Week 19 Vegetable CSA - October 5

Farm News

Again, the news for the week is the weather. The first light frost of the fall came on Friday night and a heavier frost on Saturday night.  Temps dropped to 32 here at the house.  We spent Friday afternoon covering all the peppers and eggplant.  Saturday the entire family spent the day in the garden harvesting any tomatoes we did not intend to cover.  We can’t possibly cover everything so we pick and choose the most productive, most flavorful varieties.  We covered the beautiful bed of chard, the perfect red beans you see today, the basil and the last of the summer squash.  All veggies covered came through unscathed – even the basil although it is not entirely fit for distribution in boxes. 

Today, we are taking any green tomatoes from plants that didn’t survive the frost but the fruit was somehow protected by the foliage or even heavy weed cover.  These we can hold on to and distribute in the coming weeks.  The red beans came through with thousands of blossoms intact – amazing!  It is the challenge of the market grower – outsmart the weather and you just might get beans or tomatoes a few more weeks. 

Besides the first frost, we have been busy!  The laying hens are headin’ west as we begin moving them to their overwintering area in the garden.  This will be a series of small moves until they arrive in the northwest corner near the road so we can get to them for chores despite bad weather and big snow drifts.  Snow drifts? Yes, it will be here before you know it.  It's not something we like to think about but we have to be prepared.

Until then, let’s crunch on a fresh bean, make salsa, and enjoy these perfect fall days.  Beautiful box today with some of the best food of the season.  Enjoy.

Tomato Quarts Being Filled With An Amazing Variety of Tomatoes

In Your Box Today

Red Onions  - On a burger, on a salad or in the fresh salsa recipe below, we love red onions.

Tomatoes – A beautiful medley of tomatoes today – a whole quart!  You will find the delicious orange ‘Sungold’ cherry tomatoes, maybe a yellow ‘Limmony’ plus a sprinkling of small red slicing tomatoes.  What a treat for the first week of October after the first frost.  Enjoy as these are some of the last ripe tomatoes of the season.

Arugula –  The arugula is thriving.  This is the weather it loves – gone are the hot days which make the leaves spicy hot and  encourage the flea beetles pressure.  The cool nights and rain makes this green explode with growth.  If the flavor is more than you can handle in a straight salad, arugula is excellent on a sandwich in place of lettuce.  It can top pizza or wraps.   It can even be made into pesto – see recipe below.

Cutting Celery – The celery is also responding to the cool weather – the stems are very sweet.  The leaves are more pungent but still very tasty.  Use this anywhere you would use celery – soups and homemade chicken stock, potato salad, and egg salad.

Peppers – More beautiful peppers today.  Did you know peppers freeze easily?  Wash, slice open, remove seeds and seed cavity, slice and place in freezer container or bag. That’s it!  We freeze the damaged fruit and use them all winter.  They are 100 times better than any fresh organic pepper in the store.

Bok Choy

Cilantro – Our planting of cilantro had a hard time this year with all the heat.  But we have a small patch established, finally, and we’re giving out the first of this favorite herb today.  You will find the leaves sweet and flavorful and very fresh as they were picked just this morning.  Cilantro is a must in any homemade fresh salsa but we also enjoy it sprinkled in our homemade quesadillas and added to our salad mixes.

Royal Burgundy Beans – Thrilled to harvest these beans again.  Just a ¾ lb bag today but they are very tasty and very precious after the frost.  Depending on the weather, you may see these again one more time if we get lucky.

Recipes

Arugula Pesto

4 cups arugula leaves (5-6 ounces)

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted OR walnuts, toasted

6 cloves fresh garlic

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

Blend arugula, toasted nuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese in processor until almost smooth. Add olive oil and process until well blended. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper.

Quick Fresh Salsa

Fresh tomatoes, diced, placed in colander with bowl underneath to catch juice

Peppers, diced

Onions, diced

Fresh cilantro, chopped or torn into small pieces, stem and leaves

Fresh lime juice – a tablespoon for a small bowl of salsa

Salt

Cumin – just a pinch or so gives nice flavor

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and add reserved tomato juice if salsa needs more liquid.  Adjust seasoning and serve.

