Happy Halloween!

Greens: We had to end the season with the delicious, after-first-frost, always tasty Lacinato and Russian Kale. Everybody should get a nice, healthy bunch of this blueish-green to purple colored good stuff. Remove from the mid-rib before lightly braising for even cooking. Delicious with merely salt and olive oil or butter.

Lettuce Mix: You all will get a hearty bag of lettuce mix, with baby spinach and other fresh, mild greens. Simply rinse and spin for your good-to-go salad this week. Lettuce-Share holder’s this week will be getting a bag of  delicious spinach, in addition to the lettuce mix.

Garlic: We are ending the season with a hefty paper sack of garlic for each share to take home. No, it’s not the prettiest stuff. With it’s super thin skin, these heads are coming apart and taking some bruising. And yes, there is chance of molds starting to set in on some of the heads. There lives too much moisture in our pole-barn. But, that is why you need to take it home and keep it dry. The flavor is still superior and will last for you, pending your care of this garlic. Don’t throw the sack down and forget about it. Rather lay heads out on a drying rack or screen, or shelf, or drawer, and keep cool and from moisture. Some of the cloves may want to root, but instead will await your culinary delights. Trim the base before cooking with it. If you throw a clove or two in the ground, you will indeed have your own green, Spring garlic! Enjoy…

Onion: Everyone will get an onion or two to end the season. They are mostly mild and flavorful.

Winter Squash: We are leaving you all with more winter squash. Remember they can sit for a while, so don’t rush into them. They are perfectly content to lay around until Thanksgiving, assuming you keep them dry and cool. In fact the flavors will get better with age.

Broccoli/Cauliflower: Everyone should get a bag or head of these tasty gems. We have the bright chartreuse Romanesco broccoli types and the pink all the way to electric purple cauliflower types mixed in with the more typical colored heads. Who always wants only that typical stuff, anyway? Not us.

Cabbage: The wholesome and sweet pale green heads or the bright purple heads will be a round for you this week…in addition to your Broccoli/Cauliflower.

Peppers: We still have peppers for you. The sweet and the hot and a few somewhere in between. How about some more tasty salsa?

FARM NEWS: Ending the season is always bitter-sweet. There is still so much work to do, but you all will be sorely missed. We only hope that you have enjoyed this season and all the farm-fresh, organic food as much as we have. Growing and eating this way is our way of life and what we always will be doing, but the fact that we can feed others (you!) and make a living in the process is the huge bonus win. I, especially as Kip has not been at most pick-ups the last couple years, have formed some valuable friendships with many of you and I miss our weekly exchanges through the winter. Although I miss the laughs and the chats in the off-season, I so anxiously await Spring and the chance to see you and your little one’s faces again soon. We wish the very best for you, your families and friends through the wonderful joyous holidays and cozy winter festivities. We hope one day to offer a winter program, perhaps a bi-monthly box will soon be available, but sadly not this year. We have appreciated your membership in our farm family this season more than words can say and we truly honor and value the opportunity to have you back next season and do it all again.

Your Loving Farmer’s,

Kip and Amy

Braising Greens: Yummy great tasting greens await you this week. We have had a slight frost, so they actually taste better! Great kale, chard and also some mustard green mix.

The weather is calling for soups and meatloaf type dishes. Comfort food. I had been wanting to make a heavy greens meat-loaf and found this recipe….it was delicious.

Uncle Eddie’s Spiral Meatloaf with Mixed Greens from Greens Glorious Greens!

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups kale leaves, washed, stemmed, drained and chopped
• 2 cups spinach or chard leaves, stemmed only if large, washed, drained and chopped
• 1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup finely minced onion
• 1 large garlic clove (at least!), peeled and minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 20 or so, coarse grinds of fresh black pepper
• 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (I like sage instead)
• 1/2 cup crumbled fresh bread
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup or honey

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a medium skillet with a lid, bring the water to a boil. Add kale and cook for 3 minutes, then add the spinach/chard and continue cooking until greens are wilted, about 2 more minutes. Remove greens with slotted spoon to a colander to drain and cool slightly. Save the water to drink later! It’s full of vitamins and minerals. When greens are cool enough to handle, squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside.
2. Place the ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, herbs and crumbled bread in medium sized bowl. Mix well with your hands. Press mixture into a flattened 12 x 10-inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick, on a cookie sheet or clean counter top.
3. Distribute the greens evenly over the meat rectangle. Roll up, starting with the 10″ side, into a jelly-roll shape. Place in shallow baking dish.
4. In a small bowl combine mustard and sweetener. Spread this mixture on top of the loaf. Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until cooked through. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing into thick pieces. Enjoy!

Garlic: Yep, more. Hope your stock-pile isn’t too full yet. If you don’t have a garlic jar (jar with a couple holes for air circulation), store the garlic in a paper bag in your crisper drawer in the refrigerator, or a cool spot (in a paper bag) where you store potato, onions and winter squash. We keep all this food in our back hall. There is no heat there, so it’s cold, but doesn’t freeze. However, even if the garlic dries out a little, it is still usable and delicious!

