I don’t think there is any way to talk about the week we’ve had or the field or the veggies or the future of life itself without Talking About the Weather.

As you are almost certainly aware, it is HOT. And it has been hot. And it’s going to stay hot. And this Hot came snarling on the heels of it being dry for weeks and then Cold too; in a one week span we went from covering the plants to save them from impending freezes to watering them copiously to save them from roasty toasty doom.

As you can imagine this has been a complicated dance. Stressful, sure. But also interesting, which is always nice – even when it’s hard to feel it from within the thick of the interestingness. (Like a day of raising and lowering and reraising and relowering all four sides of a giant greenhouse, trying to balance the defense against relentless high winds (close it down!) with defense against tripe digit sun roasting (open it up!).

The weather kind of sucks, sure, but I’m feeling optimistic – not that everything is going to work or that nothing will go haywire, but that it – the work, the stress, the joys and pains and beauty and lessons and sunshine and burns and flowers and fruits and thorns – will be a good use of our lifetimes, a worthwhile way to live.

I feel lucky to be living this dream, and I’m glad you’re all here with us.

Now let’s eat some vegetables.

Inside the Box

This morning, we woke up around 5:00 to get the leafy greens harvested before the sun got brutal with them, and to get as much as possible of the rest picked and packed before it hit the 90s. (Everything in the boxes was picked today.)

The harvest went smoothly, thanks in large part to a little help from our friends – Marty and Maddie rocked the picking and packing, and Grandpa Jim hung out with Otis while we harvested all of this stuff for you:

• Salad Mix (several varieties of red & green Lettuces, Arugula, red & green Mizuna, Tatsoi, & Pea Tips) – a cool weather loving crop … we are watering like crazy, but can’t be sure how it will fare.
• Spinach – with the early heat, our spinach crop was all right on the verge of “bolting” (which makes it less tasty), so we we harvested it all for you today! Spinach ravioli might be calling you this week.
• Bok Choi – this is usually stir-fried at our place with whatever else is on hand.

• Green Onions <- link – These will continue to grow and bulb, and we will keep including them in your boxes. We love these and use them constantly and we want you to join our cult.
• Radishes <-link
• Radish Microgreens – add some zip to any dish! We had planned on doing some different flavors of micros for this box, but were thwarted by a series of unfortunate events that I am going to blame squarely upon one particular chicken. Anyway, the flavor of radish is pretty much the trademark of the first CSA box of the season, so celebrate the radical radish this week!
• Cilantro – this heatwave is sadly most likely going to murder this cool weather crop, so enjoy it while you can!
• Chive Blossom Bouquet – Pick the petals off with your finger tips – and sprinkle them on a salad perhaps. They provide a little bit of chive flavoring, in addition to the obvious visual appeal. Or you can infuse vinegar with them! Or mine for idears here.

• Recipe of the week: Steak Tacos with Cilantro-Radish Salsa

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PS – y’all are extended family now, so you’ll be among the first to hear about the newest magic growing out here on the homestead … :)

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