The Spring Greens CSA has finally begun! We had our first harvest today and I couldn’t stop popping leaves into my mouth instead of into the harvest basket. There’s nothing like the first spring arugula — it’s gateway arugula, for those who don’t usually like its peppery taste. It’s mild and crispy and, to me, there’s nothing better. With this last month of rain and gloom, it feels both lucky and motivating to be eating something fresh from the farm. In our home kitchen we’re working through the final carrots and onions from 2016, and we still have plenty of frozen kale in the freezer, but I know it’ll be hard to go back to those storage items with all this beautiful spinach and arugula beckoning!

Even with the continuing challenges of Bill’s knee recovery and the endless rain, it’s still been a great spring on the farm. We have four beautiful little calves, we’re excited about our experiments with no-till methods of field management and, most importantly, we’ve had an awesome trio of springtime crew members (click here for a picture of two of them!). Cara and Michael came to us via farms and forestry work in Hawaii and the West coast. They hope to start their own farm operation in Massachusetts next year and are soaking up everything to do with running a farm with focus, determination, and great attitudes. We know you’ll all enjoy meeting them this season. And though she’s only here for the first week of the spring CSA before heading off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, we’ve been so lucky to have Hanni back on the farm. Hanni had no farming experience when she apprenticed with us in 2010. In the ensuing years she’s been working on farms and food operations on the West coast, and we are so lucky that she came back to join us for five weeks this spring. She hold so much farming wisdom and experience now, and is an amazing person, too. We’ll really miss her.

Remember that if you miss your CSA pick-up, you can always come out to the farm at any point in the week (or, for PBMC members, go to the cafeteria) to pick up your share out of the walk-in. During the pick-up, if you see add-ons shares that you’re interested in, let me know and we can add them to your summer CSA order.

As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns. We still have shares available in the summer CSA for any of your friends or family who are interested, and we still have grants available for anyone using EBT to pay for their share. Thank you for being here with us. We love being your farm and bringing you the first flavors of the season. Enjoy!

Reba, Bill, Eli and CJ

Spring Greens CSA Week 1 of 4: Spinach, Arugula, Mesclun Mix  

Spring Week One Add-ons: Milk, Yogurt, Bread, Tofu, Cheese, Eggs, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar  

This week’s recipes: Our Favorite Balsamic Vinaigrette, Warm Chickpea and Arugula Salad