Things are busy as always at the farm. Loads of the usual harvesting, packaging, weeding schedule with some additional prepping and planting fall crops. Luckily we got some much needed help from our good ol' friends at Real Food Rising. They brought out one of their amazing crews on Tuesday and weeded their butts off. They helped us rediscover our popcorn, and it turns out it was knee high by the Fourth of July. Whoop x2! We must be doing something right.
This week is another bountiful bag bursting with bunches of beets (and other roots), along with some other lovely fresh items including herbs (cilantro or dill) and bunching onions. The bing cherries are back this week for Fruit Share folk, and they are as yummy as ever.
For those wondering about our pick-your-own flower plans, things are coming along nicely. At the Sugar House pick-up site the plants are growing quickly, and looking like they could be blooming in a month or so. After some serious bunny devastation at B.U.G. Farms headquarters, we are hoping our latest attempt will germinate soon and give us some blooms by fall. We are excited to see how this whole experiment goes, and hope you are too!
Happy Eating,
Carly, Coleman, Andy... and all our fabu work-traders
Your B.U.G. Farmers
More beautiful bunching onions. Our very first flower harvest - one carnation... more on the way soon (we hope). Andy demonstrating the possible confusion between the German Giant radishes (right hand) and the Chioggia Beets (left hand) - similar look on the outside, very different on the inside - HINT: all the beets are topped this week. Real Food Rising kids showing us their ups!
VEGGIE SHARE: WEEK 6 (B)
Beets n' carrots for all! Along with some lovely herbs, more onions, microz, braising mix and more!
MIXED MUSTARD GREENS - This week could be the last of our mustard mix for a while. This week we mixed up our Red Streaks, Mizuna, Southern Giant Mustards and Arugula with some Purple Russian Kale, for a slightly spicy, mildly sweet braising or fresh eating mix. These greens could be eaten either raw in a salad, chopped finely and added at the end of a soup, chili, or stew. Do note that once they are lightly cooked or steamed, some of the real spicyness is cooked out, leaving the greens more mild if you aren't a fan of "spicy" greens.
HAKUREI TURNIPS - A B.U.G. Farms favorite. Even if you aren't normally a turnip fan, these sweet, delicious, mild flavored turnips. Perfect for fresh eating (we eat the big ones like apples on the farm), grated on a green salad with your eggs in the morning or sliced with butter. You could try cooking them like potatoes, roasted in the oven, creamed in a soup or if you are in a decedent mood try this Cardamon Turnip Galette from our friends at Copper Moose Farm.
OR...
RADISHES - These radishes are about as juicy and sweet as they come! Eat them fresh whole, maybe dipped in a bit of butter and salt for a treat. Shave them finely and top on some toast with butter and some fancy type of salt and we would call that gourmet. Wonderful sliced on a salad, or try making refrigerator pickles with them by combining them with a vinegar solution with some salt, spices, and let sit covered in a jar in the fridge for radish pickles-yum!
PURPLETTE or TOKYO LONG BUNCHING ONIONS - hope you love this week's harvest of intensely flavorful and cute bunching onions called Purplelettes or Tokyo Long. More sweet than larger onions and lacking the pungency. Use either of these options fresh in a salad, cut up the root end and add at the end of a stirfry. Use the entire plant. Finely chop the hollow green tops, sprinkle on an omelet.
MICROGREENS - You are getting a pretty fat sack of microz this week, and you might be wondering what to do with all of these yummy greens. Try this link if you are stumped for some delicious suggestions. Or, if you are more into simplicity, try eating them the way we do on the farm - by the handful. These little babies are packed full of nutrients, and have a fresh, slightly spicy kick. They are wonderful as a topping on any dish, I especially like them on top of a scrambled egg/omelet or on a stew. They also blend in well into a smoothie, and that hides their spiciness if that's not as much to your liking. These are best eaten raw, and also mix in wonderfully with a fresh salad.
BEETS (GOLDEN, CHIOGGIA, OR DETROIT DARK RED) - We loove beets! They are just so darn beautiful, versatile in the kitchen, as well as super nutrient dense. Here is a good article about How To Roast Beets& The Health Benefits of Beets. For a quick preparation of the roots, just grate them raw and add them to a salad, or make a slaw by combining them with grated radishes, ribbon-sliced kale/chard/beetgreens with a lemon/lime juice based dressing. You could also try making Sharon's (BUG Farms founder) famous and yummy beet butter by combining the beetswith cashews/walnuts/pecans, a little oil (sunflower/coconut/canola), a little liquid sweetener (maple syrup/agave), and a touch of salt &vanilla and blend in a food processor or blender. So good on cookies/dessert/toast/etc or mixed in a smoothie.
