We’re kicking off the 2023 Summer CSA Season tomorrow, Tuesday, May 30th!  In addition to our typical (Tuesday 12-7) and Wednesday (10-5) schedule at the farm, we’ll extend our hours to be open on Saturdays (9am-2pm) through the end of September for weekend shopping and CSA pickups.  The crew has been hard at work over the past few months in anticipation of growing for you this Summer, and with that, I’m truly excited to welcome everyone—from our continuing and long-time CSA members to those who are brand new, not to mention neighborhood shoppers to what is already shaping up to be a great Summer.  After things settle this week, we hope to open the next handful of spots to folks on our CSA waiting list.  Thank you for being patient and stay tuned! In the meantime, here’s a bit of info (and maybe a refresher course) on what you need to know about summertime at Wild Hare

This is the last week of our Spring Season at Wild Hare, and I want to thank you all—our CSA members, customers, and crew for setting the farm up for a successful harvest season by supporting us during the “off” season.  Investing in our CSA, shopping at our little farm stand and sharing what we’re up to with friends and neighbors is what keeps us growing.  It sounds trite, but it is absolutely true.  We’ve all weathered so much over the past several years, and taking a lap around the field, I am overcome by the sheer gratitude that we’re still here and have a chance to learn and grow with every season and year.  Those strips of color that you see when you drive along River Road are quite literally a taste of things to come, but they also represent a great deal of commitment, diligence and more blessings and educated guesses than I could ever count.  Thank you so much for being willing to eat your vegetables—your favorites and those that you haven’t discovered yet—but mostly, thank you for caring so much about this farm. 

Due to the onset of some hot hot HOT May weather, this is going to be a very green week for the CSA–the kind we dream of in January and February.  It is, as Mark Bittman called it recently, a good greens problem.  Bok Choy, Tokyo Bekana and mixed Mustard Greens would have been toast in the greenhouses this week, so we harvested earlier (and more thoroughly) than we might have otherwise done according to the spreadsheets.  On the plus side, this heavy harvest of greens allowed us to fully flip the greenhouse several days ahead of schedule, and now over 1400 tomato plants are mulched, planted, irrigated and ready to trellis up between the high tunnel and beds out in the field.  It will also allow you to enjoy raw, grilled, or lightly stir fried vegetables as the hot days roll on.  Asparagus, Bok Choy and Pencil Leeks are all great options for the grill.  In fact, little grilled Leeks will always remind me of the day Mark and I became engaged–we had them for the first time at a Slow Food dinner out on Shelter Island that night, grilled, then served cold over a big fat slice of tomato and greens.  I don’t remember any of the other courses that night, but there were many, each with wine.  And while the tomatoes aren’t ready yet, and we won’t be getting dressed up for a multi-course dinner anytime soon, I am looking forward to grilling a few, side by side, with some tasty spears of Asparagus this week, reminiscing, rehydrating and probably stir-frying.