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Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spinach, Cilantro, Sugar Snap Peas, Huckleberry Gold Potatoes, Sunflowers Maybe Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Thai Basil, Lemon Basil and/or Tomatoes This week our long time employee (we consider her family!) volunteered to write the newsletter! Many of you know Emily from our markets, she has done every job on the farm and we are so grateful to work with her. Hello all you lovely Cosmic members! This is Emily, a Cosmic Apple employee for over 10 years. I met Dale at an Earth Fair event in Victor in the spring of 2008 and signed on for a workshare that summer. I was put on a waitlist and luckily scored a Friday shift! I have inserted myself into the farm ever since, starting as a full time employee in 2009. Jed and Dale didn’t know what they were getting into, however, and honestly neither did I. I had found my place, my people, my passion. I latched on to their business, their lifestyle and their growing family with intense adoration, curiosity and loyalty. I watched and participated as the farm evolved and grew, as gardens and pastures rotated, animals gave birth and plants died as the winter came around the corner. I watched many volunteers come and go, some who did multiple seasons and became strong workers. I watched three beautiful children being raised on the farm, all of whom I consider my peers. I watched myself grapple with growing pains and personal development. Winter tea time at the family’s home became such an important part of my relationship with the Cosmic Apple as we finally had time to check in with our friendships, our extended families and our personal growth. When my brother suddenly passed away a few years ago and I was so far from my family, it was Jed and Dale and the Cosmic Apple Gardens themselves who provided a safe place to scream, cry, process all of the emotions and eventually find beauty in death. All in all, when Jed and Dale hired me I had no idea how deep my relationship would be with this amazing business and the folks who created it. There are many obvious benefits of eating local, organic and biodynamic food as far as nutrition and personal wellness go. I have witnessed this first hand for the last 13 years in my own body. What I did not expect but have seen blossom over time is the mental, spiritual and emotional benefits. I learned how to grow my own garden and am so honored that our plant sales in the spring and our passion for teaching others to grow their own food is such a big part of this farm. I watch new life bloom in the spring, bountiful harvests in the summer and the letting go in the fall. I have watched and worked with Jed and Dale, two of the most passionate people I have ever met in my life. And you, the Cosmic members, benefit from all of this because we care so deeply about your health. We put our love, our life into your food. It is so beautiful!!! And now I am bringing a new life into this world. I feel so lucky and grateful that this baby has been with me this season, growing inside of me and being nourished with all the goodness that comes with life at the Cosmic Apple. Thank you for making my life’s passion possible by supporting Jed and Dale and their mission to grow food with the highest life force possible. They are truly amazing. And so are all of you! Lunch this Week: Peruvian Quinoa Stew and Burritos with Idaho Salsa
Recipe Ideas: Honey Roasted Potatoes, Sesame Roasted Snap Peas The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Lifeline Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com
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Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Arugula, Spinach, Tomatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, Basil, Summer Squash, Cucumbers (Slicer or Picklers), Maybe Sunflowers, Beans and/or Radishes I have toyed over the years with writing this newsletter. I try to keep it positive here...teetering on romantic, but maybe you could hear the exhaustion in my voice last week. So I am going for it. Farming is hard. Really freaking hard. 4 o'clock in the morning trying to save a cow's life hard. Not enough time in the day to play with my kids hard. What are vacations? Type of hard. No one has time to cook dinner with all these amazing veggies hard. Jed works 95 hours a week. Seriously. I just did the math. Not for a week or two, here and there. But sustained for about 6 months. Then he works about half of that in the winter. Outside. I manage to work enough for it to be a full time job, with 3 kids and no childcare...so the kids choose to stay home or join in now that they are older. When they were young they just came with us and it was great...most of the time. We don't do it for the money. The return on farming is a joke. We are lucky enough to live in Teton Valley but can not afford to build a very modest family home at the farm, so we drive back and forth. Our money is not spent on traveling. The last time we were all away from the farm together on "vacation" was for 3 nights in 2019. We have managed to go camping in the summer once for 2 nights and there was that family wedding in August of 2009 when we left for 4 nights. I'm serious, that's it for summer vacations in 20 years. We went on a 2 week family visit in 2013 in February, just so the kids could go to their grandparent's houses. Leaving is darn near impossible with the animals and plants to take care of. If we leave and something gets missed, someone or something can die, which can instantly wipe out years or months of work. Jed and I take turns taking vacations in the winter so we can get some time off, that way one of us can stay to take care of the farm. I think our kids would like us all to be together. For all the love, blood, sweat and literal tears that we put into growing food we still need to make a living. We go to the markets and people complain about the cost of our food. How much do you think we should make an hour? I figure we make about $12.82/hour. Would you work at a job for 25 years if that was your