Fennel
Early Tomatoes
Red New Potatoes
Cucumbers
Herbs
Garlic
This seems like a strange time to talk about what is happening on the farm or to suggest recipes. We will be dedicating our energies to figuring out our personal path in addressing the larger national crises at hand. Eat well, be strong, and enjoy the share….Autumn and Brian
Beets
Swiss Chard
Genovese Basil
Escarole or Frisee
Cousa, Safari, & Zephyr Squash
Candy Onions
Something Extra
Beet and Escarole Salad with Avocado and Walnuts
Bibb Lettuce
Russian Kale
Spring Carrots
Napa Cabbage
Cucumbers (Suyo Long & Marketmore)
Radishes
Broccoli
Garlic
Another busy week and its looking to get busier and hotter as we approach the solstice. Already we are looking towards filling up the greenhouse with Fall and Winter crops, while just beginning to get into the Summer crops and holding onto our Spring crops for awhile longer. Even though we had an extraordinarily rainy week a little while back, it has actually been quite dry, so certain crops like our potatoes and early beans are slow growing at this point. We are inundated with cucumbers and squash though and the broccoli is still pumping strong. Many of the items in this week’s share will be in small volume, as the heat has really hit some crops back. This will be the last of the kale, radishes, and broccoli until September. One of my favorite ways to use Napa cabbage is to make into a quick slaw style salad, with whatever is around and dressed with a touch of sesame oil and soy, sweetened rice vinegar, muddled garlic, ginger, and salt and a squeeze of lime. Have herbs through it in, grate carrots and radishes, chop up broccoli into small pieces stem and all. It is delicious and fresh. Enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian
Kale and Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing
Korean Cucumber and Radish Salad
Fennel
Cucumber
Swiss Chard
Iceburg Lettuce
Tendersweet Cabbage
Tropea Onions
Fresh Garlic
Cilantro
extra: Summer Squash
Iceburg Lettuce, Cucumber, Bacon, & Egg Salad
Iceberg Salad with Italian Dressing
Fennel, Orange, and Cabbage Slaw
Spicy Chicken and Cabbage Salad
Tahini-Smothered Charred Cabbage
Grilled Fish Tacos With Cilantro Lime Cabbage Slaw
So the pristine, beautiful Spring veggies are now fading due to some rot and increased bug pressure that comes from the heat, especially when followed damp, wet, humid conditions with little air flow. I mean the sun barely came out for five days and while we enjoyed working in the cool temperatures it is less than ideal for the crops. The lettuce will look a bit rougher, the delicate cutting greens will become less abundant, some crops a bit over saturated by the water and less healthy (i.e. will not hold as long in your refrigerator as a few weeks ago) and well the bugs wreak all kinds of havoc. So it looks like Summer is coming. Our early tomatoes are full of flowers, the first squash plants are immense (they love the water) and producing like crazy plus the onions are getting bigger every day. It is now time for a little more heat and sun to keep things growing and flowering. As soon as the fields dry up a bit we will be seeding our okra and Asian long beans which signals that Summer is close by.
This week’s share will include some squash, both zephyr and a new costata romenesco type that we are excited about. Every year we are really looking forward to the first of the summer squash, as it has been away for almost 8 months and in comparison to most of the leafy, crisp spring veggies it offers more density and meatiness. Zucchini or summer squash is a perfectly seasonal vegetable, it pairs so well with young garlic flavors, fava beans, herbs, cooking greens, and sweet onions; the spring flavors. We hope you are as excited for its return. Eat it sautéed with dill and lemon, hot or cold , or however you like it. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share….Autumn & Brian
Polenta Bowl With Garlicky Summer Squash & Kale
Tagliolini with Fava Beans, Leeks, and Zucchini
Escarole and Roasted Broccoli Salad with Anchovy Dressing
Escarole Salad with Bacon, Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette
Zucchini Salad With Raisins and Pine Nuts – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
The combination of raisins and pine nuts was brought by the Arabs all the way to Spain and Sicily.
1 lb Zucchini
4 Tbls Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbls Pine Nuts
2 Tbls Black or Gold Raisins or Currants
1 clove Garlic, crushed and chopped
Salt and Pepper
2 tsp dried mint (optional)
Juice of ½ Lemon, or more
Saute the Zucchini quickly in the oil with the pine nuts, raisins, and garlic. Add salt and pepper and dried mint, if using, and cook, stirring, over moderate heat until the zucchini slices are just tender. Serve hot or cold with lemon juice squeezed over the salad.
