June is probably the busiest time of the year for us, and while things have felt pretty well under control this season (thanks to our fantastic crew!), last week was the first time this year that we looked at our to-do list and thought "can we really do this?" Though we didn't tackle everything (we rarely ever do!), we did manage to make a pretty significant dent in our list. In addition to our daily harvest, we also planted, seeded, weeded, mulched, mowed and trellised. Saturday in particular was a whirlwind transplant day for us - golden beets, celery, basil, popcorn, broom corn, lettuce and cucumbers! And we still had a half hour left at the end of the day to seed a few things in the greenhouse!

While we're proud of what we got done last week, there's plenty more to do this week! In particular, we want to finish mulching our tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cakes and melons before the weeds get out of control. We are also planting edamame, Brussels sprouts, our weekly lettuce and greens, and our FALL beets and carrots!

Store hours:

Tuesday and Thursday 11am - 6pm*

Wednesday and Friday 2pm - 6pm

Saturday 10am - 3pm*

*Hours in bold and with an asterisk are also CSA pick-up hours

In the CSA:

Carrots - this variety is called Mokum. Our go-to spring carrot variety since both of us started farming 10+ years ago has been a variety called Nelson, but that is sadly being phased out of production. So far, we like the flavor of these ones, and we'll try out one other later to see if we can find a permanent replacement!
Yukina savoy - I've heard this mild green described as looking like a green lollipop. It's certainly not as sweet as a lollipop, but it's a great addition to salads and stir fry.
Scallions
Fennel
Radishes
Kohlrabi
Bok Choi
Arugula
Red Russian Kale
Salanova
Lettuce

CSA PYO:

Strawberries - these are looking good this week, though we're unsure how much longer they'll last beyond this week. Thanks to some extremely rocky soils and a wily group of crows (who decided to rip out a bunch of plants last fall when it was too late for us to plant more!) we have quite a few bare patches in our strawberry field, meaning a less consistent harvest than we would have liked, especially among the late-season variety we planted.
Sugar snap peas - we'll still be picking from the same planting as last week, as well as a newer planting.
Snow peas
Dill
Cilantro
Sage
Thyme

In the store:

Everything we have in the CSA will also be available in the store. We'll also have salad turnips, "Happy Rich" broccolini, mushrooms and eggs. Strawberries have been selling out pretty quickly in the store, but Tuesday and Wednesday the strawberries are likely to last longer as we tend to have bigger harvests those days after the strawberry patch has had a brief rest over the weekend.

Recipes

This is definitely stir fry season. I like to sauté things like carrots, peas, scallions, radishes and greens with some ginger, soy sauce, garlic and maybe some cilantro thrown in at the end. You can also add tofu or meat to the mix, and eat atop rice or rice noodles.

Below are some more ideas:

Julienne of Carrots With Snow Peas

by Pierre Franey, NY Times Cooking

½ pound carrots, peeled and trimmed
½ pound snow peas, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Slice the carrots into julienne strips about 1 1/2 inches long.

Place the carrots in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer 4 minutes. Add the snow peas, bring to a boil, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Drain.

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the carrots, snow peas, garlic, soy sauce, scallions and pepper. Stir and cook 1 minute. Serve.

Kohlrabi Carrot Fritters with Avocado Cream Sauce

from acouplecooks.com, January 16, 2013

2-3 kohlrabi
1 carrot
1 egg
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne
½ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil (enough for ¼-inch depth in a large skillet)
½ avocado
¼ cup plain yogurt
½ lemon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Scallions (for garnish)

Cut the leaves off the kohlrabi and peel the bulb. Peel 1 carrot. Shred the vegetables in a food processor, or by hand using a grater. Squeeze the shredded vegetables in a tea cloth (or with your hands) to remove moisture, then add to a medium bowl with 1 egg, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne. Mix to combine.

Place ½ cup oil in a large skillet (enough for ¼-inch depth). Heat the oil over medium high heat, then place small patties of the fritter mixture into the oil. Fry on one side until browned, then fry on the other side. Remove and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain excess oil.

In a small bowl, mix ½ avocado, ¼ cup plain yogurt, juice from ½ lemon, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt to make the avocado cream (or blend the ingredients together in a food processor). Serve fritters with avocado cream and sliced scallions.