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Providence's First Garden Share in 2015!
June 16th, 2015

  


 
We are super pleased to share this season's bountiful harvest with you!  Your choice to support our family farm means not only that we get to live our passion to grow stunningly good food... But also that we can employ a wonderful group of hard-working individuals from our community, contribute thousands of pounds of nutritious, organic vegetables to area food pantries, give CSA shares to individual families, train future farmers, educate school groups, and keep over 130 acres of farm land in organic certification!  There's no way we could do any of this with out you, our local farm community. We are beyond grateful. God bless you and your family, as you enjoy the sweet goodness of living foods that nourish, mind, body and soul. ~ Andrea  

 

Week One's CSA Garden Share's Delicious Fare:

Princely Purple or Green Asparagus:
IF you haven't tried it raw, at least nibble, many customers think it's a treat this way and compare it to sugar snap peas. Purple (because of the healthy anti-oxidant, anthocyanin) asparagus loses it's beautiful hue when cooked. Remember, that it is yummy raw in hummus or julienned in salads. Grilled is my favorite method of cooking. I lightly oil, then season with lemon pepper, garlic and sea salt. YUM.


Spring-Dug Parsnips are wonderfully sweet! More vitamin C than carrots and known for high mineral content, especially potassium. Since this is grilling season... if you're already fired-up, roast these babies too! Your choice seasoning, sweet or savory. I've made cake, had them mashed with sea salt and cinnamon, added them to stir-fry, sauteed in olive oil w/caramelized onions and roasted them in the oven with other roots. ALL fabulous.

Fresh picked spinach
Spectacular spinach. I'm not kidding. I did taste comparisons at the farmer's market. Ours is tender with no bitter after-taste. If you usually cook and season your spinach, this would be great raw. The leaves are large, so I chop them a bit for salad. We've been having spinach non-stop in smoothies, tacos, sandwiches, with eggs in the skillet, and snipped into spaghetti sauce. Victoria Boutenko writes (and substantiates) that humans really require about A POUND OF GREENS a day for optimal health in her book, Green For Life.

Lettuce Mix in the field Lovely lettuce mix: Ryan and I chose our favorite lettuces and made a custom mix from the seeds. It's a sweet mix, with NO spicy greens included. Both our spinach and lettuce mix has been triple-rinsed and spun dry for you.

Rosy Radish: I totally over-ate radish sandwiches, and I'm not a big radish person! (Those of you who are can pop them all in your mouth at one sitting, like mini-apples, I know.) This is what I did: I had a nice French baguette, which I sliced to make mini sandwiches, placing lots of thinly sliced radishes seasoned with sea salt, good mayo, and baby kale inside.
   
Welch Bunching Onions Our Welsh Bunching Onions are near the end of their tasty run, so you may see some yellowing of the leaves. You can enjoy them from their green tippy tops to bottom, including the flowers! I use the whole plant raw. I also cook with the white roots. It has been our main source of onions for three weeks, so they've been sauteed, baked, or added to everything that's needed onion.

English Thyme: This nutrient-dense spice is one of the few herbs that doesn't lose it's flavor when it flowers! The flowers are a beautiful baby pink color and edible, as well as the leaves. You may use thyme fresh for the best flavor, or tie it with a rubber band and hang to dry in a well-aerated spot. Ideas for thyme? It's been used as medicinal tea for seasonal allergies, soothing the bronchial tract, minimizing coughs and chest congestion. Steep 2 teaspoons fresh time in 6-8 ounces hot water for 5 minutes minimum, taking care to squeeze the plant to release as much of the oils as possible. (Seasonal allergies are unusually high now, so I thought I'd mention that!) For Cooking? Thyme butter is a tasty and pretty treat, esp. if you make a butter mold and gently press thyme flowers into the finished shape. You can also add it to roasts, spaghetti sauces, and soups. Whichever way you use it, know that you are giving your body extra vitamins C & A, minerals iron, manganese & copper, and thymol: it's volatile oil, which has many well-documented positive effects on human health.

Large Shares Only- Rhubarb. It's the end of the season for rhubarb, so enjoy! I've made the decadent rhubarb cake, pictured above:
Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix w/pudding in it (or homemade mix for 9x13)
5 cups rhubarb chopped
1 cup sweetener (I used organic coconut palm sugar)
2 cups heavy cream (I use Shetler's Cream)
Directions:
Make cake batter according to directions.
Pour batter in ungreased 9x13.
Add sweetener to chopped rhubarb, stir well.
Spoon rhubarb over cake batter in 9x13.
Gently shake 9x13 side to side to settle rhubarb into batter.
Pour cream over top and shake again.
Bake 1 hour at 350, and IF YOU CAN WAIT, cool one hour, and turn upside down to serve.

For a Simple Rhubarb Sauce?
  Simply mix one cup chopped rhubarb with one cup strawberries, and place into sauce pan over medium heat. Add sweetener to taste, such as honey or maple syrup. Use as a topping on pancakes or ice-cream. 
Summer Solstice Party!
Farm party YOU'RE INVITED!

We are hosting an open house and potluck this Saturday, June 20th, starting at 4:00 PM, rain or shine!

There will be some on-going children's activities, a farm tour at 4:15, and potluck at 5:30. Please bring tableware, a lawn chair per person or picnic blanket, and a dish to pass.  Please make a card listing your ingredients to help those with allergies.

