Il chestone numero cinque... per piacere!

It's a "cestone" because its loaded with yummy early potatoes of ours... :) Have you ever had potstoes this fresh? Literally umearthed two days ago! OK, maybe I should've just stuck with cestino. Here's your weekly yumminess, good people:

Homegrown Kennebec early potatoes (ok, not early in the traditional sense... but sooner than usual! =P), kohlrabi, yellow and green zucchini, basil (green and purple; both sporting the trad basil mix of aromatics), cucumbers, onion, mild and semi-hot peppers, a few tomatoes (about to really pop as a crop, trust me ;), and swiss chard.

Recipe tip w/ the potatoes: if you have a pressure cooker, cut into 0.75-1" diameter chunklets, then pressure cook at standard (10 psi, I believe) pressure cooker for eight minutes. Put an inch thick of high-smokepoint oil (ex - coconut) in a saucepan that can tolerate frying things, and on high heat. Now back to the pressure cooker... thats five coming to temp from a half-inch of hot water in the pot, and another three at full pressure and hissing... then take it off heat and let it simmer in water vapor for another five. Then, pull top to let last of water vapor exit, then pour off remaining water.

Place cooked potato chunks in a bowl or tray of powdered either potato or other starch and toss. Finally, dump potatoes into the hot oil in one, two or three rounds, toss with spatula for a few minutes, and when appropriately brown, remove from oil. Will take five minutes to cool, so be careful... and enjoy! I like to add olive oil at end, and either fresh dill or rosemary minced and mixed in. Chef's kiss! =)

And I'm sorry, I had hoped to share some of my homemade apple cider vinegar, but that will have to wait until next week... :) Please hug your Doros, everybody -- they are pulling double-duty this week!

- M and D and J and Y (and birds of three sorts)

Introducing your 4th basket

Greetings lovely people. Here is what is good and in your basket for the days ahead:

Onions, English and regular cucumbers, peppers, beet, zucchini, bagged lettuces, mixed bag o' herbs, kale, and (not pictured) half a small jar of basil-infused evoo. The olive oil was steeped in the surplus of leaves and flowers that we had last fall.

Some tips: beet greens are deliciously edible; most ppl dont enjoy the texture of kale ribs, and you should use up to but no more than half your basil-oil, together with salt, to enjoy some homemade popcorn this summer. No more than half, because then when I give you some of our homemade apple cider vinegar in a future share, you can combine half of that with your remaining basil oil and have an amazing vinaigrette at hand ;) ;)

Some sadness was felt earlier today, it should be noted... as Doro opened up the basement fridge today only to find that the lettuces she had recently picked, cleaned packaged and stored in there had all gone a bit bad / brown None of these could go in the share, and for that we were a bit upset. Other than that, we've been working hard to bounce back from the share-related issues we've run into so far. We hope you're having fun on this adventure, as we are!

Until next week!

Your third bundle of locally-grown joy

Folks, the days of lettuces are waning and the days of zucchini and cucumber are at hand. Also, we have an old foraged friend featured here...

Radishes (the last of them), onions, kohlrabi (slice into chips and eat raw or pickle... or shred into slaw ;), cucumbers, zucchini, hungarian peppers, a pint of milkweed florets, lambs quarters, lettuces, and then chinese mustard (bigger, greenish-yellow spoons)

The chinese mustard is new for us... here is the recipe our household will try, hopefully tonight:

https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-mustard-greens/

The lambs quarters you should pick off the stem and eat as spinach (fresh in a sandwich; gently cooked in a pasta; mixed into a salad, etc). This favorite forage crop of ours just didnt thrive on our land this year, but at least we get a taste :)

OK, I wanna get back to talking with you all here at the Wedge... share post over and out!

Basket #2... the squash, cucumbers are in the rise!

Fear not, fellow human... they will not attempt to demolish us and our civilization, rather they are eager to power us with their nutrients while we continue to run the show! =) But seriously, with luck we'll be able to share in these lovelies more and more... the plants look great and are loaded with protofruits.

You're getting (or, for our more in a hurry members, just got):

- Another pint of delicious, superhealthy milkweed

- cucumbers (mixed varieties)

- onions (remember, be a maximizer and eat all the white and green parts ;)

- radishes (I'm sorry, through a miscommunication that was my fault, Doro might've put a few of the 'just stalking' ones I wanted to taste myself, into baskets. These will all be less sharp / likely to have fibrous flesh than the first round. I basically chucked 2/3 of what we had started this AM, as I inspected the bedbfor signs of a full stalk)

- Swiss chard

- some baskets have a handful of Hungarian mild hot peppers, others have a zucchini squash

- a head each of frilly and spoon lettuce

- (not pictured) a handful of stinging nettle flowered stalk -- super-nutritious. Should be slowly simmered in water or like a tear, steeped below boiling for a while. Use resulting tea or potential base for adding vegetable stock, discard stalks and leaves. IF YOU WANT TO TOUCH THEM, wear gloves (yes I know I should've capitalized the end of that, instead of the beginning). Unless you like the ant-bite-identical sensation of some formic acid setting off some neurons by getting below the epidermis!

