Remember to collect Tomatoes in paper bags with your name on it! - (We don't put them in cold storage with the other vegetables that we keep in our walk in cooler for the night before your pick up day.) They are in a crate right beside the green boxes/cold vegetables. (Same for breads, flowers, and a cooler for fermented vegetables, and eggs...)
Every season is different, and moments within a season are different. Right now we are experiencing a moment of intense crop loss of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, and Head Lettuce. Whew! Aphids, squash bugs, and groundhogs are the culprits. (The photo above shows a couple of the 400+ heads of lettuce half eaten and ruined by the groundhogs. It's hard to capture by photo, but we hope you get an idea.) We still have some of each of these crops, just not the abundance that we planned and hoped for. This is why we are a diversified farm! Thank you for your flexibility as we have lesser amounts of these vegetables while troubleshooting like crazy to figure out how to fix these problems.
It is now officially summer! The transition is apparent on our farm. Spinach and Arugula are now done until the fall when we'll plant and harvest them again. We'll do our best to keep harvesting Salad Mix and Lettuce through the summer, as long as the weather (and ground hog!) cooperates. Our Curly Kale will be around until early July, and then it too will take a break until the fall. Love it while we have it! Remember Kale Chips (pictured below from our farmhouse kitchen this weekend) are a fantastic and easy thing to make to have as "snack" type food during this time of year. Rainbow Chard is the work horse of the greens and will (weather and plant disease willing) stay alive in our fields for most of the summer. Treat it like Spinach and celebrate seasonal eating with us!
We are now harvesting Carrots and Garlic and the last of the Cabbage and the very first "real" summer fruits in our fields are starting to reach maturity! We're harvesting a few Eggplants and Sweet Peppers this morning! (Summer "fruits" on our farm are summer season vegetables that have seeds inside: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Eggplants, Okra, etc.)
And...we have so many varieties of fresh herbs available for you! We love making our meals more flavorful by using lots of different culinary herbs. Whether you are making dressings, marinades, or simply a green salad, fresh herbs add a huge boost of flavor and nutrition. Dive in and give them a try!
There are some very delicious and sumptuous herbal options for you in the "Extras" section today! Our family is really, really loving the tea blends, the herbal mixes to use to make fudge, and the divine body oils. Our friend Katherine at Gathered Threads has prepared the following Herb kits for you that you can purchase as a one-time, a la carte option:
:: Tea & Wellness Box: Mint Blend (for tea or to make simple syrup), Winding Down tea, 2nd Chakra Tea, Milky Oat Tops (for tea or as infusion to use as liquid when making rice, etc.), White Chocolate Vegan Fudge Kit (herbs to combine with cocoa butter, cashews, and sweetener to make your own fudge).
:: Herbs for the Kitchen Box: Asian Salad Dressing (herbs provided - you combine with oil and vinegar), Lemon Basil Mojito, Cornbread Seasoning, Rose Sugar, Salt-Free Seasoning
:: Herbs for the Body & Soul Box: Moisturizing Rose Body Oil, Calendula Oil Kit, Sunburn Soak - Herbal Bath Salts, Rosemary Hydrosol, 3rd Chakra Tea
---> An informational sheet is included in each box to provide you with details and instructions. Adding herbal diversity to your life is so enriching!
The delicious fermented vegetable options listed here are also from Katherine at Gathered Threads. We've been making our own fermented/cultured vegetables for years, and hers are the most delicious we've ever tasted! Give them a try. Your taste buds and your gut flora will thank you.
A note about Eggs - We offer them to you when our egg farmer friends (Steve Ault and/or Robert Hutchins) have enough available for us to list them here. It is often unpredictable and erratic, but Steve Ault is increasing his number of hens (he has plenty of pasture room!) in order to make more available soon.
Enjoy your options this week as summer really begins!
Blessings on your meals ~
