Life is Great in CSA Box 8

The Weekly News

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It’s been dry.

I remember when it wasn’t.

It was wet, once.

There was so much water that the mosquito larvae squiggled through the air and the thought of storing rainwater for later use was laughable.

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Who’s laughing now?

Not me.  It is far too dry for laughter.

Also, it is too cold for laughter.

At nights the temperatures plummet into the 50s, and the plants tremble with the newfound knowledge that winter is coming. We split and stack firewood with renewed urgency during the day, and at night, we have to close some of the windows to survive.

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OK, so it’s not bad at all actually, I don’t know what came over me, it was just fun to write.

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But it really is a bit dry and cool. The tomatoes and peppers are delayed by the chilly nights, but the spring crops love it.

Monday night we were awakened by some mysterious creature bumbling around beneath the trailer, gnawing loudly on something. I crept to the door with my camera, and held it upside down below the edge of the trailer.

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My first attempt had more of my toes in it than mystery critter – it chattered at me and stayed put though, so I tried again.

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This is not compatible with a dog that likes to hunt through the woods chasing critters, and a budget that does not have much allowance for large vet bills.

Does anyone have a live trap we can borrow?

What else … we weeded the raspberry patch (which won’t be producing til maybe next year), visited a local farm and picked some of their raspberries for preserves, and checked out the nearby hops & herbs operation that a bartender at the Wolf Creek Bar is growing.

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We started work on the composting toilet’s foundation, cut up downed trees and split wood, started foliar feeding – applying Epsom salts and liquid kelp to the leaves of plants prone to blossom end rot.

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We scored a new free trailer from Craigslist – a former popup tent trailer that had been converted into an ice fishing house, and will now become WWOOFer housing,  a Farmer’s Market trailer, or both.

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Farm world abundance problems – when the big stressful thing about harvest day is worrying that you’re not going to be able to fit everything into the boxes ….

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our dogs both eat veggies all the time now. Cleo demanded we share this pile of cabbage, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc with her …

 

What’s in the Box

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  • Zucchini – It is peak zucchini week! We won’t give you this much again this year, so revel in the abundance without fear of the future.  They are incredibly versatile – either sweet or savory recipes accommodate them well … try em in bread, stir fry, fritters, au gratin,  grilled, etc. We’ve enjoyed zucchini pancakes twice this week, enhanced with chocolate or cinnamon/sugar.  Here’s a LMGTFY link for some ideas if you’re stuck!

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  • Cucumbers – a mix available, your own selection perhaps includes standard slicers & picklers, Lemon (the round yellow ones), &  Shantung Suhyo cross (the bent cacti ones).

 

  • Rutabaga (aka Giant Fool’s Turnip) – cook them thoroughly and they’re kinda like an extra delicious potato, or bigger, better turnips. We often eat them grated, pan fried, and perhaps topped with eggs. The edible greens are almost literally exploding with nutrients and flavor. BAM!

  • Beans – a smattering of green beans & dragon tongue beans. Eat em raw, or chopped into a salad or stir fry, or feed them to squirrels!

 

  • Beets & Beet Greens – People love beet greens; at the Market, some folks buy the beets just for the leaves. BUT. The beets are really the best part; FACT! (And we saved the best beets for you guys – the market customers got very runty beets this week.)

 

  • Rainbow Chard – DID YOU KNOW that Chard is just a beet that has been specialized for the leaves rather than roots? FACT! So it makes good sense to combine them and cook them together.(DID YOU ALSO KNOW that I am rather hyperactive after being in keyed-up-speedy-harvest mode since 6 am!!? FACT!)
  • Broccoli
  • Onions (your box may include any of the red, white, or yellow varieties)
  • Garlic
  • Basil
  • Parsley

Have a recipe you use this week that tastes great or looks ridiculously pretty?

Send it our way, we’d love to share it with others on the Facebook page or future newsletters!

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hey look that’s us! (we sell produce to the HealthPartners cafeteria this year)

The Weekly Critters

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