CSA Week 1

Hello CSA folks

Where to begin…  spring has been a blur of busyness, building greenhouses, working new fields, seeding and transplanting, constantly chasing 250 free range chickens with a taste for organic lettuce. We've had heat spells, epic thunderstorms and lately, perfect planting weather. It's been crazy, but there's no turning back, the markets have been great, the fields are coming together, and we can't wait to see you, our friends this week.

One especially gratifying task has been converting the lawns and underutilized parts of the property into productive cropland.  What once was just grass is now a lovely labyrinth of flowers and herbs.  Behind the house, our new field, the "South Lawn" is planted full of onions, eggplants, peppers and melons. The Obamas would certainly be proud. Interspersed throughout Earth Sky Time are plantings of blueberries, raspberries, rhubarb, elderberries, plums, peaches, kiwis, and apples. And our two new hives of bees are nearby, ready to perform pollination magic. The vision is that eventually, every nook and cranny of this space will be productive and beautiful.

And the folks that are helping us achieve this vision are our trusty wwoofers. (willing workers on organic farms). Sarah and Dave (the Brits) have returned from across the pond to save the day once again.  They are artists whose talents run the gamut from jewelry making and ceramics to gonzo poetry and skateboarding and just about everything that needs to be done around here.  And then there are the Ben Horns, (two wwoofers named Ben who are both horn players) Ben 1 is a saxophonist/ journalist who has given up life in the big apple to follow his dream of becoming a farmer.  Ben 2 is a trumpet playing music major whose gentle disposition makes working with him a pleasure.  Alex studies media communications but not so secretly aspires to be a baker, so we are indeed lucky to have her baking the bread for our new bread share. Grant is an engineering major and a fantastic drummer- not even a mysteriously swollen eye has slowed down his hard work.  Jess recently arrived from Skidmore with her violin, sitar, and graceful willingness to be a part of our kooky community.  Merrilee and Dennis are couple from Westchester, NY. They both escaped their jobs at Trader Joe's to come grow food with us.  They got here yesterday and have already unloaded hay, jumped in it, and schlepped chickens in the dark.  What an initiation. 

This week's super quick recipe idea: Cheap pizza night a la Depot 62

Everyone in Manchester knows that Monday night is half price pizza night at most of the local pizzerias. But our favorite pie in town is the arugula pizza at Depot 62, the quirky wood fired oven/ furniture store on 11-30. We suggest jazzing up a half priced plain cheese pizza by adding tossed fresh arugula greens right on top of the pie and then drizzling some good balsamic vinegar and adding a bit of grated parmesan. This recipe will work even better in a few weeks when we have an abundance of tomatoes to slice up and throw on top. Bon appetito!

See Y'all soon

Bonnie and Oliver Levis

EARTH SKY TIME COMMUNITY FARM 

1547 Main st. Manchester Ctr, VT 05255

802 384 1400

www.EarthSkyTime.com