Showing posts with label Garlic Planting Season. Show all posts

Garlic Planting Season!

Greetings, all you local farm supporters, CSA members and Echollective blog followers out there!

Fall CSA continues, and although we've seen the coldest days of autumn yet, it looks like we'll be getting a little "hiccup" of warmth here soon!  We are also expecting our first autumn storm to arrive this week, a precursor to that classic wetness that always happens in the fall, long before the temps are low enough for them to turn into flurries or blizzards.

IMPORTANT NEWS/CHANGES!  Yes Fall CSA of course is still happening (we have four weeks or so left) but pickups will be changing.  Please take note!  Iowa City Farmer's Market and NewBo Markets officially ended last weekend, this Wednesday being the last official IC market.  So Wednesday pickup folks, your pickup won't change this week but next week, your pickup will be changing to a new one at a new location!  Saturday folks, you will be picking up this Sat. NOT at the ICFM (nobody will be there, just a bunch of people's parked cars), but at the new pickup.

New pickup: where is it?  Our new market location will be at 1003 Ginter Ave., Iowa City; a.k.a. Farmer Derek's house!  Saturdays from 10 am 'til 12:00 PM, starting this weekend. 

*Please get a hold of us if for some reason the Ginter pickup on Saturday won't work for you!

And hey, if you're not a CSA member, feel free to come over and visit us for chat and some veggies anyway!  Hope to see you there!


What you CSA'ers will find this week:

  • Braising Mix
  • Garlic
  • Leeks
  • Onions
  • Kale bunch
  • Potatoes
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Fall Greens Mix
  • Apples
  • Daikon Radishes
  • Winter Squash (Delicatas and Butternuts)

By the way, this could be one of our last weeks for sweet peppers (yep, we still have them!) so folks, we're serious: grab as many sweet peppers as you can handle!  At this point we are keeping them around for storage and their days are numbered.

Also, another great announcement: the season for Garlic planting is here!  And we could really use the help.  Want to learn all the ins and outs of planting garlic?  Well, you can learn from us for free by coming out and helping us this Sunday!  Contact us if interested, we could use all the help we can get!

With that said....hope to see you at Ginter this weekend, and perhaps even out at the farm for garlic planting!!!



Recipes

Sweet Baked Delicata Squash (www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp butter, or as needed
  • 2 large delicata squash - halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/4" slices
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously butter a baking dish.
  2. Spread squash slices into prepared baking dish.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
  4. Stir brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, ginger, and salt together in a bowl; drizzle over the squash.
  5. Continue baking squash in oven until completely tender, 15 to 20 minutes more.


 Goat Cheese with Bell Pepper Dressing (whatscookingamerica.net)

Ingredients:
 
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup diced orange bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced yellow bell pepper
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/4 teaspoon coarsely-ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Coarse salt to taste
8 ounces chilled goat cheese (such as Montrachet), cut into 8 slices
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts*
Baguette bread slices, toasted

* To toast pine nuts, preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the nuts in a shallow pan and roast, stirring often for 2 minutes. Do not overcook,for pine nuts burn easily.

Preparation:

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add diced bell peppers and sauté 5 minutes or until tender; reduce heat to medium-low. Add garlic, rosemary, coriander, fennel, pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Simmer mixture 5 minutes, to blend flavors. Remove from heat.
Season to taste with coarse salt. Let cool to room temperature.
Arrange goat cheese on platter; spoon prepared dressing over the top of them. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve with baguette slices.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.



