Showing posts with label season extension. Show all posts

The First Heat Wave

...and it hasn't come a moment too soon...literally.  None of us here would have thought the summer would have dealt us these blistering temperatures this late.  It really is quite peculiar.  But we are taking our blessings, and glad that earlier this summer and the first weeks of August were as sweet, calm and cool as they were!  Doubtless if it weren't for such weather we wouldn't be procuring such excellent squash and tomatoes for y'all.

The heat does not discourage us...we are still hard at work raking in the pounds upon pounds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and squash that this season's bounty has bestowed.  Such heat does call for perhaps a slight change in schedule....time for earlier mornings and a mid-day siesta!

Despite the heat, CSA will still be bringing it to your table.

This week:
  • Garlic
  • Leeks
  • Candy Onions
  • Zucchini
  • Potatoes
  • Cucumbers
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Hot Peppers
  • Patty Pan Summer Squash
  • Heirloom Tomatoes
  • Cherry Tomatoes (mixed varieties)
  • Mint
  • Rosemary
  • Apples!

Yes that's correct: apples!  Not sure which variety they are exactly, but they remind me of Pink Lady or Fuji; incredibly tart, deliciously crisp, with a pleasing sour that balances the sweet.  We have plenty of them,  and this week they started dropping like nuts.  No better time to pick them!

We hope to release more details soon in regards to Fall CSA 2013 but we are still scratching our heads as to what we will be planting to include in those deliveries...we have daikon radishes already in the ground, and the plumpest of our winter squashes are well on their way to ripening....some of them surprisingly early!  There will be enough onions to last our CSA members (as well as us) through the winter.  As for when and how to plant our leafy fall greens, we are chomping at the bit yet hesitant in the midst of such dry, brutal heat to be confident in sowing anything.  So we are waiting in the meantime, and shuffling through our ideas and plans for this year's season extension.


We will keep you updated...in the meantime enjoy our generous helping of the harvest to you!  We are proud and happy to be successfully keeping your CSA share wide and diverse.

See you at market!




Recipes

Fresh Apple Salsa (www.myrecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups diced peeled apple (about 3/4 pound) 
  • 1/2 cup diced sweet bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro $
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 hot pepper, seeded and minced

Preparation

  1.  Combine all ingredients, stirring well.



Cucumber Mint Gazpacho (www.food52.com)

Ingredients
  • 1.5 pounds thin-skinned cucumbers 
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1 small onion or 1/2 large onion
  • 5 garlic scapes (or 2-3 cloves regular garlic)
  • 1 tablespoon tightly packed mint leaves (about 30)
  • 1/2 cup almonds (skinned)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (not the fancy stuff)
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
  • kosher salt
  • 1 cup stale bread, cut into cubes. I've found challah or ciabatta to be best. You can keep on some crust, but too much and the soup will come out less creamy, more gritty
  1. Rough chop the cucumber and add to the blender jar with the cold water. Puree until smooth. Rough chop the onion and scapes and add to the blender jar with the mint leaves. Puree again. Then add the almonds. oli, and vinegar, and keep pureeing until the entire mix is smooth.
  2. Add the bread cubes and let them soak up the liquid for at least 30 minutes. When they have softened up, puree again until very smooth. Add salt to taste.
  3. You want to serve this cold, so refrigerate for at least an hour (straight in the blender jar) before serving. The soup with thicken a bit, so you may need to add a little cold water and blend until it's the consistency you want.
  4. Garnish as much as you'd like (see recipes below). Drizzle with olive oil, mint oil, and/or garlic scape oil. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and/or chopped cucumber.
Garnishes (optional)
  • 1.5 cups grapeseed (or other mild oil), divided
  • 1/2 cup mint leaves
  • 15 garlic scapes
  • 1/4 cup almonds (skinned)
  • 1 small cucumber
  1. Make mint oil. In a food processor, puree 1/2 C oil and mint. After letting the oil sit for a day, you can strain out the solids (or not...I didn't). Drizzle over soup.
  2. Make garlic scape oil. In a food processor, puree 1 C oil and garlic scapes. After letting the oil sit for a day, you can strain out the solids (or not...I didn't). Drizzle over soup.
  3. Toast the almonds until they just start to darken. Let them cool and then pulse in a food processor a few times (or chop). Sprinkle over soup.
  4. Cut cucumber into tiny cubes. Sprinkle over soup. 



Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients 

  • 4 cups halved cherry tomatoes

  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

  • 3 tablespoons cider vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley

  • 1 teaspoon dried basil

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar


Directions

  1. In a small bowl or cup measure, mix together oil, apple cider vinegar, herbs, salt, and sugar.
  2. Pour dressing over cherry tomatoes in a serving dish, and gently stir to coat. Chill for at least 2 hours. Gently stir from bottom to top, coating all tomatoes, before serving.


*************************
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! 
2013 Fall CSA Iowa apples cucumbers
Share:

Fall CSA Begins; PFI Field Day Thursday!

Greetings all.  The cold season slowly approaches!  Days are noticeably shorter.  Very soon...winter will be at our door.  Time for sweatpants, gloves, coveralls and sturdy boots.

Fall CSA will have its first pickup tomorrow!  We'll be happy to see some returning faces from Summer CSA, as well as some new folks to join our lineup.  We're excited to continue growing into colder times.  If you still have any questions, see any loose ends, or are mystified by our Fall CSA, please contact us so we can help!

 As warm weather diminishes, and days shorten, this gives some of our member farmers some time to focus on other farm-related projects.  Work has begun anew on a large combo chicken coop/tractor, which will house chickens that can aid with soil amending and pest control, as well as give us some eggs!  Yum.  Farmer Will is turning to focus on the more business aspects of mushroom production, and the possible start of an Eastern Iowa Mushroom Co-op this winter.  And it's been some time since an update on some of the farm's little-known residents, the pigs Merlock and Dr. Caporkian.  They are BIG!  We've been feeding them organic veggies and all sorts of goodies.

Coming up this Thursday is the Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Day!  Running from 10 am to 4 pm, and the description is as follows:

"See a wide range of equipment, tools an plant varieties used to harvest food all year, and learn about crop coverings, from simple and homemade to expensive and complex. Hear about plant variety selection and how different growing and handling techniques are used to harvest produce year-round.  Garlic is one of the farm's largest crops; learn about planting preparations, and purchase seed stock.  Several hoophouse pipe-benders will be on display; bring your own pipe to bend into hoops!  A simple farm-fresh lunch of Echollective produce will be available; free-will donations accepted."

 To you Fall CSAer's: See you tomorrow for your first veggie box!  Take care!

On the table this week:

  • Kale
  • Peppers
  • Zucchini
  • Garlic
  • Salad Mix
  • Radishes
  • Potatoes
  • Daikon Radishes
  • Bok Choy
  • Winter Squash

Recipes

Whole-Grain Spaghetti with Garlicky Kale and Tomatoes (www.realsimple.com)

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the kale and cook, tossing frequently, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, tossing frequently, until the tomatoes begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes more.
  3. Add the kale mixture, almonds, pecorino, and reserved cooking water to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve with additional pecorino. 

Kyle Bailey’s Butter-Poached Radishes (nymag.com)

  • 1 bunch French breakfast radishes (about 3/4 lb.), greens and bottoms discarded 
  • 3 tbs. unsalted butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 dashes raspberry wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp. fresh tarragon

(1) Depending on size, halve or quarter radishes lengthwise. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet until melted. (2) Toss in the chopped radishes and season with salt and pepper. Sauté over low-medium heat until they become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the raspberry wine vinegar and sauté approximately another minute until the radishes turn a vibrant pink. Add the vegetable stock and the remaining tablespoon of butter and cook for another minute to glaze the radishes. (3) Remove from heat and tear fresh tarragon leaves directly onto the radishes. Season with salt and pepper, and serve as an accompaniment to roast chicken, pan-seared duck breast, or meaty fish like striped bass.


********************
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!

animals that help you farm chicken tractors cover crops
Share:

A Whiff of Autumn...

Greetings all!  Hope you are well.

