CSA, Weekly Farm News

Weekly news from the farm!

Posted on by mhoadmin
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Greetings Everyone,

We hope everyone has plans for grilling out in Celebration of Independence Day this week! This week, while we’re grilling out, we hope you’ll join us in taking a few minutes of a silent prayer (or meditation) in gratitude for everyone who has served our country in one fashion or another.  Especially those who have served in the military, those of you who are constantly writing their representatives to protect our rights and the environment, those who have conducted civil disobedience in protection of human rights and all y’all who vote and work at educating others about the importance of voting.  As they say, “It takes a village”, but it takes a country in the USA to keep our independence, and we have learned isn’t always easy!  

This Independence Day we are especially thankful that we were able to purchase a farm, grow vegetables and raise meat for ya’ll. We recall last year when we had guests staying with us from China who explained to us that they weren’t permitted to buy a farm. Their government decided whom would be farmers, not, rather than an individual themselves deciding to pursue a farming career. Thinking about the aspect of “independence” in us being able to choose our careers, makes it especially important that all of us continue to do our part for our country in keeping our independence.

For those placing weekly orders with us, while our Farmer Choice shares are priced at $20 a share, please know that we have a minimum order of amount of $15,  and you may custom order individual items rather than order the Farmer’s Choice Share.   We understand that y’all may be harvesting many of the same things in the Farmer’s Choice share OR the share has too many veggies for most households.

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@MountainHarvestOrganics.com (our email is organics plural).

Your Farmers (and cleaning staff), Carl and Julie

NOTE: Your’re receiving this eNewsletter because you’ve either been a subscriber to MHO in the past OR if you’ve registered for our newsletters from our website.   Feel free to unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive this eNewsletter!

CSA Shareholders: You can access our online store using this link, if using a desktop you will log in by clicking the icon of the person in the top right hand side of the web page, if you are using a phone click on the menu icon and choose the login option. All orders need to be placed by Tuesday at 8 AM so that we will know what to harvest for your share! Please return your boxes because we re-use them.  Orders will be read each Wednesday at 8 AM. 
What is new and abundant this week!
Fresh cipollini  onions with their tops on!!! These are uncured, so we’re leaving the tops on so you can use them in soups or simply grill them. These onions are slightly flattened and thin skinned bulbs. Their name literally means “little onion” in Italian, and indeed they are! Cipollinis are about the size of a golf ball, but when grown under good weather conditions they tend to be a little bigger. Roasted whole in the oven or roasted with a vinegar glaze you are sure to fall in love with these onions. Cooked in a little butter on the stove top, cipollinis become soft and practically melt in your mouth. Their residual sugars caramelize and concentrate, leaving behind none of the astringent raw onion flavor. After all, our region is know for beer, so consider these beer braised cipollini onions.
Green cabbage is here!!! While the groundhog ate nearly our entire crop and we won’t be making kraut this spring, we must say we are thankful to be eating fresh cabbage.  Another amazing veggie well suited for the grill, but we also LOVE coleslaw because you can make it a few days before serving it and the salad seems to taste even better a few days after marinating in the salad dressing. This variety has very thin and tender leaves that make it great for cole slaw, either creamy or with a vinaigrette. We love this cabbage and polenta recipe because it is so filling. A simple way to prepare cabbage is by roasting or grilling it. We highly recommend that you try this recipe that Jess made us for lunch one season which was both delicious and beautiful, called Okonomiyaki, a dish that she had frequently while living and teaching in Japan. While the dish may be a little complicated the first time you make it, we trust once you have it down, it will become one of those dishes you have each year to celebrate cabbage season. If you find that you are accumulating cabbage in your refrigerator because it does store a long time, consider making sauerkraut, it is loaded with probiotics and so healthy!
This Weeks Farmer’s Choice Veggie Share
Normally we like to harvest our squash “fancy” size, but we were busy hosting Lenny Boy, which means we were preparing all their meals and didn’t find the time to work harvesting into our schedule.  No worries, the squash grew quickly so will be amazing thickly sliced and grilled!!! This week’s Farmer’s Choice Share includes: (share contents are subject to change based on our actual harvest.) We’re offering both a Farmer’s Choice Veggie and Farmers’ Choice Veggie & Meat Share.  Items common in both shares are listed first, followed by items specific to the veggie share the finally the veggie/meat share. The Farmer’s Choice Veggie & Meat share normally has smaller portions of vegetables. ) The following are included only in the veggie share: The following are included only in the meat share
What’s Happening on the Farm
We had the honor of hosting the famous and fabulous Lenny Boy Team!!!  This past weekend the Lenny Boy Brewing team booked the entire farm for a retreat!!! It was so great to get to know the humble, creative, and passionate team that have made Lenny Boy successful.  The Craft Brewery Industry is a very competitive business, and they have been a thriving small brewery for 8 years!!!   Not only does Lenny Boy source as much local ingredients for their kumbucha and beer from area farms, they recently opened a kitchen to serve “small plates”, so are working hard at sourcing ingredients for their hors d’oeuvre.  
We love the creativity of those making their pizzas! Annie, Lenny Boys Sales Representative, designed a creative and tasty pizza using leftovers from breakfast. What was her choice of toppings you might ask? She put a layer of black beans on the bottom, followed by some of our cheese blend, then added fresh salsa when the pizza was nearly done baking!!! One of the reasons we love having “design your own pizzas”, is to see the creative pies that come out of the oven. In this case, we used the grill because our old oven needs a coating of stucco and we aren’t quite sure we going to invest any more time and money into our old oven.  It filled our hearts with happiness to not only grow/raise food for Lenny Boy, but also turn that food into meals that nourished the Lenny Boy Team!!! 
Above, second from the left in the light blue shirt, is Townes Mozer, who sources his ingredients from sustainable and small farms. He is supporting the environment by ensuring that biodiversity thrives because his inputs aren’t traveling as far to reach the brewery, and he understands that small farms support biodiversity.  Also, Lenny Boy gives back to the community by supporting organizations that help keep our area rivers clean and hiking/biking trails maintained.  It is pretty easy for us to understand why Townes was voted one of the best young entrepreneurs of the southeast, because one can’t loose when their motto is to “Leave the planet better than you found it”, and that motto then used for making almost all the business decisions!!!  
mhoadmin

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