Week 18 Vegetable CSA - September 28

Main Season CSA Shares

Full Vegetable Shares – End October 26,    4 deliveries remaining

Half Vegetable and Egg Shares Even Weeks – End October 26, 2 deliveries remaining

Half Vegetable and Egg Shares Odd Weeks – End October 19, 2 deliveries remaining

Fall Season CSA Shares

Don’t miss out!  Extend your supply of fresh organic vegetables, eggs, and meat by purchasing a Fall Vegetable, Egg, and Meat Shares.  These are some of the best veggie shares of the season.  Details, pricing, etc. at www.broadbranchfarm.com.

Farm News

Certainly the news of the week was the rain on Monday.   We had some showers overnight Sunday into Monday, a brief break Monday  morning and then rain the rest of the day until 9 p.m. or so.  The rain was heavy and so were the winds.  Just a half hour or so outside and we were soaked.  Brian was gone to Arthur, IL with 300+ meat birds taking one of the livestock trailers our laying hens call home most of the time – until we need it to take haul pigs, chickens or calves.  The poor laying hens had to weather most of the day in the lee of the remaining trailer.  They were soaked but even when I checked at 3 p.m., they seemed to be handling it. 

Brian returned by 5:30, unloaded the processed birds and took the trailer right down to the field with dry bedding.  It was a heck of a situation to head home to after being up since 2:30 a.m tot take the meat chickens.

Our last check was at 9:30 p.m. or so.  Rain had stopped but a light mist was falling.  The dry bedding and returned trailer were empty.  The birds didn’t seem to care there was shelter.  They were huddled up in a few areas but didn’t take advantage of the new situation.  Chickens are creatures of habit to a fault and will not alter their routine even if the weather turns nasty.  Worried, we went to bed and hoped for the best. 

The next morning, all birds were accounted for and not one fell victim to the weather.   We were shocked but happy and relieved.   And we were very happy for the rain.  We haven’t had a good soaking rain like that since May. This moisture will do wonders for the fall vegetables.  The boxes are turning greener each week as the salad greens in the garden are thriving.  We are thrilled to finally have the turnips many of you love so much. They are just yummy and our kids eat them like apples.  Enjoy.

Turnips!

In Your Box Today

Tomatoes – Today you will receive a pint or a few slicing tomatoes.  We’re seeing a slow decline in production as these fall temperatures continue their own decline. 

Garlic  - Two beautiful bulbs of garlic today.  Enjoy in the recipe below for Roasted Garlic Dressing.

Turnips var. ‘Tokyo Cross’ –  These are the first turnips of the season.  Our spring turnips were under water after heavy rains and never recovered.  You will find these snowy white roots to be crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside all with a delicious mild flavor.  Eat them raw or enjoy in your stir fry or roasted in the oven until tender and carmelized.  The greens are also delicious in salads or sautéed.

Salad Mix – This week’s salad mix includes green romaine, arugula, escarole, red and green leaf lettuces, and the deep purple mizuna like green called Red Rain.  

Fresh Parsley

Peppers – Peppers in all colors today including a few green ones.  As frost begins to approach, we want to distribute the green peppers to you so we don’t lost them to the cold.   We could harvest them right before frost but we couldn’t store them and keep them as fresh as if they were picked that day. 

Bok Choy – This planting of bok choy has lived through the heat of the summer.  Flea beetles nearly took it but as the temperatures eased up and we got a bit of moisture, the heads began looking better and better.  Yes, you will see holes in the outer leaves – the sure sign of flea beetle damage – but the heads are still quite nice.  Chop leaves and stems, sauté with chopped garlic until tender, dress with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. 

