Week 6; July 13, 2016

What's in the box?  

Green top carrots
Red Romaine lettuce
Red Russian kale
cucumbers
fresh garlic
yellow summer squash/ zucchini
green top beets
green onions
fennel (large and medium shares)

Notes on the box.  

Remember to remove the tops from carrots and beets for best storage. 
The Kale can be used the same as you would a curly kale or lacinato kale, but it is slightly more tender. 
The garlic is fresh!  It was harvested just last week.  The rest of the garlic is currently curing in the barn.  Curing dries down the papery layers of the garlic for storage.  Fresh garlic is a nice treat and a preview of more garlic to come after it's cured.  It's still safe for you to keep on your counter instead of the fridge, but it may not last as long as cured garlic. 

Cosmic Wheel Creamery cheese shares.  

Two aged cheeses this week.  Moon Glow is similar to a Gruyere and Lyra is a young washed rind cheese with a creamy texture.  Both are good melters for cooking.  Hope you enjoy them!  Ricotta is coming next week! 

Recipes.  

Cabbage, Cucumber, and Fennel Salad

Beet and Carrot Bake

On the farm.  

Big Storms on Sunday brought us 2 “ of much needed rain, and made everything green up but also made a fair amount of standing water in the fields.  We have been noticing this pattern of heavy rain falls over the past couple years. So this season we put much of our fields into raised beds. This allows the top of the bed to drain, and dry faster, while the walking paths hold water and stay wet longer. So far, so good, it has definitely saved us some crop loss and helped with seed germination. Every year we look closely at our weak links in our farming practices and try to make them a little stronger.

For those of you who wonder already, what am I going to do this winter for vegetables and farm direct food. Well, look no further than Foxtail farm in Osceola. These pioneers of CSA farming started a Winter only CSA that goes from December-April with deliveries every 3 weeks of fresh and storage vegetables, along with value added items made right on the farm, such as soups, granola, jam, kraut, and tomato sauce. AND! You can still get our farmstead cheese!  (though we don't have the signup for that set up just yet)  I mean you might have to make a trip to the grocery store just to remember what it was like.  Here's a link to their website.  You'll find information about sign-ups there.  The food is magnificent.  Paul and Chris have been mentors for many many many of the local farmers in our area, ourselves included.  Plus you get the fun farmer musings of Dr. Dirt (farmer Paul) in their entertaining and informative newsletter.  

Now for pictures!  This week Otto was on assignment at the farm.  Here's his photos...

Turnip Rock FarmerComment
Week 5; July 7, 2016

What's in the box?  

broccoli and/or cauliflower
cabbage
head lettuce
summer squash/ zucchini (large and medium)
carrots
rainbow chard
scarlet turnips (large and medium)
green onions
fennel (large and medium)

Notes on the box.  

So last week it was looking like we were going to have a break from broccoli and cauliflower, but the plants had other ideas and our next planting decided to jump ahead and put on some heads. And the sideshoots (little broccoli that grows on the plants after the main head has been harvested) looked too good to pass up.  Broccoli and Cauliflower is one that people don't seem to have trouble eating all of from week to week.  And it's super easy to blanch and freeze if you are getting behind on it.  

Carrots and turnips will store best with tops removed.  This will be the last of the scarlet turnips.  Not sure if we will be growing these in the beginning of the season again.  The flavor wasn't as good as they had been in the fall of last season.  They are pretty good braised, though.  Or you can grate them and they add a nice color to coleslaw along with the carrots, especially nice in an asian slaw.

Fennel may be new to some of you.  The bulb is the main edible part and it can be sliced thin and eaten in salads, or it can be roasted or even grilled.  The fronds are edible, too.  I saw a recipe for fennel frond pesto, though I've never tried it.  The stalks can be cooked with the bulb.  My favorite thing to do with the stalks is to chop them and make them into a bread and butter pickle.

