CSA Week 7!
Welcome to week 7 and just about mid season here at Naked Acre. As July come to a close, in my mind we begin to transition into a different part of the season. The August 1st date is a sort of benchmark for the season and I look at it as the top of a mountain. We climb climb climb from April until this date, working, setting up, weeding, etc. and once we arrive at this date the idea is that we will be starting down the other side of summer. Thats not to say there isn’t work to be done and we’re just going to kick back and relax, but it does mean that at this point, the farm is going to be what it is - its summer fate is sealed - and the work shifts to maintenance and harvest. Overall it has been a challenging year, more than usual I imagine, so hitting this date is particularly satisfying. To make it even more special is that in 2016 on this day, Genica and I met for the first time. To commemorate this particular date and our meeting even further, we were married one year later on our new property, August 1, 2017. So this day is big here at Naked Acre Farm. I’d like to think we can start breathing again, and stop and smell all the amazing flowers here.
Here is a picture of the “naked acre” (the field is more like 5 actually) on our wedding day, just six days after we purchased the property and before any crops were planted. This year where we are standing in the photo hosts all the kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and below us to the left we have three greenhouses, carrots, turnips, radish, and squash. It looks drastically different today and it feels like a lifetime ago when we stood together with our family in the new field.
We will be celebrating tonight to mark the beginning of: our fourth year together, our third year married here on this property, and the mid point of 2019!
On to the share!
This week there are some new things we haven’t seen and some staples.
Two Heads of Oak leaf lettuce - for all your raw salad needs.
a bag of micro greens - they certainly are plentiful this year. We top our salad with them, put them in sandwiches, add them to eggs.
A pint of pint sized tomatoes. The tomatoes have been incredible slow to come on this year for a few reasons, some my fault, some completely out of my hands. In the pint you will find some cherries, some plum size, and they will all be delicious.
a bunch of Red Russian Kale. It doesn’t sell well so every year I seem to downsize this particular variety. But I just don’t understand why because it is beautiful and just delicious. I personally think it is the sweetest of all the kales.
Green beans - the first of the year! So tender and delicious. I would suggest eating them raw but if you must cook them might I suggest butter and salt and not too long to preserve some of that crunch!
Fennel - I’m still learning what to do with fennel. The restaurants love it. So I grow it. It is very aromatic and seems to pair well with citrus, pasta, mediterranean food, lamb, you can make a slaw with it. Here is a link for inspiration: https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/fennel-recipes.html
And lastly, the pearl onions. These are a new variety that I am growing this year for some quicker onions. So we will say you are the guinea pigs. I had hoped they would size up a little more and I think next year they will. I hope they aren’t more work than they are worth but they sure are cute. Let me know what you think.
I hope everyone has a great week and is enjoying the beautiful summer weather we have had this year. See you soon.