Summer - Week 6

It's fava time!  If you're not familiar with fava beans, you soon will be.  They are long pods - you open the pod and take out the beans.  Then I generally simmer them in a little water until they turn light green - maybe 2 or 3 minutes.  Then you peel off the outer layer of the bean and eat the bean.  They're small and tender right now so you can eat the outer layer (don't have to do the second peel).  As they get older, the outer layer becomes tougher and a little bitter.  Note:  the plants have been attacked this year by black aphids.  As a result, the plants are kind of a mess and some of the pods are colored (not green).  It's OK - just open up the pod.  Even some of the inner pods are a bit brown but the inner bean should still be fine.  The only problem I've found in previous years is if a bean beetle lays its eggs inside a pod then you might find worms inside a bean.  But I haven't found any yet and hopefully you won't either.

Today's box:

1. A box of garlic scapes - these will be the last for the season.  Enjoy!
2. A head of lettuce
3. A bunch of collards - some have large holes in them but I still served them because, other than part of the leaf missing, they still look beautiful!  The cabbage worms have been busy.  I will be spraying BT soon (as soon as we have a break in the rain).  BT is a bacteria that kills caterpillars when they ingest it.  Small holes (pin size) are due to flea beetles.
4. A bunch of arugula.  I think this is the prettiest arugula I've seen in a long time.
5. Either squash or cauliflower or broccoli
6. Either carrots or beets
7. Either radishes or turnips
8. A box of favas
9. A bag of braising greens - cook or eat raw
10. A pint of peas
11. Some thyme, lavender and sage
12. Some spicy peppers.

Enjoy!  Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.  Thanks!

Jennifer

Summer - Week 2

First - the fun news.  Here's the list of planned veggies for this week:

1. Lambs quarter - this is a relative of spinach.  Most people think of it as a weed but we find it tastier than spinach.  I like it sauteed with salt & oil.  It can be eaten raw.  To prepare, remove any woody stems, wash, spin and sautee in some oil with a little salt.  Here's a link re. nutrition facts.  Here's a summary: The good: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Niacin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
   
   Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2469/2#ixzz2VBCj9hi7
2. Nettles - another unconventional offering.  Most people run away from this plant but we love it!  I generally would not serve it to so many people because it is a lot of work to harvest - due to the fact that we will be attacked by mosquitos and will also receive multiple stings (even if we wear gloves, unless maybe they're leather) from the nettles themselves.  In small quantities, they're easy to harvest.  But, since the veggies in the field aren't ready, we'll have to bite the bullet.  Long story short, this is your bonus week.  These lovelies will be prickery.  The stings do promote blood flow.  But, if you don't want to deal with being stung, wear gloves or just plunge the leaves in cold water and scoop out with a spoon or sieve.  Then sautee in oil and salt.  They sometimes have a lobster flavor.  There's a good nettles soup recipe on our blog page as well.  Here is the nutritional info for nettles.  This shows they have a huge amount of Vitamins A & K as well as high amounts of minerals.  Since both lambs quarter and nettles are native to our area, they are said to have high amounts of antioxidants which are most applicable to our area as well (i.e. they've adapted to the pollution here and can help boost our immune systems via their strength).  I don't have a degree in nutrition but I have read this in many places.  http://skipthepie.org/ethnic-foods/stinging-nettles-blanched-northern-plains-indians/
3. Some sort of greens mix - probably a mix of young kohl rabi leaves, mustard, arugula, yukina, etc.
4. A small bunch of hukurei turnips.  These are the turnips we handed out last week.  They'll probably be a big larger.  They are generally harvested at the size of a 50 cent piece to silver dollar size.  These are sweet and are generally eaten fresh - slice, salt and enjoy.  You don't need to peel them.  The leaves are also tasty so throw them in with another green and cook them.  Or you can eat them fresh if you like stronger greens.
5. A bunch or bag of sorrel.  Not sure if we'll have a lot but we'll do our best to get you enough to make a dish with.  This is also good for pesto - freshly ground with some salt.  It makes a nice condiment when served with fish (it has a lemon flavor and is quite acidic).  If we don't have enough for everyone, we might sub in pea shoots.
6. A bunch of cilantro (they're pretty small but tasty).
7. A bunch or rhubarb or some sweet peas or maybe a little of both
8. Lettuce
9. Spinach
10. Herbs.

Summer - Week 3

Hello everyone-

This is the week some people wait all year for and the reason some people join a CSA.  The week when we were able to harvest garlic scapes!

If you're not familiar with these lovelies you will be soon.   They are the curly top of the garlic plant.  You eat the entire part - bloom, stem, and all - everything that we served in the box.

You can saute them, make them into pesto (I just use oil and salt - no cheese or nuts), or pickle them.  They are milder than head garlic and sweet for garlic.  They're written up in many gourmet cooking articles and highlighted by many chefs.  What makes them so sought after is their taste but also the fact that they're only available for a short time every year since almost everyone plants their garlic at the same time (fall) and the plants try to go to seed at this time of year.  So, if you miss them now, you'll have to wait another year before you can find them again (at least from local farms).

