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Scotland (CSA week 9)

August 21, 2009

Apparently a front from Scotland has settled over the area. It’s been constantly cold and wet. Man, I just can’t figure this summer out! Still, tomotoes have started to come in regardless, which you’ll see in the box this week.

I’m still praying for heat and sunshine…we’ll see if that ever pans out.
Keeping it short and sweet this week.
In the box:
Some sweet corn: Not the best stuff ever, but ears are really not interested in filling out this year.
Purple pepper: Pretty cool, eh? The variety is called Islander
A couple Jalapenos
Bunch of cilantro
Mix of cherry tomatoes: sungold (orange), sweet 100 (red in color), grape
Orange Blossom Tomato
A couple Celebrity tomatoes: your standard tomato
Bunch of carrots
A pesto-sized bunch of basil: See recipe below. If holding over, our member Tammie had a good way of keeping basil. She puts the basil in a shallow cup of water and cover the leaves with a sandwich bag at room temperature. A lot of people try putting basil in the fridge…that’s a big no-no.
Bunch of kale: some got Red Russian Kale, some got Dino Kale.
A couple sweet onions
A couple summer squash: one yellow, one green zucchini.
Classic Basil Pesto
Makes 1 cup, enough for 1 pound dried pasta
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 T. pine nuts (can use walnuts)
1/4 t. salt
3 ounces basil leaves (about 3 cups loosely packed)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Food Processor Method:
Process the garlic, pine nuts and salt until finely ground, about 15 seconds. Add the basil and proccess in spurts just until no whole leaves remain. With the machine running, pour the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. The mixture should be ground to a pastelike consitency but a little bit of the leaves’ texture should remain. Add the cheese and pulse until just incorporated.
Toss with cooked pasta using cooking water to thin, if desired.

Farm Stand Now Open

August 10, 2009

We’re getting close enough to all those “high season” crops to open our farm stand today! We set up the self-serve stand at the end of our driveway last year to allow people near our farm to conveniently pick up a few things. It blew down in a snowstorm this spring, but we’ve resurrected it with the help of my father-in-law, Don Klatt, and my neighbor, Marvin Kratzke. It’s looking good and solid as a rock.

We don’t have a lot in this first week, but expect all the summer produce you crave to show up soon. Right now we have beans, cucumbers, summer squash, cabbage, onions….simply pick out what you want and drop cash or check or an IOU into the paybox.

Find us at:

Balancing Family and Farmwork (CSA week 6)

July 31, 2009

It’s a little too easy to get wrapped up in your work, no matter what you do. I used to think that farming was worse because you never escaped; I just have to look out the window to find work staring right back at me. Nowadays everybody seems to be taking their work home…those laptops are just too convenient, so you can work even though you’re 30 miles from the office.

This time of year in high season, I find myself constantly trying to get the bottom of a bottomless to do list….it’s never ending. So at times like these especially, it’s important to remind myself what’s important. Tonight, even though I had cucumbers to wash, boxes to set up, dirty dishes in the sink, and a CSA box and newsletter to think through, I got into the house before nightfall just to be with our kids and put them to bed. We didn’t do anything exciting, we just read a couple books, talked about a movie they like, and said goodnight.
I have to admit there are nights when Maree needs to yell out the back door way past sunset to get me in while I feverishly try to finish “one last thing.” Well, I could find “one last thing” forever. This growing season more than ever, I’ve been mindful to carve out that time with family, friends, a good dinner like with a couple members at our workday last Sunday. And you know what? I’m no more “behind” than any year past, and, actually I’m feeling much better than years past too! There’s a reason my traditional farming neighbors stubbornly take 5 meals a day because they realized long ago that you can’t keep hammering away on work and think you’re getting somewhere. A little rest, some conversation, and you’ll save more time getting done what needs to be done.
In the box:
Fennel
Broccoli

Green Beans
Cukes: the big long one is an English Cuke, the other your standard joe cuke
Scallions aka Green Onions
Green Cabbage
Dino Kale: also known as Lacinato Kale, an Italian variety…my favorite.
Radishes: a variety called French Breakfast
Sweet Onion
Raspberries-This is the start…not in your box this week? Expect them next week (or even the following week).
Grilled Fennel
From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Cut the stalks from a fennnel bulb. If the bulb is small, cut it in half lengthwise. If it is large, cut into 1/2 inch slices, making sure that each slice has a piece of the root attached. Steam for 10 minutes, then brush generously with olive oil and season with salt. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Serve with garlic mayonnaise:
Garlic Mayonnaise
Coursely chop 4-6 garlic cloves. Put them in a mortar, add a pinch of salt, and pound until a smooth paste forms, which will happen quite quickly. (If you don’t have a mortar, chop the garlic and salt together until smooth.) Stir it into mayonnaise, add lemon juice to taste, then thin with hot water or leave it thick, depending on intended use.
Note: This sauce also goes well with green beans, potatoes, asparagus, cooked carrots, and cauliflower. Use in a sandwich, or spoon into a soup or pasta.