A lot of changes are happening here in the workdays at Echollective CSA.  We are switching our gears slowly as we approach the fall.  It's still a ways yet as August has only begun, but when it comes to organic farming, you gotta plan and think ahead!  A few cool nights here and there (it got down to the 50s last night!), as well as some brisk morning breezes, have already given me that whiff of autumn...makes me feel like fall is coming on.  I love that feeling! 

Speaking of Autumn: Echollective Fall CSA is open for sign-up on our online site through Small Farm Central!  Like to participate in our Fall CSA?  You can sign up as you did for our Summer CSA by clicking the tab above, "CSA Signup," and following the prompts.  Remember, if you are already a member you can renew your membership and receive special offers/discounts!  There will be more Fall CSA info to come!  Sign up now, the sooner the better...during Fall we take a smaller amount of members...the early bird gets the worm!

CSA has been going really well for us, and we hope really well for all of you, but we would like to make a quick statement regarding our CSA pickups.  We do our best to accommodate folk's schedule changes; people have to go out of town, or things just happen so that you can't make it to pick up your veggies, and we understand that.  If you cannot pick up a Wednesday and must pick up a Friday or Saturday, or vice versa, we are willing to take a note of it and get your veggies to you.  For the most part, things have been going smoothly when people switch-up.  However, we ask that you also accommodate us on that account...recently we had several CSA members arrive unannounced and asking for a box.  For reasons I will explain, we can't do that!  If you would like to make a pick-up change, please contact us in advance!  If you show up at random and ask for a share, we will say no, because this is unfair for other members.  Each day before CSA pickup, we only pack the exact amount of each share for folks who are officially signed up for that pickup, or who have arranged with us beforehand (whether by phone or email) that they will be picking up then instead of their usual day.  Let's say someone shows up asking for a box on a day we didn't plan to get them one, and we give them one from the shares we packed.  Obviously, this means that some other CSA member won't get their share, or not get the selection that all the other members received.  Basically, doing this doesn't work and is unfair to other CSA members.  Again: if you would like to switch days, we're alright with it, just let us know in advance!  If for whatever reason you couldn't contact us and you show up wanting a share, we will ask you to come back at the end of the market and you can choose from what we have leftover, or you can arrange to pickup up another share next market.  That is the most we can do.  Doing anything else would be giving certain members preference over others.  Sorry...there are no "preferred" CSA members.  You are all important!

The transition to Fall happens slowly so we've got to start early, which involves getting on top of a variety of things at this time.  Starting seeds that take a while to germinate and mature to a pick-able stage in the ideal peak of fall is especially important!  If we snoozed, we'd lose; our veggies would be ready to harvest at a wintery time when frost could damage them or worse, compromising appearance, flavor...or both!  (Of course some veggies taste delicious after a kiss of frost: spinach, kale and broccoli especially!)

This is also a time when we need to get our greenhouses, both permanent and temporary, together and ready.  You may remember in previous newsletters from the winter when I talked about our "cats," short for "caterpillars", our pet name for our temporary moveable high-tunnels.  Well, we are taking apart the pieces of our cats in their old fields from this past winter in preparation for moving them to their new fields for season extension.  They do us a great justice keeping our winter greens alive during the snowy winter.  Not to mention our permanent greenhouses/high tunnels!  They must be fixed by this winter.  Due to a combination of mishaps and several intensely windy storms, our greenhouses have had all their plastic ripped off throughout the season!  Our hot season crops are basically nestled in the skeletons of high tunnels...but no matter.  We are actually relieved and assured that if we actually had intact plastic over our structures, our eggplants, peppers and tomatoes would not be setting fruit and their growth tips would have fried.  It would be so hot in there!  So it is actually a good thing.  The wild storm that passed through our area just this last Saturday tore away the last of it, while blowing about a huge mess of farm equipment and dumping an inch of rain on us.  Don't worry, we are more grateful for the rain than resentful about having to pick up some mess.

