July 18 - Share # 4

Bringing in the garlic!

 WHAT'S IN THE BOX: 

Lettuce

Kale - Tuscan, or sometimes called Dinosaur

Rainbow Chard

Zucchini or Summer Squash

Cucumbers - pickling and slicing

Red Cabbage

Carrots

Fresh garlic

Cilantro 

ABOUT THE BOX:

This "Seattle Summer" has continued to provide copious greens, while the hot weather crops are wondering "what happened"?? Looking at last year's CSA newsletter, we see that there was no lettuce for the share - not the case this week! But we did have green beans in last year's share - not the case this week! (we should have enough beans for shares next week).

New this week are cukes! And you don't have to save those smaller cukes for the pickle crock - pickling cukes are sweet, crunchy, and lunchbox-sized!

The dark green, crinkled Kale goes by Tuscan, Lacinato, Cavalo Nero or even Dinosaur, since theoretically it looks just like a dinosaur's hide. But it's not as tough as tyrannosaurus! This is a nice kale variety for stir-fry, kale chips, kale salad, and smoothie! And here's a tasty braised Kale recipe using the kale, carrots and garlic in your share.

The fresh garlic is also called "wet" garlic, which means it's fresh out of the ground and not cured for long-term storage. It also means it's crunchier and sweeter! Ann Arbor is lucky to have a local organic garlic farm growing over forty varieties(!) of garlic, and from our friends, Dick and Diana Dyer, of the Dyer Family Organic Farm (aka Dick's 'Pretty Good Garlic), we offer this recipe for Chicken Fricassee with New Garlic.

 Now you won't get  the 8-12 heads of garlic in your share that the recipe calls for, but you can find it at the market if you're inspired!

It's early to be getting tired of zucchini, but if you're looking for another use for these prolific veggies, here's a Cornbread recipe, rendered moist and tender with the addition of zucchini.

Or try this simple Summer Squash Salad. We know it's simple because it's a recipe from a farmer! At the farm, with not much time to fuss in the kitchen, we keep it simple, fresh and delicious! Summer Squash or Zucchini Stir-fry with fresh herbs of choice (basil or dill are excellent) is a consistent go-to quick summer side dish. Nope, we're not tired of zucchini yet!
 
NOTES FROM THE FARM:

Garlic was one of the themes this week as we began the garlic harvest. Reporting the garlic harvest is becoming a newsletter ritual at this time, as last year's newsletter chronicled the garlic harvest, as well as 2013 and 2012. This year's crew put in a good effort as with crews before them, and you'll enjoy the fruits of their efforts in share boxes to come!

Digging the garlic up on "the slope"

Tacy with garlic heading to drying shed

 

 

Mikki bundling the garlic

Nhin ready to hang the garlic bundles

Nhin hanging garlic

Happy garlic crew - but that's only a quarter of the patch!

(RE)MEET THE INTERNS: TACY SALLEN

Anastasia "Tacy" Sallen

 Tacy interned at Frog Holler in 2011 and was featured that year in the July 9 newsletter. Four years later she returns for another tour, and we're glad to have her back!

In 2011 Tacy was heading off to the University of Oulu in Finland  to earn a Masters degree in
Education and Globalization. She completed her two-year program with a Masters thesis titled, "Cultivating Utopia: an argument for messy, mundane process and urban agricultural projects". Tacy credits her time on the farm for inspiring her study of the cultural value of gardening and food connections for certain populations. (Or maybe we were just messy? :-).

Oulu in northwestern Finland, half way up the western coast

Tacy enjoyed her time in Finland, but, being a Florida native, she found herself missing the sun - especially during the winter when two hours of sunlight was the norm for a good stretch of the time. But the reverse of that was the summer when blackout curtains were needed in order to sleep; then it literally was "the land of the midnight sun"!

Tacy in 2011

 When Tacy returned to the States, she spent some time with her family and then headed to Chicago to fulfill a promise to her dear friend and college roommate to live together after graduating. Well, that friend, Chrissy Martin, happened to be the sister of one of our present interns, Angie Martin (who is also a friend of Tacy's). When Tacy's job as an after school and assistant teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory School ended in June, she had an open summer. With the proximity of the farm and good friends already on site, the lure of Frog Holler proved irresistible! And actually Tacy had already strengthened that connection when she returned to the farm last Holler Fest to be part of the ace cooking crew.

Tacy is enjoying this second time as an intern, feeling like she can understand more about the farm processes, or at least ask more informed questions. She hopes to apply the knowledge and experience she is accumulating to eventually have her own homestead, while also finding a way to teach kids in a setting that facilitates some of her core principles, such as the value of nature and the connection to the land in providing a more holistic learning environment.

We are certain that Tacy's dedication and compassion will find an expressive outlet and we're happy to spend another summer with her positive energy  and thoughtful participation in all aspects of the farm.

Tacy - glad to be back!

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







http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/grilled-summer-squash-baba-ghanoush?mbid=nl_fig_07072015_Daily&CNDID=34997590

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/shaved-summer-squash-salad

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/three-greens-soup-with-spinach-gremolata

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/zucchini-cornbread