Hello folks,

Well the leaves are a changin’…fast no less. I’m sure all of you are experiencing signs of fall- pumpkins are popping up at the grocery stores and roadside stands, talk of Halloween already (my kids have changed their minds about 5 times about what they want to be) and the crisp air temps. I’ve also enjoyed some sightings of turkey flocks in the fields near the garden and I saw a bull moose off route 2 one night on my way home. I love Vermont!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Thursday is FRESH Chicken Day! Think about taking one of our delicious chickens home and making a roast chicken this weekend with all the wonderful veggies! Leftovers make a great soup, of course! How can you go wrong! Thank you to Harold, Bea, Nate, Caitlin, Micheal, Ashley, Jason, Bruce and Natalia for a great chicken processing day- 182!

Don’t forget your canvas bags and try to use just a few produce bags when you come. Many of you reuse yours which is great! Thank you.

If you have a dearth of vegetables, I hope you can find a friend or neighbor to take them or you are experimenting with putting food up for the winter (canning or freezing).

Dean Menke will be bringing another round of baked goodies! Consider his winter CSB-yum!

SHARE THE HARVEST OCT 1-(CSA DAY! Pick up your veggies and head out to a participating restaurant-take a break from cooking) NOFA Vermont believes that all Vermonters should be able to eat local organic food, regardless of their income level, while also making sure farmers get a good wage for their hard work. NOFA Vermont’s Farm Share program is a great way that low-income Vermonters can afford to purchase CSA shares of fresh veggies from their local farmers. The program served over 1,400 people statewide this year and 50 Vermont farms participated. This year there has been more need for the program than ever before: demand for the program was more than we could financially support and we had to start a waiting list.

We would love your help making this important program even more successful. Tomorrow 83 restaurants and food stores will help “Share the Harvest” by donating a portion of their sales to the Farm Share program. We hope you’ll take this is as a great excuse to patronize one of these businesses tomorrow and support our low income neighbors and local farmers in the process. Please mention to your waiter that you’re there to help Share the Harvest!

Learn more about the Farm Share program, and find a complete list of participating restaurants at www.nofavt.org.

ON THE FARM: This week we took 8 pigs to the butcher and our first 9 lambs of the fall. If you are interested in a 1/2 pig for the winter in your freezer, please let us know by Monday! The next group of pigs wont be ready to go to the butcher until late December.

Speaking of pigs… we are proud owners of a new Berkshire Boar named Bigfoot. He comes to us from Addison, VT and will now be the new “BPOC -Big Pig on Campus!”

IN THE GARDEN: As the season winds down (we have 4 more weeks including this one) of our CSA program, it fun to see what comes from the garden as the seasons change. We’ve still got some wonderful vegetables that will grace your tables. Be creative!

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST: Delicata Squash (one of my personal favorites- eat it with the skin on!), Leeks, Potatoes, Onions, Carrots!, Peppers, one last BIG kh0lrabi, decorative gourds, Lettuce, Eggplant, Basil and perhaps something I’m not thinking of.

Its late and I’m all out of creativity to post recipes, bad excuse I know. I do love looking through cookbooks and on the web. Ill let you find a great recipe and encourage all of you to fwd me a link or a recipe I can post on next weeks newsletter.

Thanks for taking the time to read my musings.

Eat Well,

Beth

Hello folks,

Hopefully around  you are some hints of fall, crisper mornings (we did have some ice on the windshields a few mornings ago! brrr), foliage is turning, pumpkins and squash are on our minds. We have entered the gorgeous time of the year many of us love so much here in Vermont. Enjoy!

We had a busy and fun day at our first foray providing food at the Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival (110 beef kabobs, 100 pork kabobs, almost 200 pork sausages, 4 gallons of asian slaw and 6 gallons of potato leek soup!) Whew, we are glad that is behind us now.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: This IS NOT our fresh chicken pickup week. We have moved it to next week! If you are interested in a fresh chicken to roast or grill, mmmmmm! take one home next week!

CHEESE SHARE and BAKERY SHARE this week! yeah!