Recipe

Greens with Gorgonzola and Roasted Garlic Dressing

6 tablespoons olive oil

10 large garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons apple cider

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

8 cups greens or approximately ½ lb, washed and drained

1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Sliced vegetables and toppings of your choice – tomatoes, peppers, nuts, etc.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss oil with garlic in small baking dish. Cover dish and bake until garlic is golden and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic from skins. Reserve oil.

Transfer roasted garlic to food processor. Add honey, vinegar, cider and mustard and blend well. With processor running, slowly add reserved garlic oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Place washed and drained greens into serving bowl.  Toss with 1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese, extra toppings, and enough dressing to coat. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and serve.

Week 17 Vegetable CSA - September 21

Farm News

The cool winds are blowing today reminding us Fall is really here.  I closed up the roll up sides on both hoophouses last night to retain overnight heat – that will help keep those Sungold cherry tomatoes and red slicers ripening as long as possible.  We’re to the point in the season where our warm days are numbered and we’re not looking forward to those hand numbing days! 

It’s been a busy week with the CSA deliveries and the Field Day this past Sunday.  About the middle of last week we decided we had to move our Field Day lunch inside – but where?  Incredibly, our machine shed which was full of equipment, piles of compost, and garden supplies was transformed with tables, fragrant flowers, and an incredible food table filled with dishes created from Broad Branch Farm food.   Music filled the air as Kailey McGillis of Toluca, Illinois entertained with her violin.  Forty-four children participated in the kids craft where each child painted a cloth shopping bag using beets, carrots, and bok choy as stamps and vegetable juices as paint – they were all beautiful.   It was an outstanding day with much friendship, learning and good food shared. 

Check out the Field Day Menu below which tells the story of the food served on Sunday.  It really is incredible to sit down to a meal made almost solely from food produced locally. We like that very much and we hope those of you that attended enjoyed it as well.  Now it’s head down, hands busy, and focus on getting through the rest of this season.

What a box this week!  Gorgeous food and more on the way until the end.  Enjoy.

Field Day Kid's Craft - Handpainted Shopping Bag

In Your Box Today

Tomatoes – Today you will receive two pints or a pint and a few slicing tomatoes.  We’re just seeing a slow decline in production as these fall temperatures continue their own decline. 

Potatoes  - We are finally able to dig the potatoes.  Not seeing great yields so far but we’ve only dug a couple beds.  Today we are distributing two varieties – smooth skinned Carola (similar to Yukon Gold) and the darker skinned Goldrush Russet.

Green Beans –  This will be one of the last harvests from the green beans. The plants are practically void of flowers and we left just a few immature beans behind.  These beans are soup beans – larger and more mature – but certainly still quite good.

Salad Mix – This week’s salad mix includes arugula, escarole, French sorrel, red and green leaf lettuces, and the deep purple mizuna like green called Red Rain.  

Fresh Sage – The sage planting is beautiful and abundant – the aroma is intense and sure reminder of warm, comforting foods like soups and stews.  Include a few leaves of sage in your next soup or stock.

Swiss Chard – The chard is abundant and beautiful right now and we want to distribute it before a hard frost damages the beautiful leaves.

Peppers – It is the same story with the peppers right now – we want to begin distributing fruit that will not mature to the beautiful colors you have seen this season.

Beets – The beets today are beautiful with big healthy greens to match.  Remove greens and store roots and tops separately.  These beet roots are so good and sweet they only need steaming or boiling, then peeled to prepare. 

Lucy and Emily Harvesting the Field Day Salad Greens

Recipe

Quinoa Tabouli Salad

Recipe by Chef Monika Sudakov, Chestnut Street Inn, Sheffield, Illinois

Served at the 2011 Broad Branch Farm Field Day

1 cup organic quinoa

2 Cups Water

1 cup small tomatoes, halved

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped

1 medium red onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Handful fresh mint, chopped

1/3 cup lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

Cook quinoa. Using a fork, lightly fluff the quinoa and then spread out in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Allow to dry for an additional hour before using and then transfer to large bowl.  Add tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro and mint to quinoa. To prepare dressing, whisk lemon juice and olive oil along with the salt, pepper, cumin and paprika until well combined. Pour over the quinoa and vegetables and toss gently to mix. Allow to marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator. This salad tastes better after marinating 24 hours.

Broad Branch Farm Field Day Lunch Menu

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Pit Roasted Organic Pastured Pulled Pork on Apple Butter Wheat Roll

Our delicious pulled pork today comes from purebred Berkshire hogs born on Joe McKenna’s farm in Capron, Illinois.  Joe raises his hogs clean – no antibiotics, no growth hormones, no GMO feed.  The young hogs come to our farm where they are pastured and fed a high quality certified organic grain ration until reaching a market weight of approximately 250 lbs.  The hogs also enjoy all the vegetable trimmings, weeds, and the occasional bucket of eggs – their absolute favorite – shell and all.  The pork for today’s meal was prepared by our good friend Anthony Perry of Brimfield, Illinois.  The process began Thursday night with a rub of brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and black pepper.  The four pork shoulders were hot smoked “low and slow” with hickory and cherry wood for 15 hours on Friday to produce the tender flavorful meat you have today.  The sandwich is completed by the homemade organic Apple Butter Wheat Roll prepared just a few miles from our farm at the Braker’s Dozen bakery.  The bakery is operated by Audrey Braker - a woman of incredible energy, mother of 10, avid gardener, and baker.

Pastured Organic Chicken Breast Marinated With Fresh Thyme, Oregano, Lemon, and Garlic With An Herbed Egg Bun

The chicken today comes from Broad Branch Farm.  Our broiler chickens enjoy a certified organic grain ration and plenty of room to graze.   It is this diverse healthy diet and room to roam and graze that produces chicken with a fine flavor and texture.  The meat was marinated overnight in a marinade including olive oil, fresh lemon juice and zest, fresh thyme, oregano, and garlic from our garden.  The sandwich is completed by the homemade Herbed Egg Bun made by Audrey Braker of the Braker’s Dozen. This organic roll includes our pastured organic eggs.

Pastured Organic Hot Dog on Whole Wheat Roll

locally made organic hot dogs using Broad Branch Farm pastured pork and beef

(kids meal)

The organic hot dogs are produced from Broad Branch Farm organic pastured pork and our grass fed grass finished beef.   Made by Bittner’s Eureka Locker of Eureka, Illinois, the meat and seasonings  are organic and no artificial ingredients have been added – just healthy raised pastured meat and seasonings.   The texture is meatier and flavor is more complex like a sausage  rather than a traditional hot dog. 

The sandwich is completed with the organic roll egg roll made with our pastured organic eggs from the Braker’s Dozen.

Vegetable and Herb Frittata

organic pastured eggs, seasonal vegetables and herbs

(vegetarian option)

The frittata today is made with Broad Branch Farm pastured organic eggs from our pastured laying flock.  These hens enjoy a life of freedom – freedom to graze, lay where they choose, and roost at night where they please.  This is not the easiest way to raise a large flock of laying hens as weather is always presenting challenges but it produces the finest eggs.  Also included is MarjoAcres organic raw whole milk from the Todd and Val Steiner family of Tremont, Illinois.  The flavorful dish is finished with our own fresh herbs, sweet peppers and summer squash.  

Quinoa Tabouli Salad

The Quinoa Salad starts with certified organic quinoa and is combined with Broad Branch Farm late summer vegetables including a rainbow of tomatoes – Sungold Cherry, Black Cherry, Juliet, and Mountain Magic.  Added to the dish are cucumbers, fresh spearmint, parsley, and fresh red onion.  The dressing uses our pungent fresh garlic, lemon, olive oil, cumin and paprika.

