Fresh From the Farm (May 15)

Whew!  Spring is rolling right by.  Is your garden planted?  We are working diligently to get many of the crops in, but, as you know, one planting isn't enough for most vegetables. Succession planting is the key word in May.  Seeding crops a couple weeks apart allows us to harvest over an extended period of time, with a new patch regularly maturing.  Managing maturity dates begins in the basement on our farm.  That's where the lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and so many other crops start.  Trays are filled with organic potting soil and seeded with teensy weensy seeds.  Placing seeds in trays happens to be a favorite job of Young Farmer B, and are we ever glad!  After the plants have grown a bit and developed a true set of leaves, a portion of them are hand-transplanted into larger pots for sale.  What is planted for the farm, stays in the trays.  The trays of plants are then moved outside into a non-heated greenhouse.  Here watering occurs automatically with overhead irrigation.  We consistently hear praises for the high quality of our bedding plants.  Care is taken from the beginning of the process to the very end to ensure satisfied customers.  This week and next will see the largest selection of tomato plants available.  Both heirloom and hybrid varieties are available.  A few of the varieities are:  Amish Paste, Brandywine, Black Cherry, Big Boy, Big Beef, Arkansas Traveler, Roma, Garden Peach, Bloody Butcher, Taxi, Sun Gold Cherry and too many more to name.  The complete selection is available at the farm and as many as can fit into the truck will be at Oxford Farmers Market Uptown.  Look for a huge variety of herbs too - both culinary and medicinal. 

Laura Tabacca, a loyal market shopper, shared a recipe she developed last week using green garlic and komatsuna available from us at the market last week.  I made her Springtime Bacon and Egg Fried Rice this evening for dinner and it really is as easy as it sounds and tastes awesome.  This week we'll have Joi Choi, another Asian Green in the Bok Choy family.  Here's the recipe for Crunchy Joi Choi Slaw.  Also look for green garlic, big heads of romaine lettuce, and kale.   Along with the delicious vegetables, we'll have a full selection of Grass-fed Black Angus Beef.  This includes T-Bone, Rib-eye and Sirloin steaks; Rolled Round Roasts, hamburger, liver and raw bones for our 4-legged doggie friends.

Remember, the farm stand is open Tuesday - Saturday with fresh vegetables and bedding plants, and we'll be at Oxford Farmers Market Uptown on Saturday morning.  Thanks for your support!

Brent & Suzie Marcum
Salem Road Farms