Howdy folks and welcome to harvest week 9 of your Tumbleweed Farm season! We hope you've been enjoying the bounty from last week's box and are ready for another round of farm-fresh goodness headed your way.

The fields are absolutely exploding with abundance right now. This week we harvested our first cucumbers of the season (they'll be making their way into your shares very soon!) along with new potatoes and the very first cherry tomatoes. The tomato plants are just starting to wake up, so it'll still be a few more weeks before we have enough for CSA boxes, but don't worry — our kids are doing an excellent job quality testing the first flush for you.

The peppers, eggplants, corn, and melons are all looking happy and healthy out in the fields, and if you can believe it, we've already planted our fall cauliflower crop. Every square inch of the farm is spoken for right now. In fact, we just finished harvesting the last of our broccoli planting yesterday and are already turning it under to make room for another round of late summer greens that need to get in the ground this week.

It's busy, beautiful, a little chaotic, and absolutely bursting with life out here right now.

We hope you enjoy this week’s haul.

Happy cooking and eating everyone!

Your farmers,
Andrea, Taylor, Pepper, Maize and our awesome crew

Harvest 9

Head Lettuce—A rich source of vitamins A, K and folate. Contains anti-inflamatory properties.
Rainbow Chard—this dark leafy green is high in antioxidants and important vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, K and A and a healthy dose of magnesium (which many people are deficient in).
Broccoli—Broccoli contains many vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Research suggests that some of broccoli’s plant compounds are thought to help prevent cancer when eaten often. Broccoli’s benefits include helping reduce inflammation, keeping blood sugar stable, and strengthening the immune system.
Cilantro—Cilantro is one of the most potent and detoxifying herbs for our bodies. It helps remove heavy metals from our bodies and has antibacterial properties along with being one of the most adrenal supporting herbs out there.
Carrots—Rich in beta-carotene which your body converts into Vitamin A. This vitamin is important for vision, bone and immune function. Carrots are also high in antioxidants and important minerals for overall body health. Remove the greens on the carrots before storing them so they don’t go soft.
Turnips—Rich in vitamins and minerals turnips are high in antioxidants which help provide anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antibacterial effects, among other benefits. The greens boast a whole list of their own nutritional values but the biggest ones are that they’re high in vitamin A and calcium. Please remove the greens from the turnips and store them separately so the roots don’t get soft.
Potatoes—Potato skins and flesh are both very beneficial to human health. Fun fact—potato plants draw some of the highest concentration of macro and trace minerals from the earth. This was news to me!! They are high in potassium and rich in vitamin B6, as well as a fantastic source of amino acids, especially lysine in its bioactive form. Lysine is a powerful weapon against viruses such as Epstein-Barr and shingles that are behind rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain, autoimmune disease, and more. Potatoes also contain tyrosine, a chemical needed to produce thyroid hormones. So cool! Eat more potatoes folks!