week 11

deep in tomato-land

Sweet Corn                Green Beans                        Cucumbers

Cantaloupe                Summer Squash            Tomatoes        

Potatoes               Swiss Chard         Onions & Garlic             

Basil                Cilantro          Sorrel              Thyme

“…the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another; and instead of one harvest, a continued one throughout the year.”   ~ Thomas Jefferson on the garden

We’re giving a shout out this week to the pollinators in our garden.  It’s great to see them out there early in the morning, hard at work.  We had never associated bees with sweet corn until this year.  The summer squashes are planted amidst the corn, three-sisters-style, so we see the dance more clearly now.  Large and small bees, bumbling, zooming, buzzing high and low notes, drop down into the deep squash blossoms, then float up and crawl along the dangling corn tassels, strewing streams of corn pollen as they fumble along, their legs coated with bright golden-yellow pollen.  What a pleasure it is to see them, and to know that they are fed too (and not poisoned) by the work they do here.           

The corn is a long story this year.  Last winter we bought our favorite organic corn seed from our favorite seed house.  It was warm and dry and we planted it not too early, but early enough to feel good about the stand.  Then there was no stand!  We went looking, and found rotted kernels, and about 6 sprouted corn plants out of 6 rows.  At that point, we were right on time to plant, so we pulled out some seed left over from last year, still viable.  It sprouted lovely little green shoots which were immediately eaten by crows and turkeys.  Now we were really frustrated, out of corn seed, and getting late for planting.  We resorted to buying a-lot of corn seed from the local co-op – the bright pink fungicide-treated stuff (we rinsed it until the water ran almost clear before planting) and proceeded to plant and plant until we had a stand tall enough to not be plucked by marauders.  Some raccoons got into this first patch one night before the kernels were even budding, so we’ve had the electric fence on it ever since.  After it tasseled and silked, a storm knocked the plants down into the squash, making a big tangle, but the tops reached back up to the sun, and finally, we have some corn.  If we’re lucky and the fence holds, the wind stays mellow, and the hot days don’t roast the ears in the husk, we’ll get two or three weeks of picking from our patches.  That’s life in a garden!

If you are a corn enthusiast, we hope you’ve been enjoying some earlier corn, and that you enjoy this corn ASAP.  The sugars in fresh corn change to starch FAST.  Even if you don’t want to eat the corn tonight, you might do well to just cook it (4 minutes should suffice) and store it in the fridge or freezer until you want it.

Our apologies if you encountered a bitter cucumber.  We found some in our last cucumber salad, and we hope that you didn’t.  But if you did, sorry!

The melon patch is a mess.  We’re not sure what we were thinking when we planned the space that the melons would take.  We did not plan according to their ability to make vines this year.  The vines are crawling, sprawling everywhere, and thankfully, there are melons coming along.  These cantaloupes are mostly Halona – one of our favorites.  

The soil is dry again.  It’s to be expected in August, I suppose.  Nevertheless, it is unnerving.  We’ve started the drip tape up again and hope to see a good steady soaker this weekend.  As far as we can tell, the drier conditions are responsible for some of the fruiting veggies slower pace this week.  Tomato, pepper and eggplant ripened considerably slower.  The only crop that made more than we expected was green beans – and they seemed bothered by the heat, not as crisp as we’d like, even as we were picking them.

Recipes this week are from American Grown, by Michelle Obama (and the White House chefs).

Green Beans with almonds

1 ½ lbs fresh green beans, trimmed              1 cup slivered or chopped almonds

1 tsp melted butter                                         1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp olive oil                                                  1 Tbsp butter

¼ cup minced shallots or onions                   1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the green beans for about 5 minutes.  Drain and place the beans in a large bowl of ice water to cool quickly.  Drain again and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  On a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil, toss the almonds with the melted butter and paprika.  Spread in a single layer and bake for 7 minutes, or just until fragrant.  Do not let the almonds burn.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

3. In a medium pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and butter.  Add the shallots and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the green beans and sate until warmed through.  Remove from heat and add the parsley.  Season with salt and pepper.

4. Place the beans in a serving dish and garnish with toasted almonds.  Serve immediately.

Corn Soup with summer vegetables

4 to 6 ears of fresh corn, shucked and silk removed                        2 sprigs fresh thyme

Juice of ½ lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)                                           Salt and Olive Oil     

Grilled vegetables of your choice (summer squash, eggplant, pepper, tomato, mushrooms, etc.)

