June 23rd, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

Even in this season of plenty, farming has its challenges.  This week we planned for kale from Whippoorwill Hollow but by yesterday afternoon the grasshoppers had beat us to the crop!  Yes, they ate your greens this week.  Andy was so upset but he could not harvest lacy half-eaten leaves for us.  Instead we quickly found some wonderful arugula with roots from Neva Farms to fill our void.  Ya just never know what will happen in the fields from hour to hour.

Your blackberries are coming from Woodland Gardens this week and I am so excited!  Yesterday I took a walk and harvested a few berries from some wild thorned bushes and it made me extremely grateful for today’s harvest.  It is no easy task!  Everything else in your basket has been harvested this morning from Serenbe Farms. It looks like we will be getting much of our food from Paige and Justin at Serenbe this summer so please give me any feedback you have for our farmers.  They love hearing the good and even the bad helps us know more about the food.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Yellow Wax Beans

Arugula

Swiss Chard

Green Onions

Cucumbers

Carrots

Basil

Blackberries

I want to add a couple of reminders for this week.  Next week’s basket will feed your 4th of July festivities and I have already reserved a few ears of white corn for us.  If you need more than a few, let us know and we will order extra for you.  I will add this to the extras list in your email on Friday.  Also, in an effort to use as little petroleum products as possible, I ask that you always send us the berry containers back if they are still in good condition.  The farms can reuse these just as they do for the eggs.  I am also trying to use paper bags over plastic whenever I can although some of you may receive the arugula in plastic today.  Little steps add up.

Arriving at Serenbe this morning there were children at the farm learning about what it takes to grow our organic food.  It is so nice to see summer camps taking these field trips (literally).  I wish everyone could visit a nearby farm once a month just to appreciate each piece of nourishment we are so fortunate to have.  For me, it always reminds me to take a deep breath as I sit down to a beautiful meal and reflect on all the people that worked so hard to bring this food to my belly.  Gratitude is a wonderful feeling and a great way to start a meal.  I am also always grateful that you join me every week on this journey to eat better and support our local organic growers.  Remember I am always happy to talk food!

Namaste,
Margie Thorpe