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CSA delivery 10: Thoughts on the end of the season
As we close out this shortened season, we want to start this final newsletter simply by saying that we are really grateful to have you all as members and thank you for supporting us. We couldn’t do it without you. Nor would we want to.
It’s a strange world that we live in. This newsletter is being co-written by John and Heather-Marie. John is working on it from his AirBNB in Hanoi as he begins his time as a Fulbright Scholar in Vietnam (you can read about his flight over here). Meanwhile, back in Duluth, Heather-Marie took some time after working in the field today to add more to it. As John puts the final edits on this, Heather-Marie is getting a few hours sleep before she heads out to the farm for one final CSA delivery.
Teamwork has been the theme of this year’s farm season. After years of working solo, Heather-Marie had a partner this year.
It’s amazing how much gets done with two people on the farm all the time! Many times we were able to split jobs up (i.e., John killed potato bugs, Heather-Marie read a book. Just kidding.) The partnership also meant that Heather-Marie did not have to work two other jobs on top of the farm (she just did one additional job!).
This season has brought us many happy memories as well as some sad ones. As you all most likely know, the tinyhouse is now in storage at a friend’s house in Cromwell. The move was an emotional one for us, and it is a strange and sad feeling to be at the farm and see the empty spot where the house used to be (“tinyhouse-sized hole”). Heather-Marie will be couch surfing for the next month or so in Duluth until she, too, leaves for Vietnam sometime in mid-October.
This move has confirmed for us that being a “landless farmer” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Next summer we will be begin in earnest to look for a farm of our own so that the next time we move the tinyhouse will be the last time.
While we will continue to lease the land on Prairie Lake Road as long as our buildings and equipment are housed there, we are not sure what next year will hold for the growing season. If we do any farming, it will most likely just be for the farm stand and/or farmer’s market. There is so much work that goes on in the winter to prep for a CSA that would be near impossible to do on the other side of the world. But we will stay connected. That is the great thing about technology, right?!
We had three exciting visits to the farm this week.
First, a former student of John’s named David Cowardin showed up with his video cameras and his drone. David is a videographer for UMD and also has his own film production business called Blue Forest Films. He interviewed us and shot some footage of us working as well as some striking aerial photos of the farm. We’re excited to see what David does with it and will look forward to the final product and be sure to share it with everyone.
Second, we had a visit from Emily and John Beaton, two fellow CSA farmers who run Fairhaven Farm just outside of Duluth. We have visited Emily and John at their farm, so it was fun to host them at our operation and show them around. Our hope and tentative plan is to have them start our seeds for us in the spring, which would be a great help to us. They do fantastic work and grow the plants the Whole Foods Coop sells as starts each year. We are going to work this as a barter. We will give them some of our leftover abundance, in exchange for them to start our seeds in the spring. That’s what we love about the farming community — we help each other out!
Third, by far our most favorite visitor this week was Heather-Marie’s nephew Oliver — oh, and his grandparents, Tom and Carol-Ann, of course.
They all came out on Friday for our Labor Day weekend farm stand.
It was, for lack of a better word, a hoot. We gave Oliver his own pretend farm stand for home that he always plays with, so when we brought him out for the actual stand, he knew just what to do.
Tom brought Oliver a stepladder so Oliver could climb up and stand next to Heather-Marie, his Tia, as they hawked their goods.
“Want any vegetables!?” he’d shout to people as they walked up.
Not only did he sell vegetables, but he got many hugs and even, apparently, a new grandmother out of the deal — a woman he walked up to and said, “you are my new grandma!”
Clearly, a 3-year-old Oliver was not bad for our business that day.
In fact, Friday’s farm stand was our most successful of the season. It’s been such fun to meet our neighbors who are a combination of year-round, local folks as well as people who own cabins on Prairie Lake.
While there are still plenty of vegetables in the field, we are not sure how long we will do the farm stand. Heather-Marie will take it week by week and see how it goes.
Speaking of veggies in the field, we still have a lot of those to give to members! On Sunday, Heather-Marie sent out an email with a summary of the delivery plans and who signed up for what additional shares.
Tuesday is our last “regular” delivery for the season (Fall Shares delivered in October). There are quite a lot of veggies in the field though!
After this week, if there is an abundance of something, like kale, beans or tomatoes, I will let folks know. Otherwise, plan on a small late September “Bonus Share” that will be offered to everyone with possibly some garlic and winter squash. You invested in garlic and we want everyone to get some!
