Welcome to Another Great CSA Season!

Welcome to the 2015 CSA season!  We’re excited to have fresh, green food again after a long winter. We hope you enjoy the fresh spring flavors in this week’s box.  You may be less familiar with some of the vegetables this week, but rest assured we’re here to help you enjoy them!  Please take the time to read this week’s vegetable features in the newsletter to learn more about ramps & nettles.  If you’re looking for more recipe ideas or suggestions for how to use some of the other things in your box, consider checking out our website.  We have a searchable recipe database that archives all the recipes we’ve featured in our past newsletters.  It’s a great resource to get you started as you’re learning about vegetables with which you may not have much experience.


This week we’ve also sent a special “Choice” item—Decorative Willow Bunches.  These are not intended to be eaten, but they do make a beautiful adornment to your home or patio.  This is just a little something extra that we’d like to share with you.  While we specialize in growing food crops, we include some of these “decorative” plants as part of our production system.  We plant curly willow, dogwood, and a variety of pussy willows in our field hedgerows to provide habitats for beneficial insects and birds.  These creatures are an important part of how we manage pest insects and promote pollination for our vegetable crops.  Every winter we trim these hedgerows to keep them from becoming overgrown.  Our winter crew takes the time to trim and bundle the cuttings to turn them into beautiful arrangements that can be enjoyed throughout the year.  You can trim your bundle to the size you would like it to be and you don’t need to add water.  Over time the branches will dry out and the color may fade, but they will last for years!  We hope you enjoy this little piece of our farm as a reminder of the place where your food is grown!

Thank you for being a part of our farm!
Farmers Richard, Andrea and the Entire HVF Crew