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Farmer’s Note — Week 7

Dear CSA Member,

This has been a brutal week to be a farmer.  It is the same for anyone who has to work outside no matter the weather.  Each day it has gotten hotter and more humid.  It must easily be near 100 degrees in the field.  Plenty of water to drink, but the work is hard and we can not stop.

The vegetables are still soaking it all up and producing very well. I thought that last week would be the cucumber week, but the cucumbers have rallied again and the harvest is even greater than last week. A benefit of being a CSA member is sharing in the bounty of a harvest. Each year it varies crop to crop.  This year the cucumbers are outstanding. Cucumber soup, cold cucumber salads, refrigerator pickles. Cucumber and yogurt are a natural combination during the heat of the summer. There are recipes on the farm website Recipe section.

During this extreme heat make sure you get your share home, rinsed and in the refrigerator as soon as possible.  All of the vegetables are fresh, but cannot withstand the heat.

All being said, it is summer.  I guess we should expect a good dose of hot weather.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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What’s in the Bag — Week 6

Full Vegetable Share
Bright Lights Swiss chard – 1 bunch
Summer Squash – 2 pieces
Marketmore Green Cucumbers – 2
Eggplant – 2
Scallions – 1 bunch
Caraflex Cabbage – 1 head
Currants -1 basket. Currants are a fruit that we grow on the farm. Slightly tart. You can add them to cooked dishes or make a sauce by cooking them with some water and sugar. I use currant sauce with poultry as you would cranberry sauce.
Dill – 1 bunch. You can’t have all these cucumbers and not have dill.
Boothby Blonde/Poona Kheera cucumbers – 4

Half Vegetable Share
Even gets cabbage

Mushroom Share
Portobello

Fruit Share
1 box each of local no-spray blueberries and local sweet cherries.

 

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Farmer’s Note — Week 6

Dear CSA Member:

We have not melted but come very close over the last week. The cucumbers have been soaking up the heat and just love it. Each vegetable has a peak harvest when a bulk of the crop is ready. This week it is the cucumbers. There are Marketmore, a green slicer, and also Boothby Blonde and Poona Kheera cucumbers. The Boothby Blonde and Poona Kheera are both heirloom varieties of smaller, oval cucumbers. The Boothby Blonde cukes are generally a lighter yellow than the Poona Kheera and anywhere from russet brown to light yellow to a dark green. There is no rhyme or reason with the Poona Kheera, and I am sure if you were to see them in a grocery, you would pass them by. They are sweet, juicy and our favorites.  Do not be wary of a brown cucumber with this batch. Some are large, some small — every shape, color and size. Being an heirloom variety, the seeds can be saved from one season to the next if properly harvested, and they are varieties that have a long history. The Poona Kheera are a variety from India, the Boothby Blonde are from Maine. Quite a diversity in their origin but both delicious.

Enjoy the vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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What’s in the Bag — Week 5

Full Vegetable Share
Sugar Snap Peas-1 pound
Summer Squash-1 pound The rain and heat have been difficult on the Summer Squash. The harvest was a bit less this week.
Boothby Blonde/Poona Kheera Cucumber-2 pieces
Escarole-1 head There are great Escarole recipes on the farm website Recipes section.
Napa Cabbage-1 head
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage-1 head
Summer Spinach-1 bunch
Scallions-1 bunch
Cinnamon Basil-1 bunch

Half Vegetable Share
Escarole-1 head ODD
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage-1 head ODD

Napa Cabbage-1 head EVEN

Mushroom Shares
Oyster
Please note, the total amount is less than some of the other varieties. Oyster Mushrooms are difficult to grow and more expensive.

Fruit Shares
1 basket No Spray Local Blueberries
1 basket local Sweet Cherries

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Farmer’s Note — Week 5

Dear CSA Member

Summertime and the crazy weather has not ended. The sun has finally started to shine and although the thunderstorms can be severe in the afternoon, the rain does not fall all day as it has been. The farm is very busy and each week just slips quickly by. There is still transplanting to be done, the weeds love the rain and have been growing like “weeds”, the vegetables are quickly ripening and picking continues on our weekly schedule. By early evening another day has busily moved on and we have once again started to fill up the walk in coolers for the weeks’ delivery.

