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This weeks harvest:
- Tomatoes - Our first tomato harvest: modest, but delicious. Your choice between an heirloom slicing tomato or "sungold" cherry tomatoes. A lot more tomatoes to come!
- Cucumbers - Many more to come in the next few weeks!
- Beans, Yellow Wax - More of these tender, yellow snap beans called
"Carson".
- Zucchini and Zephyr
Squash
- Cucumbers- many, many more to come in the next few weeks.
- Celery - The first harvest of the celery we're known for! This strong, dark green celery is worlds more flavorful than anything you've eaten from the store. Be careful adding too much to recipes--it's strong stuff! Early in the season, this celery is tougher and better used as a cooking celery.
- Onions - More small, sweet, chippolini-like onions.
- Basil - we will give more and more basil as the plants grow. Expect pesto-making quantities in July.
- Chard
- Cilantro -Our late planting of cilantro has somehow survived the heat, giving us one or two more harvests.
- Garlic
News From The Farm
Well, after all the boasting about not watering last week, I'm beginning to bite my tongue. The last two major fronts to pass by did just that -- they passed us by, spilling significant amounts of water only 1/8 of a mile from the farm, but not a drop here. Some plants are growing a bit slower without the water, but overall I'm very impressed at how well everything is holding up. Even the thousands of new squash, cucumber, and bean seedlings that sprouted about a week ago (just in time for this dry spell) are holding their own and showing no signs of water stress. Although we seem to be making it through the dry weather just fine, we're still installing 6,000 gallons-worth of water storage in case these weather patterns continue.
Besides mere inconvenience, the rain, or the lack there of in this case, has a role often ignored in the everyday lives of most people. When one truly tries to eat locally and sustainably, however, they begin to take note of such things. I would imagine that many of you have thought about the weather and it's influence on your food production more this season than in the past. Through this we realize that such a connection to our food supply gives us a much stronger connection to other natural happenings in our surrounding environment. One of the most intriguing natural patterns that we have witnessed is rainfall and general moisture concentration during different points in the week and throughout the month. For example, several times this season we have received rain every single week on the same day each week. The full moon also draws in moisture and, even if there is not rain, the dew level and overall moisture in the field is noticeably higher in the few days approaching a full moon. This makes sense if you consider the influence the moon has on the rise and fall of the tides. Just so, the moon causes the same rise and fall in groundwater levels, stimulating root, leaf, flower, and fruit growth depending on the time of month. Perhaps many of you have noticed these things as well, but to me it's new and...awesome!
For now, however, we'll wait it out. We're getting a lot done in the dry weather from cleaning up the fields (cultivating) to planting a lot more eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, and about 1/3 acre of sweet potatoes. Besides, It looks like we may get a storm tonight (Monday), which will be wonderful. We've had many well-wishes for rain from our members, other farmers have visited to bring in the rain, and such support can't be overlooked by the sky, right? When the rain does come, we will throw down our hoes and rejoice as always. I am reminded of the last rain we were given, nearly two weeks ago. We allow two other farmers to grow vegetables and a dye garden in one of our fields, as they lost land last season. The last storm came in as we were all on the same field, working our respective gardens. When the rain fell all rejoiced, laughing, hugging, and letting the drought-induced stress wash right away.
*UPDATE*
I wrote this newsletter right before it was "supposed" to rain and still it did not. We've been spending the last few days cultivating the soil at times that draw in the most moisture, laying down drip tape, and mulching heavily. Even rainless, the tomatoes and peppers are loaded with unripe fruit and everything looks healthy and happy.
Your farmers,
Eric,
Brooke, George, Kevin, Peter, and more!
Please be sure to let us know 24 hours in advance if you will be unable to pick up your share.
Recipes
Purée of Celery Soup Recipe
This classic purée of celery soup is beautifully aromatic. You can make
it either with celery or celery root (also sometimes called
"celeriac.").
Ingredients:
- 1/3
lb fresh celery
-
1 medium Russet (or other starchy) potato
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1
medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
and crushed
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 qt vegetable stock or white stock
- Kosher
salt, to taste
- Ground white pepper, to taste
Preparation:
-
Cut celery into (roughly) same-sized pieces, about ½ inch to 1 inch
thick, depending on diameter. Don't worry about precision — the soup is
going to be puréed anyway. We just want the pieces to be of uniform
size so that they cook evenly.
- Peel the potato and cut it
into pieces about the same size as the celery.
