July 13th, 2016

VEGGIE BOXES:

Garlic Scapes // River Road Farm

Sugar Snap Peas, Cucumber or Tomato, Broccoli or Beets //

Great Oak Farm

Zucchini, Cilantro, Basil, Kohl-rabi, Muir Leafy Green Lettuce

OR Spinach // Yoman Farm

Red Butterhead and Red Leaf Lettuce // Twisting Twig Gar-

den

MEAT BOXES:

Ground Beef + Beef Steaks + Beef Roast// Hidden Vue + Moonlight Meadows +

Griggs Cattle Co.

Assorted Pork // Maple Hill Farm

Lake Superior CSA

Bayfield Foods Cooperative

Please Flatten and Return all

Veggie, Fruit and Meat Boxes.

Thank You!

PLUS ITEM:

Lemon Creamed Honey // Great Oak Farm

Bakery // Starlite Kitchen

In The Boxes This Week

On a vegetable farm here in the North, the month of July marks a significant milestone.

While we will still be some planting crops until September, our main focus will be on

harvesting what we have been planting for the last 4+ months. Since the end of Febru-

ary, our MAIN task has been getting plants in the ground. Early season crops that were

in your boxes in May and June such as beets, chard, salad mix, spinach, etc – all those

were grown under cover in a hoophouse. Many were planted in the houses so early in

the year that they simply would not have survived if planted outside, and likely wouldn’t

have been ready for harvest in May or June if they had survived. There are so many

seeds and transplants to get into the ground before July that sometimes we plant – liter-

ally! – for days on end! While we still do a LOT of hand transplanting, here at Great

Oak Farm we do have a few technological options for planting - from a hand pushed

seeder for greenhouse seeding, to tractor mounted seeders for field crop seeding, to a

vegetable transplanter that is pulled by the tractor. The transplanter is truly a marvel of

engineering, but like the tractor described below is “old technology” – this type of trans-

planter was used a lot for planting tobacco years ago. It has a big water tank, seats for 2

people to ride, and can hold several flats of transplants at a time. As the tractor c-r-e-e-

p-s down the field making a furrow for the plant to get dropped down into (at about .5

miles per hour!) the riders place transplants in rotating metal “fingers” that grab the

plant and place it down in the furrow. The water tank squirts some water on the roots

of the plant to help it get established, and finally packing wheels come along and push

the soil down around the roots of the plant to bury them in the ground. All of this takes

about 1-2 seconds per plant! We use this primarily for squash and broccoli/cabbage,

and hope to try it with onions and sweet corn next year.

The other big job during the first half of the growing season is weed control. With all

those baby crops going into the ground, good weed control is critical for survival of the

crop. We use a variety of methods, from good old-fashioned hand pulling, to hand

tools like scuffle hoes and wheel hoes, to tractor mounted cultivation tools. One piece

of equipment here at our farm that has REALLY been a lifesaver in the spring is our

1947 Farmall Cub. It’s probably the cutest little tractor you’ll ever see, and has the

horsepower of a riding lawn mower, but its only job is cultivation. With a variety of

attachments to put underneath – from rolling baskets for weeding delicately between

tiny crops, to sweeps and shovels that can more aggressively root out weeds in the alleys

between rows of crops – it is a remarkably versatile machine. The seat is offset to the

side so the driver can see directly down into the bed of crops below as it putt-putts

down the rows, straddling over the beds of whatever we planted. This offset seat helps

the operator make sure they are getting as close to the crop as possible to get as many

weeds as practical without taking out the crop (…we call that “cultivator blight!”) At-

tached is a picture of our little Cub in front of some rows of nicely cultivated Delicata

winter squash, which won’t hit your CSA boxes until later this fall.

Tools like these make it possible to get the all crops planted and established ON TIME

(remember, timing is everything!) in the spring and still have time and energy to be with

our families at the end of the day. If you haven’t been there already, check out the Lake

Superior CSA Facebook page for pictures and videos of these tools in action. And as

always, thanks so very much for farming with us! See you down the road –

Chris Duke, Great Oak Farm

VEGGIE Basics :

Cucumber or Tomatoes, Snap Peas, Carrots //Great Oak Farm

Broccoli // River Road Farm

Fruit:

Strawberries

PLEASE

FLATTEN & RETURN CSA

BOXES!

Ingredients

1 cup garlic scapes, sliced crosswise (about 10 to 12 scapes)

• ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese

• ½ cup basil leaves

• Juice of one lemon

Preparation

1. Place the garlic scapes in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds.

2. Add the sunflower seeds and pulse for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add the olive oil and process on high for 15 seconds.

4. Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse until the ingredients are combined.

