Delivery #1 - Friday, May 30, 2008!

Hurray! It's time to start sharing the garden produce with all of you! Thank you for being part of my little farm.

GARDEN NEWS
I am very happy to report that the various vegetables and flowers have grown so much that now we can all start enjoying them. Robin and I have eaten some lovely mesclun a few times, made with tiny, flavor-packed leaves. Now it's your turn.

Karen and I have been working hard to get things planted. It seems like the the task list goes on and on but we are doing it bit by bit. There are lots of greens, lettuce, carrots, beets, mesclun, pole beans, squash, onions, beets, radishes, cucumbers, peas, zinnias, calendula and sweet peas already up and growing and there are more things being planted every day. I love the way the tiny plants look so distinctly like 'themselves'.

Rob has been helping too. Just today he set up the frame for the greenhouse, a very impressive and exciting sight. Today is the start of my second Farm Week. It's terrific to have help and time to do this.

Please do feel free to stop by and visit. I am here most Saturdays gardening. In the upcoming weeks the only Saturdays I won't be here are June 7 and July 5. And if you get the urge to dig or weed or generally do a a bit of gardening, stop by any Saturday and I'll point you at a project. There's plenty of 'work' to share too. (Jobs are of various levels of needed energy and skill to match your interest.) To be sure I will be here, call ahead. I won't be tending the stand when it is open, just picking for it and letting the customers serve themselves.

DELIVERY
I will be bringing your share in the morning, most likely between 8:30 and 10:00 on Fridays. Your part will be to either be home, or leave a cooler for the food in a shady, protected spot near your house. I will bring flowers in a glass jar. It's best if the cooler has some of those cooler things inside, especially as the weather warms up. Since this is the first time, if I haven't heard from you by Wednesday, I will give you a call Wednesday or Thursday to make sure I know where you want your delivery and go over any questions or details. One thing that I continue to puzzle over are containers for the food. I would love to avoid using plastic bags if I can figure out a better plan. I am investigating biodegradable cellophane as an option. Another idea I had was to make cloth bags to hold the lettuces and greens. I also thought that it might work to use food storage containers of some sort. I could put the vegetables in the containers and then into your cooler and you could leave clean containers for me for the next week. If you come up with ideas about this or just find that you have some reusable containers you would like me to use, let me know, or just label the containers and put them in your cooler.

COMING THIS WEEK
Mesclun
Rhubarb
Garlic chives
Apple mint
Wild Peppermint
An herbal mix: sorrel, chives, dill, cilantro
Surprise spring treat from my kitchen.
Bouquet with lilacs, Jacob's ladder, Dianthus, Deronicum and more, whatever is open; new flowers are opening every day.
Do you have cats? I have some nice catnip to share if you would like some.

Current mesclun mixture: Green Wave Mustard, Tyee Spinach, Arugula, Rapa Turnip greens, Osaka Purple Mustard, Zen, (I am not sure what this is but I like it.) Mizuna, Purple Mizuna, Big Stem Mustard, Heading Mustard, Wrinkled Crinkled Cress, White Russian Kale, Red Russian Kale, Borage leaves, Ruby Streaks Mustard, Golden Frilled Mustard, Nasturium leaves, Johnny Jump Up flowers, and leaf lettuces. Leaf lettuce varieties: Tango, Green Deer Tongue, Galactic, Cracoviensis, Red Sails, Mascara, Australian Yellowleaf, New Red Fire, Royal Oakleaf, Lollo di Vino, Black Seeded Simpson, Blush Butter Oaks

Okay, this got pretty long. Usually it will be a shorter message but to get us started there are some extra details to consider. I am totally loving being a farmer; it feels so right. Thank you for helping me do this work.

Laura