Otherwise, those that signed up for additional shares, keep an eye on your email and I’ll let you know when I am delivering those items. I’d like to spread that out rather than delivering all in one day.
What’s in your share this week
In your final regular share you will find the following: cauliflower, kale, green cabbage, Yukon and russet potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, squash, sage, parsley, sweet peppers, hot peppers (jalapeno and Hungarian hot wax), slicing and cherry tomatoes, scallions, red onions, and tiny beets (the mice have gotten to them- stinkers!)
Recipes
Cucumbers a la Hanoi
John’s first night in Hanoi he went to an outdoor cafe for some grilled shrimp, but it was the fresh cucumbers that may have been the real star of the show. They were simple and they were wonderful.
Ingredients:
Cucumbers, skins removed, seeded, sliced lengthwise
Kosher salt
Hungarian hot peppers, seeded and sliced into thin slivers
Wedge of fresh lime
Instructions:
Prepare the cucumbers.
In a small dish, place two tablespoons of salt and a few slivers of hot peppers. Squeeze lime over this. Dip the cucumbers into this mixture. Eat them.
Vegetable Barley Soup
Heather-Marie made this over the winter with frozen peppers and kale from the summer. So yummy! She put some soup in a container and threw it in the freezer to enjoy later.
Onion, diced
Stalk celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
Sweet pepper (red or green), deseeded and chopped
Kale, chopped
Oregano
Basil
Salt and pepper
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Apple cider vinegar
Sauté onion, celery, carrots and pepper. Add salt, oregano and basil. Cook until veggies are soft. Add barley and 7 cups of water (you may need to add more). Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until barley is done. Add kale.* Add 1-2 Tablespoons of vinegar or to taste. Add ground pepper, too. Enjoy!
*If you want kale to be cooked longer, add with the barley and water.
The Store’s Green Dip
The Store Cookbook
1 2-ounce can flat anchovy fillets packed in oil
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T chopped fresh chives or shallots
1 T drained capers, rinsed
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chilled sliced vegetables, for serving
Put the anchovies and anchovy oil, parsley, vinegar, chives or shallots and capers into a blender or food processor, and puree until the mixture has nearly liquefied, about 3 minutes, pulsing and scraping down the sides as needed.
Add the mayonnaise, and pulse to combine. Season with pepper, then transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
Serve as a dip for chilled sliced vegetables.
Potatoes and Tomatoes Cooked With Coconut
“Madhur Jaffrey’s World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking”
A-mazing! Can be served over rice.
3 medium-sized boiling potatoes (about 1 ¼ pounds)
4 T vegetable oil (could use less)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 whole dried hot red pepper
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 ½ cups freshly grated coconut
½ tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 ¼ pounds fresh, red-ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces, or a 16 to 20 oz can of tomatoes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Peel the potatoes, then cut into ¾ inch dice and put into a bowl of cold water.
Heat the oil in a heavy, 3-quart pot over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the minced garlic. Stir for about 5 seconds. Now put in the red pepper and the cumin seeds. Stir for another 3 seconds. The garlic should brown lightly, the red pepper should darken, and the cumin seeds should sizzle. Lower the heat to medium, put in the grated coconut and stir it around for 10 to 15 seconds.
Drain the potatoes. Add them as well as the turmeric, ground cumin, tomatoes (including any juice that may have accumulated or the juice in the can), the salt, and 1 ½ cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir gently every 7 to 8 minutes during this cooking period.
Put in the sugar and vinegar. Stir again and cook, uncovered, for 1 minute.
Curried Potato/Zucchini Soup
Heather-Marie has been making this soup for ages. It’s one of her favorites. In the recipe there are instructions for making your own curry powder. She hasn’t bought curry since and she gets lots of compliments on it! Enjoy!
4 T butter
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
½ tsp curry powder (from homemade mix of ½ tsp each of turmeric, cayenne, black pepper, cumin and ground ginger; 2 tsp ground coriander)
6 c water
3 tsp chicken bouillon
3 tsp mushroom or vegetable bouillon
3 c diced potatoes
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
6 c chopped zucchini
Cook the onions with the curry powder in the butter until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until potatoes and zucchini are soft. Purée and taste for seasonings.
Pasta with butter, sage and parmesan
This recipe comes from Mark Bittman and is simple and good, letting the sage stand out. We can’t help but think that some roasted veggies or grilled tomato might be nice with this dish as well.
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