Mountain Bounty Farm News 

Dear CSA,

Happy Leap Year!

Every four years the calendar awards us with one extra day in February. Of course, we understand that this is necessary to maintain our annual cycle to stay on track with seasons and other holidays, but did you know it had huge implications for farmers as well? As long as seasons stay on track, harvests will stay on schedule too.

With weather being as unpredictable as it is, any chance farmers can get for predictability is critical to their work. Leap year is helpful because the solar year is slightly longer than the 365 days on our Western calendars. Nonetheless, it’s hard to account for a quarter of a day on a hallmark calendar, but over the years, the extra days would eventually add up and alter the entire year.

Enter leap year, here to set the calendar straight! Without it, over time, there would be a dramatic shift in seasons. Summer would become freezing and dark and vice versa. No matter what type of calendar you look at, every culture has attempted to figure out a symmetrical calendar year. Now, we follow the Western calendar giving us 365-day years with February 29th every four years.

All in all, farmers (and everyone else who eats their harvest) are grateful for leap years for keeping agriculture on schedule for growing and harvesting crops on time in the right seasons. Leap year allows our dedicated farmers to grow our crops and continue to harvest our favorite foods!

-"What a Leap Year Means to Farmers" by ThirdLeaf Northwest

Enjoy your shares (and extra day of February!) this week!

-Becky and the Mountain Bounty Crew

Seasonal Flower Shares - **Begin THIS week**

Provided by Little Boy Flowers

The Early Spring Flower CSA offered by our partner farm Little Boy Flowers is now live for signups with deliveries starting this week! This CSA runs for 8 weeks, Feb 28/29 - April 17/18

The Early Spring Flower CSA includes bouquets of our farm's most popular blooms- anemones, ranunculus, Icelandic poppies and tulips. The size of the bouquets progresses with the season.

Try our Mountain Bounty personalized coffee blend CSA (both Regular and Decaf) from Remedy Coffee Company in Auburn!

Remedy coffee is made with a focus on quality, by working directly with growers and producers, and small batch-roasting to bring out the natural flavors of the coffee bean. Their coffee is served at local Nevada City haunts such as Three Forks and Briar Patch. We are thrilled to offer up our own signature coffee; the "Mountain Bounty Blend" as a Weekly or Bi-weekly CSA Subscription.

Farm Box Contents

(Contents are subject to change depending on harvest and weather conditions at Mountain Bounty and our Partner Farms.)

Please check the delivery list at your CSA site and sign your name indicating you have picked up your shares. We deliver exactly what is on the delivery list.

Small Box (Feeds 1-2 people)

• Sweet Potatoes (NorCal Farms)
• Parsnip (Pinnacle Farm)
• Red Mustard (Riverdog Farm)
• Broccoli Crowns (Coke Farm)
• Yellow Onion
• Cilantro (Pinnacle Farm)

Fruit Box

(Provided by FROG HOLLOW FARM and contents subject to substitutions)

• Pink Lady Apples - Cuyama Farm, New Cuyama
• TDE Mandarins - Buck Brand Citrus, Porterville
• Navel Oranges - Blue Heron Farms, Rumsey 
• Kishu Mandarins - Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood
• Ettinger Avocados - Eco Farm, Temecula

**Due to delivery logistics, we are unable to return the Fruit Share Boxes to Frog Hollow. Please recycle your box at home**

If you are unsure if you are signed up for Fruit Shares, please visit your Member Dashboard HERE to verify!! Please do not grab a share unless you see your name on the pickup list.

Mushroom CSA

(Provided by Grass Valley Mushrooms)

This week will be a bag of Shiitake Mushrooms locally grown from Grass Valley Mushrooms.

General mushroom cooking instructions: Mushrooms should be cooked for about 15-20 minutes. Sautéing them is what we do most around here! 

Start with a dry sauté (no oil or butter) on low heat first for about 5 minutes to soften them and break down the outside cellular wall of the mushroom, and this will get some of the excess moisture out. Then, add oil or butter and your seasoning and go to a low-medium heat, sauteing for 10-15 minutes.

Tips and Recipes:

Shiitake Mushrooms are another delicious mushroom variety packed with essential nutrients. In fact, they even contain many of the same amino acids as meat! To prepare shiitake mushrooms, it’s recommended to remove their stems with a knife before cooking, as they often remain tough and fibrous. Here’s a recipe for Sticky Sesame Shiitake Mushrooms (Click Here.) Note: this recipe calls for dehydrated mushrooms, but you can use fresh mushrooms, just skip the reconstituting step.

Recipes, storage tips, inspiration and nutrition information:

• Red Mustard Greens can be a great way to add a little kick to your meal. Similar to arugula, these greens have a peppery taste that can be enjoyed raw or cooked to be made milder. For a simple side dish, try this recipe for Sautéed Mustard Greens (Click Here.) And if you’re craving a little something extra, try adding a little crumbled bacon to this dish!

• Parsnips are a delicious root vegetable that thrive in winter weather. In fact, the longer they stay in the ground during these cold temperatures, the better they turn out! They have a sweet, nutty flavor and are very similar to carrots. They can be made into a sweet or savory side dish, but we thought this one looked particularly good: Garlic Butter Roasted Parsnips (Click here)

• Everyone has had celery stalks before, but have you tried Celery Root? Also known as celeriac, this is the root base of the same plant that we know and love. Celery root is high in fiber, antioxidants, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese! It also makes a wonderful low-carb alternative for roasted or mashed potatoes. See for yourself! — Celery Root (Celeriac) Mash (Click here.)

• Here’s another favorite salad recipe for you all! This Coastal Kale Salad (Click Here) recipe calls specifically for Curly Kale and is addicting! It’s salty, crunchy, and zesty. And unlike other salads, it keeps well and is delicious the next day.

Important Dates:

• All shares will be delivered on Wednesday, November 27th for the week of Thanksgiving.
• We will be closed for a Farm Vacation from 12/21/24 through 1/5/25. There will be no deliveries those weeks, as well as no Admin support.

info@mountainbountyfarm.com

Mailing Address:

14579 Blind Shady Road, Nevada City, CA 95959

Phone:(530)292-3776