CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Thursday, September 27, 2007

What does the last week of September hold for the Lancaster Farm Fresh share?

6 red slicing tomatoes grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
½ lb. bunch edamame beans grown by Elm Tree Organics
4 red onions grown by Green Acres
1 bunch rutabaga tops grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 head escarole or 1 head radicchio grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
5 lbs. potatoes grown by Farmdale Organics
2 spaghetti squash grown by Elm Tree Organics

Apparently, we were also supposed to get either a bag of beets or a bag of green beans, but something went awry.  The LFF rep tells us that she’ll be giving us an extra vegetable in two weeks to make up for it.

I was surprised to see more tomatoes in the share.  Sure, we’re still pulling them off the vines in the garden, but I just got it in my head that there would be no more tomatoes.

It’s exciting to see edamame coming my way - I didn’t grow any in my garden this year.  And I’m thrilled to see a couple of spaghetti squash.  It’s a vegetable I haven’t really used very often in my cooking, and I’m delighted to sort of be forced into some experimenting!

It took fervent googling last night to figure out the uses of rutabaga tops.  Have you ever seen those for sale in the market?  I haven’t.  But I discovered that rutabaga tops can be eaten raw, an addition to salad greens.  Or they can be cooked like greens or treated like spinach - and I found a specific recommendation to cook them like collard greens.  I just happen to have some smoked pork neck bones in my freezer, so I could definitely cook up a mess of greens with those rutabaga tops...providing the ‘bunch’ is big enough.

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

This week’s share:

Plum tomatoes- some were damaged when I brought them home.
Nordello peppers- new to me. Described as mildly hot.
Turnips- these are mild, almost potato-like in their consistency and flavor.
Leeks- made roasted leeks last week, which were delicious.
Mustard greens- pungent. Not sure what I’ll do with these yet.
Flat-leaf parsley

CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Autumn is here. Happy fall equinox!

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

Is that an amazingly colorful and diverse share, or what?

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Lots of greens in the box this week though some were the tops of other veggies. This week’s share contained

1 bok choy
1 bunch radishes
1 bunch red kale
3 largish turnips
quart of green beans
1 bunch leeks
1 head radicchio

I don’t have any interesting plans for most of the greens, but they’ll all get eaten. Half of the radishes made it into a tabouli salad I brought to a party. The radicchio is going onto a Gouda and Red Salad Pizza recipe I found at Epicurious. I don’t know what to do with turnips, though my America’s Test Kitchen cook book tells me they’re best roasted. I may just freeze them and save them for later.

Does anyone have any interesting bok choy recipes?

Can you do anything with radish greens or should I just let my son feed them to the pig around the corner?

CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Thursday, September 20, 2007

It’s only a few days from officially being Autumn - does this week’s share from Lancaster Farm Fresh reflect that?  Sort of.  At least the tomatoes and corn have stopped coming in fast and furious, which is a sure sign that Summer is over!

This weeks share includes:

1 bunch German parlait radishes grown by Meadow Valley Organics
1 bunch daikon radishes grown by Elm Tree Organics
1 head radicchio grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 head leaf lettuce grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
2 lb. bag beets grown by Farmdale Organics
3 eggplants grown by Riverview Organics
1/2 lb. young kale grown by Elm Tree Organics
1 butternut squash grown by Hillside Organics

I’m a little bummed out the eggplants are those teeny baby ones - I had visions in my head of making a meal out of them.  What do you do with a couple of very small eggplant?  I don’t know - this is why I stopped growing them in the garden.

I plan to roast and freeze the squash and beets, and blanch and freeze the kale.  I’ll be using the radicchio in a pasta bake, and I’m trying something new with the Daikon tonight for dinner (a full report on that later).  There’s not much you can do with regular radishes except nibble on them as snacks, is there?  I don’t know, I was thinking I might try pickling them or making radish relish.  The lettuce?  I hate to say it, but it will probably just end up as fodder for the compost pile - we still haven’t eaten last week’s lettuce and I already preserved insane amounts of lettuce in the Spring as cream of lettuce soup (minus the cream, frozen).  With just three or four weeks left in the CSA season, I seriously hope the shares don’t devolve into masses of lettuce - what a let down that would be!

CSA Weekly Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

SWEET POTATOES!

