July 31 -2007

CSA Newsletter

July 31st 2007

'Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.'

Lou Erickson

Hello everyone. Hope you enjoyed the rain last week, pretty amazing storms
I thought.



The Harvest

· 1# salad mix

· ½# Brassica Mix (Bull’s Blood Beet Greens, Red Russian Kale, Swiss Chard)

· ¼# arugula

· ¼# basil

· 1 bunch beets

· 1 bunch turnips

· 1 bunch carrots

· 1 bunch scallions (either Evergreen Hardy White or Purple Bunching)

· Green Garlic (Wild Rocambole)

· Squash (either Caserta Zucchini or Black Beauty Zucchini)

· Tomatoes (Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Purple Russian, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Chadwick Cherry, Sungold Cherry)

· Eggplant (Turkish Orange or Listada de Gandia)

· Peppers (Jimmy Nardello’s Sweet Italian Frying Pepper)

· Cucumber

· Herbs (Cilantro, Dill, Thyme, or Mint)

· Edible Flowers

· Flower Bouquet

Not everyone will get peppers, squash, cucumbers edible flowers, flower bouquet or eggplant – but you’ll get some of them!

Let’s talk some more about turnips! Why, why should we be eating them?


The turnip was brought to America by Jacques Cartier, who planted it in Canada
in 1541. It was planted in Virginia by the colonists in 1609. The Indians adopted
its culture from the colonists and soon it grew everywhere. Since colonial times
the turnip has been one of the most common garden vegetables in America.

Pliny the Elder wrote that he considered turnips one of the most important vegetables
of his day, rating it “directly after cereals or at all events after the
bean, since its utility surpasses that of any plant.”

But most importantly, turnips contain potassium, iron, and are a good source
of vitamin C.

Green Garlic: Green Garlic means that the garlic has not cured yet. It is meant
for fresh eating not storage.

The News

I harvested all the garlic on Sunday. We grew 3 varieties of garlic this season
all hardneck varieties: Georgian Crystal, Wild Rocambole and Metechi Purple
Stripe. Hardneck varieties have a wider range of flavors – yes, different
garlic varieties have different flavors. For people who get into it, it can
be similar to wine, each variety with a different bouquet of flavors. More on
that later…

You will get just one bulb this week; the rest of the garlic has been hung in
Craig’s barn to cure. After about 3 weeks I will pull it down and clean
it, some will go to you all, but most will be kept to plant this fall for next
year’s crop. For the next few years I will be building our stock of garlic
seed, keeping the best cloves each year to re-plant. For any of you gardeners
out there who are not growing garlic, I would highly recommend it. Garlic is
a very gratifying crop to grow; first up in the spring, hardy, and stores well
into the winter.


Our t-shirts and bags are now for sale. If you’d like to purchase some
just give me a holler when you are picking up your vegetables.


**We are running short on flower containers, please bring them back this week
if you are storing any for us..

There are still a few families who have not signed our new contract. Please
sign one this week…or I will have to start mentioning names…
The Recipe

This week’s recipes come from some of you. After quite a few conversations
about recipes last week during CSA pick-up, I decided to send out some of the
great recipes I heard and/or tasted.

Heather’s Turnip Chips

· Peel turnips

· Slice thinly

· Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper

· Bake in oven until crispy

· Eat ‘um up!

Gavin’s Mashed Turnips and Potatoes

· Peel turnips

· Boil turnips and potatoes separately

· Drain water from both

· Combine in pot and mash with butter, salt, pepper, and milk

· ( I would steam some garlic and mash that in also)

Jolie’s Roasted Beets and Turnips

· Peel turnips (are you noticing a trend here)

· Cube beets and turnips

· Toss with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary

· Bake in oven until easily punctured by fork

· Serve as side dish or do as Pete does and put this concoction into
a tortilla with beans, cheese, etc for a little burrito action.

Alayne’s Greens Quiche

Ok, so the crust comes from Martha Steward Living, but the rest is from Alayne

The crust:

Pate Brisee (Pie Dough)

Pate brisee is the French version of classic pie or tart pastry. Pressing the
dough into a disc rather than shaping it into a ball allows it to chill faster.
This will also make the dough easier to roll out, and if you freeze it, it will
thaw more quickly.



INGREDIENTS

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

· 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon sugar

· 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces


· 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water


DIRECTIONS

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter,
and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed
tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful
not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together:
If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap
in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may
be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

A few handfuls of fresh Copper Moose greens (spinach, chard, beet greens

etc.) sauté with 2 minced garlic cloves and a small onion until wilted,


drain liquid and cool. When cool chop finely.

5 or 6 eggs beaten

1 cup of milk

fresh basil chopped

Pesto

Fresh Copper Moose tomatoes

Fresh Goats cheese, or Feta

Bake pie crust. When cool, spread pesto over bottom. Mix eggs- milk- spinach
mixture and cheese together with salt pepper basil and any other herbs that
you have on hand. Poor in prepared pie shell. Place sliced tomatoes on top
and maybe sprinkle with a bit more cheese. Bake at 350 for about 40
minutes, Enjoy!

Alrighty then, that’s it. See you soon,


Daisy