Roz bel Ful Ahdar (Rice with Fava Beans) the New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
In Egypt this is prepared in the Spring, when fava beans are very young and tender. It is served hot as an accompaniment to meat, or cold with yogurt and a salad. Egyptians do not remove the skins of the beans.
1 pound fresh fava beans, shelled
salt
vegetable oil
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic or 1 green garlic stalk, minced white & greens
1 cup fresh dill, chopped
1 1/2 cups basmati or long-grain rice (wash)
pepper
2 ¼ cup water
Boil the beans in salted water for a few minutes, until they are tender, then drain. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and fry the onion until soft and golden. Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two. Then add the drained beans and sauté a little, stirring and turning them over. Add the rice, and stir until transparent. Add the salt, pepper, and chopped dill and pour in the water. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender.
Fava Beans or Broccoli
Mustard Greens
Yu Choy
Daikon Radish
Garlic Scapes or Scallions
Mignonette or Red Leaf Lettuce
Mesclun Salad Mix
The last few days on the farm have been a harsh reminder of what the next few months has in store. It has been very hot and humid and without acclimating it is difficult to subject oneself to it for hours at end. In addition grass pollination is at its peak so the air is not only heavy; but thick. We are looking forward to the upcoming rain and cool if only for a few days and remembering that our summer crops want this heat to get going. Over the past week we have added over a half dozen crops to our harvest list, the first of the cucumber, squash, cabbage, chinese cabbage, escarole, daikon, yu choy, broccoli and fava beans. Normally our favas come in early May but this winter due to lack of protection in the field, we lost most of the crop. So in February we decided to replant but the fields were too wet, so we used some open space in a high tunnel. Hence our crop is a bit later to mature and we only began harvest this past week. They have grown fast and sturdy; but due to a few prior heat waves, the plants dropped a lot of their flowers and even with a shade cloth it is hard to keep these temperate plants happy with 95degree days. So our season will be short and sweet. Enjoy them while you can.
In this week’s share we are continuing the celebration of greens, as May is when greens are at there best. Many of these crops are Asian varietals, so they can pair together well. Yu choy is very mild and has a great texture with a slightly crunchy stalk and delicate flowers. It can be paired well with the more sturdy and spicy mustard greens in either a simple soup (miso based or chicken stock) or a stir-fry. Mustard greens do really well finely chopped before being cooked as they are a flavor bomb and can really elevate any dish. They are also delicious pickled. Daikon radish is another robust crop, wonderful in a myriad of pickled forms (salted, vinegar brined, base for kimchi, sweet vinegar pickle snack) but also can be great in an Indian style curry or any stir-fry. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian
Stir Fried Chinese Mustard Greens
Stir Fried Fava Beans With Szechuan Peppercorns
Broccoli and Scallions With Thai-Style Vinaigrette
Young Scallions with Miso Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Very thin young scallions
Organic brown rice miso
Clean the scallions. Cut off the root bottoms and any brown tapering of the tops. Peel off the tough or discolored outer layers. Spoon out a dollop of miso onto a medium sized plate. To eat, dip the scallion into the miso, scooping up about the same volume of miso to scallion. This simple dish makes a fresh before dinner appetizer and is especially good with mixed drinks or a beer.
Daikon and Daikon Leaf Salad
1 medium-small daikon
1 TB Sea Salt
2 small or 1 medium Yuzu (or substitute Meyer Lemon)
2 TB Organic Miso
2 TB Organic Rice Vinegar
4 TB Organic Rapeseed Oil
2 TB Slivered Scallions
Slice the daikon into manageable lengths. Cut those pieces in half vertically and slice lengthwise into fine slabs. Lay those slabs flat on the cutting board and slice into fine julienned strands about 1.5 inches long. Put the julienned daikon into a medium-sized bowl as you go. Chop a large handful of the most tender leaves medium -fine and add to the julienned daikon. Sprinkle with the salt and massage in gently. Let sit for 10 minutes. Pare off the yellow zest of a yuzu or meyer lemon with a sharp knife, avoiding the white pith. Stack roughly and slice into fine slivers. Muddle the miso with the vinegar and whisk in the oil until emulsified. Squeeze the daikon and daikon leaves in handfuls and drop into a clean bowl. Toss with the yuzu peel and onion greens. Give the dressing a quick whisk and fold into the daikon right before serving. Ratio: miso:rice vinegar:oil – 1:1:2
Smashed Fava Beans, Pecorino, and Mint on Toast Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
This is a loose pesto of fava beans and mint, with plenty of olive oil. Use it as a pasta sauce or as a dip for vegetables, spoon it over crushed new potatoes, or spread some on toasted country bread.