Love you all; sorry about the elongated narrative about the radishes. And the nettle. You better have grabbed some of these orphaned tomato plants... remember, bury them all the way to their necks if you want... (2/3 to 3/4 the length of the center stalk).

Farmer Matt and the gang

Share basket #1

Folks, as I type this, a couple of you have already given me the pleasure of handing sustenance to you. You are what makes Coburn Cove Cooperative Farmstead happen, what bring it life! Anyways, before I get too mushy, let me list what we have for you:

radishes -- greens can also be eaten (for the braver of the vegetarians)

A sole, lonely cucumber. Early bird gets the... !?

A nice chonky bag of perennial arugula. Love this stuff

A lil head of lettuce

Two medium onions (all can be eaten!)

A few day lily flowers (ex - garnish on salads)

Kale

A 16oz berry container's-ful of milkweed florets. We like to pan fry on high heat in 50/50 olive oil and butter combo

A splash of both dandelion geen leaves (have irregularly jagged edges) and evening primrose leaves (look more like stretched-out footballs). The former some find a tad too bitter raw and can be relieved a bit by brief bath in hot salty water, and the latter is a terric fresh lettuce with a very faint potato-chip like firmness

Enjoy your food, lovely people. =)

Only a week (or worst-case, two) 'til the first share basket!

Lovely people, just wanted to tell you all how grateful we are, that you are trusting us with helping feed you and your family this summer!  =)  =)

Its shaping up. You should see our new irrigation system!

O tiny beetle, please protect our radishes

Hose mending... works best with a cinder block for a chair ;)

Seeing some great things out there, not only with what we've planted but with the forage crops that we hunt popping up nearby. Dandelion greens, evening primrose leaves and drum roll... milkweed florets are all coming around for a perfect 'first few baskets' confluence. Might have some daylily flowers popping up here soon, too, and I think we still have nettle tops for harvesting. I'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled!

Finally, we had an interesting development at the homestead. One of our female runner ducks (of a breed which is not known for motherly behaviors) has managed to hatch a clutch of eggs. Not only are there baby duckies, but she also managed to warm up (and pop out) two baby chicks... apparently a hen stuck down there when momma was off her duck eggs, and made a couple of deposits into the bank of future feathered friends =)

(Almost) the whole family

How'd I get here?!  Like, seriously!

Two chicken stowaways... *gasp*

Well, that's all the news that I can take the time to share with you all for now... please check your emails and phones for upcoming and IMPORTANT updates, on 1) getting everyone's allotment correct (in terms of share add-ons) + payment received from everyone; and 2) whether our first share pickup will be Wednesday, June 5th from 4:30-6:30 at the Wedge at Foundation. Some years we need an extra week to have enough produce coming in... but I think next week is looking likely!

Matt and the gang

Making all them-there prepearations!!!

Wow, it has been simultaneously a breath of fresh air and a gut punch, jumping back into the Coburn Cove vegetable cooperative these past few months. What is new? A greenhouse, and starting a lot of seedlings in there. Temperature and moisture management. Seeding schedules. Purging mold.

From dawn...

kidssistance...

hand-truckin' plants from the greenhouse, to the garden!

We've already spent more than the total income from the seven upfront share payments, just with replacing+revamping our previous irrigation system with a new one.

Water pump arrived late on its flight in from a boat rescue & servicing company out in Hickory

Yanusz and Josie helped me build the water distributor for the irrigation system!

This time, it should last ten years, even more... diesel-powered, 2" inlet and outlet... six-hose end distribution. Soaker hoses this time, instead of drip tape. It should allow us to water everything in 15 minutes, that it took us 45-60 minutes to before (BIG knock on wood, there... I'm gonna try to set it up and test it shortly =)

fresh butt nuggets (yeah that's right, I said it)... for all who need them

...to dusk... aka...

"What day is it, again? And how many more squeezed-dry weekday evenings, until we're done?"

Since we'd had many a night already where we find ourselves working in the garden until we can't see in front of us anymore, it seems pertinent to close with a late-in-the-day shot Doro recently took. We want to be able to accurately say we've been "Working night and day" to help make sure you have a great experience, with the ten weeks of fresh food we're promising to grow and then bring fresh to you!

Well, we will try to write you all every week starting now, and when the food starts coming in the posts will transition mostly to being a 'whos-who' of the basket contents (with a little bit of simple how-to sprinkled in). If you haven't paid us your $$$ for the year, please get that in to us ASAP. I've put the details in a separate email, but we take PayPal as well as check.

warmly,

Matt, Doro, Josie, Yanusz and all the feathered friends