Share # 18, October 15, 2011 - Last share!

Thanks everyone - see you next summer!!


IN THE BOX:

Lettuce - Romaine or Green Leaf

Broccoli

Sweet Peppers

Eggplant - one Italian (dark purple, rounded) and one Oriental (elongated, light purple)

Arugula

Radishes

Scallions

Carrots

Garlic

Potatoes

Winter Squash

Sweet Potatoes

NOTES FROM THE FROG HOLLER RECIPE BOX:

Did you know there are 126 recipes in the Frog Holler Recipe Box? One of the memorable dishes from this past season was in response to the frustration of sharing too much broccoli with a ravenous groundhog. What to do with all those slightly nibbled heads of broccoli? Make Broccoli and Scallion Quiche!Hopefully you will continue to use the Recipe Box as a resource in the months to come.

And of course there is also the whole wide internet, which has exploded with food blogs over the past few years. Some favorite resources include "gojee.com," that has a feature where you can list what you have , or what you don't like, or what you crave, and it will access recipes according to those guidelines. F'rinstance, typing in "broccoli" in the "I have" slot brought up many mouth watering recipes. Try this simple Marinated Broccoli for starters, and just keep clicking links until you have had your fill!

Vegetarian Times is a magazine and web site loaded with delicious suggestions for cooking vegetables. A search for "broccoli" on the web site led to this intriguing option: Tahini-Roasted Broccoli over Raisin-Studded Bulghur.

The Whole Foods web site has myriad vegetable recipes as well. The "broccoli" search resulted in Broccoli Salad with Walnuts and Currants, a simply prepared dish, jazzed up with a dynamite dressing.

As for the rest of the box - easy! Make a celebratory last CSA salad with the lettuce, arugula, grated carrots, sliced radishes, chopped scallions and peppers. It will be beautiful! Then fire up your oven and get roasting! Slice eggplant, toss with olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees. Turn the slices after the first ten minutes and check for doneness after 15 or so minutes. Potatoes and sweet potatoes take well to roasting - winter squash, of course, bakes up beautifully. But you could save those last three veggie options for later on in the month or season. They keep well, and will hopefully offer a reminder of good eating times with your Frog Holler CSA share!

NOTES FROM (THE COMMUNITY FARM OF ANN ARBOR) FIELD:

The Ann Arbor area abounds with new and experienced organic growers and we are happy to be friends with many of them. On Monday of this week we joined forces with the crew at the Community Farm of Ann Arbor, the area's oldest CSA. This is the farm who sent a crew out the day before Holler Fest to help in our fields. We were happy to return the favor on a beautiful day at a peaceful farm with a dedicated and fun-loving group of growers.



Kirstin, Chrissy, Angie and Cathy get instructions from Anne Elder, Co-Team Leader, along with Paul Bantle, at the Community Farm.


Starting to plant the garlic cloves. Each Frog Holler crew member teamed up with a Community Farm worker. It was fun and interesting to see how another farm went about this task. There were some differences but many similarities; you basically have to get the garlic in the ground.



After a delicious picnic lunch, we headed back to the planted garlic fields to cover the rows with a thick straw mulch. This will keep down weeds and hold in moisture throughout the growing season next year.

Almost done!


Hooray! Finishing up a fun and productive day!






Have a great winter everyone! We will contact you after the first of the year to see if you want to join the Frog Holler CSA for 2012. Thanks for your support!

best wishes from....

Cathy, Billy, Kenny and Edwin - the King family

Angie, Kirstin, Chrissy, Evan, Tacy, Emily and Bretton - the Frog Holler Farm crew

Share # 17, October 8, 2011

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: We have enjoyed the gift of these Indian Summer days to work outside in shirt sleeves again. The warm days and cool nights have combined to give us ......
FOG HOLLER! :-)

CSA Evaluation Form at the end of the newsletter!

This is the last share for some of our bi-weekly members. Next week is the last distribution. See further on in the newsletter for "Life after the CSA".


IN THE BOX:

Lettuce

Spinach

Kale (Russian)

Carrots

Winter Squash

Sweet Potatoes

Brussels Sprouts

Onions

Garlic

Potatoes

Parsley

Green Beans! (new patch - very tender!)



