August 2, 2014 - Share #6

Member Patty S. takes a photo of her share each week. This is from two weeks ago. Edible Art! (with kitty)

 WHAT'S IN (THIS WEEK'S) BOX:

BROCCOLI

GREEN BEANS

CARROTS

SUMMER SQUASH/ZUCCHINI

CURLY KALE

RAINBOW CHARD

ARUGULA

LETTUCE

ONIONS - NEW!

TOMATOES - NEW!

GARLIC

STORAGE SUGGESTIONS: Everything does best rinsed, drained, plastic-bagged and refrigerated - except - tomatoes! Leave them out to finish any ripening. Tomatoes have been a bit grumpy with all this cool rainy weather. They aren't ripening quickly, but they are starting. Onions have not been cured, so best to refrigerate for longer storage. Same with garlic.

EATING SUGGESTIONS: Have at it! We are still picking one of our most productive green bean patches ever - as your shares reflect! This week we parboiled the beans, plunged them into cold water and then drained. We sauteed some garlic in olive oil and then added the beans, sauteeing all together until the beans were tender - didn't take long! Some folks like to finish this dish with a pat or two of butter. It was gone before we could get to it!

We chopped tomatoes, mixed them with salt, a little fresh garlic, and an herb of choice - basil is good - and enjoyed a classic summer salad.

We roasted broccoli - separating the florets, tossing with olive oil and salt, and roasting in a 400 degree oven until tender and slightly charred. We also included the stems, cut into thin slices. With fresh homegrown broccoli, the stems are not a woody throwaway!

Your shares also reflect the cool, wet summer we are having - the greens are very happy - tomatoes, eggplant and peppers are sulking. You may be able to find some fresh peaches, although they might be coming in a little late this summer. If you do find them, try this interesting use of the arugula in your box!

Or here's an Arugula Salad that's a meal in itself!

And when we visited Community Farm of Ann Arbor, we were served this simple summer dish, and were reminded how delicious Zucchini Fritters are!

Onions and garlic - taking "the cure" together! Photo by Beniece.

FARM NOTES: We started the onion harvest this week, as your share reflects. The crop looks excellent and we hope to get a dry spell so the onions cure well for long-term storage. But we couldn't wait to put them in the shares! We finished the potato harvest just ahead of the onions, and are sorting the spuds for storage or immediate consumption. You'll be seeing more of them as well!










 Potatoes and onions are heavy crops - not to mention the carrots that get dug twice weekly.  After a long week of digging, hauling, weeding and bunching, the crew often likes to TGIF with pizza night!

Kirstin, Collen and Angie - happy pizza makers!

 Kirstin usually makes the crusts, and then many hands pitch in for some creative toppings. With so many veggies around, the sky's the limit!

Foreground pizza: Bacon, Yukon Gold potatoes, fresh arugula

.

 Back pizza: Black olives, feta, shallots, fresh arugula.

Foreground pizza: Pepperoni, homemade barbecue sauce, summer squash slices, fresh basil. Back pizza: Fresh garlic, homemade pesto sauce, summer squash and tomato slices. All pizza photos by Nhin.

MEET THE INTERNS: KATHRYN PESHKA

Kathryn in the edible flower patch. Photo by Nhin.

Kathryn grew up in Grand Rapids but came to Frog Holler by way of a rather circuitous route. After completing a personal trainer course in Grand Rapids, Kathryn decided to pursue her love of travel and the outdoors by applying to Americorps, where her first assignment was with the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC). Based on the Civilian Conservation Corps model from the 1930's, the Americorps conservation programs place young people, ages 18-24, in service projects throughout the country.

Kathryn's MCC assignment took her to the mountains of Montana, where her job was to build and maintain trails. She worked there through the summer of 2011 and up to November. She was glad it was her last day when she woke up on a November morning and found that the zipper of her tent had iced shut!

So Kathryn really didn't mind when her next  assignment placed her in Arizona. She continued the trail maintenance and control of invasive species around Sedona, AZ, as well as other parks throughout Arizona. Kathryn fell in love with the climate and desert terrain of Arizona, but when a job fell through, she made her way back to Michigan for a short stay until another Americorps position opened up.

