CSA Week 9 and Farm stand updates

Last week we raced against the weather to harvest the last of our garlic and all of our storage onions before rot could set in from the large rainfall. At this time of year we have fewer seedlings going, so we’re able to use our main greenhouse as a curing space for the storage onions and some of the garlic. You can find the rest of the garlic hanging in the farm stand and the attached greenhouse. Curing intensifies the flavor and dries out the onions so that they can store longer into the fall outside of the refrigerator.

This week we’re excited that our field tomatoes are ready for harvest! The plants are looking huge and lush, and will require another round of trellising. In some cases we’ll be shoring up trellising stakes that are buckling under the weight of the plants. Also, for CSA members, we’re approaching the peak of PYO season, with lots of new items this week (more on that below!).

In the CSA this week:

• Heirloom and Hyloom tomatoes - From our field and high tunnel plantings. Field varieties include: Abigail (pink), Cherokee Carbon (purple), Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, Marmalade Skies (orange), Pruden’s Purple (pink), and Woodstock (green bicolor). From the high tunnel: GinFiz (bicolor yellow with blush).

• Slicing tomatoes - From the high tunnel. Varieties include Lemon Boy Plus (yellow), Marmalade (orange), Bonbolya (pink), Contessa (red beefsteak), and Estiva and Caiman (both red slicers).

• Mustard Greens

• Watermelon - All are red icebox sized with seeds.

• Uncured garlic - This garlic has not been hung to dry so will not store as long as the garlic we have in the fall. It also has a slightly milder flavor.

• Fresh onions - Red Long of Tropea and Ailsa Craig varieties. Both types are milder and sweeter than cured onions.

• Green and purple peppers

• Zucchini or Summer Squash

• Fennel or Celery

• Carrots

• Beets

• Curly kale

• Lettuce

• Frisée - A bitter salad green that can also be used wilted or sauteed.

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Cherry tomatoes! (for the regular-size CSA only this week, but soon to come for all) - Varieties include Sungold, Honey Bee, Citrine, Cherry Bomb, and more.

• Hot peppers - varieties include Aji Rico, Pantera (jalapeño), and Hungarian Hot Wax.

• Tomatillos

• Dragon Tongue beans - These speckled beauties can be prepared just like green beans.

• Green beans

• Sunflowers

• Herbs: Basil, Thai basil, parsley, dill, cilantro, sage, mint, thyme, chives

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA above, we will have:

• Cherry tomatoes - Sakura variety (red) from the high tunnel.

• Shishito peppers - First of the season!

• Cucumbers - Mostly picklers, but we’ll have a limited amount of thin-skinned and slicers as well.

• Flowers - Mixed bouquets, many of which will feature dahlias!

• Sweet corn - From Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic

• Salsa Verde - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro. Mild. Limited availability - We are almost out of our supply but will more to come this fall after we have this year’s batch made!

• Hot Sauce - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic habañeros, aji rico, fresno, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and garlic. Hot.

• Seasonal Medley Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.

• Maple syrup - 12 oz. bottles from our friend Jim at Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, MA. Not Organic.

• Raspberry Vinegar Infusion -Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking include: scabiosa, celosia, ammi, gomphrena, ageratum, strawflower, cosmos, zinnias, rudbeckia, and new this week: sunflowers, verbena, fireworks gomphrena, starflower (great for drying!), decorative basil, and shiso. Please do not pick from plantings that don’t have a variety sign in front of them.

Summer Tomato Salad With Sumac Onions

By David Tanis, from NY Times Cooking

This is a great recipe for using whatever size, shape, and color tomatoes you have!

Ingredients

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• 1 small red onion

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 2 pounds medium or large tomatoes

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes

• Extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons chopped dill

• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

• 1 tablespoon chopped mint

• Handful of small basil leaves

• 1 tablespoon ground sumac

Preparation

1. Slice onion crosswise into ¼-inch rings and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle lightly with salt, then cover with ice water and set aside. 

2. Cut the medium/large tomatoes into slices or wedges and halve the cherry tomatoes. Place slices or wedges in one layer on a wide platter and arrange cherry tomatoes on top.

