How Does this Work – Few Reminders as we Begin

Welcome to all of our shareholders. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you and for you through out the growing season. We work hard to earn your trust and respect in the food that we grow for your families and ours!

All of you should have received an email with more details of dates and specifics with the CSA. We are excited to see the daily changes and growth in the garden. Look for weekly blog posts for guidance throughout the season which will provide you with updates, ideas for your box of produce and recipes.

Pick-up and Delivery

Remember that pick-up and deliveries will be on the schedule you have arranged with Harner Brothers CSA with harvest on Wednesday evenings – please note the exceptions to this which were in the email. The first exception is next week which will be TUESDAY night. It is your responsibility to know that the pick-up or drop-off time will occur at the agreed upon time, and it is your responsibility as a shareholder to know this and be responsible for the produce at that time.

If you are unable to utilize your share that week, it is still your responsibility: find someone else to pick it up or donate it to the food shelf. Each box is labeled for each family. The same boxes will be used for your family throughout the season. Boxes and containers should be returned the following week. Bags will only be used once.  

Garden Science

A lot has been done in the garden this past week including weeding, insect control and planting another crop of snap peas, green beans, beets, lettuces and spinach.

Our biggest challenge this week are potato bugs! We have done a lot of research over the last few years and will keep you posted as we work through this. Last year, we planted dill and marigolds with the hope that these plants would draw in beneficial insects to eat the potato bugs and the potato bug larvae. To say we were surprised and disappointed that the potato bugs survived the winter, well that simply is a gross understatement. Every night, we are out there picking potato bugs and their eggs off of the potato plants. What is even more frustrating is how they eat the potato plants as they emerge from the ground, and before the potato plants emerged, the potato bugs were eating the tomato plants.

 

 

 Boxes of Produce

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list.

Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.

Rhubarb – one pound equals about 3 cups. Wash, cut the ends off, cut off any bad parts damaged by wind or hail, chop into 1/4 – 1/2 inch pieces. No need to peel You can freeze it in a Ziploc bag (no blanching) and use for months to come. Our family loves it in muffins, breads, jam, pie, crisp, sauce and torte. Check out earlier posts on rhubarb for recipe ideas.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – One of my favorite garden crops.  Some of the crops are ran under cold well water to take the field heat off of them so they last longer in your refrigerators. They are not washed – just cooled. So remember to wash your vegetables before eating. See how lettuce is grown throughout the year so it is available in our grocery stores even on our cold Minnesota days.

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love this beautiful red lettuce leaf. It adds such a wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal! Check out some of Martha Stewart’s spinach recipes.

Beet/Beet Leaves – Many times I have seen in high-end restaurants beet leaves in my salads. Well here is your opportunity. These are young plants that we are thinning out of the rows – eat the whole plant. It will add color and nutrition to your salads. Learn more here.

Radishes – wash, cut off the tops and also the bottoms, slice and enjoy in salads. Some enjoy dipping in salt.

Herbs – chives – wash then chop up chives into small pieces.

Eggs – from time to time we will provide a few fresh eggs in your box from our chicken flock. We hope you enjoy them!

Fresh cut arrangement – Peonies and Hosta leaves…these last forever in a vase of water. After a week, give them a fresh-cut, and they will last longer. The greenery in the house is a day brightener.

 

Recipe of the Week

Rhubarb Torte

One of Sam’s favorites from a dear friend from Wisconsin. We hope your family also enjoys this super easy quick rhubarb dessert.

 

Rhubarb Torte

Combine using a pie cutter:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup butter

Mix above ingredients and pat into a 9×13 pan.

• 6 cups cut rhubarb, cut into about 1/2 inch pieces
• 6 ounce package of strawberry or raspberry Jello

Place rhubarb over crust then sprinkle Jello over the rhubarb.

Top with:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter

Mix and put on top of Jello.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.