Week 1 Shares

This week kicks off the summer season and I’m very excited about the products we have to offer! This email contains what is in this week’s bag, confirms the pickup location and dietary preferences you selected, and has some tips and tricks for getting the most out of your first Fresh Fork Market Farm Buying Club share.

A few quick notes:  

A separate email will be coming today to each person about their selected pickup location, its times, etc.  You do not need to be at the location at the opening minute. There will be sure to be a line at that time.  Also, please take the time to double check the contents of your bag when you get to your car, particularly the vegetarian and vegan customers.

The highlight to this week’s bag is a whole, pasture raised chicken.  These birds have spent their entire lives outside on organic green pastures, eating a homegrown non-gmo and chemical free mixture of oats, corn, soybeans, and minerals, and digging for all the bugs, seeds, and grass they can find in the soil.  The flavor and nutrient difference is amazing.

These birds came in beautifully as well.  They are on the huge side considering a chicken. The average weight is around 6#, which is generally bigger than I want them raised to but the farmers started them early expecting them to grow slowly in what is usually a cool, often wet spring.  This year the warm March got them growing very quickly and they came in larger than we planned.  Some of the biggest birds may have what we call “green tender.”  In short, the tenderloin muscle gets very strong in a bird this big.  When it is killed, the tender (along the breastbone behind the breast) has a green hint.  It is harmless but just slightly unattractive.

On the produce side, we are very excited to have delicious strawberries and some very healthy greens.  This week’s newsletter will help you understand how to get the most out of the greens this week, including red russian kale and collard greens.

For those who love a salad, we have crunch green leaf lettuce from the muck soils of Hartville, Ohio.  Add to your lettuce some crunchy radishes and tender pea tendrils, and perhaps top it with some shredded kohlrabi.  Other suggestions and recipes will be in the newsletter.

For the vegans, I have a very special treat this week…the first of our hoophouse tomatoes from Middlefield, OH.  The farmer started these in December inside a heated hoophouse.  This is a good sign…the tomatoes will start coming on strong hopefully by Independence Day, so we can all get some!

Here’s all of this week’s bag contents:

 

Summer Week 1:

Small CSA Share

1 whole chicken, approx 5 – 6 lbs

1 head kohlrabi

1 bunch collard greens

1 quart strawberries

1 bunch red russian kale

1 bunch garlic scapes

1 head green leaf lettuce

1 bunch radishes

1 quarter lb bag pea tendrils

 

Large CSA Share Small contents above plus:

2 bunches spinach

1 lb shelled peas

1 head broccoli

1 lb sweet pea and black pepper linguini from Ohio City Pasta

 

Vegetarian Share

Small contents minus chicken, add:

2 bunches spinach

1 head broccoli

1 container feta cheese (4 oz)

1 lb sweet pea and black pepper linguini from OCP

 

Vegan Share

Small contents minus chicken,

add vegetarian contents, minus cheese

add:  1 lb rhubarb

2 lbs hoophouse tomatoes