2016 CSA Spring June 11th

• Chard
• Field Arugula
• Mixed Field Greens
• Chives
• Mint
• Spring Onions
• Green garlic
• Oregano
• Dill
• Flat Parsley
• Cilantro
• Yellow Squash
• New Potatoes

2016 CSA Spring Jun 11: Welcome to our newest CSA members! Michael Clark has been farming in central Virginia since 1975 – ( 40 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 and his vision of a looming collapse of the corporate and financial security that the previous generation was so accustomed to, drove him to decide to leave industry and farm full time beginning in 1990. He has faithfully been a vendor at the Charlottesville City Market for more than 30 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 work, his experience ranges from eggs, pesto, 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.

2016 CSA Spring June 4th Broccoli Potatoes

• Spinach
• Field Arugula
• Mixed Field Greens
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Spring Onions
• Green garlic
• Oregano
• Dill
• Lemon Verbena
• Cilantro
• Thai Basil
• Yellow Squash
• New Potatoes
• Broccoli

2016 CSA Spring June 4th Broccoli and Potatoes:  This week’s CSA includes freshly dug new potatoes, a wonderful yellow squash and some broccoli. Be sure to see one of us at the market for the broccoli as it was picked for you after our cut list was posted for CSA harvest; we wanted to be sure you got to try some as soon as we saw it! The yellow squash is a favorite of ours sautéed in the cast iron skillet with butter or olive oil. It goes well with the addition of your green garlic and spring onions. We like to chop the onion and garlic into the skillet and simmer a bit before the addition of the sliced squash. The garlic this week is beginning to get firm in the center with development of a stronger stem. When using, cut the bulb down the center and remove the white stalk from the middle. When using the spring onions, be aware that most of the plant can be used, not just the bottom bulb. We include cuts of the green tops and compost any cuts that are too tough. Simmer your onion and garlic in the heated pan for about 5 minutes before adding your squash, then cook the squash until tender. Can be served hot as a side dish or utilized in a stir-fry, casserole or soup. Toss with scrambled egg for a nice twist on breakfast.

Now these potatoes!

new potatoes

What flavor…these potatoes are tasty! We like to boil them up until they are tender when pierced with a fork and then eat them quickly, with butter, salt and pepper…the leftovers are kept for other dishes, like the “smash and dash” which are home-style hash browns. Keeping the skins and smashing the potatoes, they are added to skillet fried onions and spices and cooked until toasted. I like my hash browns a little crispy so they are cooked in a cast iron and then finished under the broiler for nice crunchy edges.

Don’t forget your broccoli!

Broccoli

To your health and pleasure!

2016 CSA Spring May 28th

• Spinach
• Mixed Field Greens
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Garlic scapes (tops)
• Spring Onions
• Green garlic
• Oregano
• Dill
• Lemon Verbena
• Papaya
• Basil
• Yellow Squash

This week we begin the Saturday Stonefield Market 9:30am to 2:30pm (near Trader Joes) as well as the downtown City Market 7am till Noon every Saturday.

With the warmer temperatures, we not only see increased growth of our produce but also in the appearance of wild animals. According to the regulations we follow, regular monitoring of the growing areas is recorded as to wildlife activity. Certain restrictions require us to not harvest within an area around some activity. To the right is a photo of bear tracks that meandered through our lower field. Nothing was molested in this visit. We also have many other wild animals visit us such as fox, raccoon, deer, opossum, birds, groundhog, flying squirrel, and very rarely, wild cat. Turtle and snake also find their way onto the farm. Recently there have been copperhead sightings in other areas, and only once (in our lower field) have we ever seen one. The good news is that we also have the black snake here, helping to protect us. Black snakes fight, defend against and eat poisonous snakes. Hopefully this is not a gross topic, but with these copperhead sightings, bringing attention to a beneficial ally seemed sensible. We do not kill black snakes at the farm and we are encouraging you to familiarize yourself with their appearance so that you may recognize this friend if you happen to come across one.
Many times we hear stories or have been shown the leftovers of the killing of baby black snakes because they look so different when they are young. Below are some photos showing an adult black snake being handled and a baby black snake for identification. Baby copperheads are more brown and have a yellow tipped tail, so please be on the lookout before just instinctually killing a snake that could turn out to be a valuable partner in protecting your surroundings.