This Week
New this week are the Yukon gold potatoes! We have three pound bags of those, and of the red Irish potatoes. I have double checked the delivery builder, and you will for sure have the larger bag as an option. We leave potatoes unwashed so they will last you longer. I added about 25 bundles of carrots, as we will have our first thinning of the deep purples. For some reason, our squash harvest seems to be lower this week, so for those of you who really want squash, I added them as an extra or swap. I will adjust the inventory as needed on Saturday once we complete another pickin'. The only salad greens available this week will be the mesclun mix and arugula. We were really caught off guard by the heat, and so were the vegetables. Lots of our crops bolted prematurely, and an entire round of our outside lettuce was burned with sun spots. We have to keep up with some restaurant contracts, so there will not be lettuce for about a month. Both of our last rounds of microgreens have failed due to the sudden heat, but hopefully our plan to fix that problem will work, and soon we can have the salad and shoots mix back in the farm shares.
Next Week
This will perhaps be the final week for bok choy, and we will add even more of the Napa cabbages. Look for the first yellow carrots of the season. Peaches and cucumbers will also make their debut!
Farm Update
In the past three weeks, we have added over 30 new farm share members! If you are new to our membership, thank you so much for trusting us to grow vegetables for you and your family. There are only 18 total spots left for the year. We are capping membership at 100 farm shares, and work on making our farm shares as amazing as they can be. In order to grow beyond that number, we will either need to hire some help, or start working with more local growers to fill specific crops. I'm absolutely ecstatic about the increase in membership! A few months ago, Kaden and I were in the midst of making the hard decision to stop going to the Ruston Market. We decided to invest that saved time and labor into the farm shares. I think it's been a key decision that we will look back on as one that propelled our farm into the next chapter of becoming a sustainable business. It really is the best feeling to haul a full load of vegetables to town and come home with empty bins. I think the future for small farmers is online. Besides our retail clients like restaurants and Fiesta, the vast majority of our sales are all done online. The stress saved by knowing exactly what needs to be delivered, and when is invaluable.
Members
With the sudden and unexpected increase in members, there may be some low inventory levels of certain crops like cabbage, broccolini, squash, beans, and salad mixes for the next few weeks until we can increase our planting amounts. I apologize if something you really want is out. The best thing to do is finalize your swaps as soon as possible on Friday evenings.
The customization window is shorter this week and will close on Sunday at 10 PM. I will be out of town until Tuesday, and Tuna will have to harvest and pack all of the Fiesta on Eighteenth shares by his lonesome. Let's hope it is a character building opportunity for him. To make harvest easier on Monday morning, we need the pick list to be finalized earlier.
I added the letter press poster that Emi and I printed as an add-on. Each poster varies slightly in size, but is close to 14x22, so you will have to measure it for a frame. If you are picking up at Fiesta, they will have your poster at the front. Make sure to remind them because it will not be packaged with your share.
I've been asked a lot this week how to prepare rainbow chard. I think chard has a neutral, green flavor and texture most similar to mature spinach. I like to strip the leaves from the stems, give them a quick chop, and add with onions to some oil in a pan. After about 5 minutes, I will add the greens and simmer for just a few minutes. Add salt, vinegar, and brown sugar the last minute of cooking. I patted this batch of greens dry, and then made a quiche!
Community
Stop by The Good Daze on Walnut St in Monroe this week if you are out and about! Jackie is a big supporter of our farm, and has lots of our jam in stock!
Tuna will be jammin' at Kiroli Park on Saturday for Love Local! There will be music, art, food, and of course our small-batch jam! We hope to see you there!
