The Home Page of the updated website is warm, vibrant and very artistic.

Everything in the CSA share looked awesome, and I'm so excited strawberries are here! By the way, the new website is awesome.

I am looking forward to eating dinner the next few days - salads, asparagus, kale!

Thanks for all your hard work. It's appreciated with every bite!

The sunchoy is amazing when stir-fried in olive oil, garlic, and fresh ginger with matchsticks of kohlrabi.

We've been enjoying a fine rhubarb crumb coffee cake, and last night we had shrimp and asparagus stir-fry - I found the recipe on your website. It was fantastic! Thank you!

The pea shoots were a great addition to my chilled beet salad. The recipe is available at:
http://journeysincooking.blogspot.com/2009/06/chilled-beet-and-pea-salad.html

Just about every other entry talks about how much I love the vegetables and eggs from my Village Acres Farm CSA.

I admire the style and warmth with which you're doing all this.

We're so excited for the strawberries. The kids and us ate them as our bedtime snack, and like last week, my husband and I had to "fight" to get more than one! The kids love them, and we all love all the greens, too. Tonight before bed, my four year old said, "I'm thankful for the farmers who grow us healthy food." Thanks for feeding our family!

No strawberries left...my daughter said "Wow Mom -- these are really good strawberries!" "Yeah, they were picked in the last few days...not weeks ago!"

I wanted to let you know how happy I am with the produce we've recieved. I have tried new veggies I didn't know existed (Kolrabi), new recipes (Sour Cream Rhubarb Bars - YUM!), and even created a Garlic Basil Hummus! Village Acres was definitely a great choice for us!

We are loving the beets! Tonight I made crispy baked beet chips and they disappeared before we even sat down to dinner.

We just wanted to let you know we had a wonderful time at the Strawberry festival this afternoon - thank you for hosting us!

We wanted to thank everyone at the farm for the wonderful time we had at the Strawberry festival. It's amazing to have all of you taking care and growing so lovely our food. The box today was so wonderful! Best ;- )

What beautiful, healthy, diverse veggies! I love the herb extras! That's such a good way to distribute them! It's always lovely to get berries with a share. I thought this week's share was especially bountiful: so many colorful and wonderfully and easy-to-enjoy choices. We chopped the garlic scapes and basil and topped our pizza with them; I put the snow peas in a bowl as an appetizer. Our daughter was visiting from Boston: she's vegan, and it was so good to have so much wholesome food to enjoy with her.

We enjoyed our bouquet this week: each bouquet is a work
of art. I usually put the bouquets on my shaded front porch, where they thrive til the next week's
distribution day, and sometimes beyond...so fresh. Thank you, Hope, and our other flower-tenders.

I made the most delicious 100% organic dinner last night! I used the asparagus and basil from our share and it was simply the most delicious stuff I've ever tasted. I made organic penne pasta with asparagus, basil, fire roasted tomatoes and garlic. I could eat it every day!!!! Also, I tried pea shoots for the first time in my life and I have no idea how I lived 35 years without them. We ate them raw in salad and I could not get enough of them!!!

I also made a 100% organic, local meal last night -- new potatoes and fresh new garlic (from the Amish market), pan-cooked asparagus, scrambled eggs with chard and dill. It was colorful, healthy and delicious! It was even a "one-pot meal" -- I did it all in the cast iron skillet.

Thank you!

I'm sad the asparagus is done, but the kids loved the shelling peas! I thought I'd share my favorite way to clean greens (which kids love to help with too). Fill a big pot with water and a tablespoon of vinegar (any kind, I use white or apple cider), throw in greens, swizzle around (or let kids play in .....). In a few mins any debris (insects, etc) will float to the surface and you can easily skim them off. Rinse greens in colander or salad spinner and you're done!

Just sat down from shelling peas (my Mom canned everything, but I don't remember her doing peas - I think I know one reason!) I ate a cucumber while cooking chard and beans for supper. It's so wonderful to eat things that haven't been sprayed or waxed, or who knows what! As to the flat leaf parsley, my Italian inlaws in my other life always used it, and my NY City cop brother-in-law who loved to cook, rinsed his parsley, put it in a plastic bag, and froze it. Whenever he needed parsley, he took it out of the freezer and with a paring knife, sliced off what he needed and put the rest back in the freezer. I don't know about large amounts and freezer burn, but small amounts used up in a month or two really keep well this way. Have a happy week in between rain showers. I think of you guys all the time in this weather as you try to keep things going the best you can. Good luck!

Our dinner last night was a Village Acres celebration: a baked egg dish: I had previously roasted the red potatoes (and added some sweet potato wedges) from last week. I trimmed and sliced the chard leaves and separately diced the stems. I buttered a baking dish and put the heap of chard on the bottom, and then mixed up six eggs with some of the basil and the cilantro. I put a thin layer of sliced chevre on top of the chard and poured the egg mixture on top of that. I ringed the casserole with the already-roasted potato wedges. Put that in the 350 oven and set the timer for 35 minutes.
I oiled a cookie sheet rolled those beautiful, diced swiss chard stems with a lot of finely-diced garlic scapes and last week's still fresh asparagus (if you wrap it in paper towels, the asparagus stays perfectly fresh for a long time). After about five minutes of roasting at 350, this was tender enough, and I just placed the rinsed pea shoots on top of the asparagus in the turned-off oven for a few minutes -- just enough time to slightly wilt the shoots. It was such a beautiful dinner, thanks to Village Acres!
Finally, I hope that all is going very well at Village Acres so far this season, despite the abundance of rains. From a member's perspective, every week has been such an amazing and delicious treat. Thank you so much for your efforts to nurture this bounty and bring it to nourish so many of us!

