WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #10/12

The farm has seen a whole lot over the past few weeks, and it is worth throwing on your boots and walking the farm loop when you come out in the near future.  This May, we've planted through super dry fields, dodged rain squalls, freaked out about frosty overnights only to have the daytime temps push ninety within a week.  It is such a marvel.  But, sometimes that can be a whole lot to ask of  plants and the crew who works to cover and uncover, irrigate and mitigate those extremes.  The first round of rapini gave up the ghost and is now an alluring trap crop for the local aphid population, but there are plenty of living things going strong (and maybe taking their time) in the field.  So, needless to say, Mark and I were pretty pleased to taste and see that one of our plantings of Bok Choy is not only unscathed but delightfully ready for harvest this week.  Thanks for rallying, Bok Choy--heaven knows that's what the rest of us are doing around here amid the May crazies.  Rally on!  

WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #9/12

After a week of frosty overnights, things are heating up to an exciting and overwhelming degree at Wild Hare.  The propagation house is ready to burst, and if I'm being honest, I'm not far behind it.  It is time to make room in the high-tunnel for heirloom tomatoes, so we've harvested the beds of Red Russian Kale and Swiss Chard that we've been harvesting from that greenhouse, mingling them with some of our last Kale Raab and Baby Collard in order to make up one delicious batch of Braising Mix for the Spring CSA to enjoy this week.  This is our last overwintered hurrah, so to speak.  So, grab some of that delicious Green Garlic and saute up a nice batch of greens with it like this.  Don't overthink it or get hung up on the "Braising" word--the method is nothing fancy, but the result is nothing but nourishing Spring magic.  It is how we manage to eat our vegetables when the sun hits and takes the breathing room out of life for a while.  If you're planning on grilling a little Asparagus this week, this method for Grilled Green Garlic also gets the job done, showcasing an ingredient that reminds us why we got ourselves into these farming shenanigans at a time of year when we can use those delicious and healthy reminders.  Speaking of reminders, Mothers Day is next Sunday.  All I want for my ninth mothers day is for this week to go smoothly, for folks to enjoy this week of solid Spring veg and buy tomato plants, and to enjoy this for breakfast with Mark and Hazel (not a beet recipe this time, I promise;)  

Best,
Katie

WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #8/12

We're really excited to start off a new month by feasting on the first round of Washington Asparagus this week!  Many a delicious, last-minute meal in May will be comprised of Green Garlic and Asparagus in our house, and I couldn't be more thankful.  May is just so very intense for our family and our farm, that I love it when easy flavor and ingredient combinations come our way thanks to the season at hand.  

This is also my first week back at the Farmers Markets.  After a long Fall & Winter away, I'm  looking forward to seeing you at the Tacoma Broadway Farmers Market on Thursdays and the Puyallup Farmers Market on Saturdays.  If you're up north, you'll find Mark (and sometimes Hazel too) at the Seattle U-District Market on Saturdays.   

We're hardening off the first round of our lovely and luscious garden starts for you to shop for at the farm and our local farmers markets starting this week.  (SO. MANY. AWESOME. TOMATOES.PEOPLE.) 

With Summer CSA now just one month away, I'm going to offer my first real nudge to encourage you to sign up for your share of our Summer harvest.   Beginning Tuesday, June 4th, our Summer Share program will run for 18 weeks, ending Saturday, September 29th, 2019.  Small and Large pickup sizes are available during the Summer, as well as add-on shares of our Salad Mix, Eggs from our lovely hens, and Artisan Breads from Essential Baking Co.   You may register for your share at anytime on our website.    Payment will be due by the first week of the season; however, payments received prior to the start of the CSA season are greatly appreciated since we are already investing resources of time, labor, supplies and the funds to that go along with them.

Many Thanks,
Katie

PS:  I'm going to thank you all in advance for being patient with me on the newsletter/website formatting front this week. I have to make some updates, and it might take me some time and effort to get things adjusted properly.   If things look different or weird or links aren't jiving, know that it is not you, it is me:)