Dear CSA Member
The first delivery has finally arrived. The activity level around the farm increased by 100-fold today as we started picking. Each season is new all over, and we are full of anticipation and excitement as we start.
The greens are very nice this spring. It was rather cold for a long spell and the greens just loved the weather. Your share is overflowing with greens. We transplant all of our early greens and cover them immediately with floating row cover. It is a sheet that covers the plants and keeps most of the insect pests out and allows the sunshine and rain to go in. You will find some holes in the leaves of the early greens. The row cover does a good job but some of the insect pests find their way to the plants despite our best efforts.
I find the best way to wash greens is to remove the leaves from the stem end and give them a cold water bath. You may want to repeat and then spin dry in a Salad Spinner. Plastic bags work fine to keep the greens fresh. The most tender greens should be used first as you work your way through your share. There has been a lot of rain the last couple of days. We do give the greens a rinse but they will need a good wash.
Please remember to pickup any optional shares that you have ordered. Mushrooms Shares will be delivered each week and Coffee Shares the first of each month. If you placed a Marketplace order, your order will be delivered with the Vegetable Shares. You can check your orders by logging into your CSA Member account from the farm website home page. Click on CSA Member Login under the center photo. The My Account link has all of your order information. We are also sending tote bags [for the site]. Hope you like them.
Welcome 2013.
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm