CSA Newsletter #12 - August 28, 2021

 

Beans are back!

While returning to the bean patch, a story comes to mind from earlier days. When we were first learning how to garden at the farm, it was often a surprise when something we planted actually grew! The farm was very primitive, with growing plots carved out of a wild area that had not been cultivated for decades. One of our origin stories is about the extension agent that we invited to the farm to advise us on best use of the land. He took one look at the tilted terrain, the copious rocks protruding from the soil, the masses of brambles and weeds dotting the proposed garden space, and he offered a single-word answer for the best land use: Recreation!

So of course we commenced to garden. 

The first bean planting was rather ambitious and we were excited to see the many rows of emerging seedlings that eventually matured into little leafy bushes. And then one day we looked and realized: We've got beans! There was excitement and almost giddy laughter as we waded into our first big harvest - taking along a couple of farm visitors who didn't want to miss out on the apparent fun. We happily chatted as we started to pick. And pick. And pick. And as many of you know, the beans are not all evenly mature on each plant, so picking a large patch of beans means thousands of decisions - is this bean big enough? too big? too crooked to ever mature? It takes focus, as well as the ability to bend over for an extended time period.

Decisions

It got quieter in the bean patch. The visitors peeled off, muttering, "That's enough of that!" And we learned our first lesson about market gardening. We weren't in a backyard garden anymore!

Fast forward a few decades. It's still quiet in the bean patch. But the crew, experienced in the ways of bean picking, comes with earbuds or headphones for a musical, podcast, or books-on-tape accompaniment to what they know will be a long stretch.

Sam with headphones, tuning in to Books on Tape to Pick Beans By
(Watership Down)

The virtual accompaniment might also help to distract from the discomfort of extended bending. No getting around it - bean plants are low to the ground and there are a lot of them. Over time, we develop our favorite styles to protect and support our "bean backs". 

r. to l. - Sam in the "bean bend," Kenny in the "bean crouch," Cale in a "crouch-bend"!

Those of us who are not wired for bean-picking spend our picking time ruminating on the meaning of beans in our society. More specifically, what is the origin of the idiom, "a hill of beans" as in the saying: "That doesn't amount to a hill of beans". Why has that come to depict something with little value? Why don't people think much of beans? 

A Google search supplies this rather bland suggestion: “Hill of beans” is cited from 1853 and 1856. Beans were planted between corn; perhaps corn had a much better market value in the 1850s. Here is a better idea: Beans, being fairly easy to grow, are commonly used in everyday expressions to indicate something of little value. Consequently, someone who isn't worth a hill of beans is seen as being worth very little, although one could argue that today a hill of beans costs a pretty penny.

Since "a hill" in the US is 99 feet (before it becomes a mountain), that would definitely be a lot of beans! But why are beans so undervalued? They might be "fairly easy to grow", but they aren't fairly easy to pick! Our neighbor who picked beans on his uncle's farm tells us that in 1963-64 he was paid sixty cents for one of those old-fashioned hampers full of beans. 

A dime plus a fifty cent piece for this bushel of beans!

Well, times have changed and hopefully our crew (and our beans) do not feel undervalued! However, do you think it was mean that right after picking beans this week, we asked the crew to thin the next patch of beans! Yep, one more patch to go before frost takes the tender bean plants.

The crew thinning the plants in the next patch on, literally, a hill of beans!

Although Freya looks like she is walking on the row of bean plants, she is an impeccably trained dog 😂 and, this time, is only walking on the extra plants that have been pulled and discarded for being too close together. Smart doggo!

And of course modern-day technological ingenuity has solved the "problem" of picking beans. In commercial bean fields, giant semi-sized tractors, tricked out with special bean harvesting attachments, crawl through thousands of acres, grinding all the bean plants in their path. A system of conveyor belts and blowers separates the beans from the leaves while dump trucks follow the harvesters to receive the massive load of beans. It is definitely not quiet in the bean field while these behemoths do their work. But 1-2 bushels of beans are harvested every minute! That's a lot of dimes and fifty cent pieces, but at what cost? At what cost?

Well, beans don't always carry negative connotations- an energetic person is "full of beans". And what of Jack's magic beans that allowed him to grow a beanstalk up to the sky? Those were pretty valuable beans! We hope you will appreciate the GREEN (and maybe yellow) BEANS that are definitely in your share!