Wow, Ann! Sounds delicious! Thanks for the post! :)

Everything is wonderful, as usual. Thanks for working to put this bounty on our table and into our bellies.

Every week we pick up produce, we are delighted with what you've given us. The carrots and peas we just eating some of, and they're heavenly. Thanks as always.

The colors of the produce were so beautiful: yellow squash, magenta beets, orange carrots, blueberries, bright chard stems, and all of the shades of green. All of the ingredients for a good meal AND a still life painting, too. Thank you for the beautiful and wholesome food. The "professional volunteers" who are now greeting and assisting with every distribution enhance the experience, which seems to be running very smoothly -- they are all so kind, and take such care to anticipate questions, it really makes distribution a more organized and calmer experience for all!

The bouquets this season have been exceptionally lush and beautiful.
I salvaged many of the flowers from LAST week's bouquet and put them
in a separate vase, trimming the stems and leaves and any spent blossoms.
I keep my bouquets in the shade of the front porch. Please thank Hope and
other folks who tend and create these beautiful bouquets, each one artistically fashioned with a generous spirit! The colors, shapes, textures of the flowers are magnificent: I love the white "umbrella-shaped" flowers (Queen Anne's lace?)
that look like 4th of July Fireworks, and really set off all of the other colors in the bouquet. We feel so blessed to be members of Village Acres; and we hope
that those of you who nurture the bounty that IS Village Acres feel blessed with success and security for all of your thoughtful planning and hard work!

Thank you so much, every week, you bless my family with amazing healthy veggies! My youngest daughter will not eat them, but I have started juicing them for her, she loves it! thank you so much. Every Wednesday I make the new potatoes in the oven with some butter and fresh herbs, I often invite friends over to try and they love them! I am thrilled to the veggies. Ohh don't let me forget the blueberries! Seriously, can't get enough of them. Thanks!!!

This is my first year as a member of the CSA, and I'm really impressed with the quality and variety of the produce. It tastes SO much better than supermarket produce. I also like the fact that I don't have to shop for it! I just cook what's in the box, and something new and delicious shows up on the table every evening.

We've been enjoying everything in the box, as usual. The carrots are wonderful just as they are. I made chard chips - couldn't believe the wonderful result! I can give the guinea pig a slice of cucumber without guilt by possibly subjecting her to "guinea pig" status! I have a batch of refrigerator pickles brewing that should be ready by tomorrow. The green beans were cooked, the way my kids used to love them: Cut up a large Bermuda onion (I used my CSA onions already, one of them in the pickles) into some olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven and start them cooking on low while you peel a few potatoes (or scrub a few new potatoes). Then throw in the potatoes in chunks, the cleaned green beans (the amount of beans that was in the box, or maybe a little more), and a small can of tomato sauce (8 oz.), pepper and a little salt. I close the lid and let it simmer until the beans are to your liking and the potatoes are cooked. It makes a nice side dish, but we made it our evening meal.

Bought my first chicken from Village Acres and cooked it this past weekend. It was DELICIOUS! I think I'm hooked and definitely will be buying more in the future.

Interesting green bean recipe, Ruth! Thank you for sharing. I'll definitely be trying this one this week. Maybe with our chicken? :)

Oh man, we made delicious tuna salad yesterday all with VA yummies: eggs, baby celery, parsley, spring onion, garlic, + dill from the backyard... really good!

Great job with the garlic and lettuce heads. They're truly spectacular. And I can hardly wait for the heirloom tomatoes to go with all of this basil!

I'm back again with more delicious thanks!! Tonight as a side dish I threw together some boiled beets, cubed, with fresh chopped basil and sprinkled a tiny bit of parmesan cheese on top. Seriously amazingly good!

After eating beets about three times in my life before Village Acres CSA, they are now one of my favorite vegetables!

Had the corn for dinner, yum! This is the best corn we've had from village acres in the last six years, thanks!! We can't wait to eat our way through the rest of the box. I'm crossing my fingers that the forecast for tomatoes perks up; the ones in my garden at home are big and beautiful ..... but GREEN still.

I see the apologetic tone about the tomatoes in the July 28 Veggie Voice, but wanted to let you know that I am completely understanding of the whims of nature and no apologetic tone is needed. The organic methods are important to me for health and environment reasons....more important than having tomatoes in my share box or not having tomatoes at all. We appreciate your efforts, but going through a local organic farm and not the supermarket is all about experiencing the ups and downs of farming and being more connected to the natural way of things. A little bit of sacrifice and doing without only makes you stronger and appreciate the good times and other good food available to us.

I agree with Susan! We just appreciate your hard work. :) Thank you!

I made the fajitas tonight from the recipe -- they were so good! Thank you.

Also, here's a recipe for Zucchini Basil Muffins!

from The Magic Muffin Tin
makes 12 muffins (and uses 2 cups zucchini -- bonus!)

Mix together:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp minced fresh basil (must be fresh!!)
1 Tbsp minced fresh oregano (or less, dried)
1/4 tsp salt

In another bowl, beat:
2 eggs until foamy

Beat into eggs:
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup canola oil

Stir into egg, milk, oil mixture:
2 cups shredded zucchini

Mix dry and wet ingredients together just til moistened.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on tops of muffins (about 1/4 cup total)

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then eat or cool on rack.

These are especially delicious right out of the oven with butter on them!