2017 CSA ~ Week 6

July 11, 2017

IMG_1513SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The blueberries are sizing up and they should be ready for harvesting very soon…I’ll talk with Blondies’ Berries on Friday morning to see when they will be available for us to include in your shares…..she will also have some bulk berries available in early August and though out the month. If you would like to order flats of blueberries, call/email the farm office to get on the list!

WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:

  • Carrots
  • Swiss Chard or Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Spinach
  • Green Onions
  • Strawberries

SOME SITES ONLY

  • Cabbage
  • Zucchini

RECIPES:

Savory Feta Baklava

Lentil & Swiss Chard Soup

Spicy Chard with Ginger

Kale-Apple Smoothie

Roasted Carrots w/Tumeric and Cumin

Spinach & Potato Dumplings w/Cold Tomato Sauce

Strawberry Bread

MEMBER RECIPE SHARING:

Member Elisa wrote in to share this idea with you all:

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Hi all!
This is my first CSA although I’ve been a gardener & veg head for many years. I’d like to share an alternative to composting vegie scraps-make a rich vegie broth instead. The broth can be used as soup stock, to cook grains, beans or any recipe that calls for broth.

Use a plastic zip bag while your preparing food – toss cabbage & lettuce cores & outer leaves, tough stems from kale, collards & the like (I eat chard stems), onion skins & ends, carrot tops, anything you might otherwise compost into the bag-no need to wash or process. Keep in the freezer until you have saved 2 or 3 bags full. Place veggie scraps in a large pot ( a stock pot is ideal), cover with water, bring to a boil, turn down heat and let simmer several hours. Salt the broth to taste while cooking if desired. Strain & use immediately or once cooled, freeze in plastic containers, ice cube trays or canning jars depending on how much you may use at a time. Defrost before use. Put cooked veggie scraps in the compost.

What a glorious weekend! We’re excited for another spectacular week ahead as well….loving this warm, sunny weather and so are the veggies!

Life is settling down to a rhythm on the farm now….harvest days, delivery days, project and transplanting days, market days….everyone knows what they’re doing each day, and for the most part, the schedule is able to be kept. There are always a few little monkey wrenches thrown into the mix, but that’s life, and farm life especially it seems. From the majority of the feedback we’re receiving, you have been happy with your veggies and for that, we are happy!

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This season we offered a drawing for anyone who donated to our Financial Assistance Program and I’ve finally gotten around to picking the winner of the drawing! Debbie McVicker of Florence is the winner this year…congratulations Debbie! We would like to thank all of you who so generously donated to our fund. Each year there seem to be more and more folks in our community in need of help in some way….we are happy to be able to help with offering fresh, healthy, wholesome veggies to support those in need. We couldn’t do this great work without your help! While the farm does donate a portion of member fees into the fund, there never seems to be enough….that’s where you come in, and we are so grateful. We raised  a little over $7000 this year and were able to donate 5 shares outright to Womenspace Transitional Program,  as well as help thirty-one additional families receive assistance in some way.

Here is what some of those members have to say…..

“I am so very grateful to the Winter Green Farm CSA members who generously gave to the Financial Assistance Fund. This assistance has made it possible for my family to enjoy the wonderfully delicious, fresh produce and fruits of the season that Winter Green provides. We are loving finding new and healthy recipes to use for our weekly bounty from the Winter Green CSA. It has improved our diets in so many ways, having lots more salads and greens in our diet is just but one advantage! It is a treat to look forward to our weekly share. All of you have made such a healthy difference in my household, thank you for that!! It feels really good to be part of a community that helps others in this way.” Kimm

“This is a letter of appreciation for giving me a grant this summer to help me and my partner afford to continue our CSA with Winter Green Farm for the second year in a row.  We lost our housing last fall and were uprooted facing a more challenging housing market. I have not had health insurance since 1995, food is my insurance policy.  Supporting my local organic farmers is not only for my health but for the health of this planet and to help support the real work of life…..growing food.
 I have been promoting Winter Green Farm to all my friends and community members in hopes they will join in and support local organic farms and food.
Many thanks!!!!”   Mindy
“We are a fourth year Winter Green CSA member family.  We love supporting this local farm (I have a sister who is an organic farmer in Idaho and I know how much sweat and love go into every single plant) and we love cooking fresh veggies and fruits all season long.  We are both teachers and this year we brought our first baby into the world.  We are so in love!  She was born in December so is now 6 months old and growing fast.  Papa took 4 weeks of unpaid leave and mama took 12 weeks of unpaid leave to help us bond with our new daughter and recover from the birth.  Her first taste of solid food was a lick of a strawberry from our first week’s CSA share.  We are so grateful to be able to partake this year, we most likely would have had to cut this from our budget due to the unpaid leave, but with the financial aid we were able to swing it.”   Betsy
CSA MEMBER PROFILE:
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This week I’d like to introduce you to Megan Orion. She has been a member of the farm sine 2012.  I first met Megan more than 20 years ago when I studied Midwifery with her mother Joni Dawning. Since that first meeting she has grown into an amazing woman. She is not only a wife and partner to her husband Ben, mother to 2 gorgeous children, June & Hero, but also runs her own business. She was a massage therapist for many years, and now has transitioned into Health Coaching. Megan helps members of the community adjust their lifestyles toward healthier eating and exercise. She wrote a book that she is willing to share with us (and 3 more are on the way!). It includes recipes which are really meant to be used during a five-day “reset,” or as part of a cleanse that she leads a few times per year, but most of the recipes also can be enjoyed on their own, anytime. To download the book just follow this link    Thanks for sharing Megan!
If there is anything you would like to share with your fellow members, please do! We hope that you all have a wonderful week ahead, and of course, we’re thrilled that our veggies can be part of it all!
Linda and all of the Winter Green Farmers