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July 31
THE BELLS BENDER

Week 12: More!
 
 The Harvest:
  • Cantaloupe (not pictured)- West Nashville pick up will get two small, sweet cantaloupes for half shares, and 4 for full shares.  Watermelons coming soon!
  • Sweet Corn - Because our corn plantings did not unfold as hoped, we've struck a deal with our friend Jeff Poppen, the Barefoot Farmer.  This week you'll be eating his delicious sweet corn.  In the fall we will grow extra carrots for his CSA.  There is a LOT of this corn, please be prepared to get between 10-20 ears.
  • Beans - We asked some of you and no one seems to be tired of these Yard Long beans yet.  They're still producing more than the purple and green beans, so we'll eat them again this week!
  • Cucumbers - Finally! We've got cukes!
  • Leeks - More delicious mini-leeks.
  • Tomatoes
  • Yellow Squash
  • Swiss Chard
  • Basil
  • Dill (hint: pickles.)

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
 
     As usual, a lot has happened in the past week.  We've visited two other friend farms in Kentucky, helped dig potatoes at a new farm in town, planned several new acres for 2011, planted our first round of fall crops, and topped it off with an incredible square dance at our barn/shed/kitchen/everything else.  I'm exhausted and it's early in the week!  This is the time of year when things seem to get, well...hot.  The heat during this time of year really takes a lot out of us, leaving only the cooler morning and evening hours the only time suitable for field work.  Exhausted and hot or not, there's a lot of work to be done in late July/Early August.
    Most of my energy has been devoted to our cover crop plan, working new ground for next year, and most importantly, planting our fall crops.  It sounds silly to plant fall, cool-weather crops during the hottest, driest months of the year, but we do it anyway.  Fall lettuces, greens, broccoli, carrots, and all the rest need to be planted now if they are to mature by October, November, and December.  So we're planting: lettuces, cabbages, broccoli, brussel sprouts, greens, green onions, and a lot more over the next three weeks.
     Well, like I said, I'm exhausted.  I'll finish this newsletter with a few pictures from the past week.
 

The winter squash field is doing great.  I know there's no way to gauge size by this picture, but the field is about 1/4+ acre in size.  The plants already have large, nearly mature butternut squash on them and are setting new fruit still.
 
Where your (from right to left) beans, squash, cucumbers, and basil come from.
 
 
Hoping for rain.
A huge storm came through: strong winds, streaks of lightning, bellowing winds, and only a few drops.  The crew watched it pass us, circle back around, and display the most incredible, ominous evening storm.  As I said though, no rain.
 
Please -- wish us rain this week!
 
Your farmers,
 
Eric, Brooke, George, Kevin, Peter, Evan, and more!

 
 
Recipes
 
Hello Bells Benders,  we hope you have all been enjoying the summer harvest as much as we have.  Seems like we can't get through a single day without a juicy tomato sandwich, complete with homemade mayo, salt and cracked pepper!  This week some of our shareholders sent in some great recipes, celebrating the summer fruits of our labor, and I want to share them with you guys.  Thanks Chuck and Susan!

-Brooke 

Summer Pasta with Basil, Tomatoes and Cheese

Note: This recipe is re-typed from a photocopy of an article that appeared in an unknown magazine, perhaps “Food & Wine.” For best results, don’t change any of the listed ingredients, especially the cheeses. This works best with Fontina cheese, as indicated. I have noted several small variations which I use. CWD

Food &Wine Beverage Suggestion: California Zinfandel
6 TO 8 Servings

4 medium tomatoes – peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (personal note: I don’t bother to peel the tomatoes, and it is still great)
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (this is mandatory!!!)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon hot pepper flakes
½ cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin
1 pound small macaroni shells (personal note: I use only ½ pound of medium shells)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ pound Italian Fontina cheese, finely diced (about 2 cups)

1. In a medium bowl, toss together the tomatoes, garlic, basil, mint, salt, black pepper, hot pepper flakes and olive oil. Let stand at room temperature, tossing occasionally, for 2 to 3 hours.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni until tender, but still firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large, warmed serving bowl.
Spoon off ¼ cup of liquid from the tomatoes and toss with the macaroni to coat.
3. While the macaroni is still warm, add the Parmesan and Fontina cheeses, and toss until the cheeses begin to melt. Add the tomatoes with their liquid and toss until mixed. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Gayle's Tomato Pie – serves 6-8

4- 5 medium/large tomatoes (fresh homegrown ones are best)
2 ½ c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
½ c. real mayonnaise
+/- 2 T. chopped fresh basil
+/- 1 T. chopped fresh chives (I used 1-2 T. chopped green onion)
1 All Ready piecrust (Pillsbury?) in a medium to deep pie pan.
Salt (optional)

1. Peel the tomatoes. (I plunge them into boiling water for a few seconds
to facilitate this.)
2. Slice the tomatoes about 3/8” thick and spread out on layers of paper
towels for at least an hour to let the toweling absorb as much moisture
as possible. I sprinkle a bit of salt on top and then layer more towels
on top.
3. Before baking the crust, sprinkle about ½ c. grated cheese on the
bottom of the crust. This will create a bit of a barrier to keep the
tomatoes from making the crust too soggy.
4. Bake the crust with the cheese at 400 degrees about 15 minutes.
5. Combine the remaining cheese, herbs and mayo.
6. Layer the dried out sliced tomatoes in the baked shell. You will want
the layer of tomatoes to be a bit higher than the edges of the pie shell.
They’ll sink down a bit after cooking.
7. Top with the cheese mixture. It doesn’t spread. You’ll have to lay it
down in little flat clumps. Try to cover the surface of the tomatoes.
8. Bake the pie at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Serve warm or room temperature. Share this with someone you love!

Gayle Hurley

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Ingredients

2 large leeks, white and light-green parts
1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick
1 medium yellow squash, sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick
1 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for coating dish (I coated dish with olive oil spray to save calories/fat)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
FOR THE CRUMB MIXTURE
3 tablespoons plain bread crumbs (I used Panko)
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan (I used shredded Romano)
1 medium clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Directions
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate or gratin dish with oil. Trim stem ends of leeks; cut into 1/4-inch-thick diagonal rounds. Place in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to rid them of dirt and sand. Pat dry. In a medium bowl, gently toss leeks, zucchini, squash, 1 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange vegetable slices in bottom of pie plate, slightly overlapping them.
In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over vegetables, and bake until the bread crumbs are golden brown and vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.

 


Mayonnaise

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Prep Time:
10 min
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
--
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
9 fluid ounces

Ingredients

  • 1 egg yolk*
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 2 pinches sugar
  • 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 cup oil, safflower or corn

Directions

In a glass bowl, whisk together egg yolk and dry ingredients. Combine lemon juice and vinegar in a separate bowl then thoroughly whisk half into the yolk mixture. Start whisking briskly, then start adding the oil a few drops at a time until the liquid seems to thicken and lighten a bit, (which means you've got an emulsion on your hands). Once you reach that point you can relax your arm a little (but just a little) and increase the oil flow to a constant (albeit thin) stream. Once half of the oil is in add the rest of the lemon juice mixture.

Continue whisking until all of the oil is incorporated. Leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours then refrigerate for up to 1 week.