Turkey Hill Newsletter - 2009-5

 

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 5

Notes From the Farm

Artichokes - I usually don't mention the artichokes. Although we grow them every year, its a rare year that we have enough of a crop to offer artichokes for sale or for the csa. This year may be one of the years we do have a good crop. If we have them, artichokes will show up in the late season boxes - september.

Basil - We have a beautiful basil crop that will be ready to start picking in just a few weeks. We'll pick some early leaves in the next week or two, then have basil for the rest of the season.

Beans - We grow green, purple and yellow beans. Only one big planting this year, but beans should last a few weeks once we start harvesting them in 3-5 weeks.

Beets - The beets are coming on strong and we will continue to harvest them for several more weeks. If you want to can some beets, now is a great time to order - we can provide medium or large sized, topped beets by the pound, the cylindrical beets are bred to fill your jars!

Broccoli - The broccoli crop looks great. Still no buds, so harvest is at least four weeks off, but we should have a good succession varieties we will be harvesting through the fall.

Cabbage - We'll have mini-sized cabbages in 4-5 weeks, then start harvest on the larger red & green cabbages in September. I haven't found any napa cabbage in the field, these may have been a casualty of early pest damage.

Carrots - we have a few more weeks of the early carrots, then a large and long main season crop that will start a few weeks later.

Cilantro - almost done for the season, we may have this again in the fall

Collards - this or next week

Chard - The rainbow chard is coming on strong and we'll have it through the summer.

Cauliflower - a good looking crop, should be ready in 5-6 weeks.

Chives - I didn't forget about the chives - we'll have these in the next week or two.

Corn - Our 'Delectable' sweet corn always comes in late, but we will try to purchase some Organic Olathe Sweet corn for the boxes when this becomes available in August.

Cucumbers - we have a great stand of cucumbers that are just starting to take off with the warmer weather. The 1st planting was slow to emerge, but the later planting tooks great and  we will have more cucumbers than we know what to do with when harvest peaks in september. We should have enough cucmbers for the boxes by mid august - 5 or 6 more weeks.

Dill - dinally enough dill (weed) to give everyone some this week; we have dill seed later - the seed heads are great for canning!

Eggplant - growing beautifully in the field hoop house, we should have eggplants by late August.

Fennel, bulb - coming in the next few weeks, a delicious, crunchy & unusual vegetable

Flowers - we will have flower bouquets as well as gladioli by the stem available soon. please email if you are interested in flowers.

Herbs - thyme, savory, parsley  & others - coming later in the summer

Hot peppers - we are starting to pick little hot perppers from the hoop house and hope to have some for the boxes in a few weeks.

Kale - all season long!

Kohlrabi - this week

Leeks - a nice planting for fall, end of september.

Lettuce - I know you all have been getting plenty of lettuce, and we will have more for the next 3-4 weeks - and thats all we will have this season for head lettuce.

Melons - melons are a marginal and tempermental crop in the North Fork, and this spring's cool wet weather didn't help at all. There is still a chance that the field melons will recover, but I wouldn;t coun't on a big melon harvest. We do have a few melon plans in the hoop house that look fantastic, so we will have melon at the farm harvest & feast day, coming up august 24th, details below.

Onions - the summer and fall crops are in the ground, not huge, but plenty to add onions to the boxes every week or two starting in 5 or 6 weeks.

Pepers - the peppers in the hoop house look great. the field crop is crowing very slowly, despite being covered with remay for added warmth. we need some warm weather to bring on the peppers, so expect these late this year.

Potatoes - We have a fantastic potato planting this year. It went in early and has been weeded and hilled twice already. We sampled some of the rows last week and the potatoes were fantastic - creamy and delicious, plus already pretty large. We will start picking new potatoes in around 3-4 weeks, and have them on and off through the fall. The big harvest comes at the end, expect lots of potatoes for the last few weeks this year.

Salad Mix - we'll have this all seasomn with a week or two off here and there. Salad is the one thing I am still planting in the field!

Scallions - a nice but smallish planting, we should have scallions in 3 or 4 weeks, they will last just a week or two.

Spinach - the final bed of spinach is still small, it doesn;t like the heat - so depending on the heat we'll either have no more spinach or a couple more weeks.

Squash, Summer - we have some in the hoop house that will start producing in a few weeks, but the main season crop will be later. the first planting was slow to emerge from the cold wet soil, be plenty of the plants look great now. the squash bugs are out in force this year, so we'll have to fight those off to get a strong crop.

