The farm crew is full-up! Our final long-term 2018 crew members arrived this week. Marya is from Vermont and grew up on an organic farm, and Cedar is from Kansas and has worked on a research farm out there. They’re just here for the college summer, but we suspect they’ll squeeze a lot of learning into these three months.

Marya has experience milking cows, and she arrived just in time to get one day of milking in with Bill before he threw his back out for a few days. So on her second morning at the farm, she and I muddled through the milking on our own. It had been a year since I had milked, but between my muscle memory and her one day of learning the ropes, we made it through! The one exciting moment was when we realized that we hadn’t closed the gate behind the cows when they came in from pasture, and all of a sudden Daisy and her bull calf Paris were galloping off into the field. The calves are usually not allowed out on pasture until they’ve grown too tall to simply wander away under the electric fence. So with Paris gallivanting free in the fields, I was sure that we were about to have a very long calf-chase. But Maple, our often nervous, barky shelter dog, came to our rescue! At first I thought she was chasing the calf, but when I yelled she stopped and kept just the right distance to put the pressure on Paris not to wander off. It gave me the time to run over and then between Marya, Maple and me, we had the calf back in the yard in less than a minute. It was amazing! Who knows if she could ever do it on command but I’m starting to believe that Maple just might really have some cattle herder in her, after all.

I’ve been enjoying spinach in all of its many guises recently. Spinach with quinoa, spinach with eggs, spinach with beans (see this week’s recipe), spinach with pasta. I feel so lucky to have such an abundance of spinach in the spring. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am!

Have a great week, enjoy your salads, and be in touch with any questions!

Reba and the HCF crew  

Spring CSA Week Three of Four: Spinach, Lettuce Head, Hakurei Turnips with Greens, Salad Mix and/or Arugula, [Radishes or Sprouting Broccoli or Parsley] 

Spring Week Three Recipes: Radish Salsa, Spinach and Chickpeas

Spring Week Three Add-on Shares: Milk, Bread, Cheese, Mushroom, Oil & Vinegar, Yogurt, Eggs, Ferments, Tofu  

Cheese Spring Week Three