We made a three bean salad this week - to stay away from the stove and to appreciate beans! We substituted blanched green beans for one of the the dry beans in the recipe. We used parsley but skipped the rosemary and celery. SWEET BANANA PEPPERS added some crunch, and they are also in your share. Soaking the chopped ONION was a helpful tip for taking the bite out of the onion. It was good!

We also made a sesame noodle salad (too hot to cook!). We did cook regular pasta for the base and then added the veggies we had available: grated CARROTS and lightly steamed SUMMER SQUASH slices. It's really all in the sauce, folks!

If it stays hot, we're going to look into POTATO salad And we know that ribboned and lightly massaged KALE happily go into any of these salads. GARLIC does, as well, and if you aren't saving your TOMATOES for tomato sandwiches, they would be a fine addition to the bean salad - as well as some of the THYME or OREGANO. We don't know which bunch you'll get, but these are friendly herbs that pair with many dishes, and can be easily dried for later use.

That's our best guess on the share this week; there may be some substitutions or surprises, but we do know that it all will amount to way more than a hill of beans!

Original art by Sheila Ruen, gifted to the farm over thirty years ago.

Have a great week everyone!


 

 

CSA Newsletter #11 - August 21, 2021

Sunset clouds over the woodpile

We are rounding the corner into late summer and your share reflects the imminent change of seasons, while still being firmly ensconced in warm weather fare.

SUMMER SQUASH continues to serve, especially the variety, Zephyr, which we particularly favor. It isn't easy dipping the ends in food-grade green wax every night, but the results are so pretty! And the squash is a favorite for its mild, sweet flavor, creamy texture, AND ease of preparation. CARROTS stay with us through summer and fall. We are starting to pick a new patch and you will probably notice the difference in size and more regular shape. Same good flavor! TOMATOES make a slight showing. We are working through our first crop that has been disappointing. We are not disappointed in the tomatoes - it's not really their fault. But early heat, or perhaps poor timing on our part, has conspired to make a very short crop. We are hopeful for the second patch, which we will start harvesting in a week or so.

  POTATOES, LEEKS AND GARLIC call out for a soup; the nights are cool and soup sounds good! CABBAGE is new to the share and there are many ways to use this trusty vegetable - from slaw to soup. It will keep a good while in plastic in the fridge if you can't use it all at once. ARUGULA is also new to the share this week - the unique peppery flavor pairs well with beets and feta (sorry no beets in the share this week!) If Arugula stumps you, try these 31 suggestions for awesome ways to enjoy arugula. Arugula gimlet, anyone? (read the comments for inspiration). 

Although this is a new patch of arugula, the flea beetles got there first! These pesky little leafhoppers are usually a spring challenge, but it's a topsy-turvy year and we have fall flea beetles. Some of the leaves are a bit "holey" but the flavor is not affected at all.

You might be more familiar with "baby arugula" which is what you often see in stores. There are no holes in baby arugula, but also not as much flavor. We prefer to grow our arugula to full size and full flavor.

 Arugula is also called "Roquette" in France and "Rocket" in the U.K. We think you'll blast off with our arugula!🚀 🥗

And finally, again, CURLY KALE. Here are two Kale Salad recipes from the NYT - both look intriguing and a way to jazz up your kale consumption. Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad and Kale Salad with Apples and Cheddar. Remember to slice your kale leaves into ribbons and massage lightly for better digestion and dressing absorption! And if you read the comments for the Kale/Apple Salad you'll see that there is pushback for the seemingly inordinate amount of oil in the dressing. The recipe does say to use half the dressing at first and then see if you need more. Or you could just make half the recipe or substitute your own favorite!

There are four farm vehicles in this photo (and one moon), parked at the barn as we work late - the days are getting longer and shorter!

Have a great week everyone!

CSA Newsletter #9 - August 7, 2021

King Bros. planting lettuce

Late summer - the time of the season when we meet ourselves coming and going! 

COMING: This week we planted 2000 lettuce transplants and almost 1000 broccoli, kohlrabi, and cabbage seedlings. Hopefully the fruits of this labor will show up in your late September/early October shares!

In "the slope" garden, Billy "drops" the cole transplants at the proper distance. Folks come behind to "set".

The same patch (with a different crop) looked like this in early April!

 

And like this in May!

Cale and Ashleh planted most of the lettuces in the "bowl garden". And yes, the shutter clicked just as the doggos took an unauthorized shortcut!

GOING: Harvest harvest harvest! This week we started the onion harvest.

