CSA Week 12: It’s salsa and flower time, friends

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables:  Cucumbers (slicers and picklers), new red potatoes, summer squash/zucchini, beets, kale, cauliflower or broccoli, scallions, and a “Salsa bag” with tomatoes, sweet peppers, Hungarian Hot Wax pepper, sweet onion, garlic and cilantro. (We had to till our cilantro under, so this cilantro comes to us as part of a trade with our friends at Farm Sol – we gave them garlic scapes earlier in the season.)

We will also give our last fennel of the year and one head of garlic to sample to get you excited about more to come.

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.” Included in this week’s newsletter is a “Field Report,” offering a detailed look at what’s growing and what to expect in the final weeks of our season.

News from the farm

We had help from two members this week.  Jodi helped with our CSA harvest on Tuesday.  Jodi works her hours later in the season so that we can take advantage of her help around the time that John starts back at UMD.  This is a relief for us since she has worked with us before, and we know we can count on her late August. We had a lot to harvest last week and Jodi was up for the challenge!   

Then new member Nelia helped on Thursday.  She came out in June and helped us transplant our winter squash and pumpkin plants.  This time, she helped plant our last transplants: radicchio.  This is a new vegetable for us and it doesn’t like heat so we’re hoping for a fall harvest of them.  Nelia also helped us weed our fall planting of beans.  What a task.  There were some tall lamb’s quarter and volunteer tomato plants growing amongst the beans, and it was slow going.  But with three of us on it, it took about an hour.  Thank you members for your help!

First flower shares 

Heather-Marie has put a lot of time and love into growing some beautiful flowers.  She is growing 25 different perennial and annual varieties, along with 17 sunflowers varieties — more than she has ever grown.  She grew all the flowers for our wedding!

Last year, we grew mostly for ourselves, with extras being sold at the weekly farm stand.  We quickly realized that the flowers were abundant, and popular!  We started to sell flowers to CSA members in late September and went for 2-3 weeks.  We think we can provide more flowers this year, starting this week.  

With our sign-up form, people had the opportunity to sign up for Flower Shares.  Each week, we’ll make 3-5 bouquets and go down this list of interested people.  We’ll notify you by Monday evening, filling the orders by first come, first served.  Then we’ll fill more the next week.  Once everyone has ordered, and we have enough flowers, we may offer it up to the larger CSA group.  We’ll keep you posted.  

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.  As we make our way into fall, other items like pepper, and potato shares will be available.

We will also have Fall Share options available after the Summer CSA season is over and will soon be sending the signup for that. 

Finally, we’ll also have available items from fellow farmer friends like Farm Lande, selling honey; Polish Farmer, selling dry beans; and The Road’s End Ranch, selling beef and pork.  We will send more details as we get closer.  

Field report: What to expect for the rest of the season

As we transition into late summer, we can see the field and the plants start to wind down. Some of our beds are now empty, and we are in the process of planting cover crop to feed the soil and keep the weeds down as we think about the next season.

This week, we have given each of you one head of garlic. We have a lot of garlic and members will get some of them in their regular shares and also in fall shares – if you sign up for that. We will also be selling garlic and larger bulk quantities. The garlic crop looks fantastic.

Cucumbers continue to produce on a regular basis as do the summer squash. For whatever reason, we are having a very good year with our peppers, including some of our hot varieties like jalapeños and Hungarian hot wax.

Last year was a great year for tomatoes, but this year has been cool and wet and we have been relying largely on the tomatoes growing in our high tunnel. Our field tomatoes have not produced a great deal, but we are still picking some paste tomatoes and a few cherry tomatoes.

We are almost done harvesting our red fingerling potatoes, but it will not be long before Yukon Gold make an appearance – a favorite of many. We will also have russet potatoes later in the season and in our fall shares for storage.

Our onions this year are really doing well. We are near the end of harvesting sweet onions and bunching onions. Our scallions are gorgeous, and we still have quite a few of those to harvest. Later in the season we will be giving both red and yellow storage onions, and they are looking big and healthy.

As we move into fall, we will be giving garlic, and winter squash and pumpkins and other fall favorites. All of those crops are looking very good.

As things get colder, the flavor of the brassicas — cabbage, and kale, and collards improves. So, look for more of those to return to your shares.

Our first planting of green beans did not do well, but the second planting looks excellent. We anticipate green beans in shares in the next week or two.

We still have about 70 feet of carrots, and we are watching those and want to hold off giving them until they get a little bit bigger.

Finally, we have a few crops that are challenging to grow up here in Minnesota: two varieties of melons and eggplant. They are coming along, and we are hopeful for a couple of more warm weeks to get those crops ripe and ready for harvest.

