CSA Week 1: Our biggest season ever begins!

NOTE: Here is our first newsletter of the CSA season. It includes a roundup of activities at the farm, a review of what you can find in your CSA shares this week and a few recipes for you to try. Feel free to jump to the bottom of the newsletter to find the section titled, “This week’s veggies and recipes.”

News from the farm

From the back of his tractor, farmer Charles T. Flugum paid attention to the natural world around him and especially to the birds he would see at his 240-acre farm in Freeborn County, Minnesota. And what he saw, he wrote about, in short missives that were published monthly in “Community Magazine” from 1952 to 1964.

Years later, his son encouraged him to compile his writings into a book, titled, “Birding From a Tractor Seat”  – a book that made its way to our farm as a birthday gift from Heather-Marie’s mother and father this year.

The essays are short, about two to three pages. Each one is simply titled after the bird he was writing about that week. One that caught my eye this season is about the bobolink, a bird he described as a “show-off in plumage and song alike.”

“His song – a bubbling burst of glee poured forth with explosive rapture, often while on the wing – has endeared the bird to all who know it on its northern range.”

In the early summer, after all the migratory birds have passed, there are a few birds that we can count on keeping us company at the farm. One of them is the bobolink, which showed up last summer and nested in a thicket of alder at the northeast corner of our field. 

In some ways, it is a comical bird. It has an awkward way of flying. The male bird’s coloring is a brilliant yellow across the top of its head like a helmet. Its song is a repetitive call that Heather-Marie insists sounds like one of the characters from Star Wars movies (BB-8). 

On most days, the bobolink flies over to the fence and perches there, seemingly watching us work. It does not appear to mind when we walk over near it and to say hello, trying to imitate its call. 

This season, we started to get worried as the season pressed on with no signs of the bobolink. 

Maybe it wouldn’t return this season from its migration south that can be as far as Argentina, we worried.

But a couple of weeks ago, while working in the field, we heard its unmistakable call. Soon, not one, but several bobolinks could be seen, fluttering about in our hayfields, and taking up station on our fence line. 

Welcome back, friend! It’s good to see you.

Just like Mr Flugum, Heather-Marie and I cherish our time farming, not just because of the work we do and the food that we grow, but because we get to work side by side, appreciating the natural world and the changing of the seasons. 

To quote my stepfather, Jack Dalton, “We have a rich life.”

Happenings at the farm:

It’s been a busy and productive season at the farm this year. Without going into too much detail, here is a quick summary of some of the things that have happened:

Membership hits new high: This season, we have 32 members in our CSA, which is the largest number of shares in the farm’s 12-year history. We hope to continue a slow expansion of our membership, though we intend to keep that number small and manageable. We are especially excited that many of our new members are also neighbors from the Barnum area.

More plants in the ground: Coupled with an increased membership, we started our growing season earlier this year and have more plants in the ground to meet the increased demand. In spite of a cold, wet spring, the field is thriving. While we still have two to three weeks before all our crops are in the ground, we are ahead of schedule in our planting and very pleased with how things are going in the field.

Flowers! Heather-Marie has expanded the flowers she is growing this season and we have created a permanent section of the field where flowers will grow each season. The plots are right at the entrance to the field, which should provide a gorgeous way to welcome visitors to the farm.

Grant to improve farm operations: Rising Phoenix Community Farm received a grant from the Duluth Whole Foods Coop’s Grow Local Food Fund. The money will be used to do renovations to our barn and the pack shed – the space where we wash and prepare vegetables for delivery.

Irrigation plans in the works: We have been working with Ryan Clark, Area Certification Specialist at Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District, on an irrigation system at our farm that will allow us to more efficiently keep our plants irrigated and to plant cover crops that will help keep our soil nutrient rich and protected from erosion.

Planting cover crops: We’ve been working with our friends at Farm Sol in Saginaw on planting cover crops in the parts of our field that we are going to let sit fallow this year. The cover crops will help to restore the soil and will also produce a variety of flowering plants that will attract pollinators and natural predators to keep down on pests in our fields. 

CSA shares for Duluth food shelf: We are again working with the CHUM Food Shelf in Duluth to provide them with CSA shares. Last year, we sold just one share to CHUM. This season we are selling them five shares. 

Unwanted guests in the barn: Finally, on a humorous note, we discovered a few weeks ago that a family of raccoons had taken up residence in a crawl space in our barn. Our fellow farmer friends told us we had no option: We had to trap them and kill them. And, to be sure, they are capable of making a giant mess.

But, before we went to extremes, we decided to try other measures. After talking with friends from Wildwoods Wildlife Rehabilitation, we decided to see what happened if we simply tried to make the barn a less-desirable location.

