Copper Moose Farm Newsletter

10/06/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:39:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
October 6, 2009

A garden is the place millions of people go to touch the earth, to smell the flowers – to use some of that fabled human brainpower in the cause of better participating with natural processes in the place they call home. If serves as an art project, an organic produce market, a spiritual practice, a pharmacy. It offers ongoing lessons in ecology, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology. Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time.
Jim Nollman Why We Garden (p.2)

This will be the last week of the 2009 CSA.

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
½# spinach
Onions (Rossa Di Milano, Redwing, Mustang (white), Lisbon White)
Wild Rocambole Garlic
Your cotton bags
Not everyone will get all of the following: (making it all even…..)
2 oz basil
4 oz arugula
Radish bunch

Salad Mix – It got cold! The salad is a little hammered from the cold temps. What does that mean? It means it is not going to store as long as it normally would.
Onions – the onions come to you not fully cured…..which shouldn’t affect much. I am not sure they will store until April at this point, but it’s not like you’re getting a 10# bag, so I imagine eating them up in the next few weeks won’t be a problem. Enjoy!
Your cotton bags – You guys bought them, so here they are. Hopefully you will find them useful this winter while shopping at the grocery store, might as well continue to reduce your plastic bag usage. If you loose some over the winter, you will have to buy new ones for next year’s CSA (I will facilitate that).

Nutrition Tip (from Becca this week)
Garlic: Ancient Egyptians were the first known culture to cultivate garlic and since its first days of cultivation it has been used for medicinal purposes. Only recently, has research begun to support all of the amazing health claims of this allium. The sulfur containing compounds – allicin, alliin, and dithiins – which are responsible for garlic’s odor, have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral qualities. Garlic is also an excellent source of manganese, B6, C, and selenium – nutrients that support cardiovascular health. Use garlic to spice any dish or roast on its own and serve with your favorite bread and cheese.

The News
Well, the big news is that it’s the end of the 2009 season for us. It flew by! As it always does I guess…and, as usual, it was a pleasure to see you all each week. It’s always weird saying goodbye to many of you until next season but hopefully we’ll see lots of you out on the slopes!
What will be going on here this winter? Eggs - We will have eggs available for sale this winter. The set up will be the same as last winter: we will be selling eggs on Wednesdays. There will be a little fridge set up at the back of the main greenhouse, right next to the red sliding doors. The money jar will be on top of the little fridge – make change for yourself as always.
Salad Greens – I hope to have a couple harvests of salad greens this winter. I will send out an email when I have greens available for sale. They will be on a Wednesdays as well.
There are still a couple sides of beef available, let me know if you are interested.
We will be doing sign up in the spring again. I will send out an email around mid February inviting you all to join the CSA for 2010. I will hold your spot for 2 weeks – if I have not heard from you after 2 weeks I will open your spot up to the waitlist. If you know you are going to be out of town during that time, you may want to shoot me an email at the beginning of Feb letting me know you are interested in 2010. I also tend to call anyone I haven’t heard from, just to make sure you did get the email.

I want to send out a big thank you to Craig, Lorin, and our volunteers (Inge, Rob, Alisha, Brad, Rebecca and Becca) for a fabulous season. You all had to pull more weight this year because of me…..and I really appreciate it. This year would not have gone as smoothly as it did without you all! It was a PLEASURE to work with you, and I’m looking forward to doing it again next year.
Craig – you keep this place from falling to pieces. I don’t know how you do all that you do! I am so grateful for all of your talents. Thanks for your help all the time.
Lorin – you completely stepped up to the plate this year…..and it was a bigger plate than normal! You carried heavy things that my pregnant body couldn’t carry, you remembered things that my pregnant brain forgot, and you held down the fort while I enjoyed my newborn. Thank you for your hard work, attention to detail, and your care for all the living things around here.
John and Kristi – thank you for making this all possible. This is a dream job for me and working for you is fabulous! It’s a pleasure and I am grateful for the opportunity. I look forward to the challenges and success ahead!

And to you, our CSA – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you make this community the fabulous community that it is! Thank you for being a part of it! I love to hear what you are doing with your vegetables, I love to see your kids each week, and I love to catch up with you each week. We all will miss seeing you around here this winter, and look forward to next spring!

The Recipe
What else could it be?? FRENCH ONION SOUP!
Ingredients
5 sweet onions (like Vidalias) or a combination of sweet and red onions (about 4 pounds)
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white wine
10 ounces canned beef consume
10 ounces chicken broth
10 ounces apple cider (unfiltered is best)
Bouquet garni; thyme sprigs, bay leaf and parsley tied together with kitchen string
1 loaf country style bread
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Splash of Cognac (optional)
1 cup Fontina or Gruyere cheese , grated
Directions
Trim the ends off each onion then halve lengthwise. Remove peel and finely slice into half moon shapes. Set electric skillet to 300 degrees and add butter. Once butter has melted add a layer of onions and sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat layering onions and salt until all onions are in the skillet. Do not try stirring until onions have sweated down for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, stir occasionally until onions are dark mahogany and reduced to approximately 2 cups. This should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not worry about burning.
Add enough wine to cover the onions and turn heat to high, reducing the wine to a syrup consistency. Add consume, chicken broth, apple cider and bouquet garni. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Place oven rack in top 1/3 of oven and heat broiler.
Cut country bread in rounds large enough to fit mouth of oven safe soup crocks. Place the slices on a baking sheet and place under broiler for 1 minute.
Season soup mixture with salt, pepper and cognac. Remove bouquet garni and ladle soup into crocks leaving one inch to the lip. Place bread round, toasted side down, on top of soup and top with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

