Meet Your Food

Cracoviensis Head Lettuce OR Salad Mix: This week you’ll take home head lettuce or a bag of salad mix. The head lettuce is a very, very old heirloom loose-leaf romaine variety, circa 1885! Cracoviensis works well with strong/sharp salad dressings, especially a nice Caesar. The salad mix is colorful, tender, sweet baby greens, which would be delicious with a poppyseed dressing, chopped walnuts and a few dried cranberries, raisins, or even fresh sliced strawberries.

Greens in general, and lettuces in particular, loose a lot of moisture through their leaves, which causes them to wilt rather quickly. Once you get your lettuces home, wash them, and make sure to keep them in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer in the fridge. The Trellis corn-based bags your produce comes in are perfect for this use.

Garlic Scapes: Last scapes of the year!

Radishes: A nice mix of Purple Plum and Cherry Belle

Broccoli OR Rapini: Rapini is the flowering stalk of any member of the brassica (kale, brussel sprouts, etc.) family. This rapini, came from the Tat soi, and it’s one of my favorites, because it is so sweet. The entire portion (stem to flower) is edible and can be added to stir fry or salads. Alternatively, you can take home some delicious broccoli. Don’t overcook it. Just a short minute in boiling water (it will turn bright green) is all it needs.

Sugar Snap Peas: It’s not that I don’t have any recipes for cooking these little guys. It’s just that they are so darn delicious raw, so keep snacking!

Cabbage: Mmmm, coleslaw season.

Farmer Jones Notes

It has been a social week for this Farmer. Wednesday marked the first Harvest Dinner of the season. I greatly enjoyed my evening out, eating an absolutely delicious five course meal featuring April Joy Farm produce down at Lapellah. This is the second year Executive Chef Dave Mork and I have worked together to create a unique dining experience that showcases the best of the season. The vegetables, herbs, fruits and even the table decorations come right from the farm. At $60/person, with a wine pairing for each dish, it’s a fantastic deal. Below are the dates for the remaining Harvest Dinners this season, all starting at 6 pm. Each dinner is limited to 20 people, so call Lapellah soon to reserve your spot.

July 14th
August 25th
September 22nd
October 2oth

I’ve also had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful bursting-at-the-seams full house of relatives this week. It is so gratifying to be able to share the farm and my work with so many Joneses. I am making good use of all these extra hands. We intend to put up bean and cucumber trellis this weekend.

The sunshine has been shining on the tomato plants, and we’re continuing to play catch up with all the weeding since the rain slowed us down in that department. We’re already putting fall transplants in the ground and still seeding extra cold-weather crops in the greenhouse.

The last litter of piglets were moved out of the loafing shed earlier this week, and are now happily grazing in the field. The rye/vetch mix is so tall, it’s easy for them to play hide and seek with me, which I admit, is fun for all of us. I have a few sides of heritage pork still available. If interested, please contact me soon.

Finally, I love all your kind and thoughtful notes and comments about how you use your produce and what the CSA program means to you. It’s like sunshine for my soul. Thank you!

Simply,

April

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Meet Your Food

Butterhead Lettuce

Garlic Scapes:  Half Share Members, check out last week’s newsletter for more information if you aren’t familiar with scapes.

Parlsey:  Italian Flat Leaf Parsley is a staple in my kitchen, from spring thru late fall.  I cook with it in place of celery, for several reasons.  First, the flavor is nearly identical, only stronger.  Second, I don’t grow celery, since it requires a lot of fertilizer, takes a long time to grow, and has a short harvest window.  Parsley, by contrast has a long harvest season, and it is a cut & come again type crop.  Finally, parsley is more nutritionally dense than celery.  So give it a try in your recipes that call for cooking with celery, and use the stems of the parsley too, they’ll add that nice crunch that celery usually does.

Kohlrabi:  It’s last call for this spring crop.

Sugar Snap Peas: Completely delicious, pod and all.

Pac Choy: This is a great vegetable for stir fries.  The greens add flavor and color, while the stems bring a pleasant crunch to the dish.  I like to saute diced garlic scapes, parsley and chopped pac choy in a bit of oil, then mix into hot, freshly made rice.  Add a splash of teriyaki or soy sauce for a quick and simple side dish.

Still have a few greens still left in the fridge?  I suggest cooking up some Brown Buttered Pasta with Asian Greens.

Two large servings of the pasta of your choice, preferably curved or with ridges
¼ cup unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
Leaves of 2 to 3 bunches of Tat-soi, Pac Choy, (or even last week’s spinach), rinsed and cut in large pieces
2-4 TBLS fresh chopped sage (ask me for a handful when you come to pick up your share!)
Freshly grated parmesan
Lemon wedges, optional

Cook pasta to al dente in salted water.  When the pasta is almost done, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Swirl the butter in the pan as it foams. (At this point, remove pasta from the heat and drain well in a colander.) When butter begins to brown, toss in pasta and mix to coat with butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the greens and sage and cook until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes. Plate and serve immediately with grated parmesan and lemon wedges on the side.  Toasted sesame seeds are also a nice addition.  Serves 2.

