Week 14 CSA basket

The last basket before Labor Day, before back-to-school, before we start thinking fall... There will be a lot of corn again and you'll find celery in the basket (freshly cut celery is delicious! save the celery greens for soup stocks - just freeze them in a ziploc until you make your next chicken soup). We'll be digging up some potatoes, too, and might even throw a few leeks into the basket.

Also new this week: edamame! You'll get a bag of pods (we already took them off of the plant for you) - just boil in salted water for 6-8 minutesre-salt them once drained, and pop the beans right out of the pod for a tasty snack.

Expect the following this week:
Corn, edamame, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant (still slow and small due to the cool summer we've been having), peppers (hot and sweet), chard, kale, potatoes, leeks?, onions, parsley, cilantro, dill, scallions.

Week 13 CSA basket

Lots of corn! What you can't eat fresh, please freeze for your winter corn chowders. Just cut the kernels off of the cob and freeze in bags. (Some sources say to blanch the kernels first, but I never do.)

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), beets, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, parsley, cilantro, dill, basil, onions, scallions.

Being a small-scale farmer...

... Please take a few minutes to read this article just in The New York Times. This is not news to us, as micro-farmers who hold down a farm, a half-time job, 5 teaching gigs and a few other things on the side, but I think it sets us all up for an interesting discussion of (1) what we want the future of our food to look like and (2) how we're going to afford it as both producers and consumers.

Week 12 CSA basket

We're in the middle of summer bounty. Please bring extra bags this week for your produce!

We're giving you onions this week. We'll have just harvested them so they'll still have their green tops on. If you plan on using your onions in the next few weeks, feel free to also use those green tops just like you would scallions or chives. If you plan on storing your onions for 2 or more weeks, then we recommend you don't cut the greens off and instead put them in a dry place near a windowsill for ~10 days so they have time to "cure" (i.e., the tops will dry and the onions will resemble the ones you are used to buying in the store). Then you can store them as usual.

Expect the following this week:
Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, lettuce, parsley, cilantro, dill, scallions, beets, corn, summer squash, cucumbers, watermelon, chard.

Week 11 CSA basket

It's tomato time! We've grown a variety of heirlooms - cherokee purple, black krim, brandywine, yellow brandywine, cherokee purple, martha washington, german johnson, amarillo grande, valencia - some saucing tomatoes - juliets, amish paste, san marzanos - and, of course, cherry tomatoes.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), fennel, cucumbers, summer squash, garlic, arugula, lettuce (last of it  for a few weeks!), kale, cilantro, basil, parsley

Week 10 CSA basket

Officially at the half-way point of the season...

And this week is Longhaul Farm's Summer Camp! We've got a group of kids joining us on the farm to learn about animals, plants, soil, nature and health.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Cucumbers, squash, lettuce, parsley, eggplant, green beans, new potatoes, carrots, collard greens.

Week 9 CSA basket

We are nearing the middle of the season, so we'd like to invite everyone out to the farm on Friday from 5-7 for our annual mid - season weeding party... We'll provide some snacks and beverages while we all do a group weeding session. This is completely voluntary.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Carrots, green beans, fennel, lettuce, chard, basil, parsley, summer squash, scallions

Recipe w/ bitter greens

Bitter green salad w/ warm basil vinagrette

Ingredients: frisee, radicchio, dandelion, sorrel - or any other bitter green, basil, vinegar, shallot, olive oil, honey, salt, blue cheese (optional), bacon (optional)

Preparing: Chop the bitter greens into rather small pieces. Slice a shallot thinly and chiffonade some basil leaves. Warm some vinegar (white balsamic, balsamic, cider) on the stovetop in a small saucepan and add the shallot. Cook until softened. Whisk in some honey and salt and throw in the basil leaves. Once the vinegar is barely simmering, whisk in olive oil (use more olive oil than vinegar, by volume) and heat until just warm. Pour the warm vinaigrette over your prepared greens and mix gently.

Eating: Top these greens with blue cheese, or maybe feta or goat cheese, some crispy bacon pieces and some more torn basil leaves.

Dish history: Bitter greens are really bitter! But they are the healthiest for you. So softening them up with a warm dressing helps cut the bite and you still get the benefits of eating raw greens.