1. Cut the corn off the cobs and set aside.

2. Place the cobs in a large pot and just barely cover with water.  Bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the stock has a rich corn flavor.  Strain the stock and set aside.

3. Reserve ¾ cup of corn kernels and place the remaining corn in a blender.  Blend, starting on low speed and increasing the speed as the corn purees.  You can add a little of the corn stock to get the corn started.  Blend on high for 45 seconds to a minute.

4. Pour the pureed corn into a medium saucepan through a fine mesh strainer to remove the bits of skin.  Add the thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.  You do not want the soup to boil.  As the soup heats, the natural starch will begin to thicken the soup.  Once the soup has thickened, add the lemon juice and the reserved corn stock little by little until the soup reaches the desired thickness.  You should have 4 to 6 cups of soup.  Add salt to taste.     

5. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat; add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil begins to smoke, add the reserved corn kernels and do not stir until the corn has a nice brown color.  Stir the corn and then remove it from the heat.  Add the seared corn and any other grilled vegetables of your choice, cut into bite sized pieces, on top of the soup and serve.

 Thanks for your support – Have a great week…              

week 5

 Attention - If you haven't already - please pick up a CSA Membership Information sheet - or ask us to email you one.  It's summer vacation time, so please make arrangements for your basket if  you are going away! Thanks a million...

Lettuce                        Green Beans              Fresh Garlic

Chard             little Beets                   Summer Squash

Parsley                        Sorrel Cilantro          Dill     Basil    

Elegant solutions will be predicated upon the uniqueness

of place. ~ John Todd

The summer solstice was yesterday - as hard as it is to believe, we are now beginning our earthly journey tilting away from the sun.  The days are hot hot hot and we're making the most of the mornings and evenings to finish the mulching and continue irrigating.  We've had some mighty good help from good friends lately.  That's a lot to be grateful for!  The gardens look amazingly beautiful for as dry as it has been.  The corn and beans keep growing.  Some plants are moving a little slower in the drought.  They are spending their energy reaching deeper to find the moisture they need.  One of the beauties of our low hollow location is that there is water for them to find under the ground!

A good thing about all the sun is that it will be bringing the tomatoes on a little earlier.  The larger fruits are looking less green, showing just the faintest blush. The eggplants and peppers are blooming profusely now and setting small fruit.  Watermelon and cantaloupe vines are stretching their tendrils long.  I'm sweating it out for the first cucumbers to fill out.  The first planting got lost in the heat and shuffle, so we're a little behind on those cooling fruits.  Summer squashes are fully on a roll now.  Send us your best squash casserole recipes.  Here we go!

These sweet little Beets were getting just right for salad.   We enjoy them curled onto the salad with a potato peeler.  The slices are thin enough to crunch right into the salad, adding a great color element and great rooty sweetness.  Feta cheese and toasted sunflower seeds are nice compliments as well.

All recipes this week are from the Mennonite Central Committee's excellent cookbook:

Simply In Season.

Stacked Vegetable Quesadillas

1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced                       saute in 1 Tbsp oil until translucent

1 clove garlic (or more) minced                    4 oz. mushrooms, sliced

2 carrots, julienned                                        1 summer squash, julienned

1 green or red sweet pepper, thinly sliced

Add and cook 5 minutes more just until vegetables are tender.  Salt and pepper to taste.

12 corn tortillas                                              1 1/2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded

Assemble 4 stacks simultaneously on a baking sheet.  Start with a tortilla, top with a large spoonful of vegetables, some grated cheese, and then another tortilla.  Repeat layers, ending with a third tortilla. Place stacks in preheated over at 400F for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and stacks are hot.  Cut into  quarters and serve warm with salsa, sour cream, avocado and/or chopped fresh cilantro.

Thai Green Beans

5 cup green beans                  Steam 5-8 minutes until bright green and lightly crunchy.

1/2 onion, chopped               2 Tbsp ginger root, peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

In a frypan or wok saute in 2 tsp sesame oil over medium heat until onion is tender, 5 minutes.

Add to taste: 3 Tbsp soy sauce                       2 Tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce

Add and cook 5 minutes:            1 cup firm tofu (cubed or crumbled, optional)

Add steamed beans and stir to coat with sauce.  Simmer over medium - low heat for 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.  Garnish with toasted cashews, sesame seeds, or slivered almonds.

