Excavation for our new greenhouse has begun!
 
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Week Eight! - We are providing the e-news for ALL shareholders, however only Full Share and Week B Half Shares pick up this week!
 
 Don't forget to snag your tickets to the Taste of Wellspring before we sell out! You won't want to miss it! Info is on our website and at the bottom of this email under "Upcoming Events and Classes."
 
In case you have not gotten a chance to read it yet, here is our CSA Shareholder AgreementMissed a newsletter? Check out our newsletter archives on our website!

We are in the middle of summer, but fall will be here before we know it. Don't want the fresh veggies to end? We still have some fall/winter shares available! Details and registration is on our website here: 
 
Farm News from Adrian

Welcome to CSA Week 8 everyone! 

This is Adrian, your friendly permaculturalist, here to guide you into an abundant future... Just kidding. I'm just here to introduce myself and tell you about this week's CSA happenings. In 2008, I traveled in Mexico and worked on small farms as a way to experience local cultures and travel on the cheap. That experience sparked my interest and introduced me to organic farming and permaculture. In 2009, as a farm intern, Wellspring was my first year-long farm experience. I then traveled some more, worked on a few more organic farms and off-grid homesteads before coming back here to Wellspring to farm, run the tree crop nursery, and do permaculture design for clients; a very integrated way of work in my mind. FYI, if you're unsure what permaculture is, just think of it as ecologically inspired and design-heavy agriculture, and if you want to know more, take one of our Intro to Permaculture workshops.  

Adrian in the nursery with all of his children...aka baby fruit and nut trees!


This week was the week of beans! This cool-ish summer has been great for the beans to set fruit. Once the temperature is above 90 f, beans will drop their flowers and not fruit, but since it has been in the 70s (besides Tuesday), they are thriving. By Friday, we will have picked over 450lbs this week, 2.2 of which should be in each and every box. Some of those 450lbs will be going to local restaurants or to the chefs to use in their dishes for our annual fundraiser, The Taste of Wellspring, this Sunday, July 27th. Hope to see you there! 

In other farm news, we have had Weyker Trucking out here excavating and bringing in fill for our new greenhouse. They excavated one of our ponds a few years back and did a great job, so we thought we would hire them again! We purchased this greenhouse last fall in hopes of putting it up right away, but with the early winter and deep frost, we had to hold off until now. This greenhouse will help us expand our organic seedling production and produce healthier seedlings for the farm, our annual seedling sale, and local stores. It will also help with the tree crop and medicinal herb nursery by allowing us to start cuttings and graft earlier in the year, thus allowing for more growth throughout the season. If you're interested in having us grow something for you, whether it's your grandmother's old apple tree you want grafted or your favorite herb that you want to grow and tincture, we can do it! Now go enjoy those beans.

What's In the Box and Where Does It Go? 

 

CROP                          FRIDGE?            NOTES/VARIETY

 

Fennel                           Yes                         Orion

Lettuce Head                 Yes           Red Butterhead, Romaine, Magenta,                                                                  or New Red Fire

Chard                            Yes                           Rainbow

Green beans                 Yes               not washed, bagged   

Dill                                  Yes        remove rubberband, keep in fridge in                                                                     cup of water w/ bag over

Cilantro                          Yes                  same storage as dill

Kohlrabi                         Yes                        Winner

OR Broccoli                  Yes              Arcadia, Bay Meadows, Amadeus

Beets                             Yes                          Red Ace

Kale                               Yes                         Green Curly

Onion                             No                   not cured! Ailsa Craig Yellow

Cucumber                     Yes                         Marketmore

Storage Tips 
The yellow onions are fresh! We have not cured them, so they won't keep for months. Don't refrigerate it. It will be fine on the counter or in the pantry (don't forget about it!). You should use it within the next few weeks. Beans are bagged and NOT washed. They should be washed just before eating. For the beets (and all root veggies in general), the roots should be cut from the tops and stored separately to prevent the greens from wicking moisture out of the root and making for some limp beets or carrots.
 Though we wash most of the vegetables after harvest, it is impossible to get every last bit of dirt off of them all. Therefore we recommend giving all the greens another wash before storing in a bag/container with a piece of paper towel, in your crisper drawer. Later on in the week if your greens start to get limp, remember that this does not mean that they are rotting, it simply means that they have lost some water weight.  A quick soak in ice cold water will rejuvenate them. 
    
   For best storage practices for all your fresh fruits and veggies, check out this great resource from the Berkeley Farmers Market
 
Save those scraps! Keep the stems, trimmings, peels, etc from your veggie prep each week in a gallon bag in the freezer. When you accumulate enough, you can make a delicious, homemade vegetable stock...from seemingly nothing at all! Check out this blog post for the details on how to do it.
 
Recipes from Farmer Heather

Lacto-fermented Dilly Beans!

