Hi All,
Sorry I have not been able to get a newsletter out recently. Life has been exceptionally busy and there just haven't been enough hours in the day. I am sure many of you can relate.
The end of the summer seems to stack up with all sorts of activities whether it is vacations, family visiting, gearing up for the start of school or special events. For us, we were gifted with a visit from Willy's side of the family for the last week or so. Whenever family comes to visit during the summer months, they know to expect to spend a bit of their time working at the farm. Fortunately, Willy's mom is an amazing weeder. She and Willy's sister tackled the final weeding of the onions and made a significant dent in that project. We also spent a lot of time cooking some great family dinners and enjoying the bounty that August offers up. Our niece and nephew got to experience their first real wildfire (yay?!) and got to run around in the woods, enjoy a little paddle boarding on the Wenatchee River and the thrill of finding that perfect Leavenworth, WA. t-shirt to take back home to Wisconsin. All told, it was a good visit.
We also spent a lot of time preparing for and hosting our first ever farm dinner. The LCFM fundraising Farm-To-Table dinner was amazing. Good food, good wine, great people and a perfect August evening. I was happy to host but also happy to get it over with as I was feeling a little bit stressed over having so many people in fancy clothes walking through the farm. A big Thank You to everyone who helped us mow, weed whip, hang lights and clean up the joint. I wish it could look this good all the time :-)
So, no newsletter for the last two weeks but hopefully my excuses are good enough for you to forgive me.
It looks like the weather is going to flip for a little while now. We are keeping tabs on the nightly minimums since this is really what is going to affect the CSA. For a moment, the forecast was predicting some pretty cold nights (in the 30's) which is a big no bueno for this time of year although very normal. However, as of today, it is looking a little better with predicted lows in the 40's...much more civilized. If you haven't made pesto yet, do it soon. The first thing to go when the weather starts cooling off is the basil. If you need extra, let us know. Bulk is available for purchase at a reasonable price.
Hopefully you figured out that there were Kohlrabi in your box last week. If you haven't ever tried one before, they are pretty yummy. Peel off the outer skin and eat them raw with dip or hummus. They also make a great coleslaw or can be roasted with other veggies.
Same goes for the Daikon Radishes. They are purple all the way through which makes them lovely in a salad. But they are also great cooked and can be roasted or stir fried in slices or chunks.
And, I hope you enjoyed the head lettuce. That is one of my favorite varieties as it has so many beautiful colors and is a lovely texture.
For today, I am going to make my best guess at what are in the boxes and may modify the list as the day goes on. For now, the following are what are planned for the boxes.....
We started to harvest a new bed of beans and the current plan is to put some into the boxes. Woohoo!
In Your Share This Week:
Kale/Collards/Chard, Pak Choi, Carrots, Potatoes, Kohlrabi, Garlic, Sweet Onion, Tomato, Zucchini/Patipan, Cucumber, Basil/Dill, Eggplant and probably a few surprises (Beans?!)
Recipes:
Ratatouille
10 Easy Zucchini Recipes- I included this link because it had some ideas I haven't come across before. However, don't click on any of the side bars...lots of ads and I can't vouch for the validity of their content.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
CSA 2016 Week #9 Half Way
Hello Everyone,
We made it to the 1/2 way point of the season. This is the time of year when everything starts to get heavier. Potatoes, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers...etc...
Willy dug the very first of the potatoes yesterday and we will be putting them in the boxes today. I hope you enjoy them. They are delicious. I think my favorite way to eat potatoes is to lightly fry them in oil (who doesn't like things fried in oil!) but they also make good bakers and roasters as well. We leave potatoes dirty since they keep much better this way.
We are also starting to dole out the first of the sweet onions. I live for sweet onion and tomato sandwiches. It is my go-to lunch of choice in the summer time. Sweet onions don't store as long as other varieties so you will want to eat them in the near future (like the next month). We will start giving you storage varieties closer to the end of the season that are appropriate for long term holding.
And you probably noticed that we are starting to harvest tomatoes. I didn't think there would be enough for the boxes when I wrote last week's newsletter. Imagine my surprise when I went to harvest and started filling flat after flat. Amazing. What a gift, especially since we are STILL waiting for the cherry tomatoes to produce (very unusual to have large tomatoes first).
I hope you enjoyed the beans over the last three weeks. We are going to take the week off from beans and will probably come back to them again one more time before the season is over. We are transitioning from one planting into the next and should start harvesting from the new beds in the next week or so.
Lots of eggplant this time of year. Some of you probably don't love eggplant. I am sorry about that. Our family happens to love it. If eggplant isn't your favorite, it can always be blanched and frozen in vacuum seal bags and stored for winter when it makes a very great addition to soup when pureed and used with tomatoes as a base. You won't even taste it but the soup will be thicker and heartier. For now, I have included a few recipes that will hopefully get you excited to eat these true summer beauties.
For those of you with extra time on your hands, Laura will be on vacation starting this Wednesday and running through next Thursday. If you feel like spending an hour or two at the farm during that time to help with harvest etc,,, we will gladly compensate you with some extra produce. I can't speak highly enough of Laura and how much we appreciate all she does at the farm (and beyond!).
Other than that, one last reminder that there is still time to purchase tickets for the Farm to Table dinner on Tuesday August 23rd. Everything, including the food, service and wine, is being donated for this event so all proceeds benefit the Leavenworth Community Farmers Market. This has been a big project for our small dedicated board and we are all anticipating a great evening of good food.
That's it for now. Have a great week and enjoy these last couple weeks of 'official' summer.
In Your Share This Week:
Eggplant, Zucchini, Tomato, Potatoes, Garlic, Sweet Onion, Radishes, Chard, Cucumber, Beets or Carrots, Basil?, and probably some other good stuff.
Recipes:
15 Easy Eggplant Recipes
Easy Eggplant Parmesan
How to Freeze Eggplant- The graphics are coarse on this page, but this is exactly how to do it.
We made it to the 1/2 way point of the season. This is the time of year when everything starts to get heavier. Potatoes, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers...etc...
Willy dug the very first of the potatoes yesterday and we will be putting them in the boxes today. I hope you enjoy them. They are delicious. I think my favorite way to eat potatoes is to lightly fry them in oil (who doesn't like things fried in oil!) but they also make good bakers and roasters as well. We leave potatoes dirty since they keep much better this way.
We are also starting to dole out the first of the sweet onions. I live for sweet onion and tomato sandwiches. It is my go-to lunch of choice in the summer time. Sweet onions don't store as long as other varieties so you will want to eat them in the near future (like the next month). We will start giving you storage varieties closer to the end of the season that are appropriate for long term holding.
And you probably noticed that we are starting to harvest tomatoes. I didn't think there would be enough for the boxes when I wrote last week's newsletter. Imagine my surprise when I went to harvest and started filling flat after flat. Amazing. What a gift, especially since we are STILL waiting for the cherry tomatoes to produce (very unusual to have large tomatoes first).
I hope you enjoyed the beans over the last three weeks. We are going to take the week off from beans and will probably come back to them again one more time before the season is over. We are transitioning from one planting into the next and should start harvesting from the new beds in the next week or so.
Lots of eggplant this time of year. Some of you probably don't love eggplant. I am sorry about that. Our family happens to love it. If eggplant isn't your favorite, it can always be blanched and frozen in vacuum seal bags and stored for winter when it makes a very great addition to soup when pureed and used with tomatoes as a base. You won't even taste it but the soup will be thicker and heartier. For now, I have included a few recipes that will hopefully get you excited to eat these true summer beauties.
For those of you with extra time on your hands, Laura will be on vacation starting this Wednesday and running through next Thursday. If you feel like spending an hour or two at the farm during that time to help with harvest etc,,, we will gladly compensate you with some extra produce. I can't speak highly enough of Laura and how much we appreciate all she does at the farm (and beyond!).
