"When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden."
- Minnie Aumonier (from Zen Gardening by Veronika Ray)

What’s in the box this week:

... and if you have an extra-fruit share:
three additional baskets
of strawberries!

CALENDAR


Sat. May 18 - Open Farm Day, 1pm - 5pm

Sat. Jun 8 - a Farm Work Day! 8am on

Sat. Jun 22 - Summer Solstice Celebration 4pm - 10pm

Sat/Sun Aug. 3&4 - Children’s Mini Camp,
10m Saturday - noon Sunday. Optional early arrival Friday night.

Sat. Sep 21 - Fall Equinox Celebration,
3pm - 9pm

Sat. Oct 26 - Halloween Pumpkin U-Pick,
all day

Come and enjoy a moment at the farm on OPEN FARM DAY, which is coming right up: Saturday May 18th, from 1 to 5pm. It’s a great opportunity to see first hand who, where and how your food is grown. Take the time to stroll through the fields, pick strawberries, smell the onions and garlic or visit our pregnant goats (possibly even play with the baby goats by then!). Children are welcome to explore and play, and Peanut our pony will faithfully take the youngest visitors for a ride. Farmer Tom will give tours for all interested to hear his take on farming, crops and critters and how it all got started. We’ll demonstrate how to bake in a wood-fired oven, and serve freshly-made "Agua Fresca" from our very own sweet strawberries.

We are looking for musicians who would like to fill the air with song and rhythm for this event. The Banana Slug String Band has a busy schedule this year and will not be able to play during our regularly scheduled events. Please call us if you or someone you know would be interested in playing.

Also, HELP IS NEEDED on OPEN FARM DAY! We are in great need of CSA volunteers to help us welcome the public, organize games with the children, bake bread, oversee strawberry tastings, and/or generally help with logistics. If you have had the desire to help us in our work, this is your opportunity! Not only can you volunteer to make this CSA known to others, but you may be able to enjoy a few of our activities as well! If you want to help, call Constance at (831) 763-2340. Thanks in advance!

What's Up on the Farm
The blackberries are in full bloom and some of the early varieties are already filled with green immature berries. Many of the raspberries are starting to show flower buds as well. This year the red and golden raspberries and blackberries which we planted two seasons ago will be in full production, some as early as June. In the fields there is a long procession of weeds to be controlled: pigweed, mustard, mallow, sorrel, bermuda grass and more. I think of the famous Japanese natural farming advocate Fukuoaka, who promotes not doing anything about them, and to just let nature control the outcome of the food production system. But I just can't stand by and watch my freshly sown beets being choked out by an ocean of weeds. Although I know control is only an illusion when it comes to nature, I realize this is what makes life as a farmer an exciting adventure, full of twists and turns. Every season on the farm is a fresh beginning. There are no guarantees of what might happen.


****Attention Scotts Valley pick-up location members: this delivery site is located at a private home which houses a family with 3 beautiful little girls. The family is one of our first CSA families, always a great supporter, and we are very grateful for their continuous enthusiasm for our work. PLEASE respect this family's privacy and quiet time by picking up your share no later than 8pm on Wednesday. All boxes left after 8pm will be taken away and donated to a family in need or a shelter.****


Member to Member Forum
Fellow CSA member Diana Foss reports back to us on how she used up the contents of her box last week. It's just she and her husband, plus their six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter. Here's her story:

"It's safe to say that my son eats nothing at all from the CSA. My daughter eats strawberries in her lunch box and does like raw veggies, but mostly it's plain pasta and quesadillas for her. But we grownups manage to devour the veggies fine on our own. (I'm pretty fanatical about using everything up!)

