Community Supported Agriculture
Farm Notes: Simple Gifts
        
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

I often find myself singing these lines of the Shaker dancing song while out on the farm enjoying nature. As I watched so many members come out to the farm this weekend, I thought I could see them singing and dancing as well. They had left their possessions and perhaps more importantly, they had left their phones in the car so that they could spend just a short time away from modernity. All the constant chatter of the media and our smart phones can easily keep us from the freedom that we can enjoy to come down where we ought to be. In that place right under a full blueberry bush, laying down flat on one's back staring at the clouds streaming by while reaching up to pick and to eat another berry, we will be in that mindset of a valley of love and delight. It is truly a gift to be simple and in this simplicity we can be free.

Farmer Dave
Bok Choy and Tatsoi in the field
Tatsoi and Bok Choy in the field
What's In My Share

This week features a growing assortment of summer favorites. Enjoy the first harvests of green garlic.

Don't forget to use the swap box! It's not just for trading for your favorite vegetables. If you won't use something in the share, have a busy week and won't be able to cook everything, or just feel overwhelmed leave your extras in the swap box and they'll be donated to one of our many hunger relief partners.

Vegetable Shares
  • Green garlic
  • Green, Wax, or Purple beans
  • Tatsoi, Arugula, or Broccoli Rabe
  • Kale
  • Slicing Cucumber
  • Pickling Cucumber
  • Cherry or slicing tomato
  • Zucchini or Summer squash
  • Red Romaine, Green or Red leaf Lettuce
  • Onions
  • Herbs
  • and more!
Fruit Share
  • Apricots
  • Plums
  • And more depending on harvest conditions.
This is what we are planning and hoping to harvest this week.  Ultimately Mother Nature has the last word so the actual contents of your share will vary.
 
Vegisode of the Week!   
Going Gaga for Garlic! 

In this VEGISODE™, Stacey and Denise show us how to store garlic, and how to roast it for freezing or roasted garlic butter (which can also be frozen!). They also give us some fun facts about how garlic grows, why it is the most expensive crop for farmers to grow, and garlic's health benefits.

Try These Recipes From Our Blog

Who wants to cook in the middle of a heat wave? Try some of these recipes from our blog and keep the stove turned off!
Check out all our Vegisodes and subscribe to be notified when timely new videos are added.
These videos are designed to help you make the most of your CSA share with tips on storing, preparing and preserving your veggies.  

Pick-Your-Own Blueberries at Farmer Dave's
437 Parker Road in Dracut.
Friday and Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 9am to 1pm

PYO Blueberries $5.00 per pound.  Customer must check in at the barn and receive picking container(s).

CSA Member benefits:  One pint and no field entry charge per CSA membership.  This is limited to once during the 2018 Blueberry PYO season.  A $5.00 value.

Picking will be weather permitting.

Have you tried Farmer Dave's pantry line?
Made with our own produce.

Delicious new products:  Applesauce, Strawberry and Strawberry Raspberry Jam

A new batch of hot sauces: Call of the Mild and Dave's Third Degree.
Groundwork Share-a-Share
Thanks to generous donations by you (our CSA Members) to the Groundwork Share-a-Share fund, we were able to subsidize the cost of shares in 2017 for over 30 individuals and families, as well as shares for local food pantries.  
Please consider helping us in our efforts to make the CSA accessible to more families by donating to Groundwork Share-a-Share.
Helpful Links

Farmer Dave's LLC. | |   [email protected] | http://www.farmerdaves.net  (978)-349-1952