CSA Newsletter - July 4, 2020

Crew member Cale floating between two worlds

Cale with this week's share, ready for a picnic

Well folks, nothing says summer like opening up your share and seeing....

ZUCCHINI!

Former intern and zucchini elf Mary Kate

We're always happy when the zucchini/summer squash harvest begins because we like to cook and eat this generous and versatile vegetable. Perhaps we will all eventually weary of the cavalcade of zucchini, but we'll share some of our favorite ways to prepare throughout the season - and you share yours!

SCALLIONS - a spring/early summer treat so enjoy while you can!

GARLIC SCAPES - another seasonal treat

Martha Stewart approved! See recipes below

BROCCOLI - no comment, just a crescendo of cruciferae!

LETTUCE - Red Leaf

KALE - Tuscan

SUGAR SNAPS - new this week and another fleeting spring treat

See recipes below

BASIL - from one of our lunches this week - about to become bruschetta!

We cheated and got tomatoes from Carpenter's Greenhouse at the A2 Market - ours aren't ready yet!

CILANTRO  

Yes, Cilantro is here again for some of you, but can you have too much cilantro? If you answer Yes, try these ten suggestions and you'll be looking for more of this uniquely pungent herb.

That's it for the box this week - now what to do with the bounty:

STORAGE TIPS: Rinsed, drained and put in plastic or vegetable-keeper bag in fridge. Even basil, which is holding up okay for us this week in the cooler.  

RECIPES: For for your Basil, make pesto for "a mouthful of bright summer"! Also, this summer dressing, for salad, veggies or grains, uses Basil or Cilantro and Garlic Scapes and is extremely tasty!

Not sure about those Garlic Scapes? Martha has lots of ideas for using garlic scapes and says that "Cooking garlic scapes changes their character from unapologetically bold to appealingly sweet."   Lots of ideas in the article so take a look and enjoy them bold and fresh or steamed and sweet.

If Sugar Snaps are new to you, there is a good reason, as they have only been widely available  in the States since the 70's when they were developed by the Gallatin Valley Seed Co. in Twin Falls, Idaho. They quickly became a vegetable phenomenon, causing the Burpee Seed Co. to say in 1979, "Rarely does Burpee suggest so strongly that our customers try a new vegetable. But Sugar Snap is truly fantastic and deserves a place in your garden." (Of course they were selling the seed but they weren't too far off.)

This Washington Post article about Sugar Snaps gives some background and suggestions for use. At the farm we like to snack on them fresh (after "snapping" and removing the string) as well as add to stir-fried vegetable medleys. This recipe for Crispy Tofu With Cashews and Blistered Snap Peas looks delicious and uses Sugar Snaps (snap peas) and scallions, along with a bunch of other ingredients. Probably too complicated to fit into a farm cooking routine, but if you try it, let us know!

MEET THE INTERNS: CALE STOKER! 

Cale picks Kale

Cale hails from Adrian and fun fact: he is named after the famed American race car driver, Cale Yarborough rather than the nutritious vegetable we are now more familiar with. Another fun fact: Wikipedia describes Cale Yarborough as an American farmer, businessman and then goes on about NASCAR wins.  We don't know what the other Cale farmed but we're glad that this Cale's name set him on the vegetative rather than the automotive course!

The good-natured recipient of many comments on his name, Cale did happen to be picking Kale when we took photos, thus....

Cale loads a bale of kale!

.

Cale/Kale

Cale, along with his partner Ashleh, is back for his second year on the Frog Holler crew, but we have known Cale through our festival, Holler Fest, for several years. Cale carves beautiful wooden spoons and has given carving demos at the festival. (See one of Cale's spoons in the Basil photo above).

Spoons by Cale

More Cale spoons

Cale was also renowned for an epic session on the last day of an early festival when he cheerfully washed dishes for what seemed like forever! And Cale brings that same cheerful attitude to weeding crops for what seems like forever!

An advocate for justice in all aspects of society, Cale recommends and recently gifted the book, Farming While Black, to the farm.


In Cale's spare time from the farm, he and Ashleh tend an extensive home garden. After gardening season, Cale carves spoons, bakes bread, makes pies, and generally lives close to the earth.

And sometimes Cale makes pie in the summer - strawberry/rhubarb yum!

See more of Cale's spoons and Ashleh's jewelry on their Instagram page: caveandcanopy.

Haiku (and photo) from Cale

My name is my name
though not born in December
I am frost hardy







Although he may have been named for a race car driver, Cale has made his own track, tracing a rhythm in life based on the cycle of the seasons, the feel of the earth, and the connection with fellow travelers on the path. Thanks for joining us Cale!

Cale moving at the pace of the pond

Have a great week everyone - try to keep cool - in the pond, lake or pool!

