Coburn Cove basket #1...yum!

We have for your enjoyment: dandelion greens, lemon balm, spinach, two lettuces, one bok choi head, and some green beans!

The two main tips or extra info I had was...

#1 I threw a bunch of ice in the trunk as I unfortunately didn't have my usual cooling setup, and some of the ice ended up directly touching and cold-burning spots here and there on a couple lettuces. I would just rinse blast or finger away under trickling water that dark tissue, and be gone with it... I am sorry for that, and will be smarter about how I use frozen water to help keep things fresh moving forward

#2 -- you may have some thicker stems together with your leaves, in the arugula bag... best thing to do with that is just go through your arugula and give it the tear test so that you can remove the hard parts

Looking forward to next week!

It is time! Are you as excited (and nervous, LOL) as we are?

Wanted to give everyone an update on how the Coburn Cove veggie plot is going. So much... fence-building... mowing... inlet hose repair... outlet hose repair... weeding... digging... greenhouse temperature and moisture management... planting... watering... de-bugging (well, the potato beetles have been the only so far, knock on wood)... fertilizing... that it has been difficult to rationalize taking moments away, to both take pictures and then write about them. But, once we feel ALMOST done with the planting (now), IT IS TIME! =)

Trying out longleaf pine straw this year, as our mulch (as weed suppressant but moreso to reduce the sun and wind drying out of the very clay-like soil we have)

Beans! One of Doro's favorites... hopefully they won't mysteriously die off like they did last year =O

Growing a lot of food is exhausting!

A little preview, of what sort of low-food-miles sustenance you all will be getting =)

...and a more closer-up preview...

Tasty tatsois taking their time 

Our primary guardian goose, enjoying a nice bath in the mini-pond that they share with the ducks

A perfectly-affixed butt-feather! A sign of good luck in my book!

A nice sunset over the garden w/mini soccer / Goalti field beside it

In terms of the first share basket delivery date, it is looking quite like we will be able to meet our target of Wednesday, June 4th, after all (the first Wednesday in June is what we've been doing). Location will be at the old Wedge (one big plus will be, we can go back to doing 'shady' deals under the highway bridge if we want to... LOL). The beer there is fantastic and I can already imagine enjoying the great company and conversation with you all at one of their oversized, Oktoberfest-beer-hall-esque tables there =)

Timing will be the same as last year = we'll run the pickup + hangout from 4 to 6. Also similar to last year, I will aim to make a blog post for every basket, naming the goodies and sharing a few basic tips. You all should automatically get this first-one-in-a-while in your email inboxes, for example -- at least, as long as you 'Accepted' the invitation to get Blog post notifications from blogger, that it sent out. Check your spam folder for it, they sometimes go there. If no luck, you can always manually check the latest and greatest, simply by pulling up our blog in a web browser: coburncove.blogspot.com

Most members pre-paid for ten weeks of chicken-duck egg half-dozens, but for those that didn't but still want to possibly get in on the egg action here and there I'll be bringing some extras. And Laura's pastry share is back, for those who bought into that... yay!

Looking forward to sharing the bounty from our land and hard work with you all, in just one and a half weeks' time!!!

your local big-time gardeners Matt, Doro, Josie and Yanusz

10th and final sharebasket of the season... hooray, we did it!!!

Folks... it has been an absolute joy, growing food for you and your families this year. Got a special basket for you now:

Five of you lovely people are here right now and we're making great convo... so I'll be brief, and focus on special stuff:

-- apple cider vinegar (I made from hendersonville apples from last fall)

-- sumac tea (can warm on stove and drink hot, or add sugar and cool and pour over ice for an amazing lemonade-like beverage with a hint of tea flavor

-- mix of different peppers... these are all fun, and none super-hot (well, the small, elongated ones have a lil heat, and the jaleps are jaleps)

-- loads of basil. Literally loads. You can take a few handfuls more, when u grab your basket

And then the other friends you'll find in your basket, you should be familiar with by now. Kinda like us. So glad we did this awesome thing together; looking forward to seeing at least some if not all of you for potatoes and odds and ends next Wed. (21st)

Your eighth share basket... hope you are enjoying it!

( #7 was Calder and Kimberly's picking, packing and delivering, last week, that didn't get a post for it. Thanks, Wilson family, BTW, for destroying our sharebasket food-miles average, with those surprise avocados and mangoes! =P)

Sorry for the late post, folks... it has been a busy past couple of weeks, and there doesn't seem to be an end to garden and car issues *OR* having things scheduled practically every evening. It's still a good time to be alive, don't get me wrong! =)

Here's what was put in your basket for this week:

I'll save time and space below by only writing about the new/notables!

