Strawberries 2011
Strawberries are the dominant producer on the farm this week, as they reach their peak maturity for 2011 (though sugar snap peas are a real competitor). In the Bulk List post below we are seeking to entice you out to the farm to take advantage of this year’s harvest. We hope that we did not imply that there were not any good berries to be found, as the old Honeoye patch may well be getting a new life, now that we have spent over a week culling out as many damaged berries as possible.

Uses for strawberries abound. Here on the farm we eat as many raw, fresh, berries as possible while they are at hand. Other annual rituals include freezing whole berries for future use, jam making, juice making, and wine making.

Making juice with a tabletop strainer

Kohlrabi

A CSA defining vegetable, kohlrabi is unknown to many people. We grow it for you because it is a substantial spring vegetable. Be sure to peel it and then enjoy the crunchy, juicy and somewhat sweet flavor of a fresh as can be kohlrabi. Cut it into thin strips, or grate it and mix it with last week’s garlic scape dressing for a quick side salad.

Spring Pizza

The farm provided well this week as the ingredients for a delicious pizza arrived. We get a bread share from Bread of Life, and every two weeks we get a whole wheat pizza crust. We take it from there and provide the toppings. Next ingredient was cheese, made with some local goat milk. Simply heat the milk to 185 deg F, take it off the burner and add some vinegar and let it curdle. Strain off the whey and you have fresh goat cheese.

Carmelized leeks, garlic scape pesto and oregano are all share items this time of year. Sun dried tomatoes are from last year’s crop. We will be growing more drying tomatoes this year, so make sure your dehydrator is ready to go this summer.

At 12 inches, this pizza crust fits into our toaster oven (it’s nicer than a microwave). It is much more energy efficient than heating a larger oven space. In 10 minutes you have incredible pizza.

Pizza

1 Bread of LIfe whole wheat pizza crust

olive oil

oregano

garlic scape pesto

carmelized leeks

sun dried tomatoes

mozzarella cheese

goat cheese

Place toppings on pizza in order shown. Bake according to pizza crust instructions.

Hakurei turnips topped (from first planting): $3.00/lb
Hakurei Turnips with tops (from new planting): $3.00/bunch
Tat soi or yukina savoy (Asian Greens): $2.50/head
Kale: $3.00/bunch
Scallions: $2.50/bunch
Strawberries (U-pick only): $3.00/lb (a pound of strawberries is about a quart)

Bulk strawberry sales will be a bit different this year. We do not plan at this time to pick extra strawberries for bulk sales. Problems with the old patch of Honeoye strawberries (early-Spring cold, disease issues, small berries) has made it incredibly time consuming to pick. It took the farm crew 10 person-hours to pick 38 quarts on Saturday. And we only got through about 15% of the patch. At that rate it would take one person 3 straight days to pick enough just to fill the shares with a quart apiece.

Our new patch of Amore strawberries, however are doing well. While not as heavy a producer as our old patch, the berries have been high quality and relatively easy to pick. We will be picking that patch once per day from here on out and putting those berries in the shares.

So……..if you want extra strawberries this year you will have to pick them yourself. The plan is to open up the old patch to the membership for picking NOW. We encourage you to come on out, see the farm, pick and snack on some strawberries, and know that you had intimate knowledge of where your next jar of strawberry jam came from.

We urge you to take us up on this offer so that as many berries get picked as possible. You can bring your friends/non-members if you like. Just follow these simple rules:

1. No “drop bys”. We ask that you phone or email to let us know when you are coming out.
2. Children must be supervised by an adult at all times. No wandering or running children please.
3. You may go in the packing room/CSA distribution area. All other portions of the barn are off limits.
4. We will be weighing your berries so you can bring your own containers. Otherwise, we will provide pint and/or quart containers for your use.
5. No pets please.
6. If you wish to see the sheep do not touch the fence, as it is electrified.
7. Do not walk in front of the bee hives.
8. There is poison ivy in the fencerows. Leaves of three, let it be.

We look forward to providing you with fresh, local, sustainably grown strawberries. See you at the farm.

Tom and Rebecca

If you like Spring vegetables, take advantage while they are still around.

