CSA Newsletter #16 - September 25, 2021

 

Yes, this week summer left on Tuesday and fall arrived with a bit of a vengeance the next day. Here, branches of Black Walnut, a lone Cottonwood, a Box Elder, an Oak, and Mulberry tree all get tossed about in Wednesday's wind, while the chickens remain nonplussed:

Your share has landed firmly into fall, but with one toe still in summer, as you'll see.  Here's the scoop:

SWEET POTATOES - Some of these spuds have been speared in the digging process but we trimmed them and the cuts have cured and healed. They are good to go; you can always cut off a bit from the trimmed end. As was chronicled in last week's CSA newsletter, sweet potatoes grow underground and you really can't see them when digging.  The crew did a great job but it's almost impossible not to spear a few spuds. The alternative would be to get one of these commercial sweet potato harvesters!

This would probably completely fill one of our rows!

We appreciate that we can share with our members these less-than-perfect specimens, products of human-scaled labor. That's what we eat, and we made Chili with Sweet Potatoes this week. Hit the spot as the temps turned cool. 

We also roasted some sweet potatoes; we like to add cinnamon and/or cumin - or both!

The sweet potato sizes vary; some of you got the biggest ones - just cut off and use as much as you want; store the remaining in the fridge. Otherwise, they do not need to be refrigerated, as long as you'll use them up in a week or two.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH - Roasted or in soup, butternut squash is one of the most versatile of the winter squash. 

CARROTS 

ONIONS

GARLIC

BEANS - are back! This is our last patch for this season, and, although the cool nights are slowing the growth, the beans are pretty happy so far. Don't know if we can say the same for the bean pickers :-)

HERB - possibly parsley or dill

CURLY KALE - Lately we have been featuring summer kale salad recipes with peaches and other fruit; now it's time for a heartier kale salad. This dish is almost a meal in itself; add a hunk of good bread and you're good to go! 

Hearty Kale Salad with Chipotle Pecan Pesto

The rest of the share will be a surprise in terms of how the harvest goes. But it won't be a surprise in terms of a veggie variety - no cardoons in this week's share!

Notes from the farm, and Hollywood:

We mostly stayed out of the fields on windy, wet Wednesday, but had no wiggle room for the Thursday and Friday harvest days. The crew donned their wet suits and headed out to the kale patch. (thanks to neighbor Tom Hines for photos)

Ashleh harvesting kale -  suited up and still smiling

Edwin, collards, light rain, also smiling!

Hoods up harvesting!

More summer-into-fall scenes on the farm:

These bouquets were over a week old and were on their way to the compost pile but...

...this bee decided there was still plenty to work with here. The flowers stayed!

The turning colors of the leaves are still subtle at the pond; blue sky not so subtle!

Puffball mushrooms appear on the path this time of year. Puffballs are known as the "tofu" of mushrooms and to be honest we probably won't cook this one, not when shiitake mushrooms are abundant from our own logs (trying not to sound smug :-) But it's always kind of magical to find these large dome-shaped fungi - almost seeming to appear overnight.

Emily found a beautiful specimen of a mushroom known as "chicken-in-the-woods" -

 

and turned it into this delicious soup!

Did you know you can get a variety of fresh, locally grown mushrooms from a vendor at the A2 Farmers Market? (if you can't find any yourself - but always definitely i.d. your mushrooms!)

More from Frog Hollerwood: The trailer for The Tragedy of MacBeth, co-starring Francis McDormand, was not available when Ms. McDormand's latest project was mentioned in last week's newsletter. The trailer became available this week and strikes a somber and dramatic note. The film, although not in theaters until December, will lead off the New York Film Festival on Sept. 24, and no doubt there will be "buzz" until its wide release.

And if you're wondering what Francis McDormand has to do with Frog Holler Farm - our farm family member and Edwin's partner, Emily Foley, has worked closely with Ms. McDormand for several years. We are happy to "loan" Emily to whatever project takes her on location! As we mentioned last week, Emily was not involved in the MacBeth production, but just finished a project with Ms. McDormand that will emerge eventually from the editing room. Stay tuned!

and back to the farm....

Trees preparing to don their fall finery

Have a great week everyone!

CSA Newsletter #15, Sept. 18, 2021

SWEET POTATO TIME!