I love these kinds of recipes!  perfect for summer birthdays...

Secret Chocolate Cake

2 cups beets, cooked, peeled, chopped         1/2 cup applesauce

puree until smooth, set aside.

1 1/2 cups sugar                                            1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup plain yogurt                                     3 eggs

combine a large mixing bowl.  beat with electric mixer 2 minutes.

1/2 cup baking cocoa, sifted                         1 1/2 tsp vanilla

add along with pureed beets; beat another 90 seconds.

2 1/2 cups flour, white, wheat or mixed     1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt                                                     1 tsp cinnamon

Gradually sift into the batter, mixing it in with a spoon but stirring only until blended.

1/2 cup chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts

Stir in.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350F until knife tests clean, 40-50 minutes.  To bake in a bundt pan, pour half of batter into the greased pan, sprinkle chips or nuts evenly on top, then add remaining batter.

Variation: substitute 2-3 cups shredded raw summer squash for the cooked beets.  Use ground cinnamon and add 1/2 tsp allspice.

Paul is in the midst of fixing the tractor PTO.  Another truckload of hay is in order to mulch the melons.  Corn needs thinning.  Cucumbers need a trellis.  Lulah needs to spend most of the day up to her neck in the cool creekwater while Levon tries his hand at rock skipping and the various possibilities therein for good sound effects.  We're busy folks here, so I'll not tarry.

You be well and enjoy the harvest.

Paul, Coree, Lulah and Levon

week 4

Lettuce                             Green Beans          Fresh Garlic

Chard             Baby Bok Choy           Summer Squash

Parsley                        Sorrel Cilantro          Dill      Anise Hyssop

“There is then, a politics of food that, like any politics, involves our freedom. We still (sometimes) remember that we cannot be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else.  But we have neglected to understand that we cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else.  The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition.  One reason to eat responsibly is to live free.” ~ Wendell Berry, from his essay “The Pleasures of Eating”

(To read more of this essay, look up Wendell Berry’s excellent book What Are People For.  We highly recommend it.)

How fast it comes, the middle of June.  The days are nearly at their peak of length, and the work fills the days completely, often with some spill-over into dusk and darkness.  We were disappointed with the tiny little 2/10 inch of rain that fell, but there is little to do about it except dance, pray, and keep irrigating. 

The garlic harvest is absolutely stunning this year.  Because of the extremely dry conditions, the stems are brittle and have cured faster than usual.  We enjoy spending some hours of these hot middays in the shade, braiding the soft-neck garlic to hang in the shady shed side of the barn.  The largest and most perfect are kept separate for planting in October.  This week we’ve brought you some of the least of the garlic – that which we decided NOT to braid for keeping.  There’s nothing wrong with it except that it’s a little small.  It will keep fine and you should take all you want and store it.  We will continue to bring you garlic each week – larger bulbs.  Garlic will cure and keep for many months in a dark, dry, well-ventilated place at a cool room temperature.

The flea beetles took the first nibbles at the baby bok choy as soon as they had leaves large enough to eat.  Then the grasshoppers started working on them.  Thankfully, there’s still some left.  The damage is cosmetic – the greens are still tasty steamed or stir-fried.  Soak them in water to dislodge the grit in the stems – rinse well and enjoy – leaves, stems, and all.

The first green beans are such a treat.  The kids snack on them raw, in the row.  We love the satisfying snap of them coming off the vine, and the beautiful way they have of hiding, hanging behind the heavy green foliage of the bean bush.  We like to make them in a very simple way.  We steam them, then coat them in butter or olive oil and chopped garlic.   If the raw garlic is too much for you, then heat it in the butter or oil for just a couple minutes.  Add a little lemon juice, a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  They really don’t need much.

The summer squash are picking up speed now.  So are the other herbs, like dill, cilantro, and parsley.  The anise hyssop is at its peak, with those dark leaves and purple flowers.  It’s a sweet treat for all the senses.  Use it in tea, or throw it on a salad.  Some people even mince it and use it in scones or sweet bread.   Oh Yum. 

