Happy Friday.
The days and weeks tend to blur together on the farm as the season progresses. We are working on a different time scale, the farm scale. Our clock starts at February, ending in November with many milestones along the way. This week we hit a big milestone, actually a heavy one, nearly three tons. This was our first melon harvest of the 2020 season. Our super sweet mini love watermelons are the first to come out of the field. It is a giant win for all of the staff when we start pulling food our food out of the field in multi-ton chunks. Next up will be the cantaloupes, the orangeglo watermelon and the moon and stars melon. Then, before you know it, the winter squash will come out of the field by the bin loads. Thank goodness our farmer fitness training is paying off.
Time to start preserving the summer bounty - This week we are adding larger quantities of our summer crops to the add-on menu. These are great deals so you can can, freeze, dehydrate or simply feast upon the bounty of the summer. If you are an experienced preserver, you know that the hard work pays off in amazing food during the winter season. This is especially nice when you start to get frustrated by the often poor quality produce we buy during the winter. If you are new to preserving, Google is your friend to learn the ins and outs of preserving. Freezing is my go to with dehydrating a close second.
We have Anaheim Peppers, Bell Peppers, tomatoes, basil and bulk carrots you can add on to your share. These are the same quality you find in your share, just in large quantities for preserving. We will offer items in bulk when we have a nice bounty to share at peak flavor and nutrition for the specific item. Enjoy!
Fruit Share - How is your peach consumption coming along? A few peaches a day keep the COVID away. Well, not really but it sure makes my heart happy. This week we'll have peaches again. If your fridge is filling up with peaches, I recommend making peach wedges and freezing them on a baking pan that is covered in parchment paper. Once they are frozen you can bag them and pull them out for that peak of summer flavor, anytime!
Mini Love Watermelons - As you saw from the opening, we have watermelons. We are going to be giving everyone a watermelon in their share this week. If melons are not your jam, you can always customize your share. Our Niwot and Gunbarrel farm pick up locations will have the melons offered outside of your usual box so be sure to pick that up. For the rest of our shares, we will pick a perfect melon for you and add it to your CSA box. Enjoy.
Stay cool and enjoy your final weeks of Summer.
Michael