That’s all for this week, and for the year! Keep in touch – I’ll be around. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

9/15/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:45:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
September 15, 2009

History celebrated the battle-fields where on we meet our death, but scorns to speak of the ploughed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of the king’s bastards, but cannot tell the origin of wheat. That is the way of human folly.
J.H. Fabre, The Wonders of Instinct

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
½# spinach or stir fry (we’re slowly getting ya’ll the spinach….)
¼# arugula
1.5 oz basil
1 bunch carrots
Squash
Pepper (hot, sweet or mild)
1 bunch herbs
Potatoes (you might get All-Blue, All-Red, German Butterball, Fingerling,
Yukon Gold or a mix)
2 bulbs Garlic
Not everyone will get all of the following:
Tomatoes –check the board
U-Pick – check the board
Edible flowers
Eggplant
Radish (it’s time for radish again!)
Cabbage

- Garlic and Potatoes will be around the sinks somewhere – don’t forget them!!
- The arugula is pretty wet this week because of yesterday’s rain. I would recommend giving it a good dry before you put it away.

Nutrition Tip (from Becca this week)
Thyme: Thyme has been used for many centuries in folk remedies for respiratory ailments, as a mouthwash, and in antimicrobial topical ointments. Current studies show that thyme has an abundance of volatile oils -specifically thymol, which supports healthy functioning of brain, kidney, and heart cell membranes. These oils are also high in antimicrobial activity. Other current studies reveal a high percentage of flavonoids (antioxidants), as well as significant amounts of manganese, iron, calcium, and dietary fiber. Thyme has been used in food preservation techniques because of its antimicrobial qualities. These qualities also seem to decontaminate foods as well – making a vinaigrette with you thyme will not only boost your own health, but will also ensure clean food. Thyme is a great add to beans, eggs, and vegetable dishes.

The News
We’ll be pulling out most of the peppers and eggplant this week. It’s time to start getting this greenhouse ready for the next production season (winter greens). We have to start now because I also have to get some cover crops into these beds as well – lot’s to grow and not enough time! I know many of you did not get an eggplant this year….I join you in that. The aphids this spring really put a damper on our eggplant crop. I hope we do better with eggplant next year. These are probably the last peppers you can expect for the season as well.

The Recipe
Stuffed zucchini recipe with bread crumbs and seasonings.
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
· 2 medium zucchini, about 1 pound
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 1 clove garlic, minced
· 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
· 2 cups soft bread cubes
· 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
· salt and pepper
Preparation:
Wash zucchini; cook whole in a small amount of boiling water for about 8 minutes. Drain and cut into halves lengthwise. Scoop out pulp; chop. Melt butter in a heavy skillet, sauté garlic and onion for a minute, or until onion is tender; stir in chopped zucchini pulp, bread cubes, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Stuff zucchini with bread mixture. Place zucchini in a greased baking dish and bake at 350° for 20 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.Recipe for stuffed zucchini serves 4.

Cheese and Chives Potato Casserole
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
· 4 cups cubed potatoes
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 cup milk
· 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
· 1 tablespoon chopped chives
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon pepper
· 1 clove garlic
· paprika
· chopped chives for garnish(optional)
Preparation:
Cook potatoes with 1 teaspoon salt in boiling water to cover 15 minutes or until tender; drain. Place cooked potatoes in a shallow, lightly greased 2-quart casserole. Heat milk and cream cheese in a medium saucepan, stirring until cheese is melted. Add chives, salt, pepper, and garlic; pour over potatoes. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika and more chives, if desired.Cheese and chives potato casserole serves 4 to 6.

That’s all for this week! I sincerely hope that next week’s letter will be coming from Lorin……I hope I’m busy doing something else……
See you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

9/08/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:44:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
September 9th, 2009

I think the true gardener is a lover of his flowers, not a critic of them. I think the true gardener is the reverent servant of Nature, not her truculent, wife-beating master. I think the true gardener, the older he grows, should more and more develop a humble, grateful and uncertain spirit. ~Reginald Farrer, In a Yorkshire Garden, 1909

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
½# spinach or stir fry
¼# arugula
2 oz basil
1 bunch beets
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch leeks
1.5# potatoes (All Red and German Butterball)
Garlic (Georgian Crystal)
Summer Squash (Early Yellow Crookneck, Flying Saucer Patty Pan, Zyphyr or
Cashflow)
Jalapeno
Not everyone will get the following:
Sweet Bell Pepper
Heirloom Tomatoes (check the board)
U-Pick (check the board)
Eggplant
Cucumber

Nutritional Tip
The humble potato is the 4th largest food crop grown in the world. Genetic testing has indicated that all varieties come from a single origin in Southern Peru. Thousands of varieties persist throughout the Andes, although China is now the world’s largest potato producing country.
The nutrients in potatoes are pretty evenly spread between the skin and the flesh (so for maximum effect eat with the skins on). Almost all of the protein in a potato is contained in a thin layer just under the skin (so again, for maximum effect eat with the skins on). A medium size potato with skin on will give you a good percentage of your daily allowance of vitamin C, potassium and B6, and contains trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, and zinc.

