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This weeks harvest:
- Beets/Greens - A mix of , Detroit Dark Red, Tall Top Wonder, and Chioggia (the ones with a target pattern). I don't think anything beets roasting them in the oven with carrots or alone. Be sure to cook the greens as well!
- Carrots - A small, sweet variety called Nelson. This is the first of four varieties you will try this month--great roasted or eaten fresh!
- Radishes - Spicy salad radishes -- a choice between the round red variety and the longer french breakfast type -- or both for Full Shares.
- Broccoli - For those who did not received it last week/some will get their second week of broccoli - More heirloom broccoli called Di Cicco, and the first of the larger-head variety, Belstar. Stores best in refrigerator.
- Lettuce - We're moving on to the early summer lettuces. This week we have a green, sweet summercrisp called Navada.
- Green Onions
- Dill - If you don't roast the beets/carrots, here's some dill to pickle them with.
- Parsley
- Mint
Root storage:
When root vegetables like beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, etc. are pulled from the ground, the tops begin to wilt and go into recovery mode. The result: the leaves and tops tap into the energy-rich root below them -- causing our delicious root veggies to go bad earlier. The solution is to remove the greens and find a culinary use for them as well. Many of these roots will store well in plastic bags in the refrigerator crisper for weeks and even months with the tops removed.
Important note about pick ups!
Please be sure to contact us if you are unable to pick up your share for the week. We try to be flexible and can arrange a "make-up" share at an alternate location. Notifying us, even if it's at the last minute, can allow us to either donate or sell the extra food.
Thank you!
Organic, Free-Range Chicken from Bells Bend!
On June 12th, our neighbor and fellow-farmer Fletcher will be harvesting his first round of chickens. Fletcher is a graduate of Belmont and started his chicken operation in Bells Bend this year. These chickens have been raised outside, where they eat bugs, grass, and organic feed. The birds average about 4-5 lbs, and are available to the CSA for $5.00/lb -- a good price for quality meat raised this way. Pick up your chicken at Fletcher's farm (15 minutes from town) the day of the harvest, or later that week. Contact Fletcher by email to arrange purchase: fletchergonzalez@gmail.com
News From The Farm
Spring on our farm is surreal. Cool, overcast days followed by hot,
leaf-wilting afternoons have made the last few weeks exciting to say the
least. I don’t really mind work in the
hot sun, but the occasional shadowing cloud really makes you appreciate the
shade (maybe even a short break for mint ice tea). The cool days have been very nice, but the
cool weather has frequently only followed rain, which means little actual work
in the field.
The nights,
however, are what make this farm surreal and dreamlike. You probably don’t need to be told we’re
having a wet year so far, but the consistent moisture is having some interesting effects here. The amphibians this year seem to have had a
population boom from all the moisture. While driving down the road after a rain, it is not rare to stop once,
twice, sometimes even three times to move a baby box turtle safely to the edge
of the pavement—nose pointed to the woods, of course. The frogs have been so loud at night, our
intern Adrian has had trouble sleeping. My theory is that the still-standing flood water created a perfect frog
nursery, with the flood occurring the same time these bug-eaters needed a place
to lay their eggs.
All this
moisture has also manifested into an evening fog that slowly fills the hollow
on the farm, split by Sulphur Creek. The
nearly full moon creates just enough light to see the silhouette of several
large oaks, sycamores, and poplars, trunks unseen in the settled fog. Lightning bugs flash in patterns, usually on
a cycle of about 6 seconds (tonight anyway), each flash creating a bright-green
sphere in the fog. In these conditions
the garden sleeps cool and content, with dew drops covering every leaf.
A walk through the garden on one of these evenings makes me feel good, confident, and proud of our crops. Reviewing our first month of the season, we have given over $90.00 worth of veggies (1/2 share).
For those interested, I have added a few of my favorite photos from the last week or so.
Your farmers,
Eric,
Brooke, George, Kevin, Adrian, and more!
Our second planting of larger-headed broccoli begins to head up.
Celery and Garlic with barn in the background.
One of hundreds of stone tool we have found in the fields. This one was in the corn patch.
Recipes
Roasted Beets with Horseradish Maple Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 lb medium beets (3 3/4 lb with greens), stems
trimmed to 1 inch
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
-
3 tablespoons bottled horseradish (not drained)
- 2 1/2
tablespoons maple syrup (preferably dark amber or Grade B)
- 2 1/2
tablespoons cider vinegar
-
1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
 Preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to
450°F.
Quarter the beets, and toss them in olive oil until lightly
coated. Roast until tender and beginning to brown on the edges, 30-45
min.
Melt butter with horseradish, syrup, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a
12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat. Stir in beets and boil,
stirring occasionally, until liquid in skillet is reduced to about 1/4
cup and beets are coated, 4 to 5 minutes.
***If you don't
have the ingredients for the glaze, don't worry! Just stop after the
2nd step in the recipe, and add a sprinkling of salt. The flavor of a
roasted beet, after the sugars have caramelized the edges, is absolutely
flavorful enough on its own. Delicious additions to the roast include,
but not limited to, carrots, garlic scapes, radishes (YES, roast your
radishes!) or the whole bulbs of the spring onions that you've been
getting.
Classic Hummus (+ Beet Humus!)
Ingredients
-
2 cloves garlic
- 1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup tahini (sesame sauce)
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
Garnish
- cumin
- parsley
- olive
oil
- paprika
Directions
Put all ingredients into a food
processor and process until smooth
***This makes a great dip for
your fresh radishes, carrots, kohlrabi, scapes, broccoli stalks, or
onions. If you really want to have some fun, make beet humus! Add a
roasted beet to the mix, and enjoy the extraordinary color and subtle
"beety" flavor of your creation.
Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 C. butter
2/3 C. bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C. beet puree*
2/3 C. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Grease a 12-cup muffin tin
or line it with paper cups; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk
together first 5 ingredients until well
combined.Stir in the half cup chocolate chips and nuts; set aside.
- In
a small saucepan, melt the other 2/3 cup chocolate chips and
butter over very low heat.Stir to combine and set aside to cool until
lukewarm.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar,
beet puree, buttermilk, vanilla and melted chocolate.
- Pour the
chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon
until just combined.Don’t over mix.
- Immediately spoon batter into 12 well-greased or paper-lined muffin
cups.Batter should completely fill the cups.
- Place muffin pan in
a preheated 375 oven and bake for 18-20
minutes. Muffins are done when they spring back when touched lightly in
the center (or when a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin
comes out clean). Don’t over-bake!
- Cool muffins for 10 minutes in
pan then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Blanched
Broccoli with Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- one or two broccoli crowns
- 2 T lemon juice
- 6 T
good olive oil
- salt and coarsely ground black pepper
Directions
Bring
a large pot of water to a rapid boil over high heat. Add enough salt so
the water tastes faintly salty.
While the water heats, fill a medium bowl
about three-quarters full with ice, then add enough cold water to come
just to the top of the ice.
Make the vinaigrette: put the olive
oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into a jar. Seal, and shake to
emulsify.
When the water is boiling and the ice bath is ready, cut
each broccoli crown lengthwise into 3 or 4 pieces.
Boil the
broccoli only until they're barely cooked through but still
tender, about 1 minute. Remove the pieces and transfer to the ice water
bath.
Drain, and toss with the vinaigrette. Enjoy!
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