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July 17
THE BELLS BENDER

Week 10
 
 The Harvest:
  • Sweet Corn 
  • Beans - Asian Yard Long beans and Italian Flat Beans, or your choice for half shares.  These Yard Long beans are almost as long as the name suggests -- see recipes below.
  • Tomatoes - If your tomato is firm, let it sit inside for a day or two to let it ripen.
  • Carrots - a late planting of carrots that worked out.  These carrots are a mix of the small, sweet Mokum and Yaya varieties.
  • Peppers - a mix of sweet and hot peppers -- we'll tell you which is which!  
  • Swiss Chard
  • Zucchini, Zephyr, and Yellow Squash
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Basil 
  • Dill
  • Blackberries - Week 3 of blackberries!
  • Zinnias - Everyone will get flowers this week!

Organic Chicken from Bells Bend will be available at the Farm pick up and by order this week.  Truly free-range and fed organic, local feed, these birds are not only incredibly delicious, but incredibly local!  Either pick up chickens at farm on Tuesday from 4-6 pm or contact Fletcher at FletchersPoultry@gmail.com.  East Nashville pick up can order in advance for Wednesday.  Chickens are whole and are $5/lb.

Blueberries will be available for pre-order beginning this week.  These incredible blueberries are biodynamically/organically grown at Hidden Springs Farm near Cookeville.  These are the same blueberries we had last year and we highly recommend them.  Email us for order at BellsBendFarmsCSA@gmail.com  Cost is $6/pint
We will also have blueberries for sale at the market.
News from the Farm
 
         After 3 1/2 long weeks, it finally happened -- it rained.  Every predicted storm passed us by, at times only 100 yards away.  Then, without any prediction, dark clouds moved in, thunder rumbled, the wind blew the lids off the coolers, and it rained.  We got about an inch or so, but enough to give the ground a good soaking.  With bellies full of roasted potatoes, yard long beans, and blackberry cobbler, we rejoiced as the rain fell steadily for over three hours.  
        We know that the plants rejoiced as well.  Only the next day, the peppers seemed to fill out, tomatoes started turning red, and the thousands of budding bean plants are now in bloom.  A rainy day is a day spent out of the field...usually.  Besides harvesting a few things for the CSA, we try to stay off the wet ground to minimize compaction.  Rainy days become times to work on the multitude of projects that have been placed on the back burner.  The projects this week include building shelves and storage areas for the quantities of squash, cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes about to come in daily.  We are also sorting the seed we saved from last season, planning the fall garden, and ordering fall seed.  Believe it or not, we will start seeding lettuce, broccoli, greens, and the full list of fall veggies this week! 
          The only less-fortunate news I have to report this week is that the deer, raccoons, and whoever else have been harvesting our sweet corn a bit early.  The corn patch has looked great all season...until this past week.  These annoying critters always seem to wait until the corn is just ripe to make their move, causing a good deal of damage to our crop.  We've gone to some lengths to keep them out, even to the point of camping next to the corn patch, yet nothing seems to work consistently.  For this reason, some of your corn will be chopped at the end, where we removed the tip.  I should also warn you that corn ear caterpillars are likely to be in some of the ears.  No need to fear, all organically-grown corn has these worms.  In fact, we usually say that the worm is our "organic certification".  We have some older folks who won't buy an ear of corn unless it has the worm, as this signifies it was grown without chemicals.  Don't worry, you don't have to eat it--just put it in the compost or outside.
 

 From left to right: basil, the next plantings of cucumbers, squash, bush beans, pole beans, and...wet soil!
 

When it rains and farmers take a day of rest...
 
Have a great week!
 
Your farmers,
 
Eric, Brooke, George, Kevin, Peter, Evan, and more!

 
 
Recipes
 
Here are some relevant recipes that CSA members have been enjoying recently:
 
Swiss Chard with Pinto Beans and Goat Cheese

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and
drained
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 small tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 bunch Swiss chard - rinsed, stems
removed and cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 tablespoons goat cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8 or 9 inch square
baking dish.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes;
cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add Swiss chard, cover and cook for 4 minutes.
Uncover and mix in the pinto beans, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper. Cover and continue
cooking until the chard is wilted, about 4 more minutes.
3. Transfer the chard to the baking dish and dot with goat cheese, pushing it down into the dish.
4. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the goat cheese is warmed.
Blackberry-Lemon Pudding Cake

¼ cup flour
1 cup raw (or granulated) sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup low fat buttermilk
2 tsp finely chopped lemon rind (approximately rind from one lemon)
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbsp butter, melted
3 eggs
1-1/2 cup to 2 cups blackberries (or blueberries)
Cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Add the buttermilk, lemon rind, lemon juice, and melted butter. Stir until
smooth.
4. Beat the eggs until foamy, then add to buttermilk mixture. Stir briskly
until completely blended.
5. Fold in berries.
6. Pour the batter into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking
spray. Place in a larger baking pan. Add hot water to larger pan to a
depth of 1 inch.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until the pudding springs back
when touched lightly in center. Serve warm.
Yield: 5 servings (approx. 1 cup / serving)

 
FROZEN MOJITOS (you can modify this to make smaller amounts)

Ingredients
  • 1 (6 ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate
  • 8 (1.5 fluid ounce) jiggers rum
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
  • 1 tray ice cubes
Directions
  1. Place the lime juice concentrate, rum, mint, and ice cubes into the container of a blender. Cover and pulse briefly to get started, then process until smooth. Pour into 4 cocktail glasses.