In the Share: Week 1

LETTUCE (F/P) Folks, prepare your salad spinners. The lettuces are at their most succulent and juicy.

LEEKS (F/P) The winter was a cold one but the leeks we over-wintered weathered it nicely. About a pound per share. We won't have them again until the fall, so savor these hardy treats while you can.

ASPARAGUS (F) Cool temperatures are giving it a slow start. Partial shares will have to wait until next week for theirs. The full shares are getting enough to make Tom's Asparagus Fritatta.

GREEN GARLIC (F/P) For those of you new to the CSA, green garlic is like a green onion conceptually, but sweetly garlic in flavor.

BOK CHOI (F/P) A baby-type, tender and crunchy.

FLOWERING CHIVES OR SORREL (F/P) The green shoots from these two perennials are the earliest signs of spring. By mid-May they are in mid-flower, tasty and pretty.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, mint and/or lovage

ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery share delivery

NEXT WEEK: More lovely lettuces, herbs, asparagus and greens.

Well, here we go again! Welcome to the seventh season of the Fair Share Farm CSA. Every week, I (rebecca) will cover what is in the share for that week and also report to you all on how the crops are doing and any other goings-on at the farm. Tom in his own post covers how to use your share each week. He offers recipes and much more with special emphasis on the more unusual vegetables that we offer.

FARM REPORT

Generally speaking, the crops appear to be in good shape. The weather has been cool and relatively wet, although it is Springtime afterall. We haven't had any deluges or rogue frosts as in some year's past, for which we are grateful. The weather pattern of the past two years seems to continue with it's cool and wet theme, with no hint of the dry, hot years that characterized our first few seasons. Most of the crops seem to be doing just fine. The no-till areas are faring the worst as the soil stays cold and saturated under all of the hay.

The farm crew has been playing the old game of dodge the rain showers as we sprint to prepare the soil, plant and cultivate while the soil is dry. Wet weather allows time for seeding in the greenhouse, sorting irrigation tape and row cover and cleaning out the barn in preparation for the harvest. This year we managed to start the long process of painting the barn in it's original red color. So far we've painted just around the wash area but it looks great.

Here's a shot of a nice patch of cabbage and broccoli that should appear in your shares in June. We recently uncovered them after the final frost seems to be behind us.

The greenhouse is full of hot-loving plants waiting for the heat to be planted outdoors. Here you see eggplant in the foreground, peppers in the back.

The coldframe holds the last of the tomatoes to be planted. So far five rows are in, with 4 more to go.