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Share #4 June 30th and July 4th

6/29/2017

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Kale, Radish, Garlic Curls, Broccoli Raab, Basil, Bok Choy and Green Oak Head Lettuce

YAY Workshares!!!!
We are excited to be on Share #4 of our CSA deliveries, but our volunteers have been hard at work in the garden since May 1st! They have been transplanting, weeding, harvesting, washing crates, spreading biodynamic preps, laying down row cover, picking up row cover and moving things from one spot to another! Our volunteers commit to working from May 1 until October 31st, five hours a week. Some drive over from Jackson and some live in Teton Valley. All of them have full lives and yet are taking the time to help feed our community.
Workshares bring to the farm a fun energy that I cherish. They are eager to learn about farming, and what it takes to grow in the Tetons. I get to cook lunch for them every shift, and I love this part of my job. Everyone is ready for a meal after 5 hours of labor, and it is a treat to sit down together and enjoy the reason we are all working together....food!
I also am grateful for the human connections workshares allow us to have on the farm. We work with about 25 volunteers a year, and we've been at it about 15 years. That's about 375 volunteers! WOW....no wonder names elude me! Now that I'm seeing that number, I'm really surprised! The thing about a number like 375 in a community the size of ours, is you probably know someone who has volunteered at the farm. Workshares are working hard, to feed the Cosmic Community. If you do know or meet a workshare, give them a hug, buy them a coffee, tell them your favorite vegetable, share your gratitude. Food brings people together, share in the human connection!
Thank you workshares, you are making a difference in our community!! You are doing important work!

Farm notes....
Featured Meat of the Week: Cosmic Chorizo
We have been making chorizo for years now, but our new butcher has made the best blend yet. It is a combination of Cosmic Beef and Cosmic Pork. It is spicy, although my kids will eat it mixed into burritos. It comes linked, so it easy to grill. Burritos with chorizo is one of our favorite ways to use our veggies! Try the recipe for Dale's Burrito Sauce on the Garlic Curl page with Cosmic Chorizo!
Yes, we will do a share delivery on July 4th, from 5-7. We have not figured out how to get the plants to take a day off!!
WASH YOUR VEGGIES!!
Whole and Half pigs for sale. Email dale@cosmicapple.com for details!
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
We need egg cartons! Paperboard (no plastic or styrofoam)
1 dozen size! Thanks!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week.
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market, The People's Market and Jackson Saturday Market (starts 7/8)

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Share #3 June 23rd + 27th

6/22/2017

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Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Bok Choy, Spinach, Marjoram and Garlic Curls

Welcome to summer! The garden is loving all this heat, as am I. What felt like a wild beginning to the season is becoming more routine. We hope you are getting in the groove of having fresh produce again! Please remember to check our recipe pages for ideas about using your produce. I have not managed to get a page up for marjoram, but it is interchangeable with oregano. For some of you garlic curls may be a new thing, but many of our returning members have been anxiously awaiting these gems!
I love all the buzz in our community about food waste. How to prevent it, how to keep it out of the landfills and how to get it to the folks who need it. I am grateful for the organizations which have popped up to educate us all and move food around. We are happy to let you know not one green leaf of our garden goodies is wasted.
After a CSA distribution all the remaining veggies return to the farm. Our truck driver then consolidates everything and carefully tucks it back in the walk-in refrigerator (thank you Carey!). These veggies are affectionately called "extras" after this point.
If there is a market the next day, some of them may go to market and be sold.
When the volunteers get their weekly shares they get first pick of the extras and are welcome to take anything their household can use. These folks work hard and first pick of the extras is a volunteer perk!
At the next CSA distibution we put the extras at the ends of the tables for our awesome members! (Tuesdays get Friday's extras and Fridays get Tuesday's extras) They are behind the "Extras: Take some, leave some" signs. You can do either! You don't have to trade. If you see something your household will use, please use it!
What happens if these veggies return to the farm again? Lucky for us cows, pigs and chickens love to eat veggies too! The last option for extras is to add them to our compost pile. They breakdown and then return the nutrients to the very garden they came out of.
So if you miss your share, we know you will be sad and we wish you had it too, but it will be used! It may be sold at the market, given to the people who picked it, passed on to another member, fed to the critters or composted to grow your veggies for next year!
We are proud of this closed loop system and know it is integral to regenerative farming. We also know it is important to get fresh veggies to folks who need some help making that happen. We have donated 3 shares to the Teton Valley Food Pantry because we want the Pantry to have the freshest veggies also, not just the extras.
Now you know our plan for every delicacy that comes out of the garden!