This time Kathryn worked for FEMA Corps, in disaster relief, response, and recovery work. First stationed in Missouri to assist with the flood relief, Kathryn next found herself assigned to Queens, New York to assist in the paperwork around Hurricane Sandy assistance. Quite a contrast to the trails of Montana!

Kathryn jokes that she knows the US geography better than that of her home state, as she has traveled very little in Michigan, but obviously a lot in the US! With the end of Kathryn's last Americorps position, she decided to head back to her home state and make use of the Education Award that Americorps grants to those who complete their full term of service.

Before settling into the academic world, Kathryn wanted to spend a little more time enjoying her loves of nature, the outdoors, being around good food, and gaining new experiences. Frog Holler fit the bill, and Kathryn joined us in mid-June. Since coming to the farm she has learned much about how vegetables grow, like seeing for the first time that potatoes grow in clumps underground (not just seeing...digging!). She has also encountered some foods that are new favorites; arugula is a standout - especially on pizza (see above)!

Kathryn will leave the farm in September, seeing friends and doing a little more traveling before settling in to the college routine. Although unsure of her major, one thing is for sure - Kathryn's varied experiences so far will serve her well as she continues to explore, gain skills, and learn!

Kathryn loves cats and one of the farm cats, Gus, is happy to receive her affection! Photo by Nhin.

Have a great week everyone - thanks for bringing your boxes back!

July 26, 2014 - Share #5

WHAT'S IN THE BOX:

One of the many Frog Holler frogs! - photo by Nhin Luu

GREEN BEANS

KALE

BROCCOLI - NEW!

LETTUCE

CARROTS

POTATOES - NEW!

ARUGULA

GARLIC

STORAGE SUGGESTIONS: Everything will stay fresher and crisper if rinsed, drained and stored in a plastic bag in the fridge - except the garlic, which, although not cured, can stay out of the fridge for a while. If you do refrigerate it for longer storage, there's no need to rinse, etc. And the potatoes, which are new potatoes so not cured for long-term storage, will do fine outside of the fridge for a few days. Again, for longer storage, refrigerate to maintain crispness.

 SERVING SUGGESTIONS: A random googling of a few share items brought up this delicious sounding recipe for Arugula, Potato and Green Bean Salad with Walnut Dressing. Who knew? :-) Trying again, the next search produced Mashed Potatoes with Carrots and Kale...and Garlic!
Well, this is fun - let's try another combination. How about Roasted Family-Friendly Vegetables
using broccoli, carrots, potatoes and garlic - a sure winner! See what recipe you can find in your google searches, and let us know if it's a keeper!

If you're seeing green, as in beans, and want to put away some of the extra, beans are very easy to freeze. Simply add to boiling water until the color changes ( just a few minutes), then plunge immediately into cold water. When cooled, drain and package in plastic bags. Next January, you'll be glad you did!

NOTES FROM THE FARM:This week we finished harvesting our garlic; it is now all bundled and hanging in our new pole barn. We also visited the Community Farm of Ann Arbor for a work sharing. Guess what we did? Dug and bundled garlic! We had a great time and appreciate the connection with fellow farmers.

MEET THE INTERNS: NHIN LUU

Nhin used the chain saw to liberate this tree from vines and scrub - now dubbed "the rainbow tree" by Sullivan, seven-year-old farm friend.

It seems to be a theme among our crew this year that they are taking a different direction from what they had previously been doing. For Paul last week, and for Nhin this week, it seems more like a U-turn!

Five years ago Nhin was doing AutoCAD drafting for HVAC systems at an engineering firm in Rockville, Maryland. A degree in Mechanical Engineering from MSU brought Nhin to this world of technology. Although he had always liked mechanical work, he found himself sitting in an office staring at a screen most of the time. Various influences conspired to send Nhin in a different direction and in 2009 Nhin set out on his journey to live, as he said,  a "simple, happy, and eventful life."