Week 8 CSA basket

Last week we processed our first cohort of meat chickens. Started with 30 in mid-May and ended up with 29 Freedom Rangers (lost one to a hawk). They clocked in at 4.3-6.9 lbs after they were dressed and ready for eating. I have to give a special thanks to HL, a fellow CSA member and neighbor, who volunteered with us to process the birds at a local farm (that has exceptional facilities). He was supurb, taking part in both the killing and the eviscerating. And I'm quite sure he'll never look at a chicken on his plate the same way again.

Which is precisely what happened to me when I started eating meat that I had a hand in raising and harvesting. I still eat it - enjoy it! love it! - but I have a different relationship with the chicken or turkey or pork on my plate. And while this is not for everyone, I truly enjoy this new relationship and would never go back.

Speaking of what might be on your plate... expect the following in this week's basket:
Green beans, summer squash, beets, radicchio, endive, dandelion greens, lettuce, kale or collards, basil, parsley, cilantro/dill.

~~~ We grow a version of radicchio that has green and red leaves (rather than the standard white and red) - Palla di Fuoco Rossa from Italy - and it is bitter and delicious and holds up to braising or sauteeing (if I cook it I always finish it with balsamic dressing in the pan). Our endive is also known as "frisee" - Tres Fine Maraishere Olesh from France) - and holds up well with either a regular salad dressing or warm vinaigrette. And our dandelion greens, well, they are just the healthiest greens you could eat (and next comes collards...).

Recipe w/ summer squash II

Squash ribbon salad

Ingredients: summer squash, parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper

Preparing: Use a vegetable peeler to make long ribbons with your squash: toss the peel if it's too tough for your liking and when you get to the seedy part in the middle compost that or save for another use. Toss your ribbons with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Eating: If you use the freshest squash you've ever had, i.e., just picked that afternoon, you really can't beat the texture or flavor.

Dish history: We actually had a version of this dish at D.O.C. Wine Bar in Williamsburg, BK many, many, many years ago and have made it ever since.

Recipe w/ summer squash

Simple sauteed squash

Ingredients: summer squash, butter, basil, salt

Preparing: Cut any type of summer squash (e.g., zephyr yellow, costata romanesca, patty pan, standard zucchini) to about 1/8-1/4" slices (thicker=more sauteeing time). Melt butter in pan, saute for a few minutes to desired tenderness (the longer you saute, the more butter the squash absorbs, the more tender the squash; so also: don't skimp on the butter). Toss in ripped or chopped basil when heat is off and season with salt and pepper.

Eating: Hot off the pan. We had it with bbq chicken, but it is really so versatile.

Dish history: We have a lot of summer squash right now, and since we had squash fritters last night and squash ribbon salad the night before, we had to have this version tonight. So simple and summery.

Week 7 CSA basket

Baskets will begin to get hotter and heavier now. Roots are here. Fennel's beautiful. And those beans, they are prolific. But this is the point in the season where I am torn over whether to continue to give greens in the baskets or not... some people are sick of kale and others can't live without it.

Expect the following this week:
Green beans, beets, fennel, carrots, arugula, lettuce, basil, parsley, summer squash, kale or chard.

--> Use your fennel fronds and roast that fennel bulb if you're not already chopping it up for a crunchy slaw! And make those beets go a long way: shred them into a fresh salad (no need for peeling even).

Week 6 CSA basket

July is here, which means hundreds of new seed starts and turning over of beds. We still have abundant greens, but roots and fruits are coming along. You will get more sugar snap peas this week and possibly green beans. Carrots and beets are soon to follow. And we've eaten our first few ripe tomatoes!

Expect the following this week:
Arugula, lettuce, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, sugar snap peas, kale or collards, cabbage, radishes, maaaaybe beans.

--> --> --> Think you're tired of greens? Try eating them this way. Yum.

Week 5 CSA basket

Busy times on the farm... for whatever reason the weeds are booming a week earlier than last year so we are catching up on that daunting task. The tomato plants have grown what seems like a foot in just a few days! So we are on to tomato pruning and trellising, too. And our potato plants are flowering, which means new potatoes will be in your baskets soon.

