Veggie CSA Week #10

Full Share:
Onions - 3# - $7.50
Potatoes - 1# - $2.00
Leeks - 2# - $6.00
Garlic - 1 - $1.00
Beans - 1# - $3.00
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint - $3.00
Basil - 1/4#- $2.50
TOTAL - $25.00

Half Share:
Garlic - 1 - $1.00
Beans - 1/2# - $1.50
Potatoes - 1# - $2.00
Basil - 1/8# - $1.25
Onions - 2# - $5.00
Leeks - 1# - $3.00
Squash - 1# - $2.00
TOTAL - $15.75

Whats Happening on the Farm...

I feel like we've finally caught up! (Sort of...) Its been a pretty hectic few months. It happens every year, and its always in May. Through the whole month, we're spending all of our time harvesting the spring crops, AND trying to get all the summer crops planted at the same time! Plus we spend a lot of time trellising, laying out irrigation, keeping things mowed, etc. But as always, by mid-June I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything is looking really great, and so far, it looks like the best tomato, pepper and onion crops we've ever grown. We are almost through all the spring crop harvesting, and we've got most of the summer crops planted, except for a few more seedings of beans and melons and the second planting of tomatoes. At any rate, I'm back! and I'll try to do a much better job on this newsletter, and put up more recipes and stuff like I said I would at the beginning of the year.

So this week marks the 1/2 way point of the CSA season. Amazing. We are starting to see the tomatoes ripening, the first are always the Sungold Cherry Tomatoes. Hopefully we'll have them in everyones boxes really soon.

While things are looking great for most of the summer crops, others aren't so lucky. Potatoes, for one, will not produce the bountiful harvest I had hoped for. Early in the spring, right after we planted the seed, we got a lot of rain all at once and a lot of the seed rotted in the ground because the field stayed too wet. The field they were planted in is a new one for me, and I didn't realize how much it can fill with water (its sorta bowl shaped). So, we'll definitely have some potatoes for a few more weeks, but I'd say we'll end up with 1/3 the expected harvest. The cabbage harvest is my other disappointment. For one, I am still figuring out how to grow good brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) and they've always been hard for me. If we got some substantial rain, the cabbage might size up, but I don't know. We'll see.

Recipe of the week

Potato and Leek Latkes:
1 1/2 lb. potatoes
1 cup chopped leeks
2 t mustard seeds
1 t salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T all purpose flour
2-3 t peanut oil
Coarsely grate potatoes, squeeze out as much liquid as possible, and place in large bowl. Stir in scallions, mustard seed and salt. Stir in eggs and flour until evenly distributed. Heat a little of the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drop 3 separate tablespoons of potato mixture and flatten each with spatula to form small pancakes about 4 inches across. Fry each side about 2-3 minutes until golden. Drain on paper towels; keep warm.