Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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


Friday, June 19, 2009

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

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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