In this week’s basket: Lettuce, spinach, radishes, choice of kale or kohlrabi, micro-greens, choice of cilantro or chives, and a choice of parsnips or salsa **this list is subject to change slightly at the different drop-offs**
This weeks’ recipe: Baked Eggs Florentine with Spinach
Our first basket has arrived! A big welcome to all of our returning partners, as well as all of the partners we’ll just be meeting. We’re so glad you’ve chosen to spend the season with us! We were too excited to wait any longer, and so have brought you our fields’ first offerings. This is just the beginning, so while this week’s basket is a bit smaller than future baskets will be, be patient with this cool, wet weather, and more, much more will come!
CSA is all about getting to know your local seasons, and the produce that comes out of them. You will notice a lot of greens in this week’s basket, very typical for June baskets. And of course this makes sense. Leaves are the first place that plants put energy in the spring, so that they can capture that powerful sunlight through photosynthesis and create more diverse plant parts afterwards. As the plants develop, they can start focusing on reproduction, giving us the vegetable ‘fruits’ we love in mid-summer: tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, etc. And even later, in the fall, plants start returning their energy to the soil, in the form of enlarged roots and tubers, giving us a heavy below-ground harvest: carrots, potatoes, beets, parsnips, etc. Growers have fun trying to stretch the seasons in all directions, giving produce year-round from heated greenhouses, but nothing tastes as good, or is as good for us, as fresh produce, grown in its natural season. So we hope you enjoy the greens, even as we all look forward to growing diversity in the fields and in our baskets!
As this is our first newsletter of the year, I invite you to take the time to peruse our new website. On it you can learn more about the farm, your farmers and our monthly activities on the farm for our CSA partners. You will also find a page helping get the most out of your veggies through proper handling and storage. We will also post new recipes each week, corresponding to what you receive in your basket, so be sure to check those out, and send us favorite recipes of your own!
And finally, a few notes about the contents of your basket:
- Micro-greens: these very young and tender plantules are at their nutritional prime! Keep them on your windowsill, and use scissors to cut at the base of the plant when you’re ready to use them. Add to sandwiches, salads or a garnish for, well, anything! Please return their tray to us when you’re done with them.
- Salsa: If you chose salsa over parsnips, please return the glass jar to us, so that we can refill it for you this summer!