Week 4 of 26 : U-Pick Greens!

This lacinato kale is now open for U-Pick. We planted these rows between beds of clover that were seeded in 2020. If you were a shareholder last year, you might have seen the clover growing between rows of zucchini and onions. The clover protects the soil and provides habitat and nectar for beneficial insects. Photo by Carrie Vaughn.

This lacinato kale is now open for U-Pick. We planted these rows between beds of clover that were seeded in 2020. If you were a shareholder last year, you might have seen the clover growing between rows of zucchini and onions. The clover protects the soil and provides habitat and nectar for beneficial insects. Photo by Carrie Vaughn.

Announcements:

  • In recognition of Juneteenth, we invite all our CSA shareholders to celebrate on the farm. Please use this as your space—there’s a lot of space for picnics here!

  • If you purchased a 26-week share, remember that you may take two shares at any time to make up for weeks that you have missed.

  • No matter which pickup day you selected, you are welcome to pick up at the farm on Saturday (1:00–4:00 p.m.) or Wednesday (3:00–7:00 p.m.) any week, without advanced notice.

  • Please continue to wear a mask while you are picking up your CSA share. Some shareholders with compromised immune systems are more comfortable when the people standing near them are masked. Thank you for your patience! If you do not wish to wear a mask, a staff person can pack your share for you.

This Week’s Share:

Zucchini and Garlic Scapes Join the Party

  • Zucchini (1 or 2 small ones)

  • Various greens (Chinese cabbage, lettuce, kale, collards, bok choi, spicy mix, arugula — choices and amounts TBD)

  • Green onions (1 bunch)

  • Garlic scapes (these are the flower buds of the garlic plant; chop fine and use them as you would garlic cloves)

  • Green beans (likely an option in a category with zucchini or greens)

  • Kohlrabi, French breakfast radishes, and purple-top turnips

  • We’ll see how much time we have to pick your strawberries. Please come pick some for yourselves!

U-Pick:

Sign Up No Longer Required

CSA shareholders may now U-Pick without signing up in advance!

In the fields:

  • Strawberries are abundant! — You may pick as much as you’d like any day of the week, but we are limiting the following two days to these times:

    • Wednesday 3:00 p.m. until dark

    • Saturday 1:00 p.m. until dark

  • Kale and collards

In our herb garden behind the washing station:

  • Anise hyssop (licorice flavor; makes a nice tea)

  • Basil (Genovese)

  • Cutting celery (adds celery flavor to stews and salads)

  • Cilantro

  • Garlic chives

  • Onion chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Sage (with edible flowers)

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

CSA shareholders are always welcome to pick any flowers on the farm. We have a few beginning to bloom in the flower garden behind the washing station.

Growing wild on the farm:

  • Mulberries — Most of our mulberries are ripe when they are black and fall easily from the tree. The most efficient harvesting technique with tall trees is to lay a sheet on the ground and shake the branches so the ripe berries drop. There are mulberries growing all around the farm. Look for the ripe berries on the ground and you’ll see the tree above you.

  • Serviceberry — This is a native shrub. In addition to the one growing in front of the washing station, you might see them in your neighborhood. Fruit are ripe when they are dark purple.

All CSA shareholders may U-Pick any week, as often as you’d like. CSA shareholders include anyone in the household of the person who paid for the share and any household that split the payment of the share with you.

Recipes:

Garlic Scape and Salad Ideas

This week I’m just passing along some links:

  • If you’ve been a shareholder for a while, you know that garlic scapes make a divine pesto. Here’s two variations on that theme. Both include parmesan cheese, but if you are non-dairy, you can replace with some nutritional yeast and it is still terrific.

  • In case you’re in a salad rut, I enjoyed this recipe with Chinese cabbage and kale cut into thin ribbons, but any sturdy greens would have worked. (Also, I replaced the mandarin oranges with the fruit I happened to have on hand—serviceberries and mulberries, although truthfully, citrus probably would have been a better compliment.)

Coming Soon:

Strawberries continue if you’re Picking

Hooray for soaking rain! The tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants should respond nicely. Big thanks to the four stalwart harvesters—Jared, Elissa, John, and Alex—who picked to exhaustion in the rain all day Saturday.

  • Strawberries will be u-pick only, peaking now and continuing (declining slowly) for several more weeks

  • Soon, yellow squash and cucumbers will be added to the zucchini

  • The rest of June will look a lot like this week, but with a gradual decline in salad greens and an in squash and beans.

  • Garlic scapes, 1-2 more weeks

  • Green onions (aka scallions) through the end of the month

  • French breakfast radishes, 1 more week

  • Kohlrabi, 2 more weeks

  • Purple-top turnips, 1-2 more weeks

  • Bok choi, 1 more week

  • Kale, collards, and chard continue until July

  • Beets in weeks 5 or 6

Thank you for being our SHAREHOLDERs!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.