Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Packing Boxes.

Ready to start packing


The wall of boxes


Farmer Don organizing the pack line


Shady the Supervisor


Summer Squash


No explanation needed!


Half dozen eggs are one of our CSA choice items.


Thursday, July 16, 2015

Week 5 CSA Newsletter

Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm and Welcome to CSA Week 5!

How about last weekend?  Finally a weekend without an inch or two of rain.  I actually had to water the potted plants I have on our patio, but I am not complaining.  It looks as though we may be entering a bit of a drier pattern with the weather.  Today is beautiful, sunny, with low humidity.   A nice break!

The wet June has had a huge effect on most farmers in our region.  Those of us that grow vegetables are struggling with disease and weeds.  Framers growing field corn, soybeans and small grains are also struggling.  If corn was planted early enough, the June rains have treated it well and it is pushing 6 feet tall and already in tassel!  Late planted corn is struggling with too much water and yellowing in the fields.  The same is true with soybeans, many bean fields in our area are simply yellowing and dying from too much water.  Grass or hay farmers are probably having some of the biggest challenges this year.  The super dry May caused fields to stop growing and then the constant rain of June left farmers unable to mow and bale their hay.  This weekend the hay fields around our farm were buzzing with activity as farmers tried to get mowing, raking and baling done in the short window of dry weather.   This hay is essential for farmers to feed their animals during the winter and this coming winter there may very well be a shortage of hay and many farmers may be scrambling to find feed for their animals.

Speaking of animals.  Our pigs continue to enjoy this wet weather.  They love the mud and the weeds growing in their pasture.  Our pigs also enjoy all of our vegetable scraps.  Tuesday is a big day for them, as all the trimmings from Mondays harvest are collected in a large blue bin.  It is fun to watch how excited the pigs get when they see the bin being hefted from the back of the truck.  Right now their favorite seems to be Chinese Cabbage.  Later in the fall we will pick apples from orchard to feed them, another pig favorite. 

Tomatoes.  Our tomatoes in our greenhouse and in the field are looking good right now.  It will not be long before we see some ripe cherry tomatoes from our greenhouse and our field tomatoes are flowering and forming fruit.  All this is great, but the weather, rain, rain, rain, has been worrisome for tomatoes this year.  Each year, I do a bit of a public service announcement concerning late blight and it is time again to talk about this devastating disease.  Late blight is a fungus which attacks tomatoes and potatoes and to a lesser extent eggplant and pepper (any plant in the nightshade or Solanaceae family).  Late blight is actually the disease responsible for the Irish Potato Famine in the 1800’s.  I remember in college, my plant pathology professor doing a lecture on plant diseases in history and of course late blight was a main topic.  But, back to the disease.  We do not currently have any late blight symptoms on our farm, however yesterday was an almost perfect day for late blight.  The temperatures were cool, it was cloudy and there was a wind from the west.   I took a walk at lunch and we still had dew on the grass.  Late blight, being a fungus, think mushrooms, needs moisture to grow, so heavy long lasting dew or moisture from rain showers, allows the fungus plenty of time to infest plants.    After my walk, I checked out a late blight map on the internet and late blight has now been confirmed in Pennsylvania, in Erie County.  Erie County is to our west.  Most of our winds come from the west and therefore will be spreading the spores from west to east.  Late blight is a true community disease, as the spores are spread on the wind from farm to farm, garden to farm or even patio tomato to farm.  In all likely hood, there are more cases of late blight in the state then have been reported to cooperative extension offices.  At Dancing Hen Farm, we are again very worried about our tomato crop.  Most conventional, non-organic, growers rely heavily on synthetic fungicides to control late blight.  Even with these fungicides, many growers still see an almost complete loss of their tomato crop on years with favorable blight weather conditions.  For organic farms, like Dancing Hen Farm, our arsenal of weapons to control this disease is very limited.  Most organic farmers, us included, use a combination of copper (an organic approved control method) and plant resistance.  Unfortunately, we often still lose our tomato crops when blight conditions are favorable.  Our plants were sprayed with copper when they were planted and we will continue with periodic applications as the season and weather progresses.  We also have some tomato varieties with variable late blight resistance planted.  These are hybrid tomatoes (NOT GMO’s) which have been bred and selected by the plant breeders because they have showed some resistance to blight in field trials. 

Wow! Plant genetics, hybrids, GMO’s, and heirloom varieties – a topic for a later newsletter!  For now let’s continue with late blight. 