Roasted Daikon Radish and Kale Spring Rolls with Tahini-Honey Dipping Sauce (www.yummly.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 radish (large Daikon)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 handful kale (I prefer curly kale)
  • 4 ozs noodles (brown rice)
  • 7 spring rolls (wrappers)
  • sauce
  • 2 tbsps tahini
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsps toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp flakes (chile, optional) 

Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350˚.
  2. Slice radish in to 2 strips and toss with olive oil and salt. Roast until tender, 15-20. While is roasting, destem and roughly chop the kale, set aside.
  3. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook brown rice noodles until tender, 4-6 minutes. Drain and set in your assembly station.
  4. Once radishes are ready, set up your spring roll rolling station with the water, radishes, kale,rice noodles, and a place to roll/cut each spring roll.
  5. Soak the rice paper for 10-15 seconds (you don’t want it too soft when taking it out of the water.) Place rice paper on a cutting board and load with veggies and noodles. Roll, tuck, and fold in sides as you go. Continue with remaining ingredients.
  6. Once done slice in half and serve.
  7. To may the tahini sauce, whisk ingredients together and taste. Adjust according to desired taste.



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Please tell us if you can't identify something on the market table, don't know what to do with a particular item, have a food allergy we should know about, or if you have other questions or comments. We love to hear from you!

 
garlic planting garlic planting party Garlic Planting Season
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Fall CSA Week 5!

Wow, we're already at week 5 of our Fall CSA!  My how time flies.  This means there's only one week left!

Speaking of which, we have some important news in regards to Fall CSA: the fact that it WON'T be happening this week!  Some of you may be like "huh?!" but let me do a bit of explaining.  Since we originally planned on distributing CSA's at the Grant Wood Market, which was to occur every other week until it was abruptly cancelled, we did not originally plan to deliver this week because Grant Wood wouldn't have occurred and we're sticking with that plan.  We would have planned on skipping this week anyway, being that there would be no Grant Wood to drop them off at.  "But why?" you might ask.  Why couldn't we just deliver this week and have Fall CSA end a bit early?

The answer: because next week we will be featuring a Special Thanksgiving Share!  Yep, we'll be giving you some extra goodies that could be of big help or a lovely addition to your holiday dinner!  And if we gave them to you a week early, they wouldn't be as fresh or delightful as when we would give them to you the week of Thanksgiving!  So be prepared....and stay tuned!  Next week we'll give you a list of what to expect and some Thanksgiving-oriented recipes!  Once again CSA pickups may be a bit shifty next week, but we will inform you if there are any big, important changes.

We'll be sad to see Fall CSA come and go so quickly, it seems.  It's been fun tending, handling, and packing all these new fall veggies for you all.  But don't worry- Fall CSA doesn't mean the end of CSA possibilities this year.  We will start our "Weekly Boxes" CSA, which basically means: call us when you want a box at any point, and we will pack one for you!  20$ for a Couple Share, 30$ for Families!  This will be our arrangement until our next official CSA season, which will be our 2013 Spring CSA.

This past weekend was an interesting experiment with the new Saturday farmer's markets we tried out, in absence of our Iowa City Market and the Grant Wood Market we were depending on.  New Bo market was quite a success!  Apparently 10,000 patrons showed up that day?  Wow, that's like a small town right there.  It was also 12 hours long!  Our market worker had to be relieved for at least an hour to make it through.  We brought almost 4 times the usual amount of produce and all in all we thought it was worth it!  Derek was at his house selling veggies that day too, and it seemed to do well.  

Next week we'll be trying out a new market stand place in Iowa City: The Trumpet Blossom Cafe!  That is, we might be there, we'll have to double check and make sure it's ok we're slinging organic food by their place.  We'll find out soon and let you all know!

In other news...yikes, it's been getting dark EARLY now!  Sun down by 5:30?  It gets dark, we stop working, and it'll take a while to get used to the fact that there are still hours yet to do things.  On the other hand, getting up in the morning feels great because you feel like you're getting up super early, when you're really just getting up at the same time you used to!

