Howdy folks and welcome to week two of your Tumbleweed CSA share. We've got a few repeat offenders this week along with some new items as well! We love this seasonal way of eating and hope you enjoy the fresh flavors of the farm. It's looking like next week there will be spinach and carrots making their seasonal debut (weather and predator permitting) but fingers crossed for a smooth and uneventful week.

Out in the fields we experienced our first true heatwave of the year. Multiple days in the 90's made for some toasty afternoons spent in the dirt. We're working hard to stay on top of irrigation and that alone is turning into a full time job. Taylor has a reminder on his phone that goes off every hour and then it's time to go and move all 8 lines to a new spot. Luckily, we're due for a few raindrops on Thursday so hopefully we'll get a break from watering. Aside from the heat, we're really happy with how the majority of the crops are looking. We've got thousands of lettuce heads in the fields (they look like a quilt they're so beautiful out there!) along with newly transplanted corn, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, chard, beans, and celery. We're still really bummed that the root maggots devastated our first broccoli planting but we're moving on and excited to harvest what's cranking out there! We we're lucky enough to have some good friends swing by the farm on Sunday to help weed the onions and prep beds for the remainder of the squash, cucumber, melon and eggplants that need transplanting. We are continuing to spread compost and fertilizer over the new sections of the field that are getting ready for plants and in about a month the entire farm will be in production! And speaking of fertilizer.... We used to spread fertilizer by hand (hundreds of wheelbarrow trips and lots of shovel flicking) and this year we finally invested in a fertilizer spreader for the tractor. I literally cried tears of joy when we took her out for a spin. What would have normally taken us 8 hours of work can now be done in about 20 minutes. Feels good to invest in equipment that will save our backs (and sanity) for years to come.

Anyhow, that's about all the news from the fields this week. If you're in the neighborhood this weekend we'll be at the Hood River Farmers market from 9-1pm. All CSA members get a 10 percent discount on additional items so if you're extra hungry you know where to find us! We're also in really good company at the market if you need some grass-fed organic meats, organic raw cheeses, mushrooms, bread, eggs, kombucha, lot's of fermented foods and more! Oh yeah...and plenty of breweries close by!

We hope you enjoy this weeks harvest. I'm the most excited for everyone who is new to the CSA this year to try Tumbleweed Farm turnips. Before cooking with them just slice one thinly and take a bite. They are delicious! There's also some mustard greens making their seasonal debut and we love putting them on sandwiches or burgers instead of traditional lettuce for a very mustardy bite. You can also make a killer pesto out of the mustard greens as well. We're also really into simple mizuna salads (just tossing the greens with olive oil, lemon juice and flakey sea salt.) As with all of the veggies you'll be getting this season I always recommend trying a bite of everything raw first and then deciding if you're going to cook with them. And as always, if you're stumped on what to make this week I've got recipes suggestions below.

Cheers to the harvest!

Your farmers,
A & T

Harvest 2

Bok Choy (store in a plastic bag in the fridge)
Mustard Greens (store in a plastic bag in the fridge)
Mizuna (store in a plastic bag in the fridge)
Green Garlic (store in a plastic bag in the fridge)
Beets (remove the greens and store the roots and greens separately in the fridge)
Turnips (same as above)
Radishes (same as above)

Recipe Suggestions

Grilled Bok Choy with Breadcrumbs, Parmesan, Parsley and Lemon

Turnip Salad with Yogurt and Poppy Seeds

Turnip Salad with Yogurt, Herbs & Poppy Seeds

Mustard Greens with Balsamic Glazed Chickpeas (this recipe calls for two bunches of mustard greens so either halve the recipe or add the bunch of mizuna to this dish!)