Share #10... hope you enjoy it!

Well, what a strange share delivery, devoid of the usual fun due to not just rain but more importantly the Wedge being temporarily closed. If I could have made it out for delivery, I would have brought cold cider for all, and we could've still had a brew (and the parking lot and tables 100% to ourselves for a change!)

Sorry it took me an extra day to get this informative blog post out... here is what we put in the share:

- Potatoes (mostly kennebec but you may have gotten a red-skinned pontiac or two)
- Slicing tomatoes (main varieties are green zebra, better boy and red zebra)
- A mix of salad/cherry tomatoes as well as Mexican sour gerkins (basically, pop-a-cukes)
- Cabbage (I think its early jersey wakefield variety, but don't quote me on that)
- Pepper mix
- New Zealand spinach (really good pan-fried, btw... not sure if you've tried it yet, but its 100% sub for spinach this way)
- Kale (plants are on their way out, I'm not sure what's doing it... maybe the rain? I also know they technically don't last forever, but they sure seemed like they would, up until two weeks ago!)
- Carrot mix
- Rosemary sprig (try crushing some leaves and adding to a gin tonic w/gentle lime splash... pretty yum!)
- Rando-fun = butternut squash, eggplant or baby canteloupe

Twas kinda sad that our last share pickup had about the least hangout-y vibe of them all... and that the eggs didn't get brought (nor the local bags of dried porcini-and-friends). You can still get your eggs that you missed, and some dried porcini if you'd like, if you come to... (read below)

I will be sending out a form in the next day or so that will ask you to list some of your favorites, some things you'd have loved for us to have worked into the share (we tried a lot of things but the slowness and failure to sprout of some crops, like eggplant and corn for example, dumbfounded us)... and also any kudos or suggestions for improvement. The form will also ask you to check any days you would be willing to come out for our end-of-share, socially distanced, outdoor pizza-making celebration with (I have to brag) practically zero-food-mile toppings =P. We're hoping to get one last, quality gathering in around the food we've grown here for our friends and family, sometime either the weekend of the 22nd or the 29th =)

I'm pretty sure that we'll go up in price a little for next summer/year (as we barely even pay for supply costs, much less our time, with the current rates)... but we'll still be less than half of the typical local CSA cost. But we're also not doing this to pad our income -- more to bond with you all better, and to live more in tune with the natural world! We'd love to either have you back next year, or if you really liked this experience and want even more food to work with, we'd also love it if you graduated on to a real farm share (and kept in touch with us, about the yummy experiences you get from that)

You all are the best; look for that Google Form invite, and I'll hope to see most if not all of you in a week or two.

Your mini-farmers and friends,
Matt, Doro, Josie and Yanusz

Share #9... second-to-last, second-to-none...

...for the price and the love that goes into it, at least! =)

Mixed peppers, basil, salad and slicing tomatoes, he gets, chard, carrots, a spilt of 'moon and star's watermelon (and, a baby canteloupe if your slice was significantly smaller than the others), and... our own potatoes. You'll think I'm BSing, but these potatoes will be soooo yummy! Reminder: don't toss your best greens if they look good. instead, slice them finely (slaw or addition to salad), OR a little less finely and fry up (perhaps with your chard?).

Also, an idea for using the flower heads on your basil stalks, that works well for us: steep them in a nice olive oil for anywhere from a couple days to up to a week (ideally, in a sealed container, out of the sun), and then pour the resulting, herbed oil into ice cube trays, make frozen cubes, and throw into any batch of noodles (first-pass or refried) for a burst of great basil flavor!

Finally, today beef share ppl got the VERY LAST of my grillable cuts, from our two steer. Sob, sob, sniffle, sniffle... please do me a favor, and send me a picture of you enyoying your first bites of these flavor-monsters... so I can at least live vicariously through you! =)

Looking forward to the last share, and to the socially-distanced pizza-making 'picnic-on-the-farm that we will announce (and then do) some weekend soon thereafter.

Y'all are the best!

- M