Besides packing our stuff for CSA, resaurants, Co-ops and markets, we've been prepping, cracking, planting, and obsessing over our garlic!  We're glad to be done with watering, it seems like good ol' Mother Sky has been doing it for us.  This morning was a pleasantly long rain and fortunately we even left some of the plants' covers open.  Oh yeah....that has been another job to take up our time, covering our plants with reemay and plastic on the coldest of nights.  We haven't got plastic up on our cold-frames quite yet, the temps haven't dropped low enough for that to be our biggest priority.  But we're basically set up and ready.

Well...with no CSA this week, we don't have much of a list to offer, of course.  But just for kicks, we'll send a couple recipes your way!

See you at market...wherever that ends up being!


Recipes

Yukina Savoy Quiche with Spicy Pepper, Cherry and Pine Nut Relish (www.fatandhappyblog.com)

Yukina Savoy Quiche:
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 heaping Tbls of Greek yogurt (plus some for topping)
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely diced
  • 2 cups of yukina savoy
  • 1 Tbls shredded Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil   
Heat a saute pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of olive oil. Chop the stems of the yukina savoy into small pieces, add the stems and the garlic to the saute pan; cook for few minutes. Add the rest of the yukina savoy, toss and cook for a about 4 minutes until the leaves begin to wilt. Remove from heat.

Whisk together the eggs and the Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt and fresh black pepper.  Pour the egg mixture into a small casserole dish.  Add the sauteed yukina savoy and cheese to the eggs, pushing the  savoy into the egg.

Place in a pan in a preheated 400 degree oven until the middle is set. The eggs will become quite puffed up, and if you shake the pan, the eggs will not appear runny.  It's easy to overcook the eggs so check them often or they will become dry.  The eggs will deflate quickly after removing from the oven, serve immediately with the pine nut relish (recipe below) and a scoop of Greek yogurt (optional).


Spicy Pepper, Cherry and Pine Nut Relish:

  • 1 heaping tbls dried cherries (or craisins), finely diced
  • 1/2 cup finely diced red pepper
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely diced
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 tbls olive oil
  • 1 green onion, diced
  • 3 tbls toasted pine nuts, lightly chopped

Place the dried cherries and green onions into a small bowl, set aside.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in saute pan, heat over medium-high heat.  Add the diced red peppers, cook for 1 minute.  Add in the diced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes until the garlic begins to soften and releases its' flavor (toss often).  Pour over the cherries.

In the same pan (do not wipe out) add the red pepper flakes and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Simmer the flakes over medium heat for about 3 minutes to season the oil.  Pour the oil in the peppers and cherry bowl.  Top with the toasted pine nuts, set aside until ready to use. 


Clean Eating Garlic Baby Kale with Crushed Red Peppers (www.thegraciouspantry.com)
(Makes 2 servings)

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth, no sugar added
  • 4 generous cups, tightly packed baby kale
  • 1 tsp. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder OR 6 cloves, chopped
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp. low sodium soy sauce

Directions
Step 1 – Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a large pan.
Step 2 – Pour the chicken broth into the pan and add the kale, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and soy sauce. Cook until kale is wilted and cooked to your liking.

Eat and Enjoy!


Easy Daikon Salad (www.sarahsbellacucina.com)
serves 4

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups julienne cut daikon radish (I used my food processor to cut it)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp sweet rice wine (mirin)
    OPTIONAL: crushed peanuts

Place the daikon in a colander/mesh strainer over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle with salt. Mix well. Let sit for 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and then rinse well with cold water. Drain.
In a small saucepan, combine the seasoned rice vinegar, sugar and rice wine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves (this will only take a few minutes).
Transfer the daikon to an airtight container and pour the rice vinegar mixture over. Shake or stir well to combine. Chill for 20 minutes before serving.
This can store for up to a few days in the fridge, if it lasts that long. If desired, serve topped with crushed peanuts.


