Week 6 Vegetable CSA

We’re Having A Farm Field Day!

Sunday, September 18

Organic Lunch Prepared by Local Chef Monika Sudakov Chestnut Street Inn, Sheffield

Farm Tour, Organic Food, Fun and Education

for Kids and Adults



Farm News

We quickly go from cool wet weather to hoping for a little shower to come our way.  We have now had a long string of warm sunny days and a bit of rain wouldn’t hurt a thing.  The big stuff – tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, cabbage are all doing fine with their big roots systems.  But we are nursing along our new transplants and seedlings during these very warm days.  

We continue to take advantage of the drier conditions to weed, cultivate and hopefully get more planting done this week.  I am looking at the second planting of beans – a wonderful purple variety called ‘Royal Burgundy’.  The first planting of beans is coming along and we’ll begin harvesting the first green beans later this month.   We also have an Asian melon called ‘Sun Jewel’ to seed as well as fall broccoli and cabbages.  There is always more to get in the ground every week until September.

We have been having trouble with predators again and Brian actually viewed the critter last night and it seems we have a weasel interested in the chickens.  There is always a predator lurking about.  The hogs are trying to keep cool on the hot days – a steady sprinkle of cool water really helps.

The box this week is tremendous – so much good food! If you are getting overwhelmed,  remember many of these veggies store well – cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots and beets will keep for weeks.  Time to slice up a big plate of raw veggies for dinner and enjoy. 



Kohlrabi



In Your Box This Week

Beets – The beets are in!  We have 2 full beds of beets and this is the first harvest.  We have sizes ranging from smaller baby beets to larger full size.  No matter the size, these beets will steam up sweet and earthy.  And the greens are perfect in salads.  Steam a few beets, cool, slice over a  salad with feta cheese and a Greek vinaigrette.  Yum.

Carrots var. 'YaYa'- The beautiful carrots are in the box again this week.  This is definitely one of the finer crops of carrots produced on the farm.    The roots are a beautiful orange, taste is superior, fragrance delicious. Remove greens to store carrots for any length of time.

Leaf Lettuce  - Red leaf lettuce harvested this morning out of the shade covered hoophouse.  The shade moderates the sun's heat and allows the lettuce to thrive. 

Kohlrabi - This may be a new vegetable for some of you.  Kohlrabi hails from the cabbage family.  You are eating the base of the stem that grows into the bulb shape you see today.  To eat, remove leaves and set aside - these can be eaten but are best cooked because they can be tougher.  The bulb is peeled to reveal the crispy juicy interior.  The flavor is mild and sweet - similar to a turnip but crunchy like a radish.  We slice it and serve raw and we all love it.  But is goes very well sauteed with other hard veggies like carrots and sugar snap peas. 

Sugar Snap Peas - We are thrilled to have another pound of peas for the boxes this week but this is most definitley the end of the peas.  The vines are declining and blossoms are non-existent.  We have enjoyed this harvest very much  and hope you have too.  I just read a recipe for homemade pizza with sugar snap peas.  Do you make your own pizza?  See below for our easy bread machine crust recipe.  We are definitely trying this recipe - you can use your own pizza crust recipe.  Here's the link – this link is also included in our weekly email reminder:    

 http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/chicken/the-stone-barns-the-modena/. 

Cabbage  - The perfect thing on a hot day – cold crisp cabbage.

Broccoli - We planted 4 varieties of broccoli this year to stagger our harvest and not put all our hopes on one variety.   The harvest of broccoli this morning yielded full size heads and smaller side shoots that sprout after the main head is taken.

Fresh Basil – Big bag of basil- wow!  Check out the recipe below for Pizza Margherita.  Any remaining basil can be used for a simple pesto, added to your greens, salad dressing, sprinkled over pasta.    

Recipe

Our Pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita

Here is the most basic and classic of all pizza recipes – crust, sauce, cheese, basil.  It doesn’t get any simpler.  This is our version, using the bread machine for dough and tomato paste for a quick sauce. This pizza very quickly comes together once your dough is finished.

For a bread machine crust:

1 c water

3 c flour (I use 1 cup white, 2 c white whole wheat plus a couple tablespoons of ground flax.  Feel free to experiment)

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1 T sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine, start dough cycle and adjust flour or water if too wet or dry.  Once the cycle is complete, turn out onto floured surface, cover with towel and allow to rest minimum 15 minutes or until dough easily rolls out.

For the sauce

A decent quick pizza sauce can be made with organic tomato paste.  Combine one can tomato paste, a few tablespoons of water for good spreading consistency, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, 1-2 T sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder or fresh garlic.  Adjust seasoning to your liking.

The Cheese

We use fresh mozzarella thinly sliced.  Place cheese in freezer an hour before using to help with slicing.

To assemble

Preheat oven to 500. Take 1/3 dough and roll out on oiled baking sheet until quite thin – like a cracker.  Bake plain crust 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and spread sauce.  Add slices of cheese and bake 10-12 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle with freshly chopped basil.