Onion: Another nice sized storage onion for you this week.

Brassica: More cauliflower, cabbage, romanesco and/or broccoli for your family this week. Blanche and freeze if you are tiring of it at the table. It will be a taste delight in deep winter. Look at this amazing purple cauliflower next to purple cabbage!

Winter Squash: Lovely, festive winter squash again this week and the next. Tis’ the season. Winter squash can sit in your ‘back hall’ for some time. Store it dry, and keep it cool. We have had success storing all types of winter squash for months. Most of the time the flavor greatly improves with age. They are widely known for soups, especially butternut’s and Hubbard’s, but we like the ease of roasting. You can peel-off the skin with a potato peeler, diced them up (scoop out seeds) and coat pieces in olive oil and sea salt, then roast on a parchment lined cookie-sheet at 400F for an hour. Or simply halve them skins on (seeds removed) and roast intact as the recipe below calls for…. We love to roast Delicata’s, Dumpling’s, small Butternut or Acorn squash in the way shown below….

Roasted Acorn Squash with Five Flavor Variations adapted from Cooking In Season

• 1 Acorn squash
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
• Seasonings from variations below

Peppers: More peppers are coming on and rolling out of our fields by the peck full. Prepare for a plethora of fresh picked peppers this week.

Farmer’s Choice: Some options this week are melons, beets or carrots, or eggplant.

FARM NEWS: We’ve officially had our first frosts. There were not many tomatoes left out there anyway, but now they are slowly turning to mush. Time to start cleaning up the summer crops and preparing more rows for fall mulch and winter. We’ve been making fires in the wood-stove at our office/farm/process-barn, and grateful to have a cozy place to come into and warm the hands up on the cold, crisp mornings. It’s not that cold yet, but we’ve been getting a sense that it’s coming. Only one week remains of our 2011 season! I’ll send out a couple email’s to you about how our winter is going and when we are ready to get folks signed up again. We certainly couldn’t do this without you! Also on a side note… we decided not to go with the t-shirt on-line ordering company after all. One of our beloved NE members, an artist, is working hard with us to develop a ‘better’ logo and/or artwork for the shirts and totes. They will be more custom this way and not so cookie-cut looking. I’m a little picky, and just wasn’t truly satisfied with what I came up with online. I can’t wait to share the shirts and totes on Facebook and the web-site, where we will have them available later this winter and into the next season. Help support your farm with a gift of a fancy shirt or tote, or even some soap for your loved one through our farm store! Coming winter of 2011-2012!!

Thanks Members ~ We love you!!

Braising Greens: Lovely kale, chard and some mustard mix hope to find their way to your table this week. Let’s not let them down.

Garlic: Will it ever end? No. We hope to keep you in garlic until next year.

Onion: Nice size onions of varying degrees of hotness will be yours this week and hopefully the last two weeks as well. Some are sweet and mild and lovely in salad or a sandwich.

Brassica: Botany quiz – What is a Brassica? Just ask Isabell above, holding our beautiful purple-tinged cauliflower. We are looking forward to having our vegetable pages on our web-site done this winter so you can read much more about our foods. Broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage are Brassica’s and one of them or a mix will await you this week.

Winter Squash: Some fun varieties await your choosing. We have Amber cup, Kuri, Kobocha, Dumpling, Delicata, Acorn, cream of the crop Acorn, butternut, sweet meat, Long Island Cheese, Hubbard, Berrettina and Galeux d’Eysines (also known as peanut winter squash). Winter squash is one of my favorite vegetables. The sweetness and flavors age, so you can store them in your pantry (cool and dry) for up to 3 months. The skins get harder as the days go by. I have used a mallet on my knife before! But, baked, roasted, fried or in a soup their flavors are lovely. Try this simple easy recipe. If you like sweet potato fries you are sure to love this…

Fried Winter Squash by Love Farm Organics

• 1 winter squash, peeled and thinly sliced
• Olive oil, cooking oil, butter, lard or other preferred shortening
• Sea salt and pepper

1. Heat oil or melt butter/shortening in heavy bottomed skillet. It should be about 1/4 inch deep.
2. Put 1 layer of squash in pan. Cook at medium/med. high heat for about 5 minutes; turn squash with a fork. Cook  another 5–8 minutes; or until squash is tender.
3. Remove squash from pan and drain on paper or kitchen towel.
4. Put on serving plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, or add some fresh grated Parmesan, or herbs on top. Serve immediately.

Cucumber: We will have another cucumber for everyone this week, but not likely again until next season. Hope you will enjoy the last of  ’em.

Pepper:  Pepper harvest is still going strong. Enjoy the bright colors and sweet flavors.

Tomato: Might be the last week for tomatoes, but maybe not. With this nice sunshine, it almost feels promising to have them through the end, but we are getting dangerously close to freezing temperatures out here at night.

Farmer’s Choice: We have a selection of odd’s and end’s and smaller crops that we will be choosing for you this week and perhaps the last two weeks as well. We hope that whatever you receive you will enjoy. Some possible candidates may be eggplant, snow peas, root crops, fava beans or even some fruit such as melons, plums, apples or pears.

FARM NEWS: Well, we had a wonderful time at the annual Harvest Work Party on Saturday and to those of you who made it out, we want to say a huge and meaningful Thank-You, You Are So Appreciated!! We had a great turn-out at the garlic planting and covered a couple acres, so we will hopefully be able to look forward to another plentiful garlic harvest next season. The potluck/party was great fun too and more of you came out for that. It was wonderful seeing and visiting with you and your families and thank-you for the delicious food, and desserts that were amazing. The pumpkin cake, breads and the beet brownies were incredible! A special thanks to Captain Tony at the fire/grill, who really came through with grilling the meat and veggies. I was starting to wonder how those kabobs were going to get cooked and folks were getting hungry! I am hopelessly grill-challenged and my dear husband was working on getting the tractor going. The children loved the rock painting, the hay-rides (better late than never), pulling the babies around in the wagon and the always sure to please activity of collecting woolly-bear, fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillars! We hear the warm fire and the s’mores went over nicely as well. We hope all of you that came out grabbed a pumpkin, or at least some for the children. As you carve them for Halloween, keep in mind the flesh will make a nice pie or bread, and don’t forget the seeds inside for roasting.

Thanks for your support!

Braising Greens: We have yummy mustard’s and kale and some bright colorful Swiss chard for you to have your pick.

Garlic:  Still hoping you’ll enjoy another head of our hard-neck, culinary preferred, great flavored garlic.

Brassica: It’s some mixed bags of cauliflower and broccoli as well as full heads and cabbages.

Cucumber: I hope that you are seeing (and tasting) the versatility of this vegetable. Peeled and seeds removed, the cucumber is added to almost every meal and our kids love it. It’s crisp, lemony, melon-like flavor is good with everything. We think.

Fennel/Celery: Hoping to offer you all the choice and that you get the one you wanted.

Winter Squash: The acorn’s, red kuri’s, kabocha, hubbard, sweet meat and delicata’s as well as some banana and buttercup squash are aging gracefully in our fields and slowly being pulled into the barns where they await your home and meals. I’ll put some recipes up soon.

Peppers: Pepper yields still going strong. Enjoy the bright colors and sweet flavors.

Tomatoes: The supply is dwindling so enjoy the lasts of them.

FARM NEWS: How quickly the weather can change around here! It never ceases to amaze me. A rainy start to this week is now forecast to be changing for the better. Today was indeed a soaker, as it also looks like Friday will be. But then the days after look sunny and dry. I guess it is now the wet season. Good news for the Harvest Party in that the weather will be looking up. But, it’s only Tuesday so it still could turn around. We will accomplish much and have a good time out here regardless of the weather and are looking forward to hosting a great day for our members.

We are looking ahead to the end of the season with humble appreciation and discontent with mother nature. We have lost some battles with insect populations and blight. No potatoes this year, nor fall turnip, nor rutabaga. Brussels sprouts won’t be ready to end the season in the share either. So strange how different the year’s can be from the last. I remember trying to give away Brussels sprouts and potatoes last year! We have made it through the beets and carrots and to offer anymore root crops this season, would be a surprise. We’re looking good to give you a week of peas and of course many more delicious greens and peppers. We have certainly never had a year of as beautiful, tasty, sweet bell peppers as this year. We have made pepper stick snacks to go along with the carrot sticks and put them on most sandwiches, as well as roasted them often. I’m working on a winter squash and pepper recipe……

We are extra tired from working in heavy rains all day. It makes your clothes heavier. Enjoy the hunter’s full moon and the rest of your week. I am off to sleep now, but will add recipes tomorrow.

Our gracious thank-you’s to you for supporting our fresh, local, organically grown farm foods!

Greens: The greens this week will be kale greens mixed with other mustard type greens, or some colorful chard.

Beet or Carrot: We are bagging both of these this week as the greens of the beets are looking pretty messy, and the carrot greens have been getting in the way. Less work for you. Still as fresh as can be.

Garlic and Onion: We are giving you mostly hard-necked garlic. This garlic has unique, flavorful characteristics and is more prized for culinary use. It is not grown to sit on a shelf in a supermarket for months on end, and so does not have several thin skins. It will store best in the crisper  in the fridge or even a garlic jar in the pantry. The onion this week is a large cipollini, which is rather sweet, mild and flavorful.

Brassica: You will still get some of the delicious cauliflower, broccoli or cabbage. They are still going and tasty too. Here is a tasty Cauliflower recipe from our Wednesday pick-up host Ericka. She likes to add chopped chives, or other herbs and sometimes Tabasco…yum!

