BGF News 6/25/13

Volume XXI, Number 4  –  June 25, 2013

In this week’s box:

Garlic Scapes

Head Lettuce-Bronze Arrowhead

Peas: Snow or Sugar Snap

Senposai

Spinruts (small round white roots with green tops) aka: turnips

Tapestry Salad Mix

                       

For those with the Egg option [full]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Herb option: deliveries start next week

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): E’Scape de Senposai

BGF Roasted Peas

Roasted Baby Turnips with Spicy Mustard Dressing

Precipitation in the past week: 2.01"

What’s up on the farm?

It has been another week of good progress on the farm. We started by getting ALL of the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and garden berries mulched. That's more than 6,000 sq feet of straw put on the ground by four people. It’s a lot of straw, and at the end of a day of mulching, you do find straw in the most peculiar places! We've also gotten most of the potatoes hilled and the fingerlings mulched as well. There are still a few beds in Plot VI that remain too wet to do much with, so those potatoes are still on the "To-Be-Hilled" list.

This past Sunday was our most recent Gang of 4 Farms gathering which we were thrilled to host here at BGF. We were nearly rained out, but this is a hardy group of vegetable farmers and between them and the farm crew, we got all of the tomato, pepper and eggplant trellising posts installed. That's nearly 600 eight-foot posts placed and pounded in, so it’s a big job made so much easier by a group effort! We also got the high tunnel trellises strung and HT1 plus two onion beds weeded. It was a great "cross-things-off-the-list" kind of day! 

In general, the crops are looking really good. We were ready for some rain, and we got it, and thankfully not a huge excess. The beans, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and summer squashes are all blooming and starting to set fruit, though we are still at least a couple of weeks from being able to harvest any of those. The onions, leeks and shallots are all growing nicely and are just starting to bulb. The peas, which were SO crazy last week, were a little offended by the +90° temperatures and really slowed down production, but with more moderate temps in the forecast, we expect them to rally again, though at a slower rate. The broccoli is starting to head, but with the wide temperature and moisture swings of late, we will have to keep a close eye on it. We did lose nearly all the cucumbers in the field to a combination of deer and cucumber beetles (the vegetable farmers scourge!) but the high tunnel cukes are growing like crazy and starting to set fruit, so we have those to look forward to as well. We do have a couple of crops that are giving up the fight, the senposai was starting to bolt, so that was the push for getting it into your boxes today. The Scarlet Queen turnips went the same way and are blooming very nicely and attracting all sorts of beneficial insects, but their value as a food crop is done.  The first planting of head lettuce was discovered by the deer, who declared it "tasty" and ate the hearts out of a number of plants (rotten beasties), but we hope to have put a stop to that.  Otherwise, things are just chugging along. The farm crew is working hard to keep up with the weeding, harvesting, trellising and mowing and I think the gardens look as good as they ever have. So hopefully you will get a chance to see them in all their glory at the upcoming Ice Cream Social!

Upcoming Event: CSA member Ice Cream Social- Sunday, July 14th from 2 – 5pm at the farm. Come on out for an afternoon filled with fresh country air, homemade ice cream and farm-fresh desserts. We will be sending out an email next week to gather RSVP’s for this event, but we wanted to give you time to get it on your calendar.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Senposai: is a cross between Japanese Mustard Spinach and regular cabbage. It has a pleasant sweet flavor and crunch. You can use it fresh or cooked in nearly any cabbage or greens recipe. Store like other greens, in a plastic bag, with the top folded over and placed in the produce drawer of your refrigerator. 

Head Lettuce: We prefer to store heads wrapped in a cotton or linen dish towel, then placed in a loose plastic bag. This helps maintain a little bit of moisture, while keeping the leaves from touching the plastic to extend their "drawer-life".  Wash lettuce just before using. The inner-most leaves of the head are the sweetest, so save those for salad use and take advantage of the bigger, outside leaves for use on sandwiches or wraps.

Is a weekly newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us at our blog at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook (just search Blue Gate Farm) and “Like” us.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)

E’Scape de Senspoai

1 bundle Senposai (or other leafy greens)

1 tbs olive oil

5-6 fresh garlic scapes (or more to taste) or 1-3 cloves minced garlic

Sea salt

Cut garlic scapes into 1” chunks. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic scapes. Trim large stems from chard leaves. Cut stems into 1” pieces. Add stems to skillet. Stack chard leaves and roll into a tube. Cut into ½” strips. As scapes and stems just begin to soften, add leaves to skillet. Cook until leaves wilt. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Great served over pasta with a red sauce or as a side dish. Leftovers area tasty in eggs the next day.

