Fail Better Blog

Farm Share Info for November 4

2008-11-04T18:01:00.001-05:00

Well, here we are. This is the last share of the season. It's been a wild ride for us, and we hope you all enjoyed it. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks for a wrapup newsletter and survey -- not to mention a wood-fired pizza party!

We're hoping to put a roof over Kendra's oven sometime this week or next, then we can insulate it and start making some bread. We've dug most of the crops from the fields, except for some leftover carrots and leeks. There are still some rinky-dink cabbages and Brussels Sprouts out there, too. After we finish up some of these harvest projects, all we have to do is move our hoophouse, plant some garlic and take down the deer fence before we can officially consider this growing season "over"

Thanks again to all of you for all of your support and encouragement this season, it's been challenging and rewarding in some surprising ways, and we're looking forward to trying it again next year (with a few key changes).

If you're really gung ho to return your last wax box, you can drop it off at the Waterville Farmers Market on Thursdays; one of us will be there selling cookies for the rest of the season. Otherwise you can just throw them away or, better yet, use them as kindling. (That parafin coating lights right up!)

A note on storage: the radish, celeriac, parsnips and rutabega should keep pretty well if you put them in a plastic bag (or bags) in your fridge. Herbs can be hung to dry. Shallots like it cool and dry (our basement works well) and all squashes like it "warm" and dry (60 degrees or so; our living room is perfect).

All shares contain:

Hilds Blauer Radish
Celeriac
Sage
Long Pie Pumpkin
Parsnips

"Full" shares also contain:

more celeriac and parsnips
Shallots
Rutabega

Veggie Notes

Shallots - Described as "onions with the butter built in", shallots have a mild flavor that is perfect for eating raw in dips or salad dressings.

Rutabega - Sometimes called "Swedes" and often sold as "turnips", these are -- in fact -- not turnips, though they resemble them in many ways. They're generally peeled, cubed, boiled and mashed, with or without potatoes. I'm sure they'd also be fine roasted with other root veggies.

Long Pie Pumpkin - I wrote a bit about these delights last week. They're generally dark green when they're picked and then turn bright orange, indicating that they're ready to use. These would make wonderful pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. They should easily keep that long: we keep all of our squashes in our living room and last year we still had some in April.

Recipe Ideas

We've been giving out a lot of celeriac recently -- partly because we really love it and partly because we have a lot of it. I realize that it's a bit unusual to most folks, so this week I'm sharing a number of recipes for celeriac. We haven't actually tried all of them yet, but they all sound really great.

Celeriac and Apple Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

I gotta admit, I never would have thought of this, but it keeps turning up as I search for celeriac recipes. Either everyone's been duped or this is really worth repeating. We're looking forward to trying it. I've seen other recipes that use a tarragon vinaigrette and add roasted walnuts to the salad.

Vinaigrette
1 tbsp stone ground or Dijon mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp red onion, minced
Salt and Fresh Pepper
1/3 cup Olive oil
2 tbsp sour cream

Salad
1 celery root, thickly peeled and sliced into eighth-inch rounds and then cross-ways into matchsticks (julienned)
1 large tart apple peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

For vinaigrette: Add vinegar, garlic, onion and salt to a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together.

For salad: Bathe celery root in boiling water for 1 minute. (Start counting
immediately and don’t wait for reboil) Remove and rinse with cold water.
Dry thoroughly and toss with remaining ingredients and vinaigrette.

Vegetable Pancakes

We got this recipe back in 2004, before we were farmers, before we even lived in Maine. It was the second season that we were members of a CSA from a great farm just outside Boston. It's a great way to use lots of different veggies (such as celeriac), and it's dead easy, especially if you have a food processor. The original writer say it's "a tasty and colorful twist on latkes".

Potatoes
Onion
Other veggies: carrots, celeriac, parsnips, jerusalem artichokes, zucchini, peppers, rutabega, finely shredded greens
2-4 eggs, beaten (depending on how many veggies you've grated; remember: you can always add more)
a splash or two of tamari or soy sauce

1. Using a hand grater or food processor, grate potatoes (no need to peel) and onions. Squeeze handfuls of the grated potatoes into the sink to get out any excess water.

2. Add a mixture of other raw vegetables (see below). Make sure the final mixture contains at least 50% potato.

3. Mix in eggs and some fine bread crumbs (you can also add wheat germ) until the mixture is gummy and will hold together pretty well.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Heat a shallow coating of oil in a fry pan and spoon on the pancakes, flattening them out. Turn when the first side has browned. Don’t use too high a heat or the exteriors will brown before the interior cooks. Drain on paper towels.

Potato, Celeriac and Leek Soup

A simple variation of regular potato leek soup, celeriac complements the other ingredients with that nice celery flavor

3 leeks
1 1/2 lbs whole celeriac
1 potato
3 tbsp butter
4-5 cups chicken or veggie broth, or just water
cream (optional)
salt & freshly ground pepper
Wash leeks and slice enough of the white and light green parts to
make 2 cups. Peel and chop celeriac into 1/2 inch cubes, enough to make
3-4 cups. Peel and coarsely chop potato. (Peeling is, of course, optional if you don't mind some little pieces of dark skin in the soup.) Melt butter in soup pot, stir in leeks, and cook until soft. Add celeriac, potatoes and 4 cups of broth or water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetabes are tender, 20-25 minutes. If using cream, add it now. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve as is for a chunky soup, or puree with a food mill, food processor or blender. If very thick, thin with broth or water.
We hope you enjoy the share!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

Farm Share Info for October 28

2008-10-28T13:26:00.001-04:00

We finally pulled all of our irrigation equipment out of the field this week. We also took the plastic "skin" off of the simple greenhouse we built in the field last spring. (We still have to take down the frame.) As soon as things dry out we'll get around to collecting all of the row cover that's sprawled across the farm. (Row cover is the white fabric we use to cover the crops to keep our insects and to stave off freezing temps.) After we harvest the last of the crops, we'll take down the deer fence and maybe take a nap.

Next week we hope to put a roof over Kendra's oven and to plant our garlic. Last year we only got a chance to plant 3 or 4 pounds before the snow blanketed everything, but we planted another 10 or so pounds this past spring. This year I hope to plant something just over 40 pounds and I hope to do it before I have to chip away at the soil with an ice pick. that should give us plenty to satisfy those of you who love garlic.

This weekend we head to an annual farming conference to learn more about our craft, catch up with friends, eat some really great food, and to reflect on the season. As we wind down, we're finishing up recording some receipts and catching up on tracking our budget. (Wait ... we had a budget?!) Kendra and I will sit down and have a quick meeting about how the farm and the bakery did this year, how we progressed towards our goals, what we should tweak for next year, etc etc. Then we get to start planning for next year, and it all starts over again...

Important reminder: last share of the season is Tuesday, November 4; NEXT week!!

All shares contain:
Misato Rose Radish
Parsley
Celeriac
Lettuce
Chives
"Full" shares also contain:
Green Sweet Peppers
Lettuce
an Eastern Rise squash

Veggie Notes

Misato Rose radish - These are gorgeous radishes. They can be white, green and/or red on the outside and they have a deep pink nova of color on the inside. Their flavor is generally spicey with a touch of sweetness from the hard frosts we've been getting. A classic preparation for these long keeping roots is to slice them, sprinkle them with salt and saute them in butter. Tonight, I'm eating one raw, sliced and salted, with some home-cured proscuitto and beer.

Parsley - Frosted parsley can be a real revelation. The frost does something to make it really sweet. Try eating a whole sprig of it alone

Chives - We put in some chives this week because we were thinking that celeriac is really good when mashed up in mashed potatoes, and what're mashed potatoes without chives...

Celeriac - I've written a bit about celeriac before, back when we started harvesting it before it was really ready. Sorry about that. But hey, I'm sure someone in Manhattan would have paid a LOT of money for fresh, organic, baby celeriac. In any event, we pulled the last of our celeriac planting this week and -- in the intervening month -- they've sized up quite a bit. In addition to being really good roasted (it takes a long time, though; make sure it's nice and soft), it's excellent when sliced and fried (or oven fried) into "chips" and is all really good when mashed up with potatoes. I'll just take a stab here and say 2-3 parts potatoes to 1 part celeriac. Boil as you do the spuds, then mash together.

No recipes this week...