The News
You’ve probably noticed that we are putting in a new field at Copper Moose. Another acre of beds should be ready to go for next summer. It’s a decent process getting a new field up and ready. Obviously the fence and irrigation are a big deal (thanks Craig, Tor, Jason, Lorin, Rob, and GW), but getting the soil ready to go is also a process. Lots of time in the tractor is an integral part, but spraying compost tea and biodynamic preps onto the land is also a big part. One more watering and then one more tilling of the first part of that field, and it will be ready to go into cover crop until next spring. I’ll let the roots of the cover crop do a lot of the work loosening up the subsoil in those beds, and then will incorporate those cover crops into the soil to help increase organic matter. Generally our soil is very good, but a bit low on organic matter. The main reason it’s low on organic matter is because this land has been hayed for decades. Bailing the grass and taking it off the land obviously does not leave much organic matter for the soil. Cover crops and compost are two great ways to increase organic matter. When you add the use of compost tea and biodynamic preps (which both add the microbial population to the soil needed to break down the organic matter), and you’ve got a recipe for repair!

The Recipe
Gratin of Potato and Summer Squash with Herbes be Provence
(taken from the Gardener’s Community Cookbook)

¼ cup olive oil 1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled 2 tsp Herbes de Provence
¾# summer squash 1 tsp salt
sliced 1/8” thick ¼ tsp black pepper
1# red potatoes, scrubbed ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
and sliced 1/8” thick

Herbes de Provence – equal amounts of dried rosemary, thyme, sage, summer savory and bay mixed with a little less of lavender flowers and fennel seed.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 12X9 inch baking dish.
Combine the oil and garlic in a small pot and simmer together for 2 minutes. Set aside for 15 minutes for the garlic to infuse the oil. Remove and discard the garlic.
In the baking dish, make 2 layers of the squash, potatoes, and onion, sprinkling each layer with the herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. Top with the cheese and drizzle the oil over.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are tender. Let stand for 10 minutes, then serve right away or at room temperature.

That’s all for this week – see you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

9/01/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:43:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
September 1, 2009

Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~Michael P. Garafalo

Wow, September 1st, is it possible?

The Harvest
1# salad greens
½# spinach or Swiss chard
¼# arugula
2 oz basil
1 bunch beets
1 bunch herbs
Not everyone will get all of the following:
Yukon Gold Potatoes - check the board
Summer Squash
Cabbage
Tomatoes - check the board
Peppers
Eggplant
Cucumber (don't forget that one of our varieties is called Lemon - and that's what it looks like)
1 bunch carrots

Potatoes - just a reminder that potatoes do not go in the fridge, so they will not be in you boxes. Check the white board, if your name is on there for potatoes you will find potatoes in a box near the sinks, labeled. Take 1 bag per membership. If you split a membership make sure to leave the ½ bag of potatoes with your share partners name on it so they know which one to take.
This week the potato variety is Yukon Gold. Some consider Yukon Gold's to be the best eating potato. They have a medium dry, golden, buttery tasting flesh that is best baked or boiled. They also store very well. Enjoy!

Nutrition Tip
Eggplant - The eggplant is in the solanaceae family, along with tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco! The seeds are bitter when raw because of the nicotinoid alkaloids they contain. Eating 20# of eggplant would give you the same amount of nicotine as is in one cigarette.
The plant is a perennial but is most often grown as an annual. The fruit is botanically classified as a berry.
When eaten raw they can taste bitter, but once cooked they take on a tender, complex flavor. Eggplant can be stewed, roasted, deep fried, grilled, stuffed, and, I am sure, much more.

The News
It was so great to see you all on Sunday. What a fabulous potluck - and only due to the great company and the INCREDIBLE dishes you all brought. Seriously, you all went to town on your contributions, and it was gorgeous! Thank you so much for coming. I know it felt like our end of the season bash, but we really have probably 6 more weeks of the season to go. It's not over yet!
As with last year, I would love to get all your recipes to send out to everyone at the end of the season (and get them on our website). So please email me the recipe for you dish or dishes. They may not be put together as fancily as last year...feels like there is a little too much going on this fall.....but I will get them compiled, with the appropriate credits, and out to you all.

The Recipe

Ginger Sesame Eggplant (From the Quail Hill Farm Cookbook)
Coat one medium eggplant with olive oil and roast at 400 until soft. Allow to cool, then peel, chunk into ½" dice, and mix with any juices. Combine 1 clove of finely chopped or pureed garlic and 1 Tbsp peeled fresh ginger and 1 Tbsp sesame oil. Sauté together until translucent. Toss with the eggplant chunks and season with ¼ tsp hot sauce, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, ½ tsp sugar, soy sauce to taste and 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro. Serve warm or cold.

