Hi members!
Some housekeeping to start the week:
We will be closed on Tuesday, July 4th. All Tuesday pickups will automatically be shifted to Wednesday, July 5th. If any members enrolled on any day need to rearrange pickup by skipping a week, or switching to Saturday instead, the deadline to notify us is Sunday, July 2nd at midnight.
Please note that we don't leave shares outside the store and are only open for pickup during regular store hours. Tuesdays and Wednesdays we are open from 10:30 to 6 and Saturdays we are open from 9 to 4. You always have the option to come for 24 hours after your scheduled pickup before your share is donated.
Happy Father's Day to all of the dads reading this!
Here's a snap from earlier in the season of Peter and Randy in their matching flannels in the greenhouse. Peter admires his daddy for driving the tractors around here, and it's Randy's dream for Peter or Janina to want to farm someday too.
And, Happy Father's Day to all of the dads on staff here. Steve and Henry are our market representatives and were out in the rain at the Monroe Farmer's Market's opening day on Friday. Steve represents us in Trumbull on Thursdays from 4 to 7 and Henry joins him in Monroe on Fridays from 3 to 6 and Shelton on Saturdays from 9 to 12. Both Steve and Henry were especially excited about promoting kohlrabi fries at the markets and in the store this week (did you try that?!). Henry also celebrated his 21st birthday on Sunday (heh heh. Just kidding. I know he reads the newsletter.) Make sure you wish him a happy belated birthday at pickup this week.
Here's Steve in Monroe. Nice job on the display!
Happy Father's Day to Ethan, too!
Ethan is our longest-running staff member at the farm and his family has supported us since our inception over 10 years ago. We were really excited to welcome him a few years ago and we've been lucky to have him ever since. He's fast and efficient and makes a really mean kimchi. You may recognize him from your pickups last season, but this season he'll be back in the field where he started.
I would also like to introduce you to our other crew members. These are the people who harvest your veggies every week.
Here's Laina, our greenhouse manager and Jill of all trades. Laina has a special interest in herbalism.
This is Eric, who is on his third year here.
This is Emily, always smiling and my favorite person to talk about Block Island with.
And Tommy, who goes to the University of Richmond and we welcomed to the crew this season.
In addition to harvesting this week, our afternoon field crew also planted pumpkins by hand the old-fashioned way. Randy was hoping to save money on tractor fuel and supplies. You may remember that with last year's drought we lost almost our entire crop of pumpkins, which we grow on family land in Monroe. Randy didn't want to waste the money if we won't get a payoff this year, since there isn't an irrigation system on the land.
We're also growing some ornamental corn. We don't grow sweet corn on our farm. It requires a ton of land and irrigation and between the pests and critters, it's not worth it. You have to monitor the pest thresholds constantly in order to ensure they don't get bugs and worms. If they do, most customers will peel back the husk and won't want to see pests, and the ears go to waste. We decided early on in our farming careers to skip the corn and grow the crops that we do best.
The crew also hustled to get as much done as possible before the storms this week.
We're so happy that it rained this week. We could've done without it at the Monroe market, but we'll take it either way. Here's the rain gauge after one of the storms.
Most crops need about an inch of rain this week, which we ended up getting. Let's keep it coming!
This week, you're receiving a full pint of snap peas. On Saturday, we're having a special Pick-Your-Own event (rain or shine). Drop by the farm from 10-12 a.m. to pick your own sugar snap peas. It'll be $10 per quart and you're welcome to snap some pics of the kiddos or yourselves in the pea patch. This is open to the public, so invite a friend to join you!
You're also receiving a giant head of romaine. In the recipe section below, you'll see that I shared a link to 11 Easy Lettuce Wraps. This week, I challenge you to pick one of those to try, and let's share them in our Facebook group. I'm opting for the buffalo chicken recipe because you can make the chicken in the crock pot... so easy!
This week, you can also pick out an herb of your choice to go along with your share. Your options will be: cilantro, mint, oregano, parsley, and summer savory. This is cilantro.
Check out the Library of Resources for some recipe inspiration. Summer savory might be new to you, but it's a great one to add into your eggs, and can also be used in a marinade for grilled chicken.
We're still in greens season but some new crops will be arriving soon. Squash plants have baby squash on them, and the rain always does them good. Garlic scapes are also popping up. We'll hoard the scapes until there are enough to share most likely the week after next and then you know we'll be doing a challenge with those! Randy also reports that cabbage heads are growing and are almost ready to be harvested.
Come on squash! We're ready for ya...
Thank you for bringing us your very large boxes! We flew through our stock this week and sent nearly 500 pieces of produce to Bridgeport to be distributed to those in need. We have a contract to continue these deliveries for the next 19 weeks, so we'd love it if you continued to bring us your large boxes. We don't even need them broken down. Thanks so much for your help!
(And a happy birthday to Audrey, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Saturday... and worked in the store that day!)
I took a lot of photos this week, and I would love to share them with you here to end the newsletter. Have a wonderful week and happy summer solstice! (My favorite season...)
In Your Share (Listed approximately from shortest shelf life to longest)
Large:
1 bunch of spinach
1 head of escarole
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of radishes
1 head of romaine
1 pint of sugar snap peas
1 herb of your choice
Small:
1 head of escarole
1 bunch of kale
1 head of romaine
1 pint of sugar snap peas
1 herb of your choice
Caring For Your Share (All of this information, plus long-term storage info, can also be found in our Vegetable Library of Resources).
Store kale and spinach in a plastic bag in the fridge. Or, snip the ends and store in a glass of water, like a bouquet. Wash and spin out when ready to use, within a few days.
Shake out any excess water in the heads of romaine and escarole, then store in a plastic bag in the fridge. Wash and spin out when ready to use.
Store snap peas in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Remove stems and wash when ready to eat, within the week.
Remove the greens from the radishes and store them in separate plastic bags. Wash and eat the greens within a few days; the roots will keep for a couple of weeks if stored properly.
The LGF Cooking Club (Recipes to try in addition to those in the Library of Resources!)
Grilled Sugar Snap Peas with Spicy Peanut Sauce (your bag weighs .50 lbs... if it makes it home, anyway!)
Large Share Additional Items:
Please note that Victoria does not work on Thursdays this season. Emails received on Wednesday night through Thursday will be answered on Fridays.
How to Change Your Pickup Day
If you need to skip your share for the week, or change your pickup day, you must provide us with 48 hours notice since we pack shares the day before pickup. Once your share has been harvested and packed, we can not cancel your pickup.
For Tuesday pickups being changed, we need to know by Sunday. Wednesday pickups, we need to know by Monday. Saturday pickups, we need to know by Thursday. You have the option to choose another of those pickup days: Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. Or, you can skip a pickup and double the following week.
If you miss your pickup, we will hold your share for 24 hours after your pickup day (Monday for Saturday members), and then it will be donated to a local food pantry. With more members than ever before, we don't have the cooler space to hold onto shares longer than this. This is a great option if you accidentally miss your pickup - just come the next day.
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