Week 17 CSA basket

Just a few more weeks left in the season. We're now heavy on the root vegetables and greens.

Expect the following this week:
Pumpkins, leeks, radishes, sweet peppers, lettuce, tatsoi cabbage, mustard greens, kale, parsley, cilantro.

The pumpkins we're giving out were grown by PJD in the same plot where we got our delicious corn and cukes from. This variety is meant to be eaten! It is sweet and delicious and they each have a ton of seeds for baking, too. They can be left out for weeks and be eaten after you've used them to decorate your house for the fall.

Massacre on Longhaul Farm

Shooing the hens into their new hut

'Tis a sad day on Longhaul Farm. We have lost our meat birds - started with 25 and are now down to 5.

We left for vacation on a Thursday with a healthy flock, admittedly adventuring out of their electric fencing and co-mingling with the laying hens. When we arrived back one week later we counted only 6 birds and heard tales of a beheaded hen a few days back and coyotes cackling nearby at dusk. The beheading is a classic move by an owl. But 18 birds gone missing?!? Those coyotes must have had a field day, and are now cackling their mangy heads off somewhere after eating our fattened, 4-month old roosters.

The saddest part of it all is that we were about to harvest those birds next week to put away in our deep freezer, give as gifts to a few helpful hands. And now we are left with so few that have to meet their maker this weekend to spare the hyper-activity with our poor laying hens.

We have learned many lessons from this. And we are in pain, contemplating if there's enough time to raise some more birds before winter sets in.

Week 16 CSA basket

Enjoying a meal in the dining pavilion in Restoule

We're back from a restful vacation in the northern pines of Canada. And despite a treacherous storm while we were away and a serious tragedy with the chickens, our veggies are looking good.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Onions (red and yellow), Chinese cabbage, chard, lettuce, parsley, beets, radishes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, and a handful of tomatoes.

We are harvesting pumpkins today and will be curing them in a warm, sunny spot for 7-10 days before we hand these out. Butternut squash will undergo the same process and should be ready to pick next week.

Week 15 CSA basket

Greens are back!

Expect the following this week:
Cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe, corn, potatoes, basil, parsley, Chinese cabbage, carrots, tomatillos, chard, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, kale, arugula or spinach.

Sorry to report that these cherry tomatoes are the last of this season's tomatoes... hope you enjoyed the bounty.

This time of year will begin to bring different types of cabbage. Try making a slaw with it, or be adventurous and make a kimchi.

Recipe with tomatillos

Salsa verde

Ingredients: tomatillos, onion or scallion, garlic, hot pepper, cilantro, oregano, salt, water

Preparing: Dice the tomatillos and onion or scallion and mince the garlic and hot pepper. Saute these ingredients over medium heat with some fresh cilantro leaves, fresh or dried oregano, salt and 1 cup of water per 2 pounds of tomatillos. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all ingredients are soft and then puree in food processor or blender.

Eating: A great salsa for tacos, burritos or meats. You can all of the ingredients to taste.

Dish history: We were just experimenting with some ripe tomatillos and had all of the fresh ingredients from the garden. We like it spicy, so kept in some seeds of the hot peppers.

Week 14 CSA basket

These cool nights are harkening fall. And our garden is, too. We are reaching the end of tomatoes and our cooler weather crops are readying themselves for harvest. Expect the following this week:

Corn, cantaloupe, tomatoes (last of the heirlooms), cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, scallions, tomatillos, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, beets, green beans, chard, leeks.

Make a salsa verde with those tomatillos, scallions and hot peppers.

Week 13 CSA basket

Expect the following in this lucky-number-13th week:

Corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe, basil, parsley, scallions, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, tomatillos, kale.
 
Many of you have been asking for your greens again, and rightfully so. During these peak summer bounty weeks, most farmers take a break from lettuce, kale and chard harvesting to focus on harvesting your other goodies. But we miss our salads, too! And next year we hope to grow it throughout the season (but the July and August heat will produce more bitter greens, so be forewarned).

Saving up

Our venture into farming and sustainable living requires us to preserve as much food as possible from our season. Boy, we have been busy. From freezing greens and corn, to pickling beans and squash, to canning peaches and tomato sauce, our deposito and deep freezer are full. Although preserving food for the winter and spring hunger gap is a lot of work, requires a lot of patience and dedication, and makes you sometimes forget to enjoy the the vegetables while they are fresh, it is so worth the effort, come March, when we have a hankering for greens pie or spaghetti bolognese and peachs 'n cream for dessert.

Week 12 CSA basket

Sorry for the delay in posting this week's produce. The summer bounty continues, full of corn, cukes and tomatoes. But this is the last week of summer squash and zucchini... the squash bugs have taken their toll and we pulled the plants this week.

Expect the following in your baskets:
Unlimited corn, cukes and hot peppers; tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, scallions, zucchini and summer squash, sweet peppers, eggplant, space spinach, onions.