Now for the public announcement part of my late blight rant.  As I said above, late blight is a true community disease.  Please take a moment to learn what the symptoms of late blight are.  If you see these symptoms on your garden tomatoes, please bag them and dispose of them in the garbage.  Here is a link to the actual USA late blight page http://usablight.org/.  By navigating through the menu at the top you can view pictures of the disease.  Here is an informative Penn State publication about late blight in the home garden. http://extension.psu.edu/publications/ul215

Ok, I am off of my late blight soap box for this newsletter.  But, I doubt this is the last you will hear about blight this year.  Keep our tomato crop in your thoughts and keep your fingers crossed for days like today, sunny and dry!

Back on the farm.  Just as our peas are starting to wind down, our beans are starting to ripen.  Plenty of beans to come, so get your recipes ready.  Summer squash are growing and producing.  Our first planting was mowed down this weekend, we are harvesting from our second planting and our third planting has flowers and small fruit already forming.  The basil is still looking really nice this year.  Second and third planting of Asian Greens and lettuce are in the ground now and should be ready for harvest in the next few weeks.  Our broccoli is looking good.  We have had the broccoli plants covered to protect them from flea beetles and now we will need to watch for later season insects, the cabbage looper and diamond back moth.  The second planting of cucumbers is trying desperately to survive the groundhog attacks and we have high hopes for a good harvest here.  Our first planting of cucumbers, in the greenhouse, is starting to wind down.  Peppers are coming along slowly.  Fennel should be coming our soon, we lost some of our early bed to deer, but our second bed is growing nicely.

This week’s selections will offer some surprises.  As many of you know, we work closely with neighboring farmers and often purchase product from them to supplement our own crops.  This week we will be offering some produce grown by John Jaramillo at Nut Creek Farm in Danville.  John uses organic methods on his farm and is certified Naturally Grown.   You will see John’s cherry tomatoes on the pick list.  These cherry tomatoes are an orange/yellow cherry, very similar to sungolds.  John also grows a variety of Italian green bean.  These are a flat bean, cook them like a traditional green bean, being careful not to overcook them. 

Farmer Don and I actually had a social engagement last evening, which is some of the reason this newsletter is arriving a bit late.  We spent the evening with a group of other local organic growers at the Blind Pig Kitchen in Bloomsburg.  It is always nice to swap stories and trade knowledge with other growers.  Thanks to Justin at Old Tioga Farm for coordinating the event.  And thanks to Sarah and Toby at Blind Pig for hosting and feeding our sometimes rowdy group.

This week in the kitchen we again have not been too adventurous, making mostly comfort food with homegrown ingredients.  In other words, meat and potato type meals.  Pork chops on the grill with foil packet potatoes and lightly cooked snap peas.  Grilled chicken with red potatoes cooked with garlic and chard and steamed wax beans seasoned with butter and lemon thyme.  The potato and chard dish is an easy and tasty way to use these two ingredients.  Simply saute some garlic (or garlic scapes) in some olive oil, keep the temperature low to allow the oil to become flavored by the garlic, but to avoid burning the garlic.  As the garlic is cooking, boil your potatoes in some salted water until just tender.  Add the chard stems to the garlic and oil and allow them to soften.  Next add the potatoes and chard, some salt and red pepper flakes.  Continue cooking until the potatoes can be slightly smashed in the pan the chard is cooked. 

A note on boxes and choice.  The window for choosing the items for your box opens on Thursdays at 6 pm and closes Sundays at 6 pm.  All boxes are labeled on one end with your name and those of you who have chosen items should find a pack list inside with your picks.  If you do not choose items for a week, don’t worry, you will still receive a box of veggies.  This box will be what we call a Farmer’s Choice box.  We do re-use our share boxes, so please treat them gently and please return them each week.  We also reuse egg cartons and green berry boxes.  These items can be left with your box at your pick up site. 

This week marks the opening of the Back Mountain Memorial Library Market.  The market has moved to the Dallas Elementary School.   The hours remain the same, 9 am to 2 pm.  Please stop by and say hello to Farmers Don and Phil.  We will have veggies, eggs, chicken and pork for sale.  Get there early for the best selection!

Thank you again for your support of our small family farm and local agriculture.  Have a great week and enjoy those veggies.









Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Week 4 Newsletter


Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!  Welcome to CSA Week 4 and welcome to July.  We hope everyone had a happy, though wet, Fourth of July.