Sweet Spanish onions are the first variety we pulled

Harvesting onions is really quite satisfying. The small root system makes them easy to pull and they come out of the ground with a pleasing "pop". The greens make for easy handles, and a faint onion aroma wafts through the air, bringing a reminder of all the tasty dishes to come!

Sweet Spanish - preferred onion for putting a big slice on your choice of burger!

Ton-yuns of onions! And more to come..

We'll be curing the onions in the pole barn where the garlic is hanging - we're certain they will get along famously.

And they'll also get along in your share, as well as in your frying pan! Here's what's in the box this week:

SWEET SPANISH ONION: freshly dug! Refrigerate what you don't use right away.

GARLIC: pretty well cured; you could still refrigerate, but not necessary.

COLLARDS: round, flat nutritious greens. See CSA Newsletter #6 for lots of Collards info and ideas. AND CSA member, Jackie C., shared this recipe for Quick Collard Greens, also with more info and ideas along with a quick and tasty Collards prep method.

AND you can probably apply those recipes and tips to the bunch of CURLY KALE in your share. Now if you're thinking, hmmm, more kale??? try making potato and kale cakes (google a recipe - the one we linked to is no longer available), using four items in your share, and turn these humble ingredients into a feast! 

And you can use the POTATOES in your share for the potato cakes OR for this classic recipe for "Mom's Potato Salad."

(The previous two recipes, and the next one,  courtesy of Shiloh, co-owner of Tumbling Shoals Farm in North Carolina, and daughter of Frog Holler Farm CSA members! Thanks, Shiloh!)

The ZUCCHINI/SUMMER SQUASH and the CARROTS in your share will combine nicely in this veggie combo of Herb Roasted Zucchini and Carrots. Be sure to slice the carrots small enough so that they cook evenly with the more tender zucchini. 

While you're in the mood for roasting, you can try the Lo-Mein noodle salad we had this week. 

Cooked on the outside griddle so the kitchen stayed cool. We made a lot!

 
This dish can use many of the veggies in your share. In this case we used summer squash, carrots, pac choi, garlic, and green beans - oh, and some broccoli we gleaned from the last patch. The veggies can change with what's available. We actually cooked the veggies on the griddle, but they can easily be roasted in the oven. We used a combo of Sunflower Oil and Toasted Sesame Oil (important!). After cooking the noodles we added them to the grilled veggies. (You could do this in a pan on the stove.) We then added Lo-Mein sauce, mixing and stirring until the flavors were blended. 

So the Lo-Mein Sauce is the secret ingredient, and here lucky readers, is the recipe - thanks to Donya, our farm cook.

1/2 c. soy sauce                                         

1/2 c. water                                                

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 t. onion powder                                                                                                                

2 dashes of salt

1 T. corn starch

Whisk all ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. When thickened, remove from heat, let cool slightly, then mix into noodles and veggies.

We had the Lo-Mein with a Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad. Very nice, and you do have CUCUMBERS in your share again! This will probably be the last time, so enjoy - and save extras in a plastic or veggie keeper bag in your fridge. If you don't enclose the cukes in some sort of airtight container, they will become soft in the fridge - still usable, but, well, soft.

And finally, GREEN PEPPERS return to your share. We have a short crop this year so there won't be many in the future weeks. If you can't use these fresh, peppers are super to easy to freeze - simply cut into preferred pieces and spread out on a cookie tray. Place in the freezer and once frozen, bag them up. Or you could cook them up with this recipe for a Roasted Squash and Pepper Tart, compliments of CSA member Jackie C. (We love to hear how you are using the veggies in your share!) Jackie says she has made this recipe many times over the years and it's good hot or cold. Thanks Jackie!

And, when time is short or we're tired or it's hot, or all of the above, we go the minimalist route: slices of fresh raw veggies, maybe a little cheese or hummus, some good dense bread. We let the veggies shine in their fresh simplicity. Because really, folks, that's what it's all about. From a tiny seed, nourished by soil and water, plants magically emerge in a myriad of form and foliage, fruits arrive in the completion of the growing cycle, farmers harvest and bring them to market, or gardeners pluck and bring them to the kitchen. And we come to the table. Ahhh - it's summer and Nature is bountiful!

CSA member (and artist) Dorothyann sent this photo of a beautiful lunch, composed of veggies from her porch garden. A treat to see - and to eat!

Our peaceable kingdom - Freya, Gus and some of the ladies

Have a great week everyone!