Windy Willow Farm

What's Fresh at WWF?

2009-06-16T05:01:00.004-04:00

Hello from the fields of your local, chemical-free farm! We've been busy, fighting with the weeds that have been enjoying our daily doses of rain, and picking piles and piles of fabulous vegetables and fruits.

This week we're picking:
- Strawberries!! Strawberries!! I have been repeatedly told that my berries are the most delicious, the most sweet berries at the market. They are not as gorgeous as the ones who've been sprayed multiple times, but they are fabulous.
- Broccoli!! This is the first picking of our perfect heads of broccoli. This broccoli is so sweet that my kids eat it raw, right in the field. It is so dark green it's almost blue, and packed full of wonderful nutrients. Buy enough to freeze for winter enjoyment.
- Lettuce!! We are picking the most gorgeous heads of lettuce - Buttercrunch, Red Buttercrunch, Romaine and Tropicana green leaf (you know, that frilly, huge head of bright green lettuce). They are big and tender and sweet and I have tons of them ripening right now.
- Swiss Chard! My gorgeous rainbow stalks of Swiss Chard are coming on strong. My favorite thing about cooking with Swiss Chard is that the stalks retain their beautiful colors and that you use the entire stalk, nothing is thrown out. My favorite pasta recipe with Swiss Chard is a huge crowd pleaser. My customers tell me I'm so brilliant to get their kids eating Swiss Chard with this recipe.
- Spinach! My dark green, velvety leaves of spinach are going strong. We pick them by hand, not with our greens cutter, so each leaf is perfect.
- Salad greens! A gorgeous mix of green and red lettuces mixed generously with arugula, tatsoi, mizuna, mustards and red Russian kale.
- Turnips! I've been checking the turnips every week, and finally yesterday I see that they've bulbed. These are the mild, purple top, white globe variety and they are beautiful. I'll be bringing stacks of them to my markets.
- Garlic Scapes! These are just starting to make their presence known in the garden, and must be pulled so that the garlic bulb can make a nice fat head. We use them just like garlic or onions, and are excellent ground up into cream cheese for a refreshing spread.
-Radishes! The crimson bulbs on these babies are so gorgeous, I had customers fighting about them at one market last week! They just flew off the table. These are great sliced in a salad, sauteed or dipped in salt (according to several customers. I'll have to try it this week.)

Please come and visit us at our local farmers' markets:

Thursdays: Ballston Spa, Wiswell Park, 3-6 pm
Saturdays: Gloversville, Pavillion west of Main St, 8-12 pm
Sundays: Schenectady, Jay Street, 10-2pm

I'll be looking for you!

Spring planting at WWF

2009-05-27T10:34:00.005-04:00

Hello from Windy Willow Farm! We are busy in the garden, planting our little hearts' out. We are outdoing ourselves and have doubled the size of our gardens from previous years. Above, I'm taking a break from potato planting, with the garlic behind, and the row covers on our crops make the neighbors curious as to what's growing in the garden.

We put out our tender plants, tomatoes and squash, earlier and earlier every year. We put up hoops and row covers to protect them from wind, bugs and frost. They allow light and rain through, but we don't take them off until the plants are pushing up on the fabric. It's a big like Christmas, to unwrap the garden and see what's been growing under the covers. However, they look like giant catepillars crawling across the gardens.

We've had some cold mornings, with frost, but didn't lose too many plants. I was worried we'd lose the entire strawberry crop, as the blossoms were in full bloom, and we hit 27 degrees. So far, so good, but we'll keep an eye on them.

Our worker share program is going along wonderfully! We all have a great time working in the garden, and the produce so far has been excellent: asparagus, chard, lettuce, spinach, rhubarb, pick-your-own herbs and a cucumber from the greenhouse. This week's share will be spinach, arugula, asparagus, lettuce and a couple of storage onions from last year's harvest. We've been planting, covering, picking, and weeding with our great helpers. Next week we need to hill the potatoes and do more weeding after this week's rain.

We've been at the Sunday Schenectady Greenmarket all year (10-2 on Jay Street) and will start at the Gloversville Pavillion this Saturday (8-12). June 11th is the first Thursday market in Ballston Spa (3-6 pm, Front Street). Hope to see you all there!

p.s. Here's my wish list: 1) wire hangers. We use wire hangers to secure our row covers and have used all we have. If you have any wire hangers to be rid of, let me know! I'll take them. 2) An upright washing machine. Are you replacing your old, energy inefficient washing machine? I'll take it! I need one in the barn for use on the spin cycle - it's a great, quick way to spin dry greens. Let me know if you have one to donate to the farm.

Spring "Cleaning" or the "Can The Kids Reach The Raspberries?" Pruning Method

2009-04-06T05:03:00.004-04:00

Some people take their curtains down and wash them. Some clean their windows. Others bring carpets outside and beat them with a big stick. Not me!

I prune raspberries.

It is a daunting task. We have row upon row of raspberries needing pruning. Some rows are 250 feet long. Some, out in our orchard garden, are 500 feet long. That's a lot of raspberries.

After several hours of pruning yesterday, I was called away. Upon my return, I resolved to finish my current row, since I thought I was almost done. With the optical illusion of a never ending row, I had only completed one-quarter of the row, in 3 hours. I re-focused on how great the pruned side of the row looked and got back to business.

I start with the 3 Ds: Dead, Damaged and Diseased. Once these are gone (cut right to the ground), I decide how wide I want the row. At this point, I picture my kids picking raspberries in the heat of summer. Will they be able to reach this one if this cane is in the way?

Then I thin. I cut any canes that thin and wispy. I cut any that are too close to another cane (how will the kids reach between the two?). I cut any that are leaning the wrong way. Then I stand up, brush the mud from the knees, and top off the canes, to about belt height. Then I take another good look. My goal is to have 6-8 healthy canes per running foot of raspberries. Lots of air between the canes, for picking space and circulation.

Now, here's the disclaimer. I'm not the world's best raspberry pruner. I probably cut a ton of stuff I shouldn't and don't cut stuff I should. I'm sure someone will look at my picture of my pruned raspberries and tell me all I'm doing wrong. But somehow, even with my annual pruning, we always have a bumper crop of raspberries, so something I'm doing is right! Maybe someday, Gwen's 'Can the kids reach it?' Raspberry Pruning Method will be all the rage.

I can't tell you how many times during the summer the kids have complained of being hungry and I've sent them to the raspberry patch for a snack. Or the time when Jason was just learning to walk, and getting stuck in the weeds, how Sarah pulled him along. Or when Sarah was picking for me, and in her sweet voice, "One for me, one for the bucket."

For now, I'm just pruning till I can't prune no more and imagining all those lush, sweet raspberries as big as my thumb. And one of my kids running up to me, waving a raspberry in my face, picked just for me.

That's what farming is all about.

Windy Willow Farm's 2009 Newsletter and Order Form

2009-01-27T09:07:00.001-05:00

Dear friends,

We hope that 2009 finds you well and enjoying the beginning of a fantastic year. We are busy planning our 2009 season and have big changes planned. What used to be quiet winters have become busy with constant greenhouse maintenance. We are amazed by the amount of snow we’ve received and remember winters’ past when we had snow covering the fields until April.

This is our first year with our new, 30’ x 48’ greenhouse! We have great plans for its use: over the winter, we grew spinach and greens right in the ground. We will utilize every inch of space, to start our vegetables early, and grow tomatoes, beans, eggplant and early vegetables. We anticipate that it will help us in bringing excellent produce to the market up to a month earlier.

Our Philosophy
Our family farm’s core belief is to practice and promote sustainable and organic agriculture. Although we are not certified organic, we follow the organic guidelines. We believe that both the land and our animals should be treated with respect and gentle care. We minimize off-farm inputs and maximize use of compost and natural pest control. The end result is a garden full of delicious produce, picked at the ripest, most nutritive moment; and healthy, robust animals.

We keep our animals healthy and happy by rotating them to fresh, lush and nutritious pastures and feeding them certified-organic grains. They don’t need medications, hormones or antibiotics. Healthy animals make the best meat: don’t forget that grassfed meats have been found to be lower in cholesterol and higher in amino acids and essential fatty acids.

We invite you to spend an hour or a day with us on the farm, to experience the best our land has to offer.

WWF Returns to Farmers Markets
As in years past, we’ve decided to focus on selling our produce at the local farmers market. This past season we participated in the Gloversville Farmers Market and were enthusiastically greeted by customers old and new. We are applying to attend the farmers market on Jay Street in downtown Schenectady, Thursdays, from 9-1 pm. Saturdays we plan to be in Gloversville at the wonderful new Pavilion west of Main Street from 9-12 pm. The markets begin in Mid May and run to the end of October. We hope to see you there.

In the meantime, we hope to shortly return to the Schenectady Greenmarket, held on Sundays from 10 am – 2 pm at the Proctor’s Robb Alley basement. With the short winter days, we couldn’t harvest much, but hope to be back at the market in February. The cold-hardy greens are starting to grow again in the greenhouse. We’ll be harvesting spinach and greens like claytonia, mizuna, mache and other greens for delicious winter salads.

CSA: Worker Shares
After five years of running a CSA from our farm, we have decided to change the way our CSA works. As much as we love the CSA philosophy, and sharing our farm with our customers, we are challenged to provide a quality CSA affordably.

This year, we will be offering a worker share only CSA. In exchange for a weekly 4-hour work commitment, you will receive a full share (20 weeks) of our harvest. We had several worker shares last year and really enjoyed the relationship. We think that especially in this time of financial crisis, the worker share program will help some families afford our fabulous vegetables. Please see below for more specific worker share information.

We have worker share openings on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Share pickups will be on Wednesday or Fridays, as agreed upon with the worker.

Grassfed Meats

Pork
We raise our pigs with the utmost of care and respect on our lush pastures. We purchase them as weanlings, and raise them on our rotated pastures until September. When the pigs are full-sized, we send them to our favorite butcher, who treats them with kindness and respect. The meat is cut, smoked and vacuum sealed to your specifications. Our customers rave about out pork; the meat is tender, juicy and flavorful. We also share with you cooking tips, since grassfed pork cooks differently from supermarket meat.

We continue to be challenged to keep farming affordable, as the price of our organic feed has tripled in as many years! This year’s pork price will be $5.50 per pound, hanging weight. This includes custom cutting and smoking of hams and bacon. If you are interested in additional meat smoked (such as hocks or roasts), or linked sausage, there are additional fees.

For all meat purchases, pickup will be on the farm. We will give you at least 2-3 weeks’ notice of the pickup time and date. Please bring several coolers or boxes to bring home your frozen meat. Your balance is due at this time as well.

WWF Grassfed Poultry
Last year was our first year raising broiler chickens and turkeys for our customers. We had many challenges, including owl predation and losses from storms. This year we’re taking a break from poultry.

Many Hands…
We always try and include our customers in our farm workdays; it allows folks to have a closer connection with the earth and offers us much-appreciated help. We find that our work parties foster camaraderie and ownership of our crops. Who wouldn’t like eating broccoli from plants you placed into the ground as babies? It’s also a great teaching tool for kids to begin to understand just where their food comes from. We’d love to have you join us: please send me an email of your interest.

We look forward to a wonderful and healthful growing season. We look forward to seeing you at our farmers market stands! Call on us if you have any questions or need additional information. We are always happy to chat about our passion for farming.

Sincerely,

Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© Gwen Hyde 2009

Worker Share Information:

A “worker share” is the exchange of your labor for a vegetable share. Worker Share members are a major work force on the farm. Worker shares come out to work hard and make a significant contribution to the farm. You are making a serious commitment of 4 hours of work per week for 22 weeks

You commit to a shift and work that shift for the entire season. Shift options: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday.

The jobs are very physically demanding. You should be able to lift at least 30 pounds. The work can be heavy, exhausting, and repetitive; hot, cold or wet. We work in ALL weather.

You will develop a special connection with the farm and farmers and other workers. You will develop an appreciation and understanding of organic vegetable production.

Our Worker Shares help make this farm a success!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What will I be doing?
You will be involved in all aspects of vegetable production. Planting, seeding, hoeing, picking, washing, bagging, bunching, weighing vegetables, and weeding. There are many one time jobs.

I’ve never done farm work before. How will I know what to do?
Each job will be explained. You need to be able to listen, follow directions and work hard.

Can I share the responsibility with my spouse, partner, housemate, etc.?
Yes, as long as the person you are sharing the commitment with can work the same shift.

Can two of us come each week for 2 hours?
It is not preferable. Leaving in the middle of a shift is not very satisfying for you and not as helpful for the farm.

When does the worker share begin?
Early May through late September.

Can I bring my child along?
Not if they are under the age of 12. If over the age of 12 we can talk about it. We are working hard, and the work is not geared for young children.

Can I bring my dog out with me?
No.

What if I need to miss a shift because of vacation, illness or other conflict?
You can make up your shift. You can do this by working a double shift or two shifts in one week.

Can I work evenings or weekends?
No. We do the farm work during the day, during the week. But we certainly welcome volunteers, so if you really would like to become involved, give a call and we can work something out.

What if my schedule changes mid season?
If you know your schedule will be changing mid season we can talk about it and plan accordingly. If your schedule changes unexpectedly mid season, we will try to work with it. In either case you may be able to switch to another shift that fits your schedule.

I am a teacher/student and can only work during summer vacation, is this possible?
This is an option. We can talk details.

Will I be able to pick up my share when I work my shift?
It depends on your shift, since our pickups will be on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Windy Willow Farm reserves the right to decide if a proposed worker is a good fit with the farm.

After looking at all of this I would like to consider a worker share. What should I do next?
Call Gwen at (518) 332-5718.

I have read and understand the above requirements to be a Worker Share Member at Windy Willow Farm. I agree that if I cannot fulfill the entire season’s responsibilities (22 weeks), I will pay for my share of the CSA harvest.

Name: __________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________________

City: ______________________________________ State: _________________ Zip: __________________

Home Phone: ___________________________________ Cell Phone: ______________________________
Email: __________________________________________________________________________________

Signed: ___________________________________________ Dated: _______________________________

Signed for Windy Willow Farm: ________________________________________ Dated: ________________

Pork Cut Sheet

Type of Cut
Circle One on each line
Thickness of Steaks or chops
( ¾”, 1”)
Hams
Unsmoked / Smoked

Hams
Half Hams / Steaks

Bacon
Unsmoked / Smoked

Shoulders
Whole Roast / Steaks

Butts
Whole Roast / Steaks

Tenderloin
Whole Loin / Chops, ____ per package (min. 4)

Sausage*
Hot Italian / Sweet Italian / Breakfast

Bulk Sausage / Linked Sausage**

Hocks
Unsmoked*** / Smoked / Ground and included into sausage

Ribs
Whole Rack / Two Half Racks

* One choice of sausage for half pig; two choices for whole pig
** Linking Italian sausage will cost an additional $2.00 per pound of sausage. Breakfast sausage links are $2.50 per pound
*** Smoking of hocks will be an additional smoking charge, $2.00 per pound.

Definitions:
UNSMOKED – Not smoked, not brined, but regular meat with nothing added
SMOKED – Smoked meat is always brined first otherwise the meat might spoil during the smoking process. You can not get meat smoked without having it brined
BRINED – Soaked in a salt solution, (i.e. Bacon or Ham is fresh meat that is brined then smoked)
Steak thickness – We recommend ¾” to 1” thickness, as thinner steaks cook very quickly. If you want to stuff your pork chops, 1 ½” is recommended. Remember, the thicker your steaks, the fewer you’ll get.
All meat is cut, vacuum sealed in plastic and flash frozen regardless of whether or not it is UNSMOKED or SMOKED

Name: __________________________________________________ Phone: ___________________________

Address: ________________________________________________ Email: ___________________________

City: ____________________________________________ State: ________________ Zip: _______________

CSA

_____ Sign Me Up! for my worker share of the 2009 Windy Willow Farm CSA Harvest

I’m interested in the following 4-hour shift:

___ Monday
___ Tuesday
___ Wednesday
___ Friday

Morning and afternoon hours are available.

Pork

$5.50/lb. hanging weight
(180-200 pounds average whole)

____ Half Pig ($200 deposit)*

____Whole Pig ($400 deposit)*

* Please fill out cut sheet on the back of this form – completed cut sheets are required with deposit
Orders closed by April 1, 2009

Such is my life with a greenhouse

2009-01-11T04:45:00.005-05:00

Snow + polycarbonate panels on the greenhouse= must get it off as soon as possible.

This is why I'm "done" with winter already.

Every time it snows, this is where you'll find me.

We have work planned to reinforce the panels since we've lost some with the recent windy weather. The panels flex and then let go, so we'll be putting metal strips on both sides to shore them up. I can't lose panels when I have my tomatoes started. My spinach and Asian greens can handle the freeze quite well.

Although, I'm enjoying my greens from the greenhouse almost every day, which is a huge luxury in the winter. Plus, I've been able to sell some at the winter Market in Schenectady, which helps as well.

I'll be looking forward to the end of this snowy, windy weather. Anyone interested in "playing" in the snow, come one over!

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 20

2008-10-01T12:41:00.003-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 20

This week’s share includes:

4 sweet onions: 3 white, 1 red: These will store for a couple months, especially the reds, but if you want 6-9 months of storage our storage onions are the way to go.
1 Qt white potatoes
1 bunch carrots – I got a little carrot digging instruction from my mother in law. Apparently, I was digging the carrots too close, and really needed to move the broadfork about 6-8 inches away from the carrots. It’s still slow going, but I was able to dig them today with much less cursing and very few broken carrots.
1 big bunch of beets – As an end of season send off, I picked an extra big bunch for your enjoyment. Beets are a mainstay of our growing season and always is a crowd pleaser.
1 Butternut squash – This squash only gets sweeter the longer it’s stored. Last year I cooked ours up in February and was surprised a how sweet they were.
1 bunch collards – These came back beautifully, and they like this cool weather. Collards are a fabulously healthy vegetable, see the sauté recipe below or just add it to almost any soup.
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch cilantro – our last of our tender cilantro, sure to turn black this week with the freezing temperatures. I covered it with row cover during the last frosts, and it’s come back perfectly.
1 eggplant
1 head garlic
1 box raspberries – With all of the rainy weather we’ve been having, the raspberries have molded right on the vine. It’s heartbreaking to see the canes, loaded with raspberries, that can’t be eaten! Our late season raspberries are delicious, but very perishable. Please eat, refrigerate or freeze these immediately.

Photo Captions: 1) My newly planted greenhouse! The greens (mesclun, arugula, mizuna, claytonia and spinach) germinated in 2 days! Transplanted Swiss chard looks colorful in the background. 2) Our turkeys like to show off their feathers.

It’s hard to believe that this is the last week of the season, it’s flown by so fast. Every growing season is unique, with crops that do amazingly well, and crops that stall on their way to success. We are experienced growers and know that some crops will do well, no matter the season. This year we had some crops that excelled: tomatoes, lettuce (especially fall lettuce), beets, peppers, peas, potatoes, onions (have you ever seen them so huge??), cucumbers and garlic. I wish these crops had done better for us: winter squash, cabbage and broccoli. And I wish these had done anything at all: strawberries, edamame soybeans, sweet corn and Chinese cabbage. But such is the season, and next year’s list will probably look different from this year’s.

I’m looking forward to learning how to grow in a greenhouse, and during the winter. And I’m especially looking forward to eating the winter greens I grow! We very rarely shop in the produce aisle at the supermarket, so if I don’t have it in my basement or the freezer, we don’t eat it. And once they run out, we’re done with that crop until it’s harvested for the next season. This trains you to enjoy eating what’s in season, and to put up enough food to last you well into the following season. This is why I need to make sure our potatoes, garlic and storage onions are of high quality, because they need to last until next spring!

Thank you in advance for completing our survey! And also a huge thanks for your support, and for helping to make our 2008 season successful. We wish you a healthful winter season and hope you join us again next year!

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Sauteed Leeks and Carrots - Recipe
Adapted from The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet, by Nava Atlas.
Carrots come out at or near the top of two different surveys. First, they’re ranked among the most nutritious vegetables, following closely behind dark leafy greens and sweet potatoes; Vitamin A and beta-carotene are their strong suits. Second, they are often named “favorite vegetable” by children. Sweet and crunchy, carrots are a vegetable worthhaving often, both raw and judiciously cooked.
Leeks and carrots both have a natural sweetness that mingles nicely. This is a mild and pleasant side dish, good with pasta, potatoes, and soy dishes.

INGREDIENTS1 tablespoon light olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 medium leeks, white and palest green parts only,chopped and very well rinsed
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
Pinch of nutmeg, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Heat the oil and wine in a wide skillet. Add the leeks and carrots,cover, and cook over medium-low heat, for about 8 to 10 minutes, oruntil tender-crisp.
2. Uncover and sauté, stirring frequently, until the leeks and carrotsbegin to turn golden. Stirin the nutmeg, if desired, season with salt and pepper, and serve.
4 to 6 servings

Carrot, Ginger, and Beet Soup Recipe
Adapted from Vegetarian Planet, by Didi Emmons (Harvard Common Press, 1997).
You can’t do better than beets and carrots for sweet, earthy winter nourishment, and this zesty recipe combines them with ginger and a touch of orange rind to make an intriguing soup that will surprise and delight your whole family.
What a tasty way to get your beta-carotenes and minerals: this is borscht with a citrus and ginger twist, a sure-fire crowd-pleaser!

INGREDIENTS
3 medium beets (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon canola or corn oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced
6 cups water or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
4 teaspoons sour cream (optional)

1. Under running water (this is very messy otherwise), peel the beets with a vegetable peeler. With a chef’s knife, cut the beets in half, then lay them flat side down and cut them into large chunks.
2. In a stock pot over medium heat, heat the oil. Saute the onion until it is translucent. Add the carrots, ginger, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add beets and water or stock. Simmer the soup, covered, for 50 minutes. Add orange rind, and stir well.
3. In a food processor or blender, puree the soup in batches. Transfer the pureed soup to a large container, and stir in the salt and pepper. Taste the soup, and adjust the seasonings, if you like. Serve the soup hot or chilled, garnished with dollops of sour cream.
Serves 4.

Here are some great ideas for your collards:
Here is my super quick favorite greens sauté method:
1. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan.2. Add chopped fresh garlic and sauté over medium high heat until it starts to sizzle and turn golden.3. Toss in a handful of very dry mixed greens and stir a few times until they start to wilt.4. Continue tossing in a handful at a time. Adding them slowly will ensure that the water released cooks off before the next handful is thrown in—no soggy greens!5. When all your greens are added, toss them with some sea salt and fresh pepper and serve.

Granny’s Vegetable Barley Soup
Adapted from The Findhorn Book of Vegetarian Recipes, by Kay Lynne Sherman (Findhorn Press, 2003).
Imagine an iron pot hanging over an open fire, bubbling with this hearty, fragrant soup, so similar to the ones many of our ancestors used to make. It offers plenty of simple, healthful whole-grain and vegetable nutrition, and only needs a salad and a loaf of bread and maybe a wedge of good cheese to complete the meal.
This is the kind of nourishment, ease, and simplicity we crave in winter: many a Wise Woman knew how to make a steaming pot of Granny’s Vegetable Barley Soup to keep the cold away.
INGREDIENTS
1 onion, dicedInner stalks and leaves of a head of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 quarts good-quality vegetable broth or water
1 cup barley
1 bay leaf
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed and chopped
1 large can (30 ounces) tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
1 1/2 cups seasonal greens–kale, chard, collards–coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt to taste
1. In a large soup pot, saute the onion and celery in oil until tender and starting to brown. Add broth or water and bring to a boil.
2. Rinse barley under running water and then add to boiling soup stock. Add bay leaf and simmer one hour, until barley is tender.
3. Add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and tomato juice to soup. Simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are very soft. Add more water if necessary.
4. Just before serving, add greens and basil, cooking until greens are just tender. Add salt to taste.
Serves 10 to 12

Notes from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 19

2008-09-24T12:15:00.004-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 19

This week’s share includes:

3 sweet onions
1 Qt red potatoes
1 Qt Brussels sprouts – One of the highlights of the fall garden is our Brussels sprouts. Last year I discovered how awesome they are roasted in the oven, with olive oil and coarse sea salt. They’ve been kissed by a few light frosts as well, but they are always reliably sweet.
2 sweet red Italian pepper - last week at my farm stand a customer stated, “I’m really nervous that these are hot peppers.” In response, I picked one up and bit into it like an apple. It was sweet, like candy!
1 Acorn winter squash – you know these are ripe when you see the orange spot on the side. They are sweet, a little hard to cut through and go nicely with butter and sugar. A bit stringy for some, they also improve with age.
1 bunch ruffled kale – These, too, get sweeter when touched by frost.
1 bunch carrots – using my newly purchased harvesting broadfork, I dug these carrots. Not much improvement on the post-harvest condition, there’s still tons broken and gouged. I just am a terrible carrot digger, so my apologies. The good thing is that carrots get sweeter with each frost, so enjoy!

Best guess for next week – (maybe) sweet potatoes (not sure if the small harvest is enough for CSA), butternut squash, beets, carrots (maybe Mark will dig them for us!)

Favorite customer comment – “Thanks for the great party!”

Photo Captions: 1) Gwen and her pigs 2) CSA members visiting the pigs during our picnic

This past weekend was our 4th annual CSA picnic and bonfire. A great time was had by all, with great food, conversation and company. We took a tour of the new greenhouse, visited the pigs, lost some members in the raspberry patch and enjoyed the starry sky during the bonfire. Thanks to all who attended who made the event a success.

As the gardens slow down, I’m taking advantage of the extra time to work in the greenhouse. When we were constructing the structure, we used the tractor, and lots of people and ladders throughout. We even worked in the rain and mud, resulting in a soil that is hard like cement 3 inches below the surface. I brought out my newly purchased broadfork (this one has fewer tines than the harvesting fork) and have been steadily working my way through. After rototilling, I begin on one side and drive the broadfork all the way into the soil. I do this by standing on it and shifting my weight back and forth. Then I step off the back and pull down with the handles. This loosens the soil and creates 8 inches of airy planting space. Imagine carrots planted there would be gorgeously straight! Once I’m done broadforking the current area, I’ll rototill one more time, to create a fine seed bed, and begin planting. My current planting list is as follows: mesclun (heavy on the asian greens), spinach, arugula, mizuna, claytonia, and kale. I’m planning on transplanting swiss chard and beets from my outside garden into the greenhouse. Planting at this time will give the plants a chance to grow and get established prior to the dark days of deep winter. By the end of the week, the electrical and plumbing work will be complete. A friend has advised me that the “08 Summer of building the greenhouse will soon be a distant memory.” Can’t wait!

I can’t believe this is the second to last CSA pickup! I’ve enjoyed the season so much, and have been thrilled at the bounty from the garden. I am asking that each member fill out one of our surveys. We treasure the feedback in each year’s survey to help plan the following years. Either print one out or pick it up at the farm. I can’t wait to hear what you think of our season!

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

The recent chilly weather has made me anxious to get out my soup pot. I can’t wait to use some of the beautiful ruffled kale to warm my winter kitchen.

Toscana Soup - Allrecipes

Submitted by: Ken MillerRated: 5 out of 5 by 63 members
Prep Time: 15 MinutesCook Time: 1 Hour
Ready In: 1 Hour 15 MinutesYields: 5 servings
"This soup is sure to warm your bones on a chilly night and won't leave you hungry. Potatoes, sausage and kale are simmered in chicken broth and cream, with onions and garlic."
INGREDIENTS:
12 links spicy pork sausage,
sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup diced onion
1 1/4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chicken broth
4 cups water
2 potatoes, halved and sliced
2 cups sliced kale
1/3 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2.Place sausage links on a baking sheet and bake 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Slice into 1/2 inch slices.
3.Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent; add garlic and cook 1 minute.
4.Stir in broth, water and potatoes; simmer 15 minutes.
5.Reduce heat to low and add sausage, kale and cream; simmer until heated through and serve.

This is my favorite method for potatoes, a little rosemary is a nice addition.
Garlic Roasted Potatoes recipe - Potato Recipes

Ingredients:
4 medium Roasting potatoes.4 x Cloves garlic.2 tablespoons of Oil.Salt to taste.
Preparation Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.2. Wash the potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 3 slices.3. Peel the garlic cloves. 4. Mix the oil, potato slices, garlic cloves and salt in a bowl until evenly coated. 5. Put the potatoes and garlic in a baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.

My Outrage at Facory Farming of Pork

2008-09-19T04:45:00.000-04:00

I eat meat. There, I've said it. But probably 98% of the meat I eat is raised right here on my farm. This year I raised 7 pigs, 2 lambs, 80 broiler chickens, 10 turkeys, but in the past I've had as many as 50 lambs and 16 pigs.

I love my animals. Every day I go to the pastures and they run right up to the fence. You should hear the turkeys gobbling as they rush up to investigate. This year's pigs are the friendliest I've ever had. They insist on being scratched and massaged, and some even roll over on their backs so I can rub their bellies. When it's hot outside, I go and spray them with a hose, and give them a mud puddle to lay in.

I always have a gentle word for the animals. Even when I don't have time for a full hello, the lambs get a soft touch on their noses. Even when I was beyond frustrated with the broiler chickens, I would say things like, "I think I'm going to make chicken soup with you!" in a kind voice. All they knew was that I was being careful with them while putting them in their coop for the night to avoid becoming the owl's dinner.

We raise our animals with so much care, feed them the best feed (and most expensive) organic feed, from a local feedmill, take care to avoid stress. We let the pigs be pigs, and they do what pigs love the best, root in the dirt and grass, run around their pasture, lie in the sun or shade, scratch their backs against their shelter, drink fresh water whenever they like and eat high quality food.

But in the end, many of these animals will end up in my freezer, ready to provide my family with the nutrition we need to survive. I bring them to a butcher I trust, the day prior to processing, to reduce the stress. My pigs have one bad day, really a moment, and they are never abused or mistreated for their entire lives.

Mark sent me this video link and warned me that it was disturbing. I didn't want to watch how pigs are treated at factory farms. I didn't want to see angry people who are paid low wages mistreat and torture these helpless creatures. But I knew I had to spread the word, and I knew I had to watch it so I could share it with people who may care.

I couldn't finish the video. I was physically sick watching it. It is awful, horrible, beyond belief how those animals are treated. I won't even ponder what they are being fed to eat. I think that every one of those men in the video should be treated the same way as those animals.

Those pigs are how Hormel puts the pork in their products. They are a big name, and I can only imagine how many countless pork factories there are out there. How can this be allowed to continue? It really breaks my heart. I had to go out to the pasture and give my precious pigs an extra helping of TLC to try and apologize for the treatment.

Be aware that this video is extremely disturbing. But watch it and get angry! http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iowa_pigfarm_abuse2

By purchasing these products, you are essentially condoning these practices and allowing it to continue. Is this how you want to feed your family? Is this the food that will provide your body with the nutrients it needs? Is there a farmer nearby that has a different, kinder view on animal husbandry? If so, you need to find them right now. (www.localharvest.org is a great place to start!) It may require you to change the way you think about your meals. Even my own extended family likes to go to the supermarket and purchase enough meat for one or two meals. When you do this, the meat you are going to eat was probably raised on a factory farm or feedlot.

When you purchase meats locally, instead of at the market, often you have to purchase larger quantities of meat. Many people can't fathom this. But in doing so, you actually pay less than when purchasing by the piece, and you have a full supply of food in your freezer. A small chest freezer is suprisingly inexpensive and efficient. Wouldn't it be nice to know that you have food enough to feed your family and can avoid the day to day fluctuations of food pricing?

