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Hello farm friends!
Hope you've had a good week since we last spoke! I don't really feel as though a week has gone by, to be honest. But this is usually the way we feel by the end of July - probably the result of having finally fallen into the true rhythm of the summer: a blur of harvesting every morning, followed by a combination of what I like to call weeding, feeding, pruning and fine tuning - ie. lots and lots of crop care to get our veggies through to harvest. The only things we're planting now are our weekly batches of salad greens and Romaine lettuce; pretty much everything else is already in the ground! In past years, this has been the time of the season where I foolishly say something like 'the hard work is behind us now', but I'm a bit wiser and a lot more humble than I used to be. Yes, most of the planting is done, but there's still lots to do and a multitude of things that could still go wrong. But we have reached a sort of point of no return of the season, where it's too late to alter the course we're on. The results of any mistakes we have made (there may have been some), all the aberrant weather (there has definitely been some) and the choices we have made thus far, for better or for worse, are apparent now. The time has come to reap what we've sown! |
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| Now, without further ado... |
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| What's new at the farmstand this week? |
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You'll find lots of the same summery goodness this week, with the addition of green peppers! |
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| Here's a closer look at what you'll find this week! |
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| Tasty salad greens - Small and Large |
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Are you dreaming of crunchy, tasty salad greens that will last more than a few days in your fridge? Lettuce help you make your dreams come true!
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| Green peppers! |
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Red bell peppers won't be in for a while, but why wait to enjoy peppers until then? Especially when green peppers are so tasty and worthy of pepper love in their own right? Fortunately, our pepper plants are loaded with fruit right now - they can definitely spare a few green ones while we wait for the rest to ripen!
Looking for inspiration? Check out the link, below, for a fantastic make-ahead, meal-in-one, fit-for-company idea! |
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| Beans - yellow and green! |
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The arrival of beans at the farmstand this week opens up a slew of opportunities for delicious summery side dishes! From as simple as steamed yellow beans, slathered in creamy butter and salt, to as fancy as haricots verts amandine, beans are going to provide you with just the variety that you and your summertime fair have been looking for!
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| Basil! |
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It's hard to imagine a more fragrant herb than fresh basil! Add this delicious herb to your favorite dishes to enjoy now or stock up to make pesto you can freeze and enjoy basil's sweet aroma all year-round!
Wondering how to store fresh basil? Treat it like a bouquet of flowers! Trim the ends of the stems and place them in a jar of water. Place them on your counter, out of direct light. Change the water every few days and give the stems a fresh trim. |
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| Cucumbers! |
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We've got an assortment of cucumbers on offer this year - from pickling cucumbers, to medium sized thin-skinned and regular field cucumbers, to longer English cucumber-style beauties! |
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| Fresh garlic! |
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Fresh, or spring, garlic is garlic that has not yet been cured. Curing is done after harvest to allow your garlic to store for longer, but it doesn't have to be cured to enjoy it! Use fresh garlic anywhere that you would usually use cured garlic, only expect it to be a bit milder, making it great for using raw! |
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| Tiny tomatoes! |
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Our tiny tomato mix consists of a variety of grape and cherry tomatoes that all have one thing in common: they're delicious!! |
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| Zucchini! |
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Zucchini wins the award for most versatile veggie of the summer! Steam, bake, grill or roast it! Spiralize it, stuff it, grate or shred it! Make soup, bread, muffins or cake! What will you do with yours? |
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| Beets |
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Gloriously purple beets add a pop of color and a sweet earthiness to salads that is hard to resist! |
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| Kale |
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Ah, glorious kale - it's so versatile!! Sneak it into smoothies, stir fries, soups, stews, curries and pasta sauces. Or make it the star of its own show and enjoy crispy kale chips, sautéed kale with garlic or delicious kale salad! You'll find green and red curly as well as dinosaur (aka lacinato) kale on offer this week.
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| Rainbow chard |
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It's hard to beat the beauty of colorful rainbow chard! You can add sliced chard leaves to dishes towards the end of cooking, wherever you would usually add spinach. But be sure to also chop up the colorful stems and sauté them earlier on, along with the onions or other firmer veggies in your dish! |
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| Romaine lettuce |
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If you're a sucker for a Caesar salad, you're in luck! These Romaines are big, bright and beautiful and are sure to satisfy a whole clan of hungry salad eaters! |
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| Dill & Parsley |
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You can't beat the flavor of fresh herbs - aside from basil, you'll find fresh dill and flat and curly leaf parsley at the farmstand this week,! |
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| Rainbow radishes |
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These beautiful radishes will add just the crunch and color that you are looking to add to your salads, tacos, burgers and sandwiches! |
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| Spring Onions |
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Let green onions add that burst of spring freshness to your meals this week! |
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| Microgreens |
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Looking for a burst of color, flavor, nutrition and crunch? Sounds like you need some microgreens! Spicy radish microgreens are on the menu this week. |
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| Farm-fresh eggs! |
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Pastured and raised on only organic feed, grass and bugs, you won't find eggs from happier chickens! |
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| Sunflowers! |
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Bring home a bouquet of sunshine and happiness with these certified organic sunflowers, grown with love. Farmer not included.
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If you would like to preorder a veggie box on any given week, you can do so by clicking on the preorder button, below!
All preordered veggie boxes will be "Farmer's Choice Boxes" in that they will contain a selection of veggies of our choosing. If there is a veggie that you absolutely must have, you may want to come by and select it yourself, just to be sure!
You may not receive every vegetable that is on offer on any given week and not all boxes will be the same. They will all, however, be of the same value (according to the size of box you ordered) and your veggies will always be fresh and delicious!
Please note that we will have a limited number of Farmer's Choice boxes available each week - if we are sold out, you will receive a sold-out message when you try to place your order.
Payment can be made by e-transfer or with cash at pick-up. |
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| Need a reminder of our farmstand hours? |
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Thursdays - 2 pm to 7 pm
Fridays - 12 pm to 5 pm
Saturdays - 9 am to 5 pm |
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Not many meals can claim to be make-aheadable, freezable, reheatable, meal-in-oneable, giftable, serve-to-companyable and kid-friendly (kidable?), too. But this one can! And, on top of all that, this recipe is incredibly flexible, with tons of variations you can adopt to make it your very own! Vegetarian? Use beans instead of meat! Dairy-free? Leave out the cheese (it'll still be delicious!)! Not in the mood for rice? Try quinoa! And check out the links provided in the recipe for different cultural variations on the more traditional, Italian-seasoned version: Mexican and Greek!! Use whatever color peppers you have on-hand and go wild with toppings, depending on the seasonings you end up choosing (think fresh herbs, avocado, plain yogurt or sour cream, more cheese, etc!). (As I write this, I've just had a vision of an Indian curry-inspired filling, with chickpeas and basmati rice, topped with a cucumber raita - how good would that be??)
And finally, imagine showing up at someone's door bearing a baking dish of these, ready to pop in the oven, as a hostess/thank you/new mom/sorry-you're-down-on-your-luck gift. You would be the coolest person ever.
https://www.wellplated.com/stuffed-peppers/ |
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That's all for this week, folks! Wishing you all a fantastic week and hope to see you at the farmstand.
Enjoy your veggies!
Anna & Patrick
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