CSA Newsletter #3 - June 26, 2021

photo by Keegen taken at the market last week

 

We "heart" strawberries and basil! And hopefully you do too, as they are slated to be in your share this week. But then we never really know for sure, do we? :-) It will be the last of the berries, but the first of the basil, as we turn the corner on spring crops and head into midsummer magic and madness!

In addition to Strawberries and Sweet Basil, you will find:

One head of lettuce, most likely Romaine

An excellent salad dressing is in last week's newsletter!

Chard - we grow Rainbow Chard but sometimes the leaves look downright neon!

photo on the farm by Donya Kiana

Broccoli - a generous harvest led to the broccoli surprise in your share last week. 

Kale - you know the old saying: A Kale a day keeps the doctor away! 😉

Scallions - new this week and not for long. Another spring, day-length sensitive crop.

Kali thought there was something interesting on the counter but she was quickly removed and didn't care when she found out it was only scallions!

RECIPES FROM THE SHARE:

CSA member Dorothyann C. shared this enticing photo of a recent share-inspired breakfast. Fresh raw kohlrabi slices with hummus to dip and cooked beets - straight or with hummus. Some protein down the middle and, on the side,  sauerkraut from our area master fermenters, and good friends, The Brinery.

So you don't always need a recipe: just look in the box, mix textures and colors, cooked or raw, embellish according to your palate - and savor a classic, seasonal, locally-produced repast! Thanks Dorothyann for the inspo! We welcome members' experiences and/or photos with their share veggies. Feel free to email or text to: 517-414-3269.

And sometimes a recipe is just what we need to learn a new twist for an old friend, or learn to make a friend of a new veggie. CSA member Sharon W.  shared this recipe for a Chard and Egg Bake. Although she hasn't tried it yet, we think it looks like a good way to have your greens for breakfast or brunch, dinner or lunch! The post has other ideas for cooking chard (and broccoli!) and it's from a food blog with lots of inspiration called Healthy Seasonal Eating. Thanks Sharon for the tip!

This week on the farm we made a big batch of Pesto and added a dollop to stir-fried veggies for instant summer. We also used it as a flavorful layer in Tempeh Reuben sandwiches. Delish! The link takes you to a page in the Healthy Seasonal Eating blog with lots of pesto information and possibilities, including vegan pesto, which is a thing and does work! 

NOTES FROM THE FARM: 

Well, the rain is mainly the name of our game

And about that we rarely do complain

But if the forecast comes true, it will be a pain

And the reason for our strawberries on the wane.

But those rain clouds carry a silver lining

They help grow the veggies for your excellent dining!

And they also send a warning that we must heed:

From every raindrop sprouts a happy little weed!

(And that's what we'll be doing next week)

Above, the Brothers K in the strawberry patch - very likely the last picking. They are focused and can't look up right now, but do wish you all a very good week!

CSA Newsletter - June 19, 2012 - Week #2

photo by Donya Kiana

What is wrong with this picture?? The rainbow isn't wrong - and it's even a double one if you look closely. And the rainbow means we got some rain so that is definitely not wrong. The rainbow is arching over our front gardens and framing Freya, the Maremma farm pup. That's not wrong! And there's a cute little goat loose in the background - wait, that is definitely wrong! 

Our two farm goats, the coyote tricksters of the animal world, happened to escape their pen right in the middle of last Friday's storm, when we were trying to finish the harvest, load the truck, stash the seedlings, and close windows. The goats made a beeline for the house where they proceeded to nose around on the porch, climb on shelves, and generally cause chaos. We took them back to their paddock on the hill and there haven't been any escapes since then.

WHAT'S IN YOUR SHARE: Or maybe it should be "what might be in your share." How do you like how the Chard and Beets we mentioned in the newsletter turned into Strawberries last week? No one relinquished their berries to exchange for Chard, so it was probably okay. :-) And the Curly Kale somehow morphed into Tuscan Kale - also called Dinosaur Kale. That's the adventure of a CSA - thanks for your willingness to go with the flow!

So this week we're almost positive you will find two beautiful heads of lettuce in your share - possibly Romaine and Red Bibb.

You will receive a bunch of Kale - either Curly or Tuscan.