Yep, it is still raining.  We got another inch plus over the weekend and have had showers every day so far this week.  I did get some wash done and dried on the line on Sunday and Monday.  Our crops are really starting to show the signs of too much rain.  Disease is setting in and the weeds are taking over the farm!

Although the fields are wet and weedy, we still have some healthy crops coming on.  Cooking greens are looking good.  Our first run of Asian greens are starting to wind down, with a second planting ready to go in.  We will be taking a bit of a break from salad mix in the next few weeks, as we wait for our fields to recover from the deer invasion of a few weeks ago.  Beans are growing nicely and we anticipate a long run of snap beans.  Peas are still going strong, but starting to wind down.  Shelling peas are done for the season and snaps and snows should hang on for a few more weeks.  Planting 2 of our summer squash is producing nicely with plantings 3 and 4 getting big and starting to flower.  Our greenhouse cucumbers are still producing and our field planted cucumbers are growing.  Winter squash is looking good and barring a disease or insect invasion we should have a good amount of winter squash this winter.  All our melons are planted, although the resident groundhog seems to be taking a liking to them.  We will keep you posted on how melons progress.  The sungold tomatoes in the greenhouse are loaded with flowers and fruit and the wait for the first ripe tomato continues.  Field grown tomatoes look good and will be staked this week.  Field and greenhouse peppers are looking healthy, flowering and starting to produce some tiny fruit.

Our apple orchard pork inventory is starting to be depleted.  We are sold out of bacon, ham steaks, ham hocks, loin roasts and pork chops until the fall.  We now have a plentiful supply of pastured chicken available, both halves and wholes.  Our chicken this year is some of the nicest we have produced with nice consistent weights.  We still have extra eggs for sale, as well.  All of these products are available through our buying club or at the Back Mountain Memorial Library Market.

Speaking of farmers markets.  We will be at Forks Farm Market in Orangeville this Saturday from 10 to 2 selling vegetables.  Then next Saturday, July 18, is the opening day for Back Mountain Memorial Library Market.  We are really excited for the Back Mountain Market this year.  The hours will be the same, 9 to 2, but the market is moving to a new location.  This year we will be setting up in the parking lot at the Dallas Elementary School.  We are excited to have more space for vendors and more parking for customers.  We will be selling vegetables, eggs, chicken and pork at the Dallas market.  If you visit any of the markets we attend, please be sure to stop by and say hello to Farmer Don.

In the kitchen, we are happy to have so many fresh vegetables to cook with.  As I type this newsletter, Don is in the kitchen making dinner.  We are having salmon packets on the grill.  I glanced at the packets before he sealed them and they are overflowing!  Squash, kale, beans, carrots, potatoes, parsley, and of course Wild for Salmon, salmon portions.  Last night we had fresh chicken on the grill, along with roasted potatoes and grilled zucchini. 

The basil we are harvesting looks beautiful right now.  We have several varieties of basils available at this time.  Most everyone is familiar with sweet basil.  We grow two varieties of sweet basil.  The traditional smooth leaved and an Italian sweet or Genovese basil, with a larger frilly leaf.  These sweet basils are a favorite for pesto and pair well with tomatoes.  Another sweet basil we grow is Red Opal basil.  This basil has distinctive deep red leaves and can be used in place of sweet basil in most recipes.  Red basil pairs well with salmon and here on farm we often add it to the foil packets of salmon we cook on the grill.  Speaking of salmon, another basil which pairs well with fish is Mrs Burns Lemon Basil.  This heirloom basil has a distinctive lemony scent and pale green leaves.  I love the aroma of lemon basil and use it in salads and with fish.  Lemon basil also makes a great simple syrup for use in lemonades, iced tea or fruit popsicles. The final basil we grow is Thai Basil.  Thai basil with it distinctive purple stems, holds up a bit better to cooking than sweet basils so is a good addition to soups, stir frys and curries.  Here is a website from a farm in California with some really good recipes.  http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/basil.html   If you need larger quantities of basil, please contact us for availability. 

Speaking of herbs.  Fresh herbs store best at room temperature in a glass of water on your kitchen counter.  Treat the herbs like flowers; cut the stems fresh and place them in water.  Preserving herbs is also easy and simple.  Try freezing herbs in olive oil in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, transfer the cubes to a plastic bag.  When you are ready cook simply melt an herb and oil cube in the pan and you are ready for a tasty saute or stir fry. 