We hope you enjoy the share!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

Farm Share Info for October 21

2008-10-21T13:17:00.001-04:00

We got our first hard frost over the weekend. It finally KO'd the basil, peppers, tomatoes and nasturtiums which were already just barely hanging on. We took that chance to dig our sweet potatoes, harvest as many green peppers as we could and finally do some garden cleanup. Frost makes parsley taste really good, too.

We finally lit a fire in Kendra's oven over the weekend too. While I put away the last of the firewood (well, the last of what we've gotten cut), she lit a small fire inside to help it dry out. The oven still isn't completely done, but it's done enough to handle small fires and we're hoping to make some pizzas out there this weekend. The last few steps to completion aren't too daunting and we're hoping to have the bulk of it done this weekend.

Important reminder: last share of the season is Tuesday, November 4; two weeks from today.

All shares contain:
Sweet Dumpling winter squashes
Pie Pumpkin
Asian Radish
Parsley
Leeks
Hot Peppers (see important note below)
"Full" shares also contain:
more Sweet Dumpling squashes
Green Sweet Peppers
Broccoli Raab
Veggie Notes

Sweet Dumpling squashes - If you liked the Delicata squashes from last week, you'll like these as well. They can be prepared the same way (cut in half, cored, roasted) or, for bonus points, you can cut out the top (like you would a jack-o-lantern), scoop out the seeds, fill with garlic and herbs and then roast. They make great (if just a little bit big) single servings and one can easily imagine these as delicious little edible soup bowls.

Pie Pumpkin - We grew two kinds of really great heirloom pie pumpkins this year. The round one with bumpy or netted skin (like a catalope) is called Winter Luxury and the oblong one (which looks like an overgrown zucchini) is called Long Pie. If you've never made a pumpkin pie from scratch, you're in for a treat: these squashes will produce one of the smoothest, creamiest pies you've ever had. To prepare: Two methods: 1) quarter them, scoop out the seeds, peel, boil until soft, drain and mash with fork or 2) halve them, scoop out seeds, roast face down in oven (with a little vegetable or olive oil) until soft, let cool then scoop out the flesh and mash.

Pumpkin Pie not your thing? See below for a savory baked pumpkin dish.

Asian Radish - We grew a wide variety of storage radishes this year as part of a variety trial for Fedco Seeds. We've picked various Asian radishes for this week's share. Some of them are daikon types, some are stubbier and plumper. They're great stir fried, made into kimchee, grated into cole slaw or as crudites (just sliced and sprinkled with salt). The greens are edible (if they're still on); just stir fry them with some garlic and soy sauce.

Hot Peppers - We picked all of our hot peppers last week because of the frost and we've started to dry them. You can either continue drying them (you can hang them or just leave them in an airy, dry place) or use them fresh. Half shares shouldn't have any trouble figuring out which ones are the peppers, but full shares recieved two orange hot peppers (and we do mean hot; you might want to use just a portion of them at a time) so that you won't get them confused with the green sweet peppers. For the half shares, the green hot peppers aren't scorchers like the orange ones. We refer to them as "warm".

Green Peppers - These are sweet peppers; an Italian "frying" type. If it's too much to use at once, they can be chopped up and frozen to be used during the winter. The won't be crunchy, but they'll still have great flavor.

Recipe Ideas

Pumpkin Tian
I'm sure some snobby food person would argue with this, but as I can tell, "tian" just means cassarole. This is a really simple recipe of chunks of pumpkin baked in cheese and herbs, but it does take some time peel the squash and then bake. It's delicious and we look forward to it every fall. I've adjusted the wording a little bit, but it's originally from the book Simple Cooking by John Thorne. The best part is that the original recipe ends with this great line: "The top of the dish will form a dark rich crust; the pumpkin within dissolves in the mouth into molten succulence." To be clear, the "dark rich crust" part never happens for us, but the "molten succulence" always does ... especially when you use a Winter Luxury or Long Pie.

One small pumpkin (3-4 pounds)
1/4 cup flour
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
Generous pinch fresh thyme (approx 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 325F. Halve the pumpkin and remove seeds and pulp. Then quarter the two halves and peel the rind or skin off the pumpkin. (Generally easiest with a paring knife; forget those little veggie peelers.) Cut the peeled flesh into 3/4 inch cubes and place them into a large colander. Toss with the flour until the cubes are coated and the excess flour has "escaped". Toss again with the garlic, thyme, Parmesan, a fat pinch of salt and several gratings of pepper. Coat a cassarole dish (9x9 is usually fine for a small pumpkin) with some of the olive oil, pack the floured and seasoned pumpkin into the dish and drizzle with the rest of the olive oil. Set in the preheated oven and bake for 2 to 2.5 hours.

We hope you enjoy the share!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

Farm Share Info for October 14

2008-10-14T19:31:00.001-04:00

Fall continues unabated. Leaves around the farm seem to have reached their peak color and are now fading and falling. We're done digging potatoes and we're done picking salad mix and stir-fry greens for the season. The celeriacs we haven't yet picked seem to be continuing to swell, or perhaps that's just my wishful thinking. The recent weather has been nice, but the cold nights have effectively stopped the growth of most summer crops. Not that they're dead, but they might as well be: basil, peppers, sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes, tomatillos. Many other crops seem not to mind, however, and soldier on: cabbage, broccoli, radishes, leeks, raab. And every rule must have an exception: zucchini is going crazy!

Kendra continues to work on her oven in every spare minute. Currently, it's complete enough to use, but not at all insulated. It has a door, a dome, a "tongue" or ledge out front and a beautiful brick arch over the door. We hope to maybe make some pizza's in it in a couple of weeks. The final steps will be to build a crude willow basket over the dome, covering the basket in burlap and clay "plaster" and filling the gap between the baking dome and the "basket" with perlite for insulation. We'll get there...

We also helped out at MOFGA's more-or-less annual Nose to Tail Pork Processing Workshop. We started Saturday morning with two pasture raised hogs from local farms and finished Monday afternoon with 95 pounds of sausage, 27 pounds of smoked bacon, 11 pounds of curing bacon, 40 pounds of curing ham, 4 curing jowls (guanciale), one 20 pound ham being cured into proscuitto and a whole lot of roasts and extra bits and pieces. The goal of the workshop is not only to demonstrate how to humanely slaughter pigs at home or on a farm, but how to do so with respect for the animals that we are killing and consuming by practicing the utmost economy (or, more appropriately, econo-gastronomy) as we butcher them. It is said that -- with pigs -- you can use everything but the squeel, and we try as hard as we can to live up to that.

Important reminder: last share of the season is Tuesday, November 4; three weeks from today.

All shares contain:
Stir-fry Greens
Celeriac
Sage
Delicata squash
Leeks
"Full" shares also contain:
another Delicata
an Eastern Rise squash
Carrots
Broccoli Raab

Veggie Notes

Stir-fry greens - We enjoyed last week's recipe for ginger sesame greens so much that we wanted to give out more stir-fry greens so you could make it again.

Delicata squash - The queen of winter squash and probably out favorite. Upon eating their first Delicata, some friends of ours (who were visiting us last week from Manhattan) declared it their favorite squash and have started emailing us blurry Blackberry pictures of Delicatas in markets around NYC. They also sent us week's recipe, which we built the share around. I've already written a bit about squash, but the synopsis is: halve the squash lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, brush with olive oil and some salt and roast at 350 for 20-30 minutes or so, until a fork will easily penetrate them. Delicata halves are perfect single servings.

Eastern Rise squash - Similar in appearance to the Sunshine squash we gave out a few weeks ago, this is another very dry fleshed squash. Suitable for mashing or slathering in butter.

Everything else should be familiar by now...

Recipe Ideas

Delicata Squash and Celery Root Puree
Taken from a food blog, this recipe was sent along by a good friend of ours after her conversion (mentioned above). A couple of notes to reflect this weeks share: 1. the recipe calls for 2 Delicatas or 1 pound, so they must be used to truely diminuitive squashes. The squashes in this weeks share are all at least a pound. 2. Because of our tiny celeriac problem, I would recommend that you eyeball how many celeriacs (from the share) you would need to make up a tennis ball sized celeriac and use those in this recipe.

