Getting ready for the first CSA delivery! Apprentice Benny bags mesclun mix while pea shoots cool in the sink and radishes get packed into crates.

The first delivery is finally here!  After months of preparation and anticipation, we’re ready and excited to start the CSA.  In the midst of a rainy spring it’s sometimes hard to remember exactly who we’re doing all this work for.  But then the first pick-up arrives, and it is so gratifying to be at the heart of this food-loving community of over 200 Mid-coast families.    It’s so great to see you all, share recipes and stories, and to know we’re a part of feeding you and your family in the healthiest and tastiest way possible!

Our farm is also the heart of an educational agricultural experience for five fabulous apprentices every year.  Our apprentices learn first-hand the details of running a small farm.  In return, their hard work makes it possible to provide the CSA to all of you.  On Saturday it took nine hours for seven people to harvest, wash and pack vegetables for the Sunday CSA delivery.  And that’s not even including the tremendous amount of work that went into the plants before Saturday.  So give a big thanks to Alex Onik, Tiff Ellis, Laura Gans, Faith Meixell and Benny Andrews when you see them around the farm or at pick-up.  Without them, this farm could not be what it is.

If you pick up your share at the farm, thank you for your patience while we get the new CSA pick-up barn ready for action.  We’ll use a tent in the meantime, and hope to have it completed and ready for use within the next week or two.

As for the veggies, we’re pretty excited to kick off the season with sugar snap peas.  Snack on them raw and your family will be lucky if the peas make it all the way home from pick-up.  Chop up the pea shoots to throw into salads or just to munch on (avoiding any tough stem bottoms).  You’ll feel a little like a grazing cow with a pea flower poking out of the corner of your mouth, but they’re so delicious it’s worth it.

We look forward to seeing you at the pick-up or around the farm.  Remember that we’re always available for questions, to arrange an alternate pick-up, or to help you figure out what exactly to do with an unfamiliar vegetable.  And the HCF facebook page is a great new resource to share recipes, give feedback, and ask questions of other members.

Have a great week, and happy eating!

Reba, Bill and the HCF crew

Week 1 of 18 veggies:  Radishes, Winterbor Kale, Sugar Snap Peas, Mesclun Mix, Pea Shoots, Arugula

This week’s recipes:  Kale Chips, Our Favorite Balsamic Vinaigrette, Penne with Sugar Snap Peas and Arugula Pesto