First Market Coming Soon

4:54 PM Adrian 1 Comments

Hello Echollective followers!  Hope you all are doing well.  As of this minute, it is pouring outside out here in Mechanicsville.  We've been getting so much rain lately!  It's really taken a weight off our shoulders not having to run around and water our outdoor plants, and even for a few days afterward (especially if it's cloudy!) we still don't need to worry about them.  Mama nature does the work for us.  Still gotta water the plants and flats that are indoors and in greenhouses, though.  However, in between these storms its been getting so warm, we gotta rush to make sure that we retain that moisture level!

We are looking forward to the first Iowa City Downtown Farmer's Market this year!  Happenin' this Wednesday and Saturday, lasting all the way until October.  We hope to see you all there, and will be bringing a bunch of good stuff!!!!

Summer CSA is still going and open.  You can still sign up if you're interested.

Our new Spring CSA is coming along nicely, we're getting between 25-30 folks each week wanting a family or couple box!  Last week's consisted of braising and salad mixes, a bunch of radishes, kale and asparagus, spinach, green garlic, and more.  Feel free to contact us for a box and take part in our Spring CSA!  So far it's mostly been on a week-to-week basis for most, though we have a few people who've signed up for the full 6 weeks.  Contact Derek Roller directly to participate, whether you would like just one box to start, or the full six weeks.  Spring CSA Info and costs can be found by clicking the tab above.   

If you are joining late we can always give you a pro-rated cost!

What you Spring CSA'ers can expect in our next box:

• Cilantro bunch
• Spinach (bunch or bag...)
• Green garlic
• Asparagus bunch
• Leeks
• Mint bunch
• Spring radish bunch
• Rhubarb
• Parsley bunch
• Pac choi head
• Lettuce (most likely head lettuce...maybe salad mix, but we might have sold out...)

Along with the farm experiencing lotsa rain, and lotsa salad mix sales....we've also received lotsa....noise?  I'm not talking strictly thunderstorms, but we've had a couple real low-flying military planes heading over the farm...pretty normal actually, since Air Force seems to have a steady route overhead here.  It's not uncommon to see an Apache or a Chinook helicopter out here.  But these planes flew so low that it was incredibly noisy for a while, and....well, we could tell exactly what kind of planes they were, and that they were indeed Air Force One planes.  So...apparently President Obama got a really good glimpse of what we're up to here on his way into Iowa City, I hope he was real proud and that his stomach grumbled a few times.  Maybe he'll hit is up for some salad mix next week, get a chianti and some vinaigrette and have a romantic date with Michelle.  I mean, those planes flew so low and so close, he could've seen how truly beautiful and delicious all of our produce truly is, and in startling detail.

As Spring continues, there is still a lot going on.   Potatoes have begun to sprout as a result of the rain.  The garlic is bigger and taller.  We're pulling up our first big pac choi heads, and our over-wintered leeks are huge...they will be featured in the next CSA box!  Soon we will pull our huge New Red Fire lettuce heads also, they are all green, pink, and red.  Arugula is getting big...almost there!  The ground has been tilled and amended by tractor as of late, and we've plugged in some kale and are readying to put in our onion, leek and shallot starts.  More kale and broccoli will be transplanted out into our fields soon, they are getting big enough.  We're making room for our quickly enlarging tomatoes!  Peppers and eggplants are on the way as well, getting transplanted into bigger containers.  Flats of carrots, parnsips, and celery have been recently sown, vegetables we did not try to grow last year!  We will see how they do this time around.

We've had several volunteer and intern inquiries.  A potential intern, Caleb, is showing up this week for an interview on Wednesday, which includes a two-week preliminary stay here.  He has worked on a lot of farms, so we are stoked to meet him, and hope he would like it here.  There are a few others who may or may not show up here....I believe we may be expecting a cross-country bicyclist and farming enthusiast to stop by here in May!  Stopping in by bike, of course.  We also had the Scattergood kids come out here this weekend by bike, part of their one-week long biking stint to different farms in the area.  They work for a day, and camp for a night.  Pretty cool thing for kids to be doing!

 Our two piglets (officially, Dr. Caporkian and Merlock) are growing steadily bigger the more farm scraps we feed them!  They have also grown really fond and friendly; in comparison, their arrival here made them a bit nervous and skittish of people.  Now Caporkian will stand still for a good back-scratchin', and they'll jump for joy and run around when they are approached!  (it's the food.)  They'll even let you pick them up!  Their menu consists of a whole smorgasbord of things, mostly of scrap that we used to just throw into our compost pile but is now put to an even better, more sustainable use: asparagus stalks, wilted lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli stalks, spinach leaves, old cooked grains, coffee grounds, egg-shells....they'll eat it all, and with a big "suine" (pig-like) smile on their faces.  Their pen has already been moved once to a new place in our plot where they can root around and fertilize the soil.  We have placed the small chicken tractor in their old spot, and the chickens are cleaning up any scraps and pests they have left behind.  In a week or two, those chickens are going to be slaughtered and dressed.

A lot going on...a lot to do...so I've gotta get off this computer and back into the fields!

See ya at Market!

Recipes

 Asparagus Spring Pizza (www.huffingtonpost.com)

Ingredients

Rhubarb-Cherry Sauce (good with steak or pork chops!) (www.marthastewart.com)

  Ingredients