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Derek's House/Ginter Ave. Echollective Farm Stand fall crops Garlic Planting Season
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Stuck In A Rut...Season

It's that time of year...the leaves are almost gone from all the trees, and our stands of forest out here are thin and bare.  The cold season comes heralding an age of new perspectives.  We're looking at the skeleton of the woods as it returns to dormancy during the coming months.  The corn is cut and threshed from off the ground, and we now see the shape of the land for what it really is.  Bird song is heard less and less, while we see large raptors such as hawks and bald eagles a whole lot more.  And the deer...oh, the deer!  It is time for their rut season.  They pass through much more often nowadays, commonly seen at sunrise and sunset in small groups.  Their increasing presence is breathtaking. 

Their increasing presence is also a big pain in our collective butts.  Ever seen the heart eaten out of a perfectly beautiful head of lettuce?  Damn those deer!  Sometimes we don't care how pretty they are, or  how much we respect them otherwise.  They can be a devastating effect on our crops.  On the plus side of things: deer taste delicious.  Some efforts may be taken here this winter to do some deer hunting when the season opens, and perhaps we can teach them to steer clear of us a bit while also feeding ourselves with local venison.  Right now, our property to them is seen as this idyllic oasis, free of guns and bows, lushly covered with the most delicious and nutritional food a deer can find at this time of year.  They love to munch on our lettuces especially.  If we have lettuce in large amounts, they will practically leave everything else untouched, but we have also found signs of them dining on beet greens, spinach, pea shoots, chard, and even various Brassica/Cruciferous sprouts.  Some mornings we come out and our plants look perfectly cropped, like a lawn mower came through and chopped off all their tops and we think to ourselves "hmmm...only the cold, calculated methods of some white-tailed killer could be responsible for this mess."

But still....I deeply enjoy those quiet times at the crack of dawn, glimpsing them grazing on a foggy morning.  I sure would hate to see them ALL go....

It's not only the deer that are plaguing us.  With Grant Wood Market cancelled, we are still trying to figure out where we are going to sell all this food!  We spent the last few months growing tons and tons of food expecting to sell it all to our faithful Iowa City customer base.  We are officially (kind of?!) going to appear at the New Bo this weekend.  At least we're trying to!  We received a strong invitation from New Bo, then when we gave them the official "yes" we heard no response back.  So it is sort of up in the air, though we think you can expect to see us there (if you're attending, that is.)  We are very interested in the Mt. Vernon market, it sounds as if they'll have us.  We are also still fond of having our classic Farm Stand in front of Derek's house, although we'll be sorely missing having a spot somewhere downtown!  We are looking into that as well.  We've received many suggestions from folks, all of which have been very helpful.

In other news...our Iowa City Farmer's Market downtown CSA pickups, as some of you may know, are ending this week!  As a matter of fact, they end today!  If you are a Fall CSA member please contact us immediately to switch to a new pick up date.  They will be the following:

-Tim's Daycare/Kirkwood School for Children.  Fridays.  1107 Kirkwood Court.  Pickup lasts approx. 4:30 PM-5:30 PM.  Please email us if this pickup works for you.

-Derek's House.  Saturdays.  1003 Ginter Ave.  Pickup at about 2 PM, subject to change throughout season.  Please email us if this pickup works for you.

Note: We may be able to provide a Saturday morning pickup if we have enough people who absolutely need it.  Shares would be dropped off at Tim's Daycare on Friday and stay overnight for you to pickup on Sat. morning. 

Garlic planting has started, and continues!  We're a little late on it, and the rush continues to get it in the ground before the end of November!  We've still got a lot left to go.  If you're interested in helping and learning about garlic planting contact us!  We could use a few volunteers here and there!

Anyways, I should add "sorry" that this newsletter is a day late.  Many of you have already picked up your share today and it'll be a total surprise this week for you Wednesday people.  But don't worry Saturday people (soon to be other-day people), we've got a preview for you!  Either way, we have a LOT of stuff for you this week, along with some new things you didn't see previously!

Enjoy the Fall CSA fare while it lasts.  See you at market!