High Season? (CSA week 5)

July 24, 2009

This time of year we enter what I call “high season”, when those warm-season crops come in and we’re at the peak of variety. We’re certainly a bit off the mark for the year because of the cold start, but we’re right on the cusp…I found about 5 mature cucumbers yesterday! This is far from enough for the whole membership, but a good sign. We also found about 4 quarts of beans ready to go, again, close but not close enough.

Still, even though it means more work for me, I really like high season. It’s exciting to take in big quantities of beans, peppers, and tomatoes. I like pulling in bushels of corn early in the morning before most people are awake. It’s exhilarating. The bad part of high season is that weeds like it too…it’s tough to keep up the fight when you spend a lot of time harvesting. Even though I thought some beds looked pretty good a couple of weeks ago, if I look at them today, I get a little panic-y…”boy, I have to get to that, and that, and that…yikes!” Anyway, things seem to work out and the lesson is that you should celebrate what’s good and forget the bad part.
In the box:
New Norland Potatoes: Your standard red. I just hope the potato bugs leave some for us since they’re really bad this year!r
Garlic: Not the best I’ve ever grown, but better than nothing.
2 Red Onions
Beets: Not much, but it’s a start. Since you haven’t had chard yet due to the deer, you can use these greens too.
Some Little Lettuce
Zucchini
Broccoli Raab: The bunched green with jagged edges. This is pretty standard in pasta recipes or as a side.
Cauliflower
Cabbage: Half of you got a purple cabbage called Red Express and half got a crinkly savoy cabbage called Alcosa
2 Daikon Radishes: A white radish with a peppery taste, salt mellows it out.
Some Thai Basil: This likes to put on a lot of buds (probably wants more heat…I’m thinking it gets it in Thailand), but the leaves seem good. It is a bit different from your standard Italian Basil…check it out.
Daikon Salad
From Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special
2 lbs. Daikon
1 1/2 t. salt
1 carrot
1 T. sugar
1 T. white vinegar
dash of sesame oil
3 scallions
2 T. canola or other vegetable oil
Trim the ends of the Daikon, peel and coarsely grate it. In a colander set into a larger bowl, toss the grated Daikon with the salt. Set aside to drain for 20 to 30 minutes, until about a cup of liquid has collected in the bowl. (Squeezing some of the liquid out of the Daikon will speed up the process.)
Meanwhile, peel and coarsely grate the carrot and place it in a serving bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, vinegar and sesame oil and set aside. When the Daikon is well drained, stir it into the carrots. Add the vinegar mixture and toss well.
Slice the scallions thinly on the diagonal and mound them on top of the salad. Heat the vegetable oil until smoking and immediately pour it over the scallions. Toss well. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Serves 6-8.
Note: You will likely need to halve the recipe (or use more carrot) and could use the red onion from this box instead of scallions.

Workday and Newletter

July 19, 2009

I couple of notes for CSA members:
1. Newsletter. I know a number of members are not automatically receiving the newsletter by e-mail. I think the problem comes in with so many computer firewalls not accepting a bulk e-mail. I suggest you go to this website at http://www.lidafarm.com and check each week. The same is on the web as in the e-mail and I typically post late thursday night or friday morning before deliveries.
You can try to subscribe again, but putting your e-mail in the “subscribe” textbox at the right…you need to reply to the confirmation e-mail you receive to finalize the set up.
2. Workday. We’ll be hosting a workday next Sunday, July 26 from 3-6 pm. This is a totally optional thing…but if you’d like to get your hands dirty and see the farm up close and personal, please come out. A workday is pretty common with CSAs. We’ll be doing general weeding–what I call hand-to-hand combat this time of year, row-by-row. At 6 we’ll be supply a light supper. Please e-mail or call to let me know if you plan on coming to plan for supper.
Directions to farm…we’re halfway between Vergas and Pelican Rapids on Highway 4. 6 mi west of Vergas, turn right onto 275th ave. 8 miles east of Pelican, turn left onto 275th ave.
-Ryan.