Newsletter #7 - July 24, 2021

 

Black Swallowtail butterfly just hatched at the farm thanks to efforts of Donya

Last week our newsletter focus was on weeding - which was also our farm focus. Weeding isn't over but this week we will focus on harvest. So, here's WHAT'S IN YOUR BOX:

BEANS - GREEN OR YELLOW

Harvesting the beans

The beans!

KALE - LACINATO/TUSCAN/DINOSAUR - many names, same variety. Dark crinkled leaves, good for stir-fry or Kale Salad. (Be sure to massage your kale!)

Harvesting Kale 

Bunching Tuscan Kale

ZUCCHINI (GREEN)/ SUMMER SQUASH (YELLOW)

Harvesting zucchini

Zucchini and summer squash - picked and packed

CUCUMBERS -  NEW!

Edwin starts picking cucumbers

The cucumbers! (Actually pickling cukes - which are also excellent for fresh eating)

CARROTS

Digging carrots

Bunching carrots

HERB BUNCH - EITHER THYME, OREGANO OR SAGE

l. to r. Thyme, Oregano, Sage

MAYBE: PAC CHOI (ASIAN GREENS)

Kalisi approved

MAYBE: BEETS

Maybe without the greens

STORAGE: Most veggies like a quick dunk, drain, and being stored in a plastic or veggie-keeper bag. Remove greens from carrots for storage. The herbs can be refrigerated for a bit and also dry easily - hang upside down out of direct sunlight.

THYME: a versatile herb that goes with many veggies and soups. Especially nice with carrots; a zucchini stir-fry would also take nicely to thyme.

OREGANO: has a significant place in Italian and Mexican dishes. You could try steaming or sautéing green or yellow beans and adding oregano and a marinara sauce.

SAGE: often associated with poultry and turkey stuffing, try these Savory Herb Biscuits for a delicious pre-holiday use for sage. 

We don't know which bunch you will get; explore and enjoy!

ZUCCHINI BOATS: Looking for ways to enliven your zucchini preparation? Try one of these versions of Zucchini Boats: traditional or vegan. Usually a kid favorite as well. At the farm, when cooking time is often limited, we adopt the jet-ski version of zucchini boats: Slice zucchini in half, cover halves with cheese of choice and maybe a sprinkle of garlic powder or salt, bake until zucchini is tender and cheese is browned. Works best with medium to small zucchini or summer squash.

FARM NOTES: As you can probably see from the photos, harvesting is a hats on, heads down sort of affair. Since we haven't yet figured out how to sit in easy chairs and have the plants come to us, we will continue to bend our backs and bow to the bounty. Thanks to the hard working crew under those hats - we'll get them to face the camera in future newsletters! :-)

Hope you enjoy this mid-summer box!

Freya says, "Have a great week everyone!"

CSA Newsletter #6 - July 17, 2021

Kalisi hitches a ride as Billy starts to address a very weedy field

We had one dry day this week when we could approach some fields that have been weedy but too wet. Most of the cultivation at Frog Holler is done by hand, by inclination and incline. Inclination: Working with hand tools gives us a chance to see closely how the plants are doing, plus hand tools offer more precision and an ability to clean up close to the plants. Incline: Located in the "Irish Hills" of southeast Michigan, there is very little flat ground on the farm. Tractor cultivation does best with big fields (we have smaller "patches" due to the uneven terrain) and flat ground, so the tractor doesn't inadvertently slip and start taking out the veggies instead of the weeds!

Hence, we crawl and cultivate, and kitties join us, in their unapologetically opportunistic ways!

So satisfying when it's done!

WHAT'S IN YOUR SHARE:

A super healthy helping of KALE (frilly leaves) and COLLARDS (flat round leaves)! These two hardy greens are related – both are technically a variety of cabbage in the species Brassica oleracea. As a result, both greens are very nutritious and rich in vitamins A, B, E and K. Collards are lower in calories and high in fiber and protein, while kale contains more iron.

CARROTS - Vitamin A! Along with beta-carotene, fiber and Vitamin K. Plus yummy crunch.

ZUCCHINI/SUMMER SQUASH - low in calories, fat and sugar. High in folate (a B-vitamin). And happy to get along with just about any herb or seasoning you prefer!

GREEN PEPPERS - NEW! - low in calories and loaded with good nutrition. All varieties are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid, and fiber.

