, almost like a lettuce + Napa Cabbage), Tatsoi (adorable spoon shaped leaves, delicious cooked or raw), Choi Sum (similar to rapini, but very mild and C.R.U.N.C.H.Y) and Mizuna (perfect for salad or ramen.)
As always, additional EGGS are available to add on to your share, along with our special run of MERGUEZ lamb sausage.
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekends!
