Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter
Week 2, 2007

From the farm:

Things are looking great in the field. I'll try to take a picture to send soon. The crops are planted (and the seedlings up), and the fields have been almost completely weeded (for the 2nd time!). The tomatoes are starting to set fruit, the peas are flowering and the beans are getting ready to. The corn, winter squash and potatoes all look great. Onions, shallots and leeks are looking fine, thoroughly weeded and growing fast. In all, it looks like we are going to have an abundant season of veggies. The heat of summer is here, the irrigation water looks good, and the days are long.

A note on last week's boxes:
-Fruit share got a ton of cherries (4lb. actually) - cherries will be a very short season this year, so were going to give you a lot while they are in season.
-Crested Butte didn't get your herb seedlings, they were left on the trailer... sorry - we will bring them next weekend.

I am continuing to post recipes to the web site. The latest is for Radishes.

Here is what you can expect in the this week's box...

This week's Box
Baby Salad Greens - tender baby greens, triple rinsed
Swiss Chard (new this week) - Tender young golden, yellow and red chard leaves.
Baby braising mix - a zesty mix of greens from our salad mix, perfect for stir frying. Looks like our baby salad, but no lettuce!
Radishes - the earliest root crop - a week or two more.
Head Lettuce - Beautiful head lettuce - more varieties to enjoy.
Cilantro (new this week)- Tender spring herb, only grows in the spring
Basil - from the hoophouse

Fruit - Cherries, Apricots

Coming soon (in the next 1-3 weeks):
Peas, snow, sugar snap & shelling
Chois
Scallions
Pearl Onions
Dill
Baby Beets
Garlic Scapes (tops)
Bunched Spinach

Fruit - Peaches

Dear Friends,

In the midst of this cold and snowy winter it is hard to imagine that the farming season will soon be upon us. We have been pouring over the seed catalogs and taking stock of last seasons successes and failures. In just a short time we will plant the earliest of our seeds, perennial flowers, peppers, eggplant, herbs and artichokes to name a few.

Last year was a particularly strange season with the unseasonably late frost at the end of May and a hard freeze in mid-September. Some of our standard crops that usually fill the CSA were noticeably absent or scarce; potatoes, winter squash, head lettuce and early tomatoes. There was an abundance of many crops like eggplant, kale, chard and basil and we were able to keep you supplied with baby salad mix nearly every week! The local fruit was delicious and plentiful.

For the 2007 season we will continue to offer our basic membership, which includes vegetables and herbs, as well as flower and fruit shares. We hope to include more fresh herbs and to have recipes and news from the farm more regularly. We intend to grow lots of varieties of flowers to make beautiful and varied bouquets. This year we are planning a slightly smaller growing area, with tighter crop management and a more diversified selection of varieties. Adam is especially excited about a melon research project he plans to undertake. CSA members will get to trial some of the “fruits of his labor.”

We will be offering 50 shares for local pickup at the farm for the 2007 season. We would like to encourage more involvement with the farm and are scheduling five farm workdays during the season. Members will come to the farm to help with basic activities such as planting and weeding. These dates will be Saturdays, May 5^th, 19^th, June 2^nd, June 16^th, and June 30^th, other dates are available by arrangement. If you are physically unable to participate in the farm workdays we can find other tasks that you can help with.

The Crested Butte CSA delivery was quite successful. It was a much more economically viable way for us to sell produce than the stand at the four way stop. We will be offering 25 shares to Crested Butte in 2007, so sign up early to reserve your spot!

Thank you for your past and future support of small scale, diversified, sustainable local farming. We hope that you will consider joining us in 2007, for another bountiful, healthy season sure to delight the senses!

Wishing you the best in the New Year,

Adam Silverstein and Valerie Stone and family

P.S. Please let your friends and neighbors know about Turkey Hill CSA. If you need extra registration forms, please let us know, we’d be glad to send them.