I could go on and on about this, I'm so passionate about it. But I'll sign off for now. My door is always open for a discussion on this topic, as well as tours of my farm. You can see for yourself the conditions and treatment of my animals and decide for yourself. Would a factory farm ever let you through their doors??

2008-09-17T12:47:00.003-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 18

This week’s share includes:

2 heads garlic
2 sweet onions – These onions will store in a dry, cool place for up to 3 months.
1 Qt white potatoes – These, also, will store for months, in a dark, cool, dry place. I have them down in my basement, and when they’re gone, I don’t cook with potatoes until next year’s are harvested.
1 Qt tomatoes – Bid farewell to the tomato season, as its lasted 6 weeks. We had a fantastic season, with the tomatoes coming on in abundance. I hope you put up enough to enjoy over the winter.
1 head Red Teide lettuce – This lettuce came from a freebie packet of seed I picked up at the annual Organic Farming conference and I’m thrilled with it. It’s gorgeous, dark red ruffled leaves with a cool green interior. I hope you enjoy it as well.
4 leeks – Not getting to your leeks? They store fine in your fridge, in a plastic bag. But do try them in your soups, they make it very creamy and sweet.
2 Sunshine winter squash – A kabocha squash, this is Mark’s favorite type of winter squash, and it’s won all sorts of awards. It has a bright orange center, and is very sweet, and not stringy. Generally winter squash will store for months and get sweeter, but be sure to check it weekly for soft spots. Always store squash, potatoes, onions and garlic in a dry, cool, and dark spot. A helpful tip: cook the squash whole (either in your oven or microwave) until it starts to soften, then cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. I’ve almost cut off many fingers trying to cut through a big squash.
1 Bonbon winter squash – This is a buttercup type of squash and is very sweet as well.
1 Qt dried shelling beans – These are the same beans that we had fresh a month or so ago. Just shell them (the beans inside are red and white, quite pretty) and dry them completely. To dry them, I pour them into a roasting dish and leave them out for a week or so. Then I pack them into a clean quart container for the next time I make a soup. Don’t forget to soak them, though fresh beans never get as soft as store bought.
1 bunch beets – some of these are big, and some are downright huge! I’ve been roasting them, sliced with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and packing them into bags for the freezer. I’m always impressed with how well they freeze.
Best guess for next week – kale, brussels sprouts, Acorn squash

Favorite customer comment – “I made THE BEST sauce ever last night, thanks to your amazing tomatoes and the tips I picked up cooking with you and Mark.”
Photo Captions: As a last hoo-rah to tomato season, we made bruschetta yet again. The combination of the sweet onions, basil, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar makes a wonderful end of summer treat.

The garden is slowly finishing the season. Last week I harvested all of the winter squash, and Mark and I pulled up many rows of plastic this weekend. The winter squash harvest is not very large (due mostly to the germination problems in the beginning of the season), so enjoy the few fruits we have. This week are buttercup and kabocha squash, next week will be Acorn, and Butternut for our last week of the season. This week we have some bonus/free choice butternuts that have blemishes on the outside. These are fine to eat, but will not store for the winter.

This weekend is our 4th Annual CSA Picnic and Bonfire! Saturday we’ll start at 4, and head down to the bonfire pit by 6:30. I’m trying to make this paperless, to avoid having huge bags of garbage at the end of the night. Please bring a plate, fork, knife, spoon and cup for each member of your family. I’ll have a big pile of cloth napkins and extra plates on hand. I’ll plan on filling the dishwasher (whose hot water is solar-heated) prior to the bonfire, and you can pick up your clean dishes before you go home. Also, please bring a jacket for fireside use and shoes in which you can walk a ¼ mile down our grassy lane. Oh, and BYOB, I’ll have pitchers of lemon water to drink, but bring your own beverages. My current menu is as follows: I’m defrosting a huge 18 pound turkey and I’ve made 2 strawberry-rhubarb pies, which I serve a la mode (of course). Everything else is to be potluck, so please bring a dish to share. Side dishes and desserts would be great. Call me if you have any questions. I’m looking forward to a great party!

We are almost definitely having a frost this week. (what does “almost definitely” really mean??) The forecast is calling for 33 on Thursday, so I think this is it. It will take care of all of our tender crops: eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, beans and herbs. But it will enhance others as well: carrots, brussels sprouts. A light frost will not bother Swiss chard, beets, lettuce or the sweet potatoes I’ve still yet to dig. Here’s to watching the weather!

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Here’s a great link on winter squash from a vegetable farm, with a bunch of interesting recipes:http://www.homestead-farm.net/RecipeWinSquash.html

Last week a customer mentioned a risotto recipe, and I’ve had risotto on my mind:
Winter Squash Risotto
Makes 4 servings, about 1 1/2 cups each
Ingredients
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil3 medium shallots, thinly sliced3 cups chopped peeled butternut, hubbard, red kuri or kabocha squash (½-inch pieces)2 cups shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced ½ teaspoon dried thyme½ teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper⅛ teaspoon crumbled saffron threads (optional)1 cup arborio rice½ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth½ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Place broth in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat so the broth remains steaming, but is not simmering.2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in squash and mushrooms; cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms give off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add thyme, salt, pepper and saffron (if using); cook for 30 seconds. Add rice; stir until translucent, about 1 minute. Add wine (or vermouth) and cook, stirring, until almost absorbed by the rice, about 1 minute.3. Stir in 1/2 cup of the hot broth; reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until all the liquid has been absorbed, until the rice is tender and creamy, 30 to 40 minutes total. (You may have some broth left.) Remove from the heat and stir in cheese.

Roasted Pesto Beets
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 1 members Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 55 Minutes
Yields: 4 servings

"Red beets are boiled until just tender,then sliced and smothered in pesto before being roasted in the oven."
INGREDIENTS:
4 beets, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached
6 tablespoons basil pesto
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the beets in a large saucepan and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the beets are just tender, about 30 minutes. Drain, and allow the beets to cool until you are able to handle them. Peel and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices, then toss with the pesto in a bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
3. Spread the beets out onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until the beets are hot and have turned slightly brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes.

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 17

2008-09-10T12:55:00.002-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 17

This week’s share includes:

2 heads garlic – This year’s garlic has been very sweet, sweeter than other years. We put a ton of raw, minced garlic in our canned salsa recipe, and were amazed at the sweet taste it offered. We’ve also found that the cloves are very tightly pressed together, and that a dull knife is needed to pry them apart.
2 sweet onions
1 Qt red potatoes
2 Qt tomatoes
1 Qt green beans – I just put up a bunch of green beans, for winter’s use. I pinched off the stem end, boiled them for 1 minute, 45 seconds, then into cold water, patted dry (see picture) and packed into bags.
1 half pint raspberries
1 head Red Buttercrunch lettuce – I’m proud of myself this year, accurately planning and planting our fall lettuce. I’m hoping to have enough to offer at least a head for a few more weeks. I’m loving these fall salads!
4 leeks – These leeks are gorgeous, and I even cleaned them up for you: sprayed off the dirt, trimmed the roots and tops. I think they were a bit intimidating the last time we had these.
1 bunch carrots – I destroyed the carrots again. But not for long! I ordered one of these babies, though it’s on backorder: Johnny's - Product - 9061 - Johnny's 920 Broadfork
1 bunch swiss chard
1 bunch basil – a small bunch before the first frost. I intended to give cilantro, but it still hasn’t grown much, and is about 2 inches tall.
1 eggplant – this was an unintended add-on to this week’s share. We’re all up in a tizzy, with the threat of frost tonight. I’m trying to get as much out of the garden as possible, so I’m picking lots of peppers, tomatoes, basil, and eggplant.

Best guess for next week – Dried shell beans, beets, arugula, lettuce

Favorite customer comment – “Your raspberries are the best I've ever had in my mouth!”

Photo Captions: A winter’s worth of blanched green beans, ready to be packed into bags for the freezer. It’s great to pull out a bag and quickly warm it up for dinner, and know that we’re eating the healthiest food possible.

A frost warning for tonight has us running around like crazy, trying to get as much as possible harvested, and considering covering beans, tomatoes, and peppers. We’re even thinking of running a sprinkler in the garden to warm up the plants, a technique that ensures their protection. Other years, I’ve been relieved to have the first frost past, but not this year. I’ve only just started going to the farmers market and would like to enjoy tomatoes for a while longer.

On Tuesday, I listened to the tail end of the Michael Pollan’s discussion, ”The Cornifiation of Food” on NPR. Several figures jumped out at me, as well as the concluding thought. The idea that it takes over 100 gallons of gas to feed a corn-fed steer amazed me. Pollan pointed out that the industrialization of organics are no better off than commercially grown food, resource-wise. He urged listeners to “vote with your fork” and think about what you eat and how it got to your table. He concluded that if pesticides are your concern, eat organic; if energy conservation/sustainability is your concern, eat local, join a CSA and shop at a farmers market. As I was rinsing the leeks, I was enthusiastically agreeing with Michael, pumping my fist into the air, shouting, “Amen!”

I recently placed my winter order with my seed supplier. In our new greenhouse, I’ll be growing spinach, mizuna, claytonia, arugula and other winter goodies. I can’t wait to have a fresh salad at the Thanksgiving table! I’m looking forward to learning how to grow in a greenhouse, and how to grow in the winter. I’m thinking that I’ll need to use row covers during the coldest periods, and only harvest in the afternoon, after the plants have thawed somewhat. I’m also anticipating having more abundant early crops for next year’s CSA and early farmers market weeks. Wouldn’t it be great to start the season with a big bag of spinach?

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Mashed Potatoes with Sautéed Leeks, From “Asparagus to Zucchini, a Guide to Farm-Fresh, Seasonal Produce,” by the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition

1 pound new potatoes, peeled, cut in half
2 Tbs butter
5 medium leeks, sliced (white & light green parts)
¼ cup milk
Salt & pepper

Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender. Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy, medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring frequently until tender and beginning to color, 8-10 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Mash. Mix in milk. Stir in leek mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Two servings.

Swiss Chard Recipe Swiss Chard Recipe Simply Recipes (though I like to finish cooking swiss chard with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice - Gwen
Ingredients
1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
1 small clove garlic, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp waterP
inch of dried crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon butter
salt

Method
1 Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe (such as this Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta). Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.
2 Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish.

News From Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 16

2008-09-03T12:16:00.006-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 16

This week’s share includes:

2 heads garlic

2 sweet onions – One each, red and white.
1 Qt white potatoes

3 Qt tomatoes – we have definitely had an excellent tomato season, which hopefully makes up for failures in the sweet corn and edamame departments.
1 Qt green and yellow beans – My last planting of green beans is just coming on, so we should have more greens next week.
1 half pint raspberries – Our fall bearing raspberries, appropriately called Autumn Britten, will keep bearing until frost kills them. I’ve decorated the pints with yellow raspberries, for color. As usual, these berries, though picked this morning, are very perishable and should be eaten, refrigerated or frozen right away.
1 head Tropicana lettuce – These fall lettuces are hoping for some rain, this hot weather could cause our beautiful lettuce to go bitter. So far, so good.
1 Daikon Radish – I didn’t receive much feedback on the first week of Daikon, so I thought we’d give it another try. Try it shredded with some soy sauce on it, (like I eat it at Japanese restaurants) or sprinkled on a salad.
2 Jalapeno peppers – Some like it hot, and these peppers deliver!
1 bunch collard greens – A nutritional powerhouse, I just learned that it is higher in nutrition when cooked than raw. You can use them in any recipe calling for spinach, kale or chard, and is excellent roughly chopped and sautéed in garlic and oil, but what isn’t?
1 bunch parsley
Best guess for next week –Swiss Chard, carrots, red potatoes

Photo Captions: Our gorgeous raspberry plants with huge fruits on them, with sunflowers in the background. These raspberries are as big as your thumb!

Favorite Customer Comment: “Last night, I sliced and roasted the red potatoes (drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary). They were the SWEETEST potatoes I’ve ever eaten. I had them for dessert! Thanks for growing such wonderful food!”

I’ve been worried, for some time, about getting our winter firewood split and stacked to dry in the basement. Last year we were done by April, and now it’s September and we’ve barely started! We heat our house exclusively with wood, but with an oil furnace backup. Since we have 90 acres of forest, we’ve always cut our own wood and burned it in the wood stove in the living room. For the last several days, every spare moment has been spent with the wood splitter. Mark cut the logs last winter and dragged them over the frozen fields to begin to cure near the house. We split them with a log splitter, stack them in the bucket of the tractor, dump it in the bilco door and stack it in the basement. When we’re ready for a fire, we load up the dumbwaiter with wood and winch it up to our main floor. It’s quite a system. Since we haven’t had rain in a while, the wood is clean and dry, so we’re pushing to get it under cover prior to the expected rains this weekend. It’s hard, physically demanding work, and my body is sore and bruised from it. But we like the idea of using renewable resources to heat our home, which makes us less reliant on petrochemicals. Plus, along with our solar system, we expect one tank of oil to last us at least two years!

Garden cleanup has started, and I’ve tried to clean up one row per day. This involves pulling up the plastic mulch, drip tape and reusable irrigation fittings. I always find it a chore, preferring to set up and have the party rather than clean up afterward. Today I walked through our winter squash areas, and they are all looking great: huge butternut squash, sunshine and acorn squash and even pie pumpkins, all working on getting ready for fall. Next week we’ll start to harvest them, as they get sweeter with age.

Tomorrow is Sarah’s first day of kindergarten, where she’ll ride the bus and be there all day. I’m sure we’re in for many transitions in the coming weeks, as we all get used to the new schedule and activities. I never thought I’d be the parent crying at the first day of school, but I had my share of sniffles at pre-k last year, and I’m sure this year will be no different!

Eat what you can, can what you can’t.

Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

Sauteed Collards and Kale - Collard Greens Recipe

This recipe for sauteed collard greens and kale includes seasoning of olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice.
Ingredients:
· 1 large bunch collard greens, about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
· 1 large bunch kale, about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
· 3 tablespoons olive oil
· 6 cloves garlic, minced
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
· juice of 1/2 lemon
· a few dashes hot pepper sauce, optional
Preparation:
Rinse collard greens and kale well in a large bowl of cold water. Drain and cut off tough stems. Cut leaves into 1/4-inch strips. You should have about 8 packed cups.
In a well-seasoned heavy skillet or wok, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add half of the collard greens and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add half of the kale and cook stirring, for about 1 minute, until they begin to soften. Add the remaining greens and cook, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, until the greens are tender.Season with the salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and a few drops of hot pepper sauce, if desiredServes 4.

Too many tomatoes? Here are some fresh ideas:
A link to some great, creative tomato recipes: 5 fantastic, fresh summer tomato recipes - Food on Shine

A great guide to canning tomatoes, chock-full of pictures: http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_tomatoes.htm

Pan-fried Daikon Slices Recipe
Makes about 10-15 slices, enough for a side dish for 4 people.
I've been eating out a lot these days, so when I cook at home, I try to catch up on the vegetables. But without a lot of time to fuss with complex sauces or multi-step cooking, I've been trying to do a lot with a little.
Slice the daikon into 1 cm medallions.
Heat a large frying pan to medium and add a little bit of sesame oil, just enough to cover the surface.
Just before the oil starts to smoke, arrange the daikon slices in a single layer on the surface of the pan. Fry until they start to smoke slightly. The cooked surface should have dark brown marks, but not black.
Flip'em.
Wait for them to smoke slightly again.
Remove from pan, and arrange on a paper towel to soak up a little oil (shouldn't be much). Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with a little salt.
Total time: 10-15 minutes for half a daikon

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 15

2008-08-27T12:44:00.003-04:00

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.

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 14

2008-08-20T13:10:00.004-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 14
This week’s share includes:

Cucumbers- they are slowing down their production, knowing that fall is drawing near. I wish I could figure out a way to capture them for winter’s use, let me know if you have any ideas… drying them?
2 heads garlic
2 sweet onion – One each, red and white. I can’t get enough of these giant, sweet onions! I put them in everything, cooked or raw, with great results.
1 Qt white potatoes
1 pint Sun Gold tomatoes – with morning temperatures in the 40s, like this morning, the tomatoes won’t be lasting too much longer. Enjoy them while they last!
3 Qt tomatoes – According to Cornell Cooperative Extension, you should add a tablespoon or two of lemon juice or white vinegar to your sauce, to ensure adequate acidity. Modern tomatoes have a lower acid content than old fashioned tomatoes, and may not be safely canned with out adding more.
1 bunch carrots – We’re back to baby carrots, since they’re so gorgeous.
1 diakon radish – this is the first year we’ve grown these Asian radishes, and they are much milder than their springtime counterparts. As a matter of fact, we were munching on these in the garden at 7:30 this morning, for a taste! Mark grew these to add to his planned kimchi (fermented cabbage, radish, carrot and hot pepper flakes). Daikon is high in Vitamin C and low in calories.
2 sweet bell peppers, one red, one yellow
1 head red cabbage
1 Qt yellow beans

Best guess for next week – Sweet corn!!

Photo Captions: 1) Can you tell that I love tomato season? 2) My new favorite meal, inspired by my mother in law: nice bread, toasted; fresh pesto spread on top, melted sharp cheddar, thick slice of ripe tomato, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Dawn is a magical time of day here at WWF. Many of the animals are still asleep, the air is still, the sky is brightening and the cats wait for me on our front steps. Mark says I’m like the Pied Piper, with a trail of cats as I walk to the barn. One lucky cat gets a cuddle during the walk, purring happily and kneading her paws. At the barn, the cats jockey for position around the food. I bring Zack, the horse, out of his stall (who still has shavings in his mane and ears from laying down during the night) out to graze at liberty on the tall weeds around the barn. The lambs baa their good morning. As I’m filling the turkeys’ waterer (to the munch, munch sound of the horse), one curious turkey thumps down from the roost to investigate. The feeder is full, the water is fresh, the sand is ready; the outside chores are complete.

It seems that the night is holding it’s breath, before the daylight steals it’s secrets. With pink clouds to the east, the rooster crowing in the barn, the horse munching on grass, the dog’s tags jingling in the brush, the world settles into it’s perfect place. I lean on Zack’s shoulder and breathe in the day, closing my eyes to enjoy the moment.

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

RADISH SLAW (Mariquita Farm's Newsletter)This could also be good without the cabbage.
1/2 lb.radishes, trimmed and grated coarse (about 2 cups)
3 cupsfinely shredded cabbage
1 cup coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro, mint, or parsley leaves

In a bowl toss together the radishes, the cabbage, the carrots, the onion, the lemon juice, the sugar, the oil, the herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.
Gourmet, April 1991

Green Bean and Grape Tomato Salad with Kalamata Vinaigrette Recipe at Epicurious.com
Bon Appétit July 2001

Grape tomatoes are smaller than cherry tomatoes. If you’re using cherry tomatoes, cut them in half for this dish.
Makes 8 servings.
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon anchovy paste
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds green (or yellow) beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pint grape tomatoes, left whole, or cherry tomatoes, halved

Combine olives, shallots, lemon juice, mustard, anchovy paste, lemon peel, thyme, and dried crushed red pepper in processor. Blend until finely chopped. With machine running, gradually add oil and blend until almost smooth. Season vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook beans in large saucepan of boiling salted water just until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Refresh beans under cold water; pat dry with paper towels. (Vinaigrette and beans can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately; chill.)
Toss beans, tomatoes, and vinaigrette in large bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Red Cabbage Christmas Salad Recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
·1 small head red cabbage
·1 cup (about 4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
·1/2 cup pecans, chopped
·6 slices bacon
·1 Tablespoon olive oil
·1/4 cup vinegar (balsamic gives a nice flavor)
·1 teaspoon sugar
·Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Slice cabbage into thin short shreds (do not grate - that would be too fine). Add crumbled feta cheese and pecans. Set aside. Chop bacon and scramble fry until crisp. Drain bacon on a paper towel. Drain excess fat from pan. Add olive oil to the pan and heat (do not allow oil to smoke). Slowly add vinegar (it may splatter), add sugar, and continue to heat stirring bottom of pan to bring up bacon drippings. Add drained bacon to cabbage. Pour hot dressing over cabbage and toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Yield: 4 to 6 servings

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 13

2008-08-13T12:17:00.004-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 13

This week’s share includes:

Zucchini and yellow squash
cucumbers
2 heads garlic
2 sweet onion – One each, red and white.
1 Qt white potatoes - We just dug these yesterday, and had a competition to find the biggest tuber. The winner was probably a good eight inches long, and 4 inches across. They are beautiful, and delicious.
1 Qt shell beans – These beautiful beans are just as lovely on the inside of the pod as the outside. They are red and cream spotted, and cook up beautifully in your soups and salads recipes. Don’t forget, though, that fresh beans don’t get as soft as canned beans. We’ll also be seeing these beans again, after they’ve dried on the vine, then you can have dried beans for winter’s use.1 pint Sun Gold tomatoes – We’re getting to the end of these orange bites of summer. Don’t forget to freeze some (put them on a cookie sheet, in the freezer, and transfer them to a bag when frozen) to use them for your soups. It adds a sweet flavor and orange color.
2 Qt tomatoes – Several varieties of main season tomato are just coming, so we’re hoping to be in tomatoes for a while more. Tomato season is probably my favorite time of year, and definitely inspires most of my cooking.
1 bunch basil – if anyone needs a pesto recipe let me know.
1 bunch carrots – These are our main season carrots, called Sugarsnax. I will be the first to admit that I’m a terrible carrot digger. I always put the garden fork either too close, and spear them, or too far and snap off the long carrots at the tips. Our sandy loam soil grows beautiful, 12-18” carrots, but makes digging them difficult. Our CSA members always know when Mark does the digging: the carrots are perfect, long and unblemished. So, an apology in advance for their scraggly appearance. They do taste great, though!
1 bunch beets – Many members have asked about beets, since it’s been awhile since we’ve had them. We’ve been having such a bumper crop this year, it’s hard to fit them in the share.
1 bunch kale – A bit thick raw, these ruffly leaves make a great addition to your cooked dishes and soups.

Best guess for next week – Eggplant, sweet peppers

Photo Captions: 1) The finished greenhouse! 2) Sun Golds

The big news of the day is that we finished building the greenhouse last night! After months of work, we got the last panel in place at around 8:30 pm, but we were determined to finish! We still have quite a to-do list, such as electrical work, installing the propane boiler, attaching the baseboards, hand digging down 5 feet to locate the water line, rototill inside and put down ag fabric where we’re not planting directly into the soil, and caulking the entire structure. We’re hoping to have it ready to start planting inside in September, so we can prepare cold-hardy salad mixes for winter’s use. Eventual plans will be to start all of our own transplants for spring planting, and in-ground planting of early crops, like spinach and lettuce, to start the CSA season stronger.

The Windy Willow Farm Annual Picnic and Bonfire is scheduled for Saturday, September 20th, from 4 pm – 8 pm. We had 10 respondents with the following results: 7 said either date works fine; 2 said the 20th is better; 1 said the 13th is better. Sorry to those who can’t attend. I’ll be putting out a sign up sheet in a week or two to work out the details. Thanks for your responses.

Every other day or so I go out and check on the corn. It’s coming, slowly, but (hopefully) surely. The early variety I planted did not get pollinated, since most of it was eaten by the crows, and you need 4 rows of corn for self-pollinating. I’m hoping the later variety gets what it needs to make big, fat ears. I’ll keep you posted.

We hope you’re enjoying the season with us. In a few weeks I’ll be distributing a survey to gather feedback on the season, including comments on the selection, variety, quantity and quality of the vegetables and CSA program. However, if you have feedback, there is no need to wait for our survey, I’d be happy to discuss any issues with you at our pickups. I’m usually outside until 5:30 or so if you’d like to chat.

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Salsa for Canning (From Mother Earth News Magazine, October/November 2001, but with our additions)
- This recipe was requested by my sister, who loves our canned salsa.

12 pounds (6 quarts) tomatoes, chopped
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup hot chiles, finely chopped
1 cup sweet peppers, chopped
3 onions, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
1 Tbs salt

Combine chopped tomatoes with vinegar in anonreactive stockpot and cook 1 to 2 hours to make a thick sauce. Stir occatonally. Add chiles, sweet pepper and onion. For hotter salsa, replace some or al the sweet pepper with hot chiles, or addpepper sauc or other hot sauce to taste. Add salt and cilantro. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into clean, hot pint jars, leaving a half-inch head space. Adjust lids and process in boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.

Garlicky Greens and Beans (from Cooks Recipes Garlicky Greens and Beans Recipe)
1 1/2 pounds kale, chard or mustard greens, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 teaspoons olive oil2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 (15-ounce) can white beans (Great Northern or Cannellini), undrained

6 dried tomato halves, rehydrated if dried, chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and black pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water, add greens and cook until they are almost tender but still bright green, 5 to 8 minutes. Time will depend upon type of green being used. Drain and set aside. (Greens can be cooked one day ahead; refrigerate until continuing with recipe).
Heat olive oil in large skillet and sauté garlic until tender but not browned; stir in beans and cook and stir for 8 minutes, heating beans through. Some beans may break up; this is okay as it helps thicken the dish.
Gently stir in reserved greens, tomatoes, broth and seasonings. Cook and stir gently until heated through. If desired, top each serving with a dusting of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4.
Nutrition FactsCalories 270 calories Protein 13 grams Fat 4 grams Sodium 230 milligrams Cholesterol 0 milligrams Saturated Fat 0 grams Carbohydrates 46 grams Fiber 7 grams
Recipe provided courtesy of Pork: The Other White Meat.

News From Windy Willow Farm, 2008 CSA Week 12

2008-08-06T12:24:00.002-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 12
This week’s share includes:

Zucchini – We’re at the end of our summer squash season, and we hope you’ve enjoyed them. Our eight-ball zucchini has been a great find, providing a great slicing zuke with less water.
yellow squash
cucumbers, pickling or slicing – the slicing cukes I planted are coming on now. They are supposed to be burpless, and without the bitter gene. I’ve been enjoying them in my daily cuke and tomato salads.
2 head garlic
2 sweet onion – One each, red and white. These onions are gorgeous, and will go perfectly in all of your recipes
1 Qt red potatoes
1 Qt yellow beans
1 pint Sun Gold tomatoes - I offended a friend, by saying I got tired of Sun Golds. They are the sweetest, most wonderful tomato in the garden (is that better?), but are tiring to pick. I love slicing into a huge, meaty, main season tomato, that will fit perfectly on my sandwich. Sun Golds are a snack. Main season tomatoes are a meal.
2 sweet pepper, one long Carmen (Italian Fryer) and a green-to-red bell variety
2 Qt tomatoes – these tomatoes are delicious, and are a mixture of ripeness, varieties and textures. Most are red-based, but judge ripeness by touch, not color. (put them on your counter, stem down and check them every day for ripeness). You’re looking for a give when you give the tomato a gentle squeeze. Varieties: The golfball sized orange tomato is a new variety for me this year, called Sungella. Not too bad, just don’t eat it after a Sun Gold. There are also Thessaloniki (small, round ones), Better Boy, Ultimate Opener (great name, isn’t it?), Bucks County (Heirloom), Big Mama (big, fat paste), Amish Paste (long, skinny paste), Jet Star and a few Red Brandywine. Enjoy them!
1 bunch cilantro – this is part of this week’s Salsa Pack: tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, sweet peppers, and cilantro. See recipe below. I also bought some organic avocados to make guacamole (tomatoes, avocado, lime juice, onion, salt)
5 hot peppers - These are our “accidental” peppers, purchased from our greenhouse. I planted them as a sweet bell, put the row cover on and forgot about them. A month and a half later, I took the cover off and discovered that they were either an ornamental pepper (they’re not) or a hot pepper. The greenhouse guy confirmed that they must be a hot, since he didn’t grow any ornamentals. So, be careful and enjoy.

Best guess for next week – Carrots, eggplant,

Photo Captions: 1)These hot peppers are tiny, but gorgeous! 2) Garlic galore.

Oh, the rain. It’s raining right now, just a passing shower. I’ve had it up to here with rain, I tell you! It’s actually been a great growing season, with most crops doing brilliantly in the garden. But by now, I’m pretty soggy. The weeds are doing wonderfully as well, and I’ve little time to fight them.

The rain has been terrible on our berry crop, rotting it right on the vine. I’m hoping for our late berries to come on soon, and we can enjoy them again. I totally neglected the chinese cabbage, and let the weeds take it over. They are rotting right in the row, since the weeds don’t allow any airflow. I’ll try again with it next year. The corn is coming, though! It’s taller than I am (not so hard to do!) and beginning to tassel, which means we should have corn in 10-14 days.

The greenhouse work is continuing, one step forward, two steps back, it seems. Our greenhouse design is called a Gothic Arch, and it peaks in the middle, like a parenthesis. You bend the multi-walled polycarbonate around these curves. One of our polycarbonate panels broke (not during installation), just cracked from the outside! The company didn’t believe us until we sent a picture of what happened. To fix it, we have to remove the outer three panels and replace the broken one. A headache, for sure. I’ll be happy when it’s done; I wish we could make more progress.

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Gwen’s favorite garlic pasta
(This pasta dish is to die for. I have friends who swoon when recalling the day I prepared it for them!)
Pasta
Garlic (as much as you dare, pressed)
Olive oil
Fresh basil
Fresh, ripe, chopped tomatoes
Fresh or dry basil and oregano
Chevre cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
A confident smile for when your friends clamor over your brilliance

Boil up your pasta (linguine is my current favorite). While it’s cooking, sauté as much minced or pressed garlic as you dare (most of a head) in olive oil. Add some dry oregano, basil, salt and pepper and cook until garlic is golden. Drain the pasta and toss in the frying pan with the garlic. Arrange pasta on your plate and top with freshly chopped ripe tomato, chopped fresh basil and chevre cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil to finish.

Gwen’s Favorite Tomato Recipes (aka the Tomato Compendium!)

To make the following recipes, start with:

Chopped tomatoes
Chopped sweet onion

And then add the following, depending on your preference:

For fresh salsa: add chopped cilantro, hot pepper (optional), a tablespoon or so of lime juice, and salt.
For fresh tomato sauce (toss with hot pasta): add chopped basil, a little chopped fresh garlic, good olive oil, and salt and pepper. (I just made it for the first time this season and I pressed the garlic into the oil, and added the basil as well. These fragranced the oil nicely, and mixed well with the tomatoes and onions.)
For Bruschetta: add chopped basil, a little chopped fresh garlic, good olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat through (but don’t cook) and finish with balsamic vinegar. Use to top bread that’s been brushed with garlic olive oil (I crush some cloves and soak in olive oil) that I brown under the broiler). Grate parmesan cheese to top.
For cooked sauce: sauté the onion until translucent in a big saucepan, adding crushed garlic near the end. Add chopped tomatoes and cook down for several hours. Season with chopped basil and oregano (I use a 3:1 ration basil to oregano), salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar.