Please take home my sheet on STORAGE tips. Some folks are saying they have a bit extra each week and if properly stored, you can keep it for longer and it wont go bad. I suggest freezing. Its easy, not as time consuming as canning and you will have some Maple Wind Farm goodies this winter and wont have to buy as much at the store!

ON THE FARM: Its time to get into the woods and bring out some logs for splitting and to replentish the sugar shack wood for next spring. Bruce and the guys will be up in the woods this week with the horses adding to our growing pile of wood in the field. We need about 15 cords of wood for the farm/the house and the yurts for the winter. Who splits it all you ask? We’ve started to “buck” the wood (cut the limbed trees into 14″ lengths) so that we can use our log splitter and in October we’ll be working with a few crews of young people from the  VYCC coming to help split the wood as part of our partnership with that organization. Speaking of VYCC, if you are driving along route 2, look at the VYCC fields across from the camel and you will see our herd of cows grazing on the delicious clover that has come up. They will be there for a few weeks rotating those fields.

IN THE GARDEN: The garden is making its change over to fall crops nicely. We are getting the winter squash off the vines for some field curing this week. When we do get a frost on the garden in Richmond, its going to improve the taste of the carrots and parsnips as well as the brussell sprouts (so look forward to those!)

Ill take a CSA Members advice and try a trade area this week. If you have something in your share  you will not use, please place it in the trade area and take something you will use from someone else!

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Most likely the last corn (boo hoo), Red Norland Potatoes, Onions, Beets, Peppers, Braising Greens, Cabbage (choice of red or green), Basil, perhaps a winter squash and brussel sprouts! 

IN THE KITCHEN:

Brussel Sprouts

Most Americans who do not like Brussels sprouts are haunted by childhood memories of smelly, army green, bitter, mushy globs that had to be eaten before dessert. Fresh Brussels sprouts, properly cooked, are deliciously delicate in flavor. Maybe it is time to give Brussels sprouts another chance, this time with a new attitude and a modern cooking spirit.

Like cabbage and cabbage sprouts, Brussels sprouts are a cool weather crop. They should be harvested when the sprouts are small, compact and bright green. Avoid yellowing sprouts with signs of wilt rot or insect damage. Harvest sprouts when they are no larger than 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

The fresher the sprouts, the better the flavor, so refrigerator storage should not exceed a day or two. Remove any damaged or irregular outer leaves and store fresh unwashed sprouts in plastic bags in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator.

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside.

Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night – delicious!

24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Serves 4.

Hubbard Squash

3 lbs. Hubbard squash
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. maple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans

Cut squash into pieces. Pare and remove seeds and fibers. Cook, covered, in boiling water until tender. Drain and mash well. Beat in butter, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with pecan

Reprinted from Cooks.com

Steamed Kabocha Squash
1 (2- to 2 1/2-pound) kabocha squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring 8-quart pot of water to boil. Add squash and boil, uncovered, 2 1/2 minutes. Using tongs, flip squash over, then boil 2 1/2 minutes more. Drain and let cool.

When squash is cool enough to handle, cut off top and bottom and remove skin with paring knife. Cut squash in half crosswise, scoop out seeds, and cut flesh into 1-inch chunks.

In medium bowl, stir together squash, olive oil, honey, ginger, and salt. Transfer to steamer set over boiling water and steam until tender, about 15 minutes. Spoon onto large plate and serve.

Hello Folks!

How quickly the past week has flown by. We had a busy and wonderful last weekend with two fantastic events- the Huntington Valley Arts Festival and the Shelburne Orchards Small Farms Food Fest! This Saturday, we will be at the  Energy Fair and Harvest Festival at Shelburne Farms where you can find us cooking up some of our delicious pork sausages, potato leek and kale soup in addition to Maple Wind Farm pork and beef kabobs (Bruce and Bryn mixed up tasty marinades today).

ON THE FARM: One of our sows gave birth on Friday to 11 piglets! Doing chores the last few days Ive been marvelling at the beauty of our pastures when many of our animal groups are in the same pasture just above the farmhouse. Standing in the parking lot, I can see our ram lambs, sows and piglets, cows and calves, 250 broiler chickens and our turkey flock.