2 Delicata squashes (about 1 pound)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
6 sprigs sage
4 cloves garlic
1 medium celery root (celeriac)
1/2 cup cream
1 bay leaf
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Split the squashes in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and pulpy fiber with a spoon. Brush the squashes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put 1 sage leaf and 1 clove of garlic in the cavity of each squash half, and bake on a baking sheet, cut side down, for about 40 minutes, until completely tender.
3. Peel the celery root, cut it into small chunks, and put them in a pot of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, until tender. In another saucepan heat the cream, the remaining sage, and the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, turn off the heat, and let the mixture steep.

4. When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and discard the garlic and sage. When the celery root is done, drain it. Put the squash and celery root in a pot and puree with an immersion blender, or put them both through a food mill or ricer. (ed: or just put them into to a blender or food processor and puree) Add the cream mixture, and thin with milk or water, depending on the desired consistency. Adjust the seasoning, reheat, and serve.

We hope you enjoy the share!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

Farm Share Info for October 7

2008-10-07T12:51:00.001-04:00

Important note: the last share of the season will be the first week of November -- only four weeks from now!

Another Important Note: Keep those apples and carrots separate! More info below.

All shares contain:
Stir-fry Greens
Celeriac
Chives
Potatoes
"Full" shares also contain:
Carrots of Many Colors
Apples
Celery
Salad Turnips

Veggie Notes

Celeriac - Those funky, knobby little rooty things in this weeks share are celeriac, or celery root. We often say that they have the texture of a parsnip but the flavor of celery. It can be grated into salads or cole slaws, roasted or added to soups and stews. It's also a champ in the root cellar; we kept some of last year's crop until June. (8 months!)
To Prepare: Trim off the top and the funky, rooty parts, then peel off the skin.

Potatoes - These are Carola potatoes and they have a firm, silky texture with excellent, rich flavor. That firm texture makes them excellent for soups and stews (where they will hold together) but also for potato salad.

Carrots - Finally, some carrots! Yes, they are all carrots (no parsnips) and they each taste slightly different. An important note about carrot storage: keep your carrots seperate from any fruits, especially apples. Ever wonder why all of those carrots in the grocery store taste bland, starchy and bitter when even the lowliest fresh-out-of-the-ground carrot tastes sweet and crispy? Those supermarket carrots are exposed to a gas (ethylene) that is used by the produce industry to force unripe produce to ripen. Ethylene is also released by all fruits (tomatoes, melons, etc) and especially apples. Carrots that are exposed to too much ethylene lose all of their sweetness and can become bitter. To tie this all together, supermarket carrots are often transported and stored right along side apples and such.

Apples - Northern Spys again this week. Make some cobbler! Crisp! Pie!

Celery - Celery freezes well and can be taken right out of the freezer and added to winter stews, sauces and soups. Freezing preserves the sweet flavor, but ruins the crunchiness of fresh celery; that's usually not an issue for stews and such.

Recipe Ideas

Simple Potato Salad
Another one of my "approximate" recipes:

Clean a bunch of potatoes (Carolas are perfect), maybe 1-2 pounds. We don't peel, but we carve out any unsightly spots. Cube them into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces, place into a pot with cold water, bring to a boil and boil until fork tender. (Perhaps 5-10 minutes.) Meanwhile, melt at least one stick of butter (and/or olive oil) in a small sauce or omelette pan over medium or med-low heat. Toss in a healthy handful of finely chopped chives and braise over low heat until the potatoes are done. When the potatoes are ready, drain them, pour the butter and chives over them, season with salt and pepper and toss to mix.

Ginger Sesame "Asian" Stir-fried Greens
I've adapted this from a recipe in the CSA cookbook From Asparagus to Zucchini. If you try it, let us know what you think. A tablespoon or two of maple syrup or honey would probably go well with the liquid ingredients, but I'm leaving it out for now.

2T sesame oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound mixed mustard greens, coarsely chopped and dried
1T rice or cider vinegar
2T tamari or soy sauce
1t red chili flakes or minced hot pepper
2T sesame seeds
2T fresh ginger, peeled and grated

Heat a medium skillet over medium-low heat, add the sesame seeds and toast over low heat -- tossing or stirring often -- until lightly toasted and fragrant. (If they're done before the greens, just reserve in a bowl until they're needed.) Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger and chili, stir fry for 2 minutes (being careful not to burn the garlic and ginger) and then add the greens. Toss and stir the greens until they've just wilted. Remove greens from pan. Add the vinegar and tamari to pan. When they're not, add the greens to the pan, tossing to combine w/ the sauce. The sesame seeds can either be added to the greens (toss to combine) or sprinkled over top when served. Season to taste w/ salt or more soy sauce.

We hope you enjoy the share!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

Farm Share Info for September 30

2008-09-30T15:38:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow marks the first day of October and the themes of our work around the farm certainly reflects that. All but one of our gradens have been "put to bed" with cover crops, we've harvested the last of our winter squash, we're preparing to plant our garlic, we're digging potatoes and -- most notably -- we're protecting our crops from imminent frost.

This is the 14th week for the CSA and, though we had planned on running for 20 weeks, it's looking like we might only need to go to week 19 before we've given out all of you the produce that you've paid for (plus a nice bonus). I'll be keeping an eye on it and I'll let you all know ahead of time how it's going to shake out.

All shares contain:
Fennel
Broccoli Raab
Winter Squash
Sage
Potatoes
"Full" shares also contain:
more Winter Squash
Apples
Tomatoes

Veggie Notes

Broccoli Raab - The most common mustard greens hail from southeast Asia (think tatsoi, mizuna, komatsuna, bitamin na, and such.) but the Italians have a great one up their sleeve: Broccoli Raab. We find it's taste to be mild and in no way like that of "regular" broccoli. Although the stalk of raab is edible, the base of the stalk can be quite tough and may need to be trimmed off. To prepare: if the stalk is tough (nibble it), trim it off until you get to the tender part. Chop the rest up into 2" pieces and saute with garlic and olive oil.

Potatoes - The spuds in this weeks share are of the heirloom variety Green Mountain. This variety was developed in the 1880s in Vermont (of course) and was the most widely grown variety in Maine for the first half of the 1900s. It fell out of favor because it is quite susecptible to a potato disease called scab, but has recently become more popular since it was recognized by the Slow Food movement for it's historical importance and superb flavor.

The ugly, corky, "scabby" blemishes on these potatoes are, in fact, common potato scab. It's ugly, but it can easily be peeled off or cut out. The crisp, white flesh of these potatoes yeilds superb baked, mashed, roasted or fried potatoes. It's also excellent for chowder, since the points and edges of the potato chunks will crumble off to thicken the soup or chowder.

Winter Squash - Three varieties of squash made it into the this weeks share: The bright orange ones are called Sunshine, the dark green are BonBon buttercups and the oblong yellow ones with green stripes are Delicata. Sunshine and BonBon both have a very dry flesh which is excellent for roasting or for boiling and mashing. The dryness of the flesh lends itself well to lots of butter. Delicata has moister flesh which doesn't need much butter. The skin of the squash is edible (Delicata especially) but be sure to try a little before you go biting off a big chunk; some of them can be tough. To prepare: cut the squash in half (from the stem down to the what-used-to-be-the-blossom end) and scoop out the seeds. Scrape out the seeds and most of the stringy stuff. (The seeds can be cleaned and roasted for a snack.) Rub a pinch of salt into each half and place face down on a lightly oiled baking sheet or dish. Roast at 350 degrees until you can sink a fork into it, perhaps 30-40 mintues.

Sage - You know sage well by now, but I wanted to remind you all that it pairs especially well with sweet winter squash. Either add some to mashed squash, or simmer it in plenty of butter and drizzle over the squash.

Apples - The tree from which this week's apples were picked is labeled "Northern Spy". We find these apples to be deliciously crisp and tart when eaten out of hand. Northern Spy is said to be unrivaled in New England for making pies.

Recipe Ideas

Sorry, no specific recipes today. The veggie notes section (above) contains many ideas for using this weeks veggies, many of them very simple and easy.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for September 23

2008-09-23T18:46:00.001-04:00

So, we did have a frost last week. Then another one and another one and probably another one tonight. They've all been very light and haven't killed anything, but the cold, cold night temperatures have slowed the growth of most crops to a stand still. (You'll note that there are no cukes or zukes this week, and fewer tomatoes than we've had recently.) Heat loving crops will creep along for a little while longer, but a hard frost will spell the end for things like zukes, tomatoes and basil.