3. Season everything generously with sea salt and black pepper.

4. Drizzle the tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil. Just before serving, sprinkle the dill, cilantro and mint over the tomatoes, then add the basil leaves.

5. Drain and blot onions dry. Separate the rings and return them to the bowl. Dust generously with sumac and an extra pinch of salt, and scatter over the salad. Sprinkle with more sumac to taste.

Frizzled Green Beans, Mushrooms and Onions

By Alison Roman

Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, stems trimmed

• 1- 1 ½ pounds mixed mushrooms such as oyster, maitake, chicken of the woods, or baby bella, halved lengthwise or quartered if large

• 2 small red or yellow onions, cut through the root into ½” wedges

• ⅓ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, parsley, and/or chives

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Combine green beans, mushrooms, onion, olive oil and soy sauce together on a rimmed baking sheet (if doubling, use two sheets). Season with salt and pepper and toss. Roast, tossing once or twice, and adding more olive oil if needed, until the mushrooms are deeply browned and the green beans are tender and browned in spots, about 45 minutes. 

2. Remove from heat and toss with parsley, chives and oregano. Drizzle with more olive oil and give another crack of black pepper before serving.  

DO AHEAD: Trim the green beans a day or two ahead of time, store them in a resealable bag refrigerated. Everything can be roasted a few hours in advance, rewarmed before serving or go room-temp (I would!).

LEFTOVERS: Best eaten out of the container, cold. Or turned into a salad over greens. If you must rewarm, a quick sauté in a skillet over medium–high heat should do the trick.

CSA Week 8 and Farm stand updates

Thanks to this incredible crew (more folks than we often have working!) the fields and high tunnels are looking the best they have in years. If it weren’t for our major deer problem and our cucumber tunnel plant loss we wouldn’t even have our classic farming woes to regale you with! This week we hope to keep things moving along including bringing in our storage onion crop before the rain, weed our fall carrots and beets, and catch up on trellising in our tomato and pepper tunnels during cloudy weather. This week’s veggie highlights are the first watermelon and more tomatoes in the CSA, the mixed field cherry tomatoes in the farm store, and uncured garlic in both the CSA and store.

In the CSA this week:

• Watermelon! All are red icebox sized with seeds.

• Uncured garlic - This garlic has not been hung to dry so will not store as long as the garlic we have in the fall. It also has a slightly milder flavor.

• Tomatoes - These are coming from our high tunnel. Varieties include Lemon Boy Plus (yellow), Marmalade (orange), Bonbolya (pink), GinFiz (bicolor yellow with blush), Contessa (red beefsteak), and Estiva and Caiman (both red slicers).

• Frisée - A bitter salad green that can also be used wilted or sauteed.

• Fresh onions - Red Long of Tropea and Ailsa Craig varieties. Both types are milder and sweeter than cured onions.

• Green and purple peppers

• Zucchini or summer squash or cucumbers

• Celery or fennel

• Carrots

• Beets

• Curly kale

• Lettuce

• Swiss chard or Arugula

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Dragon Tongue beans - These speckled beauties are in a tender stage and can be prepared just like green beans.

• Green beans - Still plentiful this week since we now have 2 plantings producing!

• Sunflowers

• Herbs: Basil, Thai basil, parsley, dill, sage, mint, thyme, chives

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA above, we will have:

• Cherry tomatoes - Sakura variety (red) from the high tunnel as well as mixed variety boxes from the field.

• Flowers - Snapdragon bouquets and mixed bouquets

• Sweet corn - From Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic

• Salsa Verde - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro. Mild.

• Hot Sauce - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic habañeros, aji rico, fresno, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and garlic. Hot.

• Seasonal Medley Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.

• Maple syrup - 12 oz. bottles from our friend Jim at Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, MA. Not Organic.

• Raspberry Vinegar Infusion -Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: scabiosa, orlaya, celosia, dill flowers, ammi, gomphrena, ageratum, cosmos, zinnias and rudbeckia. There may be other varieties available as the week goes on, but please do not pick from plantings that don’t have a variety sign in front of them.