prospect? There are reasons young people are not getting into farming. The ability to make a living is one of them. The weeds. OMG the damn weeds. We need to double our payroll just to take care of them, and that is unaffordable. I am not telling you all this so you send me sweet emails letting me know how much you appreciate what we do. So many of you have already taken the time to do that. We feel the love and gratitude you share, and yes it keeps us going. We want our community to know how hard it is, just like we want to know your hardships, because we are community. We want folks to stop rolling their eyes about the cost of food after they just stood in line at the market talking about the next vacation they are taking or where they just returned from. We know our food costs more. It is not subsidized. We aren't using chemicals to save labor on weeding. We want to pay our employees enough that they can live here. The farming system in this country needs to burn down and be rebuilt. We know this is not your fault. In fact we know you are part of the solution, because you are here. Supporting us. Reading this. Listening. Thank you. So why am I writing this totally depressing newsletter? We just need you to know. We need you to know how hard it is. How messed up it is. How much it needs to change. We need you to set your friends straight when they say food is expensive. Yes, it is. That's what it costs, and it should cost a heck of a lot more, but we don't want our food to be completely inaccessible so we try to find a balanced point. But most folks spend more on their phones per year they they do supporting local farmers. We know lots of you are struggling to make ends meet and to keep your housing. Thanks for making us part of your tight budget. We also know so many folks are in much harder situations then us. But like I said, we just need people to know the reality of what we are doing. We just want you to know. We work more then most, for way less money then most, with more passion and commitment then most. We are dedicated and will keep going and there is still nothing else we would rather do. Thank you for listening and supporting us. Lunch this Week: Summer Saute' and Farm Curry (both on the summer Squash page)
Recipe Ideas: Idaho Salsa (cucumber page), Dale's Basil Vinaigrette, The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Lifeline Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Spinach, Sugar Snap Peas, Kale, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Tomatoes and Maybe Radish, Sunflowers, Romaine Lettuce, and/or Bok Choy We may have had a record summer squash harvest. They were heavy and there are a lot of them! Helpful hint...summer squash is the easiest veggie to freeze for the winter. Just grate it in your food processor and then freeze in bags in proportioned sizes. Shredded frozen squash makes great zucchini cakes in the middle of winter. You can also make zucchini bread and easily freeze that! If you need some Reggae inspiration (don't we all!) and a great song about Cucumbers, please check this out! https://youtu.be/lL42O2p1nx8 We are in the "dog days of summer". As farmers we just keep our heads down and keep going. It is exhausting. I never want to wish summer away, but it always easy to see how working at this pace is not sustainable. We have our organic inspection on Wednesday of this week. There is so much going on I am keeping the newsletter short! Lunch this Week: Summer Squash Tomato Stew over Quinoa, Curried Zucchini Soup over Rice
Recipe Ideas: Kale Tomato Brown Rice Bowls, Kale with Bacon The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Lifeline Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Arugula, Spinach, Basil, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Bok Choy, maybe Fennel, Sunflowers, Green Beans, Shell Peas, Sugar Snaps and/or Head Lettuce (Red or Green Curly Leaf) One of the principles of Biodynamic farming is that our fertility is created on farm. This lessens our dependency on outside sources and creates a more closed loop farm system. Our compost is created by our animals. Even though we are all in it for the veggies our critters are an integral part of our farm plan. So here is a who's who of our livestock right now... We currently have a bull who has done his duty. He is the proud father of 3 calves with 4 more on the way. It is time for him to head to the butcher or within a month he will be able to impregnate his daughters...and we all know that is a no-no! The Mama cows are Annie, Ms. Moo Moo Face, Bertha, Solstice (a.k.a. Soley) and Red Rosie. The calves on farm right now are Frankie, Star and Penguin. We believe Annie will calve sometime this month and another round of hopefully 3 calves will be born in February. We have a lot of pigs right now, after an unplanned hiatus because the breeding stock was doing anything but breeding! We have a batch of teenagers who were purchased from other farms at a really young age. There are 6 of them. They are about 5-6 months old and will be processed around 8 months of age. Our new sow, Shorty, had a litter of 8 piglets . Proud Papa Luther is also new to the farm and will be around for a while. We hope Shorty and Luther enjoy each other's company! They were only able to hang out for a couple months together before Shorty had to be separated for birthing. She arrived pregnant...So Luther is currently playing step-Dad. This newsletter was inspired by our new laying flock. We have 80 chicks who are about a week old. They will start laying in early December...just in time for our winter markets. We still have 23 chickens from last summer's flock who are out on pasture. They scratch up an area and are then moved. They create the most amazing green grass where ever they have been. Even though they do absolutely nothing for the farm's fertile soils we have 2 excellent mousers, Zedd and Dumbledore. And of course I need to mention the official greeter of the farm, Cosmo! Lunch this Week: Polenta with sautéed summer squash on a bed of arugula with tomato balsamic reduction. Pita pockets with Tajiki, Cosmic Mix and toasted walnuts.
