CSA Box # 3 - July 2026
Happy Fourth of July weekend!
The past couple of days have brought some serious heat, but despite the challenging weather, the fields have exploded with growth. While we're harvesting beautiful crops, we're also continuing to battle hungry wildlife that's keeping us on our toes by mowing down some of our newly planted successions.
Farming is always a balance of celebrating what's thriving while adapting to what isn't.
We've recently invested in additional row cover to help protect young plantings, and we're seeding like crazy to keep fresh crops coming your way. Thanks for sticking with us through the ups and downs of the season. We're excited about what's still to come.
Summer is hitting its stride, and this week's box is full of some of our favorite flavors of the season.
*several items are not pictured this week
This Week's Harvest
Green Garlic
Green garlic is simply young garlic harvested before the bulbs fully mature and cure. It has a fresh, mild garlic flavor that's perfect for sautéing, grilling, soups, pasta, eggs, and compound butter.
Store it in the refrigerator and use within about a week. While this harvest is focused on the tender stalks, remember that later in the season cured garlic can be stored for months in a cool, dry place.
Kohlrabi
Don't let its unusual appearance fool you. Kohlrabi is one of summer's hidden gems. Peel away the tough outer skin to reveal a crisp, juicy interior with a flavor somewhere between broccoli stems, cabbage, and a sweet turnip.
Enjoy it:
Raw with dip or hummus
Shredded into slaws
Roasted alongside carrots and beets
Added to soups or stir fries
The leaves are edible too and can be cooked just like kale or collards.
Cosmic Purple & Danvers Carrots
This week's carrots include both vibrant purple Cosmic Purple carrots and classic orange Danvers carrots. The purple variety contains anthocyanins (the same antioxidants found in blueberries) while the Danvers bring exceptional sweetness and crunch.
They're delicious fresh from the bag, roasted until caramelized, or grilled alongside your holiday favorites.
Beets
Our beets are finally beginning to size up! Roast them whole, shred them raw into salads, pickle them, or enjoy them with goat cheese, herbs, and a drizzle of honey.
Don't forget the greens! They're excellent sautéed with a little garlic.
Frisée & Tender Lettuce
Frisée adds beautiful texture and a pleasantly mild bitterness that balances rich foods, while the tender lettuces bring sweetness and freshness.
Together they make a wonderful salad base, especially paired with fresh herbs, roasted beets, grilled vegetables, or your favorite vinaigrette.
Fresh Herbs
This week you'll find generous bunches of:
Basil
Cilantro
Dill
Green onions
Fresh herbs are one of the easiest ways to elevate simple summer meals. Blend basil into pesto, finish tacos with cilantro, stir dill into yogurt or potato salad, or toss green onions onto nearly everything.
Golden Oyster Mushrooms
A pleasant surprise this week! Some of our mushroom buckets decided to fruit almost on schedule. Golden oysters are delicate, earthy, and cook quickly. Sauté over medium-high heat with butter or olive oil until lightly browned, then add to pasta, eggs, risotto, grain bowls, pizzas, or toast.
Store in a paper bag in the refrigerator and enjoy within a few days for best quality.
Farm-Made Extras
Fire-Roasted Salsa
This week's pantry item is our 2025 Fire-Roasted Salsa. Ingredients: Tomato, jalapeño, onion, garlic, chicken stock, dried oregano, cumin, coriander, salt.
We're still fine-tuning the recipe before deciding whether it becomes a regular offering, so consider yourself an official taste tester! We'd love to hear what you think.
Because it has been properly canned, it is shelf stable until opened. Refrigerate after opening.
Scape & Herb Compound Butter
We managed to use, sell, or share all of our scapes this year, which is exciting! Ingredients: Butter, scapes, parlsey, chives, dill
To preserve its freshness, the butter has been kept frozen. Once thawed, store it in the refrigerator and enjoy it within about a week. If you're not ready to use it right away, simply keep it in the freezer, where it will maintain its quality for several months.
Some of you unfortunately missed out on the garlic scape compound butter because it was accidentally left out of several crates during packing. If you were one of those members, don't worry. We'll make it right by including your butter with the next pickup. Thank you, as always, for your grace and understanding. Small farms are powered by lots of moving parts (and very little sleep!), and we appreciate your patience when an occasional mistake slips through.
This Week's Bouquets
The flowers reflected both the holiday and the ever-changing rhythm of early summer.
About half of this week's bouquets were inspired by Independence Day with cheerful shades of red, white, and blue featuring:
Winged everlasting
Love-in-a-mist
Silver sea holly
Flowering mint
'Snowball' matricaria
Poppy pods
Zinnias
Bachelor buttons
The remaining bouquets celebrated what's blooming in the field right now, including:
Asiatic lilies
Yarrow
Statice
Ranunculus
Flowering mint
'Snowball' matricaria
One lucky bouquet was an experimental design featuring elegant calla lilies, rich Coco marigolds, and a blend of seasonal favorites. We love using the CSA as an opportunity to try new color palettes and combinations before bringing them to weddings and market.