Hello Mountain Ranch! Flavorful fennel recipes, specials in our store, and more

Do you want to enjoy fresh seasonal produce and knowledge of where it comes from? Do you and your friends live outside our current distribution and would love to have Outer Aisle come closer to you? Contact Kaedence to see about starting deliveries in your area!

Weekly or bi-weekly deliveries to:
Tuolumne County
Calaveras County
Alpine County  
 
Benefits of Becoming a Member:
Enjoy local and seasonal fruits and veggies all year round
Fresh, high quality, home-grown flavor
Bi-weekly fall, winter and spring deliveries to convenient drop off locations near you
Your choice of the size bag for your needs: mini, basic and full sizes. Add on fruit, roots, and greens
Access our on-line web store  
Vacation when you are out of town
Supplement your own garden, you grow greens: we have roots and fruits!
Lower your carbon footprint. Save gas, we deliver to you
Support local growers, producers and makers.

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Greetings!

Happy Thursday! We're buzzing around with lots of news and goodies for you this week. Read on for updates on a new CSA drop off site, several upcoming exciting events, and the beginning of our new blog! 

CSA Update

First, we're excited to announce the opening of our newest drop off point:
 
Mountain Ranch
 
You can now sign up for deliveries to Mountain Ranch and start taking advantage of our many CSA options. Sign up here.
 
Remember, as we mentioned in our last newsletter, we are now offering the Personal Shopper Option, where you can choose your own orders! Learn more here.

In the bags this week, you'll enjoy: cauliflower, rainbow chard, butter lettuce and cilantro from Tomatero Farm, carrots and grapefruit from Terra Firma Farm, and golden beets and snap peas from Coke Farm.

Farm Update

  The cauliflower from Tomatero is beautiful this week and also on special ($2 a pound).
Zucchini from the farm is keeping up with demand so we lowered the price to just $3.5 a pound
The salad greens we harvested from our first outdoor planting of the year are super tender.

On the horizon we have fava beans, snap peas and basil, which we're currently fighting the squirrels for. My first real day at the farm was Tuesday, and the six hours spent in the heat on my knees would normally sound like something one would complain about was instead highly enjoyable and inspiring after our successful night with the Green Drinks attendees.

We planted tomatoes and our first peppers of the season on Tuesday, and had fun shooting a video of the process. Video coming soon to our new blog (check it out here)

Recipes for the Week

A special look at fennel, and two new ways to work with it:  Check them out here!

On the Menu this Week

LUNCH SPECIALS:

Spinach Filo Pie with Feta cheese, onions, walnuts and thyme

Diestel peppered turkey with Havarti Dill sandwich on Aria sourdough with dijon mustard and avocado.

Grilled zucchini veggie sandwich with hummus, goat cheese, avocado and sprouts

Dinner:

Two great appetizers to enjoy on the patio Friday/Saturday for dinner:

Blackened salmon with red spinach, snap peas, pea shoots and French breakfast radish

Tandoori grilled chicken skewers with Tomatero Farm cauliflower

and...

In addition to our popular locally sourced seafood option, we have a special pasta dish this week: Macadamia encrusted Petrale Sole with Truffle Risotto and an Apple fennel micro salad

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Upcoming Special Events

Sunday, April 20th (10-2:30pm) extended hours!

Easter Buffet

Join us for Easter this year! We are creating a Easter buffet with seasonal flavors. Call us for details and make reservations: 209-728-9112.

Let us know you're coming on Facebook, it's where our online calendar now lives.

Sunday, April 27th (12-4pm)

Taste of Calaveras

We are joining in on the tour in Taste of Calaveras by the Angels Camp Business Association this year! We'll be featuring a special line of d'oeuvres. Learn more and get your tour tickets here.

Sunday, May 11th (10-3pm) extended hours!

Mother's Day Brunch Buffet

Mother's Day is on its way! Come celebrate the powerful women in your life with a specialized buffet feast in honor of mom's everywhere. By reservation only! Call us to save your seats: 209-728-9112.

Coming Soon:

We plan to extend our Sunday hours and bring in Prix Fixe Sunday dinners!

Outer Aisle FARMERS KITCHEN, MARKET & PUB. "growing food, feeding community".

Behind the scenes of Outer Aisle is Taylor Farms. Located on Main Street, Douglas Flat, our nearly two acre "beyond organic" farm produces a large  variety of seasonal vegetables including these seasonal highlights:  summer heirloom tomatoes, fall cauliflower, winter carrots and spring  potatoes to name just a few! 

Outer Aisle also operates a year round CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. We distribute the highest quality, local, seasonal and regional produce and products to members all over Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. We only purchase product from farms and producers who are committed to ecologically sustainable practices and go beyond the National "Organic" standards.

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE 

We invite you to be a member of our CSA. Community Supported Agriculture is more than a statement of support it's an amazing way to connect your palate with seasonal eating on a regular basis.
      
Where the food comes from?

People ask us all the time is our produce "organic" and while we are tempted to just say yes and let the organic definition tell the story we don't. We are not certified "organic" and to use the word as a casual expression would get us into trouble. We believe that our practice of stewardship goes beyond what is required under the "organic" label. We are committed to caring for the soil and the micro-organisms that so skillfully maintain fertility so that plants can thrive. And above all, we have a direct connection with our customers and invite you to come out to the fields on one of our farm tours. (Starting in May every 2nd and 4th Saturday.)

Thank you to those pioneering farmers who worked for years, at first alone and then together, to stand firm in ensuring the adoption of strict regulations for what was to become a multi-billion dollar industry. Over the years since "organic" moved to a national standard some of those regs have been "watered" down to allow the larger industrial farms to get a piece of the dollar pie.

We love it that the farmers who were the originators of organic are the predominant producers of the food that we eat, we sell and we cook. 

Those pioneering farmers are still doing what they have always done: adhering to their own high standards of organic and going beyond what is required. Full Belly Farm, Terra Firma, Coke Farms are three of the original pioneers that supply us with produce at times when our garden is not producing. They are advocates of a sustainable approach and even though they are certified organic their practices are what nurtures community: soil and people! 

Those pioneers are inspiring the younger generation and we are proud also to complement our produce with those from up and coming organic farms like Tomatero in Watsonville.

JOIN OUR CSA
Enjoy seasonal produce and the insurance that what you eat comes from farms that practice diversity, stewardship and are pioneers of good health.