Hello everyone, and Happy Juneteenth!

We are working today - as we do on all federal holidays in spring and summer. It takes 10 people the better part of a morning (and some of the afternoon for some) to harvest, wash and pack all the vegetables we are going to distribute tomorrow.

In honor of Juneteenth, however, I'd like take a moment to recognize and honor the work and ideas of Booker T. Whatley, who can be credited with creating a cooperative buyers club that the modern CSA is modeled after, and also for inspiring and developing many of the regenerative agricultural practices that are used today.

He was ahead of his time, encouraging smaller land holding farmers to focus on local markets and high demand/high value crops that don't ship well. He also promoted pick-your-own operations at a time when the concept was still novel.

I encourage you to take a moment and read his bio!

Things are looking lovely around the farm . . . and they are going to look even better in the next few days. The photo above was from Saturday morning when I picked summer squash and zucchini for market. When the earliest cucumber, zucchini and squash are coming on, I always try to pick them every day, and pick them a little larger, just to make sure we have enough to go around. Then, in about 10 days I'll be trying to get my crew to recalibrate and pick smaller because they are growing so fast we can't keep up!

There are plenty of cucumber this week (they look so great in the tunnel) and we will squeeze a pound of zucchini/squash out for everyone). We hope you are enjoying the vegetables!

Our family came over yesterday for father's day and we had grilled scallions and bok choy (hence the oily bok choy/scallion pick to the left) with a salad . . . great sides and great way to eat up some veggies!

An important note from last week!

Please make sure, if you are going to bring a dog that you keep the dog on the leash, make sure everyone around is ok with dogs, don't allow the dog to touch any produce or bins and clean up after them - we have extra bags if you need one. Thank you!

1 head lettuce

choose 3: spinach, kale, chard, collards, bok choy, frisee, dandelion, beets, kohlrabi, radish

choose 1 bag greens: arugula, lettuce mix, micros, braising kale, spinach

choose 2: scallions, cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley thyme, scapes

1 pound cucumber

1 pound squash/zucchini mix

Hi again - Jess Girotti here. I wanted to quickly tell you all about an amazing book that I'm listening to called "What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health". It's all about how important the soil is to the nutrient content in our food. Food grown using regenerative farming practices (like Brittany and Kevin use) produces veggies with dramatically higher nutrient content than those grown using typical commercial farming methods. A head of lettuce, for example, from the supermarket (even if it's organically grown) likely contains significantly less vitamins and minerals than a head of lettuce grown at Upswing Farm! I will now return you to your regularly scheduled recipes. I tried to target the less common veggies that you might not be so sure about. Don't forget to check out the recipe pages on the Upswing website if you need more ideas for your other veggies.

I think of this one as more of a slaw than a salad. It has a great dairy-free dressing too!

I'm going to throw another Bok choy recipe in here because I feel like it's one of those ingredients that people struggle with. One of the cool things about Bok choy is that you can use it raw (like in the salad above) or you can cook it. This is one of my favorite Bok choy recipes - it suggests roasting but I typically throw it on the grill.

Kohlrabi is another ingredient that might have you scratching your head - especially if you're new to the CSA. This recipe is a family favorite and while I do like to try out new recipes with kohlrabi, we end up doing these fritters at least once a month.

These biscuits are delicious on their own but if you still have some scapes leftover from last week, make up a batch of garlic scape & basil pesto and spread it on one of these biscuits and top with a farm fresh egg and maybe some frisee or lettuce. SO good.

My daughter had to bring in a healthy dish to share with her Wellness class last week and she chose to make this scrumptious chocolate cake because it's become one of her favs. You'll never know there are beets in it but it's super moist as a result. Don't miss the glaze (which is also ridiculously good drizzled over ice cream btw).

Yes! You can eat the radish greens. They're packed with nutrients and super tasty in this light summery soup.

Pick Up Details:

34 Rogers Rd, Holliston

Tuesday, 1pm-6pm

Park beyond the farm stand (up the hill, past the yellow house)

65 Brookline St, Pepperell (parking is more like 50 Brookline on maps)

Tuesday/Wednesday 2-6pm or Thursday 2pm-6pm

Park in the lot near the greenhouses with the white 'Upswing Farm' sign

93 E Main St Hopkinton (but don't pull into the main entrance!, see parking info below)

Thursday, 1pm-6pm

Just west of the nursery is a traffic light. Turn up the hill onto Legacy Farm Rd North and then take your first right into the back gravel parking lot to park. You will see our truck and tents from the street.

Call 508-215-8378 with questions. If you text, please make sure to include your first and last name in the text.

Email brittany@upswingfarm.com with any planned schedule changes

Greens: In a plastic bag in the fridge, not near the freezer. (Ideally between 34 and 40 degrees with 98% humidity.) If they don't come in a bag, undo the twist tie when you get them home and put them in a bag. They will wilt without one.

Root veggies: All roots (even most potatoes) want to be in the fridge. Fresh onions will also want to go in the fridge. The whole green stalk is edible and delicious. You should twist roots like radishes, beets, turnips and carrots off of their greens before storing. The greens are all edible - so you can store them separately if you plan to eat them.

Herbs and scallions: Unless you are drying them, they can go in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Tomatoes: Don't like the fridge! Store on the counter at room temp.

Cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, beans: In a plastic bag in the fridge.