As veggies don't recognize holidays, we will be open on Saturday July 4 for regular Suffield CSA pick ups. Remember you can reschedule pick ups and make other choices within your Harvie profile. We sincerely hope that you enjoyed your first week of produce or if you are an Every Other Week share-holder, we look forward to seeing you this week!
We know that change can be hard, and we are grateful for your support and patience as we navigate multiple new systems in order to keep our families, our employees, and our customer members safe and healthy during these uncertain times. While some of the changes can be exhausting or overwhelming, we know that caution and preparation do make a difference. In our farm family, we have numerous 'higher risk' individuals (employees, family, CSA members, etc.) who still make the choice to come to the farm for their produce....and for them, as well as others, we are making the choice to continue taking an abundance of caution. If you are unable to wear a mask for any reason, please feel free to use the parking spots designated for contactless pick up and we will be happy to bring your produce to your car. We thank you all for being so cooperative!
We also realize that while the Harvie system allows us to offer a wider range of share sizes and frequencies as well as payment plans, online swapping options and cashless purchasing of extra items when available, it is also a new and sometimes challenging system to navigate. We ask for your continued patience and commitment to working through the learning curve for all of us, and hopefully we will see the benefits all around. One thing to note is that the images from your email might not match the products exactly, but we will always be doing our best to get you the best produce available.
We really want you to be able to get your food on your chosen day of pick up, so if you are running a little late or early for your “sub-slot” of time, but still while we are open, please just come! Especially if there is dangerous weather, please wait until it is safe to arrive. Let us know that when you arrive so that we can find your name on the appropriate list; there's no need to call or email.
We believe that communication is important in every relationship, including the one with your farmer, so we would love to hear how things are going for you. You are welcome to reply to this email, share your recipes on our Facebook page, post photos on Instagram (#oxenhillfarm) and our Pinterest board or talk to us at pick up times. We really do want to know what you are thinking!
The Summer Solstice (which happened June 21) marks a time of transition for crops as it signals them to slow down in their vegetative growth and start to flower and make fruits and seeds, which means that tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other fruits will begin to develop. The continued drought though has made everything more difficult to grow. Broccoli, cabbages and cauliflower are starting to form heads while garlic bulbs and cucumbers are slowly coming along. Watermelons and cantaloupes are putting out sprawling vines to make fruits in late summer. Summer squash, peas, salad turnips, beets, beans and fennel are coming along and might soon be available for harvest. We continue to seed lettuce for later season harvests and the carrots and winter squashes are being put into the ground. Transplanting is on hold for the moment as many of these seeds will not germinate well unless we get some significant rain….
Our regular website recipe pages http://www.oxenhillfarm.com/recipe as well as Allrecipes.com and eatingwell.com are great resources, but if you prefer a cookbook you can flip through, there are some available that are specifically geared toward utilizing CSA produce. “Farm-Fresh & Fast” and “A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh, Seasonal Produce Featuring the 3rd Edition! - From Asparagus to Zucchini” are available at https://www.csacoalition.org/store . And later in the season, when the shares really get rolling, you might want to check out ways to preserve the harvest, other than freezing http://foodinjars.com/about-food-in-jars/
