This Week on the Farm

This is my favorite time of year - I go out into the spring garden and see that months of planning, planting, weeding, trellising and irrigating is finally paying off with an abundance of spring veggies. The Easter Freeze was definitely frightening (the temperature dropped to 22 degrees Easter Sunday morning) but in the end, we came out of it all pretty well. Some vegetables got damaged a little from the cold, but they have fully recovered at this point, and now everything is growing quickly on these warm days.

We have lots to look forward to in the next few weeks as all the early, cool season crops mature just in time for the first CSA delivery - perfect!  ‘Tis the season for greens, so enjoy them while they're here.  As the days get hotter, the greens are less happy, and eventually make way for the summer fruiting crops (tomatoes, squash, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, melons).

This week, we have included lettuce greens for your salads (along with some spring onions and radishes) and other greens for cooking – I like to lightly braise both the Red Feather kale and Rainbow swiss chard – just sautee some olive oil and garlic in a pan and then add the just-rinsed greens to the pan and cover – the little bit of excess water on them will help them steam down to a perfect tenderness. Just be careful not to cook them too long! I usually add some rice wine vinegar and soy sauce for a little more zest. Feel free to add  some bok choy and even some radishes to the pan if you want!

In your box, you will find “green garlic”. This is garlic that we pull from the field before it has fully matured. It isn’t cured or dried, so no papery skins have formed, and the cloves are very small. Green garlic is milder than its mature version, and has a very nice flavor. I actually prefer the immature garlic as it’s not as hot. Just chop it up (skin, leaves and all) and add to stir fries, soups, mashed potatoes, and even raw on salads. We like to make a balsamic viniagrette dressing by mixing balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and some minced up green garlic. Put into a container, shake well, and serve! Yum!

Your greens will be delivered to you in plastic bags. This keeps them from wilting. To store, just put the greens in the fridge as they are in the bags, and they will keep just fine. Feel free to return empty plastic bags, as long as they’re clean, along with your waxed boxes. They will be reused.

What to Look Forward To

Plenty more greens are on their way, and soon we’ll see head lettuce (as opposed to the mix you got today). Beets are sizing up quickly, and we may see the first few in the next week or two. I snacked on the first few sugar snap peas, so they’ll be in abundance in probably 2 weeks. We’ll have lots more onions and garlic, hopefully they will continue through most of the delivery season. The full shares received cilantro this week, more for everyone soon, along with leeks, and hopefully some spinach before too much longer.

Questions or comments?  Contact us:

Brian and Joann Gallagher

castlemainefarm@hotmail.com  336-376-1025

First Pickup Date Announcement

Hello everyone!

The first delivery for the 2007 season will be on May 3rd! (May 2nd for those of you picking up at the Carrboro Farmers Market) We are looking forward to seeing you all!

IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE AN EMAIL FROM US, please email us at castlemainefarm@hotmail.com 1) I want to make sure I have your correct email address, as most correspondence will be through email, and 2) please inform me of where you want to pick up your share - not only do I want to make sure I drop your box off at the right place, but this also gives you a chance to change your mind. The 3 delivery points to choose from are:

Wednesdays  - Carrboro Farmers Market from 3:30 - 6:30pm
Thursdays - Hanes Parking Lot (RTI) from 4:00-6:00pm
Thursdays - 800 Park Building (RTI) - shares will be dropped off by 3:30pm

You must pick up your box during the designated times, or forfeit your box for that week.

If you are unable to pick up your box on one week, have a friend or neighbor pick up for you!

A few other business odds and ends:

Please return the previous week’s wax box to the pick up location when you pick up your share.  These are expensive to purchase new, but fortunately they are very re-useable.  The wax boxes break down very easily from the bottom, please feel free to break it down before you return it as it may be easier for you to transport them.

I will communicate with the CSA group through the weekly newsletter and group emails primarily.  Any and all important information concerning your shares will come to you in one of those two forms of communication.

Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions, concerns, comments, etc. I am happy to discuss any matter that may arise through the season.

Again, thank you for supporting Castlemaine Farm!
Joann and Brian

-posted 4/23/07