Summer Squash Salad (Thank you Martha Stewart for inspiring)

One share’s worth of assorted Summer Squash, cut into bite-sized, 1/4-inch-thick pieces

2 tablespoons fresh herbs of choice               1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper                                  6 ounces pecorino cheese

Toss together squashes, herbs, and oil in a large bowl; season with pepper. Add cheese; toss. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Mongolian Garlic (from Angelic Organics)

Here’s a recipe to use a bounty of garlic, in a crock pot.  These intensely flavorful little gems are great as a condiment, or, for an hors d’oeuvre, stick toothpicks in them and serve in a shallow plate in a pool of the sauce. Any leftover sauce is delicious over rice or egg noodles.

(adapted from The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking).  Makes about 2 cups

5 large, firm heads garlic                   2/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock or water                                  

1/4 cup soy sauce                              3 tablespoons sake or Chinese rice wine

2 tablespoons sugar                           1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon hot chili oil (optional)

1. Separate the cloves of garlic from the head. Peel away all skins that fall away from the cloves, but leave the thin layer of skin that doesn’t fall away on each clove. Use only large, firm cloves.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. When the liquid is just about to simmer, add the garlic, turn the heat to low, and partially cover.

3. Stew the garlic in the liquid until the garlic is very soft, 3 to 4 hours depending on the size of the cloves and the variety of garlic. It is very important that the liquid does not come to a boil; the garlic will turn bitter if boiled. Uncover the pot now and then to check that the liquid is just barely simmering and to stir the garlic. At the end of the cooking time, turn off the heat, cover the pot tightly, and let the cloves marinate in the liquid for 2 hours.

4. The cloves can be served at this point or refrigerated for up to a week. They are best served warm or at room temperature. The cloves are still in their skins. Pop them in your mouth this way and use your tongue to squeeze out the clove (it comes out easily), or squeeze it out with the flat side of a knife.

Green Bean Salad with Walnuts and Shaved Parmesan in Lemon Dressing

Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts                          1 pound green beans

1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste                             freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice       3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 ounces Parmesan cheese, thinly shaved (about 1/2 cup)

1. Toast the walnuts in a dry, heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over high heat until they start to brown in spots and become fragrant. (Be careful not to overtoast them, as they will burn very quickly once toasted.) Immediately transfer the nuts to a dish to cool.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the beans and salt; cook until tender but still firm, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Transfer the beans to a colander in the sink and run cold water over them. Trim if neded.

4. Toss the beans and walnuts in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice and olive oil until well combined.  Pour this mixture over the beans and toss until well coated.  Transfer the salad to a serving platter or to individual plates. Scatter the Parmesan shavings on top.

Thanks for your good eating – Be Well!                                                                    The Entwistles

weeks 5, 6, 7

It's so easy to get behind! It's so nice to get caught up.

July 7, 2011 week 7

Lettuce Carrots Beets
Bell Pepper Patty Pan Garlic
FIRST Tomato Wax Beans
herb bag: Sorrel Basil Cutting Celery

It’s our seventh week of the main season deliveries, and it happens to fall on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year. That feels lucky!

We hope you all had a fun Independence Day. We enjoyed time with family and friends, and Lulah enjoyed the fireworks just as much as Levon DIDN’T enjoy them. The raw blueberry pie was incredible. If you want to learn to make one, ask us for the recipe, or scan through the blog. I’m fairly sure it’s posted in there somewhere.

New item in your herb bag this week is Cutting Celery. This little green herb has all flavor of a celery stick in a small sprig of green. Not so handy for dipping peanut butter, but great in soup stocks, potato salads, and green salads. Our parsley took a hit in the last big rain, so it could be awhile before we have larger quantities of those greens to share. Cutting celery is abundant now.

Tomatoes are on the verge. The gardens on the hill have never looked better. Paul and Branden have worked hard to get the squash, corn, melons, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes and onions laid out and tucked into mulch. There are loads of fuzzy young cantaloupes, miniature watermelons, and thousands of green tomatoes. This week is a particularly precious time, because even though everything is green and lush and beautiful, it's still small enough to maneuver around the gardens. Soon, the tomato vines will close in and picking tomatoes will be like a trip into the primeval tomato jungle. Walking through the squashes and melons will be a tip toe dance around intertwining vines and blooms, and the sweet potatoes will be a solid carpet of beautiful ropy vines and leaves. Everything is growing strong and it won’t be long before we’ll be in full harvest up there. Corn will be late this year, but here come the peppers…

Peppers have a funny way of setting a great big fruit early in the season, right smack dab in the middle of the plant. That first pepper can grow quite large and actually lodge itself in the plant’s branches, making it difficult to harvest. These peppers you’re receiving today are those first big peppers. We picked them out to make room for the others to grow larger. There’ll be more soon.