Arugula Salad with Corn and Cherry Tomatoes
Combine 1.5 cups fresh corn kernels, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved, 1 small red onion, chopped and 1/5 cups arugula leaves, roughly chopped, stems removed. In a separate bowl mix 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Add ½ cup of crumbled feta cheese. Pour dressing over salad and garnish with pine nits and more feta cheese.

Hope you are having a fabulous start to the new month, and we'll see you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

8/25/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:42:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
August 25, 2009

Microbes in a healthy acre of soil will weigh as much as an average sized cow.
Hands on Agronomy by Neil Kinsey and Charles Walters

The Harvest
1# salad mix
½# stir fry mix
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch beets
1 small bunch leeks (a teaser)
Garlic bulb (not cured, not cleaned, fresh out of the ground!)
1 bunch herbs
Not everyone will get all of the following:
Cabbage (Red Express (red leaves), Famosa (curly leaves, it’s a Savoy cabbage) or Copenhagen Market (more of your standard blue-green heads))
1# potatoes – check the board
Cucumber
Squash
Tomatoes – check the board
U-Pick – check the board
Edible Flowers
Eggplant
Peppers

Leeks – The variety this week is King Richard. This is a little sampler bunch, more to follow in a couple weeks. Leeks will store best in the fridge in a plastic bag.
Garlic – All of the garlic is out of the ground now and curing. As I mentioned two weeks ago, after it has cured we will go through it all, clean it, and select the best for seed for next year’s crop. Then we’ll start sending lots of beautiful, clean garlic home with you all. The variety this week is Wild Rocambole.
Potatoes – The potatoes this week are called La Ratte, they are a fingerling type potato. Potatoes should never go into the refrigerator, hence they will not be in your boxes, and they will be out in the main room in a box. Potatoes need to stay out of direct light so that they do not turn green. The green is a chemical called Solanine that is made by the potato when in direct sunlight or artificial light. In very high doses solanine can be poisonous to humans. If you have a little green spot on your potato, just cut that section of the potato off – the rest of it is good to eat.
When potatoes are stored at too cool temperatures the starches in them turn into sugars – although this may sound tasty, it doesn’t work out. So, store you potatoes in a cool (not cold), dark spot. A paper bag on your counter should work just fine for short term storage. For longer storage a paper bag in the basement or cool garage would be better.

Nutrition Tip (from Becca)
Leeks: Leeks are native to Central Asia and have been cultivated there and in Europe for thousands of years. Throughout history, the leek has held an esteemed position in the vegetable world. Aristotle credited his clear voice to leeks. Nero, a Roman emperor, used leeks to make his voice strong. Leeks also star as Wales’ national emblem.

Leeks are a member of the allium family, but have a more delicate and sweet taste then there relatives the garlic, onion, and scallion. Many studies reveal that alliums reduce bad (LDL) cholesterol levels, are proactive in fighting cancer cells, and help to stabilize blood sugar. Leeks are a perfect add to soups, casseroles, roasted vegetables or make a fantastic side on their own when grilled.

The News
We’re looking forward to celebrating the season with you all this Sunday at the CSA Potluck (Sunday August 30th from 5-8). It looks like we have some incredible dishes coming! As you know, our parking is a bit limited, if you can walk or ride your bike, great, if not, most of the parking is going to be out in the field before you get to the greenhouse. We will make sure to sign it well.
Because I have put requested ingredients in some of your boxes for the potluck, if you split a share you may want to check with your partner to make sure you are not taking their ingredients.
This is the last CSA distribution of August and our 14th distribution of the season – hard to believe! I predict that the season will continue into the first few weeks of October, but weather will ultimately determine that. I’ll keep you posted as we get closer.
The new “barn” kitties have adjusted well to life on the farm. They seem to spend their nights out and about, as they always greet us very early in the morning, and then proceed to sleep most of the day. We have seen them catch quite a few mice and voles already, and Lorin and I praise them like proud parents. They have gotten over their fear of the chickens, and now go in and out of the duck house at will – which is good since that’s where their accommodations are (the carpeted 2nd story of the duck house, very luxurious). All in all we are completely attached even though we know we shouldn’t be because they are “barn” kitties. Either way, it’s great to have their playful personalities ripping around the farm.

The Recipe
Spicy Coleslaw
(Chez Panisse Vegetable Cookbook)
Great with anything BBQ’d or fried.

For every 4 cups of sliced cabbage (cored, quartered and sliced into 1/8” strips), add 1 diced small red onion, 1 thinly sliced jalapeno pepper (with seeds and veins removed), juice of 1 lime, 1 tbsp white balsamic or wine vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, the leaves from a good –sized bunch of cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss it all together and let marinate for 1 hour. Serve at room temperature. Serves 3-4.

Stuffed Cabbage (From Quail Hill Farm Cookbook)
Remove the leaves from 1 large Savoy cabbage and soften for several minutes in boiling water. Drain.
FILLING: boil 2 cups basmati rice in water for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain. Meanwhile sauté until golden 1 to 2 thinly sliced onions and 1# sliced mushrooms in 2 Tbsp olive oil. Toss with drained rice, and season with paprika, pepper, and salt. Place 2-3 Tbsp rice mixture in the center of each leaf and roll, tucking the sides into the center to form a package. Pack the finished rolls tightly together in an ovenproof dish. Cover with broth or water and 1 cup tomato juice, 1 Tbsp grated horseradish and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce. Bake covered at 350 until the rice is cooked and the cabbage is very tender, about 1.5 hours. Serve hot or warm.