Edwin at the head of the sweet potato line

Yes, we started to dig the sweet potatoes this week and no, you will not find them in your shares this week! Yes, that's kind of mean, but no, you don't really want freshly dug sweet potatoes! They sweeten in curing so we are tucking them away in the pole barn for two weeks and, if all goes well, they will star in your final two boxes. 

Digging sweet potatoes is one of the last "whole harvest" tasks of the season. We plant the sweet potato "slips" in the spring after the ground has warmed.  Since this veggie did originate in Central and South America, it likes its soil and growing conditions on the warm side. The sweet potato vines grow all summer, covering the patch in lush greenery. One market customer told us that the sweet potato vines were preferred for eating in her native Costa Rico.  We occasionally take vines to market upon request but we mostly wait until the fall to dig the brightly colored spuds from the earth.

Digging is a process. First the lush vines must be removed so that we can find the rows of sweet potatoes. Then the "landscape fabric" that has been keeping the weeds at bay must be removed and saved for re-use. Then we can start the digging, which must be done rather carefully. The sweet potatoes spread out underground as they grow and the clumps are really not visible when they are mature. It's important not to spear a spud with the digging forks; that results in a sweet potato that won't keep. So it's a combination of proper angle of the digging fork, getting a feel for where the clumps of potatoes have spread from the initial "slip", and yes, some good ol' muscle! Here is a quartet of sweet potato diggers bringing up the harvest. On your left, you can see the vines that are rolled back to reveal the rows, and on the right, the mass of vines yet to be addressed. 

The crew put in a good morning's work and will finish the job in the next session. Here is a sample of what we have so far. Aren't they pretty!?

Off to be washed, dried, cured and sweetened!

And here is a closer shot of the sweet potato digger you saw at the end of the digging line: Sam Robyn Walker, our featured crew member for this week! (If you missed our feature on the other two-thirds of the crew, revisit our soon-to-be travelers, Ashleh and Cale, in last week's newsletter.)

Sam with spud

Sam literally swooped in at the end of July, flying in from Germany to spend a few months with family in the area. Sam had originally worked at Frog Holler in the summers of 2018 and 2019, while on break from Grinnell College. Grinnell has a very strong study-abroad program, and after an initial summer course in Leipzig, Germany, and with encouragement from a Grinnell advisor, Sam returned to Germany, completing junior and senior years and graduating in 2021 with a degree in German from the University of Freiburg.

But Sam also worked on a large organic farm in Germany: Klosterhof - Gundelfingen. "Kloster" is related to our word, "cloister", and denotes that this was once a monastery garden, as many of the farms were in Europe. "Hof" means "court" or "yard". There is no longer a monastery at Klosterhof - Gundelfingen but the present owners kept the name, with "Gundelfingen" denoting the village that this particular "klosterhof" is situated near.

This is a large farm, serving 6-7 markets and several restaurant accounts. According to Sam, efficient organization is key when managing so much harvest and crew; systems and tasks are designed for maximum production in the time allotted. Of course we asked how they pick beans!

Beans are picked by hand, but using two hands, sort of like milking a cow. The crew moves through the patch only once so any bean close to maturity is picked. This results in variably sized beans but apparently most efficient use of the time, especially when, with a large acreage at Klosterhof's disposal, it's easier to move on to a new patch than keep milking an old patch with steadily decreasing productivity. Are we going to adopt that method at Frog Holler? Probably not! Our limited space demands use and re-use of each patch - but it's always interesting to hear how other farms manage their harvest.

Some of the Klosterhof crew harvesting Celeriac. Sam in the colorful hat on the left

Apparently Celeriac is a very popular root vegetable in Germany, especially as a storage crop for winter use. It's not so popular in the US, but we are fans of celeriac and always offer seedlings in the spring and plant some ourselves. But we plant a row, whereas you can see that Klosterhof plants a field!

The Celeriac harvest is finished. You can see the trailer piled high. And the crew looks happy!

Often European exchange students come to the US and are surprised by two staples of the American diet: peanut butter and sweet corn. Apparently corn has been considered mainly as animal feed in Europe. But perceptions and diet choices change and here is a very small portion of the sweet corn harvest at Klosterhof:

Sam with co-worker Ajmad

Sam also helped at the markets in nearby villages and in Freiburg. The marketing system is very different from our farmer's market - veggies are displayed in bulk and everything is weighed out "by the pound", but what stands out is that there are no plastic bags - ever. Klosterhof might supply a few paper bags since they also sell mushrooms and baked goods, but they hardly ever need them. European shoppers have long been trained in bringing their own bags to any market. Grocery stores will supply bags, but they charge for them, which has apparently provided a good incentive to shoppers to bring their own!