News From Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 11

2008-07-30T12:51:00.005-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 11
This week’s share includes:

zucchini
yellow squash
cucumbers, pickling or slicing
1 head garlic
1 sweet onion – some of these onions are huge! If it’s too much for you to use in one sitting, I like to wrap it in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, into your fridge. With the double wrapping, it should prevent your fridge from smelling like onions.
1 Qt red potatoes – Last week I gave a choice of red or white potatoes, and red was the big winner! I can’t decide which I like better, and I’ll let you decide for yourself as well.
1 mixed Qt yellow and green beans

1 eggplant, either black or purple
1 red cabbage
1 half-pint Sun Gold tomatoes – I’ve been promising these babies for weeks, and here’s your taste of the sweetest, most awesome tomato nuggets you can find. If you’ve never had them before, you should know some things: They ripen to orange. The moment they are ripe, they will split, but are still good to eat. They don’t store well at all (not that that should be a problem). Kids love them.
1 sweet pepper – The pepper plants are absolutely loaded with peppers. They look fabulous. I always start picking them prior to them turning full red or yellow, since we often get sunscald on the peppers, which basically liquefies the pepper right on the plant. We’ll be seeing a lot of these lovely peppers. I’m growing several varieties: the long thin ones are Italian fryers, called Carmen and several sweet bells that turn either red or yellow (and some of these are huge!). I also have some (accidental, thanks to the greenhouse) hot peppers coming next week.
*Bonus* one red tomato – There is an ongoing debate in my house, and it’s very predictable. I pick tomatoes and line them up on the counter. Mark’s (predictable) response is, “I see you’ve been picking unripe tomatoes.” I am a firm believer that you should pick tomatoes when they are almost ripe, because they ripen better off the vine (blasphemy, I know). Mark thinks they should stay till they’re completely ripe. I think that as soon as they ripen, you should eat them, because if they’re still on the vine, some bird or varmint will do the job for you. Please share your tomato theories with me. Other tomato suggestions: Store stem end down (I usually pull these off, so they don’t damage their neighbor tomatoes). On the counter, not the fridge. Squeeze (gently!) every day for a bit of give, and it’s ready to eat. There are thousands of tomatoes in my garden, waiting to ripen. I can’t wait!

Best guess for next week – Tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, cilantro (salsa fixins)

Photo Captions: 1) Fat and happy chicken on lush grass. 2) Sunflowers: The happiest faces in the garden and the only “weed” (they reseed themselves every year) I don’t allow anyone to pull.

I’m looking at the calendar to schedule the annual CSA picnic and bonfire. We generally do it on a Saturday in September (since the summer is so busy) as a nice ending to the season. Plus, it’s usually cooler for the bonfire. We provide the main course (lamb and/or pork on the grill) and dessert (I’ve been known to make a few strawberry/rhubarb pies). Attendees bring a dish to pass. There’s always plenty of vegetarian options, so if you are a vegetarian, please don’t worry! If anyone is interested in being involved in the planning, please speak up! I’ll send out an email with dates and voting buttons soon. Kids and family members welcome. I’m also thinking of doing it paper-free, and have everyone bring their own plate, utensils, napkin and glass.

With the cucumber season in full swing, we made our first batch of pickles last weekend. We used a method that Mark’s been researching that results in real, deli-style lacto-fermented pickles, and it was easy-peasy! We took a big pottery crock and lined the bottom with lots of dill (seed heads, flowers and the fern-like leaves), followed with lots of whole, peeled garlic cloves. A couple of horseradish leaves (the recipe said that horseradish leaves or grape leaves would help the cukes stay crunchy), a handful of peppercorns and then come the whole cucumbers (we did 20-30). On top of that, you pour the water/salt mixture (1/2 gallon water to 3/8 cup sea salt [6 tablespoons]) then we covered with an upside-down plate, a gallon jug of water on top to push it all down, and cheesecloth to keep out the bugs. In a few weeks, we’ll be sampling our own pickles! We’ve made dill pickles for years, but this method is so easy, no cutting of the cukes, or hot water. We do have one obstacle to figure out: what to do with the pickles once they’re ready – can them at that point or add brine or add cukes? Or eat them all at once! (The recipe we started with was from Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2003).

Four inches of rain in one week does not make Gwen a happy camper! Several crops did like the rain: corn, beans and all of the weeds. The raspberries, however, did not. Last Friday I tried to pick berries for our farm stand, and I would grab a beautiful berry, only to find that it had gone moldy. So we’re out of berries for a while, till the next variety ripens. I’m also anticipating that the summer squash will soon succumb to the powdery mildew it gets every year (it comes in on the wind and storms). We need some hot, dry days to dry things up!

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Olive Oil Roasted Eggplant with Lemon Eggplant recipe link

Submitted by: SandraRated: 4 out of 5 by 2 members
Prep Time: 15 MinutesCook Time: 25 Minutes
Ready In: 40 MinutesYields: 4 servings
"Quick and easy eggplant slices are roasted in the oven with olive oil and lemon to garnish."
INGREDIENTS:
1 large eggplant
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive
oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon
juice
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
2.
Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut each half into quarters lengthwise. Cut each of those in half to make two shorter quarters. Place the eggplant onto the baking sheet with the skin side down. Brush each piece with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3.
Roast in the preheated oven until softened and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with lemon juice. Serve hot.

Lemon-Mint Couscous with Grilled Zucchini Lemon-Mint Couscous with Grilled Zucchini
Adapted from The Classic Zucchini Cookbook, by Nancy C. Ralston, Maryanor Jordan, and Andrea Chesman (Storey Books, 2002).
Most summer squash varieties are interchangeable in recipes.All summer squash have tender, edible skins and flesh that rangesfrom mild and nutty to buttery or cucumber-like. But the shapeand appearance of these squashes vary considerably.
This hearty salad can be served as a vegetarian main course orside dish:
INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups instant couscous1/2 teaspoon salt2 1/4 cups boiling water 2 medium-sized zucchini, quartered and sliced 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese 1/2 cup black olives 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1. Lightly oil a vegetable grill rack. Prepare a medium-hot fire in the grill with the rack in place.
2. Combine the couscous, salt, and boiling water in a large mixing bowl. Cover and let stand until the couscous is tender and the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the zucchini, oil, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
4. Lift the zucchini out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and grill until tender, turning occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Add the grilled zucchini to the couscous, along with the feta cheese, olives, and mint. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss to combine.
6. Serve at room temperature.

Chilled Cucumber SaladCDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.comCategory: Cucumber Salad Serves/Makes: 6 Difficulty Level: 2 Ready In: 30-60 minutesIngredients:
2 cups thinly-sliced chilled cucumbers1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup thinly-sliced fresh onions1/4 cup vinegar1/4 cup water1 tablespoon sugar1/2 teaspoon dill weed1/4 teaspoon black pepper1 dash cayenne
Directions:Place cucumber slices in medium-size glass bowl and sprinkle with salt. Stir in onions. Place remaining ingredients in 2-cup glass measure and beat with fork to combine. Pour over cucumbers and onions and toss lightly. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Stir before serving.Recipe Location: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/133/ChilledCucumberSalad69769.shtmlRecipe ID: 40550Don't forget to stop back at CDKitchen and write a review or upload a picture of this recipe!This recipe is from CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

News From Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 10

2008-07-23T11:59:00.003-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 10
This week’s share includes:

2 zucchini
4 yellow squash
10 cucumbers, pickling or slicing – these are coming on strong! I’ve been eating several every day, for my lunch, with balsamic vinaigrette, walnuts, and shredded cheese. If you’re interested in making pickles, now is the time to purchase extra.
1 head garlic
1 sweet onion – This is the Alisa Craig Exhibition variety, which grows to softball sized onions. They are gorgeous, pure white, and mild enough to eat raw, on sandwiches or in salads.
1 Qt potatoes, red or white – These were freshly dug yesterday and are beautiful and delicious. Store them in the shade (green potatoes are bad for you), where it’s cool (so they won’t sprout) and enjoy for the season. Towards the fall, I should have additional quantities for purchase, for winter storage.
1 Qt yellow beans – These yellow beans are so tender and sweet, be sure to try some raw! To freeze beans, break off stem end, blanch for 2 minutes in hot water, cool in cold water, pat dry and pack in bags.
1 bok choy – The last of our bok choy, it is going to seed in the garden. Several members have mentioned that they’ve been freezing it, for winter stir fries.
1 bunch oregano
1 bunch Swiss chard

Best guess for next week – Chinese cabbage, eggplant, raspberries, Sun Gold tomatoes, buttercrunch lettuce

Photo Captions: 1) my sweet but fearful dog, Maverick 2) Garlic harvest-stravaganza!

Love it/Hate it bin comment: I usually pick an extra bunch of almost everything to “seed” the Love it/Hate it bin. Recently, however, we’ve been having a consistent problem of running one bunch short in the regular choice bins (I count the carrots twice and then run out before all of the members have picked up). I don’t know how to solve this issue, except to put the extra bunch in the regular bins. I don’t want to pre-package your shares, due to the extra time and resources required for this. If you do inadvertently take more than you’ve been allotted, please let me know (call or email me) so I can understand what’s happening. If you need more than is allotted, we can discuss this as well. The bin works well if you move the unwanted item from the regular bin to the Love it/Hate it bin, and take what you’ll use.

This is Week 10, the halfway point in this year’s CSA season. It feels to me like we just started and that last week I was picking asparagus! I’ve been enjoying the growing season, and hope you have as well. The garden is doing its job, delivering awesome veggies and fruits. It’s hard to keep up with it all, but “that’s a good problem to have,” as I was reminded from a worker share this week.

It’s been a challenging week here at WWF. We are officially a one-dog family. Our 5-year old Shepherd/beagle mix dog, Maverick (pictured above), is currently on a one-week trial at a friend’s house. We decided that he needed a new home, one where he could spend most of his time indoors, at his master’s feet. He is extremely fearful of thunderstorms and had escaped his confines one too many times during storms, waking up the same neighbors. It’s just not fair to him to subject him to his worst fears. I am desperately hoping that my friends will love him, and just as desperately missing his silly face here. Our other dog, Jasmine, is just as mopey about him as I am.

A mystery solved: yesterday morning I discovered a dead chicken and a dead turkey in the broiler pasture. They had been partially eaten by a predator. This launched us into a flurry of activity: moving fences, mowing, moving the chicken coop, feed and water. It was important to re-establish the fences keeping the chickens in, since we thought that the electric fence wasn’t packing a strong enough charge. After all the work, I measured the power of the fence to be 4000 volts (in the old pasture it was barely 1000 volts), so I thought that the raccoon or other animal would be rightly deterred. Last night, around 11 pm, my trusty dog, Jasmine, barked me awake. I jumped out of bed and shone my million-candlepower light into the chicken pasture, expecting to see a four-legged something enjoying an organic/pastured chicken dinner. What I found was a huge owl helping himself to our chickens! Out into the pasture I went, throwing all of the chickens into the coop and locking them in. All the fencework did nothing to prevent this type of attack, and we’re left wondering how long the owl had been feeding on our chickens. We figure that when they were smaller, he just flew away with them, and now that the chickens are bigger, he can’t carry them away. Life on the farm, I guess.

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Gwen’s favorite Swiss Chard pasta, refined
I know I am like a broken record with this pasta dish, but I made it again yesterday and it was so much better than ever. I am inspired share my success with you! I think that the sweet onion and herbs make the chard even better. We found no trace of bitterness in the dish.

Pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan
Olive oil
Bunch Swiss chard, stems minced, leaves roughly chopped
Sweet onion, chopped
Garlic, as much as you can get your hands on. (I used two whole heads), minced or pressed
Fresh herb, basil or oregano
Salt and pepper
Pasta of your choice, I used whole-wheat fettuccini
Balsamic vinegar, best quality you have
Parmesan cheese

Toast your pine nuts in a dry frying pan. Heat your pasta water. Sauté the onions in oil until soft, adding the garlic and chard stems. Cook until garlic turns straw colored. Cook the pasta, and add the chard leaves to frying pan. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar (about a Tbs) on the chard after turning off the heat. Toss the cooked pasta with the frying pan contents. Arrange pasta in a big bowl, sprinkle pine nuts, herbs and parmesan cheese over top. Salt and pepper to taste.

STIR FRIED SESAME STRING BEANS
Printed from COOKS. (from: Cooks.com - Recipe - Stir Fried Sesame String Beans)
2 tbsp. peanut oil1 tbsp. sesame seeds1 lb. fresh string beans, trimmed1 clove garlic, minced1/3 c. chicken broth or waterFew dashes sesame oil1 tsp. soy sauce or teriyaki
1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok or a frying pan. Over medium heat, cook sesame seeds, stirring constantly until seeds are golden. Remove and set aside.
2. Increase heat to high. When pan or wok is hot, add remaining oil. When oil ripples, add string beans and garlic and stir fry for 1 minute. Add chicken broth or water, lower heat, cover and cook until string beans are crisp tender. Return sesame seeds to pans along with a few drops of sesame oil and soy sauce. Mix well. Makes 4 servings.

ZUCCHINI AND YELLOW SQUASH CASSEROLE
Printed from COOKS.COM Cooks.com - Recipe - Zucchini And Yellow Squash Casserole
3-4 med. zucchini3-4 med. yellow squash1 med. onion1 tbsp. butter1 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese1 c. crushed TriscuitsSalt and pepper to taste2 eggs
Slice zucchini, yellow squash, and onion. Steam until tender in butter. Beat 2 eggs. Combine all ingredients except Triscuits in greased casserole. Top with Triscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

News From Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 9

2008-07-16T13:05:00.003-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 9
This week’s share includes:

2 half-pint raspberries: one black and one either red, black or purple – It’s been a busy day, picking raspberries! Currently, black raspberries are coming on strong, and they’re easy for me to pick; I don’t like them nearly as much as red or yellow raspberries. They also are a quick pick: they all ripen together, you can stand in one spot and fill your container. The reds are more spread out, and tend to hide behind foliage.
1 bunch baby carrots
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
4 cucumbers, pickling or slicing – I had major cucumber germination problems this year and purchased a flat of cucumbers from a local greenhouse. Half was supposed to be a slicing variety, and half was supposed to be a pickling cuke. Turns out that the majority of the plants were picklers, and so most of what we have to offer today are these. (Reason #352 that we are building our own greenhouse!!) The pickles taste fine, and will fit in your jar as well. (That’s the main difference for pickling vs. slicing cukes: they stay short while the slicers are too long to fit in a jar.) Want to make your own pickles? Here’s an excellent link, with pictures: http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm
1 bunch kale – This beautiful green will get better as the season progresses, turning sweeter with the frosty weather. It’s so good for you, so enjoy it in your favorite recipes.
1 bunch beets with greens
1 mini cabbage – Our favorite cabbage is a giant, flattened head of cabbage, called “Tendersweet” which yields a huge quantity of cabbage. In the past, members have expressed concern at finding ways to use so much cabbage. This year I tried these mini cabbages, called “Gonzales” and have been pleasantly surprised. They have a mild and crunchy taste, and you can use one in a dish. My favorite way of preparing a summer cabbage salad is to shred the cabbage and simply toss with Italian dressing.
1 bunch dill – use both the ferny leaves and the flower seeds in your recipes. Or hang upside down to dry.
1 head garlic – freshly harvested, this garlic is delicious to use immediately. If you want it to keep for months, leave it in a dry place until the stalk has dried.

Best guess for next week – Red potatoes, yellow beans, sweet onions.

Photo Captions: 1) The greenhouse, a work-in-progress 2) Beautiful zucchini flowers that were fried up into heaven!

My favorite customer comment of the week: From last week’s pickup, “ The vegetables are breathtaking!” See, I’m not making this up! CSA pickups are great for my ego!

We are one of the few local CSAs that include fruit in our regular vegetable share. We see it as a bonus part of the share, a sweet taste of summer. Last year several members expressed interest in a greater quantity of berries. If members want to “pool” their berries together, and take turns in getting larger quantities of berries, have at it! Or, you can come to our Friday Farm Stand to purchase additional berries, or pick your own. We hope to be in berries for most of the rest of the summer.

As you may have noticed, the greenhouse finally resembles a greenhouse! My goal for today’s work is to get far enough to mount at least one sheet of the polycarbonate sheeting on the outside. We only have a few more weeks to complete the entire structure; it was a surprise to learn that we only had 60 days from purchase to completion, to qualify for the warranty. Our drop-dead date is August 1st, or we’ll have zero warranty.

Also on display for your inspection is ¾ of our garlic crop. It is spread on the stones, drying. Garlic that is well cured will stored for months (ours last year lasted the entire year, I just threw out last year’s leftovers!). I break two cardinal rules in garlic growing: I hose it clean immediately after digging and I cure it in the sun. My garlic tastes great, and lasts for a long time if stored properly, so these infractions hasn’t caused us any issues, yet!

I had a special treat delivered to me last week: fried zucchini flowers! I provided the zucchini flowers, and was exchanged the finished product in return. They were amazingly good, melting in your mouth. I ate so many I almost made myself sick. A lovely treat, to be enjoyed once a year.

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Creamy Chilled Zucchini Soup Recipe (from http://www.care2.com/greenliving/creamy-chilled-zucchini-soup.html)
Adapted from Cold Soups, by Linda Ziedrich (Harvard Common Press, 1995).
This summer classic is a refreshing celebration of the season’s abundance, and one of the simplest and easiest recipes ever. It only calls for four ingredients (including salt!) and the star of the show is lightly steamed zucchini, while sour cream adds rich and voluptuous texture and calcium.
You can whip up a batch of this to serve for lunch or a light dinner in no time: just add a crisp tossed salad and a loaf of crusty bread. Creamy Chilled Zucchini Soup is a lovely way to use up those wonderful zucchini that are popping up in every Farmers’ Market.
INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 cups peeled, sliced, and steamed zucchini1 cup sour cream1 teaspoon toasted and ground cumin seeds1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Blend all the ingredients and serve chilled.
Serves 4.

Cabbage-Carrot Salad Recipe (from http://www.care2.com/greenliving/cabbage-carrot-salad-recipe.html)
By Santha Cooke, MS, LMT
INGREDIENTS
(use organic ingredients where possible)
1/2 small red cabbage, grated3 or 4 carrots, grated1/2 bunch finely minced fresh parsley leaves (remove the thick stems)1/2 bunch minced fresh dill weed (remove the thick stems)Juice of one orangeJuice of one lemon
1. A food processor makes it a snap to grate the carrots and chop the cabbage. Combine the vegetables and herbs. Squeeze the orange and lemon juice over them and toss.
2. Options: This salad begs for improvisation! Some possibilities: add a grated apple or some finely chopped kale. How about a drizzle of olive or flax seed oil? Try grating a beet. Or adding some raisins or toasted walnuts. Perhaps some minced garlic . . .

News From Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 8

2008-07-09T11:59:00.002-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 8
This week’s share includes:

1 head red buttercrunch lettuce – This is the end of the lettuce for the time being, until my next planting matures, probably 3 weeks from now. Last week I transplanted our fall lettuce, since one of my goals this year is to do a better job in providing lettuce throughout the season. In a week or two, it’ll be ready to go into the garden, to grow to full size for our salads.
4 heads broccoli – Not the nicest broccoli we’ve grown, and with the heat, I should be cutting it every 12-15 hours or so. But it tastes great and will store for the winter, if you’re so inclined.
1 head bok choy – Suprisingly this hasn’t gone to seed yet, so we’re still enjoying it. Maybe one more week with this one, I’ll try to get creative with the recipes.
1 half-pint black raspberries –This is a surprise addition to today’s share. I didn’t think there would be enough ripe to share with you, but here they are. They are fabulous (and great for you as well) fresh, or baked up into pancakes or smoothies. That is, if you can pry them from your kids! Please bring back our green containers next week. This Friday, during the farm stand, we’ll offer black raspberry U-pick, 12-5 if you’d like more.
1 bunch cilantro – this is a love it/hate it kind of herb. To some, it tastes soapy. To others it tastes like heaven! It is also known as Mexican Parsley and is fantastic in salsas, or eggs, but I try and put it in everything, salads, on top of potatoes or grilled cheese, inside burritos. Yum.
1 bunch Swiss chard – A gorgeous bouquet of Swiss chard, makes fabulous pasta. Don’t forget to temper it with either balsamic vinegar or lemon juice.
3 bulbs purple kohlrabi – A relative of broccoli, but sweeter. It can be eaten raw or cooked, but please remove the leaves prior to eating.
1 Qt Snow peas
1 Qt Shelling peas
1 bunch baby carrots – These sweeties are baby, since they only grow to about 4 inches long. They are our interim carrot, until our main season, Sugarsnax carrots are ready (at about 18 inches long!). Our sandy-loam soil is perfect for carrot growing. Enjoy them raw, or roast them like asparagus (I can’t wait to try this!), I’ve heard that they get incredibly sweet that way. Or toss them with the kohlrabi in the recipe below.
1 summer squash – the summer squash is just starting to produce. Today we have an assortment: round “eight-ball” zukes, long, straight zukes, and yellow squash.

Best guess for next week – Red potatoes, mini cabbage, broccoli raab

Photo captions: 1) Our family eats a lot of broccoli, all year long, and this is how we put it up. Here it’s all cleaned, cut, blanched, cooled and is now drying on towels. 2) Now it’s packaged into bags, which will be closely sealed and packed in gallon size bags.

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday weekend! We got so much work accomplished here, by 11 am, I felt like I had already worked the entire day. We were out before first light, to see where our broiler chickens and turkeys were sleeping. Sure enough, many of them were still outside, too lazy to make the 3-step hike back into the coop. So we caught them all and transported them to our portable coop in the pasture. (The laying hens we moved into the barn pasture.) Mark mowed the chickens’ pasture very short, to encourage them to forage. It’s great to see them scattered about the pasture. Now they only have to make one step to be inside the shelter of their coop.

After chicken moving, it was pig moving time. Mark set up new portable electric fences (to keep the pigs in and the coyotes out), moved the water line, the pig coop and the tall bulk feeder. I set up the new electric line to charge their fence. The kids even helped, by using the hose to make the pigs a new wallow. It’s a whole family activity. The pigs love fresh pasture, and had parts of it rooted up within the day. These pigs root enough for double their number!

After smelling like pig, we got back to the near-constant work of installing our greenhouse! We finally sunk all of the ground posts, (after measuring a million and a half times) which have to be spaced properly, and be plumb, and driven to the proper height. Next we’re assembling the frame for a Saturday Greenhouse building party. I’ll include details in the email.

After all this work during the weekend, I finally opened my eyes and looked around! The kids were so excited to point out all of the new flowers that had opened over the weekend: sunflowers and many different shades of hollyhocks. I felt like I hadn’t even opened my eyes all weekend. I’m glad my kids are here to remind me to notice the beauty in life.

We hope you’re enjoying the bounty our farm has to offer. If you have any comments or suggestions, we’d be thrilled to hear them.

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

This Epicurious.com recipe: SWISS CHARD WITH RAISINS AND ALMONDS

From a CSA member: “Hi Gwen, Just in case you want another Swiss chard recipe, I'm sending you this one. It's delish! The only thing I changed in the recipe is that I used the stems, sautéed them with the onions and I didn't have any paprika.”
You can view the complete recipe online at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/241474

SWISS CHARD WITH RAISINS AND ALMONDS
1/2 large onion, sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick (1 cup)

2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika

2 lb Swiss chard, center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds with skins

Cook onion with 1/4 teaspoon salt in 2 tablespoons oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring, until softened. Sprinkle with paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chard in batches, stirring frequently, until wilted, then add raisins and water. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until chard is tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt.
Cook almonds in remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil in a small heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle almonds over chard.

ROASTED KOHLRABI (from http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2007/01/roasted-vegetables-roasted-kohlrabi.html)
Hands-on time: 10 minutesTime to table: 45 minutesServes 4 (smallish servings since roasted vegetables shrink so much)

1 1/2 pounds fresh kohlrabi, ends trimmed, thick skin sliced off with a knife, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic (optional, to my taste)

Salt

Good vinegar

Set oven to 450F. Toss the diced kohlrabi with olive oil, garlic and salt in a bowl. (This can be done on the pan but you'll likely use more oil.) Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and put into oven (it needn't be fully preheated) and roast for 30 - 34 minutes, stirring every five minutes started after about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a good vinegar (probably at the table so the kohlrabi don't get squishy).
NUTRITION ESTIMATEPer Serving: 64 Cal (45% from Fat, 12% from Protein, 44% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 8 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb 4; 31 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 23 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 pointCREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUEAdapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

Broccoli and Bok choy Stir-Fry (from “From Asparagus to Zucchini: A guide to Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce”)
1 Tbs peanut oil
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 green bell pepper, julienned
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
1 two-inch piece of ginger, grated
Pinch salt & pepper
1 pound bok choy, shredded
2 Tbs sherry
1 Tbs soy sauce

Heat oil in wok or deep skillet. Stir fry peppers, broccoli, ginger, salt and pepper until broccoli softens slightly, 3-4 minutes. Add bok choy and sherry; cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with soy sauce, serve immediately. Two servings.

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 7

2008-07-01T05:02:00.004-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 7

This week’s share includes:

1 bag spinach – We’ve enjoyed a great run of spinach, and my last producing row is about to go to seed, so this is all we’ll probably see until fall.
1 head Tropicana lettuce – We’re at the end of our spring planted lettuce as well, these heads will become very bitter in another week or so. Midsummer greens at WWF usually are cabbage, Swiss chard, beet greens and Chinese cabbage, since these are easier to grow in the heat.
1 head buttercrunch lettuce
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 bunch basil – A customer favorite, each bunch is almost an entire plant. Basil turns black at temperatures below 50 degrees, so if you store in your refrigerator, be sure to wrap in a paper towel and plastic bag. Enjoy!
20 garlic scapes
1 Qt snow peas.
1 Qt sweet shelling peas
2 heads broccoli
1 head bok choy – we have been enjoying these awesome, crunch bok choy! They have been excellent in stir fries, and have included snow peas, garlic scapes, and broccoli
1 bunch beets – these baby beets are so sweet! They’d do well to be roasted (with garlic scapes, olive oil, salt and pepper) or with my teriyaki beets recipe below. Don’t forget, their greens are awesome prepared like spinach or fresh in your salad.

Best guess for next week – Cilantro, kale, Chinese cabbage, Swiss chard

Photo captions: 1) Our red potatoes are in full bloom, with beautiful purple and yellow blossoms. Mark and I have negotiated my first digging: I’ll search for new potatoes next week. Can’t wait!
2) Talk about pea-stravaganza! We picked and shelled for hours to have enough peas for the winter. My kids eat peas like they’re going out of style, and I want to be sure we have enough. We blanched them for 30 seconds, then the usual cold water bath, drying, bagging and freezing.

My favorite customer comment of the week: “The sweet shelling peas were a taste of heaven” Keep your comments coming, I love to hear them!

This morning found me outside early, when the sky was just lightening. I enjoyed a few moments of quiet contemplation, listening to the frogs in our pond: peepers with their high voices, and bullfrogs adding their baritone counterpoint. The morning wind was still, and the birds also seemed to be listening to the frogs’ concert. It’s nice to be in the country.

Today was a busy day on the farm, with several worker shares picking and weeding. It’s great to see so much activity, working to ensure a fabulous harvest for you. Besides picking and weeding, we’ve also been rototilling, and transplanting broccoli, cabbage and lettuce seedlings, all designated for fall harvest.

This week I uncovered more rows, with plants that were pushing on our fabric row cover. The cucumbers, loaded with blossoms, spilled out as soon as I took the covers off, while the peppers and eggplant protested their fabric confinement. The newly uncovered plants are delicate: they have been coddled under the row cover for most of their lives, and can’t tolerate much wind. I was glad that the recent storms missed us. A day or two later finds the plants strong and vibrant, reaching towards the sun. We welcomed the bees, with their pollinating activities, to the garden to help fertilize our lovely blossoms.

You may have noticed an electric fence around our main garden. This is deer protection, as they were “helping themselves” to a dozen heads of lettuce every night! It’s our first real deer damage, since we’ve always had animals pastured around the garden, with fencing. I’m glad the fencing is working to keep them where they belong: out of my garden.

Thanks for your support, we love being your farmers!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Teriyaki Beets
This is an old favorite recipe of mine, and always a great standby method of cooking delicious beets when you’ve run out of other ideas. It’s even a kid pleaser!

12 small unpeeled beets 1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
4 Tbs butter 1 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs honey

Boil or steam beets until almost tender. Rinse in cold water and cut into halves. Combine butter, honey, ginger and soy sauce in small saucepan and heat until butter and honey are melted. Brush some sauce over beets and place on heated broiler pan. Broil 5-10 minutes until tender, basting frequently. Transfer to serving dish and pour remaining sauce over. Makes 4-6 servings.

Baby Bok Choy with Cashews
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped green onions, including green ends
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound baby bok choy, rinsed, larger leaves separated from base, base trimmed but still present, holding the smaller leaves together
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
Salt
1/2 cup chopped, roasted, salted cashews
Method
1 Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add onions, then garlic, then bok choy. Sprinkle with sesame oil and salt. Cover, and let the baby bok choy cook down for approximately 3 minutes. (Like spinach, when cooked, the bok choy will wilt a bit.)
2 Remove cover. Lower heat to low. Stir and let cook for a minute or two longer, until the bok choy is just cooked.
3 Gently mix in cashews.
Serves 4.

Favorite Spinach Salad (from http://whatscookingamerica.net/Salad/FavoriteSpinachSalad.htm)
2 bunches fresh spinach leaves, washed, dried, and chilled
4 to 6 bacon slices, crisply fried and crumbled
1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
4 hard-cooked e ggs, sliced
4 to 6 green onions, chopped
Sliced almonds
1 cup sliced fresh mushroomsItalian salad dressing (store bought is fine)

Remove stems and veins from spinach and tear into bite-sized pieces; place into a large salad bowl.
Add bacon, water chestnuts, eggs, green onions, almonds, and mushrooms.
Use 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing for 6 cups of spinach greens; toss gently and serve.
Makes 4 servings.

News from Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 6

2008-06-25T13:02:00.004-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 6
This week’s share includes:

1 bag spinach – Our spring planted spinach keeps coming on! We love the healthful qualities of this green, as well as its versatility: you can eat it fresh, add it to cooked recipes, or freeze it for winter’s use (blanch till wilted, approx. 10 seconds, plunge into cold water, pat dry and pack in bags).
1 head Tropicana lettuce
1 head buttercrunch lettuce – These heads just get more beautiful as they grow. I especially like the tender center leaves that blanch yellow.
1 head red buttercrunch lettuce
20 garlic scapes
1 bunch broccoli raab – More akin to a turnip green than a broccoli, broccoli raab (also known as “rapini”) is harvested when the plant is setting seed. This accounts for the bitterness in the flavor. As one customer told me, “it’s supposed to be bitter, that’s how I like it!” I sautéed it with chopped garlic scapes and tossed it with whole-wheat fettuccini. It’s a great source of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as potassium.
1 Qt snow peas – This is the flat, edible-podded variety that is excellent in stir fries or crunchy in salads.
1 Qt sweet shelling peas – This is a special treat for CSA. We haven’t given shell peas in a share for years, usually do to poor pea germination. This past April, I went crazy with my seeder, and put in about 6 rows of shell peas, determined to have a good crop! I started picking yesterday, and kept finding rows of ripe peas! So sit down and shell these babies, and enjoy their sweet flavor.
1 bunch broccoli – These heads are smaller than we’d like. They are a variety that my greenhouse person substituted for my favorite variety, “Gypsy.” I’m planting more seed for fall broccoli, so hopefully we can enjoy broccoli over the entire season.
1 head bok choy – these baby Asian greens are just coming into their season now. (You can tell that the flea beetles also liked them.) Use both the stems and greens in your cooking, putting the stems in the pan earlier than the greens. They are fabulous in stir fries, with garlic scapes, soy sauce and ginger. And snow peas! And broccoli!
1 bunch lemon thyme – A lovely fragrant herb, it can be used in any recipe calling for lemon juice, lemon zest or lemon flavoring. Or dry and enjoy its scent in your kitchen.

Best guess for next week – Cilantro, kale, Chinese cabbage, beets, Romaine lettuce

Photo caption: A beautiful head of red buttercrunch in the field.