- In a
heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the butter over a low-to-medium heat.
- Add
the onion, garlic and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes or until
the onion is slightly translucent, stirring more or less continuously.
- Add
the wine and cook for another minute or two or until the wine seems to
have reduced by about half.
- Add the stock and the potato.
Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Then lower the
heat and simmer
for 15 minutes or until the celery and potatoes are soft enough that
they can easily be pierced with a knife. Don't let them get mushy,
though.
- Remove from heat and purée in a blender, working in
batches if necessary.
Tip: Use care when processing hot items in a blender as the hot
steam can sometimes blow the blender lid off. Start on a slow speed
with the lid slightly ajar to vent any steam, then seal the lid and
increase the blending speed.
- Return puréed soup to pot and
bring to a simmer again, adding more broth or stock to adjust the
thickness if necessary.
- Season to taste with Kosher salt and
white pepper.
- Garnish with a toasted crouton and serve right away.
Makes about 1½ quarts (6 8-oz. servings) of soup.
Optional:
- Stir ¼ cup hot cream into the soup just before serving.
Serves 4
At
the farmers' market, cute round zucchini are irresistible. Alas, once
you get them home and cut them up, they look just like their long,
slender kin. But leave the zucchini whole and add a little stuffing,
which does not involve anything difficult, and the outcome is always
delicious and pretty. The only delicate part of stuffing vegetables is
scooping out the flesh - one scoop too deep and you end up with a hole
at the bottom. This filling is made with sauteed ground veal, celery,
carrot, and the scooped-out zucchini flesh. For a vegetarian version,
substitute cooked rice or quinoa for the meat - and of course you can
stuff the classic long zucchini (below) instead of the rounds. Add a
mild cheese, such as ricotta, an egg, and freshly chopped herbs, then
fill the hollowed-out shells and drizzle them with a splash of olive
oil. For a side dish, steam small potatoes and dust them with parsley,
add a salad of freshly picked greens, then pass a bowl of native
berries for dessert. Toast the local growers.
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| 4 |
round or long summer squash or zucchini |
|
Salt and pepper, to taste |
| 2 |
tablespoons olive oil |
| 1 |
shallot, finely chopped |
| 1 |
stalk celery, chopped |
| 1 |
carrot, grated |
| 3/4 |
pound ground veal |
| 1/2 |
cup ricotta cheese |
| 1 |
egg, lightly beaten |
| 2 |
tablespoons
chopped fresh parsley |
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Extra olive oil (for sprinkling) |
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1/4 |
cup water (for the pan) |
1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Have on hand a
9-by-13-inch baking dish.
2. With
a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh of the squashes or zucchini. Chop it
coarsely. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the flesh to a bowl (use the remaining
flesh in a vegetable stew or soup recipe). Sprinkle the hollowed
squashes with salt and pepper and turn them open side down on a cutting
board.
3. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over
medium heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the
celery and carrot, and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add the squash
flesh and cook for 3 minutes more.
4. Turn up
the heat and add the ground veal. Cook, stirring often, for 4 to 5
minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper.
5. Remove the skillet from the heat. Let it cool
slightly. Stir in the ricotta, egg, and parsley.
6. Fill
the hollowed shells with the stuffing mixture. Set the filled shells in
the baking dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and add the water to the dish.
Bake the squashes for 35 to 40 minutes or until the shells are tender
when pierced with a skewer.
Beatrice Peltre
Pickled Beets
Ingredients
- Roasted beets, recipe follows
- 1 large red onion, frenched
- 1 cup tarragon wine vinegar (red
wine vinegar or white vinegar will do)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons
Kosher salt
-
1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
Directions
Remove the skin from the Roasted Beets and slice thinly. Arrange in
1-quart jars alternating layers with the onion. In a small pot boil the
rest of the ingredients and pour over the beets. Tightly lid the jars
and place in the refrigerator for 3 to 7 days before serving.
Roasted Beets:
- 6 medium beets, cleaned with 1-inch stem remaining
- 2
large shallots, peeled
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 teaspoons
olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl toss all of the ingredients. Place into a foil
pouch and roast in the oven for 40 minutes.
Creamy Parmesan Swiss
Chard GratinI
like the variety of Swiss chard called "Bright Lights," which has
yellow and pink stalks, but any Swiss chard will work fine. The chard
leaves just need wilting for this gratin, but be sure to sauté the
stems until lightly browned; this softens their flavor. Serves four
to six as a side dish.
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