Recipe Ideas: Bok Choy, Spinach, Ginger Soup; Summer Squash Ribbons; Sautéed Summer Squash and Feta The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Lifeline Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Summer Squash, Tomato, Basil, Fresh Garlic, Collards, Bok Choy, Arugula and Maybe Sunflowers Monday was Lammas, a holiday marking the beginning of the harvest season. It is the mid-point between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox. It is a time to pause and evaluate how we are doing with the things we have sown for the year. What still needs to be tended to, what can we celebrate as a success, what have we already let go of and what work is ahead to prepare for the return of fall? On the seasonal wheel, we are closer to fall then the other seasons. Luckily we still have so many more "summer" crops to enjoy! We started the garlic harvest on this special day this year! The whole crop will be brought out of the field and into a shed to dry and cure so it will store well for the winter. About a third of it will be saved for seed for next year's crop. We started pulling it and piling it. Then the downpour came. We will continue Tuesday afternoon until it is done. This is the time of year we dream about when we are ordering seeds mid-winter. The garden is beginning to burst with all we imagined. The squash is still going strong and the sunflowers are beginning to bloom. A share with tomato, basil, fresh garlic and summer squash is the height of summer for me! The garlic going out today has not cured yet...or dried down. Notice when you open it the "paper" is still moist. The layer closest to the clove is still more vegetable and less paper. Savor the juiciness of the garlic! It is at it's peak of freshness, flavor and potency. We received the gift of rain this past week. The garden feels moist and lovely. We have been told by our irrigation company that we are now "on turns for water". As of now we are able to water for 3 days and then take 1 day off. While this rotation is not ideal, we will be able to manage just fine, especially with the recent precipitation. Lunch this Week: Gazpacho Soup with roasted summer Squash, Polenta with a tomato, balsamic reduction and sautéed summer squash
Recipe Ideas: Bruschetta, Garlicky Tomato Dressing, Collard Wraps, Tomato, Zucchini, Basil Boats The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Tri-Tip Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Arugula, Tomatoes, Summer Squash and Winter Savory Taking a break with the greens was the right call last week. They look big and plentiful this week. Monday was a record arugula harvest. Setting harvest records is always fun. It puts it in perspective when you think there is a lot of something as you are picking it, but when Jed looks at the records and can confirm it was "the most ever!", all that work feels a little extra special. I am grateful the harvest crew got to see how satisfying cutting greens can be. The summer squash is on. The plants will keep cranking out fruits almost as quickly as we can find and harvest them. We plan on having these beauties every week until it freezes, or the plants slow down. Sometimes they get stressed from smoke or cold and slow down a bit...but by then we are almost ready for a tiny break! And then they come back! Please note that all summer squash can be used interchangeably. Yes, you can use the round yellow patty pan for zucchini bread or the oblong green Magda for a recipe calling for patty pan. The flavors are so subtly different it is fine to trade them out in any recipe. Sometimes I just pick mine based on what color I feel like adding to a dish. Add two types of summer squash to a dish and perform a taste test! Winter Savory! Okay...it is new to me also. I don't have a recipe page for it yet. But my quick search and tastings of it let me know it is great for all bean dishes, it tastes a little bit like thyme and is quite peppery. It would be wonderful with chicken or in chicken soup. Like all herbs in this climate it will dry perfectly for winter use if you are not going through it quickly. (herb drying tips on the oregano page) Lunch this Week: Chili Mint stir fry with Tempeh or Round Steak. Over a bed of arugula and tomatoes.
