What's in the box?

• onions
• potatoes
• carrots
• butternut squash
• spinach
• collard greens
• turnips
• cabbage
• brussel sprouts
• broccoli (a few people got bulk carrots instead because we ran out of broccoli)

Notes on the box. 

Fingerling potatoes are so yummy.  My favorite way to cook them is to roast them.  But to make them the very best way, par boil them whole and THEN cut the bigger ones in halves or quarters and leave smaller ones whole.  Finish them by roasting in the oven in a cast iron skillet and top with lots of butter at about 450 until the outsides are browned and crisp.

Spinach is sweetened by the frost now and sweet.  Great for fresh eating in a salad or for cooking.    We washed it, but always suggest another washing to be sure there's no dirt.

Collard greens are also frost sweetened and nice.  The greens just get better when the weather gets cold.  

Cheese shares.

It's lasagna time!  Spinach and this ricotta together is sure to make a nice one!  Or Butternut squash lasagna.  Yum.  I love making ricotta when it's cold out.  The milk has to be heated to 180 degrees before the acid is added to coagulate the milk into the ricotta.  The whole cheese room gets very warm and toasty.  Sometimes I really miss being out in the field, but being inside on these cold days makes me feel very lucky! 

And Antares, our cows milk manchego.  A favorite, for sure. 

Recipes. 

Butternut Spinach Lasagnain case you can't decide on one or the other!

Japanese Cabbae Pancake  Uses 6 cups of cabbage, that will make a dent in your cabbage supply

Braised Cabbage

Pan Roasted Turnips and Carrots

Large dice turnips and thick coin carrots.  Heat a pan over medium heat with some oil of your choice.  Add turnips and carrots and saute for a few minutes.  Add a splash of water or stock and cover.  Uncover and stir occasionally until carrots and turnips are fork tender.  When they are, uncover the pan and turn the heat up to allow water to evaporate and edges of turnips and carrots to caramelize.  You can add some crushed garlic, crushed red pepper, butter, soy sauce, and honey or any combination of those if you like.  Otherwise you can season with a little salt.  The veggies are so tasty they don't need much dressing up! 

On the farm.

It's snowing as I write this.   

It got cold!  It got the kind of cold that once you get cold, you don't feel warm for the rest of the day until you get a hot shower.  Damp and misty cold.  The kind of cold that calls for more coffee! And soup, stews, braised food, and going to bed early. 

We hope you keep your oven going with these veggies and stock pile what you can't use for later.  Stay warm and stay dry out there! 

Sadie enjoying the Wintery mix before the snow started

What's in the box? 

medium share

Same in small shares, but lesser amounts

• salad mix
• green beans
• broccoli or cauliflower
• summer squash
• zucchini
• cucumbers
• green top carrots
• sweet onions
• kale
• basil
• heirloom tomatoes
• bell peppers

Notes on the box... 

We wash the Salad Mix, but suggest you give it another wash before eating just to be sure it's 100% dirt free.

Some of the Cucumbers may be a little large.  We culled out the largest ones (they were growing faster than we could pick them!), but there were some on the large size that still tasted wonderful.  Though you may want to scoop out the seeds if you find them unappealing.  The easiest way to do this is to cut them in half lengthwise and run a spoon down the center making a cucumber boat.  Easy.  There are quite a few this week.  We have been putting them on sandwiches, making cucumber water (just put some slices into your water and put it in the fridge for a few hours until it's nice and cold and so refreshing), making refrigerator pickles, adding them to every salad, enjoying them sliced in the morning with our eggs, and eating them whole fora  quick snack.  We really love them around here! 

Please remember to remove the tops from your carrots for the best storage.  If you don't get to it right away and find your carrots a little bendy, you can try soaking them in cold water for a half hour to see if they crisp up again. 

Sweet onions are sweet and mild.  They are good for fresh eating on burgers and in salads.  They are not cured (dried for long term storage) so you should keep them in your refrigerator.

  Bell peppers are here!  Hooray!  They will be coming weekly and as they ripen we will send red and yellow ones.  You can expect to see them until frost, so add them to your stir fry and with abandon!

It's the first of the Heirloom tomatoes!!  They will be coming on heavier and you will get more soon.  The first ones are so special and loved.  Best eaten all on their own with maybe a little salt to let the flavor shine.  Don't put tomatoes in the fridge unless you plan on cooking them. The cold makes the texture mealy and can lessen the flavor, too.  Store tomatoes at room temperature on their shoulders (that's stem end facing down). 