Cauliflower Fritters adapted from Rachael Ray

• 1 large head cauliflower, trimmed and chopped
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Steam cauliflower until tender, 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, mash and let cool for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the flour, egg, red pepper flakes, season with salt and pepper.
3. Roll 1/4 cupfuls into balls, then flatten into patties, to make a total of 12-14.
4. In a skillet, heat 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil over medium high heat. Working in batches, fry the patties until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve as a side or on top of salad greens.

Squash: Most share’s should be getting winter squash this week. We have some lovely white and dark green acorns coming on. But we are still picking an occasional zucchini too.

Cucumber: The lovely little lemon cucumbers are still around, and such a delight in a salad or a sandwich. Also some of the long English cuc’s you are sure to see. We exclusively grow bitter-less cucumber so don’t worry about that with the larger ones. Just give them a peel, discard the seeds and enjoy.

Fennel or Celery: Did you enjoy the years first fennel last week? Well then please have some more. We will also have our leafy celery bunches for those of you not caring for the former. I know there are some fennel-lovers out there.

Pepper Medley: We still have a large assortment of peppers for you to take home. Have you made enough salsa for the freezer yet? It will taste amazing in February!

Tomatoes: A big selection of tomatoes still abound, so naturally they’ll get to come home with you. Try the heirloom’s please. The golden Brandy Wine’s are a favorite of ours.

FARM NEWS: Here we are at Week 20. That leaves four more weeks remaining, once we get through this one. We are sharing the bounty with you through the first week of November.

The weather is practically screaming Fall as of late. The cool, wet and windy mornings are definitely sweater weather. The sun is trying to make brief appearances, but just barely. There is so much to do out here. Busy, busy we are bee-ing. So much awaits our attention in preparation for the off-season. I am starting to look forward to making soap this winter, once the weather really hits cold and the vegetable season comes to a close. I’ve heard from some of you about coming out to the harvest party on the 15th. Looks like many of you can make it. We are very happy about that. It will be fun. I’ve started a list (with the help of my friend Rebecca!) of things to mention in Farm News these next four weeks ahead so I can try to keep you all interested. Well more work awaits me now….until next time.

Thanks for supporting our farm!

Greens: We are starting to come into nice Chard and Kale in addition to other greens. We may package them separately or in mixed bags.

Spicy Indian Wilted Greens adapted from Greens Glorious Greens!

• 2 Tbsp canola oil, butter or ghee
• 2 Tbsp minced shallots
• 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
• 1/2  tsp salt (optional)
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/3  to 1/2  cup scallions, white and green parts trimmed and roughly chopped
• 12 cups (roughly) chard or other greens that have been washed, torn from thick stalks, and thinly sliced

1. In a large skillet or wok, warm oil or butter over low heat. Add shallots, ginger, cumin, turmeric, coriander, jalapeno and salt and saute’ for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not burn.
2. Add water and mix with spices to get steaming started. Add scallions and greens and toss everything together. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, allowing greens to wilt.
3. Remove cover periodically and cook until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. If there is too much liquid near end of time, turn heat to high and cook it off while stirring greens. Serve immediately.

• 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 4 tomatoes, sliced into rounds
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp slivered fresh basil
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
• salt and pepper

1. Arrange cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion in a shallow serving dish. Mix oil, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl and pour over vegetables.
2. Season well with salt and pepper. Cover and let marinate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Sprinkle with herbs just before serving. (The leftover marinade makes a nice dressing for salad greens.)

Squash: We will be harvesting some winter squash this week and also the last of the summer squash. The thin skinned summer zucchini and paddy-pans handle light cooking  well, where as all winter squash needs a lengthy, usually baking time to soften.

Peppers: A nice medley of these shapely gems will grace your tables again. We hope you are enjoying these as much as we are. We have the sweets, the flavorful bells, the hots, and the super hots. A friend and I made several different types of pepper-jelly and pickled pepper this weekend. And I roasted what was left!

Tomatoes: Another several pounds of these flavorful fruits for you this week. We pick them everyday. They are so tasty, don’t you think?

Fennel Bulb: A new item for the share this week, and perhaps for some of you, ever. Fennel stalk and fronds can be used like any fresh herb. Chop well and decide where you appreciate it’s flavor best. For us it’s over pizza. It goes so well with melted cheese. However, the bulb is to be treated as it’s own….when thoroughly cooked (be sure to use plenty of moisture or fat) it becomes almost creamy, losing it’s raw crunch, but gaining smooth sweetness.

I know how late in the game I am on this, but I think I’m ready to order some t-shirts and totes. I am hoping to have them available before this season ends. That way you can use them in the winter and fondly reminisce about your vegetable farm-share experience and hopefully yearn to reestablish the relationship early next year. I’ll have to charge something for them, but I hope not too much. Anyway, please let me know if you are interested.

This week the vegetables are so happy to go home with you! Literally they are screaming ‘pick me!’,  ’pick me!’  from the fields…..it’s pretty cute. tehe

Bag’o'greens: The greens are quite similar to last weeks bunch with plenty of baby kales and spinach along with the various Asian types of mustards. Below is a famous Seattle salad from Cynthia Lair.

