Last Friday was one of the lovliest garlic-harvesting days on record — sunny and breezy and not overwhelmingly hot. With the help of a few families who came out with babes in arms – and stalwart Sam Clark, who arrived at 6:30 am and dug up at least half the garlic before he had to leave at 9:30 – our awesome crew harvested, bundled and hung to cure around 6500 bulbs of garlic. Our new farm volunteer, Anne, dove right into the dusty and hot work along with Thea, Christina and Becky, and apprentice Laura cinched herself into the harness and leaned out of the third floor barn window to pull in bundle after bundle to hang in the rafters. It may not be the most impressive harvest ever (the bulbs are itty bitty this year) but the garlic tastes great and there will be more than enough for the CSA season and for fall planting. Click here to see a few pictures!

You’ll get to choose between a few great “snack” veggies in the coming weeks — Husk Cherries (essentially little candies in their own paper lantern wrapping — pop them out to enjoy!) and Shishito peppers (click here for the super simple Shishito snack ‘recipe’). The Tomatillos in your share are ready for you to start making some of the best Salsa Verde you’ll ever have. And we’re waiting till the last minute to make the harvest decision in order to optimize sweetness, but sweet corn will be coming your way this week or next!

For those of you who were members in 2015, you may remember our apprentice from Nepal, Sayni Chaudhury. When Sayni returned to her rural Nepali community after her time at the farm, many CSA members made a commitment to help financially support her work for women and children. Sayni is an incredible person and she has continued to develop and expand her Nepali orphanage and women’s education center, called Sisterhome. At Sisterhome she hosts a school for both girls and boys, she advocates and provides a safe place for girls escaping servitude, she lobbies to put an end to the social “death” of widowed women, she teaches women trades so they can have some level of financial independence, and she supports young women in their quest for higher education. In 2015 many of our members made an annual pledge to Sisterhome for five years, and this is our fifth year of fulfilling our commitment. If you weren’t able to contribute in the past but would like to this year, please feel free to make a donation – every dollar helps! It feels incredible to have a way to provide some support to a woman doing wildly challenging work in a far-away corner of the world. I feel truly lucky that we’re able to help to support Sayni in this small way, and what she accomplishes with our contributions is nothing short of amazing. Click here to see an album of pictures, letters of thanks and more from Sisterhome in 2018. If you’d like to see more pictures from 2015-17, click here. Thank you!

This week we say farewell to our fabulous apprentice Laura. She heads back to Colby on Wednesday, and we will miss her infectious smile and positive attitude. Thank goodness she’ll still be in the state.

Remember that if you are getting your share out of the walk-in at the farm, your tomatoes (and, later on, other vegetables that shouldn’t be refrigerated) will be set out on the table outside of the walk-in. Please follow the signs and take your non-refrigerated vegetables too!

Have a great week,

Reba, Bill and the HCF Crew

Summer CSA Week Ten Vegetables: Lettuce Mix, Eggplant, Garlic, Dill/Parsley/Cilantro/Basil, Celery, Tomatillos/Husk Cherries/Shishitos, Zucchini/Zephyr Squash, Cucumbers, possibly Sweet Corn, Cherry Tomatoes, Slicing Tomatoes

Week Ten add-on shares: Milk, Cheese, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar, Bread

This week’s recipes: Shishito Pepper Snacks, Salsa Verde, Lebanese Tabbouleh, Fried Rice with Summer Squash Tomatoes and Parmesan