Despite the snow, we've planted our first tomatoes in the ground...In a heated tunnel of course.
Spring is officially less than two weeks away, and this week should start to feel like it. Because of the snow and cold, we've held off on some outdoor planting, but now is the time to get going in earnest! We hope to have peas, carrots, and spinach planted outdoors by the end of the week. Oh it's about to get really busy around here! In spring we have to take every opportunity to work between the rains doing soil prep when we can and plant when we can. The irrigation system needs to be set up so we can get the crops off to a start and we've got that tunnel to finish whenever the parts arrive.
We're full of expectation for a great spring and the seedling greenhouse is so overflowing with transplants it's hard to find a place to step!
We're in the meat of the winter CSA, what is often called the "hungry gap" by most gardeners and farmers. Due to our high tunnels, it isn't hungry for us with ample roots and greens. Feel free to share your creations on the private Facebook group since this type of eating with the seasons isn't really common here in the midwest. We're enjoying lots of salads with all sorts of greens thrown in and roasted veggies on top. We also include a cooked green with just about every meal and it seems like we've always got roots roasting in the oven. Sheet pan meals are a great way to use a lot of roots and are super easy to make last minute. Dice the roots, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and any other seasonings. You can also add crumbled sausage halfway through baking for a complete meal. This is one our go-to fast-foods.
Bread: Farm to Market Sourdough Artisan Loaf
Cheese: Hemme Brothers Chive Curds
Sorry we weren't able to get the bread again last week. Last week we were able to remove the bread from everyone's order so no one was charged for it. That was a lot easier to accomplish than issuing refunds to everyone like we had to do the last time we had to move the delivery date. Most years, we make it through the winter CSA season with only one snow day, but we've had three this year, so thanks for bearing with us!
Enjoy the sunshine as the snow melts!
Dave and Sheri