When picking, please cut above branching points so that we can continue to get blooms all season (if they are cut to the base the plant can’t produce anymore flowers). This means that this time of year some varieties need to be picked with shorter stems.

Black Rice, Beet and Kale Salad With Cider Flax Dressing

by Tara Parker-Pope, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• 1 lb beets, halved

• ⅔ cup uncooked black rice (sometimes called "forbidden rice")

• 1 ⅓ cup water

• ½ cup pecans, roughly chopped

• 2 cups packed, shredded raw kale

CIDER FLAX DRESSING

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons cold-pressed flaxseed oil OR extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (whole, not ground)

• 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

• Ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add beets to a sheet of parchment-lined foil. Crunch into a ball. Roast for 1 ½ hours, until tender. Cool until comfortable to handle. Cut beets into bite-sized pieces or wedges. Add to a large bowl.

2. In a medium pot, add rice and 1 ⅓ cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 40 to 45 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add to beets, along with kale and pecans.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients or shake in a jar. Add to salad. Toss to combine, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (overnight is best). Before serving, taste and adjusting seasoning if desired.

4. This salad will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

Tip

• If you can't find black rice, try wild rice (cook according to wild rice package directions). This would be fabulous with a little goat's milk feta, chevre or thick yogurt on top.

Tomato-Green Bean Salad With Chickpeas, Feta and Dill

by David Tanis, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• Kosher salt and black pepper

• ¾ pound green beans, preferably slender haricots verts, trimmed

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, from 1 small lemon

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, mixed colors, halved (or cut up slicing or heirloom tomato)

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (from 1 cup dried chickpeas or 1 15-ounce can), cooled and drained

• 4 ounces feta, crumbled (½ cup)

• 2 to 3 tablespoons roughly chopped dill, for serving

• Pinch of dried oregano, for serving

Preparation

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt, then the green beans. Cook until beans are tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer beans to a large bowl of cold water. Drain in a colander and blot green beans dry with a kitchen towel.

2. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, put lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, a pinch of salt and some black pepper to taste. Whisk in olive oil.

3. Make the salad: Add cherry tomatoes, green beans and chickpeas to a large salad bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Add dressing and toss to coat. Add feta and toss once more. Let marinate for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.

4. To serve, sprinkle generously with dill and oregano.

Catherine picks cherry tomatoes in the high tunnel.

CSA Week 7 and Farm stand updates

On Monday we dismantled a fence that used to be around spring carrots and beets in order to poach fence posts for a new fence around our cukes, summer squash and zucchini. The deer have been grazing on those plants and devouring the smallest fruits forming, so in spite of some otherwise luscious plants, we have very little to show for it. A week ago we also had to quickly put up a tall fence around our watermelon, as the deer had begun to damage plants and crack open and eat unripe melons. While we are used to coyotes going after our watermelon, deer are a first for us!

We are waiting to see what will be the next choice will be for deer now that we have fenced in carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, peppers, most of the tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, watermelon, lettuce and salanova. They’ve never shown a taste for any of the allium crops (onions, garlic, scallions and leeks), but they’ve surprised us plenty of times in the past couple of years!

We now have a real patchwork of fences set up around the farm. It might be an interesting (albeit somewhat depressing) exercise to track how many hours have gone into fence building this season. We’d love to put up one fence around everything and just leave it for the season, but currently the only solution that works with the resources we have right now is to put up 6’ fences around small areas. We don’t know if this works because it deprives the deer of a long run-up to jump over the fences, or if the large amount of unfenced acreage distracts from what is inside the fences. Regardless, we are really hoping that our grant application earlier this spring for a permanent 8’ fence around our largest field is successful!

In the CSA this week:

• Tomatoes - These are coming from our high tunnel. Varieties include Lemon Boy Plus (yellow), Marmalade (orange), Bonbolya (pink), GinFiz (bicolor yellow with blush), Contessa (red beefsteak), and Estiva and Caiman (both red slicers).

