1st 2015 CSA basket! Week of 5/25

We've been patiently coaxing the greens to grow, the peas to flower and the rain to pour down. And now that the radishes are fat and peppery, it's time for the first CSA basket of the season.

Pick-ups are from 4-7pm on Tuesdays or Fridays on the farm. We'll be up in the shed with baskets and coolers full of fresh produce.

Remember that eggs are always available ($5/dozen) and you can pick-up a compost bucket from us if you'd like to join our compost collective.

Expect the following in your baskets this week:
Lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard, parsley, chives, scallions, leeks, kale/collards

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Here's a delicious collards recipe - no cooking necessary as it's a raw salad. Kale can be easily substituted.

Recipe w/ collards

Collard greens salad w/ ginger and spicy seed brittle

Found in Bon Appetit (April 2015) and copied exactly from this link:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/collard-greens-salad-with-ginger-and-spicy-seed-brittle-56389371

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, divided
• 3 teaspoons honey, divided
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds
• 1 bunch collard greens (about 10 ounces), center ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced

1. Whisk vinegar, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, and 1 teaspoon honey in a large bowl. Whisk in oils; season with salt.
2. Combine remaining 2 teaspoons honey, remaining 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Toast sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds in a dry medium skillet over medium heat, tossing, until sesame seeds are lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add honey mixture and cook, stirring, until seeds stick together in small clumps, about 3 minutes. Scrape seed mixture onto parchment paper; let cool. Break into small clusters.
3. Toss greens and 2 teaspoons dressing in a large bowl; season with salt. Squeeze and rub collards with your hands to tenderize until glossy and darkened in color, about 30 seconds. Drizzle salad with more dressing and serve topped with seeds.

Dish history: We over-wintered our collards so started eating this fresh salad in late March.... also tastes great with kale. The key is massaging the greens in the dressing to tenderize them.

2015 Spring Workation @ Longhaul Farm

Thanks to all of you who came out to the farm for a hard day's work. We prepared a lot of space for planting, got all of our potatoes in the ground and finished off transplanting onions. We are looking forward to sharing the harvest!

Enjoy some pics from the day...

Almost back to work...

It has been a looooooong winter. It was even snowing big, heavy snowflakes yesterday... and that's no April-fool's-day-joke. But, the snow is nearly gone and we are back to work outside with any hint of sun. The greenhouse is in full swing, we have hundreds of tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings to re-pot, we'll be  hardening-off the onion family in our cold frame once the nights promise not to dip below freezing, and peas and radishes will be seeded in the vegetable beds any day now.  Feels good to be back.

Sign up now for our 2015 CSA season

We invite you to become a part of the Longhaul Farm community 

by joining us for our 2015 CSA season.

 

What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)? In CSA, a farm offers "shares" or memberships to the public. In return for your investment you receive a weekly box of freshly harvested produce throughout the growing season, from June to September.

What kinds of vegetables will CSA members receive? You will receive a variety of seasonal vegetables, from arugula to zucchini and everything in between. Please click here to see a list of vegetables we will grow.

When and where are pick-ups? Pick-ups are on the farm on either Tuesday or Friday afternoons (4-7pm), your choice.

Will Longhaul Farm’s CSA be different from other CSAs? We follow a similar model of CSA as most local, organic farms. The main difference between our CSA and others is that our CSA is small-scale, offering up to 30 memberships per season. That means we can provide more individual attention to you as members and collaborate on ideas for improvement.

What are your CSA membership options?

(1) Household share: Whatever is seasonal and harvestable, we share with you. The weekly box feeds 2-3 vegetarian adults or a family of 3-4 with mixed diets; includes a variety of 5-15 items. Household share price: $650.

--- Split shares are also available: You may split your share with a friend or neighbor. Or, if you’d like to split but don’t have anyone in mind yet to share with, we can do the pairing up for you. People split shares in 2 ways: (1) every-other-week pick-ups; or (2) dividing weekly pick-ups with each other. Split share price: $325.

(2) Community share membership: Receive a weekly household share of vegetables, plus anonymously subsidize a share for a family who doesn’t have the means to become a member themselves. Community share price: $1,250 ($650 for full share + $600 for the subsidized share).

******** Please reserve your share early – space is limited! longhaulny@gmail.com | (845) 424-6277 ********

You can also purchase naturally-grown, pasture-raised meat and eggs at Longhaul Farm: 

• Chicken: $6/lb – Reserve your chickens for $15/bird
• Turkey: $8/lb – Reserve your holiday turkey for $50/bird
• Pork: $375 for a quarter hog (cut list available upon request) – Reserve with a $50 down payment
• Eggs: $5/dozen – Available year-round

We offer two payment options: (1) full-pay: pay your CSA membership fee and/or meat reservation fees by February 15, 2015 – this option gives us the most freedom as growers because we can rely on early resources throughout the season; or (2) pay in installments: pay half of your CSA membership by February 15, 2015 and the other half can be paid in installments throughout the season based on an agreement we work out together.

Contact us to become a member or learn more:

e: longhaulny@gmail.com

p: (845) 424-6277

a: 69 S. Mtn. Pass, Garrison 10524

w: longhauling.blogspot.com

A Thanksgiving pardon

Call us softies, but when we got requests from three people to spare one of our turkeys... and when Seneca asserted, "but not the old one," when we told her the turkeys were going away... and when she outmaneuvered us endlessly the morning of the harvest... we decided to pardon one of our Black Spanish birds, "the old one," the lady who was always smarter than the rest of 'em and the one, frankly, who we just couldn't bear to do in. There is no wonder such a pardon exists. Enjoy the holiday.