1 ¼ lb Fava Beans in their pods
1 stalk green garlic roughly chopped
4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
salt & pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 – ½” thick slices bread
Shell the fava beans. Blanch beans for about 30 seconds in boiling salted water and then rinse well with very cold water. If desired, make a small slit on the bean, gently squeeze out two halves of the bean and peel off the membrane skin (it can be a little tough).
Put the green garlic and a pinch of salt into a food processor and pulse a few times. Add half the mint leaves and pulse a few more times so the garlic is fairly fine. Add the peeled favas and 1 Tbls olive oil and pulse again. Your goal is to bash up the favas but not completely puree them. You may need to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl between pulses.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl, season with some pepper, and stir in 1/8 cup grated pecorino cheese and the lemon juice, and adjust the consistency with olive oil so that its loose and luscious. Brush the bread on one side with olive oil and grill or broil until crisp. Arrange on plates, top with the fava mixture and the rest of the mint leaves, torn if their big, and finish with a nice shower of grated pecorino and a drizzle of oil.
Arugula
Swiss Chard
Hakurei Turnips
Carrots or Sugar Snap Peas
Scallions or Garlic Scapes
Red Gold New Potatoes
Frisee
Dill
Looking back at past seasons and this week’s share is surprisingly similar to the 2nd or 3rd week of many seasons. It is filled with springy goodness like dill, peas, frisee, scallions, and scapes. Many of these veggies want to be served in a frittata or have a soft boiled or poached egg on top , so get some eggs and really good butter and make a lot of salads. Either this week or next everyone will get garlic scapes, as our main garlic planting is just beginning to produce and with the coming heat wave, this seasonal delicacy will be short lived. Normally we have garlic scapes for 2-3 weeks each May and we look forward to them all spring. A longish scape will be equivalent to 1-2 cloves of garlic. You can mash them, mince them, or use in bigger pieces for some garlic punch. The scape would eventually become the flower bud on each garlic plant. By pulling them out, more energy is put into growing the bulb, making for larger garlic in the end. The scape on its own is tender with a little crunch and has a superb garlic flavor without a ton of heat. They will store in a plastic bag for at least 3 weeks, but can also be pickled using the brine for a basic dilly bean recipe and they make amazing additions to any pickle plate. Other options for the scapes are making garlic butter (blend the scapes, mix with softened butter and a little salt, then using wax paper make the butter into a log roll, wrap in plastic wrap, freeze, and use as needed.) or garlic scape pesto. Feel free to use them as a substitute for garlic in recipes, just add more volume than recipe requires, as the scapes are definitely more subtle than a clove of garlic. We also have some delicious new potatoes. Each winter we plant a small amount of early potatoes in one of our protected tunnels so the CSA can have something more substantial in the early weeks of the season. It is a bit of a tease as our field crops will begin producing about a month from now, so relish in this sneak peek of the moment. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian
Frisée Salad with Poached Eggs and Bacon
Potato Salad with Yogurt, Arugula, and Dill
Chickpea Salad with Carrots and Dill
Hakurei Turnip Sautée with Ginger, Carrots and Sugarsnap Peas
Greens Gratin
Use 2 garlic scapes to replace garlic cloves in the recipe
Turnip Salad with Yogurt, Herbs, and Poppy Seeds Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
Serve this dish right away; otherwise things may get a bit soggy.
1 bunch Japanese Turnips with their greens trimmed leaving ¼” stem
1 lemon halved
½ tsp chile flakes
½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not greek style)
1 cup lightly packed mixed herbs: mint, chives, dill, parsley, cut into 2” lengths
4 scallions, trimmed, sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, then drained well
salt & pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup poppy seeds
Slice the turnips lengthwise as thin as you can. If you have a mandolin, use it; otherwise make sure your knife is sharp and just go slowly. Soak the slices in ice water for 15-20 minutes, then drain very well.
Rinse, dry, and roughly chop the turnip greens. Put the turnips in a bowl and squeeze in about half the lemon. Add the chile flakes, ½ tsp salt, and many twists of pepper, toss and blend. Add the yogurt and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning so they are quite bright. Add the herbs, scallions, and ¼ cup olive oil and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Scatter half the poppy seeds on the bottom of a platter or individual serving plates, top with the turnip salad, and finish with the rest of the poppy seeds. Serve right away.