Rainbow chard may also be new to some.  It can be used much like spinach for cooking.  The beautifully colored stalks are edible and can be sauted before the leaves since they take longer the cook.  The leaves wilt down super quickly, but the stalks need more time.  Store the chard in a plastic bag in your crisper.   

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

This week we have cheese curds and some Garlic Scape and Dill Quark.  I've been making this flavored quark for the farmers market and people seem to REALLY like it.  I generally like to give CSA members plain cheese so that you can fix it up however you want (I know you are doing a lot of cooking and meal prep!)  But sometimes it's nice to have something that you can just spread onto your cracker and munch away.  I hope you enjoy it!  It was the last of the garlic scapes and the dill came from our friends at Steady Hand Farm.  We planted dill in the greenhouse early in the season, but it was ready before CSA delivery started.  It's good on crackers, as a spread on a sandwich, dabbed onto scrambled eggs or salmon right when they are finished cooking.  

Recipes.

Fennel Slaw
To make dressing mix 1 1/2 tsp sugar, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp spicy or dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp salt.  Slice fennel bulb as thinly as possible starting at the bottom of the bulb. Use a mandolin for slicing if you have one.  You may also slice in stalks.  Mix in one thinly sliced green onion and a tablespoon of minced mint.  Mix with dressing and allow to mainate for at least one hour.  The dressing really balances out the licorice flavor of the fennel, but if you'd like to make it even less pronounced, you can double the dressing and add in some thinly sliced cabbage for a fennel cabbage slaw.  

Spaghetti with Cauliflower and Chard Gremolata  

5 Coleslaw Variations There are about a million different options for coleslaw.  We can't get enough of it during the summer and tend to eat some spin on clowslaw with just about every meal.  Here's a few suggestions to start!  

On the Farm.  

We've put a postcard into your CSA box about our friend and neighbor at Red Clover Apothecary's herbal CSA share.  Nancy at Red Clover does an amazing job and we love her herbal teas, tinctures, and salves.  They are truly some of the best we have found.  If you order an Herbal CSA share, we will deliver it to your drop site along with your veggies. Click on the link  to learn more and to sign up for an herbal CSA share.  

a note to our meat share and eat like a farmer members:  the first delivery will be at the beginning of August.  We got the broiler chickens started later than we had anticipated and they are slow growing , but it will be worth the wait (see pictures below).  The first delivery will include chicken and beef.  

 

Turnip Rock Farmer Comment
Week 4; June 30, 2016

What's in the box? 

 

Cauliflower
Broccoli
Tendersweet or Savoy Cabbage (medium and large shares)
cucumber (medium and large)
spring onions
green top beets
zukes/ summer squash
salad mix
collards
garlic scapes (large and medium)
red romaine

 

Notes on the box.

The cucumbers, summer squash, and zucchini are just starting to come on, so you are getting just a taste of these Summer lovelies.  Some of the cukes may need to be cut in half and have the seeds scooped out with a spoon, but they are quite tasty!  More coming your way in upcoming weeks! 
The collards are super beautiful and are still pretty tender and not bitter even though we've had some pretty warm temps.  They are perfect for collard wraps. You can use them raw or blanch them quickly and then use them as a wrap. 
Tendersweet and Savoy cabbage are bot great for fresh eating and we are big on coleslaw during the summer months. 
The greens on these beets are so beautiful and are VERY yummy.  I had a bunch from last week going limp in the fridge.  I chopped them and wilted them in some butter with a pinch of salt and they were some of the best tasting greens we've had. Keeping it quick and simple is often the best way eat these veggies!  Remember that the best way to store any root crop with greens still attached is to remove the greens from the roots.  Both will store longer that way. 

