Summer is officially here and came in with a hot sunny day perfect for cultivating and sidedressing plants with fertilizer and ended with a lovely summer storm to water it all in.
While we still don't see buds on the peas (which were replanted later than usual due to poor germination in the early spring) the cucumbers and summer squash are blooming like crazy. Growing vegetables all these years you sort of get used to patterns and this season is breaking lots of pre-established rules. Summer squash before peas? But we learn to go with the flow and take whatever mother nature throws at us; the good and the bad.
I addition to our close relationship with the weather, we also like to build and maintain close relationships with our local businesses. So, that being said, we are happy to announce that we will be working with Backdrop Organics to offer their products to our CSA members. We will be getting their products on our online store soon for members to order to be added to their shares, but in the meantime you can also order directly through them. They will need your order by Thursdays to be delivered in your following week's shares. Their commitment to tasty organic food shows in their products. So take a moment to check out their offerings of fair trade organic coffee, non gmo popcorn and their divine hot cocoa mix. (Their Jamaica Me Crazy coffee is to die for and gets us up an running on early mornings here on the farm) While we are working on offering some more products (such as organic teas, maple syrup and honey) to be added to shares from some of our friends' small food businesses, this is the first official agreement and we are excited to be working with Katie and Andrew and to share their awesome products with you!
This week's share contents:
Small Shares: lettuce, garlic scapes, radishes, kale, parsley, (and strawberries we'll start rotating through by drop site, as we won't have enough this week for everyone.)
Regular Shares: lettuce, garlic scapes, asparagus, kale, radishes, swiss chard, parsley and mizuna for Tuesday pickup and mustard greens for the remainder of the week's members.
While we were a bit disappointed with the yield of the strawberries this first season picking them, we hope regular share members enjoyed them last week. It seems they came on, and peaked all in one week. We had planned on offering u-pick to members but that wouldn't be worth your's or our time. If you're looking for someplace to pick organic berries for freezing or making jam, we recommend Greyrock Farm, who if offering upick during their farm store hours.
The first 4 weeks of the CSA it has been a lot of greens and we hope everyone has learned to love them. A lot of people ask us at the markets why we don't have tomatoes and cucumbers, or zucchini or beans yet. The answer is quite simply; they are not in season. But rest assured they will be before you know it. Being a CSA member keeps you in the loop of the seasonality of the crops grown here in NY, not shipped in from out of state or out of the country. Before the days of global food trade and hybrids bred to ship and have a longer shelf life (albeit loosing much in flavor) this is how everyone ate. While the tomatoes are starting to set fruit, we patiently wait for them to ripen. The carrots are burrowing their long tap roots deeper and deeper for moisture in their beds. Bees buzz the cucumber flowers, pollinating. Pepper flowers open with their white blossoms. We watch it all grow and develop, watch for pests and deficiencies. And soon there will be more than greens in shares.
But in the meantime, here are some links for some great recipes to get more out your greens, both old favorites and new to you tastes. Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Garlic Scapes Kale, Parsley
We hope everyone enjoys week four of their Summer share.
While we still don't see buds on the peas (which were replanted later than usual due to poor germination in the early spring) the cucumbers and summer squash are blooming like crazy. Growing vegetables all these years you sort of get used to patterns and this season is breaking lots of pre-established rules. Summer squash before peas? But we learn to go with the flow and take whatever mother nature throws at us; the good and the bad.
I addition to our close relationship with the weather, we also like to build and maintain close relationships with our local businesses. So, that being said, we are happy to announce that we will be working with Backdrop Organics to offer their products to our CSA members. We will be getting their products on our online store soon for members to order to be added to their shares, but in the meantime you can also order directly through them. They will need your order by Thursdays to be delivered in your following week's shares. Their commitment to tasty organic food shows in their products. So take a moment to check out their offerings of fair trade organic coffee, non gmo popcorn and their divine hot cocoa mix. (Their Jamaica Me Crazy coffee is to die for and gets us up an running on early mornings here on the farm) While we are working on offering some more products (such as organic teas, maple syrup and honey) to be added to shares from some of our friends' small food businesses, this is the first official agreement and we are excited to be working with Katie and Andrew and to share their awesome products with you!
This week's share contents:
Small Shares: lettuce, garlic scapes, radishes, kale, parsley, (and strawberries we'll start rotating through by drop site, as we won't have enough this week for everyone.)
Regular Shares: lettuce, garlic scapes, asparagus, kale, radishes, swiss chard, parsley and mizuna for Tuesday pickup and mustard greens for the remainder of the week's members.
While we were a bit disappointed with the yield of the strawberries this first season picking them, we hope regular share members enjoyed them last week. It seems they came on, and peaked all in one week. We had planned on offering u-pick to members but that wouldn't be worth your's or our time. If you're looking for someplace to pick organic berries for freezing or making jam, we recommend Greyrock Farm, who if offering upick during their farm store hours.
The first 4 weeks of the CSA it has been a lot of greens and we hope everyone has learned to love them. A lot of people ask us at the markets why we don't have tomatoes and cucumbers, or zucchini or beans yet. The answer is quite simply; they are not in season. But rest assured they will be before you know it. Being a CSA member keeps you in the loop of the seasonality of the crops grown here in NY, not shipped in from out of state or out of the country. Before the days of global food trade and hybrids bred to ship and have a longer shelf life (albeit loosing much in flavor) this is how everyone ate. While the tomatoes are starting to set fruit, we patiently wait for them to ripen. The carrots are burrowing their long tap roots deeper and deeper for moisture in their beds. Bees buzz the cucumber flowers, pollinating. Pepper flowers open with their white blossoms. We watch it all grow and develop, watch for pests and deficiencies. And soon there will be more than greens in shares.
But in the meantime, here are some links for some great recipes to get more out your greens, both old favorites and new to you tastes. Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Garlic Scapes Kale, Parsley
We hope everyone enjoys week four of their Summer share.
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