FRESH GARLIC  - Garlic is low in calories and rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6 and manganese. It also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients.

PARSLEY - either flat or curly. Parsley is an excellent source of vitamin K and vitamin C, and a good source of vitamin A (mostly in the form of beta-carotene), folate (vitamin B9), and iron. So much more than a garnish!

POSSIBLY: GREEN BEANS AND/OR CUCUMBERS We're just starting to harvest the patches and will see how much we get. If not this week, soon!

A NOTE ABOUT COLLARDS: A question that has circulated in foodie circles for some time is:

  Are Collards the New Kale?

It's a catchy title, and perhaps a helpful reminder that Collards, long relegated to the two-hour boil with a ham hock stock pot , are just as nutritious and versatile as their trendy cousin Kale. The linked article will provide several helpful recipes, including the use of Collards as a wrap for bean burritos or veggies. We served Collard Wraps at our music festival one year to many favorable comments.

Twenty-one different heirloom varieties of collards!

You can also learn a lot about collards from this extensive Collards primer: how to cook collard greens (101). Many interesting approaches in this article, including Collard Greens Slaw with Feta.  It's a far cry from the two-hour boiled ham hock, although that traditional recipe remains firmly in the Collards Canon. At the farm, we usually braise collard greens - first sautéing garlic and onions, adding the rinsed and chopped collard greens, and then simmering in soup stock until tender. 

Hopefully you'll enjoy all the Superfoods in this week's share - have a great week everyone!

Chickens chillin' on a picnic table: A chick-nic?

CSA Newsletter #5 - July 10, 2021

 

Morgan, Edwin and Cale on the digging line with some fruits of their labor in the foreground.

Garlic digging week! A yearly tradition at the farm, and despite being hot and steamy, the garlic showed us that it was time to dig. Digging too early doesn't give the garlic bulbs enough time to fully develop. Digging too late and the bulbs might stat to deteriorate in the moist ground. This week, with temps unfortunately in the nineties, the time was just right! But first....

WHAT'S IN YOUR BOX: 

CARROTS 

CURLY KALE: There are some excellent tips for Kale Chips in last week's newsletter.

ZUCCHINI - NEW! The arrival of zucchini means summer is in full swing. And although zucchini's relentless productivity is the butt of many jokes, especially by summer's end, we pick the fruits when they are young and tender and always enjoy a quick stir-fry. There will be green and/or yellow squash in your box.

YOUNG NAPA - NEW! These Asian greens are on their way to becoming the large bulbous vegetables you may be familiar with. But we plant Napa thickly so we can thin the patch early and enjoy the greens and the mildly spicy flavor long before the plants make their big heads. Use in any stir-fry.

SCALLIONS: This is the end of the scallions for this year, so the greens aren't so purty. We will miss their unique mild onion flavor, but look forward to the bulb onions that are not too far in the future.

HERB: Hasn't been harvested yet but most likely basil or parsley - you will know!

GARLIC: This is fresh-picked garlic so it has not gone through the drying process and is not meant to store. Use it up or keep in the fridge.

To learn how this humble bulb made it into your share box, read on for the Garlic's Journey! Since this adventure happens every year, we went back to past years' posts for some background and more photos:

NOTES FROM THE FARM: the week of the "stinking rose'! (July 11, 2020)

Garlic has been called the stinking rose for nearly a century, thanks to a French writer and physician, Henri Leclerc, who in 1918 roughly translated garlic’s ancient Greek name, scorodon, to skaion rodon, and then to rose puante, or stinking rose. *

Although garlic is in the Lily family (along with tulips and, of course, lilies), roses are not in the Lily family. But the "stinking rose" nickname has been affectionately embraced by garlic lovers; there is even  a popular California restaurant named "The Stinking Rose" and renowned for including garlic in every dish. (now temporarily closed )

Garlic, like many garden crops, requires patience and delayed gratification. We plan and we plant; we weed and we wait. Garlic, however, might win the delayed gratification prize, requiring planting in the year before harvest!

Planting garlic in the fall is often the last field task of the season - Ashleh, Cale, Kirk, King Bros.photo from 2019.

After the single garlic cloves are planted one-by-one in the rows, the entire patch is covered with straw, to deter the cloves from premature sprouting in the fall. The garlic stays snug under the straw throughout the winter and then, when the weather and ground are warm enough in the spring, each clove starts to send up a green shoot. 

