Good Afternoon Members -
Wanted to give a big shout out to our partners at the Farm - the Honey Bee!!!
Pollination services from honey bees and other insects provide the backbone to ensuring our diets are diverse and plentiful with fruits, nuts, and vegetables. In all, there are over 100 crops grown in the United States that depend on pollination.
Into week 5 already - and believe most of the kinks have been worked out in the ordering and delivery end - would love to hear from you and what your experience has been - good - bad - your feedback is very valued and necessary for us to provide you with the best product and service that we able to. Received feedback from a few members this week who were positive about their experience so far - especially liked the variety and choice. For us the preparation and packing of the shares has seen a significant change - Wednesday has become a preparation day for the boxes including attaching the labels - and on Thursday the speed of the share box through the packing line has slowed down to a crawl as each packer must scan the label prior to passing along. However practice makes perfect and we have made improvements to the process already that is reducing our time to pack. So - thank you for your feedback!
I want to apologize for the error in naming bok choy as an item - what you received is Senposai - a cross between Japanese Mustard Spinach (Komatsuna) and regular cabbage, is sweeter than most mustards and great for a salad, stir-fry or pickling. Here is a recipe from one of our members who contacted me this week and said he substituted for the collards and the result was delicious!
QUINOA WITH COLLARD GREENS AND BLACK BEANS Serves: 4-6 people Cooking time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onions 2-4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes 4 cups chopped collard greens 1 cup cooked and drained black beans, rinse well if using canned beans 1 cup vegetable stock 1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa salt and pepper for seasoning Method: Heat the oil in a wide bottomed pan. Add onions and garlic. Season lightly with salt, and cook until onion and garlic are softened
and lightly caramelizing. Add the red chili flakes and collard greens to the pan. When the greens are starting to change color,
add the black beans to the pan. Toss everything and pour in the vegetable stock. Be careful not to over season the dish
because vegetable stock usually contains added salt. Cover the lid and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated,
appx. 10 - 15 minutes. Fluff in the quinoa into the pan, Toss everything around to combine and test for seasoning.
Add pepper and serve hot or at room temperature.
This week we will be featuring a few new items - our beautiful yellow onions - another summer favorite cantaloupe melons and chiogga beets which will be yellow/orange in color with striping on the inside - Update on the beets - many of the chiogga beets are not ready for harvest - so we will be substituting red beets into some of the shares - the fruit shares will return August 20 - short delay in fruit ripening - will let you know next week what you might expect in your shares
What to do with the boxes - for many reasons this year - sites are not holding the boxes for us - Options - if the box does not appear to be in good shape - please just put it in your recycle at home - if it is OK - My suggestion is - you store them at home and when you have a good amount and happen to be heading toward the Food Bank - please drop them off - Monday - Friday - 8 am - 5 pm - Thank You!
Weekend looks like it is going to cool off a bit - are you headed for a backyard grill - mow the lawn and trim the hedges - keep the kids entertained - or finally put your chair in the shade and read that book! Please enjoy - especially with your family and friends - making things just a little better!
Thank you for your much appreciated support!!!
Very best, Bob