Sugar Snap Peas with Mustard Seeds and Tarragon from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
I keep all the seasons in check here because what I really want to taste are the delicately sweet snap peas.
1 ½ tsp yellow mustard seeds
¼ tsp cumin seeds
extra-virgin olive oil
½ pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off
kosher salt & black pepper
1 Tbls unsalted butter
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
¼ lemon
1/8 cup lightly packed tarragon leaves
¼ cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
Put the mustard and cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium heat and toast until the spices become fragrant, shaking the pan so nothing burns, about 4 minutes. Be careful because the mustard seeds pop. Pour them onto a plate to cool.
Heat a small glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the snap peas, season lightly with slat and pepper, and sauté for a minute or two.
Add 1/8th cup water to the pan and quickly cover it. Steam the snap peas for a minute or so, then uncover. The peas should be approaching crisp-tender. Once the water has evaporated, add the butter and the toasted seeds and cook for another minute.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon juice, the tarragon, and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Serve warm.
Spinach
Mesclun Salad Mix
Bibb & Butterhead Lettuce
Spring Carrots or Sugar Snap Peas
Russian or Broadleaf Kale
Fresh Garlic
Cilantro
Hello everyone! We are excited to begin our 2022 CSA season with a bit of a bang. The farm is brimming with food and every few days the changes are noticeable. This is one of the first times we have successfully had carrots, peas, spinach, beets, and herbs at the beginning of May. The weather has been prime for growing since early March, with multiple bouts of warm days, limited rain, and a lot of sunshine. We are really lucky that the next seven days are remaining in the 60’s & 70’s, as it will help our spring crops like early potatoes, favas, broccoli, lettuces and peas. They will remain tender, sweet, and continue to size up without extreme heat swings. So get ready for lots of cooking fun and salad time.
April on the farm was full of big projects. After a decade stewarding this land and its plethora of old farm buildings; we have finally gotten the time to begin addressing some building repair, roofing, and infrastructure projects such as a more permanent spray table patio, adequate gravel roadways, and on and on. These are the projects that we overlooked for years due to limited time and funds. We are slowly but surely beginning to address the many little projects around the property and it feels good. All that is over now though; because May begins our “main season” and with that we spend a lot more time planting, managing, harvesting, and selling crops. On this farm there is barely enough time to keep up, so projects are all relegated to the winter and spring months.
This week’s share includes many greens and lots of salad options. Hopefully you have missed them and are ready to get back in the swing of things. Both the spinach and kale are hearty and will do well cooked or raw. The fresh or young garlic is a little past the green garlic phase as it began to form bulbs very early this year. It will still have a sweet, mild quality like green garlic and you can use most of the plant, but it is not quite as tender. As you go up past the bulb and white tender stalks to the leaves, it probably needs to be minced and cooked a little longer, think of leek leaves. There may also be a hard core, just remove when you are slicing or cutting in half. Both the carrots and the peas have been at their best, tasting fabulous and whatever you don’t get this week, you will get next week, so worry not. Enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian
Sautéed Snap Peas With Green Garlic
Julienned-Carrot and Kale Salad
Farro and Roasted Carrot Salad with Whipped Ricotta
Racha’s Spinach Salad with Walnuts and Cilantro (Spanakit) (1/2 the recipe and substitute fresh garlic bulb and stalks)
Borani-e Esfenaj (Spinach and Yogurt Salad) the New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
This refreshing Iranian salad has a pure and delicate flavor.