Still beautiful greens. The Summer Squash is delicious and new this week is Napa Cabbage and a pointed early green cabbage variety, Early Jersey Wakefield. Both are sweet and full of nutrition. Napa Cabbage is a savory leaved variety, mild tasting. Scallions for your salads. They are still very young and tender and much of the green can be used along with the white bulb. Sugar Snap Peas. An edible pod pea. Strip the string from the side by bending the stem end and pulling. The whole pod should be eaten either raw or quickly sautéed or steamed.

I have been posting photos on the farm Face Book page, StoneldgeFarm, if you are interested in seeing how the fields and farm look during the changing weeks. If there is something you would like to see, please let me know and I will do my best to capture a photo and post it on line.

This will be the first delivery for the optional Fruit Shares. This week the Fruit Share is no spray local Blueberries and local Sweet Cherries. The Mushroom Share this week is Oyster Mushrooms. For members with a Mushroom Share and a Fruit Share, you will receive them every week with the Vegetable Shares. Coffee Shares are delivered once a month at the beginning of the month.

Everyone has a CSA Member Account and can log into that account and place orders from the online Marketplace. Right now there is Honey, Maple, Coffee and Mushrooms available.

Enjoy the Vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note– Week 4

FULL VEGETABLE SHARE
Tropicana Lettuce-1 head
Romaine Lettuce-1 head
Red Leaf Lettuce-1 head
Escarole-1 head
Summer Spinach-1 bunch
Mint-1 bunch
Garlic Scapes-8
Kohlrabi-1 bunch
Summer Squash-2 pounds

HALF VEGETABLE SHARE
ODD — Tropicana Lettuce-1 head
ODD — Romaine Lettuce-1 head
EVEN – Red Leaf Lettuce-1 head
EVEN – Escarole-1 head

MUSHROOM SHARE
Cremini

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What’s in the Bag — Week 4

Dear CSA Member

Salad, salad and more salads this week. We do seeding and transplanting weeks apart to help with the timing of the lettuce harvest, but even with our best efforts, the lettuce seems to take on a life of its’ own. Many heads of beautiful lettuce are ready to be harvested. Lettuce is not a plant that can wait and so your share will be full of leafy greens. Salad is an easy one but you can also grill the heavier leaved varieties of lettuce. There is also a Lettuce Soup Recipe on the farm website, Recipe link from a CSA member. The softer leaved varieties make great lettuce wraps. There are wrap ideas on online at https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/15-ways-to-make-lettuce-wraps/. I also found https://www.thekitchn.com/help-ways-to-use-lettuce-besid-57101 to have a number of different ideas and recipes to use lettuce. If you have a Mushroom Share it is delicious to sauté the mushrooms adding a bit of Balsamic Vinegar. Prepare a bed of lettuce leaves and pour the warm mushrooms over the lettuce. The heat wilts the leaves slightly and the mushrooms and Balsamic are a delicious dressing. I am sure there are many more lettuce recipes and ideas. If you have some you would like to share, please send them to me and I will add them to the Recipe section of the farm website.

Everyone is cheering the arrival of Summer Squash. It is just beautiful. The last of the Garlic Scapes and Kohlrabi. I have received e-mails asking what to do with the Kohlrabi. Two favorites that other members have passed along are Kohlrabi puree or Kohlrabi sliced thinly and added fresh to a salad.

Escarole is the leafy green in the share that some may think is a lettuce. It is not. Escarole is part of the Endive family and has a heartier leaf with a somewhat bitter taste. Escarole and White Beans are a traditional favorite.

Marketplace orders can be placed by logging into your account and then selecting Marketplace on the upper menu bar. Honey, Coffee by the pound, Maple Syrup and Mushrooms in larger quantities are all available for order. The Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms are from a smaller mushroom farm, The Hill Farm, Wiltbank family. They are just beautiful. You might like to try them from the Marketplace.

This is the last call for Fruit Share additions. The Fruit Shares must be added by Wednesday July 3. To add the Fruit Share, log into your account from the farm website home page, select CSA Shares on the top menu bar and add the Fruit Share.

COFFEE SHARES DELIVERY-PICK UP YOUR COFFEE IF YOU HAVE ORDERED A COFFEE SHARE.

Enjoy the Vegetables,
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm