Strawberry season is making a fashionably-late debut this year, but we’re so glad it’s finally here!! The chilly spring stagnated plant growth, delayed flowering, and slowed berry formation, but now the field and the plants are looking great regardless.

Our organic Strawberries are always fresh-picked and absolutely PACKED with flavor and sweetness. They’re super tender and juicy too. Eating fresh-picked, local berries is always a revelation. The difference between these and grocery store berries is amazing. Two important notes:

• Don’t wash your berries until right before you eat them. We don’t spray any synthetic or chemical nastiness, so they just need a quick rinse, not a full soak. Soaking them causes water logging issues and dilutes the flavor and sweetness and vastly shortens the edible life and general quality.
• Eat your berries quickly. Organic berries are more prone to developing soft spots and mold when held for extended periods because we don’t spray anything on them to retard the growth of those things.

The weather forecast for this weekend is looking decent enough that we think we’ll be able to open the field to Pick Your Own starting Saturday. However, as always with PYO crops, please check our facebook before you head over. We’ll update our facebook page with up-to-the-minute PYO info. You don’t need an account to see our page.

The fine print: the Pick Your Own Strawberry patch is about a 15 minute walk from the Farmstand. We have free hayrides on weekends, running in a loop starting at 10am. Anyone over 3 years old needs to buy (or have purchased for them if they’re short of funds or can’t count as high as 6) at least one quart punnet to access the field. It’s $6/quart and $32 for a 6 quart flat. On a PYO day, the fields are open until the crop is picked out or at the manager’s discretion.

PLEASE check our facebook page for the most up-to-date information.

The Strawberry season is always short, but worth the wait. We hope you enjoy them this year!

Just in time for the end of school

We have a new present idea for you! Pick Your Own Flower Bouquet gift cards are now available at the Farmstand–these make great teacher gifts! Each gift card comes in a mason jar that doubles as a vase for the bouquet. We’ll be opening the flower patch for picking in about a month and there’ll be blooms through September.

Nutrition Corner: Napa Cabbage

By: Kaitlyn Shannon, RD, LDN

Napa Cabbage is a versatile cousin to the dense European cabbage, with an oblong head and light green leaves. The leaves are crinkly and crisp, great for enjoying raw or holding up well in a cooked dish. It pairs well with flavors like sesame, garlic, curry, miso, beets, and meats like pork, beef, and lamb.

Also known as Chinese Cabbage, Napa Cabbage is commonly prepared as part of a stir fry. Serve this Stir-Fried Napa Cabbage with Spicy Garlic Dressing along with rice and your protein of choice. Napa Cabbage is also a common ingredient in kimchi, a fermented vegetable medley. If you’ve never made kimchi before, this Korean Kimchi recipemay be worth your while. And if you happen to have left over kimchi, try adding it to this Spicy Kimchi Slaw recipe. Yum!  And are you sick of having the same lunch meals during the week? This Napa Cabbage Salad with Parmesan and Pistachios recipe may answer the call for variety you need.

Napa Cabbage offers more than just a tasty meal. It is packed with nutrients like calcium, iron, potassium, fiber, and Vitamins B, C, and K. These nutrients serve our bodies in everyday movements, regulation of fluid balance, and the healing process. How will you enjoy your Napa Cabbage this week? Be sure to share your recipes and tag @langwaterfarm in your posts—we love seeing what you make with your veggies!

Farm events

This summer we’re partnering with Kristen Keaney of Be Well & Rise to offer a series of yoga classes for adults, kids storytime & yoga classes, and kids nutrition & yoga classes. Our first adult yoga class is this Saturday, June 15th at 9:30am. Tickets are available from Be Well & Rise. Here’s the schedule through July:

• June Farm Yoga (for adults), Saturday 6/15 at 9:30
• June Farm Storytime & Yoga(for kids), Wednesday 6/26 at 10:30
• July Farm Yoga (for adults), Saturday 7/20 at 9am
• July Farm Storytime & Yoga (for kids), Wednesday 7/24 at 10:30

*****

We have two Farm Pizza Nights upcoming:

• Friday, June 21st (Summer Solstice!), 5 – 8pm
• Friday, July 19th, 5 – 8pm

We’ll have our wood-fired oven going and a few different toppings to choose from, including a seasonal specialty: Squash Blossom & Garlic Scape. Plus we’ll have beer from Shovel Town Brewery. You can take your pizzas to go or enjoy them with a beer at the picnic tables on the party lawn, overlooking the field. Kids of all ages are welcome!

We love Pizza Nights on the farm and we hope you’ll come hang out with us!