CSA week 9: Packing up and moving on

Until this week, the tinyhouse sat on the edge of a gentle rolling slope, looking south toward the Prairie River, which flows out of Prairie Lake and twists, turns and twists again toward Big Sandy Lake and eventually the Mississippi River.

From the couch in the tiny house, Heather-Marie and I have shared a year together, enjoying meals in the fall, winter, spring and now summer, and watching the wonders of northern Minnesota. We’ve seen all manner of wildlife. We watched a coyote couple walk across the tall grass with one of them carrying a pup in their mouth. We’ve watched northern harriers glide across the sloping hayfield as they look for critters to feast on below. We’ve enjoyed snowstorms in the winter and thunderstorms in the summer. We’ve watched the sun slowly give way to evening late on summer nights while loons serenade on the nearby lake.

So, it’s with no small amount of sadness that I write this newsletter from our couch with no view in front of me because the window is boarded shut to prevent rocks from damaging it when the tinyhouse is towed away this week to a friend’s house where it will sit in storage until we find a place of our own and, finally, the permanent home of this wonderfully designed structure built by Heather-Marie and her father, Tom.

Today, Heather-Marie’s parents, Tom and Carol-Ann, were joined by her sister Nicole, as they helped us pack up the tinyhouse and get things ready for the move. Our anxiety and stress were tempered by easy laughing and lots of hands getting the work done. By the time they left, the house was close to being ready for transportation. We are now left waiting to see if the weather will cooperate on our scheduled moving day.

Of course, there is no break from the farming. On Friday, we held our weekly farm stand and on Tuesday, we’ll bring vegetables into town for our second-to-last delivery of the year. It will be my last delivery of the year as I leave on Sunday, September 1, for Vietnam and orientation for the Fulbright program.

The next week will be a mad scramble to get as much taken care of as possible, including harvesting the garlic that we put in the ground last fall.

When people are told of our upcoming adventure, their faces light up with excitement for us. And we smile and nod. But it is bittersweet. We know that we are fortunate to have an opportunity like this and that, for me, being named a Fulbright Scholar is a great honor.

At the same time, we are sad to leave. Through farming, we have become partners, coworkers and friends. Together, we have built something that feels pretty remarkable. We can also see the potential of our farm to evolve and build stronger connections in this region. We are eager to pursue this, which makes it feel like an interruption to pack up everything and move to the other side of the world for a year.

When you are already living an adventure, the thought of going on another adventure is perplexing. Emotional. Sad.

The growing season has been a great one for us, and we have delighted each week sitting on the porch and watching the faces of our members as they look across the selection of vegetables we have harvested for them. The end of the season looks as though it will continue to be productive.

We have two regular season CSA deliveries to go. We have additional potato and tomato shares to deliver to members. We have garlic to deliver to all members sometime in September. Heather-Marie will continue to run the farm stand as long as it seems viable. And, in early October, she will do one last CSA Fall Share to those who signed up for that.

A lot more work to be done, though after next week, Heather-Marie will have to do much of that work on her own.

What’s in this week’s share

This week, members will find the following in their shares: slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, Swiss chard, summer squash/zucchini, green cabbage, red fingerling potatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, Hungarian hot wax peppers and scallions.

For this week’s recipes, we asked CSA members who came to this week’s potluck to share the recipes for the dishes that they made.

Cooking when you don’t have an oven

Submitted by Heather-Marie and John

For Heather-Marie and I, this week’s recipes is the answer to the question of what you can make when your propane has been disconnected, your spices have all been taken away and all you are left with is a charcoal grill, a cast iron Dutch oven and a basket of leftover vegetables from the farm stand.

Of course, the quick answer is that you rough cut the veggies, throw them on the grill to give a quick char before chopping them up and putting them into the Dutch oven to slow cook for a bit with basil and parsley picked from the field.

Green Bean Salad with Basil, Balsamic, and Parmesan Recipe

Submitted by Jenni Stafford

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes
• Yield: Serves 6

To save time, while the water is coming to a boil, prep the other ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds trimmed green beans, cut to 2 to 3 inch long pieces
• Salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion (or shallots, I used white onion since we got that in the share)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
• Freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1 Soak chopped onions in water: Place the chopped onions in a small bowl of water. This will help take the edge off the onions. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the salad.

2 Blanch the green beans: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (2 Tbsp salt for 2 quarts of water). Add the green beans to the water and blanch only for about 2 minutes or so, until the beans are just barely cooked through, but still crisp.