Every season is different with some things doing well and other things not. That is why we plant such a huge variety. We hope you are enjoying all the flavors and experimenting with new dishes.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), sweet onion, garlic, cilantro

Fresh Salsa, Farm Style

This is so yummy, we could eat one batch in a sitting!  This recipe is from Karola Dalen, of Northern Harvest Farm.

• 1 small onion
• ½-1 green pepper (optional, but we always add it)
• ½-1+ hot pepper, seeds removed, or leave them for extra hotness
• basil and/or cilantro (amount depends on preference)
• 2-3 minced garlic cloves
• salt to taste
• splash of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 ¾ pounds tomatoes

Process all ingredients except tomatoes in a food processor or blender.  Add tomatoes.  Process again, and it’s ready to eat.  Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.  Does not freeze well.  Experiment with different quantities. 

Summer Peach and Tomato Salad

A friend told me about this salad that she recently made—sounds delicious!

• Equal parts peaches and tomatoes, chopped 
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Feta cheese
• Basil

Combine all ingredients.

Kale

Asian Kale Salad

Minimalist Baker

This salad was really simple and yummy!  The dressing is a little spicy.  We love roasted garbanzos!

VEGETABLES

• 1 large bundle finely chopped kale (~5 cups or 330 g)
• 1 cup (110 g) finely grated carrots (~ 2 large carrots)
• 2 cups (140 g) finely shredded red cabbage (~ 1/2 small cabbage)

DRESSING

• 1/4 cup (64 g) creamy cashew butter (or sub almond or peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp (75 g) chili garlic sauce
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) toasted or untoasted sesame oil
• 3 Tbsp (45 ml) maple syrup
• (optional) Healthy pinch sea salt or 1 Tbsp tamari

CHICKPEAS* optional

• 1 15-ounce (425 g) can chickpeas
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) canola or untoasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp (15 g) white or yellow miso paste (ensure vegan friendly)
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp chili garlic sauce 

1.  If preparing chickpeas, preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C). Rinse and drain chickpeas well. Then pat very dry – this will help them crisp up.

2.  To a medium mixing bowl add canola oil, miso paste, maple syrup, and chili garlic sauce and whisk to combine. Then add chickpeas and toss to coat. Arrange on a bare baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing/stirring once at the halfway point to ensure even baking. They’re done when crisp and deep golden brown (see photo). Set aside.

3.  To prepare salad, add all ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust flavors as needed, adding more maple syrup for sweetness, chili garlic sauce for heat, cashew butter for creaminess, or salt or tamari for saltiness. Set aside.

4.  Add kale, carrots and cabbage to a large mixing/serving bowl and toss to combine. Then add dressing and toss to coat.

5.  To serve, divide salad between serving plates and top with crunchy miso chickpeas (optional). Best when fresh, though leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Store leftover chickpeas in a well-sealed container at room temperature for 2 days.

Beets

Beth’s Grandmother’s Pickled Beets

(Beth Salerno, Good Earth Farm from “Asparagus to Zucchini”

• 2 pounds beets
• 1 medium white onion, sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ¼ c white vinegar
• 1 tsp whole allspice
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon

Boil or steam beets until tender.  Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain beets and let them cool enough to handle.  Peel, slice, and pack beets and onions into 3 pint jars.  Combine reserved liquid, sugar, vinegar, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in a pot.  Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.  Strain and pour over beets.  Cool, cover and refrigerate 24 hours.  Makes 3 pints.

Fennel

Sicilian Fennel and Orange Salad with Red Onion and Mint From Epicurious

Ingredients:

• 2 navel oranges or blood oranges
• 1 large fennel bulb, halved lengthwise, cored, very thinly sliced crosswise
• ½ cup very thinly sliced red onion
• 16 small fresh mint leaves, torn in half
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 20 oil-cured black olives

Directions:

Cut peel and pith from oranges. Cut between membranes to release segments.

Toss orange segments, fennel, onion, mint, and oil in a large bowl to coat. Season salad generously to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer salad to a platter. Garnish with olives and serve immediately. 

Zucchini/summer squash

Zucchini Brownies               

from Cooks.com

Member Joanne says, “One of my favorite zucchini recipes is zucchini brownies. If using a large zucchini, I scoop the seeds out before grating it.  For a short cut, I did frosting by putting chocolate chips on top while brownies were hot, and spreading them as they melt.”

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup oil
• ½ cup cocoa
• 1 tsp salt
• ½  tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups flour

Mix first 6 ingredients and beat for 2 minutes, add zucchini and flour alternately and beat 2 more minutes. Don’t under beat.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes in ungreased jelly roll pan OR 30 minutes in 9 x 13 cake pan.

FROSTING: 

• 6 Tb melted butter
• 3 Tb cocoa
• 4 Tb milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar

• Mix all together well and pour over hot brownies.