On the table this week:

  • Mixed Baby Kales
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Hot Peppers
  • Garlic
  • Spring Radishes
  • Potatoes
  • Turnips (Red, White, Gold, or Purple Top)
  • Winter Radishes
  • Daikon Radishes
  • Bok Choy
  • Beets
  • Winter Squash
  • Yukina Savoy (Tat Soi)
  • Head Lettuce
  • Broccoli
  • Cilantro

 Recipes

Aztec Couscous (homecooking.about.com)

Couscous takes on a Latin flair with black beans, corn, jalapeno, cilantro, and cumin for a tasty vegetarian side dish.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup couscous
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 to 1-1/4 cups water
  • 1-3/4 cups black beans or 1 (15-ounce) can
  • 1 cup corn kernels
  • 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1 jalapeno, minced
  • 3 Tablespoons roasted garlic olive oil
  • 3 to 4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
 
Preparation:

Place couscous, cumin, and salt in a large heatproof bowl or storage container and pour 1 cup boiling water on top. Cover tightly and let sit until all the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. If the couscous is not quite tender, add an additional 1/4 cup of boiling water, cover, and let sit for a few minutes longer. Fluff up with a fork.

Toss in the black beans, corn, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeno. Mix in the olive oil and enough lime juice to give the salad a puckery edge. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe Source: Lorna Sass' Short Cut Vegetarian : Great Taste in No Time by Lorna Sass (Wm Morrow)


Beet Risotto  (www.marthastewart.com)

Ingredients
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 1 cup Arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, heated
  • 1/2 recipe Basic Roasted Beets, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

  1. In a heavy medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring often, until golden brown and soft, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add rice; stir to coat. Stir in wine; cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth; simmer, stirring, until almost all is absorbed. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until liquid is absorbed before adding more, about 25 minutes total.
  3. Stir in beets, butter, and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Baby Kale, Mozzerella and Egg Bake (www.kalyn'skitchen.com)

(Makes 6 one-dish meal servings; recipe created by Kalyn.)

Ingredients:
 
  • 5 oz. mixed baby kale or chopped kale leaves
  • 1-2 tsp. olive oil (depending on your pan)
  • 1 1/2 cup low-fat grated mozzarella cheese
  • 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
  • 8 eggs
  • 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional, but good.  You can use any seasoning blend that tastes good with eggs instead of Spike.)
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions: 
 

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.  Spray an 8 1/2 inch by 12 inch glass or crockery casserole dish with olive oil or nonstick spray.  

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the kale all at once, and stir just until the kale is wilted, about 1 minute for baby kale or 2-3 minutes for chopped kale.  Transfer the kale to the casserole dish, spreading it around so all the bottom of the dish is covered.  Layer the grated cheese and sliced onions on top of the kale.

Beat the eggs with Spike Seasoning (or other seasoning mix) and salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.  (I use only a tiny pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.)  Pour the egg mixture over the kale/cheese combination, and then use a fork to gently "stir" so the eggs, kale, and cheese are evenly combined.

Bake about 30-35 minutes or until the mixture is completely set and starting to lightly brown.  Let cool about 5 minutes before cutting.  (The egg bake will settle down some as it cools.)  Serve hot.  This is good with light sour cream.  I also like a little Green Tabasco Sauce sprinkled on the top.

This can be cut into individual servings to keep in the fridge and microwaved for a quick breakfast during the week.  Don't microwave longer than 1-2 minutes or the eggs can get slightly rubbery.
 
