Edgewood Farm Organics CSA
6/9/15 Newsletter
Happy wild spring to everyone!
We hope you enjoyed the first box of seasonal spring veggies. There were certainly a lot of greens, which can be challenging but as I’m sure you found out, can also be very rewarding! I know there were some kids out there just begging for more Kale. Rest assured, their wishes shall be granted.
This week we continued to do our little jig with Mother Nature. The rain has been helpful this spring, and the freshly transplanted tomatoes from last week were happy to get a break from the sun and experience a good rain in the field. After last weekend’s rain the muggy heat came out, along with some ticks, mosquitoes and my first Lightning Bug sighting for the year! The sun was out through Saturday (it even cooled down a bit this weekend, kind of), and then the rain came early Sunday morning. The storms brought a beautiful sky and an inch of rain at Edgewood. This made us all very happy because we narrowly escaped hail that touchdown in places nearby! The field is wet now but we are enjoying the moisture, the summer heat is about to find us!
In the field this past week, we transplanted peppers, tomatillos, herbs and eggplant. They all looked very content when we checked on them after the storm. I think they like their new home. As soon as we were done transplanting we jumped into our next major task at hand, weeding! As we all know unwanted plants also like all of the rain and sunshine, and although we are putting up the good fight with them every chance we get, it doesn’t take long for their revenge! On a brighter note, potatoes are all flowering and on Monday we saw the first Pea blossoms! Peas soon, perhaps! The zucchini plants are getting huge and we are eager to see the first blossoms on those as well.
In the greenhouse activity has slowed way down! It was once so packed with plants it was like putting a puzzle together to get them all in there. Now there is plenty of space because we don’t need to be starting as many plants “indoors” anymore. We do have our first round of winter squash seeded and germinating in the Greenhouse but most of the growth from here on out will start by directly seeding into the field. Kind of exciting!
As for the little Russian helpers….all I can say is “Schools out for the summer, School’s out forever.” At least to my Mom it might feel like that! Joe has been eager to get down to the field every morning to see what we are up to. Then if it suits his interest he helps us. Joe’s new favorite task is helping fertilize individual plants with organic fish fertilizer. He is officially our fertilizer applicator for the summer. Timmy has been equally as eager to help, and it is really cool to experience this growing interest. He was the “champion eggplant transplanting machine” this week. He wanted to plant the tomatillos too but they seemed a bit too fragile for Timmy the terror’s wild ways. He was very proud of his flawless eggplant planting and as we walking away from the field that day, he turned around and said, “Hey Katy, I was really great out there wasn’t I?” That’s the good stuff I tell you! Joe also helped me for several hours; work the Princeton Farmer’s Market stand, helping me feed greens to the community. Although I don’t think he realized how long he was going to be stuck there with me. I certainly appreciated the entertainment!
In Goatlandia, the one boy goat I have, Gee, had a much needed operation. In order for him to be able to live with the herd and not be separated a little “snipping” had to happen on Sunday. He is doing very well and will now be able to be the goat that gets to play forever with no apparent duties other than chilling with his goat herd, jumping off ramps and giving people love. What a great life he scored!
That’s the news on the farm front! We are so excited to be delivering the second CSA box this week, Tuesday, around the same times as last week. Please keep experimenting with greens and spring specialties and we will continue to send recipes to guide you towards new eating adventures. Also, please email any recipes you like as well so we can start to share recipes and experiences among all of the Clarke CSA crew.
What to expect in the box on June 9:
Kale
Swiss Chard
Radishes (more varieties than last week and a bigger bundle)!
Specialty Salad Mix
Collard Greens
Head Lettuce
Arugula and or Mustard Greens – “spicy greens”- I am going to have these in an extra box and CSA members can take the spicy greens on their honor because I know some people do not care for spicy stuff! We will try this method this week and see how it goes. I will mark the extra box with the spicy greens and leave bags so you can take however much you fancy. Also a side note, if you cook mustard greens with kale or collards or any green for that matter, they aren’t that spicy. Yum! Yum! Enjoy eating with this beautiful, wild season we are so fortunate to be a part of.
“Grow, inspire, repeat.”
With kindness,
Edgewood Farm Organics CSA Crew