Caprese Salad

The Caprese Salad uses two types of tomatoes today – deep red Ball’s Beefsteak and our favorite heirloom, Arkansas Traveler.  The beefsteak tomato is raised in the west hoophouse where it enjoys the comforts of indoor living –protection from wind, storms, and plenty of warmth.  The Arkansas Traveler is a tomato adapted to many conditions – dry, wet, cold, hot.  It seems to do well in every season producing perfect fruit every time.   The second ingredient is the homemade mozzarella cheese made by Chef Monika from MarjoAcres raw organic whole milk.  Fresh basil from our garden, olive oil, and a balsamic reduction finish this delicious dish.

Salad Greens

The salad greens today come from Broad Branch Farm and include red leaf lettuce, green romaine, escarole, arugula, French sorrel, Red Russian kale, the intense deep purple green Red Rain and just a sprinkling of baby cilantro sprouts.  Almost all the greens came from our shade house which protects the greens from heat and even driving rain and wind that can damage tender leaves.  This combination of greens and lettuces creates a salad with intense flavors, beautiful colors and tenderness.  The salad is decorated with Broad Branch Farm hardboiled pastured organic eggs, cucumbers and the very orange and sweet Sungold cherry tomatoes.  Chef Monika created the roasted garlic chive dressing with Broad Branch Farm fresh garlic.

Dessert

Custard Cake with Raw Organic Whipped Cream

Chef Monika has created the custard today with Broad Branch Farm organic pastured eggs and MarjoAcres organic raw whole milk.  The dessert is topped with organic raw cream also from MarjoAcres. 

Your food today was grown and prepared by:

Broad Branch Farm, Wyoming, Illinois – Meat, Eggs, Vegetables, Herbs, www.broadbranchfarm.com

MarjoAcres, Tremont, Illinois 309-925-5221- Milk and Cream - Raw organic dairy, contact to purchase raw organic dairy products

Braker’s Dozen, Speer, Illinois 309-249-3000 – Organic Rolls

Chef Monika Sudakov, Chestnut Street Inn, Sheffield, Illinois 1-800-537-1304 www.chestnut-inn.com – Fine dining, bed and breakfast

Anthony Perry, Brimfield, Illinois – Pit master for pulled pork.

Thank You For Supporting Local Organic Agriculture

www.broadbranchfarm.com

Week 16 Vegetable CSA - September 14

Broad Branch Farm Field Day

Sunday, September 18

Organic Lunch, Farm Tour, Fun for Kids

Lunch Ticket Deadline Extended – Friday, September 16

Details at www.broadbranchfarm.com

Check our homepage Sunday morning for any weather or schedule updates.

Farm News

What a crazy weather week.  Wednesday had us worried about the low temperatures overnight.   Lows kept dropping until Wednesday morning when the prediction fell to 35 degrees - big problem.  We got by this near frost as overnight temps bottomed out at about 37. Thankfully there was no real damage in the garden. 

Warm season crops like tomatoes do not like this kind of weather.  They will slow down and fruit just doesn’t have the sweetness and flavor.  This season has been just odd enough that a frost a  month early fits right in.  Wasn’t it just near 100 degrees last week???  I think our garden is getting confused…

This past week has been very busy as we continue field work, livestock work, and Field Day preparations.  We spent Saturday morning planting broccoli, weeding beds, and pulling the final onions out of a very grassy bed.  I have help today to plant lettuces, spinach and more radishes.  Brian has been busy with the livestock and took 4 more hogs to Eureka Tuesday morning.  This will be the pork that will be served for the Field Day.

  

The weather is iffy for Sunday here at the farm so please come prepared with proper clothing, umbrella, jacket, etc.  It could be chilly despite predictions of 70’s.  But, the farm can be fun even on a cool cloudy day.  Be sure to check our homepage on the website for any weather updates, dare I say cancellations, or the like. 

The food this week is beautiful.  The box is sprouting green again with the salad mix and swiss chard.  Potatoes coming soon.  Enjoy this good food!

Salad Greens

In Your Box Today

Tomatoes – The tomatoes are slowing down with these very cool temperatures and the flavor is not the same.  Some varieties like the deep pink ‘Arkansas Traveler’ seem to stay sweeter and full of flavor longer than some varieties who lose their summer sweetness.  But we’re still happy to have them and a warm bowl of simple stewed tomatoes dressed with a sprinkle of salt is very good on a cold day. 

