This is the last week of our Winter CSA, and without missing a beat, Spring Share will pick right up next week on March 25th & 26th. I could never have imagined that we’d be bookending our Winter harvests with Purple Sprouting Broccoli. In the wildest and most uncertain of times, I try really hard to recognize pleasant surprises for what they are—beautiful luck. And as my Patron Saint Ina Garten has implored me to do, I’m making it a point to Be Ready When the Luck Happens these days, though I’m busting my tail to make sure that the conditions are as germane as possible for it to do so. Even though frosty nights and soupy days are still on the menu for a while, the days are already busier and longer than they were just a few short weeks ago. The crew has been hard at work with Spring and Summer in mind, and greenhouse is filling up with tray after tray of seedlings for the seasons ahead. Mark texted me a photo of the first pepper sprout, which basically means “Brace yourself. Winter is over.” Spring brings about a new reality, but I couldn’t even fathom what we’re about to pull off if it weren’t for the dormancy of Winter. Moreover, Mark and I have come to appreciate the way that our Winter CSA makes so much of our Spring and Summer growing possible. Thank you for eating your squash, learning to love your roots, and for paying the seasons forward generously on the coldest, darkest days of the year.

In Gratitude,
Katie

How’s your Monday going? Ours finds us trying to make sense of the time change, planting seeds, and getting our greenhouses in gear to hold a whole lot of life in the coming weeks. Kelly and Claire are pictured seeding two of the seventy trays of Snap Peas that we’ll start this year. Yep, it is happening! We’re weaving propagation work into our harvest duties, and working up an appetite all the while. Luckily, this is a great week for hashes, mashes and stews. St. Patrick’s Day is great fodder for showcasing (and using up) the root vegetables that are still late Winter/early Spring staples.Mark is deeply sad that our great big field of Green Cabbages froze all the way through their cores earlier this Winter. The plants should eventually flower out into some tasty “Cabbage Raab” this Spring, but if we were to harvest the heads at this point, they’d likely rot from the inside out if we tried to store them, even in the short term. Fortunately, we have a solid alternate this week. Claire, Kelly and Mark are assembling a lovely blend of overwintered kales, some baby leaves from the greenhouse and a bit of Lacinato that is just starting to bud up into “Kale Raab’ in the field. Colcannon, and its variations that incorporate Rutabagas and Celery Root, is a perennial favorite. Or, you could whip up a Friday night Cheesy Charred Kale Pizza With Garlic for Pi Day (or a Caesar for the Ides of March!)

I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve had a pretty solid start to the soon-to-be madness that is March. Whether this is our false Spring, or a slow buildup to the real thing, we’re making moves. Mark spent most of his day on somewhere between the columns of his spreadsheets and the field rows, which is how you know stuff’s getting real.  We’re pretty sure this is the earliest that he’s ever been able to get out there and do honest-to-goodness tractor work and soil prep. Now, we just have do our best to keep the momentum up and the crows at bay.  Lupa’s got some chasing to do!