Nhin at Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam

Nhin renovated his house in Maryland, a 1920's bungalow, which he then sold. Next he spent a year in Viet Nam, visiting family and friends. (Nhin and his family came to the US when he was three years old and settled in Lansing.) He had visited Viet Nam once before with his family but this time he took a year to really see the country of his birth. Upon returning to the States, Nhin created a functional Ninja 250 motorcycle from two non-running cycles. He then traveled by motorcycle across the country - visiting and helping family and friends in California, Texas, Virginia, Maryland and Michigan. After another six-month visit to Viet Nam, Nhin returned to continue his motorcycle travels, helping family and friends where needed.

Nhin in the carrot patch

Which brings Nhin to Frog Holler - and he is definitely helping where needed! Nhin had also changed his diet along with his life's direction, and was interested in experiencing where food comes from. He gets plenty of that experience, but his mechanical competence keeps him busy in a number of other ways. His skill with a chain saw and other tools has made him a vital assistant for the major fencing project underway this year. (As mentioned in the "oh dear - deer" notes in Newsletter #2!). Nhin can drive a tractor as well as a motorcycle, and is able to pick up the slack for the many mechanical responsibilities that go along with farming.

You might not see Nhin at market; he did go a couple of times in the early spring, but now, as the projects start to pile up, it's a standing joke that we can't let Nhin work at the market when there is so much he can do on the farm! He does get off the farm in his free time, exploring, by motorcycle of course, area lakes and diversions.

Thistle - photo by Nhin

In addition  to his mechanical expertise, Nhin enjoys some sports; he played at #1 singles on his high school tennis team and is polishing his volleyball skills on neighborhood courts this summer. Nhin is also an excellent photographer, as demonstrated in this newsletter, and a skilled breakdancer (!).

Someday Nhin will get on his motorcycle and ride away from Frog Holler, continuing to seek, as he said in his resume, "..vital knowledge and skills that are required for life, not just a job." We don't know when or where he is going, but whether it be in tech support or tomato support, we're sure Nhin will have something to contribute!

Farm work area with tractor, pickup and motorcycle!- photo by Nhin

 Have a great week everyone - and thanks for bringing your boxes back!

July 19, 2014 - Share #4

WHAT'S IN THE BOX:

A caravan of garlic! The harvest has begun...

KALE

CARROTS

BEETS

GREEN BEANS - NEW!

ZUCCHINI OR SUMMER SQUASH

CUCUMBER - NEW!

ARUGULA

SWEET BASIL

FRESH GARLIC


STORAGE SUGGESTIONS:
Greens (including arugula): rinse, drain and store in plastic bag in fridge.

Root Veggies (carrots, beets): Separate from green tops and store in plastic bag in fridge to retain crispness. Cook the beet greens like spinach or chard.

Green Beans, cucumber, zucchini: in plastic in the fridge to stay crisp

Paul hanging garlic for curing

Sweet Basil: put bunch upright in glass of water out of fridge or wrap in damp towel in fridge

Fresh Garlic: in fridge for longer storage, since it isn't cured yet.

WHAT TO DO WITH THIS BOUNTY!:
Lots of good eating in the box this week, folks! You can take those beets, carrots and garlic and make Sunshine Beets. - a beautiful and nutritious addition to a dinner plate! And, according to Health.com, beets are "rich in iron, fiber, folate, and potassium, and also full of disease-fighting antioxidants." Read more about beets at the Health.com article, "13 Veggies You Only Think You Don't Like" Yes, sadly, beets are one of those veggies many folks think they don't like, but we're all out to change that, aren't we? :-)

If you want to make a tasty grain dish to accompany your veggies, the arugula in your share suggests Fried Rice with Arugula. It might sound strange, but this is a Frog Holler original and everyone who tries it seems to like it. We often use coconut oil instead of olive oil for this recipe, but your favorite cooking oil will work fine. This is a new patch of arugula so the greens are young and you might just want to enjoy their peppery flavor without cooking - in salads or on sandwiches.

Green beans - first picking! After snapping the beans to desired length, prepare by blanching in boiling water for a few minutes and immediately plunging into cold water to preserve the bright green color. Heat oil and saute a couple cloves of chopped garlic. Add beans and a half bunch of chopped basil. Saute to desired tenderness. Salt and pepper to taste and you're there!