CSA Newsletter, June 27, 2020

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”

    - Margaret Atwood

Remember that sweet white doggie princess from last week's newsletter?

Greetings from the Farm Crew and Critters! It has been a good growing week on the farm, although a little more rain wouldn't hurt. See what y'all can do about that! (We got some on Friday - thanks!)

HERE IS THE BOX FOR THIS WEEK:

Green Bibb

LETTUCE X 2     You will get two heads from these varieties

Green Leaf

Red Leaf

Romaine

SCALLIONS - SPRING GREEN ONIONS

Bright onion flavor for salads and stir-fries

GARLIC SCAPES -  garlic-flavored greens for stir-fry, salad and soup

Harvesting these garlic seed-sprouts helps make bigger cloves

KALE - CURLY OR TUSCAN

Firm leaves for stir-fry, soups, kale chips!

Also called "dinosaur kale" 

CABBAGE - first tender cabbage harvest!

the lowly cabbage - so versatile and nutritious!

SNOW PEAS - edible pods popular in salads and Asian cuisine

A fleeting spring treat 

BULB FENNEL - unique anise-flavored flattened bulb

Popular in French and Italian cuisine

CILANTRO - an acquired taste or acquired addiction!

STORAGE SUGGESTIONS:

Everything will do best with a quick dunk, then drain, place in plastic or veggie-keeper bag, and store in fridge. 

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS:

This week we roasted the garlic scapes until almost charred and crispy - very tasty!

 We also enjoyed our first feast from neighbor Maan Abdul-Baki, who occasionally provides the crew with authentic Lebanese fare. You can find the recipe for Lebanese Lentil + Chard Soup on p. 60 of  the Frog Holler Recipe book and see the actual soup AND the soup-maker here:

Using cilantro, scallions and chard or kale!

I told him to smile! :-)

Bulb Fennel! Not familiar? Try this Shaved Fennel Citrus Salad with Orange Vinaigrette, and make a new friend!


NOTES FROM THE FARM: MEET INTERN MILAN!

Milan (pronounced like the city in Italy, not the town in Michigan!) Anderson is our only residential intern this year, joining us at an uncertain time in late April, but agreeably quarantining for her first two weeks so that she and we felt comfortable together.

Milan graduated from the University of Michigan, majoring in Applied Movement in the School of Kinesiology, with a Minor in Spanish.  She followed graduation with pre-med courses at Oakland University until taking a break and heading to some farms for a change of pace. After working at farms in the midwest, Milan taught science in two different Chicago schools. She continued her interest in growing and working with plants at an urban farming initiative in Chicago called Urban Canopy. After volunteering at farms in Puerto Rico this winter,  Milan returned to the area where she grew up (Detroit northern 'burbs) and looked for farm work relatively nearby. Enter Frog Holler!

Milan continues her interest in health and healing, but at present is exploring the healing aspects of  herbs and wild plants. At the farm she has been harvesting and preserving wild medicinal plants for eventual salves and tinctures. Milan's ongoing interest in herbalism has led to the launch this week of the Fresh-Picked Medicinal Herbs section of our Produce ordering web site! You can see it here: https://froghollerfarm.square.site/ (scroll down) and learn more about the traditional uses of these humble "wild plants" that grow so generously and offer so much.

Milan harvesting elder flowers

Thanks Milan for sharing your skills and interests!

Nature's wild bounty

Nature's garden bounty

Have a great week everyone and thanks for returning your boxes!

CSA Newsletter - June 20, 2020

Solstice greetings! What says summer like dogs and roses?

Cinder and Freya smelling the roses - and probably a lot of other things!

WHAT IS IN THIS WEEK'S BOX:

LETTUCE X 2 - you'll receive two heads from this beautiful patchwork quilt of lettuce

KALE - CURLY OR TUSCAN

Milan, Keegen and Edwin harvesting in the kale patch

RADISHES - NEW PATCH!

Keegen and Milan harvesting in the radish patch

We couldn't have photographers follow Keegen and Milan around all day :-) but, along with the rest of the crew, they also harvested:

SCALLIONS - SPRING ONIONS 

In salad and stir-fry. Use some of the tender green part as well

GARLIC SCAPES - twisty, curly bonus harvest from the garlic plants. Use in salad and stir-fry. Tender with mild garlic flavor.

Harvesting these "scapes" gives the garlic more energy to make nice cloves!

BROCCOLI - high in Vitamins C and K.

Spring broccoli is so tender!

ARUGULA - NEW PATCH! We have to share early arugula with the flea beetles, who are mighty little jumpers as they nibble from leaf to leaf, but they don't bother the plants that much and definitely don't affect the classic, nutty/peppery arugula flavor!

Arugula, sometimes called "Rocket" or "Roquette"

SWEET BASIL - Genovese variety 

What tastes like summer more than basil?

