Lots Of Rain

There has been so much rain at Cedarmore, they have less time so there is no info from them this week.  They are literally just trying to keep their heads above water.

Best Looking Lettuce I Have Ever Seen

onions, summer squash, Swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage

Summer squash is a general term for more than 70 different varieties of fast-growing, tender-skinned. soft fleshed. bland tasting squash.  Zucchini is by far the most famous ( or is it infamous?) of all the summer squash.  Some other types are yelllow squash-either straight or crookneck- and scallops (also called patty pans.

Summer squash are easy to grow by direct seeding after the soil is warm and danger of frost is past.  Plant seeds 1/2 deep every 6-12 inches, thinning to a final spacing of 18 inches from bush plants and 2-3 feet for vining plants.  Squash seeds are susceptible to rotting in cool wet soils: minimum germination temperatures are 60 degrees: ideal is 70 degrees.

For earlier crop start seeds indoors in individual pots, 3-4 weeks before setting out.  Black plastic mulch and row covers are well suited for growing summer squash.

Pick summer squash while seeds are young and tender.  Seeds and skin can both be eaten at this stage.  Under ideal growing conditions, summer squash needs to be picked every 2-3 days to keep them from getting big.  There will be good ones tomorrow.

All summer squash can be interchangeably in recipes.  Preferences are due to color, size, and shape rather than flavor.

Because of their bland flavor, summer squash leads themselves to many different cooking appliances, taking on the flavor.  or of whatever they are cooked with.  Try using them as a substitute for rice, pasta, and potatoes.  Young, tender summer squash are excellent raw with dips or in salads.  They are also delicious steamed, fried, sauteed, stuffed or baked into breads.  Squash flowers are edible too.

As a testament to their extreme versatility, I suspect that there have been more recipes inspired by zucchini than by any other vegetable.

Summer squash provides vitamin A and C as well as folate.  It can be kept in the refrigerator for 7-10 days without refrigeration.  they cannot be winter stored.

Yield:  1 pound of summer squash = 4 cups sliced or diced.

1 bushel =40 pounds = 32-40 pints

These were gone when I came back from a 3 hours CPR class sot hey must be the best cookies ever!

FYI: Rue is sending an email to each customer that contains the newsletter.  This week he says that the farm has seen lots of sunshine and moisture is making things grow by leaps and bounds.  Bell peppers should be coming up in the boxes next week.

First Boxes Have Been Delivered

It was great to see Rue and his sidekick today for the first box of the season!  I think you will be surprised by what you have and how great it all looks and smells.

lettuce, Chinese cabbage, green onions, radishes, cucumber, asparagus...

The eggs for the Eggs Share looks so pretty.

For hosting a drop-off location I chose baked good share.  There might be only two of these chocolate chip cookies left.

A couple of new things...there will be no newsletter in the boxes this year.  With a new baby and a growing family, not to mention a growing CSA, there just isn't time.  Remember that John or Anna have to write the newsletter out by hand then deliver it to Rua and Susan.  Then they need to type and print it and take it back down the road to Cedarmore for it to be folded and placed in each box. So I have the Amish cookbook and I will choose a recipe that contains one or more items in the box each week.  Usually, the recipe will be published after the blog under Recipes. If you should have a recipe that you would like to share with the rest of us, please feel free to send it to me at itsahoot24@aol.com.  Please write RECIPE in the subject line so I don't miss it in case it goes to my spam folder.

And lastly, please remember to bring back boxes, jars, containers, egg cartons so they can be used again.  Also, please remember to break down your empty boxes and return them to the host house.  We ask that you keep them in a neat pile.  It helps Rue when he packs them back in his van and returns them to Cedarmore.

Looking forward to a great year!

It's Finally Time

Next Tuesday, May 15 and Friday, May 18 our first CSA box will be deliveres to eyour hosts house and ready for you to pick-up!

Back In Business...Well, Sorta

I must apologize for not posting anything much since the end of October.  I just wasn't able to type with a broken arm/shoulder.  But the doctor says the arm is healed but the shoulder needs more work.  Like three days of therapy a week for a month.

So back to the CSA I can come!  Yea!  I've missed it!

Look what I have for you today...

With the New Year comes the New Sign-Ups for the CSA for 2018.  Read through it and enjoy looking ahead to what the new season holds.  If you have any questions please email us 

cedarmorefarm@gmail.com.