That’s all for this week. See you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

08/18/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:08:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
August 18, 2009

Many people either believe that GMO food are tested and safe or simply don’t know that 80% of the processed foods sitting on their grocery store shelves contain GMO’s. In the meantime, multinational agribusiness companies have insinuated their patented and genetically engineered organisms into our food supply. But the apparent success of this strategy does not mean that GMO’s are inevitable. Part of the mythology behind the industrialization and the globalization of agriculture is the notion that these commercial technologies are the foundation of our economic progress. In reality, these technologies are undermining the natural wealth of agriculture by extinguishing agricultural diversity and harming the environment.
Uncertain Peril, Claire Hope Cummings

The Harvest
1# salad mix
¼# arugula
2oz basil
1 bunch beets
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch herbs
Not everyone will get all of the following:
Cucumber
Squash
Tomatoes – check the board
Peppers
Edible flowers
U-Pick – check the board

Nutrition Tip
The jalapeno is named after Xalapa, Veracruz where they are traditionally produced. Capsaicin, which is where the heat comes from, is concentrated in veins surrounding the seeds. Removing seeds and de-veining the pepper can reduce their heat. Jalapenos come in between 2,500 and 10,000 Scoville units in heat (which means they are medium hot).
Hmmm, guess that wasn’t nutritional info….oh well.

The News
It’s been cold! This happened last August around this time also, but it still feels a little odd to me. The squash and potatoes did get frosted a bit, even under our heavier row covers (that’s about all we can do to protect them). They are ok though, the squash has slowed down, but it’s alive and producing. Lost some of the flowers outside also……oh well, that happens around now I guess. But what I have really been noticing is that the leeks, storage onions and potatoes are behind. The cool June must have affected them enough that now we are feeling the repercussions. They are on their way, but not ready yet. I, for one, am really looking forward to some potatoes!
CSA Potluck – August 30th from 5-8. Don’t miss it. And please sign up this week – sign up is on the cooler. We are having a pig slaughtered for it on Thursday and I need to know how big that pig needs to be……..that depends on how many of us will be enjoying that pig. So….please sign up tomorrow. It’s going to be a great time, and we can’t wait to have you all out here at once. Craig will be doing hayrides for the kids again, and Doug (the bee guy) has some fun bee games. Along with that he will also be opening up the hive so you can all take a look at what the bees have been up to this summer.
Many of you may be familiar with Foodell.com – or you’ve heard them mentioned on the radio. Well, Susan Odell of Foodell.com is a member at Copper Moose Farm. The Odells would like to offer our CSA a free 3 month membership to Foodell.com. Below is some information from the Odell’s:

As some of you may know, one of the members of our CSA is Susan Odell of foodell.com. Foodell is an online cooking community teaching the Hungry Generation how to eat. You may have seen Susan on Park City TV, as she has a cooking segment each Thursday on the Mountain Morning Show. She is also the "beet" reporter for KPCW and does a live broadcast every Wednesday from the Farmers Market at the Canyons.

Susan would like to offer everybody in the CSA a free 3 month membership to foodell.com. Members of foodell.com receive a Weekly Menu with a consolidated grocery list, plus all of the features of the website including recipes, entertaining menus, educational videos, product reviews and recommendations, a community forum, an Ask the Chef feature and much more. As foodell.com has absolutely no advertising, they charge an annual subscription fee of $25, which is a great value.

If you would like a free 3 month membership to foodell.com, then just send an email to Susan at susanodell@foodell.com. I know you'll like it. – David Odell

I had quite a few people show up today to bring their bags back……I appreciate the thought, but don’t worry about it. The bags all get washed on Monday mornings, so getting them to us any later than a Friday afternoon doesn’t do us any good. Bringing them on Wednesdays makes the most sense (even if you know they are ‘late’). Don’t bother making a special trip…but again, we appreciate the thought.

The Recipe
Barley Salad with Carrots and Dill

Serves 6
· 3 1/2 to 4 cups cooked barley
· 3/4 pound (5 medium) carrots, coarsely grated
· 1/2 cup tightly packed, minced fresh dill
· 1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds, toasted
· 1/4 cup dried currants
· 1/3 cup fruity olive oil
· 3 to 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
· Salt to taste
In a large serving bowl or storage container, combine the barley, carrots, dill, sunflower seeds, and currants.
Dribble on the olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. Toss until the ingredients are thoroughly coated with the dressing.
Recipe copyright, Lorna Sass, 2008

This next one comes from Betsy Bothe – a 2008 CSA member.
Arugula Dip
In Blender combine:
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup Olive Oil
2 handfuls of arugula
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp organic cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
I cut up other veggies and use this as a dip—delicis!

