Author: Core Group

July 3, 2016

Dear CSA Member

Our garden is flourishing in the wonderful summer conditions we have had recently. The lack of moisture and warm dry conditions favor the up and coming heat loving summer produce. We are able to irrigate the crops which require more water while leaving others dry. Keeping the foliage of plants like tomatoes, potatoes, squash, cucumbers and sweet peppers dry is essential in preventing many diseases which can greatly reduce crop yields. We are certainly grateful for the stretch of seasonable weather we have had.

Walking through the fields and planning the coming weeks is always a weekly project Pete Jr. looks forward to. This morning the bees were hard at work throughout the fields pollinating the plentiful blossoms. Thousands of immature cucumbers, eggplant and peppers are appearing quickly. The greens are holding on strong and we still have a large variety of lettuce for the coming weeks. Herbs like parsley, dill and cilantro are quickly growing from seedlings into mature plants.

What a weekly harvest of Summer Squash. The conditions have been perfect and the picking abundant. This week you will be getting mixed varieties of summer squash and zucchini. The farm website Recipes & Produce ID have great recipes and pictures for identification of the produce. www.stoneledge.farm/csa-program/recipes

This week is the first Fruit Share delivery. Please take fruit only if you have ordered this optional Fruit Share. If you do not remember you can check your order by logging into your CSA Member Account. Your CSA coordinators will have Fruit Share members on the sign in roster as well. This week there are local Sweet Cherries and Blueberries. The cherry crop this year is very sparse due to the late frost. Fix Brothers (the local cherry orchard) picked these delicious cherries just for our CSA.

This is also a Coffee Share delivery week and if you have a Coffee Share you will receive a reminder e-mail. Mushroom Shares are delivered every week and are Portobello Mushrooms this week.

The Online Marketplace will have bulk vegetables starting today. The bulk vegetables are great for freezing for the winter or, if you are having a party.

Please note: The order deadline for delivery of your Marketplace Order is by 1PM the day before your CSA delivery except for Mushroom and Sweet Corn Orders. Mushroom and Sweet Corn orders must be received by the farm by Friday noon for delivery. Orders received after the deadline will be delivered the following CSA delivery week. You will receive an e-mail confirmation and reminder of your Marketplace order.

Enjoy the harvest.
Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

June has been hot and dry but perfect for Sugar Snap Peas. New this week is Sugar Snap Peas. They are so delicious! Sugar Snap Peas can be eaten raw (our favorite way to eat them) or cooked. To string the pod pinch the stem and pull the string down toward the other end to remove the stem and the string. Eat the whole pod. The entire pea is edible.

Here is a simple and delicious way to cook the sugar snap pease. https://www.stoneledge.farm/csa-program/recipes/67-sugar-snap-peas

Early Caraflex Cabbage is an early, pointed cabbage variety that is also an Heirloom seed variety. The Cabbage is sweet and makes delicious slaw. For Cole Slaw recipes go to the farm website Recipe & Produce ID section. https://www.stoneledge.farm/csa-program/recipes/cabbage

This week you will also be getting Natcha Escarole. It is a slightly bitter green that is excellent with white beans. The Lettuces are still abundant and glorious. (Don’t put away the salad spinner!) Romaine Lettuce, Red Leaf and Butter- Crunch will be in the share this week.

Summer Savory tastes great with almost anything. It goes well with many vegetables and is great to make a dressing or marinade. You can add Summer Savory to your slaw using the Caraflex Cabbage this week.

Marketplace items are available weekly. Mushroom Share this week is Shiitake Mushrooms.

Enjoy the Harvest.
Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

Refrigerators will be full of greens this week. Tropicana and Romaine Lettuce, Muzuna and a new salad ingredient Purslane. Purslane can be eaten raw in a salad or cooked. Purslane has a mild, slightly lemony flavor. It tastes great in a salad with a citrus vinaigrette, toasted walnuts and goat cheese. Or, you can briefly sauté purslane in butter and softened shallots or onions, and add to an omelet or frittata. All of the greens are given a rinse right after we pick them but they will need a wash at home. With rain over the last week and the soil splashes between the leaves. I have found it works well to wash greens by cutting the stem portion off, giving the leaves a good rinse in a bowl or sink full of water, drain and rinse again, spin dry. The lettuces will keep for at least a week in the salad spinner if you have enough room in your refrigerator or in a plastic bag or container. Some members re-use the rinse water to water their plants.

The greens on the kohlrabi are plentiful and should be cut off and used as a separate vegetable. Kohlrabi greens can be cooked just like collard greens or kale. They can also be eaten raw by tossing into a salad.

The Bright Lights Swiss Chard looks just beautiful. The multicolored stems of yellow, reds, oranges adorn the Bright Lights Swiss Chard. Oriental Greens and Red Mustard Greens are delicious served with Locust Point CSA’s Spicy Peanut Sauce. The recipe for Spicy Peanut Sauce can be found on the farm Recipe and Produce ID section under Sauces.

Garlic Scapes are the green pig tail looking stem. The scape is the immature seed head of the garlic plant that we remove to send more growing energy to the bulb below the soil. The scape grows from the center of the above ground portion of the garlic plant. Garlic Scapes have the same flavor and use as the garlic bulb. Delicious Garlic Scape Pesto is easy to make found on the farm Recipe and Produce ID section under Garlic heading or use your favorite pesto recipe substituting the basil for scapes.

Marketplace items Honey, Maple, Organic Fair Trade Kosher Coffee in ground or whole bean, Organic Tree to Bar Dark Chocolate bars and Cocoa Powder can be ordered any time during the season and will be delivered with your CSA shares. The Organic Dark Chocolate is delicious. To place an order from the online CSA Marketplace log into your CSA Member Account from the farm website home page. Place your order and it will be delivered with your CSA shares. All of the products we offer on the Marketplace are produced by small family farms locally, in Central America and Grenada.

Enjoy the Harvest
Candice
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member,

The first week of delivery is always full of activity.  Picking, packing, counting and re-counting to make sure all of the shares are delivered correctly.  It has been a brutally hot and dry spring time although as we start the pick the rain has finally come to the farm.  Extremes seem to be the new normal.  The temperatures fluctuated from 22 degrees to 85 degrees within a week staying in the 80’s and there was really no rain all the month of May and beyond.  

Greens will fill the bulk of the share. Boc Choi, Arugula, Chinese Cabbage and Kale can be chopped thinly added to a salad or quickly cooked in a wok. The greens will have some small round holes in the leaves.  The heat and dry conditions were perfect for an insect pest called the Flea Beetle to thrive.  We have worked very diligently to keep the numbers of beetles under control using all of the Organic methods available, but the beetles always outnumber us and there will be some damage to the leaves.  It is cosmetic damage only and will not in any way affect the flavor of the greens.  The freshness of the greens cannot be matched and you will notice the intensity of the flavor.

The Stoneledge Farm website has some great recipes for kale chips and salads.  Go to www.stoneledge.farm CSA Program/Recipes & Produce ID.  Also, under Recipes and Produce ID there are pictures of all the different types of vegetables to help with identification of the vegetables in your CSA share. 

Optional Shares: Mushrooms this week are Crimini   
Coffee Share will be delivered.  Please remember to pick up your Optional Share if you have ordered a Mushroom Share or a Coffee Share.

Enjoy the vegetables.
-Candice for everyone at Stoneledge Farm