Some call it therapy, some call it stress management, some call it immediate gratification. Whatever you call it, you are cordially invited to WWF this Saturday for a weeding party!! There is a certain gratification of attacking a row of weeds, and rescuing plants from weed pressure. The results are right there, in a beautifully weeded row. If you are interested in reaching out and lending a hand, there is no prior experience necessary, we do all the training you need. You’ll be glad you did. We’ll start at 8 and and finish around noon. Pack your lunch (and a hat, gloves, sunscreen and water) and enjoy it under the locust trees.

Speaking of strawberries, we won’t be having any to offer you this year. Our former patch did not survive the winter, and the recently planted patch will be in full operation for next year’s season. As growing seasons go, sometimes crops do well, and sometimes they do not.

We have been fortunate not to have the heavy rains that the Midwest is experiencing. We’ve heard of an organic CSA in Wisconsin that had a total crop loss, and their members helped to purchase new seed for the season. We are lucky to be located on a plateau, and rarely get hit by the storms. We watch the storms come in from the west then move north or south of us. Often we’re hoping for some rainstorms to visit, with the hail and winds left behind, thankyouverymuch. It’s amazing how much better our crops do with watering from rain, as opposed to irrigation. But then the weeds get watered as well!

Please be extra careful that you are only taking the allotted amount from each bin during pickup, so that our later-arriving members can have a full share.

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

BROCCOLI RAAB PASTA

1 lg. onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch broccoli raab
olive oil
romano cheese
red pepper flakes
salt
1/2 lb. penne
red wine vinegar

Put on a large pot of water to boil. In a skillet, coated with olive oil, heat the onion over high heat. When onion is browning in spots, add the garlic, red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Toss briefly, then add the raab and a splash of water. Lower the heat and cook until tender, stirring frequently. Meanwhile cook pasta. Taste the raab and adjust the seasonings. Add a generous amount of olive oil and a splash of vinegar. Toss with the drained pasta and top with romano cheese.

Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters

SWEET AND SOUR BOK CHOY
Printed from COOKS.COM
3 tbsp. salad oil1 head bok choy, washed, trimmed, & cut into 1" pieces1/4 c. packed brown sugar1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger root1 tbsp. cornstarch1 sliced sweet onion1 tbsp. soy sauce1/4 c. red wine vinegar
Heat oil in large skillet, add bok choy and onion. Cook and stir over high heat 1 minute. Blend sugar, vinegar and ginger; add to skillet. Mix well. Cover and steam 1 minute. Combine soy sauce and cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

SESAME SNOW PEAS IN APRICOT SAUCE
Printed from COOKS.COM
2 tsp olive oil3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced1 tbsp sesame seeds1/3 cup sliced, dried apricots1/2 cup apricot preserve1 tbsp bragg’s soy sauce1 tbsp dijon mustard (or regular)1/2 lb (250g) snow peas, trim endstofu (1 medium package), or 1 lb chicken1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
In a large frying pan over medium heat, add oil. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add chicken if that is what you want, and cook until no longer pink. Or add cubed tofu and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the sesame seeds and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the apricots, water, apricot preserve, soy sauce, mustard and ginger. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add snow peas and simmer until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Can be served with rice.

News From Windy Willow Farm 2008 Week 5

2008-06-18T05:21:00.006-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 5

This week’s share includes:

1 bunch asparagus – Probably our last week of asparagus as I’m letting more and more of the stalks develop their ferny heads, which store nutrients for next year’s crop.
1 bag spinach
1 head Tropicana lettuce – Their wonderful ruffly edges, this variety of lettuce gives your salads an attractive look.
1 head buttercrunch lettuce – Hands down, this is our favorite variety of lettuce. When the buttercrunch is ready, all the other greens go by the wayside. If I were to grow one variety of lettuce, this would definitely be it! We’ll have bigger heads next week.
1 head red buttercrunch lettuce – According to Mark, the only variety of red lettuce he likes. These are delicate, so be sure to give it a dunk in cold water when you get home.
1 bag arugula
10 garlic scapes – this is the flower stalk of the garlic plant, and if not removed will make a beautiful flower, and a tiny head of garlic. Chop up and use just like you’d use for garlic or onions. Awesome flavor! (Or you can chop and freeze, flattened, in a plastic bag. Then just break off a corner when you need some.) My favorite scape recipe: chop 3-4 in a food processor and blend with softened cream cheese and salt to taste. A great dip for veggies or pretzels or schmear on a bagel.
1 bunch Swiss chard – The Swiss chard is just coming on, and we’ll be enjoying these stalks for a while. Use the entire plant, but cook the stems longer than the leaves. My favorite Swiss chard recipe: toast pine nuts in a dry frying pan, boil water for pasta. As the pasta is cooking, sauté garlic (or garlic scapes!) in some olive oil, and sauté Swiss chard stems until soft. When the pasta is almost ready, add the roughly chopped leaves and cook until wilted. Toss with the hot pasta, top with toasted pine nuts and parmesan cheese (which I like to shave with a potato peeler), salt and pepper to taste. Finish with an acid (to balance the chard) of a tablespoon of either lemon or balsamic vinegar. You’ll love it.
1 bunch dill – I planted dill in our orchard field, but this dill is a volunteer and reseeded itself from prior years. It’s taking over one of our pea rows, but it looks nice and smells great, so it stays.

Best guess for next week – Bok choy, snow peas. A couple weeks: broccoli, black raspberries

Photo caption: A beautiful shot of Swiss chard growing in the field. We use a rainbow chard variety, which has mostly green leaves, but all colors of ribs and stems.

One of my favorite jobs on the farm is hand weeding. Hand weeding is the process of getting down onto the soil and using your hands and weeding tools to eradicate weeds around your baby plants. In this case, it was carrots. Carrots do not like weed competition and grow much nicer when they can stand alone. The carrot tops are a few inches tall; the weeds are (were) about six inches tall and were growing vigorously! There is a satisfaction to look down the row you’ve weeded and see your plants rescued from the scourge of weeds! But hand weeding also gives you a chance to get down and dirty (pun intended) with the soil. I sat still for a moment and saw all kinds of movement in the soil: ants, bees, ladybugs, worms. The soil is alive and well and functions in it’s own little ecosystem. Since we don’t spray nasty chemicals on our plants, these beings get a chance to live their life cycle. I even found a skeleton in the soil. It always amazes me what a secret life my fields experience when I’m not there to observe. I’d love to set up a camera to see what kind of traffic goes through.

Every week it seems like there are more recalls for contaminated food. It’s so scary that you could eat something as benign as a tomato, or spinach, and become sickened by it. Your farmers at WWF take the health of ourselves and our customers to the utmost. Every piece of equipment that touches your food has been bleached and cleaned prior to every use, and every picker is healthy and clean. We always have access to hand washing facilities or use hand sanitizer. As a matter of fact, I’ll put some out for your use during pickup, for convenience. As for field contamination, we use our well water that we test every few years; we spread finished compost from our own animals on our lands for fertilization. We try to have few outside inputs to our soils, but occasionally use commercial organic fertilizer compounds like dehydrated chicken manure compost or fish/seaweed fertilizer. We invite you all to inspect our gardens and handling procedures at any time to ensure your confidence in our farm. All comments and discussions are welcome.

This week I have two favorite customer comments to share. The first is from a CSA member who commented, “I feel like every Wednesday is my birthday,” which is so awesome. I love it. The other comment was from a farm stand customer/neighbor who came to introduce himself and to stock up on mesclun. He said, “Thank you for doing this!” which made my day. I’ve been told by other neighbors that we rescued this farm and how glad they are to have us. It’s nice to be valued by your neighbors. (Except the neighbor who was awoken at midnight by my escapee/scared-of-thunderstorms dog. He’ll probably need some time to come around. I brought him a dozen of our awesome eggs to sweeten him up.)

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:

1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices

1/3 cup walnuts

¾ cup olive oil

¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano

½ teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

Method:Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

Arugula, Pear, and Asiago Cheese Salad
(from http://whatscookingamerica.net/Salad/ArugulaPearSalad.htm)
3 tablespoon coarsely chopped toasted walnuts or pecans*

12 cups (about 8 ounces) loosely packed arugula leaves

1 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Coarsely ground salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 pears, peeled, cored and sliced

6 ounces Asiago cheese, shaved or grated (I like to use a potato peeler)

* Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spread the walnuts or pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for approximately 6 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer onto a plate and let cool.

In a large bowl, add arugula leaves and drizzle with olive oil to lightly coat. On individual salad plates, place the tossed arugula; season with salt and pepper. Arrange pear slices along the side of plate and top with Asiago cheese and toasted walnuts or pecans.
Makes 12 servings.

Spring Veggie Burrito Bake Recipe #303206

(from http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/print?id=303206)
SERVES 4
1 large garlic clove (minced)
1 medium onion (minced)
3/4 cup uncooked rice
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
16 cups fresh spinach (loosely packed)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic (minced)
salt and pepper
2 cups cooked black beans
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup monterey jack cheese (shredded)

In a saucepan, sauté 1 clove garlic (minced), onion, uncooked rice and ground tumeric in 1 tablespoon oil until onion is tender. Stir often.
Add broth and mix well. Simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes for white rice, 40 minutes for brown rice. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes, fluff with fork.
While rice cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in frypan on high heat. Add garlic and spinach, one handful at a time as it wilts, adding a little water as needed to prevent sticking. Spinach should be moist, with loose leaves, not clumped together.
Mix black beans and chili powder in a bowl. Layer ingredients as follows in 2-quart casserole: half of spinach, all of the rice, all of the beans, remaining spinach.
Sprinkle cheese on top. (At this point, casserole may be tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to bake.) Cover and bake at 375F until sizzling, 45 minutes. Or heat in microwave about 10 minutes then let stand 5 minutes. Serve by spooning into warm flour tortillas. Optional garnishes: salsa, avocados, guacamole, sour cream, Tabasco pepper sauce, chopped fresh cilantro, lime wedges.

Windy Willow Farm 2008 CSA Week 4

2008-06-11T04:39:00.002-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 4
This week’s share includes:

1 bunch asparagus – We’re getting to the end of asparagus season, when the asparagus fronds start to branch out earlier and earlier. A recent comment: “Your asparagus is the best I’ve ever had!” I love to hear it! Enjoy it, and stop by our farm stand on Friday if you need enough to freeze for the winter. You’ll notice, however, there is more bug damage; the asparagus beetle loves the hot weather and is eternally hungry for our organic asparagus.
1 bag mesclun – This is the regrowth crop from a couple of weeks ago. Due to this, there’s a lot more grass growing with the lettuce. When I plant the seed, the lettuce out-grows the weeds, but on the second pass, the grass catches up! We’re spinning this almost dry with my new, 5-gallon salad spinner! Talk about time saving! One last comment for salad washing/spinning/storing: wet lettuce rots, dry lettuce wilts. The goal is to have it damp and crisp in your bag. Oh, and it’s incredibly difficult to grow good lettuce in hot weather, sometimes getting so bitter you can’t eat it. This stuff may be on it’s way to bitter, but still tastes great.
1 bag arugula
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch radishes – This is the last of them for a while, before I plant them for fall use. The heat makes them bolt as well, and turn pithy, so enjoy these. A great recipe for them is below.
1 bag spinach
1 head Tropicana lettuce – A standout in our head lettuce offerings. It makes a beautiful head of frilly leaves, and grows to twice the current size. Enjoy!

Best guess for next week – Baby Swiss chard, head lettuce. A couple weeks: broccoli, black raspberries

Photo captions: Last week’s radishes, all stacked up and ready for use!
The chicks have arrived, and are enjoying their brooder. The turkeys, in particular, are extremely curious.
The beautiful chives.

An awesome article about eating locally, shared from a fellow CSA member (thanks!) : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24994028

It’s like opening presents on the farm! I continue to be amazed at what our fabulous organic soil grows. Some of my favorite days on the farm (besides eating what I grow) is when I can remove the row cover from a row that has been “gift-wrapped” for weeks. We try to leave the covers on as long as possible, to keep bugs off the plants and to continue to foster them through the unpredictable weather. However, when the plants start to push up on the white cover, it’s time for “The Reveal.” Imagine this: as we remove the white cover, the heat that was stored rushes out, warming our legs and hands. The plants spring up, no longer encumbered by the fabric. The fragrance of tomato plants waft to our noses, making us pine for that first ripe tomato. The early tomatoes have tons of blossoms and are ready to be pollinated by our resident bees. This will ensure a bumper crop of tomatoes. Come on, tomatoes!

The crazy heat we’ve had recently has made the heat-loving plants (eggplant, peppers, tomatoes) really take off. The not-so-much-heat-loving-plants (spinach, radishes, broccoli raab) are showing the strain. The heat makes lettuce bitter, and spinach, radish and raab go to seed, or bolt. We also have to be careful with our animals. Several times per day we make sure they all have fresh water and shade. I’ve been giving the pigs a wallow (a pool for them with a hose), and they stayed there all afternoon, completely submerged in the mud! The rain was welcomed by all, even the chickens celebrated by running around their pasture. The high heat gave your farmer a chance to do some indoor work, painting our farm stand sign. Next painting job is our rock-sign up at the corner.

Today’s weather is picture-perfect, a lovely reward after suffering through mid-90s. It was a gift to be able to work outside today, preparing today’s share, with two fabulous worker shares. (Days like today make me glad I’m no longer working in an office!) Jason helped in the garden this morning, moving the bin while I cut mesclun mix. The kids love to help, and I’m always looking for ways for them to contribute. I read a wise saying, “They love to help, and if you say ‘no,’ by the time their help really helps, they won’t want to anymore.” I try to always keep this in mind!

Enjoy your share, and please let me know what I can do to enhance your CSA experience.

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Sautéed Radishes with Greens

¼ cup Butter
1 bunch Radishes
4 cups Cooking Greens (Chard, Radish Greens, Arugula, Spinach, Kale, or Braising Greens will all do nicely)
2 Tbls. Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the radishes; cook, stirring constantly, until tender but still crisp, about 5 minutes depending on size. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Return the skillet to stove. Put the cooking greens in the skillet with the washwater still clinging to the leaves. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until wilting, 3-4 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice and radishes to the skillet, stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Balsamic Vinaigrette (found in http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Balsamic-Vinaigrette/Detail.aspx)
"This is a tangy vinaigrette--wonderful on mixed greens, tomato, onion and cucumber salads. It's also good if used sparingly over steamed veggies or stir-frys. Sometimes I use traditional balsamic vinegar. However, this will produce a slightly sweeter vinaigrette."

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: 1 cup

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 pinch salt
ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, and mustard powder. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Stir in minced fresh herbs if desired.

Pasta with Arugula and Goat Cheese Sauce
from A Complete Menu Cookbook for All Occasions by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette
4 servings

a bunch of fresh arugula
4 springs fresh parsley
1 8 ounce container low-fat yogurt or sour cream
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
S and P to taste
1 pound fusilli noodles
Grated parmesan cheese, as garnish

1. Before preparing sauce, fill a large casserole with water, and bring the water to a boil.
2 Wash and clean well the arugula and parsley. Dry thoroughly. Trim and chop both the arugula and the parsley.
3. Place the arugula and the parsley in a food processor. Add the yogurt or sour cream, goat cheese, salt, and pepper. Blend the ingredients thoroughly. Keep the sauce at room temperature until ready to use.
4. Add a pinch of salt to the boiling water, and cook the fusilli noodles following the instructions on the package. When the noodles are cooked, drain them, and place them in four serving dishes. Pour the sauce evenly over the top of each serving and add some cheese to each dish. Serve immediately.

2008-06-04T13:27:00.003-04:00

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.

2008-05-28T13:45:00.005-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
2008 Week 2

This week’s share includes:

1 bunch asparagus- The sunny, warm weather helped the asparagus take off. I hope you’re enjoying them as much as we do.
1 bag mesclun – A beautiful mix of red and green lettuces, kale, arugula, bok choy and other asian greens. It has a lovely flavor, mild plus some spice. It was picked this morning, and plunged in ice cold water. Be sure to rinse again in cold water, spin or pat dry, and store in a plastic bag. (There are as many lettuce storage techniques as there are lettuce leaves, but this is mine.) Don’t forget to pick out the odd weed or piece of grass.
1 bag arugula – Welcome to arugula from an organic farm! As you can see, this stuff is “pre-eaten” by the flea beetles. They love the stuff and descend upon it as soon as it peeks out from the ground. The only way to avoid the swiss-cheese look is to cover it as soon as you plant it, and make sure there’s no holes in the cover. Our row covers regularly flap in the breeze, letting all sorts of critters underneath. The arugula has a spicy, peppery flavor and is awesome mixed into your lettuce, or sautéed with garlic and olive oil and tossed with pasta. (Cooking tames the spicy bite).
1 bunch lovage – a cousin to celery, it is the orginal “straw” in a bloody Mary (the stems are hollow). A little of this herb goes a long, long way. I love it in potato salad, soups and regular lettuce salads. It adds a little flavor and some salt to your cooking. All parts of the leaves and stems are edible.
1 bunch mint – stuck for ideas for your mint? Steep in hot water for tea, mix with sugar, lime and rum for a mojito, chew leaves straight for a “pick me up/breath freshener”, toss with peas for a refreshing treat, chop and sprinkle over vanilla ice cream, float in cold water for minty water…. The ideas go on and on.
Best guess for next week – Asparagus, greens (spinach and/or lettuce and/or arugula), an herb (maybe oregano), radishes.

As you can see, our CSA starts slowly and picks up speed as the season progresses. This season may be starting a bit slower, due to our greenhouse struggles, so our apologies for this. We have been busy, as usual, in the garden, planting, weeding, irrigating, and covering with row cover. I’m still waiting for the threat of frost to be over…. At the house this morning it said 33 degrees, but there was frost in the grass. Already my tomatoes (under row cover) have suffered from the cold: evidence of frost burns on the leaves are visible. They’ll pick up again after the weather warms up consistently, but I always want them to grow vigorously from the get-go!

You may have noticed field activity in the south-west corner of our property. Our dairy farm neighbor, Tony, is using the field to plant Sudan grass. He prepped the field by plowing and disking, and used a backhoe to pry out the visible ledgerock. Mark took advantage of this to drag huge pieces of rock around the farm. One piece ended up in the front lawn: what better kid toy is there? Several large rocks now live near the pond, as wildlife-viewing posts. The best one by far now is located at the corner of our property: it’s going to be our sign-rock! All it needs is a hole to be tipped into, and a coat of paint to have a farm sign. If there are any artists out there who want to help design the sign, please let me know!

I just looked out the window to the chicken pasture and saw a puff of dirt fly into the air. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, since I saw no chicken in the area! Our chickens are enthusiastic fluffers. They love to fluff/bathe in the dirt since it keeps them cool while controlling parasites. Apparently they have fluffed in the same spot for so long, it is now a chicken-hole, and is much lower than the surrounding grass. Hence, the puff of dirt. Not only is the chicken pasture a dangerous place to walk due to the holes in the ground, but the pigs are making quick work of their pasture as well. Pigs love to root, and these seven pigs root with the best of them. It generally takes a while for small pigs to root up their pasture; we usually can get a few weeks to a month from the pigs’ first pasture. These guys have been rooting since they arrived at WWF, and have been hard at work ever since. We intentionally put the pig and chicken pastures in the spot reserved for our next garden. This way the animals are helping us fertilize the soil, kill the grass and eat all the roots and bugs they can find. Hard workers, our animals.

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

© 2008 Gwen Hyde

Lentils With Lovage (from http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/lovage.html)
Ingredients:

1/2 small chopped sweet onion
chopped butter
12 ounces whole green lentils
1/2 cup chopped lovage
1 sprig of fresh thyme
orange zest/peel
chicken stock or water

Sauté the chopped onions in the butter to soften but do not brown. Stir in the lentils. Add the chopped lovage, thyme, one strip on orange peel or a small amount of zest and stock. Cover and simmer until tender. Remove the lentil mixture with a slotted spoon and reduce the liquid in the pan, while adding a little more butter and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the lentil mixture. Serves 4.

Asparagus with roasted-garlic aioli
Gourmet February 2007

Roasting the heads of garlic results in a less-pungent aioli — a nice quality in an appetizer, since too much raw garlic can hijack the palate for the rest of the evening.

Makes 8 (hors d'oeuvre) servings.

2 medium heads garlic, left whole
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 teaspoons apple-cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 lb medium asparagus, trimmed

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut off and discard tops of garlic heads to expose cloves, then brush each head with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Wrap heads together in foil and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Cool to warm.

Squeeze garlic from skins into a food processor and purée with mayonnaise, vinegar, pepper, and salt. Transfer aioli to a bowl and stir in chives.

Arugula Pesto Recipe #102668 (from http://www.recipezaar.com/102668)
A variation over one of the best italian sauces.
by ekives
10 min 10 min prep SERVES 4
2 cups arugula leaves
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic

Put all the ingredients on a mixer and chop until it forms a paste.
Serve over pasta.

2008 CSA Week 1

2008-05-21T11:34:00.007-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm
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 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.

Walking the Talk

2008-05-12T04:09:00.003-04:00

A recent theme at the farm these days is, "How come no one can do what they say they're going to do?"

For example, 25 families are currently relying on me to supply them with a season's worth of vegetables, with a bonus sprinkling of fruit. I said that I would supply said items; my member families have entrusted me with their hard-earned money (or promise to work, for my worker shares). This is a covenant which I take very seriously. If I don't do what I say I'm going to do, 25 families go hungry.

Our frustration begins with my current greenhouse. This winter, I supplied them with a list of what I need grown and when, and included the seeds for each. They agreed. This agreement is vitally important, as I count on their "doing what they say they will do" for my 25 families!

For example, I need(ed) to put several hundred heads of lettuce in the ground on May 1st. So, on April 30th, I called and said, "as agreed, I'll be there tomorrow to pick up all of my May 1st plants. I assume (maybe that was my first problem!) that they are in the hardening-off area by now and are ready for me to plant." The response, ".... uhh.... maybe you shouldn't come until the end of the week." WHAT??? Apparently, my lettuce (and broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale and others) had died several weeks earlier, from lack of watering. They had just been replanted. Did they give me a call and say, "we've had a problem and need to push back our agreed-upon dates"? Nope. You could see the steam coming from my ears.

As farmers that sell produce grown all-naturally, without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides (a.k.a. organic), we plan all year for our farming business. We spread compost and cover crops on the gardens, we plant garlic in October, we water and weed our crops. We purchase seed and plant it. We do what we say we are going to do.

Is the word for this integrity? I'm not sure, but it's close.

I was recently discussing this with a long-time customer of mine and his comment was, "These days, if someone only does what they say what they are going to do, they will be wildly successful." This hit me hard. How did our expectations of eachother fall so short? In this day and age of technology and overbooking, is it so hard to say what you will do and do it? Makes me crazy.

Luck being kind, I had already planted most of my upper garden in spinach, arugula, mesclun and peas. These will be the mainstay of my early shares, as well as asparagus, rhubarb, mint, chives and lovage. My families will not go hungry.

Long and painful story short, I am currently at the mercy of my greenhouse growers. This is unacceptable to me and my business. Because of this, we have committed to purchase and install our own greenhouse to start all of our own transplants. Look for this development in the coming months.

Reach For the Sky! Asparagus Makes an Appearance.

2008-04-29T05:27:00.005-04:00

Spring has sprung! A few days ago I harvested my first asparagus of the season. Since the oven was aleady hot, cooking my meatloaf, I had a moment of inspiration. I threw the asparagus onto a baking sheet, sprinkled with salt, pepper and olive oil, and roasted away.

Mark's comment, "Is there anything you won't roast??" fell on deaf ears.

45 minutes later, I took the spears out of the hot oven, stuck a fork in the biggest pieces to make sure they were tender and snuck a taste. Amazing!! Roasting the asparagus made them crunchy, sweet, tender, melt-in-your-mouth-while-beating-everyone-else-away-from-the-serving-dish awesome! I immediately put the rest of the asparagus (that I had stashed in the fridge in case roasting went terribly wrong) back in the pan for round #2. I'll never eat another boiled asparagus again.

So many people claim to hate asparagus, and I know why: store-bought (or maybe just old) asparagus tastes bad! It's bitter and stringy, not at all like the sweet spears we grow. Try some local, organic asparagus and you may be pleasantly suprised.

We've been busy on the farm, and have many early spring crops in: potatoes, onions, spinach, peas, swiss chard, beets, arugula, mesclun mix, carots, broccoli, cabbage and herbs are all in the ground. All we need is warm weather to see new growth. These cool, rainy days keeps everything wet, but does not encourage much growth.

Oh, an if you've inquired, our CSA program is now full. I've been turning away 3-5 people per week! Amazing what interest there is (especially as spring progresses) in local agriculture. It just warms my heart.

Welcome Spring. (I think)?

2008-03-21T01:59:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the first day of spring at Windy Willow Farm! I'll just bet you never expected to be greeted by a lovely photo of our manure spreader. But this manure spreader has earned a prominent place in our lives recently.

Manure (or compost, in our case) is usually spread during the winter, so we're driving the tractor on frozen ground. Mark was spreading compost on our gardens, using our ancient manure spreader when it broke, mid-spread (of course)! As you can see, the manure is moved to the back of the spreader with bars run by chains. Mark limped back to the manure pile on high alert, dripping and dropping rusted hardware. I ran out (post morning shower, hair still wet) to help shovel out the compost and to assess the situation. Chains and bars were everywhere. In due time, the bed was cleaned out and the remaining hardware removed. A new set was ordered, post haste, and was installed yesterday.

The phrase "was installed" may be glossed over by some readers. Others may think about what it takes to install a chain system on a 30+ year old piece of equipment. Let me tell you that when one lays on recently thawed spring ground, the wet, cold mud seeps through a Carhart jacket and fleece-lined jeans surprisingly quickly. We finally wised up and sent enough chain through to attach together while standing on top of the unit, instead of from afore-mentioned ground position.

Now, off to spread more compost to nutrify the soil so we can grow great veggies! Many of said veggies have been started by my greenhouse friend already, and many more are planned on paper. Other pre-season activities have included the purchase of slanted farm stand tables, rearranging and organization of harvest equipment; inventory of plastic, row covers and irrigation equipment; plans for painting the garage (after power-washing), re-roofing our storage milk house and milk room off the barn; storing the snow blower for the season and starting up the rototiller; and any other preparation-variety activities.

We're still interviewing for Worker Share positions for the season. Let me know if you want to join in and lend a hand, and eat like a king!

Oh, and I was interviewed for a recent article in the Metroland: http://www.metroland.net/dining_review.html pretty cool stuff. Happy Spring to you!

The Sweet Secrets of Squash

2008-02-13T08:46:00.003-05:00

Every time I go down into the basement, I avert my eyes, lest I see the bushel baskets of squash. I know that at some point, I'm going to have to take action. Big, hours-long action. And I'm procrastinating.

I know that the squash couldn't possibly keep in our non-root-cellar basement for much longer, and that my inaction probably made most of them rot.

One day, not too long ago, I decided to bite the bullet.

I heated up our stove, enlisted the help of a strong man with a sharp knife, and cut open the waiting squash. To my delight, I found gorgeous, deep orange flesh that smelled like a crisp fall day. The squash had aged themselves into perfection. They were sweet and nutty, just what a winter squash should be. (The kids asked for thirds!) We realized that 4-5 months aging is a perfect time for the squash, in a not-too-cold basement.

I was relieved to have this task behind me, and am anticipating the lovely pumpkin pies I'll be making with my awesome butternut squash.

A Few Good People! Our Worker Share

2008-02-03T10:31:00.002-05:00

Ever feel like you'd like to get more involved in your local, organic farm and eat great food? Consider our Worker Share program!

We have decided to offer a limited number of Worker Shares this year. A worker share is an exchange of your labor for a vegetable share in our CSA program. It is a serious commitment, requiring you to commit to a 4-hour per week time commitment, for 22 weeks in the season.

In exchange, you'll be a full CSA member, receiving your share of the bounty of our farm.

Worker shares are not for everyone. It's hard work, in all weather, which includes planting, weeding, hoeing, picking, washing and bagging. You will develop a special connection with the farm, farmers and other workers and an appreciation and understanding of organic vegetable production.

If you're interested in learning more about our Worker Share Program, send me an email and we can discuss your interest further.

We're looking for a few good people!

2008 Annual Newsletter: Email me if you need an order form!

2008-01-23T05:17:00.001-05:00

Windy Willow Farm
windywillowfarm@verizon.net, http://windywillowfarm.blogspot.com/

Dear friends,

We hope that 2008 finds you well and enjoying the beginning of a fantastic year. We are savoring the quiet winter on the farm, watching the snow fall, melt, and fall again and keeping tabs on the kids. We made many major changes to our farm this past year, which has added to our overall quality of life. Please see below for our new offerings.

Our Philosophy
Our family farm’s core belief is to practice and promote sustainable and organic agriculture. Although we are not certified organic, we follow the organic guidelines. We believe that both the land and our animals should be treated with respect and gentle care. We minimize off-farm inputs and maximize use of compost and natural pest control. We keep our animals healthy and happy by rotating them to fresh, lush and nutritious pastures and feeding them certified-organic grains. They don’t need medications, hormones or antibiotics. The end result is a garden full of delicious produce, picked at the ripest, most nutritive moment; and healthy, robust animals. Healthy animals make the best meat: don’t forget that grassfed meats have been found to be lower in cholesterol and higher in amino acids and essential fatty acids.

We invite you to spend an hour or a day with us on the farm, to experience the best our land has to offer.

New Stuff at WWF
One of the more exciting changes we made this year was to establish our farm blog. If you haven’t discovered this, it’s Gwen’s area to wax poetic on her usual (and unusual!) topics. Our customers have found this to be an excellent way of keeping in touch with Windy Willow Farm during the off-season, and it’s where we’ll be posting our weekly CSA newsletter. We also have cool links and recommended reading, if you’re so inclined. Please check it out often: http://windywillowfarm.blogspot.com/. We also welcome your comments and feedback on what we write.

We also took the plunge and installed two solar systems to add to the passive solar design of the house. Our new systems heat our hot water with the sun, and generate electricity. We love standing at the garage, watching the meter spin backwards! We’re thrilled to reduce our carbon footprint to help us to live lightly on this earth. If you’re interested in solar, come on by and talk to us!

Friday Farm Stand with email alerts
2007 was a big year of change for us at WWF. We decided to have only one day of CSA pickup and not to participate in any farmers markets. This was a tough decision, since we had been at the Gloversville Farmers Market for five years! We decided that we needed to focus on growing our children and keeping our farm business a manageable size. We know that many of our customers missed us at the markets and we missed you too! That’s why we’re proposing a Weekly Farm Stand on Friday afternoons. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you an email on Thursday or Friday morning, letting you know what vegetables and fruits we’ll be stocking at our farm stand.

WWF Grassfed Poultry
This was the first year we raised turkeys and broiler chickens, mostly for our own use. It was a resounding success, and I’m thrilled to bits every time I bring one of our chickens out of the freezer. And the Thanksgiving turkey was outrageously delicious- very lean, but juicy. The birds were raised in the regular WWF way: with Certified-Organic grains, fresh water, lush green pastures, and lots of TLC. We raised the chickens to be big: when we roast a chicken, we want some meat for leftovers! Our goal was a 5-6 pound chicken (bigger than other farms), making them rather expensive to sell commercially. But the meat is delicious and amazingly tender. We are offering a limited number of chickens and turkeys, so order now if you’re interested.

