In this week’s share, members will find slicing and cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, green cabbage, braising mix, green/purple beans, beets, scallions, jalapeños, sweet peppers and snap peas. There will also be three herbs: dill, parsley, and shiso. 

Scroll to the bottom for some recipes for this week’s produce and information about some of this week’s vegetables.

News From the Farm

Kimchi Kamp

Sunday was our August Farm Event: Kimchi Kamp! Member Jean taught us about fermenting sauerkraut, curtido, and kimchi. It’s much easier than we realized! We love the photo above: Joanne and Heather-Marie are mesmerized by what Jean is showing them about the bubbles doing their bubble fermentation thing in a jar of curtido. Next year we think we want this offered at the *beginning* of the CSA season to help everyone deal with alllll the veggies! 

Duluth News Tribune visit

On Monday, a reporter and photographer from the Duluth News Tribune visited the farm. They took photos and asked questions about our journey. We also were able to give them a fun tour of the farm. An article about the farm is expected to be published in the next week or two.

September 11: End-of-season potluck

We will host our end of the season potluck on Saturday, September 11. We hope you will come with a dish made from your CSA delivery and spend the day. You are welcome to camp out that night as well. We’ll be in touch soon with more details on this event.

Alli’s Addendum: Reflecting on a summer at the farm

Note: We asked our intern Alli to write a few words as she nears the end of her internship at the farm.

I have really enjoyed my time at the farm this summer! Sadly, I start classes again in September and only have a couple times left at the farm. This said, I have learned an incredible amount about sustainable agriculture this summer. Last week I was lucky enough to help out on delivery day and harvest some of the veggies. Although it was a bit of a rush in the morning, I do think that it was one of my favorite days out here on the farm. Yesterday, like last week, I helped harvest some produce and set up for today’s delivery. Besides the “typical” to-do’s on the farm, I have enjoyed watching the farm change over the weeks and seeing all of the seedlings turn into the veggies that they are now. As always, I look forward to coming back next week!

Recipes and information on this week’s vegetables

This week’s recipes all have one thing in common: None of them involve any cooking. With the hot weather and the multitude of vegetables that taste great raw, we challenged ourselves to give you only recipes that could be done without turning on the oven. 

In fact, one night, we built a whole dinner with this goal in mind and were quite pleased with the results. 

Braising Mix information

In this week’s share is a bag of greens that looks like salad, but it’s not. It’s called a braising mix. It was inspired by a farm Heather-Marie worked at one winter in Florida. This mix is made up of sturdier greens, which, although can be eaten raw, work really well cooked. We like to saute them in oil and a little garlic and then finish with lemon juice, soy sauce or a vinegar if you like. You can also braise it in stock/water until tender. Try them with a bowl of rice and an egg on top. 

What to do with a lot of green beans

Members are getting more than 2 pounds of green beans this week. That’s quite a bit, but they needed to be harvested. If you’re not going to eat them right away, an easy way to store them is to simply blanch them: Drop them into boiling hot water and cook until bright green but still crunchy. Then plunge into ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Store in the freezer for later use.

Quick Pickles

This recipe is a favorite of John’s daughter, Brenna. It is adapted from one by acclaimed chef and restaurateur David Chang. We added dill to the recipe because it’s currently in season. Garlic, red pepper and other spices and seasonings could also be added as desired.

Ingredients

4 medium pickling cucumbers or 1 or 2 slicing cucumbers (about 13 ounces)

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 to 2 sprigs of dill

Instructions

Slice cucumbers into ¼ inch medallions using a sharp knife or mandoline slicer. Combine with remaining ingredients and let refrigerate for at least one hour. Pickles will keep for up to a month.

Shiso mojito

This refreshing drink makes good use of the shiso herb. A version of this was made and enjoyed at movie night at the farm this year. The drink could also easily be made without the rum. 

Ingredients

1 ounce shiso (or mint) leaves, torn in half

2 ounces fresh lime juice

1 ½ ounces white rum

1 teaspoon extra-fine granulated sugar

 Crushed ice

4 ounces club soda

Instructions

Place torn pieces of shiso in the bottom of a glass and add lime juice. Muddle this together by using the end of a large wooden spoon or pestle. Add remaining ingredients, then cover and shake to combine.

Curtido

Curtido is pickled cabbage traditionally served as a side dish in El Salvador. It is served along with salsa on top of pupusas, thick tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans, vegetables or meat.  

CSA Member Jean Sramek taught a fermentation class for our August Farm Event.  Here are her steps for fermenting, including making curtido.  The ingredient list is based on a fermenting cookbook that the farm has. 

For the curtido

1 head cabbage, cut into chunks or ribbons

2 carrots, peeled and grated

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 Tb dried oregano

2 jalapenos, thinly sliced (optional)

1 tsp cayenne (optional)

For the brine 

1 quart water

2-4 Tb sea salt

Put all veggies (NOT the oregano) in a large bowl and cover with the brine.  Let sit for at least 6 hours or overnight.  Drain off most of the brine but save some.  Add the oregano to the veggies and pack into jars and hold the veggies down with a small jar or weight. Top with leftover brine so that all veggies are covered.  Curtido can be done, depending on the temperature of your room, in 24 hours up to a few days.  Taste each day and wait for the flavor to change from salty to sour.  Once you achieve the flavor you want, transfer the container to the refrigerator.   

Tomato, Fresh Fig and Blue Cheese Salad

From New York Times writer Melissa Clark

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 large or 2 small ripe tomatoes, about 8 ounces, thinly sliced

½ pound fresh figs, cut into quarters

1 ounce crumbled blue cheese, like Forume d’Ambert, more to taste

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Black Pepper

Preparation:

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar and salt. Whisk in oil. In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast pine nuts, shaking the pan occasionally, until light golden, about 2 minutes. Spread tomato slices on a large plate. Scatter fig quarters and pine nuts over tomatoes. Sprinkle with cheese and thyme, drizzle with dressing and finish with pepper.