Veggie CSA Week #5

Half Shares:
Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Kohlrabi - 1 bunch - $3.00
Squash - 1# - $3.00
Leeks - 1/2# - $1.50
Arugula - 1/4# - $2.00
Carrots - 1 bunch - $3.00
TOTAL - $15.50

Full Shares:
Lettuce - 2 heads - $5.00
Beets - 1 bunch - $3.00
Carrots - 1 bunch - $3.00
Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Squash - 1# - $3.00
Leeks - 1# - $3.00
Arugula - 1/2# - $4.00
Parsley - 1 bunch - $1.50
TOTAL - $25.50

Unfortunately, the strawberries have waned. This is most likely the last week for them, and we may have to substitute with something else, but we'll see. The heavy rains this morning didn't help their situation, either, but was very much needed for everything else. We're getting into the summer fruits season - squash now, and soon cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, then peppers and eggplant! YUM. Leeks this week, and back to onions next week. There is still a little of the spring garlic left, but we may just hold off on it, harvest and cure, and then there will be plenty for the boxes through the rest of the season.

Next week we'll have more beets, carrots, plus I'm hoping the first of the cabbage. Plenty more squash and lettuce.

New produce item of the week: Kohlrabi! Here's a link for more info/recipes
and this recipe looked pretty good to me - simple!

PS - these pages/recipes keep mentioning green kohlrabi. we grow one that has purple skin. Same exact thing, just prettier to grow, in my opinion!

ROASTED KOHLRABI

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 4 (smallish servings since roasted vegetables shrink so much)

1 1/2 pounds fresh kohlrabi, ends trimmed, thick green skin sliced off with a knife, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic (optional, to my taste)
Salt
Good vinegar

Set oven to 450F. Toss the diced kohlrabi with olive oil, garlic and salt in a bowl. (This can be done on the pan but you'll likely use more oil.) Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and put into oven (it needn't be fully preheated) and roast for 30 - 34 minutes, stirring every five minutes started after about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a good vinegar (probably at the table so the kohlrabi don't get squishy).

Free 7 week old kittens!

We have 2 long hair and 4 short hairs to give away - all tortiseshell females except for one black and white male.

They don't have any shots or vaccinations yet so that'll be the responsibility of the new owners. The mom will be fixed like the rest of our pets and we hope you do the same. (we waited a little too long for this one.)

Herb Roast Chicken recipe from June 2009 Cooking Light

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1898571

You can do this with any size chicken, and I would do it breast side down instead of up. Otherwise this looks good.

Freezing greens

Greens can be frozen and stored for up to 9 months in a ziplock bag, and it takes less than five minutes. This is from http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/greens.html

Freezing

Greens
(Including Spinach)

Preparation – Select young, tender green leaves. Wash thoroughly and cut off woody stems. Water blanch collards 3 minutes and all other greens 2 minutes.

Cool, drain and package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal and freeze.

Veggie CSA Week #4

Half Shares:

Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Escarole - 1 head - $2.50
Garlic - 2 - $2.00
Beets - 1 bunch - $3.00
Broccoli - 1# - $3.00
TOTAL - $16.00

Full Shares:

Strawberries - 2 pints - $6.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Escarole - 1 head - $2.50
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
Beets - 1 bunch - $3.00
Garlic - 4 - $4.00
Broccoli & Cauliflower (RTI) - 2#- $6.00
TOTAL - $26.50

I started out thinking we'd have arugula in the boxes this week, but I just walked the farm and noticed that the arugula wasn't quite big enough, and the broccoli was ready! So broccoli this week, arugula next.

Ugh... so then when I went to harvest "all that broccoli", i discovered that it didn't yield quite enough... sorry :(.... brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbages are always difficult for me to grow for some reason. Every year, they improve, but still not as good as I would like. So, Thursday, RTI full shares will get 1# broccoli, 1# cauliflower, and Sat. Durham folks will not have broccoli. I will work on getting some for Durham-ers for next week.

Recipes for this week:

Escarole and Beans

Rated: Submitted By: KristaP Photo By: M. Sullivan Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 40 Minutes Servings: 4

"This is a creamy concoction of escarole and beans. It's rich, and it's divine! It's also best served with a warm crusty Italian bread."

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 large heads escarole salt and pepper to taste 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 clove garlic, minced 2 (16 ounce) cans cannellini beans, undrained 3 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1.	Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss in escarole, turning to coat with oil. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes, or until tender.
2.	In a separate skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Stir in garlic. Pour in beans with juices, and simmer until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in escarole and parsley; simmer 10 minutes more.

From Allrecipes.com

Roasted Beet Salad Recipe

By Rebecca Franklin, About.com

This roasted beet salad is a wonderful, healthy dish to make anytime you have access to fresh beets. It’s a whole beet salad because the entire beet – root, stem, and greens – can be used in this recipe. Any vinaigrette or citronette dressing can be used to garnish this versatile salad, but blood orange dressing¹ really makes the flavors pop. Add rustic artisan bread and a pureed soup, like butternut squash bisque² for a filling, nutritious meal.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 8 medium red beets, peeled, stems reserved
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
• Greens from 8 beets, washed and coarsely chopped
• Citronette for drizzling
• 4 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425F. Toss the peeled beets and reserved stems in 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast the beets for 40 to 45 minutes, until they are caramelized and tender.

While the beets are roasting, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the chopped shallots for 5 minutes, until they are tender. Add the beet greens to the hot oil and shallots and sauté them for 3 to 5 minutes, until they are just cooked through and wilted. Transfer the greens and shallots to a large serving bowl.