All's quiet on the farm

All's quiet on the farm. (Except for those baby chicks who think it's funny when we chase them each evening in the dark to get them back in their coop, safe and sound.)

Seriously, there is a void on the farm. Our pigs are gone, and the sounds of them frolicking in the woods, eating their feed, moving around in their hut, running up to Jason each morning... all gone. I felt this void last year, too, after we shipped our pigs off to a slaughterhouse to come back as delicious, packaged protein that we thoroughly enjoyed and shared all year long.

But this year's feeling is different, because this year's slaughter was different. There was no shipping off. There were intense, intimate moments with our three pigs up until their slaughter and even just after. With the help of a skilled friend, we took the lives of "the brown one," "Brigitte" and "the other one," as I so affectionately called them. Images from that morning are, thankfully, now ingrained in me. I will never be the same. Which sounds dramatic. But I only wish people could still have such real experiences with life and nature and death in order to grow and situate themselves appropriately in the world and in existence.

When the three of them were dead - when there was silence - I felt so conflicted. I felt respect, joy, sadness, relief, guilt... but mostly I felt love (again, dramatic - but true). I wanted so badly to hug my kid right after the deeds were done (only after I hugged those pigs, of course).

I can't express how thankful I am to have had this experience.

Now 5 days later, after we butchered the pigs under the tutelage of a master butcher right in our very own garage, after we vacuum sealed all of our precise cuts until midnight that evening, and after I cooked up a delicious country-style pork chop for dinner the next day, I'm expecting the cold weather to set in for a winter of rest and reflection.

2015 season begins

Seneca and I started our 2015 planting season last week, planting garlic into some newly prepared beds. Garlic has a long growing season, so the cloves are put in the ground in October in these parts, where they start to grow enough to have a head start in the spring, but not so much that they are damaged by the cold winter to come.

Recipe w/ winter squash

Miso-butternut squash soup w/ black beans and cilantro salsa

Ingredients: onion, olive oil, ginger, cumin, cayenne, butternut squash, miso broth*, cream, cooked black beans, yellow tomatoes, cilantro, shallot, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper

Preparing: Dice your onion and cook gently in olive oil. Add grated fresh ginger, 1-2 tsp cumin, a splash of cayenne pepper and stir for 1 minute. Next add cubed butternut squash, salt and pepper, and miso stock (about 4 cups of stock to one medium squash). Cook until squash is tender. Puree soup until very smooth. Put back on heat and stir in heavy cream (about 1/2-1 cup, to taste), cooked black beans, and chopped yellow tomatoes. Heat through.

Eating: Serve hot soup with this garnish/salsa: cilantro leaves, sliced shallot, 1-2 Tbsp sherry vinegar and salt.

Dish history: Leftover miso-squash soup (original adaptation from here) with some freshy-harvested black beans and end-of-season yellow brandywines... delicious. If you don't like cilantro (shame on you), at least stir in some sherry vinegar to the soup before eating.

* To make miso broth: I suppose everyone has their own method... I heat 1 cup of water for each Tbsp of miso paste. But the key is stirring the miso paste in a small amount of that water until it forms a paste, and then stirring it into the rest of the hot water. Never let miso stock boil.

Recipe w/ parsnips

Parsnips w/ ginger

Ingredients: parsnips, butter, ginger, sour cream, salt + pepper

Preparing: Cut your parsnips into matchstick-thin strips. Blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Cook grated fresh ginger in some melted butter for 2-3 minutes. Then add the parsnips, s+p. Next, add sour cream and toss to coat. At this point you can either continue to cook until hot on the stovetop, or pop it in the oven at 375F for about 15 minutes (the latter will result in a drier dish).

Eating: A good side dish to some stewed or braised red meat.

Dish history: Another adaptation from Classic Home Cooking.

October 2014 Workation

Thank you to all who joined our fall workation on Saturday. We had about 60 people join us here for some work in the garden - clearing beds and preparing them for the long winter and even weeding our fruit trees. It really means a lot to us and our farm to see so many friends, family and neighbors come together for a community day.

Enjoy some photos and the recipe for the corn chowder...

Recipe w/ corn

Corn chowder

Ingredients: onions, carrots, celery, olive oil, tarragon, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, chicken stock, corn, heavy cream, salt and pepper (serves 6-8)

Preparing: Dice your onions, carrots and celery and sweat in a pot with some olive oil. Meanwhile, chop potatoes (we don't peel ours), sweet potatoes and winter squash (we use butternut squash and delicata) to desired size, about 1/2 inch chunks. Once onions are translucent, add tarragon and salt and pepper and stir for 1 minute. Next add potatoes, squash and 4 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water. Simmer, partially covered, until potatoes and squash are tender. Then add corn kernels from about 4 ears of corn (if frozen, be sure to thaw them beforehand) and 2 cups heavy cream. Heat to hot and taste for salt.

Eating: Add grated cheddar cheese to each soup bowl and ladle the hot chowder on top.

Dish history: Made this for our 2014 October workation - a nice, hot soup on a cold, rainy day.

Final CSA basket

Baby chicks have arrived!

We have reached the end of our CSA season - thanks to you all for being a part of it!

Expect the following in this final basket:
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, peppers, eggplant, beets, radishes, kale, braising mix, arugula, lettuce, parsley, leeks

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.

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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

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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