Welcome to the first ever Spring Greens CSA! It may be our twelfth season farming, but 2015 is shaping up to be a season of Hatchet Cove Farm Firsts. The first year with a milking parlor, the first spring greens CSA, the first year without wholesale accounts, the first raw milk CSA, the first year with a full-season returning apprentice (Katie), and the first year with two international apprentices (Sayni and Sobha Ram from Nepal).  It has been a whirlwind of a spring, and the slim window of time between last snow and first CSA sped by. Luckily we’ve had some good help, such as a crew of second- and third-graders from Ashwood Waldorf School (see below) who came by on Friday to help us plant potatoes!

An exciting development this spring was that without having to dedicate our greenhouses to spring greens for the co-ops, we were able to grow some of the biggest, crunchiest radishes and Hakurei (fresh-eating) turnips that we’ve ever grown. The radishes are almost like small apples with a kick! This week’s share also includes the last of fall 2014 onions. We moved the remaining non-sprouting onions into the walk-in a couple of weeks ago in order to keep them from knowing that spring had arrived, and if you use them quickly you might not even have any green sprouts in the center of the onion. It’s no problem if you do, though.  Just chop it up with the rest of your onion (or pull it out, if you prefer). Hopefully we’ll have some still rock-hard 2014 shallots for you in next week’s share.

The spring greens CSA may be sold out, but we still have about fifty shares available in the summer CSA. While that isn’t that unusual for this time of year, still please tell your friends and neighbors about the summer CSA. Part of just focusing the farm on our CSA members means that we need to have every share sold, so spread the word.

You should have received an email last week clarifying your pick-up location and balance. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. If you use EBT to pay for your share remember that I will have some paperwork for you to fill out at the first pick-up.

Enjoy your first taste of spring this week! Remember that if you miss your share you can come pick it up at the farm walk-in any time before Saturday (unless you pick up at Pen Bay, in which case it will be in the cafeteria fridge).

We’re so happy to be feeding our friends and neighbors again!

Reba, Bill & the HCF crew

Spring Greens CSA Week 1 of 4:  Spinach, Radishes, Mesclun Mix, Hakurei Turnips and Greens, Onion   

Week One Add-ons: Milk, Grains, Cheese, Mushrooms, Fiore. Due to delivery complications, eggs will be delivered on Weeks Two and Four during the Spring CSA.

This week’s recipes: Radish Salsa, Spinach and Chickpeas

Make a CSA payment:  http://hatchetcovefarm.csasignup.com/members/pay

The second and third grade class from Ashwood Waldorf School visited the farm and helped us plant potatoes last Friday.