And you can prepare the zucchini or summer squash the same way. Chop to desired size, saute with garlic and the other half bunch of basil. Equally delicious!

Ah, Kale - our faithful share box friend! Health.com reminds us that " kale provides a day's worth of vitamins C and A, and more than five times the recommended amount of vitamin K." Running out of prep ideas? Head on over to "13 Healthy Kale Recipes" and get inspired! From that group, this Crispy Kale Chip recipe looks particularly yummy - and easy!

Well, your share box is almost empty. Just take that cucumber, slice it up for a munching snack, sit back and.....

Paul in the hoophouse tomato row

MEET THE INTERNS - PAUL BURGER
One year ago, Paul was working at a wealth management firm in Bloomfield Hills. What happened??

Paul's own words best describe what happened. We are linking to his story, The Road to Frog Holler, which is too long to include in the newsletter but highly recommended for all to read - interesting, instructive and inspiring!

We appreciate that so many thoughtful young people find their way to Frog Holler and hope that their experience on the farm can contribute to the the lives of intention that they are creating!

Our thanks to Paul for sharing his story!

Paul (r.) in a previous lifetime

Paul (l.) in this lifetime

Kathryn, Nhin, Kim and Paul bundling up that garlic

Have a great week everyone - thanks for bringing your boxes back!

July 12, 2014 - Share #3

If you don't get around to making your own kale chips, stop by our market stall to try (long-time intern) Kirstin's latest farm products: Smokey or "Cheesy" Kale Chips! A vegan, gluten-free, raw(dehydrated) and delicious kale option!

WHAT'S IN THE BOX:

CURLY KALE                                                                              

RAINBOW CHARD

BEETS

CARROTS

ZUCCHINI OR SUMMER SQUASH

SUMMER ONIONS

FRESH GARLIC

PARSLEY

PERENNIAL HERB -choose from several options tba


STORAGE SUGGESTIONS:

All the veggies do best if they are rinsed, well-drained and stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator - EXCEPT usually garlic! This is fresh-pulled garlic that has not gone through the curing process. If it were cured, it would sit outside your fridge waiting to flavor all your delicious dishes. Since this is fresh, and if you don't use it right up, refrigerate the bulb for longer storage. But betcha it won't be around that long! Our garlic crop looks excellent this year and we're happy to get a jump on the harvest!

A tagine

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: From a North African Cooking cookbook on clearance for $1.00, that was bought by one intern, borrowed from her bookshelf by another intern and brought to the farm kitchen, opened by another intern and cooked from, and then showed to the newsletter editor who found this recipe that uses five items from your share, comes this delicious Moroccan vegetable medley! Sorry we can't supply the tomatoes or pepper called for - hopefully soon!

We did enjoy a Swiss Chard Tagine that you could easily approximate with some of your share items. And Google tells us that "a tajine or tagine is a historically Berber dish from North Africa that is named after the type of earthenware pot in which it is cooked." Well, we were very non-traditional and used a wok, but it was still delicious!

Roasted Beets with Carmelized Onions and Feta. Isn't that the most delicious title? Well, try the recipe - you can't miss!

And this interesting beet and chard combo dish also looks delish! But shame on this recipe for not using the chard stems! Just include them, perhaps letting them cook a bit longer than the leaves, or go to Newsletter #1 for more chard stem ideas!

Lots of ways to use the veggies in this week's share. We aren't introducing the zucchini with a fanfare, since you'll see them again...and again...and again!  But what a loyal reminder that summer is here!

"Save the Date" card designed (and colored!) by Kim O'Keefe

HOLLER FEST! Preparations are under way for our annual farm and music festival; we hope to see you there! As CSA members, you receive one or two weekend passes depending on your level of membership. But despite the free pass, we hope you will consider volunteering at the festival. Holler Fest is a big community effort and it's fun to be on Team Holler Fest! When you click on this Volunteer! link, you'll see the various areas where you can plug in. Just fill out the handy form and we'll get back to you with some schedule possibilities.Go to hollerfest.com to see all the fun activities and fantastic musicians on tap for this year!

MEET THE INTERNS: KIM O'KEEFE

Kim picking collards

Kim hails from Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland, and is very good-natured about the ribbing she gets as the only "Buckeye" on the crew!

Kim graduated from Ursaline College in Ohio with a major in English Literature. However, during college she pursued her lifelong love of art with many art classes, and, after graduation, attended the Free Columbia School of Art in upstate New York. This school is part of the Hawthorne Valley Association, which is "...dedicated to promoting social and cultural renewal through the integration of education, agriculture and the arts." With a farm that was part of the association right next door, Kim found herself visiting, then interning -  and always enjoying the time spent working with her hands and close to the earth. Her stay on this Bio-dynamic farm also opened her eyes to a more holistic way of farming.

Kim's next step was to teach English as a Second Language at an immigration center in Cleveland, where she enjoyed working with the different cultures. She looked into graduate study oriented toward teaching high school English, but found herself being drawn back to farming, especially with the growing realization of how vital good quality food is to the health of our society and culture. She decided to get more experience on a farm, with an eye to eventually connecting her love of teaching, art, the outdoors, and farming. She also thought she might try a farm that wasn't in Ohio, which brought her to Frog Holler!

At Frog Holler, Kim has enjoyed experiencing the cyclical aspect of the growing season - how the crops come and go and the focus keeps shifting to what new crop is coming into maturity. She appreciates this unique opportunity to be outside all day and has enjoyed her regular role as the kale and collards picker, and how these plants just keep giving and giving! She also likes making the flower bouquets, which speak to her artistic side.

 Some new dishes that Kim has enjoyed at the Frog Holler lunch table are Massaged Kale, Collard Wraps, and Hummus with Beets. And you can make two out of three of those recipes with this week's box!

Kim's future plans include teaching, but perhaps in a more alternative setting. She would still like to travel, and possibly use her background teaching ESL as an opportunity to experience other cultures while offering some service.

 When we saw that Kim brought art supplies for her stay at the farm, we asked for her help with some of our design projects. One result was the beautiful Holler Fest card pictured above. More projects are in the works, and we look forward to perhaps being another farm where Kim can experience the "integration of education, agriculture and the arts"!

painting of carrots, by Kim
Hawthorne Valley Farm

painting of chard, by Kim
Hawthorne Valley Farm

 

July 5, 2014 - Share #2

We usually see the farm from the ground up but  here's a  sky down view! The farm pond is in the middle right and the back garden and Holler Fest site is in the middle left. The front gardens and barn are at the middle top of the photo - kind  of hard to spot. As you can see, we're gardening in the woods! Thanks to a friend of CSA member Faye for sending along this aerial view!

WHAT'S IN THE BOX: (storage and cooking suggestions below)

BEETS

KALE - CURLY AND/OR RED CURLY

SCALLIONS

SNOW PEAS (EDIBLE PEA PODS)

LETTUCE

ARUGULA

CARROTS

GARLIC SCAPES

BASIL

PERENNIAL HERB CHOICE - TBA!

Storage suggestions:

Leafy greens, summer onions, arugula, garlic scapes: store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (or dedicated greens storage bag)

Root crops (beets, carrots): remove greens and store in fridge. A plastic bag will keep the roots firmer if you are going to store for a long time. Store the greens as above, and do use the beet greens - they are loaded with nutrients! Carrot tops can be saved for soup stock.

Snow peas: in plastic in the fridge

Basil: stems in a glass of water, outside the fridge. Use in 2-4 days.

Serving suggestions: 

The crew enjoyed Sesame Peanut Salad this week. It uses snow peas, scallions and carrots from your share. There are a number of other ingredients but when you have them all assembled, this makes a big batch of salad which is excellent for leftovers!

Our packing area filled with kale

Kale seems to now be firmly embedded into our cultural taste buds. We eat it almost daily at the farm and a favorite way to eat it is as salad - either raw or massaged. Recipes abound on the internet, and here is one of the often-shared recipes for Raw Tuscan Salad with Pecorino. Substituting Feta Cheese for the Pecorino would not be a bad thing! Curly kale can be used instead of Tuscan - just slice it thin.