Loads of basil in this share, as I had to prune back all the plants... I'm no Nostradamus, but I can see pesto, caprese salads and thai noodles in every Coburn Cove Co-op-er's future =D Some people got a single larger broccoli, cauliflower or kohlrabi, while others got two smaller of each. Remember that all parts of these delicious veggies are edible. The first of the corn is coming in, and your assignment is to take a picture showing how many kernels developed on yours, and email it to us. We are getting better every year, at having a high fertilization rate! Haven't got enough BIG butternut squashes for everyone to get one yet, but getting there...

As you can see, tomatoes are finally starting to come in like gangbusters, and everyone got a mix of really ripe to about-to-be-ripe ones. Yanusz and I even weighed each bag, to make sure they all came in within ~3oz of one another... LOL. We do try to go the extra mile, with making sure you all know we're being fair with the distribution of our hard work as possible (did you know we eat mostly just the cracked toms ourselves, saving the best for you lovely ppl? =) BTW, here's my favorite recipe to enjoy these lovelies: lightly toast slices of sourdough or french, then add mayo (I like Duke's for the hint of lemon tang), sprinkle oregano, place slice of tomato and then finish off with a dusting of salt and black pepper. OMG, I'm drooling just thinking about it... trust me, you'll definitely want to toast / make TWO for each person!

As I mentioned at share pickup to most of you, I was a total dumb-dumb and forgot that we had picked both a bunch of peppers and a bunch of zucchini squash to go in the basket... if it were properly stocked, the basket this week would've overflowed, and the bag of tomatoes would have had to be its own separate thing. We promise to get these things in your share next week (and I believe I've found a good technique for keeping the peppers as crispy as possible in the meantime).

I also am *attempting* to make a big batch of staghorn sumac tea, from which I should be able to share a bit with every share. It will then be up to you, whether to 1) heat it up on the stove and drink it as a hot, sour tea; or 2) add sugar and enjoy it like a lemon-iced tea ;) Did you know that Native Americans first shared how to make this drink with the settlers, and that many people refer to it (due to its similar taste to a beloved summer treat) as sumac-ade?

Mushrooms are also starting to pop up... including one of our favorite families, the boletes (pores on the underside of the caps, instead of gills). If I can ever go find and pick some with the kids JUST BEFORE share delivery one week, I'll aim to include some as a side option in an upcoming baskets. Trust me, you don't want to miss what REAL mushroom umami goodness tastes like ;) If you see mushrooms in your walks about, please also take a picture and send it to the share's email group, together with the location. Esp. if the mushroom is red on top and yellow underneath. The more eyes we have out for where these annual yum-yums are springing up, the better!

OK that seems quite enough for now... it's homesteader Mikulski clan, signing out. Until next time, beautiful people!

Sorry for the delay... at long last, share basket #6

 So, I have been sworn to begin by telling you all: this was an ABNORMALLY full share basket. That's a good thing, right? Well, Doro told me I was supposed to hold onto the butternut squashes as insurance for any future 'thin' basket we might have... instead I crammed so much stuff into today's basket, that I had to give you the last of it in a separate bag!

Without further ado:

    - Cucumbers -- sorry, one of your two or three might have a bit of yellow... we're having a hard time knowing when to pick, vs. leave, the funky-shaped ones

    - Peaches -- some are about ripe, some need a couple of days (or, one day, in a paper bag with an old banana). We picked a bunch of our two little trees, as while we're gone for vacation next week we're pretty sure a bear will have his/her way with the rest of them

    - Tomatoes -- again, one might need a day in the bag with a ripe fruit, but they're mmm good and only going to come more and more as we go!

    - Beets (remember, greens are nice briefly pan-fried or steamed)

    - Butternut squash. These are the ones I wasn't supposed to squeeze into the basket! Che stupido!

    - Kale (siberian variety, I believe... again, only the hardest-of-core vegetarians, even thinks of eating the central stems!)

    - Zucchini (either yellow or green)

    - either broccoli or cauliflower head

    - Mixed peppers (three relatively tame varieties, and one jappy)

    - small onions

    - a nice mix of large and medium Kennebec potatoes

    - a little bag with a bit of sage and a flower head of dill (great for use when pickling)

    - staghorn sumac mature seedheads -- these are coated with a lovely sour substance, and can either be steeped in hot water (nice hot, sour beverage) --OR-- steeped in cold water for a few days (for a cool, lemonade-like beverage once sugar is added)

    - (OPTIONAL) There were some turnips that were grab-if-ya-want, as well

My general rule for the staghorn sumac is that however much you use is crammed into the vesicle (so, a coffee mug takes a palm-crushed handful; or you can stuff them all in a big enough container or jar and submerge in water for a few days for the cold variety). Seeds are not to be eaten, only steeped to have their sour and other fruit-like flavors come out into the water.

Its always a blessing, to bring tasty and healthy stuff to your table. Chime in with a picture of something sublime you ended up making -- or a few lines that give us an outline for a great recipe you realized!

- M and the gang

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!