This week on Monday (our day off) Colin moved the next batch of chickens out onto the pasture, and the turkeys, too! I did a six hour shift in the farm office, then we got together to plant seeds and move irrigation pipe in the afternoon. Colin may or may not take a night shift on the cultivating tractor, attempting to keep the weeds at bay. I’m back at the desk for more. I just can’t get enough. Probably has something to do with my nice fancy cushy chair with wheels, best seat in the house. The office shift was longer than usual because it was time to file the quarterly employment taxes and I have to do it on line, and it should be faster and easier than the old paper forms, but it just isn’t. There was some kind of problem with my password and then I got two out of three done, but the third one didn’t like my password again and wanted me to log in separately to it’s special part of the website. (girl shakes fist at computer screen) Lucky that only happens every three months. It’s worth a mention in the CSA news, I think, to let you know that in addition to being tree hugging dirt worshipping organic farmers, we are actually running a legit business. And it does actually pain me to drag myself away from my crops to do so.

Sometimes we worry about stuff. Mostly we worry about the crops, the weather, the weeds, in that order. There’s more that we worry about, you know family, friends, the news, the state of the world, life the universe and everything. But right now the thing I am most worried about is that my invitation to “outstanding in their fields” will somehow offend someone. Someone who maybe doesn’t have 150 per ticket, but wants to be included. I don’t know what to do about it, but to tell you, I’m worried. And to tell you, also, that I think that together we can make our October potluck farm party equally magical, special, sweet, and memorable totally for free!!


Raspberry Ramen Salad - sheepishly submitted by CSA members Laura and Dave because as Laura says “It’s fairly ghastly from a nutrition point of view, but it’s tasty. It’s pretty enough to take to potlucks and you rarely have leftovers.”
Topping: I package ramen noodles (3 oz.) 1 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup butter
Dressing: 1/4 cup veg. Oil 1/4 cup white sugar 2 tbsp. Red wine vinegar 1/2 tsp soy sauce
Salad: 8 cups salad greens 1/2 cup chopped scallions 2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen, if frozen, take them out of the freezer when you first start cooking and let them thaw on the counter
For the topping: Discard the seasoning packet from the ramen noodles. Break the noodles into small pieces. In a skillet, saute the noodles and walnuts in butter for 8-10 minutes or until they’re golden. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Combine dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake thoroughly. Just before serving combine the romaine, scallions, raspberries, and ramen mixture in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss gently. Makes about 12 servings.


New Potatoes!! You will see grocery stores selling “new potatoes” year round and I suppose it’s new potato season somewhere in the world at any time of year, so it’s possible. But really, right here right now what it means is the first sneak dig from the potato patch. Here and now, new potato means this tender morsel that can hardly keep it’s skins on! New potatoes are harvested before the plant is even done growing, before the spuds have reached full size, and before the skins have “set”. The taste is more light, sweet and fresh than regular potato. Certainly more refreshing than the flavor of those “new potatoes” you find at the store. I recommend steaming only until tender, tossing with melted butter and salt and pepper and that’s it. If you had some fresh shelled peas that would be acceptable to mix in there, too. You may be getting some shell peas from our second batch in a week or two, but not from the first batch now. The first batch has been ruined by the rain and heat and humidity. We picked a few early on, and just as the rest were coming into maturity, some weather happened to them. That’s ok, we have more, the next ones look good.

This week we begin rotating summer squash through the CSA shares. Each week a different pick up location will be receiving the squash until everyone has had a turn. We have plenty of squash, but not all at once for all 200 of you. So we’ll take turns. Bethel St. will be first!!