CSA
Our CSA is based on a pre-payment program: participants pay for their “share of the harvest” in early spring. Then, every Wednesday for twenty weeks, from May 21 through October 1, 2008, our CSA group comes to the farm to pick up their share of what is ripest, freshest, and picked at the peak of nutrition. Our customers receive a wonderful variety of produce and a strong connection with our family farm. The amounts and varieties of produce in the share vary with the season; there are always some crops that grow wonderfully and others that don’t do as well. We are experienced enough growers that we will always have something to offer our customers. We also include an informative newsletter that highlights information on the veggies, discussions on life at WWF and several recipes for items included in the share. This year’s newsletter will be posted each week to our farm’s blog with a reminder email to the members when posted. Wednesday pickups are from 4-6 pm, any shares not picked up in this timeframe will be considered forfeit. Since we run our business from our home, we strictly adhere to these rules. We do try to accommodate the occasional emergency (we ask that you give us as much notice as possible), but we do expect that you agree to these times. We also ask that you let us know if you’ll be away for a pickup day, so we can adjust our harvest accordingly. We encourage you to recruit family members or friends to pickup in your place, should you be away. This is a great way to introduce new members to our farm and CSA system.

Dependent on the weather, the amount of produce in each week’s share changes. Last year, the weekly share ranged from 4 (the first weeks of the season) to 14 different items. Each share is designed to supply enough produce for a family of 4, or 2 vegetarians. Occasionally there is enough supplied to put up for the winter, and often we offer extras for additional purchase. We grow a huge variety of vegetables (asparagus, summer and winter squash, peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.), fruits (strawberries, raspberries) and herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, sage, dill, chives, etc.), over 75 varieties of produce grown throughout the season.

Our CSA is unique from other CSA farms in that it includes some fruit in the share (strawberries and raspberries). Many CSAs offer a fruit share separate from their vegetable shares. We find our customers love our fruit, and always want more: to meet this need, we offer additional fruit outside of the CSA share, either U-pick or ordered in advance.

This year we’ve several new varieties to our produce offerings, including: orange “golfball” sized tomatoes, broccoli raab, Chinese cabbage (after a year’s hiatus), round zucchini, purple kohlrabi, mini cabbages and more red buttercrunch lettuce. We can’t wait to start sharing these with you!

This past year we added a “Love it/Hate it” bin where shareholders can drop items they just don’t care for or pick up additional produce that they really love. It received rave reviews in our surveys. We will definitely continue this practice this year.

Grassfed Meats
Lamb
Due to the high labor costs of pasture-raising lamb (moving fences multiple times per week), we will not be offering lamb for sale this year.

Pork
We raise our pigs with the utmost of care and respect on our lush pastures. We purchase them as weanlings, and raise them on our rotated pastures until September. When the pigs are full-sized, we send them to our favorite butcher, who treats them with kindness and respect. They are cut, smoked and vacuum sealed to your specifications. Our customers rave about out pork; the meat is tender, juicy and flavorful. We also share with you cooking tips, since grassfed pork cooks differently from supermarket meat. We have also found a wonderful grassfed meats cookbook: “Grassfed Gourmet” by Shannon Hayes. It has wonderfully inspiring recipes that highlight our meats beautifully.

We continue to be challenged to keep farming affordable, as the price of our organic feed has doubled in as many years! We hate to raise the price of our pork, but due to our costs, this year’s pork price will be $5.00 per pound, hanging weight. This includes custom cutting and smoking of hams and bacon. If you are interested in additional meat smoked (such as hocks or roasts), or linked sausage, there are additional fees.

For all meat purchases, pickup will be on the farm. We will give you at least 2-3 weeks’ notice of the pickup time and date. Please bring several coolers or boxes to bring home your frozen meat. Your balance is due at this time as well.

Many Hands…
We always try and include our customers in our farm workdays; it allows folks to have a closer connection with the earth and offers us much-appreciated help. We find that our work parties foster comraderie and ownership of our crops. Who wouldn’t like eating broccoli from plants you placed into the ground as babies? It’s also a great teaching tool for kids to begin to understand just where their food comes from. We’d love to have you join us: please send me an email of your interest.

We are also looking for a part-time employee for the growing season. If you know a friendly, mature and hardworking person that would enjoy working with us, please let us know.

We look forward to a wonderful and healthful growing season. We look forward to seeing you at our CSA pickups, Friday farm stand and meat pickup days! Call on us if you have any questions or need additional information. We are always happy to chat about our passion for farming.

Sincerely,

Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

Karen’s Annual Essay
We are so fortunate to continue to share our summers with Karen Burke. She volunteers her time here every Friday during the growing season, in return for all the veggies and fruit she can eat. Here are her thoughts from the 2007 season:

I have just finished my third summer at Windy Willow Farm. As usual, I am enthusiastic about my experience there. This year’s theme is “The Magic”.

I think I have spoken before about the mind easing qualities of farm work. There were some Fridays that started with the woes of the week still weighing heavily on my mind – it was hard to wake up and even harder to get going but I knew, I always knew, that the magic was waiting. As I drove the 25 minutes towards the farm, my spirits would begin to lift. When I got to the fields and started putting baby plants into the ground or pulling the weeds that threatened the babies, my mind would clear and a peace would come over me. That is not to say the problems of life were not still waiting when I got home but for those hours, as close to the soil as one can be, the spirit of Mother Nature entwined with my own and it was truly MAGIC!!

Four days of the week I spend at my “real job”. That’s the one that pays the bills. I am not sure that I consider it my “real” job – in fact, if I am ever drawn into a conversation and the dreaded question, “What do you do?” comes up, I almost always mention my farm job first - I have a lot more to say about planting, weeding, weather, camaraderie, values, priorities, friendships and well-being, all resulting from my volunteer work on the farm. When I talk of my “real” job, I cannot keep from mentioning the dullness, wastefulness and general malaise that results from that daily regimen. Thankfully, the farm allows me to have a really real job! And to have some real magic in my life.

Sarah and I experienced some magic together. She is as delighted by critters as I am. We held wooly bear caterpillars and toads. Gently, in awe, they were handled and released. And then one day, up in the far fields, we all discovered that Garlic scapes can TALK. Think of it, talking garlic scapes! Imagine yourself having a conversation with a garlic scape. If you had been there, you would have heard them, as clearly as Sarah and her Mom and I did that sunny afternoon.

I have been trying to write the conclusion to this essay for weeks now. The darkness of December caught up with me before I finished. I went into hibernation mode, as I usually do. One day I woke up and it was January. So, please accept my apologies for the lateness of this little composition.

With the lengthening of the daylight hours, my mind starts to look forward to all the possibilities that await us in this New Year. I can’t wait for spring! Hope to see you at the farm! I miss my farmers!

Winter Riding

2008-01-07T05:09:00.001-05:00

One of the joys of winter is riding my horse in the snow. We avoid much of the regular season preparation, like grooming, pre-ride lounging (to get the bucks out) and schooling/ring work. I just collect him from his pasture, pick his hooves, run a quick hand over his thick coat, saddle up and mount up. He doesn't do too many crazy/I-haven't-been-ridden-in-weeks actions, except a little passage (french for a slow, collected trot) because of the deep snow.

Within a few minutes, we are deep in the woods, accompanied only by the quiet crunching of the snow underhoof and the occasional bird's call. We travel on paths that many have passed before: with the aid of the snow, we can see where the forest "highways" are. Some paths are traveled heavily, some none at all. Of the footprints we see, some are from small animals, with prints close together, some travel dragging their tail, and some are from larger species, with several feet between prints (a running deer, maybe?). There are no human prints to be found.

My horse bravely trudges on, occasionally stopping to cock an ear this way or to peer intently into the trees (he's looking for horse-eating monsters). His trust in me is complete: he knows I would not allow him to travel in areas where he's likely to get hurt or encounter afore-mentioned horse-eating monsters. It's not until I decide that it's too dangerous to attempt to cross a frozen stream that we turn around to retrace our steps. To my horse's delight, he encounters his own hoofprints. He travels with his nose in the snow, to better smell his equine partner. And then, jackpot! A manure pile to sniff. This evidence of fellow equine emboldens him to pick up his pace and move energetically through the forest, thinking, "that brave horse traveled here, so I'll be fine." I don't think it matters that the prints and manure smell just like him; he clearly feels supported by his find.

We pick up our pace along a straightaway with good footing. With a gentle squeeze of my legs, I encourage him forward into a lovely trot, and then a rocking horse canter. The cool wind rushes by my face and the snow flies from his hooves. Life does not get better than this.

At the end of our ride, I blanket him with a fleece cooler for the long job of drying out his thick coat. We walk and walk, seemingly for hours, until his coat stops steaming. Back into his snowy pasture he goes, guaranteed to roll within 10 seconds of liberty. Sure enough, with snow covering his face and ears, he faces me on his side of the fence, "Well, mom? What's next? I'm ready!" I throw him another flake of hay and give him a good rub on his ears in thanks. I head inside to warm my toes full of happy, warm feelings for my big-hearted steed.

The Garden of Hope

2007-12-14T05:10:00.001-05:00

They say that every seven years you shed your skin and start over again. With farming, you don't have to wait that long. Every year is a blank slate. You get to start all over and try different things, tweak your ideas, improve on past efforts. There is very little hold over from year to year. (Well, excepting for weeds you let go to seed, and areas that need soil amendments and crop rotations, but you get my idea.)

I've finally dug out all the seed catalogs again (and there are many!) and started the arduous process of figuring out what to grow next year. I literally take each vegetable and go through multiple catalogs until I find a variety that sings to me. Do I want green beans that are "dependable" or "delicious, good looking" or "high quality bean for gourmet markets" or "excellent taste and appearance"? Well, I want all of those things in a bean that grows vigorously, is easy to pick, holds well in the field and after picking, tastes awesome and stores phenomenally! And is resistant to disease and pests! And picks itself! (ok, the last one may be too much to ask.)

The next step, after selecting your variety, is to figure out how much to buy. This involves going over last year's spreadsheet to see how much we bought, then the garden log to see if I wrote any notes on quantity, planting time or quality (sometimes the note says, "Plant more of this!!" when I've run out of seed or "poor germination" or "plant 3 rows instead of 2") and to check my leftover seeds to see what I have left. Then I figure out how the seed is sold- some are sold by the seed count, by weight or by packet. And to see how many seeds it takes to plant a 100-foot row, and how many rows and how often it needs to be planted. And what the average germination is, etc.

This process is for every annual vegetable we grow, which is somewhere around 70 varieties!

But embedded in this arduous process is a study of hope. Each year I am amazed that I can put seeds into the soil, and that they provide food for us to eat. It is wondrous to me how simple it is. I just don't get over the fact that I'm involved in this amazing cycle of life. All it takes is healthy soil, nutrients, water and sunlight. We coax the seedlings out of the ground, try to take away competing weeds and encourage the plants with kind words and thoughts.

We spend quite a bit of money on our seeds and this year's goal is to purchase from seed suppliers that focus on small seed farmers, not giant multinational seed companies. This makes our seed order higher than in the past, but we are voting with our dollars and supporting small, sustainable farms.

As soon as our seed orders are complete, on to the annual newsletter and order forms!!

Winter has officially arrived

2007-12-06T05:25:00.000-05:00

The thermometer says 5 degrees F outside. Is it any wonder why I'm procrastinating bundling up to head out for pre-dawn animal feeding and stall mucking? Luckily this was the scene at the woodstove. So nice to have a roaring fire to keep things toasty.

This is the day I need to channel next April when we are breaking our backs, splitting and stacking wood in the basement for next year's heat. We (ok, I admit, Mark does it all) cut all of our wood from trees that are damaged, diseased or need thinning from our 90 acres of woods. Mark drags them up to our house area for seasoning all winter. In the spring, we (this time it includes me) split them and dump them in the basement for stacking. It cures and dries all spring, summer and fall for next winter's heating use. We haven't used our hot-water baseboard heaters in years. That, along with our recent solar installations have reduced our household fossil fuel consumption dramatically. Now all we need are some sunny days and we can have sun-warmed hot water for washing.

When the temperatures get below zero (our thermometer only goes to -22ºF, thank goodness!), we start to bring hot water out to the animals. It's just not fun to fill the waterers and have them freeze immediately.

All of the animals have indoor/outdoor pastures so they can get in out of the weather. It's amazing how many times the sheep have several inches of snow or ice on their backs in the morning. We do have to close their door when it's lambing time, since they prefer to sleep outside!

So I did it: fleece-lined jeans, neoprene boots, Carhartt coat, windproof hat, neck gator, gloves, and headlamp. Honey, the cat was waiting for me on the doorstep - so nice to start the day with some purr/cuddle time. It was gorgeous out: yes, cold, but with a crescent moon and stars galore. On my way back inside, the sky was brightening in the east while the dogs chased eachother through the snow. A good start to a great day.

Good News From the Chicken Coop!

2007-11-26T04:35:00.000-05:00

Chickens don't have clocks, but they definately know what time it is. As the sun shows it's setting colors of orange, red and purple, the chickens have begun their dance. They slowly file into the coop, clucking and chatting. They gather around the feeder for a midnight snack, and the waterer for a nightcap.

By ones and twos, they make their way up the roost ladder, but little progress is made. One has forgotten something and jumps back down to the ground with a thump. Others excuse themselves and jump down from one roost level to another before settling onto the highest rung. Another is looking for her friend, and jockies for position. Like a latecomer to a concert hall where the music has already begun, one move jostles the whole row and they cluck their complaints for all to hear.

Our Roo is the last one up to the roost. He walks up and down the roost to evaluate the prime spot. Is he looking for his favorite hen or the spot from which to protect his flock? He settles on a location and squeezes in, causing more disruptions from the girls. They all must shift one way or another to accomodate their boyfriend.

Finally all is quiet and the chickens have settled in for the night. They will be in the same position when I come out before dawn to refresh their feed and water. I turn and glance into the nest boxes and there it is.

Our first egg.

The chickens fooled us all, and beat our poll: the date was November 24, 2007. Thanks to all who participated!

A Farmer to Call Your Own?

2007-11-20T03:39:00.000-05:00

Meals don't get much more local than this: home-grown lamb burgers (mixed with mint sauce, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper), roasted, home-grown Brussels sprouts, steamed, home-grown yellow beans. I haven't attempted homemade ketchup yet!

I have the best customers. They are really more like friends than customers. One of them told me of a time they were sitting around their dinner table with friends, talking about "their farmer." The friend inquired, "You have a farmer?" Their response, " Of course, her name is Gwen. Who's your farmer?"

Another time I overheard one customer on her cell phone say, "I'm at the farm, picking up my vegetables." The farm. I love that, as if there is only one farm that they could possibly be at, in the world!

To know who makes your food and how they do it is growing ever important. With GMOs, e coli contaminations, and salmonella in the foods you eat, it's essential you know what is in your food (and more importantly, what's not in your food). What was the crop or soil treated with and why? How was the food handled after it was picked? When was the last time the picker washed their hands and how healthy are they? I don't mean to alarm, but it is alarming to think about.

Recently, I watched an episode of the show, Dirty Jobs, where the actor goes to a turkey farm and works for a day. I was horrified. Outside, the "farm" was pristine, with nary an animal in sight, just long buildings. Inside those buildings were thousands of turkeys. They never see the light of day. They never live as a turkey, and can't even roost at the end of the day, as would a wild turkey. The actor's "job" was to turn over the litter near the waterers, to get the dry stuff to the top, as well as find all of the dead turkeys in the building. There were at least 10 dead birds per day. I was amazed that they let television cameras into these buildings. Won't people be disgusted at how their thanksgiving turkey spent their life? How they were raised? What they ate? How healthy is the meat from these birds, not to mention how healthy were the birds themselves?

I've sadly come to the conclusion that people just don't want to know. The majority of them (and this includes many members of my own family) want to go into a supermarket and buy the shrink-wrapped meat, and not think about that it once lived. They want the ease, convenience and flexibility of buying whatever they need at the moment.

I've done it myself, recently. Since our chickens haven't yet begun to lay eggs yet, I've been confronted with my own decision about where and how to buy eggs. Once, I admit, I bought them from the supermarket (organic, free-range ). And then I realized what a hypocrite I'd been. So I went to the local health food store... and bought eggs from New Hampshire. Now, I've gone onto Local Harvest and found a local farmer that grows chickens how I believe they should be grown, and feeds them accordingly. These eggs I can feel better about buying and eating. But if it was a challenge for me, a farmer, it could be insurmountable for people who don't live as close to the land as I.

So, I ask you: Who's Your Farmer?

Birthday Cakes

2007-11-20T03:22:00.000-05:00

Birthdays come once a year, and so do birthday cakes. I make a variety of custom-ordered birthday cakes for our family members, but when it came to my birthday, I wanted something different. So I stopped at an ice cream cake store to see what I wanted. They had an interesting variety, but included actual cake with the ice cream. I asked if the frosting on top was buttercream, and the answer was, "it's our non-dairy topping." ugh. What exactly is "non-dairy"? An oil-based, corn-syrup awfulness that really tastes like nothing.

So, I came up with a plan B. I would make my own birthday ice cream cake. This way, I could design it exactly how I wanted, no cake on the insides, just ice cream and chocolate crunchies. And I could have fabulous ice cream flavors! (I try to resist Ben & Jerry's for most of the year, but birthdays are special.)

This is what I came up with: in a springform pan (I've had them for years, a set of 3, and yet, they've never seen a cheesecake) I pressed ground up Newman O cookies (a trans-fat free Oreo substitute), a pint of Carmael Sutra Ben & Jerry's, (softened), cookie crumbs on top, homemade hot fudge on top of that, (a break for freezing at this point, since it was getting muddy), a pint of Phish Food B&J for the top layer, with the rest of the hot fudge, with the cookie crumbs sprinkled around the edge, for good measure.

The cake was awesome, and rich, and amazing. I wouldn't change a thing, I think I reached the pinnacle of ice cream cake design, and calorie consumption, all in one fell swoop.

Good thing birthdays only come once a year.

It is SO not spring... right?!

2007-11-12T05:31:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it. I just received my first seed catalog in the mail yesterday. I am so not ready to start thinking about spring and planting next year's garden! I'm barely over this year's garden!! So I swore I wouldn't even crack open the cover of the catalog for a month, at least.

But I glanced at it each time I walked by. The "over 200 new items" tag kind of had me curious. What could be so new? A new color of Swiss Chard? A new, must-have broccoli? A tomato that would make you forgo all other tomatoes? I had to know, it was killing me.

*sigh* So I cracked it open. And was assaulted by gorgeous, glossy pictures of vegetables growing in their glory. Peppers, asparagus, greens, garlic. It all was there. I didn't notice too many earth-shattering new ideas, though. Overwhelmed by the possibilities and the potentials of a new garden, I flung it away, to gather some dust for another month.

I will not look at the seed catalog. I will not look at the seed catalog. I will not look at the seed catalog.

For at least a few more days.

More Brussels Sprouts

2007-11-08T05:50:00.000-05:00

We expected way cold temperatures this morning- it was predicted in the teens. So I went out and cut the last of our lettuce, and a bunch of stalks of my awesome Brussels Sprouts (see post below). Since my last foray into cooking Brussels (boiling into oblivion), I've discovered a new method: roasting!

I'm going to try this recipe this weekend: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24925,00.html

Eggs, where oh where are you?

2007-11-08T05:31:00.000-05:00

Aren't our chickens beautiful? These lovelies are Barred Rocks, and in the middle of the pack is our rooster. He's a little lighter than the girls. They hatched in the beginning of June, when they were sent to us the same day. Apparently, they didn't get the memo about when to start laying their awesome, bright-orange-yolked eggs! They are supposed to start at 5 months old, which they are.... so where are my eggs? I hate to admit this, but I had to buy store bought eggs! Ugh. Pale, lifeless imitations of the awesome eggs I expect from my girls.

We feed our hens (and Roo, as I affectionately call him) only certified-organic chicken feed milled from local grains at a local, family-owned grain mill. They get to peck at kelp, which gives them micronutrients, and oyster shells, which helps to keep their eggshells nice and strong. And whatever extras from the garden we have. They loooove strawberries! I found an old bag of berries (one year I got the "great" idea to freeze them whole, and we never ended up using them- the juice after cutting them was very watery and yucky. Definately cut them before freezing) and I brought it out and sprinkled it in the pasture, and they ran around, gobbling them up.

Every day I go out and peer into their nest boxes, full of hope. And every day I've been disappointed when all I see are the wooden eggs I've put in there to convince them that the boxes are the right spot to lay their precious eggs. *sigh*

Tomfoolery in the country

2007-11-06T05:53:00.000-05:00

Our farm is located on a sharp turn on a country road, with other farms all around. In one adjacent hay field, the farmer makes huge (300-pound) round bales from his hay, and leaves them in the field until needed. Well, some locals thought it would be entertaining to roll a couple of these out into the road, right at the sharp curve. We knew something fishy was going on when we saw several sets of brake lights early in the morning. I'm sure it took more than one person to roll these back out of the road. So far, we haven't heard of any injuries or damage to cars from these roadblocks.

You have to have a particular sense of humor to live in the country!

Frost and Brussels Sprouts

2007-10-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

"They" say that Brussels Sprouts get sweeter when they are kissed by frost. I've never believed them, since our Brussels sprouts start out very sweet. Well, I'll be the first to admit that they are right!! The Brussels are the only thing still growing in the garden, (oh, and a few heads of lettuce) so after the 23-degree weather of the other night, I hoofed it out to the garden and cut off a stalk of these mini-cabbages. I cooked them up (ok, I overcooked them from lack of attention), and drowned them in butter and salt. Oh boy, were they sweet!! They literally melted in my mouth. Even the kids asked for seconds and thirds. We even ate them as leftovers the next day, and Jason asked for more. I wonder if they'll last until Thanksgiving?

2007 CSA Week 20

2007-10-30T06:08:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 20

This week’s share includes:
3 heads lettuce – Thank you, Mother in law! She’s the one who started these at her farm, and planted them in my garden for you to enjoy. These cute heads of lettuce are mostly small, but will be a great way to close out our season. With three heads per share, it’ll be enough for your family to enjoy one last salad. Fall lettuce is usually fantastic, since there is little exposure to the hot, dry days of summer. Enjoy!
1 Qt. Brussels Sprouts – If anyone needs me to show you how to “fix” or trim these, I’d be happy to.
1 bunch Swiss Chard – These stalks of Swiss chard are so big and beautiful, it’s a pleasure to see the rainbow of colors in the field. Don’t forget that the stalks are great in your dishes as well!
2 sweet potato
1 bunch leeks
2 Butternut Squash – see below for a great recipe from one of our members, who highly recommends it – even non-butternut squash-eaters eat this soup! Can’t wait to try it.
1 bunch carrots – yes, I’m sure it’s obvious that I dug the carrots today, hrrumph! As many of you have told me, it doesn’t matter how ugly they are, they still taste great. I preserved lots of carrots this weekend: scrubbed the dirt off (no need to peel these!), cut into 2-3 inch pieces and boiled for 2 minutes. Plunge into a cold water bath, blot dry and pack into plastic bags. I’m planning on taking out a bunch for the soups I never have time to cook during my season, and to mix them with other veggies for stir fries and side dishes. I also made candied carrots (I was looking at all those carrots for hours…), but I think I used way too much sugar. Anyone have a good recipe to share with me?
3 heads garlic
2 sweet onions, one white and one red
1 Qt red potatoes
1 Qt white potatoes

It’s unbelievable to me that this is the last week of the season. The signs are there: the garden is empty, there are fewer animals on the farm, the leaves are turning; it just seems like it speeds by way too fast. I had a great season, and I hope you did, too. Thank you for your faith and trust in us: it’s not a small thing to entrust your hard-earned money to someone who promises to feed you for 20 weeks of the year! I take that trust seriously and work very hard to exceed your expectations. I always try to be available as well for questions, advice, cooking tips, and any other information you may need. I’ve heard from many of you (and your friends) that you will be joining us next year: be sure to sign up early, as I plan to keep the group small, only 14 or 15 families. I truly believe that the more personal I can make my business, the more successful I’ll be. I’ll never turn down help, don’t forget, so if you get a hankering to get some farm dirt on your hands, all year long, let me know. I’m also open to tours, forest walks through our 90 acres, sunset watching or any other social activity!

I forgot to discuss this topic in last week’s newsletter: the carbon footprint reduction/paper-free picnic challenge! As I was shopping for the paper goods for our CSA picnic, I came to the realization that we should be leaders in paper-free parties (as well as discussing how we can reduce our carbon footprints). (I bought the only plates I could find that were recycled, but it was tough!) I’m proposing that next year’s picnic is entirely paper-free: all attendees bring their own cutlery, plates and glasses. I also challenge you to host your own paper-free party for one of your family gatherings this year! Let me know what you think and how your own footprint-reducing activities are going. There are several websites for additional information: http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/what_you_can_do/consumer_tips/index.cfm
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/Minimise_cfp.html
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
We’ve done a number of things this year to reduce our impact on the climate: changed to CFL light bulbs, installed solar electric and hot water systems, put electric devices on power strips, replaced old appliances with Energy Star models and installed gutters on the south side of the house to eliminate the need for a basement humidifier. What does your list look like?

One of my favorite comments is, “Farmers don’t have anything to do in the winter!” Certainly I have less to do in the winter, but I definitely keep busy. We reduce the number of animals to feed and water in the winter (all of our meat animals went to be processed this week), but all animals need fresh water and food every day, sometimes two or three times a day, in the very cold weather. You’ll find us hauling hot water to the chickens, cats and horse when the weather is below 20, and feeding more hay to keep the animals warm (their digestion of roughage helps to warm them from the inside), as well as to make sure they all have shelter from the wind and weather. The chickens have already been moved to their winter pasture: they always have access to pasture, but are now housed in the newly-roofed hay barn. Our three sheep will also call the hay barn their winter quarters as well. And my horse, Zack, stays in his stall during the worst weather, but loves to kick up his heels in deep snow. You should see him with his thick winter coat, you can bury your hand in it, it’s so thick.

I also spend a month or two planning for next year’s crops: going over seed magazines, figuring out how much to plant and when/where to plant. In February we’ll have an abbreviated lambing season (2 ewes versus our previous 24 ewes!). We are planning a garlic-planting party this weekend! I also like to take once- or twice-weekly trips to the library with the kids. I have lots of knitting projects in the queue for the winter: I just turned the heel of my first pair of socks (very exciting for me!), and have a hat for Mark and another pair of socks lined up. I’m looking forward to relaxing in front of the woodstove and knitting!

So, thanks again for a great year, and your constant encouragement and support. Please keep in touch over the winter – I get very attached to my CSA families!

Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
3 butternut squashes, halved longways, seeds removed
4 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 or 2 shakes hot pepper sauce
1 t. ground ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 t. salt
4 c. vegetable stock
1 T. maple syrup
1 T. lime juice

Coat cut side of squash halves lightly with half the olive oil. Lay, cut side down, on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 40-45 minutes at 425. When the squash has 15 minutes left to bake, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil in a stockpot for several minutes. Add ginger and salt. When squash is ready, scoop out and puree in a blender or food processor with the vegetable stock and sautéed onion, until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot and heat through, add the maple syrup and lime juice, and serve.

Baked Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin Recipe
1 quart Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon Flour
1/2 slice Bacon
1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon Parsley, chopped
1 cup Water, reserved from cooking
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
2 1/2 tablespoons Bread crumbs

Preheat oven 325 F. Wash and "x" bottom of brussels sprouts. Place in boiling water, enough to cover. Boil and simmer 10 mins or until tender. Drain and reserve 1 cup hot liquid. Melt butter in small skillet. Add green onions and sauté 3 mins. Stir in flour and cook until flour is dissolved, 3 mins. Add bacon, garlic and parsley. Cook 3 mins more. Pour in reserved water. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened to consistency of heavy cream Remove bacon from sauce. Place sprouts base down in a buttered casserole. Pour sauce over. Top with grated cheese then breadcrumbs. Bake 30 mins or until top is browned.

Swiss Chard With Raisins and Pine Nuts Recipe
1 large bunch Swiss chard
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Remove the chard stems and the thick central vein from each leaf. Chop the leaves very coarsely. Using a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium high heat, melt the butter with the oil until it just begins to sizzle. Add the chard, stirring well to coat the chard with the butter/oil mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for another minute until the chard has wilted to about half its original volume. Add raisins and pine nuts, stirring to combine evenly, and continue cooking until all moisture in the pan has evaporated. The entire cooking process should take no more than about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

2007 CSA Week 19

2007-10-30T06:06:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 19

This week’s share includes:
1 bunch beets
1 sweet potato – add this one to the collection on your countertop- several more weeks of curing is called for.
1 bunch leeks
1 bunch rosemary
1 Butternut Squash – Did you know that this is the most popular type of squash from which to make a pumpkin pie? We also throw them in the oven, cut them open when they’re soft and scoop the meat into bags for the freezer. Then we add it to soups, pie and as a veggie side dish for dinner. They should store for months, but keep an eye to make sure they don’t get soft, and use it prior to this.
1 bunch carrots – I forgot to mention it last week, but several of you took one look at the carrots and asked, “Mark dug these, right?” Right on. This week I dug from a later-planted row. These are smaller and not as nice as other we’ve used, but easier to dig (you all know how much I “love” to dig carrots!) I’ll try to get him to dig next week’s to have a nice season-end bunch of carrots.
1 Acorn Squash
3 heads garlic – this week’s heads are big ones, perfect specimens of our fabulous garlic. We are selling it, of course, so if you need enough to see you through the winter, let me know.
3 sweet onions, two white and one red
sweet peppers: 1 yellow bells and 1 red Italian red frying pepper
1 Qt red potatoes – early survey feedback indicated that this was a favorite, so we’ll send them out to you again. We love this variety of potatoes. Let me know if you would like to purchase enough to last you through the winter, we have plenty.
Best guess for next week’s share: more winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks, Brussels sprouts.

Thanks for those of you who attended our third annual CSA picnic and bonfire! It was a rousing success, with fabulous food and great company. It goes without saying that CSA folks are awesome cooks, and there were few leftovers (please share your recipes!). Unfortunately I had to miss a large portion of the fun, to bring Jason to the ER. He managed to fall on his arm after walking in front of a kid on a swing. His x-ray was negative, and he’s just fine with strained wrist. Even before we left the hospital, he was “driving” his tractor on me with that arm. A huge thank you to all who stepped up in my absence to help make the picnic a success.

Doesn’t everyone have their Own Personal Heron? Every day we have a local heron that visits our fields. He hangs out for hours, observing the farm action and supervising the animals. Then he takes to the air with his huge wings off to parts unknown. He also has been seen at our back pond, near the firepit. According to my Audubon books, you need to see the color of the legs to determine which heron species it is. I’ve watched him with binoculars, but have been unsuccessful at seeing the legs clearly. It’s nice to see such a beautiful, regal bird enjoying the splendor of our land.

This hot and humid weather makes me think it’s summer again. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the cooler days of fall. The leaves are starting to change, and it is my favorite season of the year. We usually end out the season with fall greens, kale and collards, but these did not do well this year. They were a crop failure for us, stunted at a height of 3 to 4 inches (lack of rain was not helpful, as well). We’ll make a note in the garden notebook to fertilize these crops heavier next year. Part of the beauty of the CSA model of agriculture is that you share in whatever bounty is found on the farm. If it’s a great year for tomatoes, we all have lots of tomatoes. If other crops don’t do as well, we hope to do better in later years. We are experienced enough growers that we know that something will do well enough to nourish us for the season.

The lettuce I promised you is growing nicely. Sarah and Jason love to help me water: Sarah can water the plants with the watering can, and Jason likes to carry the empty cans back to the ATV. They love to help and be involved. I hope to have small heads of this crispy green stuff next week.