And finally, those of you who are getting your first share  - Frog Holler Farm Recipe Book!

RECIPES: At Frog Holler, we grow what we eat; we eat what we cook; we cook what we grow. Our little recipe book is chock full of original ideas for creating delicious plant-based meals - recipes that have evolved over years of growing, cooking and eating at the farm!. We also believe that recipes are "jumping off points", so be inspired to add your own creativity to these plant-iful ideas!

Recipe Book suggestions for cool salads in a hot week: Massaged Kale Salad, p.28 - using kale, of course, with add-ons and dressing of your choice.

Sesame "Snoodle" Noodles, p. 63 - using broccoli, scallions/scapes

At the farm this week we had Roasted Rad-nips, p.72. We also had Original Arugula Rice, p. 51and a simple rice salad with chopped garlic scapes, chopped scallions, sliced radishes, and a bit of chopped basil. A vinaigrette dressing finished off a satisfying simple salad supper!

STORING YOUR PRODUCE: Most of your veggies keep best in a plastic bag in the fridge, with these exceptions: Radishes keep best with the greens removed, and then put in a plastic bag. What to do with the greens? Lots of possibilities (besides compost) and the greens, as in most root vegetables, are tons more nutritious than the roots themselves! Store the radish greens as you would other greens.

Basil does not like to be refrigerated; it shows that by the leaves turning brown or black. We pick basil Friday afternoon, then dip it, pack it in a box, and store covered wth a wet cloth overnight, out of the cooler. At home, try putting your bunch, stems down, in a glass of water out of the fridge. Bet you'll use it up before you have to think about long-term storage!

NOTES FROM THE FARM: WEEDING!

Keegan, Cale, Ashleh, Milan weeding in the onion patch

Some wag once said, "Plant a garden with your spouse, weed a garden by yourself." Well, our farm crew did not have to weed alone, and with good humor they took on a rather daunting task in the onion patch. You can see what they were facing in the foreground of the photo, and what they had accomplished behind them. 

We realize that ... a weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows! (Doug Larson) We do keep lots of land where the wild plants can grow unfettered and contribute to the ecosystem in their unique and varied ways, but onions like rows and those weeds must go! 

Onions do require a full season of growing before they yield those beautiful pungent storage globes, so truth be told, we just may be revisiting this task during the season. One author (Richard Powers) described a character in a story who was "...as eager and generous as weeds." We appreciate our "eager and generous" weeding crew who give us their time and energy to bring the harvest home. Watch for onions in your share boxes come September.

Have a great week everyone!

Frog Holler Farm CSA - Share #1!

Crew member Keegan with beautiful head of Red Leaf Lettuce

Introducing our first share of the 2020 season - ta dah! It seems like it was a long strange winter but Mother Nature knew what she was doing and brought us our spring greens when the time was right.

What's in the box:

LETTUCE X 2 - Red Leaf and Green Bibb

Green Bibb - Red Leaf above

SCALLIONS - spring green onions

GARLIC SCAPES - Thin, curly, vibrantly green stalks with a mild and sweet flavor all the way through. The garlic counterpart to scallions. Chop fresh into salads, or roast or stir-fry.

RADISHES - red outside, white/pink inside

SWISS CHARD - we grow "Rainbow Chard", beautiful jewel-tone stems and veins

KOHLRABI - a crisp and tender spring root crop. Use fresh as a "dipper", roasted or in stir-fry.

ARUGULA/CHIVES Flavor Booster Bunch - nutty/peppery arugula plus garlic chives

RECIPES FROM THE HOLLER! - each member gets a copy of the Frog Holler recipe book, full of farm and festival favorites. Let this be a helpful resource as you cook from your share box this summer!

Here are some suggestions from Recipes from the Holler for this week's share:

Roasted Rad-Nips, p. 72 - Radishes are not just for slicing into salad!

Radical Radish Sandwich, p. 45 - Radishes are also for slicing into a sandwich!

Original Arugula Rice, p.51 - AND Arugula is not just for chopping into salad!

Frog Holler Salad Mix, p. 25 - you have some of the fixings for our famed salad mix: two different varieties of lettuce, Rainbow Chard, and the Flavor Booster bunch.

FROG HOLLER FARM - a little history
This is an excerpt from our first CSA newsletter of 2010. Although it was ten years ago, the history of the farm - and the beauty of the pond - remain the same. However, in light of the present urgency for justice for all and the increasing uncertainty for the health of our planet, we remain ever more dedicated to the ideals and inclusiveness that the former stewards of the land lived by and inspired in us and many others. 

Our farm pond - the heart of the Holler!

Drive 45 minutes west and slightly south of Ann Arbor and you will find yourself among many lakes and gently rolling hills – an area of southeast Michigan dubbed the “Irish Hills”. There you will also find Frog Holler Farm, with 120 acres of those rolling hills, along with many wooded sections and a large pond at the center. It’s a pretty piece of land.

From the 1940’s to 1972, the land was owned by Dr. Robert and Cora Lees Gesell. Dr. Gesell was a professor of physiology and Chairman of the Physiology Dept. at U-M Medical School in the 40’s and 50’s. Mrs.Gesell was an ardent conservationist and when she decided to sell Frog Holler after the death of Dr. Gesell, asked that the new owners continue to care for the land and animals and to “forever call the land Frog Holler”. This was the Gesells’ pet name for the land, no doubt inspired by the frog chorus that emanates from the “hollers” between the hills (or perhaps by the frogs that holler!).

Dr. Gesell shocked his colleagues in 1952 when he delivered a paper calling for the humane treatment of animals in laboratories and the cessation of vivisection in the name of scientific research. He also enlisted his daughter, Christine Stevens, to “do something for the plight of animals in laboratories”. Christine did more than “something”; she was known as the “Mother of the Animal Protection Movement” and was instrumental in passage of the

Christine Stevens at the Ann Arbor Humane Society in the early '50s

Animal Welfare Act, The Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Humane Slaughter Act, the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act and the Wild Bird Conservation Act. Christine, who passed away in 2002, was also founder of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL).

Although we never met any of these extraordinary individuals, we continue to draw inspiration from their dedication to fairness and justice for the land and all its inhabitants.

By gardening organically, we do our best to respect the land and the complex interweaving of plants, insects, birds, animals and people that creates a healthy ecosystem. And of course we call the land Frog Holler!


Thanks everyone - enjoy your veggies!

August 13, 2016 - Share # 8

from the New Yorker, Aug. 8  & 15

WHAT'S IN THE BOX:

KALE! :-)  and we don't think it's for nothing!

ZUCCHINI/SUMMER SQUASH

BEANS

BEETS

CELERY

LEEKS

ONIONS

CABBAGE

TOMATOES - at last!


NOTES FROM THE SHARE BOX:

For the beans, try a cool bean and feta salad. We have also been freezing beans which is easy to do - just blanch in boiling water for a few minutes, then plunge in a bowl of cold/ice water. Drain and bag up for delicious winter soups and side dishes! It's not really soup weather now, but if we get some rain this weekend, as promised, the leeks and celery will contribute nicely to a classic Potato Leek Soup. You could sneak some kale in there too! And here's a use for zucchini you probably haven't tried: Sweet Zuc' Biscuits. Make your pooch happy while using zucchini - the cooking challenge for August! And one of our members took some of the over-sized zucchini last week and said she was going home to make Zucchini Apple Crisp! Okay, maybe folks are getting desperate to use zucchini :-), but the internet supplies numerous accolades and recipes. You can also grate zucchini and freeze it for winter quick breads. Now you wish you had more zucchini!

And for fresh summer tomatoes - no recipe necessary!

NOTES FROM THE FARM:

Bioluminescence is the production of light by living organisms and we witnessed that for the first time at Frog Holler this week. We had been doing some roadwork for Holler Fest and dug up an old stump that had probably been rotting for ten years. That night when intern Marc walked through the woods after dark, he came across a large glowing area. Wondering if he was about to be abducted, adventurous Marc kept walking toward the greenish glow. He lived to tell the story and the rest of us went back the next night to see the fantastical glowing earth and tree stump. Photos needed a long exposure, but intern Nhin was able to capture these interesting shots.

The first one shows the area illuminated by the camera flash. Not much glow to see.

The second photo shows the glowing microorganisms scattered through the area. (But it really doesn't do it justice!). The third photo superimposes the glowing areas over the stump and ground.

The "foxfire" has slowly faded as it has been exposed to light. We finished the road work, covered up the stump and earth, and are left with a story to tell!

Illuminated with a flash.

Glowing in the dark

On the weather front: We have watched many rain predictions evaporate and are now looking at the results of a very hot, dry summer. Crops are hanging in there, and some seem even happy with the heat - like beans and tomatoes. We are watering constantly and will do our best to keep things growing until the fall rains come. An upside of the dry conditions is that flavor gets concentrated in some fruits and veggies. The tomatoes are really tasty this year!

While keeping the sprinklers going we are still preparing for Holler Fest, and this week you will receive your CSA passes to the Fest - one or two depending on your level of memberships. Bi-Weekly folks who get their shares next week will get their passes then. Market Share members can get their passes whenever they shop.

We hope to see you all at Holler Fest! We still have some volunteer slots open. If you want to join the team and have fun making the festival happen, click the volunteer link and let us know! And check out the Holler Fest web site for lots of photos, info and a flavor of the Fest. We have been updating it regularly with more information about activities at the fest.

And keep those rain dances going!

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