CSA Week 11: Post-wedding and we take a few days off

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables:  Cucumbers (slicers and picklers), tomatoes, salad mix, red cabbage, beets, parsley, sweet peppers, jalapeno, Hungarian Hot Wax pepper, carrots, sweet onion, summer squash/zucchini and fennel.

This newsletter includes a roundup of news from the farm as well as information and recipes. 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

Your farmers got away for two days!  

The farm got away from us this past week with all the business of getting ready for the wedding.  We probably should have worked in the field this weekend, but we were exhausted.  Heather-Marie’s family stays in Port Wing every year so we joined everyone for two nights.  It was the break we needed.  We napped (a lot), we ate yummy food and sat on the beach.  It was actually warm enough to swim, but John was the only brave soul to venture in the ICU waters of Lake Superior.  

Last week, the farm received two inches of rain over two days.  We needed the rain but that was a little too much.  It was too soggy to work in the fields this weekend anyways.  This coming week we’ll get the walk-behind tractor out to the field and prep beds for fall sowing.  The last seeds in the ground will be braising mix, arugula and spinach.  We love all these fall greens.  

The other item on our “to-do list” this week is actually getting ready for next year.  Feels ridiculous to do that when we’re not even done with this season, but we always need to be thinking about our soil health and what we can do for it.

Our field has given us bountiful harvests in our first two seasons here, but if we want that to continue, we need to be good to the land. We rotate our crops, so that vegetables are not planted in the same location each year. We plant cover crops that add needed nutrients to the soil as well as organic material to keep the soil loose and welcoming to new plant growth. And we add amendments, including composted manure, to keep the soil rich and fertile. 

WDIO paid us a visit

While we were sitting at our Farm Stand last Friday evening, a vehicle pulled into the driveway with the WDIO-TV logo on the side. Out came Sabrina Ullman, a journalist from the station who asked if she could film a segment on the farm and how this year’s wet growing season compared with last year’s dry growing season. 

You can watch the video and read the article on the WDIO website.

We were very impressed with the journalist. She asked lots of good questions and spent time interviewing us and exploring the farm, and then put together a nicely done piece on the farm.

CSA member potluck date set

We have set the date for our end of season potluck for our CSA members for September 10 at 2 p.m. It will be a great opportunity for our members (and us) to meet one another, tour the farm, play games and just relax. Stay tuned for more details.

Extras coming up

At the beginning of the CSA season, we asked members to sign up to order additional items that would be available as the season progressed. Those items are now starting to come in:  Tomatoes, flowers and garlic, to name but a few. We will first fill the orders of those who signed up before reaching out to all of our CSA members and other customers as well.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Fennel: give it a try!

Salmon With Fennel and Pistachios

by Florence Fabricant from NYT Cooking

We just made this for the first time, and served it with steamed new red potatoes.  What a lovely summer meal!

• 2 medium-size fennel bulbs
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
• 2 pounds king salmon filet, skin on and pin bones removed
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 Tbs shelled unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• ½ cup dry white wine

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Trim any fronds (this is the frilly part of fennel)  from the fennel and chop 3 tablespoons of them and set aside. Thinly slice the fennel bulbs, discarding the cores. Select a baking dish or heavy skillet, which can go on top of the stove, to fit the salmon. Place it in the oven, add 1 tablespoon of the butter and when the butter has melted after a minute or so, scatter the fennel bulbs in the pan, turning it with tongs to coat with butter. Return the pan to the oven for 10 minutes.

Place the salmon, skin side down, in the baking dish on top of the fennel, season with salt and pepper and dot with 1½ tablespoons of the butter. Return the pan to the oven. Reduce the heat to 225 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes for rare, 20 minutes for medium-rare. Turn off the oven.

When the salmon is done, transfer it to an oven-proof serving platter and surround with the cooked fennel. Tent with foil. Place in the turned-off oven with the door slightly ajar to keep warm.

Place the baking pan on top of the stove on medium-high heat. Add the pistachios and give them a quick stir. Add the lemon juice and wine and bring to a lively simmer. Reduce the liquid to about ⅓ cup. Lower heat and whisk in the remaining 1½ tablespoons butter bit by bit. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, remove the fish and fennel from the oven and spoon the sauce over the fish. Strew the reserved fennel fronds over top and serve.

Fennel Dressing

Ingredients are rough and can be altered to your tastes.  Recipe from Member Kristina.

• Olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Snipped fennel fronds
• Chives
• Maple Syrup
• Tahini
• Salt
• Pepper

Sweet onion, summer squash

Easy Summer Dinner of Summer Squash and Salad

Sweet Onion Salad Dressing based loosely on a recipe from The Spruce Eats

Heather-Marie made this dressing this weekend with the first of the sweet onions.  The ratio of vinegar, oil and sugar wasn’t to her tastes, so she came up with this instead.  

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp mustard
• ½ medium sweet onion, minced
• ¼-½ cup olive oil
• ¼ vinegar (Heather-Marie used red wine vinegar)
• Salad mix

Add all ingredients into a Pyrex measuring cup.  Pour everything into a recycled dressing jar to make pouring and storing easier.  Serve over salad mix.

Sauteed summer squash

This is just a simple saute of yellow summer squash that we made.

• 3 summer squash roughly sliced
• 1 Jalapeno pepper, sliced thin
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 4 T Olive oil
• 3 T chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Heat oil in heavy skillet (ideally cast iron) on medium high heat. Add the squash and generous amounts of salt and pepper. Let squash cook without moving until it is tender and browned, then turn. If it sticks, add splash of water. Add garlic, jalapenos and heat through. Add fish sauce and taste. Adjust seasoning. Once squash has desired texture, add fish sauce (you could also add balsamic vinegar or lemon juice if you prefer). Top with parmesan cheese.

Beets, fennel, carrots, cucumber

Chopped Summer Salad

by Barbara Lynch from the Create program “The Victory Garden”

Heather-Marie came across the recipe years ago, and although it looks a little fussy, is pretty easy.

Served with six-minute hen’s eggs and truffled crostinis

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 fresh eggs
• 1/2 cup salt
• 4 baby red beets, peeled and sliced thinly using a mandolin
• 4 baby golden beets, peeled and sliced thinly using a mandolin
• 4 bulbs baby fennel, sliced thinly lengthwise using a mandolin
• 8 baby carrots, peeled and sliced thinly using a mandolin
• 8 baby radishes, sliced thinly using a mandolin
• 1 cucumber, sliced thinly
• 4 baby white turnips, peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 celery stalks, peeled and sliced thinly, reserve inner celery leaves
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar, plus additional for pickling
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Fleur de sel for garnish
• 1/2 good-quality baguette
• 4 ounces black truffle butter

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 6 cups water with 1/2 cup of salt. (A lot of salt of makes the eggs easier to peel.) Bring the water to a rolling boil.
2. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water and set it near the stove. Reduce the heat to a low boil. Place the eggs (the 4 you need plus a couple extra in case of any mishaps) into the water and boil for 6 minutes. Remove the eggs immediately with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the ice water to cool quickly. After 10 minutes in the water, remove an egg, tap its shell lightly with a spoon or a knife to crack it, and very gently peel the shell away. Keep in mind that if you break into an egg, the yolk will flow out.
3. When all of the eggs are peeled, place each one on a piece of plastic wrap large enough to fit around the egg and place a small piece of butter on each side of the egg. (The butter will prevent the plastic wrap from sticking when the eggs are reheated.) Bring the sides of the plastic wrap around the egg and butter to form a sack. Tie the top securely with a piece of string (or a piece of twisted plastic wrap) so the egg is completely sealed. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Place the beets, turnips, and fennel in separate bowls with a little white balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt and allow to marinate (or pickle) for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. (Separate bowls are necessary to prevent bleeding of color, especially with the beets.)
5. Combine all vegetables in a mixing bowl with extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Divide salad among four plates.
6. Prepare the crostini by heating the broiler. Cut four slices from the baguette, slicing on a sharp angle to get slices about 5 inches long and about 1/3-inch thick. Lightly toast the baguette slices under the broiler then remove from the oven and spread some truffle butter on each.
7. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of fresh water to a boil, reduce to a simmer and, while the bread is toasting, submerge the wrapped eggs in simmering water and cook for 2 minutes (the plastic will not melt). When the eggs are warm, remove, gently unwrap, place one on each salad, along with the crostini, and serve immediately. Garnish with reserved celery leaves and a pinch of fleur de sel.

Sweet and sour beets

submitted by Carol-Ann Bloom

Serve warm or cold

• 6 fresh red beets to every medium sweet onion
• 1/4 c. Apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. Olive oil
• 1/4 c. Granulated sugar

Cook beets whole until just tender. Peel either before or after cooking.
Allow to cool, then slice thin. Thinly slice sweet onion and add to beets. Mix together apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Warm briefly, add granulated sugar. Stir till sugar dissolves. Pour over beets/onions mixture. Cover and refrigerate. Occasionally stir or gently shake to marinate. Best to set overnight.