We tasted a Delicata winter squash yesterday and it was delicious. I was all ready to put some into the share this week but then there was so much other good stuff that we decided not to. Winter squash stores quite well, so we'll keep emphasizing crops that will soon be gone before we start giving out a lot of stuff that will be here to stay for most of the winter. This year, I'm in no rush to get to winter.

Two weekends ago, we had a big oven building party (for which I totally forgot to invite you all) and got the bulk of Kendra's new wood-fired, clay oven built. After we take care of the last, insulating layer and a few final details, we're planning on firing it up and inviting you all out for a shareholder pizza party. We've been planning to have a farm party for a while, but ... you know how it goes. Anyway, to tide you over until then, you'll find a beet and fennel pizza recipe (shared by one of your fellow shareholders) in this week's post.

All shares contain:
Fennel
Beets (and Beet Greens)
Parsley
Cilantro
Leeks
Apples
"Full" shares also contain:
more Apples
Salad Turnips (and Turnip Greens)
Celery
Tomatoes

Veggie Notes

Fennel - Remember what I said about fennel last week? Well, here's the new stuff. It's probably some of the most beautiful fennel we've ever grown.

Apples - The orchard here at the farm is bearing well this year, even though we've done pretty much nothing to help it out. We're planning on picking a lot of it and giving out some of the best of it. We're still learning about growing apples and about the traits of these particular trees. Expect to find a few worms and maybe a few apples that are under- or over-mature. Please let us know what you think about the apples; this will help us learn about them.

We're still trying to pin down the variety name of the apple in this week's share, though the leading candidate at the moment is Liberty. We have found it to be pretty good for out of hand eating, though we recommend that you slice them to be sure that there are no worms. (You just can't tell from the outside!) Liberty also makes great pies.

Salad Turnips - Crisp, sweet and a little spicy, these are best when eaten raw. The tops can be sauted with garlic for a simple side dish.

Recipe Ideas

White Pizza with Fennel and Beets

Our friend and shareholder Annette Messier shared this recipe with us the last time we had beets and fennel in the share. She wrote:
We chopped the beets and fennel and roasted them until browned. We cooled these slighty once they were done. On fresh pizza dough we spread a little olive oil, then put on sliced fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, fresh oregano, basil, and chopped garlic. We then spread the roasted fennel and beets on top, drizzled a little more olive oil on it and baked it until done. We have been doing that with roasted brussel sprouts for years, but this was the first time we tried it with beets and fennel and it was delicious. I hope you get to try it and enjoy!
Yum!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for September 16

2008-09-16T19:30:00.001-04:00

Frost is starting to threaten us here in Montville. Thursday evening,
the forecast has us within a couple degrees of freezing, which is
pretty cold. This may spell the end for some of the outside, heat
loving crops like cucumbers, zucchini (will you really miss it?) and
basil. We'll do what we can to keep the frost at bay, but at some
point it becomes inevitable.

We've harvested about 2/3 of our winter squash. We're trying to leave
the rest in the field as long as possible to let it finish ripening.
After harvest, winter squash has to be cured, which we do in a
hoophouse here at the farm. This thickens it's skin, allows it to heal
over any small wounds inflicted in the field or during harvest and --
most importantly -- helps to build sweetness. We keep taste testing to
check them; they're good, but they're not quite great just yet. Soon...

Also, be sure to check out the Common Ground Fair
this weekend in Unity. Kendra and I will both be there most of the
weekend, and we both give talks on Friday morning (and I again on
Sunday morning).

All shares contain:
Zucchini and/or Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Fennel
Cilantro
"Full" shares also contain:
more squash, cucumbers and tomatoes
Basil

Veggie Notes

Fennel - We wrote about fennel back in July. Expect to see some more of this soon. This week's fennel is a little small, but we have really great looking stuff approaching readiness.

Recipe Ideas

Simple Salsa

Sorry for the lack of detail below, but I'm really winging it on this one. We make this salsa all the time but I never measure what I put in. Regardless, it tastes of freshness itself.

Tomatoes - 2-3 big ones
Onions - 1 medium one
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Hot Pepper - 1 of medium heat of 1/2 of a really hot one
Cilantro - a lot
Salt

Dice the tomatoes and onions. Mince the garlic, hot pepper and cilantro. Combine everything and season with salt.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for September 9

2008-09-09T16:39:00.001-04:00

All shares contain:
Zucchini, Summer Squash and/or Patti-pan Squash
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Swiss Chard
"Full" shares also contain:
more squash
Eggplant
Basil
Cherry Tomatoes

Veggie Notes

Zucchini and Squash - Are you sick of zukes? We aren't, but we're getting close. We started picking from our second planting this week and this planting features some different varieties that we hope will help to maintain your interest. The little round ones are `8 Ball' (dark green), `Geode' (light green) and `Floridor' (yellow). The oblong, pale green ones are a variety of Cousa, Lebanese squashes which are traditionally stuffed. If you're still not impressed, there's a couple of recipes below to help you use up some of that squash.

Eggplant - Eggplant is perhaps my favorite vegetable, but only when it's broiled or grilled. I've never met fried eggplant that wasn't just greasy and slimey. Really big or soft specimens should be peeled because the skin can be quite bitter. Here's what we do: slice eggplant into 1/4-1/2" pieces, place a single layer into a salad spinner and sprinkle with salt, repeat until all of the eggplant is salted, then let sit for 30 or so minutes. The salt will draw some of the moisture from the eggplant, which is helpful when grilling or broiling. Now, just spin the eggplant and you're ready to grill (or broil). This is great for sandwiches, snacks (with hummus), pizza, eggplant parm, etc.

Recipe Ideas

Simple Squash Saute
2 6” squashes
1 medium onion
½ bunch fresh thyme, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
3-4 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or more to taste

Remove stems from squashes and chop into ¼” thick, round slices. Chop the onion (including the top) into ¼” by 1” pieces. Heat the fat in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and onion and cook until the onion has softened, about 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Add the squash and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Chocolate Chip & Zucchini Cookies
Is it a gimmick or is it for real? It's for real and they're good. Ignore that initial sense of revulsion and just try it. The recipe is from the book Animal Vegetable Miracle.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for September 2

2008-09-02T14:50:00.001-04:00

This first week of September sees us half way through our CSA season. It's been 10 weeks since our first share (July 1st) and it seems like a good time to do some midseason reflection.

To date, shares have contained: radishes, braising greens, lettuce, kohlrabi, garlic, tarragon, sage, napa cabbage, peas, swiss chard, cilantro, broccoli, collards, scallions, thyme, beets, zuchinni, endive, escarole, celery, marjoram, parsley, onions, hot peppers, fennel, cucumbers, chives, basil, potatoes, "regular cabbages", tomatoes and leeks. The total value of produce included so far in the half shares is $107.60 ($10.76 per week) while full shares have received $213 (or $21.30 per week). Of course, this is an average value and some weeks have been heavier while others were lighter.

Half and full shareholders paid for $10 and $20 of produce each week, respectively, and have thus received a 7% bonus, dividend or return on investment. (That's over three times the interest rate offered by our bank on a 6 month CD.) And that doesn't even count the intangible benefits of having such fresh, healthy food close at hand.

These next few weeks will see us pulling our onions and winter squash to ready them for storage, planting cover crops to prepare for winter, cutting wood to build a barn and to clear land for future gardens. All of that on top of our usual harvesting, planting, weeding and watering.

All shares contain:
Zucchini, Summer Squash and/or Patti-pan Squash
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
New Potatoes
Fresh Cabbage
Leeks
Braising Greens
"Full" shares also contain:
more squash, spuds, tomatoes and leeks

Veggie Notes

New Potatoes - This week, you may find two different varieties of potatoes in the shares. Carola, which you're familiar with from last week, and All Blue, which -- as it's name clearly states -- is blue outside and in. Both have a firm texture, which I wrote about last week.

Fresh Cabbage - Although we're a little bit late for Labor Day, it's never really too late to make cole slaw. See below for a recipe.

Tomatoes - See info from last week about tomatoes.

Fresh Herbs - There aren't any herbs in this week's share, but I've been thinking about this since last week. We tend to give out some herbs in each share. If you're not used to using fresh herbs and are feeling a little overwhelmed, these bunches can easily be dried by hanging them up for a while. We hang ours from the exposed beams in our kitchen. Once they're dry (after about a week), just crumble them up in your fist and save them in a mason jar or plastic bag. (If you leave them hanging for too long, they'll get kind of dusty.)

Leeks - If you're not familiar with leeks, they're a mild relative of onions. I find their flavor almost creamy. To prepare: trim off the coarse, dark leaves, reserving the stalk. The white portion of the stalk is the most desirable, but the whole stalk is useable as long as it's tender. Next, slice 2-4 inches down the length of the stalk, from the top. Dirt can sometimes collect between the layers of the leek, and slicing like this allows you to rinse it out by fanning out and ruffling this sliced portion under running water while still keeping the leek more or less whole. Lastly, chop off the basal plate (the roots at the bottom of the stalk) and then proceed as the recipe (or your experience) dictates.

Recipe Ideas

Creamy Cole Slaw
Megan (my sister) made this yesterday for Labor Day and it was great. Very, very simple and easy, too. Though we avoid processed foods and especially those from major, multinational corporations, we make two exceptions: one if for Heinz ketchup (organic, at least) and the other is for Hellman's mayo, which we used in this recipe. We don't like sweet mayos and prefer those that are savory, which Hellman's definitely is.

1 small cabbage, sliced thinly

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

2 tbsp sour cream

1 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp celery seed

Salt and Pepper

Chop cabbage and carrots, set aside. In small bowl whisk together the
remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over the cabbage and carrots and
toss to coat thoroughly. Refrigerate until serving time.

Tomato and Leek Quiche
I forget who first told us about this recipe, but it's also great. I won't reprint the recipe, since we pretty much make it as it's listed. The only change we make is to ignore their discussion of kosher cooking and add some chopped up and cooked nitrate-free bacon to the leeks. In case you missed that first link, here it is again: recipe for Tomato and Leek Quiche.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for August 26

2008-08-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

The calendar still says summer but the weather is saying FALL. How confusing! Some of you will be happy and some will be sad to see more onions and zuchinni. All of you will be happy to see TOMATOES and BASIL. Coming weeks will see leeks, eggplants and peppers. But for now, it's supper time...

All shares contain:
Zucchini, Summer Squash and/or Patti-pan Squash
Cucumbers
Fresh Onions
TOMATOES!
BASIL!
New Potatoes
Sage
"Full" shares also contain:
more onions, zucchinis, spuds, basil and tomatoes

Veggie Notes

New Potatoes - Last week, you received mix of different potatoes. This week, however, you all received Carola potatoes. These have a firm (or waxy) texture and excellent, rich flavor.

Forget everything you've learned from the supermarket about "red potatoes", bakers, russets and whatnot. It all comes down to one thing: texture. Potatoes -- generally -- come in two textures: firm and waxy or floury and dry. The firm, waxy ones (like the Carola's in this week's share) tend to hold their shape when cooked, making them great for soups, stews and potato salads. The dry textured spuds (which you'll see in a couple of weeks) make quintessential baked and fried potatoes. Of course, they can all be used interchangeably, but you'll get the "best" results when you follow these guidelines.

A quick note on potato storage. These new potatoes will keep just fine on the counter as long as they're not exposed to light. In response to light, they'll begin to turn green, meaning that you'll have to peel them before eating. We just cover ours with a cloth napkin or keep them in a paper bag. If you keep them in the fridge, be sure to keep them in a plastic bag as the dry air in the refrigerator will tend to dry them out. Also, if they're in the fridge for long, some of the starches will convert to sugars, yielding "sweet" potatoes. If this happens, just leave them out at room temp for a couple of days and they'll go back to more or less normal.

Tomatoes - Tomato selection this week includes Jet Star, Big Beef, Moskvich, Japanese Black Trifele, Cherokee Purple, Valencia, Black Prince and Green Zebra. Most of them are picked "dead ripe", but a few may need a few days on the counter to finish fully ripening. Note that some of them will have green shoulders even when fully ripe, so don't use that as an indicator. Generally, we just gently -- VERY gently -- squeeze the 'maters to see if they're ripe. Unripe fruit will be firm, while ripe fruit will yield -- if just a little. Also note that the Green Zebra tomatoes are green when they're ripe. The trick for these is that the will have green stripes over a yellowish background when they're ripe; when unripe, the background is still light green.

Basil - Hey, it's basil! What more can I say? Just this: we don't wash basil before packing it because basil is very prone to molding when it's wet for long periods of time. Just rinse it before using. Also, do not store it in the refrigerator as the very cold temperatures of the fridge will speckled the leaves with unsightly brown spots.

Fresh Onions - These are likely to be the last onions we see in the share for a few weeks. Although they're still great to eat when fresh and green, these should have by now bulked up to be 3-4" across. As onions mature, the tops naturally die back and -- indeed -- we're starting to see that. This signals to us that we should pull the onions and ready them for storage. Until we do this, we'll keep them out of the share.

Sage - Fresh herbs are a great way to give food flavor without resorting to more salt or fat. Sage tends to be associated with anything that's roasted and/or sweet: winter squash, potatoes and such. See below for a recipe for sage pesto.

Recipe Ideas

Idea #1:
Basil pesto. There should be enough basil in the share this week for pesto. Recipes abound and should be easy to find. Our only advice would be to add a little bit of butter and to toast the pine nuts.

Idea #2:
Caprese salad. This is the classic tomato/basil/mozerella salad. Slice fresh tomatoes and serve with basil leaves (whole or sliced) and fresh mozerella. Fresh mozerella is not the kind that comes in the block, rather it tends to come in rounded forms and usually in small balls in a brine. If you don't have mozerella, fresh feta (such as that available from Kennebec Cheesery at the Waterville Farmers Market) works really well. Optionally, you can drizzle the whole thing with a little balsamic vinegar.

Idea #3:
Sage Pesto
I'm cheating a little bit here. I haven't actually made this recipe, but I've heard from a number of people that really enjoy sage pesto. So, give it a shot and let me know what you think. This recipe comes from Epicurious.

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3/4 oz) plus additional for serving
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium or large skillet, over low or medium heat, toast walnuts, tossing frequently to avoid scorching, until fragrant. Blend parsley, sage, and garlic with salt in a food processor until finely chopped. Add walnuts and pulse until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil in a steady stream. Turn off motor, then add 1/3 cup cheese and pepper and pulse to combine.
Reserve 1 cup cooking water from pasta, then drain pasta in a colander. Thin pesto with reserved cooking water in a serving bowl, then add pasta and toss to combine. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for August 19

2008-08-19T22:25:00.001-04:00

This week we put a fence around our winter squash because the deer seem to have found it. We also opened up a new garden and turned in a cover crop of buckwheat in another garden. We've also been diverting a lot of energy to building a shed and foundation for Kendra's wood fired oven.

We recently received the results for this years round of soil tests. While being slightly discouraging, they were also great in that they showed progress and reminded us that building and balancing soils is a long term project. It can be frustrating to put so much work into certain crops only to watch them languish in infertile soil. But then patience is rewarded with slow but steady growth; growth which points toward and illuminates the inherent potential of our soils. Reading our soil test results is like reading an elaborate mystery novel for which the last chapter is missing: we have all of the clues, but we'll never understand how they fit together. This property was last farmed so long ago that all details of it's past life are long forgotten and we're left guessing as to what may have happened. Why is the sulpher in this field, like, off the charts? And is that giant mound, that one over there, all of the topsoil which belongs over here where we've planted all of our crops in the hard, rocky earth? As we discover more of these clues, we become more amazed that things are doing as well as they are. Sure, I've not seen potatoes or parsley ever grow this slowly, but they are growing. And the fact that they're not just growing but looking damned healthy (if sluggish) is all the more exciting as we start to think about what this place will be like once we've re-placed the topsoil and adjusted the soil acidity (pH). And nutrients. And organic matter. It's a lot to do, but it's a great, optimistic thing to be working toward and we know that every little thing we do is moving us in the right direction.

All shares contain:
Zucchini, Summer Squash and/or Patti-pan Squash
Cucumbers
Green Onions
Napa or "Chinese" Cabbage
Lettuce (see note below)
POTATOES!
"Full" shares also contain:
more onions, zucchinis, cucumbers and spuds
TOMATOES!
Sage
Veggie Notes

Lettuce - We noticed a few aphids in the water as we were washing the lettuce heads this morning. These tiny, green insects are harmless, and the lettuce looked OK, so we decided to call it all good. That said, you should rinse the lettuce thoroughly before eating it and try to eat it sooner than later. If you want to keep it for a little while, keep it in a plastic bag by itself. Aphids are tiny, harmless, green insects, but it can be disconcerting to share a meal with them. Please let us know if you have any problems or are unhappy with this.