Squash, Winter & pumpkins - these were also slow getting started and had to fight the weeds. Still, we have a great looking planting covering two acres, so I expect a good crop of winter squash this fall. We usually start picking the early squash - delecata types & acorns - by mid september. The rest will come during the last two weeks - early October.

Tomatoes - The cool weather hasn't been great for tomatoes - the field planting is in stasis, but the ones we planted in our hoop house look fantastic. We expect to have some tomatoes for the boxes in about 4 weeks. we'll also try to add more tomatoes than we have by buying some from other local organic growers - if we can find them!

 

 

More Notes:

 

We welcome to the farm this week our past intern, french agricultural student Valentin and his girlfriend lizzie who arrive this week to work on the farm for the next two months. We are planning a special day-long farming/learning/eating event with Valentin on Sat. Aug. 22nd. - mark your calendars! You won't want to miss this day long series of events, harvesting and preparing delicious, fresh, french food from the field. Its a great opportunity to come down to visit the farm, and savor some of the delicious food as local as it gets. The day will include farm tours, harvesting & processing classes as well as french cooking classes and delicious meals (we'll cook and then eat brunch and later dinner) - come to all or part of the event. CSA members get a discounted price for any of the paid events (the tours are free) mark your calendar now - August 22nd - I'll forward more details about the event as we finalize them!

A word on the gap between spring and summer crops

As you can tell from the list above, we have PLENTY of produce coming in this season, but we are experiencing an extended lull this season i feel compelled to explain. our early plantings were earlier than ever - almost a month before we usually get seeds in the ground, and the early carrots and beets were weeks ahead of the usual timing. at the same time, our main season direct seeded crops - summer crops like corn, summer & winter squash, cucumbers and others - were very slow to grow in the coolest, wettest may & june in a long, long time. this means we have to wait a bit longer than usual between the early and main season crops. 

 

Questions and Answers

Q: Why is my Basil/Squash/Garlic Etc... Dirty?

A: Certain crops don't get washed here: basil blackens when wet, squash bruises & nicks very easily, and other crops like onions and garlic are dry brushed, but never washed in water - this tends to reduce their storability. Everything else gets a rinse, or double or triple rinse in filtered city water - but we still suggest a final rinse to remove any dirt we miss!

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

  
Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try  allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me! 

This Week's Box

New: Peas - we had a tiny bit last week, a bit more are coming in now and lots more next week - rotating types -  shelling (you shell them), snow (the flat curved type, perfect for stir fry) & sugar snaps - the fat short ones - eat these whole, delicious raw.

New: Kohlrabi - here is a recipe sheet if you want to know what to do with this!

Carrots - lots of the red type this week, more to come; the fall crop is also looking great!

Beets - more varieties - cylindrical beets next week - getting sick of the beets already? can a jar or three, you'll thank yourself this winter! also, if you remove the tops from the beets, they will store for many weeks in a bag in the produce bin in your fridge

Chard or kale - bunched - always plenty of greens, look for extras this week, take as much as you want from the 'extras'.

Head Lettuce - green romaine, red romaine, more types coming

Salad Mix - we'll try to have this mix every week

Garlic - still drying! We picked ALL the garlic this week & will have fully cured, dried garlic in a few weeks. i'm going to give you a little bit of this not quite dry garlic so you have something to cook with until the garlic is really ready.

Herbs - lots of herbs this week - Dill bunches and a bit of basil & chives for some boxes (everyone will get some soon)

 

Fruit

cherries 'Summerset Bing' (red) and 'Rainier' (yellow) cherries from First Fruits, Paonia CO

just one more week of cherries, then a short gap before peach season begins!

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

head lettuce, more varieties

rainbow swiss chard, bunched

kohlrabi

Upcoming

chives

peas - sugar snaps, shelling

scallions

June 2009 Farm Photos

Turkey Hill Newsletter - 2009-4

 

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 4

Notes From the Farm

I took some pictures this week - things are looking great. I haven;t had time to add captions and arrange the photos, but i'll get to that soon and email you again. In the last week or so we did a tremendous amount of weeding, plus managed to plant fall onions and broccoli/caulifplower. That means that, other than salad mix, we are done seeding for the year! 

The peas have started to come in and will have some for the boxes this week (full size only), we'll have more in the next two weeks. The beets continue strongly and the carrots are sizing up. We will have more carrots in the next few weeks. The garlic is sizing up and finishing off, we'll pick it next week and let it dry out for a couple of weeks before putting in the boxes. Next week we'll have kohlrabi, an unusual vegetable i'll tell you more about next week... new varieties of lettuce this week include the green butter coming on strong and some green romaine.