Thanks, as always, for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

Sautéed Leeks and Carrots
1 tablespoon light olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 medium leeks, white and palest green parts only, chopped and very well rinsed
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
Pinch of nutmeg, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil and wine in a wide skillet. Add the leeks and carrots, cover, and cook over medium-low heat, for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender-crisp.
2. Uncover and sauté, stirring frequently, until the leeks and carrots begin to turn golden. Stir in the nutmeg, if desired, season with salt and pepper, and serve.
4 to 6 servings

Tuscan White Bean Soup – a great way to use your dried beans, if you’ve still got them. This soup sounds great, especially with this week’s fresh rosemary

1 pound dried white navy beans
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium leeks, white and tender green parts, washed well and chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 carrots, scrubbed and diced
5 cups good-quality vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup grated Parmagiano-Reggiano or Asiago cheese (optional)

1. Soak beans in water overnight, then drain and rinse well.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot and add leeks. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until leeks begin to soften. Add celery, garlic, and carrots and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add stock, rinsed navy beans, herbs, salt, and pepper. Bring soup to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer over low heat for 1 hour.
3. Puree 3 cups of soup in a blender (to make the beans creamy) and pour back into the pot. Add lemon juice, and more self and pepper if needed.
4. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top each portion with some of the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with cheese, if desired.
Serves 6.

Colorful Whole-Grain Supper Salad
1 cup dried red quinoa, quinoa, or brown rice
2 cups water
Salt to taste
2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped (leeks would be a fine substitute)
2 carrots, grated
1 beet, grated
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons ume plum vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1. Bring salted water to a boil and add grain. Return to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook until grain is tender and water is absorbed (about 50 minutes for brown rice, 25 minutes for quinoa, 20 minutes for red quinoa).
2. Place cooked grain in a medium salad bowl. Add scallions, carrots, beet, parsley, dried cranberries, and walnuts, tossing to combine.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sesame oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over salad and mix to distribute evenly. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Serves 4.

2007 CSA Week 18

2007-10-30T06:01:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 18

This week’s share includes:
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 sweet potato – We’ve grown sweet potatoes for a few years now, but are far from experts with them. They are relatively easy to grow: you plant the “slip” (a piece of vine with root attached), water and watch the vines grow to cover your garden. Then you cut off the vines and gently dig them up by hand. The trick is that after digging they need to be cured (from anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks, depending on what you read) in high heat and high humidity to get the starches to turn to sugar. Eat them too early and they’ll be hard, dry and bitter. So, find me a place in upstate NY in early fall with high heat and humidity!! So, we do our best with these, and advise you to keep them next to your stove for a few weeks before cooking. This year I dug them earlier than in the past, so that the tubers are not huge, and are a better size for eating. We don’t have many, so enjoy these as a side dish/taster.
1 bunch leeks
1 bunch parsley
1 Butternut Squash – In the Love it/Hate it bin, there will be a bunch of these, with surface blemishes. They won’t keep for months like the others, but will be fine for use in the next month or so.
1 Sunshine Squash
3 small heads garlic
3 sweet onions, two white and one red
sweet peppers: 2 yellow bells and 1 red Italian red frying pepper
1 Qt Brussels sprouts
1 Qt white potatoes
Best guess for next week’s share: more winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks.

We attempted to spend the weekend camping up at Indian Lake. However, our children vociferously reminded us that while Mark and I are experienced campers, they are not. So, after less than 24 hours in the wilderness, we packed it up and went home. What were we thinking? One not-even-2-year-old in diapers and sleeping in a crib to sleep on a sleeping pad in a tent?? We realized that we need to start with “beginning camping” by camping overnight in the yard, then progressing to car camping (so we can pack up and drive home in the middle of the night, if need be!!) then canoe camping. The kids were so exhausted they both fell asleep in the canoe on the way back to the car.

A new pastime of ours is to stand outside the garage watching the electric meter spin backwards! These crisp, sunny days are awesome for solar electricity generation, and we’ve been generating more than we’re using. Mark will yell in from the garage how many watts of power we’re sending into the grid. We are going to be giddy when we open our next National Grid bill, which may slightly offset the solar company’s bill for installation charges.

As predicted by my garden advisor, we did have a hard frost this weekend. Sunday morning showed the low temperature at 31 degrees. However, there was only slight damage in the garden, which was fortunate for me. I had intended on running out and picking all of the peppers, but was too lazy to do so. I did manage to cover the basil, since I have yet to make the year’s pesto. I picked a peck of peppers (I just liked the alliteration, I think I picked more than a peck), a pile of yellow and red peppers so beautiful they may make you cry. I’ll keep giving these until the garden says they’re done.

My baby lettuce plants are bravely growing! Growing slowly, but surely. I have fertilized them with my fish emulsion, but am loathe to repeat it within weeks of consumption, for fear they’ll smell like a day-old fish. So, I’ll keep watching them, and hope to share them with you for week 20’s share. They may be little, but they’ll taste great!
This week is survey week, so I’ll print off a bunch, or you can print one yourself and bring the completed forms to next week’s pickup. I appreciate your feedback, and we really do use it when planning our CSA program for the following year.

Thanks, as always, for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2cups chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons chili powder
1-2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 cups coarsely chopped swiss chard leaves

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.
Add onions and garlic; sauté until tender and golden, about 9 minutes.
Add squash; stir 2 minutes. Stir in chili powder, cinnamon, and cumin. Stir in beans, broth, and tomatoes with juices. Bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until squash is tender, about 15 minutes.
Stir in chard; simmer until chard is tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes longer.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle chili into bowls and serve. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro or red onion if desired.

Roasted Squash, Garlic, and Sage Soup
5 pounds butternut or acorn squash (about 2 medium butternut or 3 acorn squash)
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
1/2 head garlic, separated into cloves but not peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoons freshly-ground black pepper, or to taste
1 small bunch sage (about 6 stems)
1 48-ounce can vegetable broth
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Toasted pumpkin seeds, for optional garnish
Sage sprigs, for optional garnish

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425F. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler or sharp knife. Cut in half and remove and discard the seeds and pith. Cut each half into 2 pieces. Place squash, onions, and garlic in a single layer in a large roasting pan.
2. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil, using your hands to coat each piece well. Sprinkle cumin over squash flesh; arrange pieces hollow side down in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scatter 3/4 of th sage in the pan. Roast 30 minutes; turn vegetables over with a metal spatula to avoid sticking. Continue to roast until the squash flesh is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 30 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool.
3. Transfer onions to a food processor fitted with a sharp blade. Squeeze roasted garlic out of each clove; discard skins. Add garlic, squash, and any liquid remaining in the roasting pan to food processor; discard sage. Process until pureed. Transfer to a soup pot, stir in broth. Bring the soup to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat and let simmer until heated through. Stir in vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and a few sage sprigs, if desired.
Serves 8 to 10.

Parsley-Potato Soup
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (you may leave unpeeled, if you like)
2 bay leaves
Vegetable stock or water, as needed
1 teaspoon Italian herb mix4
ounces Low-fat cream cheese, diced
½ cup firmly-packed chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup low-fat milk, or as needed
Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a soup pot. Add onion and sauté over medium heat until golden.
2. Add garlic, potatoes, and bay leaves. Add enough stock or water to cover, then stir in the herb mix. Bring to a simmer, then simmer gently, covered, until the potatoes are just tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Remove about ½ cup of the hot liquid with a ladle and transfer it to a small mixing bowl. Combine with the cream cheese and whisk together until smooth and creamy. Stir into the soup along with the parsley.
4. Slowly sprinkle in the oats. Simmer for another 20 to 25 minutes over very low heat, or until the potatoes are completely tender. Add the milk and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves 6 to 8.
HELPFUL HINTS: This soup thickens as it stands; thin as needed with additional milk, then correct the seasonings.

2007 CSA Week 17

2007-10-30T05:58:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 17

This week’s share includes:
1 Butternut Squash – We finally got a great harvest of butternut squash! These winter squash are big and beautiful, and they get sweeter with storage.
1 Acorn Squash – This is a new variety of acorn squash- it’s bigger and should be easier to cut through. Even so, a secret to winter squash is to cook it for a while whole, then cut it in half when it’s softer, and scoop out the seeds. We didn’t have a great harvest of these, so we won’t see too many more.
1 Sunshine Squash – This is our favorite winter squash; if we only grew one variety, this would be it. It’s a buttercup type, and has bright orange flesh inside. It looks like a pumpkin, and tastes nice and sweet. Like all of our winter squash, it stores nicely.
½ pt raspberries – Can you believe we have more raspberries? These bushes just keep giving and giving. This variety is called “Autumn Britten” and is beautiful.
12 ears sweet corn – Enjoy the last of these ears. Again, they’ve been “field tested” by Jason, who trails behind me in the corn patch demanding more and more raw ears of corn. The dogs trail behind him, knowing that at some point he’ll drop the partially-eaten ears on the ground for them. We are quite the motley corn train in the garden!
3 small heads garlic
3 sweet onions, two red and one white
sweet peppers: 3 Italian red frying peppers
1 bunch beets – So, this is what happens when you plant a bunch of beets and ignore them the entire season! They are just enormous! For those of you who don’t like them so big, dig through the bin for the more medium sized ones. I figure the bigger they are, the less work of cutting them up!
1 bunch carrots – few days of rain made digging these much easier. I still managed to break and stab them; some things never change. Several of you asked about our carrots, I’ll include them for the remainder of the shares. To freeze: scrub them (no need to peel) for dirt removal, cut into appropriate-sized pieces and blanch for a minute and a half. Store in bags in your freezer. They are great for mixing with other veggies (like corn) and adding to soups and stir fries.
1 Qt Brussels sprouts – don’t forget to “fix” these: cut off the bottom and peel off one or two layers of leaves on the top.
1 Qt white potatoes
Best guess for next week’s share: more winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks.

My garden advisor (Mark) has predicted a hard frost for this weekend. A frost will effectively kill our sweet corn, herbs and raspberries, so enjoy these this week. On the other hand, a frost will make carrots and Brussels sprouts even sweeter, so we’ll look forward to this. Slowly I’m cleaning out the garden, with my next job being the tomato rows.

We’ve made some plans for fall vacations to Lake Placid, Burlington, VT and to a friend’s wedding reception in New Jersey. We’re also looking forward to the beginning of October, when the pigs and lambs go off to be processed. We strive to go through the winter with the fewest number of animals to feed through the winter. This year we’ll have 3 sheep, 15 chickens, 1 horse, 2 dogs and 4 cats. We’ll be processing the turkeys shortly as well as I can’t wait to taste my own turkey for Thanksgiving. We love our growing season, but enjoy the cold weather slowdown.

Our family is going through a major transition: Sarah started school this week! It’s only pre-K, but still it has spun everything in a dither. Jason gets upset when we drop her off at school, but then they are at eachother’s throats all afternoon. Sarah loves her school (especially when they had cookies for snack the first day(!)), and comes home to tell me all about it. I was a little sniffly the first day, when she walked in without a backward glance. I think all will settle down nicely, and I’m figuring out ways to make the snacks (and the birthday treats) more healthful. Do you think anyone would notice if I brought in zucchini muffins for her birthday?

Mark also tells me that tomorrow is the “big day” and is surprised when I ask, “what big day?” Tomorrow is the day that National Grid installs our net meter and we start to make our own electricity! We were bummed to have to turn our furnace back on over the weekend, but these cloudy days do not make much hot water. If it’s sunny during our picnic, I’m going to invite everyone over to admire the meter spinning backward!

Thanks, as always, for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

Orange you glad it's thanksgiving Soup
(I think this a Rachel Ray recipe, but the comments are from a friend. It comes highly recommended)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup pulpy orange juice
2 boxes frozen butternut squash puree (NOTE: I almost NEVER use FROZEN... I bake fresh ones, mash it and then put it in... I like a thicker soup... so that's perfect for me...)
2 or 3 cups chicken broth (Works with Veggie Stock... but I don't like it as much..)
Salt and pepper
Grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves, for garnish
1 tablespoon orange zest, for garnish

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. When butter has melted, add the onion and carrots and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Deglaze with the orange juice and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
Transfer the mixture to a food processor or a blender. Puree the mixture until smooth, then return to pot over medium heat. To mixture, add the frozen butternut squash puree and the chicken broth and stir to combine. Adjust the seasoning. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Grate some fresh nutmeg and stir to combine.
Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with chopped thyme and orange zest.

Dr. Zhivago’s Russian Stew
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and grated coarsely
4 medium beets, peeled and grated coarsely
1 large carrot, scrubbed and grated coarsely
1 medium celery stalk, diced
Handful celery leaves
1 cup fresh orange juice
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Vegetable broth as needed
Sour cream for garnish (optional)

1. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add onion and sauté until golden. Add all the remaining ingredients (except sour cream) and just enough vegetable broth to cover the vegetables. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook gently, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
2. Remove stew from heat and allow to stand for an hour or so, then reheat and serve with a scoop of sour cream in each bowl, if desired.
Serves 6 to 8.
HELPFUL HINTS: Grating the vegetables with the coarse-shredder disc on your food processor makes this a snap to make.

Maple-Roasted Acorn Squash
2 acorn squash
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons maple syrup
3 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (optional)
4 tablespoons chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Slice a thin piece off both ends of the squash, including the stem. Cut the squash in half crosswise (perpendicular to the ribs). Scoop out the seeds with a sturdy spoon.
2. Line a pan in which the squash can fit snugly with foil or parchment paper. If you use foil, rub with butter to prevent squash from sticking.
3. Set the squash halves in the prepared baking pan and smear the flesh with the softened butter. Sprinkle with the salt. Drizzle maple syrup over the cut edge of the squash and into the cavity (most of the liquid will pool there) and sprinkle with the ginger, if using.
4. Roast the squash halves until nicely browned and very tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a small to medium squash (larger squash may take longer); add the pecans, if using, for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Do not undercook. Serve warm with a spoon.
Serves 4.

2007 CSA Week 16

2007-10-30T05:53:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 16

This week’s share includes:
1 bunch leeks – Leeks are an awesome fall vegetable. They are a challenge to clean, however, but worth the work. Chopped and sautéed for a soup (my favorite soup is called Kitchen Sink Soup, since it contains everything but the kitchen sink. See below for recipe), it makes a wonderfully creamy base. Chop off the roots and start slicing until you start to get to dirty green parts (the dirt gets in between the leaves). Wash and keep chopping!
2 Qt tomatoes – our lovely tomato season has come to an end. We’ve been having nights with temperatures in the 40s, which turns the tomatoes to mush. I harvested all I could, so enjoy them and think fondly at this time when you’re enjoying your canned or frozen tomato dishes!
16 ears sweet corn – Don’t get your hopes up. This is not 16 ears of the finest, most beautiful sweet corn. It’s 16 ears that taste very sweet and nice, but they don’t look great. Most of the tops of the ears are empty, and many have kernels that are poorly organized, signaling poor germination of the corn. So, enjoy your 16 ears, but it’s probably a good idea to allocate more than one ear per person. This may be the last week of sweet corn.
½ pt raspberries – Hopefully I’ll be able to wrestle some of these from the grasp of my children. However, I’ve instituted a new policy called FFF (Feed my Family First). I used to try and get Sarah not to eat all the Sun Gold tomatoes and raspberries so I could pick for CSA or market. But I realized that I want her to have wonderful memories of eating out of the garden and I don’t want her to remember not being allowed to pick the good stuff. So, I have extras planted to be sure that we all get a fair share.
1 Qt snow peas
3 small heads garlic
3 sweet onions, two red and one white
sweet peppers: 4 green Bell pepper and 8 Italian frying peppers (3 small and 5 big) – it’s a lot of peppers, so I’ll include a great Williams-Sonoma recipe for snow peas and sweet peppers. I’m afraid of getting a frost soon, which will kill the peppers, so I harvested quite heavily. They freeze just fine, sliced and in bags. We use them to fry up for sausage, peppers and onions.
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 Qt white potatoes
1 bunch scallions – They are little scallions, and it’s my first time growing them. I think I’m really supposed to plant them in the fall, and let them grow all winter. We learn lessons every year. These scallions are nice and tender and would be great in any recipe you find.
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch basil – Why do the Japanese beetles love basil so much? It’s not the nicest basil, but a few of you have asked about receiving more basil in the share. Definitely enough for a nice tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese dish!
Best guess for next week’s share: Winter squash, garlic, onions, potatoes, beets, raspberries, Brussels sprouts. Don’t hold me to it!

What beautiful weather we’ve been having: sunny, clear and not so hot. And dry. The garden loves the sun, but without some rain, nothing is growing vigorously. I need to run out this morning (writing this at an absurdly early time of the morning, you don’t want to even know what time!) and see if we have any sweet corn to pick. There’s plenty there, it just has not been maturing at any pace at all. A little rain would plump up the kernels nicely. Ok, we picked a boatload of corn, and field-tested it (this means that Jason was walking around the field munching on raw corn, with the dogs following for the inevitable drop).

I also have kale and collards planted for inclusion in our late shares, but these, too, are not showing any real growth. I’ll keep an eye on these and report back.

We had a visit from my mother in law this weekend, and one of the many gifts she brought was for you: a full flat of lettuce! She also planted it in the garden, with help from Sarah and Jason. We (Sarah and I) have committed to watering it every other day, so in a few weeks, we should all be enjoying some beautiful heads of fall lettuce. I think it’s an awesome way to end our season.

For those of you who haven’t yet signed up for our annual CSA picnic and bonfire, here’s more details. We’ll picnic on the side lawn (where the kids can play on the playset). We always prepare a meat-based main meal (this year will be marinated leg of lamb chunked for skewers) and dessert (my strawberry-rhubarb pie a la mode has been requested). The participants each bring a dish to pass. Several folks have asked if they need to bring a dish big enough for all to eat. My answer is that we always have a ton of food at these events (both vegetarian and non), so bring just enough for a family (4-6) to eat, not for 30! Please sign up for the type of food you’ll bring, so we don’t get overrun with desserts and no sides. Then, we all walk the ¼ mile down our road (Dutch Church Road continues as a grassy lane) to our bonfire area (by our pond) to watch the fire and roast marshmallows. I would recommend you bring few chairs (we do have some homemade benches around the fire ring), a jacket (it gets chilly on your back, since your front is usually warmed by the fire), a flashlight (for the walk back) and maybe bug spray. It’s a really nice way to chat/share and wrap up the year. I hope that all of you will join us for this lovely occasion. The date is Saturday, September 22nd.

I’m working on our annual survey, to be included in the week 18 newsletter. It’s your chance to comment on the quality, quantity and delivery of your vegetables and to give us constructive feedback. I’ll print them out and give them to you at pickup time. I can’t wait to hear how we’ve done this year.

Thanks, as always, for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 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. Looking back at this week’s share, anything in the share would be a wonderful addition to your soup, including the Swiss Chard and snow peas!

Sesame Treasure Vegetables
(this is a great recipe for snow peas and bell peppers- it tastes great and is beautiful!)
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded, deribbed and thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, deribbed and thinly sliced
¼ lb snow peas
your favorite stir fry sauce (see below for ideas)
½ tsp sesame oil

Add oil to a wok or frying pan over high heat, swirling to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. When the oil is very hot but not quite smoking, add the peppers and stir and toss every 15-20 seconds until they just begin to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Add the snow peas and stir and toss for 1 minute.

Quickly stir the stir-fry sauce and add to the pan over high heat. Simmer, stirring and tossing occasionally, for 1 minute. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Drizzle with the sesame oil and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Stir fry sauce:
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp finely chopped, peeled fresh ginger
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 green (spring) onion, finely chopped (the green tops of our fresh onions work great)
½ tsp chili oil

Combine all ingredients and stir well.

Scallion Pancakes
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons salt1 cup boiling water (more if needed)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3/4 cup scallions, white and green parts, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon peanut oil

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, place the flour and salt. With the motor running, add the water slowly through the feed tube until a ball of dough forms (you may need to add a little more water).
2. Remove the dough from the food processor, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Divide the dough in 2 equal pieces, leaving the other covered as you work with the first. Roll out the first piece of dough on a floured work surface into a 1/4-inch thick circle. Brush surface with half of the sesame oil and press half the scallions and half the sesame seeds into the dough. Set aside, then repeat this process with the other ball of dough.
4. Heat half the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place one pancake in pan and cook about 3 minutes on each side, turning once, until both sides are golden brown. Repeat with other pancake.
5. Cut pancakes into wedges and serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.
Serves 4.

Autumn Chard with Creamy Cashew Sauce
8 cups Swiss chard, washed and coarsely chopped (if the stems are tough, remove them and reserve for us in stir-fries, broths, soups, or stews)

1. Place chopped chard in a steamer over boiling water and steam, covered, until tender, just a few minutes at most.
2. Serve with Creamy Cashew Sauce, below:

Creamy Cashew Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1-2 cups hot water
2 tablespoons cashew butter
1-2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil a
nd slowly add flour, stirring to make a paste, or roux. Cook for a few minutes over low heat to toast the flour and give a nuttier flavor to the sauce.
2. Gradually add hot water, whisking constantly. (Amounts of water needed will vary. The end result should be a thick, creamy sauce).
3. Stir in the cashew butter, tamari, and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly, pour over the chard, and serve immediately.
Serves 6.

2007 CSA Week 15

2007-10-30T05:51:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 15

This week’s share includes:
11 ears sweet corn – Ah, the long-awaited sweet corn is here! It is delicious, bi-color and sweet. But beware: There are worms in the corn! It is impossible to grow worm-free corn without spraying anything. In the past, we’ve used Bt oil to prevent the corn earworm, but we found that it turned the corn cob brown – the corn still tasted great, but customers were bothered by the looks once they ate the kernels. So, this corn has been naked- no sprays, nothing. It tastes great, but you may have to cut out some worms. We love it, and I hope you do, too.
½ pt raspberries – Those darn kids of mine! They love to “help” me pick raspberries. Sarah was picking into a bowl and I could hear her little voice, “One for the bowl, and one for me.” Jason trails behind, saying, “more!” and holding up his hand for berries. The berries are delicious, and are still coming on strong on our many bushes.
1 Qt Brussels sprouts – It’s been two years since we had any Brussels sprouts to offer in our shares. We’ve learned that they don’t like to grow on the black plastic mulch, which encourages some sort of black, mucky disease to kill the plant. This year we planted it in the upper garden, and have a great crop of the mini cabbages coming. Some folks claim that the little sprouts get sweeter after a frost, but I can’t wait that long. I think they taste pretty good right now. My favorite preparation method is to boil until soft, and apply butter and salt. (Note: they do need to be trimmed before they look like supermarket sprouts. Just snip off the bottom ¼ inch and peel off a couple layers of the leaves.)
1 head red cabbage
1 Qt dry shell beans – I let half of the row of shell beans dry on the stalk so we can enjoy them dried as well. You’ll need to shell them, then store them in a jar or bag until you’re ready to use them. They are beautiful, white with brown and red speckles. Use them in your soup recipes, treating them just like white beans.
1 Qt snow peas – My last sowing of snow peas, green and yellow beans are here for your enjoyment!
1 Qt green beans
1 Qt yellow beans
¼ bushel tomatoes – The tomatoes are just about done, done in by the predicted blight. So, enjoy them while they last!
3 small heads garlic – The garlic is finally all cleaned and sorted. We’re including the smaller ones in the share. If you would like a supply for winter, of Large or Medium heads, we’re charging $6.50 per pound or $1.50 per Large head, $1.00 per Medium head. They should store for 6 months.
2 sweet onions, one red and one white
4 sweet peppers: 2 green Bell pepper and 2 Italian frying peppers
1 bunch Beets – Gorgeous roots, but the greens aren’t so great. These are among the first beets I seeded in the spring, and the greens are past their prime. Enjoy the roots in your favorite beet recipes.
1 Qt white potatoes – We finally got most of these dug. They are big, but spotted from the blight disease. It doesn’t affect the flavor or nutrition, but will cause them not to store as well. Peeling the potatoes should handle the spots. These spuds are great mashed, since they are so fluffy.

Best guess for next week’s share: Scallions, raspberries, leeks, sweet potatoes. Don’t hold me to it!

Our solar installations are complete. The array on the east side of the house is our solar hot water. The west side is the solar electric. Two hours after the solar hot water system was turned on, the water was warming. After 12 hours, we turned off our hot-water furnace! These sunny days have given us 200 degree F water. Even after using the dishwasher several times, the washing machine, a bath for the kids and two showers, we were still swimming in enough hot water that maintained it’s temperature throughout the night (the 120-gallon hot water tank only loses a half-degree of heat an hour) for hot water in the morning. We are thrilled with the system. As soon as National Grid installs our net meter, we’ll be all set to generate our own electricity and watch the meter spin backwards!

Slowly the garden clean up is progressing. We have harvested all of the onions and put them in the sun for drying and curing. All but one of the rows have had it’s plastic and drip tape removed. Mark picked up all of the irrigation supplies: the plastic lines must be discarded, but our filter and fittings are reused every year. And as soon as I get all the white potatoes dug, we’ll start on the sweet potatoes!

Was anyone up early enough to see the lunar eclipse? It was such a gorgeous, huge full moon, which made the eclipse even better. We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the view with our early morning coffee. It was over (thanks to the clouds) by the time we were heading out to the barn about 5:45.

Is anyone interested in paste tomatoes? We have a couple bushels of ripe ones we have harvested, but won’t be using. We’re charging $8 per half bushel. Let me know.

Thanks, as always, for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

Gwen’s new favorite garlic pasta
Boil up your pasta (linguine is my current favorite). While it’s cooking, sauté as much minced or pressed garlic as you dare (most of a head) in olive oil. Add some dry oregano, basil, salt and pepper and cook until garlic is crispy. Drain the pasta and toss in the frying pan. Arrange on your plate and top with freshly chopped ripe tomato, chopped fresh basil and chevre cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil to finish.

Cider-Braised Brussels Sprouts
3 cups Brussels sprouts, tough ends sliced off and outer leaves removed
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup apple cidersalt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

1. Cut an X in the bottom of each Brussels sprout. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add Brussels sprouts and return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 20 minutes, until sprouts are tender but still firm.
2. Drain Brussels sprouts. Heat oil or butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add sprouts and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, stirring, until garlic is soft and fragrant and sprouts are coated with oil. Add cider and turn heat to high, stirring constantly, until cider is reduced in volume by half, making a sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Serves 6.

Warm Onion-Mozzarella Salad
3 large red onions8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese, ¼ inch thick
2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
¼ cup hazelnuts, roasted, hulled, and halved
½ cup chopped fresh sorrel (a lovely, tangy wild green found growing in many areas by April. If it is unavailable, simply add 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice when you add the vinegar)
Balsamic vinegar, to taste

1. Cut the onions in half-moon slices of about ½ inch, then arrange the slices on a baking sheet. Boil about 5 minutes, or until the skins begin to char. Remove from the broiler and set aside to cool.
2. Arrange the cheese slices on a serving platter, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
3. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and butter over low heat until the butter has melted. Increase the heat to medium, then add the peppers and saute 7-10 minutes, or until the peppers begin to turn translucent. Add the onions, chives, parsley, salt, and white pepper, and mix with a spoon. Add the hazelnuts and sorrel, mix briefly, and remove from the heat.
4. Remove the cheese from the refrigerator, and spoon the mixture over the slices. Season with vinegar (and lemon juice, if sorrel wasn’t obtainable) and serve immediately.
Serves 4-6.

2007 CSA Week 14

2007-10-30T05:39:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 14

This week’s share includes:
¼ bushel tomatoes
2 cucumbers – this is really the end of the cukes- I’m pulling the plants and hauling the plastic mulch out of the garden. It’s been a nice cuke season, and I’ve been happy with the varieties we’ve grown. I hope you’re satisfied with them as well.
1 bunch Sugarsnax carrots – after last week’s carrot debacle, I’m pleased to report that even with Mark’s superior carrot digging skills, we still have gouged and broken carrots! Ok, maybe “pleased” is the wrong word, but you know what I mean. The carrots taste great, and they look better than the mess I made last week. I just wish they would grow a smidge shorter!
2 heads garlic
2 sweet onions, one red and one white
1 pt Sun gold and grape cherry tomatoes
5 sweet peppers: 2 green Bell pepper and 3 Italian frying peppers – we’re going a little crazy with these peppers, but the unidentified pepper disease is moving in fast, and we don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to offer you these awesome peppers. So, I hope you’re able to figure out something to do with them. Years past, we’ve sliced them, and frozen them just like that, to have sausage and pepper sandwiches in the winter. They do stink up the freezer a bit, but double bagging helps.
1 bunch Edamame soybeans
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Beets
1 bunch dill

Best guess for next week’s share: Scallions, raspberries, red cabbage, leeks, tomatoes. Don’t hold me to it!

I hoped that the sweet corn would be ready by this morning’s harvest, but it needs more time. We were able to harvest 4 ears for the family to sample. It was pretty delicious, so we hope to be able to harvest more for next week. A little rain would help plump the kernels a bit!

Several members have asked about the animals on the farm. We raise our own sheep, purchase piglets in the spring, and usually have some sort of laying hen onsite. We also have our turkeys, and have already sent our broiler chickens to the freezer. All of the animals are rotated on our spacious, green pastures. We use a portable fencing system that goes up and down rather quickly. It relies on rigid plastic upright supports and a network of plastic fencing, wound with metal strands. This allows the fence to be light to carry, flexible, and able to pack a shocking punch, should a coyote get too interested in our livestock. The animals generally learn about the fence quickly, and understand that they shouldn’t touch it, lest they get shocked. However, most days one or more of the pigs will give it a go, (we hear them squeal, then high-tail it away) just to make sure we’ve remembered to plug in the charger. We’ve chased loose pigs across some of our biggest fields; not an experience to repeat, that’s for sure!

Often we’ll pasture the sheep up near the road, where curious neighbors slow down to get an eyeful. We believe that not only is it beautiful to see healthy animals on green pastures, it’s also more healthful for the animals, and more healthy to eat pasture-raised meats. If you’d like to see any of our livestock up close, let us know, and we’d be happy to arrange a tour. The pigs are great fun to watch, and they’ll come and give you “piggy kisses” if you let them.

The mid-to-late season doldrums have set in with your farmer. This means that the garden cleanup has started, and the unglamorous work (not that much else of farming is glamorous!) of pulling up plastic mulch, disconnecting irrigation supplies, fixing garlic, digging potatoes now claim every spare minute of time. It’s not exciting work like planting young plants or seeds that allows you to imagine the finished product of delicious and beautiful vegetables. It’s necessary work that will allow me and the garden to rest for the down season. And actually, it’s work that “stays done” and does not have to be repeated every few weeks (like weeding or rototilling). But, like any cleanup job, it’s hard to get motivated. I love planning, planting, weeding, harvesting and eating of our vegetables. But by the time cleanup starts, I’m ready for a vacation. I’m sure that this too, shall pass, and the garden will be cleaned up in a short time and I can start planning next year’s feast. It’s your enthusiastic support that keeps me going, so thanks for your kind words.

Thanks, as always, for your support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

Pasta with Swiss chard and ricotta
This recipe is similar to my favorite swiss chard recipe, but with the ricotta twist. A nice change, let me know if you like it!

¼ cup pine nuts
3/4 pound mini rigatoni
2Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch (3/4 pound) Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated and chopped
1 cup shelled edamame
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¾ cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese + additional for serving

Place pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly colored and fragrant. Set aside on a small plate to cool. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water to use for the sauce.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, bell pepper and chard stems. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the edamame, chard leaves, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until wilted and tender-crisp. Puree the ricotta, Parmesan and 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta water in a mini food processor or blender until smooth. In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta, vegetables and ricotta mixture until combined. If needed, add additional pasta water to moisten the pasta. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and serve with additional Parmesan, if desired.
Makes 4 servings.