Quarter or slice the roasted beets and place them in the serving bowl. Drizzle the beet salad with citronette or blood orange vinaigrette³ and toss it gently. Divide the salad into four portions and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts onto each serving. Drizzle with additional citronette, if desired.

This roasted beet salad makes 4 servings.

This About.com page has been optimized for print. To view this page in its original form, please visit: http://frenchfood.about.com/od/salads/r/wholebeet.htm

©2009 About.com, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.

What to do with those pesky Dandelion Greens

Howdy folks - sorry I am not getting to this until Thursday evening....

First off, Dandelion greens are bitter, much like endive, escarole, chicory and radiccio. They are full of vitamins and are a general tonic, they help to cleanse the liver and kidneys. Many people will eat them raw, chop them up and add to a salad. Others will cook them, wilting the greens. I have a friend who has made flatbread with wilted dandelion, olive oil, and a soft goat cheese. Another friend of mine uses dandelion in his juicing regimen.

Second, the reason why I am growing these bitter greens (a quick history): for the past few years, we have grown lots of the mild mustards, members of the Brassica Rapa family. These include: turnips, bok choy, napa cabbage, mustard greens, broccoli raab, and mizuna. Unfortunately, over the years, a buggy pest has emerged, the Yellow Margined Leaf Beetle . This guy has totally decimated crop after crop of these mild mustards here on Castlemaine, and on some of my neighboring farms. I'm not sure if its a result of warmer than normal winters and dry springs, or if theres a reason why they're more pesky now than in past years, but they're here. As a result, I can't rely so much on getting a beautiful crop of these veggies each spring. So as an alternative, we have started growing crops in the Chicory family. I see a bit of demand at market for these bitter greens, and hopefully you will like them, too!

DANDELION GREENS

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dandelion greens
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 whole small dried hot chile pepper, seeds removed, crushed
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Wash greens well in salted water. Cut leaves into 2-inch pieces. Cook greens uncovered in small amount of salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Sauté onion, garlic, and chile pepper in oil. Drain greens; add to onion garlic mixture. Taste dandelion greens and season with salt and pepper. Serve dandelion greens with grated Parmesan cheese.
Recipe for dandelion greens serves 4.

another recipe from Gourmet Magazine
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sauteed-Dandelion-Greens-242014

Veggie CSA Week #3

As always, this is subject to change. Changes are merely based on what is ready at the time I need to harvest for each CSA delivery (there are 3 different deliveries each week). Sometimes, mostly due to weather, but also because of pests, weeds, etc., a particular veggie/fruit won't quite be sized up enough for harvest. This should explain why some were substituted bok choy instead of turnips last week. But that is all the fun in eating locally and seasonally!

I will be back soon with a recipe/cooking tips for the dandelion greens. I need to do some research (including eating them!!) myself. :)

HALF SHARE:
Strawberries - 1pint - $3.00
Onions - 1 bunch - $2.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.00
Dandelion Greens - 1 bunch - $2.00
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.00
Bok Choy - 1 head - $1.50
Cilantro - 1 bunch - $1.50
TOTAL - $16.50


FULL SHARE:
Strawberries - 2 pints - $6.00
Dandelion Greens - 1 bunch- $2.00
Lettuce - 2 heads - $4.00
Kale - 1 bunch - $2.00
Onions - 1 bunch - $2.00
Radishes - 2 bunches - $4.00
Parsley - 1 bunch - $1.50
Beets - 1 bunch - $2.50
Bok Choy - 1 head - $1.50
TOTAL - $25.50


RECIPES

Baby Bok Choy & Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

2 heads baby bok choy (or one head of big bok choy)

1 15oz can black beans, drained

1 head spring garlic

1 bunch spring onions

3 tbsp. cider vinegar

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

¼ cup olive oil

Directions:

Chop up bok choy stems and leaves into 1 inch strips. Chop garlic and onions and mix with bok choy and black beans. Mix together vinegar, mustard, and oil and pour over salad and toss. Cover it up and throw it in the fridge for at least an hour (a few hours is better especially if you’re using big bok choy). Taste it and add salt and pepper if you want – it usually does fine by itself.

Veggie CSA Week #2

UPDATE: RTI half shares will receive Bok Choy instead of turnips, and ALL full shares are receiving Broccoli Raab instead of Kale.

The strawberries were picked in between rains this week, therefore they were picked a little wet. Spread them out on a paper towel to air dry (or eat them very soon!) to avoid moldy berries at the bottom of the box.

Half Shares:

Strawberries - 1 quart - $5.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Spinach or Swiss Chard- 1/2# - $2.50
Beet Greens - 1 bunch - $2.50
Garlic - 1 - $1.00
Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.00
TOTAL - $15.50

Full Shares:

Strawberries - 3 pints - $9.00
Lettuce - 2 heads - $5.00
Kale - 1 bunch - $2.00
Beet Greens - 1 bunch - $2.50
Garlic - 2 - $2.00
Onions - 1 bunch - $2.00
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.00
TOTAL - $27.00

*Reminder: please return your empty box when you come to pick up this weeks box. Also, I am happy to take empty pint containers and clean plastic bags. Thanks!

2009 SUMMER/FALL CHICKEN CSA !

SUMMER/FALL CHICKEN CSA SHARES NOW AVAILABLE!
Please consider signing up soon as memberships are already filling up.

• Monthly whole chicken CSA pickup beginning in August and ending in November
• 4 Pickup locations: Castlemaine Farm (Liberty/Snow Camp), Carrboro, Durham and RTP
  
• Details and sign up form can be found in our brochure by clicking here.