Sept 9-14th Whole Farm/Summer CSA Newsletter

Full Share: Chard, Napa Cabbage, Mokum Carrots, Purple Cauliflower, Mix of Summer Squash, Jalapeño, Watermelon, Slicing Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil

Half Share: Napa Cabbage, Mokum Carrots, Purple Cauliflower, Mix of Summer Squash, Slicing Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil

Hello Everyone! My name is Alice and I am one of the members of the lovely vegetable crew here at Gallatin Valley Botanical. When I graduated college a few years ago, all I knew I wanted to do was “put my hands in dirt.” My first job manifested this quite literally, where I started my work days in a greenhouse, sticking my hands into pots to check the soil moisture of houseplants. From there, it evolved into a few seasons of trail work where I moved dirt with hand tools, and fell in love with the feelings of manual labor. And now, this dirty journey has brought me to farm work.

Working at GVB is my first ever season of farming and I have been loving it. I’ve always had an appreciation for farmers, but this season has made it grow exponentially - seeing all the hard work that goes into planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, washing, packing, and delivering what is grown. For me, farming has combined my love of hard work with my love of all things plant related. It is especially rewarding seeing all the little seedlings that we planted back in early spring take off and reach their final forms. Along with being there for the process of planting and harvesting, I also play a role in packing the produce and delivering it to all the places it goes, including the CSA boxes that go out. It has been so amazing seeing all the work that goes into growing food and getting it out into the community.

This week, the CSA will include some big and beautiful tomatoes, one of my favorite nightshades. I grew up in a Slavic household and growing up my mom gave me a side of fresh, cut tomatoes with pretty much every meal. I’m glad she did because, still to this day, cutting up a tomato and sprinkling some salt on it is one of my favorite snacks. Especially with our GVB tomatoes. They are oh so good! Especially with some chunky salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little bit of basil. Yum!

Here’s some other ideas for what you can do with this weeks CSA goodies:

Kimchi - https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi

Cauliflower & Chard Curry - https://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/cauliflower-chickpea-and-chard-curry-recipe/

Lentils with Carrot & Swiss Chard -

https://dishingupthedirt.com/recipes/lentils-carrots-swiss-chard-yogurt/