Lots of fall seeds have already been sewn in flats as well as broadcasted out in our fields, many of which have already sprouted and are doing well.  There will be a lot of beets, both golden and red this fall!  Several flats as well as an entire field have been planted that will be filled with rows upon rows of them!  We are taking care to water them diligently, although the rain from Saturday gave us a good head start.  Bok choi, red choi and cilantro have sprouted, along with several lettuce varieties for our fall and winter salad mixes and head lettuces!  New Red Fire, Ruby Sky, Cherokee, Magenta, Coastal Star...mostly reddish-pink with green types of lettuce, having such pretty names to boot.  There are even more on the way, some mostly green varieties.  A planting of choi, arugula, and kale are already sprouting out in our fields.  A new round of sugar snaps have already been sewn for fall CSA.  A couple cooler weather broccoli strains have been planted indoors to start along with napa cabbages, dandelions/chicory, ruby red and several other colors of swiss chard!  We have a lot to look forward to, and we've gotten a good head start...we're working hard to water and protect our young seedlings from the intense, dry heat.  However, it's looking optimistic that we will be having some rain in the forecast sometime soon to give us a hand.

Our big squash fields are looking and doing great, they are already sending up flowers and producing fruit!  Looks like it may not be the end to our production of Yellow Zephyr squashes and zucchini...and it looks like we'll have cucumbers after all!  There will also be many other different summer and winter squashes to choose from.  In the meantime, tomatoes and basil are producing well, and eggplants and peppers will be picking up their numbers real soon.  We are rich in potatoes and garlic!  We've been pulling out so many potatoes from our fields, so you all will be getting TWO varieties in your share this week, including our Adirondack Blue potatoes!  Not only are they a strange color but they are the healthiest of potatoes, chock full of anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants!  They are also responsible for the potato's blue color.  Well, the potatoes are actually more purple looking in my opinion but that's not important.

Look forward to the good stuff, and we'll be seeing you!

 CSA shares this week:
  • Motley Kale bunches (three varieties: Lacinato/Dinosaur, Winterbor, Redbor)
  • Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
  • Blue Potatoes
  • Red Potatoes
  • Basil
  • Garlic
  • A Surprise Choice!  (just you wait...)


Recipes

Blue Potato Honey Mustard Salad  (homecooking.about.com)

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds blue potatoes, each one cut into 8 pieces
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 large sweet white onion, diced
  • Dressing:
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Boil blue potatoes in salted water until just tender. Drain thoroughly and toss with green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and sweet onion.

Whisk together honey, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, celery seeds, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour over vegetables and gently toss to combine.

Blue Potato Honey Mustard Salad may be served warm or cold.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings  


Baked Kale Chips  (chefinyou.com)

Ingredients
  • 1 bunch (about 8 oz) Lacinato kale - see Tips
  • 1.5 to 2 tsp olive oil
  • Salt, to taste
Tips
 
1. Kale - I used what is referred to as Lacinato Kale which has large leaves than the other variety. It is also known as Tuscan kale, Italian kale or aptly Dinosaur Kale. If you cannot find this variety, you can also use the curly Kale for this.
Other Seasoning Ideas : Roasted Garlic tastes great along with these. Or toss it with Garlic flavored Olive oil. Truffle Oil would probably give it a great gourmet touch. How about adding comfort to these by way of sprinkling some Parmesan Cheese? Do share your ideas as well in the comments section for me to give those a try :)
Method
 
1. Preheat Oven 300F.  Wash the leaves well.
2. Dry them with paper towels. Or those who have the Salad spinner can use it.
3. Tear the leaves from the hard stem and hard ribs.  You can be meticulous and tear the leaves in uniform pieces or do a rough tear.
4. Add in oil.
5. Toss them well until coated. I personally found a little more than 1 tsp of oil perfect. But you can add upto tbsp of oil.
6. Arrange them on Baking sheets making sure not to overlap.
7. Bake them for around 15-20 minutes or until crisp. Cool them for few minutes before enjoying these crunchy health bites.  They get pale green from the dark green once baked. Make sure to bake a huge batch, since it will get over pretty fast.


 Garlic-Rosemary Mushrooms  (www.eatingwell.com)
   
Ingredients
  • 1 ounce bacon, (about 11/2 slices), chopped
  • 1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, shiitake (stemmed) and portobello, cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine

Preparation

  1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour in wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

*************
 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! 
cats/caterpillars fall crops fall seed starting
Share:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)