We had a week of
beautiful warm weather last week. We were really surprised that the
temps got up to 93 here on Wednesday and the pressure system that
night broke with a huge thunderstorm that rolled onto the farm off
Flathead lake. The wind mostly came from the south but there were
gusts from the west as well. Wind changing directions is usually a
one-way ticket to row cover blowing off our crops. We did have some
pieces come off and damage a few of the delicately stemmed early
planted broccoli. Luckily it was a short storm and there was
minimal damage.
Our crew all
handled the heat like champs last week. While upper 80s and low 90s
isn’t super hot, we have been working outside in about 50 degree
weather for the last three months and that kind of a jump can take a
big toll on your body when you work outside. This year we are so
fortunate to have a full time three-member crew of Mandy, Jay, and
our new full time employee Kari Hammer. I could go on, for
days, about how wonderful Kari is! She is a quick learner,
hard worker, great communicator, and generally just awesome to be
around. We are so thankful to have her!
We have been able
to invest this year not only in the equipment necessary to make the
workload on the farm more sustainable, but also invest in having more
labor on the farm; we know many farms come and go and we are deeply
committed to this work. We are able to make these investments in
tools and a labor force because of our dedicated customer base and we
are so thankful for all of you. Bringing a sustainable workload to
an organic farm is a huge piece of longevity in sustainable
agriculture. It is so easy to ‘work yourself to death’ and get
burnt out before the farm gets the momentum necessary to really be
‘on it’s feet’. We are so blessed to be doing this work in
community with our customers and our CSA is the heart of the customer
base of our farm.
We want to mention
a bit about the packaging and quantity of the veggies in your weekly
box. We really like that we can use more minimal amounts of plastic
in the boxes than we use at market. We use a thin small ‘produce
bag’ rather than the gusseted plastic bags we use for market. We
also don’t use a twisty-tie on the greens, saving a little bit of
something adds up when it’s 100 members for 21 weeks!
Also, someone last
week asked if we always include all the items in the partial shares.
We do. And sometimes, so that we don’t go over the value of the
share more than 15-20% over the course of the season, one or two of
the partial share items will be small. The Partial shares are a
value of roughly $18/week, and to include all the items in the box
their often there will be a bundle or bag that, to me, looks really
really small. But we have decided, for now, we would rather include
all the items even if some of them are in very small amounts, rather
than not have some of the items included in the partial shares.
Please let us know
if you have any questions about the size or quantity or amount of
produce you are getting in your box. We love the direct relationship
we have with our customers because we get such valuable feedback from
you about the veggies, how you are using them, which things there are
too much of and which things there are ‘not enough’.
That said, we know
May and June are heavy on the salad and braising greens AND the
summer veggies will be here in the months to come!
Partial
Lettuce
Mix - partial bag
Super
Greens - partial bag
Salad
Turnips - partial bundle
Sun Shoots - partial
bag
Baby Beets - partial
bundle
Rainbow
Chard - partial bundle
Green
Onions - partial bundle
Dill - partial
bundle
Full
Lettuce Mix - bag
Super Greens - bag
Salad Turnips - bundle
Sun Shoots - bag
Baby Beets - bundle
Rainbow Chard - bundle
Green Onions - bundle
Dill - bundle
~Basic Directions
to Saute “bitter” greens~
Heat a generous
amount of fat in a large pan (how much fat you think you should
use...then double it!). Add the finely chopped allium of your choice
(onions, garlic, shallots, etc., ) and cook until translucent. While
that is cooking finely dice your greens (kale, chard, super greens,
mustard tops, collards, beet greens, radish greens, bok choi, tatsoi,
kohlrabi tops, etc.,). The secret to not having “slimy greens”
is to chop the greens small. Once finely chopped, add the greens to
the alliums/fat in the pan and saute until reduced about 3-5 minutes
at the last minute you can add something vinegar-y such as lemon
juice, balsamic vinegar, fish sauce (I like Red Boat Fish Sauce which
I don’t think you can buy locally and I get it on Amazon) or apple
cider vinegar, you can add something spicy like Sriracha sauce or
Tobasco. For a lovely rich sauteed green you can add some heavy
cream and Parmesan cheese at the last minute (Kalispell Creamery has
heavy cream at most of the local grocery stores). For non-dairy
creamy greens, coconut milk (the wonderful kind in the can!) is a
delicious addition to greens
Some sauteed green
suggestions:
cooking fat
coconut oil
butter/ghee
Grass-fed tallow
vinegar-y
lemon/lime juice
balsamic
apple-cider vinegar
sauce-y
fish sauce/soy sauce
heavy cream
canned coconut milk
other
Parmesan and dill
Tabasco/Sriracha
Chard can be
used interchangeably for cooked spinach in ANY recipe. We love it
for frittata, quiche, an addition to soup or stir fry, or just a
quick sauteed side dish.
Super Greens
are a mix of mustards, Asian
greens, collards, and kale harvested at baby leaf. They are great
for a raw salad. We especially like these as salad greens with a
creamy dressing like ranch or Cesaer. If they are too bitter for you
in a salad, you can lightly saute them.
Baby Beets- We
like baby beets with the tops removed, cut in half, and boiled until
tender. Wonderful topped with dill. The generous amount of beet
greens can be sauteed or boiled. When I have a lot of them I will
often get a big pan of water boiling, boil the greens, run them under
cold water, squeeze the water out so they are in a kind of ‘green
ball’ and finely chop them after boiled. Love! Beet! Greens!
Wishing
you all a great week ~ Kindly, Lower Valley Farm