"Saturday 27 April: The week begins with unpacking the box at pickup. Oooh, lots of strawberries! I'll put the kale, cress, onions and favas together, the spinach with the leeks and green garlic, and the broccoli can stand alone. I'd found a recipe last week for chard gnoc-chi (at recipesource.com, a great site) that called for lots of chard, so last week's chard joins this week's bunch, plus the tops of the beets. The lettuce will be salads, of course.
"I cooked up a storm today, making about 150 chard gnocchi (which went into the freezer) and then a batch of strawberry jam with our extra fruit share. Making jam is really easy; four baskets of strawberries, a package of pectin and 8 1/2 cups of sugar makes 12 half-pint jars of jam better than anything you can buy. Then after all that, I went out for sushi at dinnertime. But the veggies are all ready!

"Sunday 28 April: For lunch, ate leftover borscht made earlier with the last two weeks' worth of beets. Then went out to dinner again. When will these veggies get cooked?!

"Monday 29 April: Looking grim. Una Mas tacos for lunch and plain quesadillas for dinner.

"Tuesday 30 April: Aha! Salad for lunch, with shredded carrot, cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas (all bought elsewhere), but the pickled beets are leftover from last summer's Festival of Beets. Then for dinner a spinach, leek and green garlic gratin. I sautéed the leeks and garlic, sliced into rounds, until soft, then added the washed spinach and stirred until it was wilted and the water evaporated. I browned a chicken breast cut into pieces and put the whole lot into a casserole, topped it with some blobs of ricotta cheese and bread crumbs, then baked at 350 for a half hour. Pretty good. Served two with no leftovers.

"Wednesday 1 May: More borscht for lunch. Last serving left in the fridge. Skipped dinner.

"Thursday 2 May: Got down to business. Another salad for lunch, with the second head of lettuce (and all of the other non-share stuff as described on Tuesday). Then for dinner, pasta with kale, cress and favas. I sautéed the onions until brown, then added the washed kale and cress and cooked until they were very soft. Only half of the favas needed to have their skins removed; I added them at the very end along with several crushed cloves of garlic. Then I tossed the veggies with cooked orichietti and crumbled ricotta salata and a bit of the pasta cooking water.

"Friday 3 May: Leftover pasta for lunch, then Chinese takeout for dinner, due to a nasty cold. That leaves the beets and the broccoli, both of which can stand being left in the fridge.

"Saturday 4 May: Strawberries as big as canned hams! More broccoli! But no beets. This week it will be easy to catch up. I foresee a big salad with the big head of lettuce, a small one for lunch with the other. Broccoli with garlic sauce and crepes with pureed broccoli. Cooked greens and leeks, probably for lunch. And pipián verde with the cilantro and the bag of pepitas I have in my pantry. Maybe some of those chard gnocchi, since more chard didn't appear. And either chocolate beet cake or a pasta filled with roasted beets (also from recipesource.com). Now how many days is that?"

Remember, if you wish to communicate something to the rest of the CSA membership, you may use this forum to do so. To submit something to be included here, please contact the editor (click here) by Monday 10am to get it into the following week’s newsletter.

Q&A
(nothing this week!)
Have a burning question about the farm, organic farming, CSAs, something in your box, or anything you think we can answer, call or email us and we'll see if we can't answer it here!.

Notes from Debbie’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . Have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact the newsletter editor.

How 'bout some arugula ideas? -Debbie.

Arugula Ideas
Although I've seen recipes where it is cooked, hands down I prefer it raw, as a salad green or bedding for cooked meat or fish, pasta or grains. In salads, it pairs nicely with fruit, cheese and nuts. For example, consider making a salad with arugula (washed and spun dry), sliced strawberries, a few thinly sliced rings of spring onions, some crumbled goat cheese, and toasted walnuts. Toss this with a simple balsamic dressing (balsamic and strawberries love each other!!): balsamic vinegar, a dab of dijon mustard, maybe a touch of honey, a light olive or other vegetable oil, and a pinch of salt. A savory alternative: arugula and lettuce, feta and kalamata olives, with a dressing of lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, and lots of minced cilantro (from last week's share!).

*Click Here* for a link to a comprehensive listing of recipes from Live Earth Farm's newsletters going back as far as our 1998 season! You can search for recipes by harvest week OR by key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly.