Week 6, July 8-12, 2012

Available for you:

• Baby Red Potatoes - 1 quart 
• Cukes - euro or field** 
• Green Onions - 1 bunch 
• Garlic Scapes or green Garlic - 1 bunch 
• Kale - 1 bunch 
• Lettuce – reg. 2 heads
• Tomatoes - 4 M-L + 3 sm
• FREE - 4" pot of Flowers 

**We have supplemented your share with a few veggies from our organic friends at Foote Brooke Farm

Items available for Purchase:

Grown Locally:

• Maple Syrup - Maple Shade Farm, Cambridge
• Tomatoes – Our own!
• Organic Eggs – M & K Farm, Hyde Park 

Recipes of the Week:

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Easy Tomato Pie

Kale Crunch Chips

Kale Salad

Greetings Members!

It seems we are having the best weather year. I can't remember us having one like this with just the right amounts of sunshine, rain, and warm days too. Of course this means that the plants are growing very nicely. It seems that the weeds are trying to compete with the plants and grow even faster.

We are ready to share our flowers, so this week all members will be receiving free flowers with their CSA. If you get your share delivered and are out for a drive stop by the farm and pick up your 4" pot or 6-pack of flowers.

Kale is new this week. Many of you have been patiently awaiting its arrival. Our favorite Kale Chips recipe is on the back. Kale is also great when thrown into soups like a veggie. Kale is one of the most nutritious foods for you. It can be tough if not cooked enough. Real experienced Kale lovers can eat it raw or in salads, but not me - I guess I'm just a wimp that likes it in chips or sautéed up with whatever vegetables we have on hand.

If you have not noticed we are having a huge flush of tomatoes. So when we get this many at once, we give you as many as possible, sell to all the local markets we can, and we process a bunch for winter and we also eat more tomatoes. Last night we had a chopped version of a Caprise Salad - which is tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella with a drizzle of olive oil. Simple and delicious.

There are many tomatoes available, call us if you would like to process (freezing or canning) or maybe try making homemade salsa. There are two tomato recipes on the back for you to try.

Enjoy your produce!

Anne

Week 5, July 2-7, 2012

Available for you:

• Baby Red Potatoes - 1 quart 
• Cukes - euro or field cuke** 
• Zucchini** - 1 
• Garlic Scapes - 1 bunch 
• Peas - 1/2 pint (regulars only) 
• Napa Cabbage - 1 head 
• Lettuce – 2 head (singles 1 head) 
• Tomatoes - four (singles 3) 

**We have supplemented your share with a few veggies from our organic friends at Foote Brooke Farm

Items available for Purchase:

MEMBERS SALE! Flowers -- Buy one get two free!

Grown Locally:

• Maple Shade Farm – Maple Syrup: all sizes available.
• Tomatoes – Our own!
• Eggs – M & K Farm organic eggs, Hyde Park - get them early we sold out last week!

Recipes of the Week

Rice Noodle Salad

Sauteed Nappa Cabbage

Roasted Red Potatoes with Garlic Scapes

Greetings Members!

Things are really busy on the farm with a list of chores waiting to be done every day. Here is what the crew has been up to lately. Joe is in the fields as early as 5:30am, trying to keep up with all this wonderful weather. Between managing the produce greenhouses and the farm he has been hilling potatoes, cultivating weeds, and running new irrigation to anything dry during hot spells. Everything is growing so well, cucumbers, potatoes, broccoli, sweet corn, and snap beans, just to mention a few items that you can look forward to receiving in July. Amy has kept the farm stand and greenhouse neat, clean and fully stocked with our ever increasing produce, as well as packing all the CSA deliveries. Jackie and Tommy have been busy at our Friday evening farmer's market in Essex. Mira and Sally have been removing bulbs and weeds from our front sign garden, finishing out our greenhouse stand in Jeffersonville and taking Jay with them to our new South Burlington Farmers market on Sundays. Jon who has also been putting in some long field hours and Jordan have been working hard finishing our new wash and pack room. Heidi has been making sure our deliveries go smooth and timely. I am busy keeping you informed while marketing, delivering and keeping the flower and seedling greenhouse organized. Shane has been doing a great job in the fields while he and our tireless field crew of Doris, Victor and Anna (as well as himself, Jon and Joe) all plant, harvest, maintain and weed all the plants to bring you the best tasting vegetables each week. On top of all this Wendy, our highly organized bookkeeper, manages all our endless notes of paper, and receipts while keeping all the payroll and account books straightened out, so we can continue at our busy pace. Working hard now means great veggies all season long.

Enjoy your produce! HAPPY 4th of July!! 

Anne

P.S. Members only can order a discounted MAPLE SYRUP SHARE . Get two half gallons for $55.00 grade B. CALL to Order.

Week 4, June 25, 2012

Available for you:

• Salad Turnips w/ greens- 1 bunch
• Radishes (we hope?) - 1 bunch
• Peas – Sugar Snap - 1 pint
• Garlic Scapes - 1 bunch
• Napa Cabbage - 1 head
• Lettuce – 1 head of Red tipped
• Spinach - 1 bag
• Tomatoes - two 

Items available for Purchase:

Grown at Valley Dream Farm:

• Flowers, Herbs and Bedding plants

Grown Locally:

• Maple Shade Farm – Maple Syrup: all sizes available.
• Tomatoes – Our own!
• Eggs – M & K Farm organic eggs, Hyde Park - get them early we sold out last week!

Recipes of the week:

Overnight Oriental Salad
Spinach Squares

Greetings Members!

We hope you all enjoyed your strawberries last week. They sure were tasty. Although it was our shortest season ever, we now have ten thousand plants in the cooler. The plants are ready to be planted soon. This will provide us wonderful, abundant berries for the next few years.

Spinach and Nappa Cabbage, are both new this week and they both have recipes on the back. Napa cabbage is also great cooked up lightly in a stir fry. Yet the recipe we gave you this week, uses the Nappa Cabbage raw, like an Asian type of cole-slaw. The spinach recipe is for these delicious cooked cheesy spinach squares. They are a great snack too. It is great to have two vegetables that taste so great either Raw or Cooked.

How did you like the heat last week? It had Farmer Joe working on his irrigation system with no time to spare. We currently have ten thousand feet in the ground so it sure had him busier even earlier.

Other farm news:

Last year we received another certification called GAP (Good Agricultural Practices). We applied for and were approved for a 2012 GAP cost share grant, to put in an approved wash and pack room. This room will replace our plastic covered ceiling and walls with insulation and steel siding. Giving us washable surfaces that will be much easier to clean and it will also provide us a better work environment when we wash our potatoes in a cold January Freeze. The work is nearing completion and we hope to have lots of pictures to show you at the organic festival in October.

Thanks!
Anne

P.S. Members only can order a discounted MAPLE SYRUP SHARE now available, get two half gallons for $55.00 grade B (I think it is a little bigger in maple flavor, and a little darker in color, yet still my favorite). CALL to Order