Our next round of spring roots and greens consists of asian greens, scallions, beets, carrots, lettuce, kale, and chard. Pray for rain. That's all I have to say. 
recently planted fennel, celery and onions
a mustard plant 1 week ago
the same mustard plant 5 days later
its so dry around here that he thinks he's at the beach!
9-11am this saturday. we have tons of potatoes to plant; well technically, about a half ton. come on down, help us plant, meet the crew, see how pretty and organized a farm looks before the summer weeds take over... good times. bring family and friends! We are pretty excited to have some nice spring roots and greens coming in. Your share has beets with beet greens, bok choi, crinkly leaf tatsoi, a bag of mesclun lettuce, greenleaf head lettuce, radish, salad turnips, scallions, rainbow chard, carrots, a few sprigs of fresh cilantro and dill, and finally, a crew favorite... fragrant yellow turnip flowers. Everything in your share was picked fresh on our farm this week.  Spring!  clockwise from top left: crinkly tatsoi, rainbow chard, bok choi, large leafed spinach.  winter rye cover crop doing a nice job protecting our soil  Forming permenant clover/grass pathways between our crop beds.  garlic planted last november.  preparing our onion field by adding compost. (garlic field in the backround).  our first lettuce seeding, april 16 This may help you identify the greens in your share this week. 
clockwise from top: a big bag of mesclun lettuce, bunched tatsoi, bunched white salad turnips, bunched mixed asian greens- aka braising mix, bunched arugula.
Sandy harvesting mesclun lettuce
coming soon... delicious baby carrots!
This year's spring crops have grown much slower than those of the past two years, but that makes them all the more special when they are finally ready to eat.  mixed asian greens  baby chard in front of young adult arugula  our beautiful mesclun lettuce  Dan will do anything to fix the irrigation lines, including squatting in the middle of a semi-frozen swamp.  watering the greens and carrots (thanks to Dan!)  slow going, it's all handwork in the winter  finishing touches early january This weeks share consists of arugula, Asian braising greens, rainbow chard, kale, baby leeks, baby radish, mixed teenage lettuces, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. Use the baby leeks as a garnish like scallions. Baby radishes are popular in the French gourmet market. In the United States, some folks hang them on the fireplace mantle or the Christmas tree. Take the mixed teenage lettuce out of the bag and wash/dry it when you get home. After this harvest, all of our hoophouse beds will be cleared out, and re-seeded with crops that will be ready to harvest for your spring shares in March/April/May. We have already seeded a portion of the beds to carrots (pictured below with the mixed teenage lettuce). We anticipate harvesting these carrots mid-April through late May. The next CSA distribution will be in early March; I will let you know a week in advance. Spring Shares are still available - Eat fresh next March, April, and May ---$250. http://firstlightfarm.csasignup.com Check out the previous post to learn how you can get more involved with First Light Farm. Happy holidays, and have a great winter!  It's Fresh. (Butternut squash, potatoes, and sweet potatoes not pictured)  This week's lettuce. The beds in the upper left corner hold the seeds of our spring carrot crop. This weeks share consists of arugula, Asian braising greens, kale, beet greens with baby beets, scallions, salad turnips, a few types of bok choi, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, dill, and butternut squash. The bok choi have the thick succulent stems, and are bunched in groups of 2. Shares are still available- It's not too late to participate in our Fall/Spring Share. Tell your friends! Join in for the Spring: March/April/May .---$250. Looking ahead... Get more involved: CSA Marketing -for each new member who mentions your recommendation, you get $25 off your share price, OR, even better, a bunch of bonus vegetables of your choice throughout the season. Work Shares - You earn your share by helping us out in the fields, or helping us with share distributions. We will have a limited number of work share positions. Donation Assistants -- We want to expand upon the food donation programs we were involved with last summer. We have had sucess donating our random surpluses to some great food banks and shelters. Taking this to a more personal level, we'd like to consistently offer shares to specific families or to organizations which serve specific families in need. We are looking for a few dedicated folks to help us establish these connections, and to maintain this outreach as a priority throughout the season. If you, or anybody you know (they don't have to be CSA members) is interested, let me know. Also, during the Sign-up process, there will be an option to make a (matching) financial contribution that will subsize these low income shares. Email firstlightfarmcsa@gmail.com to discuss these exciting opportunities!  The red and green bok choi is on left  teamwork   Just before harvest. Left to right: kale,asian greens, dill, lettuce, spinach  Just before harvest. Left and right: Our Fall carrots, after the deer obliterated them.  The deer were not fooled by the cover we put over the carrots.    This week's share consists of arugula, tatsoi, carrots, salad turnips, kale, rainbow chard, lettuce, sweet potatoes, butternut winter squash, rutabagas, and some cilantro, dill, celery sprigs, and garlic  (The butternut squash, sweet potatoes, kale, and garlic didn't make it into the picture.)  The packing room It's not too late to sign up for a Prorated Winter Share. email- firstlightfarmcsa@gmail.com, subject- prorate |
