Hello Members! (Please click on Continue Reading to see our whole newsletter)- No potatoes this week!!! Green Beans instead (mechanical issue and we werent able to dig...next week for sure!)
On the farm this week we have had a good bit of rain, so we are not irrigating much other than the hoop houses lately. Quintessential summer goodies in the box again this week. Get them while you can! Even now, we can feel the cool weather slipping in after a hot day on the farm. We love these cool mornings. However, it does make us a little more sleepy! Or maybe that is just the heavy harvests we have this time of year...
We plan on offering a week or two of bulk tomatoes to people. These will be for canning/freezing. A lot of them will be firsts, but some will be seconds as well. They will be a mix of red and/ or heirloom. 10 lbs for $25 and 20 lbs for $45.
The honey bees on our farm are crazy for all the flowers that are blooming right now, like the sunflowers and cup plants and the red clover in our field roads! It is great to have so much wildlife on our farm. Each year we notice more and more worms, frogs and toads, bird families and more.
Please mark your calendars for our Annual Harvest Party Saturday, October 5th starting at 3pm
There will be pumpkin picking, bonfire, potluck, pig roast, farm wagon rides and more! I hope you and your family can make it out! More info to come
As always, here are a few things for you to remember about the CSA and the boxes:
If you ordered meat, PLEASE RETURN YOUR FOIL PACKS TO US!
PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOXES ASAP! WE ARE RUNNING OUT, WHICH MEANS FOLKS AREN'T RETURNING THEIR BOXES!
ALWAYS take the box with your name on it that is from BLACKBROOK FARM! If someone is picking your box up for you, please tell them to take the box with your name on it from BLACKBROOK FARM! This is very important.
IF you can't pick your box up on THURSDAY, please communicate with me about this so I can arrange for it to be kept at the dropsite instead of donated or used.
Please return your box either the same week (bring a bag to empty your veggies into) or the following time you pick up your box. Please collapse your box and neatly stack it or put it where the other boxes are.
If you are half share, your box is delivery every other week ( unless you have rearranged your schedule with Harvie). Please remember to check if this is your week or not. Full shares are delivery every week. When your box is delivered on Thursday, a delivery email is sent out. EVERY one at that dropsite gets that email, even if you do not get a box that week. So it is important for you to know which weeks you pick up. Please email me with questions. Here is information on how to access when and where to pick up your box
We also have 100% pastured Pork extras for SALE! If you order pork from us in your share we put it in a foil pack very frozen and deliver it to you in your box. It will either be partially frozen or very very cold when you receive it. We also have Pastured Pork Packages for sale that we home deliver to your door. This is a great way to load up on all the cuts of a hog and get your good healthy fats! You can find our sign up share for that on our website or our Harvie site under shares. Let us know if you have any questions! Raising animals is a large part of what we do at Blackbrook Farm! You can also buy Pork Shares from us and we do free home delivery! This is a one-time share that you can sign up for anytime, and the price a little reduced depending on the size of the share you choose.
This is what may be in your box this week: (we will update when this goes out again on Wednesday)
Ground Cherries (sweet cherry like tomatoey goodness) for some reason they say cherry tomatoes on the pick list which is confusing! I can't change it but hopefully the picture conveys what they are!!!- These are in the tomato family, but are sweet like a cherry. husk and eat fresh like a cherry tomatoes. You can also cook them up into a sauce or put in a dessert. Keep on counter- no need to refrigerate.
Snap Beans (mix of either green and or dragons tongue)- Eat the whole thing! Keep in bag to keep fresh in the fridge.
Grean Bean, Corn and Tomato Salad
Celery- This celery is great for cooking up in a stir fry or putting into any marinara or pasta salad!
Celery and Za'atar Tabouli Recipe
Sweet Corn- another load of sweet corn this week! Hopefully, you have found time to either eat it all or at least freeze it by cutting the kernals off the cob. You can also make a stock out of your corn cobs! It is crazy good in soups!
Melon (watermelon and cantaloupe)- Everyone gets a watermelon and depending on size a cantaloupe, too. These are picked RIPE! Eat them soon or cut up and put in fridge. Refrigerate these and they will keep longer!
Peppers, bell-We are letting out peppers turn color now so we are picking a little lighter. Everyone gets 2 peppers this week and they are mostly colorful
Rataouille you can use this recipe with or without eggplant!
Carrots- We picked off a fresh bed of carrots this week, and they are so tender and sweet! Top them to keep them fresh longer. You can use these nice tops to make carrots pesto (with garlic!)
Tomatoes- heirloom and red - Lots of nice ripe tomatoes for you again this week. So far its a great tomato year. The nights are pretty cool around here so they are coming on fast and probably going to peak next week and start to decline in their numbers. Fleeting and tasty!
Summer Squash- Last week for Summer squash? Could be...maybe not... make ratatouille!!!
Cucumbers- 1 per member. Probably the last week for cucumbers. Its been a fair run this year!
onions or garlic- Either one this week. The onion are now trimmed and topped, but not cured. You should still keep them in the fridge so they don't go soft.
Broccoli- A smaller harvest on broccoli. Waiting for our next succession to come on.
eggplant (some)- Use the ratatouille recipe! Or roasted and salted- yum!!!
On the pick list for next week:
potatoes
golden beets
tomatillos
onions
squash?
peppers
tomatoes
sweet corn
eggplant- some
melon
cherry tomatoes
hot peppers
greens of some sort
bee on cup plant
working down the brush for us
so much sweet corn this year!
Have a great week!
Your farmers,
Ayla James Ronia Edwin and the crew
