9-23-2008
CSA Newsletter
September 23rd, 2008
Agriculture cannot be an industrial process any more than music can be. It must be understood differently from stamping metal into that shape or mixing these chemicals and reagents to create that compound. The major workers – the soil microorganisms, the fungi, the mineral particles, the sun, the air, the water – are all parts of a system, and it is not just the employment of any one of them, but the coordination of the whole that achieves success.
Eliot Coleman from The New Organic Grower
The Harvest
1# salad mix
¼# arugula
1 bunch carrots
2# Potatoes
1 bunch herbs
Green Tomatoes
¾# Garlic
Not everyone will get:
Eggplant
Squash
Basil
Beets
Potatoes – La Ratte Fingerling potatoes. Prized by French Chefs as a top quality fingerling potato; long uniform tubers, yellow flesh with firm waxy texture and a nice nutty flavor, holds together very well. Especially good for potato salad or as a boiled potato. If you are a little overwhelmed with potatoes right now, remember: store them in a cool, dry, DARK place and they will keep for weeks and weeks.
Green Tomatoes – Now these truly are green tomatoes….not ripe. Yep, you got it, getting ready to pull the plants out. So, you will find a recipe at the bottom of the letter for fried green tomatoes and some relish. You can also put them in a paper bag and let them ripen.
Garlic – This week’s variety is Wild Rocambole. Fiery when eaten raw, yet with a very deep, rich, strong flavor. Considered one of the most flavorful garlic varieties. Yes, you are getting a lot of garlic right now, but remember: store it in a cool, dry, dark place and it will keep for months!
*This is a week full of lasts….this is the last time you will get: carrots, potatoes, beets, squash, and eggplant.
Things you have to look forward to next week are: storage onions, more baby spinach! And…aren’t the greens good right now? They really like this cool weather.
Becca’s Nutritional Tip
The ancient Greeks fed carrots to their horses to help improve the animal’s respiration. They also would prescribe carrot juice for indigestion, skin problems, and as an aphrodisiac. We now know that carrots are loaded with the phytonutrient carotenoid, which is a powerful antioxidant. While most vegetables lose some of their nutrients when cooked, carrots double their amount of carotenoids and other phytonutrients when cooked. So steam and sauté away!
The News
You will see some changes in the greenhouse this week. We are starting to pull some of the crops out to get ready for winter crops. The soil in some of the beds has settled quite a bit over the last year and a half, so we are bringing in more topsoil to fill them up again. A few chickens have been fenced in the newly empty beds to do some insect clean-up. I plan on leaving these beds empty for a week or two, and then get cover crops into them. I also plan on growing some garlic in the greenhouse this winter. All alliums are helpful in deterring insects. Most alliums (onions, garlic, shallots) are so aromatic that they confuse insects, make it so that the insects can’t find the food they were in here looking for.
There is one more crop out there that you haven’t gotten yet…..and have to look forward to: all of the storage onions (Valencia and Rossa Di Milano) are still in the field. I am ready to harvest them, but need the soil to dry out just a little first. You can look forward to those next week!
The Recipe
Fried Green Tomatoes
1 large egg veggie oil or shortening for frying
½ cup milk 3 large firm green tomatoes – sliced 1/8 to 1/4
½ cup cornmeal inch thick
¼ cup all-purpose flour salt
1. Mix the egg and milk together in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine the cornmeal and flour.
2. Heat about ½ inch oil or shortening in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Dip each tomato slice in the egg-milk mixture, then in the cornmeal-flour mixture. Place as many slices as will fit without crowding in the skillet and fry, not too fast, until brown on both sides, 3-4 minutes all together.
3. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with salt to taste, and serve right away.
Green Tomato Relish…if you’re into canning..
* I grabbed this from the web and was able to change the desired serving outcome so that you had enough tomatoes to make a batch. So…..you are not going to get 12 pint jars out of this amount as it says in the directions
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
• 6 large green tomatoes
• 3/4 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
• 3/4 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
• 3 large onions
• 2-1/4 teaspoons celery seed
• 2-1/4 teaspoons mustard seed
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• Add to Recipe Box
• Add to Shopping List
• Add a Personal Note
DIRECTIONS
This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 12 pints.
1. In a grinder or food processor, coarsely grind tomatoes, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and onions. (You may need to do this in batches.) Line a large colander with cheesecloth, place in sink or in a large bowl, and pour in tomato mixture to drain for 1 hour.
2. In a large, non-aluminum stockpot, combine tomato mixture, celery seed, mustard seed, salt, sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Sterilize enough jars and lids to hold relish (12 one-pint jars, or 6 one-quart jars). Pack relish into sterilized jars, making sure there are no spaces or air pockets. Fill jars all the way to top. Screw on lids.
4. Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with boiling water. Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.
5. Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Relish can be stored for up to a year.
