Abbe Hills Farm CSA

Greetings shareholders,

This week, we have spring onions, leaf lettuce, garlic scapes, hot radishes, leafy Chinese cabbage, red and white spring turnips, kohlrabi, yukina bok choi, a little bit of cilantro, and three kinds of kale.

While we had lots of rainy days this spring, it might surprise you to learn that we didn't really have very much rain.  Until now, that is.  We've had trouble getting seeds to germinate and plants to take off ever since mid May.  All together, up to last Tuesday, I don't think we had had an inch of moisture in the entire growing season.  Since Tuesday, however, we've have plenty more than that.  I'd sure like it to stop.  Warm and moist are the perfect conditions for weeds and plant diseases to thrive.  The first thing I've noticed showing disease stress is the leaf lettuce.  I had hoped it would last a little later into the month, but maybe not.  You might notice more blemishes on the lettuce this week.  We've got head lettuce to replace it starting next week, but the momma deer has been teaching her babies how to eat just the heads and leave the pesky outer leaves for the people.  Hopefully, they'll save some for us for the next few weeks. 

Garlic scapes are the stems with the flower buds at the tops of the plants.  We pull them out so the plants will put all their energy into making bulbs, rather than spending some of it on flowers.  Scapes are wonderfully mild and tender, and can be used anyplace where garlic would be good, which is just about everywhere.  Some people chop them into salads.  I prefer to saute them with leafy greens, or roast with meat or vegetables.

The radishes are hot.  They would have been great in May.  Now you have to use them in something, rather than trying to eat them plain.  Grated or sliced, in sandwiches, or slaw, or pickled, or stirred into cream cheese and spread on crackers.  Yum.  The little turnips are tasty and don't have to be peeled.  They also can be sauteed with greens of all sorts.  Last week, we gave you some smallish Red Russian kale.  We'll have Red Russian, plus regular curly kale and toscano (aka lacinato and dinosaur) kale this week.  I noticed that the Red Russian from last week stored very poorly in our walk-in.  I'm sorry if you had trouble with it.  I don't really know why it would lose its spunk so quickly; we cut it the morning of the day that you picked it up.  We're moving to the main kale crop this week, and I expect that you won't have any problem with it.  Of course, you're not supposed to store it; you're supposed to eat it!!! 

Next week and the weeks after, expect peas, cabbages, broccoli, nice Chinese cabbage in heads, head lettuce, small daikon radishes, and spinach (at least once more.  It's a garden miracle!!!).  Perhaps the Thursday people will be lucky this week and get the first picking of sugar snap peas.    Peas won't last too long, just one or two weeks.  I had hoped to have more for you, but the long dry period prevented the second planting from germinating until last week.  My experienced pea-growing friends all say that it's too late for peas, that they will be bitter when we pick them 50 days from now, so I'm going to plow them down as soon as we can get back in the field and use the space for winter squash and watermelons instead.  Have to try for more peas next year. 

Check out this blog http://foodymommy.blogspot.com/2010/06/abbe-hills-farm-csa.html . A new shareholder, Elizabeth Porter, visited the farm last week and made a little video of her visit.  I'm so glad she did.  I love it that young moms want to know more about the food they feed to their families, about how it is grown, and where.  That's what my work is all about - growing good food sustainably and responsibly for my community.  It's a reason to get going in the morning, even if it did rain an inch over night!

Rain is predicted for much of the upcoming week.  If it is raining at 4:30 on the day you are supposed to pick up your vegetables, please delay your trip until it stops.  It's a mess around here when it is storming.  If bad weather is coming, I usually make a note of it on the first page of the website www.abbehills.com   .  If possible, look there for any last minute details.  If it already has rained that day, wear your mud shoes and some clothes that could get dirty without ruining your day.  There's about no way to avoid mud around here.  Parking went well last week.  Keep it up.  Remember, people who can't walk can park near the buildings; everybody else should go out the driveway (beyond the mud!!!) and angle park in the mowed grass.  Thanks for your cooperation.

See you this week.

Laura