Weekly CSA Newsletter: July 16-22, 2006 (Week #6)

Last Call to Buy Winter and Fruit Shares!

If you want to purchase a fruit share or a winter share, please do so no later than July 20.

Our Winter CSA share includes two distributions of the best vegetables of the season, including root crops, winter squash, and greens, distributed on November 19 and December 17 at the farm only. Our Winter Share costs $100 for the season — only 8 are left!

Our Fruit Share, offered through a partnership with a local fruit grower, consists of many unique and delicious varieties of seasonal fruit. It usually begins around Labor Day. Our Fruit Share costs $65 for the season and is picked up with your regular summer vegetable share.

Please Send More Recipes!

I love doing the newsletter but I am running low on recipes. I have some waiting in the wings for tomato season, but if you have others that you are using with current crops, please email them to soosting@yahoo.com.

In This Issue:

  1. This week's share may include: ...
  2. Pick-Your-Own Crops and Information
  3. Note on the Flower Garden
  4. Notes from the Field - All Star Break
  5. Recipes
  6. Upcoming Events - Third Sunday Gathering July 16th at 4 PM
  7. Volunteer Opportunity in Children's Garden
  8. CFO Contact Information

1. This week's share may include

  • Lettuce
  • Summer Squash
  • Cucumbers
  • Beets
  • Kale
  • Carrots
  • Summer Onions

2. Pick-Your-Own Crops

  • Snap Beans
  • Herbs (Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Parsley)

All shareholders are invited to pick your own from 9 AM to 7:30 PM on Sundays and from 3 PM to 7:30 PM on Thursdays. Please visit the PYO station near the red shed for locations of crops and all PYO tools and materials.

3. Flower Garden

The flower garden is open for the season! Please harvest flowers carefully to be respectful of the plants and the other shareholders. What you see is what there is — the flowers are gorgeous, but there are not enough for a huge bouquet each week for each shareholder.

Be creative with your flower picking — consider harvesting a bouquet for special occasions, or picking one or two favorite blossoms for a simple and striking arrangement. In general, harvest flower stalks as high on the plant as possible to preserve the rest of the plant, but low enough to encourage the plant to branch and create more blossoms. Please use scissors to harvest — don't break stems and don't pull plants up by the roots.

If you have questions about flower varieties, quantities or harvest techniques, talk to our flower expert, Jen Smith.

4. Notes from the Field

The All-Star Break

Many of you know that I am obsessed with baseball. I first fell in love with it during a trip to Fenway Park in 1995. OK, it was more like a conversion experience. But ever since then, I've been following baseball with more than the usual fair-weather fervor. I think it might be because it follows the farming season so well - it begins in April, with chilly extra-inning games under dark skies, suffers through a few rainouts, continues almost every day through the long days of July and August and concludes in the beautiful clear days of September - or, if we get lucky, October. Some of my favorite memories of fall on a farm around Boston are of picking those last vegetables after the frost on a blue October morning, listening to the playoffs.

All that being said, since there are no games to occupy that part of my mind during the All-Star Break, and since it represents a kind of half-way point in the farming season as well as in the baseball season (hard to believe, since the actual harvest has only been going on for 6 weeks), it always seems like a good time to take stock and check in about how the farm is doing. Because my secret fantasy job is to be an announcer for the Red Sox, I like to do it through headlines. Here are some for you:

WFCF 'Thrilled' By Farm Crew in Opening Day Classic

Spring Rainouts Make For Tough Going in Early Season

First Watermelon Planting Falls to Seedcorn Maggot in Chilly Opener; WFCF Replants and Starts Again

Tillage Tractor Sustains Season-Ending Injury in Memorial Day Doubleheader

Cultivating Tractors are 'Dynamic Duo' in Weed Control; WFCF Leads Weeds by Wide Margin in Pennant Race in Mid-May

Potato Beetles are No-Shows in Early Going; Potato Crop 7, Potato Beetles 1

WFCF Shareholders Salvage Small but Tasty Crop from Water-Soaked Strawberries, Winning 5-3 in Extra Innings

Cucumber Beetles 5, WFCF 4 as Cucurbits take a Hit

July Drought Adds Stress to Season; Thirsty Crops Look for Rain with Batting Averages Slumping

WFCF with Slim Lead Over Weeds in Division Series Heading into All-Star Break

Bullpen Shines with Perfect Record in Produce Delivery to Hunger Relief Organizations

Rental Tractor Called up from Minor Leagues for Fall Crop Bed Preparation

Mid-Season Volunteer Groups Pinch-Hit for Farm Crew in Tomato Staking Marathon

There you have it: the season thus far in a nutshell. We hope you're enjoying the harvest so far and girding yourselves for tomato season - it's right around the corner. We've got a big planting push in the next week or so, getting all the fall broccoli, kale, cabbage and collards in the ground.

