Greentree Naturals CSA Newsletter - July 12, 2006

Fresh from the Garden News

The sunshine is certainly making things grow in the gardens! We are thrilled to be eating peas fresh from the vine again. The other day, while picking the peas, we had the opportunity to watch a lady bug laying her eggs. This is the first time either of us have witnessed this in all the years of working in gardens. It was quite remarkable and we are so fortunate to have lady bugs making their home here on the farm. They eat aphids and white flies, which are common pests for the garden. We also release green lace wings, which are predatory insects that feed on the critters that eat your veggies. With the warm weather insects start hatching out and the challenge is on to keep them from eating what we are growing. It is one of the most challenging aspects of being an organic grower. This is why you have some chew marks on some of your produce. Nothing wrong with it, just not perfect.

We hosted the Ag in the Classroom group last Thursday and had 43 teachers from across the state come for a farm tour and talk on organic production. Since these teachers are K - 12, I gave my best to encourage them to teach this next generation of children to think about where their food is coming from. With the continued loss of farm land and farmers, it is so important to get these young ones thinking about the future of food!

We all tend to take our food for granted and often give little thought to the farmers who make all of the grocery store shelves full of food.

Your participation in our CSA is helping keep this farm sustainable. We are thankful for your support and dedication to eating locally.

GIVE PEAS A CHANCE!

We learn from our gardens to deal with the most urgent question of the time:
How much is enough?
- Wendell Berry

We are hosting our eighth organic wine tasting with Pend Oreille Pasta's here on the farm on Thursday, July 27th. Valerie and John Albie always bring an assortment of organic wines along with some wonderful appetizers for this event.  If you are interested, be sure to sign up at their store or call them at 263-1352 for reservations. Our part in this endeavor is basically just to provide a place for this to happen. We don't make money on it, but get the chance to promote organic.

WHAT'S IN THE BAG...

Everything is from Greentree this week.

• Salad Mix - Always double washed and ready to eat!
• Swiss Chard
• Kale (Red Russian and Italian Toscana - If you haven't tried the kale slaw recipe from the June 21 newsletter, try it out!
• Herbs - Dill, Greek Oregano, Italian basil; Excellent chopped up and added to salad or most dishes!
• Sugar Snap Peas - These are sweet, edible pod. No need to shell them unless you want to!
• Snow Peas - Excellent raw or in any stir fry dish.
• Green onions and garlic scapes
• Summer Squash