Recipes 

From members Charles and Shannon, a suggestion for what to do with your cabbage if you still have some from last week.  They said it's really good! Worlds Best Braised Green Cabbage

Ben's Everything Easy Salad

Ben took all the produce that was sitting on the counter and made a beautiful salad out of it.  So Summery and tasty.  Finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower would be nice in it as well.  You could serve it with your salad mix, too. 

• zuchinni or summer squash, diced
• bell pepper, diced
• basil, cut into thin strips
• sweet onion tops, cut into thin strips
• carrots, grated
• tomato, diced
• dress with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

I will ill be testing this Meatless Greens Meatballs recipe this weekend using kale and carrot tops!  Wish me luck! 

  Zuchinni Pizza Crust  requires pizza stone

  Chilled Cucumber and Herb Soup 

Refrigerator Pickled Green Beans

Spicy Refrigerator Pickled Summer Squash and Zucchini
 Last season I was making pickles and had some leftover brine.  I sliced up some zucchini and summer squash and pickled them.  They were wonderful! 

Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
 For all those cucumbers!

Cheese Share

This week we have Antares (the cows milk Manchego) again.  It was made in a different wheel size for this batch.   I like this cheese on a fresh vegetable sandwich piled high with cukes, tomato, lettuce, and bell pepper.  I also like it on pizza and on its own for a snack.  Note that some of the wheels weighed less and so some people got a smaller wedge than others.  I tried to group the smaller wedges by drop site and made a note of who got smaller wedges so that I can give bigger ones later on.  Don't want anyone to miss out on cheese! 

You may have also seen on facebook or instagram the picture of the fresh mozzarella that I pulled for the farmers market.  It was well liked and I want to deliver it to the cheese shares, but I need to figure out how to get it delivered to you without the brine spilling everywhere or the mozzarella getting squished!  I also need a lot more practice at pulling so that I can make it more quickly without so many that don't pass quality control...  Keep your fingers crossed, or if you can't hold out, come to the Linden Hills Farmer's market where we will have the fresh mozzarella in limited quantities off and on in the coming weeks.

On the farm...

We harvested a beautiful crop of garlic this week.  It's curing in the barn and we will start adding heads to your box when it dries and gets cleaned up.  YAY! 

Ahhhh...  This time of year is so nice!  Everything is coming ripe and looking beautiful and vibrant.  Not many pests have found us and we've been getting enough rain.  There's still too much to do to stay on top of all the weeds, but we are happy to have a nice abundance to put in your boxes!  We hope that you are enjoying everything and making your way through the veggies before the next weeks delivery arrives. 

I have to say, seeing pictures on Instagram of the meals that you make with the veggies that we have grown is one of the best treats we get!  We are so grateful for all the feedback we are getting from our members. Here's a look at some of the lovely pictures of some truly yummy looking food that you all shared with us.  Please keep it coming!  It's really fun and motivating for your farmers to know about these amazing meals that you are putting love into for yourselves, your families, and your friends!  THANK YOU! 

And now the pictures from the farm...

bee pollinating squash flower

Shaq harvesting squash... just kidding, that's just Josh in a Shaq jersey ;) 

bringing in the harvest

Farm fun!  Kelsie trying out Otto's trike

Dana washing salad mix

happy farmer!

grow little melon, GROW!  coming your way in about a month

pizza Friday on the farm

Next Week

• cukes
• summer squash and zuchinni
• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• sweet onions
• carrots
• celery?
• new potatoes??

What's in the box?

Medium Share

• green beans
• green top carrots
• spring onions
• cauliflower
• cabbage
• zucchini/ Summer squash
• cucumbers
• fennel
• head lettuce

Small Share

• same as above, but in smaller quantities

 Notes on the box...  

The Green Beans were picked just after a very heavy rain and were splashed with dirt.  We don't wash them, so you should give them a good rinse right before using them.  

The tops should be removed from the carrots as soon as you get them home.  The carrots will get rubbery if you leave the tops on.  Remove the tops and store the carrots in a plastic bag.  The tops are edible, as well if you need more greens in your life!  They can be blanched and made into a pesto or used in place of parsley in some recipes.  Taste it and see if you like it.

Fennel may be new to some people.  It was well received last season, so we thought we would send it out again this year.  The bulb, stems, and fronds are all edible.  I suggest removing the tops from the bulb for ease of storage.  Nibble the leaves to get an idea of the flavor of the rest of the plant.  It's like anise.  Check out this tutorial on how to prep fennel from Bon Appetite.

