Things are growing fast right now - it’s the time of year when if you don’t look at a crop for a week, it seems completely transformed when you come back to check on it. When field crew take a week off for vacation in July, they often come back and remark on how it seems like a different farm. Tomato plants will seem to have grown a foot, watermelon vines have completely overtaken pathways and have baseball sized fruit forming, and fall carrot seedlings are pushing up out of the ground and are calling to be weeded. All this means that we are (as usual!) going to be busy this week! On top of trellising and weeding (because the weeds grow just as fast as, and often faster than, our crops) it is time to start harvesting our garlic!
In the CSA this week:
Purple carrots - These taste the same as regular carrots, but they’re a fun color! The skins are purple, but inside the flesh is orange.
Potatoes - This variety is called Dark Red Norland, which has red skin and white flesh. We always struggle with Colorado Potato Beetles, and so the plants tend to die before the tubers reach full maturity. However, this means we have lots of lovely baby potatoes that are perfect for roasting whole!
Tomatoes - Production is still ramping up, so as per usual during our first week of CSA tomatoes, there will be a limit of one tomato per membership. We expect them to be more plentiful starting next week!
Fresh onions - We grow a white variety (Ailsa Craig) and a red variety (Red Long of Tropea). These fresh onions are sweeter and milder than cured onions, and they should be kept in the fridge.
Zucchini
Summer squash
Thin-skinned cucumbers - These are coming from the field rather than the high tunnel, and while the exterior appearance is imperfect, they taste just the same (the more polished looking high tunnel ones are limping along after the aphid infestation, but production is way down from previous years).
Cabbage - Savoy, Caraflex (conical shape), and Green
Lettuce
Kale
Salanova lettuce mix
Arugula
CSA Pick-Your-Own:
Sunflowers!
Green beans
Herbs: Members will have a choice of parsley, dill, dill flowers, sage, chives, thyme and basil (Genovese and Thai).
Some herb harvesting information:
Parsley: Pick only outer stems and leave the center stalks to continue to grow.
Basil: please pinch off leaves from the tops of the plants.
Dill, Sage and Thyme: harvest stems at branching points
Chives: cut stems high enough that a 3-4 inches of plant remain at the base, and do not cut all of the stems on a plant.
Please do not clear cut herb plants or harvest from beds that are not yet open.
In the farm store:
Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:
Celery
Garlic Scapes
Beets
Green and purple peppers
Herb bunches
Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic
Double B Honey - From hives on the property! Not certified organic
Applesauce from Long Run Produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.
Baer’s Best Beans: 1 pound bags. Grown in South Berwick, Maine. Certified Organic varieties available include: Cannellini, Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry and Light Red Kidney. NEW: Additional varieties now available, all grown by Charley Baer but these are not organic: bumblebee, marfax, and flageolet.
Cabbage, Carrot and Purple Kale Latkes
Instead of purple kale (which we don’t grow anymore), try using your purple carrots!
by Martha Rose Shulman, from NY Times Cooking
Ingredients
Yield:About 30 latkes, serving 6
5 cups finely shredded cabbage (about 1¼ pounds, or half of a small cabbage)
2 cups finely chopped purple kale or curly kale
7 to 8 ounces carrots, peeled and grated (about 1½ cups)
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 serrano chili, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground or crushed
3 tablespoons oat bran
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
3 eggs, beaten
About ¼ cup canola, grape seed or rice bran oil
Preparation
Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. Place a rack over another sheet pan.
In a large bowl mix together the cabbage, kale, cilantro, chili, baking powder, salt, cumin, oat bran, flour, cornmeal and buckwheat flour. Taste and adjust salt. Add the eggs and stir together. Let the mixture sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then stir again.
Begin heating a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Take a ¼ cup measuring cup and fill with 3 tablespoons of the mixture. Reverse onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining latke mix. You should have enough to make about 20 latkes.
Add the oil to the pan and when it is hot (hold your hand a few inches above – you should feel the heat), slide a spatula under one portion of the latke mixture and transfer it to the pan. Press down with the spatula to flatten. Repeat with more mounds. In my 10-inch pan I can cook four at a time without crowding; my 12-inch pan will accommodate four or five. Cook on one side until golden brown, about three to four minutes. Slide the spatula underneath and flip the latkes over. Cook on the other side until golden brown, another three minutes. Transfer to the rack set over a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.
Serve hot topped with low-fat sour cream, Greek style yogurt or crème fraîche.
Baby Potatoes with Butter & Fresh Herbs
from Recipe Tin Eats
Ingredients
2 lb baby potatoes / new potatoes
1 tbsp salt , for cooking (Note 1)
2 tbsp unsalted butter (no need to melt)
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Fresh Herbs:
2 tbsp fresh dill , finely chopped
1 tbsp chives , finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
Instructions
Boil potatoes: Place potatoes in a large pot of cold tap water with 1 tbsp salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat to medium so they're simmering gently (this stops skin splitting). Cook for 10 – 15 minutes until there's no resistance when pierced with a knife. Alternatively, steam the potatoes.
Steam dry: Drain in colander then leave for a minute to let the potatoes steam dry (if wet, butter won't stick).
Toss with butter: Transfer to a bowl, add salt, pepper and butter. Toss to melt and coat.
Add herbs just before serving. Stir through, transfer to serving bowl and serve warm!