This is the end of carrots for awhile. We're sad to see them go. It's been a lovely harvest. We'll have more later in the season. Beets are here, and we know they're not everyone's favorite vegetable, so we'd like to give you some information about why and how to love them. Unique pigment antioxidants present in beets have been found to offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lower cholesterol levels in the body and have anti-aging effects. Beets are a great source of B vitamins, have more iron than spinach (step back Pop-eye!), and are also an excellent source of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, and natural sodium. A quick online search, also yielded this, um, interesting tidbit:

“Dandruff: Mix a little vinegar to a small cup of beets juice. Massage it into the scalp with your fingertips and leave on for about an hour, then rinse. Do this daily till dandruff clears up. Warning: you will smell awful during this hour! “

Nutritional information is motivational, but recipes are probably more useful:

Beet Roesti with Rosemary (from Mark Bittman)
Makes 4 servings Time: 20 minutes
An almost unbelievably sweet and wonderful side dish. The sugar in the beets caramelizes, and the flavors of the rosemary, beets, and butter meld beautifully.
· 1 to 1 1/2 pounds beets · 1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
· 1 teaspoon salt · 1/4 cup flour
· 2 tablespoons butter
1. Trim the beets and peel them as you would potatoes; grate them in a food processor or by hand. Begin preheating a medium to large non-stick or well-seasoned skillet over medium heat.
2. Toss the grated beets in a bowl with the rosemary and salt, then add about half the flour; toss well, add the rest of the flour, then toss again.
3. Place the butter in the skillet and heat until it begins to turn nut-brown. Scrape the beet mixture into the skillet, shape it into a nice circle, and press it down with a spatula. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the bottom of the beet cake is nicely crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Slide the cake out onto a plate, top with another plate, invert the two plates, and slide the cake back into the pan. Continue to cook, adjusting the heat if necessary, until the second side is browned. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Roasted Beets, Italian style
Trim off the tops must 1/4 inch or so above the root. Rinse. Wrap all the beets together in a double-thickness of aluminum foil, crimping the edges together to seal tightly. Roast in a 400ºF oven until tender, 1-2 hours. Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, peel the beets (the skin will pull away) and slice into thin rounds or half rounds. Just before serving, dress with good-quality red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Serve warm or room temperature. Especially nice after lamb dishes.
Roasted Beets can also be used in fancier salads. Try combining them with orange sections and watercress or lamb's lettuce -- or with walnuts and goat cheese – or with sliced red onions and fresh herbs – in a sherry vinegar dressing.

Quick and Easy Beans
Cook beans in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain in a colander, then immediately toss in a large bowl with either:

1 Tbsp. honey, ¾ tsp. Grated lemon zest, and ¼ tsp. salt
OR
3 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil, juice of one lemon, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper.

This week, we hope to pull onions and dig potatoes. Cucumbers will be fattening up, and the tomatoes will pink up. Summer crops are upon us.

Have a great week, and please remember to send us your blueberry orders.
Thank you for your good eating.

Paul, Coree, Lulah, Levon and Branden

“The old agriculture of the 19th and 20th century is dying, and consumers can hasten that death, and they should. They are, after all, the walking wounded, offended by the chemical amateur. The consumer cannot hide in an organic garden or sleep in a subway or ignorance. Consumers will get lean agriculture when they demand it, casting their demands in knowledgeable terms and nailing those terms to the market door.” ~ Charles Walters, A Voice Eco- Agriculture, 1975


June 30, 2011 week 6

Lettuce Lacinato Kale Carrots Beets
Red Onion Garlic Chard Wax Beans
herb bag: Sorrel Basil Green Onions

Is it my imagination or was June SO fast? We are happy to see the sun shine again these days. By our estimations, we've had at least 7 ½ inches of rain in the past ten days. Monday night's finale thunderstorm was a light show to put most firework displays to shame. There was no sleeping through it, and Branden was tempted to bail out of his tent house. The gardens are still too wet to cultivate and we can't mulch or plant until after we cultivate. The to-do list has gotten pretty darn long! We'll hit the ground running on Friday morning.

