Hi CSAers,

We've had a very busy and fun week with both Liz's and Matthew's parents visiting. We are fortunate that they enjoy coming here and they give us lots of help with farmwork. So we have gotten a lot done- including weeding, setting up for garlic drying in the new greenbarn, cutting more firewood and working to clear out another section for vegetable growing so in the coming years we can have some fallow sections in our crop rotation. Plus our house even got a good cleaning. And we got the refridgeration unit on our truck is operational again. All that and plenty of badminton and bocce playing!

We also had someone visit us last week whom we had been expecting for quite a while - a representative from the gas drilling company. He handed us a lease to sign and answered all of our questions. We are still unsure about what to do and we need to do more research and talk more with our neighbors, but we are leaning towards not signing. It sounds like the company works with many different types of farms with these leases and they can put in a lot of different requirements in the lease so as not to destroy our farm. But we still don't think it would work for us. For if they decided to put a well on our property that would mean a lot of digging, cutting and trucks rolling through our fields and woods, perhaps right over our vegetable beds! Not what we had in mind for our farm and homestead. Is $5000 plus possible royalties worth all of that destruction and uncertainty for us? It certainly doesn't seem like it. Its a decision that we haven't had time to work through in the past few days, but we will start considering more seriously. If any of you have experience with this type of thing or know anyone who does, please let us know. We would love to hear others' experiences - good or bad.

The birds with their nest in the orchard have fledged as have the barn swallow in our carport. So our cat will no longer have the parents yelling at her and divebombing her every time she goes outside. Its nice to see the babies swooping and diving about the yard as they quickly learn all the trick of flying.

And we got a nice downpour last evening as we were picking beans with Matthew's parents in the hoophouse. Overall a great week! Hope yours was, too! Here's the share...

This weeks vegetables:

Swiss Chard

Lettuce

Potatoes

Dill

Zucchini

Beets

Cabbage

Celery

Last night we had boiled beets just sliced on top of our salad, and everyone agreed that it was quite a tasty addition. Just boil until the beets are easily pierced with a fork , (cover with cool water) then slip the skins and slice. Toss on top of salad. The greens were nice cut into small pieces raw and put in the salad, too.

Squash Casserole: from AARP magazine
1-2 Summer squash chopped coarsely or shredded
2 T butter
1 T or more grated onion
1 egg
1 bouillon cube
1 Cup Shredded cheddar (or more)
1 C. plain yogurt or sour cream
Dash of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Top with bread crumbs or crushed chips
Mix all ingredients, top with paprika and chips. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. YUM!

Creamy cole slaw from food network. com
1 head green cabbage, finely shredded

2 large carrots, finely shredded

3/4 cup best-quality mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons grated onion, sweet is nice

2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

2 teaspoons celery salt

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine the shredded cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery salt, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, and then add to the cabbage mixture. Mix well to combine and taste for seasoning; add more salt, pepper, or sugar if desired.

The details for the 19th aren't quite nailed down yet, since it is still a few weeks away, its hard to know what will be the most pressing this far out, but please put it on your calendar and plan on coming, i'm sure there will be good food, no matter what else happens. Strawberry season is winding down and cherry picking is on, don't miss out on fresh local fruit! Freeze it, juice it, jam it, and stuff yourself with it right now, too!

Have a great week! Matthew and Liz