|
Week 14 Newsletter |
|
Newsletter Archive |
|
My favorite month, September. The temperatures are starting to cool off now and I am reveling. The balloon that has been inflating all summer long is finally beginning to deflate a little. The pressure is letting off we’re even getting a little more sleep now! I love September!
We spent the week continuing the green bean and tomato harvesting and picking up a little more on the onion harvest. We’re about half way thru the onion harvest and I expect that we should be finishing that up next week, quite easily. The onions get dumped into the greenhouse where the cure down and grow their skins and the tops die off to prepare them for either delivering or storing. We did a little more weeding and mowing this week to continue the battle against the fox tail, the rage weed and the lamb’s quarters. The garden feels a little more under control now that all the planting is done, and it’s time to just focus on harvesting and more weeding here and there.
We are in desperate need of rain at the farm. For the plants that are still trying to grow and mature, there isn’t a whole lot of new growth coming on as everything seems to be stagnant and thirsty for la juvia, the life-giving rain. We have maybe gotten a total of 1 inch of rain the last four weeks! This is quite serious to us as one inch per week is desirable during the growing season. We have been running irrigation lines a little in some of the areas where we made fresh plantings, but it’s impossible to water everything. As the plants become stressed and look like they need rain, we become a little stressed ourselves and start watching the clouds more often hopefully.
I am hoping that next week I can begin the cover cropping. Cover cropping will be simply tilling the soil again in the beds where we are finished planting and harvesting and planting down some winter rye grass to help restore the nutrients in the soil and prevent weeds from taking over. This project will continue on for the remainder of the season until the last potatoes and carrots have been dug!
This last weekend we had two new visitors who arrived on the farm to stay with us for a few weeks, their names are Aiko and Iyo and they are from Japan. Aiko and Iyo found us thru the ‘Little Country School’ which is a program that connects Japanese and European students with organic farmers in our area who are interested in being a host family for them. The students come here to learn about country life, some country crafts and some English. This is a new program started by Clovis and Keiko Siemon who live in our area. They have a fond appreciation for international culture.
While the girls are here staying with us we are showing them the basics of our basic life. They are helping us take down and clean our garlic as it is finished its curing stages, help us harvest onions, and helping mom with a little of her canning. It’s a nice change of pace as we slow down a little for them and share the work load a little in some areas and learn about each other’s culture. The girls will visit some other farms while they are here, take some cooking classes and go camping, canoeing, visit the University in Madison and more. All the while we are preparing good food from the farm and learning more about good food from farms in general and how it is raised. Aiko and Iyo will be here for our harvest potluck on Sunday the 14th if you plan on coming next weekend.
So….WHAT’S in the BOX??? Beets- A little variety added in this week with either a chioggia or a burpee’s golden beet mixed in. Yellow Onion– Does not need refrigeration. Green Cabbage— Our purple cabbages still aren’t ready yet. They’re looking really good though! The green ones will have to get us thru. Yellow or Purple Beans- This very well may be the last giving of beans for this year. I hope you enjoyed them while they lasted! Bell Pepper, Ancho Pepper, Hot Pepper- Beautiful peppers. Hot Peppers- Be on the look out for those small but feisty jalapeno’s and Hungarian hot wax peppers. Cherry Tomatoes and/or Tomatoes!- The cherry tomatoes are supposed to be orange. Do not wait for them to turn red! You may have also received heirloom tomatoes (abnormal shaping and scarring, these are great to eat, don’t judge them by their appearance). Do not refrigerated tomatoes for peak flavor. If they need further ripening, just let them sit on the kitchen counter for a day or two. It doesn’t take long with these varieties not chosen for shelf life. Celery- We know, there is no comparison to California celery, but this is more for flavor than for crispy crunchy and texture. Strong celery flavor. Must be stored in a plastic bag to preserve moisture, or it will wilt. Nearly all of our celery had some rotting in the centers. If you got one without it, you’re lucky. We’ve had better celery years, but it was either send this celery, or not to send any celery at all. I would recommend breaking the heads apart and cutting up the good parts and putting the good stalks in a sealed plastic bag. There was a lot of waste during this harvest:( Cantelope- Beautiful AND delicious!
Next week! A short list of items that we may have next week, but will not promise to have. Due to the unexpectedness of the season, anything could pop up or go down hill in no time. Carrots, Potatoes, Kale, Basil, Tomatoes, Peppers, Green Beans, onions Week 14 Recipes
Cabbage with Juniper Berries fr. Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone"1 small Savoy or green cabbage, about 1 1/2 pounds Quarter the cabbage, remove the core, and cut into wide ribbons Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the leek, juniper, and
Roasted Beet Salad, Adapted from The New Vegetarian Epicure1 bunch beets Cut the bottoms and tops off the beets and place on a sheet of aluminum foil with the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves. Fold over the foil and crimp to make a packet. Bake the packet in a 400 degree oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the minced garlic, stir for ½ minute, then add the beet greens and a sprinkle of salt. Toss over a medium flame until the greens are wilted and sizzling, about 5-6 minutes. Cut the roasted beets into slices or chunks. Squeeze out the soft garlic, mash it with a fork, and beat it into the vinegar and honey. Pour this over the beets in a bowl, and add the red onion, salt and pepper to taste, and the sauteed greens. Mix everything together well. Serve the salad warm or at room temperature. Serves 2-4
Pink Risotto with Celery1 largeish bunch of cutting celery Finely dice the celery stalks and leaves, (reserving a few of the leaves), by cutting the stalks lengthwise into thin strips, then bunching the strips together and cutting them crosswise. In a small saute pan, combine the olive oil, garlic, and parsley. Cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until garlic is opaque. Add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Cover over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside off the heat. Bring the broth to boil in a saucepan. Turn off the heat and keep on the stove with the lid on. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the diced celery and leaves, except for the reserved leaves, and toss in the butter. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains. Let cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add enough broth to just cover the rice and celery and bring to a simmer. Keep the lid partially on the saucepan and stir often, until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth, just enough to cover, and stir frequently, until the rice is al dente and the risotto is creamy and liquid. This should take approximately 18 minutes. In the final few minutes of cooking, stir in the remaining celery leaves. Off the heat, stir in the remaining tablespoons of butter and the grated Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt and add more if necessary. Grind a little black pepper over the top and stir again. Serve in shallow pasta bowls with extra grated Parmesan cheese at the table. Serves 4.
Julia's Celery SoupTake a bunch of smallage (the small leafy parts of the celery) and wash it. Roughly chop and set aside. Chop 4 stalks of green garlic (including some of the light green part) and sautee briefly in butter or olive oil. Add one cubed raw potato if you like. Add the entire bunch of roughly chopped smallage. Add 4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth. Cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat. Puree with immersible blender or food processor. Thin with milk if you like. Season to taste with S & P.
|
|
Iyo above, Aiko below. Helping harvest onions! |
|
Hungarian Hot Wax trees! |