CSA week 4: Collards (a love story), new potatoes and “girl power!”

It has been a busy week on the farm with a visit from an all-girls summer program and the celebration of a vegetable that brought John and Heather-Marie together as a couple. For CSA members, we will harvest the first potatoes of the year and share a new herb with members: Thai basil.

Girl power! Hartley Nature Center group visits farm

We had a group of young women out to the farm today as part of Hartley Nature Center’s Girls in the Outdoors program. This is the fifth year Heather-Marie has hosted these ladies. She always looks forward to it. It is so encouraging to be around young women with so many aspirations.

We hope in our time together we inspired them to try new foods (kale, kohlrabi!), the joy of working hard (post pounding, planting), plus learning about farming and tinyhouse living. And maybe we inspired one of these ladies to be a farmer. Dirt-covered fingers crossed.

Collards: A love story

This week, among the vegetables you will receive in your share is collard greens. This versatile vegetable is often associated with Southern cooking, but it can be used in many ways. Collards also have become a sentimental favorite for Heather-Marie and John. You can read the story of how their relationship began in this post (which includes a recipe): Collards: A love story.

Harnessing the power of rainwater

Out at the farm, we are keenly aware of just how precious a resource water is — and also how heavy it is when you have to move it from place to place! In our greenhouse, in the high tunnel (where we grow heat-loving plants) and even in the tiny house where we live, if we want water, we have to get it either from the well on the farm or from capturing rainwater. 

That’s what made this week so exciting. 

Heather-Marie had long dreamed of capturing the rainwater that cascades off the side of the massive high tunnel on the property. After her father, Tom, and John installed gutters and rain barrels a few weeks ago, this week we finished the installation of the drip irrigation system.

The project exceeded expectations. 

It took just half of one rain barrel to water the 52 pepper and 96 tomato plants growing in the high tunnel. When watering by hand, we easily would use an entire rain barrel of water to complete the same task — and expend a great deal of time and effort in the process. 

Consider that it takes about one-quarter of an inch of rain to fill one rain barrel.

What’s in your share this week

This week’s CSA share includes collard greens, broccoli, kale, new potatoes, Thai basil, lettuce, parsley and the first few snap peas of the season. We will also be delivering the last of the Napa cabbage. There are not enough for each member, so these will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

The wet, warm spring continues to produce strong results for us in the field and in our high tunnel. We are optimistic that we will soon be delivering some of the vegetables most popular with members. Our tomato plants are growing beautifully as are all of the summer and winter squashes and peppers to name but a few.

Recipes

Here is a rundown of the vegetables and ways to prepare them.

New potatoes

We are excited to tell you that this week’s share will include the first deliveries of potatoes from the field. We will be harvesting a small amount of new russet potatoes this week (Thanks again to Sam Laderman and her parents, Scott and Jill, for helping us plant these.) New potatoes are small and tender and because of that, we will not wash them. We recommend a gentle rinse in a colander before preparing.

What better way to celebrate the first potatoes of summer than with a dish that lets the potatoes be the star of the show.

Baby Potatoes with Lemon Chives

Source: “Tastes from Valley to Bluff Cookbook”

1 pound baby potatoes

1 ounce butter

1 tsp chives, coarsely chopped (or better yet, use this week’s parsley)

½ tsp grated lemon rind

Wash and steam the potatoes for 12 to 15 minutes until tender (if preferred, they can be cut in half before cooking).

In a separate pan heat the butter, and add the chopped chives and lemon rind.  Toss to release the flavors, then pour over the potatoes and serve.

Thai basil

Another exciting item in the delivery this week is Thai basil. Similar to Genovese basil, this variety has an amazing aroma that many say reminds them of licorice. As the name would suggest, it is a very popular in Thai dishes pairing with ingredients like lime juice, lemongrass and coconut milk.

Rather than share an elaborate recipe, we thought it might be fun to share a drink recipe from the New York Times (Thai basil bliss) that, sadly, we haven’t tried.

• 5 Thai basil leaves
• 4 inch-wide cubes pineapple
• 1 tablespoon simple syrup
• 2 ounces blanco tequila
• 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
•  Soda or seltzer

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, crush 4 basil leaves and the pineapple to a pulp with a muddler or wooden spoon. Fill shaker about halfway with ice and add simple syrup, tequila and lime juice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with a splash of soda and float last basil leaf on surface. 

Kale

We’ve been eating kale for weeks now almost every day. We don’t get tired of it. There are many exotic ways to prepare it (like this coconut-marinated, grilled kale we are eager to try), but we also want to suggest a way to keep it simple by putting it in your smoothie.

Breakfast of Champions Kale Smoothie

Farmer Heather-Marie

I make this smoothie every morning! Definitely more filling than cereal or toast.  

Ingredients

1-2 cups kale, stems removed

1-2 cups fresh or frozen berries 

1 T each flax, chia, and/or hemp hearts

Protein poweder

Ginger root, one knuckle (no need to deskin or chop!)

Milk (rice, coconut, cow) or water

Optional:  Dates, presoaked, pits removed

  Spices: cinnamon, cayenne

  Turmeric root, one knuckle

  Nut butter (sunflower, peanut, etc)

Blend all ingredients and enjoy! 

Collards

These gorgeous greens can do so much. They are sometimes referred to as “cooked greens” in recipes.  They are interchangeable with arugula, kale, mustard greens, Swiss chard, spinach and beet/turnip/radish tops.  So if you find a recipe for one of these, it’s nice to know you can replace it with something else on hand. 

Spanish Greens    

“From Asparagus to Zucchini”

2 Tb olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic, flattened or smashed with the flat of a knife

1/4 cup golden raisins

3 Tb toasted pine nuts

1 pound spinach, chard, collards or other greens, stemmed and well washed

Heat oil over high flame in a very large skillet.  Add garlic cloves and stir-fry until golden, about 30 seconds.  Discard garlic. Toss in greens. Season with salt and pepper. Cover; wilt greens 2-3 minutes.  Add raisins and pine nuts. Check for seasoning and serve. Makes 2-4 servings.

Parsley

Often relegated to being a garnish at America’s chain restaurants, parsley is a magical herb that adds a tangy kick to recipes. We add it to everything. Our favorite way to use it is in a South American sauce called chimichurri, which is often served with grilled meats but that we use on eggs and with roasted vegetables. Here is a recipe for chile chimichurri we use from one of John’s daughters’ favorite cooks, Mark Bittman.

Broccoli

We almost forgot it! Scary thought. It’s too pretty to forget.

Here is our recipe.

1. Cut it up. Don’t forget to peel the stems and slice them up and add them as well!
2. Roast it in oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Put a fried egg on top.
4. Eat it.