Recipe w/ corn

This is a recipe sent in by Colleen B, one of our CSA members:

Chilled or Hot Simple Corn Soup 

Ingredients:
•       5 ears of corn, shucked
•       1 medium onion, chopped
•       1 garlic clove, finely chopped
•       3 tablespoons unsalted butter
•       4 1/2 cups water or stock

Cut kernels from cobs with a sharp knife, then cut cobs into thirds. Cook onion and garlic in butter with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add corn and cobs, water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Discard cobs, then purée corn mixture I used an immersion blender put you can also put batches in a blender until very smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Force soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.  (I like the texture of the corn so I don’t do this but you can.) Chill until cold, at least 1 hour. Thin with water if desired and season with salt.

I have had this soup  both hot and cold. Soup can be chilled up to 3 days.

Garnish:  I put a white fish on top of this soup. I also have put tomatoes, basil and garlic on top. Crab meat or lobster meat, also yummy; or chillies and cheese.

First eggs!

Our hens are 22 weeks old and have given us our first eggs! They laid a few in the nesting boxes we constructed, but some also have a secret spot... under the trench coat of the scarecrow we erected to scare away the hawks.

And what luck! The first egg we cracked to cook up had two yolks in it...

Preserving: Corn

 August is the month for fresh, sweet corn. But if you can only eat so many ears right off the stalk, consider preserving the rest. Just cut the corn kernels off of the cob and freeze. Each ear of corn yields about 1 cup of kernels. For best results, use a vacuum sealer or drinking straw to extract as much air as you can from the bag. Then think about how nice it will be to have a warm corn chowder or creamed corn come December...

Week 11 CSA basket

We have an abundance of tomatoes! Please consider taking a good deal of tomatoes (20-30 pounds) and canning them for yourself. This winter you'll appreciate opening up a jar of local, pesticide-free tomatoes that were preserved at their peak freshness, rather than buying those tomatoes that taste like nothing or using a can opener to open an aluminum can of tomatoes. Here are some instructions on how to preserve tomatoes from a post last year. This is also a good source. Email me if you'd like further details.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini and squash, basil, parsley, scallions, beets, onions, peppers (sweet and hot).

Week 10 CSA basket

We're at the halfway point of the season... hard to believe.

And that means we are still in the middle of the summer bounty. Expect much of the same from last week:

Corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and summer squash, cucumbers, fennel, scallions, onions, basil, parsley, beets, carrots, kale and chard.

I hope you're eating your corn the night you receive it! And those tomatoes are going to keep on comin'... we'll post some recipe ideas, but there's really nothing better than slicing up those heirlooms and enjoying them with a tiny sprinkle of salt.

Recipe w/ green beans

Green beans in yogurt sauce

Ingredients: green beans, yogurt (best if Greek-style), sour cream, gorgonzola cheese, green peppers, s+p

Preparing: Steam or boil beans for 5 minutes then plunge in ice water to stop cooking. Chop to 2 or 3 inch lengths. Mix your sauce: yogurt, sour cream (in 2:1 ratio), gorgonzola cheese crumbles (to taste). Chop some green peppers for crunch. Toss green beans and raw peppers into sauce and s+p to taste.

Eating: You can eat this as a cold salad or warm it in the oven/on the stovetop.

Dish history: We had this just the other night, a creation of NBA. The version we tried had mango-flavored yogurt in it by mistake... we suggest using plain : ).

Organic heirloom tomatoes

It's tomato time. Local farmer's markets, CSAs, grocery stores, and home gardens are filled with them. So now's the time to stock up -- so you don't have to eat those Florida-grown-tasteless-picked-green-and-hard-so-called-tomatoes between the months of October to June.

We've got a lot of heirloom tomatoes on the vines: Brandywine, Cherokee purple, Cherokee green, Black Krim, Valencia, Amish paste, Speckled Roman, Juliet, Moskvich, Martha Washington, Pruden's purple, Honeydrop cherry, Peacevine cherry and Black cherry. We also have some Argentinian varieties (we brought home seeds when we came back in 2011): a yellow slicer and a yellow cherry.

Freshly picked seasonal tomatoes are so superior in taste to the ones you might buy in the off-season. But they are not superior in durability. Please be careful with them - store them gently. Don't toss them around. Don't store other things on top of them. If one has a bruise or a crack, just cut away the part you don't want to eat and enjoy the rest. If you have some that are not perfectly ripe, leave them on your counter until they are.

Caring for our tomatoes on the vine is also quite a chore. We have to be sure they are trellised and supported, correctly fertilized, mulched and have the right amount of water.

And water has been an issue this year. Tomato plants need consistent watering - not too little, not too much. So when there is an unplanned downpour of rain - as there has been the past few weeks - the ripening fruit on the vine soaks up all that excess water and tends to burst through its skin. This excess water is what causes cracks in your tomatoes (and sometimes those water-logged fruits). Some tomatoes heal their cracks and others can not.