When the cloves sprout, the straw is removed from the rows so the garlic can get a good growing start. A spring weeding is usually in order at this point. Then, when the plants reach a certain maturity, they start to make the "garlic scapes" that have been in your shares. We remove each scape so that the growing energy goes into making good bulbs, rather than going into the seedheads that the scapes represent.

Garlic scape with froggy friend - photo/2011

Once all the scapes have been harvested and the garlic bulbs have reached their full size, the green tips start to brown and we know it is time to dig.

Mia bringing in an armload of garlic on digging day - photo/2013 

Ashleh and Cale on the digging line - 2020

After the entire patch has been dug, the piles of garlic - bulbs with strong stems attached - are sorted into bundles that can be hung for air-drying.

Needing to be bundled - 2010

A bundling party - 2010 (l. to r. - Jenny, Chrissy, Angie, Julien, Dorothy,  Kat)

Then the bundles need to be hung for quick and thorough drying so that the dried bulbs will store.

After the last bundle was hung - Edwin, Nhin, Stevie, Tacy - 2015

Bundling in our new pole barn - no junk yet! Kathryn, Nhin, Kim, Paul - 2014

 

More bundling - Mason, Marc, Nhin (his third and final garlic bundling) - 2016

Bundling in the pole barn - now with lots of storage/junk! Cale, Milan, Ashleh - 2020

Completing the hanging of the bundles - Cale and Keegen, 2020

All this eventually leads to the garlic in your share:

One bulb - many hands!

We hope this little photo essay gives you an idea of the many stages involved in growing garlic, and the many crew members, present and over the years, who have been willing to offer their time and hands to this process. We certainly appreciate their good-natured help! 

By joining a CSA, not only do you get a "box of produce", you also have an opportunity to connect more closely to the cycle of the growing season, to acknowledge (for better or worse) the vagaries of Mother Nature, and to appreciate the many hands that help create the story of each item in your box!

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

Cale, digging with the rising sun to beat the heat (but not the bugs!)

 

CSA Newsletter #4 - July 3, 2021

Bench warmers

You probably don't want to see all the weeds we were looking at this week, so how about a fine photo of some of our good-looking chicks! We did manage some important weeding  in between dodging raindrops. We never like to complain about rain, but some of our low ground is very saturated and needs a little time to dry out before we can approach some necessary weeding. We'll see what Mother Nature has planned!

Some new items and old friends in your share this week:

CARROTS -  NEW - first picking of the new patch. 

HAKUREI TURNIPS - NEW - the link will give you some background information on this relatively new, and increasingly popular, variety of turnips. We enjoy them roasted, in stir-fries, or sometimes in a fresh veggie salad, marinated with dressing for a bit. These are nothing like the old-fashioned bitter turnips that you might be more familiar with. Do give them a try!

FRESH DILL - NEW -  while you're roasting the Hakurei Turnips, you can also add a pan of Roasted Carrots with Fresh Dill. OR you can make the Chard and Egg Bake from last week's newsletter, because you do have... 

RAINBOW CHARD in the share again this week, along with...

KALE! Yes, the kale patch is loving this wet weather and is happy to join your share each week. If you're feeling a bit of a kale overload, try this Kale Chips recipe: Six Tips for Flawless Kale Chips. A lot can go wrong when making Kale Chips, but with utilizing these tips, and a bit of patience, you will have a nutritious and satisfying snack, PLUS your kale supply will magically shrink!

SCALLIONS - either red or white, just different colors - same flavor.

BEETS -  as with most vegetables, roasting concentrates the flavor and sweetness. Beets take a little longer than carrots, that take a little longer than Hakurei Turnips, but if the temps stay cool, you can have a lovely roasting session and perhaps create a special dish for the holiday with roasted red beets, white turnips, and (sort of) blue Kale! 

If you would rather not roast, just boil your beets until fork-tender, slip the skins, and go on to prepare this Russian-inspired Beetroot Caviar. (only veggies - no fish products). It makes a vibrant and nutritious spread on a nice slice of rye bread.

Or you could skip this whole healthy veggie thing and make a Flag Cake for the holiday!

Recipe (and calories!) courtesy of Ina Garten, Food Network

Although we prefer the Five-Layer Earth Cake! 

If you feel like baking all day!

But we actually would prefer to spend our time outside - and probably weeding! However you spend it, have a lovely holiday weekend and a great week to come!

Dill fireworks!

Space

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!