NOTES FROM THE FROG HOLLER RECIPE BOX:

Everywhere you look there seems to be a squash recipe these days. Here's a delicious Squash-Curry Bisque recipe from the A2Yoga fall newsletter!

The People's Food Coop "Coop Deal" flyer continues the theme of sweet and spicy squash with this recipe for Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash. It could be made with any squash or probably even sweet potatoes.

The Vegetarian Times newsletter was full of pumpkin recipes this month. Again, these could be made with winter squash or sweet potatoes. Try yet another version of the sweet and spicy with this Moroccan Pumpkin Stew.

Or you can go all out sweet and try this delicious Maple-Pumpkin Spice Bread. Yum!

The recipe section of the Whole Foods web site is loaded with tantalizing recipes. Brussels Sprouts can either go savory with nuts and bacon or slightly sweet with apples and shallots.

Looking for a different and delicious contribution to a tailgate party? Try these Cajun Pickled Green Beans and Carrots. You'll have to assemble the spices, but all the veggies can come right out of this week's share box.

LIFE AFTER THE FROG HOLLER FARM CSA

Well, now that you are addicted to fresh, local vegetables, what happens after next week? Fortunately, Ann Arbor is probably unique in the midwest for the number of full-season options available to folks who want to keep their nourishment largely local and their carbon footprint largely light.

First off, the Ann Arbor Farmers Market will be chock full of fall veggies well into November. Your Frog Holler farmers will continue to offer hardy greens, lettuces and salad mix, as well as squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes and onions - and anything else that continues to grow until the frost nips it. Supplies will dwindle but it will be well worth a stop for many weeks to come.

Other growers on the market commit to the winter months. Goetz Farms has been known known to offer kale and hardy greens right through the winter. Brines Farm has been a leader in offering a winter CSA loaded with fresh greens from their hoophouse(s). There are a few spots left; if interested, contact Shannon Brines asap! Tantre Farm is a good friend of Frog Holler and a major player on the local organic growing scene. Look for them at the Farmer's Market throughout the Fall. They also offer a one-time large Thanksgiving share that may be available to non-CSA members. You'll have to check with them, but if you want a large supply of storage vegetables, it's worth it!

Rena Basch at Locavorious started a frozen food CSA to help folks eat locally, even if not freshly, throughout the winter. Here is Rena's description:
FROZEN LOCAL FRUITS AND VEGGIES SHARES FROM “LOCAVORIOUS” WINTER-TIME CSA AVAILABLE: Some of you may have limited freezer space or haven’t had time to preserve as much of the local harvest as you would like for winter. Locavorious provides locally grown, delicious, frozen fruits and vegetables in the winter months, and there are still shares available for winter '11-12. Locavorious members receive 4 monthly pick-ups of local frozen fruits and veggies from several Michigan farms – most within 50 miles of Ann Arbor. Shares are $200. Contact Rena for more information at rena@locavorious.com or 734-276-5945 or visit www.locavorious.com to sign up.

Rena works hard to obtain organic produce for freezing when possible; her quality standards are very high, to be sure!

Mary Wessel-Walker, another friend of Frog Holler, has created a prepared food CSA called Harvest Kitchen. Mary also works hard to source high quality, organic when possible, ingredients for her prepared meals. She also has a stall at the Farmer's Market so you can talk to her there and perhaps sample some of her culinary creations.

These are just a few ideas to help get you through the winter months. And perhaps you have had a chance to freeze some of your extras from this summer. But if not, happily there are many options and choices in this area to keep our diet local and nourishing.

FROG HOLLER FARM CSA EVALUATION FORM

Here is the link to the evaluation form; we appreciate your taking time to let us know how the CSA worked for you this year. As you are considering your CSA experience, you may find this article linked from the Slow Food organization of interest. It provides a general overview about the benefits of joining a CSA; perhaps your experience resonated with the viewpoint of the writer or perhaps you have a different perspective.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has often been described as providing benefit to the members by furnishing a variety of fresh, locally grown produce; benefit to the community by keeping revenues circulating locally; and benefit to the global community by reducing carbon emissions and dependence on long-distance shipping. We do know that as your CSA farmers, we have benefited from your support and willingness to share in the growing adventure with us. We do hope that your experience has been positive, and we're very interested to hear how we can do better!

Have a great week everyone!