CSA Newsletter Week 3

Happy Canada Day!

This last week has been hot, hot, hot and it looks like the heat is here for a while! We got rain last Tuesday and then missed out on the rain that Belleville and Trenton got on Thursday.  Since then we have had sprinklers on our meat chickens everyday who are out on pasture, that goats are hiding in their houses so to are the horses.  Our Nigella and Bertie are able to hide in the cold shade of our barn on days like this.  Delia and seven of our other pigs are up in the top paddock and on a daily basis are going through 210 litres of water, both for drinking and for wallows.  We have also had to put the sprinklers back on the market garden as well.  We like heat but feeling like 40 degrees is officially not fun.  We are working through till about 1.30-2pm then we are taking a longer lunch so that we can start chores and do a little more work before we have a later dinner. Apart from the heat we have also started patrolling the vegetables for bugs! Colorado Potato beetles have turned up on the eggplant as they love these just as much as they love potatoes. The squash vine borers (which Michael is doing a great job of squishing in the early morning) seem to like to overnight in the spinach.  In the daytime they like to stick their Oviposter into the base of zucchini and squash plants to lay their eggs, the larvae then eat the plants from the inside out! Stink bugs and cucumber beetles are also back with a vengeance.  So for next year we are going to invest into insect netting to cover the plants that these pests seem to love! But in the meantime we will continue to squish away!

What's in this weeks box??

Turnips - Last week for these but don't worry they will be making another appearance later on in the season.
Radish - Radish is growing great and some have a nice bite to them.  We love these raw but you can roast them or even add them to a stir-fry
Spinach - Last week for spinach but don't worry it will return!
Lettuce
Radicchio - We tried a new variety this year as I liked the pretty colour of it, but neither Michael or I are very happy with how it grew.  We planned to offer this for two weeks but I think we will only get one week out of it.  The fall will see us returning back to our green, coned radicchio.
This is a bitter tasting vegetable which is great in salads or on the BBQ or even roasted
Kohlrabi - Great grated into a salad, dipped into homemade mayo or made into fries
Napa/Chinese cabbage
Beets - A small bunch this week as we are in the middle of thinning the crop.  Beets can be boiled, roasted, grated into brownies or even turned into burgers!
Scapes - Everyone seems to be enjoying these on the BBQ, remember the season is a short one so enjoy them while you can.
Arugula - This is great in salads as it adds a really nice peppery zing to the mix.  You can also try it on pizza or make pesto with it.
Peas - This was a great treat to see that the peas have come on in leaps and bounds.  You have sugar snap peas so eat the whole thing! They are very juicy and sweet!