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Moonglow is an Alpine recipe (similar to a Greuyere)  I make one type of cheese called Moonshadow that is the same recipe, but made in the very early Spring when cows are still eating hay and the resulting cheese is much milder in flavor and more white in color since the cows aren't getting the green pasture.  It's fun to taste the two next to each other.  This season's Moonshadow is aging and won't be ready until late fall. 
Also this week we have the first fresh cheese curds of the season!  They are a tasty little snack.  To get the squeak, let them warm to room temperature before you eat them.  If you don't like them squeaky, let them sit in the fridge for several days and eat them cold.  I had been cutting these little suckers by hand which took WAY too long.  Making cheese curds is still a really long day for me since bagging them up takes quite a while, but I got a handy new tool called a curd mill.  Most cheese factories have mechanical, motor driven mills.  Mine is manual, but still makes this job a lot easier than cutting them by hand!  Hopefully that means more cheese curds coming your way soon! 

This isn't a picture of me using my curd mill, but it's not far off. 

This isn't a picture of me using my curd mill, but it's not far off. 

Recipes.

The Collards this week are perfect for wraps!  You can use them in place of tortillas for a lighter meal.  Here's a picture tutorial on how to blanch collards for using as a wrapper.  You don't HAVE to blanch them.  They can be used raw since they are still tender and not bitter.   Fill them with beans, rice, salsa, and cheese.  Or with hummus, feta, cucumbers, and lettuce.  Or with beet burgers, or use this recipe for Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Rice Wraps.  Otherwise, you can always de-stem them, roll them up, slice them crosswise into thin strips, and then cook them down with some bacon. 

Beets are still popping and Miranda made an amazing farm lunch for us.  She doesn't use a recipe, but this is roughly her practice for beet fritters.  Shred unpeeled beets, zucchini/ summer squash for a total of about 4 cups of shredded veggies (mostly beets).  Crack and whip three eggs.  Mix eggs and veggies together.  Season with your choice of spices.  Miranda used a little paprika and cumin.  Add some flour and breadcrumbs until they will hold together into a loose patty shape.  Miranda made hers the size of hamburgers.  Fry in oil, pressing down as they cook so that the edges get crispy.  Fry for about 4 minutes on each side or until brown and crispy. 

What to do with Cauliflower?  Cauliflower Rice is pretty popular right now.  To make it you just shred the cauliflower (using the shredder attachment on the food processor works great)  then saute in oil of your choice for about 5 min.  Serve where you would use rice. 
I like to chop cauliflower finely and throw it into the pasta cooking water for the last few minutes when cooking boxed mac and cheese (which is a thing that we eat often now that we have kids and it is the most frequently requested meal).  Drain along with the pasta and continue as normal.  You can also do this with broccoli or kale or other greens, but the cauliflower is not often noticed or protested.  Our kids are pretty good about eating veggies, but we joke that they are strict locavores. Once the veggies leave the field or the packing shed they are suddenly inedible to them!  So sometimes we find ourselves hiding veggies in things like mac and cheese. 

Cabbage Slaw with Green Onion, Mint, and Parsley

  • 1/2 large head green cabbage
  • 3/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 2 Tbsp chopped mint
  • 3/4 cup thinly sliced green onion (or more)
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar or white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar, maple syrup,honey, or sweetener of your choice
  • salt to taste (I used about 3/4 tsp. sea salt)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp.)

Thinly slice and coarsely chop slices until you have about 6 cups chopped cabbage. Wash and coarsely chop parsley and mint, and thinly slice green onions.
In small bowl or glass measuring cup, stir together the canola oil, white balsamic vinegar or white vinegar, sweetener, salt, and pepper.
Put chopped cabbage, chopped parsley and mint, and sliced green onions into salad bowl and toss to combine. Add just enough dressing to moisten salad, and toss again. (You may not need all the dressing.) Taste to see if you want more salt or pepper, then serve.

On the Farm.

 

Next Week

a break from cauliflower and broccoli
cukes
zukes/ summer squash
big head lettuce
fennel
beets
cabbage
carrots??

 

Turnip Rock Farmer Comment