A beautiful bulk veggie display. No plastic bags in sight!

At Frog Holler, we regularly assess our use of plastic and, given that we offer so many fresh, but wet, greens at market, have accepted the use of plastic bags - for now. And at least we are able to offer biodegradable bags and compostable bags.  We appreciate shoppers and members who bring their own bags!

Freiburg, where Sam studied and now resides, is one of the "greenest" cities in Germany. Sam reports that it is easy to reach anywhere in the city by bicycle in 15-20 minutes. Bike lanes are integrated parts of the roads, not afterthoughts on the street's shoulder. Emphasis on accessibility via bicycle, walking and public transport have all contributed to preservation of natural beauty, better air quality, and dynamic urban community spaces in the city. Situated in southwest Germany, Freiburg is close to the Black Forest, which Sam visits regularly - by bicycle.

Sam's trusty steed for bicycling to farm, forest and Freiburg fun!

Sam returns to Germany on October 7. Sam has been hugely helpful at the farm and market and we definitely appreciate being included in this stateside visit.  We look forward to keeping in touch with our European farm correspondent!

And here goes Sam!

And while we're being international - look who showed up this week! Emily is just back from her summer-long project "on location" in Ontario. Emily was on the production team for Francis McDormand's latest film project which now moves into editing, so you won't see it for quite a while. But you can see Ms. McDormand in The Tragedy of MacBeth, premiering at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 24, and then available on Apple TV+. Ms. McDormand plays Lady MacBeth opposite Denzel Washington as Lord MacBeth, and directed by Joel Coen. And that's the scoop from your Hollerwood reporter!

Emily reunited with her animal companions - Kali in arms, and Freya close behind

Have a great week everyone!

 

CSA Newsletter #14 - Sept. 11, 2021

The crew at work in the kale patch

Many of you may be familiar with The Sun, "an independent, ad-free literary magazine that seeks to open hearts and minds." For over 45 years The Sun has published thought-provoking memoirs, fiction and long-form interviews while never seeking advertising.  Each monthly issue also includes a section titled "Readers Write," where readers of The Sun are invited to share short reminiscences around a suggested theme. The theme for the August, 2021, issue was "Summer Jobs," and one reader shared the following:

I DON’T THINK I’ve ever been more exhausted than the summer I worked on an organic farm. I was nineteen years old and had just returned home from a college that I had left for good. I wanted work that engaged my body, something more fulfilling than the pizzeria job I’d worked throughout high school.

My family got almost all of our summer produce from an organic farm in our small Vermont town, and my parents were well acquainted with the owners. My brother had worked there for twelve years, so it wasn’t hard for me to get hired.

My first couple of days were mostly spent in greenhouses, planting thousands of seeds. I couldn’t wait to get out in the fields and do some “real” farmwork.

By the end of the week I came home crying, drained, and sunburned, but I stuck with it. We rotated from task to task among different crops: we might spend two days weeding kale, three days transplanting squash, and a day harvesting green beans. I once spent three eight-hour days weeding beets in the sun. My wrists ached from propping myself up, and my hands and knees were sore.

My social life was almost nonexistent that summer. I was too tired. When I did have the energy to go to parties with friends, I was always the first to fall asleep on the couch, and if I could make it to a movie, I’d usually wake up at the end of the film with my head on a friend’s shoulder.

Despite the brutal days on the farm, that job taught me never to question the higher price of organic food. I know how much sweat goes into it.

Mallory Corley Moon
Johnson, Vermont

So the question is: Why would anyone want to do that?? Well, we are fortunate to have found a few intrepid souls who have stuck with us this summer through what has been admittedly one of the toughest years in terms of heat and mosquitoes!

Actually Ashleh Worden and Cale Stoker have stuck with us for three seasons now. We featured Ashleh and Cale in two of last year's newsletters, and we encourage you to go to the links and refresh your memory or read about them for the first time.

Ashleh with onions

Cale with puffball mushroom hat

 In addition to being dedicated soil stewards, Ashleh and Cale are partners in life and also in their Etsy shop, where they feature beautiful jewelry by silversmith Ashleh, and unique wooden spoons by carver Cale.

