CSA Week 16!!!

This week we’ll be doing a poll on whether folks would be interested in buying a bag of winter storage crops after the CSA season is over. We’d be making it a one time pickup the first week of November.

Hello folks, What a gorgeous fall week. This is why we LOVE Vermont. I hope everyone had some fun outside watching soccer games, working in the yard, going for walks or bike rides.

ON THE FARM: All of our chickens for 2008 are finally processed and in the freezer. I hope those of you who got to enjoy a fresh bird made a tasty treat last weekend. We still have plenty more of frozen birds, so just let us know. TURKEYS are selling- we have 20 more so get your deposit in for Thanksgiving. We are continueing to put up our hay for the winter in the barn for the sheep, cows and horses. Speaking of horses, our vet is coming Thursday to ultrasound our Suffolk Punch draft horse mare, Abbey, to confirm her pregnancy. Also we’ll be doing the same to our milk cow, Eliza Jane. Stay tuned for the results.

IN THE GARDEN: Well we’ve started to put the parts of the garden away for the season, brushogging the high weeds, pulling up the plastic mulch, discussing plans for the cover cropping with Winter Rye and deciding where to put next years garlic. The frost has not gotten us yet, cross your fingers, but we have covered our precious more delicate crops two nights with remay just in case. There are still too many tomatos and peppers yet to harvest to lose them.

Ill sell blemished tomatoes for canning for $2/ lb. Just give me a holler before 1pm on Thurs on my cell 233-3862.

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Turnips (see 2 recipes), Butternut Squash, Tomatos, Garlic, Carrots, Kale or Chard, Pac Choi, Peppers, Broccoli, Tomatillos

IN THE KITCHEN: Tomatillos and Turnips see below… yum.

TURNIP-    This turnip recipe is a tried-and-true family favourite. After peeling, turnip is simple to prepare, making it a great everyday side dish that still feels special enough for holidays and special dinners. Some may consider it comfort food.

For this recipe, choose a large waxed turnip, also called rutabaga or swede.

Turnip can smell a little bit strong while it’s cooking. If it becomes bothersome, consider cooking it outside on a barbeque burner. 

Turnip Recipe Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 large rutabaga (turnip)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1-2 tsp. brown sugar

Directions:

1. Wash the turnip and peel it with a potato peeler. Cut it into rough cubes; don’t worry about keeping the size or shape consistent; it will be mashed up later.
2. Bring a medium pot of water to the boil and add about one teaspoon of salt. Add the turnip.
3. Boil for about 45 minutes; drain.
4. Add about a quarter of a cup butter or margarine and the brown sugar.
5. Mash all the ingredients together. Stir, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Turnip Souffle  Prep 40 min Cook 30 min and serves 6

Lime-Tomatillo Salsa

CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com
Serves/Makes: 4 cups   Ready In: < 30 minutesIngredients:
1 large ripe red tomato, finely diced
8 tomatillos, husked, rinsed and chopped
1/4 cup minced bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced red or white onion
1 teaspoon grated Mexican lime peel
1 tablespoon Mexican lime juiceDirections:
In a non-reactive bowl mix all ingredients. If not using immediately cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Hello folks!
This week is our last chicken processing for the season and you can pickup your preorders of Fresh Organic Pastured poultry Thursday at the Andrews Farm Store from 3-6.  You can also let us know if you want us to bring you some to the Richmond, Middlebury or Shelburne Farmers Markets this week. Pass the word! Call us to order some…434-7257

CSA for the Huntington pickup members is back to Maple Wind Farm from 4:30-6pm. Let us know if you need us to pack a bag if you might be tardy. No problem!

Many of you are wondering when the last pickup is. We are aiming for the third week of October which would bring us to 19 weeks of the CSA program for 2008. PS. When the large carving pumpkin is delivered you’ll know its the last week.

Ill have 10 lb bags of extra tomatoes available if anyone is interested for canning and freezing.

ON THE FARM: If you are in the neighborhood of Camel’s Hump Rd, drive up just past Brewster Pierce School and check out our cows, they are enjoying the lush grass and will be moving across the road on Friday afternoon. Come for our short cattle drive! All is well on the home farm, we now have one less chore since the broilers have all been processed. As for poultry, we can now focus on our turkeys for Thanksgiving (still taking orders).

IN THE GARDEN: We have harvested all of the winter squash and the pumpkins and put them on pallets to cure for the upcoming weeks. You’ll see acorns, and delicatas and of course butternut too! We are looking at the garden as a big transition now as we take out the dying vines and brushhog back the overgrowth and make a cover crop plan for the fields until next summer. The tomato vines are still bursting with fruit so long as we stay ahead of the frost and cover or harvest before it comes.

