Well folks, this is the week it all caught up to us. Starting in late February, we made our soil blocks and set our seed trays under the lights we set up in the dining room. The new kitten this year decided that it was a lovely place to go to the bathroom. After we got her sorted out, we began the real work of succession planting seed tray after seed tray to ensure that our summer deliveries would continuously be varying and full. Then began the work of potting seedlings up into larger trays, and as the weather turned, hardening them off outside. By this point, the number of trays for produce for 20 families begins to get a bit unwieldy, and kind of overgrow the dining room (and the side porch, and the picnic tables, and the wash table…). And then, we got torrential rains that overflowed the fields by a good six to eight inches, as the rain washed down out of the neighboring fields and through ours, killing our carrot, parsnip, and fennel starts along the way, and delaying the potato planting. And then we had that crazy windstorm with 75+ mph winds, that took down two massive 200 year old maples over the driveways (of course it couldn’t be just ONE driveway, it had to be one tree over each)…and blew seedlings right off of the porch and into the yard, tumbling soil and greens everywhere. We lost the onions, peas, tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, herbs…it hurts to think about.

With heavy hearts, we ordered more seeds and knew that we would be doing a lot of direct sow this year. And…we have. Most things did come up, and things are later producing but at that allllmost stage instead of in the share bins. It’s all definitely still coming, and hopefully we don’t overwhelm people once the bounty hits. We knew that we’re in need of a hoop house or a greenhouse, but after the second year of seedling disasters, it’s definitely hitting the top of that list. We are looking into some grant opportunities that may further these needs, but meanwhile we’re feeling pretty disappointed, moderately guilty and self recriminating, and extremely grateful. Grateful for the CSA model that keeps us supported through this time. Seriously guys, thank you. Thank you for your patience and hope and excitement and overall support and encouragement.

We were excited to get our greens drying table up and running today, too.

Though this share is slim (and very, very crunchy) we’re happy to bring you:

AMARANTH GINGER BREAKFAST BOWLS

olive oil
amaranth greens, roughly chopped
fresh ginger, grated
sweet onion, chopped
fish oil
egg

This recipe is very loose–basically everything is to taste, so the amounts of each ingredient varies by person

– Prep a pan with olive oil, and heat to medium low
– Grate ginger directly into hot pan, and stir, then add onion
– Sauté until the onions are transparent, then add greens
– Sauté the greens until they become a deep jewel green, then stir in some fish oil
– Remove from pan after 30 seconds to a minute stirring in the oil
– Using the same pan, cook an egg to yolky perfection, then top the greens with the egg. Pop the yolk, mix, and enjoy!

I also enjoy this mix on an egg sandwich with pickled radishes. You can bulk it out with pulled pork, or rice, or potatoes or…basically anything. Actually I just love breakfast bowls in general. Yum!

[tip : don’t add salt to this recipe–the fish oil has enough to flavor the whole dish. Even if you usually salt your onions when you sauté, or your eggs…no need! I did add pepper to my egg here, as seen below.]