CARROTS - We are sending out three different kinds of carrots in bunches this week. You will have Little Fingers, Hurcules or Cosmic Purple Carrot bunches, or a mix of two of these varieties. All of these carrots are beautiful and delicious. Use them in any of your favorite carrot recipes, shred on a salad or for coleslaw, or throw these guys into the juicer - hardly any prep necessary - and combine with your bunching greens for a healthy breakfast on the go!
KOHLRABI - What?! What is this crazy little alien? The name comes from the German /Kohl ("cabbage") plus Rübe ~ Rabi (Swiss German variant) ("turnip"), because the swollen stem resembles the latter. Part bulb, part bundle of greens, kohlrabi may seem one of the more intimidating items in your CSA this week, but it offers a delightful combination of familiar tastes. "It’s got the texture of a radish and the sweetness of jicama, with a slight hint of broccoli," says food editor Sarah Carey. "The edible leaves are like a milder version of collards." Along with other cruciferous vegetables, kohlrabi is member of the brassica clan and is packed with vitamin C and potassium. What to do with this semi-rare treat? Follow this link to The Kitchn for 5 Ways to Prepare Kohlrabi for info on prepping, eating raw, frying, roasting, steaming, or kohlrabi soup.
CILANTRO - This is a wonderful cooling herb for the warmer weather, and pairs so very nicely with many of the greens you will get in your share too. To prepare, you can either use the leaves only, or just chop up the whole bunch stems and all. Cilantro is best used fresh, so add it to your hot dishes at the very end just before serving.
OR...
FRESH DILL - This is a wonderful spring herb, and it would go very nicely chopped into a salad for extra flavor. You can also make a lovely dill pesto using sunflower seeds, olive/canola oil, garlic/green onions, lemon/lime juice, and of course the dill! It would be wonderful in a pureed soup with your turnips and turnip greens, or just tossed and roasted with your turnips, or use it to flavor a batch of your radish dill pickles.
RILEY'S FRUIT SHARE: Fruit Season is in full swing. We have another week of cherries for you, then hopefully some sweet and delicious apricots next week.
BING CHERRIES - These cherries were picked fresh on Monday by Riley Farms! And, really they don't get much better than this. So sweet, fresh and perfectly ripe. Some fruit may show some minor signs of hail damage from a late season storm - don't let that deter you - the damage will not effect the flavor or the way the cherries fill your bellies.
CSA PICK UP/DELIVERY DETAILS:
HALF SHARE HOLDERS:Remember you will get a CSA Share every other week based on your pick up or delivery location.
WEEK A (this week) HALF SHARE LOCATIONS:
B.U.G. FARMS HEADQUARTERS - 1364 South Cheyenne Street
U OF U: BRIGHT HORIZONS - 418 Wakara Way, #100
DOWNTOWN - UTAH HUMANITIES COUNCIL - 202 West 300 North
FLATS DELIVERIES
WEEK B (next week) HALF SHARE LOCATIONS:
SUGAR HOUSE - 1998 South Windsor Street
UPHILL DELIVERIES
DELIVERY SHARE HOLDERS: Please remember to leave out a cooler with an icepack for your shares. This will help them stay fresh until you get to them. We will be delivering from 9 am - 3 pm, so please have the coolers ready for us by then.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR BAGS BACK TO YOUR NEXT CSA PICKUP OR LEAVE THEM IN YOUR COOLER!
Nutrition and wellness goddess Anne Dorsey of Milk and Honey Wellness has brought us another amazing recipe this week. Anne has given us another reason to have a cocktail this week. Her Beet Cocktail (at the top of her blog) sounds amazing, and we LOVE shrubs. These quick, easy to make drinking vinegars are getting more and more popular every year. If you don't want to "waste" your beets making a shrub, try making a fruit shrub later this year with your Riley's Farm Fresh Fruit Share, or some of the seconds you find at the market. You won't regret it. Shrubs are not only great additions to cocktails, but turn your sparkling water into a tasty, refreshing and beneficial afternoon beverage.
Don't forget each week you can visit this link to Anne's Blog for a new recipe using fresh, seasonal veggies that will be in your CSA shares, available at the farmers market, or that you are harvesting from your own gardens.
Anne has an upcoming Revivify Class. A step by step program that will detoxify your body, ignite a process of deep healing, help you discover what food makes you feel the best, and create a sustainable way of eating that will support you on your wellness journey to vibrant health and longevity. All year long! Visit her website to learn more about the services she offers, and to find out how she can help you revolutionize your eating habits.
