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Dear Common Thread CSA Members,
Update on how the rain is affecting the farm:
We had that one week of sun after a mostly rainy June, but since then it has rained almost every day again, and some of our drainage ditches have overflowed, flooding some lower, wetter parts of the fields with water that will take a least a week to dry out, if we ever get a dry week. We knew that with it being our first year on this farm with all the set up there is to do, we would be working double time this year, but we didn't count on a record cold, rainy, flooding June. June is a critical month for the planting and growth of the summer and fall crops. We want you all to know that we are working very, very hard to grow vegetables despite the weather-related set-backs, but we anticipate that we might have some weeks with less than full shares coming up. A number of crops went in later than we wanted them to and have since not had a lot of prime growing weather. Much of our next round of lettuce is rotting after all that rain. Our flowers and cherry tomatoes are in an area that keeps filling up with water (it just filled up again today). There are several fields that we were going to plant in that are too wet so we're shifting some plantings to areas that were designated for cover cropping this year. We haven't been able to keep up on cultivation and weeding with all the rain either, so some crops will be lost or smaller than ideal due to weeds. We are also worried about what all this wet weather will mean in terms of plant diseases.
All is not lost at this point though! Our potatoes look good, our onions and carrots (though they desperately need weeding) look good. We have more rounds of kale, chard, radishes, beets, cabbages, fennel, mini-onions, and escarole coming along. The early beds of zucchini that we put in are producing well and we have some more plantings of zukes, cukes and melons behind them in the ground. We invested in a hoophouse and 4 caterpiller tunnels this year and so the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant that we planted under those covers are growing nicely. The winter squash, though it went in late, is starting to grow nicely, as are the brussel sprouts, parsnips, celery and celeriac. The long and short of it is that we'll have food but not everything we planned. Next year, we'll have a better idea of how to plan, we'll have had some drainage work done and the weather will be better (one can always hope - it shouldn't do this two Junes in a row!)
If you are wondering how to support the farm during this difficult time, here are a few thoughts:
1. Please bear with us if we have some less than stellar weeks coming up and know that this year has had extra and unusual levels of rain that farms from the Mid-West to New England to the Southeast are struggling to deal with.
2. If you like to be out in the farm fields, please come to one of our volunteer slots and help us catch up/keep up with the weeding (save the carrots!), harvesting, planting, seeding and more. We are open to drop in volunteers Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7:30 am to 10:30 am and Wednesday evening from 6-8 pm (with rsvp). Saturday hours can also be arranged.
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Meanwhile, it's CSA Week #5 and it's a good week!
You can see a list of the crops available this week on our webpage. You can also find what's in for pick your own. The pick your own fields do vary in how muddy they are. It's too wet right after a rain. The peas seem to only need a day to dry out, while the flowers and herbs need a couple before the paths are passable.
I've already had a couple inquiries about that strange "hand-like" vegetable that went out in the boxes today. That is bulb fennel. Fennel has an anise flavor can be cut up raw in a salad or cooked in stir-fries, soups, or baked. A traditional Italian fennel dish is Tortiera di Finocchi e Patat
This is a cabbage week! In addition to coleslaw and part of green salads, cabbage is great in stir-fries and soups. One of my favorite soups:
Borscht, from the Moosewood Cookbook
1.5 cups thinly sliced potato
1 cup thinly sliced beets
4 cups water
1 to 2 Tb butter
1.5 cups chopped onion
1 scant tsp. caraway seeds
1.5 tsp. salt (or more, to taste)
1 stalk celery or half a celeriac, if available
1 medium sized carrot, sliced
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dill, plus extra for garnish
1 to 2 Tbs cider vinegar
1 to 2 Tb. brown sugar or honey
1 cup tomato puree
Toppings: sour cream or yogurt, extra dill
1. Place potatoes, beets, and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Cover, and cook over medium heat until tender (20 to 30 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a kettle or Dutch oven. Add onion, caraway seeds, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent (8 to 10 minutes).
3. Add celery, carrots, and cabbage, plus 2 cups of the cooking water from the potatoes and beets. Cover and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender (another 8 to 10 minutes).
4. Add the remaining ingredients (including all the potato and beet water), cover, and summer for at least 15 more minutes. Taste to correct seasonings and serve hot, topped with sour cream or yogurt and a light dusting of dill.
Yours in the muddy fields,
Wendy and Asher
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