That’s all for this week, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow between 8-6. - Daisy

08/11/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:47:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
August 11th, 2009

It is estimated that up to a third of all of the increase in global CO2 since the industrial revolution can be attributed to carbon losses from soils as a result of agricultural practices. (Practices such as) organic matter removal, erosion, compaction, cultivation, fallow, and the use of certain chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Mike Amaranthus, Jeff Anderson, Zack Amaranthus, Dave Perry Building Soil Organic Matter Organically, ACRES USA, January 2009

The Harvest
1# salad mix
¼# arugula
½# cooking greens (either kale, chard, or a mix of kale and chard)
1 bunch beets
1 bunch carrots
1 bulb garlic
1 bunch herbs
Not Everyone will get the following:
1 head cabbage (if you didn’t get it last week, you’ll get this week)
U-Pick – If you did not pick last week, pick this week.
Heirloom tomatoes - Check the board
Sweet and Hot peppers
Edible Flowers
Summer squash

Garlic – This week you will be getting one bulb of Georgian Crystal garlic. Garlic does not go in the cooler, so it will be in a box in the main room – don’t forget it! 1 bulb per membership.
This garlic is green – that means it has not been cured yet. That means it should be eaten now-ish – not stored for later use. We are going to be harvesting all the rest of the garlic from the field this week. Once it is harvested it is hung to cure for about 2 -3 weeks. Once the garlic has cured we will sort every bulb – the biggest and the best we will keep for seed to be planted in October for next year’s harvest. The rest (which will be big and beautiful, believe me) will be sent out to you all starting sometime in September.
All of the garlic grown at Copper Moose this year (and all the years past) is hard neck garlic. Most of the garlic you find at the grocery store is a soft neck variety. Soft neck is more widely grown because it is easy to plant and grow it mechanically and it keeps longer due to many layers of papery skin. Soft neck garlic can also be braided. Hard neck garlic produces a scape (you should be very familiar with those by now), has fewer but much larger cloves per bulb, and has less of a papery wrapper hence it is a bit more sensitive and does not store as long. Having said that, I know many CSA members from last year didn’t finish up their garlic until April or later. I was eating last year’s garlic at least until the end of April.
The reason I love to grow hard neck garlic is because of the range of flavors the different varieties offer. Once you have cooked the garlic you can’t really tell a difference in the flavor, but when compared raw – there is very discernable differences. I also really enjoy the large juicy cloves that hard neck varieties produce. The three varieties we grow here are Wild Rocambole, Metechi, and Georgian Crystal. I’ll tell you more about each of those varieties later in the season once it’s cured.

Tomato Update – Our tomatoes have peaked already. What does that mean? Well, with heirloom tomatoes it means their production is going to rapidly drop off. That’s the way they do it. We are already starting to pull some of the plants out to get ready for winter growing in the greenhouse. That’s the thing with harvesting heirloom tomatoes in early June…….we are not going to be harvesting Heirloom tomatoes in September (we will still be harvesting cherry tomatoes though). We will harvest tomatoes for another week or two, but unfortunately it won’t be much. So I encourage you all to head over to the farmers markets and support those Salt Lake growers who are just now starting to bring tomatoes to market (Ranui Gardens should also have some good heirlooms showing up).
Please only take a bag of tomatoes if your name is on the board, if your name is not on the board and you take a bag, you are taking someone else’s food. Members that are splitting a share: you must split one bag of tomatoes. If you are each taking a bag of tomatoes, you are taking someone else’s food.

Nutrition Tip
Cabbage is a member of the Brassicaceae family. It was originally derived from a wild plant that grew along the Mediterranean. Cato The Elder praised it for it’s medicinal properties stating: “It is the cabbage which surpasses all vegetables”.
Cabbage is great in soups, stews, slaws, and salads. It is the main ingredient for sauerkraut and kimche (both fermented foods).
Cabbage is high in vitamin C and contains glutamine which is an amino acid with anti-inflammatory properties.

The News
The CSA potluck is 2.5 short weeks away (Sunday August 30th). I am going to put a sign up sheet on the cooler door – so sign up for the dish you would like to bring. Here is how it works. Copper Moose Farm will provide the main course and beverages, you all will bring a favorite veggie dish or dessert. Maybe it’s one of your favorite CSA recipes this year, or maybe it’s an old stand by you want to share with the rest of us – it’s up to you. I will try to get you as many of the ingredients in your dish as I can and send it to you in your August 27th CSA box. I will need a list of items you would like from me by Friday August 21st.
This year we will be doing a pig roast. We will be getting a pig from Russell Taylor (our beef and pork man). Russell raises organic Beef and Pork down in Emery Utah. I first met Russell’s dad at an Acres USA conference 3 years ago. Acres USA is a fabulous agricultural publication and in its own words is “The Voice of Eco-Agriculture”. Since then Russell and I talk a couple times a month, whether about the Steers I have reserved for Copper Moose Farm this fall, or about vegetables, or fertilizer. The main business for the Taylor family is organic fertilizers. They have a mine down in southern Utah where they harvest Humeric Acids. Russell will be at the CSA Potluck so you will all get a chance to meet him then (if you didn’t already this past weekend at the Harvest Dinner).
Cotton Bags
How are they going for you? Are you using less plastic bags? Are you re-using your plastic bags? The reason I ask is this: we decided to use the cloth bags to reduce the amount of plastic bags our CSA (as a whole) puts in the land fill (or the recycle bin for that matter). It is a significant amount of additional work for us to use the cotton bags, which we are willing to do IF we are reducing the amount of plastic bags ending up in the trash/recycle. If the majority of our members are just putting the greens into new plastic bags and then throwing those bags out when finished, the additional work is no longer worth it to us. So…. no judgment here, just let me know how it’s going so that I can make educated decisions. Thank you!

