Happy Thursday, veggie friends!
We hope you're staying dry out there: the rain sure went out with a bang today! Holy. Supposed to get some sun for a bit so that will be nice!
I waited to send the customization email out until now because we were working on placing an order for some external produce: I know, sounds weird! But due to some crop failures from the rain and flooding, we are definitely short on certain items that I really don't want folks to miss out on. We are putting in new plantings as we speak, but they won't be ready for a while. So in the meantime, I wanted to make sure we got the variety to you that you would expect. And I actually love to idea of supporting other farms, so that every farm doesn't have to grow every type of vegetable. To me, it's a win win.
We placed the order with Amy Quarry, of Long Table Grocery in Quesnel. She is an amazing force for local food and helped us out a lot by allowing us to order with her. Unfortunately, we couldn't get these particular crops locally, which is what we wanted, but they are certified organic and grown on 2 small family farms on the coast (Two EE's farm and Crisp Organics). The crops in this week's boxes that are from these 2 farms are:
- celery (Amy says they are amazing! so I had to try it :)
- broccoli
- golden beet bunches
- Chioggia beet bunches
All other produce available for this week's shares is from us! Also, because there will be external product in this week's shares, those with Williams Lake Farmers' Market pick-ups will need to pick up at Mint & Lime or schedule a delivery because we can't have someone else's produce at our market stand. Sorry for any inconvenience on this! I have added Home/Work Delivery to the extras list, so you can choose that option if you'd like it delivered within city limits. If you choose this option, please make sure the address you want it delivered to is on your Harvie account! If not, you can email it to me. Otherwise, I will drop off all Tuesday and Wednesday shares at Mint & Lime on July 21st, as of 2:45pm.
BLUEBERRIES: We will get the blueberry orders for the week of July 27th! So anyone who has pre-paid for blueberries will get them in their boxes that week. You can also still pre-order blueberries with this week's shares. They will be on the extras list again, and we are now able to offer them in bulk for a reduced price! You can order 10lb flats for $58.00. So $5.80/lb instead of $6.29.
BREAD: Thanks for your bread orders! We really hope you liked them: it's hard not to love Annette's baking :) We will be able to order from her again with the July 27th boxes.
THIS WEEK'S PRODUCE: Some new crops popping up on the farm these days. The rain and cool, cloudy days have slowed some things down a bit, like tomatoes and peppers, but they are trying their best! The snap peas are now producing, as well as basil, more carrots, and the cucumbers are just coming on. We lost the rest of our broccoli and all our cauliflower in the flood, so those will likely be more external produce you will see in the near future.
I also wanted to profile some of the weirder veggies we’ve had in the boxes lately, so that people know what they are and what to do with them! Here is some more info on some of the oddball types:
The round zukes: These are a French heirloom variety of zucchini called Ronde de Nice. The flesh is tender and has good flavour, but can be used just like regular zucchini in any recipe. It is fun to stuff, as you can cut the top off and use it
as a little zucchini lid when you bake it! 
Lacinato kale: this variety is called Nero di Toscana, a popular Italian heirloom kale dating back to 1885. Lovely just chopped and sautéed with olive oil, salt and pepper, but here is my favourite dinosaur kale recipe! If you don’t want to make the dressing, I just use sesame oil and some salt and pepper.
Thanks, everyone. Hope you liked last week's boxes. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about anything!
- Brianna and the Puddle P team