Farmer Jones Notes

We’ve been extra busy at the farm transplanting hundreds of summer-time favorites, including peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, melons, and basil.  There was a bit of a backlog in the cold frame, lots of plants stacked up waiting for good weather and warm soil.  But, thanks to my ever-hardy crew, we made a big dent in the ‘To-Do List’ this week, when we caught a few dry days.  There is still weeding and irrigation details to catch up on, but everything in its own time.

Even though I can catch the smell of basil when working downwind, and I now have the classic ‘tomato plant green hands’ (just ask me about it), it’s still hard for me to believe we’re past the mid-point of June.  It’s probably partly due to the cool weather, and partly due to the realization of how much work lies ahead, but whatever the case, I keep having to remind myself, summer is coming!

Enjoy this week’s green goods, and know I’ve been sending positive vibes to those hot weather crops who long for more sun.  A gradual transition from cool to warm to hot will be a bit kinder on us all, plants and Farmers alike.

Tiredly Thankful,

April

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Meet Your Food

Butterhead Lettuce: Do you want to know the silver lining to all our recent rain?  My head lettuce loves the weather.  This creamy, pink-blushed butterhead named Pirat is a delicious, show-stopping beauty.

Garlic Scapes: Garlic scapes are a delightful indicator of late spring at the farm.  The scape is the green flower shoot that forms at the top of the garlic plant.  It is harvested before the shoot opens and flowers.  Garlic scapes can be used in their entirety, however the pointy ‘cap’ end can be a bit tough and sometimes stringy if not chopped very fine.  The portion below the  ‘cap’ is the most tender.  Scapes have a very mild garlic flavor and can be added to salads, marinades, and stir fries. Use them as you would garlic.

Oregano: This pretty variegated variety is flavorful and quite aromatic.  As a complement to any pasta dish, make your own garlic bread.  Dice the oregano finely and sprinkle it on top of sliced crusty bread (which you have laid flat on a cookie sheet).  Drizzle with olive oil, a few chopped garlic scapes and a bit of salt.  Broil in the oven until the edges of the bread are crispy and brown.

Kohlrabi OR Broccoli: The rainy spring and cool weather has slowed down the growth of many crops, so I don’t have enough of either crop in the field to go all the way around.  That means you either get to taste the first baby heads of broccoli this week OR enjoy the sweet crunch of kohlrabi.  (New half share members — check out last week’s newsletter for more info about kohlrabi.)

Lasagna Spinach: Okay, it’s really just good ole’ spinach.  But the leaves are big this week- perfect for layering in lasagna or casseroles.

Farmer Jones Notes

Welcome to the 2010 CSA Season, “Tesla Group” Half Share Members!

This week’s harvest required a lot of rain gear.  The fields were downright muddy.  So while we do our very best to bring you clean produce, (trust me, I like to keep my soil in the field!), it is always a good idea to wash your produce at home.

I’ve been walking the fields a lot lately, attempting to estimate when and how much I might have to harvest over the next month.  The challenge with a wet, cool spring followed by a fast heat wave is that it might cause many members of the brassica family (cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, tat-soi, radishes, etc.) to bolt.    The warmer temperatures signal to the plant that it’s time to stop making leafy vegetation and start producing flowers which will go to seed and start the cycle again.  Bolting vegetable plants are not usually tasty, except for rapini.  But that’s another story.  In a “normal” May-June transition, this cool to warm to hot cycle is gradual.  So by the time the brassicas are bolting, the summer crops have had time to get their roots established and start producing vegetables.  This year is a far different story.  Summer crops are still struggling to overcome cool, rainy days, which drastically slows their growth.  But a heat wave will still cause the spring crops to bolt.  So, as I said last week, it’s just going to be a bit tenuous for a while.  As CSA members, you are experiencing first hand the influence of weather on your dinner table.  Please know, my goal is always to bring you the very best I can.

It was a transplanting marathon earlier this week.  After paddling out to feed the pigs on Sunday (did it ever stop raining that day?), all I could do was slog around and watch the water creep up toward the edge of my field.  (Thankfully, nothing but a small, unplanted section of my field was underwater.)  Monday came with no additional rainfall, which gave the fields a chance to dry up.  Tuesday started very early as we tilled and marked beds and transplanted melons, eggplant, and peppers until nearly dark.  We also direct seeded many beds of squash.  I was full of gratitude for the extra helping hands who came to finish that last long bed.  My parents and Aunt all pitched in to speed things along.  Hillary (Farm Hand Extraordinaire) and I really appreciated it.  Even better was the fantastic homemade spaghetti dinner and large bowl of farm fresh salad greens (of course) my Uncle pulled off spontaneously at twilight.

