News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 3This week’s share includes:

1 bunch asparagus
1 bag mesclun
1 bag arugula
1 bunch oregano – A fragrant herb, a little goes a long way. To dry any herb, I recommend my patented car-drying technique: hang upside down from your rear-view window on a hot, sunny day. The result is a beautifully dried bunch of herbs as well as a fragrant car! Or, store with cut ends in water in the refrigerator.
1 bunch radishes – Most are baby sized, but beautifully colored. The variety is called “Easter Egg” with radishes featured in lavender, red, purple, pink and white. A spicy addition to your salad.
1 bag spinach – A wonderful, nutritious green great for salads or cooked dishes. To freeze, wilt in boiling water, plunge into cold water, pat dry and bag.
1 bunch chives – All parts are edible, including the flowers.
1 bunch rhubarb – the last we’ll see of this in a while.

Best guess for next week – Asparagus, head lettuce, garlic scapes.

We were wondering why the sweet corn germination out in our orchard garden has been so poor. We dug down to look for the seed, to see if it rotted or still had yet to germinate. We found very little seed, and realized that there were already little holes in the soil, about every 2 inches, exactly the spacing we used to plant. The local crows have been busy in the field, eating much of our seed!! (Frankly, it’s a good meal for them, since the corn kernels haven’t been treated with fungicide or other chemicals. But I digress.) I was outraged! I loaded up 20 tomato stakes, stapled mylar ribbon on the top and pounded them every 50 feet or so, down the field. The sight of them flapping in the wind in addition to the loud roaring noise will (hopefully) scare them away. I believe it’s solved the crow problem (though I’m sure to go out there to find a crow perching on the top of each post), but now have a neighbor problem. The sunlight flashing on the ribbon catches the eye of passers-by, causing traffic to pause on the road!

This week has been a busy weed-control week: I hilled 1000 feet of potatoes out in the orchard field. Hilling serves a triple purpose: to provide weed control for the growing potatoes, to cover the potatoes with additional soil to avoid greening and to protect the greens from potato beetles. I literally cover each plant up to it’s neck, leaving out an inch or so of leaves to continue growing. Two days later, they’ve all grown a few inches, to reach back again out of the soil.

I also weeded our new strawberry planting, using my new favorite tool: a hoe weeder. I have several hoes, each shaped a bit differently. This one is shaped like a half circle, with a sharp edge at the widest part. I found that if I hold it upright, I can get good weed control while only disturbing the top half inch of soil.

We recently completed a farm building reorganization. This included moving storage from the milk house (small concrete building) to the milk room (between the two barns) and moving our feed storage to the barns as well. During this process we salvaged the old milk room’s double sink. (The milk room historically housed a large milk bulk tank as well, when the farm was a dairy). I can imagine the activity around the sink, from twice-daily milking of a large dairy herd. I’ve cleaned the sink like crazy: power washing, scrubbing with steel wool and sanitizing. It is now my two-stage greens washing sink, complete with a drain to keep the water from soaking my feet. With the addition of a 5-gallon salad spinner, we’re improving our efficiency of greens cleaning. We hope you’re enjoying them.

Thanks for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde


Arugula, Mushroom, and Radish Salad (from http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=10037)
Ingredients:

2 lrg Bunch arugula, coarse stems discarded and the leaves washed well and spun dry (about 8 packed cups)
2 cup Thinly sliced mushrooms
1 cup Shredded radish
3 tbl Olive oil
1 1/2 tbl Fresh lemon juice
Parmesan curls formed with a vegetable peeler

Method:
In a large bowl combine the arugula, the mushrooms, and the radish, drizzle the oil over the salad, and toss the salad gently. Sprinkle the salad with the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, toss it, and serve it topped with the Parmesan.

Serves 4 to 6.

Asparagus Almandine: (from http://www.asparagusrecipes.net/asparagus-almandine.html)
2 lb of fresh asparagus.
¼ cup of slivered almonds.
¼ cup of butter.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
½ teaspoon of salt.

Cook the asparagus; then drain. Melt the butter in a skillet. Cook the almonds over a low heat, stirring frequently, until they turn golden brown (takes about five mins). Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and the salt. Pour over hot asparagus. Serve.

Mesclun and Mango Salad with Ginger Carrot Dressing

Submitted by: JENNIFER HARMAN
Rated: 4 out of 5 by 20 members Prep Time: 20 Minutes Ready In: 20 Minutes
Yields: 4 servings
"Mixed baby greens and diced mango are topped with a tangy dressing."
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh
ginger
1 tablespoon shredded carrot 1/4 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 pound mixed baby greens
1 mango - peeled, seeded and
diced
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, mix rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, carrot, and lime juice.
2. In a medium bowl, toss rice vinegar mixture with baby greens and mango. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.