New Potatoes - These are fresh, or "new" potatoes. New potatoes have a fragile skin and juicier flesh than "regular" potatoes. They're great for potato salads (just toss with some fresh herbs that have been briefly sauted in LOTS of butter) or with basil pesto. Actually, all spuds start out as new potatoes, but lose their freshness after they've been stored for a while. (They're still perfectly good after having been stored, but they're not really the same.) Most potatoes available in stores at not new potatoes (in fact, they're likely last year's crop), and if you've never gone out of your way to have fresh potatoes, you're in for a treat. If you notice any funky, corky, sunken spots, they can easily be carved out or peeled off. We try to grade out all of the bad ones, but some inevitably slip through.

Tomatoes - This week, full shares get a taste of some of our first tomatoes. While "vine ripened" tomatoes in supermarkets are only allowed to just begin to blush from green to red, all of our tomatoes are picked off the vine fully ripe (or at least pretty damn close to fully ripe). The maters this week are a selection of Jet Star, Big Beef and Moskvich. (The former two are tasty hybrids, the latter is a great heirloom.)

Recipe Ideas

Sweet and Sour Cabbage
This recipe has passed the simplest test: we've made it once and we're excited to make it again. Be aware that a giant pile of shredded cabbage will cook down to the barest amount. We got this recipe from a great stir fry book called Wok Hei or Breath of a Wok.

1 tbsp rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tsp rice vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
2 tsp Maine maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup thinly sliced or shredded carrot (optional)
2 tbsp minced scallions (or green onion tops)

Combine rice wine, soy sauce, maple syrup, salt and cornstarch and reserve. Heat a wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes in 1 to 2 seconds. Add the oil and swirl, then add the ginger and stir fry for 10 seconds. Add the cabbage and carrots and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until the veggies are just limp. Add the rice wine mixture and bring to a boil for 30 seconds or until thickened. Serve sprinkled with scallions.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for August 12

2008-08-12T22:34:00.001-04:00

Pray for sun. Please. The crops around the farm continue to look healthy, but this recent stretch of cool, cloudy, rainy weather hasn't been encouraging anything to grow. What we really need now is a good stretch of hot, sunny weather to really push everything along. Here's a great example: last week we picked over 50 pounds of zucchini and summer squash from one 50 foot row. This week we only got 18 pounds, or 1/3 as much.

That said, a number of things are cruising along ... if only on momentum: more and more heirloom tomatoes are ripening, our corn is ripening enough that the raccoons have begun to notice, and it looks like we may just have the best winter squash crop we've ever had.

I've done some informal polling of shareholders that I see and have come up with a few general comments which seem to sum up your experience with our CSA so far:
You're all very happy with the quality and freshness of the produce.
You would like some more greens to eat as salads.
Some of you would prefer to receive larger quantities of perhaps fewer kinds of things.
At least one of you hates cilantro.
If your feelings aren't expressed above, please let us know!

All shares contain:
Zucchini, Summer Squash and/or Patti-pan Squash
Cucumbers
Green Onions
Garlic
"Braising Mix" (aka "stir fry" or mustard greens)
Celery
Chives
"Full" shares also contain:
more onions, zucchinis, cucumbers and garlic
Thyme
BASIL!
Veggie Notes

Nothing really new this week.

Recipe Ideas

Technique: Stir Frying
Stir frying is a very simple technique that can turn very simple ingredients into a wonderful meal very quickly. For years, we tried to make stir frys that weren't runny, bland disappointments. Finally, we made a couple of simple adjustments to our technique which results is pretty darn good stir frys every time:
Dry the ingredients as much as possible before cooking.
Cook ingredients separately and in small batches (a roomy single layer in the pan)
Cook over as high a heat as possible. (Remember to be careful when using nonstick pans over high heat; before we got a wok, we only used cast iron.)
When all ingredients are cooked and set aside, heat up your stir fry sauce in the pan before adding the ingredients back to the pan. The sauce can be as simple a soy sauce and maple syrup, or -- like the one listed below -- something a bit fancier.

Stir Fry Sauce
This recipe is adapted from one in a Betty Crocker cookbook. We tweaked it to make it a little more seasonal and local-friendly, but we also toned the sweetness quite a bit. (As in we reduced the total sweetener to under 25% what the original recipe called for and we still think this is kind of sweet!)

This makes a lot of sauce, something like 2 cups. We often save half of the sauce in the fridge for another night, or for dipping eggrolls or stuffed cabbage leaves. This can also be prepared ahead of time and mixed right into other already cooked ingredients.

2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Maine maple syrup
2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup veggie or chicken stock, or just water
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp corn starch
hot pepper to taste
1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce or Black Bean Paste (optional)

Combine 1 tbsp of broth/water with corn starch, stir to eliminate clumps and set aside. Combine all other ingredients, bring to a boil and continue to boil until reduced by 1/3 to 1/2. Stir up the corn starch mixture and stir into the sauce. Boil/simmer until the sauce thickens, 1-2 minutes.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for August 5

2008-08-05T15:23:00.002-04:00

All shares contain:
Zucchini, Summer Squash and Patti-pan Squash
Cucumbers
Cilantro
Green Onions
Garlic
Loose leaf Lettuce (for salad)
"Braising Mix" (aka "stir fry" or mustard greens)
"Full" shares also contain:
more onions, zucchinis, cucumbers, garlic, lettuce and braising mix
Sage
Marjoram
"Italian sprouting" broccoli
Veggie Notes

zucchini - We try not to give out really big zukes, with the exception of the light and dark green striped and ribbed ones. These are a variety called "Costata Romanesca" and are widely regarded to actually improve in quality as they get larger. Of course, they can quickly reach sizes over 10 pounds, and all of the squashes we put into the shares this week were positively tiny compared to that.

cucumbers - The whitish/yellowish cucumbers are an heirloom variety that originated not far from here in Livermore Falls, Maine. It's called "Boothby's Blond". The spineless cucumbers are a variety called "Diva" which was developed in Albion, Maine.

cilantro - Some of you will have received a funny looking kind of cilantro with frilly, feathery leaves. It's called "Delfino" and recently won a national award for it's uniqueness and high quality. Aside from the leaves, it's just the same as regular cilantro and can be used just the same.

Italian sprouting broccoli - These little tiny broccolis are delicious and very sweet when raw, especially when chilled. It grows differently than regular broccoli and has taken a little while for us to get used to, but we think we're getting a handle on it now. Please, let us know what you think of it.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for July 29

2008-07-29T12:56:00.001-04:00

It's a funny time here on the farm. Busy, as always, but a little lean, too. Our first big flush of spring produce is done (no more napa cabbages, peas, chicories, beets) and we get to catch our breath for a little while before the big summer crops come on. Well, we won't be catching our breath so much as we'll be busy weeding and weeding and planting and weeding and building and mowing and weeding some more.

It may not seem like it to you, but it's been a little bit of a challenge for us to put together the past couple of shares -- mostly due to drought, insufficient fertility and just a little bit of inadequate planning. The drought and fertility I can't really do a whole lot about except know that we can irrigate in the future (with our new irrigation setup) and that the soil tilth and fertility will continue to improve as we continue to work the soil and to cover crop it and add minerals and nutrients. As for the planning, I just underestimated how much of each crop we would need. It's exciting to walk through the market gardens and see all of the different crops, but it's frustrating come harvest day when you pick every last fava bean and still don't have enough to give out. Hypothetically speaking, of course. But of course, this is where we can see the power of crop diversification: with so many different crops planted, there's always something ready to fill in for something that didn't do well. Crop diversification is way better than crop insurance. What can I do about this? What any good farmer would do: learn from it and plant more.

But don't worry! This little shortage only affects our successtional plantings and -- being successtional -- we get a chance to plant more. Better yet, all of the crops that only get planted once (onions, leeks, winter squash, tomatoes, potatoes and such) are about to starting coming in by the bushel. We've been eating the first few cherry tomatoes of the season, some of the big slicing tomatoes are done sizing up and are just waiting to ripen, eggplants are setting fruit, winter squashes are -- as usual -- out of control, corn is tasseling, potatoes are about golf ball size, and you're all getting some early hot peppers this week. All that good stuff yet to come and, since we're just now only 1/4 way through the CSA season, we'll have plenty of time to enjoy it all.

