CSA Week 3 and Farm Stand Updates

Our days have been filled with harvesting and planting and weeding and - when we have time - our favorite activity of potato beetle picking! This week we need to focus in on trellising and pruning tomatoes as well as putting down landscape fabric in pathways to keep down weeds. We are also going to get back on track with tractor cultivation. One of our cultivating tractors was out of commission last week due to a leaky tire, but thanks to Lise’s dad a brand new tire arrived today to get us up and running again. (We have been relying heavily on the courier services of both of Lise and Melissa’s parents this year!) We’ve had a bit of reprieve with timely rains and cooler temperatures, but we now need to get back to setting up irrigation across the street as the first succession of fall carrots and beets gets seeded there this week and you never want to be setting up an entire field’s worth of irrigation in an emergency! We sure do miss Melissa!

In the CSA this week:

• Garlic scapes - These are the flower stem and buds of our garlic. We snap them off for 2 reasons: doing so helps the plants focus their growing energy on the bulbs, and also they are delicious! A little milder than garlic heads.

• Fennel - Grown in our high tunnel.

• Summer squash and zucchini - Putting row cover on these plants when we planted them in May has certainly paid off, as we are going to enjoy these earlier than typical (even in spite of the cooler June we’ve experienced!).

• Curly kale - A little later than usual, as many of our early spring brassicas (like kale and cabbage) got hit hard by flea beetles and are only now starting to grow past that damage. We had decided not to put protective row cover on these when we planted them in April (it’s a windy time of year and we had gotten tired of spending hours re-tacking down row cover on our day off!) but this year was unfortunately a bad spring for flea beetles - lesson learned!

• Slicing cucumbers

• Carrots

• Kohlrabi

• Radishes

• Salad turnips

• Mini daikon radish

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix

• Arugula

• Bok choi

• Yukina savoy

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Strawberries - All of the beds are finally producing! These are a popular item, so in order to ensure that people coming at the end of the day still have ripe strawberries to pick, please do not overfill your container and (as tempting as it is!) please do not snack on berries in the field.

• Herbs - In addition to sage, thyme, parsley, dill and cilantro we now also have basil!

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have seedlings, flowers, spinach, pickling cucumbers and Persian (thin-skinned, mini) cucumbers. We hope to have summer squash and zucchini in the store by the end of the week. We will also have mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm. We know that strawberries are on many store customers’ minds - the planting for the farm store has unfortunately mostly petered out, so we are unlikely to have more in the store this season.

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. We also continue to take online pre-orders for Wednesday and Friday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering currently opens at 6pm on Tuesday for Wednesday pick-up and 6pm on Thursday for Friday pick-up.

Mushroom CSA:

You may come to pick up your mushrooms anytime the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Your mushrooms will be kept in the cooler and retrieved by the shopkeeper when you arrive at the store. It is week 7 of the 8-week Spring Mushroom CSA. This week’s variety is shiitake.

Salad Turnips and Cucumbers with Garlic Scape Labneh

adapted from Ricardo Cuisine

Ingredients:

Labneh:

• ½ cup (125 ml) labneh, 10% plain yogurt or Greek yogurt

• 2 tsp garlic scapes, chopped (see note)

• ¼ tsp Espelette pepper

Dressing:

• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) white wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) whole-grain mustard

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) maple syrup

• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Turnips and Cucumbers:

• ½ lb (225 g) salad turnips with tops, scrubbed clean (see note)

• 3 slicing cucumbers (or 8 Persian cucumbers), halved lengthwise and cut diagonally into pieces ¾ inch (2 cm) long

• ¼ cup (10 g) purple or green basil leaves

Preparation:

Labneh:

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Dressing:

In another bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Turnips and Cucumbers:

1. Using a mandoline, thinly slice the turnips. Set the green tops aside.

2. Place the sliced turnips in a bowl of ice water. Let soak for 5 minutes or until very crunchy. Drain and dry on a clean dishcloth. Place in a large bowl.

