We had such a great time last week presenting all of you with the season’s first boxes! I especially enjoyed meeting members here at the farm on Wednesday and Sunday. Miraculously, things are looking tidy and sweet around here. Our farm look and feel change as often as the weather, we can go from tidy and sweet to every tub dirty and leaves and mud everywhere pretty fast. After that, we can hose it off and put it away almost as fast to get ready to do it again. The weather this spring has been so crazy, I am amazed that our crops are looking so good! Most of them look great, but the broccoli is showing the effects. I have three separate rounds of broccoli all heading up at the same time right now. Each one planted at two week intervals to ensure a steady supply of crowns for CSA shares and market sales. Nope. All three all ready all at once, and instead of nice sized crowns, each one is cute as a button, and about that small. Our whole farm is planned on one and two week intervals, plus a few special occasion plantings, to try to have a nice variety of produce available all the time for CSA and market and other outlets.
Last year, Colin noticed that another farm at the market had carrots real early that they had planted in a hoophouse. A hoophouse is a very simple passive solar structure. We already had several on the farm, and we decided to put up another one and fill it with carrots for early season sales at market and CSA shares. As you noticed in last week’s box, we were successful! We had early carrots for the first CSA!! Then we pulled the rest and bunched and washed them and lo and behold, there were enough to go around again for CSA boxes! Or we could have chosen to sell them at market last weekend. We did already put them in the shares. WE could in good conscience, then sell the rest, cash in hand. But the number working out so exactly for the CSA seemed to determine the fate. But the market customers love them so much. They deserve sweet crunchy carrots. We shouldn’t deprive them. Farmer Colin and Farmer Genine sat on the porch swing arguing the merits of each choice. What to do with the carrots. The sweet glowing carrots. Who should get them? You know how this turns out. Probably you are crunching away enjoying a juicy carrot right now as you read this. Well, this is a story about a certain batch of carrots that ended up all for you, dear members, but it is also a story about how the CSA works. Our farm sells produce all different ways, but CSA is our favorite. We will always do our best to do right by you, our members.

It is a common misconception that a farm will put “leftovers”, “culls”, or “seconds” in the CSA, while taking the cream of the crop to the market for sale. I don’t know any farms who do this. But it is an idea that keeps coming around in the gossip, and this week’s carrot choice should settle it once and for all. We are always thinking about how to best please our CSA membes, and our market customers, and our chefs, and our produce managers. But, really, CSA members come first. You get the first carrots, twice!!

Last week I wrote about using mint in farm style spring rolls, and you can certainly do that again. Or, you could try making some drinks with this week’s mint. Mojitos and Mint Julep come to mind. Regular non alcoholic sun tea made with mint and honey is nice.

Andrew Knowlton gives this recipe for Mint Julep in the June edition of Bon Appetit magazine. Lightly muddle 10 mint leaves and 1 Tbsp. Simple syrup in a mixing glass. Stir in 3 Tbsp. VSOP cognac and 2 Tbsp. Rye whiskey. Fill a julep cup or glass with crushed ice. Pour mixture over. Stir until frost forms on outside of cup. Add more crushed ice to make a mound. Garnish with 4 mint sprigs and serve with a straw.

Irma Rombauer tells us in “The Joy of Cooking” how to make a classic Mint Julep with bourbon.
Muddle in the chilled glass or cup, 5-6 fresh mint leaves, 1 tsp. Sugar syrup, and a dash of cold water. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Pour over 1 1/2 ounces bourbon. Stir once, and garnish with one mint sprig.
She goes on to say “use only the best bourbon, tender, terminal mint leaves for bruising, and very finely crushed ice.”

I can’t believe I just took up all the newsletter recipe space telling you how to make drinks! Back to reality – JOI CHOI is so crunchy and juicy and delicious, I prefer it over carrots for a raw, fresh snack. Our 16 year old son has been preferring it since he was a little bitty two year old. Just a good clean piece of nutrition. Or if you want to get crazy, make our version of ants on a log: spread your favorite nut butter on the stem of the Joi Choi, stick some raisins to it, then fold the leaf part over and roll around. What a fun snack! Bok choy is a great nutritional gift and is often touted as the garden vegetable highest in calcium. Bok Choy also has a lot of A, B-complex, and C vitamins and some minerals. Joi Choi is the particular variety name of this bok choy.



Arugula is the one in the bag this week. It tastes like nuts and black pepper and a little like broccoli – same family. I love a salad of arugula with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. It is possible to make a pesto sauce with arugula, instead of basil, just use the same recipe, substituting arugula for basil. Recipes for both on the website. Speaking of the website, reminds me of our email and physical addresses. Our email address is Kirospfarm@gmail.com. Our physical address is 6136 Kirsop Rd. SW. (Also the fields located on Littlerock Rd, and Prine Drive.) Our mailing address is the one on the letterhead, Trosper Rd. I know, it’s confusing. All of you members who found us in spite of all this murky address business are truly above average and very intelligent. I suppose that is why you chose us to begin with.