Samples of some of Cale's spoons - available in the shop by mid-November. Email the farm if you are
 interested in a spoon before November.

Just one example of Ashleh's beautiful work

Ashleh and Cale have also explored much of this state and country by land and canoe. And apparently their three seasons of farm work were all in preparation for a Thru-Hike of the Appalachian Trail, planned for 2022. Thru-Hikers cover the entire 2,190+ miles of this "longest hiking-only footpath in the world"; to qualify as a "Thru-Hike" it must be completed in in 12 months, although not necessarily all at once. Ashleh and Cale will be "thru-hiking" with us to end of this season, but are starting to make their plans for next year's adventure!

Ashleh, Moe amidships, and Cale setting off on a breezy Vineyard Lake (Brooklyn, MI) cruise

Taking a pause on the river that winds its way out of Vineyard Lake

Wherever Cale and Ashleh's travels take them, we know they will continue to tread lightly on the earth and offer their unique perspective of gentle justice to all they encounter.  We certainly appreciate the time that they spent at Frog Holler - we will miss them!

Off to see what's around the bend!

As for the share this week - we will be surprised as much as you will! :-) There are some items that we know for sure:

KALE - we made this Summer Kale Salad with Peaches and Candied Pecans although, not really. As in last week's Kale Salad With Peaches and Cornbread Croutons, we didn't have all of the suggested ingredients. But we were again inspired to make a Kale salad with peaches and candied walnuts, and it was good! Michigan peaches are peaking, and when you aren't eating one out-of-hand with juice dripping down your chin, they certainly can make Kale salads go down easy! Some day we'll get all those awesome ingredients together and make one of those recipes; if you do it, let us know!

CARROTS - working through our latest but not our last patch.

LEEKS - You no doubt have lots of ideas for what to do with leeks, but here are some basic suggestions for use and prepping. Looking for some leek inspiration? Here are 37 ideas! One of them might be just what you are looking for.

POTATOES - forget the 37 suggestions, did someone say Potato-Leek Soup? Lots of versions for this satisfying cool weather tradition, what's yours?

GARLIC AND ONIONS - can never have too much of these, right?

CELERY - Also appreciated in Potato-Leek Soup! 

maybes: tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, greens - we'll have to see how the harvest goes

Fun fact about celery: did you know that Michigan was the leading US celery producer in the early 1900's? Although the beginnings of the Michigan celery industry are a bit foggy, Dutch settlers, especially in the Kalamazoo area, are credited with developing large-scale celery growing and earning the city of Kalamazoo the title of Celery City The black muck soil around Kalamazoo, that emerged when swamps were drained, was especially suited to growing moisture-loving celery. Horses needed to be fitted with special shoes so that they didn't sink into the deep muck, but Dutch settlers, sporting the wooden shoes or "klompen" that were so useful in their lowland home country, had the right footgear to stay atop the soil. Other towns around Michigan also sported thriving celery farms, including Tecumseh, right next door, Grand Haven, Muskegon, and even Newberry, a small town in the U.P.!

You can see them placing boards along the sides of the celery rows. This technique "blanched" the stalks, creating a white or yellow celery variety, different from and (for a while) preferred to the green variety coming out of California.

At Frog Holler, we do have some low ground where we regularly try to grow celery. We don't blanch it, preferring a greener, more full-flavored veggie to the bland, uniform stalks now coming out of the California vegetable juggernaut. The Michigan celery industry eventually gave way to the four-season, predictable climate of California and Kalamazoo became know as Mall City in the 1950's.

The torrential rains of this season wiped out most of our crop in the low ground (sorry, no broccoli!), but some of the celery made it and we have been able to harvest a decent crop - even without our wooden shoes! 

Oh wait - Ashleh and Cale had another canoe - look who else got to come!
(l. to r. Kenny, Cathy and Billy King)

Hope you're enjoying these last days of summer - have a great week!

CSA Newsletter # 13 - September 4, 2021

 BEANS REDUX

One bean picker, one bean sitter, and a hill of beans

More bean business! One reader told us that she was not able to access the video of a commercial bean picker embedded in last week's newsletter. If that was also the case with you, well, you don't want to miss it! Here is the YouTube link; it's kind of mesmerizing in a slightly horrific way. And our crew has taken up a collection to purchase one. :-)

Only $85,465 to go!

