CSA Newsletter- Week 1

Good evening All!

This is the first edition of our Farm Newsletter for 2026!! We are happy to welcome our Members for another season of sharing farm fresh goodies every week! We've got a big season ahead and can't wait to show you what's in store for you ;)

Every morning starts the same around here during CSA Harvest Season. I give Ben a honey-do list. Except it's really like a honey-harvest list, haha! We harvest, pack and deliver CSAs for 3 days a week and every day has a different number of shares and different sizes. So I'll give Ben a list for 125 heads of romaine, 5 bushels of kale to bunch, 75 heads of broccoli, for example. Ben has a handful of helpers in the field and I have a handful of helpers in the pack shed. We rinse the produce lightly and then pack the CSAs, load the delivery truck and then I deliver your produce!

The purpose of explaining that was to express how fresh everything is going to be. We don't harvest a week's worth of anything at a time. We harvest what we need each day, and then start the process over the next day. Ultimately, this is what's going to get the best, freshest produce into your kitchen!

Here is a pic of the cauliflower, they're looking great! We're a few weeks away from seeing heads I would guess, but it all depends on the weather we get.

HOW THIS ALL WORKS

We look at the fields and make decisions about what produce to harvest every week for CSAs. Ben & I will take a field walk together and discuss how things are looking, what's ready for this week and what we have to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Then I send you this dandy newsletter every week on Friday with the list of crops that you can expect the following week. As you can imagine, it's not always 100% accurate, though we are pretty darn good at predicting what we'll be harvesting! For our NEW Members, I want to give you an idea of what to expect this summer. The harvest season is broken down into 3 sub-seasons basically. The spring is for the leafy greens and delicate crops like snap peas, the summer is for the hearty rockstars- tomatoes, melons, peppers, cukes, etc. and then in the fall you'll see a lot of root crops, dried onions, winter squash, apples, etc.

Certain crops grow best in certain circumstances. For example, we'll start the season with quite a few lettuces that you'll be seeing over the next few of weeks! These are so healthy and fun to grow- but they're also pretty delicate. They don't like the heat; they get bitter if they're grown mid-summer. So we grow them in the spring to open up our harvest season- and we only have a few weeks with them all season! There are greens that we intentionally grow all season long, the swiss chard and kale are both greens that are nutrient dense but their flavor/ value doesn't diminish when it gets hot outside. So you'll still see fresh greens, but the heads of lettuce are special for the early season.

I'm sharing this so you know why we get so excited for certain parts of the season; some of these varieties are here and gone sooner than we're ready for!

HOUSEKEEPING

To make sure the season goes smoothly, I have a couple reminders! Most of this is in the CSA Share Member Handbook that you should have received yesterday.

1. The boxes are on a rotation, so when you pick up a box you need to bring back your empty box from the week before. This first week you won't have a box to return, of course, so you're welcome to just take the box and bring it back the following week when you pick up your full box. Some people bring reusable bags and empty their CSA contents into their bags and leave their boxes at the site. However you want to do it is great, we just need to have one of your boxes back every week.

2. Your name is on your CSA Share box. This is to make pick up easy and safe. Easy because you just look for your name and grab your box (there is no sign-out sheet!). And it's actually just another food safety precaution to make sure that you're getting your boxes to use every week.

3. Please do not pull into the driveway at our hosts' homes. There are exceptions to this, for example here at the farm where we live, you have to pull into the driveway. If your site has an exception, it'll be in the section of the handbook titled "What to expect on your first pick up". If you are handicapped and require special accommodations please let me know and I can communicate that with the hosts. If this doesn't apply to you, please park on the street and walk up the driveway. This is in an effort to make sure we don't block our hosts from getting into their driveway or out of their garage, for example.

4. Please make sure to pick up within the time frame your site has assigned. If you don’t pick up in that time frame your CSA is considered forfeited, unless you make arrangements with me in advance, in which case we’re happy to help communicate that with your host! If you’re looking for your pickup time frame, it’ll be in your handbook at the top of the second page.

The lettuces are growing nicely! All of the lettuces are planted together this season and they're growing nicely. We've had good hot weather to start the season and more recently, plenty of rainfall. We also have irrigation on all of our crops as back up in case of drought. We try to plan for every condition as best as we can because you never know what kind of weather you'll have during the season!

CSAs are our specialty for many reasons. Most notably because it's an efficient way to plan our fields and be able to produce the maximum yields during our fairly short MN growing season!

