Perhaps you are getting ready to send kids back to school…YOU may be going back to school. You may be coming back from a trip…or getting ready to go on a trip.

Doesn’t it feel like we are all in a constant state of flux?

One of the hardest things to stay disciplined on during transition is our diets…YET, isn’t it one of the most important things we can do for ourselves?

During this transition season, make reminders for yourself that keep you in front of the food prep curve…here are a couple of mine.

This week we focus on the “WHO” in “Who Grew Your Food?”

For this week’s boxes (mini, base, and full) we purchased food from 16 different growers.

To fill each of the boxes, we purchased 40 INDIVIDUAL VARIETIES of produce.

Today (Tuesday) as I write this, our trucks and vans are out on the roads of Ohio, picking up those 40 varieties from those 16 growers in order to have them back here, unloaded, organized, portioned, and ready to build boxes tomorrow morning so that it can start it’s journey towards your home or community pickup spot.

One of our most common questions is “How do you pick what goes in the box each week?”

Answer: (What’s in season) X (How much it costs) / (Total # of items) +(Consideration of what was in the boxes during previous weeks and what is coming up in the next couple of weeks) = What goes into this week’s box

Seems like the newsletter each week starts with a line similar to this…”My Goodness this looks like the best week of the year!!”

Just walked through the assembly line as our team are packing your orders and I saw blueberries, blackberries, cherries, sweet corn, tomatoes, kales, asian greens and summer squash…all in perfect condition…and I went ahead and taste tested everything and it’s exquisite.

Blueb’s, Cuke’s, Zuke’s, and Slicer’s?!?!?

Folks this is summer in Ohio.

Only thing missing is sweet corn and I can promise you that if you are patient, it will arrive in due time.

Recently, a YB member sent me a link to a new movie that was coming out called Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution.

You can view it HERE

There are many success stories in this movie about communities taking control of their food supply and using the concept of “Localization” to shift their trajectories.

What a box this week!

Asparagus, Strawberries, Zucchini (first of the year), Garlic Scapes (super rare), plus enough other stuff to make the best fathers' day spread on the block.

What are garlic scapes? Garlic scapes are the tender stem and flower bud of a hardneck garlic plant. (Hardneck garlic is the kind of garlic that typically grows in Canada and the northeastern U.S.) Scapes first grow straight out of the garlic bulb, then coil. When harvested, they look like long, curly green beans.

Friends, Folks, and Fam,

This is our time.

We are looking at fields full of plants that you and I will be eating over the next 6 months.

Peppers both sweet and hot, Eggplant, Blueberries, Okra, Greens, Onions, B-Sprouts, Taters and Maters, Sweet Corn, Melons and many more.

https://www.livescience.com/strawberries-linked-to-hepatitis-outbreak

Just read this article.

Do I trust the FDA? No
Do I trust the news source reporting it? No

Doesn’t matter…neither of those things are the point.

The point is, we continue to be threatened by the very system that we built to feed us.

Let’s address a giant clickbait story that is circulating right now about “supply chains”.

It’s very easy to say that there is going to be a food crisis/shortage/problem in the coming months/years because the world is in turmoil and there are wars happening in places that export 25% of the world's wheat supply etc.

Look again at that last statement.

Anything jump out at you?

If you are not making the best salads on the planet right now, then you are doing it wrong.

Let me throw you some “Pro Tips”...

-Never let it run out…just keep adding to the salad bowl you made the day before

-Keep all the “wet” ingredients separate…your leafies will stay dry that way

The first crowns are up and out of the ground so you know what time it is!!!

“This is the dawning of the age of asparagus, age of asparagus, assssppparrrraaaaagggggguuss!!”

There’s not quite enough for everyone but trust me, the weather is prime for massive output so over the next couple of weeks you are going to get PLENNNNTY!

It’s been a while since we gave you a “State Of The Union” here at YB.

We just saw our first harvest of asparagus! Only around 10 pounds but that is a good sign for weeks to come…
We have been developing a new website/sales platform that will allow for a much easier shopping experience.

WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID IT!!!!!!

Ramps are HERE!! FRESH FOOD!! The earth is producing again!!

This is the time of year I get really excited for - the start of Spring! Spring had always been my least favorite season growing up (so. much. rain.), but now that I really understand the fresh food cycle I realize those cool temps and rainy mornings are what marks the start of an incredible year of food.

Our business is one of constant communication. We have to know what’s happening in the fields and on the farms so that we know how to plan our boxes each week. We then try and communicate that to you so that you can know how to plan your meals and menus.

For months it seems that we have heard and seen the same things…the same things you have been patiently eating each week through the winter.

The temps are slowwwwly turning…when looking at the 10 day forecast, I see some consistent 60’s and 70’s on the horizon.

You know what that means??

Asparagus crowns!!...and you know what that means??

It’s that time of year. I’m almost positive that if I looked back at newsletters from prior years, I would see these same words.

Basically, we are stuck in limbo. We are living off of our stores from last year, eating fresh greens that can be grown under protection during the winter months, and WAITING on all the fresh stuff that Ohio has to offer.

Cod Liver Oil

-Salmon

-Swordfish

-Tuna Fish

-Orange Juice

-Dairy Milk

-Sardines

-Beef Liver

-Egg Yolk

-Mushrooms

-Yogurt

What a random list huh?

This is what I found when I googled, “foods high in Vitamin D”.

We are at that time of year in Ohio when it becomes perpetually gray. Theoretically, the sun is supposed to be out longer right now…but doesn’t it seem like the skies have turned to concrete and the temperature just always says 45 degrees??