Recipe Source: Blue Gate Farm

BGF Roasted Peas

Sugar Snap or Snow Peas

1-2 tbs olive oil, divided

garlic, garlic scapes or shallots, minced

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

seasoned rice vinegar

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss peas with olive oil. Spread in single layer on baking sheet and roast 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, salt and pepper. Roast for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, place in serving dish, toss with rice vinegar. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. They are a little messy, but we like these as finger food.

Recipe Source: Blue Gate Farm

Roasted Baby Turnips with Spicy Mustard Dressing

Serves: 6

2 bunches baby turnips, tops trimmed

1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lay turnips flat on a sheet pan and roast for 10 – 15 minutes, or until skins are light brown and turnips are tender.

Mix spicy brown mustard, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and maple syrup (if desired) and serve along side turnips for dipping.

Recipe Source: http://www.fortheloveoffoodblog.com/

BGF News 6/18/2013

Volume XXI, Number 3  –  June 18, 2013 

In this week’s box:

Baby Beets & Greens: Chioggia & Golden

Basil (asst. trimmings)

Choi

Garlic Scapes

Peas: Snow or Sugar Snap

Purslane

Tapestry Salad Mix

For those with the Cheese option: Roasted Red Pepper Chevre & Chive Chevre          

For those with the Egg option [full & half]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Herb option: deliveries will start in a couple of weeks

For those with the Honey option: Deliveries will start in July

 Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Purslane Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Spring Garden Noodles

Garlic Scape Pesto

Precipitation in the past week: 0.94” 

What’s up on the farm?

Again this week, the rain gave us a window and we did some fast and hard cultivating, seed sowing and transplanting. Plots I & III had all of their open beds tilled, and the planted beds were all hoed. Plot VI also got tilling and hoeing attention, as well as succession crops of beans and edamame sown and the remaining melon and winter squash transplants put in. Friday it rained on us a bit during our harvest for farmers market, but not so much that it slowed us down so that we were able to spend the afternoon prepping and planting the satellite melon patches that were started by Jill's grandfather. As of Friday, all of the mid-season transplants are in the ground! Now the maintenance work on all those crops begins. Our current big project is getting all of the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants mulched. It is a significant job that involves many hours of hauling year-old straw down 100' beds, but luckily we only have to do it once a year. Once the mulch is in place, then we need to get the tomato trellises constructed, which will be the next big project.

Most of the crops are doing pretty well now.  The peas have really kicked into high gear to the extent that it looks like everyone will get peas this time around! We're pretty pleased to have enough of that special crop to fill nearly 50 boxes in the same week. The patty pan squash that we thought we had lost to the onslaught of cucumber beetles have mostly rallied and are now setting blooms and baby squashes. Likewise, the beans, peppers and eggplant are growing nicely. We are having a few challenges.  As we thought last week, the spinach is giving up for the season, the warm and humidity just put it over the edge. We had one bed of potatoes that was in a wetter part of the field that had so little germination that we tilled the entire bed under to make room for something else. Finally, we are having some surprising deer damage this season. Just today we noticed the centers eaten out of several of our beautiful head lettuces. It is the strangest sight, the outer leaves just look like empty bowls. We've never seen anything like it! The ornery beasties have also found and nipped the tops off of a bunch of edamame and some of the snap peas. We'll be working on getting the electric fence charged up and baited to try and hold back the hungry hoards.

Upcoming Event: CSA member Ice Cream Social- Sunday, July 14th from 2 – 5pm at the farm. Come on out for an afternoon filled with fresh country air, homemade ice cream and farm-fresh desserts. We will be sending out an email in a few weeks to gather RSVP’s for this event, but we wanted to give you time to get it on your calendar.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Baby beets & greens: Generally beets and their greens store best separated, but these babies are so small that I would leave them intact. Store them in a loose plastic bag in your produce drawer. These will be used mostly for their greens, this time around.

