Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Collards, Summer Squash, Basil, Red Oak Lettuce, Maybe Tomatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas Holy Basil (Tulsi) and/or Cucumbers

We are starting to harvest cucumbers this week. We are bringing in 2 different kinds. Traditional slicers and "pickling cukes". The pickling cukes grow better in this climate then the slicers. You can use them just like a traditional slicing cucumber. You should also know, my kids prefer to eat the pickling cukes. They eat cucumbers like apples, and eat a lot of them! They say the picklers taste better then the slicers...I agree with them.​​ The skin is more tender. I know my one son has done a taste test, he takes these things seriously! Let us know what you think of them.
Lammas is on Thursday this year. It is the day halfway between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox. It was traditionally celebrated as the beginning of the harvest season. It represents a balance of hope and fear. Those seeds we so copiously spread before and around the Solstice are beginning to ripen. We are practicing letting go of the things we worked so hard to sow that didn't work out. The things the frost took, or the seeds that were not viable. We must now tend to the things we know will make it, put our energy into nurturing those things to fruition. We must protect these nutritious gems. The watering and weeding continues. We must acknowledge our hopes and fears for the rest of the season. Farming does not provide an opportunity to put our feet up and assume all is safe. We hope to have summer squash until at least September...but, here in the Tetons we could freeze anyday. Acknowledging that reality keeps us grounded and moving forward.
We get to celebrate all the good things that will come out of the garden as the season progresses (so much to come!!) It brings joy to take a walk in the garden and see how things are ripening. We also get to acknowledge the days are getting shorter. It is a great time of year to savor the feeling of warmth on our skin, stand barefoot on the earth and slow down to enjoy a meal with friends. This is the time of year Jed and I dream about when looking at seed catalogs in the winter. We still have summer left, but we also get to start enjoying the harvest.  What a great time of year!

Workshare Lunch: Chili Mint Stir-Fry with summer squash, turnips and kale
Recipe Idea: ​Quick and easy Collards (great as a side on on a burger!)

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Radish, Kale, Sage, Baby Carrots, Maybe Sugar Snaps, Tomatoes, Summer Squash and or Turnips

I have been looking around at the mountains and I am astounded by the amount of snow still in the high country. In many places they are just little pockets of snow, but they are hanging on for so much longer this year! For me, it is a concrete reminder of how cold June was. It feels odd that some things are just coming on this late in July, but how quickly my human brain forgets the trials of June. Jed was joking that we are lucky to have a garden this year. Even though he was smiling....I don't think he was really joking. While the arrival of warm weather felt a bit more on schedule this year, the very cold snaps were out of the ordinary. We hit 26 degrees on June 9 and 10th. Then we had 2 more nights of frost on the 20th and 21st. The warmest night in June was 49 degrees and most nights hovered in the low 40's. ​When we get frosts past the beginning of June they are usually light and quick, like 2018's 4th of July frost! It will hit 31 for a couple of hours close to dawn. Pockets of the garden will show a bit of frost damage and the plants bounce back. But the night it got to 26 it settled in early and stayed past dawn. It is a bit of a miracle the summer squash survived. Everything that survived made it because it was covered with row cover, little and close to the ground.
After the cold, came the hail. Which is completely normal for June in the Tetons. We did not get much hail this year, but enough to tell the story. We happened to take the row cover off of the summer squash the same day the storms came thru! Oh hindsight, you got me again. Look at your summer squash. Any brown "scabs" on the skin are from a piece of hail hitting it and causing damage to tender young fruits that had just set, before the storm.  Plants can remind us of the weather history for a season. Cool right? Some of the Swiss Chard you received last week had some holes in the leaves, also hail damage. But it all still tastes great!
The squash plants are now huge, green and glorious. And weeded! They look amazing and will be setting lots more fruit in this heat. The squash, tomatoes and sugar snaps are starting to come in. We will be rotating them around the sites until we have enough to give them to everyone at once. We keep very careful records to make sure everyone gets equal amounts!

