Week 5 News

What a week! A big thanks goes out to two of our members, Bruce and Ann Marie, for helping us with some weeding we were falling behind on!!! I wish I had a camera with me. It was a perfect, almost mosquito free day while they were with us then in the afternoon the storms rolled in bringing damaging hail and wind. Some of our greens and young plants were affected :(

3 typs of fruit are coming this week. If you've had enough sweet cherries, pit and freeze to cook up in oatmeal this winter! Tart cherries make a great topping for cheesecake or in other deserts. My mother in-law suggests using a bobby pin to pit the small berries; great job for kids! A yummy tart cherry recipe for cobbler can be found at Allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fresh-Cherry-Cobbler/Detail.aspx or on our website.

The blueberries are riper this week and are a humongous variety called Spartans. Our blueberries are grown on a much larger scale and are not organically grown. Though IPM is practiced, where spray is used when necessary verses following a standard spray schedule. Last summer our farm only had 2 pesticide applications while many blueberry farms apply closer to 8 each season. We are looking into a small-scale organic operation for the future... I keep forgetting a few of you don't know all of these things as many of you met us through the markets last year.

Asparagus to Zucchini - the awesome CSA cookbook/fresh produce guide is in. I decided $16 would cover cost and shipping. I can add it to your box if interested and I will have a few copies at markets.

What's in the Box:
Tart cherries - see cherry cobbler recipe above or on website!
Sweet cherries
Blueberries - excellent variety but has short shelf life (use within 3 days)
Lettuce Mix - Likely (seems to be recouping from the hail?)
Arugula - baby or regular (larger leaves are stronger tasting - great for pesto) We have one row getting close and one matured)
Scallions
Potatoes
Peas - snap, snow, or shelling (long pod bulging with peas)
Bunch dill?
Purple Kohlrabi - We are picking it young this week when it tastes the best! You can peel the purple skin off or just peel the bottom and cut slices to eat raw sprinkled with salt. Also great cooked up with other crunchy veggies like carrots or try grated into salad. Like many other veggies, we love it dipped in hummus:)
broccoli?
strawberries?
Tatsoi or beet greens- by request!

Coming Soon!
green beans
onions - white sweet onions by next week
peaches
raspberries
heirloom variety of fingerling potatoes - 1-2 weeks
fennel-next week?
beets

Farmer's Markets
Thursday - Spring Lake Market from 9-at least 1:00
Saturday - Grand Haven Farmers Market 7:30-1? Possibly Sweetwater also with tart cherries?

* Both days we will have blueberries, tart cherries, and any extras from the gardens.

Thanks for sending our containers back to reuse!