We just finished our delicious supper.  Farmer Don has headed out to do night time chores.  The kitchen is even cleaned up!  Time to end this ramble for the week.

 Please remember to return your boxes.  Have a great week!





Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Buying Club open this week!!!!

Greeting Dancing Hen Farm Buying Club Members!

Yes, Farmer Don has made the call and our buying club will be open this week.  Ordering is now open and will close Thursday morning at 5 am.  Deliveries will be Friday night from 5:30 to 6 at Bloom Naturally in Bloomsburg and Saturday morning from 10 to 10:30 at Dallas and from 11 to 11:30 at Forty Fort.  On farm pick is after 4 on Friday or any time on Saturday.  If you have questions about pick up site locations, please do not hesitate to contact us at the farm.

Please note, this is our extended season buying club and is separate from our CSA and the buying club we offer to CSA members.  Back Mountain Memorial Library Market starts July 18, so this will most likely be our last extended season buying club until the fall.

We will be at Forks Farm Market this Saturday selling vegetables.  If you would like to pick up your order at Forks, please contact the farm and we will have your box behind the table.

Looking to keep up on farm news?  Please check our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dancing-Hen-Farm/111155465564952) or our blog (http://dancinghenfarmcsa.blogspot.com/).  Farm communications and pictures are posted at both of these sites.

Thanks again for your support, as I have said in the past, without you, our community, we would not be able to do what we do, sustainably farm this bit of hilly land in northeastern Pennsylvania.



Friday, July 3, 2015

2015 Week 3 Newsletter

Independence Day greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!  We hope everyone is enjoying their Week 3 boxes.

As seems to be the trend this summer, I am a bit late getting the newsletter out.  That means ordering for Week 4 is well under way.  Just a reminder ordering opens at 6 pm Thursday and closes at 6 pm Sunday for the next week’s box. 

July already!  Where did those cold winter days go?  It seems just recently we were huddle in the house waiting patiently, well maybe not too patiently, for the ice and snow to melt so we could get planting.  Now here we are ready to celebrate the fourth.  Tomorrow looks to be a bit rainy and cool, but I am thinking the rain will stop before evening picnics and fireworks. 

Rain!  We have really been getting soaked by rain recently.  The yard is a swamp and our road is washed out again.  We now get to sleep to the sounds of running water as the usually dry ditch across from the house is still running freely.  May was so dry we had problems getting plants growing, now all the rain is causing disease to move into our crops and our plants to stress from too much water.   One of my sisters has predicted July will be hot and dry and we will have more flooding towards the end of August.  We could use a bit of hot dry weather right now, the flooding, I am not so sure about. 

This past week on farm, Rosie, our border collie, added another saga to her life story.  Many of you have met Rose and most of you have read stories about her in the past.  She is a bit accident prone and maybe a bit too curious for her own good.  This past Monday, Farmer Don was done with packing boxes fairly early.  He decided to take the dogs for a walk around our fields, as he does most evenings.  Rose likes to nose around in the fence rows looking for what we always assume are the farm’s resident groundhogs.  She ran up the farm road a bit in front of the farmer and our other dog.  She was not gone long when she came sprinting back, running through the high grass and rubbing her face on the ground!  Farmer Don got a strong smell of skunk and that quickly Rose was gone.  I then began smelling really strong skunk at the backdoor and immediately knew someone was skunked!  Yep, Rose, had her second encounter, with a skunk.  Needless to say, no one, animal or human, was too happy Monday night.  Shady, our other dog, kept a wide distance from her sister.  Rose got several special baths and was forced to sleep the night in our workshop in the cellar.  Currently, she doesn’t smell too bad, but, from past experience she will be stinky for months, especially if she gets wet.  Let’s hope the predicted hot and dry July comes true!!

Well, it seems to be the year of the skunk.  I had this newsletter all ready to send out and was waiting for Farmer Don to read it over lunch when I learned of another skunk encounter.  Shady, our other dog, met up with the skunk this morning!  I guess she was nosing around in the same hedge row where Rosie got sprayed.  At least we now have a pretty good idea where the skunk lives!  And thankfully, it seems Shady did not get as a direct hit as Rose.  Looks like baths for all at Dancing Hen Farm tonight!  I am thinking as long as we are bathing Shady, we might as well put the de-skunk solution on Rose again, as she is still fairly stinky.