The Recipe
Tangy Braised Cabbage
Ingredients:
· 4 tablespoons butter
· 1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
· 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, finely diced
· 1/2 head of cabbage, coarsely chopped or shredded, about 8 cups
· 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
· 1/4 cup apricot preserves or apple jelly
· salt, to taste
Preparation:
In a large saucepan or electric skillet, or Dutch oven, heat butter over low heat; add onion and apple; sauté for about 7 to 10 minutes, or until soft. Add cabbage, pepper, and vinegar; and preserves or jelly; toss to blend well. Cover tightly and simmer slowly over low heat for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until cabbage is very soft and tender. Add salt to taste. Serves 4.

Cabbage with Creamy Sauce
Ingredients:
· 1 medium head of cabbage, about 1 1/2 pounds
· 2 cups beef broth
· 2 eggs, beaten
· 3/4 cup half-and-half
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· dash pepper
· dash nutmeg
· 3 tablespoons olive oil
· 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
· 2 teaspoons sugar
· ground sweet paprika
Preparation:
Cut cabbage into 8 wedges; wash. Place in a large saucepan or kettle; add beef broth and simmer, uncovered, until tender. Drain and keep cabbage warm.
Combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
In top of double boiler heat olive oil, vinegar, and sugar over direct heat. Stir hot mixture into the egg mixture then return to top of double boiler. Cook mixture over simmering water, stirring constantly, until thickened. Put cabbage in a warm bowl or serving platter; pour sauce over cabbage wedges. Sprinkle with paprika.Serves 4.
That’s all for this week, we look forward to seeing you between 8-6 tomorrow - Daisy

08/04/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:01:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
August 4, 2009

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion

We had a great open house this past Saturday; it was wonderful to see our community out here. Thanks to Andrew Parker, Craig Henry, Lorin Tedeschi, Doug Fryer (and family), and Ashley Patterson for coming out on their days off to help show the community around.
There were some good questions asked, I thought I might share one of them with you because the answer really delves into why we grow food the way we do out here at Copper Moose.
People often ask about the different ways out there to grow tomatoes. The most frequent asked about are hydroponics, upside down tomato pots or having different levels of shallow soil within the greenhouse and growing the tomatoes, or other vegetables, at varying heights within the building. There are a lot of innovative ways to grow food, and more are being developed all the time. I think those methods have a place, without a doubt. If you are growing in a city with little available soil, perhaps one of those alternative methods is perfect. Or if we ruin all of the soil on this planet it will come in handy to have already developed different ways to grow our food without soil. But for Copper Moose Farm, at this time, it’s a different story. We are blessed with great soil and plenty of it at this point. Keeping the soil healthy and full of life is one of my main focuses. I believe there are many, many interactions going on in the soil between the plants, microorganisms, nutrients, and energies. These interactions, whether we can currently define/explain them or not, enhance our food both nutritionally and energetically.
There are many of these interactions that can be explained by Agricultural Science; plants excreting excess sugars from their roots, which feeds microbes, which causes microbes to cluster around the roots, which in turn gives the plants nutrients in a form they can most easily use (once the microbes have processed them). Many in Agricultural science will also tell you that they believe there are other interactions going on in the soil that they don’t yet understand or even know about.
I believe these interactions are an integral part to growing the most complete food. I believe most plants have developed over thousands of years to grow in soil, soil that is connected to the earth. I like to try to support nature’s systems as much as I can. As I said before, here at Copper Moose we have plenty of soil connected directly to the earth (with all of its energies). I focus on keeping this soil healthy, which in turn grows healthy plants, which in turn keeps us healthy! So what do I think of growing tomatoes hydroponically? For the foreseeable future, I only want to eat tomatoes (and most other veggies) that are grown in good earth.

Just a reminder that pick-up is WEDNESDAY from 8-6.

The Harvest
3/4# Salad mix
4 oz arugula
1 bunch beets
1 bunch turnips
1 bunch Purplette onions
1 bunch herbs
Not everyone will get all of the following:
Summer squash
Bell Pepper
Hot Pepper
U-Pick – if you didn’t harvest last week, then you are on to harvest this week.
Eggplant
Cabbage
Tomatoes – check the board

Purplette Onions – These little bulb onions are just delightful. They are great in soups, salads, roasted whole and served over some huge slab of meat, chopped, diced, grilled – you name it.
Summer Squash – It’s the beginning of the squash season! Let’s hope it lasts longer than it did last year. We got our first frost on August 14th last summer, and that really put a damper on our squash harvest for the season. The varieties you will see this summer are: Patty Pan, Flying Saucer, Zephyr, Cash Flow, Golden Scallopini, and Yellow Crookneck. These squash will all store best in a plastic baggie (or crisper drawer) in your fridge. They can be eaten a variety of ways: fresh, sautéed, grated, roasted, steamed, in soups or stir fries.
Cabbage – It is also the beginning of the cabbage season. The variety this week is Farao. Cabbage will store in your fridge for quite a few weeks if you can’t get to it right away. You may have to peel off the outer leaves, but the main head should still be fine. But why not eat it while it’s fresh and alive! Cabbage is great in salads, coleslaws, soups, stir fries…etc.