Onions var. ‘Copra’  - Our favorite onion today.  These are cured and can store in a cool dry place for months.  No need to refrigerate these onions.

Green  and Purple Beans –  Today you receive green, royal burgundy or a combo of the two varieties of beans.  I expect a decline in the beans with all these cold temperatures.

Salad Mix – Another nice salad mix this week including red and  green leaf lettuces, green romaine, green Deer Tongue lettuce, arugula, escarole, and the most purple Red Rain.  Beautiful!

Cutting Celery – It looks like parsley but it’s really celery.  Really, just pinch off a leaf and try it and you will know by the intense flavor it is definitely celery.

Swiss Chard – My instructions to our picking crew were to make generous bunches of chard for today and they are very nice indeed.  I found a recipe for chard stems and have included it below.  Don’t toss them and definitely include them in your salads or as a mild substitute for celery in chicken salad, tuna salad or just topping your greens.  The Swiss Chard is definitely at its best right now with beautiful colors, big leaves, and those yummy crunchy stems.

Fresh Basil – We better use the basil now before we lose it to the cold.  Basil is very tender and it doesn’t take a frost to see damage.  We covered it the other night and it made it through just fine but it was close!

Recipe

Chard Stems With Yogurt Tahini Sauce

8 oz. chard stems, trimmed into pieces 4 inches long

1 tsp Salt

Olive oil

1 large garlic clove, halved

1 heaping tablespoon tahini

½ cup full-fat yogurt

2 tsp.sesame seeds

1 lemon, quartered

Bring a shallow skillet of water to a boil. Add salt, a teaspoon of oil, half the garlic clove, and the chard stems. Gently simmer until they’re tender. (This can take as little as 4 or 5 minutes, or somewhat longer, depending on size. The best way to find out is to remove one, slice into it and take a bite.) When they’re done, set them in a colander to drain for a few minutes, then toss them with a drizzle of olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.

To make the sauce, pound the remaining half garlic clove in a mortar with ¼ teaspoon salt until mushy and smooth. Add the tahini and yogurt and work until smooth.

Toast the sesame seeds in a skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until they begin to smell fragrant, then turn them onto a plate so they don’t burn.

To serve, set the stems on individual plates, add a spoonful of the sauce, the sesame seeds, and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy chilled or at room temperature.

Week 15 Vegetable CSA - September 7

Broad Branch Farm Field Day

Sunday, September 18

Organic Lunch, Farm Tour, Fun for Kids

Details at www.broadbranchfarm.com

Lunch Ticket Deadline – Wednesday, September 14

Farm News

This farming is a moody sort of business.  One day we’re hot, worn down, hoping for rain – the next day cool and bright, energized and relieved.  We've finally gotten our first signs of the coming Fall weather.  And these are days we live for – it’s what keeps us going through the summer when the heat and humidity are sometimes unbearable. 

We started this past Saturday morning setting out hundreds of bok choy and kohlrabi transplants and the heat was bearing down on the plants and our bodies.  But before we finished, a front had moved in and the cool northern winds had begun to blow.  We weren’t hot anymore and neither was the garden or the livestock.  And we got a nice rain out it with no damaging winds.  Now the weather is marvelous but cool.  

The last few days have been some of the best of the season.  These days in the garden are what I consider perfect – I don’t want to be anywhere else.  The bounty of food, the breeze, the crystal clear sky, our girls with their bright faces  thrilled to be together in the garden.  These are good days. 

But they are long, too.  So much work to accomplish and it all needs to be done NOW. The planting this week: 650 cabbages, 500 bok choy, 500 kohlrabi, seeded radishes, and turnips. And we’re not done. We try to fit this planting in with the harvesting and the livestock chores.  It’s too much and we can’t get it all done but we are trying.  The Field Day is almost upon us.  Be sure to get your lunch ticket purchased by next Wednesday, September 14.   We’re all excited to show off the farm and have a day of fun.