Speaking of pets.  This week we said a sad farewell to Tigger.  Tigger was a large orange Tabby which had belonged to my parents.  He was older and his health had been failing for several years.  I already miss his loud motoring purr and his constant demands for attention and food.  He felt it was his job to be sure the food and water bowls were kept full and if either was lower than he liked, he was sure to track someone down and let them know.  Rest in Peace Tigger and thank you for sharing your life with us.

In the fields, we continue to plant, plant and plant some more.  Most of our major plantings are complete for the season, including winter squash.  This week we will finish up with some late peppers, eggplant and okra.  This does not mean planting is complete for the season.  We will continue to plant, on 1 or two week rotation, many of our cooking greens, salad greens, snap beans, as well as some other crops.  Our herbs are doing well and our field planted basil has sized up nicely and appears on Week Four’s choice list.  Our summer squash, zucchini, yellow squash, and eight ball zucchini are really starting to produce.  We also have patty pan squash planted with this same rotation, but they take a bit longer to mature.  Patty pan squash should appear on the choice list soon.  My most recent trip through the greenhouse revealed many tomatoes on our sungold plants.  Get your cherry tomato recipes ready, as it will not be long before sungolds appear in your boxes.  Of course, what I hear from many members is that the sungolds barely make it home!  There are two crops we grow which I cannot resist right off the vine, sungolds are one and peas are the other!

How about the size of some of the Chinese cabbage going out last week!  Wow!  I often take Monday off as a vacation day from my off farm job to help on farm with harvest and pack.  Last Monday, I was working our field rinse station and when these cabbage came in I was amazed.  They looked beautiful. This morning I see Farmer Don has his kimchi recipes and notes out on our kitchen table, so I am thinking the fermentation crocks will again be getting some use over the weekend.  When you see Don at market, be sure to ask him about kimchi and good bacteria.  He may even have some kimchi with him for sampling.

In the kitchen, we made a nice rolled flank steak this week.  The recipe called for stuffing it with a spinach, cilantro and peanut pesto.  Since I didn’t have spinach or peanuts, I substituted kale and walnuts.  I should have taken a picture to post on facebook and our blog, as the pesto stayed bright green and contrasted beautifully with the meat.  Farmer Don declared the recipe a keeper, so if I make it again, I will be sure to take a picture.  Another favorite and quick dinner for us consists of eggs and greens over polenta.  I saute the greens, whatever is harvested, in a pan with a bit of olive oil and garlic.  When the greens are just about done, I make several holes in the greens, crack an egg in each hole, add a couple of tablespoons of water, put the lid on the pan and allow the eggs to steam/poach.  Serve the greens and eggs over some fresh soft polenta.  For me, keeping the egg yolks on the soft/runny side is perfect to mix with the polenta.  Farmer Don, however, prefers the yolks cooked more firmly. 

With grill season in full swing, I thought I will continue on the food and cooking theme and talk a bit about veggies on the grill.  Any of the summer squash are really great on the grill.  We usually marinate them in a bit of oil and vinegar based Italian salad dressing, grill them briefly on both sides and then top with a bit of fresh grated parmesan cheese.  Eight-ball zucchini, the small round zucchini, going out in our summer squash melody are nice to grill.  Cut them cross-wise to make coins.  I like to make zucchini pizzas out of the eight balls.  Cook each slice on one side, flip over and top each slice with a tablespoon or so of red sauce and a sprinkle of cheese.  Close the lid to the grill to allow the squash to finish cooking and the cheese to melt.  For the meat eaters in your family, top each slice with a piece of pepperoni before you add the sauce and cheese.  Another veggie good on the grill are garlic scapes.  Brush the scapes with a bit of oil and grill, flipping once.  Scapes can even be used at skewers for grilled veggies.  For squash, cut your squash in cubes and carefully thread onto the scape.  The non-flower end of the scape will be stiffer, so start your veggies at this end.   All this talk of grilling veggies, I can’t wait for tomatoes and eggplant and okra!!  The grill will be busy here at the farm!

Let’s see.  I talked about ordering, the farm, the pets, cooking, and the weather, of course.  I am thinking it is time to wrap up this week’s rambles with my weekly box reminder.  Please remember to return your boxes so we can re-use them.

Have a great holiday.  And as Farmer Don always says:  “be safe, be well and enjoy those veggies”








Friday, June 26, 2015

Week 2 Newsletter

Welcome to Week 2!  Happy Father’s Day! and Happy Summer Solstice!

Week 2 was not an egg week.  Egg weeks are odd weeks, so Week 3 will be an egg week.

