Tonight is being spent prepping for a talk tomorrow that I get to give on the cover cropping and soil management systems we use on the farm. Lincoln University and MU have asked me to present as a part of a Train the Trainer workshop on conservation agriculture and sustainable production.

I enjoy having the opportunity to talk about biological farming, its many benefits, and its inherent difference from chemical agriculture. Over ten years it has become very apparent that the cover cropping, compost application, tillage methods, mineral additions, crop rotations and other practices have continually improved the farm’s fertility. It is fun to watch…and eat.

For this week’s share I suggest that you link to our September 11, 2012 blog and learn alittle from our friend Cole about kohlrabi. Or try the pickled hakurei turnip and lemon recipe and in a week you will have, to quote Rebecca,  “lemonade turnips.”

Great copy by Dani Hurst in the Greenability, and this spring’s hakurei pickles

This week’s share is a well rounded selection that includes fruits, roots and greens. The peas are in that fruit category, and their sweetness tells you so. The fresh hakurei turnips make a return appearance as our second planting starts sizing up. And our newest green, cabbage, serves to “round” things out.

Another few newbies are Thai basil and herb fennel. They both have the same subtle licorice essence, but they are very different herbs. The basil is a key ingredient inThai cuisine. Use it fresh in lettuce wraps or spring rolls (yum). Both of these dishes are from natural born cook Heather Hands. Most any ingredient in your share can be substituted into each of these recipes.

Spring roll (from csachef.blogspot)

Lettuce wraps (from csachef.blogspot)

As of right now we have lost 1 phone, 1 desktop computer, and 1 digital camera in a very short time period. And while we are able to function fine without them temporarily, it complicates life. But when Rebecca says “it sure is quieter in here without the computer fan going constantly,” you realize what we give up for modern technology.

That is also why we enjoy a job that is dictated by Nature instead of technology. Even when the fields, once again are too wet to work in, there is plenty to keep us occupied, like building the Fair Share Farm shade structure (say that fast a couple times). The farm crew did their usual great job of getting the greenhouse ready for seeding the fall transplants and drying herbs. Spring summer and fall all converge on us this time of year.

Just planted melons high and wet

Attaching the shade cloth

We are rolling now. The harvest has begun in earnest. There has been a real growth spurt of late, and whatever is harvestable is being taken from the field and put in the shares. Predicting a share is as hard as predicting the weather.

Such unpredicatble behavior can be fun, as you find yourself in unique situations, like having a surplus of lettuce and strawberries at the same time. We enjoy such short-lived instances and figure out ways to bring the two together.

The first pickings of 2013

Our go-to recipe is salad with creamy strawberry and garlic dressing. The recipe from Week 4 of 2010 details this recipe. If you have some green garlic left from a previous share use it, otherwise, skip the garlic and add an extra strawberry or two to this delicious salad dressing.

For your salad, any of the lettuces that you get will go well. Add some broccoli florets, hakurei turnips or bok choi leaves and you have half a meal. Enjoy these tender greens now, as Summer will soon take lettuce out of the shares.

We also recommend a hearty stir fry. Depending on the type share you get and what you might have left over, the type of stir fry you cook can be different. I suggest going to the top-left hand corner of this page and searching the blog for stir fry. Several great suggestions are there, including a favorite of mine-Stir Fry Soup.

High tunnel just before mowing

We really love this time of year. Despite the workload, late-May is a treat. Butterhead lettuce, strawberries, fresh aliums, and crunchy roots spell that late-Spring fare which is so delicious. Having so much wonderful produce, tasty eggs and a big appetite make all the work worth it.

Tonight we made a dish to last us several meals. Our eggs had stockpiled to a point where we could benefit from a dish heavy on the albumen. We also have an abundance of vegetables perfect for a fritatta. And our stovetop oval casserole pan is the perfect size for a large amount of vegetables and eggs.

Egg over Egg Fritatta
You can use whatever vegetables you have available. Substitute 4 or 5 green onions for the leeks. Add asparagus, broccoli and/or turnip greens.

