Week 3

I just returned from our first day as a vendor at Sweetwater Market. I absolutely LOVED it! They are so welcoming and helpful to new vendors. Very different from our other market firsts we've had.

This week marked the beginning of an epic battle with the birds. We forgot how brutal they can be to cherry trees as ours froze off last season. A few greenhouse shade tarps used as netting are slowing them down for now. You should have seen my father in-law lift my dad up in the loader bucket to put the nets up as Russ and I ran around tying streamers to trees.

We hope to see you at the farm this Thursday night. We will be there by 7:45 and hope to start right at 8:00. Please let me know if you can make it so we can plan for parking. We will likely add one more tour on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in a couple of weeks as a few of you are requesting. I will send out directions soon after I talk to Russ about parking, etc.. He is busy with beneficial nematodes right now - will explain later :)

Thanks for returning your jars last week! We also love to recycle clam-shells and the other cartons. No need to clean the jars or clam-shells as we will clean them again anyways!

We will be at the Spring Lake Market this Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00, though last week we were out of everything pretty early. If you are a market pick-up it would be helpful to arrive by 1:00 if possible this week - even though we're planning to bring more produce. I suppose it would be good for your goodies to get to the fridge a little earlier (lettuce is always kept in a cooler until you arrive).

What's in the Box This Week:

- Sweet cherries
- Strawberries
- Snap peas
- Red skin potatoes
- Bunch of cilantro - see killer burger recipe
- Lettuce mix
- Bunch Tatsoi - Dark asian green similar to to bok choy and spinach that is best used within 2-3 days. I posted a super simple and delicious recipe for sauted tatsoi that we just tested.

-Green onions? Great sprinkled on cooked baby potatoes!
- Arugula? (likely one more week)


* Broccoli Raab - Let me know if you want to try some, especially if you have had it before. It started growing too quickly a week ago when it was really hot so we cut off the first batch (the heads weren't developing correctly). Looks like the cooler weather is helping the second batch.
If you get some this week you will want to use it up in 2-3 days as it will loose its crispiness.

For more on broccoli raab check out: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetables/BroccoliRaab.htm



Coming soon:
Heirloom lettuce varieties
blueberries 1-2 weeks
tart cherries 1-2 weeks
snow peas
more arugula and baby bok choy


I borrowed a digi cam for a few pics. One of these days I will have time to shop for a replacement.







Our little bosc pears look so cute on the trees right now!

Our hideous attempt at keeping the birds out of a couple of our cherry trees.

Greenhouse strawberries are coming along! Not all huge berries but very sweet tasting variety!