CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the garden!  This box has lettuce and salad greens like beet thinnings, small celery, turnip greens, Chinese cabbage, green onions, carrots, garlic scapes, strawberries, and asparagus.

Field Notes.  Ken forges ahead!  He has been cultivating annual crops and weeding perennial crops like asparagus and strawberries.  Ken often says perennial crops have perennial weeds.  He gets out early, comes in for a midday meal, takes a break and heads out until quite late.  This way he works during the cooler parts of the day.

green manures add organic matter

The word for this season is moisture.  Last Friday evening we left the farm, and were caught in a rain storm in Dallas - Wisconsin, not Texas.  The streets were under construction, and I took off my shoes to get from sidewalk to vehicle and ended up calf deep in mud!  This is a year when Ken is glad of two things: 1) he works with raised beds so there is a place for the water from heavy rain to go and keep plants from standing in puddles, and 2) all the decades he has built organic matter in the soil to act as a buffer in either drought or soggy conditions.  Both enable the crops to continue to grow in these extreme weather conditions.

From the Kitchen  We are nearing the end of the asparagus season.  Depending on the weather Ken stops cutting off the shoots and allows the plant to grow and store energy for next year's crop.  Soon the plants will grow tall with ferny leaves like this picture from last season. I know I have said this before, but asparagus is great grilled - a perfect side dish this upcoming holiday weekend.

Garlic scapes are so welcome - after a while with no garlic these shoots that Ken cuts so the bulbs can fill out, bring back the memory of fresh garlic.  I mince as the stems are firm.  Great raw or cooked.  I start adding garlic scapes to everything from salad dressing to stir fry to main dishes.

We wish you a happy holiday weekend.  'Til Next Week, 
Judith