Welcome to week 8 of the 2022 Flat Tack Farm CSA program!
What's Happening?!
We're back out in the field and finishing getting the last of the summer crops in! On my field walk today I spotted a Killdeer nest in our lettuce bed! These bold little Plover birds love to nest around the farm. We've had multiple nests in the field, some in the gravel driveway and one in the strawberry patch last year. You can spot the birds with their unique call that kind of sounds like they're saying "keeel deeer". Because they nest on the ground in weird spots- they have a very interesting distraction display that they will do if you are near a nest. They move away from the nest and act like they have a broken wing to distract the danger away from their nesting area. We often hear them flying around the farm in the evenings singing their unique call.
We've also spotted our first summer squash! So exciting!!! It won't be long before we're in summer produce season. We've also got beets, napa cabbage, and carrots coming up soon. The last of the tomatoes and peppers were planted last week (they we're quite delayed due to wet/cool weather we've had and slow growing plant starts). But this coming warm week should get them growing much quicker!
Product Highlights
The garlic scapes and peas are out full force right now. Garlic scapes are one of our very favorite farm items! Before we started farming, we had never even heard of them. The scape is a flower head that comes up in late spring from the hard neck garlic family. We harvest them as soon as the curl so that the plants energy is directed into making a bigger bulb rather than flowering. This spring delicacy is best enjoyed lightly sauteed or grilled (like you would with asparagus). It has a light garlic flavor with a nice crunch (kind of like a green bean). I also love making pesto with them, you can add in any greens (doesn't have to be basil! Carrot tops, turnip tops, radish greens, or even nettles work great!), nuts, extra virgin olive oil and the scapes and blitz them up to a fresh and tasty pesto. We will be partnering with Buckman Brines to offer our farm fermented garlic scape pesto soon. We'll email again soon when it's ready! You can also catch Chef Thubten at the Saturday farmers market sharing our booth with his delicious fermented goodies. Definitely make sure to try the fermented spicy corn and the kim chi! Made with Flat Tack Farm peppers and when in season- cabbages and pickles!
Farm Recipe Idea of the week
We have a delicious recipe to share from our mentors in Australia, Judith and Paul Collins. We spent around 5 months with them learning about homesteading, finishing our Permaculture Design Training, and learning the in's and out's of running a business, preserving the harvest, and all about gardening/companion planting. Judith has also written a fantastic book about companion planting if you're interested in this subject- you can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Companion-Gardening-Australia-Judith-Collins/dp/0733623344
We hope you enjoy this week's abundance and thank you for supporting your local farmers!
