Hi  Everyone,

This week is our first Summer CSA Delivery!  We can’t thank you enough supporting Mountain Harvest Organics and joining the Summer CSA. You are receiving this eNewsletter because we’ve received an email that you are committing to the summer CSA.  Future eNewsletters will be sent to our entire list of subscribers because many have expressed interest in reading about our news from the farm.  Each week we will have a section “This weeks Farmer’s Choice Share”.  That section will include the contents of the Farmer’s Choice share along with recipes for the items in those shares.

In previous years, our newsletter indicated a list of veggies available in the online store, but we are changing that process to only highlight those new veggies that are ripening along with those that are in abundance.  Our online store has a category labeled “What’s In Season” that should list everything being harvested that week.  If you have questions or there is something you desire that is out of stock, feel free to email us, because we underestimate what is being harvested and there is always a chance our harvest is larger than we’ve anticipated.

We’d like to find two additional shareholders for our Summer CSA.  If you know of anyone who’d like to try eating fresh food from the farm, during the peak of season, please pass our contact information to them!!!

NOTE: You will probably need to white list our email to receive correspondence from us because we have changed our email from farmer@MountainHarvestOrganic.com to Farmer@MountainHarvestOrgnaics.com (our email is organics plural).

Your Farmers,
Carl and Julie

You will access our online store using this link, if you have been a previous CSA Sharehoulder and placed orders using our online store,  then you should have a username already set up.  This is a new storefront, so you will probably need to change your password to login to the store.  Feel free to call us if you are unable to log into your account. All orders must be placed by Thursday at 7:00 AM.

We are accepting credit card payments, and our website is secure, so you may pay using your credit card if you prefer that method of payment.  You may continue to pay us with cash or check by selecting “Cash on Delivery” as your payment method.

You will pick-up your order Fridays after 7:30 AM from the farm if you live in Spring Creek, or from Annie’s Bakery each Friday at 3 PM if you live in Asheville.  Annie’s Address is 128 Bingham Rd, Asheville NC 28806.  We will be delivering at their loading dock, so you will want to drive through the guard station, then you will find the red pick-up truck just before a blue awning.  You may park in the handicapped area while picking up your share.  We need to be quick about pick-up so as not to disrupt delivery trucks.

Feel free to provide feedback so that we make this as easy as possible for you to order your weekly basket of goodness.  Please look for a confirmation email once you’ve completed placing your order, and if you don’t see one, please call us at 828-622-3654.  Also expect an order confirmation Saturday AM once your order has been fulfilled that may contain information pertinent to your order.

This week’s Farmer’s Choice Share includes: (share contents are subject to change based on availability)