Excessive heat can also compromise a tomato crop - it can cause "green shoulders." And while some heirloom varieties actually have green tops, many do not. It's best to provide some shade to the tomatoes in these cases, using the foliage of the plant if possible.

When we know a rain storm or heat wave are coming, we harvest tomatoes that are just barely ripening and let them finish the process off of the vine. This doesn't change the taste and helps prevent cracks, soggy flesh and green shoulders.

Hopefully we'll have a huge harvest again this year so you can process jars of tomatoes for use in your sauces, soups and stews over the winter.

Recipe with corn

Corn and radish salad

Ingredients: corn, radish, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, olive oil, s+p

Preparing: Cut the corn off the cob. Slice radishes thinly. Toss both with cilantro leaves, diced jalapeno, lime juice, olive oil and s+p.

Eating: A great salad with grilled meats.

Dish history: We first had this as a warm winter salad, using butter instead of olive oil. But with fresh corn and radishes, it is a great summer salad, too.

Storing vegetables

Receiving just-picked vegetables is exciting - and enjoying as much as you can on the day of harvest is the best way to use them. But we also have to store some. Here's a how-to on the best way to store farm-fresh produce.

In general, all produce stores better when dry. Wetness encourages decay. That said, we cold-water-rinse all leafy greens after we harvest them to prevent wilting. So when you receive them and they are wet, drying them before storage is important. All other vegetables will do best if you do NOT wash them before storage.

Basil, cilantro, parsley: If the leaves are wet, dry them (wet leaves turn black easily). Fill a glass with cold water, remove the rubber band holding the bunch together and place the bunch in the water (as you would cut flowers). Change your water every day. Keep the jar of herbs away from the stove so they stay cool (you can also store them in your refrigerator in a glass of water).

Lettuce: You can store lettuce 2 ways: (1) Spin your lettuce in your salad spinner and store directly in the spinner in your fridge; (2) Spin your lettuce and place in a plastic bag with some breathability (e.g., leave it open, it can have a few holes) and store in your fridge.

Kale, chard, spinach, collards, mustard greens, beet greens, bok choy, tatsoi, arugula, and other greens: Put an inch or so of water in a bowl, vase or cooler and put the stems in as you would cut flowers. Your greens will last the longest with this method. Or, store as lettuce above.

Beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, parsnips and other root vegetables: Cut off the greens, leaving less than an inch of stem (the leaves will continue to draw water from the root, making the root soften quickly), and store in your refrigerator. For long-term storage of carrots, beets, turnips and parsnips (but not radishes), see this post on root cellars.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes: Store in a cool, dark place in paper or cardboard (NOT plastic bags) and be sure they are not wet when you store them.

Tomatoes: Store on the counter top, in a bowl, in a basket... anywhere but your refrigerator! Best position is shoulder side down.

Corn: Don't ever store it! Eat it as soon as you get it.

Onions and garlic: Store in a cool, dark place for long-term storage. If you plan on using them in the next few weeks, they can be exposed to light. Store anywhere but your refrigerator!

Chives and scallions: Store as herbs and greens above or in a plastic bag in your refrigerator.

Cucumbers, summer squash, eggplant, peppers, broccoli, fennel, Brussels sprouts, cabbage: All do best if dry and refrigerated.

Winter squash and pumpkins: Store in a cool, dark place (not in your refrigerator).

Week 9 CSA basket

This week we've got two of your summertime favorites... sweet corn and tomatoes!

Expect the following this week:

Tomatoes, corn, green beans, beets, onions, summer squash, cucumbers, hot peppers, basil, parsley, scallions, kale or chard or collards.

We'll harvest the corn in the afternoon so you can enjoy it as fresh as can be. We cook sweet corn as soon as we get it (it's best immediately off of the stalk - once it's picked, the sugars begin to turn to starch). Boil a pot of water; once it boils turn off the heat and throw the shucked corn in for 5 minutes.

Thanks very much to the Davoren/Farley family who have farmed some nearby land and have a delicious and bountiful crop of sweet corn that they are sharing with us! 

Another note: this is the last of the cucumbers. The cucumber beetle has taken its toll on our crop and the plants are wilting away.

Recipe with fennel

Roasted fennel w/ garlic, kalamata olives and hot pepper

Ingredients: fennel, olive oil, kalamata olives, garlic, hot pepper flakes

Preparing: Cut off most of the tops of your fennel bulb (and reserve for soup stocks or fennel frond pesto). Quarter the fennel bulb, leaving some of the root end in place to hold the leaves together (but the root end is tough even after roasting, so cut out as much as you can). Sprinkle generously with olive oil. Toss on pitted, halved kalamata olives, hot pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Roast at 400F for 30 minutes. Add chopped garlic and roast another 15 minutes, or until fennel is browned and tender.

Eating: The roasting brings out the sweetness of the fennel. Be sure to add the garlic only at the end of the roasting so it doesn't burn.

Dish history: Had this many years ago at a family Thanksgiving meal. Goes well with roast chicken, too.