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!
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| 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.
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