All shares contain:
"Rainbow" Beets
Swiss Chard
Zucchini and/or Summer Squash
Cilantro
Green Onions
Hot Peppers
"Full" shares also contain:
more onions, zucchinis and peppers
Fennel
Thyme
Veggie Notes

beets - I can't believe I've forgotten to mention this for two weeks -- in fact, I can't believe that I'd forgotten it at all: beets are really really good when eaten with a little goat cheese. It's by far our favorite way of eating beets. Just roast the beets and then serve them with some chevre -- such as the great stuff available from Kennebec Cheesery at the Thursday farmers market. The sweet, earthiness of the beets is set off nicely by the creamy, tangy, earthiness of the cheese. Try it!

green onions - These are just "premature" onions and can be used like onions or scallions. The green tops can be used too. Kendra's family likes to pack the green tops in a bin of salt, which preserves them. Then they use them to flavor soups and stews over the winter.

fennel - The first time we grew fennel, we were hooked. What a unique, versatile, little veggie! If the licorice flavor is a bit much for you, cooking can help to tame that a bit. Raw, it's crunchy texure is great in anything that calls for celery and it's sweetness and flavor really pair well with fruits: with raisins, say, when grated into some sort of new-age cole slaw or with grapes in one of those chicken salads that have grapes in them or just chop it up and toss it in with some fruit salad. In Italy, apparently, it's sometimes eaten for dessert with orange-flavored goat cheese. When cooked, it again can be used anywhere that celery would be used and that would benefit from a little sweetness. We really like to carmalize it like you would onions: slice it thin and cook it in olive oil over a low flame for 30-40 minutes.

Recipe Ideas

Corn Salsa
Sweet corn is starting to show up at roadside stands in the area and this is a great way to use any ears that you might have leftover. It's also a great way to tide you over until fresh tomato salsa season. To cut the corn off the cob, just stand the [already cooked] ear on end on a cutting board and cut downward to slice off the kernels.

2 cups sweet corn, cooked
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
minced fresh hot pepper, to taste
salt

Combine corn, onion, cilantro and hot pepper. Season to taste with salt and serve.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Chicory, Endive, Escarole and Radicchio

2008-07-22T22:42:00.001-04:00

[This is a re-print of a flier we worked up for distribution at farmer's market.]

These bitter, lettuce-like vegetables are delicacies to Europeans but an acquired taste to most Americans, us included. As we went about acquiring that taste, we found the following recipes very helpful.

Chicory with Bacon and Maple Balasamic Dressing
This is an excellent, quick, simple, savory, sweet, tangy, bitter, warm salad. The bacon fat drizzle serves to wilt the chicory slightly, bringing out some of it's latent sweetness. It would also be great with a tangy cheese such as chevre or a good blue.

1 head chicory
4 slices, nitrare-free bacon
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t Maine maple syrup
3-4 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T minced fresh herbs, such as Basil (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the bacon into 1/2" pieces and cook over low heat until the fat has released and the pieces are just becoming crisp. Meanwhile, rinse and dry the chicory thoroughly, then chop it into 1/2" by 2" strips. Whisk together (or combine in a jar and shake violently) the remaining ingredients to prepare the dressing. When the bacon is ready, place the chicory into a roomy bowl, sprinkle with the bacon bits, then drizzle a generous amount of still very hot bacon fat over the greens. Finally, pour the dressing over everything and serve.

Roasted Radicchio with Gorgonzola and Balsamic Vinegar

1 head radicchio
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar
4-6 oz Gorgonzola, sliced or chunked

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the radicchio into large wedges, about 2" wide. Brush generously with olive oil and place in a baking dish in single layer. Place dish in oven and bake for 20 minutes, turning wedges over midway through. Remove from oven, drizzle with vinegar, top with cheese and return it to the oven until the cheese melts, about 5 mintues.

Steamed Chicories with Pine Nuts and Raisins
This also works very well with other dried fruit & nut combinations: cranberries and almonds or apricots and pecans.

3 T raisins
1 lb chicories
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 T pine nuts
salt and pepper

Soak raisins in boiling water; drain when plump. With a steamer basket, steam chicory just until wilted (2-4 minutes). Heat the oil in a large pan and saute garlic and pine nuts until pine nuts begin to brown (3 minutes). Coarsely chop the wilted greens and add to the pan, stirring to coat with oil. Remove from heat, stir in raisins and season with salt and pepper.

Farm Share Info for July 22

2008-07-22T13:25:00.001-04:00

Sorry this is coming in so late -- we topped off another long farm day by cutting some wood to build a shed for Kendra's new wood fired oven and after that we made our first pickles of the season (using the last of the year's garlic scapes and snap peas).

All shares contain:
"Rainbow" beets
Endive
Zucchini and/or Summer Squash
Celery (a small bunch)
"Full" shares also contain:
more "Rainbow" beets
a bunch of marjoram and parsley
Chicory
shell peas

Veggie Notes

beets - As I mentioned last week, remember that the leaves of beets (aka `beet greens') can be eaten like Swiss chard and that the color of the red beets will tend to bleed into the rest of the beets of they're cooked together. If the beets taste bitter, peeling off the skins can rid them of the bitterness.

endive and chicory - Endive has the finely toothed, feathery leaves while the chicory will look more like a head of romaine lettuce. There are many, many kinds of "chicory", but the one you're getting this week is called "Pan de Zucchero", or "Sugar Loaf". Less bitter than most chicories, it's natural sweetness really comes out when it's roasted. See the next post for some more recipes involving chicory.

celery - Baby celery, though not really that useful for the peanut butter and raisin treatment, is still a great seasoning. Just chop it up (leaves and all) an add to any recipe that calls for celery.

Recipe Ideas

Simple Squash Saute
For a long time, we tried to figure out what to do with all of the squash that piled up during the summer. Then we found this recipe and now we have a hard time keeping enough squash around! It's very flexible: use more or less squash, omit the herbs and/or garlic, etc.

2 6” squashes
1 medium onion
½ bunch fresh thyme, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
3-4 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or more to taste
salt and pepper

Remove stems from squashes and chop into ¼” thick, round slices. Chop the onion (including the top, if it's a fresh onion) into ¼” by 1” pieces. Heat the fat in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and onion and cook until the onion has softened, about 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Add the squash and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Also, be sure to check out the next post for some recipes for chicory and endive. (The roasted radicchio recipes would also work really well with this week's chicory.)

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for July 15 [Updated w/ notes & recipe]

2008-07-15T13:15:00.001-04:00

All shares contain:
fresh garlic
collard greens
scallions
shell peas -- don't eat the pods, just the peas inside
thyme
"Full" shares also contain:
more garlic and peas
"rainbow" beets
baby zucchini

Veggie Notes

fresh garlic - This isn't the young, tender stuff we had earlier. As the garlic plant matures, the stem thickens and hardens while the skin around the bulb starts to become tougher. You can still use the entire bulb (wrapper skins and all), but you'll want to trim off the stem perhaps 1/2" above the bulb.

collard greens - Collard greens can be used just like other cooking greens, but they have a more assertive flavor (like that of kale and other brassicas, such as broccoli and cabbage) a more robust texture. Don't believe the old stories of fat, southern grandmas cooking these things all day with pigs feet; we boil them briefly in 1/2-3/4" of lightly salted water in a wide, shallow pan. You could also steam them. We also make a great tomato-based pasta sauce with collards for which I'm having trouble finding a recipe. I'll let you know when I find it.

shell peas - Unlike in previous weeks, these are shell peas and the pod cannot be eaten. I know, I know: it's a lot of work to shell peas, but -- to my tongue -- the convenience of snap peas still doesn't hold a candle to the great flavor of shell peas. While we cook snap peas in all sorts of dishes (stir fries and pastas, notable), we almost never cook shell peas because we always end up eating them all as we're shelling them.

beets - Remember that the leaves of beets (aka `beet greens') can be eaten like Swiss chard. The tend to be a bit more tart, but they're still pretty good. If you want to preserve the distinct colors of the rainbow beets, you should steam them or roast them. If you boil them, they'll all end up kind of red. See below for roasting instructions ... well, not so much instructions as guidelines.

Recipe Ideas

Finding recipes is perhaps the hardest part of writing these newsletters. We've been cooking with fresh, whole foods for so long that we don't really use recipes anymore, instead relying on "techniques" with generous injections of experience-influenced intuition to guide our hand to great meals. To that end, I'll treat one of our most versatile and trustworthy techniques as recipe.

Roasted Vegetables
Roasting is a wicked simple technique that works well for a lot of different vegetables. (And especially well for root vegetables.) Though we generally roast veggies during winter -- when the heat given off from the oven is a welcome boost to the wood stove -- there are a lot of great foods to roast in the summer too. Summer veggies such as beets, carrots, eggplant, peppers and new potatoes -- just to name a few -- respond well to roasting. So, here are our general guidelines for roasting:

You will need:
a vegetable, or vegetables, to roast
salt and pepper
a fat to roast in - bacon fat is best, olive oil is great, and other vegetable oils will work too
a pan to roast in - large enough to accommodate the veggies in a single layer
optional: seasonings such as herbs and/or chili peppers
Turn on oven and preheat to 350 or so.
Clean, trim and chop the veggies into pieces that are approx. the same same size. The size of gaming dice is a good size -- smaller is too much work and too much larger will take forever to cook.
Toss the veggies with the oil or fat, a good pinch of salt, several turns of the pepper grinder and -- if using -- the seasonings.
Spread the chopped, oiled, seasoned vegetables into the roasting pans and place into the oven.
Roasting times will depend upon the vegetable being roasted as well as the size into which it has been chopped. In general 30-45 minutes is a good amount of time to roast. If the veggies are cut smaller or thin, they will cook more quickly; if they are cut large or are spread in the pan thickly, they will cook more slowly. The test for being "done" is that the veggies will be "fork tender", i.e. that they will yield easily to a fork.

Roasted Beets
Using what we've just said, let's roast today's beets:
Clean, trim and chop the beets into 1/2" cubes.
Chop up about 1/2 of the bunch of thyme.
Drizzle the chopped beets w/ olive oil to coat and toss with the chopped thyme and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Spread the beets into a roasting pan -- we used a 9"x9" pan.
Place in oven and roast. As I'm writing, the beets have been in for about 45 minutes and are getting close to done. By 1 hour, they should be perfect!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for July 8

2008-07-08T18:46:00.002-04:00

The farm is really looking great during these long, hot, muggy days. It's hard weather to work in, but it's great growing weather for the crops: our popcorn was more or less "knee high by the Fourth of July", as they say; we'll likely have zucchini and summer squash next week, as well as shell peas (hopefully for all shares); and the tomatoes are ... well, they're coming.

All shares contain:
garlic scapes
napa cabbage
swiss chard
cilantro
"Full" shares also contain:
head lettuce
another kohlrabi
Italian broccoli
snap peas - the pods are edible w/ the peas
one share also got a small cauliflower to make up for a rather puny kohlrabi

Veggie Notes

garlic scapes - These are the succulent flower stalks of garlic plants. They can be used just like regular garlic (just chop 'em up) but they really shine on their own when pickled (we chop them into 1" pieces and follow a dilly bean recipe, omitting the requisite garlic and substituting the scapes for the beans) or brushed with olive oil and grilled.

napa cabbage - The napas in this weeks share might seem a little bit daunting, large as they are. When I think of napa cabbage, I tend to think of only one thing: kimchi. Essentially Korean sourkraut, kimchi is a delicious, spicy mix of naturally fermented napa, radish, onion, ginger and -- especially -- chilis. Using the book Wild Fermentation, we made some last week and are eagerly awaiting the results (it takes a week to ferment). If the process of making kimchi is a little too much right now, napas are excellent grated into cole slaw (see recipe below), chopped and stir fried, or used as wrappers for asian inspired stuffed cabbage. Based on the size of this weeks cabbage, you should be able to try a few different things. We probably won't see napas again until the fall.

swiss chard - These leafy greens with rainbow colored stems (actually, they're petioles) are an excellent green for summer, when kale and spinach just ain't good eatin'. The leaves are tender and can be used just like spinach. The petioles can be chopped up and sauted with the leaves, or can be tossed into tuna or chicken salad for a colorful crunch. Chard from the supermarket tends to have a very tart flavor and leave a somewhat gritty feeling in the mouth, but I haven't tasted anything like that in the chard we've eaten this year.

Italian broccoli - Italian, calabrese or "sprouting" broccoli tends to produce many small heads, which have looser "beads" (actually, flower buds) than regular broccoli. The loose, "buddy-ness" of this week's broccoli is somewhat accentuated by the drought we had in May, but it's still pretty darn tasty. We sauted some for tacos last week with garlic, cumin and chili peppers.

Recipe Ideas

"Asian" Cole Slaw
This is based on a fairly common recipe which we got from Clayton's mom and the original can be found on RecipeSource here: http://www.recipesource.com/fgv/salads/18/rec1889.html We liked the idea, so we sort of combined it with another recipe by changing a few things and tweaking couple of ingredients to make it seem a little more authentic and whole foody. It's an excellent potluck, party or picnic dish and it also makes a great, healthy snack. Clayton's mom swears, though, that's it's not the same without the crunchiness of the Ramen...
1 lb napa cabbage, shredded
1/2 C carrot, shredded
1/4 C scallion, finely chopped (or shallot)
1/2 C sliced or slivered almonds
2 T rice vinegar (cider or wine vinegar will work, too)
4 T maple syrup (or sugar)
1/2 C seasame oil (or peanut or olive oil)
2 ts sesame seeds, toasted
2 ts soy sauce
crushed red pepper to taste

Combine vegetables and almonds and set aside. Combine remaining
ingredients and set aside. When ready to serve, pour dressing
over slaw and toss to mix.

Sauted Greens
I mentioned last week that it's easy, tasty and versatile to saute greens. Now I'm finally getting around to giving you an honest recipe for them.

1 big bunch of greens (chard, spinach, kale, collard, kohlrabi or brocolli leaves)
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2-3 T olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or more to taste

Chop the greens into pieces no bigger than the size of your palm. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Add the greens, stirring and turning them frequently and cook until they've wilted. Depending on your taste, this could be anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. We prefer them still crunchy so we don't cook them for very long. Splash with some vinegar when serving.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!

Farm Share Info for July 1

2008-07-01T13:21:00.001-04:00

Here we go! As we sit down for lunch, the first share has been picked and washed. After this brief breather, we'll pack the shares into boxes and ready them for their trip home with you folks. The crops looked great this morning and it was a pleasure to pick and wash them. We hope you find them as pleasing as we do.

All shares contain:
radishes
stir-fry, cooking or "braising" greens
lettuce
kohlrabi

"Full" shares also contain:
fresh garlic
fresh herbs: tarragon and sage
napa or chinese cabbage
snap peas - the pods are edible w/ the peas

Veggie Notes

Stir-fry greens - These are very tender, semi-succulent greens that are great for stir frying or sauteing. Saute some garlic in olive oil and throw in a few big handfuls of these greens (chopped up). When they've wilted, they're ready. Splash with some balsamic, cider or -- our favorite -- Ume plum vinegar to really draw out the flavor. This is a good, simple treatment for all greens, which you will likely see a lot of this summer.

kohlrabi - Funny looking, isn't it? To prepare, simply cut off the leaves (which are edible, but a little less tender than the stir fry greens) and peel the "bulb". The bulb can be sliced up and is excellent either raw (makes a great vehicle for dips) or stir fried.

fresh garlic - These are just really young garlic plants. The leaves are still tender enough to be edible, just like scallions. Simply chop up the whole plant and use as you would regular garlic. Fresh garlic tends to be a little more mellow in flavor.

Recipe Ideas

We'll be a little shy on actual recipes this week, but I'll give you a couple of suggestions:
The note above about preparing greens: saute w/ olive oil and garlic is so simple but is a real knockout. It's muscle memory for us now. I will say that the vinegar drizzle does make a difference, too. The greens should be slightly damp, but not wet. A little moisture will help to cook them, too much will just make them a watery mess.
Fresh Herb Vinaigrette - Prepare a simple vinaigrette (approx 1 part vinegar to 2-3 parts olive oil, whisked or shaken well) with a pinch of salt and some coarsely ground pepper. Add to this a generous amount of minced fresh herbs (more for subtlely flavored herbs -- like tarragon -- or less for strongly flavored -- like sage).

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!