Harvest #9 (Week A) should include cabbage, beets, kale, endive, Italian dandelion, fennel, hakurei turnips, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick* should include herbs, snap/string/green beans, and flowers.

*Besides herbs, and eventually blackberries, all u-pick for the remainder of the season will be in a different field than the peas and strawberries. Instead of taking a right out of the barn, go left and follow the path by the 'pond'. There will be u-pick signs pointing you in the right direction!

**If anyone has a stash of grocery bags to donate to the pick up room, we are currently in need of them. Thank you!

Last week was a bit of an anomaly as we had to work around wet weather and soil. After receiving almost five inches of rain over the preceding weekend and early part of the week we had to wait until Thursday afternoon and Friday morning to get back out in the field with the tractor and resume (most) transplanting. No matter, though, because there's plenty of farm work to do that doesn't involve heavy machinery, including planting the final round of zucchini and cucumbers, tomato pruning and clipping, aisle mowing, weeding, and harvesting.

With the beans that we put in later in the week, we're now finished planting summer crops, except for a few more basil successions. Our attention now is shifting towards field prep for fall crops. As of today (Sunday) all of our fields (about 13 acres) have at least received the first step towards accepting crops, that is, opened up with the chisel plow. My goal is to begin field prep for a crop at least a month in advance so that the weather and soil creatures can mellow the soil and break down organic matter but also to get weeds to germinate and be terminated by following passes with the tractor as we make and finalize raised beds.

During this coming week we'll strive to harvest all of the spring carrots as well as the garlic. A lot of workshifts have been scheduled over the next 7 days and we'd love to have your help accomplishing these tasks. Hope to see you!

Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you)!

We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.

Workshift Guidelines - Workshift Sign Up Instructions

Every year I enjoy the Now What!? workshops so much and I learn from the other members as well! This year the first 2 workshops were well attended and due to member request, we offered the workshops on a second weekend. The second weekend had a lower attendance, but they offered a chance for more one-on-one discussions!

We all know that there is a sharp learning curve for most upon joining a CSA – not only with what to do with the abundance of fresh vegetables but also with successfully incorporating the vegetables into your family’s meals! And once you have figured out what to do with the vegetables – the growing season progresses, and different vegetables are introduced! I strongly recommend keeping a journal or making notes on your recipes with what you did this year so that you don’t have to relearn things next year!

I shared Kale “Pesto” and Kale Stem “Pesto”. I say “Pesto” because there are no nuts or olive oil in my recipes! I often use tomato water or the liquid from Kalamata olives instead of oil. I also shared Bok Choy, Kohlrabi and radishes in a peanut sauce as well as vegetable chips I made with my dehydrator. Some ideas I shared included grilling (on a barbecue or in a skillet) some of the heartier lettuces like endive, escarole, radicchio or even romaine. I usually quarter mine, rinse and let dry (mostly) and then place cut side down in my cast iron skillet. I let that cook for a few minutes then flip over and cook a little longer. Then I spray it with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle parmesan cheese – yum! And this is a great recipe to freeze and save for the winter!

Another way I save some vegetables for the winter is by blanching the greens such as kale, radish or turnip greens. I submerge the chopped, cleaned greens in boiling water for a few minutes and then submerge them in ice water. Once they are cooled, I grab a big handful and squeeze out the excess water. I end up with a little ball of greens that easily fits into a Ziploc freezer bag. You can fit multiple green balls into a sandwich size bag! This is a wonderful addition to pasta, soup or stir-fry in the wintertime!

I also shared my copy of From Asparagus to Zucchini. I think the format of the cookbook is so user friendly and it included information about each vegetable, storage tips and cooking tips along with many CSA tried and tested recipes. I also encourage everyone to explore the recipe section on the website – it has so many wonderful recipes!

I want to thank everyone who attended! I had a wonderful time! I hope I have given you some ideas to help you enjoy more of your share.

I hope everyone is enjoying the fresh, wonderful veggies as much as I am. Please send me how you are preparing your harvest by emailing me at lindadansbury@comcast.net so I can share with the rest of membership - and please include Anchor Run in the Subject line so I can find your message. Here are a few ways we enjoyed our harvest this week:

Zucchini, garlic scapes, lettuce - if there is a perfect weeknight summer meal for when you don't feel like grilling, here it is: Warm Summer Squash and Sausage Salad. You only need one pan and a large bowl. It is simple to make and delicious. We enjoy this dish at least every couple of weeks during the summer months - once the cherry tomatoes come in it is even better!

Beets, turnips, herbs, garlic scapes - roasted a panful of veggies to snack on and add to salads during the week. Simple and delicious.

Snow and snap peas, scapes, kohlrabi, cilantro - made a batch of cole slaw to enjoy with grilled chicken.

Kale, garlic scapes - I was perusing the recipe site and came upon a recipe that has been around for awhile, but I hadn't made it in a long time: Wilted Kale Salad with Miso Vinaigrette - I didn't follow exactly, but used it as a base.

Cucumbers - so far, I have been just eating them as is or slicing into salads, but will start making salads featuring cucs soon. One thing I like to do for a quick, light lunch is take a slice of bread and spread with hummus. Top with sliced cucumber and enjoy. I really like the crunch of the cucumber.

Fennel - should be part of the pick up this week. It is a very flexible veggie in that it can be eaten raw, grilled, roasted, sauteed, and added to soups and sauces. It is high in nutrients like dietary fiber, potassium, and vitamin C, to name a few, and it stores well in the crisper drawer of the fridge. A couple recipes on this site that I like for summer are the Shaved Fennel Salad with Parmesan Cheese and the Lentil Salad with Fennel and Herbs (fennel was made to be with lentils).

Green Beans - most people know what to do with green beans. When you boil them, note that fresh from the field green beans cook up faster than those you purchase from the supermarket. Cooked green beans make delicious salads and can even be grilled - I will be sharing my ideas soon.

This week I heard from fellow member Laurie Heusner-Myers. She too enjoyed her harvest by stir frying some of it. Here is her email to me:

Scapes, zucchini, snow peas - I used these plus an onion and pepper to make a delicious stir fry. I only had the snow peas in a few minutes and added some soy sauce and hoisin (totally optional) and served over spaghetti one night and buckwheat noodles another. Quick and delicious and easily modified.

Thanks Laurie, and for all of you other cooks out there, please share with fellow members how you enjoyed your harvest by emailing me at lindadansbury@comcast.net.