Weekly Share September 29th – October 5th

broccoliraab2014Beets, Salad Mix, Russian Kale or Broccoli Raab, Hakurei Salad Turnips, All Purpose & Sauce Tomatoes, Sweet Italian Peppers, Romano Beans, Cippolini Onions, Flat Leaf Parsley

What a great time of year. The weather is beautiful, the food abundant and diverse, and for us farmers the opportunity for rest is within sight. We are not there yet though, this next month is full of a lot of planning for this coming year. In late September we begin putting in cover crop and preparing our open land for next Spring and Summer crops. In order to have these areas ready when we need them, we have to use the appropriate cover crop. For early spring crops such as onions, potatoes, and brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale, radishes, etc.) we need to use areas with winter-killed cover crops, so that after they die back from heavy frost, we can get into the land to prepare it. Other areas we want a cover crop to grow and develop through the Winter and into the Spring, so we can get as much organic matter built up as possible. All of this means we need to have a plan and know where things are going in the coming season. As a young farm, we are still putting systems in place, so planning now is necessary.
GermanWhite2014We are also looking forward to planting garlic for 2015. Garlic is one of our favorite crops. Planting it takes a considerable amount of time and energy. The beds are prepped with lots of compost and some fertilizer. The CSA work shares will assist in early November with the actual planting which includes separating cloves, dibbling the ground as we plant 5 rows with cloves every 6”; then the cloves are planted one by one, and finally covered with straw mulch. This year we have reserved 115lbs of our garlic harvested in 2014 to use for seed for 2015. We are still not able to save all our seed as we really like selling it and so we buy in a portion from a farm in upstate NY. The garlic farms in NY state are really amazing and we are thankful to have found good original seed sources, which we still use to supplement our stock. So as fall begins, we still have many projects and of course the continued care for our current abundant crops.
This week’s share brings back beets and hakurei salad turnips. It has been a few months, but they are back. Make some delicious beet and turnip salads, or add them onto a green salad. Or if the weather is turning cool, roast them both with some cippolini’s and kale or raab. We have a few more weeks of tomatoes and a new influx of beans, so enjoy these while the weather is still warm enough for them to grow. Check out the recipes and enjoy the share……Autumn and Brian
FallTomatoes2014Meshweya (Tunisian Roasted Salad) The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Sweet Red Pepper-Beet Soup                             
Broccoli Rabe with Pepper and Onion
Turnip and Orange Salad –The New Book of Middle Eastern Food pg.80 by Claudia Roden
This Salad is Tunisian. Wash 1 lb young, tender turnips and slice them very thinly. Macerate for an hour in a mixture of 3 Tbls olive oil and the juice of one bitter Seville orange or a mixture of orange and lemon juice (the dressing needs to be sharp), with a crushed clove of garlic, salt, and pepper. A pinch of ground chile is optional (aleppo pepper is amazing). Serve as it is with a few sprigs of parsley or add a chopped up orange (my favorite).
Pancar Salatasi (Beet and Yogurt Salad)The New Book of Middle Eastern Food pg.93 by Claudia Rodent
This is a Turkish way of dressing beets. 1 lb young beets, 2 Tbls lemon Juice, 2 Tbls olive oil, 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, salt, 1 Tbls finely chopped parsley
Cut the tops off the beets and boil them in plenty of water for 30-40 minutes, until tender. Peel and slice them. Mix the lemon juice with the oil. Add the yogurt and salt and beat well. Then mix with the beets. Pour into a serving dish and garnish with chopped parsley
Loubia bi Zeit (Green Beans in Olive Oil) The New Book of Middle Eastern Food pg.92 by Claudia Roden
3/4lb green beans, 1 onion coarsely chopped, 2-3 Tbls olive oil, 2 cloves garlic sliced, 2 tomatoes peeled and chopped, salt and pepper.
Top and tail and wash the beans. In a saucepan, fry the onion in oil until soft. Add the garlic, and when the onion and garlic begin to color, add the tomatoes and the beans. Only just cover with water, add salt and pepper, and simmer, uncovered, until the beans are tender and the liquid is reduced. Serve cold.
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