Harvest Beet and Onion Salad - Recipe
3 medium fresh red beets
3 medium fresh orange-gold beets
1 cup chopped Walla Walla, Vidalia, or other sweet onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic
2/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh lemon mint
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a medium stockpot, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Trim all but 2 inches of stalk from the beets, then drop the beets into the water. Simmer over medium-high heat 30-45 minutes, or until tender.
2. Remove the beets from the pot and allow them to cool. Remove the skins from the beets, cut off the remaining stalks, and cut the beets into 3/4-inch cubes.
3. Place the beets, onions, chives, garlic, parsley, and lemon mint in a medium bowl and toss. Add the salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil, then toss again until all of the ingredients are coated.
4. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours, then remove salad from the refrigerator and allow to sit uncovered 15 minutes before serving, or serve while slightly warm.
Serves 6-8.

Try using dill instead of lemon mint, and added toasted walnuts.

Moroccan Carrot Salad
6 carrots, shredded
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of freshly ground black pepper

1. Use a food processor or hand grater to shred the carrots finely. You can shred the onion, too, instead of chopping it, if you like. Place carrots and onion in a medium serving bowl.
2. In a small bowl, blend together the remaining ingredients with a wire whisk. Pour over the carrots and toss well. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate.

2007 CSA Week 13

2007-10-30T05:36:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 13

This week’s share includes:
¼ bushel tomatoes – I hope you’re enjoying these awesome tomatoes. During tomato season, I try to include them in almost every meal, just because I enjoy them so much.
1 zucchini – our summer squash season may well have ended with this harvest. The plants are showing signs of their demise: powdery mildew will always kill these at some point. I think it’s been an awesome zucchini year, and, frankly, I’m ready for the end!
2 yellow squash/ patty pan squash
3 cucumbers + 2 lemon cucumbers – you can tell we’re at the end for cukes. The plants are getting old and tired, and are succumbing to the rigors of cucumber beetle attacks. These cukes aren’t pretty, but they still taste great.
1 bunch Sugarsnax carrots – The carrots were almost my undoing today! For years, I have tried to find a carrot with the same awesome taste as these Sugarsnax, but with a shorter growth habit. I have been unsuccessful, and I hate (hate!!) digging these carrots! I dig them with a garden fork and am either too far away (and I gouge the carrot with the tip of the fork) or too close and I snap off the ends. I almost gave up doing them today, but I know how well received they are. So this week’s carrots are ugly- gouged and broken, but still delicious. Mark should be here next week to dig them for me, and they’ll be beautiful again. I didn’t want to see them anymore, so I didn’t even spray them off, so they’re dirty to boot!
2 heads garlic
2 sweet onions, one red and one white
1 pt Sun gold and grape cherry tomatoes
1 Qt red potatoes
4 sweet peppers: 2 green Bell pepper and 2 Italian frying peppers
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch Edamame soybeans – If you’re new to the Edamame craze, this is a great introduction. However, there is some work to be done before you can enjoy them! You’ve got to pick the beans off the stalks, focusing on only the plumpest beans. You’re left with a pile of suspiciously fuzzy beans that you can’t imagine eating. Boil up a pot of water with a healthy handful of salt in it. Then boil the fuzzies for 4-5 minutes. Strain, shell and enjoy! Or, if you’d like to save them for another day, pack them in bags and freeze. Then, when the snow flies, you can boil them up again (4 or so minutes this time), salt them lightly and shell. A common method of shelling is to place one end of the fuzzy bean in your mouth and use your teeth to pop it out of the shell and into your mouth (sometimes they shoot out in every direction!). They are great on their own or in salads and soups and have a nutty flavor.
2 eggplant: one skinny Asian and one round Italian

Best guess for next week’s share: Leeks, scallions, sweet corn, beets, tomatoes, soybeans, potatoes, garlic, onions, Swiss chard. Don’t hold me to it!

This has been a great tomato year! This is the beauty of the CSA model, you live with the ups and downs of the harvest season; when it’s a good year, you benefit with the fruits of the harvest. When it’s not such a great year, you enjoy other bounties. Last year was a terrible tomato year – I think we gave a few quarts of tomatoes all year, but we enjoyed other types of veggies: 2006 was a great sweet corn year, and we enjoyed awesome corn for 3 weeks. This year’s early corn has already gone by way of the rototiller, and even the late corn is looking iffy (there are plenty of ears, they just have to fill in with the corn kernels). Last year’s Brussels sprouts succumbed to some sort of disease; this year we planted them differently, and we hope to enjoy them soon. And so it goes…

Like all homeowners, we too have to do periodic maintenance and replacement. Ours just happens to be the replacement of our barn roof. This barn, affectionately known as the Hay Barn (the red barn is the Dairy Barn) is approximately 150 years old. Like all old buildings, it has its own history. There is an old pulley at the peak of the barn that was used to grapple loose hay from the horse-drawn wagons, and drop into the haymow. The beams are band-sawn (as opposed to the house, where they are hand-hewn), and it is an impressive structure. We’ve toyed with the idea of ripping it down and building something new (either way we’d still have to buy a new roof), but we value the character of these old barns and want to preserve the history of the farm.

We also are getting ready to fulfill a dream that started when we bought the farm: meeting our energy needs via the sun. Next week begins the installation of 20 photovoltaic solar panels for solar electricity and several panels for solar hot water. We will still be connected to the grid and will be able to net-meter: sell energy back to the grid. The first time I see that meter spinning backwards will be a happy day! We estimate that we will be able to save over 70% of our fuel oil usage by pre-heating our hot water from the sun (since we heat our house with our wood stove), and 80% of our energy usage, depending on the time of year, of course.

If you regret missing our potato digging party, or enjoyed the first one so much, here is your opportunity! We will be hosting another potato digging party this week: Friday morning, as early as you’d like to come. We have 3 rows of our creamy white potato that need to be hand dug. We’ll send you home with a few of your own potatoes, since they always taste better when you dig them yourself. Just think of it as the adult’s version of a treasure hunt! If you’re available, let me know, we’d love to have you. Remember, you need gloves (so we don’t damage the spuds), long pants (for kneeling), hat, sunscreen and water. Don’t forget that playing in the dirt is good for you.

Thanks, as always, for your enthusiastic support!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 by Gwen Hyde

Sweet Spiced Eggplant
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil 1 large onion, chopped
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into ¾” chunks 15 ounces diced tomatoes
2 Tbs honey 1 Tbs white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
1 ½ tsp ground cumin ¾ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground fennel ½ tsp salt
1 cup shelled edamame 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, shopped
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the eggplant and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, honey, vinegar, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, fennel and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 8 minutes.

Stir in the edamame and half of the cilantro. Simmer for 8 minutes or until the eggplant and edamame are tender. Stir in the remaining cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

Gazpacho
Gazpacho soup was invented for the summer. Refreshingly cold on hot summer days, this adaptation of the classic Spanish soup deliciously combines the best of summer vegetables. Make sure you only use the freshest, highest quality ingredients for this soup.

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 purple onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper (or green) seeded and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
6 or more drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (omit for vegetarian option)
4 cups tomato juice

Combine all ingredients. Blend slightly, to desired consistency. Place in non-metal, non-reactive storage container, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, allowing flavors to blend.
Serves 8.

Carrot and Raisin Muffins
3 medium eggs.
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour.
1 ½ cups of shredded carrots.
1 cup of powdered sugar.
¾ cup of granulated sugar.
½ cup of raisins.
½ cup of milk, plus 2 tablespoons of milk.
½ cup of melted butter, plus 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
¼ cup of cream cheese, softened.
2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder.
½ teaspoon of baking soda.
½ teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of vanilla.

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).Combine the all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.Beat together the eggs and the granulated sugar.Add the shredded carrots, raisins, ½ cup of milk, and ½ cup of melted butter; mix thoroughly.Add the flour mixture and stir until the dry ingredients have moistened.Spoon the batter into twelve greased muffin cups.Bake for 20 minutes.Mix together cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of butter.Stir in the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla, then drizzle over top of the cooked muffins.

2007 CSA Week 12

2007-10-30T05:33:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 12

This week’s share includes:
¼ bushel tomatoes
2 zucchini – I’ll be the first to admit that I dropped the ball on these guys. They are huge, and please accept my apologies if you prefer your zukes smaller. They are perfect for cakes, breads and muffins though!
2 yellow squash/ patty pan squash
4 cucumbers + 2 lemon cucumbers- on a whim, I grew these cute lemon cukes. I haven’t found a big difference between these and our regular cukes (we use two varieties of these: our favorite, Marketmore 97 and Olympian). Some say that there is a slight citrusy flavor. Whatever they taste like, I eat them like an apple.
1 bunch Sugarsnax carrots – These foot-long carrots are amazingly sweet, and I’m always thrilled with how long and straight they grow for us. Carrots like a loose soil, which they can stretch their toes down as far as possible. We make sure that our carrot growing areas have been deeply tilled, to have the largest carrots achievable. We’ll have these for the rest of the season. If you get tired of them (as if!) let me know and I’ll give you a week’s break.
2 heads garlic – With the nice, dry weather last week, these dried in 2-3 days. We’ve cut off the stalks, and are in process of trimming the roots, and sorting by size. We have a bin of heads that are too small or otherwise imperfect due to shape or damage of one clove (I speared some when digging). I’ll put these out at pickups for you to help yourself. If you want a larger quantity, I’ll be selling them for $5.00 per pound. They are good for keeping throughout the winter (usually till May or so, depending on your storage) or for planting your own. Let me know if you’re interested.
2 sweet onions
1 pt Sun gold and grape cherry tomatoes – a friend of mine reminded me of what she does with her extra Sun gold tomatoes (as if!): she puts them in the freezer on a cookie sheet, and bags them once frozen. Then, when she makes soups or broths, she throws in a couple and has found that it enhances the flavor of most soups. I thought this was a great idea and have frozen several bags full.
1Qt red potatoes
1 Qt fresh shell beans –We always try to add new vegetables to our annual offerings, and we’ve always been curious about these. You can use them fresh, or let them dry on the vine for dried beans. I picked half of our row to try them both ways. You shell these and use them like lima beans, or any other beans. I’ve been looking and finding soup recipes.
1 bunch cilantro
1 Qt snow peas
1 green Bell pepper – for some reason, our peppers tend to go bad before they turn to their final color (I have red and yellow peppers growing, but they all start out green.) So, to ensure that we have some peppers to enjoy, here are some greens. I recall a farmers’ market customer who purchased a green pepper from me only to find that within a few days’ storage, it turned red. They did not understand that most peppers ripen from green to their final color.
1 bunch oregano

Best guess for next week’s share: Edamame soybeans, swiss chard, parsley, carrots, cabbage, peppers, eggplant. Don’t hold me to it!

I live for tomato season! Every winter as I’m poring through the seed catalogs, I’m dreaming of a day like today. I imagine how lovely it would be to bite into a sun-warmed and –ripened tomato. I interview and discard dozens of tomato varieties. I like to try new varieties, but always select several tried-and-true varieties. Mark’s favorite is Sun gold, so we always grow a bunch of these. I insisted on trying the improved variety, Sun Sugar and think it’s quite similar (Mark is staying loyal to his old favorite). Then I selected a grape tomato, since it seems like the kids will eat these like crazy. However, our greenhouse partners who grow for me, did not do well with my preferred grape variety, and sent me home with theirs. So I don’t know which variety I have and I don’t like it too much: the skin is quite thick, and the sweetness is moderate. But the fruits are large for a grape tomato, and would probably be rated higher for flavor if they weren’t compared to Sun golds.

Then it’s on to the main tomato crop. We always start with an early variety, just to start the season. We’ve been growing First Lady II for several years: it’s not a bad, early tomato; not much exciting about this variety. My two main/mid season favorites I’ve grown for several years: Celebrity and Thessaloniki. Celebrity is a nice tomato, with good taste. Thessaloniki I selected for it’s beauty as well as flavor: it is the most sun-scald tomato I’ve found, and presents beautiful (but on the small size) fruits, almost devoid of that nasty sun-scald that plagues most of our other varieties. Then I always get an heirloom that will be ugly but flavorful. In years past I’ve gotten Red Brandywine, but this year I fell for Caspian Pink. Completely ripe, they are delicious, but very ugly. It takes some creative knifework to get some good tomato to eat. (the mice seem to like them as well, for as many ripe ones I get, I have to throw away an equal amount due to bite marks). We do grow a couple of paste varieties, but they mostly get reserved for our own use. If there are any left after I’ve canned my sauces and salsas, I’ll share them with you.

Our tomato season is short, but delicious. We expect our annual Late Blight infestation in the coming weeks, so enjoy your tomatoes while they last. (Late Blight is a common tomato disease that is transmitted via the wind. It causes the tomatoes to have “leathery” patches and quickly kills the plants. We plant our tomatoes in different spots every year to try to avoid this and other tomato diseases, but it’s practically inevitable.)

Our potato digging party was a big success! Our intrepid diggers accumulated over 10 bushels of the “red gold”! There are only 20 or so feet left to dig of the reds, and 3 rows of whites. Keep your eyes peeled for another potato digging party!

Mark your calendars: Saturday, September 22nd is our annual CSA picnic and bonfire! Plan on arriving at the farm at 4 pm with your potluck dish with a bonfire at 6:30 pm. We hope you and your family will join us for a season wrap-up celebration. I’ll put out a sign-up form next week.

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

© 2007 by Gwen Hyde

Gwen’s Favorite Tomato Recipes

To make the following recipes, start with:
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped sweet onion

And then add the following, depending on your preference:

For fresh salsa: add chopped cilantro, hot pepper (optional), a tablespoon or so of lime juice, and salt.

For fresh tomato sauce (toss with hot pasta): add chopped basil, a little chopped fresh garlic, good olive oil, and salt and pepper.

For Bruschetta: add chopped basil, a little chopped fresh garlic, good olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat through (but don’t cook) and finish with balsamic vinegar. Use to top bread that’s been brushed with garlic olive oil (I crush some cloves and soak in olive oil) that I brown under the broiler). Grate parmesan cheese to top.

For cooked sauce: sauté the onion until translucent in a big saucepan, adding crushed garlic near the end. Add chopped tomatoes and cook down for several hours. Season with chopped basil and oregano (I use a 3:1 ration basil to oregano), salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar.

Sesame chicken Salad
I made this for dinner last night, and omitted the chicken. (I found it in a Parenting magazine) It was a crowd-pleaser, including the kids. I would recommend that the peanut butter sauce get heated up a bit, because it was hard to incorporate into the pasta. I would also recommend to grate some of the carrots small, and some big, so that they make their presence know. Let me know what you think.

Salad:
8 oz. long fusilli (I used spaghetti)
1 cup snow peas, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
½ cup shredded carrots
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)

Dressing:
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice or apple cider vinegar

Cook pasta according to package directions; add snow peas to the boiling water about one minute before pasta is done. Drain. (the instructions say to rinse under cold water, but you can skip this step and serve the pasta hot). Mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar in a large bowl. (I recommend you warm this a bit to ensure good incorporation into the pasta) Add the pasta and snow peas; mix well. Add chicken and carrots, toss to combine. Top with sesame seeds and scallions.

Nutrition info: (1 cup) 279 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated), 277 mg sodium, 20 mg cholesterol.

Pasta Salad with Summer Beans
12 ounces dried pasta shapes, like fusilli or gemelli
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound assorted long beans, such as yellow wax, green, or haricot vert, ends trimmed
2 pounds assorted shell beans, shelled (types could include cranberry beans, scarlet runner, lima, or edamame)
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, minced, plus sprigs for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, plus sprigs for garnish
1 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano, plus sprigs for garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions until al dente. Drain and place in large bowl. Wile pasta is still hot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss well to coat. Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator.
2. Boil long snap beans in boiling salted water 4 to 6 minutes, until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse in cold water, then add to pasta in fridge.
3. Boil shelled shell beans in boiling salted water until tender, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the type used. Drain and add to pasta in fridge. Allow bean and pasta mixture to chill completely, at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
4. Whisk the remaining 5 tablespoons of olive oil with the vinegar and garlic in a bowl. Pour this dressing over the pasta and beans, then add the fresh herbs. Toss to combine, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. When ready to serve, transfer the salad to a serving bowl or individual salad plates and garnish with fresh herb sprigs.
Serves 6.

2007 CSA Week 11

2007-10-30T05:30:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 11

This week’s share includes:
1 Qt tomatoes – The only good thing about early tomatoes is their presence. They don’t taste great, like main season tomatoes, but after a year of yearning, they are better than nothing! There are a few main seasons ready, as well as our heirloom, Caspian Pink, included in the share. You may see some lighter yellow or green at the top of the tomato. This is basically sunburn, called sunscald. It affects the look of the tomato and the ripeness of that part only. Cut it off, and enjoy the remainder of the tomato.
1 bunch dill – Apologies for giving cucumbers in last week’s share with no dill with which to pair. I’ve remedied the situation today.
1 bunch basil – Not the most attractive basil since our plants are magnets for Japanese Beetles. Each of these bunches is most of a plant, so enjoy liberally in your favorite recipes. Very easy to preserve by Gwen’s Car Herb Drying Technique: lay or tie the herbs on your dashboard in the morning. Park in a sunny place. At the end of the day, you have a wonderful-smelling car, as well as herbs that are ready for storage in a canning jar.
1 Qt green beans
1 head cabbage
2 zucchini – During the heat of zucchini season I often don’t have time to make the zucchini muffins the kids love for breakfast. I remedy this by shredding the zukes and storing measured amounts in bags in the freezer. Then on a cooler day of fall, when I don’t mind warming the house with the oven, I can defrost and bake to my heart’s content.
5 yellow squash – I have a favorable report on last week’s squash strata! 4 cucumbers – Early in the season I get into a daily salad rut. In cuke season, I’m in a cuke/tomato/cheddar/walnut salad rut. I actually miss it if I eat something else for a day. I recommend you try it!
1 bunch baby carrots – Getting tired of fresh carrots? They also freeze nicely for use in soups all through the year. Just blanch for 1 ½ - 2 minutes, cool in water and pack into the fridge.
2 heads garlic – I’ll leave these in their natural state (with the roots and stalk on) so you can dry it yourself, if you wish. Keep the roots and stalk on until everything turns brown and shrivels, and you’ll have a perfectly dried head for storage.
2 sweet onions – these onions are so great, aren’t they? Snow white and perfect on the inside, and a beautiful design as well! I’ve only recently discovered the following secret: they are so big, they are sometimes too big to use at once, but throwing half away is a shame! So, I wrapped the remainder in plastic wrap and put it in a zipper top bag and successfully stored it in the refrigerator. Success in this case means that I didn’t smell up the whole fridge. And the onion stored perfectly for another day’s use.
1 pt cherry tomatoes – We love Sun gold tomatoes, and the red grapes aren’t too bad either.
1 bunch beets – Usually our beets have fabulous greens, but these were grown in the far field and were enjoyed by deer, turkeys and mice. You can still use them (the greens), but sort through them well.
1 patty pan summer squash- This is a first for us, and we grew it in response to CSA feedback from last year. Let me know how you think it compares to our other summer squash offerings.
Best guess for next week’s share: Oregano, tomatoes, green pepper, potatoes, main-season carrots, eggplant . Don’t hold me to it!

This week is a noisy one in our neighborhood, since it’s the first forecasted to be sunny with little to no threat of rain or storms. All of the farmers are taking advantage of the weather, and as the saying goes, “Make hay when the sun shines.” Even our farmer friend is here cutting our hay. Unfortunately, hay’s readiness disregards the weather: our hay was ready about a month ago, and is now brown, and has lost some of its nutrition. However, since we have no plans to purchase the equipment required to make our own hay, we are at the mercy of others. Zack eats a half to a whole bale of hay per day (the greater amount if he’s inside the barn all due to poor weather) and the sheep eat 2-4 bales a day for the six months of the year the grass doesn’t grow much. That’s a lot of hay to have on hand!

To cut hay, you need an extensive and expensive roster of equipment. The hay is cut with a haybine (which makes one cut, and crimps the grass stalks to speed drying) or a sicklebar mower. These are different from your lawn mower in that it makes only a single cut to the grass (to keep it long) instead of the multiple cuts your mower makes. Then, the hay is allowed to dry for a day, and is fluffed with a tedder or just turned with a rake to dry the underside. This is what makes the windrows you may have seen in the field. Then, the hay is baled, either with a square baler or round baler. With a square baler, you have the option to kick it into a hay wagon or drop it on the ground. These days, farmers make what are called, “ladies bales” weighing 40-50 pounds, instead of the larger, 75 pound bales of previous days. (Round bales are huge, and could weigh 2-300 pounds.) The square bales are then unloaded from the hay wagon onto the hay elevator and stacked in the hayloft or haymow. If anyone wants a firsthand experience, Mark and I will be unloading 4-5 hay wagons into the hayloft on Thursday evening. We recommend wearing long pants, gloves and sturdy boots and bringing lots of water to drink. It’s a hot, dirty and heavy job!

Last October we planted 80 pounds of garlic in our far field. To plant garlic, you separate the garlic heads into cloves and push them, stem side down, 3 inches into the soil, approximately 6 inches apart. Our 80 pounds of garlic planted 3 ¾ rows, 500 feet long. To dig the garlic, we use a garden fork (like a pitchfork, but with only 4 reinforced tines) to loosen the soil around the head, and pull it by hand. Then, the garlic is dried with the roots and stalk attached. The last step is to trim the roots and stalk, and peel off the outside paper. Dried properly, garlic should last most of the year. We used last year’s garlic until May or June of this year! You may notice most of the garlic harvest drying on the lawn area north of our parking area. We’re almost all harvested, with about ¾ of a row left to dig. Next project: Potatoes! I’m proposing and inviting a potato digging party for this Friday, from 9-12. Let me know if you’re interested in attending. I definitely need help since my garden worker is out of the country on vacation for 5 weeks!

When I need a break from potato and garlic digging, I have copious work to do in cleaning up the garden. Currently we have 3 rows that have already been harvested. Our plan is to pull out remainders of the crop, and weeds, and pull up the plastic mulch covering the soil. This, and the plastic irrigation drip tape, we discard. The area is finished with a quick rototilling of the soil to kill the weeds and prepare it for cover crops.

Thanks for your continuing support!

Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© 2007 Gwen Hyde

Pesto Recipe
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta potatoes, vegetables or chicken. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

Thanks to Leslie for this recipe. It sounds great, and even lists the Weight Watchers points, for those of us who attempt to count points!!
Zucchini Sticks with Honey-Mustard Mayo

POINTS® Value: 2
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 40 min
Level of Difficulty: Moderate

These crunchy, crumb-coated sticks taste just as sinful as their fried cousins. Even better, they boast nutrients and fiber, making them a healthy snack to boot!
Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
4 medium zucchini, ends trimmed, cut into 12 x 1-inch sticks each
3 medium egg white(s), lightly beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Mix well with a fork to combine. Add zucchini sticks and turn to coat. Place egg whites and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes. Add zucchini to egg whites and turn to coat. Transfer to bread crumbs and turn to coat.
Place coated zucchini on prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Bake 40 minutes, until golden brown.
Whisk together mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Serve zucchini sticks with honey-mustard mayo on the side. Yields about 6 sticks and 1 tablespoon of dip per serving.

Azalea Grill's Sweet and Sour Cabbage Recipe
Serves/Makes: 4
1 large head of cabbage (Napa or savoy), chopped in 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch salt

In a sauté pan over medium heat, bring cabbage and vinegar to a boil. Lower heat and cook, uncovered, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. If cabbage dries out, add a bit more vinegar. Add sugar and continue to sauté to slightly caramelize; add salt, and serve.
Per serving: 57 calories, 2 grams protein, 13 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, no fat, no cholesterol, 72 milligrams sodium.

2007 CSA Week 10

2007-10-30T05:27:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 10

This week’s share includes:
½ pt red raspberries – The raspberries just won’t quit producing, although for every one berry I put in a box, I have to throw down 2 or 3, from insect damage or mold. I’ve frozen lots of them for mid-winter jam production – a feat I’ve never attempted before. Does anyone have any words (or recipes) of advice?
1 Qt yellow beans
1 Qt green beans
1 head cabbage
4 zucchini
5 yellow squash
2 Eggplant: 1 Asian (skinny), 1 purple Italian
1 Qt red potatoes – I can’t get enough of these awesome potatoes! The vines on this variety have begun to die back, so I’ll give them a week to cure and dig the rest of them. The white potatoes are still going strong, so we’ll wait a bit to harvest them. If anyone wants to join in a potato digging party, let me know. Last year’s party was great, we treated the digging like a treasure hunt, finding the red gems in the cool dirt. And everyone goes home with potatoes they dug themselves! They always taste better when you dig them yourself.
4 cucumbers – I recently read that the best way to judge a fresh cuke at the market was the presence of the spines. This made me laugh, because I regularly rub off the spines after picking, on its way to the picking bin. This ensures that the cukes don’t damage eachother, and more importantly, me, upon handling. The best way to judge a fresh cuke is it’s firmness, and (of course) knowing the farmer who grew and picked it.
1 bunch baby carrots – Thanks to all of you who have cut off your carrot greens! Zack, my horse, is loving his Wednesday night treat of greens. Our main season carrots are almost ready for your enjoyment. Don’t forget, carrots also freeze nicely and make a nice cool weather addition to your cooking. Just scrub, slice and blanch for 1 ½ minutes.
1 bunch Swiss Chard – Maybe the most gorgeous chard I’ve grown, these “bouquets” of chard are awesome. Each contain about 20 stems, or whatever I can just about hold in my hand and still get the band on them. Blot them dry with a towel and store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
1 head garlic – I’m jumping the gun a bit with these, but I can’t resist. The papers on the cloves are still a little thick, just peel them like usual.
1 sweet onion – These sweet white onions are of the Spanish type and are called Alisa Craig Exhibition. They grow especially well here, often reaching sizes akin to a softball. They’re not great keepers, so use this one within a month or so. Once they are cured and stored properly, they can last as long as 3 months. Use the green parts, too!
½ pt cherry tomatoes – A few Sun gold tomatoes to sweeten your salads, and a few red grapes thrown in. The orange ones are a combination of Sun gold and the new “improved” version: Sun Sugar. According to Mark, the new ones are not as good as the original, but my jury is still out. As usual, the downfall of these sweeties is that the moment they are ripe, they tend to split. Splitting does not affect the taste or nutrition, only the attractiveness. Because of this, I often pick them a little under ripe, so that you have a bit more time to enjoy them. Not that many will make it through the ride home, but you can hope! I’m hoping these will come on strongly for next week’s harvest.
Best guess for next week’s share: Beans, onions, garlic, basil, beets, tomatoes. Don’t hold me to it!

Week 10 is the midpoint of our 20 week CSA season! It truly seems like we’ve just begun. We hope that you and your family are enjoying the fruits (and vegetables!) of our harvest. If you have any feedback, such as “Please grow/give us more of this… or less of this!” or “I tried a great new recipe, and here it is!” or “I tried a new vegetable, please consider putting it on your crop list for next year!” we’d love to hear it. I’ll do a formal survey around week 18, but I’d love to hear how we’re doing and how you’re doing with the quantity/quality/variety of produce you receive every week.

This week’s favorite garden tool of destruction is my new lawn mower! The new one replaced the lawnmower we were given (already 5-6 years old) when we bought our first house 11 years ago. That would make it 16 or 17 years old, but, until recently, it started on the first or second pull. I used the new mower to “renovate” our strawberry patch. Mowing removes most of the greens and gives the roots a chance to rest. My new mower blazed through the patch like a hot knife through butter! It has a power assist, so with the slightest touch, it was enthusiastically eating up the strawberry patch. I did ask myself why I waited so long to purchase a new mower, especially given the price paid for the first! Next step for the strawberries is to thin the rows with the rototiller, so there’s less competition and more light to the berries.

Last week’s two inches of rain was a welcome sight on the farm! It relieved us of a week of irrigation, and helped the non-irrigated crops take off. The sweet corn grew several inches (the late planting, that is; the early planting tasseled at about two feet high, and did not produce any edible ears of corn). The pigs loved the rain, too, running around their pen like crazy. On hot days like today, we go out and make a pond for them to wallow in. They love to get sprayed in their mouths with the hose, and immediately lay down in the muddy water.

Last week we started our annual trek to most of the area’s county fairs. The Saratoga fair is one of my favorites, since we always watch the 6-horse draft horse hitch competition. Those giants make my horse seem like a pony. At the fairs, we always tour all of the animal barns and chat up any colleagues or neighbors we find. Someday maybe Sarah and Jason will show animals at the fair! I’m frequently tempted to enter in some of my veggies to our local fair, but Mark always reminds me that it’s for amateurs, not commercial growers like me. My Swiss Chard bouquets would win the blue ribbon!

Have a great week, and thanks for your loyal support,
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason (and Zack!)
© Gwen Hyde 2007

Summer Squash Strata
4 slices cracked wheat bread
2 cups sliced summer squash or zucchini
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
cayenne pepper

1. Butter a 9-inch baking dish. Line the dish with the bread.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the squash to the boiling water and boil for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender. Drain, plunge the squash into cold water to stop the cooking, and drain again. Pat dry.
3. Combine the squash, cheese, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Toss to mix. Layer the squash mixture on top of the bread.
4. In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat together the milk, eggs, onion, salt, dry mustard, and cayenne to taste. Pour over the casserole.
5. Refrigerate the strata for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
6. Preheat the oven to 350F.
7. Bake the strata for 40 to 50 minutes, until it is puffed, set, and browned.
8. Let the strata sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
Serves 4.

Grannie’s French Swiss Chard
1 bunch Swiss chard
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup raisins or golden raisins
2 tablespoons pine nuts
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

1. Remove the chard stems and the thick central vein from each leaf. Chop the leaves very coarsely.
2. Using a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium high heat, melt the butter with the oil until sizzling. Add the chard and the rosemary, stirring well to coat the chard with the butter mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for another minute until the chard has wilted to about half its original volume.
3. Add raisins and pine nuts, stirring to combine evenly, and continue cooking until any moisture has evaporated. The entire cooking process should take no more than about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Serves 4.

Cucumber Salad Trio
3 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

Salad 1
1. Put the cucumbers and onion in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Allow to stand 1 hour, then drain off liquid.
2. In a saucepan, place:
1/3 cup organic sugar1/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved. Pour this dressing over the drained cucumbers and onions, cover, and chill in fridge several hours, oor overnight. This salad will keep for several days.

Salad 2
1. In a bowl, mix:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1/2 teaspoon seasalt1 tablespoon organic sugar
2. Add to cucumbers and onions and toss to mix.

Salad 3
1. Place cucumbers and onions in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Allow to stand for 1 hour, then drain off liquid.
Add to the cucumbers and onions:
3/4 cup plain yogurt1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or dill weed
Each version serves 4.