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Kabocha Squash, Pie pumpkins, Potatoes, Kale, Greens, Tomatoes, Beets with Greens, Garlic, Leeks, Eggplant and some ornamental gourds.

IN THE KITCHEN: Time for potato leek soup! yum! Pie time. We’ll include Lucy’s easy pie recipe next week!

WINTER SQUASH…..Most recipes out there for using winter squash seem to involve pureeing them, but I rather like them when they are in chunks or slices. This roasted squash has a sweet, spicy and salty glaze of sorts on them, which brings out the dense sweetness of the fruit. Cut into fairly thin slices like this, it makes interesting finger food. You can vary the sugar and spice to your taste, though too much of either may overwhelm it.

You do need to use kabocha-type squash for this ideally, though butternut should work too. You will need a dense, starchy and sweet squash. Don’t use regular pumpkin, which is too watery and lacks sweetness. (Rouge d’etampes pumpkin may work, but I’ve found their sweetness to vary quite a bit.)

Sweet and spicy roasted kabocha squash

• 1/2 small to medium sized kabocha squash
• 3 Tbs light brown, natural cane, or muscovado sugar, plus a bit more for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper or hot chili powder, more or less to taste
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
• Oil for drizzling - pumpkin seed oil is preferred, or use toasted sesame oil, argan oil, or walnut oil (see notes)

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Line a baking sheet or two with silicon baking liner or parchment paper.

De-seed and cut the squash into slices about 1/2 cm or 1/4 inch thick. (Use a sturdy knife for cutting squash or pumpkin, on a stable surface, and be careful!)

Combine all the dry ingredients. Toss the squash slices in this until coated thoroughly. Add the soy sauce and toss well again.

Spread the slices in a singler layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle over them with the oil, and optionally sprinkle more sugar on them. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn over, drizzle with more oil and sprinkle more sugar, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Any other recipes, please send them my way. Have a great week!

Beth

Hello folks,

Welcome to week 14 of our CSA. Its really feeling like fall on these crisp mornings.

Thanks for sending in some recipes… keep them coming. Think of your favorite squash dish.

This week is the last Huntington Localvore Market at Jubilee. 3-6:30 is the time to come. Then we’ll move back to pickups at our farm 4-6:30.

Anyone who might be tardy to pickup veggies, please call my cell 233-3862 and we can set a bag out for you after we are gone so you dont miss the amazing harvest.

Great Event…dont miss out.

Shelburne Orchards Small Farms Food Festival. Sunday 11-5pm. Come listen to Bluegrass music, pick apples, face painting and food tastes from local farms. We’ll be there with our hamburgers and sausages!

ON THE FARM: Our cow/calf/bull herd has once again moved back to the Teal Farm pastures for the fall grazing program. See them now and for the next week and a half up close along side the Camels Hump Rd near Brewster Pierce School.

Turkeys are having a great time pecking away at the grass and grubs. Reserve yours now for Thanksgiving. We have sent off our first group of lambs to the butcher, we take the animals when they reach 80 lbs live weight.

Another poultry announcement: Our last fresh organic bird processing is next week. If you would like to reserve one or several, let us know. Pick and selection will be at the Andrews Farm Thurs from 3-6.

IN THE GARDEN: Tomatos are plentiful! Make salsa, spaghetti sauce, can or freeze them if you cant quite eat them all. Enjoy! Thank you for the last shot of rain from Mother Nature and the wonderful warm fall sun. The garden is looking great, many wonderful things still to come. We have a plethora of winter squash coming your way and fall broccoli and more potatoes of course.

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Tomatoes, Paste Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Tomatillos(see recipe), Chard, a last baby Watermelon, Green Peppers, Onion, Jalapeno, Pac Choi (see recipe), Green Cabbage, Red Lettuce and root vegetables…..and your 3rd installment of maple syrup!

IN THE KITCHEN:

Green Salsa is super easy to make with the tomatillos. Give it a try, you’ll get hooked! Its great with scrambled eggs or meats.

Tomatillo Salsa

Roast your white onion, tomatillos and jalapeno on a cookie sheet under the broiler. Turn the veggies as they roast. The tomatillos will get brown and exude some liquid (thats good). 

Put the veggies and the juice in your blender or food processor with some salt pepper lemon juice and of course some cilantro and voila, delicious salsa.

Note, you do not have to roast the veggies it just gives a more full bodied flavor. You can make the salsa with the raw veggies or boil the tomatillos if you want. 