CSA ANNOUNCEMENTS: Next week we will provide your third pint of maple syrup. PLEASE return your jar if you havent already. Thank you.

Looking ahead one week, we will be processing our last group of chickens and they will be ready for Thursday pickup at the Andrews Barn. If you would like to pick up any at that time, you are welcome to. Any CSA poultry members (prepaid) will receive their final two birds. Spread the word to your friends and neighbors! They are welcome to pick up there too between 3-6pm. Cash or check at the time of pickup.

IN THE GARDEN: Just today, we put in some lettuce and storage beet transplants! Three cheers for the bit of rain we got night before last! I swear the fall broccoli looks like it doubled in size since I last saw it. I think the fake owl that I put in the corn patch has really curbed the crow predation. We will be enjoying corn for at least another week. Next week we’ll be taking the winter squash out of the garden to begin the curing process which means you will start to see them in upcoming weeks.

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Corn, Potatoes (your choice of several varieties), Tomatillos, Kale, Leeks,  Peppers, Salad Cucumbers, Summer squash, Garlic, Basil (Pesto time again!) and loose Lettuce Greens. ENJOY!!!

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

IN THE KITCHEN:  Ideas….

Potato Leek and Kale Soup (add Maple Wind Farm sausage – yum!)

Tomatillo Salsa (my simple recipe includes the following; onions, jalepenos, cilantro, lemon, salt and pepper) Place husked tomatillos on a cookie sheet and roast them turning over when slightly browned. You can also put a few sliced onions on the sheet. When the tomatillos are  soupy, you can put them into a blender with the cilantro, salt and pepper, some lemon juice and jalepeno to taste.

Hello folks,

What a start to fall! Up here at Maple Wind I see a few trees turning red and its certainly fun to see all the wild apple trees flush with apples! Time to get the cider press out soon!

BIG WEEKEND of FUN EVENTS! This Sunday- Shelburne Orchards Small Farm Food Festival AND Huntington Valley Arts Festival at Jubilee Farm in Huntington. Both events are 11-5. Clone yourself and come to both! We’ll be at both serving up hamburgers and sausages!

Back door Bakery CSA members please take note: I seemed to have misplaced Dean’s list of bakery shareholders (oops sorry Dean!) from last week. PLEASE let me know at the pickup that you signed up. A few folks did not pay yet- we dont have duplicate records of this so I assume you know who you are who owe Dean money. (Reg share $18 and Family $30) GREAT BAGELS last week!

This week cheese members will recieve 2 tubs of the delicious Danz Ahn Farm Feta cheese!

IN THE GARDEN: Ive been in denial about irrigation but when I look at the weather outlook, it would seem prudent to turn on some drip for a few of the newer transplants. The fall  broccoli I put in last week is doing very well given the dryness. I am seeing the end of the melon crop and the zucchini/patty pans but I am excited by the pumpkins turning orange and seeing all the winter squash under the browning foliage.

The crows have been having a feast in the corn patch so I got a fake battery operated owl that its head turns around upon sensing movement. I mounted it up on a cedar post along with some silver aluminum pie tins swaying in the wind on the ends of other posts to scare the crows away- we’ll see if this helps. Cross your fingers!

THIS WEEK’s HARVEST: Looking good! Red Cabbage, Freshly dug potatoes! Thanks to Herbie and Henry our draft horses. Ratatouille makings minus the tomatoes: Eggplant, Onion, Peppers (galore), Summer squash, Turnips, Golden Beets, Mizuna (Asian greens a bit like mustard), Corn!, there may be some surprises I just cant hold back,  did I mention Corn! yeah!

Pickyourown green beans (final week) sorry for the extra weeds in there. Flowers too! Dont forget to take home some herbs too! Basil is plentiful as is the parsley and sage!

If anyone is interested in a fresh chicken (or more) for the Thursday pickup on September 24th, email me or just let me know then and we’ll have plenty to sell. Its the week of our final poultry processing for the summer. In November, we’ll do our turkeys (Its not too early to reserve one for Thanksgiving!)

