Week 6: July 24, 2017

So what’s happening on the farm this week?
Week 6: It’s all growing. In it’s own time, but its growing. Your bags will be heavy this week with curcubit and brassica family veggies. Our second and third planting of lettuce is looking great – we should have it next week or the week after again. The Broccoli is bodacious and we were excited to pick it for you all today. The cabbage is the size of a child’s head! The green beans are getting there – hopefully next Monday we will have those – we need to finish weeding them. We were going to weed them today but you can not touch bean plants when they are wet or they will spread a rust fungus to the beans. The basil this week will have little holes in it from a leave miner bug – it looks like just these first leaves have it – perfectly perfect to eat – just not 100 percent perfect looking.
We would like to thank all the gracious volunteers over the last few weeks that helped get a lot of crops in the ground 🙂 We would normally have potatoes right now but the weather this spring was not conducive to that so instead we will have potatoes late august through October. We should have scallions next week. Our planting schedule is all out of whack – but its all getting in and producing – just in different time table. Farming is resilience. Farming is patience. Farming is not for the fate of heart. I am glad we have a few years of farming under our belt – to be able to take a breathe and get perspective. Don’t get me wrong – we still stress out and worry if we will have enough – who doesn’t? But we can see the forest for the trees- melons and corn taste just in good in late august/september as they do in july. A couple of years ago – we had the best and most plentiful Sweet Corn in..October.
We got to go to the Farm to Ballet Performance at Shelburne Farms – It was amazing – they are coming back on August 13 and we highly recommend itJ
Slowly but surely, we are catching up..Thanks for being here with us on this strange ride of a growing seasonJ
We look forward to farming with you this season.
Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie, Delia and Kristen
 
For CSA members who ordered chicken: We will have chicken ready to be picked up on Friday and Saturday fresh – either at the farm or at the Grand Isle Farmers Market. Or you can wait for the next round next month. _ please let me know if you would like this option
What’s in the share this week:
This list is what is in a full share this week. Things may change between Monday and Thursday and Individual and Salad share will get differing amounts and may not get everything on the list. Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Zucchini and/or Summer Squash, pickling cukes, slicing cukes, baby garlic, basil
Eggs for sale We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown eggs– with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen. The eggs are $6.00 a dozen. $3.00 half dozen
**CERTIFIED ORGANIC whole CHICKEN AVAILABLE**

Recipes:

Sadie’s 2nd Place 4h Franklin County Field Day Award Winning Chocolate Chip Zucchini Farmers’ Market Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour*
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
5 cups (packed) grated zucchini
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard loaf pan with butter or spray together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and eggs for 2 minutes either by hand with a whisk or at medium speed in an electric mixer. Stir in the vanilla.’
2. Add cinnamon and ground ginger to the dry ingredients. After beating the butter/sugar/egg mixture for two minutes, add zucchini and mix for an additional 30 seconds.
3. Using a larger rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Turn into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until top springs back when lightly pressed and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely.
*You can sub in King Arthurs 1:1 gluten free flour mix and it’s delicious

Dill Refrigerator Pickles from rodales organic gardening

Yield: 1 quart
5 medium cucumbers
1 tablespoon pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt (but not iodized table salt)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water 1 head dill or small bunch dill leaves or 1 tbl dill seed or 1 tbl pickling spice
1 clove garlic (optional)
3 black peppercorns (optional)
1. For the crunchiest pickles, select firm, dark-green pickling cucumbers that have not started to ripen to white or yellow. Cut them into spears or slices, as desired. To increase the crunchiness, you can sprinkle the cut cucumbers with a couple of tablespoons of salt, let them sit for 2 hours, and then rinse and drain before proceeding, but this step isn’t absolutely necessary.
2. Place the dill in the bottom of a clean quart jar, peel and crush the garlic clove (if using), and drop that in along with the peppercorns (if using), then put in the cut cucumber. Mix the salt, vinegar, and water in a separate container, stirring until the salt is dissolved, then pour it over the cucumbers, filling the jar right to the top. Pop on the lid and put the jar in the fridge.
Sweet Refrigerator Pickles
Yield: 1 quart
3 cups sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onions
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced (optional)
1 tablespoon pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt
1 cup cider vinegar
1 ¾ cup white sugar or ⅞ cup honey to taste
1 tablespoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon celery seed
2 cloves, whole
1. Prepare jar and veggies as for dill pickles. Combine the remaining ingredients in a stainless steel saucepan, bring them to a boil, and simmer until the sugar or honey is dissolved.2. Put the veggies into the jar and pour the vinegar mixture over them, stirring to make sure all veggies come in contact with it. Cover and refrigerate.
Reuse Refrigerator Pickle Juice
Last, but not least: After you chase down the last (homemade or store-bought) pickle in the jar, STOP—don’t dump that juice! It’s all ready and waiting (and in a jar already, no less) for another batch of refrigerator pickles. Just slice or chop up fresh veggies and drop them into the jar. The pickle juice should completely cover the veggies. If it doesn’t, take out some of the veggies or add a bit of vinegar, and shake. Screw on the lid and put it back in the fridge. Let the juice soak for a few days, and continue to reload the jar as long as the pickles’ flavor continues to please you.
Broccoli Greens Recipes – just in case they are still hanging out in your crisper drawer 😉
Sauteed Broccoli Greens:
ingredients
· 2 cup Broccoli Greens, cooked (which is about 15 large raw leaves)
· 1/4 cup Green Onion, chopped
· 5 sprigs fresh Rosemary, minced
· 2 cloves Garlic, minced
· 2 Tbsp Bacon Grease
· 1 tsp Salt and Pepper, to taste
Process
1. Wash broccoli greens and remove stems (including the primary vein bisecting the leaves).Tear broccoli leaves into small pieces, chop green onion, mince garlic and rosemary.Heat the bacon grease in a large soup pot or french oven over medium high heat.Saute green onion and garlic for 2 minutes, then add the broccoli greens and rosemary. Saute for 10-15 minutes, stirring often – it will be finished when the garlic and onions soften and the broccoli greens are wilted.
Broccoli Leaf and Garlic Noodles
1 bunch fresh broccoli leaves (about 3 cups chopped)
2 servings of your favorite pasta (spaghetti, penne, vegan, gluten free…..)
8 or so fresh garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
lemon (optional)
parmesan cheese (optional)
Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add in pasta and cook per instructions on box. While pasta is cooking, mined garlic and add to a skillet with the oil. Place on a burner on medium heat and cook and stir until the garlic becomes fragrant. Chop the broccoli leaves (stems and all) into bit sized pieces and add to the garlic oil and toss around to wilt the leaves. Squeeze in some lemon juice. Once the pasta is done cooking, remove a few tablespoons of the starchy water and strain the pasta. Add the water and the noodles to the skillet, toss to evenly coat the pasta and call it down. Serve in a bowl or on a plate, topped with freshly chopped tomatoes and parmesan cheese if you so shall please and another little squeeze of lemon juice if you like.

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