Food ripens and grows, no matter what the weather. The first picking of green, (actually, yellow) beans was a little thin. We're aiming for more next week. Summer squashes have not enjoyed the rain, but persist in blooming, as do the cucumbers. There are spiny baby cucumbers all over the vines. Lulah has eaten about three not-quite-ripe tomatoes in the garden now. Soon, so soon, those best loved garden fruits will be rolling in. This week's sunshine will bring big growth.

In the meantime – here's to beets and carrots. Make your holiday weekend colorful by using these bright veggies. We like to grate beets on a salad. (You might have noticed already, but we'll put almost anything on a salad. We hope you will try too.) They turn whatever they come into contact with a delightful bright pink (it's especially delightful if you have a young daughter :)). They are great baked in foil, just like a white potato, and if you're doing some grilling this weekend – check out these tips for Grilled Beets, a great addition to a grilled veggie platter:
Heat the grill to medium-hot – you should be able to hold your hand about an inch over the cooking grate for about 2 seconds.
Peel and slice beets.
Brush beets with olive or vegetable oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Place beets on grill. If using a gas grill, cover. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, turn, and cook until beets are tender and grill-marked, another 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve beets hot, warm, or at room temperature. Drizzle with additional olive oil for serving, if you like. This is also a great time to use any nut oils - toasted walnut oil or hazelnut oil in particular - since they are delicious on grilled beets.

Reminder - any oil you use can be easily infused with garlic and/or basil or any other herb you choose, simply by crushing the herb or spice and mixing it with the oil. The longer it soaks in the oil the better, and if you're infusing for more than a few hours, please move the container to the fridge.

Another good thing to do with beets:
Beet Raita
3 cups raw beets, grated 1 bay leaf 1 Tbsp sunflower oil
½ tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp sea salt 1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 cups yogurt
Steam beets over 1 inch of water in a saucepan for 2 to 3 minutes. Heat oil in a small skillet; add mustard seeds and crumled bay leaf. When mustard seeds pop, take skillet off heat. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Chill if desired. Enjoy as a garnish with bread, soup rice or vegetables.

These pretty little kale tops are the end of the brassica family in the garden until Fall. Some will mourn their loss and others rejoice. Here at home we do a little of both. Leaving a good space between the Spring and Fall cabbage family plantings helps reduce the caterpillar population, and leaves us with better garden rotation options.

Here's a nice soup, from Laurel's Kitchen, to use your kale. You could probably use chard in this as well. I probably would not use them both together.

Potato Kale Soup
1 onion 1 tbsp oil/fat
1 clove garlic 2 large potatoes
1 large bunch kale 5 cups hot water or stock
1/2 tsp salt or to taste black pepper

Sautee onion in fat until slightly golden. Add potatoes and 2 cups water. Simmer, covered, until potaotes start to soften at the edges. Meantime wash kale(soak in a sink or bowl of water. Remove stems...chop fine and steam. (don't cook with the potatoes...the flavor will be too strong.)
When the potatoes are well done, puree half of them with remaining water and salt an pepper (consider using miso instead of salt here). Combine all and heat gently (do not boil). Correcting consistency by adding hot water or milk. Makes about 6 cups.

In coming weeks, we hope to grub some white potatoes, pick more beans, and ripe tomatoes, and bring some cucumbers to town.

We hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, and look forward to seeing you next week!

Your Gardeners
at Red Springs Family Farm

PS – There are still shares available – pass the word along to your friends. Also, basket up for grabs next week – if someone wants a sample.


June 23, 2011 week 5

Lettuce Chinese Cabbage Carrots Broccoli Red Onion Fresh Garlic
herb bag: Sorrel Basil Shiso
Green Coriander Anise Hyssop Echinacea flowers

Amazing how fast we can oscillate between praying for rain and begging for it to stop! Oh well. All seeds planted are sprouting well now. So are the millions of weeds we will be pulling and hoeing when the garden soil dries enough to walk upon again. We prefer to not even walk in the garden when the soil is this wet. Good garden soil teems with microscopic life, and when the soil is wet, that life is all the more fragile. Our heavy steps have a heavy price.

These lovely red onions came from Lulah's hands to your kitchen. We were up on the hill making the most of a few sunny hours on Tuesday. The garlic harvest needed to happen before the next rain, which seemed emenent. Lulah looked at the onion bed and noticed that the red onions' tops were laying down. We confirmed her suspicion that they were ready to come out of the ground, and she harvested all the bent onions, laid them in piles, and carried them to the tractor all by herself. Purple is one of her favorite colors, which made the job a real joy for her.

