CSA : 2008 Summer

CSA Week Eighteen

October 17, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Ta-daa! This is the last basket for the regular CSA. What a season! What a beautiful week of fall weather. Thank you so much for your support! It has been a great CSA year for us, and hopefully next year will be even better. Thanks again!

Thanks for being a part of the Old Shaw Farm CSA 2008!!! We appreciate your support!! Have a fabulous winter!!!!!

In the Basket:

Butternut Squash – This is my dad’s favorite squash, and so we always grow it in his honor. A great winter squash for baking.

Potatoes – Wendy Stein’s potato leek soup is such a hit each year, we had to have at least one basket with both leeks and potatoes. If you don’t have the recipe from years’ past, it’s on the website.

Leeks - A classic way to do leeks is to boil them until just tender (10-15 minutes), sauté them in butter, and cover with thick cheese sauce or Hollandaise, then bake or broil until golden and bubbly. For something a little healthier, more soup recipes on the back.

Beets – We’ve been slicing raw beets in half and then shaving them (starting on the cut side) vegetable peeler and adding them to spinach salads in thin, raw strips. Lots of folks roasting them these days too.

Bok choy – We pretty much always eat this sautéed in butter as a side green, but it is more classically used in stir fry or used as a stuffing ingredient for dumplings or potstickers.

Kale or Broccoli Raab or Napa Cabbage – We’ve been especially enjoying the napa cabbage raw, in salads, lately. It’s got great flavor, mild almost to the point of sweetness. Napa cabbage is the base for most Korean kim chi.

Spinach – Good reliable spinach. Versatile, widely liked, really good for you, what more can you ask of a vegetable!!

Recipes:

CSA Week Thirteen

October 11, 2008

Notes from the Field:

The forward edge of fall is here. We are bracing for our first frost this week. Some stuff we can cover, but some stuff we can’t, and we will probably lose some crops. But such is the turning of the season. September is funny because the baskets have some summer stuff still and now some fall stuff too. September is also funny for us because on the one hand there is a sense of melancholy about the season starting to wind down a bit, but on the other hand, we are all pretty tired and a bit burnt out by now, so we look forward to scaling back some. The real busy time for us lasts in earnest for a few more weeks, but by the time October rolls around, things start to wind down.

In the Basket:

Crenshaw melon – Crenshaws are a cross between the Persian and Casaba melons. I like their mild color and flavor, and I like that they’re a little firmer and easier to eat (than the charentais), especially for kids. I think they’re ripe now, but some CSAers say they leave these on their counter for a few days, until they a really fragrant, because they have more flavor that way.

Tomatoes and sun gold cherry tomatoes – Still awesome after all these weeks.

Sweet red peppers or basil – The pointed red peppers are a variety called lipstick. They’re awesome. A lot of customers see the point and think hot pepper. But it isn’t. Try it.

Spinach and lettuce – Mix together for a salad or cook the spinach gently.

Kale – Try Nichole’s For the Love of

Kale recipe (on the website).

Turnips – These are NOT salad turnips. They’re the more common purple top turnips. This is something new we’re trying this year. Let us know what you think! Recipes on the back!

Coming up – Winter squash probably for next week. Does anyone have a good winter squash recipe to share?

Recipes:

CSA Week Seventeen

October 9, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Brrrr! It is getting downright cold at night now, and the few veggies left in the field aren’t very happy about it. But all good things must come to an end, and considering that the ground is typically frozen solid by early November, we don’t have much left to the growing season.

But thanks goodness for cold hardy greens. The fall salad bounty continues in your basket this week. We should enjoy it while we can!

In the Basket:

Brussel sprouts – The trick to these is not to overcook. They’re great roasted with bacon or sliced in half and stir fried in a very hot cast iron skillet or try Beatrice’s recipe below.

Napa cabbage – This is good for fluffy cole slaw, especially with peanuts or an asian type dressing. Or try Chris’s very popular recipe on the back!

Garlic, romaine or arugula, spinach – Rather than take up space with ideas for these, I thought I could squeeze in another recipe!

Recipes:

CSA Week Sixteen

October 2, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Good bye tomatoes!! See you next year!! We have started pulling the tomatoes out of our greenhouses. The light has really changed. It is getting dark earlier. There aren’t so many big jobs left to do this season. Things are winding down in earnest.

This has been a very hard year for our fall storage crops. The 6 to 8 weeks of rain we had from late June until early August have really taken its toll – our yields are way down and we just plumb don’t have some stuff.

But when the rains stopped in August and we realized we wouldn’t have some of the fall crops we normally rely on, we decided to compensate by planting a lot of greens for fall. Last week you had a bunch of greens in your basket, and it is the same thing this week. And you should get ready because there will be more spinach coming – a spinach tsunami is building at Old Shaw Farm and it will probably crest next week, or maybe during the last week of our CSA. So enjoy the fall salads before the long winter sets in!