The following great recipe idea is submitted by CSA member,Wendy Gagliardi of Simply Gourmet Personal Chef Service www.simplygourmetvt.com

Tangy Pork with Tomatillos, Tomatoes, and Cilantro
Total time: 28 minutes

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add pork; toss well. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Add pork; sauté 3 minutes. Remove pork from pan; keep warm.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 30 seconds. Add tomatillos; sauté 1 minute. Add pork; cover and cook 10 minutes or until pork is done. Add tomatoes and cilantro; cover and cook for 1 minute. Serve with rice.

Yield:  4 servings (serving size: 1 cup pork mixture and 1 cup rice)

CALORIES 375 (18% from fat); FAT 7.7g (sat 1.6g,mono 4.1g,poly 0.9g); IRON 4.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 74mg; CALCIUM 62mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46g; SODIUM 379mg; PROTEIN 29.4g; FIBER 4g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2001

Pac Choi

 ***************************************

Hello folks,

Welcome to week 13 of the Maple Wind CSA. A few announcements:

Join the Huntington Valley Arts at Jubilee Farm in Huntington Center this Sunday, September 7 from 11-5 for a wonderful day of art, local food, music and fun. Maple Wind will be serving up some of our delicious grilled food (hamburgers/sausages) along with other local food folks. Come browse local artisans, take part in the many children activities, or just relax and listen to some great music.

The Localvore Market at Jubilee Farm will be running only two more Thursdays until Sept. 11. After that, we will return to our regular Huntington pickup for the CSA at Maple Wind 4:30-6pm. Call us if you will be late and we’ll put a bag inside the barn for you to get.  

We hope to get another round of syrup out next week so returning your jars is very appreciated (or donating some other pint jars you have kicking around).

ON THE FARM: We have been blessed with some real “Hay weather”. We made about 150 dry round bales on some of our leased acreage. Whew! That’s a relief. The new group of market pigs are really rooting up their pasture as they should. What a riot they are… its a sight to see when they know you are coming up to give them their afternoon meal of grain and milk!  

After about 6 months of some R&D at Earth Turbines, we are proud to announce that we have a turbine on our second tower again! Lets make some KW!!!

IN THE GARDEN:The garden is plentiful with goodness. Thursday we are bringing Herbie and Henry to the garden to harvest all of the potatoes with a horse drawn harvester. Ill take some photos and attache them next week if I can. Its amazing to watch all the potatoes come out of the earth - we’ll have some new varieties for the rest of the season. What a site to see after a slow start, the 700 feet of tomatoes are ripening nicely now. The tomatillos are very close to being ready so get your salsa verde recipes ready! The winter squash are huge and we will start to field cure them as their vines begin to die back. We’ve picked the spaghetti and the kabocha squash which you’ll see in your share soon. New curley kale is looking wonderful as are the fall broccoli and some pac choi and kolrabi.

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Enjoy a great September harvest: Spaghetti Squash, Potatoes, Baby Watermelon, Onion, Garlic, Basil, Tomatos, Peppers, Eggplant, Spicy Greens as well as some varieties of lettuce.

IN THE KITCHEN: Make some pesto! Its the last of the basil.

Spaghetti Squash I
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 45 Minutes
Yields: 6 servings
“Such a perfect name for this squash. When it’s baked, its meat looks like glistening strands of pasta. For this recipe, the squash is baked and then combined with feta cheese, sauteed vegetables, olives, and basil. Lovely.”
INGREDIENTS:
1 spaghetti squash, halved
lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
2 tablespoons chopped freshbasil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl. Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil. Serve warm.

From Allrecipes.com

Roasted Eggplant Dip   (CSA eggplant might be small so adjust the recipe accordingly)

YIELD: Makes 8 (1/4-cup) servings. Baba ghanoush is the name of this traditional and healthy Middle Eastern appetizer. For the best flavor, choose firm, smooth-skinned eggplants for roasting. You can reduce the fat content of the dip by pouring any oil off the top of the tahini before measuring it.

INGREDIENTS:
2eggplants (about 1 pound each)
1/4cup lemon juice
3tablespoons sesame tahini*
4cloves garlic, minced
2teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1/2teaspoon salt
Paprika
1tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Red chili pepper slices** (optional)
Pita bread rounds, cut into wedges
PREPARATION: 1.Prepare grill for direct cooking. Prick eggplants in several places with fork. Place eggplants on grid. Grill, covered, over medium-high heat 30 to 40 minutes or until skin is black and blistered and pulp is soft, turning often. Peel eggplants when cool enough to handle. Let cool to room temperature.
2.Place eggplant pulp in food processor with lemon juice, tahini, garlic, pepper sauce and salt; process until smooth. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to blend. Sprinkle top with paprika and parsley and red pepper slices; serve with pita bread.