So many folks have taken the time to say thank you to us this season for the work we're doing - we so appreciate that, and want to say it right back to you: thank you for your commitment to local agriculture, to eating your food right from the source despite the extra work it takes on your part. We feel so fortunate to have the support of all of you in order to do what we love to do, to further the work we believe is important in the world. You are making a difference with your money and with your meals. We know it's something that you choose when you have other choices, and we don't take it for granted. We deeply appreciate your participation in our CSA at this halfway point in the season.

— Amanda Cather
For the farm staff

5. Recipes

What to do with Beets!

I'll give you my mother's recipe below. Other options we're used regularly are:
  1. Grate peeled, raw beets into a salad, like you would do with carrots
  2. Cut beets in 1/2" strips and roast in olive oil and salt in a 375F oven for 30-45 min until browned on outside and soft on inside. Similar to turnip and kohlrabi fries in earlier newsletter

Sauteed Beets - Dutch style

  • 1 lb beets, tops removed, sand washed off but NOT peeled
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 medium apple chopped

Boil beets in a medium saucepan for 30-45 min, until easily pierced with a fork but not soggy. Drain and let cool for 15-20 min. Then peel beets (skins should slip off easily) and coarsely grate.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat 1-2 TBS of olive oil and add onions. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the onions are softened and slightly browned. Add apples and cook for another 3-5 min. Add grated beets and heat through. Add salt and pepper if desired (I do).

Note on the Kohlrabi

Over the course of the last week I discovered that I could substitute kohlrabi for potatoes in any recipe. Kohlrabi fries, mashed kohlrabi, kohlrabi and leek soup... Possibilities are endless!

Chard and Onion Panade

I have a great recipe for kale, spinach, or swiss chard that I would like to share!
Meredith Coley

Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

This tastes surprisingly hearty for something without cheese - while the original uses about 2 cups of gruyere, a friend made this for me without cheese and it was spectacular. Sprinkle a little gruyere or parmesan on each serving if you would like.

  • 1 ½ lbs yellow onions, preferably a sweet variety, thinly sliced
  • olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, slivered
  • Salt
  • 1 lb red Swiss chard, thick ribs removed, cut into 1-inch-wide ribbons
  • Water
  • 10 ounces day-old chewy artisan bread, cut into rough 1-inch cubes
  • 2 cups good-quality broth (veggie, chicken, whatever)
  • About 2 loosely packed cups good-quality Swiss gruyere

To prepare the onions:

Place the onions in a large, deep saucepan or Dutch oven, and drizzle and toss with 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Set over medium-high heat, and cook until the onions are golden on the edges, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the garlic and a few pinches of salt. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are pale amber and tender, another 20 minutes or so. If at any point the onions look as though they're drying out, cover the pan to trap in moisture.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

To prepare the chard:

Place handfuls of chard in a large saute pan or skillet with a little olive oil (1 tablespoon), a tablespoon (or more) of water, and a few pinches of salt. Set the pan over medium heat until the bottom layer of leaves begins to cook; then reduce the heat and stir and fold the leaves until they are just wilted and bright green, 2-4 minutes. Set aside.

To prepare the bread:

Using your hands, toss and massage the cubed bread with 2 or 3 Tbs olive oil, ¼ cup of the broth, and a few pinches of salt.

To build the panade:

Using a 2-quart souffle dish or deep, enameled cast-iron pan, assemble the panade in layers. Start with the onions, followed by a loose scattering of bread cubes, a thin layer of onions, and a blanket of chard. Repeat, lasagna style, with 2-3 layers of each.

Combine the remaining 1¾ cups broth and 2 cups warm water (some say to simmer this, I don't bother). Pour the liquid slowly over the assembled panade, drizzling it down the sides of the dish. The liquid should come up nearly to the top of the layered ingredients.

Cover the baking dish and place the panade on a baking sheet to catch drips (this step is CRUCIAL!). Slide it into the oven, and bake it until hot and bubbly, about 1 to 1½ hours. The top should be pale golden and a bit darker on the edges.

If you prefer a more brown crust, uncover at this point and leave in the oven for another 10-20 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove it from the oven, allow it to settle for a minute or two, and then serve.

Yield: About 5 main-dish servings, or 6-8 side-dish servings

6. Upcoming events

Sunday, July 16, 4:00 pm Third Sunday Gathering

Third Sunday Gatherings The third Sunday of every month we host an informal gathering of members, shareholders and supporters. This is a chance to connect with other farm-friendly folks. The gatherings are scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM. Meet near the distribution shelter. Third Sunday Gatherings begin in May and are held through the third Sunday in October. The Third Sunday of November is CFO's Annual Meeting and Potluck.

Volunteer Opportunity

Volunteer with the children's learning garden program

Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 AM to 12 PM through August 16

One-time or ongoing opportunities

Contact Mark Walter at mwalter@cpsd.us to sign up

8. Contact Information

To reach us:

Community Farms Outreach is a nonprofit organization dedicated to farmland preservation, hunger relief, and education.

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