3. Add the turnip tops, cucumbers and dressing to the bowl of sliced turnips. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

4. Spread the labneh out in a serving dish. Top with the salad. Sprinkle with the basil. Serve immediately.

CSA Week 2 and Farm Stand updates

With the first week of the CSA and the second week of the staffed farm store behind us, we can breathe a little sigh of relief. But not for too long! The larger and more time-consuming greens harvests that start in early June also coincide with some other critical farm tasks. The longer and warmer days mean that both crop and weed growth take off, requiring trellising of our vining crops and timely mulching and cultivation to keep down weeds. Our most hated nemesis - the Colorado potato beetle - also flourishes this time of year, requiring hours on end of crushing eggs and picking bugs off of our potato, eggplant and tomato plants to avert a complete crop failure. Although we just pushed past the heftiest planting block of the season, we still have plenty more to go. Fortunately we had decent precipitation this past week and could take a break from irrigation set-up. We’re hoping this continues for a few more weeks (and preferably all the rain happens at night!) so we can keep up with our planting, weeding, trellising and potato beetle squashing responsibilities!

In the CSA this week:

• Cucumbers - The cukes we’re harvesting right now are grown in the ground in our high tunnel. Cucumbers grown outside of the protection of the high tunnels usually aren’t producing until mid-July! It will be a limited amount this week, but production should ramp up soon.

• Carrots - These carrots are a little earlier than usual. Later carrots will size up a bit more, but these early carrots are tender and sweet!

• Green Garlic

• Kohlrabi

• Radishes

• Salad turnips

• Mini daikon radish

• Spinach - This is probably the last week of spinach until the fall, as it does not hold well in the field in the heat.

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix

• Arugula

• Baby bok choi

• Yukina savoy - This is a mild green that can either be eaten raw or cooked.

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sweet William flowers

• Herbs - In addition to sage, thyme and chives, we now also have parsley, dill and cilantro.

Strawberry update: The PYO strawberries are showing signs that they are ripening, so we hope to have them next week!

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have seedlings, flowers, scallions and bok choi heads. We will also have mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm and Double B honey.

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. We also continue to take online pre-orders for Wednesday and Friday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering currently opens at 6pm on Tuesday for Wednesday pick-up and 6pm on Thursday for Friday pick-up.

Mushroom CSA:

Now that the farm store is staffed you may come to pick up your mushrooms anytime the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Your mushrooms will be kept in the cooler and retrieved by the shopkeeper when you arrive at the store. It is week 6 of the 8-week Spring Mushroom CSA. This week is Lion’s Mane and Blue Oyster mix.

Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

from Cookie + Kate

Ingredients:

Spring Rolls

• 2 ounces rice vermicelli or maifun brown rice noodles*

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1 cup torn butterhead lettuce, ribs removed

• 1 cup very thinly sliced red cabbage

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks or sliced into strips with a julienne peeler

• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced or sliced into strips with a julienne peeler

• 2 medium jalapeños, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced

• ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh mint

• 8 sheets rice paper (spring roll wrappers)

Peanut Sauce

• ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

• 1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced (you can use green garlic!)

• 2 to 3 tablespoons water, as needed

Instructions

1. To make the spring rolls: Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles just until al dente, according to package directions. Drain, rinse them under cool water, and return them to the pot. Off the heat, toss the noodles with the sesame oil and salt, and set aside.

2. Fill a shallow pan (a pie pan or 9″ round cake pan works great) with an inch of water. Fold a lint-free tea towel in half and place it next to the dish. Make sure your prepared fillings are within reach. Combine the green onion, cilantro and mint in a small bowl, and stir.

3. Place one rice paper in the water and let it rest for about 20 seconds, give or take. You’ll learn to go by feel here—wait until the sheet is pliable but not super floppy. Carefully lay it flat on the towel.

4. Leaving about 1 inch of open rice paper around the edges, cover the lower third of the paper with a few pieces of butter lettuce, followed by a small handful of rice noodles, some cabbage, and a few strips of carrot, cucumber and jalapeño. Sprinkle generously with the herb mix.

5. Fold the lower edge up over the fillings, rolling upward just until the filling is compactly enclosed. Fold over the short sides like you would to make a burrito. Lastly, roll it up. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

6. To make the peanut sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, rice vinegar, tamari, honey, sesame oil, and garlic. Whisk in 2 to 3 tablespoons water, as needed to make a super creamy but dip-able sauce.

7. Serve the spring rolls with peanut sauce on the side. You can serve them whole, or sliced in half on the diagonal with a sharp chef’s knife.

CSA Week 1, Farm Stand updates and some exciting news!

We are looking forward to welcoming many of our CSA members back to the farm this week, but first we have some very exciting news to share: Melissa and her partner Nigel welcomed baby Miles into the world this past weekend! Everyone is healthy and doing well, but (understandably) you won’t see Melissa around the field, farm stand or CSA this June. We’re hoping they’ll make some cute appearances later this summer!