Emerald City Salad from Feeding the Whole Family

• 2.5 cups water or vegetable stock or chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1/4  cup lemon juice
• 1/4  cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2  cup chopped fennel bulb (without core)
• 1/2  red or yellow pepper, diced
• 1/2  cup chopped red cabbage
• 1/2  cup chopped Italian parsley
• 2 cups finely chopped, leafy greens (mustard’s, kale, chard or collards)
• Pecorino or Gorgonzola cheese to garnish

1. Bring water to a boil. Add butter, 1/2 tsp salt, and the rice. Bring to a boil again and then cover, turn heat to low and let simmer for 1 hour. Make sure all the liquid is absorbed by tipping the pan to one side and looking for pooling liquid.
2. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and remaining 1/2 tsp salt in a large serving bowl. Add the fennel, red pepper, cabbage, parsley and greens and toss thoroughly.
3. Once rice is fully cooked, cool until it ceases steaming but is still warm. Place it on top of dressed vegetables. When rice has fully cooled to room temperature, toss it with the vegetables.
4. Taste salad to adjust seasonings. May need more salt or more lemon. Garnish with the cheese and serve.

Black Bean Tostados  from Feeding the Whole Family

• 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cups dried black beans, soaked and drained
• 1 dried chipotle chile (smoked jalepeno made in Mexico)
• 4 cups water
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 12-14 flat corn tortillas

1. Heat oil in a 4-quart pot or pressure cooker. Saute’ onion, garlic, and cumin in oil until onions are soft. Add beans, chile, and water to the onions and spices; bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer and cook until beans are tender, about 50-55 minutes.
2. When water is absorbed by the tender beans stir in salt, cilantro and tomatoes.
3. Bake or heat the tortillas (according to instructions). Serve warm tortillas, beans, and your other garnishes in separate bowls. Let your family and friends make their own tostados.

Tomatoes: Yes, we are still bringing you bright, flavorful, delicious tomatoes. Hope you are loving them as much as we are.

FARM NEWS:  It looks like we have a beautiful week ahead. Many days of sunshine are in the forecast with temperatures in the 70′s. Not bad for late September. Likely your children are getting settled in at school and the fall rhythm has swept you up by now, comfortably.

Please don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Annual Fall Work Gathering/Harvest Party Potluck! It’s on a Saturday, October 15th. Come early for the work or come later for the party! We look forward to seeing you out here!

Beets or Carrots: Those are some gorgeous beets! And I think I bunched the largest carrot I have ever seen come out of our lovely clay soil today!

Mustard Greens: A delicate collection of Japanese mustard greens find the way into your share’s this week. The greens are slowly going to trickle back as the days get cooler. We are actually making it a mixed bag, with baby kale and bok choi as well as the mustards. You can safely call them braising greens…but some of you will enjoy them raw. Also, all the greens in the bag are very young and so even the mustards haven’t gained much in spiciness yet. Here is a gumbo recipe that is made with fresh mixed greens and file’ powder (a specialty spice of dried, ground sassafras leaves), which we don’t have, but the recipe is very nice without it! Add shrimp or chicken if you are into that.

Mixed Greens Gumbo from Eat Greens (thank-you Carol!!)

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
• 1 tspn cayenne pepper
• 3 pounds mixed greens, rinsed and stemmed (baby stems are fine)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• 2 Tbpn file’ powder (we used Cajun seasoning)

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes.
2. Add the onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and cook stirring often for 8-10 minutes.
3. Add 8 cups of water to the pot and stir in well. Add the Tabasco and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil. Add the mixed greens, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally until the greens are very soft and the water is absorbed, about 1 hour. Stir in the file’ powder. Enjoy!

* A side note on Greens (other than lettuce-greens). If you suspect the greens are too bitter (taste them raw), which can happen in older leaves of the plant, plunge them into boiling water for 1 minute before drainng them prior to cooking, sauteing, stir-fry…etc. Should remove any bitterness. I just learned this in the Eat Greens cookbook.

Garlic: I want to put up instructions for roasted garlic. I realize it isn’t common knowledge .

Roasted Garlic

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut off the top of your bulb (s). (pictured above)
3. Cover and bake approximately 45-60 minutes or until cloves are browned at the exposed end and soft throughout.
4. Remove from oven and drizzel with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
5. Scoop roasted garlic out of skins with a butter knife and spread onto fresh bread (yep, it spreads like butter!). Love!

*You don’t need a fancy garlic dish with a lid to roast garlic. Simply set on cookie sheet or other bake-ware and then cover with foil.

Cucumber: We are still getting lovely yellow lemon cucumbers coming on, so we are still picking them. Most of you will get some Boothby’s Blond as well as Lemon. Although the larger cucumber do taste better when the thicker skin is peeled, I’m still not tasting bitter. Hope you are not either. Boothby’s Blond (the longer white one) always needs peeling though, and the moist seedy middle has a sharp lemony taste. The recipe below is basically cucumber pesto….and it’s great!

