FARM WEEK # 2 (MINI SHARES Starting!) June 4, 2010 Delivery and June 4, 7 and 9, 2010 Pick Up

Happy Memorial Day, everybody! What a beautiful day.

I spent the entire day in the garden planting and digging and weeding and watering. It felt great and it is great to be making progress.

FARM NEWS

The pole beans are in (32 teepees) and I planted 50 more feet of bush beans, purple and yellow. Other recent planting includes: hot and sweet peppers, and lots of winter squash. The earliest peas are starting to bloom. The potatoes are growing very quickly, one foot tall in a week! The head lettuce looks beautiful, full and tender. The kolrabi are swelling and the fava beans are making buds. In one week I have gone from anxiety about maybe not having enough, to having way too much lettuce. The 2 days of high heat last week made some plants start to bolt, including some of the spinach, arugula and radishes. Fortunately, we have lots more of all of these. The big storm on Wednesday night damaged our extra tomatoes in the field. The wind ripped the plastic mulch right out of the ground, pulling out and breaking over half the plants. I am so glad that we have 50 more plants up near the house that look happy, settled in and green. Phew!

The biggest news is that the MINI SHARES will be starting on Friday. Depending on what day you chose for pick up, that means your share will start either June 4, June 6 or June 8. I will be out in the garden picking by 6:00 AM. The shares should be out at the screen house in coolers, ready for pick up by 10:30 on Monday and Wednesday or 12:00 on Friday. If you have a preference for your MINI and let me know which items you would like before 6:00 AM on your picking day, I will accomodate that. Otherwise, it will be farmer's choice.

MINI SHARE ITEMS - Pick two

Mesclun
Radishes
Turnips or Turnip greens
Arugula

THIS WEEK'S FULL SHARE (Quantity estimates are for the full shares. Half is less. Just estimates, of course.)

White Turnips with their tops (6-12) (I like to eat the turnips raw.)
Turnip Greens? (I think these will still need thinning.)
Spinach (1/2 - 1 pound)
Lamb's Quarters (1/2 - 1 pound) These are so yummy. Just as nice as spinach. When you get them, the stems may seem tough but once they are cooked, they become completely tender.
Mesclun (6 - 12 ounces)
Head Lettuce 1 - 3
Radishes (20 - 40) There are many radishes ready and they don't hold well in the field.
Arugula (6 - 8 ounces)
Bouquet - Peonies, Iris, Snapdragons, Sweet William, Lady's Rocket, whatever is ready.

What's in the MESCLUN these days:
Many leaf lettuces, Chickweed, Red Russian Kale, White Russian Kale, Collards, Wrinkled Crinkled Cress, Ruby Streaks Mustard, Golden Frills Mustard, Red Garnet Mustard, Red Komatsuma, Mizuna, Spinach, Johnny Jump Up flowers, Nasturium leaves, baby Chicory leaves, Purslane, Lemon Gem Marigold flowers

TURNIP GREENS are one of the most nutritious greens you can eat. They are packed with vitamins and minerals. AND they taste great. AND there is even a song about eating them.

We have lots of LETTUCE these days. If it's too much for salad, try cooking your mesclun mix in a stir fry or adding chopped lettuce to soup.

Anybody know a recipe that uses LOTS of RADISHES? And remember, radish tops are edible so you can add them to soup or cook with other milder greens.

EGGS
The hens are laying nicely. I can add eggs to your share any time you want them. Just let me know ahead of time. They are $4.00 a dozen. You can just leave the money in your cooler (or mine, if you are picking up).

That's all for now. Thanks for being part of the farm and helping me live my dream.
Laura

Laura Timmerman
910 Greenfield Rd
Leyden, MA 01337
413-773-8325
laurat@crocker.com
http://lasting-impressions-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/