A reminder to all members of Maple Wind Farm vegetable CSA that the Backdoor Bakery is again offering a 6 week Bakery Share starting this Thursday.

To begin enjoying Dean Menke’s delicious bagels, scones, granola and other goodies please CONTACT DEAN at the bakery (do not respond to my email please) and let him know if you would like a regular share ($18) or a family share ($30). You can bring your check this Thursday made to BACKDOOR BAKERY.

Please contact Dean by Tuesday  at 434-3422 or  dean_at_sea@hotmail.com

I hope you are enjoying your vegetables! Please submit some favorite recipes- Id be happy to post them!

Eat well,

Beth

Hello folks,

Thanks to all for making the 2009 cattle drive a success! We safely moved the animals (all 55) in an orderly manner from the Teal Farm to our home farm 5 miles on the Main Road. We had over 30 volunteers, a state trooper, first response,  a trailer with a porta potty!, and many side line watchers with lawn chairs. For an album of photos visit this link: (thanks to John Hadden the awesome photographer!) http://gallery.me.com/johnnylion1#100098

The tomatoes are gone. Sniff sniff! Yes, its true, we pulled all of the tomato plants and put them in the burn pile yesterday. It was a sad parting of what could have been (ie salsas, tomato sauces and BLTs) but knowing that we were one of the many farms hit with the terrible late blight I guess that smooths the wounds. We did pick a lot of green tomatoes which you shall be receiving and hopefully enjoying some creative recipes with them.

This weeks harvest: Melons, Patty Pan squash, cucumbers, cabbage, kale or chard, boc choi, lettuce, onions, peppers and quite possibly- some carrots! We tested the corn and we’ll give it one more week! but get ready!

What a week! I hope you all are enjoying the harvest! Please let us know if you have any comments. We love feedback. Please submit some recipes! Ill try to find my green tomatoe chutney and post it later tonight!

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

Upcoming events for your calendar:

School Starts: Sept 2!

Jubilee Farm and Huntington Valley Arts Festival- Sunday Sept 13

Shelburne Orchards Small Farm Food Festival- Sunday Sept 13

Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival- Sept 21

Hello folks!

Announcements: We hope that all of you will be coming to our Hoedown and Community Potluck. All CSA members and their families (neighbors and friends too!) are welcome. SUNDAY AUG. 23rd. Come tour the farm at 3 and do chores with us and 4pm the music will start and eating will commence. Bring a dish (made from the harvest of course!) and your own tableware, b.y.o.b. See you on Sunday!

PS Let us  know if you wish to be a volunteer for the cattle drive from 11-2. Mandatory training at 10:30.

On the Farm: We are still bringing in some of our second cut of hay with this nice weather all week. Exciting news for our poultry- Our 145 newer layer hens have started to lay eggs! We are collecting a few each day so soon we’ll be back in the swing of larger egg production. Also, we got 75 replacement turkey chicks because the first group had many deaths due to rickets. They are fairing well and the surviving 40 from the first group was moved out on pasture today! Our turkeys will remain organically certified- put in your reservation for one by the fall for Thanksgiving!

In the Garden: Yes, its true, the tomato crop is basically gone. The blight just took over. It all happened so fast. But the good news is we will share some of the few ripe ones and send home some green tomatoes for you to make chutney or fried green tomatoes! Maybe they will ripen on  your window sill!

The other good news is our melon crop looks plentiful!

Flowers are colorful- enjoy another PYO bouquet!

This weeks Harvest: A few tomatoes (savor them!), 1 huge head of white cauliflower (see 2 easy recipes below!), Eggplant (recipe below as well), Leeks! Yeah! Drumroll please…. melon! (Some may need to be on your counter for a few days) A nice variety of golden beets and a few chioggas. The standbys: cucumbers, patty pan, yellow and green zucchini, bunched chard or kale (maybe both last week was too much.?) and some basil. WOW! Enjoy.

Reminders: Bring back your glass jars for more syrup please. Bring Canvas bags and curb excessive use of  produce bags if possible. Thank you.

Recipes: No recipes for leeks, I’ll let you submit one! They are wonderful in egg dishes and in place of onions or in a soup!

Lighting Quick Cauliflower Curry

Yields: 4 cups
Serving size: 2 cups
Servings: 2 main-dishes or 4 side-dishes
Heat over medium heat in a large, heavy pot with lid:

• 2 Tbs. oil

When hot add:

• 1.5 tsp. dark mustard seeds

When the mustard seeds starts to pop (it should be just a few seconds), take the pan off the heat and stir in:

• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin, ground
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder

Meanwhile prepare the cauliflower and add to the pan:

• 1/2 head medium cauliflower (about 1.25? lbs after removing leaves and core), sliced
• 1/4 cup water

Stir to mix, then cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, adding more water if needed. Add and cook for 1 minute:

• 1 cup frozen peas

Shake on:

• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• a shake or two of crushed red pepper
• 1.5 Tbs. lemon juice

Stir in:

• 1 Tbs. tomato sauce or 1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes

Notes

The colors of the peas and tomatoes contrast beautifully with the golden cauliflower, and they add some sweetness.  The cauliflower is “sliced” into pieces rather than being broken into florets, because when you slice it you’ll cut through the cells, and the cauliflower will absorb the spices better.

