Week 3, June 20-25, 2011

In your CSA bag

~ Lettuce - 1 head, your choice of Red Leaf, Green Leaf, Romaine
~ European Cucumber - one (from our greenhouse)
~ Bok choy - 1 head
~ Garlic Scapes - 6 pieces
~ Strawberries - 1 pint

Also at the Farm Stand
Grown at Valley Dream Farm...
~ Flowers
~ Herbs
~ Bedding plants (20% off for all members)

Grown locally...
~ Maple Syrup, all sizes available - Maple Shade Farm
~ Tomatoes - Deep Root Organic, Canadian grower
~ Eggs - Great Scape Farm, Cambridge

Coming Soon...
~ Boyden Beef

Recipes of the Week
Garlic Scapes and Strawberry BBQ Sauce

News from the Field

We've been picking strawberries this week! Pick-your-own customers started arriving last Wednesday when picking was light, but by the weekend people came in droves. We even had to close picking on Monday so CSA members would get their share. We would encourage anyone who would like to pick strawberries not to wait.

The weather was nice all weekend, except for a stray thunder shower with hail. We don't like to see hail shred the leafy crops, like lettuce, Swiss chard and kale; fortunately it was minimal here at the farm. Hope all the Dads in our CSA had a nice Father's Day. Great day for the fishing derby on the Lake, too.

We have just finished reconstructing two of the three greenhouses we lost in the Dec 1st wind storm. Planting has taken top priority on the farm, so the third greenhouse will have to wait.

We are working toward a new certification, GAP (Good Agricultural Practices). The program is required by some large chain stores, like Hannafords and Price Chopper, to protect the public. The object is to be able to trace food back to its source to inspect records of where and how it was grown and how it was packaged. When we became "Certified Organic", we became better field managers and record keepers to comply with their requirements. We hope this GAP certification will also improve our management systems for shipping and be available to help our wholesale markets trace their food back to our farm. We feel it is important to know where you food is grown and how the farmers you buy from grow their crops. Keep it organic and local!

Thanks!
Anne Tisbert