Welcome to the 13th season of Verde Valley CSA! To our new members, welcome and thank you for supporting local farmers. We are so excited to serve you this season. And to all our returning shareholders, thank you for your continued support of our growers.
It has been quite a wild winter and spring and we are really counting our blessings that we have full baskets this week. The cold, wet spring has slowed Whipstone Farm’s output considerably and a freak hailstorm this past weekend just barely missed Willowbrook Farm. Directly across the river from Willowbrook, Fasteen Farm received two inches of hail and their 300 tomato plants were decimated. Farming is a risky and vital endeavor and we are so lucky to have local growers willing to go the extra mile to produce the delicious crops we will be enjoying this season. Thank you to our farmers for all their hard work!
This week our baskets will be filled with early season delicacies like green garlic and spring onions. These can be used exactly like their cured counterparts or enjoyed fresh in salads or pickled. They have a lighter flavor directly after harvest that is sure to be enjoyed. This time of year also brings us an abundance of greens. Lettuce, pea shoots, spinach, and super greens mix (a combo of lettuces and other greens), will provide salads all week long. I, for one, am so excited for these fresh greens as the temperatures increase and the days get longer. There is nothing lovelier than eating a fresh salad for dinner on the back porch.
Please remember to bring your reusable bags to take home your share. If you are unsure of where exactly to pick up your share, contact me at verdevalleycsa@yahoo.com or (928) 300-8623. For those of you picking up your shares in Camp Verde, if you are unable to make it to the farm during the listed distribution time your share will be left in a cooler with your name on it. Please review the email I sent last week with detailed instructions about our pickup locations if you need a refresher.
Thank you all for being members of Verde Valley CSA! We look forward to another great year providing the freshest local produce, flowers, and eggs.
Have a fabulous week!
Meghan
Green garlic – Whipstone Farm
Onions – Bob Haskell
Pea shoots – Willowbrook Farm
Spinach – Whipstone Farm
Super greens mix – Willowbrook Farm
Early morning harvesting of spinach at Whipstone Farm.
Super greens mix ready for your enjoyment at Willowbrook Farm.
Lettuce freshly harvested at Whipstone ….
… and ready to be transplanted into the field at Willowbrook.
Flower shares start on June 12th.
We are so blessed to have a local farm growing such gorgeous flowers!!