That’s all for this week, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow - Daisy
September 23rd, 2008
Agriculture cannot be an industrial process any more than music can be. It must be understood differently from stamping metal into that shape or mixing these chemicals and reagents to create that compound. The major workers – the soil microorganisms, the fungi, the mineral particles, the sun, the air, the water – are all parts of a system, and it is not just the employment of any one of them, but the coordination of the whole that achieves success.
Eliot Coleman from The New Organic Grower
The Harvest
1# salad mix
¼# arugula
1 bunch carrots
2# Potatoes
1 bunch herbs
Green Tomatoes
¾# Garlic
Not everyone will get:
Eggplant
Squash
Basil
Beets
Potatoes – La Ratte Fingerling potatoes. Prized by French Chefs as a top quality fingerling potato; long uniform tubers, yellow flesh with firm waxy texture and a nice nutty flavor, holds together very well. Especially good for potato salad or as a boiled potato. If you are a little overwhelmed with potatoes right now, remember: store them in a cool, dry, DARK place and they will keep for weeks and weeks.
Green Tomatoes – Now these truly are green tomatoes….not ripe. Yep, you got it, getting ready to pull the plants out. So, you will find a recipe at the bottom of the letter for fried green tomatoes and some relish. You can also put them in a paper bag and let them ripen.
Garlic – This week’s variety is Wild Rocambole. Fiery when eaten raw, yet with a very deep, rich, strong flavor. Considered one of the most flavorful garlic varieties. Yes, you are getting a lot of garlic right now, but remember: store it in a cool, dry, dark place and it will keep for months!
*This is a week full of lasts….this is the last time you will get: carrots, potatoes, beets, squash, and eggplant.
Things you have to look forward to next week are: storage onions, more baby spinach! And…aren’t the greens good right now? They really like this cool weather.
Becca’s Nutritional Tip
The ancient Greeks fed carrots to their horses to help improve the animal’s respiration. They also would prescribe carrot juice for indigestion, skin problems, and as an aphrodisiac. We now know that carrots are loaded with the phytonutrient carotenoid, which is a powerful antioxidant. While most vegetables lose some of their nutrients when cooked, carrots double their amount of carotenoids and other phytonutrients when cooked. So steam and sauté away!
The News
You will see some changes in the greenhouse this week. We are starting to pull some of the crops out to get ready for winter crops. The soil in some of the beds has settled quite a bit over the last year and a half, so we are bringing in more topsoil to fill them up again. A few chickens have been fenced in the newly empty beds to do some insect clean-up. I plan on leaving these beds empty for a week or two, and then get cover crops into them. I also plan on growing some garlic in the greenhouse this winter. All alliums are helpful in deterring insects. Most alliums (onions, garlic, shallots) are so aromatic that they confuse insects, make it so that the insects can’t find the food they were in here looking for.
There is one more crop out there that you haven’t gotten yet…..and have to look forward to: all of the storage onions (Valencia and Rossa Di Milano) are still in the field. I am ready to harvest them, but need the soil to dry out just a little first. You can look forward to those next week!
The Recipe
Fried Green Tomatoes
1 large egg veggie oil or shortening for frying
½ cup milk 3 large firm green tomatoes – sliced 1/8 to 1/4
½ cup cornmeal inch thick
¼ cup all-purpose flour salt
1. Mix the egg and milk together in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine the cornmeal and flour.
2. Heat about ½ inch oil or shortening in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Dip each tomato slice in the egg-milk mixture, then in the cornmeal-flour mixture. Place as many slices as will fit without crowding in the skillet and fry, not too fast, until brown on both sides, 3-4 minutes all together.
3. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with salt to taste, and serve right away.
Green Tomato Relish…if you’re into canning..
* I grabbed this from the web and was able to change the desired serving outcome so that you had enough tomatoes to make a batch. So…..you are not going to get 12 pint jars out of this amount as it says in the directions
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
• 6 large green tomatoes
• 3/4 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
• 3/4 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
• 3 large onions
• 2-1/4 teaspoons celery seed
• 2-1/4 teaspoons mustard seed
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• Add to Recipe Box
• Add to Shopping List
• Add a Personal Note
DIRECTIONS
This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 12 pints.
1. In a grinder or food processor, coarsely grind tomatoes, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and onions. (You may need to do this in batches.) Line a large colander with cheesecloth, place in sink or in a large bowl, and pour in tomato mixture to drain for 1 hour.
2. In a large, non-aluminum stockpot, combine tomato mixture, celery seed, mustard seed, salt, sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Sterilize enough jars and lids to hold relish (12 one-pint jars, or 6 one-quart jars). Pack relish into sterilized jars, making sure there are no spaces or air pockets. Fill jars all the way to top. Screw on lids.
4. Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with boiling water. Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.
5. Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Relish can be stored for up to a year.
That’s all for this week, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow - Daisy
<< Home