Warning: vegetarians might want to skip this first paragraph :). Last week felt like a whole lot of crazy at least for me! I am now finished with the white rock chickens, and they are now in the freezer and ready for purchase. Loading the chickens up for their final journey, I found myself thanking them for the wholesome nutrition they would provide us. I’ve always held the whole process happily at arm’s length (like most of us), but now raising them, it’s gotten a lot more real. For me what matters most is how they are raised- I want to know that they’ve lead good lives, mostly outdoors, with space to move and peck about. I want to know that they have been cared for to the greatest extent and fed nutritious, organic feed. And having raised them myself, I have this confidence. They also took more time, money and energy that I could have imagined so it’s a relief to just have the one batch this year. In the mean time we have a small amount of roasting chickens for sale (soon to be on the website), mostly 4-5lbs in size.
On to the veggies! This week was full of surprises. I feel like I had all but given up on the carrots and beets. The drought had done a number on them, leaving them struggling for survival instead of vibrantly growing, but some recent rains must have saved the day. While they may be hidden in the weeds (I swear we weeded them each like 3 times!), we managed to get a good bunch of them for your shares this week. If the carrots in your bunch are a little small, they don’t need peeling! Just give them a little scrub and save yourself the trouble. As young and fresh carrots, their skins are much more tender.
Fruit shares get pink crisp apples, black plums, blueberries, mangoes and a pineapple
Simply Six shares: bunch garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots or sugar snap/snow peas, green beans & green leaf lettuce
Note: A few items were in short supply due to the weather conditions like beets and carrots, but more will be on the way as our new field comes ready 🙂 So if you didn’t get carrots this week, they will be coming soon.
Surprise # 2: I planned to check out the garlic, having been warned that they might be a little small…but wow, some really nice big ones! I had such fun with my fork harvesting them. It was so satisfying! When you get into growing things and get back to the soil, it’s amazing how enjoyable some of the garden tasks can be. The garlic in your far, shares is fresh from the garden and can be used as is. If you want to store it for more than about 3 weeks you may want to try curing it- basically a process of drying it out for longer term storage. Find out how to cure garlic here.
Green beans are finally here! (after me starting them down for weeks lol). These really are a low effort veggie. Try lightly steaming them till they turn an even brighter green and adding butter and a dash of salt. They are also delicious raw, if cooking them seems like way too much effort. Yum!
Another new item is fennel. This might be outside of your regular dinner rotation and could certainly shake things up with its crisp texture and unique flavour. Grab you fennel, sautee it with some garlic as in this RECIPE and you’ve got a tasty and different side that pairs beautifully with fish.
Tip: While proper storage of the veggies will make them last WAYYYY longer and help cut down your waste, many of our customers also tell us how much their dogs enjoy sharing their veggie baskets. Many dogs love items like bok choy and they are so good for them! So, find yourself a little overwhelmed with veggies? Maybe fido can help :). Here on the farm, the leaves that fall off lettuce or bokchoy as we trim it are used to make the chickens very happy and healthy. They always run over to me as I give them their veggie treats.
Recipe: Grilled Zucchini
I forgot just how delicious zucchini is grilled! We were cooking bbq chicken drumsicks on the barbecue. When almost cooked, we lightly tossed sliced zucchini in olive oil and spread it out on our grilling basket. Then we sprinked the slices of zucchini with salt and pepper and grilled until tender. Watch for burning on the underside as it cooks quite quickly! We paired it with white rice with butter, chopped fresh mint, and chopped fresh heirloom tomato for a satisfying summer meal. Bon apetit!