In the Basket:

Buttercup or delicata squash – Either of these are great roasted. Slice in half, scoop out the seed, but cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake in a hot oven (400) until soft. Then scoop out the flesh, add butter, and spices (if desired) and enjoy. Or try the yummy soup on the back!

Spinach – This is a ¾ pound bag, where usually we give you a ½# bag. Add to quesadillas, eat as salad, or cook as a side green.

Romaine lettuce and onion you probably know what to do with!!

Turnips – Mash with some of last week’s carrots and/or potatoes. Or if you want the recipes from two weeks ago, check the blog.

Raab or bok choy – Try the broccoli rabe, sausage and pasta recipe!

Recipes:

CSA Week Fifteen

September 25, 2008

Notes from the Field:

The home stretch! This is week 15, which means we have 3 weeks to go after this one. This fall we are feeling the effects of 6-8 weeks of rain earlier in the season. We have a lot less onions, winter squash and carrots than we normally do heading into fall. But each year presents its new challenges and quirks. Even though some field crops did not do well, we have a banner year in the greenhouses. So it all evens out in the end, I suppose.

Now is the time that we are beginning our fall tasks -- plowing down crops killed by the frost, planting cover crops to hold the soil over the winter, cleaning the tomato plants out of the greenhouses, taking plans for next year. We still have our weekly harvests to do, but more and more the days are filled with winding-down-jobs and planning-for-next-year-jobs. And we have been blessed with wonderful weather while working on these tasks.

In the Basket:

Potatoes – A big five pound bag this week, to last you into the fall. Keep them in a cool, dry, dark place (so they don’t turn green)

Carrots – Try Carolynne’s soup recipe on the back. Thank you Carolynne!

Broccoli raab or bok choy – Broccoli raab is an Italian green that we love. The classic way to make it is to warm olive oil with garlic and pepper then add roughly chopped raab and cook gently. Drain and toss with more olive oil and capers then serve topped with grated cheese and with lemon on the side. If you go looking for other recipe ideas, know that this green is also called rapini and broccoli rabe. For the bok choy, check out the great recipe from Tracy Zschau back in week one – I’ll put a link on the blog.

Kale – There are a lot of greens this week!! If it’s too much for you to eat in one week, consider freezing the kale. This is how I do it: lop off the stems, put the leaves, whole, into boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove, swish in cold water till cool, drain, then dry (in salad spinner). Roughly chop, put in a small Ziploc freezer bag, get all the air out, lay flat till frozen solid (easier to store). I like to add to spaghetti sauce in the winter! I’ll also link to recipes on the blog.

Spinach, beets with greens and tomatoes – Consider boiling the beets, then dicing them adding them to your spinach salad. With a little salty cheese. Maybe apples? So fall!!!

Recipes:

CSA Week Fourteen

September 18, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Well, I suppose we are at the end of summer the beginning of fall. We have lost cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and melons, and we will lose the last of the eggplant and basil this week. From here on out, the frosts will start to pile up and anything that can’t take the cold will be gone.

On the other hand, we are starting to have our winter squashes, and starting to dry the few onions we harvested this year. We will also pull our fall potatoes next week, and there may be some brussel sprouts down the line. Before you know it, the leaves will be turning and we will be seeing a lot more out of state license plates!

In the Basket:

Delicata squash - These are pretty enough to use for decorations until you are ready to eat them. They’ll store at room temperature for about 4 to 6 weeks. I prefer delicata steamed, but baked is a close second.

String beans – Try tossing them with olive oil, salt and pepper and either grilling or spreading them in a big pan and roasting them.

Summer things: Tomatoes, corn, red peppers

Fall things: Arugula, radishes or salad turnip

Recipes:

CSA Week Twelve

September 3, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Well, it has been far too dry. No, no, I am just kidding. After all the rain this summer I won’t be complaining about dry sunny days anytime soon. But it was a strange feeling to move our irrigation pipes around today. Otherwise, we are entering that summer/fall twilight zone where we have both summer stuff and fall stuff, and sometimes the days feel like summer, and sometimes like fall.

The winter squash is almost ready but we still have tomatoes and melons. The kale and collards are ready, but so are the red peppers. It is fun time of year. But believe it or not, it will soon be time to keep an eye out for frost! So we’ll enjoy these warm days while we can.

In the Basket:

Summer things: Melons or red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and 2 pints of cherry tomatoes

Fall things: Broccoli, radishes or salad turnips.

Garlic – The garlic we have now has all been cured – which basically means it hung in our barn till dried then were trimmed and cleaned. You should store these heads in a cool dry place, like a cool cupboard, but not the fridge.

Lettuce – Getting the right amount of salad in the basket has been one of the challenges for us in the CSA. Part of it is production -- having the right amount of salad ready each week has been a challenge this summer with all the rain. But part of it too is figuring out how much CSAers want. Obviously, every CSAer’s situation and taste buds are a bit different, but still, we’re interested in your feedback about how much salad you want. Is about a head of lettuce a week the right amount to shoot for? With occasional bags of mesclun or arugula on top of that?

