CSA Week 12 newsletter: Flowers and high tunnels and lots of produce

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables: 

Slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes for some, scallions, fennel, garlic, purple carrots, summer squash, dill, broccoli, kale and cabbage.

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

A flower workshop

This weekend another dream came true for me: my friend Kristina (and CSA member) and I, held a floral arranging workshop.  My mother has always grown beautiful flowers, but I wasn’t really drawn to flowers until I started growing them myself around 2014.  I grew mostly sunflowers, gomphrena and amaranth.  I would make arrangements and sell them at the farm stand and farmers markets. 

But it wasn’t until we moved to our farm in 2020 that I started to think about expanding flowers to include native and perennial flowers but also more varieties of annuals.  I started adding flower bouquets to the list of additional items that CSA members could buy.  Then last fall I made dried flower wreaths. 

It was about that time that I threw out the idea to Kristina: Now that we have a building, how about providing a flower-arranging workshop?  All plans start out big and we thought a full day with farm-to-table lunch would be a lot of fun.  In the end, we decided on a half day and it was perfect. 

There were seven of us total (including my Mom and sister, Nicole), and we had such a fun morning.  We picked most of the flowers the night before, oohing and ahhing over the colors and varieties.  Like everything this year with the drought, some of the flowers have been a little late to the summer party. 

This past week things have changed and so many new things are popping up.  Saturday morning after everyone arrived, we gave everyone the opportunity to pick their own sunflowers and talked about foraging for wild flowers and foliage.  Kristina gave a demonstration on various tips and tricks and foundations to arranging.  And then everyone got to choose a vase and create their own bouquet.  It was a lot of fun to watch people create such different arrangements with the same flowers.  

We all learned a lot and are excited about future workshops.  If we can figure out how to heat the barn, maybe some wreath-making??  Stay tuned.      

Big news

We have been on a waiting list with the USDA for three years to get a new high tunnel (another word for a greenhouse).  The grant awards a farmer funds to buy a high tunnel.  We didn’t get it again this year. 

We debated staying on the waitlist and taking our chances again next year, but the problem with that is that if you wait, it’s not for yet another year that you can use that high tunnel.  So, we decided to take the plunge and buy a new tunnel. 

Our current tunnel is 25 feet by 35.  The new one will be 30 feet by 100.  Many CSA farms in our area have multiples of these tunnels at this size.  We’re just excited to have one.  This will be a big step for us. 

It became clear to us this year with all of our struggles early in the season that a tunnel would be a huge asset.  It’s a somewhat controlled environment and with the added warmth and irrigation, we could add things to the “shoulder seasons” — we could have earlier lettuce, snap peas, herbs in the spring and, in the fall, kale and greens. 

We could replace most of our field tomatoes to grow them inside the tunnel — the same thing with peppers, especially hot peppers.  But this will also afford us the opportunity to try new things like ginger and heat-loving flowers.  There are so many possibilities.  This is a pretty big step for us now but also as we think about how the farm grows as we get older.  Having infrastructure set up now will help us as we evolve.     

Images from the week

This week’s veggies and recipes

Fennel

This was a new item for the farm two years ago and we love adding new things.  Most often when buying fennel in a grocery store, it comes with the stalks and fronds trimmed off.   We are harvesting them with it all attached as you can eat it all.  The bulbs can be eaten raw or cooked, although the bulb can be tough so should be cut thinly.  Trim the stalks and fronds off when ready to cook and use the fronds as you would any herb.  Fennel has a light licorice flavor.  Fennel goes well with seafood and also is paired with citrus in dishes, too.

Brenna’s Excellent Fennel Salad

When John’s daughter, Brenna, was here visiting us, she made this excellent salad.  Neither John, nor Heather-Marie, have cooked much with fennel so this was a treat.   

