Week 8 Vegetable CSA 2011

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

The game is on difficult right now.  The oppressive heat and no precipitation is taking its toll on us, the garden and livestock.  At least 2 days this week we suspended afternoon work in the garden due to the dangerous heat indices.  Our garden helpers are toughing it out but even the most acclimated are feeling the stress of the heat.

We had a brief 10 minute shower on Monday that brought at least a few hours of cloud cover and relief from the hot sun but it was not enough to provide any significant irrigation for the garden.  Tuesday we saw rain to the north and south, last night rain to the north, this morning rain to the north.  The systems are not very far away - close enough for us to see lightning and hear thunder but not close enough.



The Shade House For
Summer Lettuce and Greens



Planting Escarole Inside The Shade House

It will rain, eventually.  In the meantime, the irrigation lines keep running morning until night and we’re keeping a close eye on all the livestock.  The field work has continued despite the heat.  Saturday morning we dug another bed of garlic by noon.  Sunday we built another fence for the pigs to give them new pasture.   This week, besides our regular harvesting for the CSA boxes, we are planting a few more greens in our shade house plus seeding lettuce, carrots and greens in the greenhouse to transplant outside later.    We are digging more garlic today and that leaves just 1 more bed to go out of a total of 6.  It is hard work digging every bulb as they are deep in the ground and the soil is quite firm from no rain. 

We are spending a good deal of time with the irrigation.   Drip lines need to be set up or moved.   The well needs to be checked to make sure it can keep up, and hand watering on tender young crops or stressed established plantings is sometimes needed.

This tough weather is just a brief bump in the road right now.  We’re handling it but it is wearing on us, the garden and the livestock.  We all look a little wilted and worn out.  There are several days with small chances of rain and we'll just hope we get lucky before things get any worse.

It's a great box this week with lots of great variety.  New crops on the way including peppers and the first green beans.  

In Your Box Today

Tomatoes – The tomatoes are just starting to come in and you are getting just a taste today.  There will be lots more on the way.  Flavor on these first fruits is top notch.   

Beets – The beets are still coming.  If you have not used the beets we have already given you, make sure to remove the greens and store covered in your refrigerator.  Beet roots will keep for months.   To use a quantity of beets, we clean and then gently boil or steam until tender – check with paring knife.  Cool and peel by slipping skin off with your fingers under a slow stream of water.  Slice and place in mason jars.  Combine the cooking water with a good quantity of apple cider vinegar and enough sweetener to please your palate.  Taste and adjust to your liking.  The water will go from dull brown to bright purple with the addition of the apple cider vinegar.  Ladle over beets to cover, put on lid and refrigerate. These ‘pickled’ beets will keep for week and are an excellent side dish.

Carrots var. 'YaYa'- We are getting close to the end of the spring carrots.  It has been a tremendous first crop and we hope you have enjoyed these beautiful roots.  These also store for weeks with tops removed.

Deer Tongue Bibb Lettuce  - A new lettuce this week called ‘Deer Tongue.’  This is an heirloom lettuce we are growing for the first time this year.   We are very pleased.  It germinated well when seeded and grew nicely.  Flavor is very good. It may not be quite as sweet because of the hot temperatures but we are including this lettuce in our roster.  You will see this lettuce again.

Bok Choy

Arugula -  When we sold at the Naperville Farmer’s Market, arugula was our top selling green next to lettuce and spinach.  If you have not tried arugula, it has a very distinct flavor.   If it is too much by itself, try including on a sandwich or adding just a bit to your salads.  We love it and are thrilled to have such nice leaves in the heat of the summer.

Zucchini – This is a go to vegetable.  It can be used for most anything – even pie.  The recipe below for Mock Apple Pie has been circulating around and a customer just reminded me how good it really is. We made this last year for the first time and it we really enjoyed it.  Give it a try.

Garlic Scapes – We still have a few scapes to distribute and they can help fill your garlic needs until the big bulbs we are currently harvesting are ready to hand out. 

Fresh Thyme – One of our favorite herbs is thyme.   We roast many of our chickens and they always include thyme sprinkled over the top and few springs inside.  An excellent roast chicken can be made by sprinkling a good organic pastured bird with salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme leaves.  Juice and seed one lemon and pour lemon juice over the bird.  Put the lemon halves in the cavity.  Drizzle olive oil over the bird and roast at 350 until thickest part of breast registers 162 degrees.   Thyme  also pairs well with  beef, fish, salad dressings, roasted vegetables.

