Welcome to week four of our CSA harvest. Seems like every week someone mentions how large the harvest will be and how each week more items are added to the share. In addition to the bounty of fresh food, we have the privilege of enjoying the beautiful area and the end of some of the most pleasant spring weather.

After my first month at Serenbe, I cannot decide which part I love the most. Being able to work outside in the beautiful sunshine with the greatest team known or being able to go off and explore the Chattahoochee Hill Country trails located in my back yard; both certainly brighten my spirit. However, the people, especially younger people, really make it all worthwhile. To me, there is nothing like hearing children ask if they can feed the chickens or see the ducks. I also love hearing what people are creating with our produce.

My name is Lauren Rench and I will be learning from Paige and the rest of the team now through August. I certainly have a lot to learn. For example, as you walk around the farm you may notice what looks to be like trees of lettuce growing in our planted fields. We refer to them as "Christmas Trees". Unfortunately, these plants have gone to bolt. Cabbage, lettuce, spinach and broccoli are a few of the plants which have the ability to bolt. This means that the plant has started to flower and produce seeds or pollen. At this point, the plant has a bitter and unpleasant taste and will simply be tilled into the soil or fed to the livestock.

As you may have noticed, there have been tables full of onions sitting out near the CSA pickup lately. Although these could be eaten, the onions are gathering more flavor by curing. Nothing is added to the onions for this type of curing. After harvesting, the onions were simply laid out on the wire tables. After about 5 days, the onions are fully cured; however, waiting longer will bring out more flavor. I was surprised to learn of the medicinal uses of onions. For example, onions may be used to combat the common cold, heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Another favorite of mine is the abundance of fabulous food prepared by fabulous chefs. Many of you may have had the opportunity to meet our new chef in town, Hilary White. Hilary has been volunteering her time and hard work at the farm since her arrival a few weeks ago. In addition to all of her dedicated hard work in the fields, Hilary is a superb chef. This past Saturday at the Serenbe Farmer´s Market, Hilary graced us with her Greens and Artichoke Spread (recipe below) using Serenbe greens. Monday night, the farm interns were honored to feast on a beautiful meal prepared by Hilary and our own in-house chef, Matthew.

Happy Eating from those of us at Serenbe Farms: Lauren, Paige, Mary, Matthew, R.J. and Niko.