• Frisée - This bitter salad green is the key ingredient in the classic French Lyonnaise salad (see the recipe below), but there are many other ways to enjoy it, including wilted or sauteed, as in the Lemon Maple Frisée recipe below.

• Fresh onions - Mixed bunches of Red Long of Tropea and Ailsa Craig varieties. Both types are milder and sweeter than cured onions.

• Green and purple peppers

• Zucchini

• Celery - Our celery is smaller, but less watery (and therefore a stronger flavor) than what you typically find in the grocery store.

• Carrots

• Beets

• Scallions

• Cabbage - Savoy, arrowhead (also known by the name of the variety we grow, which is called Caraflex), and regular round green cabbage.

• Curly kale

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix or Swiss chard

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Green beans - The first planting we seeded didn’t germinate well, so we are actually picking from our second planting succession this week. Once we saw that the first planting hadn’t come up well, we re-seeded it and that planting will be ready very soon as well so beans are plentiful this week!

• Sunflowers

• Herbs: Basil, Thai basil, parsley, sage, mint, thyme, chives

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA above, we will have:

• Cherry tomatoes - Sukura variety (red) from the high tunnel. We may soon also have some other varieties from the field as well.

• Flowers - Snapdragon bouquets and mixed bouquets.

• Garlic scapes

• Fennel

• Sweet corn! From Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic

• Salsa Verde - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro. Mild.

• Hot Sauce - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic habañeros, aji rico, fresno, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and garlic. Hot.

• Seasonal Medley Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.

• Maple syrup - 12 oz. bottles from our friend Jim at Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, MA. Not Organic.

• Raspberry Vinegar Infusion -Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: snapdragons, scabiosa, orlaya, celosia, dill flowers, ammi, gomphrena, ageratum, cosmos, zinnias and rudbeckia. There may be other varieties available as the week goes on, but please do not pick from plantings that don’t have a variety sign in front of them.

When picking, please cut above branching points so that we can continue to get blooms all season (if they are cut to the base the plant can’t produce anymore flowers). This means that this time of year some varieties need to be picked with shorter stems.

Sautéed Lemon Maple Frisée

by Andrea Albin, from Epicurious

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1/2 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs

• 3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• 3/4 teaspoon anchovy paste

• 1 (1-pound) head frisée, torn

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Cook bread crumbs until crisp and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in zest and a pinch of salt.

2. Wipe out skillet, then add anchovy paste and remaining 2 Tbsp oil and cook 15 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high and sauté half of frisée until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Add remaining frisée and sauté until wilted, about 2 minutes more. Off heat, stir in juice, syrup, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

3. Serve topped with bread crumbs.

Lyonnaise Salad

by Sara Kate Gillingham from The Kitchn

Ingredients

• 4 cups frisée lettuce (about 4 ounces), torn into large bite-size pieces

• 2 ounces thick bacon (about 1 piece) sliced against the grain into 1/4" pieces, OR 2 pieces regular sliced bacon, sliced similarly

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

• 2 large eggs, as fresh as possible

• 1 medium shallot, finely minced (or try one of our fresh red onions!)

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Place the frisée into a large mixing bowl.

2. Place a small skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon pieces, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Carefully remove from the pan from the heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon pieces to a paper towel to drain and cool. Keep the pan and its rendered fat.

3. To poach the eggs, fill a saucepan with 4 inches of water and add the white vinegar. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Break each egg into small bowl. With a slotted spoon, stir simmering water to create a whirlpool, then slide the first egg into a eye of the swirl. Using the back of the spoon, immediately push the solidifying whites around yolk, coaxing them to stay close to the yolk. Repeat with the second egg. Simmer the eggs for 2 to 3 minutes. Gently remove each egg with the slotted spoon and reserve in a bowl of warm water. Trim off any straggling pieces of cooked egg white.