Recipes

Mock Apple Pie

In a recipe like this pie, we always halve the sugar and use Sucanat for all the sugar.  You can also substitute with other sweeteners such as maple syrup or honey.

6 -8 cups zucchini (peel, cut lengthwise, remove seeds, slice 1/4-inch thick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground cardamom

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons cornstarch or 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vinegar (white or apple cider)

1 tablespoon butter

Double crust for pie

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook zucchini slices in boiling water until barely tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from stove and drain very well and cool. Remove as much moisture as you can with paper towels. In a bowl, toss zucchini with sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cream of tartar, cornstarch or flour, and salt until well coated. Place lightly floured pastry in a 9-inch, pan. Fill with zucchini mixture. Dot with butter, drizzle with vinegar. Top with crust.  Brush crust lightly with water and sprinkle with water.  Bake 15 minutes at 425. Reduce heat and bake for 45 minutes at 350.

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

It’s all in the ingredients for this sandwich.  Start with high quality ingredients and you’ll produce one heck of sandwich without too much effort.

1 Crusty loaf of bread, sliced and brushed with butter or olive oil

A variety of roasting vegetables including zucchini slices, eggplant slices, bok choy, onion, portobello mushroom

Fresh Tomato, sliced

Fresh Basil leaves

Your favorite green – lettuce, arugula, etc.

Slice of your favorite cheese

Fruit olive oil and balsamic vinegar for finishing

Brush the roasting vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven or grill until tender.  Remove and grill or toast bread slices.  Assemble sandwich with roasted vegetables, and remaining ingredients – tomato, basil, greens, and cheese.  Drizzle with fruity olive oil and dash of balsamic.  Awesome.

Week 7 Vegetable CSA 2011

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 are very disappointed the rain completely missed us the last few days.  We kept hoping but it just never developed.  And there doesn’t appear to be much of a chance in the next several days.  We’re in full on irrigation mode right now in order to keep ahead of the watering.  With temperatures rising into the 90’s again this weekend and into next week, we’ll be watching the garden carefully and keeping the drip lines running.  We need rain and we need it soon or the garden will definitely start to suffer despite our best efforts to irrigate.  The 10-day has little or no rain – let’s hope that changes and a good soaking rain comes our way.

The last few days have been rough on the livestock as well.   The oppressive heat wears on the chickens, pigs and beef calves.   We check their water several times a day and make sure the waterers are functioning properly. 

On Monday evening, Brian and I loaded the second batch of meat chickens for the trip to Arthur for processing.  Because of the heat, we were loading chickens well after the sun was down in order to keep the chickens as cool as possible.  We finished at 11 p.m. and Brian turned around and left about 3:30 a.m.   It’s a very long day when he has to take chickens.

Digging and Cleaning
Garlic Is Hard Work

We are harvesting garlic as time allows.  There are 6 beds each with 2 rows, approximately 200' long.  We estimate we have about 6,000 heads of garlic to dig.  Each bulb is dug by hand and all bulbs are sorted by size, bundled and hung to cure in the corn crib.  This is garlic that was planted by hand last November one clove in each hole.  The harvest is good.  The bulbs are huge and beautiful. 

Soon we’ll be harvesting tomatoes as well as cucumbers, peppers and eggplant. it's a great box again this week. Hope you enjoy this good food.   

Recipe

Grated Beet Salad

1/2 pound beets, greens removed and reserved for another use

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh herb such as parsley, oregano, basil

Salt to taste

Lettuce leaves

Grate beets in a food processor fitted with the shredding blade. Larger beets may have to be sliced into pieces before grating.  Combine the orange juice, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss with the beets and herbs. Season to taste with salt. Line a salad bowl or platter with lettuce leaves, top with the grated beets and serve.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: The grated beets can be dressed and kept in the refrigerator, covered well, for a couple of days. They become more tender but don’t lose their texture, and the mixture becomes even sweeter as the beet juices mingle with the citrus. Toss again before serving.

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. 

Week 5 Vegetable CSA

The month of June is a critical time in our long season.  We are planting like crazy, training new workers, trying to stay on top of weeding, dodging thunderstorms, and harvesting for two deliveries per week.  If we can just keep our heads above water, get some cooperation from the weather and good help, we can have quite a garden established.  It’s the end of June and the garden looks pretty good. There is always more to do and we are never done with the perpetual list of jobs but our heads are indeed above water and the outlook is very bright.



