Week 3 - Succulent Strawberries

Thanks for your patience, everyone! I meant to get this post up on Thursday, but this week has been insane! We are finally starting to hit a little bit of a stride for the season, and have gotten several important projects done around the farm this week. Shout-out to our friends at Chrysalis Earth farm, who came to play with Bryer so that Barry and I could work on a few projects together. It's really astonishing how much faster things get accomplished with two sets of hands, rather than just one.

We're excited to announce that we've secured a building that we'll be able to use as a walk-in cooler to store our produce this summer! This is a huge milestone for a small farm. We'll be able to harvest our produce at the ideal time, and keep it fresh for much longer! Last year, we worked from sunrise until well after dark harvesting, washing, weighing and bunching on Fridays, because there was no way for us to keep anything cold longer than 24 hours. We're looking forward to  being able to plan our harvest in much more reasonable work hours.

Speaking of freshness, wow! We have been finishing up the last of our greens from week 1 over the last couple of days! It's amazing how much longer the shelf life is on fresh produce, when it travels such a short distance from the farm to your table. 

Some update pictures for the week for you to enjoy:

The sage is really taking off! 

Our German winter thyme is loving it's new permanent spot. It'll be a little while yet before it's big enough to cut, but it's coming along nicely!

So many strawberries. We have five beds, and three different varieties this year, and our Earliglows are putting out the most wonderful, juicy strawberries.

Artichokes are really starting to grow, finally! I've got my fingers crossed that we'll see at least a few artichokes worthy of eating late this summer.

A baby safari squash. Next week or the week after, you'll start seeing summer squash in your shares. 

Squash flower. So pretty! (And so tasty!)

A new plant for us this year. This plant is known by several different names: Cucamelon, Mexican Sour Gherkin, or Mouse Melon. This things are so mind-blowingly tiny! You can see in the picture below how small the immature fruit are. When they're ready, they'll be an inch or less.

And of course full-size cucumbers, as well!

This week in your shares, you will receive: strawberries, radishes, salad mix, and romaine lettuce.

I have one recipe to share with you, for a classic strawberry shortcake. This recipe makes 6 biscuits. Strawberry shortcake is one of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy fresh strawberries. I like to enjoy mine with a drizzle of honey, and a splash of cream. Barry likes his with milk. What do you like to serve your shortcake with?

Please remember to bring back your tote bags, if you still have them!