It's here! Week 1 of Summer CSA! To those of you who are new to NWPA Growers, welcome! To those returning after a winter/spring hiatus, welcome back! And to those who stick with your farmers all year, our greatest appreciation.
Please read at least the first sections of this post to learn how to get the most out of your Farm Share.
This season we have transitioned into all full-grocery shares which can include many other grocery products along with your veggies. Make sure you set your preferences, and update them regularly. We have been working on adding additional products to our store, with more to come, so tweaking your preferences will ensure that you see products you like in your share. The Harvie software compares your preferences with what we have available each week to create an individualized share. There are two settings that I use when I add products to the delivery:
- include the product in the shares or
- allow product to be swapped/added to the share
Almost all items included are $10.00 or under, while you must manually add the more expensive items. Each share has a weekly budget, but you can add additional items to your share and the difference will be charged to your card on file. When customizing your share, click on the cart icon near the upper right side of your screen for a drop-down view of your cart and all the charges.
If you never want to see a category (for example if you're vegetarian and don't want to see meat choices), you can turn off an entire category by clicking the box next to the title.
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You can make adjustments to your cart any number of times throughout the weekend. I recommend customizing Friday morning after you receive the email for the most variety because many items will be sold out quickly. But when other people customize their shares, they may swap some items, which will return inventory to the store. So if an item that you want is marked sold out, check back later to see if it has become available again. Shares will be locked at 11 PM on Sunday.
New Boxes
Our new boxes are cleanable, recyclable plastic corrugated boxes that can still fold flat. That means that we don't have to use a plastic box liner, saving more of the environment. But it also means that you must bring your own bags to transfer your share contents into. The down side of these boxes is that they are only available in smaller sizes, so some shares will be in two or even three boxes. Be sure to remove your packing list from the box(es) and double check that you have retrieved all of your items, including any cold items from the cooler bag. Gently fold your box flat for storage when it's empty.
This week's features
Mimi's Backwoods Bakery joins NWPA Growers as our new baked goods producer. Stacey lives outside of Grove City and bakes up a storm in her state-certified kitchen. She uses local produce in her baked goods when available. This week she is offering Oatmeal Raisin Muffins and Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies, both packaged individually so you can order 1 or 10.
Vera Pasta joins our line-up with four flavors of dried pasta. In a food product as simple as pasta, using excellent flour is critical. Our flour is sourced from North Dakota, where some of the highest-quality Durum Semolina wheat is grown. The other ingredients we use are sourced locally, with an emphasis on small-batch productions. With respect to the artisan way, Vera Pasta does not use mass ingredients for any of our gourmet pasta products. Vera Pasta subscribes to the age-old technique of pasta extrusion, which originated in South Italy. “To extrude” means “to push out” or “to shape” – and it’s this traditional method of extrusion that involves pushing dough through bronze dies, which hold the shapes of common pastas. This high-pressure, high-friction process causes microstriations (microscopic scratches) to form, making the pasta surface rough and “stickier” for sauces. This is a defining quality of artisan pasta extruded from bronze dies. After extrusion, the dough comes out in the pasta shapes, sizes and spirals we know and love.
Full Moon Mushrooms returns their vegetarian mushroom jerky with new and improved recipes. Choose from teriyaki, peppered, or chipotle...or grab all three!
We are full of lettuce this week, so plan lots of salads in your meals. Gourmet salad mix, lettuce mix, head lettuce, and various other greens show the bounty of spring in Western PA.
I will be unavailable from Friday night until Sunday night this week. I do not check email at all on Saturdays, but this week my time away will stretch through Sunday. So if you have questions or problems with your share customization that are urgent, please click on the Support button on the Harvie website. Otherwise, I will respond to emails either Sunday night or Monday.
Farmer Happenings
Spur Hollow Farm: Trying to keep up on the flush of weeds right now! It isn't too bad yet, we are staying on top of them for the most part. Quick growing crops such as salad mix, radishes, arugula, or turnips will out compete most weeds and provide a fairly clean seedbed for the next crop.
Glacial Till Farm:
