Category: beginning of season

First Harvest of 2017 at Lida Farm

June 23, 2017

Life can throw people curveballs, and so can Minnesota weather. Weren’t we all just sweating in a dry heat about a week ago? This morning I put on a sweatshirt to pick radishes in a light rain because it’s 50 degrees out. 

Our wild weather ride provides me intersting growing challenges. So far I’ve really been striking out getting carrrots to germinate well. With the sun beating down day after day through May (when we typically seed carrots), the top of the ground just dries out too quickly and carrot seed is planted very shallow. On the other hand, hot and dry weather also keeps weed seeds from germinating, so we were able to get a fair amount of cultivating and hoeing done in May and early June. I suppose it balances itself out. 

Kohlrabi Harvest at Lida Farm

Yesterday, pulling kohrabi for the box, I hit a wonderful ‘harvest flow.’ Brand new harvest knife, LCD Soundsystem on my iPod and a beautiful evening…all was right with the world and harvesting was coming easy. This time of year I get excited about pulling veggies out of the ground and getting a new season rolling. There’s nothing finer than getting something in your hand which took months of work. Let’s just hope it’s not just a flash in the pan and I can keep the energy up for the whole season. 

In the box:

  • Napa Cabbage: Big item on bottom of box. See reciple below.
  • Green Onions aka Scallions
  • Westlander Kale
  • Small Bunch of Arugula: Oakleaf-shaped green with rubber band 
  • Kohlrabi 
  • Lettuce: This is a mix of types coming in, so people received green butterhead, greenleaf, or red butterhead. We doubled up small heads. 
  • Two Bunches of Radishes: Everybody received standard red radishes and some french breakfast radishes. 
  • Snap Peas
  • Fresh Mint

Napa Cabbage Salad from All Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1 head napa cabbage
  • 1 bunch minced green onions
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, broken
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

  1. Finely shred the head of cabbage; do not chop. Combine the green onions and cabbage in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  3. Make the crunchies: Melt the butter in a pot. Mix the ramen noodles, sesame seeds and almonds into the pot with the melted butter. Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake the crunchies in the preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, turning often to make sure they do not burn. When they are browned remove them from the oven.
  4. Make the dressing: In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and let cool.
  5. Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. Serve right away or the crunchies will get soggy.

In the Saddle Again

June 17, 2016

Another CSA season is starting, marking the beginning of our 11th season delivering produce to members’ doorsteps.  The passage of time has compressed the interval between the end of the season and the beginning.  When I was a younger man, it seemed like the nine months jn the “off season” between October and June took a long time.  This past nine months since the last box in October, 2015 zoomed past me as quickly as Christmas break in high school.  Instead of lamenting time under the bridge, however, I absolutely celebrate a new beginning and a new season.  It often brings not just new growing experiences, but also a re-connection with CSA members and farmers market customers.  

The season so far is shaping up well.  We have planted crops in good time and cultivated a number of crops 2-3 times already.  We had a challenge with the soil being really dry through May which had us moving irrigation around (a first for us since I rarely irrigate and I’ve never had to do so in May).  A lot of crops are looking pretty good; I’m especially excited about the peas and potatoes so far.  
I’m sitting in the kitchen writing this blog right now because of the morning’s rain.  We were hit with a little hail even which I’m sure put a few holes in the Romaine lettuce.  
In the CSA box: 
  1. Broccoli: A variety called Packman, this came in earlier than we wanted due to the cold temps in May which caused the plants to set a head prematurely, which makes for small heads.
  2. Swiss Chard: This is great with eggs in the morning (saute and include them), but, hey, chard is even better with bacon!  See recipe below. 
  3. Mizuna: A mild Asian green.  This can be eaten in a salad and used as a cooking green in such dishes as pho or many other Asian dishes. 
  4. Radishes
  5. Green Onions 
  6. Arugula: The green with a band with oakleaf-shaped leaves
  7. Romaine Lettuce 
  8. Red Leaf Lettuce
  9. Spinach: Loose greens in the box.  
  10. Parsley Bunch
Sauteed Swiss Shard with Bacon 

Ingredients
Olive oil, for pan
1 cup bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths, leaves cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
Kosher salt

Directions
Coat a large saute pan lightly with olive oil and add the diced bacon, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Bring the pan to medium-high heat. When the garlic has turned a lovely golden brown, remove from the pan and discard. At this point the bacon should start to become brown and crispy. Add the Swiss chard stems and the stock and cook until the stock has mostly evaporated. Add the Swiss chard leaves and saute until they are wilted. Season with salt.
Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/sauteed-swiss-chard-with-bacon-recipe.html?oc=linkback