CSA Share Photo: Week 4

22 Jun CSA Share Photo: Week 4

Radicchio,  baby “arrowhead” cabbage, green beans, cucumbers and fresh garlic all make their debut in the share this week. Tuesday was the longest day of the year and the official first day of summer. Here at the farm, the solstice marks somewhat of a turning point in our season. We shift from planting, to tending and harvesting the crops. All of our major plantings are in, a goal we look to achieve before the solstice, for every day from here out will be a delightful dance towards winter, as the days gradually, almost imperceptibly, get shorter.

A little about fresh garlic: garlic is planted in the Fall, and the first harvest is when we snap the scapes to promote bulb growth.  Scapes, which you are familiar with by now, are the delicious, curly flower stalks on hardneck varieties. The next harvest, and main event, is of the bulb itself. Our entire garlic crop, about a half an acre, will be harvested the beginning of July and hung to dry and cure. Right now, we are harvesting some of the garlic as green garlic, which simply means it has not yet been cured. Uncured garlic doesn’t store as well, but how long are you really gonna let a single bulb of garlic hang around?! It is wonderfully aromatic, and a rare early summer treat. Use it just as you would regular garlic, but first you must remove several layers of moist skin to get to the cloves. With that bunch of basil, why not make some pesto?! Enjoy!

CSA share week 4

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.