It's Spring CSA week 3 out of 8! And until today it has felt more like late (warm) spring and the plants were loving it!
We made a big push this week to continue planting in the fields for the first Farmers' Markets and the first of the Summer CSA deliveries. The crew was able to transplant broccoli, kale, cabbage, head lettuce, bok choy, and the first variety of onions before the weather change. This is great progress!
We are getting down to some of our last storage crops in the cooler and this week there is a lot of awesome fresh, green veg in the share!
The fresh bok choy, radishes, and spinach were all planted way back in February and we now get to enjoy the most flavorful, crunchy produce available.
When eating seasonally, this is the most difficult time of year for diversity. Also known as, the "hungry gap". The hungry gap is the name for the period in spring when there is little or no fresh produce available from the fields.
We use many strategies to help bridge the gap, such as stored root crops, but eventually those lose their quality and we are forced to eat them quickly or feed them to the chickens or compost pile!
Another strategy we use is our high tunnels or hoophouses. With these unheated greenhouses, we have garden space inside where we plant directly into the ground. This allows us to try to grow year round, and as long as we are good about filling a bed as soon as a crop is finished and have a larger calculated planting schedule planned out, we can grow a lot of food!
The hungry gap also means that your diet all of a sudden has A LOT of greens in it! That's not a bad thing right? At this time of year when we are craving fresh food and lighter meals, it suddenly becomes salad season!
So, embrace the hungry gap, embrace the salads, and tune in to what your body begins to ask for on your seasonal eating journey!
Happy eating,
Farmer Chloe