Fennel bulb, and stalks (bulb sections washed)

• Apples
• Celery
• Lots of herbs
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

1. Cut fennel in thin slices

2. Cut apples and/or celery pretty thin

3. Chop up some fennel greens and some herbs (whatever is around mint oregano thyme whatever) and toss that in a bowl with chopped stuff 

4. Mix it up with some oil, kosher salt, lots of lemon juice, and toss it around with some pepper

5. Finish with flaky salt 

Sauerkraut

John has really taken to making fermented things since he started farming: pickles, kimchi and sauerkraut. This recipe will hopefully inspire you to try it as well because it’s incredibly simple and in the middle of winter eating this will make you happy.

Adapted from “Fermenting Food Step by Step,” by Adam Elabd

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cabbage (green or red)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 2-quart jar

Instructions

1. Cut cabbage in half, remove the core and slice into fine ribbons (or throw it into a food processor with the slicing blade on).

2. In a medium bowl combine cabbage and salt and mix well.

3. With your hands, massage and squeeze the cabbage to release all the liquid.

4. Put this mixture into a 2-quart jar and press all the solids down below the water.

5. Take a piece of parchment paper and cut it into a round shape equal to the side of the jar and use it to push down the solids. If you have some kind of weight or a smaller jar, use that to push down the cabbage.

6. Store the jar on a plate out of direct sunlight and allow to ferment for at least five days. Keep tasting until it goes from salty to sour. Then refrigerate.

Coconut fish and tomato bake

This recipe was from the New York Times cooking section and we had to give it a try. If you haven’t already eaten your cherry tomatoes, give it a go. Don’t worry Duluth, you’re up next week!

• ¾cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1(1-inch) piece fresh ginger, scrubbed and finely grated
• 1garlic clove, finely grated
• ½teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1tablespoon honey
• Kosher salt
• 2limes
• ½cup chopped cilantro
• 4(6-ounce) fish fillets, such as snapper, haddock, striped bass, fluke, sablefish or salmon, skin on or off
• 2pints cherry or grape tomatoes
• 3tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Begin by taking a spacious bowl. In it, combine the coconut milk, ginger, garlic, turmeric, red-pepper flakes, honey, and a teaspoon of salt. Whisk these ingredients together thoroughly.

Step 2:

Now, for the next step, take a lime and zest it, then juice it directly into the mixture of coconut milk. Add in a quarter-cup of chopped cilantro. Introduce the fish fillets and gently turn them to ensure they’re well-coated with the marinade. Allow this mixture to marinate in the refrigerator for a period ranging from 15 to 30 minutes.

Step 3:

In the meantime, prepare your oven by adjusting one of the racks to the lower-middle position, and set up another rack as close as possible to the broiler’s heat source. Preheat the oven to a temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 4:

Take a large sheet pan and arrange the tomatoes on it. Drizzle them with two tablespoons of olive oil, season them with salt, and give them a good toss to ensure they’re evenly coated. Afterward, place the marinated fish between the tomatoes and spoon all the remaining marinade from the bowl over the fish. Finish by drizzling one more tablespoon of oil over the fish. Now, move the pan to the lower-middle rack in the preheated oven. Roast until the surface of the fish becomes opaque, but the center remains slightly undercooked. This should take about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish fillets. You’ll know it’s done when the fish flakes easily when prodded with a fork. Once done, remove the pan from the oven and preheat the broiler to its highest setting.

Step 5:

Shift the pan to the broiler and continue cooking, making sure to rotate the pan occasionally. Keep an eye on it until the fish becomes tender and the tomatoes start to develop a gentle browning in spots. This final cooking step should take about 5 to 6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Step 6:

As a finishing touch, slice the remaining lime into wedges. Then, divide the roasted tomatoes and fish among serving dishes. Pour the flavorful pan juices over the fish. To add a burst of fresh citrus flavor, garnish with the remaining quarter-cup of cilantro and serve alongside the lime wedges, which can be squeezed over the dish to taste. Enjoy your meal!