Garlic Scapes: One of our favorite crops of the year. These curly green things are the emerging flower stallk from a hardneck garlic plant. We remove them to redirect more of the plant's energy into the bulb, but it also provides us with a delightful fresh garlic treat. These keep very well in a plastic bag in your produce drawer and can be used in any recipe calling for garlic. They would be perfect in last week's garlic salt recipe, make a great pesto and can be minced and added to room-temperature butter, which is then stored in log shape, in the freezer for a last minute dollop of goodness for vegetables, breads or meat.

Purslane: Considered an invasive weed in many gardens, purslane is a valued green in many parts of the world.

The plant is rich in vitamin E, vitamin C and beta carotene, and quite high in protein.  Most noteworthy of all, it is considered a better source of essential omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy plant.  Enjoy raw or cooked in any recipe calling for greens.  Store in a paper towel-lined plastic bag in your crisper drawer and use within a week.

Basil: (trimmings). The basil needed to be pinched back, so everyone gets a little preview of summer. Basil is incredibly sensitive to cold, so normally we suggest treating it like cut flowers, in a vase on your kitchen counter. The trimmings are too short for that though, so just leave them in their plastic bag and then tuck the whole thing into a small paper sack and store in the door of your fridge (the warmest place). Or you can just wiz it into some pesto (with your scapes) or butter and be done with it. Today's basil does have some dirt, since the plants are so short, the rain splashed soil up on the leaves. Basil hates to be washed as it causes the cell walls to burst, so we never wash before sending it to you, even if it is dirty. If basil needs to be washed, try to do so just before using and then pat dry.

Is a weekly newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us at our blog at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook (just search Blue Gate Farm) and “Like” us.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)

Purslane Salad with Yogurt Dressing (Yogurtlu Semizotu Salatasi)
Serves about 6
A big bunch of  fresh purslane
2 cups or more plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (adjust the amount to taste)
Salt, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Paprika, to sprinkle
Snip off the stems of the purslane and discard. Chop the leafy parts into big pieces. Wash the leaves thoroughly. Drain and allow to dry (I arrange it on paper towels and gently pat dry to speed up the process).
Make the dressing:  In a bowl, combine the yogurt with garlic.
Add the purslane and gently stir to coat the purslane with the dressing. Season with salt to taste. Arrange the salad on a flat serving plate. Drizzle some olive oil,  sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Recipe Source: http://www.azcookbook.com

Spring Garden Noodles

1 pkg soba noodles

2-3 baby beets with greens (slice beets and greens thinly)

2 garlic scapes (chopped into ¼” – ½” pieces)

4-6 snow or snap peas (de-stringed and broken into bite-sized pieces)

1 can tuna or salmon (or broiled tofu)

¼ c. your favorite Asian stir fry or brown sauce (see our favorite below)

Cook soba noodles according to package instructions. When cooking is complete, remove pan from heat but do not drain. Use tongs to lift noodles from pan into a serving bowl. Place all vegetables into a heatproof strainer and lower into pan of noodle water. Return to heat and stir until veggies turn bright green, but are still a crunchy. Remove from water and add to serving bowl of noodles. Add tuna and stir fry sauce and toss until all ingredients are combined. Serve warm, room temperature or cold.

“Bruno” Stir Fry Sauce

2 parts oyster sauce

1 part Thai light soy sauce

1 part dark soy sauce

1 part Chinese rice wine or sherry

½ part sesame oil

¼ part ground white pepper

Place all in a glass jar and shake to mix. Store in refrigerator until needed.

optional: fresh garlic, fresh chillis, fresh ginger, Thai herbs ect.

Recipe courtesy of www.shesimmers.com

BGF Garlic Scape Pesto

1 bunch tender scapes, cut into pieces, and processed in a food processor until finely chopped
Add the following and process until well blended:
1/3 cup olive oil (add more if you like a thinner pesto)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup sunflower seeds

optional, toss in some basil for additional pesto flavor if you have it.

This can be served now or frozen for future use. I freeze it in small zip-top plastic bags, flattened. Then you can just break off whatever amount you need.

BGF News 6/11/2013

Volume XXI, Number 2  –  June 11, 2013

In this week’s box:

Braising Greens (Osaka Purple Mustard, Amaranth & Chenopodium)

Chard

Green Garlic

Spinruts (small round white & pink/red roots with green tops) aka: turnips

Tapestry Salad Mix

and possibly one of the following:

Snow Peas

Spinach

Asparagus

           

For those with the Egg option [full]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Herb option: Herb share will begin in a couple of weeks

For those with the Honey option: Deliveries will start in July

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Drop Biscuits with Cheddar and Mustard Greens

Spring Turnips with Greens and Raisins

Green Garlic Salt

Precipitation in the past week: 0.71”

What’s up on the farm?

It has been a productive week here on the farm. With a little break in the daily rainfall the soil dried out a bit and we were finally able to get the majority of the transplants into the ground. Over a couple of days, hundreds of tomato, pepper, sweet potato, melon, winter squash and green onions plants all went into the fields. We aren't finished yet, Plot VI was still too wet to plant, so we are hoping to get the last of those beds planted later this week. If we dry out enough to till, then we can get the rest of the seed sowing done as well, but that requires even drier soil, so we'll just think positive thoughts for that to happen. Then there is the weeding…we have a lovely crop of "natives" growing in profusion with all this lovely spring rain, so we are going to go after them today with a dual purpose in mind. Amaranth and Chenopodium are two of the healthiest and most important food crops in the world, only in the US do people dowse them with herbicide in an effort to get rid of them. While we agree that a weed is any plant growing where it isn't wanted, we hate to waste a tasty and vitamin-filled resource. So we are pairing them with the beautiful Osaka Purple Mustard that seems determined to bolt before it is big enough to be useful on its own. This combo will make an amazing blend of cooking greens. They can all be eaten fresh, but we prefer them sautéed with garlic and olive oil (any tough stems removed) and then served as a side dish or added to eggs, soups or pastas. If you leave out the garlic, they would be perfect with the biscuit recipe below.

We do have an unfortunate bit of news to share this week. Despite our best efforts, the weather has been really hard on our spinach crop. One variety has completely bolted and the others are showing significant stress. We will continue to harvest it as long as it is usable, but it will likely fail sooner than we would like. So we may not be able to get it into everyone's boxes. Sadly, the same is true for the asparagus. However, the peas are going strong. The high tunnel peas continue to plug along and those in the field (snow & sugar snap) are blooming and setting peas now. This is the best looking crop of peas we've ever had, and we hope to continue to send those out in boxes for many weeks.

Some more light-hearted news…Spring bird report, we have nesting pairs of bluebirds, tree swallows, cedar waxwings and bob o links around the gardens. Fairly certain that most of them have young at this point as we see the adults in a mad scramble for worms to take back to the nests every morning. It’s a pretty good show and we expect to start seeing fledglings out in the gardens any day now, which is always good entertainment.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Braising Greens: A combination of greens that are used mostly in cooked dishes. Store like other greens, in a plastic bag, with the top folded over and placed in the produce drawer of your refrigerator. 

Chard: A mild-flavored, leafy member of the beet family that can be used raw or cooked. Chard will keep best if stored in a plastic bag, with the top folded over and placed in the produce drawer of your refrigerator.  When cooking chard with large stems, separate stems from leaves and start cooking the stems first, as they will take a bit more cooking time.

Green garlic: Store loosely wrapped in plastic in your produce drawer and use like you would garlic scapes or bulb garlic.  The flavor is so fresh and green that we like to use them in recipes that really highlight the flavor, like pesto or garlic butter, though it is also darn tasty on homemade pizza!

Spinruts/turnips: keep best if separated from their greens.  Greens are stored in a plastic bag and can be cooked like mustard or collard greens.  Trimmed roots can go into a lidded container or zip-close bag You are probably also wondering what the story is with the Spinruts?  Well, “spinrut” is just the word turnip spelled backwards and we borrowed this from a larger CSA in northern Iowa.  They decided that people have some pre-conceived notions about turnips and many of them are not very nice.  But most people have also only experienced the old stand-by “purple-top turnip” and these glowing white orbs that we are growing are a totally different eating experience.  This is a Japanese spring (or salad) turnip.  It is sweet, crisp and juicy and our favorite way to eat them is straight out of hand, or maybe chilled with a quick sprinkle of sea salt.  It is tasty sliced or grated into salads and even thin-sliced on sandwiches.  Of course you can also use them in any turnip recipe, but fresh is when they really shine.

Is a weekly newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us at our blog at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook (just search Blue Gate Farm) and “Like” us.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)

Drop Biscuits with Cheddar and Mustard Greens

Yield: Makes 18-20 biscuits

3 cups whole grain flour (I used a combination of white whole wheat and whole wheat pastry)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)

2 cups cooked leafy greens, well-chopped (chard, mustard or turnip greens, kale, ect)

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the grated cheese and combine with a fork.

Stir in the cooked greens.

Add 1 cup of milk and stir. Continue adding milk and mixing (switching to a hand at this juncture is good) until the dough just comes together and all the flour is incorporated.

Using a large spoon, cookie scoop or a 1/2 cup measuring cup, portion the dough into a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet.

Bake drop biscuits at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, until they are golden brown on top and the visible cheese bubbles slightly.

Remove pans from the oven. Serve hot.

These biscuits freeze well, either prior to baking or after.

Recipe Source: http://www.foodinjars.com

Spring Turnips with Greens and Raisins

2 T butter, divided

2 t olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 bunch spring turnips and greens (about 10 small or 5 large turnips

about ½ cup raisins (we especially like this with dried cranberries)

salt

12 ounces orzo or bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled (optional)

Heat 1 T of the butter and all of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium flame. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, wash turnips and trim the leaves from the root. Chop the roots into 1-inch dice. Discard any yellowed turnip leaves and roughly chop the nice ones. Once the onions are softened, add the turnip roots. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, stir and cover. Cook until the turnips can be easily pierced with a knife, about 8 minutes. Uncover, turn the heat up to medium high, and cook, stirring now and then, until turnips turn light brown at the edges. Add the chopped greens and raisins and cook until the greens are wilted and tender, another 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining 1 T butter and salt to taste. Eat this as a side dish or toss it with cooked pasta for a main dish. Makes 3-4 servings.

Recipe Source: From Asparagus to Zucchini: A guide to cooking Farm-fresh Seasonal Produce

Green Garlic Salt

This recipe makes a coarse garlic salt. If you prefer a finer salt, process the salt a second time once you’ve dried it.

1 head of green garlic and its tender greens, coarsely chopped

½ cup coarse sea salt

With the food processor running, add the chopped garlic and greens. Process until finely minced, 15 to 30 seconds.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add salt to garlic in processor; process until thoroughly combined, 10 to 15 seconds.

Pour garlic salt over a rimmed baking sheet and spread into a thin, even layer.

Allow garlic salt to dry overnight.

Once dry, use a stainless steel or plastic spatula to loosen salt from baking sheet. Press the salt with the back of the spatula to break any large chunks of salt apart.

If you prefer a finer salt, process garlic salt again to your desired consistency.

Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

Recipe Source:  http://pinchandswirl.com

BGF News 6/4/2013

Volume XXI, Number 1  –  June 4, 2013

In this week’s box:

Pac Choi: “Win-Win”

Radishes: Easter Egg & Cherryette (pink, red, purple and white, round roots with leafy tops)

Scallions

Sorrel

Tapestry Salad Mix

and one of the following:

*Snow Peas (1st group in alphabetical order)

*Spinach (2nd group)

*Asparagus (3rd group)

           

For those with the Cheese option: (Seasonal flavor special!) Chive Blossom Feta & Chive Blossom Chevre

For those with the Egg option [full & half]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Herb option: Herb share will begin in a couple of weeks as herbs mature

For those with the Honey option: We are on the bees' schedule, deliveries will likely start in July

Featured Recipes (see below):  Traditional Chinese Pac Choi

Sorrel Egg Salad

Precipitation since the last newsletter:  4.5”

What’s up on the farm?

Welcome to the first delivery of the 2013 season and the start of weekly newsletters!  The CSA boxes are a little light at this time of the season and you will notice the abundance of greensand not quite as much variety as we like.  This is part of the joy of eating fresh, seasonal foods.  As the season continues the weight and variety of the contents will increase with the arrival of heavier crops including beans, tomatoes, potatoes and squash.  One thing that does remain somewhat consistent is the presence of some cosmetic damage caused by our local insects.  This is another of the indications that we are truly a chemical-free farm.  We try to keep the insect population under control, but they are simply a fact of life in a naturally grown system.  We hope you can overlook some minor leaf damage and we will do our best to keep it to a minimum.  Also we do our best to provide you with clean produce, but you may find a little dirt here and there or, yikes, possibly an insect.  We do wash the produce and sort it to the best of our ability, but we are processing a significant volume and it is possible that at some point you will find a little “nature” in your box.  If and when it happens to you, we apologize ahead of time and hope you will forgive the oversight.  Remember, while we do clean the produce, it is always good practice to wash your vegetables before using.

A big thank you to our pick-up site hosts: Ritual Café in Des Moines and The Next Chapter in Knoxville.  Over the course of the season please consider supporting these independent, local businesses.

It has been a busy couple of weeks on the farm. The excess of rain has certainly kept us from making the progress we would like in the fields but we are making headway regardless. The high tunnels (HT's) have been mostly been stripped of their early crops and the warm-season crops (tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplant, cukes) now rein there. The crops planted & seeded earlier in the fields are mostly up and doing fairly well despite the excess moisture. The snap and snow peas are both doing extremely well, easily the best crop of those we've ever had. They are a little behind the HT crop that is producing peas now, but those in the field are growing and blooming and looking quite promising, so we are hopeful for a bounty of peas in the not-to-distant future. We are mostly caught up on our seed sowing/direct seeding chores but are definitely a week (or two) behind in transplanting warm-season crops in the fields. We were able to get all of the eggplant and sweet peppers in the ground yesterday, but hot peppers, tomatoes, winter squash, melons and sweet potatoes are all still on the "to-do" list and the current rainy forecast isn't going to help us make progress on those in the next couple of days.

All in all things are looking very lush and green here at the farm. We are a little behind, but things are looking promising as the season moves ahead. We hope you enjoy this first, albeit small, delivery and are looking forward to this season as much as we are.

A little detail on your produce this week:

There might be a few unfamiliar items in your box this week, especially if you are new to the CSA.  Most people know what peas are, but maybe not the types that we are growing.  We have snow peas (flat pod with little bumps showing immature peas inside) and sugar snap peas (rounded pods with mature peas inside).  Both have edible pods and can be used interchangeably in recipes.  They are particularly good in stir-fries and salads, though we tend to eat them fresh as a snack.  Peas keep best in their plastic bag in the produce drawer of your refrigerator.

Scallions: (green onions) are best kept upright in a glass with about 1" of water in it, more like flowers than vegetables. Loosely cover the tops with plastic and you will be amazed at how long they will keep. We like to throw a handful of chopped scallions into nearly any savory dish, right near the end of the cooking time.

Asparagus: it was a strange year for asparagus, as the sudden cold and snow gave it quite the shock at the start of the month. It is trying to be finished for the season, but we will continue to harvest it as long as possible and hope to get it to everyone before it is done. Asparagus stores best like scallions, upright, in the refrigerator in a glass of water. A loose plastic bag or wrap will help keep in moisture. Our favorite cooking method is simply tossing with olive oil and grilling or broiling for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, sprinkle with lemon juice & sea salt and eat like finger food!

Pac Choi (a.k.a. - bok choy or pok choy) is the large, structural-looking vegetable.  It is a member of the cabbage family and is a traditional Asian stir-fry vegetable.  Both the stems and leaves of choi can be used and are especially tasty in cooked recipes.  If cooking them, separate the leaves and stems, and begin cooking stems first to avoid overcooking the more tender greens. You can also use the leaves like any green-leafy vegetable and the stems like celery.  We tend to use choi leaves as a sandwich wrap, or just roughly chop the whole thing and sauté with garlic and/or onion.  Cook until stems are tender and dress with a little seasoned rice vinegar. Store choi loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your produce drawer.

Radishes keep best if separated from their greens.  Greens are stored in a plastic bag and can be cooked like mustard or collard greens.  Trimmed roots can go into a lidded container or zip-close bag.

Sorrel is a wonderful green, mostly used as an herb and is much more common in Europe than here. It has a bright, lemony flavor and is delicious minced and added to egg, chicken or tuna salad and we rarely make pesto or quiche without tossing some in. The most common use in Europe is probably sorrel soup, a cream-based potato soup with sorrel.

A few other details: Your greens will keep best if stored in a plastic bag, with the top folded over and placed in the produce drawer of your refrigerator.  For those of you who are new to our salad mix, yes you can eat the flowers. 

* You will notice that some of the box contents listed above say something about the first group, second group, ect.  These are items that we can’t harvest in sufficient quantities for the whole CSA to receive at one time.  We do track who gets what and we will do our best to ensure that everyone eventually receives each item.  On some items this may take several weeks, so please be patient.

Is a weekly newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us at our blog at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook (just search Blue Gate Farm) and “Like” us.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)

Traditional Chinese Pac Choi

1 lb Pac Choi, cut into 2” pieces                                                           Dressing

1 green onion, sliced the whole length, then cut 1” pieces                       1 T. soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil                                                                                   ½ tsp. sugar

2 T. cooking oil             

Heat oil.  Add onion and cook until limp (1-2 min.).  Add Choi.  Quickly stir it around in pan.  Reduce heat to medium.  Cover and cook about 2 min. just until thoroughly hot.  (It should be crunchy.) 

 Mix the soy sauce mixed with sugar.  Season the hot vegetables with this sauce.

Recipe Source: Turtle Farm CSA

Sorrel Egg Salad

6 large eggs (not too fresh or they will be hard to peel)

1-2 TBS finely minced sorrel

2-4 tbs. finely chopped sweet red onion

4 tbs. mayonnaise

1 ½ tbs. white wine vinegar

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Place eggs in saucepan and cover with cold water, Bring to boil. Turn off heat. Cover pan tightly and set timer for 9 minutes. When timer goes off, drain eggs and immerse them in ice water for 10-15 minutes. Peel and quarter eggs; chop by hand or place in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, 8-12 times. Add remaining ingredients; pulse until ingredients are well blended, 3-6 more times. Use as a sandwich filling, a spread for crackers, a cold sauce for chilled asparagus, or a garnish for tossed green salads. Makes 2 cups.

Recipe Source: unknown

BGF News May 2013

Volume XX , Number 3- May 2013 

Weather notes:

Precipitation to date this month: Rain:  1.8"

Snow: 10"

What’s up on the farm?

Unseasonable cold weather, followed by snow and power outages followed by unseasonably hot weather and now the summer storms have begun. Crazy stuff that! Nothing but a good rain here during yesterday's exciting weather outbreak.

The season has gotten off to an exciting start and we are good and busy trying to get everything that needs to be done, done. We during last week's dry weather the farm crew was able to get all the remaining beds composted and tilled for their upcoming crops. We also got caught up on our direct sowing with plantings of salad mix, choi, fennel, nasturtiums and beans. Transplanting has moved on as well with all of the zucchini, patty pan squash and cucumbers tucked into the field beds. I'd love to say they are tucked in "safely" but the very evening that we planted them, they were besieged by hordes of the dreaded cucumber beetles. We lose more crops to this nasty little bug and there is no organic control for it. So we will just have to see if the transplants are strong enough to survive the onslaught.  Those crops aside the rest of the early crops are looking good, including some big plantings of head lettuce that we hope will help to extend our salad season.

We did take advantage of a couple of wet days to go through and "pot up" all of our baby transplants to bigger pots. It looked as though Jane of the Jungle had moved into the sunroom for a week or so, but now that the nighttime temperatures have moderated, we have been able to move the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant & basil all out to the high tunnel where they are practicing being big plants until they make their final move out to the field.

We were very concerned about our fruit trees during the recent cold snap and heavy snow (and yes, we really did get 10"). However most of them appear to have been undamaged by the cold and weight and are blooming and setting tiny fruits as we watch. The bees are very happy for all the trees blooming as many plants were delayed in setting blooms, so there wasn't much forage for the bees early in the season. But now, looking our over the millions of dandelions blooming in the gardens (grrrr!) I think that problem has passed.

Finally, we are very sad to report that we lost an important member of the BGF family this month. Many of you knew that my (Jill's) grandfather had moved in with us early this spring after the loss of his wife over the winter. Unfortunately his stay was much shorter than any of us could have imagined and he passed away following a heart attack on May 3rd. He was an inspirational man and we were so lucky to have him here on the farm with us. His presence will always remain here, in our memories as well as with the orchard that he started this spring. Ah, if we all could share the optimism (and energy) of a man who plants a fruit orchard at 96 years of age.

2013 CSA Season

We anticipate the first delivery of the 2013 season to be the first Tuesday in June, weather-depending. We will send out first delivery notices the week before we start. First-time members will also receive an "orientation letter" at that time giving you all the information you need for your first season with us.

Delivery locations will be the same as last year: Des Moines at Ritual Café, Knoxville at The Next Chapter and on the farm.

That’s about it this month, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)