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Week 12 from Valley Flora!

Beet Box -

Week 12 from Valley Flora! Sweet Corn On the Way!
Thanks for eating locally from our family farm!
View this email in your browser
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What's Cookin' at the Farm...
  • Onion Harvest!
  • August Corn!
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What's In Your Share This Week:*
  • Walla Walla Sweet Onions
  • Cucumbers
  • Head Lettuce
  • Strawberries
  • Carrots
  • Rainbow Chard
  • Tomatoes
  • Hot Peppers
  • Zucchini
On Rotation:
(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)
  • Eggplant
  • Heirloom Tomatoes
  • Romano Green Beans
  • Sweet Corn
*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What might be in your share next week...
  • Red Onions
  • Green Beans, on rotation
  • Carrots
  • Cucumbers
  • Beets
  • Lettuce
  • Sweet Corn, on rotation
  • Strawberries
  • Zucchini
  • Tomatoes
  • Eggplant
  • Parsley
  • Potatoes
Onion Harvest!
These past two Wednesdays Roberto has been up to his elbows in onions. Our main crops of red and yellow storage onions, plus our shallots, started showing signs of full maturity last week: most obviously, the tops have keeled over and the bulbs have reached maximum rotundness. That's our cue to start pulling the onions so the curing process can begin. In the past we made long onion windrows on the bedtops where they could fully dry down in the field, but after one-too-many unexpected August rains we switched our strategy and started curing our onions in our propagation greenhouse. The greenhouse is mostly emptied out at this time of year leaving lots of vacant table space that's perfect for the curing process. Our new prop house is the ideal spot: it has great air circulation, retractable shade cloth that keeps the onions from getting too hot or sunburned, and is right next door to the packout and storage barn.

Once the tops are fully dried down we'll begin the process of cleaning all of the onions: trimming roots and tops and packing them into standard weight bins. It's the first thing to begin filling our fall/winter treasure chest of important storage crops. Squash and potatoes are not too far on their heels; soon the barn will be bulging at the seams and many tons heavier.
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August Corn!
The first elotes - ears of sweet corn - are making their way into some of the Harvest Baskets this week. I gotta say, that first bite of fresh corn is really hard to beat. I made an improvised meal of sauteed eggplant, zucchini, fennel, Walla Wallas, tomatoes and basil the other night, accompanied by the first ears of steamed corn and a pan of fried padron peppers. We sat around the table ruining a stick of butter with our corn, savoring and marveling and uttering our gratitude for August and all that it gives.

If you don't get corn this week, don't worry, it's coming soon. This first planting is slightly uneven and staggered, and because it's an early variety the ears are a bit smaller than they'll be in the coming weeks. It is sweeeeeet though! Enjoy!
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The Farmstand is Open for Summer Hours!
 
Every Wednesday & Saturday (rain or shine)
9 am to 2 pm

Fresh Produce
U-Pick Strawberries & Flowers
Homemade Jam & Hot Sauce

Please bring your own bags and u-pick containers!

Directions to the Farm
For Recipes & Cooking Inspiration:
 
Valley Flora Recipe Wizard
Our own collection of recipes gathered over the years.
 
Epicurious
A vast collection of recipes, searchable by one or multiple ingredients
 
Full Belly Farm
Recipes from one of my favorite farms in California, pioneers of the organic movement since the 80s.

Farm Fresh to You
A storehouse of recipes, searchable by ingredient.
 
Helsing Junction Farm
A Washington farm that has a good collection of seasonal recipes geared toward CSA members.
Copyright © 2019 Valley Flora, All rights reserved.


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Week 11 from Valley Flora!

Beet Box -

Week 11 from Valley Flora! Potatoes are Here!
Thanks for eating locally from our family farm!
View this email in your browser
-->



What's Cookin' at the Farm...
  • New Potatoes
  • Tamales this Week
  • Bee Heaven
  • U-Pick Strawberries at their Best!
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What's In Your Share This Week:*
  • Walla Walla Sweet Onions
  • Cucumbers
  • Head Lettuce
  • Strawberries
  • New Potatoes
  • Rainbow Carrots
  • Tomatoes
  • Kale
  • Zucchini
On Rotation:
(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)
  • Eggplant
  • Heirloom Tomatoes
  • Romano Green Beans
*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What might be in your share next week...
  • Onions
  • Green Beans, on rotation
  • Carrots
  • Cucumbers
  • Chard?
  • Lettuce
  • Sweet Corn?
  • Strawberries
  • Zucchini
  • Tomatoes
  • Eggplant
New Potatoes
The first spuds are showing up in your tote this week, an early red variety that are still "new," meaning their skins haven't set yet. New potatoes are noticeably juicier  and tender and should be stored in a plastic bag in your fridge. They'll keep for at least a few weeks there, but aren't meant for long-term storage.

Meanwhile, the rest of the spud patch is done flowering and all those tubers are busy fattening up for fall harvest. We'll dig the majority of our potatoes in September and October once the plants have died back and the skins have cured. You'll see potatoes in your share every few weeks from now until December, and for those of you who do the Winter CSA with us we'll have potatoes for you well into spring.
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Tamales this Week!
Tamales Shares are going out to all pick-up sites this week in marked blue coolers. If you are a tamale member, remember to check the tags on each bag and make sure you are taking home the dozen labeled just for YOU! ¡Buen aprovecho!
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Bee Heaven
Don't take this the wrong way but my highest passion is not growing food for all you humans; it's growing food for bees and our soil. :)

This summer we have almost an acre planted to Buckwheat (a quick-growing, drought-hardy, warm-weather annual with white flowers - yes the same buckwheat you make pancakes out of) and Phacelia (a lacy-leaved annual with striking spikes of purple flowers). Both of them are fantastic forage crops for bees and other beneficial insects and for the past five weeks I've been eagerly anticipating this moment when both are in full bloom. The field is a swath of lavender and white right now, but even more striking is the hum - the literal vibration - coming from that acre. The bees - and lots of other insects, too - are having a flower feast fit for a king.

It will be a short-lived party, unfortunately, because I have to transition the field into another cover crop in the next few days. But for this moment it's a sight and a sound to behold - and take lots of pictures of!
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Strawberry U-Pick at its Best!
Mama Mia, the strawberries! It's that moment in our berry season when they are abundantly abundant, deep deep red, holy smokes sweet, and the early summer crowds have thinned out! This past couple of weeks there have been ample strawberries from open to close on Wednesdays and Saturdays so you can enjoy a leisurely pick and maybe even take a nap in the clover while you're out there :)...

If you've been waiting, this is what you've been waiting for. Please remember to bring your own containers to take your berries home in. We have picking buckets but are always short on boxes.
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The Farmstand is Open for Summer Hours!
 
Every Wednesday & Saturday (rain or shine)
9 am to 2 pm

Fresh Produce
U-Pick Strawberries & Flowers
Homemade Jam & Hot Sauce

Please bring your own bags and u-pick containers!

Directions to the Farm
For Recipes & Cooking Inspiration:
 
Valley Flora Recipe Wizard
Our own collection of recipes gathered over the years.
 
Epicurious
A vast collection of recipes, searchable by one or multiple ingredients
 
Full Belly Farm
Recipes from one of my favorite farms in California, pioneers of the organic movement since the 80s.

Farm Fresh to You
A storehouse of recipes, searchable by ingredient.
 
Helsing Junction Farm
A Washington farm that has a good collection of seasonal recipes geared toward CSA members.
Copyright © 2019 Valley Flora, All rights reserved.


unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

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