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

Aren’t sweet potatoes the best? I’m always on the lookout for high alkaline veggies that my son likes. Who am I kidding. I’m always on the lookout for any veggies that he’ll even tolerate.

He’s the king of broccoli, he loves steamed carrots and can knock back quite a bit of raw red peppers and cucumbers with some hummus. All of this is great, but when it comes to switching things up and trying something new or different, he uncharacteristically hesitates.

This is the same child who will, and often does, skateboard off flights of stairs.

Sweet potato was one of the surprises that came with our CSA subscription last year. It’s certainly not an uncommon vegetable, but, like leeks, it was one that I never really considered while shopping at the market. Hm, and I wonder why my son won’t give kale a chance? I suppose we’re all creatures of habit to a certain degree.

Lucky for both of us, Blooming Glen introduced our kitchen to the sweet potato. This root vegetable is high in fiber, vitamin B6 (especially nice for a vegetarian or vegan) and potassium, and is a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C and manganese. And better than all that? It’s dang tasty and can be prepared quickly.

Certainly there is much more exotic produce a CSA will bring into your home, but it seems that simple and everyday once again reign supreme in the local diet

CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Just a few more weeks left in the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA program!  This week we’re treated to sweet potatoes and daikon radishes, two things we’ve not seen in the shares this year.  Alas, this week also heralds the return of lettuce.  While it’s lovely lettuce, indeed, my heart broke just a little to see it.

This is what’s in this week’s share:

1 bunch of daikon radishes from Elm Tree Organics
1 5lb bag of red norland potatoes from Green Valley Organics
1 head of red leaf lettuce from Scarecrow Hill Organics
8 red slicing tomatoes from Countryside Organics or Scarecrow Hill Organics
1 bag of sweet stuffing peppers from Meadow Valley Organics
1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard from Meadow Valley Organics
1 3lb bag of beauregard sweet potatoes from Busy Bee Acres

The stuffing peppers are really tiny little things.  They might be good baked and stuffed with tuna.  My husband has already laid claim to the sweet potatoes - he demands sweet potato fries!

It’s the radishes that I’ve got plans for, though.  It will become kimchi, something I’ve been craving recently.  Coincidentally, I found an interesting-looking recipe that calls for the addition of mustard greens.  I do believe I can substitute swiss chard for that. Fun!

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

This week’s share:

Pimiento peppers (new to me)
Chioggia beets
Leeks
Green beans
Swiss chard (young, tender, and not bitter)
Sungold cherry tomatoes (not shown-- to be roasted for a pasta sauce)
Gala apples (from buying club)

CSA Weekly Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

It’s mid-September and so the board list is getting shorter:

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

Congratulations and celebrations to Blooming Glen founders and farmers, Tom and Tricia, who are getting married this weekend. Lots of love and peace to you both! <3

CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Thursday, September 06, 2007

In this week’s Lancaster Farm Fresh share:

3 red bell peppers grown by Meadow Valley Organics
6 heirloom tomatoes grown by Riverview Organics
1 pt grape tomatoes grown by Farmdale Organics
3 lbs Russet potatoes grown by Green Valley Organics
6 ears sweet corn grown by Countryside Organics
1 pound onions grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
2 butternut squash grown by Hillside Organics
1 bunch basil grown by E. Zook
1 bunch Swiss chard grown by Meadow Valley Organics

It’s a relief to see the butternut squash, and the other Winter squash we’ve been getting over the last few weeks.  I hope that as September rolls on, we see many different vegetables.  I love tomatoes, corn, and peppers as much as anyone else, but I’m overrun.  I’m sick to death of looking at them.  I’m pulling a dozen huge tomatoes out of my own garden every week, let alone getting inundated every week through my CSA share.  I’m going to start smelling like tomatoes soon.  Not that it’s a bad thing necessarily, but I fear for my sanity.

And so I will do what I have done for the last many weeks with the corn, peppers, and tomatoes.  The peppers will get roasted and frozen for a rainy day.  I’ll cook the corn, remove the kernels, and freeze them...and I will have a huge abundance of corn over the Winter for corn chowder, corn fritters, and creamed corn.  In addition to my oven-dried tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, canned tomatoes, frozen tomatoes, salsa, bruschetta, tomato sauce, etc., I will seek out yet another way to preserve tomatoes.  I will be the Pvt. Benjamin Buford ‘Bubba’ Blue of corn and tomatoes, able to tell you every imaginable way to serve corn and every imaginable way to preserve tomatoes.  People will run from me.