Please return you ball jars if you still have them. I think we’ll have the next syrup coming up next week or the week after. Thank you.

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

IN THE KITCHEN: Can you say “Roasted Vegetables” mmmmm! Olive oil, salt, pepper.

Hello folks,

What a gorgeous week! Our kids just started school today…kind of bittersweet actually. Now we have two full day school age children. Our daughter, Bryn, just started Kindergarden! Wow how time flies!  David is in second grade and went to school today like it was no big deal, deep down I think he’s excited for the friends and structure. We’ve had a great summer as I hope all of you have had. Getting us all out of the house early is going to get some getting used to for sure.

ON THE FARM: We are bringing in some second cut hay on our leased fields as well as trucking back some purchased hay from a few sources- thanks Nate for doing the driving duty lately! All the animals are doing well, we are just about to combine the turkey chicks (the second batch) with the first group out on pasture. We have one mamma pig that is about to farrow (have babies) and we have two new horses we are boarding on the farm.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Its BACK! We are picking up Maple Wind Farm SUMMER SAUSAGE at Vermont Smoke and Cure in time for this weekends farmers markets!!!  Made with our grass fed beef and pasture raised pork, its a 7 oz tube of delicous picnic ready precooked sausage. YUM! (Think stocking stuffer!)

IN THE GARDEN: September- what a harvest month! New vegetables are coming ready, I hope you enjoy them.  You many even get some vegetables you have never had or considered buying in the store… have fun. Try something new! Id love  your feedback.

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST: New: Sweet C0rn! Tomatillos (makes great salsa verde-its so so easy!) Kohlrabi (see more info below) and Collards. Also in the share- melon, leeks, cauliflower, eggplant, basil, Onion/Jalapeno (for the salsa!), Beets and perhaps a few surprises. Flowers are still blooming!

PS. Make sure to carve out a few extra minutes at pickup time to PYO green beans!!! We have 2 rows of pole beans and they are just right for picking! You’ll find them just beyond the flowers at the Andrews Farm.

PPS. I have pruned back the herbs that got the paint on them and I feel that if you would like to PYO herbs again, please do. Cut carefully as your own risk. I think many herbs are fine!

VEGETABLE INFO/RECIPES:  Have you ever eaten a kohlrabi? These little sputnik-shaped vegetables come in green or purple, can be eaten raw or cooked, and taste a lot like broccoli stems. The word kohlrabi is German for cabbage turnip (kohl as in cole-slaw, and rübe for turnip) though kohlrabi is more related to cabbage and cauliflower than to root vegetables. We usually eat them raw, just peeled, sliced and added to a salad, but they are also delicious cooked and are often used in Indian cuisine.

check out some recipes

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kohlrabi/

Tomatillos: I guess late blight doesnt like our Tomatillos thankfully. They make wonderful Salsa Verde (spicy or not) and it goes great with Pork or on eggs.

Collards: Storage. Store unwashed collard greens in a damp paper towel in a plastic bag. They should be placed in the refrigerator crisper where they will keep for three to five days, but the sooner they are eaten, the less bitter they will be.

Tips for Preparing Collard Greens

Collard greens should be washed very well since the leaves and stems tend to collect sand and soil. Before washing, trim off the roots and separate the leaves. Place the collard greens in a large bowl of tepid water and swish them around with your hands, as this will allow the sand to become dislodged. Remove the leaves from the water, empty the bowl, refill with clean water, and repeat this process until no dirt remains in the water (usually two to three times will do the trick).

If your recipe calls for leaves only or if the stems are overly thick, they can be easily removed. Just take each leaf in hand, fold it in half lengthwise, hold the folded leaves near the base where they meet the stalk, and with the other hand, gently pull on the stem. You can also use a knife to separate the leaves from the stems.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

Drizzle cooked collard greens with olive oil and lemon juice.

Serve steamed collard greens with black-eyed peas and brown rice for a Southern inspired meal.

Use lightly steamed, cooled and chopped collard greens as a filling in your sushi vegetable rolls.

Healthy sauté collard greens with tofu, garlic and crushed chili peppers for a meal that will definitely add spice to your life.

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