Teritar from Recipes from America’s Small Farms

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Combine walnuts and garlic in food processor, chop and process to a paste.
2. Cut cucumbers into large chunks; add to walnut mixture and pulse until coarsely chopped.
3. Add the oil, vinegar, and salt; pulse until mixed but still chunky. Serve chilled or a cool room temperature. Enjoy on bread or crackers (with your roasted garlic above).

Summer Squash: The summer squash supply is tapering off, but will eventually be replaced with winter squash, which we think are even better. Enjoy the last of heirloom Italian and Middle Eastern zucchini’s, the paddy-pans and the yellow warty looking crooknecks. The smaller squash are the sweetest.

A Brassica: We are harvesting some cool looking broccoli and cauliflower right now. The purple broccoli is so beautiful and vivid, as well as the bright, spiraled, chartreuse  Romanesco! Nature can be so incredible…the Fibonacci Series alive and well out in the fields…;-) Hope you are daring to try some of the cool looking ones. Local chefs are seeking them out. The flavors are simply delicious.

Peppers: A nice colorful mix of peppers for each of your bags….we have a wonderful pepper stand in our fields! We have the sweet bells and regular bells in great colors. Some Anaheim, relleno, banana, Jalapeno, and long cayenne will be available for you to take from. If you aren’t using all your peppers try roasting and preserving them, or stuff them and grill them.

Preserving Peppers adapted from Earth to Table and the internet…..Makes about 2 pints

• 8 red peppers, or really any colored peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup vinegar (any kind)
• Kosher salt
• Canning jars
• A chopstick or butter knife

1. First wash, dry and then lightly oil your peppers. You can do this with hot peppers, too, but be sure to use thick-walled varieties such as jalapenos.
2. Roast your peppers. Ideally this is over a smoky wood fire, on a grill. Second choice is a gas grill, third an open burner on a stove. Alternatively, arrange your peppers on a broiling pan and broil them. No matter what your heating method, you will need to turn your peppers from time to time as the skins char and blacken.
3. When the peppers are mostly blackened, remove them to a paper grocery bag and roll up the bag to seal in the steam. You want to steam the peppers in their own juices. Let the bag sit for 20-40 minutes.
4. After the peppers have cooled and steamed, take them out one at a time and remove the skins, stems and seeds. Have a little water running in the sink so you can wash your hands off periodically. Do NOT run the peppers under the water, as this robs them of flavor. Once each pepper is cleaned — get as many seeds out as you can! — put in a bowl. Do all the peppers before proceeding.
5. In another bowl or small casserole pan pour in some vinegar. I use red wine, cider or sherry vinegar for red peppers (sherry when I want them to be Spanish, cider for Portuguese, red wine for Italian or Greek) and white wine for green peppers. Dredge each pepper through the vinegar a few times to get it good and coated. Place it in another bowl. Do this for all the peppers.
6. Sprinkle the bowl of peppers with kosher salt and gently toss together like a salad. Sprinkle a little more salt and repeat. Sprinkle a little salt into the bowl with the pepper juice  too — the original bowl.
7. Gather canning jars and pour a little vinegar into each one; enough to cover the bottom of the jar. Pack in the peppers, leaving about 1/2 space at the top. Use a butter knife or chopstick to run down the sides of the jars, releasing air bubbles. You will notice the level of liquid drop. Add the salted pepper juice — but still leave room at the top of the jar.
8. Once the air is out to the best of your ability and the vinegar-pepper juice it right at the top of the level of the peppers, pour in olive oil on top of everything to a depth of 1/4 inch. Screw the lids on the jars and you’re done. No sealing needed, although I sometimes place the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes just in case. I have not noticed a big difference either way. Once you open a jar, however, keep it in the fridge. It will last a year, although the peppers will soften over time. Add to salads, serve as a side or on bread.

Tomatoes: Oh, let me count the ways that I praise the summer farm-fresh tomatoes… then again no, I can’t count that high!  I have made and canned the salsa. Now it’s time for marinara. The different types of tomatoes make a wonderful, sweet sauce and where you take it from there is up to you.

Sweet Corn: This will likely be the last of our corn. Enjoy it!

End of Summer Quiche from The Farm to Table Cookbook

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced 1/2 ” thick
• 2 ears corn, shucked
• One 9″ baked pie crust
• 1 bell pepper, roasted and chopped
• 2 ounces goat chees, crumbled
• 4 large eggs; 2 whole, 2 just the yolks
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Position the oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 350. Heat the oil in a medium saute’ pan over medium-high heat, add the onion and saute’ stirring occasionally, until onion begins to caramelize, about 8 minutes.
2. To shave the kernals from the corn, hold a cob upright at a slight angle on a cutting board and cut off the kernals with a sharp chef’s knife, being careful not to cut the cob. Add the kernals to the saute’ pan and cook for 1 minute. Place the pie shell on a baking sheet; add the corn mixture, bell pepper, and goat cheese.
3. Whisk the egg yolks, eggs, half-and-half, salt, nutmeg, and a few grinds of pepper in a medium bowl. Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are set and a knife inserted 1″ from edge comes out clean (the filling will continue to set after the quiche is removed from the oven). Allow the quiche to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

FARM NEWS: Things are great out here on the far-west-side. The hummingbirds are still busy in our yard and around the farm. Even though some plants and flowers are going to seed and we have started collecting seeds here and there. The air is feeling crisp in the mornings instead of hot and heavy, and our first born is about finished with her first week of pre-school.