So, this week's box contains the following:

1. Hakurei turnips - we tried to carefully sort these this week to remove wormy bulbs.  There is a root worm that likes to live in turnips and it's inevitable that they'll find them.  You can cut around them if you find them but hopefully you won't.  These are good fresh or sauteed.  The greens are good sauteed.
2. Lettuce
3. Kale - a large bunch.  Most of this is Siberian kale
4. Chard - a large bunch
5. Snap peas - eat the pod and all (Wed members will have another choice)
6. Garlic scapes!
7. Braising mix - you can use this as a salad mix but you can cook it too.  It contains kale, arugula, mustard, and turnip greens
8. Nettles - I debated about offering this again because I know many people are hesitant to use these but I had enough members tell me that they like them that we decided to harvest them one final time for everyone.  They really are good.  One member has been passing them up for 3 years and finally tried them and loved them.  If you don't want to get "stung", toss them in a bowl of cold water, pour it into a collander to drain and then throw them into your skillet or boiling water.  They make a great pesto (blanche the leaves, drain and process) or are good sauteed or you can make tea.  They have many health benefits.
9. Cilantro
10. Herbs - rosemary, oregano, thyme
11. Some spicy peppers

Thanks - please let me know if you have any questions.  Also, if you ever find that something's missing when you arrive, please leave me a note on the checkoff sheet and I'll figure out how to make it up to you.

Thanks - hope you're enjoying it all!

Also, thanks to everyone for helping spread the word about our farm.  We've added another 11 members over the past few weeks.  We still have space for 9 more if you have friends that are still thinking about it.

Jennifer

Week 1 - Summer

The summer season started off well with a pretty solid distribution.  While the number of veggies are fewer than what you'll see in the future, we tried to provide a decent quantity per person (although some were smaller than they will be after the plants get going).  Hope you enjoyed it.  I will say that the next few weeks might be a bit less as we wait for the field plants to really get growing.

Here's the list from week 1:

1. A bunch of kale or chard or cooking spinach or lambs quarter
2. A bag of lettuce
3. A bag of spinach
4. Either turnips or radishes
5. Either rhubarb or sweet peas
6. Either parsnips or pea shoots.  Pea shoots can be eaten raw (in a salad) or sauteed.
7. A bag of salad mix (this contained small salad turnips which you can treat as radishes - the leaves are pretty tasty too).  You can eat this fresh or saute - it is a mix of yukina savoy, mizuna, etc.
8. A bunch of green onions or large chives
9. A bunch of arugula
10. Herbs - some thyme, oregano and parsley
11. Spicy peppers - thai - these are very spicy.

Enjoy!

Weeks 3 - 10 - Spring

Hi -
I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted to this blog page re. "What's in the Box".  If you'd like to find out what we gave out, please go to the facebook page - here's a link:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=580382871993299&set=a.242407789124144.66809.238769632821293&type=1&theater

Thanks!

Spring - Week 2

Today's contents:

1. Spinach
2. Lettuce or salad mix
3. Grab bag cooking greens (either mustard, choi, mizuna hubrid, etc)
4. Yukina savoy - saute this or eat it fresh
5. Carrots
6. Parsnips
7. Arugula
8. Garlic
9. Spicy peppers
10. 2 c. frozen pumpkin (this is Blue Hubbard - we baked it in January and froze in baggies.  You can thaw it and serve as a side dish (heated with a little garlic or onion), use it to make a pie or serve as a sweet side dish.
11. Parsley & rosemary

Enjoy!

Spring - Week 1

Hello Everyone -

Well, the snow returned but it's still green in the hoops - welcome to our first week of spring veggies!

Reminder - today is the first day for the spring session and we will distribute weekly from now on.  Veggies will be in the garage until the weather breaks and we can move outside.  So, please park either on the cement drive or in the area in the horseshoe drive in front of the garage and enter through the laundry room door then enter the garage through the door on the left.  If it warms up, I'll open the main garage door but otherwise please feel free to come in.  If Terra, the dog, is in there, please don't let her outside.  Also, for those that are new - we have a horseshoe drive - please enter from the west and exit to the east and drive slowly in the driveway because we have animals and children that are frequently playing in front.

Today's veggie plan:

1. Parsnips
2. Carrots
3. Onions
4. Garlic
5. Napa cabbage - this will be the last of it until fall - the heads are wide this time of year (not like typically sold in the store).  Cabbage heads up when the days begin to shorten so, as the days are now getting longer, the growth pattern is changing.  Chop it all up, wash it and either eat fresh or saute - very tasty.
6. Baby choi - this is Mei Qing choi which is also tasty.  It's called "baby" but is actually just a mini variety and this is as big as it gets.  Some plants are beginning to bolt (flower).  The flowers are edible and beautiful.
7. Salad mix - probably a mix of bolting pac choi, mizuna and baby collards
8. Either arugula or spinach or maybe a little of both
9. Some rosemary and thyme
10. Spicy peppers

We hope you enjoy it!  Hope to see you between 3:30 - 6:30.  If you're here between 3:30 - 4:30 and I'm not around, I might be in the hoops seeding.  You can walk over and check it out if you'd like.