It’s getting harder and harder to keep up the “hey, it’s not so bad” attitude. Stress has a way of living in the background until it builds up to a point where it’s impossible to ignore and starts to affect us. Farming is an inherently stressful vocation (we are, after all, relying on the weather for our livelihood) and farmers generally manage this stress fairly well. A year like this, however, creates more stress than we’re accustomed to dealing with. We weren’t able to plant anything in the field during the June-July monsoon, and we were only able to do the bare minimum of field work (weeding, transplanting, fertilizing and such). This back log of work has been weighing heavy upon us, although that alone isn’t such a big deal. (For us, farming is pretty much all about being behind schedule.) Add to that, however, the slowed crop growth (many crops are easily a month behind normal), increased disease pressure (wet, cold weather is perfect for diseases to take hold and spread) and decreased fertility (excess rain can wash away available nutrients in the soil) and you’ve got a recipe for some pretty touchy interpersonal relations around here. Of course, we don’t like to complain and we know of many farmers that have it far, far worse than we do, but — like I said — it’s getting harder to keep on the sunny side.

That said, you’ll enjoy some big shares this week as we have some really rockin’ spring crops coming in. Given some of the planting delays we’ve suffered, I don’t know what future week’s shares will look like, but — for now — we’re eating like kings.

Also, though working on the farm is not a required part of your experience, we’re happy to entertain anyone who would like to come out and help us catch up on a few things. Call or email if you’re game; there’s always something to do.

Detailed share information, notes about the veggies, storage tips and recipe tips are all inside the full post.

Please remember to return your tote bags every week.

All shares contain:

• Napa Cabbage
• Kohlrabi
• red leaft Lettuce
• Broccoli

“Full” shares also contain:

• Escarole
• Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
• Swiss Chard
• Cauliflower

Bread shares: this is a no bread week.

Veggie Notes

I won’t go into detail about veggies we’ve had before, except to say that this will be the last Napa and Kohlrabi that we’ll have in the share for a while. I haven’t yet decided whether to plant a fall crop. What do you think?

Broccoli – We all know and love it, so there’s not much to add except that this is by far the most beautiful broccoli I’ve ever grown. The weather that was horrible for us and tomatoes was perfect for broccoli.

Lettuce – also not much to say about lettuce except that this is a red leaf variety and full shareholders should not confuse it with Escarole

Escarole – Escarole looks a lot like lettuce but is more closely related to dandelions. The leaves are green, unlike this week’s lettuce, which is red. You might think I’m making a big deal about how to tell them apart, but Escarole can be quite bitter and is not something you want to be surprised by in a salad. You want to be prepared for it. Escarole, in fact all bitter greens, are commonly used cooked: either sauted, roasted, braised, stewed or simply wilted with hot liquids. (Our favorite is a simple salad of escarole which is wilted with hot bacon fat.)

Cherry Tomatoes – Finally we have enough tomatoes to start putting some in the share. (Although, not very many.) These are Sungold cherry tomatoes from our hoophouse. Sungold’s are often considered to be the sweetest and best tasting of all cherry tomatoes. If you don’t eat them all out of hand, they’d be excellent on that Escarole & bacon salad.

Storage Notes

Everything except the Cherry Tomatoes can be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge. If you don’t eat them all right away, keep the cherry tomatoes on your counter, with the bag open.

Recipe Ideas

Napa & Kohlrabi – Shareholder Trish Kratka wrote in w/ a recipe for a Napa & Kohlrabi slaw that she made with last week’s share. You can find it over on her blog. (If you still have garlic scapes or kale, she also has recipes for Garlic Scape Pesto and a technique for making Kale chips.)

Escarole – Here’s a few chicory recipes I put together last year and here’s a few recipes for escarole from a great CSA farm in California.

Cauliflower – Roasted Cauliflower and Braised Cauliflower with Curry and Yogurt sound interesting

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems. Also, please send along any recipes you’d like to share.

We hope you enjoy the share!