Happy Summer! While the heat of summer can be hard to work in, it also brings with it the reward of summer crops like the cucumbers in the CSA and farm store this week! The transition to summer means that strawberry season is past peak for us. While we do love eating strawberries and providing them for you all, picking is very time consuming so the rest of the crops on the farm will appreciate it once we have more time to devote to them. We are really looking forward to catching up on all kinds of big projects this week including weeding our onions and the last of our spring/summer carrots and beets, planting cucumber and watermelon successions, trellising peppers and tomatoes in the high tunnels (as well as tomatoes out in the field), catching up greenhouse seeding of fall crops, rescuing our potatoes from Colorado potato beetles, putting down landscape fabric in our tomato, pepper, watermelon and cucumber pathways, and seeding and transplanting our first fall carrot, beet and Brussels Sprouts crops. There is plenty more to do but this list (along with the harvest of course!) will keep us busy for this week!
In the CSA this week:
CSA pick up hours are Tues/Thurs 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. Face masks are required under the CSA tent during the first hour of each day.
Carrots - the first carrots of the season, but we will aim to have them for most of the remaining weeks.
Cucumbers - These slicing cukes are coming from our high tunnel, which is why they are so early!
Mini Cabbage - these mini green heads are tender and work great in coleslaw or on tacos. We have two types: a more traditional round type, and a pointy type called Caraflex.
Mustard greens - these greens are even spicier than arugula, but are great either raw or cooked.
Garlic scapes
Lettuce
Salanova lettuce mix
Arugula
Curly kale
Salad turnips
Radishes
Mini mak radishes
CSA PYO:
Handwashing sinks are provided at the entrance to each PYO field. For the sake of food safety, please wash hands before picking. The barn bathroom and wash area sinks in the barn are for employees only.
*Please note that we close down the PYO fields for lightning storms.
Strawberries- They are still producing, but they are past peak,Picking could get more difficult toward the end of the week, and there will not be any more next week.
Herbs - You’ll have a choice of parsley, dill, oregano, thyme or sage.
In the farm store:
In addition to the items listed in the CSA the farm store this week will also have more greens varieties, kohlrabi and fennel, as well as the last of the sugar snap peas and shell peas. Strawberries are dwindling, so we likely will not have any later this week. We also have eggs from Codman Farm, honey from Double B, and we hope to have mushrooms again at the end of the week.
We accept credit card, cash, check and EBT in the farm store. The farm store is open Tuesday - Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. Masks are required during the first hour of each day and encouraged for the remainder of the day. We are keeping a chalkboard list of items available outside the store and our Shopkeepers would be happy to shop for anyone who is uncomfortable entering the store. We also continue to take online pre-orders for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering opens at 6pm the day before pick-up.
Ginger, Cucumber, Carrot and Cabbage Slaw
by David Tanis, NY Times Cooking
Ingredients
1 small cucumber, peeled and julienned
1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded red cabbage (or some try some salad turnips, radishes or kohlrabi!)
Salt
pepper
2 teaspoons peeled and grated ginger
Juice of 1 large lime
Preparation
Put the cucumber, carrot and cabbage in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.
Add the ginger and lime juice, then toss again. Let the vegetables marinate for at least 10 minutes.
Simple Sauteed Mustard Greens
by Sunny Anderson, The Food Network
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bunches mustard greens, stemmed and chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
Preparation
In a large pan with straight sides on medium heat add the oil. Add the garlic to the hot oil. Saute until garlic is softened and fragrant and has infused the oil.
Add the mustard greens. Season the greens with salt, and pepper, and saute while tossing to wilt. Once wilted add the chicken stock and stir. Raise heat to a simmer, then lower and cook for about 5 minutes more.
Stir in the ground mustard. Serve warm.