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2017 CSA Spring June 10th

2017 CSA Spring June 10th

  • Baby Salad Mix
  • Field Arugula
  • Baby Sorrel
  • Baby Kale
  • Dill
  • Chervil
  • Bulk Oregano
  • Oregano Flowers
  • Spearmint
  • 2 Cucumbers
  • Jalapeno Peppers

Welcome to our newest members! I’m going to let you know a bit about Mike: Michael Clark has been farming in central Virginia since 1975 ( 42 years), working with both field grown and greenhouse grown herbs and vegetables. Although he has an Engineering degree from UVA and has worked at GE, Sperry Marine, Nimbus Records, and Avcomm, Mike farms fulltime now. His love for the earth and nature plus his vision of a looming collapse of the corporate and financial security that the previous generation was so accustomed to, led him to decide to leave that kind of industry and farm full time, beginning in 1990. He has faithfully been a vendor at the Charlottesville City Market for more than 33 years, rain or shine or wind or snow. His farm has won the “Chesapeake Bay Friendly” Clean Water Award from the Governor. His produce and culinary specialties have been served to dignitaries and film stars, making it to the table of the President of the United States and winning awards for Chefs as far away as Europe. Besides the technical nature of his farming work, his experience ranges from eggs, pesto, hot sauces, jellies and jams to distillation of essential oils and hydrosols from the high quality botanicals produced. Mike worked with The VABF Organic Certification Committee and was a participant in the creation of the original language that brought organic certification to Virginia in 1990. He is the host of “Meet The Farmer TV” at watch.MeetTheFarmer.tv on local cable and Free Speech TV satellite nationwide.

2017 CSA Spring June 3rd

2017 CSA Spring June 3rd

  • Baby Kale
  • Baby Salad Mix
  • Field Arugula
  • 2 Cucumbers
  • Tomatoes
  • Chervil
  • Thai Basil
  • Mint
  • Epazote
  • Nasturtium Flowers
  • Ghost Pepper

When considering this week’s ingredients, you can see my usual treatment for a sandwich using sliced tomato and cucumber, but i came across two recipe ideas i wanted to share that can give a more exotic use for your items, plus a few suggestions. First comes from Chef John of Food Wishes: smashed cucumber salad, https://youtu.be/kCJcD7fYPWg (or see the link to blog post) where he extracts cucumber juice with salt and sugar, after smashing it 😉 And a second shout out to http://vintagekitty.com/spicy-thai-basil-cucumber-cocktail for a recipe that i think fits many of your ingredients, though i would add a pinch of mint, and maybe some chervil for a touch of anise-like aroma and use a very tiny piece of the ghost pepper instead of jalapeno, with a nasturtium flower for garnish. Certainly keeping it basic and juicing the cucumbers and mint together is a very nice drink. Consider blending it with your next lemonade endeavor as summer approaches. If you don’t have a juicer, cucumbers can be pureed and then strained thru a cloth, twisting it closed tighter and tighter to extract the juice. Besides using the pepper and herbs fresh, they can be dried, chopped and frozen, made into a syrup, used to infuse liquor, made into tea, or included in staple dishes like beans or stir-fry. Don’t forget your gloves when handling the Ghost Pepper as it is one of the hottest peppers in the world! Cheers!

 

Ground Mount Solar Array

2017 CSA Spring May 27th Solar PV Array

2017 CSA    Spring May 27th Solar PV Array

  • Pea Shoots
  • Baby Arugula
  • Field Mix
  • Field Tatsoi
  • Sage
  • Chervil
  • Chives
  • Tomatoes
  • Cucumber

Big topic for us this week as well as an intense job: Michael has just completed his first solar panel installation! Yet another opportunity to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak! I am really excited about this chance to harvest sunlight and produce electricity… many of us are very familiar with the history of mountain top removal, sludge spills and pollution that plague our unending need for consumption of energy: it has been many decades that I have wanted to contribute to the move towards a more sustainable community, and must voice my gratitude for all of the hard work accomplished to make that happen.    

Notice in the top picture Michael has loaded his MIG welding equipment into the bucket of the tractor in order to access hard to reach sites.

In the middle picture, he was climbing the welded frame to balance up top as he fastened the panels one by one.

And lastly, the finished 10.1 kW array! Thank you, to you all for the support over the years …you have helped make this happen! Much love!

Ground Mount Solar Array

Ground Mount Solar Array