On Thursday morning, before work started, some of us enjoyed a quiet, peaceful sit in the flower garden on some surprise little benches that appeared in the pick-your-own flower and herb garden… this one above is in the sunflower fort. We are not sure what garden fairy made these appear or when, and we don’t know if you intended to stay anonymous or we just haven’t uncovered a note dropped off somewhere yet, and we don’t know if they are temporary installations or long term flower garden additions, but they were immediately enjoyed. We already enjoy this space to take even the briefest slow breaths amidst the hustle of production farming, but sitting on a bench in the flowers amplifies that rejuvenation. We hope some of you also get to sit and enjoy these sweet surprises. And it made us think about what our original intention was with this garden in the first place: to create a space, during the first year of the pandemic, where people could just get a little extra sunshine and joy, in a world that can sometimes be hard to find ease in. And now it seems like these sweet benches have potentially taken it to its logical next step: A more collaborative shared space that brings a little sunshine and joy. It’ll be sweet to see how this garden evolves over time. Photo by Adam Ford

CSA Balance Due

If you haven’t already paid, your balance is due. You can pay online through your account (with a card or e-check ACH payment), mail a check to Evening Song Farm 48 Nice Road, Cuttingsville VT 05738, leave a check or cash in the CSA cash box at the barn, send money with Venmo @eveningsongcsa, or use EBT. It’s very cool to pay in smaller chunks, just let us know what your payment plan is.

This Week’s Availability

This week we will have yellow beets, red beets, parsley, scallions, baby lettuce, spinach, baby bok choi, cilantro, green curly kale bunches, lacinato kale bunches, slicing cucumbers, Japanese slicing cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, zucchini, yellow summer squash, purple kohlrabi, celery, garlic, basil, Asian eggplant, Italian eggplant, husk cherries, Carmen sweet peppers, snack peppers, poblano peppers, jalapeño peppers, green tomatoes, sweet onions, shallots, leeks, cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, and brussels crowns*.

*What are brussels crowns? Excellent question. This time of year, we top the brussels sprout plants, so the plants put their energy into making larger brussels sprouts versus taller plants. The tops are a delicious, tender, loose head that have a brussels sprout flavor, that we use like a cooking green. Our favorite way to have it is sauteed with garlic and olive oil. But you can use it any way you would use something like spinach. It’s a short seasonal treat, so jump on it soon if you are interested in trying it.

If you do any bulk preserving, now is a great time to snag bulk pickling cucumbers and dill heads. This is also the week to snag jalapenos if you use any for fermenting, hot sauce, pickled jalapenos, jalapeno jelly, or whatever! We have 8- and 10-pound bags of frozen elderberries available, and if you are inspired to preserve any eggplant for the winter, now is a good time for that as well. Send us an email for wholesale pricing on anything you are looking to preserve.

Click here to order your veggies for a delivered bag

Ordering closes at noon on Tuesdays for Wednesday bags, and at midnight on Wednesdays for Friday bags.

You do not need to fill out the form if you plan to come to the barn on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays to pick out your items yourself.

CSA pickup and delivery days and times

Farm News

I don’t like shirking the narrative part of my newsletter work, but it’s been a really busy week, and I’ll invite you to take a photo tour of the farm this week with the pictures in the newsletter.

Have a great week,

-ESF Team: Ryan, Kara, Cindy, Galen, Katie, K2, Taylor, Vanessa, and Bryan (and Sky and Soraya)

Weekly Recipe

The recipe below is super simple, and great as a side dish or on a curry or peanut noodles or salad.

Crispy Asian Eggplant