Turkey Hill CSA Blog

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 5

From the Farm

The field is at its peak of growth, with many crops starting to or about to start coming in. This week we have the first baby carrots - thinnings and the largest selection from the first of three carrot bed plantings. The carrots sweeten up over the next few weeks, and we grow several varieties over several plantings to extend the harvest over 6 weeks or more. The beets this week (full share) are full sized and will continue coming in for a few more weeks. Eat your beets! The leeks this week are also new and are probably the only leeks we have this year. Enjoy their sweet flavor sauteed (the green part is good as well as the white part - cut in half and clean carefully). We also have shallots and red, white and yellow onions you can look forward to starting in a few weeks.

The beans are all going gonzo - they are absolutely loaded with beans that will all start to be ready by the beginning of next week. We grow green beans, yellow beans, and purple beans. perfect for salads or cooked, these are also great to freeze for winter (see below)

Special Orders - Call or email by Thursday night.

Flowers - We have beautiful gladioli coming in - these are huge, gorgeous flowers that open over a couple of weeks, they come in many colors. CSA price is $2/stem or 6 for $10. We also have 'field bouquets' of long lasting cut flowers - zinnias, snapdragons, statice and more - a huge amount of color for $10.

Basil for pesto - we are starting to pick the basil and you will get a little bag in your share at least a few times this season - perfect for a pasta dish or sauce, but if you want enough for a batch of pesto (usually 4-cups for a recipe) you need to special order. Process a larger batch and freeze some for this winter! we offer the ready to go leaf ($20/lb) or later in the season we offer whole plants ($2/bunch) and you do the work of picking of the leaves. We also offer pick your own at a discount, so come on down and pick some basil!

Fruit for freezing - Cherries, peaches and apricots are all great for freezing, jams and other processing projects. Get into the spirit of abundance and order a box of fruit from the farm, then put something up - you'll thank yourself many times over later, or better yet, make some small jam jars for gifts, save these for the holidays and your recipients will remember the fruits of summer. I can usually get #2 quality at a steep discount: for example: #2 cherries are $1.50/lb, #1 cherries are $3.50/lb. by the box. call or email for pricing and availability.

Questions and Answers

Q: I can't use all my veggies, what should i do?
As we get into the thick of the harvest season over the next few weeks, you may find yourself picking up your box with a fridge still loaded with the last week's produce. Here are a few suggestions: first - toss anything that's looking old - start a compost pile, or get a worm composter so your waste becomes food. Freeze things: many veggies can easily be frozen. Usually its best to clean, slice and blanch them first - a 3-min steaming or boiling is plenty. This works great for carrots, peas or beans and even a cup of chopped carrots or beans in a zip-lock bag in your freezer will feel like a special treat in the middle of winter, and even if frozen veggies aren't as good as fresh, its great knowing your still eating veggies from your local farm.

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

This Week's Box

Kale - bunched, three types
Carrots, Baby - many more to come
Head Lettuce - red butters, green romaine & more - ending soon!
Salad Mix - yum - beautiful red color mix this week.
Chives or parsley or basil - herbs are coming in slowly, expect a rotation for the next few weeks
Leeks - a fantastic, mild onion flavor for soups or stir fry, you can use the green as well as the white parts
Peas - really coming in this week, another week or two on these
Garlic - nearly dried, trimmed and cleaned; will continue to dry and flavor will deepen over time.

Full Share

Extra heads lettuce

Chard - bunched or bagged

Beets - still more to come

Extra Garlic

Fruit

Apricots - two varieties - store refrigerated, then let these sit out for a day or two before eating.

Lambert Cherries - 90 years in the making - these delicious, deep red cherries are from a stand of 90 year old Lambert trees managed organically by the Kropp brothers in Paonia.

Both from First Fruits of Paonia

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Peaches
Basil - delicious in sauces, summer is a leaf
Carrots, more, larger, sweeter
Beans - Green, Yellow & Purple - starts next week, a ton of these are nearly ready
Summer Squash - starts soon, they are flowering now
Bulb Fennel
Broccoli - almost ready
Early onions
Cucumbers - flowering now
Olathe Organic Sweet Corn (of we can get it)

3 or more Weeks

Cauliflower

Cabbage - Red, Green & Savoy

Onions

Shallots

Potatoes

Winter Squash

Pumpkins