Fritatta, lettuce with creamy garlic dressing and escabeche

Ingredients:
1 medium bunch of chard
1 medium leek
2 stalk green garlic
9  eggs
1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
Method:
Clean and chop the leeks and green garlic. Cut the stems off the chard, chop and saute with the leeks and garlic in the olive oil and butter for 5 minutes over medium heat in an oven-proof pan. Chop the chard leaves, add, stir and saute for 5 to 8 more minutes, until just tender.
Beat 6 of the eggs and milk and pour into the pan with the vegetables. Cook over medium heat for 4 minutes. The eggs should begin cooked around the edges of the pan, and the center will still be soft.

In the Chamber Stove broiler

Beat the remaining 3 eggs and salt and pour over the top. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, then place in the broiler for 4 to 6 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Herbs and Dried Herbs
The fresh herbs are abundant right now, with a good selection. This week we will also start adding dried herbs to the Herb Choice box, allowing you the choice of a dried or fresh item. All dried herbs have been grown on the farm and dried in our passive solar greenhouse. The tins are reusable, so when they are empty you can either repurpose them or send them back our way.

Strawberries
The strawberry harvest has begun, and the trajectory of this year’s season is still to be determined. We do forcast a nice sampling for the Wednesday shares, and a full pint for everyone on Saturday. After that we hope to continue providing strawberries in the shares for a couple more weeks. Can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

May 28th—The Honeoye Strawberry patch

We are sorry that this year’s extended season got stuck in the middle of a Winter-Spring schizophrenia.  After doing our 10 year look-back we thought we had seen most everything, but apparently not. We don’t want May snow and temps in the 30’s, but try to be prepared for it. Such is the case with the strawberries

We are pleased that the row cover we put on them before the sleet and snow storm helped protect the blossoms and minimize damage. The blooms are starting to come on right now, and they look healthy and bright.

While this week’s share is a little lighter than we would like, it does afford some variety.

For any Asian greens that you get this week, or have in the fridge, I recommend Emily Akins’ Bok Choi and Garlic Soup. It may be warming up outside, but it is still Spring, and a broth with vegetables is always good for you.

The same is the case with the green garlic and onions. Use all the garlic and onion in the share, as well as any that you have in the fridge to make a healthy soup. You can “beef ” it up by adding croutons and cheese on top, or by adding the protein source of your choice.

And while we have not dug the carrots yet to see just how many we have for you, we did sample one today and can tell you that they taste great. We will work to provide more next Spring.

This Spring has been extra-ordinary, to say the least. In doing our 10 year history we thought we had seen everything. But them comes along the latest yet Spring for us, and one that hasn’t been equaled in a long time.

For us, we see where we stand based on our asparagus harvest. So, instead of a lot of photos, this week you get a table. It shows the year and the date of our first asparagus harvest of each year. Last year was the earlist ever, and this year the latest. Crazy.

2005   4/10
2006   4/7
2007   4/23
2008   4/26
2009   4/24
2010   4/19
2011   4/23
2012   3/28
2013   4/30

Rebecca, Ryan and Lorne planting leeks 4/30/13

The crunch of planting had not given time to prepare and present an original meal, but have some general suggestions. First off, make lots of dressing. The herbs and green onions are a wonderful accent to a salad dressing, whether in a yogurt or  oil & vinegar mix.

Second, make a big salad and take advantage of the freshness of the lettuce. Sometimes it is good to increase portion size. We get out our biggest bowls this time of year so we can fill them with plenty of greens and goodies, before topping it with a fresh dressing. Yum.

Lastly, use up every drop of your share. This time of year, especially, your body appreciates the goodness of these earliest of garden greens. It is their season.

Long-time members Bill and Fran Gillespe with Rebecca

Our electric coop’s state-wide publication Rural Missouri did an article on the farm for the May issue. We are pleased to see the words “biological farming, community supported agriculture, Fair Share Farm and true stewards of the land” in the pages of the magazine. Thanks too for the nice words from member and neighbor Crystal Leaman …”It’s about investing in my community and the growth of something that is really wonderful.” It may load a little slow so be patient.

They sent us a box of copies, let us know if you want one.

Well, Spring has sprung it seems, as the grass has greened, the perennials have started to pop out of the ground, and the planting has begun in earnest.