Workshare Lunch this week: Farm Curry over rice with kale, turnips, tomatoes, summer squash and sugar snap peas (on the Summer Squash Recipe page)
Recipe idea: Sage Tahini Salad dressing or Bread dip with sage

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Fresh Garlic, Oregano, Turnips, Iceberg Lettuce, Swiss Chard and Maybe Sugar Snap Peas

We are in the strange veggie limbo land where spring crops are done, but the summer crops are not quite ripe yet. It happens every year. The tender spring greens are a thing of the past, but the peas, beans, tomatoes and summer squash are not quite yielding yet. The summer crops are getting very close. The plants are loving the heat...and the irrigation!
Fresh garlic! What's the deal? This garlic has not been cured yet. It will not store for a long time like the garlic we give out in the fall. Keep it in the fridge. It is super juicy and the paper is still forming. You can use the stalks for veggie stock.
Iceberg lettuce, yum! After years and years of eating tender baby greens Jed and I got excited about growing lettuce with some crunch! You can eat all the leaves on the head, not just the ones in the center.
All the plants are loving the heat, including the weeds. We are hiring weeders. If you know anyone who wants work, we have a job! Please email me for more info.

Workshare Lunch this week: Pesto over quinoa with turnips and bok choy. The quinoa is lighter feeling then pasta when it's hot!
Recipe Idea: Super Simple Swiss Chard over a burger or French Chard Tart

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Garlic Curls, Spinach, Collard Greens, Bok Choy and Head Lettuce

Share #4! This is always the week it seems to all come together. Everyone seems to get the big picture of how the farm "works". The harvest goals become clearer, shareholders (that's you!) know how to get their veggies, the employees are getting comfortable in their roles. Long gone is the first week when we just had to jump into it and train everyone as we went.
We have a great crew this year. I have been enjoying getting to know our new employees, and reconnecting with all the returning ones. This year our "crew" is:  a Workshare Manager, a Wash Station Manager, a Market Manager, 4 market harvesters, 2 chore helpers, a truck driver, a tractor driver (she helps get a lot of weeding done!), a tomato caretaker, about 25 workshares and 6 site hosts. And they are all great people.
Jed and I feel like the people attracted to work at the farm is one of our greatest blessings. Truth be told...we don't get out much. It is incredibly convenient that our social life comes to us. The farm draws in people with interesting stories, kind hearts and big smiles. It does quickly weed out those who don't love some hard work or a commitment to show up. Some folks come to the farm with a background in farming, some have never been in a garden, some are looking for a life change and some just got manipulated into it by a friend! We never know who is going to keep at it. Some of our volunteers have gone on to have their own farms. Jed and I both started volunteering on other farms as starry eyed youngsters.
Our crew every year gets to be like family. They see Jed and I laugh, stressed out and tired. We all get to share in the joy of a big harvest and a daily meal together. They see our kids when they are as cute and curious as can be and when they are exhausted, unreasonable and just want to go home. Just like family, sometimes they get the real deal!
Like I said before, the people who help us feed our community are one of the greatest blessings Jed and I could ever receive. Thank you to all, who do the hard work the to feed the People of the Tetons. Thanks for showing up everyday. Thanks for all you teach us! If you see any of these folks, they deserve gratitude that is hard to convey in a newsletter! 

Workshare Lunch this week: Super stir fry over rice with Garlic Curls, Collard and Bok Choy
Recipe Idea: Roasted Garlic Curl hummus

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spinach, Arugula, Bok Choy, Australe Head Lettuce, Kale, Spicy Mix, Garlic Curls, Maybe Turnips and Broccoli Raab

Summer has arrived. The garden is growing fast right now! Last week I could only find a hint of a garlic curl on a garlic plant, and this week they are ready to harvest. Garlic curls are one of the oddest veggies we give out every year. But they have also become one of the most anticipated by returning members. Please follow the recipe link to the garlic curls page, and you too may fall in love with this veggie. The garlic curls always seem to ready by July 4th, no matter the spring weather. 
Some other things are still playing catch up. Sugar snap peas are a bit later than usual this year, but they are growing!
We have begun irrigating the fields. It is amazing how fast things began to dry out as soon as the sun started shining. I love watching as the last bits of snow yield to the heat. We are lucky at the farm to have such a connection to our water source. We watch the snow fall all winter and then in the spring watch it melt and fill our creeks, rivers and irrigation systems. Pure Teton snow melt. What could possibly make veggies taste better?!
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Workshare Lunch this week: Burritos, with sauteed Bok Choy, radish, turnips and garlic curls.
Recipe Idea: Grilled Garlic Curls, perfect for the 4th! 

​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 or tell your site host 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, New York Steak, Sirloin Steak, Round Roast, Liver, Ribs, Ground Beef, Patties, Hot Dogs, Bratwurst and Heart
​Pork Available: Pork Chops, Shoulder Roast, Spare Ribs, Breakfast Sausage, Chorizo, Grandpa Restuccia's Sausage, Canadian Bacon and  Fat

WASH YOUR VEGGIES!!
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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 Saturday Market: Saturdays 8-12
Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? [email protected]