We do have Beets for you this week - and last week we encouraged you to cook the greens as well - they are loaded with nutrients. Here's a nice simple recipe for cooking your beets and greens. Roasting beets, as this recipe suggests, seems to concentrate the flavor and the sweetness. We also sometimes simmer the beets and greens in orange juice. And Feta Cheese is a natural beet pairing - especially with a cool beet salad. This Beet Salad with Feta looks delicious, but we are shaking our finger at the suggestion to discard the greens! Remember to remove the greens from the beets and store separately if you're going to keep them for a while.

Garlic Scapes make another appearance. Garlic Scape Pesto  is a popular way to beat the basil season and still have the flavorful, creamy sauce known as "pesto". If you make it, be sure to chop the scapes first before going in your food processor.

Oh yes, and Strawberries! No recipes needed!

But here is an excellent recipe from the farm cook Donya for dressing that beautiful lettuce:

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing

3/4 cup Bragg nutritional yeast (can use Parmesan instead to make vegetarian)

3 large cloves of garlic

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tablespoon ume plum vinegar (can be omitted, but highly recommend!)


Optional: Half a fresh lemon, juiced


Put all ingredients into a large mason jar and blend with an immersion blender (if you don’t have one, then make sure you finally chop the garlic, and shake dressing thoroughly. - or - use a regular blender)

This delicious dressing is a farm staple, but it makes a lot1 You can reduce the measurements or just keep it in the fridge until you have used it up!

Enjoy your "salad days"

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

Frog Holler Farm CSA - First Newsletter 2021!

 

Greetings from the King family! l. to r. - Kenny, Cathy, Edwin, Billy. Missing- Emily Foley. Photo from last fall taken by farm resident, Donya Kiana.

Welcome to our first share - and welcome back to many of you! And in this first week we welcome you all to the adventure of eating seasonally and locally - because we don't exactly know what will be in the share until we finish the harvest! The heat has made the cool weather crops a bit sulky and a little hard to predict. With more heat and not that much moisture on the horizon, we need to get these crops out of the field to make room for the happy summer campers. 

So some, but not all, of the following veggies will be in your share. And if not this week, certainly in following weeks! Here's the scoop:

Lettuce - one or two heads - either Red or Green Leaf, Red or Green Bibb or Oakleaf

All good!

Kohlrabi - alien looking veggie but so delicious! Peel the tough outer skin and find a tender, crunchy inside, perfect for slicing into "dippers" for hummus. Also good in stir-fries or roasted. Grate fresh kohlrabi with radishes and dressing of choice for a "kohl" slaw. When fresh, tastes like a cross between apple and cauliflower. Definitely in share.

Curly Kale - very tender at the start of the season. Enjoy in stir-fries or Kale Salad.

 Definitely in share.

Beet greens with baby beets. Beet greens are loaded with iron, calcium and magnesium, so be sure to include them when you cook up a mess of greens! Maybe in share.

A traditional spring treat - in salad or stir-fry. Maybe in share.

"Rainbow Chard" - use like spinach - steamed, in stir-fry, or salad. Stems are tender too, just cook a little longer. Or use as a celery substitute for crunch in potato or veggie salads.  Maybe in share.

Radishes - a classic salad addition for crunch and color. This week we made Roasted Radishes
Roasting takes the bite out of radishes and transforms them into a rich, mellow side dish. The radishes are the sulkiest in this weather, but there is still a lot of radish goodness in the bunch. 

Garlic Scapes - a rather new addition to American cuisine but a longstanding Asian traditional food. Garlic Scapes are tender seed stalks of garlic plants, removed so that growing energy can be concentrated in the bulb. Chop and add to salads, dressings, or stir-fries for a fresh garlic flavor. Definitely in share.

STORAGE: Give the greens a quick rinse, dry and store in plastic or veggie-keeper bag. Roots such as kohlrabi, beets and radishes store best if separated from their greens. They will stay firm for a week or two if separated from their greens. Treat garlic scapes the same as greens. Kept in a plastic or storage bag, scapes will also keep a long time. You can freeze them as well.

NOTES FROM THE FARM: As you know, it has been an up and down spring, in terms of wide temperature vacillations. It's funny to talk about the heat now, when not that long ago...

When faced with a rather dire forecast of snow and ice, we knew we had to protect our early plantings. Here's what it looked like on April 20 as the snow started to accumulate after we spent the afternoon setting up row covers.

And here's what it looked like as we started to harvest the lettuce in your share. The row covers worked!

We hope that your "row cover" gave you good protection this winter and you are meeting the spring feeling as healthy and robust as our lettuce patch! Thank you again for joining us this season and we'll let our newest farm resident, Kali, say goodbye.

Have a good week everyone!