This poster below is one from about 20 years ago! This is a picture of Apple, Jed's first cow. If you look closely, you can see she is eating a mustard leaf, just out of view was a big pile of "extra" Cosmic Mix!

Farm notes....
Yes, we will do a share delivery on July 4th, from 5-7. We have not figured out how to get the plants to take a day off!!
WASH YOUR VEGGIES!!
Whole and Half pigs for sale. Email dale@cosmicapple.com for details!
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
We need egg cartons! Paperboard (no plastic or styrofoam)
1 dozen size! Thanks!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week.
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market, The People's Market and Jackson Saturday Market (starts 7/8)

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Share #2 June 16th and 20th

6/15/2017

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Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Collards, Bok Choy, Baby Kale, Roxy Head Lettuce, Holy Basil

About once a year something goes into the garden that I know nothing of until Jed tells me we are harvesting it. This week when he dictated the crop list to me over the phone and he said "Holy Basil" I thought we had a crop the flea beetles decimated. I figured you were getting basil which was full of holes! Glad I was wrong.
We are growing a handful of specialty basil varieties this year.
Lemon Basil: zingy and flavor PACKED!
Thai: Strong anise taste.
Purple:it makes the prettiest pesto you ever saw!
Holy Basil: Spicier then most with a mild peppery taste.
We are growing all of these in the greenhouses along with our standard favorites of Genovese, Itailian Large Leaf and Nufar. The "specialties" will be rotated around to the different sites all summer. We will not be able to harvest enough for the whole CSA to get them in the same week, but we keep careful records and will make sure each flavor makes an appearance at each site!
We are excited to tuck the first 2 shares in before summer is officially here on Tuesday the 20th at 10:24 pm! The garden is growing really well. The greens are incredibly tender right now. The collards are perfect for using as a wrap for your favorite veggie concoctions. The bok choy is also some of the most tender and juicy we have seen. The spicy mix is big this week! You can use it as a braising green. Pile it on a hamburger for some extra kick, or saute' and add to a grilled cheese! You can also mix it into your Cosmic Mix!

Whole and Half pigs for sale. Email dale@cosmicapple.com for details!
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
Wash Your veggies!
We need egg cartons! Paperboard (no plastic or styrofoam)
1 dozen size! Thanks!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week.
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market, The People's Market and Jackson Saturday Market (starts 7/8)

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Share #1 June 9th and 13th

6/7/2017

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Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Pea Shoots, Basil, Spinach, Sorrel and Chives
Welcome to Cosmic Apple's 2017 Community Supported Agriculture Program. We are grateful to be your farmers and begin this season. The spring has been productive and the garden is almost full! Our sow had 6 piglets and we have 2 new calves. The workshares have been hard at work since May 1st and we have a whole new "crop" of employees this year! The farm sheds (Shed Village, as we call it) got a fresh coat of stain, so we are feeling spiffy!
One of the most important things to us is that you know how to use all these veggies you will be getting all season! If you don't know how to use something, ask your site host, or browse our recipe collection. We've been collecting them for a long time and many are tried and true staples! Last year I changed the format of the recipes and they are all in one location. This year I am going to work on getting them organized a bit better. The plan is to add notes based on where the recipes came from which will hopefully make it easier to navigate. Keep sending your favorites in so I can add them to the collection. You can always find them by clicking on the "Recipes" link on the left. Remember to check out the "Just Picked" CSA cooking show for ideas also! Thanks to Arden (from Just Picked) for the photo of young garlic above!
For us this first share is all about getting the first crop of goodies to you! We are working hard to make sure the logistics of getting 240 individuals to the right place for the best veggies happens smoothly! Please let me know if we've made any mistakes and we will get it fixed as quickly as possible.
There is still time to get a Lark's Meadow Cheese or 460 Bread Share. Your site host will have the paperwork if you want to sign up. Our coolers are stocked with Cosmic Beef, Pork and Lifeline cheese. Eggs will be sent over as available.
Help Wanted!: We need 2 site hosts, both on Fridays. One in Jackson and one in Wilson!!! If you know any reliable, timely folks who love veggies send them our way! They will get a half a share for helping out, (or you can get a refund for a half share if you already purchased one!) and they will really help us out!!!!

Bring Bags to pick-ups!
Wash Your veggies!
We need egg cartons! Paperboard (no plastic or styrofoam)
1 dozen size! Thanks!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week.
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market starts 6/9, The People's Market starts 6/14, Jackson Saturday Market starts 7/8

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Share #4 June 30th and July 4th

Share #3 June 23rd + 27th

Share #2 June 16th and 20th

Share #1 June 9th and 13th

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