June 14th, 2017

Veggie Boxes:

Green Top Beets

~Great Oak Farm~

Salad Mix, Spinach, Radishes, Salad Turnips

~River Road Farm~

Tomato Plant

~Yoman Farm~

Green Garlic

~Twisting Twig Garden~

Meat Boxes:

Ground Beef ~ Griggs Cattle + Hidden Vue

Ham Roast, Brats, Bacon—Maple Hill Farm

Lake Superior CSA

Bayfield Foods Cooperative

In The Boxes This Week

Mini Veggies :

Green Top Beets

~Great Oak Farm~

Spinach, Salad Turnips

~River Road Farm~

Farm

Green Garlic

~Twisting Twig Garden~

PLUS ITEM: Goat and Sheep Cheese

~Sassy Nanny~Happy Hollow Creamery~

Mini Meat Boxes:

Ground Beef + Beef Roast~ Griggs Cattle + Hidden Vue

Brats ~ Maple Hill Farm

Don’t throw away your beet greens!

*Did you know you can use those beet

greens? Here are some ideas of what to do

with them!*

• Tucking them into your morning omelette

• Adding them to curries

• Add beet greens to smoothies

• Toss with sour cream and dill for a tasty

dip.

• Use them in a borscht soup if that's the

fate of the beets themselves

• Sautee with butter and salt like you

would spinach or chard

• Roast with olive oil and salt and pepper

Kale OR Collard Greens

Greetings from Great Oak Farm!

If I had to sum up this spring planting season in a single word, it would be RAIN! Since Mother’s

Day, we have gotten an incredible 10 inches of rain here at Great Oak Farm, which put a major damper on

field work. That’s a whopping 270,000 gallons of water on each acre of our farm! Suffice to say it was a

little muddy for a while, but the good news is that there is plenty of moisture in the ground now. Our

pond is full to the brim, and the nice weather at the end of last week was just what the farmer ordered!

Our farm hand Elie (who is back for her second season this summer) and I managed to get about 2.5 acres

of transplants out on Thursday and Friday – everything from broccoli (the third planting already!) and cab-

bage to melons and field cukes. We also got about a half mile each of green beans (the second planting)

and sweet corn seeded, and this warm humid weather is just perfect for germinating seeds and getting

new transplants off to a great start. The first planting of field carrots is up, the peas are looking splendid,

and the sheep are knee deep in lush grass in the pasture. While we got a little later start on the season

than usual, what began looking like a challenging spring season has turned out to be manageable.

So far this year, all the veggies in your boxes (except the rhubarb) have been grown in hoop houses

– simple greenhouses heated by the sun. Those protected, warmer environments are a key part of making

sure early season crops are ready for all of you, especially in rainy cold springs like this one. Even with no

heat, when closed up on a cloudy day or at night, the air temp inside the hoop houses is at least 10 de-

grees warmer than the outside temperature. The hoop houses here at our farm that were growing spin-

ach all winter are now chocked full of chard, collards, cukes, beets, carrots, scallions, and tomatoes.

We’ve put up several hoop houses at the farm and have plans to add another one next year as well, giving

us a little more control over our growing seasons when Mother Nature throws us some cold wet condi-

tions.

Over the last few years, we’ve also been investing in tools to get our field work done faster, and

boy did it pay off this year. Having implements like tractor mounted seeders and our mechanical trans-

planter really have made a huge difference in being able to take advantage of small windows of opportuni-

ty to get a lot done in a short amount of time. It’s just Elie and I working here at the farm, so when condi-

tions are right we need to be as efficient as possible. I’ve said it before: timing is everything! Speaking of

timing, with all this recent moisture and warmth, it’s nearly time to start cultivating before the weeds get a

good foothold. Once we get the winter squash transplants out this week, the next big challenge will be

cultivating out all those weeds, and I am looking forward to it. Our little cultivating tractors were built in

1947 and 1948 – they have seen a lot of weeds in their time! It makes me smile knowing that they are still

reliably doing what they were made to do so many years ago.

Have a great week everyone, and thank you for eating locally and seasonally with us! We’re mighty proud

to be your farmers. Yours in community – Chris Duke, Great Oak Farm

PLEASE

FLATTEN & RETURN CSA

BOXES!

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients

16 ounces (about 4) medium golden and/or red

beets

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 cups arugula

2 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into thin

wedges

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly shaved

2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Wrap beets loosely in foil and roast until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Let cool, then remove skins. (You can rub them off with a paper towel.) Slice beets into thin

wedges. Make dressing: Blend grapeseed oil, vinegar, honey, mustard and sesame oil in a

blender on high until frothy; season with salt and pepper. Combine beets, arugula, tomatoes

and fennel in a bowl; add 2 tablespoon dressing (reserve the rest); toss. Top with goat

cheese.

Veggie Boxes

Green Top Beets

~Great Oak Farm~

Head Lettuce, Salad Turnips Spinach,

Salad Mix

~River Road Farm~

Tomato Plant

~Yoman Farm~

Green Garlic

Twisting Twig Farm

Rhubarb

~Raspotnik’s Farm~

Meat Boxes Ground Beef ~ Griggs Cattle + Hidden

Vue Assorted Pork—Maple Hill Farm

Lake Superior CSA

Bayfield Foods Cooperative SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK June 14th 2017

Mini Veggies

Beets

~Great Oak Farm~

Salad Mix and Salad Turnips

~River Road Farm~

Farm~

Rhubarb

~Raspotniks Farm~

Green Garlic

~Twisting Twig Garden~

PLUS ITEM: Fruit Spritzer

~White Winter Winery~

Mini Meat Boxes

Ground Beef + Beef Roast~ Hidden -Vue + Griggs

Assorted Pork ~ Maple Hill Farm Trout ~Bodin’s Fisheries~

About the Tomato Plant

Polbig

First-early determinate for cool climates.

High yields of very good tasting, meaty, 6-8

oz globe shaped fruit. Uniform ripening

time. Excellent deep red internal and

external color.

DETERMINATE:

(bush) varieties do not need pruning and may

be grown with or without support; fruit

ripens within a concentrated time

period.

Days to Maturity: 60