Share #9 July 31st & August 2nd

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Snap Pea, Shell Pea, Napa Cabbage, Baby Carrots, Red Sails Head Lettuce, Tomatoes, Spinach, Maybe Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Snow Pea, and Sunflowers

Carrots are coming! We have heard they are the best carrots. I don't know if that is true or not. I do know all the parents need a warning...If you give your children these carrots, they may refuse to eat other carrots. It has happened. I wish you the best.
We have been sending out some specialty tomatoes along with our favorite variety of reds. Have you noticed? There have been some green zebras along with some saladette. We ask that everyone be extra specially gentle when you weigh and pick through the tomato bin. We all love tomatoes...especially when they are bruise free!
Thursday is Lammas, the day halfway between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox. The days are getting shorter, but the pace at the farm has not slowed down a bit. Summer is at its height!
We have big plans this weekend to harvest all of the garlic. Most of our crops stay in the field until we are ready to distribute them. Garlic is a bit different.  I have written about garlic and its lifecycle before. Since our minds are turning to garlic, I'm going to share all I know about it with you!
From a 2011 Newsletter...
​Garlic how we love you!
Cosmic’s garlic has received rave reviews from members over the years. We have been growing this same strain of Romanian Red garlic for 10 years now! Saving our own seed and watching the plant become more and more specialized to our climate. I fell in love with garlic at Killarney Farm in Northern Idaho where I apprenticed. These folks had been saving there own seed for so long the plant evolved into its own variety now known as Killarney Red. It was originally Romanian Red. Garlic was the most important crop at Killarney. Paul, our smiling farmer, would always laugh at that fact because it was the most labor intensive crop they grew. Garlic thrives in Teton Valley. We plant garlic in the fall, as soon as the CSA is done. It starts growing roots immediately. Garlic spends its winter in the soil while the garden is resting poised and ready for spring warmth. It loves cold winters. Think about the power of garlic. It has the ability to cure us of colds and infections. It is antiviral. It needs winters like ours to learn resistance to cold and disease. Energetically garlic gives us what we need to boost our immune system, because it gathers the ability and strength to survive in harsh elements. It makes me chuckle to see the “Garlic Capital of The World” is Gilroy, California. I have also grown garlic in California. It was awful. Little weak bulbs, no robust flavor, we had to baby it so it would not rot as it was drying. It never had a cold winter to learn the lessons it needed to be strong. We could not even save seed in CA. They had to order new seed every year! Here, in the spring,  garlic is the first sprout to pop out of the ground. Little green shoots surrounded by dark brown soil, blue skies and white mountains, it is always a welcome sight. By the end of June we can usually give out baby garlic. These treats are tender and look like little leeks. Mid-July yields garlic curls. We have to get these attempted seed heads off the plant so the energy goes to forming the bulb instead of the “seeds”. By August it is usually time to get the garlic out of the field and into the shed to dry. We stack it so air can circulate and the leaves die. As the leaves die, all the plant’s remaining energy is drawn down into the bulb. When the tops are completely dried, we can cut the top off without fear of disease or fungus crawling in thru the stem. The workshares also rub off any large chunks of soil before we deliver it. This is what makes storage garlic. When we are done with the CSA this fall we will sit in front of the shed, (or in the greenhouse if the weather is unpleasant) on buckets with coffee cups nearby chatting as the bulbs are broken into individual cloves. As we do this we grade the garlic. We look for the largest cloves to save, for the largest crop next year. We also look for any cloves with not enough paper, or bruises. These “imperfect” cloves are planted in the culled section. The smaller ones and culls are the ones dug as baby garlic. The best ones are saved for storage garlic and seed. About a third of our crop is saved every year to be replanted. We joyfully get to ride the transplanter to get the garlic in the ground. We used to plant it on our hands and knees in cold and wet fall soil, the transplanter has been a welcome improvement! In ten months it will be ready for harvest! Garlic takes a lot more handling than most crops we grow, but considering the results, I’d say it is well worth it. If you start feeling worn down this winter, try mincing some garlic and spreading it on toast with honey. Your body will thank you!

Now we just all need to wait until the garlic cures and is ready to be delivered later in the season. Until then let's enjoy the tasty treats of August!!

Workshare Lunch this week: Pad Bai with tomatoes, basil and summer squash
Farm family dinner (or breakfast, or lunch!): BLT's!

Recipes

The coolers at your site are stocked with 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, Sirloin Tip Roast, Bottom Round Roast, Liver, Ground Beef, Patties and Heart
​Pork Available: Bacon, Pork Chops, Shoulder Roast, Shank, Spare Ribs, Breakfast Sausage, Chorizo, Breakfast Sausage, Grandpa Restuccia's Sausage, Neck Bones, Fat and Heads

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]