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

4-inch segment of a thin day-old baguette
1 medium head of cauliflower, washed
extra-virgin olive oil
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh red chile pepper, minced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place racks in the middle.

Give the baguette a spin in a food processor until you have textured, not-too-fine bread crumbs.

Trim the cauliflower. Get rid of the big stalks and stems and strive for uniform, bite-sized little florets. Little trees.

In a big bowl toss the cauliflower with a few generous tablespoons of olive oil and the salt. Toss until the cauliflower is well coated and then place it in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. You are going to bake for about 25-30 minutes total.

There will be some residual olive oil in the big bowl you used to toss the cauliflower. If not, add another tablespoon or two. Add the bread crumbs, garlic, and chiles. Mix.

After the cauliflower has been baking for about 15-20 minutes anything in contact with the pan should be nicely browned. Pull the pan out of the oven, rotate each piece of cauliflower so that another side will get some color, and then sprinkle the entire pan with the breadcrumb mixture. Return the pan to the oven and finish with another ten minutes or so. The cauliflower should be tender throughout and the breadcrumbs nicely toasted. Serve immediately, it really isn’t half as delicious after it has been sitting on the counter getting cold.

Serves 4

- Puree the roasted cauliflower (and crumbs) with some broth and a splash of cream for an easy soup

Broiled Eggplant with Capers and Mint
Adapted from Epicurious

Makes 4 appetizer-size portions

1 pound thin Italian or Asian eggplants (2 to 3), cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped mint
2 tablespoons small capers, rinsed

Preheat broiler. Arrange eggplant in 1 layer on a large baking sheet and brush both sides with 2 tablespoons oil (total). Broil about 4 inches from heat, turning once, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes total.

Stir together vinegar, mint, capers, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 3 tablespoons oil and toss with warm eggplant. Marinate at least 20 minutes.

Marinated eggplant can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Help us bring our 55 cows and calves home and celebrate this years bountiful local harvest!  It’s all happening Sunday, August 23.  Read on for a schedule and details!

SCHEDULE:  Rain or Shine!

10:30 AM – Folks interested in helping us with the cattle drive will meet at Brewster-Pierce School parking lot for a short, but MANDATORY training session.  Bring clothing for the weather and conditions, comfortable and supportive walking shoes, and an ability and willingness to walk 5 miles at a cows pace (some of which is steep dirt road)!  Please leave dogs and all other animals at home.  We will have drinks and snacks in the wagon following behind the cows and the ability to pick up folks that lose steam.  Folks who miss the training session will not be able to participate!

11:00 AM – Cattle Drive! We will start the drive and move the cows from the field at School Rd, down a short piece of Camel’s Hump Road, and then proceed south on The Main Road to Carse Rd., which climbs steeply up to Maple Wind Farm.  We anticipate the entire drive to last approximately 2 ½  hours from start to finish.  Most participants will walk along the side of the road as human fence posts to prevent cows from entering roadside lawns, gardens or meadows.  We will also be looking for a few manure scrapers to clear the road as we go.

1:30 PM – Arrive at the farm and put cows safely into their home pasture.  We’ll shuttle participants back to their vehicles at Brewster-Pierce.

3:00 PM – Please join us for our Homecoming Hoedown and Community Potluck. All are welcome, and you do not have to participate in the cattle drive to come. Bring the kids, a dish to pass (made from local products we hope), your own table ware, and your dancing shoes.  We’ll provide meat tasters for all and some drinks but feel free to B.Y. O. B. Farm tours will be available and folks are welcome to explore the farm on their own (just watch the electric fence!).  Weather permitting, we’ll hold the celebration in our high pasture, overlooking the Huntington Valley.  Rain location will be in our large Arena Barn, the site of last years party.

4:00 PM – The band will start, and food is served!

5:30 – 7:30 PM – Thanks to all of you who’ve produced and supported local food… a few heartfelt acknowledgements.  Time to dance and celebrate! Bruce Hennessey will call some square dances and we may have a guest caller or two lead us in further revelry.  Dessert in honor of Maple Wind Farm’s 10^th year will be served.

Please let us know if you’ll be joining the cattle drive portion of the day by emailing us your RSVP.  Thanks and see you there!

Happy Trails, Beth, Bruce, Nate and the Maple Wind Crew.

Hello folks,

Just finished a 5 hour canning session with all the folks of Maple Wind Farm today! We made refridgerator pickles, dilly beans, canned pickles, beet relish and zucchini relish today. We were a well oiled canning machine- we were chopping, boiling, grating, spicing, canning… all told we put up more than 4 gallons of food into mason jars. Its time consuming but well worth it. Get together with a neighbor or another CSA member and do a group session, its more fun and tasks can be divided to make the job of canning easier for everyone.

Perfect segway… we have lots more cucumbers this week so think about your own pickle recipes if you have some time this week.