4. Reheat the skillet with the rendered bacon fat over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the red wine vinegar and mustard and swirl to combine. Add the bacon pieces and swirl. Immediately pour the hot dressing over the greens and toss. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

5. Divide the salad between two bowls and top each with a poached egg. Season the eggs with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

CSA Week 6 and Farm stand updates

One of the big tasks for the week is going to be starting the garlic harvest. We pull the whole garlic plants from the ground (frequently using pitchforks to loosen the soil), and then bring them in to the farm stand to cure. Curing is a process of drying out the garlic for a couple of weeks, and the result is a stronger flavor and longer lasting storage. Most of the garlic will be cured in the farm stand by folding the stalks of the garlic plant over and hanging on wires strung across the ceiling (alongside some dried flowers that are already hanging there). When we run out of space in the farm stand, some will go into the greenhouse to cure, and the rest will be distributed in the coming weeks as uncured garlic (which is milder and moister). Not all of the cured garlic will get eaten, as we set aside the largest 25% of heads as seed for the following season. So the garlic harvest we are beginning now is the first step towards next year’s garlic!

In the CSA this week:

• Fresh onions - Mixed bunches of Red Long of Tropea and Ailsa Craig varieties. Both types are milder and sweeter than cured onions.

• Green peppers

• Cucumbers - Slicers, picklers or thin-skinned, grown in our high tunnel and in the field.

• Zucchini

• Summer squash - We are still experiencing deer damage on the summer squash, so we only have enough for the Regular size CSA.

• Celery - Our celery is smaller, but less watery (and therefore a stronger flavor) than what you typically find in the grocery store.

• Carrots

• Beets

• Garlic scapes - Last week!

• Scallions

• Fennel

• Cabbage - Savoy, arrowhead (also known by the name of the variety we grow, which is called Caraflex), and regular round green cabbage.

• Mini daikon radish - Last week!

• Curly kale

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sunflowers

• Herbs: Basil, Thai basil, dill flowers, parsley, sage, mint, thyme, chives

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA above, we will have:

• Tomatoes - These are the first heirlooms and slicers of the season from the high tunnel, so we’ll have very limited availability to start.

• Cherry tomatoes - Sukura variety (red) from the high tunnel.

• Flowers - Snapdragon bouquets and Rudbeckia bouquets. Catherine is on much deserved vacation this week, and we are not skilled enough to make mixed bouquets that could rival hers!

• Broccolini

• Sweet corn! From Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic

• Salsa Verde - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro. Mild.

• Hot Sauce - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic habañeros, aji rico, fresno, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and garlic. Hot.

• Seasonal Medley Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic. Starting on Wednesday.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.

• Maple syrup - 12 oz. bottles from our friend Jim at Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, MA. Not Organic.

• Raspberry Vinegar Infusion -Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: snapdragons, scabiosa, orlaya, dill flowers, ammi, gomphrena, ageratum, cosmos, zinnias and rudbeckia. There may be other varieties available as the week goes on, but please do not pick from plantings that don’t have a variety sign in front of them.

When picking, please cut above branching points so that we can continue to get blooms all season (if they are cut to the base the plant can’t produce anymore flowers). This means that this time of year some varieties need to be picked with shorter stems, particularly the zinnias that are just beginning to bloom.

White Bean, Feta and Quick-Pickled Celery Salad 

By Hetty Lui McKinnon, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• 4 celery stalks, trimmed and thinly sliced

• ½ small red onion, thinly sliced

• ¼ cup white or red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional) 

• Salt and pepper

• 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed

• 7 to 8 ounces crumbled feta

• 1 cup chopped tender herbs, such as mint, parsley, cilantro, dill or a mix 

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Place the celery and red onion in a large bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, cumin seeds (if using) and about ½ teaspoon of salt. Toss well to combine, then set aside to pickle for 15 minutes.

2. Add the cannellini beans, feta and herbs to the celery and red onion. Drizzle with the olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and toss well to combine. Serve at room temperature. (The salad can be prepared and refrigerated up to 1 day in advance.)

