MOUNTAIN BOUNTY FARM NEWS
Week 22/52 of 2021
Dear Farm Members,
This week, your regular boxes contain a special treat - a head of Mountain Bounty garlic, freshly pulled from our fields this past Friday. It’s some of the best garlic we’ve grown, fat from a long winter in the rich red clay of our sunny Birchville farm site. Growing this beloved crop is truly a labor of love for us, especially when you consider the extensive amount of time it takes to grow it! We tuck thousands of tiny cloves into the ground at the beginning of October, lovingly mulch them with straw, and cross our fingers that the harvest nearly nine months later will be a good one. In May, as the lower leaves begin to die back, we carefully count what remains, each leaf representing one papery layer once the garlic has cured. We aim to harvest when the crop has between 5-7 of these ‘skins’ left to protect it.
Because this garlic is so fresh, it isn’t fully cured and has to be handled slightly differently than the garlic that most of us are used to. Cloves can be peeled just like you would any garlic - the skins will still be soft, but should be relatively easy to remove. Fresh garlic has a higher concentration of water in the cloves, and cooks quickly as a result, so use low heat and pay attention to avoid scorching it. Not interested in using your garlic fresh? No problem! Store it at room temperature in a dry, well-ventilated spot, out of direct sunlight - it will gradually dry and cure. Happy eating!
Kale
CSA Cooking Class
We're hosting another cooking class on Wednesday, June 16th! Hosted by CSA Member and public health educator, Wendy Van Wagner, we'll go over how to use the CSA box to guide your menu planning throughout the week and highlight the early summer bounty of zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, and more!
See you Thursday, June 16, 2021, at 10 am via Zoom! Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/97063081564?pwd=c1pObGxEQ21TOWV3NXBQa00zTEFQUT09
Farm Tour with Sierra Harvest
An updated version of a Sierra Harvest classic, the Farm Potluck, we’ll be kicking off the 2021 Farm Tour season with a tour of Mountain Bounty Farm on Thursday, June 17th! Learn about the history of our farm (we’re almost 25 years old), how we feed 900 households each week, and meet your MBF farmers!
Tickets are $10 and available from the Sierra Harvest website: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ehy3ave2f08e400b&oseq=&c=&ch=
THIS WEEK'S CSA CONTENTS
REGULAR BOX:
Chard
Arugula
Sugar Snap Peas
Green Cabbage
Butter Lettuce
Zucchini/Cucumber
Fresh Garlic
Fennel
Scallions
Parsley
SMALL BOX:
Chard
Arugula
Sugar Snap Peas
Green Cabbage
Lettuce
Radish
Cilantro
SEASONAL FLOWER SHARES: (provided by Little Boy Flowers)
This is the fourth and FINAL week of the PEONY Flower Share. Please double-check the delivery list to confirm you are signed up for these shares before taking a bouquet.
The Summer Flower Shares start in July and are a separate subscription.
SUMMER FRUIT SHARE starts this week! If you haven't paid yet, now is the time! You can check your balance from your member dashboard. These shares are SOLD OUT but add your name to our waiting list and we'll let you know if we have more space available: https://mountainbounty.csaware.com/summer-fruit-share-wnc-C19511
Spring Snow White Peaches (D.E. Boldt Organic Farm)
Princess Time Yellow Peaches (D.E. Boldt Organic Farm)
Red Roy Yellow Nectarines (D.E. Boldt Organic Farm)
Gold Bar Apricots (Blossom Hill)
RECIPES
Chilled Zucchini Soup (Zucchini)
Chargrilled Scallion Salsa Verde (Scallions, Parsley and/or Cilantro)
Cherry, Chard, and Hazelnut Grain Salad (Chard)
Broccoli Slaw (Broccoli, Cabbage, Scallions, Parsley and/or Cilantro)
Roasted Garlic Crostini (Garlic)
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