Hi everyone!
I’m Isabelle, a student from Bates College interning with New Roots this summer. I hope everyone enjoyed their first CSA bag, which featured produce such as garlic scapes, Swiss chard, green onions, and beets. If you weren’t able to register for summer CSA, come visit us at a variety of farmers markets in Maine. We participate in markets in South Portland, Kennebunk, York, Damariscotta, Cumberland, and more— see our “Farmers Market” webpage for updated times.
Before jumping in to our weekly updates, Happy Eid! Eid, or Eid al-Adha, is one of the main holidays in Islam, colloquially known as the ‘Holiday of Breaking the Fast’. Eid began on Friday, July 8, and ends on the evening of July 9 after a month of fasting during the day. To the farmers at New Roots and everyone else who celebrates, Eid Mubarak!
Despite hot temperatures in the high seventies this week, it was nice and breezy at the farm. The farmers are busy weeding and harvesting vegetables for CSA and weekend markets. This week, Seynab and I harvested over twenty bundles of fresh beets that will soon be on many of your dinner tables!
After bunching the beets together in groups of roughly equal size, we bring them over to the washing station for cleaning and trimming. After the dirt is washed off the beets, we let them dry on our wire racks before being safely stored overnight in our on-site fridge.
Last week at the farmers markets, we had a lot of questions about garlic scapes! Now that so many of you received some in last week’s CSA bags, it’s a great opportunity to learn how to prepare scapes. Scapes can be grilled, sautéed with oil or butter, made into hummus (like in last week’s featured recipe), or even chopped up and used in garlic butter for extra flavor. Check out this article by bon appétit for more inspiration! https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/garlic-scapes
As always, thank you for your support— and remember to mark your calendars for our land purchase celebration on July 17. To RSVP, follow this link.