Abbe Hills Farm CSA

Greeting shareholders,

This week, we’ll have spicy mixed mustard greens, more bok choi, radishes, the last of the green garlic, and sugar snap peas (yeah!).  We also have some basil and parsley plants that you can take home to grow on your patio if you would like them.  Bring a baggie or a small pot.  They are small, but they have huge potential.  

Remember that you can eat the whole stem on green garlic.  Just cut off the leaves and chop up the rest.  You can find recipes to use it at  Local Thyme recipe service.  If you need instructions for signing up for your free membership, zap me back a note.  Or try one of these custom-made recipes for this week:  Mustard Greens and Green Garlic Pistachio Pesto,  Smoked Salmon Snap Pea Pasta Salad,  Farfalle with Mustard Greens, Ricotta and Breadcrumbs,  or Creamy Pea and Radish Salad.

Sugar snaps are the kind of pea where you eat the whole thing, pod included.  Just snap off the hat and pull out the little string.  Wash and eat raw, or just barely cooked and served hot or cool.  The kids will love them.  They are a delicious spring treat.

Aaron will be bringing bread on Monday; Jill will be here on Thursday.  Their emails are above – in case you would like to get your name on their mailing list or reserve a loaf for pickup this week.  Additionally, my neighbors, Michael and Sara Brannaman, will be here both Monday and Thursday afternoons with their home-raised angus beef. They will be selling ground beef, roasts and an assortment of steaks.   Sara’s email is above in case you’d like to know more. 

The weather is getting to be a problem.  We irrigated as fast as we could last week, and that has helped considerably in the fields we were able to reach.  But there are still gardens that are too far from the pond or too complex to irrigate – potatoes, onions, broccoli – so we just have to wait for a good rain to give them the boost they need to insure beautiful crops and good yields.  We also have a few crops left to plant, but I am waiting for a little rain to loosen the soil so I can do tillage to get the fields ready.  And then, there is the other problem about the weather -  that spring crops mostly HATE wind and heat.  Things we plant in the spring, like broccoli, greens, peas, lettuce, radishes were selected by farmers and breeders for the last 5000 years to do their best in the cool conditions and regular rain we should have this time of year.  They get less wonderful when it is unexpectedly hot and dry – becoming bitter or hot,  woody,  taller, shorter, or smaller.  Taken all together, it’s a tough time in the garden.  A nice rain would be a welcome relief.  So get out there and do your rain dance!

Remember that we have slightly shorter hours at the farm this season.  Monday and Thursday, 4:30 until 6:00.  You were great last week!

See you this week,

Laura