Recipe Ideas: Summer Veggie Tian (sub savory for thyme, under the summer squash page), Summer Squash Boats (also sub savory for oregano), Italian Arugula Salad, Farmer Breakfast: Egg fried in lard/butter on a bed of arugula with diced fermented jalapenos and rice vinegar. Truck Driver needed! We still need a delivery driver. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Or Tuesday or Thursday! 2 days a week or just one! 3-9 ish. If you know anyone, please send them our way! Details here: http://www.cosmicapple.com/employment-opportunities.html The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Tri-Tip Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Sugar Snap Peas, Summer Squash, Head Lettuce, Kale, Basil, Bok Choy, Maybe Tomatoes or Shelling Peas Let's get the bad news out of the way. We have no Cosmic Mix this week. Our first 2 crops did not fare so well. The 3rd crop of it is looking good! We could have harvested it for this week, but then we would have had another mediocre harvest. We decided to hold off until next week and use our time more efficiently. We think next week it will be big and bountiful! Pea picking is on! The crew is spending so much time harvesting peas right now. Shell peas and sugar snaps. We know you love them. We love them too. We will never be able to harvest enough to satiate the CSA. They take a lot of time to get off the vines and are one of our more labor intensive crops. We know many peas don't even make it home and are enjoyed on the drive from the pick up. We even had a farm dog years ago who would find the ripe ones and eat them off the vines. How can that crunch be resisted! Speaking of crunch...have you noticed the shift in the shares. We are past just leafy greens. The veggies are starting to have more texture, snap and weight. Water. Everyone is asking us about water right now. We love your concern. As of now, we have water! A "call" was made by the folks out below who have older irrigation rights and get to take the water when they deem it time. The call was "futile" because the water in the creek is not flowing enough to make it to the main artery and then out of the valley. Some years we have to shut off to determine if it will make it out of the valley. But this year with such low levels we did not have to take that break. Our irrigation company, Trail Creek, has stated we may need to take turns using the water because the pressure in the pipes is so low, but we have yet to hear. While this is not ideal and will result in less water, we will manage. Water, Sun, Air and Soil. These are the elements we survive by. Each is so precious for growing food. I think about each of them in turn. Water is at the forefront right now. The water that comes to the farm is amazing. It is Teton snowmelt. We are so close to the source and the water is so pure because of it. We know it makes a difference in the flavor of the veggies. Often when I think of water my mind goes back to the film "What the Bleep" from 2004. It touches on Dr. Masaru Emoto's studies of how our emotions affect water. He has found that the structure of H2O molecules can change when certain intentions are directed at it. Love, compassion, hatred, anger all change the molecular structure in different ways. I find it fascinating, and completely empowering. Okay...I'm going to get out there. Quit reading now if you need to. I like to think about our collective Teton Mindset. If we are walking around saying things like..."It's so dry", "we need rain", "what a crappy snow year, there's no Pow", "I'm sick of snow, when is spring going to get here?" the water around us absorbs that energy. The water takes it on and moves through our space and out into the world. If the water is receiving the energy of "it's so dry" maybe it receives that message of dryness and keeps it dry. This is where the empowerment comes in. Our language affects the energy we put out. So in my far out Cosmic thinking, I believe if we change our thinking (energy) to "rain is welcome", "snow is welcome" "spring is welcome" it moves water through our space and sends it out into the world feeling loved by the People of the Tetons. I think the rest of the world could use that love too. If studies have proven that water absorbs our emotions, I believe we should be conscious enough to give it emotions we want to share with the world. I believe if we make an effort to choose emotions and thought patterns to make water feel welcome we can collectively change the weather patterns. And guess what...Even if I am completely wrong, the only thing that changes is you spent some moments thinking about how you address water in our ecosystem. Which seems to me like a win anyway. So call the water in. Welcome it. Picture rain falling. Smell it in the air. Feel it on your skin. Hear it dancing on the puddles. Take a moment to taste it in your veggies and send it some gratitude. Lunch this Week: Stir Fry! Starring Sugar Snap Peas, Summer Squash, Kale, Over rice.
