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!