CSA for July 10th!

Wasn't exactly easy picking!

Ohhhhhh, it's nine at night and I'm late with this blog post.  I'm kind of mushy....it's sooooo hot.  It's still 29 C with a humidex of 38 C (about 110 F or something, isn't it?)  I had boldly stated that I would have the CSA blog post up by 8:00 PM but, once again, I forgot about the milking of goats!  The Mamas were almost in pain by the time we got home, and the babies were crying for food...so we changed out of our 'going-to-town' clothes and milked then bottled-fed the triplets.  Then we changed or topped up water for all goats, chickens, pigs, cats and dogs.  And fed the doggies, who were also kind of 'miffed' with us.  None of us are in the CSA groove, yet!

However, it's great to have one done, and super-fun to see everyone!  Some of our CSA members are now good buddies, and some we've only met through emails or phone calls, or seen at Farmers Markets but didn't really know the names.  It was so good to see everyone!

For how wrung-out I feel you would think it was a fabulous box today, but it wasn't.  When we got it all together and were ready to load the truck we thought it looked kind of disappointing.  Farmer Man may have spent too much time in the potatoes for not much poundage and I may have spent too much time in the raspberries for not too many pints:  but they're both really yummy!  First pick on the raspberries today and it wasn't easy to find them, but they're pretty darn good!  Our new helper Deborah certainly had a 'trial by fire' today, on her first day!  In this heat she spent time this morning with me in the raspberries, then early afternoon (in the serious heat) cutting lettuce, then getting it into big buckets of water!

In the boxes today everyone got the same things, just different amounts.  In the boxes are garlic scapes - the long, curly things.  If you love garlic you'll love scapes!  They have a mild, fresh garlic flavor.  The flavor is best when they're used raw; on cooking the dish is infused with a little garlic flavor but the sliced scapes themselves will taste a little like asparagus.  We love them crushed then mixed with cream cheese for an awesome spread or filling for an omelet, mixed with half mayo and half sour cream or Greek yogurt for a lovely dip!  They're beautiful on salads or sliced fine and sprinkled on those baby potatoes!

Everyone also got a bag of lettuce greens.  The main component is loose leaf 'Grand Rapids', perfect for salads or sandwiches.  There was also a little bundle of romaine, with the roots, so stand them in a glass of water!  Also included was a little bundle of rocket or arugula: a spice, slightly astringent salad green!  It can also be lightly sauteed or added to stir fries!

So in the boxes today:

FULL SHARES, PART SHARES AND SINGLE SHARES:  Bag of baby potatoes: a mix of red Aladin and Norland, white Carlton and Warba, and purple Caribe, garlic scapes, mixed lettuce bag with loose leaf, romaine and arugula, radishes, baby yellow onions, and raspberries.

The first CSA day wasn't without it's drama, of course.  Apparently, when I created email lists for Tuesdays and Thursdays I totally missed Mary and Brian.  They'd gotten the email about picking a Tuesday or Thursday but hadn't gotten anything further.  When I called them fifteen minutes before we leave the pick up site they were a little surprised, needless to say, but made it over.  Sorry, Mary and Brian!  Then, we have a new delivery for Edith, who is away and her neighbor Tracy is taking the delivery.  When we get out our map, their street is not listed!  I left a message for Tracy, and we start asking CSA members who drop by if they have a street map but the street wasn't listed.  Thank heavens for Marla, with her smart phone and smart ways, who googled it or something, and told me where it was!  Tracy did return my call just before we were heading over there and we had a good laugh about being in a new sub-division!  My favorite, though, has to be Suzanne's son John.  Suzanne was away and John (a lovely young man) was picking up for her.  He didn't have the correct info and when I called he was at our farm, thinking pick-up was there!  Fortunately, we're only five minutes from town, so he hadn't gone far!  We connected and he knows exactly where to pick up from now on!  I hope John didn't mind a wee drive in the country!  Oh, the fun of the first CSA pick up!