Tomatoes Ready To Be Trellised



Farm News

It has been a bright and sunny week with no rain.  We are taking advantage and getting some good jobs done.  Brian has the umbrella up on the tractor for shade and is mowing any weeds and overgrown pasture.  This week, the kids worked with Brian to put up T-posts for the tomato trellising.  The tomato plants have not been trellised yet and they need it badly.  The plants are beginning to fall over and we don’t want the growing fruit and healthy vines to lie on the ground.  The fence posts are put in every 4 plants and are pushed into the ground with the loader bucket on the tractor.  Using baling twine, we add a string up one side and down the other to sandwich the plants between the twine.  The first string is low to the ground – maybe 10”.  The next is a few more inches up and so on until we reach the tops of the fence posts.  Healthy tomato vines will continue to grow beyond the reaches of the fence posts and begin to spill down the sides later in the season.  It will be a weekly job for someone to add the next level of twine to the hundreds of tomato plants in the field and keep those vines upright.

We enjoyed good help Saturday morning when we weeded and planted.  A bed of kohlrabi and bok choy were planted as well as more basil and  radishes.  The radishes are up – hooray!  Besides all the good planting and harvesting, the help is weeding a lot and keeping things under control.  It takes many hands to keep this garden weeded.

What a great box today!  Enjoy your holiday weekend and thank you for supporting this local organic farm.

In Your Box Today

Carrots var. ‘YaYa’ – The first harvest of carrots this week.  And they are beautiful and sweet!  There are many weeks and much work to produce these carrots.  In case you are wondering just how that happens, here is the life story of these carrots…

·         1000’ sown first week of April, one seed per inch, sown by hand

·         Rows cultivated with the tractor and cultivator  twice in May

·         Thinned  to 2” apart and hand weeded in May twice

·         Weeded by hand and hoe June 24

·         Dug with garden fork June 30

·         Scrubbed and bunched June 30

·         Distributed in CSA boxes July 1!

Leaf Lettuce  – A blend of baby red and green leaf lettuces.  The first planting of lettuce is holding on well.

Bok Choy – Beautiful heads of Bok Choy this week.  Very versatile, Bok Choy can be added to your salads or stir fried.  The crunchy white stems and deep green leaves are all edible and delicious.

Sugar Snap Peas – We’re still harvesting peas but the upcoming heat is really going to be hard on the vines.   Harvesting Thursday afternoon, I did not see too many blossoms so the harvest is going to come to a screeching halt.   Those pods with more size today are excellent sautéed just until they are bright green.  Just be sure to remove the stem and pull the attached string for a more tender bite.

Cabbage  - Cabbage has to be one of the most pretty vegetables in the garden.  We like to leave plenty of those big outside leaves on the heads because they are completely edible.   There are infinite ways to use cabbage.  We slice it over our salads, we sauté it with olive oil or a bit of chicken fat  for a quick side dish or we add it to a stir fry.  This cabbage has such good crunch and texture not to mention outstanding flavor.  Our favorite supper of the week was Teriyaki Marinated Beef stir fried with red cabbage, onions, and sugar snap peas.  See below for the recipe for the marinade – it’s an old recipe from Brian’s mother and one of our favorites.

Parsley  –  Last year, we never came close to producing such lush parsley.  If you recall how wet it was in June, all that rain put our parsley bed under water.   Standing water can kill soil microbes and handicap any plant that dares to try and grow in that soil.  But this is a new year and the parsley has not been under water and it is growing strong.  We throw a bit in our salads, sprinkle over everything and sometimes just grab a stem and munch.

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.

Swiss Chard – The chard is a combination of 3 varieties – Fordhook Giant (white stems), Ruby Red (red stems) and Bright Lites (everything else!).  All so pretty, tender and delicious.  Eat those stems!

Recipe

Teriyaki Marinade

From the kitchen of Sarah Poeppel

1/3 cup soy sauce (we recommend San-J  shoyu or tamari)

1 T wine vinegar

1 T sugar

1 T brown sugar  (we use Sucanat to replace both the white and brown sugars)

1 ½ tsp ground ginger OR 1 T fresh ginger, chopped or grated

1 clove garlic, minced  (or substitute chopped garlic scapes)

Combine all ingredients and place in shallow glass dish.  Add meat of choice – chicken or beef.  Turn to coat all sides, place in refrigerator for minimum 1 hour and preferably 3-4 hours.