2/3 cup coarse sea salt

2 pounds small, tender green beans or yellow wax beans, trimmed

6 fresh dill sprigs

6 small garlic cloves, smashed

3 small dried red chiles (such as cayenne or chile de �rbol)

1 tablespoon dill seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed

 

Stir salt and 1 gallon warm water in a large bowl until salt is dissolved. Let brine cool to room temperature.Layer beans with remaining ingredients in a large ceramic, glass, or stainless-steel mixing bowl. Add brine to cover. Pour remaining brine into a resealable plastic bag; seal and place on beans to submerge. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Let stand at room temperature until bubbles form around edge of bowl, 4-5 days.Spoon off any foam from surface of brine. Continue to let stand at room temperature, discarding foam as necessary, until beans are pickled, about 2 weeks. Using a slotted spoon, divide beans, herbs, and spices among 3 clean 1-quart jars. Set a strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth over a large pitcher; pour brine through strainer. Pour over beans in jars, leaving 1/2 inch space on top. Cover; chill up to 2 months.

 

Sweet and Savory Cornbread with Swiss Chard Stems and Onions

This recipe takes a summer barbecue favorite, cornbread, and adds a savory element with Swiss chard stems, onions and black pepper. This adds texture and contrast to the sweet, moist bread.

 

Makes 12 to 16 servings

High heat oil (vegetable, canola, coconut, etc) for saut�ing vegetables
� cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped Swiss chard stems
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
� cup honey
1 � cups whole-wheat pastry flour
� cup cornmeal
� teaspoon salt
Scant � teaspoon baking soda
� teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Warm oil in a medium skillet and saut� onion and chard stems until soft. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and vegetable oil. Whisk in eggs, buttermilk and honey. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking soda and pepper. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Fold in vegetables. Scrape into baking dish and smooth the top. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes until light brown at the edges and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.


Vibrant Tasty Green Bean Recipe

The following recipe is best made just before serving time. But you can make/prep this ahead of time by cooking the leeks and dill first and setting them aside. Instead of cooking the green beans in the skillet, blanch them in a pot of boiling, well-salted water for about a minute. Drain the beans and dunk them in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and place the beans in a bag or bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use. When ready, combine the components - you can do it at room temperature, or heated quickly in a skillet or pan.

4 leeks, well washed, root end and tops trimmed, sliced lengthwise into quarters and then chopped into 1/2-inch segments (see photo in main post)

1/3 cup fresh dill, well chopped
3/4 pound green beans, tops and tails trimmed and cut into 1-inch segments
extra-virgin olive oil
fine-grain sea salt

In a large thick-bottomed skillet of medium-high heat add a generous splash of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt and the leeks. Stir until the leeks are coated and glossy. Cook, stirring regularly until a lot of the leeks are golden and crispy. I stir every minute or two in the beginning, and more often as they brown using a metal spatula. All in all it takes me roughly 7 - 10 minutes to brown the leeks. At this point stir in the dill, and then stir in the green beans. Cook for a couple more minutes - just until the the beans brighten up and lose that raw bite. Turn out into a bowl or onto a platter and serve immediately. If you want to prepare these green beans ahead of time - read the head notes.

Serves about 6.

 
Food Photos 
Red or Green Butterhead (aka Bibb/Boston) lettuce heads
 OR Romaine lettuce head
OR Magenta lettuce head
Yellow Onion
green beans
Green beans
red ace beets
Red Ace Beets

 

cilantro
Cilantro
cucumber
Cucumber
fennel
Fennel
dill
Dill
Curly Kale
rainbowchard
Chard

   

 

OR Kohlrabi
broccoli
Broccoli

 
Upcoming Classes, Workshops and Events at Wellspring!
 

For more information and to register for classes, please visit 

www.wellspringinc.org or call (847) 946-5565

 

 

Registration is now open for:

The Taste of Wellspring - Farm to Table Dinner 
Sunday, July 27th - 5 to 9 pm 

8200 W County Line Rd, Mequon, WI 53097

 

The Taste of Wellspring is our annual fundraiser dinner held to generate support for Wellspring's education classes and community outreach programs. For the event, chefs from the local, regional area get creative and serve up gourmet dishes featuring Wellspring's produce, accompanied by local, sustainably sourced meats and dairy products. Live music and a silent auction are also part of the event to make for an evening full of local food and fun! 

 

Visit our Website to view the participating chefs and menu!

 

Cost: $90 per guest. Sponsorship opportunities starting at $250 includes 2 guests for the event. 

To register, visit www.wellspringinc.org call (262) 675-6755

  

Organic Baby Food Making With Master Preserver Christina Ward
Thursday, August 7th - 6 to 9 pm  

Many baby foods can be overly processed and contain synthetic ingredients. Join Master Preserver, Christina Ward, in this hands on class to learn how easy it can be to make your own baby food with fresh, organic produce! Preparation, storage and recipes tips will be covered. Students will work together to make their own baby food to bring home. All supplies will be provided. 

 

Cost: $50 until 8/4, $55 after.

 

Seasonal Produce Cooking Class - Brunch!

With Chef Greg Leon of Amilinda

 
Saturday, August 9th 
10 am to Noon 

Impress your family and friends with brunch made from seasonal ingredients! Chef Greg Leon will lead demos, tastings and give cooking tips. Recipes to take home! Come hungry!

 

Cost: $30 till 8/5, $35 after.

In This Issue
Farm News
Box List
Storage Tips
Recipes
Food Photos
Upcoming Events and Classes