We borrowed a radio from our neighbors and began blasting top-40 music day and night in the barn. We also left all the lights on in the barn for two weeks straight. 

So far, no sign of raccoons! 

This week’s veggies and recipes

In their first shares of the season members will receive the following vegetables: rhubarb, chives, microgreens (from Sprouted Earth Farm), bok choy, red and green head lettuce, kale and radishes.

The microgreens were grown for us by our neighbor John Stoltz. He and his wife, Erin, live just down the road and are one of the reasons we love living out this way. John grows amazing produce and we thought it would be fun to include his microgreens in the delivery both this week and next. If you like what John grows, stop by his stand at the Duluth Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The rhubarb is a combination of plants that were started by the Johnson family and likely go back decades here on the farm and a few plants that Heather-Marie received from numerous friends and family members over the years and transplanted when we moved to the farm in the summer of 2020.

Recipes for this week’s veggies

Here are a few suggested recipes for the vegetables in your shares this week. We hope you will also share your own recipes and images with our members and allow us to post them in future newsletters.

However, before you begin digging into these recipes and wondering how to prepare these vegetables, try just one thing for us: Just take a bite. Pull out a piece of kale and eat it — stem and all. Take a radish, rinse it off and pop it into your mouth. We hope this reminds you why nothing compares to locally grown, freshly harvested produce.

Rhubarb Juice

• 1 ½ cups rhubarb, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ cups water
• Sparkling water
• Optional: tequila
• Lime juice

(see “adult drink” below)

Bring rhubarb, sugar and water to a boil, lower to a simmer.  Cook down, about 15 minutes.  Let cool.  Put mixture through a strainer.  Save the juice.  Pour over sparkling water.  If you want to zip it up, add optional ingredients (see additional recipe below!)

78 Degrees North  Vikre Distillery, Duluth

For one drink:

• 1 oz Ovrevann Aquavit
• ¾ oz rhubarb syrup/juice (see above)
• ½ oz lime juice
• Dry sparkling wine

Shake the aquavit, rhubarb juice, and lime juice with ice to chill.  Strain into a champagne flute or coupe and top with sparkling wine.

Lunchtime Bok Choy with Fried Rice

from “From Asparagus to Zucchini” cookbook

Just made this again recently– so good!  Can easily double recipe for 2 to 4 hungry people.

• 2 tsp peanut oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger, but more is better!
• 2 tsp sesame oil, divided
• 3 Tb chopped green onion
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1 egg
• 1 cup diced bok choy
• bottled chili garlic paste (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked rice
• 1 1/2 Tb soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup leftover cooked diced lamb, beef, pork or tofu

Heat a wok or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes.  Add 1 tsp of the peanut and sesame oils; swirl to coat the bottom of pan.  Add carrots; stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add bok choy; stir fry 2 minutes.  Push vegetables to outer edges of pan, add remaining peanut oil and swirl to coat the exposed surface.  Add rice, meat and ginger; stir fry 2-3 minutes.  Stir in the green onion.  Push the mixture to the outside edges of the pan, add remaining sesame oil to the center of the pan, and swirl to coat.  Crack egg into the hot oil and scramble.  Cook until the egg is set, then break up the egg into pieces and toss it with the rest of the mixture in the pan.  Add a little chili garlic paste, if desired, and stir in the soy sauce.  Continue to stir-fry another moment or two, scraping all bits from the bottom of the pan.  Serve hot.  Makes 2 servings.

Wilted Lettuce Salad

from allrecipes.com

We haven’t had a chance to make this yet but we have heard that a “wilted salad” recipe is a way to deal with lettuce that might be slightly bitter.

• 5 slices bacon
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 head leaf lettuce – rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
• 6 green onions with tops, thinly sliced

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove from skillet, crumble and set aside.

To the hot bacon drippings, add the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and pepper. Stir over medium heat until hot.

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce and green onions. Add the warm dressing and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle with bacon and serve.

Massaged Kale Salad
from Eating Well
John introduced Heather-Marie to this salad. We eat this on constant rotation for an easy summer meal.

• 2 bunches kale
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 minced anchovy fillet or ½ teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Strip leaves from the stems (discard stems). Wash and dry the leaves. Tear the leaves into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add Parmesan, oil, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce, anchovy (if using), pepper and salt. With clean hands, firmly massage and crush the greens to work in the flavoring. Stop when the volume of greens is reduced by about half. The greens should look a little darker and somewhat shiny. Taste and adjust seasoning with more Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce and/or pepper, if desired.