The food is beautiful this week with new greens and those perfect beans.  Enjoy.

Gorgeous Peppers Today

In Your Box Today

Tomatoes – The tomatoes still look strong but it will be interesting to see how much they slow down from these very chilly nights.  You may also notice a flavor change.  Tomatoes like warm days and nights.  Cool temperatures and rain produce a less flavorful tomato.  They are still very good though and we’ll keep them coming in your box as long as the weather allows.  We picked 86 pints of those sweet little Sungold cherry tomatoes for the boxes today so everyone gets a pint.  Check out our weekly email for last week’s recipe for our Poeppel Family Pasta Sauce.  It’s an easy delicious sauce using the entire tomato.

Onions var. ‘Copra’  - Our favorite onion today.  These are cured and can store in a cool dry place for months.  No need to refrigerate these onions.

Green  Beans –  The beans are still going strong but I didn’t see a lot of flowers during the harvest.  Sure the cool weather has also slowed them a bit but for this week, it’s beautiful perfect beans.

Salad Mix – We love growing greens and this salad mix is a beauty.  Today you have a blend of arugula, green baby romaine, ‘Freckles’ baby romaine (green leaves with red speckles), red leaf lettuce, and a gorgeous new green for us called ‘Red Rain’ – the purple leaves.   Flea beetles put a few holes in the leaves of arugula and ‘Red Rain’ but the flavor and tenderness of the greens is outstanding.  Dress these flavorful greens lightly with a simple homemade vinaigrette

Peppers – All sweet peppers today in a range of gorgeous colors.

Kale var. ‘Red Russian’ – Nice big bunches of the ‘Red Russian’kale picked early this morning.  These cool nights call for homemade soups and stews and kale fits right into these type of recipes.  Chop kale leaves and stems and add to a simple stir fry.

Recipe

Braised Red Russian Kale & White Beans

1 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

1-2 c homemade chicken stock

1 bunch Red Russian Kale, stems and leaves chopped but kept separate

1 can organic cannellini beans

1 cup diced tomato

3 tbs. olive oil

3 tbs. chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion and garlic in 1 tbs. olive oil over low heat.

Sauté onion in 1 T olive oil until translucent.  Add garlic and sauté a minute or two.  Add kale stems and broth, simmer gently until stems are almost tender. Add chopped kale leaves and simmer 5 more minutes stirring gently.
Add  washed and rinsed cannellini bean and diced tomato.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped parsley.
 

Week 14 Vegetable CSA - August 31

Farm  News

This past week was one of those character builders you look back on and hope they come but once a season or maybe not at all.  Brian fell to the flu on Wednesday, one of the pigs went lame, and the delivery truck wouldn’t start 20 minutes before loading for the Friday Naperville delivery.  Brian and I are half and half on the farm work and when one of us is down, it makes it rough for the one who is left standing. 

So how did it all work out?  The pig showed signs of lameness last Monday and the vet said it was probably permanent and I agreed after observing him for 3 days and seeing the condition only decline.  He was eating, drinking, and limping to the new grass we gave them but his back legs were failing him.

But while watering the chickens on Saturday, I looked over and saw the pig standing, then walking.  Miracle!  The pig could walk!  We are not sure what changed but the back legs just kept getting better.

The delivery truck that wouldn’t start was pull started with our pick up (it’s a stick shift) with a chain and we sent a weak but functioning Brian to Naperville.  He started it again when the CSA drop was completed because he was parked on a hill and could roll the truck, pop the clutch and it started. 

But upon leaving the CSA drop, the truck stalled and Brian was left stranded on the road backing up traffic.  But another stroke of good luck: he was on another hill, waited for traffic to clear, rolled backwards this time, popped the clutch and the truck started.  A very tired farmer  made his way to his parents’ house where he was able to finally rest.

