News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 1
2008 Week 1
This week’s share includes:
1 bunch asparagus- A small bunch to whet your appetite. Could someone order up some warm, sunny days please? I would love for our plants to start growing vigorously. After last fall’s success of roasting Brussels sprouts, I tried roasting our asparagus this spring. It was a Slam Dunk!! Roasting caramelized the sugars in the asparagus, and it melts in your mouth. See below for my recipe. To preserve, just wash, cut into pieces, blanch for 2 minutes and freeze.
1 bunch rhubarb- We’ve removed the leaves, as only the stalks are edible. They can be used in breads, pies, jellies, tarts and added to many fruit-based recipes (adding a bit more sugar), even lemonade! Or just cut in 1-inch pieces and freeze raw and mix with mid-summer fruits.
1 bunch mint- My favorite addition to Lemon Zinger iced tea, or any hot teas. It also repels ants, I’ve been told.
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch lilacs – a surprise addition to this week’s share. I know my CSA members “get” that the season starts slow, but I wanted to have a bigger share this week. I hope your house smells as wonderful as mine tonight! Best guess for next week – Asparagus, greens (spinach and/or lettuce and/or arugula), an herb (maybe oregano), lovage, mint.
Welcome to the 2008 Windy Willow Farm CSA! We’re so exited to begin our season and to get to know our members. We’ve been working diligently to prepare our farm and crops for a bountiful season.
We’ve moved and renovated our CSA/farm stand space. We’re now located on the right side of the garage, with dedicated/professional market tables, making setup and cleanup easier. I won’t miss setting up our market tables every week! The only setback is that we’ll be set up inside the entire season, which will protect our tender veggies, but who wants to chat in a gloomy garage? I’ll have plenty of chairs set up outside so we can chat and catch up.
The garden(s) have been planted with our first and second succession plantings. We have to continuously plant certain crops to make sure we have a steady supply of good stuff to share with you. These include spinach, arugula, cilantro, peas and lettuce mix. Some crops are planted once and we’re able to harvest from these all season, such as beets, Swiss chard and carrots.
The warm weather we had in April tricked us into thinking that spring had sprung and that the cold weather was behind us. We were able to get early crops into the ground (after spreading compost, plowing and tilling the soil), but am still waiting for the warmer weather to arrive! It seems we have a frost almost every morning. Because of this, most of our crops are covered by row cover. Row covers allow sunlight and rain through to the plants, but provide a greenhouse effect, warming the plants, protecting them from bugs and wind. They give us about four degrees of frost protection. We need some warmer weather to see aggressive plant growth.
We’re looking forward to meeting all of our new members this week! During pickups, please park either in the parking area near the garage, or along the road and walk in. Feel free to stay awhile and chat, or have your kids play supervised on our playset.
Thanks for your enthusiastic support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde
© Gwen Hyde 2008
Gwen’s Roasted Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
Olive Oil
Coarse sea salt
Snap the tough ends off of the asparagus and toss with olive oil. Arrange on a flat baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes, or until tender (stick a fork in the fattest ones to test). I’ve roasted them without rearranging partway through baking and seen no difference from when I’ve just left them alone, so turn if you feel the need. Enjoy!
Rhubarb Crumb Bars (from www.rhubarbinfo.com)
Ingredients: Top and bottom "crust"
1 bunch asparagus- A small bunch to whet your appetite. Could someone order up some warm, sunny days please? I would love for our plants to start growing vigorously. After last fall’s success of roasting Brussels sprouts, I tried roasting our asparagus this spring. It was a Slam Dunk!! Roasting caramelized the sugars in the asparagus, and it melts in your mouth. See below for my recipe. To preserve, just wash, cut into pieces, blanch for 2 minutes and freeze.
1 bunch rhubarb- We’ve removed the leaves, as only the stalks are edible. They can be used in breads, pies, jellies, tarts and added to many fruit-based recipes (adding a bit more sugar), even lemonade! Or just cut in 1-inch pieces and freeze raw and mix with mid-summer fruits.
1 bunch mint- My favorite addition to Lemon Zinger iced tea, or any hot teas. It also repels ants, I’ve been told.
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch lilacs – a surprise addition to this week’s share. I know my CSA members “get” that the season starts slow, but I wanted to have a bigger share this week. I hope your house smells as wonderful as mine tonight! Best guess for next week – Asparagus, greens (spinach and/or lettuce and/or arugula), an herb (maybe oregano), lovage, mint.
Welcome to the 2008 Windy Willow Farm CSA! We’re so exited to begin our season and to get to know our members. We’ve been working diligently to prepare our farm and crops for a bountiful season.
We’ve moved and renovated our CSA/farm stand space. We’re now located on the right side of the garage, with dedicated/professional market tables, making setup and cleanup easier. I won’t miss setting up our market tables every week! The only setback is that we’ll be set up inside the entire season, which will protect our tender veggies, but who wants to chat in a gloomy garage? I’ll have plenty of chairs set up outside so we can chat and catch up.
The garden(s) have been planted with our first and second succession plantings. We have to continuously plant certain crops to make sure we have a steady supply of good stuff to share with you. These include spinach, arugula, cilantro, peas and lettuce mix. Some crops are planted once and we’re able to harvest from these all season, such as beets, Swiss chard and carrots.
The warm weather we had in April tricked us into thinking that spring had sprung and that the cold weather was behind us. We were able to get early crops into the ground (after spreading compost, plowing and tilling the soil), but am still waiting for the warmer weather to arrive! It seems we have a frost almost every morning. Because of this, most of our crops are covered by row cover. Row covers allow sunlight and rain through to the plants, but provide a greenhouse effect, warming the plants, protecting them from bugs and wind. They give us about four degrees of frost protection. We need some warmer weather to see aggressive plant growth.
We’re looking forward to meeting all of our new members this week! During pickups, please park either in the parking area near the garage, or along the road and walk in. Feel free to stay awhile and chat, or have your kids play supervised on our playset.
Thanks for your enthusiastic support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde
© Gwen Hyde 2008
Gwen’s Roasted Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
Olive Oil
Coarse sea salt
Snap the tough ends off of the asparagus and toss with olive oil. Arrange on a flat baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes, or until tender (stick a fork in the fattest ones to test). I’ve roasted them without rearranging partway through baking and seen no difference from when I’ve just left them alone, so turn if you feel the need. Enjoy!
Rhubarb Crumb Bars (from www.rhubarbinfo.com)
Ingredients: Top and bottom "crust"
1 cup flour3/4 cup oatmeal (uncooked)
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup butter, (melted)
Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 Tbls flour
1/4 teas nutmeg
1 Tbls butter (softened)
1 egg (beaten)
2 cups rhubarb (cut into 1/2" pieces)
Procedure:
Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and butter until crumbly. Press 1/2 into greased 9" square pan. Add rhubarb. Beat egg. Blend sugar, flour, nutmeg and butter. Add beaten egg, beat until smooth. Pour over rhubarb. Top with other half crumb mixture, press mixture down lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and butter until crumbly. Press 1/2 into greased 9" square pan. Add rhubarb. Beat egg. Blend sugar, flour, nutmeg and butter. Add beaten egg, beat until smooth. Pour over rhubarb. Top with other half crumb mixture, press mixture down lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
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