I hope this week brings you time to enjoy full bellies with dear ones in your midst.

Gratefully,

April

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Meet Your Food

Kohlrabi: This is an unusually shaped vegetable with a mild crunchy flavor.  It can be eaten raw or or cooked.  After washing, break off the leaves, and cut off the root, including any woody or tough skin.  Most people, (me included), peel it, others don’t mind the skin as long as it is tender.  Chop into sticks (like carrots), grate in salads, or cut thinly and bake in the oven until crispy.  The leaves strongly flavored, but totally edible.  Try wilting them over fried potatoes or raw and thinly sliced in salads for a  crunchy lemon flavor.

Radishes: There seems to be two camps of folks when it comes to radishes.  Some like them mild, others like them spicy.  My Grandpa is a hot radish aficionado, so they tend to grow spicy on Jones farmland.  To take the bite right out of the radish, grate them in salads or even just thinly slice them.  However you eat them, I recommend you remove the tops asap.  Root vegetables lose a great deal of moisture through their tops, and radish greens wilt especially fast.

Tatsoi: This asian green has a mild, nutty flavor that can easily be enjoyed fresh or cooked.  I like it in lieu of lettuce on sandwiches.  Alternatively, try course chopping it into hot pasta with your favorite sauce.  The heat will cause it to wilt a bit, and the stem will add a nice crunch.

Salad Mix: Rain means mud.  So although we wash everything right after it has been harvested, muddy conditions sometimes make that a bit more challenging.  Please give all your produce (especially the salad mix) a nice rinse at home.

Spinach: Don’t own a salad spinner?  No problem.  Wash your greens in cold water, shake off excess water, then put them in the center of a large flour sack or other kitchen towel.  You can also use a clean bath towel or small sheet.  Pull all the corners together so the greens won’t fall out.  Go outside and windmill your arm or spin around a few times.  Works like a charm.  Even better?  Let a kid help, it’s bound to make them (and you) smile.

Rhubarb: I have just a few rhubarb plants at the farm, so I’m bringing a few stalks to share at Friday pickup.  They are not one of my production crops, so I don’t include them in a share, but I love them because these particular plants have been at the farm many years longer than I. One of my favorite spring treats is rhubarb sauce drizzled over pancakes, waffles, ice cream, even toast.  Wash, chop, and put the rhubarb in a small pot on medium high heat.  Add sugar and water in a 1:2 ratio, adding enough water to keep the rhubarb from burning.  Stir and continue heating until the rhubarb has cooked down and is no longer crunchy, but soft and pink.  Adjust the flavor with a bit more sugar or a splash of lemon juice, depending on your taste.  Alternatively, try adding a few big spoonfuls of strawberry jam or fresh strawberries.  Mix well and serve warm.

Farmer Jones Notes

I started a fire earlier this week to take the chill out of the farmhouse.  Yes, it’s June.  What an unexpected start to summer! The rain has presented numerous challenges to working in the fields, getting spring crops planted and transplanted, and having enough heat to spur veggies to grow.  Quite honestly, it’s been and may continue to be a bit tenuous.  But you won’t hear this Farmer complain about weather.  The bountiful rain we’ve received has given me pause to reflect on the joys and challenges of farming.    Plus, I can’t help but love falling asleep to the sound of soft rain bouncing off the tin roof of the barns.

Here’s two valuable lessons the rain has taught me:

Every season holds its own surprises.  No two springs are alike, nor should they be.  So my, (ahem, previously held), expectation that the CSA shares this year look similar to past years’ is ridiculous!  That is simply not what seasonal eating is all about.  If we wanted the same thing, every time, we’d go to the grocery store, right?  Every season holds its own surprises… and those surprises, quite rightly, are reflected in your weekly share.  Alice Walker was right on when she wrote, “In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.”

There are no absolutes. I’ve had to make some difficult decisions about what and when to plant the last few weeks.  For example, plant summer squash too early and seeds might not germinate, in fact they’ll rot.  Plant too late and CSA share baskets are empty.  When decisions are important, I start to think in extremes.  All or nothing.

But that isn’t how nature works.  Nature is complex and diverse.  Diversity leads to variability which provides space for experimentation and the fertile soil of abundance.  It is one of the things I love most about my profession.  There are no absolutes… only the imaginary ones we lead ourselves into believing.

Instead of planting the entire summer squash crop this week and worrying endlessly they all might rot, or waiting until next week and pushing the schedule behind (for the third straight week), I dropped the barrier of the absolute mindset.  I planted just one, thickly sown row of summer squash.  Extra seeds to cover poor germination rate, and spaced closer than usual to provide enough quantity.  The seeds may germinate, or they may rot.  But the experiment in and of itself is what matters.  The chance to come to know my soil and my farm more intimately is what matters.  Finding small abundance in adversity is what matters.

I hope you enjoy this week’s produce.

Thoughtfully,

April

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