Week 19 CSA basket

Expect the following in this next-to-last basket:

Butternut squash, pie pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, leeks, greens (a variety of them), parsley, scallions, peppers, eggplant.

~~~
These baby pam pumpkins we're giving you (courtesy of PJD's growing) are meant to be eaten! Their flesh is sweet and smooth. Nothing beats a pumpkin pie or some pumpkin tacos.

Week 18 CSA basket

This is the last of the corn - and likely last of the tomatoes, too. But we still have a lot of squash for you and plenty of greens.

Speaking of greens, our turkeys seemed to take a liking to them. When I went out this morning to harvest our perfect-looking bok choy, I found them in there helping themselves to some for breakfast. Sadly, that means that those flawless leaves now have a few nibbles in them. Still delicious, though.

Still on greens... we've lopped off the tops of our Brussels sprouts plants. This encourages the sprouts to grow rather than the plant to grow taller. So we're giving out B. sprouts tops this week (Friday members got them last week). We eat them like cabbage or make them in the style of kale chips.

Expect the following this week:
Tomatoes, corn, peppers, leeks, potatoes, arugula, bok choy, chard or kale, scallions, parsley, cilantro, spaghetti squash, delicata squash, butternut squash.

Week 17 CSA basket

All that squash and corn you've been receiving has come from the fields of Boscobel, farmed by one of your fellow neighbors and CSA members. Many thanks! And this week we've harvested the remaining winter squash there: spaghetti squash, butternut squash and pie pumpkins. There's a break in sweet corn this week, but more to come next week. And all those fall greens we planted in August should start being ready then, too.

Expect the following this week:
Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, spaghetti squash, lettuce, arugula, braising mix, parsley, cilantro, basil.

Recipe w/ spaghetti squash

Roasted spaghetti squash

Ingredients: Spaghetti squash, butter, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, parsley or cilantro or chives

Preparing: Slice the spaghetti squash in half along the meridian. Scoop out seeds. Place a 1/4 inch of water in a roasting pan, add squash cut side down and roast squash at 375 for about 40 minutes. Once squash is out of the oven, melt butter in a pan and add 203 cloves minced garlic. Then add cumin, coriander and cayenne (in a 2:1:pinch ratio) and salt to taste. Turn off heat once garlic is lightly browned. When squash is cool enough to handle, hold over a the garlic-spice pan and use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti-like strands. Stir and saute more if you'd like a little brown to your squash. Stir in chopped parsley or cilantro or chives at end.

Eating: Delicious side dish.

Dish history: I remember seeing this recipe on smittenkitchen.com, a great cooking blog.

Recipe w/ delicata squash

Delicata squash rings

Ingredients: delicata squash, salt, oil, spices of choosing (I'd go either sweet, e.g., cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of brown sugar, or savory, e.g., cumin, coriander, cayenne)

Preparing: The skin on delicata squash is edible! So just slice your squash into 1/2 inch rounds, scoop out the seeds and admire those pretty fluted circles. Then salt the rounds and let sit for ~30 minutes. Rinse squash. Then re-sprinkle with salt. Heat oil in a heavy cast iron pan or otherwise and add squash rings. If you keep enough space around them, they'll brown and crisp nicely. If you crowd them you'll get more of a steaming effect. Both good, depends on your intention. Takes about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from heat to a platter and sprinkle with your spices of choosing.

Eating: You could even top these rings with a relish or slaw. Or make use of the seeds that you removed: sprinkle them with salt and cumin, bake them for ~20 minutes and then put them on top of the rings.

Dish history: I think I've seen this in a Thanksgiving menu or two. Very versatile and easy since there's no peeling of the squash.

Week 16 CSA basket

Delicata squash

Fall crops are beginning to make their appearance - we harvested the delicata squash and the spaghetti squash this week - while the tomatoes are holding on strong.

Expect the following this week:

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, corn, potatoes, shallots, onions, peppers, eggplant, chard, parsley, arugula, lettuce, delicata squash and spaghetti squash

~ ~ ~
Here are two easy recipes for delicata squash and spaghetti squash. Enjoy!

Spaghetti squash

Week 15 CSA basket

Another happy pepper

Our ancho (poblano) peppers are our most successful pepper this year. They are very mildly spicy and stuffing them with a delicious rice mixture (maqluba, but any rice mixture would work, vegetarian or meat-based) and then baking them for about 30 minutes @ 400F. Then we serve them with a tatziki or labneh-style yogurt dish as a topping. Recipe here...

We'll be checking the field this morning to see if the next batch of corn is ready. Otherwise, expect the following in this week's basket:

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, edamame, leeks, kale, radicchio (tender green/red leaves, not the usual round red head), lettuce, parsley, basil, cilantro, dill

Recipe w/ peppers

Stuffed poblano peppers

Ingredients: poblano peppers (i.e., ancho pepper; could also use a sweet pepper), rice mixture (we used , but you could use any of your favorite rice dishes, leftovers are best)
maqluba

Preparing: Make your favorite rice dish (we adapted the maqluba recipe from the Jerusalem cookbook, using basmati rice, eggplant, delicata squash, veal/pork meatballs, tomatoes, onion, garlic, turneric, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom). Slice the tops of your poblano peppers off and remove seeds and membrances and then stuff them with the rice mixture. Poblanos are very mildly spicy and have a lot of depth once roasted. Place the stuffed peppers in an oiled baking dish and roast for 40 minutes @ 400F. A broil at the end will nicely blacken the peppers if they haven't already.

Eating: We served these with a yogurt/cucumber topping dish (grate a cucumber into some greek-style or strained yogurt; smash a garlic clove in salt until you get a fine paste; combine all with olive oil and garnish with a sprinkle of sumac or paprika).

Dish history: Poblanos have been our most successful pepper this season, so with the abundance - and with the delicious leftover maqluba - we decided to try the classic stuffed pepper.

Recipe w/ corn + edamame

Corn + edamame salad

Ingredients: corn, edamame, cilantro, onion, hot red pepper (fresh), white balsamic dressing

Preparing: Cut corn kernels off of the cob. Boil edamame pods for 7 minutes in salted water and once cool take beans out of the pods. Dice your favorite onion (we use red onion, shallot or scallion, whatever's on hand). Roughly chop cilantro (or parsley or basil, whatever you've got). Combine corn, edamame, onion and herbs. If you like a bit of heat, finely slice a fresh hot red pepper (we use hot portugal or a red jalapeno) - this adds great color, too. Toss with your favorite vinaigrette. A mayonnaise-based dressing also works really well with the corn.

Eating: A summer salad for lunch or dinner.

Dish history: With lots of corn and edamame on board at the same time, this is a delicious combo of the two.

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.