More Notes:

 

Meet the truck -  I did the delivery last Sunday and it was fun to meet many of you. I want to encourage you all to come meet the truck: 11 am in Gunnison, 12-12:30 in crested butte. Your produce will be the freshest right when we arrive, and we can take your empty tote. Our timing is usually pretty close, so please come and try to meet the truck!

Your Balance -  I'm emailing out invoices today with your account balance. please pay in full, or at least half by the end of July. All accounts must be paid in full by the end of August, so if you still have a balance then I'll send you another Invoice. With all the expenses of spring and early summer, we really appreciate your prompt payment

The box size -

The boxes may seem a little slimmer for the next few weeks as we shift from spring to summer for the next week or two, please be patient. the box value as based on farm prices has actually been pretty high for this early in the season. Perusing the local farmers market in Crested Butte I saw lots of nice local produce, but putting together a box like ours for the same price would be difficult. The price or value we calculate our boxes with is much lower than the farmers market prices i saw!

Kale Recipies - 

I got a couple in the email this week, thank you so much for sharing. send me more and i will email them to the group! 

here they are:

 

From Betty Bradley
 
3/4 lb Kale (I used my whole bunch) remove ribs and stems
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 c. basil leaves (or a combination of basil and cilantro)
1 lemon or lime, juiced
2 Tb. olive oil, light
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
another 1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
 
Wash and stem the kale.  Leaving water on leaves from washing, coarsely chop kale.  Place in a large microwavable bowl and cover.  Microcook on high (100%) for 4 or 5 minutes, stir, rotate, cook another 4 or 5 minutes.  Let stand 3 to 5 minutes.  Remove cover to cool.
 
Drop garlic into the bowl of a food processor with the motor running.  When finely minced, add the basil, cilantro and cooked kale.  Process until uniform.
 
Add juice, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper.  Pulse to combine.  At this point you can freeze and later add to soups and stews.  If you want to eat as a "dip" or toss with pasta you will add the other 1/2 cup olive oil, nuts and cheese.  Pulse these until you have a consistency of a spread.
 
Enjoy!  I think it is even better than pesto made with just basil.

From Natalie Ehmsen

adapted from a Southern Living receipe from 2003.  Enjoy!  -Natalie

Pasta with Sausage and Kale

Ingredients

• lg bunch of kale or chard
• 1  (12-ounce) package bowtie pasta
• 3/4  pound  hot Italian sausage
• 1  medium onion, chopped
• 4  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4  cup  balsamic vinegar
• 1  (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth
• 4  fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4  teaspoon  pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 3  tablespoons  pine nuts, toasted
• 6  ounces  crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Remove and discard casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.

Add onion to sausage in Dutch oven, and sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Add vinegar, and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and kale/chard; cook 5 minutes, or until wilted. Stir in basil and next 3 ingredients; cook 1 minute. Stir in pine nuts, pasta, and feta cheese; cook until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

Questions and Answers

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

  
Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try  allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me! 

This Week's Box

Carrots - baby sized - more to come

Beets - more varieties

Chard or kale - bunched

Head Lettuce - green leaf, green butter, red butter - extra for full

Salad Mix - we'll try to have this mix every week

Spinach - bunches, still super sweet -  ending

Peas - some boxes (full?)

Fruit

NEW: cherries 'Bing' (red) and 'Queen Anne' (yellow) cherries from First Fruits, Paonia CO

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

head lettuce, more varieties

rainbow swiss chard, bunched

kohlrabi

Upcoming

chives

peas - sugar snaps, shelling

scallions

Turkey Hill Newsletter - 2009-3

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 3

Important Notes From the Farm

A bunch of little notes this week. First of all, I wanted to mention that we have our own farm eggs for sale at $3.75/dozen. Farm pickup members can just get these when they come (put money/check in the cash box), delivery customers - let me know ahead of time (email or call) if you want eggs and I will get them in your tote.  We have a limited supply, so its first come, first serve.

Varieties varieties varieties! 

