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Week 4 (B week)
July 3rd, 2014
Remember any biweekly deliveries have been divided into Groups A and B; make sure you know when your group starts
Let the veggies begin!
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LotFotL in the Quick! Below are the highlights that we would like to make sure our members know about on the farm.
Delivery Details: This weeks deliveries include:
- Weekly Gonzo and Staple
- "B week" Flipflop, Seesaw, Eggs and Chicken
Please Read the Check Sheet Even if You Know What You Should Get.
This system is a way to double check that everyone is on the same page. Sometimes we think we have something and we don't and sometimes we forget we should be taking something and it reminds us and sometimes the farm can goof. Because these are self serve sites, these sheets are important tools to help things run smoothly.
Upcoming veggie projection:
Coming soon to a CSA box near you...Expect to see beans, carrots, fennel, cabbage, cucumbers, basil, parsley, and cauliflower in the upcoming harvests. If all goes well some or all of these items will make there way into the future CSA boxes.
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Chard by the Yard
Chard, often found in the Swiss or Rainbow varieties, is actually a beet that's been grown to favor leaf production at the expense of the roots. The stalks resemble celery while the leaves are large and spinach-like. This veggie is popular in Mediterranean cooking, but the first varieties can be traced back to Sicily. It is best stored unwashed in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer. With high doses of Vitamins K, A, and C and minerals like magnesium, copper, potassium, and manganese, Chard can be a beautiful nutritional powerhouse! Plus, you don't have to cook it to eat it. Click here to check out this RAW salad recipe that uses Chard.
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What's in the Box?
Blue = click for storage tips
Staple and Flipflop: SMALL BOX
Gonzo and Seesaw: LARGE BOX
Remember: Click the green veggies above to find a recipe link and click the photo ID link to find photos of all of your veggies!
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Friends of the Farm: Good Harvest Market
Good Harvest Market, located on the border of Waukesha and Pewaukee, is one of our many CSA drop site locations. Opened in 2005, Good Harvest specializes in natural and organic foods as well as holistic health and beauty products. They strive to offer Waukesha County a range of local products including dairy, bakery items, produce, meat, and other groceries. They also offer lots of cool classes in their Community Room ( click here for more info). Stop by and visit them at 1850 Meadow Lane, Pewaukee, WI. Thanks Good Harvest for your continued commitment to supporting local food and LotFotL Community Farm.
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How do you choose what goes into the share? The immediate process of building the contents of your CSA box takes many steps and is quite complicated. First, I walk the fields, taking note of any crop that is likely to be harvestable. Next at a computer, after typing up all of my field notes, I take crops out of contention that won't produce enough to meet the demands of the CSA. Third, I align prospective crops with past CSA distributions on a spreadsheet, so I can see which crops may have been given out more often than others, less often to staples, etc. I try to make adjustments so that small and large sized shares both get a specific desired crop, and try to do this in 2 week increments so every-other-weeker's also get in on the action. This doesn't always happen, but try I do. Crops that are at peak habitability, or tapering off are given a bit of favorability too, while younger crops are held for an additional week, as often as is possible. From here, I narrow down my selections based on other factors like ease and speed of harvest, size, likelihood of the crop making it to harvest without going to seed, forecasted weather, likelihood of crop being available at a later time of year, quality of crop,marketability of crop through other avenues, and much more. Afterward, 6-10 and 8-12 items respectfully, are selected and orders for harvest drawn up.
So, in the case of Bok Choy, for example, I've selected it more frequently this spring than I would have planned, for a number of reasons. It is a nice large early crunchy vegetable that has looked good in the fields for the most part. It is pretty versatile in the kitchen and doesn't require much preparation. Bok Choy is a reasonable replacement for Napa Cabbage,(which we lost to weather irregularities this spring). It is on its way to seed and won't see boxes again til late fall, giving everyone a nice break from it. Following the full harvest of Bok Choy I am eager to implement some longer term weed reduction practices in that part of the field.
These and many other factors help determine what you'll eat every week. There is a lot to consider but we do our best to balance the needs of customer, plant, farmer, crew, and Mother Nature.
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The Dirt on the Farm: Yes I love Technology
 "Yes I love technology
But not as much as you, you see
But I still love technology
Always and forever"
These days I find myself singing the lyrics to Kip's wedding song in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Mostly to light-heartedly console myself as I go through the frustrating process of learning the ins and outs of our new CSA management system. The learning curve on this technology is kind of steep the first year as the farm and the provider get to know each other. The provider is better getting to know the specific needs of the farm and we are better getting to know what they can and can't offer. Sometimes we run into obstacles that can take a bit of fine tuning, but over all, a management system like this allows the farm to offer its customers a lot more services, and, in time, makes it easier for us to manage them. Click to read more.
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Thank you:
Thank you for your support. We couldn't do this without you.
Help our family grow. Consider sharing this email with a friend.
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Contact Us:
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LotFotL Community Farm, W7036 Quinney Rd, Elkhorn, WI 53121 2629510794
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