In addition to eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new farm baby, the crew has been extremely busy harvesting, planting, weeding, trellising, setting up irrigation (the rain over the weekend could not have been more welcome!), and picking potato beetles off our eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes. Though there have been some hot days, it’s overall been a chillier spring than recent years (with one late freeze), so while we have been busy and staying on top of things, some crops have been a little slower to mature than last year.

CSA distribution will continue to be held outside under a white canopy tent by the farm stand this year. CSA pick-up hours are Wednesdays from 11am-6pm and Saturdays from 9am - 3pm. Shopkeepers will be ready to orient members, but we strongly encourage everyone (both new and returning members) to also check out our CSA Guide here: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/member-guide ahead of time. If you are a returning member, please bring your canvas CSA bag from last year. If you have lost it, replacement ones are available in the farm stand for $10. New members will receive a bag when they check in.

In the CSA this week:

• Scallions - Coming from our high tunnel.

• Green Garlic - These are smaller and less sharp than the cured garlic we’ll enjoy in the fall.

• Kohlrabi - The flavor and texture of kohlrabi is similar to cabbage or broccoli stems, but it is milder and sweeter. It can be roasted, shredded raw as part of salad or cole slaw, chopped up and added to soup, or breaded and fried, among many other options!

• Radishes

• Salad turnips

• Mini daikon radish

• Spinach - We have an abundance this week. Spinach does not do well in warmer conditions, so make sure to enjoy it now!

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix - This cut leaf mix is a little crisper than a mesclun mix and therefore keeps well for longer!

• Arugula

• Baby bok choi

• Red Russian kale - This is a smaller more tender kale leaf. It’s great mixed in salads, but also is nice lightly sauteed!

• Swiss chard

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sweet William flowers

• Herbs - There will be a choice between sage, thyme or chives. These are herbs that should be harvestable all season, so please follow Shopkeeper instructions about proper harvesting. If plants are cut all the way down to the ground they won’t last!

We are hoping to have the PYO strawberry field ready next week, as well as a greater selection of herbs and maybe shelling peas. Sadly, there will be no sugar snap peas this season. We seeded 3 successions and they all germinated well, but when we took the row cover off we found that entire sections were gone and we are unsure why (possibly some type of grub ate them). The remainder later got mowed down by deer that had jumped our deer fence.

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have seedlings, flowers and limited strawberries and asparagus early in the week. Later in the week we will also have bok choi heads, head lettuce and kohlrabi. We will also have mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm and Double B honey.

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. We also continue to take online pre-orders for Wednesday and Friday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering currently opens at 6pm on Monday for Wednesday pick-up and 6pm on Wednesday for Friday pick-up.

Mushroom CSA:

Now that the farm store is staffed you may come to pick up your mushrooms anytime the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Your mushrooms will be kept in the cooler and retrieved by the shopkeeper when you arrive at the store. It is week 5 of the 8-week Spring Mushroom CSA. This week is a mix of Comb Tooth and Shiitake.

Easy Walnut Spinach Pesto Pasta

from Little Spice Jar

Ingredients:

For the pesto:

• ⅓ cup EACH: olive oil AND walnuts

• ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano (or parmesan)

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 2 cups spinach, packed

• ¼ cup arugula (if you don’t like the peppery arugula flavor, you can just do an extra ¼ cup of spinach)

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

For the pasta:

• 1 lb. linguine (or other pasta shapes)

• 1 cup reserved pasta water

• Pecorino or parmesan, for serving

Instructions:

1. BLEND: In the bowl of a food processor, add the oil, walnuts, cheese, garlic, lemon zest + juice, and red pepper flakes. Run the food processor until the garlic becomes finely minced and the walnuts break down.

2. SCRAPE: down the bowl. Then, add the baby spinach, basil, and salt. Continue to run the food processor until the leaves break down into a sauce-like texture. Stop the food processor, taste, and adjust with additional salt.

3. PASTA: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt the water generously. When the pot returns to boil, add the pasta and cook according to package directions. When the pasta is done, reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining; do not rinse the pasta.

4. TOSS: Place the pasta back into the saucepan (or a medium bowl) add the prepared pesto and roughly ⅓ cup of water. Toss the pasta with pesto using a pair of tongs, add more pasta water as needed to make a sauce that’s thin but still clings to the pasta. Serve warm topped with additional pecorino if desired; enjoy!