We plan our entire season around your CSAs and we seed in accordance to when we want to harvest. Every year we reflect on the season and make little updates for the following season. For example, updated quantities of seeds, new varieties or changes in the planting dates. This year we have some fun new varieties we're growing like our orange cauliflower and gold tomatoes! We'll talk more about those soon ;)

You'll notice that we offer 3 sizes of CSAs. The Single Share is the smallest portion, then there is the Family Share and then the Jumbo Share (which is exactly 2x the Family Share). Not every share size will get the same varieties of produce every week. Just like everything else on our farm: there is a good reason for it. We plan this way so that some varieties that are not super uniform can be harvested at ideal sizes. Meaning- if we cut 400 heads of broccoli this week, there would be smaller ones mixed in. If we cut 200 heads of broccoli this week and 200 next week, they'd all be at market size (because the smaller ones had one extra week to grow). I keep very meticulous records on what goes into your CSA- even down to the detail of what color the zucchini is that you're getting on a particular week. We do this to make sure that everyone, no matter what CSA size, will see ALL of the varieties we grow throughout the season.

This might be too much information for you- but it's just my style because I am a very curious person. I ask a lot of questions, not to undermine but to understand better. And I share all of that with you because I imagine you're equally curious about the CSA Farm you've committed to this summer 👨‍🌾👩‍🌾

Green beans already have flowers on them!! The only problem was tonight when I took this picture we were walking around the fields and noticed some deer sign on the quiet side of the field by the swamp, so we'll need to get electrical fencing up tomorrow on the beans and lettuces. Don't worry, we have lots of fencing!!

FARM TO TABLE HANDBOOK

This is a dandy. It's the handbook that will show you every variety we grow, explain how we enjoy using it, giving you some inspiration and also talking about how to store your produce so that it stays nice. *Even tips on how to revive produce if your green beans get soft after being in the fridge for too long, for example. I have spent years compiling tips and tricks from my own kitchen & others from what I read online and learn from friends. I hope you enjoy!!

Farm to Table Storage Guide.pdf

Download PDF • 3.86MB

This link will also be at the bottom of every email you get, starting next week. We want this to be easy for you to access this info, I hope you enjoy!!

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN YOUR CSA SHARES:

This is where you'll come every week to see what you are getting in your boxes. If you're in a hurry and you want to skip right to the point- this will always be a bolded section after the "what's going on around the farm" part of my newsletter!! The Jumbo and Family Shares always receive the same varieties. The Jumbo Shares get 2x everything that is in the Family Share.

The Single Shares don't always get exactly what the Family & Jumbo Shares receive. We often alternate varieties, for example this week all of our Jumbo/Family Share Members get Kale & the Single Share Members will get Swiss Chard. Then the following week the varieties are flip flopped and the Single Shares get Kale, and the Jumbo & Family Share Members will get Swiss Chard. The portion sizes in the Single Shares are smaller too, that's how we designed it- so that it's an appropriate amount of produce for 1-2 people.

JUMBO & FAMILY SHARES: Rhubarb, Radishes, Red Buttercrunch, Green Romaine, Kohlrabi, Kale!

SINGLE SHARES: Rhubarb, Radishes, Red Buttercrunch, Green Romaine, Kohlrabi & Swiss Chard!

Lettuces

Let's start by talking about the lettuces and greens. Most folks aren't used to getting them literally straight out of the field. We rinse them to cool them down and then pack them into your shares. That being said, they will come with some dirt. They're not dirty but they do have residual dirt around the base of the leaves.

At this time of year you'll be getting greens every week for a few weeks, so I'd suggest micro-prepping because it just makes it that much easier to use during the week when we're all so busy.

Have you ever stood in the fridge with the door open? Think of reaching for a baggie with washed/prepped lettuce vs a head of lettuce you need to wash..

***Biggest tip I can give you this season is to care for all the produce you get right away. Don't leave the box on the ground in the entry way for a couple of days... it certainly won't look like the produce we harvested for you.

I cut a couple heads for salads, the lettuces look great!!

To prep the lettuces and greens I always start with a clean sink that I rinsed out wish dish soap. I have a clean dish towel to the side of the sink ready for the fresh goodies! I start by running water into the sink and then carefully breaking off the leaves from the head, one at a time. Discard the core. As the sink is filling up with water I start rinsing the leaves individually. Make sure you're running your fingers along the center rib and all over the leaves through the creases so that there isn't any hidden dirt. Rinse under running water and then lay out your lettuce and greens on your clean dish towel or paper towels.

When they've dripped dry as much as possible, add a paper towel to the bottom of a plastic baggie and put your greens in there. If you have a lot of greens, I suggest adding a couple paper towels throughout. You don't need them to be 100% dry!! But you also don't want a lot of residual moisture sitting on the leaves at the bottom because it'll make it deteriorate faster.

