June 10th

THE FIRST CSA DISTRIBUTION WEEK!
June 10th and 13th, 2008

I went to check on the mint last night and something has attacked it...brown spots everywhere. Then I ran to check the basil.... John wakes up every morning and shares with me a new dream he's had about how the livestock escaped. Apparently, they were 5 miles away this time and he couldn't find all the animals. This is the stress of June manifested in one's overactive dream state. The spring is so full of hope and trepidation each year. Our to-do list is always full and the fields are transforming at an exponential rate. I love the power of spring and try to focus on the potential of the season to bring forth our bounty but it's always a challenge not to get mired down in all the work so as not to see the beauty. Luckily, our kids keep us up-to-date with this beauty, picking bouquets of wild irises and feral daylilies for the table and feverishly searching through the berry patch to locate the first, ripe berries of the season. They remind us why we keep going, keep growing and striving to do the right thing for our community and our environment when really it would be so much easier to lock those animals up in the barn and know they would stay where you put them or to spray the mint with some chemical to take care of the pests. But then...would I really sleep better?

This week's share will include:

• Arugala
• lettuce
• Pac Choi
• rhurarb
• chives with edible blossoms
• sorrel
• 1 basil seedling
  

(Look how big those peas are getting!)

When in doubt about what to do with unfamiliar veggies, I always do a search on Epicurious and something interesting and delicious always comes up. I even reach out to Epicurious for inspiration and ideas about veggies I use all the time. You can type in an ingredient and the site will pull recipes with this ingredient from their database for your perusal. You can go through your amost empty refrigerator and cupboards and type in a few things you may have and a recipe will pop up. Sometimes in the winter I will type in a few random ingredients that I have in the freezer from the summer harvest and out will pop an idea.....for example, this winter John's sister, Layne, a fisherman from Georgetown, gave us some Maine shrimp so I typed in shrimp, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes and we made a fantastic corn chowder with shrimp from an Epicurious recipe.

The basil seedlings will want a nice, warm, sunny spot and plenty of water to keep the soil moist. You can pinch it back and use the leaves in your favorite dishes and it should hold you over with basil tastings until the garden basil is ready for harvest.

The chive blossoms are beautiful added to salads and pasta dishes for color and delicious flavor. The stem of the blossom is a bit tough so you will not want to use it. The green chives shoots other than the blossom stem are tender and delicious.





















Just to give you some highlights..... the berries are fruiting and almost ready. We encourage you to check the website/blog daily if you want to be the first out to pick your own berries. We anticipate the field being ready for picking this weekend so make tentative plans to drop by for a quart of berries!

If you are interested in volunteering, we love to have help with the harvest on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 7-12. We also work most Saturdays and welcome volunteers from 8-12. Saturday, June 21st there is wedding scheduled at the farm so we will not be doing farm work that day.

The first CSA distribution week is always chaotic as we try to get ourselves and everyone else organized and help new folks with the pick up process. Please let is know if there is something we can do to help you or to make the routine more pleasant. We look forward to seeing you all today and Friday and in the weeks to come. Here's to a great season!

Blessings on the meal-
Stacy and John