2nd week June newsletter

The past week has not been such a good time to be a small-time organic vegetable farmer. First-of-all nobody, not even us, likes to be out working in the heatwave we've just come through. It really is a test of one's will to be out there in sun. We start to think - "How badly do we want to get this job done right now?" And usually the answer is "Pretty badly," and we keep working and just take an extra-long break in the afternoon. Second-of-all it is only early June and we are already having a lack of rainfall. We got about 1/4" of rain Sunday (I think you folks down in Elmira got a lot bigger storm than we did), but with the combination of high temperatures and no rain our soil and tender greens are getting baked. So we have been irrigating mercilessly from the pond. Third, June has always been a tough month because the CSA starts, but sometimes it can be difficult to scrape together enough vegetables to call it a share.
But overall most crops are doing well. Of course our young squash, tomato and cucumber plants love the heat and the potatoes don't seem to mind either. So I guess its like the saying goes - you can't please everyone all the time.
Our young orchard is looking very pretty as summer approaches. After doing our best to help the trees grow better this year - (adding a thick layer of mulch, liming the soil, adding soil amendments to supply the trees with appropriate nutrients, regular irigation and giving them two foliar feedings of organic fertilizer) they seem to have appreciated it. After struggling last year and not growing much they look a little healthier now. Plus the clover and vetch that we planted two years ago is finally starting to take over the field. And there are are the flowers - three different varieties of clover are in bloom with the vetch and also wildflowers like daisies and buttercups. We are going to wait to mow the orchard till after all of these are done flowering and have set seed so we can be sure to have them blooming again next year.

Announcements:
There will be a Tompkins County area CSA event that you are invited to attend in Ithaca. Many differnt CSAs and thier members will be there. We will not be there (not enough time in the day to do everything!!), but the press release is pasted at the bottom of this posting.
If you will be going on vacation this summer, please let us know ahead of time if you will be having someone else pick up your share or if noone will be picking it up that week.

This week's vegetables (our apologies for the repeats - we should have some new treats next week).
Carrots
Beet greens
Lettuce
Cilantro
Radishes

Next week's (expected) vegetables:
Snow peas
Lettuce
Scallions
Garlic Scapes
Greens
Baby potatoes?


Braised beet greens with almonds:
¼ cup sliced almonds
½ lb. Beet greens (or Arugula/spicy greens )
2 T. Butter
1 small clove minced garlic
1/3 cup milk
Toast almonds in dry skillet for several minutes, tossing often.
Melt butter and add garlic. Add coarsely chopped greens and saute until they wilt. Add milk, cover and cook a few minutes, uncover to evaporate the liquid. Serve hot sprinkled with almonds. From a to z book



Tompkins Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition
Spring Local Food Kick Off!
Sat. June 14th at Stewart Park in the large pavilion. 4-7 p.m.
Join us for community celebration of our local bounty!
Hands-on fun for children such as mixing potting soil and planting seed trays
Come waltz to the gorgeous harmonies of the women of Five2, be inspired by the "thanks and praise" music of Kevin Kinsella, and stomp along to Burke and Bone playing 20’s and 30’s blues.
Please bring a dish-to-pass and a place setting so we can reduce and re-use before we even get to recycling!
Local Food Kick-Off Kickball Games!! All ages!!
Tompkins Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition invites you to celebrate the abundance! Bring your family and friends to Stewart Park on Sat. June 14th and get in the CSA circle! Eat food grown where you live!
There will be the opportunity to learn about and support the Healthy Food For All program which provides subsidized CSA shares to income-eligible families. This is a practical way to make a difference right here in our community!
Community Supported Agriculture is an agreement between community members and farmers : A family invests in a farm and the farm grows them food! This keeps our dollars in our hands, ensures that food producers are stewards of the land, and hugely minimizes our carbon footprint. We find that knowing who grows your food and the land they grow it on greatly increases consumers’ healthy peace of mind. Small-scale farming is safe for the land, the food, the economy and you.
TCSAC is a new organization of CSA farms and farmers who are working together to build awareness around local food, to strengthen our CSA communities, to collaborate on business strategies and support each other as farmers.
We serve approx. 1000 CSA members in Tompkins County. This means there are approximately 1000 households who have a share in a local farm and eat local produce all summer long in Tompkins County!
Participating Farms:
Early Morning Organic Farm
Full Plate Farm Collective –
Stick and Stone Farm
Remembrance Farm
Three Swallows Farm
Sweet Land Farm
Hendy Hollow Organic Farm
West Haven Farm
Three Sisters
Thomson Farms
Muddy Fingers Farm
For more information: Katie Church 607.342.7632 or info@fullplatefarms.org