Please keep in mind that these greens are the way nature intended them; they're not sprayed with anything. We will remove leaves that have damage, but if you see a spot that we missed, simply cut away that bit.

KALE

Some people love it and others don't like it- but with a CSA you're going to see a variety throughout the season. I personally like doing chilled salads with kale shreds broken up, or mixing it in with a salad and other greens because I don't really like eating a straight kale salad. Cooking it is really good too- I'll add a recipe for a kale dip to the email! You could also try adding it to a stir fry or to your scrambled eggs/ or a hot dish.

The first time I tried kale chips, I wasn't impressed. Word to the wise Make sure you're massaging the leaves with a little bit of olive oil. It sounds silly and you're probably thinking, well, why can't I just toss them in olive oil, right? By massaging the kale you're getting it into all the little cracks and crevices, and hence you will get the texture you're hoping for. (Without having too much oil- because that takes away from the texture). It'll turn out nice and crispy throughout! I didn't do it right the first time but I'm glad I gave them a second chance, they're so good!!

Rhubarb

This is a seasonal treat that you will see one time.. This is it!! It's a cooler weather crop that everyone in MN knows about. If you haven't used it yet- I highly suggest making a dessert with it. The most characteristic feature of Rhubarb (in Minnesota at least) is that we can't help ourselves but to douse it in sugar. Though I do recognize that Rhubarb crisp is the most popular recipe for a reason!! 😉

Check out the recipe for the rhubarb cake that I added to the email!

Fun fact about rhubarb- the leaves are POISONOUS. You read that right. The leaves are poisonous, so we cut the greens off and we're left with the nice red thick stems. The leaves have a high amount of oxalic acid that can lead to difficulty breathing, nausea and even kidney stones. Word to the wise, if you see rhubarb when out and about walking your furry friends, make sure they don't browse on any leaves!

Kohlrabi, nice and wet after the downpour we had this afternoon!

Kohlrabi Every year I get an email asking what these alien looking vegetables are, haha! This is one of the most versatile vegetables that we grow in my opinion.

When using your kohlrabi, peel the outside layer off with a paring knife. Then you can cut them into sticks and use with a veggie tray, or cut into smaller matchstick-sized-pieces and put it on top of your salad for a nice crunch! One of our favorite ways to use kohlrabi is shredding it and making fritters. It's been so long since we've made fritters, I'm very excited for these!!

It sounds intimidating if you've never made them, but just think vegetable meatball, haha. It's just shredded kohlrabi, egg, bread crumb and some seasonings basically.

The leaves are porous, they kinda remind me of spinach. They're edible and for those of you who are feeling ambitious: rinse the leaves good and then fold the leaves in half and cut the center stem/rib out just like the more mature kale leaves. The stems are edible and could be used in a stirfry but I wouldn't add them right into a salad unless you dice them small because they can be tough. Use the leaves anyway that you would use kale.

This same technique where you cut out the center rib should also be applied to kale if it's larger leaves. Smaller kale doesn't have a firm/tough center rib, so there is no need to cut it out. I was just out in the field and the kale that we have for you in this early season is nice and tender!!

Zucchini Babies!!! I had to add this picture to the post here so that you could see these, they are the cutest zucchini I've ever seen!!!! Look at the size of my fingernail next to them. I can't get over how small they are. It looks like Dad's bees are doing their job well and pollenating the fields!

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US THIS SEASON!!

We've got a big season planned and we're so happy you're here for it!!

I'm sure you already know this, but we don't even go to farmers markets. We might be the only produce, pork, and chicken farm in Minnesota that doesn't!

Instead, we focus all of our energy on our CSA Members and our Farm Stand. We are excited to set up again at Hudson's Hardware Hank in Zimmerman again this season and look forward to sharing more about that when it's closer. Farmer Ben runs the stand himself, so if you've ever wanted to meet the guy growing your food, that's your chance. He's pretty great 😉

Our entire farm is built around serving our CSA Members & Farm Stand customers, and we hope that shows in the quality of the produce, the weekly communication, and the enthusiasm we have for sharing all these farm-fresh goodies with you throughout the season.

There is absolutely no way I can fit everything I want to tell you into one newsletter. I hope you'll come back next week to read a little more about the crops you'll be seeing in your kitchen very soon!

We're looking forward to a great first week of CSA deliveries and are hoping you all enjoy the varieties we're harvesting for you this week!!

Chat soon!

~The Farmer's Wife