Week 17 | Spring 11 CSA Newsletter Thurs | Jun 27
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Weather Alert!
Tonight's sudden and significant downpour came just as our drivers hit the road, wreaking havoc on our delivery schedule. Please be patient, but as always feel free to call or text Robin if you have any questions about your delivery.
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Important delivery note!
Deliveries for July 4 will be made on Wednesday, July 3. This will be the final delivery of the Spring Season.
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Notes from Chris
We've been lucky all year in terms of weather and precipitation. Spring did start out wet, but we always had long enough dry periods to accomplish planting and most weeding between rain events. As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, it has just dried out to the point we needed to begin to irrigate. But starting last Friday morning we got lots of rain. It started out great with the farm getting just under an inch, a perfect amount, of rain. Over Saturday night/Sunday morning, we got a solid 4 inches of rain (about a month's worth) with thunderstorms that also ripped a 40'X100' sheet of plastic off one of our hoop houses. Those of you coming out to the pot luck next Sunday will likely be able to see the aftermath of that unless we find the time (unlikely) to pull another sheet of plastic by then. We had another 2 inches of rain on our already saturated fields Monday night.
I really don't like to complain about weather, so I hope that's not how it sounds. As I've always said, it's too much rain and severe thunderstorms/wind/hail that most threaten Midwestern farming. The other serious threat is heat, which was the bad part about last summer. Though dry conditions are challenging, they at least afford us significant control as we can plant and weed whenever we want, as long as we irrigate. Most harvesting is very difficult or impossible in excessively wet conditions; strawberry and pea harvesting have been especially challenging. We need to promptly get those crops out of the field as they ripen. The whole thing can be quite stressful--on the crops and us.
The good news is that we've got lots of variety and volume in the box this week, with everything from strawberries to garlic scapes to snap peas to greens (for cooking and salads). Due to the fact we've got a very productive farm, and that we're practicing growing all the crops we can (enough for at least 1,000 CSA customers), we've had extra produce all year that we've been selling at farmers' markets. We've been trying not to overpack CSA boxes beyond the 10% insurance cushion we typically shoot for as we don't want to overwhelm people with produce they can't eat, and we're resisting conditioning customers to expect more than they paid for.
On the other hand, we most want to reward our best customers--that's you!--so we're going to pack boxes extra full these next few weeks as we've got both fields and a cooler that is overflowing. If you have too much of anything, like lettuce, kale, or chard, we encourage you to share it with a neighbor or friend. At least you'll know you didn't pay for everything you're getting, and that we're simply sharing our "problem" of too much produce.
A note regarding strawberries grown in the humid Midwest. They generally taste a lot better than commercially grown crops, but can be sensitive with a limited shelf life in humid and hot conditions. Because we want to harvest berries when ripe, they generally last only a few days, especially when harvested in the conditions we're experiencing now, so try to eat them relatively soon after receiving your box. Local food distribution companies shy away from strawberries for this very reason.
And a final note on strawberries in general. They, along with peas (which both ripen in June, unfortunately), are among the most demanding crops we harvest. When they're here, they need to be picked intensively. Before heavy rains last Friday, we had lots of both crops to harvest, and could only get to half of each crop before thunderstorms drove us out of the field. This is with a huge crew of 12 people. Pea and strawberry quality went down considerably after the heavy rain and delay in harvest, which finally happened on Sunday only because I ran a Craigslist ad on Saturday to get an emergency crew. The additional rain Monday night further damaged the remaining strawberries. Most vegetable farmers I know who used to grow strawberries gave them up due to these excessive demands. Fruit farms have little else to do in June, so strawberries are perfect for them. For us, they are a major drain that adversely affects the quality of other crops. We can have quality that is second to none if we don't try to do too much. I'm not going to risk growing them again as their return, even in a good year, is marginal at best. We're losing lots of money on this crop, and can't risk these losses going forward. So...enjoy them while you can, and get to them quickly!
-- Chris
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Questions?
Call Robin (in Chicago), 708-370-8017 | Chris (farmer/owner), 608-712-1585
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Click links below for info
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WHAT'S COOKIN'
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Garlic scapes make their brief appearance in your box and at farmers markets for a week or two in June. Here are 7 Things to do with Garlic Scapes, including the pesto shown below. Enjoy them while you can. |
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Extra Produce | Maple Syrup | Sunflower Oil
Raw Honey | Pastured Chickens | Organic Eggs
Stone-Ground Flours & Pancake Mix | Blue Corn Tortilla Chips | Our Salsas, Soups, Preserves & More Seasonal Cookbooks
Be sure to apply multi-jar discounts when you purchase our jars!
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