Rain, rain, rain.  That is the weather topic of late.  I think Wednesday this week was beautiful and dry, but it seems daily rains are the norm recently.  It is hard to believe we are still under a drought watch.  Bill brought us over 2 inches of rain last weekend and the forecast is for another 2 inches this weekend!  Now in all honesty our fields are wet and our crops are starting to show some effects of too much rain.  We will need to monitor closely for disease.  And boy does the rain make the weeds grow!!!!

Hopefully everyone has figured out the routine for the CSA.  Remember ordering opens on Thursday night at 6 pm for the next week’s boxes and closes Sunday night at 6 pm.   That means ordering for week 3 is open now.  Please remember all items are available on a first serve basis and each week some items will be limited in number.  Don’t worry if you forget to pick items, you will still get a box, a farmer’s choice box.  Sometimes farmer’s choice boxes get some items not on the pick list.  Farmer Don is estimating harvests almost a full week before we actually harvest.  For this reason, there may be items ready for harvest he did not anticipate being ready.  Also please be aware, that we occasionally will need to make substitutions if items are not ready for harvest as anticipated.

We are busy as ever on farm.  We are continuing to plant daily.  We are almost done with the main planting of our summer crops.  There are still some pepper and eggplants to go in the ground.  Many crops we plant almost continuously throughout the growing season.  In fact we have one field we are ready to turn over and completely re-plant for a second time this year.  This field had some early greens and cover crops growing.  Now it is ready to be tilled and replanted with a different crop. I took a walk through our large unheated production greenhouse yesterday and was happy to see lots and lots of flowers on the sungold tomatoes.  Sungolds are always a favorite!  I will be watching closely for the first fruit to appear!  I will have to really be on the lookout if I want to get the first ripe one, as Farmer Don is way better than me at finding the first ripe fruit.  Speaking of which, I have been watching our wild blackberry bushes carefully for ripe berries and had even found a few to eat.  Then yesterday, Farmer Don comes across the yard with at least 2 cups of berries cradled in his shirt tail.  It seems he has a secret stash I didn’t even know existed!

Animals are busy on farm as well, both friend and foe animals.  Our pigs now have a bigger pasture to romp and play in.  The pigs love the rain, as it keeps their wallowing areas filled with water and mud.  Pigs wallow in the mud to control their body temperature, keeping them cool on hot summer days.  Our second batch of meat birds are now on pasture and looking good.  The laying hens are providing us with an abundant supply of eggs.  These hens spend their days roaming the farm eating bugs and vegetation and at night they return to the barn and coop to their roosts to sleep the night away.  Unfortunately their nights have not been peaceful, as they are being visited almost nightly by a hungry predator.  We are fairly certain this is a raccoon.  Whoever the predator, it seems to have a good appetite, taking almost a chicken a night.  Speaking of nightly visitors.  Several weeks ago, we noticed a beautiful tiny baby deer in our orchard.  We knew Mommy deer was close by.  Now it seems Mommy and baby have found our veggies and are visiting the chard and lettuce beds nightly.  Like the raccoon, they also seem to have a healthy appetite and from the amount of chard and lettuce which has been eaten, we are thinking they are hosting a nightly dinner party for their friends and relatives!


In the kitchen this time of year we are often looking for quick meals.  We rely heavily on leftovers, often cooking several chickens at once to be eaten cold all week.  We also eat lots of salads.  A favorite of Farmer Don’s is an Asian slaw featuring napa cabbage.  I generally just throw together a dressing for this, using very little oil, just a few drizzles of sesame oil.  I am thinking the recipe/ration would be around:  3TBS of rice vinegar, 3 TBS of lime juice, 1 TBS of soy sauce, 1 TBS of sweetener, a bit of fresh chopped ginger, a shake of red pepper flakes and a drizzle or two of sesame oil.  I also tend to thin the dressing by adding just a bit of water.  Whisk everything together, taste to adjust the flavors and pour over some thinly chopped napa cabbage.  I usually also add some thin sliced onion or scallions.

Please remember to treat your share boxes gently.  Slide, rather than pull the flaps open.  Don’t forget to return share boxes to your sites so we can re-use them.  We also re-use egg cartons and blue/green berry or portion boxes.  These items can also be left at your pick up site.

Thank you again for your support.




Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Week 1 Deliveries

Farmers Don and Matt are out and about in the van making today's deliveries.  Say hello, if you see them.