These red salad onions are not cured. They should be stored in a plastic bag in your refrigerator and eaten within a week or two. Here's a basic Greek Salad to use a red onion in:

1 large head Lettuce 1/2 half red onion, sliced
1 English Cucumber, sliced 1 cup Kalamata olives
1 cup Greek Feta, crumbled

Dressing: 1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Place lettuce in a large bowl.
2. Mix dressing ingredients in a bottle and give it a good shake.
3. Toss lettuce with about 1/2 the dressing.
4. Place remaining salad ingredients on top of lettuce, and drizzle with some more dressing.
(Recommendation from the farm kitchen – use thinly sliced tender broccoli stalks and small florets instead of cucumbers, which won't be ready for another couple weeks.)

It's such splendid work to grow garlic. In the midst of the garlic harvest, I remembered that Paul went up to plant the garlic 8 months ago, last October, when I was just getting the feeling of going into labor with Levon. Tuesday, Levon fell asleep in the stroller, giving his Momma a rare and wonderful opportunity to work unencumbered in the garden. The garlic is beautiful. Fresh garlic is something you can't ordinarily buy in a grocery store. The clove skins are not dry - the bulb is on the whole juicier than most garlic. Enjoy. You'll be getting a bulb each week, but this new fresh garlic is special.

Shiso, or Perilla, is a new one in your herb bag this week. Looking on wikipedia, I find this:
“ Perilla is traditionally used in Chinese medicine and has been shown to stimulate interferon activity and thus, the body's immune system. It is used to ease the symptoms of the common cold. It is fried in oil with garlic or ginger in the wok, and eaten as a dish with meals. “

We like to slice it thin on salads. Shiso grows as a weed in our garden, a very beautiful and tasty weed. You may have seen it used as a garnish in Japanese restaraunts. We can get a chuckle by asking the sushi chef what s/he pays for that garnish. What kind of farm income could we generate by selling our weeds?!

This will be the last of the broccoli until Fall. The cold snap did the broccoli good. We think you'll find this week's selection slightly superior to last week. We experimented with an open pollinated variety this spring, and we have been pleased. Broccoli, in general, has been highly hybridized to perform under particular conditions in a very specific time frame. The hybrid broccolis sometimes don't go all the way to flower! They turn yellow but dont' bloom, which seems strange, at least. The open pollinated variety behaves more like a natural broccoli, seems to keep more tender stalks, and we hope you find the flavor agreeable as well.

Chinese Cabbages are not our usual spring garden fare. They enjoy one great advantage over their western relatives (broccoli, head cabbages, kale, etc.) in that the cabbage lopers aren't attracted to them. Unfortunately, the flea beetles do enjoy them, and the recent soggy conditions have made life all the better for those bugs. The damage is primarily aesthetic. These cabbages are tender enough to cut fine in salads. If you want to stir fry them, they need only a short time in a hot pan.

Carrots are beginning to be damaged by the excessive rain. The root bottoms suffer in our low hollow – high water table. We'll hope that things dry out this week and give them a chance to recover. Here's our favorite carrot salad recipe:

12 medium carrots, grated 1 cup fresh pineapple, drained and chopped
½ cup raisins ½ cup roasted pecans
1 Tbsp parsley (optional) ¾ cup basic dressing (below)
Mix well and chill.

Basic Dressing:
1 tsp Dijon type mustard 2 Tbsp. Plus a bit wine vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp flax oil

Dip a fork into the ja of mustard and transfer about 1 tsp to a small bowl. Add vinegar and mix around. Add olive oil in a thi stream, stirring all the while with the fork, until oil is well mixed or emulsified Add flax oil and use immediately.

COMING SOON – new potatoes, beets, green beans. We don't know when the first tomatoes will ripen but we sure look forward to that day!

FARM BUSINESS – if you are paying on the quarterly payment plan, this is your last week paid for. Please bring a check next week, if you didn't already this week. Thank you!

Thank you for your good eating. Happy Summer!

VIII When I rise up, let me rise up joyful, like a bird.
When I fall, let me fall without regret, like a leaf.
~ Wendell Berry, Prayers and Saying of the Mad Farmer