 
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 Please tell us if you can't identify something on the market table, don't know what to do with a particular item, have a food allergy we should know about, or if you have other questions or comments. We love to hear from you! 
deer damage Derek's House/Ginter Ave. Echollective Farm Stand Garlic Planting Season
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Wet Weeks and Garlic Crackers

Looking back at the last couple weeks, it appears as if we're making up for all the rain we've missed during this summer's drastic drought!  The weather has been wet, and it's been more than welcome.  Our water table could use some more soaking to recuperate from this era of general dryness that's plagued us since the winter.  Sure, last winter was mild and nice...and we sure milked it for what it was worth, stretching our season extension all the way up 'til New Years Eve.  But the lack of snow we experienced means depletion of our underground reservoirs; snow melt is a great contributor to these, as well as natural and drilled wells.  We can only ask for a more normal winter with plenty of snow, in spite of warmer weather having its perks.  Colder temperatures and more freezes this winter would be welcome too...hard freezes give us some help keeping bug numbers down for the coming spring!  This spring season was a farm pest extravaganza.  There is more rain to come on Thursday and we hope it continues being wet!  It would also be a great boost for our plants going into the cold season in general.

Fall CSA keeps chugging along!  We are still bringing tables overflowing with produce to our markets, and we still have tons of food we send twice a week to the New Pioneer Co-ops.  This fall has been an amazing harvest, surpassing our rounds earlier in spring.  Last Saturday was our last 8th Ave Cedar Rapids Market, but the Iowa City Downtown market still continues for a couple weeks here.  We also finished up a big Iowa Valley Food Co-op order last week.  We've really been enjoying selling through them to a customer base we normally don't reach, and we will continue doing so through winter...if you're interested, visit www.iowavalleyfood.com  or click the zucchini squash blossom picture under "Iowa Vally Food Co-op."  To buy from the Echollective or anyone else through IVFC, you must become a Co-op Member first.

Grant Wood Farmer's Market starts soon, although we have heard through the grapevine that if they don't get enough vendors, they will not run this winter!  This is a big bummer for us.  We would have to look into a different drop-off site for our Fall CSA shares, which we will be in touch with our Fall CSA members about.  Nothing's decided yet.  Investigation of  the Mt. Vernon Farmer's Market and Tipton Farmer's Market is underway for potential winter vending places.  We are also thinking about selling right in front of Derek's house on Ginter Ave. in Iowa City...and having CSA pickups there.  That way we could still stay very accessible to our Iowa City customer base!

We are also entering Garlic Planting Season!  In past years, this has comprised of our notorious fall Garlic Parties.  All of us (and whoever shows up) get seated in the chilly barn clustered around 6 gallon buckets with open onion bags, cracking open entire bulbs of garlic and throwing fat cloves into them for planting.  For hours.  And days.  It's an arduous process, resulting in tired hands and blisters that serve nothing more than to protect you against yet more garlic cracking.  Then when garlic cracking is over, you just have these useless blisters.  Anyways, we have obtained a contraption that wards against all of that: a garlic cracker!  Grant Schultz, our farming compadre who brought us this impressive apparatus, had only the following comment in regards to how it works: "It's complex, and has lots of moving parts."  Watching it in action, that's practically the exact same conclusion I came to.  It does a lot of stuff and cracks a ton of garlic, way faster than 6 people seated in the barn could, and it's a process I don't understand even when witnessing it.  It is all very voodoo to me.  But oh well, the job get's done, and it gets done faster!

So we are on our way to garlic planting.  A couple of fields have already been furrowed and tilled for garlic next year, where we will lay out each individual clove, give it protective mulch, and let it sleep through winter until spring.  Now that we've got the machine working...we've just gotta get "crackin'!"

We've got a great spread this week!  First time we are featuring a plentiful helping of mizuna.  You've seen it before in braises and salads, we thought the Asian green could stand on its own two legs for once.  It is plenty succulent, mustardy and delicious!  We will also provide mizuna recipes.  We hope you enjoy. 

See you at market!

