Hey farm share friends! We hope you've had a wonderful week!
We have a few reminders for you before we get to the juicy bits:
1) If you haven't set your preferences, please do so! It really helps us to build a share for you that prioritizes the things that you enjoy eating. Occasionally items will appear in your box that are not on the top of your list, and this is because they are plentiful on the farm. However, if you have rated those items as a 1 (as in never-include-in-my-box), they won't be built into your box. Be sure to save the #5 rating for your very top veggies only.
2) Our pick up locations are participating in this project as a community building exercise and are doing so free of charge to us, so please make it a good experience for them! Support their businesses if you can, respect the timeframe set out for you as some of them have staff there during our pickup hours just to make sure things run smoothly, and let them know how appreciated they are!
3) If you are picking up at the Edmonton Eastgate/King's University location keep in mind that it is a Friday pick up (between noon and four).
4) If you have a friend picking up for you, please let them know what to expect (ie. that the bins stay behind:)
Thank you for reading those reminders! And now in farm news:
We've made a serious dent in the weeds this week due to some extra hands in the field...hurray for that! James is still irrigating around the clock; it seems like that will be this year in a nutshell! He did, however, make some headway on our no till beds this week, and we had a very exciting delivery as well: 400 cubic yards of top quality composted manure (pictured above). This will be the final step in our deep mulched no till beds and is a one-time huge investment for our farm. We have been working with a fabulous company called Elevate Organics, in case any of you are looking for top quality garden amendments.
Pickling season is well on its way with Jenny and her fabulous crew producing 50 dozen jars so far this summer. It looks like it will be a bumper crop this year, and so we are including plenty of cucumbers in your boxes this week as well. We will share one of our kids' favourite summer recipes: Quick-Pickles, or Gurksalat. They are so easy and delicious! We hope you enjoy them too.
Quick Pickles
- 4-8 cucumbers, finely sliced (a mandolin works great, and our boys like the crinkle cut setting)
- 1-2 crushed cloves garlic
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- handful fresh dill
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
Stuff glass jars with the fresh ingredients, and bring the remaining ingredients to a rolling boil. pour hot brine over the cucumbers, seal jars with lids and refrigerate for 24 hours before eating. Delicious on their own or on hamburgers!
We hope you all have a fantastic week, and we look forward to harvesting for your tables.
Warmly,
Jenny and James