Okonomiyaki

from Love & Lemons

Ingredients

• 3 packed cups finely shredded cabbage, about ½ medium*

• 1¼ cups chopped scallions, about 1 bunch

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

• ¾ teaspoon sea salt

• 3 large eggs, beaten

• Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing

For serving

• Vegan Worcestershire sauce, Annie’s recommended

• Mayo, Sir Kensington’s or Kewpie recommended

• Sesame seeds

• Pickled ginger

• ½ sheet nori, sliced**

• ½ cup microgreens, optional

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, scallions, panko, and salt. Gently mix in the eggs. (Note: the mixture will be very loose and cabbagey, not like a flour pancake batter. If it's very dry, let it sit for 10 minutes).

• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush the skillet with olive oil and use a ¼ measuring cup to scoop the cabbage mixture into the skillet. (It's ok if it doesn't seem cohesive, it'll bind together as the egg cooks). Flatten gently with a spatula so that the mixture is about 1/2 inch thick. Cook for 3 minutes per side, or until browned, turning the heat to low as needed. Repeat with the remaining mixture, wiping out the skillet and brushing with more oil as needed.

• Drizzle the okonomiyaki with Worcestershire sauce and thin strips of squeezed mayo. Top with sesame seeds, pickled ginger, and nori. Sprinkle with microgreens, if desired. Serve hot.

Notes

*Shred cabbage on a mandoline to get thin, even-sized shreds.

**Use scissors to cut nori into thin strips.

CSA Week 5, Farm stand updates and PYO Flowers

Our crew were champs working in the heat last week, and in general fared better than some of our more tender crops. In particular, one succession of greens and one succession of lettuce got burnt to a crisp. We irrigated all of our crops from dawn to dusk using both of our irrigation wells, but the heat in combination with our very sandy soil was just too much for some of them. Fortunately, we plant lettuce and salad greens every week, so this won’t have a major long-term impact. Maybe next time we should try giving the arugula a shady midday popsicle break! The Tuesday rain is a huge relief after last week’s heat wave, but it’s going to take a lot more in the coming weeks to pull us out of a Level 3 Critical Drought.

With a flush of colorful snapdragons coming on, we are opening the PYO Flower field this week during regular farm store hours. If you are not a PYO Flower CSA member (a few memberships still available!), picking is $17/bouquet (bouquets are picked into a wide-mouth quart jar). Jars are available in the farm stand for purchase, or you may borrow a jar and return it after you have finished picking. Currently, the snapdragons are the dominant flower available, so if you’d like a wider variety in your bouquet, you might want to wait a week or two before picking. We have a list of what flowers are available below the CSA and farm store lists, and we’ll update that list every week.

Housing update: Construction on the apartment addition is planned to start later this month! Melissa and her family are still looking a place to stay for 3 months (August-October) that is affordable and welcomes a 3 year old so if you have any leads please reach out!

In the CSA this week:

• Cucumbers - Slicers and thin-skinned, grown in our high tunnel and in the field.

• Zucchini - We are flush this week, so we’ve included a couple of zucchini recipes this week.

• Celery - Our celery is smaller, but less watery (and therefore a stronger flavor) than what you typically find in the grocery store.

• Carrots - Back to just orange carrots this week.

• Beets

• Garlic scapes - These are essentially the flower stalks of garlic plants and can be used much like regular garlic (it’s just a milder flavor). We have a good supply this week, but they won’t last forever, so we’ve included a few new recipe ideas below!

• Scallions

• Fennel

• Cabbage - Savoy, arrowhead (also known by the name of the variety we grow, which is called Caraflex), and regular round green cabbage.

• Mini daikon radish

• Chard

• Curly kale

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sunflowers!

• Herbs: Basil, Thai basil, dill flowers, parsley, sage, mint, thyme, chives

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA above, we will have:

• Tomatoes - These are the first heirlooms and slicers of the season from the high tunnel, so we’ll have very limited availability to start.

• Cherry tomatoes - From the high tunnel. Production is picking up a little, so we’re hoping to begin to have them more consistently.

• Peppers - Available at the end of the week! Mostly green with a few purple.

• Pickling cucumbers

• Summer squash - As if to add insult to injury after all this heat, the summer squash plants are getting demolished by deer (both the foliage and the tiny squashes), so we only have them in the store this week.

• Mustard greens

• Flowers - We will have both snapdragon and mixed variety bouquets all week.