Fresh young beans should cook quickly. Older, tougher beans may take longer.

3 Shock in ice water: While the beans are cooking, prepare a large bowl of ice water. When the beans are ready, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the boiling water to the ice water to stop the cooking.

Drain the green beans and the red onions.

4 Toss with red onion, balsamic, Parmesan:Place the green beans, red onion, and chopped basil in a large bowl. Sprinkle in the olive oil, toss to coat. Sprinkle in the balsamic and Parmesan cheese. Toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.Chill until ready to serve.

Chocolate zucchini cupcakes

Submitted by Jodi Carlson

Jodi used this recipe from King Arthur Flour but substituted gluten free flour.

Cold Rice and Veggie Salad

Submitted by Carol-Ann Bloom

This is a very forgiving recipe; experiment with ingredients:
2 c. raw rice, cooked and cooled

1 c. raw wild rice, cooked and cooled

1/2 c. minced sweet onion

salt and pepper to taste

minced parsley to taste

1 1/2 c. fresh raw veggies chopped – zucchini, carrots, peppers

Optional toppings: cherry tomatoes, sliced almonds, seeds of choice
Dressing: 1/4 c. each: apple vinegar, olive oil, juice of 1/2 lime or lemon, 1/4 c. sugarMix liquids together, heat briefly til warm, then add sugar to blend.(May wish to use up to 1/2 c. of each ingredients)
Fluff rice together, add veggies and blended dressing. Stir well. Cover. Ideally, make day ahead to marinate (covered and refrigerate).Before serving, add tomatoes/almonds/seeds

Grilled Veggies

Submitted by Catherine Winter and Chris Julin

We grilled pieces of potato and young green beans. We tossed them in a Dijon vinaigrette with some halved yellow and red cherry tomatoes and some minced basil, parsley, and chives. Chris says the vinaigrette was about 6 Tbs. olive oil, 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, two cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of honey, and salt and pepper to taste.

Zucchini chocolate chip cake

Submitted by Joy Turnbull-Dunham

Joy made this zucchini bread recipe.

She notes:

I added: 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, 3/4 cup walnuts

Instead of loaf pan, we baked in skillet (or 9 inch square pan), so it felt more like a cake. Baked at 350 for 30 min
Another recipe we made this week, though not for potluck: https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/06/pesto-potato-salad-with-green-beans/

Garlic scape and carrot green pesto

Submitted by Krista Twu

My Potluck Contributions:  For someone who likes to cook, I’m pathetic at potlucks.
1. Crackers – Buy from store.  Fail to keep kids from snacking on them before the potluck. Bring what’s left of the package anyway.
2. Cheese – For sure, bring it in the plastic wrapper with no means of removing it.  Also, hope someone will have a knife.  Make puerile fart joke about cutting the cheese.
3. Cheese spread: cream cheese mixed with garlic scape butter & carrot green pesto in about equal measure.
Garlic scape butter: grind up the following in a blender/food processor.  I have a ridiculously over-powered Vitamix.  It purees everything into a very very fine paste.  ymmv.

1. As many garlic scapes as you have: I think I used 3-4 bunches (cut into 1-inch pieces).  It’s okay if they’ve been frozen and thawed.

2. a stick of butter

3. some salt & pepper

4. enough olive oil that it’ll spin around in the blender. probably more than you think you need.

5. still getting jammed up? add some white wine vinegar.  also more oil.* it’s really good on lamb. and chicken. and fish. and grilled veg.  I suppose you could freeze it, but we use it up really fast.
Carrot top pesto: grind up the following in a blender/food processor.

1. a bunch of carrot tops, blanched: put them in a bowl with salt; pour a kettleful of boiling water over them. remove and rinse under cold water. (nb, the salt fixes the color, so they stay bright green)

2. some other herbs.  I used scallions, and lemon balm from my garden.  I did a different batch with dill from Catherine’s garden.

3. a couple or three cloves of garlic, depending on how much you like garlic.

4. some white wine vinegar or lemon juice

5. olive oil. really, quite a bit.  if it’s not processing smoothly, add more.

6. salt & pepper, if it needs more* It’s good on meat, fish, pasta, toasted bread/crostini.  pretty as a bright garnish for tomato soup (because it will stay emerald green).  mix it with mayo for a sandwich spread; with sour cream or yoghurt for a dip, with buttermilk & shallots for an excellent, zingy ranch dressing.  You could freeze it. Or I guess you could live with teenagers who eat all the things. all the time.  omg we’re out of milk again.