Greetings
from Dancing Hen Farm! Happy Father's
Day! Welcome to Week 1 of our CSA. Week 1 is an egg delivery week. Week 1 is also a chicken delivery week.
First some
CSA housekeeping and logistic notes. Our
first CSA delivery is this Wednesday, June 19.
Please note ALL deliveries will be on WEDNESDAY this year, this is a
change from previous years and unfortunately some misinformation is reflected
on our website. You will receive site
specific information in the next day or so.
Ordering each week will open on Thursdays at 6 pm and will close on
Sundays at 6 pm. Shares are packed in
wax boxes and will be labeled with the name you used to sign up for your share. We reuse these boxes, so please either leave
them at your drop site or return them to the site. As always, if you have questions or concerns,
please do not hesitate to contact us.
Each growing
season Mother Nature seems to present us with a new set of challenges. This spring has again been wet and cool, with
a very challenging wind. The wind
challenges us to keep ground and row covers in place and challenges our plants
as well. Transplant shock is normal when
we first plant our seedlings as they adapt to the unprotected environment of
the field plots. We try to move
seedlings from the greenhouse to an outdoor staging area to harden them off, or
get them used to an environment without the protection of the greenhouse. This hardening off greatly reduces transplant
shock and allows the plants to take root and begin growing in the field quickly
. But this year, the strong winds are
causing our plants to take longer to adapt to the field in spite of being
hardened off. What this means is our
crops are taking longer to become established and thus taking longer to start
producing.
Ah yes, the
scientist in me is emerging again. I am
sure this is way more than you ever wanted to know about transplant shock and
in all honesty this is a very watered down version of transplant shock and
wind! But, I will move on to field news:
Our fields
are quickly filling up and our nursery greenhouse is quickly emptying. Swiss Chard, Romaine lettuce, kale and peas
are all coming along nicely. Sugar snap
peas are just starting to mature and we should continue to harvest them for a
number of weeks with larger numbers available in the coming weeks. Snow peas will be ready soon, followed by
some shelling peas. Summer crops are
planted and growing, although our first harvest of tomatoes and peppers are
quite a ways off. We should continue to
have zucchini and other summer squash varieties available for most of the
season and cucumbers are growing nicely.
We are currently harvesting young green onions and soon will have
smaller scallions on the choice list. Our
first rotation of beans are growing nicely and our second rotation is ready to
germinate. And, of course, the weeds are
growing very well.
In the kitchen, we are ecstatic to finally have fresh home
grown vegetables to cook with. Cooked greens have been a mainstay recently and
we had our first zucchini on the grill the other night. As is always the case this time of year,
meals tend to be very simple and quick. Usually
a protein on the grill, with a foil packet of potatoes and some sauted
greens. With the spring flux of eggs and
some beets being harvested, I have also been making a Miller family favorite of
pickled red beet eggs. This is probably
my favorite way to eat beets and hard boiled eggs. I also have been freezing strawberries. Although we do not grow strawberries, I
always buy some from a neighboring farm to freeze. Come next January these frozen berries will
become a nice addition to our morning smoothies. My goal this summer is to feel good enough to
do some canning, freezing and fermenting.
Watch future newsletter for how my preserving the harvest is going.
Continuing on this personal note. I know many of you are eager to know how I am
feeling. As I have mentioned in the
past, I am much stronger this year than I was last. I am once again going through a pulmonary
rehabilitation program, with the hopes of not only getting stronger, but also
helping my lungs use oxygen more efficiently.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with respiratory issues, I would
highly recommend pulmonary rehab. Last
weekend, Farmer Don and I went to Forks Farm Market, as shoppers. I tend to be a little shy about going out in
public, as being so sick has left me looking quite frail and it is hard for me
to be around people who knew me before this decline. But, Forks was a very good experience for
me. Having spent a number of years as a
vendor at the market, we know most of the vendors and many of the customers and
we very much consider this market a part of our community. It felt good to be around friends and such a
supportive community. I plan to make
Forks Market a more regular activity for me.
So, this newsletter is getting quite long. Sorry, but thank you for reading! I will end here with a reminder to our CSA
members to please treat our boxes gently and return them for reuse. And as always, thanks to each of you for your
support of our farm.
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