• Lettuce:  Red and Green Oak Leaf lettuce.  We love this lettuce because the leaves are large and sturdy.  We love “wraps” for lunch where we chopped up plenty of veggies and we wrap them in the tropicana leaves topped with a peanut sauce.  This is among the many lunches that Jane made us which will be instilled in our memories forever.
• Green Curly Kale: This is a very tender kale that can be used raw or sauteed lightly. We tend to use kale for salads during the winter when we aren’t growing lettuce. We especially love this Kale Ceasar Salad because it is a hearty salad. Another favorite, which uses a lot of kale, are tostadas, super warming and yummy. They can easily be made vegan substituting a cashew cheese for the dairy cheese. Another favorite, simple and refreshing salad that uses sweet bell peppers, is this slaw a salad that is quick to make and refreshing. If you’re in need of a warm and hearty meal, this kale and potato chowder is great, and this kale and italian sausage soup. Please visit the recipe section of our website for more recipes.
• Cherry Tomatoes: These bite sized tomatoes have a spectacular flavor. These tomatoes are excellent for bread salad or panzanella salad using bread from Annie’s Bakery.  If you enjoy savory pies, this cherry tomato pies is tasty. Some of our favorite summer salads include; cucumber tomato, tomatoes and sweet corn, marinated tomato salad, skillet BLT Panzanella. Roasting nearly any vegetable brings out the flavors, and cherry tomatoes are no exception to that rule. Another exciting breakfast or snack are cherry tomato toasts.
• French Filet Beans: These beans are six to seven inches long and are harvested when the pods are the size of a pencil.  These long and slender beans are especially tender and have a well-developed bean flavor with a French flair known as Haricot Vert. Haricot  is the French term for Bean and vert for green. A popular recipe for CSA Shareholders are these beans cooked with ginger and garlic. This rustic Italian salad is one we are excited for when beans, tomatoes and potatoes are available. This simple yet delicious salad is one we frequently have for a main meal. This simple recipe for vegan Szechuan Green Beans is our “go to” recipe for every day meals. This popular recipe for these beans is easy and delicious.
• Cucumber:  Our crop of cucumbers are slowly ripening so you will only have a couple of these but they are crisp and sweet!!! You might just slice these and eat them up!  Try this simple but tasty cold salad.  We’ve been eating ours in a salad with onions and basil. This recipe is similar except we used red wine vinegar rather than lemon juice.
• Zucchini: Zucchini is a very versatile vegetable and always included in our weekly meals while they are in season. Every season we look forward to zucchini pancakes for a complete meal. Paired with either garlic or garlic scapes, you might consider making noodles with your zucchini tossed with pesto. Another favorite is a recipe shared with us by CSA Member Frieda for curried zucchini soup. In the middle of summer, we love chilled zucchini soup, as it is especially refreshing. You may consider these fritters substituting roasted leeks for scallions when possible. Our “go to” preparation for squash, is grilling it, as we enjoy cooking outdoors during the summer because our house is kept cooler when we aren’t heating up the kitchen. When cooking indoors, roasting squash in the oven, or simply sauteing it with other summer veggies is delicious. Summer squash (or winter squash) is excellent in enchiladas, in quesadillas, or in burritos because you can adapt these recipes to almost any vegetable that is in season.  You can’t let a summer go by without making a squash casserole or ratatouille. Then of coarse, this veggie is great in a gratin or in a torte.
• Zephyr Yellow Squash: This is a summer squash, which is a soft skinned, and a very versatile vegetable and always included in our weekly meals while they are in season. One of our “go to” preparation for squash, is grilling it, as we enjoy cooking outdoors during the summer because our house is kept cooler when we aren’t heating up the kitchen. When cooking indoors, roasting squash in the oven, or simply sauteing it with other summer veggies is delicious. Summer squash (or winter squash) is excellent in enchiladas, in quesadillas, or in burritos because you can adapt these recipes to almost any vegetable that is in season.  You can’t let a summer go by without making a squash casserole or ratatouille. Then of coarse, this veggie is great in a gratin or in a torte.
• Basil:  We can’t seem to fix a meal during summer without including some garlic so we assume that everyone loves it as much as we do.  Here is a pesto recipe for you!
• Scallions: These onions are very tender and mild and are great on salads, in soups and as a topping for just about any baked dish. May recipes suggest that one discards the tops, but they have a great onion flavor, so we use the tops for adding color to any dish. Our “go to” recipe for these is oven roasted, grilled, or <a href=”xx”>skillet roasted. </a>One of our specialties are using these in crepes and in egg foo yung. We always are sure to use them in stir-fries. These are great fried and if your’re making a batch of tempura be sure to include this veggie!
• Garlic Scapes: These are the flower bud of the garlic, harvested before it opens, that combines the flavor of both garlic and scallions into one delicious herb. They can be used like cloves of garlic but will have a milder flavor. You will use the portion, minced, using the flower and the stalk until the stalk is too tough. Puree in salad dressings or mince and season cooking oil in a skillet. Here is a pesto recipe for you! Check this web page out from Serious Eats, 7 things to do with garlic scapes, so be sure to stock up on these because they are very seasonal and only available at the tail end of Spring!

As we go about doing our daily chores, we take notice that the dahlias are starting to bloom, we’re been eating a lot of fresh salads,  we’ve been snacking on the first of the cherry tomatoes that are ripening, and we’ve enjoyed the first of the french filet beans.  We remind ourselves that this is why we love being here on the farm and that motivates us us pull garlic in the hot weather, weed the next succession of beans!

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