Beets: This week we are getting into the full patch of beets and I wanted to mention the varieties. Most of last week's beets were called 'Pablo' - a specialty beet grown especially for baby sized picking (very dark red and succulent). We also picked a little bit of the Golden and new this year Yellow beets. We'll have lots more of both of these types this week, as well as the standard 'Red Ace' which is a scarlet red and is the classic beet and we will have Chiooggias - these look pink on the outside, but slices horizontally reveal candy cane stripe red/white circles. One caveat - these colors pretty much disappear when the beet boiled, so consider some thin slices fresh as a garnish or on a salad. Finally, we also grow 'Forno' a cylindrical shaped beet thats also dark red, and fun to cook with because of its shape.

Lettuce: last week we picked the 1st lettuce crop, a succulent crisp head called 'blonde de paris'. this week i'm moving into a new patch that includes green butter heads, red butter, green romaine, red lollo (frilly red) and a beautiful green romaine with red speckles. More varieties to come! We pick some of these very small so they won't get bitter and package them 2-3 to a sleeve. 

Chard: This year we have 6 or more individual colors planted, including yellow, golden, green, red, crimson, lipstick and orange. next week we will start mixing these into colorful bunches, for now the leaves are too small to bunch so we are bagging the chard.

Carrots: This week we are starting to pick the 4" long 'kinko' carrots, and some of the deep red 'cosmic purple' type. these make a great early carrot combo, and we have many other varieties to come.

More Notes:

Our very first planting of peas was  eaten by a flock of birds and we are just getting into the next patch. we should have peas for the boxes next week. we start with the edible pod sugar snap and snow peas, then go to shelling peas a bit later. Its getting HOT out and this means summer is here, but we still have a few more weeks of spring crops before the next wave of items comes in. Typically August and September are our most bountiful months, and its not even July yet! A note to marble/redstone customers: because your thursday delivery comes earlier in the week than the rest of the csa members, you may get a slightly different mix of items than the other areas.

This time of the year is a bit of a lull before the storm. A fun way to get an idea of what will be coming in over the next 3 or 6 weeks is to scan through the emails i sent out last year, which are organized by date on the blog. week three this year equates to week 1 last year (we started two weeks earlier than in any previous year this year) - 

Time for a salad

Make the most of all the succulent spring greens while we have them! The next few weeks will be a bit HEAVY on the lettuce, and part of a CSA is eating whats bountiful, so make the most of the season by eating salad regularly. Lettuce (but not the salad mix) will taper off later in the season, so enjoy it while its here!

Questions and Answers

 Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

  

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try  allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week's Box

NEW: Carrots - baby sized - just a bit  full large/half small

Beets - more varieties - full large/half small

Chard - tender bagged rainbow colors - fill shares

Head Lettuce - green leaf, green butter, red butter - 

Kale  - everyone gets some. kale is very, very, very productive and our one planting will provide enough for every member to have one bunch a week and then some (unless we get an aphid infestation). i promise to give you a kale rbeak when other crops start filling the box, but for now we have lots of kale! get creative! one member reported making pesto with (cooked) kale! send me your recipes and i'll include them next week...
Salad Mix - we'll try to have this mix every week

Radish -  full large/half small

Spinach - bunches, still super sweet -  full large/half small - ends soon (unless our next planting comes in)

Cilantro - almost done

Fruit

NEW: cherries 'Brooke' cherries from First Fruits, Paonia CO

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

head lettuce, more varieties

rainbow swiss chard, bunched

kohlrabi

Upcoming

chives

peas - sugar snaps, shelling

scallions

Turkey Hill Newsletter - 2009-2

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 2

Important Notes From the Farm

I'm very late getting this letter out this week, but Summer solstice is this saturday, and that means we are hitting the top of the farm workload bell curve. Soon I'll be able to catch up a bit, but for now everything is happening all at once on the farm. Baby plants need planting, seeding salad continues, weeding is a big task, irrigation is constant (even with all the overcast weather, we still need to water) and now harvest is taking more of our time. Everything is looking great, i'll post more pictures soon! 

Please note that the farm pickup time is 3-7pm on fridays. I neglected to mention that in the last newsletter and some people weren't sure about the time. If you need to pick up aearlier or later, just give me a call and we'll get your box ready separately. For those of you getting weekly deliveries, please don't forget your totes - we need those totes back each week to keep the delivery process working smoothly. A lot of members are just bringing canvas sacks or boxes to the pick up and transferring the produce immediately rather than taking the tote. If you do take your tote, just collapse it (two thumb buttons on each side) and give it to the delivery driver the following week.

This week we are starting to harvest the head lettuce crop. This week we have a delicious, crunchy bib type lettuce from seeds that were a present last year from the father of our French farm intern Valentin - its called 'Blonde de' Paris'. Next week we will move into green romaine and red butter lettuce. we grow a dozen types of lettuce every year, and you'll see a rotating mix in your boxes for the next few weeks. 

