Farm News June 6, 2017

Farm NewsWelcome to our 15th season! This was the first year that we attended farmers’ markets year-round, and coupled with the big CSA summer season it seemed like the harvest never stopped. After a mild winter, we’ve had a somewhat slow start to spring with frequent rains and mostly cool temperatures. This has given us a break from the non-stop irrigation of the 2015 and 2016 seasons and has made getting the fields prepped and planted a much more pleasant process. Crop growth is a little slower than usual, but our sandy soils warm up fast and drain quickly, so we have plenty of produce for everyone this week. Rebecca and I feel fortunate to have a very experienced crew back for another season. Justin Martel, Bailey Deutsch,and Lauren Henderson Tamowski, Hannah Samulelson-Snyder and Adam Quattro are anchoring our crew, doing the bulk of the greenhouse work, field prep, cultivation, and harvest this spring. Field manager Elliott McGann is back once again to coordinate all the moving parts in out in the field and manage the New Milford Farmer’s market. And our summer crew has returned to help us get the rest of the summer crops planted and start the hoeing and hand weeding that goes along with farming without herbicides. Photo above:  Amusement park ride? No! Hannah and Rebecca team up on Paul's no holds barred Hak cultivating machine, which is our latest and greatest defense against the weeds.So far the crops are looking good overall. We were able to get a great crop of spring lettuce out of the new greenhouse we built, and have now moved into the field as the spring greens come in. They are really doing well in the cooler and wetter spring, and we are able to harvest them at peak flavor. We have some wonderful spinach ready this week, along with super nice butterhead, romaine, and leaf lettuce. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and ginger are perking along in the big field tunnel, where temperatures are usually 10 degrees warmer than outside. All in all, a good start!We hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,Paul and Rebecca, for Elliott, Justin, Lauren, Bailey, Hannah, Adam, and the field crewPhoto left:   Gigi and Hannah plant peppers into freshly neatly mulched beds. Unfortunately, at some point those weeds still make it through!Photo right: The gang plants next year's strawberries, as this year's patch (background) starts ripening.Featured this week:Salad mix: One of our most popular crops, our salad mix requires some extra care on your part, as it does not come ready to eat. To prepare, wash the greens and then spin dry in a salad spinner, and either store them in the spinner or move to a clean, dry, covered bowl in the fridge. Do not store salad or spinach for more than three days in the vented greens bag. Spun salad mix will store up to 6 days.Spinach: Whole plant spinach, chop off the base, wash and spin in a salad spinner, and sauté in oil with a little garlic and butter; or, see recipe below. Store in a loose plastic bag in your fridge crisper for up to a week.Shoots and Sprouts: we started growing pea shoots and sunflower sprouts last fall and find them very tasty. Super nutritious too. Store in the fridge crisper and wash and spin right before use.Also available: arugula, red kale, tatsoi, scallions, head lettuce, radishes, bok choy, escarole, friseé, lacinato and curly kale, rainbow chardPick Your Own at the farm: Strawberries are in. The Earliglow variety fruiting now is our best tasting berry!Coming soon: Chinese cabbage, garlic scapesHearty Spinach SaladBy Rebecca BatchieThis salad eats like a meal!  Infinite variations abound: replace feta with goat or blue cheese, addhalved kalamata and green olives or mushrooms, remove the feta and add dried cranberries, top with bacon ...3/4 lb fresh spinach3 scallions, very thinly sliced5 hard boiled eggs, sliced and halved3 oz. feta cheese½ cup walnuts, toasted and lightly chopped1 oz. pea shootsDressing:2 T fresh lemon juice6 T olive oilsalt and pepper to tasteRip the spinach into medium sized pieces and place in a medium bowl with thetoppings. Add the dressing and mix the salad until the egg yolk and feta break downa bit and coat the leaves. Taste for salt and pepper, and top salad with pea shoots.