GARDEN NOTES: On a low note…Its official, we have blight on our tomatos and Im in the process of pulling out plants that are really bad and trying to salvage some tomatoes from ones that aren’t yet. The blight travelled over the corn and hit the potatoes (not bad) but enough to take precaution to brush hog the foliage to save the tubers. The blight only can live on a plant that is alive so by cutting the potato foliage we can can save the underground plants for a later harvest. We must wait 2-3 weeks for the skins to toughen up before doing any harvest, so there will be a delay in your next share of potatoes until it is save to bring them out of the ground. As for tomatoes, I hope we all get a few red ones this summer and I will most likely harvest green ones before I have to rip out plants so you might want to try making green tomato chutney or pickle them green(?). I hope your home tomatoes have faired better than mine!

So thats the bad news, the good news is that the rest of the garden looks great!

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Green Beans, Cucumbers(salad and picklers), Patty Pan Squash, Napa Cabbage, Onions, Cauliflour,Head Lettuce.  PYO flowers too!

Next week! Leeks and Golden Beets- yum.

ON THE FARM: A big milestone- our first cut of hay is officially done! This week, we took 6 more big pigs and 4 cows to the butcher. We moved our cow herd across route 2 to the North side of the Andrews Farm. The bulls are now in the pasture with the ladies and we have all our calves for 09!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Congratulations to our CSA Members, Kevin and Alex McAleer who are getting married this Saturday!

***Read the next farm posting on all the details on our Hoedown & Community Potluck on August 23rd. We hope many of our CSA members will be there!

REMINDERS: Please bring your canvas bags, conserve plastic produce bags or bring old ones back. Bring in your syrup jars. And do call me on my cell if you will be late or not picking up. (233-3862 Beth’s cell).

IN THE KITCHEN: Recipes below.

Napa Cabbage Picnic Salad Recipe

INGREDIENTS (you could substitute this weeks CSA green beans and red onions for peas and green onions)

2/3 cup slivered almonds
8 cups (1 lb) coarsely shredded napa cabbage
12 ounces snow peas, strings removed, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 1/3 cups thinly sliced radishes
1 1/3 cups thinly sliced green onions (including greens)
1 1/3 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves

Dressing ingredients
3 Tbsp rice vinegar (seasoned or unseasoned)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove peeled and minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 cup mayonnaise

METHOD

1 Spread almond slivers out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in a 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes, until nicely browned. OR toast in stick-free or cast-iron skillet on medium high, stirring frequently until browned. Set aside.

2 Combine cabbage, snow peas, radishes, green onions, cilantro in a large bowl. Can make this step a day or two ahead.

3 In a separate bowl, mix together the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, and cayenne until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the mayonnaise.

4 When ready to serve, gently combine the dressing and almonds with the cabbage mixture.

Serves 14-16.

Potato, Green Bean and Corn Salad

• 4 pounds small white boiling potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter)
• 5 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard
• cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste
• 1 pound haricots verts (thin French green beans) or regular green beans
• 6 ears corn

preparation

In a kettle cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches and simmer until just tender, about 25 minutes. Drain potatoes in a colander. When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, halve larger ones and in a large bowl toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons vinegar.

In a small bowl whisk together mustard, remaining 3 tablespoons vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Dressing may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring dressing to room temperature before using.

Trim beans and, working over a bowl, cut corn kernels from cobs. Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water cook beans until crisp-tender, about 1 minute for haricots verts or about 5 minutes for regular green beans, and transfer with a slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans well and add to potatoes. Return water in pan to a boil and blanch corn 30 seconds, or until crisp-tender. Drain corn in a sieve and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain corn well and add to salad. Salad may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before proceeding. Gently toss salad with dressing and salt and pepper to taste until combined well.

from Gourmet 1998

Hello folks,

Bleary eyed at 11pm I just realized I didnt write a posting yet. So forgive me, this one will be a short one.

Reminder: Tomorrow only….We have FRESH delicious chickens in the cooler just processed, so take one home for the grill. Just ask Beth! (Our crew rocked through 284 birds- we’ll have one more processing in September)

The garden is looking great. Thanks Nate, who worked with Herbie and Henry today cultivating and making many weeds dissapear! The team is really getting the hang of it! Not to mention the horse handlers.

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Head lettuce is back (took a week to grow bigger, sorry for none last week), More zucchini and cucumbers ( I hope you all are trying your hand at pickle making!), Green Beans, Eggplant, Patty Pan squash, Chiogga Beets, Onions, Orange Cauliflour, and French Fingerling potatoes.

There will be flowers again (thanks for following my signs and bouquet suggestion so everyone gets some)

Announcements: Please bring your bags, return syrup jars if you have them. Call me if you will be late -233-3862 is my cell on Thursdays.

Does anyone know of where the black handled scissors got to? Missing two weeks ago on the first flower cutting day….?

We’ll be at the Valley Stage Music Festival  in Huntington on Saturday from 12:30-7pm grilling up some hamburgers/sausages. I hope we see a few of you there enjoying some great music!!!! Weather looks to be nice! Tickets still available.

Now its time to sleep! See you tomorrow.

Say a prayer for no late blight issues.

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce