​Welcome to week two of the 2017 North Farm CSA! My name is Allison Stawara, and I'm the Assistant Production Manager here at The North Farm. I joined the team in February of this year, and I'm looking forward to meeting all of you, as well as sharing our wonderful veggies with you this season!
 
While my educational background is in vegetable production, I did not grow up on a family farm, but rather in Northern Oakland county, north of Detroit by about 45 minutes. Although my family only had a small garden and a moderate backyard, I spent many of my “growing-up” years playing outside, as well as cooking nightly meals with my parents and siblings. Food has always been a large part of my life, and when I went on to attend Michigan State University, I decided that food would continue to play an important role in my professional career. While I was at MSU, I worked both on the university's student vegetable farm, as well as a small passive solar hoophouse (like the hoophouses here at The North Farm) on campus next to the dormitory I lived in. Both of these experiences continued to fuel my love of local and responsibly grown produce, and after graduating in May 2016, I continued to pursue that role as a farmer in the Petoskey/Boyne City area at Spirit of Walloon Market Garden.
 
After two seasons of working at Spirit of Walloon, I decided that Petoskey wasn't far enough north, and came on to join the team at The North Farm! Since moving to Chatham, I've had the opportunity to enjoy cross country skiing, rock climbing, and plenty of hiking. When I'm not at work pulling turnips or peppers out of the ground, you may see me swatting mosquitoes along the North Country Trail, reading a new book out on my front lawn, biking along our lovely country roads, or in Marquette at a local concert.
 
Some of the crops you may see in your CSA box this year that I'm particularly excited about include hot peppers, hakurei turnips, ginger root, garlic, scallions, and carrots! We will have some unique and exciting recipes to accompany these awesome crops!
 
This week's CSA share brings you some classic spring crops, like strawberries, scallions, and head lettuce. Included are a few fresh and delicious recipes to bring some new ideas to the table (in case you didn't finish eating those strawberries before you got out of your car!). Let us know what you thought of the produce and the recipes with a quick, anonymous survey we have included in the newsletter at the bottom of the page.
 
I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and hearing about all the great ways you've used your North Farm produce! Enjoy this week's bounty, we are so grateful to be able to share it with you.
 
Allison Stawara
Assistant Production Manager 

Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

• Strawberries are great on their own, but their sweetness adds a lot to a greens salad. Try this simple and flavorful salad, preferably sitting outside on a warm summer evening. Substitute the romaine for the red butterhead lettuce you are receiving this week.

Grilled Scallions with Lemon and Parmesan

• It's summer! Time to fire up the grill. This easy recipe takes a ubiquitous spring crop and makes it shine alongside your favorite burger. Be sure to try other toppings and marinades on grilled scallions - the possibilities are endless!

Pizza with Green Garlic, Potatoes, and Herbs

• Pizza is one of my favorites, and fresh green garlic is one of the ultimate toppings. This recipe is fresh, yet hearty. It's perfect for early summer!

Welcome to the 2017 North Farm CSA! We are thrilled to have you as part of the farm community this year and hope you enjoy connecting with your food on a whole new level.

These newsletters will contain a lot of valuable information as the season goes on, so please be sure to read through them each week to learn about what's happening at the farm, as well as how to make the most of your produce. 

This spring has been a wet one - we've received about double the average amount of rain between April and June, which has made some things difficult, while helped other things along. Regardless, we are starting to see a lot of quick growth, now that the days are longer and the temperatures are climbing. 

A couple of housekeeping notes - Each drop site will have a list of participants, so please check your name off when you grab your box so we can make sure everyone gets their delivery. Most weeks you will receive your share in a waxed box - we would like to reuse those, so please be sure to bring them back the following week. This week, your share will come in a tote bag that is our gift to you. Finally, each newsletter will have a link to an anonymous survey that you can fill out with your feedback - this helps us improve the offerings and make sure you are getting the most out of your share. A button can be found at the end of each newsletter to take you to the survey.

Thanks again for supporting the farm this year. We will introduce the members of our crew and the participating farms in the coming newsletters, so be sure to keep an eye out for that. Until then, please get in touch with any questions or comments - we always love hearing from you!

Collin Thompson
​Farm Manager

Strawberries
    The strawberries you are receiving are some of the first available from the farm. It is possible that the crew has sampled a few, but we assure you that is just for quality control!
     The variety is called Chandler and was developed for growers in Southern California, but fell out of favor as growers turned to less-flavorful, firmer berries to ensure they traveled well when shipped cross-country.
     We prefer our berries to taste exceptional, even if it means they are slightly softer and don't ship as well. That is one of the benefits of sourcing straight from the farm - you get the freshest and most flavorful produce available!
     Enjoy these berries while they last - they have a relatively short season, but we will be sure to pack your boxes with them as long as they are producing.