Other than that, one last reminder that there is still time to purchase tickets for the Farm to Table dinner on Tuesday August 23rd. Everything, including the food, service and wine, is being donated for this event so all proceeds benefit the Leavenworth Community Farmers Market. This has been a big project for our small dedicated board and we are all anticipating a great evening of good food.
That's it for now. Have a great week and enjoy these last couple weeks of 'official' summer.
In Your Share This Week:
Eggplant, Zucchini, Tomato, Potatoes, Garlic, Sweet Onion, Radishes, Chard, Cucumber, Beets or Carrots, Basil?, and probably some other good stuff.
Recipes:
15 Easy Eggplant Recipes
Easy Eggplant Parmesan
How to Freeze Eggplant- The graphics are coarse on this page, but this is exactly how to do it.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
2016 CSA Week #8 Some of the good stuff
Good Morning Everyone!
Sorry to have missed the newsletter last week. I usually miss about one a season due to a lack of time. I guess last week was it.
This week is going to be great. We are finally (finally!) transitioning into the quintessential crops of summertime. There are about a hundred eggplant that are ready to harvest, the cucumbers are starting to pile up and we started pulling some of the sweet onions. Tomatoes are starting to ripen although there won't be enough for the boxes this week. And finally, Willy started to sneak just a few potatoes to see how they are coming along. It will still be a little while before they make it into the boxes but it was good to see that there are actually some potatoes living underneath those rows of plants out in the field....sometimes you wonder....
It is the peak of bean season right now. That little bit of heat we had really pushed them and they are coming off the plants by the handful. Enjoy them while you can. I like to freeze a few for wintertime but lately I have been eating them sauteed with fresh onion, garlic and some finely chopped zucchini...YUM!
The farm-to-table dinner is coming up quick. We are doing our best to plan ahead for the big night. This will be the first time we have ever hosted this type of dinner and it is filling my stomach with butterflies. The food and wine will be excellent and hopefully, the farm will look its best.
Not much else to report. Still weeding, seeding and harvesting. We are definitely keeping an eye on the weather and I for one am curious to see what type of fall we end up with. All told, this summer has been like no other (they never really are the same!).
Have a great rest of the week!
In Your Share This Week:
Beans, Onion, Garlic, Zucchini, Cucumber, Eggplant, Cilantro, Kale, and probably a few other surprises. We are taking a week off from carrots and beets.
Recipes:
Buttery Garlic Green Beans
Zucchini Kale Pesto Pasta
Sorry to have missed the newsletter last week. I usually miss about one a season due to a lack of time. I guess last week was it.
This week is going to be great. We are finally (finally!) transitioning into the quintessential crops of summertime. There are about a hundred eggplant that are ready to harvest, the cucumbers are starting to pile up and we started pulling some of the sweet onions. Tomatoes are starting to ripen although there won't be enough for the boxes this week. And finally, Willy started to sneak just a few potatoes to see how they are coming along. It will still be a little while before they make it into the boxes but it was good to see that there are actually some potatoes living underneath those rows of plants out in the field....sometimes you wonder....
It is the peak of bean season right now. That little bit of heat we had really pushed them and they are coming off the plants by the handful. Enjoy them while you can. I like to freeze a few for wintertime but lately I have been eating them sauteed with fresh onion, garlic and some finely chopped zucchini...YUM!
The farm-to-table dinner is coming up quick. We are doing our best to plan ahead for the big night. This will be the first time we have ever hosted this type of dinner and it is filling my stomach with butterflies. The food and wine will be excellent and hopefully, the farm will look its best.
Not much else to report. Still weeding, seeding and harvesting. We are definitely keeping an eye on the weather and I for one am curious to see what type of fall we end up with. All told, this summer has been like no other (they never really are the same!).
Have a great rest of the week!
In Your Share This Week:
Beans, Onion, Garlic, Zucchini, Cucumber, Eggplant, Cilantro, Kale, and probably a few other surprises. We are taking a week off from carrots and beets.
Recipes:
Buttery Garlic Green Beans
Zucchini Kale Pesto Pasta
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