The newsletter is a bit late due to our internet service malfunctioning for the past few days. But it seems to back up and running for more than five minutes now.
We also have been taking care of 3 sick kids since last week, as well as losing one more of our farm hands to Florida last week. Ed was an invaluable member of our farm team all season, and while we will miss him we wish him and his family all the best of greener pastures in Florida.
While losing two employees over the past few weeks means a bigger workload for us, that is nothing new to us. Our core group of Travis, myself and Dave have run the show for the last few years with a bit of part time help as it is, but it was a great help to have a couple extra sets of hands to pick, pull and plant this summer. We have one CSA member who has gone from a work share member to a part time farm hand who has been with us all summer as well.
We are not trying to gloat, but to let our members know how small their CSA foodshed really is. We farm on about 15 acres feeding 130 CSA members and 3 farmers markets in 3 counties. Your food literally passes directly from your farmers hands to your plates, and as CSA members that is something you should all be just as proud of as we are. All the woes of our modern food system; from miserable work conditions and low wages, contamination with chemicals to both the soil, water and the humans in the fields, the carbon footprint of food miles, and the undercutting of food prices through the wholesale market- all these things you help us correct on our farm every day through your support in us as your local farmers.
It's hell weeks like this, when the internet doesn't work, the kids are sick and you're down another worker and another doesn't come in, and there's the CSA harvest, and bulk harvests of potatoes and winter squash to get to, and it rained 2 inches after a summer of drought, and the weeds are taking over the newest plantings that we count our blessings- and that number is 130! We don't despair and guarantee the rest of the season to be just as bountiful as it has been for the last 13 weeks! We may not get to newsletters, on time, but we get the freshest organic food directly to you, which is what we are here to do. We thank you all for your role in this adventure we call farming- tis not for the faint of heart, nor the picky of stomach.
This week's CSA shares were as follows:
Small: tomatoes, sweet peppers (if you got the small multi colored ones- those are mini bells, not hot peppers) basil, garlic, swiss chard, summer squash, mini cabbages, and fennel
Regular: all of the above and broccoli, green kale, cucumbers, and eggplant
We aren't sharing any recipes this week, but can suggest making some pesto, or caprese salad for these dog days of summer with some of your share contents. Or a fresh fennel salad, or a traditional Italian greens recipe with the kale or chard and the tomatoes and garlic. And remember to please share recipes in the comments section or on our facebook page. If you've found a recipe you love, chances are someone else will too!
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