Questions and Answers

Q: Whats with all the bags?

A: When packing boxes for delivery we bag all the 'wet' produce - this helps keep the produce from wilting on the way over to deliver.

Q: My Kale/Lettuce/Chard/Etc. is wilting. 

A: Green leafy vegetables love to stay moist. If they wilt, try soaking in the sink with cold water for fifteen minutes or more. Another good technique is putting the veggies in a bag and shaking with a little water, then putting this in the fridge.

Q: I didn't get my beets/dill/chard this week!

A: when packing delivery boxes we sometimes don;t have enough of a particular crop for every box. in this case we will substitute a different crop, or give you the crop the following week. Also, the exact box may not always match what my email says! If you feel your box was mis-packed or something is missing, please let me know by email or call the farm.

Q: Why are there mud and bugs in my lettuce?!

A: We do our very best to wash all the produce, usually double or triple washing anything that looks dirty. Never the less, some mud clumps cling inside crevices and creases, and little bugs like ladybugs and slugs love to hide out deep inside the folds of veggies. For this reason, we suggest a final rinse for all produce. When you find a bug, take it as a sign that you are eating the freshest, most vibrant, chemical free food possible. 

  

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try  allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week's Box

NEW: Beets - full large/half small

NEW: Chard - tender bagged rainbow colors

NEW: Head Lettuce - green leaf

Kale  - full share only -  all four varieties coming in strongly now
Salad Mix - we'll try to have this mix every week

Bok Choi - last week

Radish - new varieties - full large/half small

Spinach - full large/half small - ends soon

Cilantro -full large/half small
Garlic - full two/half one

NEW: Dill - full share only 

Fruit

cherries start next week!

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

head lettuce, varieties

rainbow swiss chard, bunched

dill, more

Upcoming

chives

peas - sugar snaps, shelling

scallions

Turkey Hill Newsletter - 2009-1

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 1

From the Farm

The farm season is in full swing. Everything, or nearly everything is planted or seeded, and the weeds are growing like - you guessed it - weeds! Harvest has begun to take up nearly all our time, but we still have flats to plant and of course, lots of weeding! If you are a work-trade member, now is a Great time to come down to the farm and put in some time pulling weeds! Nearly everything is planted, and the fields look beautiful. These days we are busy irrigating all the newly seeded and transplanted beds, which means lots of irrigation work - setting up and moving irrigation sets and drip tape. Another big activity is mowing - the tall grass provides an unwelcome habitat for lots of grasshoppers which can be a real menace to vegetables! Mowing and clearing the beds of weeds reduces that habitat and the grasshoppers migrate to the nearby fields which are un-mowed. Mowing a bit of a challenge between the trees in the orchard (one day i'll get a fancy side mower, but for now, its lots of zig-zags), but the effect is rewarding. I've also mowed the cover crops down before they went to seed (we call the mower clippings / organic matter which i leave lying on the top of the soil 'green manure'). The potatoes got a great hilling and look amazing, and the hoop house is covered and nearly full.

Questions and Answers

Q: Who is delivering my produce?
A:  Our harvest crew (and me) take turns delivering each week. This week Lara will be delivering your boxes - Lara has worked at the farm for many years and has become our salad maestro for harvest season. When you see her, remember to thank her for growing your produce! 

  

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try  allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week's Box

Kale  - great for you, at their tender best this time of year
Salad Mix - we'll try to have this mix every week

Bok Choi - a crunchy asian vegetable perfect for stir fry. we'll have these for two weeks and thats it!

Radish - for a few weeks, spicy & crunchy.

Spinach - at its tender best 

Cilantro - a spring crop we will have for a few more weeks
Garlic - immature, with a slightly milder garlic flavor. chop up the whole thing, you can even use the green stem of the plant. just a bit to get you started, we'll have lots of garlic this season!

Plenty of room in those totes, just wait until mid season and they will fill up! Don't forget to bring your tote back next week, or just give it back to the driver when you pick up.

Full Share

Marjoram

More spinach, more cilantro, more radishes bunch, more garlic

 

Fruit

No fruit yet. A week to three weeks before we'll have the 1st cherries of the season.

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

head lettuce, varieties

rainbow swiss chard

baby beets

dill

Upcoming

chives

peas - sugar snaps, shelling

scallions

Spring 2009 - harvest starts soon!