Recipe Ideas: Simple, Perfect Peas with Butter and Salt, Creamy Zuchinni Cumin Dip for the Sugar Snaps, Grilled Summer Squash Truck Driver needed! We still need a delivery driver. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Or Tuesday or Thursday! 2 days a week or just one! 3-9 ish. If you know anyone, please send them our way! Details here: http://www.cosmicapple.com/employment-opportunities.html The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Tri-Tip Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Collards, Cilantro, Sugar Snap Peas, Garlic and maybe Tomatoes We feel grateful right now. We keep hearing how everyone is perpetually short staffed this summer. We could use one more shift covered by a truck driver, but that's it. Jed has been filling in that spot on Tuesdays and enjoys seeing many of you at the Downtown drop off location! We realize how many positions need filled in both valleys and how many business owners are happy just to have a live body standing behind a counter. I don't want to make anyone jealous...but we have the best workers. I am typing and realizing I feel a wave of emotion thinking about them! The gratitude is overwhelming. Most of them are under 30. I love this generation of people. Their communication skills alone make work so much easier. They are able to directly clarify things in ways Jed and I could not do at that age. Their language is positive and concise. Each of the folks working with us could be making double to triple what we are paying them landscaping or washing dishes. They could be making the same in an airconditioned building stocking shelves, which is way easier then farming. But right now, they are committed to working in agriculture. They believe in it as a way to do something good for our world. They work hard. Jed is known as a boss who keeps people moving. He (and I) see the big picture of what needs to be done while the the clock ticks and the payroll rises. It can be hard to motivate a crew to go weed another bed on a hot day. BUT this crew does it. Without complaining. And my gosh...they are funny, and creative. I love the stories they tell and their views on the world, and the amazing ways they each express themselves. Their willingness to pitch in and do what needs to be done rocks. Our employees are now closer in age to our children then we are. Our kids love to hang with the employees and the kindness our kids are treated with is enough to warm anyone's heart. There is something special about the way a 20 something year old can give a teenager just enough of a ribbing to get a point across and the teen instantly "get it". And I will be forever grateful to our employees for the life lessons our kids pick up while interacting with these inspirational folks, because we all know, they are way cooler then Mom and Dad will ever be! We have had many great employees over the years. But collectively as a group, this is hands down the best group we have ever worked with. We know the energy every one of us brings to the farm affects the end result of your veggies. Having an incredible crew, who bring kindness, fun, joy and a good attitude to work each day radiates out and we know it is part of why your veggies taste so good. Each of our employees brings so much to the table, and seriously...the gratitude is overwhelming! Lunch this Week: Collards, Sugar Snap Peas, Garlic, Garlic Curls in coconut milk with a splash of soy sauce and grated ginger over rice noodles, topped with cilantro.
Recipe Ideas: Spicy Collards, Quinoa and Sugar Snap Salad. Truck Driver needed! We still need a delivery driver. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Or Tuesday or Thursday! 2 days a week or just one! 3-9 ish. If you know anyone, please send them our way! Details here: http://www.cosmicapple.com/employment-opportunities.html The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Tri-Tip Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 (starts July, 10th) Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Swiss Chard, Garlic Curls, Bok Choy, Turnips, Oregano maybe Tomatoes, Purple Basil, and/or Sugar Snap Peas I woke up on Monday morning to humidity! It rained during the early morning hours. We needed it. It had been 10 days since the last precipitation in Victor. It is raining now as I write and It smells SO GOOD! A bit of thunder and lightning are happening too...my favorite fireworks. The garden is taking a pause. It always does this between the spring crops and the summer crops. It is challenging for us. We want to harvest more...but we already picked all the early spring things and the summer goodies are not quite there yet. The squash plants are flowering. The peas are starting to fruit. And the tomatoes are about to be a regular item. As always, the garden is in charge, reminding us to be patient. The season of abundance is not quite upon us, we are still in the nurturing phase. Weeding, watering, planting, tending, watching and waiting. What are we waiting for? Here is the list of everything planted in the garden for 2021: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Spinach, Sugar Snap Peas, Shell Peas, Carrots, Radish, Turnips, Sunflowers, Dill, Cilantro, Arugula, Green Onions, Beets, Pea Shoots, Beans, Potatoes, Zucchini, Winter Squash, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Cabbage, Fennel, Broccoli, Napa Cabbage, Bok Choy, Head Lettuce, Onions, Shallots, Leeks, Kale, Collards, Swiss Chard and Cauliflower Some veggie trivia came up at the farm last week! Swiss Chard...why Swiss? Chard is native to the Mediterranean Coast. It seems Chard was also prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It had many names so its history is hard to find and prove. The popular assumption is that a Swiss botanist first classified the plant and gave it the new name "Swiss Chard". (Disclaimer: I just did some quick internet looking...I know my scientific writing professor is furious right now...but I don't have time to write a thesis today, or spend hours citing sources. Maybe I'm starting viscous veggie rumors, correct me if you are a more proficient researcher!) Lunch this Week: Burritos with Dale's Burrito Sauce, I am using the sauce from "Bok Choy with Gingery Butter Sauce" and making a big stir fry adding garlic curls, turnips and steak.
