Week 3, 2019
It is spring fruit week! This week's standard share includes:
- strawberries
- cherries
- salad mix
- cilantro
- beets
- bok choi
- head lettuce
- garlic scapes
Check out last week's blog post if you need some garlic scape inspiration.
If you're not familiar with bok choi, it is a lovely Asian green in the cabbage family. Most often you will see it in stir fries. One of the great things is that when you cook it the main part of the leaf will wilt and the rib will stay nice and crunchy- creating a great mix of textures. Here is a recipe for bok choi from a past blog post.Some logistics:Don't forget that we are taking the week of 4th of July off! Thanks for allowing us farmers some time to catch up on non-harvest chores, and maybe even get a little time to go to the beach. It's a nice time for us to finish our planting and other tasks before the summer heat really sets inSome folks said they were having difficulty switching out items on Farmigo. Since it's our first season using the system we are still figuring things out too. A customer who has successfully switched out items has some tips: 1) When you log into the system you will need to switch to shop mode to make changes, 2) It is easiest to take items out of your box first to see how many credits you have to spend. We hope that is helpful and if you are still having problems let us know and we'll all problem solve together.We're never sure how much fruit we will be able to provide in the CSA. There are a few reasons fruit is tricky. For one thing, fruit trees take several years to mature. Fruits are also very susceptible to pest pressures. There's not a lot of concentrated sources of sugar that occur in nature, so humans aren't the only creatures who are drawn to strawberries, cherries, and other fruits. As growers using organic practices we don't have the same options when it comes to dealing with these pests. Plants have natural defenses that we strengthen by building up the soil and providing nutrient sprays. We also cultivate space that is friendly to beneficial creatures that eat or fight with pests. There are also some limited organic sprays we can use to directly fight the pests. Ultimately, we have to deal with the fact that some fruit will be damaged- and some of that damage will make it un-saleable or even inedible. Still, by choosing to not use poisonous pesticides we can keep our selves, neighbors (human and non-human), eaters, and planet a little safer and healthier. So keep that in mind if you find a blemish on your cherry or an ant in your strawberries, at least we're not killing off the bees.