Welcome to our summer season! If you are just joining us, this is our ninth week of sharing the harvest.
Be sure to explore the recipe database in your Harvie account if you need ideas on how to prepare your produce.
If you haven’t set your preferences, please do that as soon as possible. This is what factors into the allocation of produce so you receive items you love. Setting preferences is not a requirement, so if you don’t, you’ll just be surprised with whatever we pack for you. Some members prefer it this way too. We aim to please everyone.
If you have questions or need support, please call (530) 304-3754 or email (dailyblessingsfarmLLC@gmail.com) me directly. Inquiries sent through the Harvie accounts are not being addressed quickly due to Covid-19 so you’ll get a faster response if you just contact me with your questions.
This Week in Your Box …..
Radishes: This is the last succession of radishes until fall. We have been enjoying them all spring but it will be too hot to grow them July – August. Enjoy a mix of Sora, Cherry Belle and Easter Egg radish varieties in white, pink, red and purple.
Red Beets: These Red Ace beets are simply wonderful steamed, pickled, eaten warm or cold on a salad. I eat a beet salad about twice a week….. sliced beets on a bed of greens with goat cheese and glazed nuts. It’s wonderfully refreshing, full of nutrients, and a satisfying meal on a hot day. Your beets are all washed and trimmed prior to delivery. Try the greens too!
Bilko Napa Cabbage: This Chinese cabbage is perfect for making cabbage rolls using its large leaves to roll up your other veggies and filling. It’s refreshingly crunchy like bok choy or bibb lettuce and can be eaten raw or add it to any stir fry/main entre.
Bunching Onions: A staple in every kitchen! Both the stem and root of these green onions can be eaten raw or cooked. I have included a variety of both white and purple bunching onions for you to try.
Swiss Chard: I’m still battling with the slugs but there a limited supply to choose from this week that us sumptuously delicious. Try it in a quiche or with your morning eggs to start your day with some greens loaded with Vitamin A.
Lettuce: Choose this week from our Buttercrunch Bibb or Red Cross red leaf lettuce heads
Salad Mix: First time this season is our salad mix made up of red and green leaf varieties. Enjoy the textures and flavors when these lettuces are cut, washed and ready to serve together.
Green Acre Cabbage: This cabbage is the more traditional thick leaved cabbage used in cole slaws and steamed with vegetables. I have cut and wrapped these heads in half because they are so large.
Snow Peas: Our snow peas are quickly coming to an end as the weather heats up. They are growing under a shade curtain now to keep them producing, sweet and tender. These tender pods are harvested every other day.
Arugula: Arugula is so versatile! Use it as a braising green, stirred into any combination of meat (bacon is a favorite). Chop it up with olive oil and nuts to make a pesto or add it to a fresh green salad.
Summer Squash: This week the Tempest yellow crookneck, 8-ball green squash and Desert green zucchini are offered separately. The 8 ball is a perfectly round zucchini which is perfect for stuffing and baking or grilling. There are no dishes when you can eat the bowl too!
Carrots: Discover fun ways to snack on our chubby round Parisienne carrots which are mixed with the traditional Napoli carrot.
Tatsoi: Tatsoi is an Asian green with a mustard flavor. If you missed the ginger beef stir fry recipe in week 8, here it is again. https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/ginger-beef-stir-fry-with-tatsoi-and-jasmine-rice https://www.cookforyourlife.org/recipes/spicy-stir-fried-tatsoi/
Trio Beans: This is a mix of Provider green beans, Rocdor yellow wax beans and Royal Burgundy (purple) beans. Each week the mix will vary as the three varieties don’t all ripen at the same pace. My favorite is the purple eaten raw – it’s so sweet. Watch what happens to it when you cook it though….I won’t spoil the surprise.
Extras:
- Organic Bagels from the Painted Rooster Bakery. These are not gluten free.
- Organic Flowers Bouquets from Pistil Farm. Available in a small or large bouquet.
- Organic Soothing Hand Salve. Perfect for those irritated, chapped skin from hand washing.
- Organic Dried Basil made from our own Sweet Italian Basil.
- Organic Dried pepper flakes made from our own mixture of poblano, red and green bell, padrone and paprika peppers
- Organic Eggs by the dozen (Lg and XL)
Share your recipe’s with me! I’d love to try them and/or share them with others.
What’s Happening On The Farm?
Last week was a much needed transitional week between the spring and summer season. This is when the fun really begins …. I am concurrently planting, weeding and harvesting as much as possible during the wonderful long days. I am refreshed by the cool mornings and watch the sun set each evening waiting for the chickens to go to bed so I can close up the coops and keep them protected from the wildlife.
My friends, and farm share members, Jane, Judy, and Terrence have been a tremendous help on the farm. I am so thankful for their help. We successfully got all the watermelon, tatsoi, and hot peppers planted after a major weed pulling and irrigation installation of three planter beds. If you would like to help on the farm, please contact me to schedule a time for you to come out.
The Buttercup and Kabocha winter squash has germinated and the tomatoes have green fruit on them now too. Additionally, green beans, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, arugula, radishes, beets, strawberries and peas were harvested during the week.
The rodents have been chewing on the drip tape so unfortunately I’ve had quite a few repairs to make during the week to eliminate the leaks. The wildlife typically do this to gain access to water on hot days. They also got into the greenhouse and ate all the cantaloupe seedlings in one night. It’s a horrible loss but at least I have more seed, time to replant and at least a couple rows already growing in the field. The melons are coming and we’ll have cantaloupe first!
The flowers graced us with their color this week too. A mix of sunflowers, dahlias and zinnias are blooming in full force. Did you know sunflowers turn their heads toward the sun every day until they bloom. Then they stop. Be sure to enjoy a bouquet of flowers during your farm share. There is no substitute to brighten up an office or home. I have partnered with Corinne, of Pistil Farm, to create weekly flower bouquets of seasonal flowers for your farm share boxes. She is truly gifted and makes a beautiful arrangement every week. I have my hands full with growing the produce and poultry, so Corinne is such a blessing to provide the flower bouquets for you each week. When you purchase flowers, you are supporting two local organic farms!
This week we will plant the dill, poblano peppers, green zebra tomatoes (my favorite), parsley and continue to pull the relentless weeds. Now that the new chicks are laying eggs, we are hand washing approximately 80 eggs daily. These eggs start small and get bigger each week until the hens are fully mature and consistently lay a large or XL egg. Until then, we get some fun surprises like double yolks!
Blessings and have a great week,
Carrie