½ pound spinach
½ cup thick-strained Greek-style yogurt
1 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp sugar
salt and pepper
1 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
juice of ¼ lemon
Wash the spinach and remove the stems only if they are thick and hard. Drain the leaves and put them in a large pan. Cover and set over low heat until the leaves crumple into a soft mass. They steam in the water that clings to them in a very few minutes. Drain, and when cool enough, squeeze out the excess water with your hands. Chop with a sharp knife and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
Mesclun Salad Mix
Kale or Collard Greens
Radicchio, Escarole, or Frisee
Hickory King Cornmeal
Seminole Pumpkins
Red Maria Potatoes
Chioggia Beets
Turnips
What a busy time of year it is for us at Tomten Farm, made even busier with the ever-shortening days. We are spending our final work share day planting garlic, the annual end of one season and beginning of another. As a farm that grows food year around, November and December are often very busy at our market stand, as other farms enter into their own off seasons; but you all still need the food so it is busy busy for us. Having diversity through the Winter means a lot of planning and organization on our part and every year we make mistakes and learn alot, hoping to improve for the coming years. Many things, such as roots, chicories, fennel, cabbage, & kohlrabi are bulk harvested when they are ready (and before it gets too cold for that particular crop), then washed and stored in our walk-in for 2-3 months. These bulk harvests happen throughout November and December. Other crops, such as greens, spinach, tender salad radishes & turnips, herbs, and salad crops are grown in our high tunnels, where they have some protection from the elements. Lastly we have a few crops that can handle our cold and stay in the ground until they are ready; such as cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli (ready in February & March), fava beans, and chicories like tardive, grumolo, and orchieada. We may cover these crops with row cover or low tunnels (hoops and greenhouse plastic over individual beds) to protect from chilling.
This year due to many reasons previously discussed, some winter crops, especially a lot of the chicories & roots, are very behind schedule. If the weather is temperate, as it looks like it will be for the next two weeks, these crops will grow just fine; but it means we have a shorter window to get all of our bulk harvests done and that adds a bit more pressure to our November and December schedule, with less daylight and farm hand help. As the year winds down, we naturally are tired and looking forward to some rest as well as future planning and infrastructure projects for farm improvements. It can take some serious energy to want to harvest and wash thousands of pounds of vegetables in frigid temperatures; but we will. We do because we want you to have that frost kissed turnip and vibrant Treviso radicchio when it is at its best. So even though it is the last week of your 2021 CSA share, we will continue to have food for you. Feel free to head to our market stand throughout the winter. We thank you so much for committing to our farm this past season and hope you found some deliciousness every single week. Perhaps you even learned to love something you didn’t think you liked. We like it when that happens.
This week you will receive some very special crops: cornmeal, radicchio (or chicories), and Seminole pumpkin, along with some delicious frost sweetened greens and roots. The Hickory King cornmeal is a particular love for Autumn, as it makes amazing corn pancakes, spoonbread, cornbread, and if you want to nixtamalize (cook in wood ash) and wet grind, the most delicious tortillas. We grow a very small amount, only 600 row feet, so we have very little and we cherish it. The Seminole pumpkin is a wonderful heirloom pumpkin; small with a tiny cavity and a lot of meat, it will store if put in a cool pantry or root cellar space for up to 6 months. It is a fabulous color, with a smooth texture, and subtle sweetness. And then there is the chicories, if you have been a CSA member or customer for long you know how much we love this crop. We are on a mission to spread that love and get you all hooked. frisee, puntarelle, radicchio, and escarole all do well paired with anchovies, salty cheese, fruit, bacon, need I say more? The bitterness will improve with a punch of acidity from either lemon or vinegar; but never forget the salt as they need it to achieve balance. There are a number of salad recipes below; but they can also be halved, grilled or seared and chopped into a creamy risotto.
Enjoy the share…Autumn & Brian
Hanger Steak with Tahini and Smashed Charred Beets
Charred Beet Salad (with radicchio & dill)
Potato-and-Radicchio Salad with Montasio Cheese
One-Skillet Mushroom Cornbread Stuffing
Andouille and Collard Greens Soup with Cornmeal
Escarole and Rice Soup – The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan
1 head escarole (3/4-1 lb)
2 TBL finely chopped yellow onion
¼ cup butter
Salt
3 ½ homemade meat broth or 1 cup canned chicken soup mixed with 2 ½ cups water
½ cup rice preferably Arborio
3 TBL fresh grated parmesan
Detach escarole leaves discard any that are bruised and wash the rest in multiple waters until clean. Cut into ½ inch wide stripes In stockpot sauté onion in butter over medium heat until nicely browned. Add escarole and a light sprinkling of salt. Briefly sauté the escarole, stirring once to twice. Add ½ cup of broth and cook over very low heat until escarole is tender (25-45 depending on freshness and tenderness). When escarole is tender add rest of broth, raise heat and bring to a boil. Add rice and cover. Cook rice 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until just al dente, firm to the bite. Off the heat, mix in the Parmesan cheese. Taste and correct for salt, spoon onto plates and enjoy.
Carrots
Yu Choy or Bok Choy
Daikon, Red Meat, & Korean Purple Radishes
Napa Cabbage or Storage Cabbage
Arugula or Oakleaf Lettuce
Cilantro
Garlic