I was home with the lame but soon to recover pig, 1100 chickens, feeding, watering, and collecting eggs.  What a week. 

That is how it goes when you have many irons in the fire and they all need to stay hot at the same time.  We are maxed out right now with the garden to maintain, the livestock and more.   But the food is very nice today with beautiful beans. Enjoy.



'Nadia' Eggplant



In Your Box This Week

Tomatoes – Lots of wonderful tomatoes today!  If you have tomatoes hitting you from all sides, know that you can slice and freeze them.  There is no need to blanch, peel or stew if you don’t have time.  They will be preserved for later use – a warm bowl of stewed garden tomatoes is a wonderful thing when it is cold outside.   Also, see below for our recipe for an easy and fast tomato sauce that works well for everything from pizza to pasta.

Garlic  - Two gorgeous bulbs of garlic today.

Green  Beans – Very nice beans today and a full pound of them.   We snack on them raw and enjoy them lightly steamed and tossed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fresh garlic.  Chill slightly and serve over your salad – delicious

Eggplant – Full size eggplant or the mini ‘Fairy Tale’ variety.  Our eggplant supper recently was slices of eggplant prepared with the 3-step breading method, fried until browned and served over pasta with our homemade pasta sauce (see Recipe below) and a creamy French goat cheese.  Very good.

Fresh Basil – Basil is the herb right now – it goes with everything summer.  It tastes good but just the aroma is enough to soften your mood and bring and smile to your face.  If you decide to freeze or can tomatoes, add a few basil leaves to each container.

Escarole – Harvesting this green yesterday was very exciting as the leaves are so very nice and the white tender ribs are so mild.  Escarole is a salad or cooking green.  The leaves are sturdy enough to withstand a quick wilt in olive oil and garlic without turning to mush.  We enjoyed an escarole salad last night with  asimple vinaigrette consisting of olive oil, red wine vinegar, little Dijon mustard, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Allow the greens to sit a few minutes before serving as the leaves become more tender as they absorb dressing.   Top with feta cheese, sliced tomatoes and steamed green beans and you have a fantastic salad.

Kohlrabi – The last of the second crop of kohlrabi.  Make kohlrabi chips for an after school snack.  Peel and thinly slice the kohlrabi bulb.  Cold slices of kohlrabi hit the spot on these hot days.

Recipe

Poeppel Family Pasta Sauce

We don’t really have time to peel and seed tomatoes and I do like the idea of using the whole tomato – seeds, skin, juice, everything but the core.  Here is our solution for a very quick, whole tomato pasta sauce that passes the taste test of even the pickiest eaters.  I do not have quantities for this recipe – you must go by taste and adjust as you see fit.  I strongly recommend you do not omit the sweetener.  There are just a few ingredients for the sauce and they all work in unison to bring the sauce together.  It is not over sweetened by any means.

Fresh Tomatoes – cored, cut in half or quartered

Tomato Paste – we like the Bio-Nature organic tomato paste

Sugar, Sucanat, Agave, sweetener of your choice

Olive Oil

Homemade basil pesto or fresh basil chopped

Garlic – if you using homemade pesto, you can omit the extra garlic, or not

Salt

Pepper

Stew the tomatoes until heated through and broken down.  Allow to cool a bit and then with your trusty stick blender (much easier than a standing blender), whirl up the skins, seeds, pulp until skin is not recognizable – it will take a minute or two.  Add one can/jar of tomato paste – it doesn’t take as much as you might think to thicken the sauce.  Add salt and taste – start slow so you don’t over salt, do the same with the sweetener.  Add a swirl of olive oil and a good dollop of homemade pesto.  If not using pesto, add freshly chopped basil and garlic.  Heat gently so you don’t scorch and taste.  Adjust seasonings and you’re done.  Use this as the base for your pasta or pizza sauce.  It also works well with a seasoned saucy rice dish with sautéed onions, peppers, protein of choice and the sauce mixed in to give it good flavor and moisture. The sauce holds in the refrigerator for several days or can be frozen for later use.