Recipe Ideas: Grilled Steak with Chard, Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction, Chard Patties Truck Driver needed! We still need a delivery driver. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Or Tuesday or Thursday! 2 days a week or just one! 3-9 ish. If you know anyone, please send them our way! Details here: http://www.cosmicapple.com/employment-opportunities.html The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Tri-Tip Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 (starts July, 10th) Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Garlic Scapes, Kale, Turnips, Red Oak Leaf Lettuce, Basil maybe Holy Basil or Dill By Share #3 we are starting to slip into a routine. Our co-workers now see the flow of the days of the week in regard to CSA and market harvests. Our distribution sites are going smooth and your veggie weighing skills are progressing rapidly! We spend the mornings getting in the leafy green items that don't enjoy the heat. Then we move onto the heartier items. Most of the afternoons are spent weeding. July days are balanced between weeding and harvesting. The more we get weeded right now, the bigger the harvests will be. The garden (and the weeds!) are growing so fast right now. The plants have so much energy from the long days. I swear the cabbage doubled in size this week. Jed wants me to write about garlic this week. I love garlic!! I love it so much I have written about it and saved every word of it. You can find all my garlic musings if you follow the recipe link. Check out the garlic scape/curl button to learn about the garlic life cycle. It is fascinating! I think so, because I LOVE garlic. Many of the recipe buttons have information about the nutrients in each veggie, storage tricks and basic uses. The tomatoes are starting to be ready! We have had a couple small harvests and the red treats will make their way to the 3rd pick up site this week. As items ripen, we don't always have enough to get them out to the whole CSA at once. The first harvest was about 20#, definitely not enough for the 119.5 shares we put out that day. We would have had to cut tomatoes in half! What we do is keep really accurate records and will make sure everyone gets tomatoes before any site gets them twice. As we all get excited for tomatoes, this seems like a good place for a reminder on weighing items. It is like the Price is Right. You may not go over! If everyone goes over a little bit, there will not be enough for everyone! Honesty is key to the CSA model working. If you want to see the farm in action, please check out our social media (Instagram and Facebook). One of our talented employees has been making great videos of work days. More then just veggies! If you have not had a chance to check out what's in our coolers, please do so! You can also find a list of what is available below. If you know you want something please send me an email, I am more then happy to reserve it for you, or I can send a special order to your pick up. After many requests we have developed a merchandise line. Lots of Organic Cotton and fair trade goods. All printed or embroidered locally. The mugs and water bottles are locally invented and etched, they have a really cool magnet lid. (We have blue ones too, I just haven't gotten photos up yet) I can easily send goods to your pick up site so you don't have to pay shipping. You can email me an order, or purchase online and I will refund the shipping. You can also check things out in person at the People's Market and the Driggs Market. Lunch this Week: Garlic Curl Hummus sandwiches and Quinoa with pesto and veggies!
Recipe Ideas: Grilled Garlic Scapes (perfect for 4th of July BBQ!), Emily's Overnight Kale Salad, Truck Driver needed! We still need a delivery driver. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Or Tuesday or Thursday! 2 days a week or just one! 3-9 ish. If you know anyone, please send them our way! Details here: http://www.cosmicapple.com/employment-opportunities.html The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit! Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round, Brisket, Ground Beef, Patties, Tri-Tip Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tongue, Marrow Bones, Heart, Stew, and Kabobs Pork Available: Fat WASH YOUR VEGGIES!! Bring Bags to pick-ups! If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend! Missed shares are forfeited for the week. Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets! The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 (starts July, 10th) Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com |
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