What to expect:

  • Mixed Baby Kales
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Garlic
  • Spring Radishes
  • Winter Radishes
  • Daikon Radishes
  • Turnips
  • Head Lettuce
  • Bok Choy
  • Potatoes
  • Broccoli
  • Broccoli Raab
  • Winter Squash
  • Tat Soi Bunch
  • Mizuna

Recipes


Mizuna Salad with Aged Gouda & Roasted Portabellas adapted from epicurious.com
 (www.mariquita.com)
  • 3/4 pounds sliced portabella mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 10 cups mizuna, (or other spicy green such as arugula or watercress) washed, dried and torn or chopped for a salad
  • 1 cup coarsely grated aged Gouda cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
Toss mushrooms with 3 tablespoon oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a bowl. Roast in 1 layer in a 4-sided sheet pan, turning once, until golden-brown and tender, about 15 minutes. Cool mushrooms.
Whisk together vinegar, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 5 tablespoons oil in a bowl until combined. Toss mushrooms, greens, and cheese with enough dressing to coat.
More Mizuna ideas from The Kitchn
I like it all sorts of ways; it's not as peppery as standard mustard greens so it goes into more things and can be used as a garnish/accent as well as a main ingredient.
It's a good soup ingredient: I make a lot of veggie soups using leeks or onions, a green vegetable, and a starchy vegetable. My favorite combination with mizuna is sweet potato (preferably Japanese sweet potato, but anything works) and onion.
It also holds up a better than lettuce so it's good in salads that need to keep for a few hours or even overnight. I sometimes add it or radish greens to pickled cucumbers. It's good in potato salad, too.
One thing I've done with mizuna:
Heat 3 T olive oil on high, then throw in 1-2 cups thinly sliced summer squash and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring a bit. When somewhat cooked, add 3-4 chopped garlic cloves and a bunch of roughly chopped mizuna, with salt and pepper. Grate a hard cheese (ie Parmesan) to finish off the dish.


Butternut Squash Pizza with Gruyere and Arugula (www.eatliverun.com)
serves 4-6
Print this recipe!

Ingredients:
  • 1 recipe Best Pizza Dough
  • 24 oz peeled and cubed butternut squash (from about one 3lb squash), roasted at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until very tender
  • 6 oz freshly grated Gruyere cheese
  • sea salt
  • red pepper flakes
  • 1 bunch arugula

Directions:
Prepare dough according to recipe directions.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Take half of the butternut squash cubes and puree them in either a food processor or high speed blender until smooth.
Roll dough out into a large circular or rectangular shape (I always go the rectangular route!). Top dough with pureed squash, then sprinkle on cheese. Top with the remaining butternut squash cubes, a sprinkle of sea salt and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
Bake pizza for 15 minutes until bubbly and crust is done. Immediately top with arugula and another sprinkle of sea salt. Let cool before slicing.

Time:
30 minutes (not including time to make and prepare dough)
  

Open-Face Watercress and Winter Radish Sandwiches with Horseradish Cream (www.organicvalley.coop)
  • light rye, sliced thin (or firm white bread)
  • Organic Valley Whipped Butter, softened
  • Beauty Heart radishes, peeled and thinly sliced (or other winter radishes)
  • Sea salt to taste
  • Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream
  • horseradish root, Freshly grated (or well-drained prepared horseradish)
  • Lemon juice
  • Watercress sprigs
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Generously butter the bread slices. (To be fancy, you can slice off the crusts first, but that’s not necessary.) Cover buttered surface with sliced radishes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use a very sharp knife to cut them into squares, triangles or halves.

2. Whip the cream until medium-firm peaks form. (See Whip Tips for instructions, but do not add the vanilla or sugar.) Sprinkle horseradish to taste (go easy--you won’t need much, especially if it’s fresh) and a few drops of lemon juice over surface of whipped cream; fold in gently. Place dollops of horseradish cream over sandwiches. Top each with a tiny bundle of watercress sprigs. Transfer sandwiches to a fancy platter. Serve immediately or chill before serving.

Copyright by Terese Allen

(For the Echollective twist: Add local, ethical bacon, or seasonal apple!)


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Derek's House/Ginter Ave. Echollective Farm Stand garlic crackers Garlic party
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