CSA Week 7: Tallying up the wins and losses

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables:  Cucumbers, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, beets, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, Hungarian hot wax pepper, baby carrots, basil and salad mix.

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

“You win some, you lose some”

That has felt like a motto around here as we continue to see the effects of this spring’s cold, wet weather.  I keep detailed notes and a calendar to help map out the seeding and planting of everything on the farm.  Those dates have been mostly set since I started farming in 2011.  So, we can eliminate start date as to why some things failed this year.  There can be a few other culprits: amount of rain (and intensity) and critters.  

The last couple of weeks we’ve had to make some hard decisions about some plants.  There were beds that had had seeds in them since late May/early June that were floundering.  They took forever to germinate, weeds came up but what was seeded was delayed, and then the whole bed got overtaken by weeds.  

I went through a very thickly weeded bed of carrots, got 5 feet and said, “Enough, this is a waste of my time!”  

There was one carrot in one row every foot.  

The same went for our first planting of beans.  One bean every 10 feet and packed with weeds.  So, we made the hard decision for John to use the walk-behind tractor to flail them down.  

It felt like defeat.  

The silver lining was that we had multiple succession plantings of carrots, so we felt covered there, but the beans – that was our first and only summer planting.  We seeded a fall planting and those beans look great.  So we know that for beans, it wasn’t the seed, or operational error (thankfully, not MY fault!).  

It was the conditions.  

In short, we know that despite careful planning and notetaking, conditions vary drastically from year to year, and we’re slowly getting better and rolling with the effects and aftermath.  

But what are some of the “wins”?  I put a lot of thought into starting new varieties of flowers and growing even more than years past.  We made four beds with wider walkways and they are right as you walk into the fenced field.  Things are really taking off with some watering and heat.  I sold my first small bouquets at the farm stand on Friday.  In a month, I’ll start selling Flower Shares.

The outside tomato plants, summer squash, potatoes and peppers are taking off as well.  We harvested the first of each, and they’ll be ready in the next week.  John has worked tirelessly on cultivating everywhere to stay on top of the weeds.  He’s also figured out how to use the walk-behind to hill the potatoes which will help them root further down, spread out, and, hopefully, produce more taters!  And knock on wood, no potato beetles, yet!

And so that got us thinking about taking stock as we are about a third of the way through the season.  What are we doing well?  What could we improve on?  Do you, our customers have any thoughts to share?  Please let us know.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Carrots

Tips for carrots, and other roots

In the earlier part of the growing season, you will find your root vegetables still attached to their greens.  That is because the greens are still tender enough to eat.  Later in the season the greens become tougher and roots like storage carrots, will have their tops removed.  

So a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Remove the greens promptly.  If left on for too long, roots will become soft.  
• Store the roots and greens separately. They will both keep longer. 
• Cook up the greens like you would any other greens. 

Grilled Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto

“Farmstand Fresh” publication from Fine Cooking

For the pesto

Carrot tops from a 1-pound bunch carrots

• 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ tsp kosher salt; more as needed
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• ½ cup olive oil

For the grilled carrots

• 1 large bunch thin carrots (about 1 pound), peeled or just scrubbed if the skins are delicate (if the carrots are thick, split them lengthwise)
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pesto: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Trim the thick stems and any wilted greens from the carrot tops, and plunge the trimmed greens into the water.  Blanch for about 1 minute, then scoop them out and spin dry in a salad spinner (keep your water hot, as you’ll use it again).  Chop coarsely and measure out about 2 cups.  Put the blanched greens in a food processor along with the basil, garlic, salt, and pine nuts.  Pulse until you have a coarse purée, then with the motor running, pour in the olive oil and process until smooth.  Taste (be careful of the processor blade!) and add more salt if you like.  Set aside.

Grill the carrots: Bring the carrot top water to a boil again and blanch the carrots just until tender, 5 to 6 minutes.  Drain well, and when cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise.  Toss with the olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper.  Heat a grill to medium-high heat (you may also use a cast-iron grill pan) and place the carrots cut side down on the grill.  Let cook until charred marks form on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Arrange the carrots on a serving platter and serve with a bowl of the pesto on the side. 

Salad Mix

What to do with Salad Mix

The salad mix we grow is actually made up of five different greens that we mix together and seed into the ground.  They are a combination of kales, Asian and mustard greens that can be eaten raw but are also sturdy enough to hold up to cooking. 

• Use it in place of lettuce or lettuce mix to make a zesty salad
• Can be sauted or added at the last minute to eggs.
• Can be wilted by tossing with a hot, cooked grain like quinoa with a dressing added. 

Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower and Green Salad  

Website “The Full Helping”

Heather-Marie made this for a hearty farm lunch today.  Really great flavors.  She used quinoa instead of lentils. 

For the salad:

• 3/4 cup dry lentils
• 1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets (about 1 3/4 lbs after prepping)
• 1 large red onion, sliced into wedges
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil (substitute grapeseed, safflower, or another neutral cooking oil)
• 2 tablespoons za’atar spice mix 
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 4 heaping cups arugula, or salad mix

For the harissa tahini dressing:

• 1/3 cup tahini 
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 large clove garlic crushed or very finely minced, or chopped garlic scapes
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice about 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon harissa paste, add more if you prefer more heat (if you cannot find harissa paste, harissa powder mix will work, adding the powder to the dressing)

Preheat the oven to 400F. If you’re cooking lentils from scratch, mix the dry lentils in a saucepan with enough water to cover them by two inches. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are still tender but retain their shape and firmness. You can start testing them at 20 minutes for doneness. Drain the lentils and set them aside.

While the lentils cook, toss the cauliflower florets and sliced onion with the oil, za’atar, lemon, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Spread the veggies onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Roast the vegetables for 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and lightly browning, and the onions are getting crispy. Check on the veggies and stir them on the sheet halfway through roasting. Allow the roasted vegetables to come to room temperature.

While the veggies roast, whisk together the tahini, water, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and harissa to make the dressing. If it’s too thick, add a few extra tablespoons of water.

When the vegetables are cool, toss them together with the lentils and arugula. Serve with the dressing immediately. Alternately, you can store the roasted veggies and lentils, arugula, and dressing separately and mix when ready to eat.

Beets

These are our first weeks for beets. Here’s a few things that you can do with beets:

• Early in the season we keep the tops on and can be eaten as well. If you’re not going to use them right away, then detach them from the bulb otherwise the beets will turn soft. 
• Raw beets can be shredded and be put into salads
• Peel and roast them

What’s cooking at the farm:  cukes, peas, cauliflower, salad mix and beets

Cukes, peas and Buffalo cauliflower (John’s Dinner)

John made a simple Buffalo cauliflower by deep frying the cauliflower in oil and then tossing the florets with “Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce.”  You could also roast the cauliflower and toss with the Buffalo sauce. 

Cukes and peas

John sliced the cukes into medallions and “sweated” them by salting them and setting them in a strainer to let their juices out.  They can sit for at an hour even overnight.

He then tossed the cucumbers with snap peas and an “enhanced mayonnaise” that consisted of mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic scapes and pepper to taste.  

Beet salad (Heather-Marie’s lunch)

I made a very simple beet salad for lunch.  I peeled and shredded a couple of raw beets.  I snipped one garlic scape into tiny pieces.  Then I added a splash of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Taste to make adjustments.  

Swiss Chard

What to do with Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is closely related to beets.  Like beets, there are two edible parts; the leafy greens and the stems or ribs.  Swiss chard can be a replacement for any green in a recipe, whether it’s kale or spinach.  Both the stems and leaves are delicious, along with being so pretty!  Swiss chard can be eaten raw, along with sauteed, steamed and braised.  The stems take a little longer to cook.  Chard can also be blanched and freezes well.  

Swiss Chard Omelet with Middle Eastern Savor

“From Asparagus to Zucchini”

These omelets are amazing!  Since they are “savory”, they are great for dinner, too.

For each omelet:

• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 1 T finely chopped kalamata olives
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 T toasted pine nuts
• ½ c chopped, cooked chard leaves and/or stems
• Splash of lemon juice warm or at room temperature
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 T currants
• herb sprig (rosemary, thyme, sage, etc)
• Crumbled feta cheese, optional

Heat olive oil in a small nonstick skillet over high flame.  Add beaten eggs- they will immediately begin to set on the bottom of the pan.  With a spatula or nonstick egg lifter, pull the cooked egg from the outer edges of the pan toward the center.  The uncooked egg will spread and cook.  Use a spatula to help spread the liquid egg off top of cooked egg and onto exposed sections of pan bottom.  Continue to do this until nearly all the liquid egg is set.  Reduce heat to very low.  The egg will continue to cook as you layer the following across the omelet: chard, currants, olives, and pine nuts.  Sprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  To serve, hold a plate close to the edge of the skillet and, shaking the skillet slightly, slip the omelet onto the plate, either rolling it into a cigar shape or folding it over into a half-moon.  Serve immediately.  (Or, since this entire process takes only 2-3 minutes, you can keep the omelet warm in the oven while you make more of them.)  Garnish with an herb sprig and optional feta.   Makes 1 serving.