WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #11/12
This is a darn good week for a darn fine salad. We're harvesting Green Spring Garlic and some truly delectable Red Russian Kale and Spinach for the CSA (and the markets too if there's enough to go around). It feels good to hold onto a few more Spring flavors for the time being. When you're beholden to a farm four seasons of the year as we are (and thankfully many of you are too), it is a bit more difficult to mark the beginnings and endings as things sort of braid together week after week. That's just the life of a farm, I suppose. Thanks to our crew, there's already a whole lot of Summer going on in the fields. Over the weekend, they planted out a full high tunnel of heirloom tomatoes, 11 long rows of cherry tomatoes, and 24 short rows of saucers, slicers and sweet lunchbox peppers. Now the trellising begins...Yep, it may be calendar Springtime, but we're already putting in the Summertime effort, and in some cases seeding and planting some things with next Fall in mind even, which is why the members of our CSA are truly the backbone of the farm and the reason that we are able to continue.
BIG thanks to those of you who have signed up for your Summer Shares already, and an enthusiastic nudge to those of you who are meaning to sign up but haven't just yet--it is time! We're only two pickups away from the start of the Summer CSA, and we'd love to know who we're counting on, and more importantly, who is counting on us this year.
Read moreWILD 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!
Read moreWILD 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
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