Cosmic Apple Gardens
Call: 208-787-2082
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Share #13 August 30th and September 2nd

8/28/2016

1 Comment

 


​Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Bok Choy, Carrots, Kale, Parsley, Maybe Sunflowers, Summer Squash, Peppers, Tomatoes or Cucumbers

The number of babies at the farm this year is astounding. Pigs, calves, chicks, kittens, puppies and humans! Before my extended family gets too excited...let me clarify. The number of newborn babies coming to the farm with their mama's for a veggie pick up is awesome! There are so many newbies I want to hover around the wash station to catch glimpses. There are many growing bellies and babes making appearances at the Wilson and downtown sites too! Congrats to all of you, it is an honor to feed you and your children and to watch them grow! It is one of the things I love about the CSA model. I get to know your families and see you year after year. I'm grateful to be growing food for you instead of wholesale accounts feeding nameless faces! 
Ok, farm babies. Our first new critter this year is Cosmo the dog. He is a Golden Retriever/Australian Shepard mix. We lucked out. He is a great pup, who LOVES people and has absolutely no interest in chasing animals...except other dogs to convince them to play with him. We have not had a farm dog of our own in 7 years. Stop by and say hi if you want, be prepared for puppy jumps and lots of love.
On June 15th we got 75 new chicks. The layers we have now are 1 1/2 years old and as you egg lovers have noticed, they have really slowed down the egg production. This is the normal life cycle. We usually replace our flock every 2 years, but we are upping the game. We hope to have a more steady supply of eggs, although it will always ebb and flow. The new hens should be laying in November, so lots of eggs this winter!!!
Our sow had piglets in June. 4 of them are doing great and growing quickly!!! These 4 will be organic since they were born on farm. 2 weeks ago we purchased 15 pigs from another farm. We will sell those as whole and half pigs. They will not be certified organic because their mom was not treated organically for the last third of her gestation, nor were they when they were born. After they arrived at our farm, we have been and will continue to treat them organically, but they will never be certified. They still taste great and I feel good feeding them to my family. 
Then came the kittens. Zedd and Dumbledore came from the Teton Valley Animal Shelter. We needed mousers! I promised the kids they could have kittens. I never thought I'd have kittens and a puppy at the same time, but our cat Gandalf passed away at 14 this past spring, right after we got Cosmo. Both cats are EXTREMELY tolerant of being worn as scarves and going for stroller rides. Zedd is not convinced Cosmo is an ally yet. Dumbledore has warmed up to him. Cooking lunch is always exciting this year as I often find myself in a 10' X 12' space with 3 kids, a puppy and 2 kittens.
On August 23rd Rosie had a calf. We named him Smokey, since it was the day the Tie Canyon Fire really took off. We didn't think the calf was going to make it. He was stuck in the birth canal with one leg forward and one back. When calves get in this position it is common for the umbilical cord to get pinched, cutting off oxygen before they can breathe on their own. The Victor Vet sent Grace to help. She pushed the calf back in (ouch!) and pulled the other leg forward. He was born quickly after that and started breathing like a champ. I was amazed and grateful! Usually calves start standing and nursing a few hours after birth. He was born at 1 and still was not standing, or really trying at dinner time. We were concerned about him, he had a rough birth. At about 8 Jed bottle fed him some colostrum from Rosie and lifted him up to stand. By 9 am the next day, he figured out how to go under the panel and escape his confines to join the herd! Non-walker to escape artist in 13 hours.
We are awaiting one more calf in mid-September, and then that should be it for farm critters for a while!
Pork Available!
Sausage! Yes! Grandpa Restuccia's and Chorizo Sausage are the flavors we have now. "Grandpa's" is Jed's grandfather's recipe from Italy. Fennel and black pepper, a real simple, delicious, classic Italian sausage. Chorizo is a classic Mexican sausage, mildly spice and vinegar. Check the attachment on your email for prices. Available cuts are: Sausage, Boneless Loin Chops, Spare Ribs, Neck Bones, Bone in Shoulder Roast, Heart and Liver. 

Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!

Wash Your veggies!
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 is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.
​​​​
1 Comment

Share #12 August 23rd and 26th

8/21/2016

0 Comments

 
Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Kohlrabi,
Beans, Cucumbers, Potatoes, Basil and maybe Sunflowers
​
The last week of August. Oh my. It is really happening. Potatoes are coming in. Jed always brings me a few earlier in the season that he digs to see how they look. He wants me to add them to whatever I am cooking. I refuse. I have a whole winter ahead of me to fill up on spuds. Give me zucchini, tomatoes and basil. I have been making curried summer squash soup for the workers for Share week #11. When I went to the wash station to gather veggies for the meal on Monday morning the first harvest of spuds was complete. And they looked good. I surprised myself and actually wanted to eat them. I put them in the soup and they were great. The soup was thicker. The kids were thrilled.
 I tried not to look at the calendar!
The garden is in great shape. The weeds have been a struggle all summer. But we are almost done with them. The last 2 years have been really wet and we are remembering what it is like to irrigate when it is dry. The plants have been craving more water. We give them what we can, and they are thirsty by the time it is their turn again. The longer cooler nights have been helping a lot! Everything is still growing fast and the fall crops are looking promising right now.
The raspberries are on the way out. We were so happy about how many of you came over to pick. We hope to be able to keep the pick-your-own-patch for CSA members going in years to come. We think it was a success and hope you did too!


Pork Available!
Sausage! Yes! Grandpa Restuccia's Sausage is the flavor we have now. It is Jed's grandfather's recipe from Italy. Fennel and black pepper, a real simple, delicious, classic Italian sausage. Check the attachment on your email for prices. Available cuts are: Sausage, Boneless Loin Chops, Spare Ribs, Neck Bones, Bone in Shoulder Roast, Heart and Liver. 

Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!

Wash Your veggies!
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 is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.
​​​


0 Comments

Share #11 August 16th and 19th

8/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Yellow, Filet +/or Tongue of Fire Beans, Cabbage, Turnips, Fennel, Maybe Cucumber and Broccoli

I hope you have been enjoying the bounty of the garden! It is really diverse right now, and I never know what Jed is going to find ripe next. The fennel was a big surprise this week. If you are not sure about it, remember to check out the recipe page on the website! There should be plenty of ideas to convince you!
I'm going to continue on with our Biodynamic (BD) newsletter theme this week! In addition to the BD principles regarding animals and compost we have some other things we do to achieve BD certification.
We spread two BD field preps at the farm.The first is called "500". It is a specially prepared compost known for its ability to enhance the powers that come from the earth. "This preparation provides an immensely concentrated fertilizing power for the soil; root growth and primary shoot development are specifically enhanced" (from Biodynamic Farming Practice) It revitalizes the soil in a manner similar to adding compost. It really benefits the areas we don't spread finished compost, like the pastures and woodland. It transforms dead Organic matter and builds new soil. We spread it every spring and fall over the whole farm.
The other field prep is "501", a specially prepared quartz crystal! If you believe in the healing properties of crystals for people, you'll be happy to know your veggies have been treated! The crystal is ground up and mixed with water. This prep is spread in the morning as the sun comes up via a fine mist. We load up backpack sprayers and head out to the veggies. I believe the neighbors must think we are spreading chemicals! We are out there early, with back pack sprayers exactly like landscapers use for weed killer! The 501 helps plants metabolize light. It encourages vegetative growth and is associated with the ripening process of seed, leaves and fruit. The quartz spray enhances keeping quality, flavor and aroma of the veggies!
Before we spread these preps we potentize them. We fill up a barrel with measured water the night before and let it sit out under the stars. For the 500 we add 1/4 cup for every acre we are treating to 3 gallons of water. The 501 gets 1/2 a teaspoon per acre to 3 gallons of water! This is powerful stuff! After the right proportions have been added to the barrel, we stir. For an hour! Coffee cups in hand, we take turns stirring, caffeinating and reading about what is happening in the barrel from one of our favorite books, Secrets of the Soil (they have it at the Jackson Library if you need a good read!). First we stir one way and get a vortex going, then we break the pattern by inducing chaos and changing the direction. Back and forth for an hour. We do this early in the spring, with the 500, this is when many of the workshares wonder what they have committed to, and who these crazy farmers are! We know the preps work or we would not be signing up for all this extra work! It is a fascinating process, tying it all together. The thing about BD's is, it is all connected. Skipping the compost, the animals or the preps would change the farm. The veggies need each of these components to reach their full potential. And when the veggies start rolling in, the workshares can taste the difference, and they may not think we are so crazy anymore...although that is always open for debate.
Pork Available!
Sausage! Yes! Grandpa Restuccia's Sausage is the flavor we have now. It is Jed's grandfather's recipe from Italy. Fennel and black pepper, a real simple, delicious, classic Italian sausage. Check the attachment on your email for prices. Available cuts are: Sausage, Boneless Loin Chops, Spare Ribs, Neck Bones, Bone in Shoulder Roast, Heart and Liver. 

Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!

Wash Your veggies!
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 is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.
​​​


0 Comments

Share #10 August 9th and 12th

8/8/2016

0 Comments

 

Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Summer Squash, Swiss Chard, 
Tomatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, Head Lettuce, Baby Carrots, Basil, maybe Sunflowers and Yellow Beans

I woke up this morning from a farmer nightmare. I dreamed that this morning, August 8th, the temperature dropped to 19 degrees. The garden was devastated. I was trying to write the newsletter and explain to you why there would be no veggies for the next 3 weeks. It felt really good to wake up!
We did have a light frost last week. No damage was visible on the plants, but it does stress them out. The summer squash slowed down a bit, it will bounce back but Monday's harvest showed the results. And that rain!!! What a welcome site, smell and feeling! We did get some hail, but it was slushy hail and did not do as much damage as it could have. The Swiss chard will have some holes in it, as will the sunflower leaves. Check out your squash also! It has some dents! I personally enjoy veggies that tell a bit of a tale!
August 2nd was Lammas. The day in the middle of the Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox. It is a day to celebrate the beginning of the harvest. Harvesting is all we are doing!! Friday crew picked peas all day! (Thank you!!) It is the time of year we run out of crates to put things in, because there is no time to wash them, and there is SO MUCH produce.
I have a fun necklace that my mama-in-law gave me. It is a beautiful bee. I like to wear it at this time of the year to remind myself to keep going, to feed the hive! I love watching bees work. It seems like a good life. The purpose is clear, and you get to fly around visiting flowers. I spotted a sunflower with 6 bees on it the other day, it was a good moment. They get busier this time of year. They know fall is imminent, the mornings are a bit crisper and Jed has dug out his headlamp for the earlier darkness. 
The changes are subtle. The sun is still strong a feels great. The garden is giving all it's summer treats and putting weight on the late fall goodies we have to look forward to. I'm still enjoying all summer has to offer. Bare feet, cold water swimming, sunlight on my skin, the scent of sweet peas, cool breezes in the evenings, tomatoes...Savor the flavors of summer! 


Pork Available!
Check the attachment on your email for prices. Available cuts are: Boneless Loin Chops, Spare Ribs, Neck Bones, Bone in Shoulder Roast, Heart and Liver. We are working with another butcher for sausage and bacon. I'll let you know when those last two items come in! Feel free to email me or let your site host know if you want to order something!

Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!

Wash Your veggies!
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 is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.
​​
0 Comments
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    I'm Dale Sharkey, my husband Jed Restuccia and I run the farm. We have an amazing crew who help us, you may get to hear from them too!

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