Summer is ending and Fall is beginning…transitions. The introductory days of Autumn bring anticipation for the new (and even Holidays), as well as longing for the last hot days we’ll be seeing for some time. On the plus side, I haven’t watered the flower beds in several days…and may just let them go at this point. I have a lot bigger things to do, like the humongous pile of laundry which has gathered at the washerrrr. New school days for little ones can be incredibly busy, and full, along with an already busy and full schedule. We haven’t really been able to slow down the irrigation in the fields yet, but that will be here before we know it.

If you want extra vegetables for a large batch of salsa or marinara yourself, please ask! We are getting some requests now and trying to get you everything you order up. We love the idea of supplying your tomatoes, garlic, peppers, dill, basil…whatever you want in bulk for your preserving needs and family feeds. Yep. Just like the berries, kindly speak up via email or phone call.

Please save the date for our Annual Fall Harvest Gathering/Work Party on October 15th. We hope to see many of you out here. I’m working on getting a flyer out with all the details shortly. Here is the Facebook Event page the we created for it, if you’re in to that  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230417643676580 , check out our page and let us know you’ll make it. We hope your week is going well so far. And that maybe just maybe some farm fresh, chemical-free, delicious tasting, colorfully pretty foods may help make it a little better!

Thanks

Farmer Kip, Farmer Amy and the mini-farmer’s appreciate your support!

Green Beans: (or purple, or yellow…) More beans for all this week. We are still into them for another (this) week at least. We like them best with a short cooking, either stir-fried, boiled or steamed. To freeze them, give them a quick blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes, plunge into ice water to stop the cooking, then zip-lock and date the bag. Eat them in 4-6 months. Or saute’ your beans. Saute’ literally means “to jump”, so keep those vegetables moving! If you want them lite and crispy, wait to add any type of salt until they are complete.

Saute’ed Green Beans from Feeding the Whole Family

• a half-pound green beans
• 2 tsp butter (or ghee)
• Sea salt
• Lemon (optional)

1. Trim ends of beans. Wash and drain. Heat skillet over medium heat. Then add butter-don’t let it burn.
2. Add green beans-they should sizzle. Keep them moving until they turn bright green.
3. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a with a little salt before you serve them. They are also nice with a squeeze of lemon.

Sweet Corn: We are still harvesting delicious sweet corn for you. Everyone loves this corn! Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoy it, as do we. Freeze yours if you can’t keep up. You don’t have to blanch first! Simply remove corn from cob, place in zip-lock and freeze. We’ve had great success with this. In winter simply add to a small saucepan of boiling water, a little butter and salt and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until hot. Instant sunshine! Yum. Or try the recipe below. It is fabulous in late summer/early fall when you can eat, and easily cut sweet corn kernels right off the cob.

Fresh Corn Salsa from Feeding the Whole Family

• 1 ear of corn, shucked, kernels removed with knife
• 1 Serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• Half a ripe avocado, sliced into cubes
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
• Juice of 1 large lime
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl. Allow mixture to marinate at least 20 minutes. Can be made in advance and stored in sealed container in fridge.

Peppers: A nice selection of peppers continues to ripen out in our fields. We bring you more bell’s this week and also some other surprises. We have banana (long yellow) peppers which start mild but end hot, also pepperchini’s, jalapeno’s, Serrano’s and cayennes for the really spicy. I love the bright purple, mild bell peppers!

Cucumbers: Still harvesting delicious, crisp, cool cucumbers for your share’s. Hope everyone tried (and enjoyed) the melon-cucumber we grew last week. We were pleasantly surprised with that new seed. We still have a selection of cuc’s out in the fields and are bringing you more.

Summer Squash: Zucchini’s of yellow and striped green, paddy-pans and crooknecks, as well as round “stuff-’em” squash’s are slowly tapering off. Hope you are enjoying all the different types, colors and shapes and that you have tried them all. Sauteed, grilled or made into soup this vegetable is very versatile. Ratatouille anyone?

Ratatouille from Recipes From America’s Small Farms

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium bell peppers, cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium zucchini or other summer squash, cubed
• Chopped fresh parsley, oregano and basil

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute’ the peppers, onions, and garlic until soft; stir in the tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and herbs.
2. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Voila’!

A Brassica: We still have beautiful broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower heads out in the fields, so that means we still keep them coming your way. I have some lovely recipes with cauliflower, which were shared with me that I hope to put up on this blog soon.