• Salsa Verde - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro. Mild.

• Hot Sauce - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic habañeros, aji rico, fresno, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and garlic. Hot.

• Seasonal Medley Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Shiitake Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Dried Mushrooms - 1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms from Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.

• Maple syrup - 12 oz. bottles from our friend Jim at Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, MA. Not Organic.

• Raspberry Vinegar Infusion -Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: snapdragons, orlaya, dill flowers, ammi and rudbeckia. As we mentioned above, snapdragons are the dominant flower available, so if you’d like a wider variety in your bouquet, you might want to wait a week or two before picking.

Zucchini Bread

by Sally McKenney, from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients

• 1 and 3/4 cups (220g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)

• 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar

• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1/4 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce (or sour cream or Greek yogurt)

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) shredded zucchini (no need to blot)

• optional: 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chopped nuts, raisins, etc)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. See notes for muffins.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla together until combined. Whisk in the zucchini. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently stir or whisk until *just* combined; do not overmix. Fold in any optional add-ins like chocolate chips or nuts. Batter is slightly thick.

3. Spread the batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-70 minutes. (I like to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent heavy browning on top.) Baking times vary so keep an eye on yours. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out *mostly* clean with zero raw batter. Remove the bread from the oven and set on a wire rack. Cool in pan for 1 hour before removing from pan. You can slice the bread at this point, but it will still be warm in the center and may not slice neatly. For neat slices, continue cooling bread directly on a wire rack and then slice once cooled.

4. Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

For Muffins: Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. Prepare batter in step 2. Spoon the batter evenly into each liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 18-21 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Yields 1 dozen.

Quick and Easy Baked Zucchini

from Recipe Tin Eats

ngredients

• 600g/ 1.2lb zucchinis (4 large or 5 medium)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs

• 2 tbsp parmesan , grated (store bought sandy type is best)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 240°C / 450°F (220°C fan) with the oven shelf set high in the oven.

2. Trim the ends off the zucchini. Cut medium zucchinis in quarters lengthwise, and large ones into sixths (halve then cut each half into 3 lengthwise to make 6 long “wedges”).

3. Pile zucchini on a tray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper. Toss.

4. Line up in two rows so they’re touching each other, with the skin side down.

5. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs, then parmesan, drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil.

6. Bake 12 minutes until the parmesan is golden and zucchini is soft but not soggy.

7. Serve immediately!

Garlic Scape Dressing

by Diana Rattray, from The Spruce Eats

Ingredients

• 2 garlic scapes, coarsely chopped

• 2 green onions, coarsely chopped

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 dash salt

• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. In a blender, combine the garlic scapes, onions, honey, mustard, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

3. With the blender on low, slowly add the olive oil until well blended.

4. Enjoy on your salad!

How to Store

The garlic scape dressing should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator; it will last up to one week. Make sure to shake the dressing well before using.

Recipe Variations

• Creamy: Add some plain yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, or feta cheese.

• Green Goddess: Add 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste, and either 1 cup mayonnaise or 1/2 of ripe avocado.

• Herby: Add a handful of fresh herbs, such as parsley or tarragon.

Garlic Scape and Cheddar Biscuits

from She Loves Biscotti

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour all purpose

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ¼ cup butter frozen

• 2-4 tablespoons garlic scapes finely chopped (about 3-4)

• 1 cup cheddar cheese grated

• 1 cup buttermilk cold

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450° F / 230° C. 

2. Line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.

4. Using a cheese box grater, grate frozen butter over dry ingredients.

5. Toss gently to incorporate the butter.

6. Add the garlic scapes and cheddar cheese and quickly combine them together.

7. Make a well and pour in the cold buttermilk.

8. Stir until just combined (I use a wooden spoon).

9. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

10. Knead gently 4-5 times and then pat into a 1-1½" thick rectangle or round/oval. Can also use a rolling pin.

11. Cut into rectangles or wedges (this avoids any left over scraps you would get by using a round cutter).

12. Place close together on parchment paper.

13. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until fluffy and golden brown.

14. Best served the day they are made.