One nice sight has been the emergence of the sugar snap peas. Planted way back on March 15th, we have been patiently awaiting their appearance, not knowing if the snow, rain and freezing temperatures of March had done them in. But they are up and looking great, thanks in part to the quality of the soil and good drainage we have been able to put in place.
 

A good stand of sugar snap peas 04/08/13

In addition many hundered row feet of carrots, beets, spinach, arugula and hakurei turnips are in the ground and germinating. Our transplanting has included about 10,000 onion plants, almost 3,000 row feet of potatoes, 700 broccoli plants, 600 cabbage plants,700 lettuce plants (planting no. 1), herbs, and a bed each of kale and chard. Yesterday we found some beds that had dried out and planted even more, putting in the Asian greens, kohlrabi, Chinese cabbage and radishes.

Transplanting potatoes on 4/2

Broccoli and cabbage, irrigated and row covered

Late afternoon planting before the rains

And we are just getting going as the greenhouse and cold frame are full of another 700 broccoli plants, Asian greens, kohlrabi, more lettuce, herbs, and the beginnings of the Summer crops (tomatoes, eggplant and peppers).

Cold frame plants

Peppers in the greenhouse

All in all things look good, though it is not true of everything. The garlic planting has come up rather weakly. As you may remember, the garlic matured a full month early last year and was a poor crop with lots of problems because of this. The seed we saved from that crop has not proven to be very strong. We will be doing all we can to get the most out of what is in the field and still have a good crop of seed for next year’s planting.

Garlic coming up thin

The high tunnel looks good with the beginning of the extended season just around the corner. This is our first Spring growing in the controlled environment of a steel and plastic bubble and we are still learning the craft. Some crops look great, others show a bit of yellowing that we are working to correct. At this point we anticipate the extended season beginning on April 24.

Harvesting some greens for the farm crew

Rounding out the crop update we have uncovered the strawberry plants and amended them and look forward to fruit for all at the end of May/beginning of June. Our third year asparagus planting will get a short picking this Spring, with the plan that by next year it will be in the first week or two of the regular CSA season.

The farm crew of Luke, Lorne, Ryan and us are working hard to make this a productive year and are looking forward to the start of the harvest.

The latest edition of Northland Lifestyle Magazine has an article on us. You can see the on-line version of it here. We appreciate the wonderful description of the farm and CSA and recognition of our tenth anniversary.

We still have openings for 2013, so tell your friends and send them to our website.

We held our 10th annual Spring Signup meeting on Saturday and it was a rousing success. An excited crowd of new and returning members joined us at St. Peters Legacy Center in Brookside (our newest distribution site) to sign contracts, get oriented, meet and greet, and otherwise try to bring on the Spring.

Signing contracts and mingling

It was, and always is a unique event. The first two words of CSA were clearly visible. Our Core Group did their usual wonderful job of helping members fill out and sign their contract, schedule their farm work days, and entertain the many childern who came.

Signing up

We were also joined by Parker Farms. Members were able to talk with Tom and Paula and sign up for their wonderful shares of meat and eggs.

We were glad to be able to give the members a bag of spinach in appreciation for their support. The income from the signup is a tremendous help to us, allowing financal concerns to take a back seat, and allowing us to concentrate on the upcoming season. It is an aspect of the CSA model that has a significant positive effect. The enthusiasm of the event is yet another one, and  helps propel us into the season.

View out the window on Saturday night

And if you have looked outside lately you know that this support is needed and appreciated. Despite the snow we are sticking to our gameplan of planting in the greenhouse and high tunnel, prepping our equipment to hit the fields as soon as we can, expanding the packing room and wash area, and otherwise working on the many tasks that CSA farming requires.

We are hoping that the forecast for this week holds true, so that by the end of the week or weekend we can start planting in the fields. This is the coldest and latest Spring we have seen. In looking at our photos it is not uncommon to have snow at the farm in late March, but the grass has always green underneath.

Growing and anxious to be planted

Luckily, mankind has yet to impact the Earth to such an extent that the sun won’t rise higher each day during the Spring. So we look forward to the warming effect of Old Sol and are itching to dig in.