Lettuce: $3.00/head
– you can specify butterhead, romaine or leaf lettuce
Tat soi: $2.50/head
Hakurei turnips: $3.00/bunch
Radishes: $2.00/bunch
Herbs (cilantro, dill, mint, oregano): $2.50/bunch
Green garlic (last week): $3.00/bunch

Week 1 bok choi harvest

Good news for all those honey lovers out there (Farmer Tom being one of the biggest), we have some happy bees. For the last two years we have struggled to have sucessful bee hives. Out of eight colonies that we have brought in, there are just two remaining. But boy are those two looking good. Since they had filled up most of the space, we put two additional boxes on each hive. That will give them plenty of room to spread out and make even more honey.

Still lots of extra greens, alliums and herbs out there. Get them while you can.

Bok Choi—$2.50/head
Tat soi—$2.50/head
Lettuce—$3.00/head
Radish—$2.00/bunch
Hakurei turnips—$3.00/bunch
Herbs (mint, cilantor, dill, fennel, lovage)—$2.50/bunch

We have a bulk list this year before the season even starts! For those newbies out there, each week we post a list of those vegetables we have extra of and sell to the membership. If you would like to purchase items simply email me (Tom) at my farm email of tom(@)fairsharefarm.com. Your order and a bill will be sent into distribution. You can pay the distribution coordinator and they will see that we recieve your payment.

Leeks—$3.50/lb
Lettuce—$3.50/hd
Green garlic—$3.00/bunch
Cilantro, dill, fennel, garlic chives or mint—$3.00/bunch

The weather, the day length and the crops all say it is time to start the Fair Share Farm CSA season next week. For the past several weeks we have been sampling the fare and eating well here at the farm. Now it is time to start getting those fresh veggies to you.

Rebecca’s recent email includes the details you need to know for picking up your vegetables and planning for your work days at the farm. We look forward to serving up a nice share next week.

In preparation, we have been uncovering many of the crops that were shrouded in row cover during the early Spring. The lettuce and broccoli are now out in the open air. Lettuce is doing great—beautiful multi-colored heads of leaf, butterhead and romaines still growing. The broccoli looks good too, though we have hade some loss due to voles and crown rot.

Over the last week we have had a lot of help from the Spring 2011 William Jewell College Ecology of Food class. Their professor and friend, Paul Klawinski, requires that the students put in service learning hours as a part of this exceptional class. On Monday a crew of 5 helped us wash and sanitize all of our crates. On Tuesday they helped us harvest, trim and clean 400 row feet of leeks. Thanks to all.

Monday also heralded what might be known as leek week here. Each year we plant leeks for harvest the following Spring. This year’s crop, started in the greenhouse in February 2010, braved last years wet Spring and Summer, as well as a very cold winter with little dieback. As it starts its second year of growth it wants to flower, requiring that we harvest the leeks now instead of next week. You can expect a generous size share of this elegant and flavorful vegetable next week.

Leek week continued with the planting of this year’s Fall crop. Over 1,600 leek transplants were trimmed and planted in a matter of hours thanks to our electric tractor and our transplanter. They will be ready in October and for the annual Thanksgiving shares. Next year’s Spring leeks are still in the greenhouse and will go out soon.

Leek transplants

We entered April with some beautiful weather and put it to good use. In what may be a Fair Share Farm record, on Tuesday we planted 1,200 row feet of broccoli, 600 ft of cabbage, 300 ft of lettuce, 1,200 ft of potatoes, and 600 feet of onions. We were able to do this mainly with the aid of our transplanter. The cover cropping we did on our beds last season, the winter freeze thaw action, and our workhorse electric tractor also played a major role, creating an incredibly loose, friable, weed free soil to plant in.

Lucas cultivating

Rebecca and Lucas transplanting broccoli

Mulching the broccoli and cabbage

At our last Core Group meeting we were asked if we were doing anything new this year. I said no, forgetting that we purchased over 500 asparagus crowns to create a new patch. Our old patch has never been real happy, and last year appeared to be disappearing prematurely. The new patch will be planted putting our 9 years of experience on this piece of land to work.

First we spaded the beds last fall to allow them to loosen up over the winter. Then we limed the beds before cutting trenches to plant the asparagus in. Next step was to help out these alkaline loving plants by spreading wood ash from our stove, before planting the gangly crowns in the bottom of the trench. As the plants grow we will slowly fill in the trench with compost and topsoil before giving the whole patch a layer of hay mulch to hold down the weeds and retain moisture. We are hoping to have a nice bunch of asparagus as a regular item in the first week or two’s shares in a couple of years.

Asparagus crowns laid out for planting

Planting the crowns into the trench