We got more rain this week, of course – last night we had almost an inch of precipitation – but some of it didn’t turn to water until it sat for while … hail bigger than quarters! It was incredibly loud, and tore up some leaves, but didn’t do too much damage, fortunately. You’ll probably find some bruised and holey leaves in your box from the barrage though.

Hmm earlier in the week, non-weather related things happened.

On Wednesday morning, we discovered several chicken eggs chewed open, and one of the three chicken youngsters that have been sleeping outdoors was missing. Investigation uncovered its lifeless, headless body. I set up a game cam on the spot to see if we could determine what the killer was – a raccoon, a mink, a fisher?

On Thursday morning, the video revealed … none of the above.

Well, this was a new problem. I set the live trap up with canned fish as bait, after locating a good tarp and carefully planning how I would proceed if the trap was successful … I really didn’t want to get sprayed.

On Friday morning I woke up to find the trap sprung … and a skunk inside. I carefully covered it with the tarp and loaded it into the trailer for relocation far from here.

But we didn’t get more than a couple of miles away before we had more company … a raven on the side of the road, looking dedraggled and apparently unable or unwilling to fly away. I talked to him a bit and once he trusted me, he came along for the ride too.

Then it was time to deal with Stinky again. If I was going to get sprayed by a skunk, I wanted to get it on video for everyone else’s amusement of course – so Otis ran the camera while I coaxed the skunk out of the cage …

Fortunately for me, my plan worked and the skunk simply ran away into the woods without a backwards glance.

inside Box 3

Prime time for Stir Fry.

• Snow Peas– snap peas flat siblings, always a crunchy hit in stir fry.
• Broccoli – it feels wonderful to have beautiful stalks to share after last year’s broccopocalypse. We hope you enjoy them too.
• Lettuce Mix – last of the lettuce until the fall salad crop!

• Bok Choy – a CSA sautee and stir fry staple!
• Cilantro – tacos and guacamole!
• Green Onions – we try to give these weekly because we use them tons and so should you.
• Microgreen Mix – Kale, broccoli, red cabbage, radish, amaranth, sunflower & pea shoots. Instantly elevate any dish!

Thanks to members Walter and Dante for helping harvest and deliver today’s CSA shares!!