But the newest star this week is the sugar snap pea. Unlike last week's shelling peas, the sugar snap has a sweet, crispy, edible pod. Eat them as snacks or slice them thinly on the diagonal and dress with orange, orange juice, mint and some greens for a delicious salad.

Expect the following in your baskets this week:
Sugar snaps, hakurei turnips, radishes, chard, lettuce, lettuce mix, kohlrabi, collards, arugula, basil.

Recipe for salad dressing

Here's my becoming-famous salad dressing recipe:

1 spoonful dijon mustard
1 spoonful honey from a local farm
1 bruised garlic clove from a local farm
big pinch of kosher salt
2/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients in a pint-sized mason jar and shake well before pouring onto your greens.

Week 4 CSA basket

When you farm and you go away for a weekend you are always amazed at how fast everything grows. Especially the grass. And especially the weeds.

But these hot days have also given us shelling peas. And the greens are still going strong.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Lettuce, lettuce mix, braising mix, kale, cilantro, dill, basil, arugula, hakurei turnips or radishes, cabbage, shelling peas.

---
When you receive your shelling peas you will appreciate every bag of frozen peas you ever buy from now on. They are a lot of work (to harvest! and) to shell, and even though the volume of green that you get might be but a cup, the flavor and crispness of the peas are so worth it! Eat them as soon as you can while all the sugars are still strong. If you must cook with them rather than eat them on the car ride home, showcase them in a dish, either as the star of a spring soup or salad, served on burrata, ricotta or other fresh cheese, or in a risotto, paired perfectly with mint or orange zest.

"You're the only farmer I know who..."

"... has their toenails painted."


I ask, "but do you know why I have my toenails painted?"

...

"To hide how dirty my feet really are."

Week 3 CSA basket

The spinach is bolting, the garlics are scaping and some more sunny days will bring us the shelling peas.

Garlic scapes

Spinach is a "long day" plant, which means it wants to flower once the days are long (12+ of daylight) - that's why you only get spinach in the spring and fall: by mid-June, all the plants want to "go to seed." And this late winter gave spinach a slower-than-usual start, so we are operating on the shortest window yet to grow spinach out in the fields. Lettuce is also a long day plant, but ours is still looking full and beautiful and you'll get plenty of it this week.

courtesy of C. Kaye Photography

Meanwhile, garlic has been in the ground since October of last year (because it requires the longest growing season of all of our crops). Around this time it sends up a "scape," which would eventually turn into a flower. If a garlic plant (or onion, or shallot plant) flowers, then the energy of the plant is spent making a healthy flower full of seeds, as opposed to being spent forming a nice, big bulb that we know and love. So we break the garlic scapes off and enjoy eating them for their mild garlic flavor and leave the garlic head to grow in the ground.

Finally, our peas are puffing out. I tasted some sweet shelling peas today, and if we get some sun, we'll have them next week for you. The sugar snap peas are also climbing high at nearly 5 feet now, starting to flower and grow their sweet, crisp pods.

Expect the following in your baskets this week:

Lettuce, kale, collards, bok choy, tatsoi cabbage, radishes, garlic scapes, arugula, spinach.

~~~
Chop up your garlic scapes into your salad! Chop it all up into your salad! This is the time to eat fresh, fresh, fresh after a looooong winter and spring gap of vegetables.

Week 2 CSA

The cold, slow spring is almost past. Even though some standard crops are not yet ready due to cooler-than-usual soil and air temperatures (e.g., radishes, turnips), we will have an abundance of greens for you! Expect the following in this week's basket:

Lots of lettuce, kale, chard, braising mix, bok choy or tatsoi cabbage, scallions, arugula, maaayybe radishes.

And here's my becoming-famous salad dressing recipe:

1 spoonful dijon mustard
1 spoonful honey from a local farm
1 bruised garlic clove from a local farm
big pinch of kosher salt
2/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Put all ingredients in a pint-sized mason jar and shake well before pouring onto your greens.

Putnam County is farming

Our tiny New York county is farming. Traditionally home to many horse boarding farms, the number of vegetable, fruit and grain growers is, well, growing. Thanks to efforts by local Glynwood Farm and the County agriculture office, we will soon know all about what's going on here. Take a look at this article posted last week in The Journal News by our friendly local reporter, Ned Rauch. And we'll be in touch with results from the "Keep Putnam Farming" farmer survey that is now being conducted.