2013 CSA week 8
August 28, 20132013 CSA week 8 July 24th
In The Box
2 Lettuce Parris Island Cos Romaine
1 bunch Basil
2 cucumbers
2 lb Fingerling Potatoes
½ lb Green Beans
1 or 2 Sweet Yellow Onion
2 Zucchini
2 lb Beefsteak Tomatoes
Hello,
Sometimes I wonder why we even make a plan. The uncontrollable variables inherent to our work always seem to get in the way and the days streak off on their own trajectory. The Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka proposes in his book ‘One Straw Revolution’ something akin to a system whereby you simply cast your seeds to the wind and what grows is what is meant to be. (I don’t think he has a mortgage.) Then there are days, like today when everything seems to fall into place and the plan comes together. The tractors start when needed, the irrigation pump works first time and the crew seems to know where to be even before I do. There is an eeriness to it. The sense that something is about to go wrong, I just don’t know what. And then it doesn’t, it all works and all you can do is smile an almost giddy smile. Everything that needed to happen, happened. Hey, there’s always tomorrow. Things are finally starting to feel like they are returning to normal, the routine of the season finding its footing and taking hold. The crew, new hires and returning die hards alike, starting to move through the days with a confidence that comes from repetition. My mumbled instructions in morning meetings becoming more concise, a list of names and tasks with less and less detail needed. Casting job assignments into the air and seeing it all manifest. Perhaps Fukuoka’s onto something after all.
BLT season is here! The first of the fieldhouse grown beefsteak tomatoes in your boxes this week. The plants look healthy and loaded with ripening fruit and should see us through until the heirloom tomatoes in the field start to really produce. The potato this week is a heirloom fingerling potato from France. ‘Princess LaRatte’ has been gaining popularity with chefs in the U.S. over the last few years due to its nutty, buttery flavor and its versatility. Enjoy steamed, boiled or roasted. We should see the first of the sweet corn in next weeks boxes this long awaited summer treat is one of my personal favorites and the thought of biting into those first crisp sweet kernels has me almost salivating.
The work at the new farm progresses slowly as we try to make sense of the best way to move forward. The existing inventory of ornamental tree nursery stock is plentiful to say the least and our approach to clearing space for vegetable production and infrastructure next year needs to be measured and exact. As we look to mold this new space to our needs we will be looking to you, our community of members when projects arise. On that note we are looking to build a new barn and packing shed this winter. We would ideally like to use recycled and or re purposed materials and integrate solar energy production into the roofing????? Any thoughts, people?
As always, enjoy
Dave, Lori and the crew
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