2007 CSA Week 9

2007-10-30T05:22:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 9

This week’s share includes:
½ pt red raspberries – Raspberries are always extremely perishable. However, these were picked in today’s downpour, and are guaranteed to last even shorter. I suggest that you eat, freeze or cook with these berries prior to day’s end. Last week, several containers didn’t even make it off the farm, they were consumed during pickup! Berries contain lots of important nutrients and antioxidants, so enjoy them.
1 Qt yellow beans
1 head red cabbage – This is the first year in many that we’ve attempted to grow red cabbage. In years past, they have not performed well at all, usually with very small heads, if they headed at all! We gave them a rest and decided to try them again. We have been well rewarded, as these red babies are beautiful. Be warned, though, there are some cabbage worms in them, so be on the lookout.
4 Heads Broccoli – This really is the end of the broccoli, and I have no more planted. As these heads are mature, they will also contain worms. This is your guarantee that we haven’t sprayed this crop, even certified-organic pesticides. If these bother you, just soak the broccoli in a cold water/salt bath for a half hour or so. Then, follow with a rinse to remove traces of the salt. This should take care of most of the worms you may have.
4 zucchini
5 yellow squash – This squash is coming into its own this week, providing a huge harvest of yellow squash. It’s a new variety of yellow squash for us, so let us know what you think.
2 Asian eggplant – For years I’ve been trying to grow the standard, round, black Italian eggplant. I think I harvested 2 last year. This year I decided to try all new varieties: a long, skinny Asian eggplant; and a round light-purple Italian eggplant. Both are performing beautifully, and the purple one should be ripe enough to share with you next week. We are addicted to peeling (soaking is not necessary: I haven’t found even a trace of bitterness), slicing, breading with flour, egg and breadcrumbs and frying in olive oil. Then I freeze the cooked slices and I can whip up a quick dinner of eggplant parmesan in a jiffy. (I separate the slices with waxed paper so they don’t stick in the freezer.)
1 Qt red potatoes – These babies are guaranteed to melt in your mouth! They are so creamy and sweet, you can’t go wrong with using them in any recipe you find. Store them out of direct sun in a cool place, but not for too long: they have not been cured for storage. And don’t bother with peeling these tender skins!
1 head Romaine lettuce – pretty much the end of our lettuce, don’t forget to peel off the outside leaves in case they’ve gone bitter.
4 cucumbers – We have 3 varieties of cukes growing in the garden: two are these nice slicers, the third is a round lemon cuke. They are supposed to be non-bitter and burpless, but I’ll let you be the judge of that!
1 bunch beets
1 bunch mint
1 bunch baby carrots
Best guess for next week’s share: Green beans, Italian eggplant, Swiss Chard. Don’t hold me to it!

My new favorite garden tool is our weed wacker/string trimmer! I have been going crazy with this thing, devouring weeds that stand in my path! It is such a satisfying feeling to see the weeds fly up in the air in tiny pieces, and know that I’ve helped my garden yet again. They say that if you let a weed plant go to seed, you’ll be dealing with its sons and daughters for 7 years to come. I take this seriously, and try to either pull out weeds, or chop them to smithereens prior to them setting seed. I did have some “oops!” moments and a couple, “uh oh! That wasn’t a weed!” episodes, but for the most part, the garden remains in good shape. And, I haven’t broken the weed wacker yet, which is always good news.

Garlic, who doesn’t like garlic? Not too many people that I know. We are moments away from beginning the garlic harvest. Each week for the past several weeks, I’ve been checking our plants, pulling up a bulb and cutting it up. I’m looking for the individual cloves to be securely wrapped in paper – when the garlic is immature, the paper is a thick membrane. I’m hoping it will be ready in a week or two. We’ll be offering it to you fresh (with green parts attached) as well as cured for winter storage further in the season. Last year my garlic lasted until April or May! If you’re interested in a lot of it, let me know. I have 80 pounds of the stuff planted and will have plenty for bulk sales.

I just started a book that came to me highly recommended: “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” by Barbara Kingsolver. It chronicles her family’s year of eating almost all of their food locally. To be honest, I’ve been procrastinating on reading it; I felt like I already knew what she was going to say. But, I’m pleasantly surprised, and really enjoyed her discussion on how asparagus grows. The quote that stayed with me so far (I’m only past the first chapter!) is, “If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.” Wow! So, thanks for doing your part in reducing your oil and carbon footprint!

Those tomatoes are such teasers. We’ve been enjoying a few Sun gold tomatoes every few days, (or whatever we can sneak without the kids finding them first!) I thought that any day we’d have a big ripening of these sweet treats. But they are taking their time in turning orange. As soon as they are ready, we’ll send them your way. We have two varieties of the sweet, orange tomatoes: the classic Sun Gold and a new and improved variety, Sun Sugar. It looks like Sun Sugar is a bit smaller, but definitely sweeter. We also have grape, slicing and heirloom tomatoes all heavy on the vine.

Thanks for being a “convert” not just a customer!
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason

© Gwen Hyde 2007

Teriyaki Beets
This is an old favorite recipe of mine, and always a great standby method of cooking delicious beets when you’ve run out of other ideas. It’s even a kid pleaser!

12 small unpeeled beets 1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
4 Tbs butter 1 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs honey

Boil or steam beets until almost tender. Rinse in cold water and cut into halves. Combine butter, honey, ginger and soy sauce in small saucepan and heat until butter and honey are melted. Brush some sauce over beets and place on heated broiler pan. Broil 5-10 minutes until tender, basting frequently. Transfer to serving dish and pour remaining sauce over. Makes 4-6 servings.

Stuffed Summer Squash
6 small summer squash
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 large squash blossoms (optional), slivered
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons minced marjoram or basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Slice squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out seeds and discard. Slice a little off the bottoms so squash rest flat, cut side up.
2. In a skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic until soft. Add squash blossoms, if using; sauté 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and cool slightly. Stir in ricotta, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, 2 tablespoons bread crumbs, egg, marjoram, salt, and pepper until blended. Spoon into squash shells.
3. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and bread crumbs over tops. Bake 25 minutes, until sides are tender; broil 3 minutes, until tops are golden. Serve hot.
Serves 12 as an appetizer, 6 as a side dish.

Quick Zucchini and Eggplant Casserole
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium-sized zucchini, diced
1 small eggplant, peeled and diced
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 11/2-quart baking dish or 8-inch square pan.
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and eggplant and sauté until the eggplant is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the onion, green pepper, garlic, tomato paste, wine, and sour cream. Heat thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with the tomato sauce and cheese. Bake for 45 minutes.
4. Serve hot.
Serves 4

2007 CSA Week 8

2007-10-30T05:20:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 8

This week’s share includes:
Bag of spinach
½ pt black raspberries – this is my first taste of black raspberries (with some red and gold raspberries thrown in on top, for color). They have an amazing flavor that actually improves when cooked! Mark made awesome multi-grain black raspberry pancakes the other morning, and they were out of this world! (It’s a loose recipe: roughly 4 cups whole wheat flour, 1 ½ cups oats, 1 cup multigrain flour, 4 eggs, 2 tsp baking powder 2 Tbs canola oil, a pinch each of salt and sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and enough milk to make it all flow nicely). The black raspberry juice blended with the syrup… just awesome. These berries must be refrigerated, if any of them make it home! They mold very easily.
1 bunch swiss chard – the chard is so big and beautiful, in vibrant colors. Be sure to enjoy both the stems and the leaves in your recipes, remembering that the stems take more time to become tender than the leaves.
1 Qt yellow beans – the first of the season, sweet and crunchy!
1 head cabbage – if you’ve never had our cabbage before, we grow a variety called, “Tendersweet” which produces flat, huge heads of wonderfully mild cabbage. These are small, a good introduction to our cabbage. Our favorite method of enjoying a fresh cabbage salad is to shred it with a sharp knife and toss with Italian dressing. Simple and delicious, most people eating it don’t realize how few ingredients are in it! I’ve also been told our cabbage freezes nicely, after blanching, for use in stir-fries all year long.
1 bunch cilantro
1 bag mesclun – This is no baby lettuce! We have a full-sized mix of a great variety of greens: red and green leaf lettuces, Asian greens, red kale and “frizzy” lettuce. The variety of textures and flavors makes a great salad.
1 Qt snow peas
6 Heads Broccoli – this broccoli situation is getting ridiculous! Wouldn’t it be great if I could stagger our harvest and give you one head each week for six weeks?! The weather did not cooperate with us, so we are inundated with the green stuff. I’ll include extra broccoli recipes this week, to help you deal with it all. There’s even extra in the “free choice” bin to help yourself. If you need freezing ideas, let me know.
3-4 zucchini – our favorite way of enjoying summer squash is to slice very thinly, long-wise, marinate in balsamic vinegar and oil, and grill until the edges are crisp. Finish with a grind of sea salt, and enjoy!
2 yellow squash
1 bunch baby carrots

Best guess for next week’s share: Sun gold tomatoes, beets, new red potatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, yellow & green beans.Don’t hold me to it!

It’s a tough time for our raspberry plants- they have lots of beautiful berries on them, slowly ripening, but are turning moldy as soon as they are ripe. All of the hot and humid weather has not been helping them. We have many varieties planted (and the yellow raspberries are my personal favorite) in red, purple, yellow and black colors, so we’re hoping to have enough to enjoy for several weeks over the summer. Some are everbearing, and will ripen in August or September, and some are summer bearing, which are ripening now. I hope you enjoy these. We picked them early this morning, so we wouldn’t have to fight the kids for them!

I need your help at 3:30 on Wednesdays! As the quantity of vegetables in our shares increases, it’s taking more and more time to prepare for CSA pickups. This becomes an issue, because I don’t want to start setting out veggies that are crisp from the refrigerator prior to 3:30, so I need help with this. If you are available, please either just show up at 3:30 or call or email me. Tasks include: numbering bins, filling quarts or other containers with produce, setting up tables, arranging produce on tables and anything else that will make pickups flow more smoothly. This also means you get first pick of the produce, and you can pick up your share as soon as we’re set up, if you’re in a rush. Thanks in advance for your help.

This is the first year that Mark has agreed to let me dig potatoes before their vines die off. (When you let the vines turn brown prior to digging, it cures the skin, and ensures you the largest tubers.) I just couldn’t wait any more to taste the spuds that have been hiding under our soil for months. So I dug 4-5 plants and rushed the beautiful red potatoes into the house to cook up. They were the sweetest potatoes I’ve ever tasted! But, according to Mark, they are still a bit small, and has requested one more week’s growth. That, along with a bit of rain we’ve been getting, will let them grow larger. I’m hoping to share some of our new, red potatoes with you next week. Hmm… those and some fresh rosemary will make an awesome roasted potato dish!

Thanks, for your enthusiastic support,
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason
© Gwen Hyde 2007

Sweet and Sour Swiss Chard
(I just re-discovered one of my veggie cookbooks, “Simply in Season: Recipes that Celebrate fresh, Local foods in the spirit of More-with-less” by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. A great book! All of this week’s recipes were found there.)

1 pound Swiss Chard 1 Medium onion, diced
¼ cup dried cranberries or rasins 2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced 3 Tbs white or cider vinegar
1 ½ tsp sugar Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse, pat dry and remove Swiss chard stems. Chop stems diagonally into small pieces. Stack leaves, roll up, and slice in 1-inch strips. Keep separate from stems. Set aside.

Fry onion in a deep saucepan with olive oil over medium heat, until softened, 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, along with chard stems, cover and cook for 8 minutes. Place chopped leaves on top of mixture (do not stir in), cover and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir and serve.

Broccoli Salad
3 cups broccoli florets 1 cup raisins
10 slices Windy Willow Farm bacon ½ cup red onion, diced
½ cup sunflower seeds ½ cup cheese, shredded (optional)

Mix in large bowl. Set aside

2 Tbs sugar 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
¾ cup plain yogurt or mayonnaise

Combine sugar and vinegar and stir to dissolve. Stir in yogurt until well blended. Pour over the broccoli mixture and stir together.

Broccoli Gratin
5-6 cups broccoli, cut in chunks 1 onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced 2 Tbs olive oil
¼ cup flour 2 cups milk
1 tsp salt or more to taste ¼ tsp pepper
Pinch each ground nutmeg and ground red pepper 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup bread crumbs 1 Tbs butter, melted
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1 Tbs dried parsley (or cilantro!)

Steam broccoli until crisp-tender, 6-8 minutes. Drain well and set aside. In small saucepan, sauté onion and garlic in oil until fragrant and tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour on onions and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes without browning. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and red pepper and cook 5 minutes. Stir in cheese and remove from heat. Combine with broccoli and transfer to a 2-quart casserole dish or glass baking pan. In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, butter, Parmesan cheese and parsley and sprinkle on top of broccoli mixture. Bake in preheated oven at 350 until thoroughly heated, 20 minutes.

2007 CSA Week 7

2007-10-30T05:18:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 7

This week’s share includes:
Bag of spinach
1 head romaine lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 Qt snow peas – These great peas have really turned up the heat, with their production increasing dramatically with the recent weather. Enjoy them! Please return my quarts and pints if you haven’t already- we lost our local supplier for these items, making repurchase a challenge.
4 Heads Broccoli – It’s a lot of broccoli, I know, but broccoli is not a crop that holds well in the field. The moment it’s ready, you’ve got to start cutting. There is not a lot of time between the beginning and end of the harvest. If there’s more than you can use fresh, it freezes perfectly. We cut it up into medium-sized florettes and drop into boiling water for 2 minutes. Follow with a cold water bath, pat dry and pack into bags. It’s our kids’ favorite vegetable, and we put up a hundred or so heads every year! If this just whets your appetite for broccoli, let me know, we’ve got more coming.
1 bunch beets – one of our “staple” crops, this vegetable is great from head to toe. Our favorite method of cooking the roots (bulbs) is to scrub the dirt off, slice in the food processor, along with lots of garlic, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and seal in a foil package (use 2 layers). Make sure the package is flat (cooks faster and more even) and lay it on the grill for 30-45 minutes, turning once. The garlic melts into the beets, which develop a wonderfully sweet, earthy flavor. We don’t even notice the skins. We also freeze lots of beets after cooking this way as well. I’ll be passing along some beet greens recipes as well in the coming weeks.
2 zucchini
1 bunch baby carrots – These are baby carrots by pedigree: they only grow about 4 inches long. As they mature, they will gain in width, but will never get longer. I like them because they are sweet and early, and are easy to harvest without digging. Don’t even bother scraping or peeling them, just scrub the dirt off of them.
3 bulbs kohlrabi
1 Asian Eggplant – It’s a funny looking eggplant, but it’s supposed to taste great (I haven’t even sampled one yet!). It’s about 2 weeks earlier than other eggplants and the plants are big and beautiful, purple-tinged. We haven’t had great eggplant years in the past several, so I’m excited to include these in the share.

Best guess for next week’s share: Yellow squash, zucchini, sun gold tomatoes, cucumbers, Swiss chard. Don’t hold me to it!

“Summer has officially started!” declared Mark early this morning as he munched on his first Sun Gold tomato in the foggy, pre-dawn garden. The fog was so thick, we couldn’t see the occasional car passing on the road, only hear them drive by. The third-inch of rain we received yesterday was enough to dampen the soil, but a nice, long soaking is needed for the garden. We do use irrigation to water the main crops, but most of our veggies are grown without additional water. We also enjoyed our first raspberries of the season, with Sarah taking the lead in stripping the bushes bare of the few ripe berries. The branches are loaded with unripe berries, so we hope to be enjoying the harvest soon. We’ll ask Sarah to save some for you!

We hope you enjoyed your July 4th holiday. We used the time to install our patio, on the west side of the house. The work went quickly, with 18-inch pavers. But those big pavers were heavy, about 40 pounds each. We’ve been planning a deck or patio in that spot ever since we rebuilt the house, in 2000, so it’s nice to see our plans finally come to fruition. Check it out when you get a chance and let us know what you think of our red and gray design. I’m a bit on the fence with it, being much brighter red on paper than in person! It’ll probably take a while to get used to it. We look forward to enjoying the beautiful sunsets on our new patio. We also have gardens planned for the perimeter.

Tuesday I was lucky enough to have several of the neighborhood kids here as mothers’ helpers while I rototilled the orchard garden. (This year the orchard garden is home to our garlic, sweet corn, third plantings of peas, beans and lettuce mix, second plantings of squash… and other crops I’m forgetting right now). However, I’m concerned about the slow rate of growth of these crops, partially due to lack of rain and partially due to low fertility. We will apply our organic fish emulsion fertilizer in hopes of jump-starting these plants, but it may be too late for the early corn. This crop is knee high (as it should be, “by the 4th of July), but it is tasselling already. We’ll keep a close eye and report back on the results after fertilizer application.

Each year we try to schedule a CSA gathering, including a picnic, bonfire or both. This year I’d like to propose a joint picnic and bonfire, starting with a potluck dinner around 4 or 5, moving to the bonfire area around 7 for dessert. The fall is the perfect bonfire time, when the evenings are cool enough to sit around a fire without being too hot. Let me know what you think of this idea and Saturday evenings in late September you may be available.

Thanks for your kind support,
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason
© Gwen Hyde 2007

Broccoli Soup with Garlic and Olive Oil
2 bunches broccoli (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, sliced (this sounds like a lot, but it mellows beautifully with slow-cooking)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
6 cups good-quality vegetable broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Toasted slices of French bread, for serving
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional, for serving

1. Cut off the broccoli florets and chop them. Trim off the bottom 2 inches of each stem, peel them, and thinly slice. Combine the broccoli, oil, garlic, thyme, broth, wine, and lemon juice in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Puree the soup with a handheld immersion blender or transfer to a food processor or blender and puree in batches. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in bowls, passing the toast and Parmesan cheese.
Serves 6.

Spicy Eggplant and Snow Peas
½ pound snow peas, trimmed
4 tablespoons hatcho miso
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon mild-flavored honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 medium-sized eggplant, peeled and diced small
2 tablespoons safflower or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
fresh ginger
8 green onions, both white part and green, sliced
½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or 1 small dried red pepper, crumbled, seeds removed

1. Steam the peas for 5 to 10 minutes, to taste. Refresh under cold water and set aside.
2. In a small bowl mix together the miso, water, honey, and sesame oil. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan and add the eggplant. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté another 10 minutes, stirring. Add the miso mixture and continue to stir-fry for another 3 to 5 minutes, then add the onions and pepper flakes or crumbled pepper and cook, stirring, until the onions and eggplant are tender. If necessary, add a little more oil or 2 to 3 tablespoons water. Add the snow peas, toss together well, head through, and serve over hot, cooked grains.

Pasta Primavera
(This has a lot of ingredients, but it sounds great, and most of the vegetables are included in this week’s share!)
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup sliced broccoli
1 1/2 cups snow peas
1 cup baby peas
6 asparagus spears, sliced
10 white mushrooms, sliced
1 heaping tablespoon salt, preferable kosher
1 pound fettuccini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1. Fit a steamer basket into a large pot. Add a small amount of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Place the zucchini, broccoli, snow peas, baby peas, asparagus, and mushrooms in the steamer basket, cover, and steam until tender, about 3 minutes. Rinse the vegetables under cold water and allow to drain.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the salt and the fettuccini. Cook until al dente.
3. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Ad the pine nuts and garlic and cook, stirring, until they begin to turn golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and then the steamed vegetables. Next add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until all the vegetables are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauté pan. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, butter, cream, and basil, and heat thoroughly. Toss, then scatter the tomatoes on top. Serve immediately.
Serves 6.

2007 CSA Week 6

2007-10-30T05:13:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 6
windywillowfarm@verizon.net 627-0476

Reminder: July 5th is a Thursday pickup! Next week!
This week’s share includes:
Bag of spinach
1 head Bok Choy – I know I said it would be done last week, but it’s so beautiful, we couldn’t resist one more week of this great vegetable.
2 Qt strawberries – It’s sad to see the strawberry season come to an end, but this heat is going to expedite the remaining berries. You’ll notice that most of the berries are smaller than last week’s, and the flavor is different: even a little bit of rain, or cold weather changes the flavors. These hot, dry days should actually concentrate the sugars, so let me know how your berries taste!
1 head green buttercrunch lettuce
1 head romaine lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch rhubarb – What is rhubarb without strawberries? I love strawberry/rhubarb pie a la mode.
1 bunch Swiss Chard – This is the beginning of our Swiss Chard season – it’s one of our anchor vegetables. Very versatile for eating and growing, one row of Swiss chard will keep producing for the entire growing season. My favorite method of preparation is as follows: toast pine nuts in a dry frying pan, boil water for pasta. As the pasta is cooking, sauté garlic (or garlic scapes!) in some olive oil, and sauté Swiss chard stems until soft. When the pasta is almost ready, add the roughly chopped leaves and cook until wilted. Toss with the hot pasta, top with toasted pine nuts and parmesan cheese (which I like to shave with a potato peeler), salt and pepper to taste. Finish with an acid (to balance the chard) of a tablespoon of either lemon or balsamic vinegar. You’ll love it.
1 bunch parsley
1 Qt snow peas – Crunchy and sweet, these edible-pod peas are great in stir fries, salads, cooked or fresh. They freeze nicely, too!
1 pt snap peas – We are just not successful pea growers, I have no idea why. Maybe it’s our soil, or our temperament. Every year we plant row upon row of snow, snap and shelling peas, and every year we have a disappointing harvest. Well, we’ve had nice snow peas in past years, but very few snap or shell peas. So, enjoy these lovely, sweet snap peas (you eat the entire thing, shell and all), and cross your fingers for more! One word of warning: snap peas don’t freeze terribly well, so enjoy them fresh or cooked. If they make it home, that is!
1 bunch lovage – I suggest you toss these into a bag in your freezer and take it out when your potatoes are ready. They make a great addition to potato soups.
free choice garlic scapes – If you’re new to scapes, these are the flower stalk of the garlic. At a certain point in garlic’s development, the plants send up their flower. If you allow the flower to mature, it straightens to show a lovely flower. Unfortunately, the resulting garlic bulb will be tiny. If, however, you cut the scape when it swirls around to make a circle, your garlic bulb will be big and beefy. In past years, we’ve cut scapes over several weeks. This year, they’ve all been cut, so if you like scapes, be sure to help yourself, because this is all we have. To use them, cut off the top flower part, and either slice, mince or process in a food processor. I love to grind them up and pack into bags. The secret is to freeze it flat; then you can easily break off a piece when you need some. It’s a nice interim allium for your cooking, before the garlic and onions are ready. Use them in any recipe calling for garlic. We love to put 3-4 ground with a package of cream cheese and salt, and dip pretzels in it. Very simple and elegant.
Best guess for next week’s share: Beets, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, baby carrots. Don’t hold me to it!

Our summer days start quite early in the morning, where we get to enjoy the (relatively) cool morning and the peace and quiet of the world waking up. When the sun peaks up over our trees to the east, we’re usually in the garden, starting the day’s harvest. We like to pick the perishable produce early in the day, with the dew still on the leaves. This keeps the lettuce from wilting, and helps keep it fresh.

It’s amazing that last week I was wearing two thick fleece jackets and a hat to keep warm in the windy, chilly days. This week I’m dunking my feet into buckets of water to cool down! Our crazy weather is difficult to acclimate; once you’re used to the heat, it gets cold again. The garden doesn’t understand what’s happening either, the zukes and squash were chugging along last week, then stalled with the cooler weather. We’ve been irrigating, so I’m hoping to have nice zucchini and squash next week. Mark estimates that we’ll have Sun Gold tomatoes in two weeks, weather depending, of course.

Most farmers with livestock are currently trying to get their hay needs met for the year. Our hay fields are ready to be cut, and we’re waiting for 3-4 nice, hot and dry days, with little chance of rain. Fat chance! Once the hay is cut and drying on the ground it would be terrible if it got rained on. Rain lowers the quality and nutrient content of the hay, and we’d probably just sell it for mulch hay and try again. We will have fewer animals to over winter this year, but we still need 600-700 bales of hay. I’m always nervous until the hay is cut, baled and stacked up in our hayloft, safe and sound for the year. We don’t have our own hay equipment, so we rely on the kindness of friends to cut our hay for us. We pay by the bale, and unload it ourselves from the hay wagons. It is part of our summer rhythm, and one we will be glad to have as a memory. (If anyone wants to experience it with us, let us know! Imagine a hot summer’s day, wearing long pants and picking up 50-60 pound bales of hay and loading them on a hay elevator to the top of the barn, and stacking them 8 high! That’s a day you earn your keep.)

Last week someone asked me where we purchase the tri-colored stone for our driveway, but I can’t remember who it was. I mistakenly told them we get it from Cranesville Block. Actually, we get it (and got a load this morning) from Santos Construction. According to Mark, it’s cheaper and nicer than Cranesville’s rubble.

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

© Gwen Hyde 2007

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
Unbaked pastry for two-crust 9 inch pie
(If making a 10 inch pie, or just want more filling, use 4.5 cups of rhubarb, 1.5 cups strawberries, and 1 1/4 cup of sugar)

Preheat oven to 400°F.
1 Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, salt, and orange rind. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2 Turn into a pastry lined pan. Top with the pastry, trim the edge, and crimp the top and bottom edges together. Cut slits in the top for the steam to escape.
3 Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and bake an additional 30-40 minutes longer. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or cold. If you do cool to room temperature, the juices will have more time to thicken.

Ginger-Lime Noodle Broth with Snow Peas
6 cups good-quality vegetable broth
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1/3 cup loosely-packed fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley leaves
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
1 cup extra-firm tofu, in 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups snow peas (or sugar snap peas, asparagus in 2-inch pieces, or broccoli florets)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (optional)
1 package Japanese udon noodles or your favorite noodle1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)Fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish (optional)

1. Combine broth, ginger, tamari, lime juice, cilantro, and red pepper flakes in a soup pot and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Add tofu and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.
4. Add snow peas to soup and simmer 5 minutes, then add sesame oil. Taste and add salt if needed.
5. To serve: Mound drained cooked noodles evenly among 4 bowls and top with tofu. Pour hot soup on top, then add sesame seeds and fresh cilantro, if using.
Serves 4.

2007 CSA Week 5

2007-10-30T05:08:00.000-04:00

News from Windy Willow Farm: 2007 Week 5
windywillowfarm@verizon.net 627-0476

Reminder: July 5th is a Thursday pickup!
This week’s share includes:
Bag of spinach – I’m expecting my initial spinach rows to bolt this week and will have to move on to later plantings. I hope you’re enjoying this lovely, dark leafy green. A simple way to enjoy it is to blanch for 5-10 seconds in boiling water and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Bag of arugula
2 heads Bok Choy – this should be the end of our bok choy season as we expect the remaining heads to bolt this week.
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch radishes
3 Qt strawberries- These gorgeous strawberries are sometimes as big as golf balls! Unfortunately, the rain last night cause many of them to be covered in dirt – we got 1.25 inches of rain in 2 torrential downpours. We needed the rain, but the berries did not need to be covered in dirt! And of course, the biggest ones are hanging low on the branch, and are sometimes sitting on the dirt. A good swish in your sink will take care of it. If you have too many to use fresh, just de-stem, wash and slice, and freeze. They come out great.
1head red buttercrunch lettuce – Mark claims that this is the first red lettuce I’ve grown that he enjoys! We’ll add it to the permanent list that we grow every year. I’ve enjoyed its mild taste and beautiful color in my salads.
1 head green buttercrunch lettuce
1 head romaine lettuce- this one is a new variety this year. The heads are a little smaller, but are supposed to have a superior taste. Let me know what you think!
1 head green leaf lettuce – This variety, Tropicana, is a beautiful, ruffled lettuce that grows into a giant head.
3 kohlrabi bulbs – these bulbs are like turnips on steroids! They are so sweet, but with a zing – I tried my first one right in the garden, biting into it like an apple. Most people prefer them raw- sliced or shredded, but if you’re plum out of ideas, try boiling them like potatoes and mashing them with a little butter, milk and salt.

Best guess for next week’s share: Swiss Chard, snow peas, yellow squash, zucchini. Don’t hold me to it!

Our baby chicks are growing fast and strong. This is our first time for growing turkeys and broilers, and it is a treat to watch them grow! The broilers (what you find in the store as a meat bird), grow so fast, and are so meaty, even at 2 weeks old, that they sit down when they eat! Their legs are so plump, they look like they are muscle-bound already. And the turkeys are curious, aggressive and tried to fly this morning: they take off running, flap their wings and jump into the air. Amazing creatures. Our black Barred Rock laying hens are tiny and slow growing, in comparison. The kitten, Honey, has been found in the brooding stall many times, but has not caught a bird yet- she seems to prefer to chase, and herd the chicks into a corner.

One of the challenges in being a CSA member is to receive a set amount of different types of produce each week. If you’ve had enough of a particular vegetable, or if you think you won’t use all what’s offered, please take the item out of the bin, and place it in the Swap Box (I’ll make it bigger!). Last week, when cleaning up, I found at least 4 heads of lettuce and 5 bok choys that weren’t claimed. I would love it if all of the shares had a chance to take this extra produce. The Swap Box is for extras that I pick of anything, as well as anything from your share that you’re not interested in. Anything in there is available for the taking from any shareholders.

This hot weather we’ve been having is both a blessing and a curse on our garden. The blessing is that the heat-loving plants which are absolutely taking off! The tomatoes are flowering like crazy, and our new oriental eggplant, have the most gorgeous purple blossoms. The summer squash is also flowering, showing their tiny squash- we’ll be enjoying these soon! However, our cooler weather crops, like lettuce, are not enjoying the heat at all. Their response to heat stress is to turn bitter. To combat this, I’ve planted the most heat-resistant varieties I can find, but you may need to peel off the outside leaves that may be the most bitter. The heat also causes them to bolt. So, we enjoy our short lettuce season for the brief, intense period it offers us.

The heat is also causing our potato plants to take off. They are beautiful, and are just about to flower. (We also recently fertilized most of our crops with fish emulsion, which offers a bit of nutrition and trace elements they need to fight disease and bugs). After flower, we’ll dig some of the red potatoes to enjoy as tiny, new spuds, and leave the rest to fully mature. With my decreased schedule, we’ve been able to control most of the weeds in the potato patch. We anticipate a fabulous potato harvest!

Our strawberry patch is exceeding all of our expectations! We had been conservative in terms of scheduling public picking, to make sure we had enough berries for our CSA folks, but the patch is producing and producing. If you need more strawberries, we are open the following hours for U-Pick:
Friday, June 22nd, 9am - 12 noon
Saturday, June 23rd, 9am -12 noon
Monday, June 25th, 9am - 12 noon, 4pm – 6pm
Tuesday, June 26th, 9am - 12 noon
Friday, June 29th, 9am - 12 noon
And any other time, by appointment.

Thanks, for your kind support,
Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason
© Gwen Hyde 2007

Kohlrabi with Parmesan
2 large or 3 medium kohlrabi, stalks and leaves removed
2 T unsalted butter or olive oil, or combination
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 T minced parsley

Peel kohlrabi to remove fibrous outer layer. Shred with grater or foodprocessor. Heat a medium skillet to medium heat. Add butter and/or oil. When fat is hot, add kohlrabi. Cook, stirrring frequently, until vegetable is tender, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir. Toss with cheese. Cook until cheese melts, about 1 minute. Garnish with parsley. Serve hot. Serves 4.

Arugula, Mushroom and Walnut Salad
1 cup walnut pieces (4 ounces)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons full-bodied red wine
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
16 cups packed arugula leaves (3/4 pound)
1/2 pound white or cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, thinly sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a pie plate, toast the walnuts for about 6 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool.2. In a bowl, whisk the olive oil with the wine. Season with the salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the arugula, mushrooms and walnuts. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Serve on salad plates.

Bok Choy with Ginger Vinaigrette
1 pound bok choy
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small glove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated

Separate bok choy leaves and rinse under cold water to clean. Place in steamer and steam until stalks begin to turn translucent and are soft when pierced. Combine vinegar, mustard, soy, etc. and mix well.

After bok choy is steamed you have two options:

Chop up piece into bit size pieces while still warm and pour the
ginger vinaigrette over.

or Plunge steamed bok choy into cold water to crisp it back up.
Drain and cool. Then chop and pour ginger vinaigrette over.

Makes 4 - 1 cup servings