I shouldn’t complain - it will be wonderful in the middle of Winter to have so much locally grown food in my pantry. 

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Today’s Red Earth Share contained

1 quart of Yukon Gold potatoes
1 quart of green snap beans
1/2 pint of cherry and grape tomatoes mixed
quart of mixed bell peppers
4 heads of garlic
1 bunch of swiss chard
1 head of red summer crisp lettuce

and from the buying club

1 block of Oak Shade cheddar
1 block of Oak Shade smoked cheddar

My friend Jen, who I was splitting the share with, became overwhelmed by all of the produce once she started grad school and suggested that instead of splitting the share equally I take 7 items and she take 3. I thought about making it seem like a hardship just to give her a hard time, but I’m actually thrilled. This means less to buy at the farmer’s market each week. It also means I need to stop slacking and start cooking more. I’ve still got a bunch of leeks left over from last week as well as four poblano peppers. I bought a quart of potatoes from the farmer’s market last week without remembering I’d be getting more today and haven’t used those yet either.

Any suggestions for something to do with the leeks that isn’t leek and potato soup? How about any good Chiles Rellenos recipes to use up the poblanos?

CSA Weekly Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

"No more flowers :( “ says Tricia.

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

Please advise!  Anyone have any idea what to do with that funky sunshine winter squash? 

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

This week’s haul:
Nectarines (from Buying Club)
Green Zebra tomatoes-- new variety for me. A bit tart, but juicy.
A colorful assortment of bell peppers
Garlic
Italian Basil
Radishes

CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Upon hearing that another dozen ears of corn would be present in the CSA share from Lancaster Farm Fresh today, I immediately set out to Williams-Sonoma to get my hands on their corn zipper gadget.  For the last few weeks I’ve been using a knife to cut the kernels off cobs of corn, but the corn goes all over the place.  After cutting kernels off of a dozen cobs, my kitchen is positively littered with corn.  And while my dog certainly loves to perform her clean up duty, I hate to lose all that corn.  Alas, Williams-Sonoma was out of the zipper, but had something better: the Good Grips corn stripper.  It’s sound like a rural burlesque show or something, but the stripper has a container that catches the corn as it’s removed from the cob.  I fully expect to be blissfully happy as I process this corn tonight.

That was a little off the subject, but yes, there were a dozen ears of sweet corn grown by Green Acres Organics in today’s Lancaster Farm Fresh share.  Additionally, there was:

• 3 red bell peppers grown by Meadow Valley Organics
• 6 red slicing tomatoes grown by Countryside Organics
• 2 heirloom tomatoes grown by Riverview Organics
• 1 spaghetti squash grown by Elm Tree Organics
• 1 pound onions grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
• 2 delicata squash grown by Green Valley Organics
• 3 pound bag potatoes grown by Busy Bee Acres or Elm Tree Organics
• One of the following items: 1 bunch escarole grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm, 2 eggplant grown by Riverview Organics, or 1 bunch parsley grown by the Back 40 Ranch (I was lucky enough to get the eggplant)

I am particularly excited to see the spaghetti squash, which I plan to bake and combine with cheese (because everything is better with cheese!).

Coincidentally, I’m told by our site manager that there were supposed to be extra vegetables in the share this week to make up for being shorted a watermelon two weeks ago.  Alas, nothing extra.

CSA Weekly Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Whew.  After our Rhode Island vacation, it seems we’re finally getting back into the swing of things over here.  Readjusting to schedules and responsibilities is always a little slow moving, especially after spending two weeks in a tent at the beach.  We’ve been… resistant, I’ll say.  I’m happy to report, the vibrant colors at Blooming Glen really softened the CSA pick-up duties this week.

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

The peppers are out of this world, and I’m quite excited to have received garlic this year.  Pictured is a German White variety, next to some yellow onions.  As one might imagine, we’ve been making some mean stir fries in Souderton lately. 

If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check out this great newspaper article, ”New crop of farmers comes with college degrees, no farming past” (The Intelligencer, Aug. 25), which features the Blooming Glen farmers, Tricia and Tom.