Recipes:

CSA Week Eleven

August 27, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Yay! The sun! Although some of the damage from the rains has already been done, it is great to see the sun! And it should help us with our plantings for fall. So keep your fingers crossed everyone, and enjoy the sun!

In other news, school has started, the nights are cooling, and the days are getting shorter. We can’t get started until 5:30 a.m. these days, when we used to be able to start at 4:15 a couple of months ago. And this morning we need sweaters and hats stepping out the door.

Our interns and one of our hourly workers have left to go back to school. Thank you Sarah, Anna, and Andrew! Thank goodness Dawn can stay on until October, and this week we will welcome a new hourly worker, Kathy, who will help us through the fall.

Otherwise, we are just chugging along, enjoying the weather and watching the plants grow.

In the Basket:

Two pints of cherry tomatoes – If you find yourself with extra cherry tomatoes, or ones which have gone a little soft on you, they’re awesome dried. Slice them in half first, and they’ll dry faster. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use your oven, set at the lowest temperature possible. They’ll keep till winter, when you will be glad for the taste of summer!

Tomatoes – Only one pound this week. Our tomatoes are already producing less due to the cold nights. We’ll have a few more weeks of them, so enjoy them while they last!!

Cabbage – Check out Janet McConnell’s recipe ideas !!!

Zephyr summer squash – We ate these tonight in a gratin which was delicious.

Cucumbers and broccoli – Some crunch for your basket!!

Arugula or lettuce – Salad is back!!

Recipes:

CSA Week Ten

August 25, 2008

Notes from the Field:

A few days of sun is better than nothing! But last night we had a ton of rain again. However, we have it better than most. We hear from other growers that they are laying off their crews because they have lost so many crops to the rain. Our yields are down, but at least we are still in business for the season. It is just a little surreal because we are used to having big, big harvests this time of year, but this year the pickings are sort of slim.

People have asked for corn and melons. The corn should be coming. Our first planting got in late and has been hampered by weeds due to the rain. But our second planting was timed for a Labor Day harvest, and that one seems to be doing well. So look for sweet corn in September. The melons, on the other hand, are here now, but our yield is waaaay down. As soon as the fruits ripen they turn to rot due to the rain. So we have a few melons available for trade out, but we probably won’t have them for the baskets this year.

One last thing. We have had more eggplant this year than ever before. It has been a banner year for eggplant. We were curious about this, and so was one of our interns, Anna, who did some research on eggplants. It turns out that eggplants do best when it is between 70 and 80 degrees, and when the soil is consistently moist. That sounds like this summer to me! So even if some things are failing, other things do well!

In the Basket:

The quoted ideas are from Mark Bittman’s article 101 Fast Recipes for Inspired Picnics.

Potatoes – “Make potato salad with mayo and crumbled bacon, and add grated Cheddar, celery, onion and chopped egg. You don’t have to pack much else except blood thinner.”

Eggplant – “In a blender or food processor, combine ginger, a half cup or so light miso, a little more than that of walnuts, and enough soy sauce to make a sauce. Toss with cooked green beans or eggplant.”

Carrots – This idea from Anna, our intern. For a yummy carrot dip: grate carrot, sauté with garlic and generous amount of olive oil until carrot is falling apart and runny, add yogurt to pan, combine, cook like 30 seconds.

Lettuce and tomatoes – A little salad for late summer.

Cherry tomatoes – I’m out of space so I say just eat these in the car on the way home!

Recipes:

CSA Week Nine

August 16, 2008

Notes from the Field:

Everything in farming is time delayed. The affects of bad weather in spring don’t show up until mid-summer. In our case, the effects from 6-8 weeks of solid rain are finally starting to show up. And I won’t sugar coat it – the effects are bad. We have onions rotting in the field -- and we usually grow and sell literally tons of onions. It is going to really hurt to have few or no onions this fall, particularly for the fall CSA. We have lost about 80% of plantings of lettuce, mesclun and arugula. They are rotting in the field and we will have to till them in.

Besides actual crop losses, we haven’t been able to mechanically weed, so the weed pressure has reduced yields on everything we grow and we aren’t harvesting as much as we planned for. Also, the amount of weed seeds in the soil will be a lot more next year. And we haven’t been able to set up our fields for fall cover crops that will help them through the winter. In short, things are a mess.

We may need your patience and understanding over the next few weeks if your baskets are short on greens, long on greenhouse tomatoes (where we can control the water), and perhaps a little short on diversity. But we do believe that things will even out and that dry weather will return some day.

In the Basket:

Zephyr summer squash – Check out Sarah and Anna’s breading recipe

Cucumbers, tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes – I love August!

Garlic – This garlic is cured, so keep it in a cool, dry cupboard – not the fridge.

Lettuce/mesclun/bagged spinach – We don’t have enough of any of these to give the same to everyone, but everyone in the CSA will get some salad fixins.

Recipes: