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
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