2017 CSA ~ Week 9

August 1, 2017

IMG_1619SPECIAL ANNOUNCMENTS:

Heat Wave!

Due to the extreme temperatures expected on Wednesday, we will not be setting up the Farm Stand at the Emmaus Lutheran Church this week! If you have not gotten in touch regarding an alternate delivery site this week, and we cannot get your share on the truck before our driver leaves today, then you will receive your share at one of our Friday delivery locations, at the Saturday downtown Farmers Market, or you can pick it up at the farm Friday-Sunday. Please call/email the farm to make arrangements. Thank you for understanding while we take care of our Market Crew and sensitive vegetables.

Blueberries!

If  you were interested in reserving a flat of bulk blueberries, please get your order in to us as soon as possible. If you are a Tuesday/Wednesday pickup, we’ll need your order by Wednesday, August 2nd and if you are a Friday/Saturday/Sunday pickup, we’ll need your order by Monday, August 7th. The cost is $50 per 10# flat.

WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:

  • Beets
  • Cucumbers
  • Zucchini
  • Lettuce
  • Broccoli
  • Tomatoes
  • Walla Walla Onions
  • Blueberries
  • Strawberries

SOME SITES ONLY

  • Eggplant
  • Cherry Tomatoes

RECIPES:

Beet, Greens & Cheddar Crumble

Roasted Vegetable Galette w/Olives

Beet Tzatziki w/Beet Green Chips

Tomato Beet Salad

No Bake Summer Lasagna

Strawberry Blueberry Crumb Bars

“It’s gonna be a scorcher”! That’s what I heard, as I passed a couple of older gents chatting it up on the street in Eugene yesterday. In talking with folks in several conversations throughout the day I heard quess-timates of anywhere from 100 degrees to 111 degrees on Wednesday! Whatever the actual temperature turns out to be, it’s gonna be hot! We’re preparing here on the farm in every way that we can….the crew will begin at 6 am this week, drink lots of water, and wear copious amounts of sunscreen.

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We’ve got shade cloth over the baby starts in the propagation greenhouse, and Farmer Chris spent some time today spraying a mix of clay and water on the field houses, to help diffuse the light and keep some of the heat out to protect the fragile plants within.

IMG_0452We’ll be harvesting all of the sensitive crops early, such as lettuce, other greens and strawberries, and then get the rest in as quickly as we can before the intense heat of the IMG_0461afternoons. Those who will be doing the washing will get a small respite from the heat, although most of that is done outside and will still be in the direct sunlight. There really isn’t any escaping it….farm work is done in the weather, be it pleasant or drastic. Still, I do have to say,  if I had a choice…I’d rather be out there with dirt on my hands, and breathing in the sweet smell of freshly harvested crops, then in the still, stuffy office. We all have our tasks to perform, and this amazing crew does it with smiles on their faces, a skip in their step, and continued love for this earth, and the food they are preparing for you all. Hail farmers, as their sweat salts the land!

FEATURE FARMER PROFILE:

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This week we would like to feature Farmer Adelaide! Ade isn’t our youngest farmer this year, as Farmer Porter (age 9) claims that title, but she’s next in line. She is the niece of owners Chris and Shannon Overbaugh, and asked to come help on the crew this season. She learned very quickly to harvest and process all of the veggies, and has been a definite asset to the crew this year. She’ll be departing in the next few weeks, to head back home to Colorado to finish her Senior year of High School. I asked her to write a little bit about herself to share with you, and she presented me with a lovely finished essay this morning! I will let Adelaide tell you about herself in her own words:

“On May 25th I sat in room L208, watching unenthusiastically as a paper airplane periodically saluted a teacher’s turned back, as the clocks hands grazed 2:50 pm for the last time of my Junior year. I greeted the summer on May 26th by waking up early to go for a run, and later biked to the gym because I MUST stick to the schedule I have created for my self,  and I absolutely HAVE to get into prime shape to be a varsity runner for the
FCHS Cross Country team this upcoming fall. Coach had instructed me to run 6 days a week, at least five miles a day and by God I would do it. On May 29th I ran the Boulder
Bolder 10K. Kicked BUTT with a 7:15 minute-mile. Best yet. I ate eggs and veggies for breakfast. Sure, I wanted pancakes but sugar isn’t good for you and you can’t be the best high school runner if you have diabetes!
On June 1st, I bought Carhartts and carefully folded a select pile of clothes to wear for the rest of the summer. I barely squeezed the stack into a single teal duffle bag, older than myself. I trimmed and filed my nails on June 4th, and then with pungent acetone, I scrubbed them completely clean of the electric blue polish which I had, a week prior, meticulously layered on to perfectly rounded nails, as bad pop music played from the tinny speakers of my blue iPhone.
On June 6th, at 10:43 am, I eagerly placed my iPhone, with an electronic boarding pass, onto the Delta kiosk and felt a gentle breeze as I walked through a carpeted tube. The plane left Denver, Colorado at about 11:30 am and at 2:30 pm, I was in Eugene. The trees are bigger and greener here and the mountains look like they were given a hasty buzz cut by careless loggers.
On June 7th I ran 5 miles because, well, I had to. I later planted sweet potatoes.
My first farm task left my fingernails ugly, and hot with pain, as dirt pushed
them away from the base of my nail bed. The next day I met the rest of the Winter
Green Farm crew. We transplanted squash, leaving my fingernails even more abused. My
body was exhausted and I just really didn’t want to run. I was disappointed in myself. I’m supposed to run every day! I was so tired. My knees hurt. For dinner, I ate A LOT!
June 9th – Goodness! Farming works up an appetite! By Friday, food tasted so good. My ugly fingernails become a badge of honor. Yesterday, my hand gripped the hot metal edge of a truck bed and my body bounced with each crater on our rocky path. A scuffed blue bin, swollen with zucchini, propped up my back and I closed my eyes. With a deep inhale of dusty air, I smell sulfuric onions and cows, sweaty farmers and sunscreen. My fingernails no longer hurt. I haven’t run in 6 days. That’s Okay.
I’m proudly exhausted from 11 hour days, from 1,000 bunches of carrots, from waking up at 4:30 am to feed Western Oregon. I’m not sure exactly when, but I fell in love. I’m in love with tacky hands coated in green tomato resin, the gentle, scratching sound soft soil makes as a little hole is dug for a young plant. I love laughing in the fields, and the methodic snap, snap of dewy kale stems being gathered into purple, green pom poms. I love sweat, which drips from my nose as I enthusiastically scrape stubborn weeds from dry ground with a strong hoe. I love dinnertime, when I can taste my work and nourish my strong body.”
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Thanks Ade, for sharing the season with us….it’s been a joy and a pleasure for us all! Maybe we’ll see you back again next season……
We hope that you all have a wonderful week ahead, stay cool and hydrated and of course, enjoy your veggies!
Linda and all of your Winter Green Farmers