SP24 (W8): Planning & planting for summer
Dear Farm Community -
The beautiful warm weather last week gave us a little taste of summer and we were loving it! We got winter squash, summer squash, and melons all transplanted into our fields, so dreams of grilled zucchini and juicy slices of watermelon were certainly on our minds. The tomatoes also had their first round of string put in place to help them grow upwards with support (add tomato sandwiches to the list of our daydreams…) And of course we spent a good chunk of time weeding!
We had a little bit of excitement with or farm truck last week too - after 4 days of the veggie truck not starting it finally did - and smoke erupted out of the hood in a fabulous display. That’s the reality of farm life though - there’s always something breaking or getting fixed. And more often than not it’s a vehicle! (If any of you lovely ladies and gentlemen are mechanics we would love to talk about how we can help each other out - shoot us an email!) More than likely after a new head gasket we’ll be back in business with our veggie-mobile, but for now we’re back to sharing Betsy, the flower team’s truck.
How about some good news! Here in Athens we have so many restaurants that we adore who take our produce and turn it all into all sorts of incredible dishes. The National recently came out with two new menu items centered around a few of our spring favorites. The first features our green garlic - a Roasted Garlic Soup with bacon lardons, green garlic oil & croutons (easily available vegan and gluten free!) With the weather taking a dip, a cozy flavorful soup sure sounds good.
For dessert, order the Basque Cake with Diamond Hill Farm Strawberries aka Heaven on a plate. The National’s incredible food is matched by their warm and personal service, so you know you’re in for a real treat. Be sure to head on over while these dishes are available!!
This week in your CSA’s I encourage you to appreciate the spring items that often don’t grow as well in the hot summer heat, like kale and lettuce. This delicious recipe for Spicy Kale and Coconut Fried Rice brings big flavors to a vegetarian dish. If you’re looking for a hearty kale-based salad look no further than this Greek Kale Salad with Creamy Tahini Dressing that packs a ton of plant-based protein with chickpeas in the mix. Little gem lettuce, which has become the crown jewel of restaurant salads, is also in your shares this week. Little gem lettuce is just slightly sweet which means that you can add acidic elements in a very balanced way, and the leaves are buttery soft while still tasting bright and fresh. Try it in this highly popular recipe for Little Gem Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette - 5,300 five star reviews can’t be wrong! For a sweet and savory twist try this Strawberry & Feta Salad. Whatever you cook this week - we hope you have fun and enjoy it fully!
Happy Eating :)
Diamond Hill Farmers
P.S. This week’s frog count: 14!
the treasures that await you are abundant:
P.P.S. Those of you who follow our instagram page likely saw this already in our Thursday post, but for our dear blog readers, here is context to the photos in this newsletter! A point and shoot film camera floats around the farm - affectionately called the “farm cam” we love to catch little slices of farm life to remember that we’re also growing memories! Enjoy some highlights from our last roll of farm-cam film
$25 share: strawberries, beets, little gems, scallions, bok choy, kale
$35 share: strawberries, beets, little gems, scallions, bok choy, kale, celery, parsley, arugula