One reader asked how the machines that make one pass, harvesting everything in their path, were able to harvest only the mature beans. Well, these commercial outfits grow a bean variety designed to ripen all beans at the same time. It might not be the best tasting variety; it might not be the most tender variety, but it gets the job done - remember, 1-2 bushels a minute! 

At Frog Holler, we grow a fairly old-fashioned bean variety called "Provider". It's a fitting name and we really like the flavor. But it does not ripen all at once. During peak bean harvest, it's a Monday, Wednesday, Friday affair so that we are picking beans that are not too big, not too small, but just right!

Referencing last week's "origin story" of best use for the land at Frog Holler, we had a former farm-mate mention a different version. That story happened a little later than our origin, but it still relates to the farm in a funny way.

This land has been occupied for well over a century. We were always told that our house was pre-Civil War. It sort of looked like it had been through the war by the time we took occupancy, and when we tried to make some renovations, the basic beams of the house were awesomely solid oak. Hard to pound nails into!

When we were first here we would often get visitors - old timers who had lived at or visited the farm in earlier days. It doesn't happen so much any more, because after fifty years, we are the old-timers! So one day a rustic-type older gentleman drove in, got out of his car and stood and surveyed the land with a sense of ownership or at least strong familiarity.

Other visitors with ties to Frog Holler would occasionally come by. Once a middle-aged fellow drove in with his elderly mother. She painstakingly got out of the car, seemed a little unsteady on her feet, but then looked around and literally started running toward the barn. Her son caught up with her, explaining to us that they had lived there much earlier and he had been born in the farm house. He also told us that they had farmed with mules and all the hills had been planted with popcorn, due to there being a popcorn factory in Brooklyn, the closest town. His mother seemed happy to see her previous home, although she was sure we had turned the chicken coop around. We had modified the coop to use as a makeshift greenhouse, so she was correct in noticing something different!

Brooklyn select popcorn distributed by the Hart & Howell Co.

Another well-dressed visitor, in his early forties, was from a later time. We bought the land from the Dr. Robert and Cora Lees Gesell. After Dr. Gesell died there was a series of caretakers until a new owner could be found. So this dapper visitor had been one of the caretakers when he was in law school at U-M. He asked if he could take a walk around - we said sure; he seemed to have really enjoyed staying at the farm.

A few weeks later we received a legal-looking offer. This recent visitor offered to buy the farm pond/small lake, along with the historic stone cabin overlooking it and a surrounding buffer area. We could still use the two-track to access our fields to keep farming, but everything else would be off limits.

I can understand the effect that this beautiful piece of land has on people, but I hope I was polite when I declined the "offer". We never saw him again.

Not for sale

So back to the gentleman standing in our driveway surveying our rolling property. And in a scene almost out of The Graduate, he proclaimed, "I'll tell you what this land is good for - gravel! Yep, gravel. You're sitting on a million dollars worth of gravel! And you could clean it back at your pond and no one would know the difference." (except we might!)

Not for gravel

And we went back to gardening. Not that this gentleman didn't have a point. As I reported in last year's CSA Newsletter of September 5, the soil in the Irish Hills, where we live, has been classified as "glacial rubble". The linked newsletter offers more interesting details, but we certainly can't challenge that description. At least our knees can't!

Baby lettuces planted in $1,000,000 worth of "rubble" 

And that concludes our Holler History for today! 

Back to the present, your share this week contains:

BEANS! - probably all green this week

KALE - We made this Kale Salad with Peaches and Cornbread Croutons this week. Well actually we thought about making it - it sounded delicious. But we didn't have many of the ingredients so we used a dressing we had on hand, massaged it into the kale, added some ripe peach slices that a grower at the market had gifted us, and topped it off with candied walnuts. It was good! And what's a recipe for but to inspire you to cook something - either that recipe or your version of that recipe?

BEETS

LETTUCE 

GARLIC

ONION

POTATOES

TOMATOES       

I'm afraid we are still looking for our 45 minutes this year - our second crop will be short again, very sorry to say. And the heirloom tomatoes, renowned for their flavor, have been very sulky. But at least you have Michigan fresh tomatoes and we hope you are enjoying them in salads or sandwiches. 

Freya closes it out with her homage to our popcorn history. We might not grow popcorn but she sure can catch it! (Cinder tries for a little action too!)

Have a great week everyone!

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!