The Farm Share CSA that we operate is truly what allows our farm to stay in business. (Why? Because farmers’ markets in this area see less shopping than what is required for a farm of our size to be solvent. We need to know that the majority of the vegetables that we will grow this season have a home waiting for them. We welcome more shoppers at the farmers’ markets – we grow food specifically for you, also! But we would not exist without the ~100 households that sign up for weekly shares (“Farm Shares”) of our vegetables. Yesterday was the first pick-up day of the Farm Share season that runs through the end of November. It is a delight to have our Farm Share members be so excited to pick up a gorgeous bounty of delicious and nutritious food. It’s very fun for us to see images on social media of these vegetables spread out on kitchen counters, kitchen tables, other people’s plates, etc. Thank you for trusting us to grow your food, and thank you for spreading the joy!
{Photo credit goes to two wonderful Farm Share CSA members!}
It’s a really beautiful spring, most of the vegetables are happy, and most of the people at the farm are, too. 
We really enjoyed having visitors here at the farm last Saturday for our Plant Sale // Open Barn day. We love the questions that visitors ask. We love explaining things and showing visitors around. We love sending people home with good food!
Now the season really gets underway, as Saturday is opening day for our community-based, neighborhood farmers market at Brandermill/Market Square.
We love this market so much because it is has a solid group of farmers’ market basics so that you can get your grocery shopping done (organic vegetables, conventional produce, meat, eggs, cheese, bread, pasta, plants, honey…), pick up a treat to eat, and make a special handcrafted gift purchase all in one stop, with easy parking and a family-friendly shopping environment. Visit us Saturday from 9 until noon at the intersection of Rts 360 & 288 in the Market Square shopping center parking lot.
Saturday/Monday Farm Share will most likely include:
Salad Mix, Kale, Hearty Greens Mix, Radishes, Scallions/Spring Onions, Spinach, hopefully Sweet Salad Turnips, and a pair of Cucumbers
Recipe Suggestions…also cataloged on our Recipe Page and see our Pinterest Page
Salad Mix – This is a blend of our favorite lettuces. It’s the best salad in the greater RVA area.
Hearty Greens Mix – This is a mix of Baby Kale, Baby Tatsoi, and Baby Mizuna. We know these greens are new to some of you. Know that they are wonderful raw or cooked. We love to make a salad with a combo of our Salad Mix and this Hearty Greens Mix. Many people call this our “Smoothie Mix” because it is lovely in smoothies. It is also perfect for any stir fry, saute, or soup. We also love to chop it thin and mix with scrambled eggs. It’s versatile, delicious, and nutrient rich. Treat it like Spinach.
Kale – We have three varieties growing this spring and different pick up locations will receive different varieties on different weeks. Some are curly kale, some are tinged with red/purple, and some are an heirloom flat leaf variety (Toscano/Lacinato). Kale is wonderful raw or cooked. See our collection of Kale Recipes here. Try it with pasta and parm in this Spaghetti Aglio E Olio With Lots Of Kale or make Kale Pesto and enjoy it on top of our Broadfork Bread, or make Asian Kale Salad. There are hundreds of ways to enjoy kale.
Radishes – These babies steal the show. The bright red color makes it clear it is packed with nutrients. See our collection of Radish Recipes here. Enjoy sliced on top of any and all salads. Slice them on toast and smear butter on top. (That’s how the french enjoy them.) Dice and toss with olive oil, rice vinegar, and sea salt. (This takes some of the spiciness out of them…our young children eat this dish in large quantities.) Roast them for a warm and mellow treat.
Scallions/Spring Onions – We aim to have something from the allium (onion/garlic) family in as many week’s shares as we can because these vegetables add so much flavor (and important nutrition!) to our meals. Just treat these like onions – enjoy them raw or cooked. Cut off the roots and the tough green parts. Use all of the white part and as much of the tender green part as you desire. Slice and saute and add to any dish. (Seriously.) Or slice and use raw in any salad (egg salad, green salad, asian salad, etc.) We saute them with mushrooms and butter multiple times per week and enjoy with eggs for breakfast or whatever entree we are having for dinner.
Sweet Salad Turnips – These are likely new for any new CSA members. They are not the tough purple-top varieties that so many of us were forced to eat boiled-and-mashed when we were younger. These are a delicious Japanese variety that are great raw or cooked. We slice them on top of green salads, and we saute them with butter on the stop top. (Hint: Don’t add salt right away. Let them caramelize first, then salt them at the end.) Use with any stir fry or saute, or add to eggs or any protein, or saute/caramelize them first and then serve on top of a green salad, or add to soup (best if caramelized first). Finally, try Glazed Turnips or Roasted Turnips – both wonderful. See our collection of Turnip recipes on Pinterest. (We enjoyed these turnips the other night diced, raw, and added to a rice noodle dish with sesame oil, soy sauce/Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, diced radishes, thinly sliced kale, and spring onions. We will try to get our oldest child to make a video of this recipe and put it on her YouTube channel. She made dinner. We adults worked too many hours.)
New CSA Members: We hope you embrace the chance to learn to work with these types of vegetables. Recipes are guidelines, not strict instructions. Learn to riff on a few general recipe styles and sub in the vegetables du jour as available. When in doubt, toss or saute with oil or butter plus salt!
This week’s harvest (and baking) includes:
Garlic Scallions, Hearty Greens Mix, Kale, Radishes, Salad Mix, Spring Onions, …and our Organic Hearth Baked Bread (Baguettes, Whole RYE, Seed, & Sunny Greens loaves for this weekend) PLUS: You can purchase our Pepper Jelly and Certified Organic flour that we have freshly stone-ground in our Bakery. AND PLANTS! Lots of Tomatoes and Herbs…Tomatoes (Brandywine, Big Beef, Cherokee Purple, Supersweet Cherry, Black Cherry, Sun Gold, Granadero, Jet Star, Bell Star, Mortgage Lifter, New Girl, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Arkansas Traveler, Patio, Paisano, Carbon Cherokee), Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Eggplant, Bell Pepper, Sweet Lunchbox Pepper, Non-spicy Jalapeno Peppers (enjoy the flavor without the heat!). HERBS: Tarragon, English Thyme, Peppermint, Spearmint, Sage, Basil
{Our farmstand is open Friday with most of the above items…see here for updated inventory}
2017 Market Share CSA Members: Reserve your selection online to pick up Saturday, May 6th at our farm, at the Brandermill Green Market, or at the Farmers Market @ St. Stephens.
Some of the above will be available for purchase during Saturday’s event at our farm. The rest we’ll bring to the Brandermill Green Market or the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the West End of Richmond. Keep an eye on what we have available via the online farmers’ markets: FallLineFarms.com and Local Roots Food Coop.
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
Want to follow along during the week, including Farm Stand updates? Visit us on Facebook or Instagram.