NEW BAGS: Y'all we are so excited about our new, reusable, insulated B.U.G. Farm tote bags. But, we will need your help to make the system work. We have two totes for all our CSA members. Each week we will have your share packed and ready in a tote bag. This week and next week (for Week A Half Shares) you will receive your first tote bag, when you pick up (or your share is delivered) your next packed and ready share you need to bring the first bag back. If you don't we will have to unpack your share and put it into a plastic bag - please don't make us do it. Just bring them back every week, keep 'em in your car so you don't forget, or put them right back in your cooler if you are a delivery share. We don't want to be the jerks, but will if we have to. Remember to bring back those orange rubber bands too! We can reuse them if you haven't found a million uses for them yet...
INSTAGRAM CONTEST:
We are so excited about Instagram lately, we think it is a super neato way to share information and interests. And, we know you love it as much as we do. So, we are going to host a contest. We want to see what B.U.G. Farms looks like at your house. Whether it is a picture of your share fresh from pick up, a bunch of radishes, your B.U.G. vegetables all cooked up, or maybe one of your favorite Add On Shares of the week - it doesn't matter. Hashtag #bugfarmscsa and you will be entered into our contest. At the end of the season we will have our members vote on our top ten favorite member photos, and the winner will receive a half veggie share for the 2017 season! You can't beat that!
MIXED MUSTARD GREENS - This week could be the last of our mustard mix for a while. This week we mixed up our Red Streaks, Mizuna, Southern Giant Mustards and Arugula with some Purple Russian Kale, for a slightly spicy, mildly sweet braising or fresh eating mix. These greens could be eaten either raw in a salad, chopped finely and added at the end of a soup, chili, or stew. Do note that once they are lightly cooked or steamed, some of the real spicyness is cooked out, leaving the greens more mild if you aren't a fan of "spicy" greens.
HAKUREI TURNIPS - A B.U.G. Farms favorite. Even if you aren't normally a turnip fan, these sweet, delicious, mild flavored turnips. Perfect for fresh eating (we eat the big ones like apples on the farm), grated on a green salad with your eggs in the morning or sliced with butter. You could try cooking them like potatoes, roasted in the oven, creamed in a soup or if you are in a decedent mood try this 
RADISHES - These radishes are about as juicy and sweet as they come! Eat them fresh whole, maybe dipped in a bit of butter and salt for a treat. Shave them finely and top on some toast with butter and some fancy type of salt and we would call that gourmet. Wonderful sliced on a salad, or try making refrigerator pickles with them by combining them with a vinegar solution with some salt, spices, and let sit covered in a jar in the fridge for radish pickles-yum!
PURPLETTE or TOKYO LONG BUNCHING ONIONS - hope you love this week's harvest of intensely flavorful and cute bunching onions called Purplelettes or Tokyo Long. More sweet than larger onions and lacking the pungency. Use either of these options fresh in a salad, cut up the root end and add at the end of a stirfry. Use the entire plant. Finely chop the hollow green tops, sprinkle on an omelet.
MICROGREENS - You are getting a pretty fat sack of microz this week, and you might be wondering what to do with all of these yummy greens. 
BEETS (GOLDEN, CHIOGGIA, OR DETROIT DARK RED) - We loove beets! They are just so darn beautiful, versatile in the kitchen, as well as super nutrient dense. Here is a good article about
CARROTS - We are sending out three different kinds of carrots in bunches this week. You will have Little Fingers, Hurcules or Cosmic Purple Carrot bunches, or a mix of two of these varieties. All of these carrots are beautiful and delicious. Use them in any of your favorite carrot recipes, shred on a salad or for coleslaw, or throw these guys into the juicer - hardly any prep necessary - and combine with your bunching greens for a healthy breakfast on the go!
FRESH DILL - This is a wonderful spring herb, and it would go very nicely chopped into a salad for extra flavor. You can also make a lovely dill pesto using sunflower seeds, olive/canola oil, garlic/green onions, lemon/lime juice, and of course the dill! It would be wonderful in a pureed soup with your turnips and turnip greens, or just tossed and roasted with your turnips, or use it to flavor a batch of your radish dill pickles.
Anne has an upcoming Revivify Class. A step by step program that will detoxify your body, ignite a process of deep healing, help you discover what food makes you feel the best, and create a sustainable way of eating that will support you on your wellness journey to vibrant health and longevity. All year long! Visit her 
