WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items in your box this coming week. Some items and quantities may vary depending on your harvest day. The photo is of the full share.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Basil – Small bunch in every box. Beans – We are harvesting bush beans 'Strike' (green) and 'Royal Burgundy' (purple). Beetroot – We will finish harvesting the third planting of beetroot. There may not be enough left for Thursday boxes. Broccoli – Another planting of 'Marathon' is coming on. We will divide the harvest. Capsicum – The harvest has begun. Please look at the pepper post to identify the ones in your box. I have also updated it with some more capsicum news. We will be dividing the harvest each week. Carrots – Bunch of ‘Deep Purple’, ‘Scarlet Nantes’ and ‘Atomic Red’. The ‘Atomic Red’ are lovely carrots but their peel has a bitter after taste. If you peel them, they have a taste almost like peppermint. We have included some recipe ideas that use lots of carrots in case you have a stash! Chillies - The harvest of 'Padron' chillies will continue to appear in some boxes. There are 'Hungarian Hot Wax', 'Long Thin Cayennes' and 'Thai Hot' or 'Bird's Eye' being harvested. Please look at the pepper post to identify - The 'Cayennes' and the 'Thai Hot' look similar but their heat rating is very different. Cucumbers – We are growing long cucumbers and short cucumbers. The shorter are sweeter and apparently "burpless". This week each box should receive at least two or three. Eggplant – The eggplant harvest has begun. Please look at the eggplant post to identify. We will continue to divide the harvest. Lettuce – We will harvest 'Freckles' this week. These are smaller heads. Mesclun – We have started harvest a small planting of mesclun. We planted it as a trial to see what baby lettuces could survive the heat. We are not sure how many boxes will receive it. Onions – We have cleaned out a whole bed of 'Red Burgundy' and will divide these into the boxes. If they finish before Thursday, we will harvest 'Spanish White'. Potatoes – Bag in every box. Spinach – We are continuing to harvest 'Perpetual Gator'. This was sold as a spinach that withstands heat...it is actually a really delicate silver beet, wonderful raw and cooked. I am enjoying the slightly lemony flavour which makes it so light and refreshing. Works well with eggs, in salads and in filo pockets. Sweet Corn – I feel so American when I say this but... it really is summer when the corn harvest begins! The first variety is 'Max'. Ears in every box. Tomatoes – We will continue to divide the harvest. Zucchini – Zucchini this week includes 'Nero di Milano', 'Romanesco' and smaller "de Flor'.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING We are cleaning out circles and beginning to think about sowing our first round of cover crops. This has meant very full boxes for the past two weeks. This weeks box is back to between 10-12 items. Maybe that is a welcome relief! An interesting difference to running a CSA and just running a farm is that we actually try and harvest every last bit of food from an area (if it is still in good nick) and put it into the boxes. Our feeling is that we have invested time and energy to grow it, we have used the resources of soil and water, and we are growing all this food for you. Sometimes in farming if you have more then your market will bear of a crop, it is not worth the cost of labour to harvest it. So the food is simply tilled into the soil. For us, we would rather put it in a box and hope it is enjoyed. I wrote a post about Preserving the Harvest - maybe something will inspire you. Happy to send any recipes not linked.

The effects of the heat wave a few weeks ago are still being felt. The capsicums and the chillies dropped all of their flowers as did the zucchini. I saw today new flowers on the chillies and zucchini bushes. Hopefully the capsicums will follow suit. Plants are amazing when under stress. All of our efforts kept them from frying but the plant still knew that the conditions were more then it could bear. So instead of trying to make heaps of seeds, they chose to focus their energy just on the ones they had already made.

ESKY'S Please keep putting out your esky's. Peter is happy to put your box in one to preserve the freshness of the food until you return home.

AUTUMN SHARE The Autumn Share runs from 1 March - 31 May. If you would like to continue being a part of Transition Farm's CSA, you will need to email Peter at petercarlyon@gmail.com and confirm your intention. On the 3rd of February, we will contact others interested and begin to fill the shares available. Please express your interest before then. Thank you!

U-PICK FLOWERS We have cosmos, zinneas, scabiosa, fever few, snap dragons, calendula, nasturtiums, statice, helichrysums and many other flowers growing. Every member is welcome to come and U-pick some edible flowers and a bouquet each week on Saturdays from 8am-11am. If you have not been to the farm yet, this is a great chance to walk around, see your food growing and leave with a wonderful posy.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations. True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time. It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Beetroot Relish Carrot Dip Cucumber, Tomato and Feta Salad Lazy Sweet Corn Fresh Corn Salsa Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, Spinach and Bocconcini ... this is lovely with 'Perpetual Gator' Spinach

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.