Week 7 CSA Newsletter

Mama Noel with one of her twin babies on Monday!

The most exciting news this week was Noel, one of our goat mamas, had a set of twins! A boy and girl! Of course, she had to pick the hottest day and the hottest time of that day to have them! But they are all doing well...the babies were a little dehydrated but we’ve been giving them some electrolytes just to be sure they thrive through this hot spell. Gosh, there is nothing better than a baby goat with their bounding and their awkwardness! So fun!

Wowza, it’s been a hot week! We hope you’ve been able to find some reprieve from the heat! We’ve been working in the mornings and early afternoons. But by 2-3pm, it’s just a bit too hot to keep working in the fields. So we usually find tasks in the shade, inside or more than likely we hit the water to cool off!

Staying up on the watering has been a chore and making sure it’s not too much for plants like peppers who like it a little drier! While the heat is good for helping those crops get over that early season hump, it also brings some challenges!

But as you can tell from your bag, things are doing just fine! Bags are getting heavy and your refridge will be full this week!

What’s in your bag:

~Potatoes: In this heat, some of the nights a baked potato with cool sour cream and a bit of broccoli has been a welcome meal for us. I also have some plans to make a creamy cold potato salad this week!

~Lettuce: if nothing else sounds good in the heat, a salad is always acceptable. This is a buttercrunch variety and can be used on sandwiches or as salads. This summer we also have really embraced the lettuce wrap. We love stuffing our lettuce leaves with various meats and other veggies. It sometimes takes on a Asian flare, Mexican or even Italian depending on the sauces! It’s fun, healthy and light!

~Beets: Shredded and used cold or simply roasted on the grill or in the oven! These are so delicious! Store bought beets just don’t even compare to these freshly harvested gems!

~Flathead Cherries: Probably the last of the season! These are from The Last Best Orchard in BigFork and Jana the owner said yesterday she thinks they will be all picked out for the year by the end of this week. We still have some in the farm store so if you get a hankering for more stop by!

~Apricots: I think these are my favorite! They are just so juicy and flavorful! Again, these are from our friends over north of Spokane.

~Garlic: We still have a bit of garlic to get out of the ground but our 2023 crop is mostly harvested. The interns have been working on that task for the last couple of weeks. We are curing them for long storage.

~Cauliflower: What I probably haven’t said about the broccoli or cauliflower is these crops tend to have some extra friends (caterpillars, etc) in them. That’s our assurance to you that we are truly organic! Since we don’t spray or use any chemicals, there is going to be a good chance there will be a little bug or two in there. We always recommend soaking these veggies in cold water for a bit before using. Here’s a unique and tasty summer dish using your cauliflower: Cauliflower Salad with Chickpeas

~Zucchini: Yup, we snuck some in there this week! LOL! No, actually we love zucchini and aren’t tired of it yet! We made a cold antipasta salad the other night and diced up some zucchini to toss in and it was so good! Farmer Jon grilled some zucchini steaks topped with havarti cheese and our son Gus, who normally passes on zucchini, ate every piece on his plate!

~Green Beans: If you follow us on social media, then you may have seen our latest post about the abundance of beans this year! It’s a great problem to have! We have SO many and can’t even keep up with harvesting! So, we are currently running a bulk sale: 5lbs/$15. Message us on social media or text us at 406-544-3854 if you want to reserve a bulk order!

We hope you enjoy this week’s bag and eat well!

Next week is the Western Montana Fair. This fair is bittersweet for our family as it will be the very last one for us as a 4H/FFA family after 15 years! It’s been a great run and we are so grateful for all the skills, lessons learned, tears, laughter and memories.

Part of the fair for our 4H kids is the selling of their market animal. Gus has been raising a steer since last October for this year’s fair. It will go to auction next Saturday.

Anyone is invited to attend the auction and bid on various animals. This is a great way to support the local 4H/FFA kiddos and programs but also fills your freezer with high quality locally raised meat!

If a whole animal is too much for you, you can go in with someone else or you can let the auction know you only want half or a quarter. A lot of local businesses purchase an animal and then share it with their employees as holiday bonuses!

If you can’t attend next Saturday, but are interested in bidding on an animal, please contact us and we can provide you a proxy bidder. Below is Gus’ sale flyer! Please let us know if you have any questions!