Garlic: More fresh, almost cured garlic, heads for your favorite meal. We have an abundance this year and will give it to you weekly through season’s end. Put some up in butter. Much like we suggested with the green garlic, you can also do with this garlic. Just chop it up and add to a softened stick of butter and refrigerate. Good for almost everything!

Beets or Carrots: Still, a little of both we will make available this week, each day. Hope you get the one you want.

Tomato: My favorite vegetable is finally ripening the way we like to see it…..gorgeous red orbs we can spot on the bushes from some distance away. Most all the types we planted have started to really flush. Hope you are enjoying them. More this week….and next.

Farmer’s Choice: We will have one mysterious item this week. Could be an herb, fruit or vegetable. What ever you get we hope you are pleasantly surprised!

FARM NEWS: A wonderful Labor Day we hope you are having. This long weekend seems to mark the start of Fall for many, so hopefully you have successfully said farewell to lazy summer days. Kids are starting back to school this week, yet the weather will make us think otherwise with mid-90 temperatures! Don’t tuck short shorts and tank tops away just yet. It looks like it will be mid-September before we can start to actually feel Fall in the air. I’ll take it.

We have decided on a time for our Fall Harvest/Work party of 2011. Please save the date of October 15, a Saturday, to come out to your farm! It is quite risky to have it this late in the year we know, but it doesn’t fit to have it any sooner. We have a really good time, and likely still will even if it rains. So we start the day with a task, probably garlic planting, and then break around noon for potluck lunch and fire-side party. We hope to have the tractor rides in the hay-wagon for the kids again and may have some pumpkins for selecting and take-home to those who make it out. We provide smores, a couple other dishes (meats and salads) and some beverages including juices, or cocoa for the kids. We encourage you to bring some dish and beverage of your choice. Home-brews, ciders or wines are a welcomed delight. We are going to try our own hand at home-brew this Fall so it would be a huge treat to try some of yours. I hope to circulate a flyer of sorts to all the pick-ups in the next couple weeks.

Thanks for your super support. We dearly appreciate it!

Celery: We have more of our flavorful celery for your share’s this week. I hope you are enjoying it and not bogged down by those greens. If you don’t know what to do with the celery greens, you can chop them up a bit and freeze them in bags to use later in your delicious fall and winter soups.

Beans: More beans for all this week. We had a nice stand of beans considering the poor, late germination. We may not get another week out of them. If you didn’t make the salad recipe I posted last week, you have to try it now….we even have the fresh basil for you.

Sweet Corn: We are still harvesting delicious sweet corn for everyone. I’m going to freeze some this week, to have later in the Fall.

Peppers: A nice selection of peppers continues to ripen out in our fields. We bring you more bell’s this week and perhaps some other surprises. I love the bright purple, yellow and red bell peppers!

Cucumbers: Still harvesting delicious, crisp, cool cucumbers for your share’s. Try the round, yellowish lemon cucumbers. They are my favorite sliced after chilled with only sea salt.

Summer Squash: The summer-time main-stay vegetable is still going strong. Hope you are enjoying all the different types, colors and shapes and that you have tried them all. Sauteed, grilled or made into soup this vegetable is very versatile. I’ll post a nice recipe for a ratatouille this evening…

A Brassica: We still have beautiful broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower heads out in the fields, so that means we still keep them coming your way.

Garlic: More fresh, almost cured garlic, heads for your favorite meal. We hope to keep bringing it to you every week so why not splurge and roast a head? Yum.

Beets or Carrots: Some of you will get one and other’s the other. We are harvesting some colorful bunches of carrots this week with yellow, purple and orange ones. The beets still can’t be beat.

Tomato: My favorite vegetable is finally ripening the way we hope to see it…..gorgeous red orbs we can spot on the bushes from a far distance away. Kip and I enjoyed pure bliss last evening as we sampled many of the different types we are growing. Lets hope they keep a’comin’.

Basil or Cilantro: A nice bunch of basil or cilantro will make it out of our field and into your kitchen. It’s pesto or salsa making time!

Blueberries: The very last of the last bits of blue on the bushes are being picked today and early each morning until none remain. I think we will make it through the week so that all of you can try some. The berry season is done.

FARM NEWS: We are close enough to September that it feels okay to say Fall is right around the corner. Kids are soon to be starting school and preparations for the off-season months are already being discussed. The summer sure did fly by, or never really seemed to come much at all. This feels like the second or third year we’ve been saying that. Seasons change.

We had a great weekend. With the help of a dear friend we managed to get beans, beets, carrots and cauliflower pickled in addition to more cucumbers. Can’t wait to try them all!

We have been steadily working on getting all of the garlic out of the field. It is almost time to plant garlic again! We are thinking often about plans for our Fall Harvest Gathering/ Work Day on the farm now. A Saturday in early October is looking likely. Planting the garlic, or harvesting some potatoes will probably be a work activity. We start early with the work and then around noon we head to the woods for a fireside potluck and party. It’s a fun time and we hope to see you there!

Thanks for your support!