Category: CSA Newsletters

The Sunny Side – Week of 6/8/14

Leave a comment

The Sunny Side – Week of 6/8/14

In this week’s box, you will find:

June 8 006

 

  • Spinach
  • Baby Lacinato Kale
  • Hakurei Turnips
  • Bok choi
  • Three heads of lettuce
  • Black Turtle Beans (Sunday shares – from Breslin Farms – organic)
  • Strawberries and Rhubarb (Thursday shares – from Mick Klug Farm – he uses sustainable farming practices and integrated pest management in his fields and orchards)

In the Field

Starting in January, one of the things we spend a lot of time doing is planning. We plan the farm budget for the year. We plan the seeding schedule for the field, and the greenhouse schedule. Our planning is based both on our growing experiences from years past, and on many unknowns (How many CSA shares will we sell? How will farmers market traffic be this year? Will it be hot in July and cold in October, or the other way around?).

Continue reading →

The Sunny Side – Week of 6/1/14

1 Comment

The Sunny Side – Week of 6/1/14

Welcome CSA members old and new! In this week’s box, the first of the season, you will find:Image

  • Spinach
  • Baby Red Russian Kale
  • Pea Shoots
  • Oregano
  • Chives and chive flowers
  • Two heads of lettuce
  • Mushrooms (from River Valley Ranch – grown using organic practices)
  • Asparagus (from River Valley Ranch – grown using organic practices)

In the Field

May is a make-or-break month for vegetable farmers in the Midwest. After the flurry of planting and seeding that is March and April, May is the month during which our early crops establish themselves. May can be fickle around here – it can be blistering hot or chill and wet. Any Chicagoan who has lived here long enough can remember a graduation ceremony, wedding, or end-of-the-year picnic that was rendered miserable due to a sticky heat wave or an unseasonable stretch of cold rainy days. And if we think we have it tough, just think about the plants that have to navigate the meteorological rollercoaster that is the Midwestern May.

Continue reading →