5. Add the basil and lemon juice, and process until reaching the desired consistency.

6. Add salt to taste and serve immediately.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125 mL) low-fat vanilla yogurt

2 cups (500 mL) water

1 medium banana

1 cup (250 mL) sliced strawberries

2 cups (500 mL) chopped fresh spinach, lightly packed

Honey or maple syrup to taste (optional)

Preparation

In blender, combine yogurt, water, banana, strawberries, spinach and honey or syrup (optional). Blend on

high until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

Strawberry Spinach Smoothie

Honey BalsamicTips Glazed Carrots What’s New at the CSA! New Special Order Products

Flats of Strawberries $38.40

Order them fresh while

we have them in stock.

Great fresh or to freeze

for the long winter.

Limited time only

through July 20th

delivery.

Order Here

Blueberries from Highland Valley Farm $42

Order them fresh

while we have them in

stock. Fresh blueber-

ries come in a 10 #

box. Great for baking,

eating fresh, or freez-

ing. Delivery will be

approx. 1st week of

August.

Order Here

The Best of the South Shore: The Marengo

Box $164

In this box you will re-

ceive:

▪2 lbs Whitefish Fillets

▪2 lbs Lake Trout

▪3 lb Beef Roast

▪2 lb Ground Lamb

▪5 lb Ground Beef

▪2 lb Breakfast Patties

▪ 2 lb Ham Steak

▪ 3 lb Pork Chops

Order Here

Did You Know?

We now offer a “veggie basics” and “meat

basics” special order boxes. These are great

for folks who want to try out our shares with-

out the year-long commitment. This is also

great for those who just want to supplement

their veggie stash without committing to a

large share box. Order as many as you’d like

and schedule them out for the year! Deliveries

are offered every week at all our drop site.

Order Veggie Basics Box - Just $16 per box!

Order Meat Basics Box—Just $31 per box!

Visit bayfieldfoods.org/special-orders/

to view all the other great items we have

available for WEEKLY deliveries!

Autumn and Nora transplanting broccoli that is

getting harvested NOW!

VEGGIE BOXES:

Peppers, Carrots // River Road Farm

Sugar Snap Peas OR Green Beans, Tomato or Cucumber/

Great Oak Farm

Kohlrabi, Zucchini // Yoman Farm

Head Lettuce, Parsley // Twist-ing Twig Garden

MEAT BOXES:

Lake Trout// Bodin’s Fisher-ies

Ground Beef + Beef Stew/ Hid-

den-Vue Farms + Moon-light Meadows + Griggs

Cattle Co.

Assorted Pork // Maple Hill Farm

Bayfield Foods Cooperative

PLUS ITEMS:

Jam/Jellies // Bayfield Ap-ple Co.

Bakery // Starlit Kitchen

Here is a Sneak Peek at Next Week 7.20 *

* Please note these are subject to change

Greetings from Twisting Twig Gardens and Orchard,

I hope that at this point in the season, after enjoying a number of boxes,

that you all are feeling pretty good about being a member of our CSA. It is hard

to beat freshly harvested, seasonal produce grown with care and thoughtful-

ness. We strive to provide a wide variety of nutritious and delicious veggies.

And, with over 20 different farms in our co-op, you are helping to grow a local

foods movement in our region. I am assuming that these are some of the rea-

sons why you have chosen to be our customer.

I would like to share with you a few reasons why I, from a producers

perspective, enjoy being apart of the Lake Superior CSA and Bayfield Foods Co-

operative. 1) Less time spent marketing and selling my produce. Our coopera-

tive employs excellent CSA and wholesale managers. They focus their energy on

marketing, selling, delivering, and managing lots of logistics, which allows me

greater time to focus my energy on growing better crops and spending more

time with my family. 2) Shared resources. Working together allows us to share

infrastructure such as delivery vehicles, walk-in coolers/freezers, packing facili-

ties, etc. Not needing all of that infrastructure on my own farm saves me money

and helps keep debt low. 3) Support network. As a veggie grower, one of my

favorite aspects of our CSA is our weekly Wednesday morning CSA box pack

where we have an informal “Veggie Growers Support Group”. This is where we

have a scheduled opportunity, during the busy growing season, to share suc-

cesses and failures, celebrate and commiserate. Everything from seed varieties

to equipment to balancing farm and family life is discussed openly.

I hope that you feel like we are providing a valuable service to you. Know that

by supporting our co-op, you are helping to provide benefits to growers like me

that go well beyond monetary income. Thanks much!

Have a great week,

Rob

Fruit: Strawberries

VEGGIE Basics :

Snap Peas, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Parsley, Peppers

Our great father and daughter delivery team!