Stir-fried Baby Bok Choi

from The Modern Proper

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb baby bok choy, halved

• 4 tbsp sesame oil

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 3 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp red pepper flakes

• 2 tbsp water

Instructions:

1. In a large wok or skillet, heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Working in small batches, add in bok choy cut side down until lightly browned. Remove from pan and continue until all bok choy has been used.

2. Once it’s all been browned, add all of the bok choy back to the pan along with the minced garlic and cook 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Add soy sauce, salt, red pepper flakes and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring bok choy until well-coated. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from heat. Top with sesame seeds and more red pepper flakes before serving. Enjoy!

Note: The baby bok choy is done when the dark green leaves are wilted and light green stalks are tender, but still have a slight crunch.

Farm Store opens this week and CSA starts next week (June 7th)!

Farm Store: The farm store will be open and staffed this week! This means payment options now include credit cards, cash, check, and EBT (SNAP benefits). We will have asparagus, strawberries, spinach, bok choy, mini daikon radishes and more available! Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm.

CSA: The CSA begins next week! Pick-ups will be Wednesday June 7th from 11am-6pm and Saturday June 10th from 9am-3pm! Members may come to pick up either day. If you are a new member, staff will provide your CSA bag and give you a short orientation when you arrive for your first pick-up!

Mushroom CSA: Now that the farm store is staffed this week you may come to pick up your mushrooms anytime the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Your mushrooms will be kept in the cooler and retrieved by the shopkeeper when you arrive at the store. It is week 4 of the 8-week Spring Mushroom CSA. This week’s mushrooms are a mix of Black Pearl and King Trumpet Oyster.

Online Ordering: We will continue to offer online ordering. Pre-orders open Monday May 29th at 6pm for pick-up Wednesday May 31st from 2pm-6pm. Orders will then re-open Wednesday at 6pm for Friday June 2nd 2pm-6pm pick-up. Online ordering allows you to be sure to have what you would like when you arrive at the farm stand so is suggested if you prefer to come to the farm store later in the day! To order visit: https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop

Available for walk-up sales and pre-orders this week:

• Asparagus

• Strawberries - While we’ve had a good strawberry harvest so far, popularity is high, meaning we will continue to place customer limits in the hopes that those who can’t get to the farm stand early in the day still have an opportunity to purchase some. We will also continue to have a limited number of strawberries available in our online store!

• Spinach

• Bok Choi

• Mini Daikon Radishes

• Flower bouquets - High tunnel-grown flowers: Snapdragons and Stock

• Seedlings - herbs, tomato, pepper, eggplant and lemongrass. We will no longer be listing most seedlings in the online store as supply is dwindling, but we will still have basil and eggplant seedlings online.

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Shiitake pints and Farmer’s Mix 8oz bag or box

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property. Not certified organic. $12/ 1lb jar

• Later in the week we will have baby bok choi, Shishito pepper seedlings, and posssibly the first Sweet William flowers and Salanova lettuce mix!

First strawberry harvest available now at the farm stand!

We have a well-stocked farm store today with our first strawberries of the season, asparagus, spinach, and high tunnel grown snapdragons! Strawberries and asparagus each have a 2 per customer limit to make sure everyone who wants some can get them but supplies are very good so we should have them both throughout the day today. This morning we also had the largest snapdragon harvest we’ve had yet! We are open today from 11am-6pm. Payment options at the self serve farm stand is cash (exact change only), check or Barrett’s Bucks. Prices are listed below for planning.

We will also be opening online orders tonight, Wednesday May 24th at 6pm for pick-up on Friday May 26th. Ordering will close Friday at 6am. To order visit: https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Self-serve farm store hours this week are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. The farm store will be fully open and staffed beginning next week, Tuesday May 30th.

Available today for walk-up sales and pre-orders:

• Asparagus - Limit 2 bunch per customer. $5/bunch

• Strawberries - Our first harvest of the season! Limit 2 pints per customer. $6/pint

• Spinach - $5/bag

• Snapdragons - Bridal Pink variety from our high tunnel! $20/bouquet

• Herb seedlings - $4/pot

• Tomato, Pepper and Lemongrass seedlings - Multiple varieties. $5/pot

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Shiitake pints $6 and Farmer’s Mix 8oz bag or box $10

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property. Not certified organic. $12/ 1lb jar