Cheese Share  

This is a cheese we are calling moon shadow.  It will mostly be aged to a dry jack, but we thought we would have you try it young.  All of our cheeses are young right now since our cows freshened in March and April and our facility was just licensed in May.  This cheese has the characteristic lactic tang that comes with younger cheeses and that mellows out over time.  You can enhance the bitey tang by pairing it with an IPA, or you can balance it with a farmhouse ale, a fruity chardoney, dried apricots, or smoked fish.  Or you can keep it simple and make a great cheese sauce for your cauliflower or broccoli!  Let us know what you think!

Recipes

Ginger Garlic Sesame Green Beans

Rinse beans (however many you want to eat) and remove the stem ends.  Heat a Tablespoon or two of oil in a skillet or wok.  Add the beans, some minced or grated ginger and garlic and cook over high heat until bright greeen, but still crisp.  Remove from heat and drizzle with a little toasted sesame oil and salt to taste.  You may also garnish with sesame seeds.  

Fennel, Cabbage, and Cucumber Slaw

• 1/2 a cabbage, very thinly sliced 

• 3 spring onions or 1 sweet onion, very thinly sliced 

• 1 fennel bulb—very thinly sliced or grated

• 1 -2  cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly crosswise

• salt

• 1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• 1/2 cup chopped dill or fennel leaves

• 3 tablespoons poppy seeds

Mix crème fraîche or sour cream, vinegar, dill or fennel leaves, and poppy seeds in a large bowl.  Add cabbage, onions, fennel, and cucumbers and toss to combine.  Season to taste with salt and serve.  

Quick Pickled Fennel with Carrots

• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
• 3 carrots, very thinly sliced or grated

Place the first four ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar and salt.  Then pour into a large bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  When the mixture is still warm, add the fennel and carrots.  Allow to steep for 20 minuets.  Drain and use or store in the fridge for later.  These pickles are great with fish, on burgers or brats, or mixed into pasta, egg, or potato salad.  

Smitten Kitchen's Green Bean Salad with Fennel 

On the Farm

This week seemed to have a lot of potential to get smashed by some harsh weather.  We prepared for the worst and were pretty sure we were getting hammered as we watched an amazing amount of lightning flashing while we hunkered down in the basement.  When we went out to see how things fared, we were relieved to see everything just where we left it.   We were really lucky, though.  We got a text from a neighboring farm saying their sweet corn was all blown over, and another farm whose packing shed was a total loss.  That punched in the gut feeling of defeat came welling up in empathy so easily.  When your livlihood is dependent on the weather, it only takes a couple of years to experience it multiple times.  When a piece of equipment breaks down or a hoophouse gets taken down by wind or snow, our brains translate the loss into how many CSA shares or bunches of carrots worth of dollars was lost.  We ponder what we could have done wrong to deserve the beating from the universe.  We ask a few big questions about The Creator, karma, our place in the world...  Then we mope around and cuss and kick dirt for a while, think about what we can do without to make up for the loss so that we stay out of the red.  Then we take a breath, look at the sky, look at the ground, try not to take it personal, and start cleaning up and getting back to work. We've been hit in the past, and we are so glad that it missed us this go 'round, but we won't take it for granted!  Looks like potential for more weather this weekend... eek!  

And along with the wind came some rain that is making all the crops grow at an incredible rate.  Everything is looking very lush and healthy and the coming weeks look like more delicious and healthy bounty.  We hope that you are enjoying your Summer and eating lots of veggies and that none of you were affected by the bad weather!  

Let us know if you have any questions and thanks for all the nice emails and comments and instagram pictures of your amazing meals!  Keep them coming!  If you have any recipes to share, please do!  

Picture time...

row cover is our pest control

someone made a nest irght on top of a head of broccoli.  Don't worry, we didn't harvest that head!

busy busy busy

can you see the pollen this bee has collected on it's legs?

We love our bees!

Our "Eat like a Farmer" members got the first taste of ripe heirloom tomatoes.

A happy farmer!

fennel!

Sam is on egg washing duty this week.  That's a lot of eggs to wash!

cheese wrapping party time!

this weeks cheese share

found some time to enjoy the glow of a bonfire with Paul and Chris from Foxtail Farm and Juli and Jason from Steady Hand Farm.  Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful summer we are having!