Our much used antique tractors from the 40's and 50's will be on display, along with goats, lambs, our Belted Galloway Cattle and pastured pork. We'd love to see you there!

Learn More Here!
Gratefulness
Help Us Share The Harvest!
Ryan is inside a bale shredder putting the blades back on after grinding them.  We don't use herbicides to manage weeds in organic agriculture. But we do grow rye grass, cut it and bale it before it goes to seed, then shred the bales to lay mulch between the plants.

Jacob, our youngest at 8, taking on quack grass.

Winter, our oldest at 18, about to apply an organic flea beetle repellant to our vegetables.

Isaiah on the Chalmers G
Isaiah, 14, is driving our 1948 Chalmers G to weed in between rows.


Honey bees thrive here. Their music hums in the fields every non-rainy day, so we have invited our friend, Erin, to start keeping bees at the farm!  She has three colonies and they are all busy & healthy. 


Can hardly wait for the divine honey that is being made! 

Ry w/ strange strawberries
Strawberries are finally here.  Despite our best efforts, we just couldn't save all of our strawberries from Winter damage and Memorial week frost. We will have enough for CSA shares, and possibly most of our pre-ordered flats. Feeling hopeful but insecure about the end result. These things happen in farming. We planted just under an acre for next year, knowing that each year brings different challenges and most likely our strawberries will be safe!
Pastured Pork Share
pigs 2015
Our piglets quite as small anymore!  Our pigs are moved around to give them access to fresh grass and forage, given organic vegetables, non-GMO corn, soy and minerals, tree shade and fresh water from our 230-foot well.

We have two sides unspoken for, so if you'd like to make sure you're on the list, it's best to shoot us an email and send your deposit of $100 to Providence Farm, 5691 N M-88, Central Lake, MI  49622.  (Just an email will not save your bacon.) ;-)

We charge $3.70/# hanging weight, with each side coming in around 100 pounds. You're on your own for processing which can range anywhere from $60-$160 depending on the specifics of your order.
Follow Us 
Deb holding Cookie Dough

Meet Deb Veenstra. She is our friend and Providence Farm secretary.  Many of our CSA members already know her from our farm correspondence. She's a treasure in the office where we don't have near as much talent!
Our first son, Winter, graduated! He's going to MSU and running on the track team too.  We couldn't be more proud of him. 

FROM US TO YOU:
Have a wonderful week, and if we don't see you at this Saturday's Summer Solstice potluck party or the next one on Tuesday, June 30th, 6:00 PM, we'll schedule more events and let you know about them ahead of time. 
We enjoy reconnecting with shareholders and making new acquaintances as well.

 Also, if you ever want to help set up or tear down for potlucks or other events, that's be wonderful! Just let me know, and I'll gladly put you to work.

Warm regards,

Andrea

CSA Shares Still Available For the 2015 Season!
Week 11 Share 2014
Pictured Here Is An Example of a Small Family Share (1-4 people) From the 1st Week of CSA 2014
Amount of items and total weight increases throughout the season. To make an informed decision about purchasing a share, it's best to look at our newsletter archives from 2014.  Head here for frequently asked questions.  Or check out this review!
Pictured Here Is An Example of a Large Family Share (5-8 people) from September 2014
Large family shares have 1/3 more food than small family shares.  Amount of items and total weight increases throughout the season. To make an informed decision about purchasing a share, it's best to look at our newsletter archives. 

HelpHelp Us Share The Harvest!
Week 12's share
(Update: Good Samaritan's Food Pantry as well as two area individual families have been sponsored so far, beyond what Ryan and I are already doing!) Every season, Ryan and I make it a priority to share what we grow, and we've seen the need in northwest Michigan grow each year with us.  Each week during the growing season, we donate a wide variety of our organic vegetables to four area food pantries, including Good Samaritan Family Services in Ellsworth, which serves over 700 families each month! We also give CSA shares to individual local families, all totaling several thousand pounds of produce each year.  

If you'd like to help us expand our reach, you can partner with us by donating any amount to go towards our "Sharing The Harvest Fund".  You may designate whether you want to add more to our food pantry donations or you can sponsor an individual family with a CSA share.  Each new 18-22 week CSA family is given a free From Asparagus to Zucchini - A Guide To Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce Cookbook, invited to our CSA potlucks, tours and events, as well as sent helpful email newsletters with recipes and storage tips, just like all of our new CSA members!  Ready to commit, have questions or know a family who'd appreciate fresh, nutritious, local produce through our Sharing The Harvest program?  Email us.  

SIGN UP AND SAVE
15-20% off market prices!
A commitment to 18 or 22 weeks of garden shares enjoy heavy savings on locally grown, certified organic produce plus a 
Our thanks for reading what's going on here. We are a small family farm that relies 100% on local people like you.  We really can't express our gratitude enough.  THANK YOU.  We especially thank all our Winter and Spring registrations from CSA members.  Your early payment helps us tremendously this time of year.  Please pass the idea along to any person you may think would be interested in our "Traditional CSA Garden Shares" or our new "Investor CSA Share" as committed community support is the back bone of our family farm.  

 

Sincerely,
  
Ryan & Andrea
5691 N M-88 (1 mile east of US 31 at Eastport)
Central Lake, MI  49622
(231) 350-6420
(231) 599-2020 
  
We're passionate about living soil, thriving plants, healthy people! 


Providence Farm | 231-350-6420 | [email protected] | http://providenceorganicfarm.com
5691 N M-88
Central Lake, MI 49622