From The Farm

Everything is bursting with spring on the farm. The last few days have brought overcast weather and some good soaking rains. Here are some recent pictures from the field



Click here to view the slide show in a larger size...

What to Expect!

Harvest starts soon, so I thought I would try to give you an idea of what to expect for the first 4-6 weeks of harvest. Its important to understand that despite our very early start this season in the field, the crops we harvest in June and July are limited! Overall, the fields are looking fantastic and I am expecting a bountiful harvest, but don't expect too much at first - we are starting extra early this year which means a slightly longer wait until the veggies of summer hit - so enjoy all the greens of spring while we tend the corn, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers and other summer crops.

Below I have listed all the veggies I can think of that we will be harvesting in the next six weeks. As for fruit, cherries usually start by the end of June, we will have fruit nearly every week after that until the end of the season.

Early Harvests
Here is what we plan to harvest for the first few harvests (spring starts green!):

Salad Mix - we strive to have salad nearly every week of the season by planting salad greens regularly.
Braising Mix - we only have this in the spring, one or two times. a bag of spicy greens for cooking - baby kale, tatsoi, chard, mizuna.
Bagged Spinach - the first few weeks we'll bag the spinach, which is at its best in the cooler spring weather. We'll switch to bunched spinach in July and have spinach regularly until the heat of summer arrives.
Green Garlic - We'll dig up the growing garlic plants - these will mature into garlic bulbs by August, but for now try these for a delicious mild garlic flavor.
Radishes - we will have a variety of radishes for the first few weeks
Kale - we have beautiful kale coming in now. This year we have green frilly and purple frilly kale, plus red russian kale and tuscano or lancinato kale. The kale is really at its very best in the spring, but we usually have kale all season long. Email your favorite kale recipes and I will share them with the group! We will vary the type each week and may bag the baby leaves until they are large enough to bunch.
Chois - we will have beautiful baby chois for the first couple of weeks - these have been covered under floating row covers, but may show some small pert damage (flea beatles). This will probably be some of the only chois of the season, so enjoy their crunchy stems and mustardy flavor.
Head Lettuce - we'll have romaine, green & red butter, summer crisp and some beautiful frilly, colorful & unusual types. Head lettuce lasts the spring, then fades away in the heat of summer.
Herbs: Early season herbs include cilantro, chives, marjoram, sage and dill. Later in the season we will have thyme, oregano, and lots of basil!

Coming Soon - week 3 plus
After the first few weeks more of the early harvest crops will begin to mature
Carrots - we will have baby carrots from time to time then later we will switch to full size carrots. Several types and plantings extend the carrot harvest over many weeks
Beets - we will start with baby beets, then switch to full sized beets for a few more weeks before beets are done. these are mainly a spring crop, but we sometimes have a few weeks in the fall as well.
Peas - peas are a spring treat that come and go pretty quickly. Our first planting was eaten almost entirely by what I guess was a flock of birds shortly after they came up, but the second planting looks beautiful and should produce at least a few weeks of sugar snaps, snow peas and shelling peas.
Rainbow Chard - we have a large planting with some wild color variations this year, so you can expect a regular supply of chard. we will try not to overwhelm you with chard!
Scallions - we usually have these just a couple of times in the season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What am I supposed to do with all these GREENS!?
A: Some people love cooked greens and can eat them every day, others can't figure out how to eat all the chard, kale, spinach, lettuce and salad that the early CSA boxes contain! If you fall into the latter group, here are a few suggestions: check out our website for recipies, use a cookbook and try something new, or add the greens to something old, like a lasagna with spinach. Finally, see if you can find a friend or neighbor who might want them rather than just letting them go to waste! As we enter the summer season boxes fill out with other vegetables, we will lighten up on the greens, and offer these in the "extras" area.

Q: Why didn't I get radishes (or kale, or spinach or something) in my box?
A: Each week I type out an email for members, and I make a best guess at what will be available for the box harvest later in the week. Sometimes what we actually harvest might be a little different than my list, or there might be a shortage of one crop and an abundance of another. As we pack the boxes each week, we try to ensure everyone gets the exact same box, but sometimes (usually as a particular crop is just beginning to ripen and we don;t have that much) there isn't enough for everyone. In this case, we substitute another crop, so if you didn't get carrots you got beets, or if you didn't get braising mix you got extra baby chard. We also watch the overall dollar value of the box each week to insure you get a great deal for your box fee. The first weeks of the season are always slim, later season big boxes are more abundant!