News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 15

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 15

This week’s share includes:

2 heads garlic
2 sweet onions – One each, red and white.
1 Qt red potatoes
3 Qt tomatoes
1 bunch carrots – I attempted to dig our Sugarsnax carrots again, with mixed success. They are tasty, but may not be the most attractive carrots ever!3 sweet peppers, two bell and one Carmine
1 bunch beets Several members have requested extra beets, showing that once again they are a favorite!
3 leeks – these are a mild allium, and give great flavor to your favorite recipes. They are challenging to clean, however, as the dirt gets down into the flat leaves. Cut off the roots and the leaves and slice and wash the rest of the stem. I use the entire thing, both white and light green parts. Many recipes call for just the white part.
2 heads Buttercrunch lettuce: one green, one red- These are not the biggest heads of lettuce that we’ve grown; but the deer are taking out close to 20 heads every night. I thought I’d share these with you before there are none to share!
2 eggplant: one light purple and one dark

Best guess for next week –peppers, swiss chard, onions, hot peppers, lettuce

Photo Captions: Mark and I did a marathon canning day this past weekend, putting up 25 quarts of pizza sauce and 36 quarts of spaghetti sauce. We still need to do our canning salsa and some more spaghetti sauce, but we’re almost done preserving tomatoes for the winter.

One of my favorite farm sayings is, “Make hay while the sun shines” and I try to follow that advice. These days the only time I can find to ride my horse is early in the morning. This week I was up early, did the animal chores and was swinging into the saddle at5:15 am. It is a surreal experience, to ride in the dark. It’s hard to find your equilibrium, and even harder to see where you’re going! Thankfully Zack has better night vision than I, although he routinely mistook a clump of grass for a horse-eating monster.

However, when we spotted something black in one of our far fields, he wasn’t concerned in the least. I decided we should go investigate, to see if it was going to be something that would eventually spook him. About 15 feet away, I finally figured out that there was white on the black, and the skunk started to lift his tail! I quickly turned Zack and started squeezing him with my legs to get him to move faster. For once in his life, he wasn’t spooked by the skunk, and sauntered away. Luckily, we didn’t get sprayed and continued our ride without incident. We enjoyed riding in the mist-shrouded fields and watched the sun come up over the fields together.

It looks like I have bad news to report on the sweet corn front: the raccoons have all but decimated our sweet corn, and it’s not even ripe yet! Mark suggested putting up fences, but with 500-foot rows, it would be all but impossible to protect. I’m going to put my energies into protecting what’s left of our fall lettuce, from the deer, an endeavor more easily accomplished.

Eat what you can, can what you can’t.
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Gwen’s Kitchen Sink soup
Essentially an amalgam of Potato/Leek soup mixed with Broccoli/Cheese soup with added wild rice and barley. I do no measuring, and adjust the flavors by taste.

Here are the ingredients:
Chopped onions, minced garlic, sliced leeks all sautéed together in some olive oil and a pat of butter in a big stock pot. Then I add as much water as I can fit in the pot, 8-12 quarts, vegetable bullion, cubed potatoes, wild rice, barley, carrots, frozen broccoli florettes, salt, pepper and a few frozen sun gold tomatoes. I cook it forever, on a low simmer, stirring often. The potatoes should fall apart as well as the broccoli. Before it’s done, I throw in a few healthy handfuls of cheddar cheese and taste again to adjust the seasoning. Very simple and awesome. I also freeze it in big containers for wintertime enjoyment.

Many folks have expressed concern that they “can’t make soup!” Soup is essentially sautéing some onions, and adding water! Then throw in whatever you have around, vegetables, meat or bones and cook until the flavors come out. (When cooking bones for a soup, I add a tablespoon of vinegar to get the marrow out). Then salt and pepper to taste. Anyone can make a great soup.

Roasted Beets with Feta - Allrecipes

Submitted by: ShandeenRated: 5 out of 5 by 27 members
Prep Time: 15 MinutesCook Time: 45 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour 15 MinutesYields: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
4 beets, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil, and place onto a baking sheet.
2.Bake beets in preheated oven until easily pierced with a fork, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once done, remove from oven, and allow to cool until you can handle them. Peel beets, and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
3.While the beets are roasting, whisk together shallot, parsley, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar in a bowl until blended; season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.
4.To assemble the dish, place the warm, sliced beets onto a serving dish, pour vinaigrette over the beets, and sprinkle with feta cheese before serving.