Ed. note: we usually don't include large pieces of kale ribs in our salads, as this recipe seems to suggest. We generally cut the kale into smaller pieces, and here is a nifty tip for doing that from friend of the farm, Nan Bauer: "Here's a cool technique I learned from some Portuguese relatives (Portuguese Kale Soup is the national dish, at least unofficially): after stemming the kale leaves, stack them, roll them up tight like a cigar, then slice as thin as you can. Technically, this is a chiffonade. It is the best way to eat raw kale, I think."

Nan also wrote a super article about Frog Holler Farm for the spring issue of Edible Wow. If you didn't see it, read it here!

Some cooks are adamant about not cooking kale. This posting from Slate.com for Raw Kale Salad has a little attitude, but also a delicious recipe for "massaged kale", a way to break down a bit of the fiber to make the kale more digestible while retaining the nutrients that might be lost in cooking.

At the farm, we take our kale all ways - cooked, raw, massaged, blended into smoothies, juiced into juices - it's all good, and you'll have lots of chances to explore kale options throughout the season. What's your favorite way to prepare kale?  We always like to hear!

NOTES FROM THE FIELD:   
Oh dear - deer! Lettuce and beans have provided some snacking for a determined deer in our back garden. As the above photo shows, we garden in a very woodsy, deer-friendly habitat and coexisting peacefully with these beautiful creatures has always been our goal. We can't blame them for thinking the veggies are always greener on the other side of the deer fence, but we have plans for much more substantial fencing in the weeks to come. We'll get along a lot better if they stay on their side of it! For now, one of the crew has agreed to sleep in his tent in the back garden.Thank you Paul!

Other than that, regular rains have kept the irrigation pumps quiet and the crops (and weeds!) growing!

Beniece with her pet chicken, "Bindi"

MEET THE INTERNS - BENIECE LIPPERT

Beniece takes the inevitable questions about her name with good humor. As she has said many times, "It sounds like Denise but with a B," and credits her mom for choosing such a unique name for her daughter.

Beniece grew up in the Lansing area. She attended the University of Michigan School of Nursing, where she hoped to realize her passion for helping people. However, her passions for being outdoors and traveling did not mesh with the nursing profession and hospital environment. So Beniece hatched another plan!

Currently Beniece is applying to the MSU Organic Farmer Training Program, which is a "nine-month intensive training program in year-round organic farming focusing on diversified production of vegetables, livestock, flowers, fruits and herbs for local markets."

But before entering into these serious studies, Beniece wanted to get some hands-on experience, which brought her to Frog Holler! She arrived in mid-April, so was able to start out working with the seedlings in the greenhouse. She has found it gratifying to see the whole process of growing, from seed to seedling to field to market to fork!She enjoys getting  her hands in the dirt every day and even though there is a lot of work, says it doesn't feel like work. The arrival of the chickens this summer was a big plus for Beniece, a longtime animal lover. She quickly became the 'mother hen' for the little flock and has taken care of important tasks, like naming the chickens - oh, and also cleaning out the coop!

Since coming to Frog Holler Beniece has enjoyed learning about some new veggies, like Kohlrabi and Collards, which she hadn't experienced before. A favorite dish has been "massaged kale" and she provides us with this delicious recipe for vegan Cheesy Kale Chips.

Beniece says she is enjoying this summer so much that she doesn't want it to end, but end it will and she actually has some interesting plans beyond the farm. After gaining more skills at the MSU training program, she hopes to indulge her passion for traveling by "WWOOFing"; that is, traveling to organic farms around the country and world and working in exchange for room, board and experience. ("WWOOF" stands for Worldwide Workers On Organic Farms and is an organization that facilitates this form of travel and learning.)

After Beniece has covered the globe, or at least New Zealand, she hopes to find an area where interest in organics is high but the market is still open for new growers. By then, Beniece should have enough skills and experience to step into her chosen "field", ready to work outside and get her hands dirty every day - and there will probably be some chickens clucking in the background!

Thanks for bringing your boxes back, and have a great week everyone!