Nutritional Tip (from Becca this week)
Beets: Beets are vibrant root vegetables with edible greens. They come in red, rainbow, white, and golden-yellow. Their cultivation dates back to prehistoric times in North Africa where just the greens were eaten. The roots weren’t considered food until the ancient Romans became the first to eat the roots. They were catapulted into popularity when the British restricted sugar trade and Napoleon ordered beets be used to produce sugar.

Beets have the highest sugar content of any other vegetable, but are very low in calories. There rich color pigments are from the compound betacyanin, which also has been proven to have cancer fighting properties. This phytonutrient also helps to protect against hear disease and soothes inflammation in the body. The greens are full of the antioxidants beta-carotene and lutein, which help to boost immune function and rid the body of toxins. Beets are a fantastic add to your salads with a bit of goat cheese and orange zest.

The News
We have re-done the recipe section of our website. I am very excited about this because with the new format you all are going to be able to add recipes and photos of your beautiful creations! It is also going to make it easier to find recipes based on certain vegetables. It will still be found under the “Recipe” page of our website
It should be up and running by tomorrow. It is very user friendly, so please put your recipes up there – we will all benefit from them. I will slowly be working on getting all the recipes from the past onto this new format. Chris Petty, who does all the big work on our website, has done an awesome job on this!

The Recipes
Both of these come from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Molly Katzen.

Russian Beet Salad
8 healthy beets (2.5” diameter) 1 medium cucumber – peeled, seeded, and minced
¼ cup cider vinegar 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 medium clove garlic, minced 2 Tbsp minced fresh dill (or 2 tsp dry)
1 to 2 tsp honey 1 cup firm yogurt (optional)
½ cup minced red onion freshly ground black pepper
2 scallions. Minced (whites and greens)

Trim the beets of their stems and greens, and place the beets in a medium-large saucepan. Cover them with water and bring to a boil. Cook for about 25 minutes or until tender enough for a fork to slide in easily.
Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, garlic, honey, and salt in a medium-large bowl.
Rinse the cooked beets under cold running water as you rub off their skins. Chop into ½” bits, and add them, still warm, to the vinegar mixture. Stir and let stand about 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients, seasoning to taste with black pepper. Mix well, cover tightly, and chill until very cold.

Swiss Green Beans
2 large cloves garlic, minced 1/3lb swiss cheese, in thin strips
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ½ cup chopped ripe olives
1 tsp dried tarragon 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
1 Tbsp minced fresh dill 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
½ tsp salt (more to taste) 3 to 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (more to taste)
2 tsp Dijon Mustard 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
½ cup minced fresh parsley ½ cup chopped toasted almonds

Steam the green beans until just tender. Remove from heat, and immediately rinse under cold running water. Drain well.
Combine everything else except the lemon juice, vinegar, and almonds in a large bowl.
Add the drained beans to the bowl. Toss until everything is well distributed. Cover tightly and let marinate, at room temperature or refrigerate, for at least 2 to 3 hours. (Longer is fine)
Stir in the lemon juice and vinegar within about 10 minutes of serving. Serve cold or at room temperature, topped with almonds.

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

07/28/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:59:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
July 28, 2009

Soil erosion is occurring at 20 times the rate of natural replenishment, even faster than during the Dust Bowl, which occurred before the chemical Green Revolution.
Dr. Arden Anderson, Science in Agriculture

The Harvest
1# salad mix
2.5oz arugula
1 bunch scallions
1 bunch beets
Fennel
Broccoli
2.5oz basil
1 bunch herbs (thyme, oregano, tarragon, or cilantro) If you don’t like the one you got in your box, check in the “for sale” herbs box and swap out if you want.
Not everyone will get the following:
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch turnips
Jalapeno
Sweet Bell Pepper (Red Ace or Sweet Cal Wonder Orange)
Heirloom tomatoes (check the white board)
Edible Flowers
U-pick peas and beans (check the white board)

Fennel – This is the only fennel you will get this year, so love it up! I left the ferny greens on the bulb because I like to cut them up and put them in my salad. They have a nice mild licorice flavor (I would avoid the stalk though, just the ferny part). The bulb itself is lovely grilled, chopped fresh in a salad (gives a wonderful juicy crunch with a mild licorice flavor), in a stir fry, diced and cooked with your scrambled eggs, etc. The fennel is going to store best…….yup, you got it, in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Nutritional Tip
Fennel (here is a random assortment of info on fennel):
Fennel is a good source of vitamin C, fiber, folate, and potassium.
It is the primary ingredient in absinthe.
It is considered a stimulant.
There are historical anecdotes that fennel improves the milk supply of breast feeding mothers. Any of you breast feeding mothers out there; I would check with your doc before you start pounding the fennel though (what I have given you this week does not count as “pounding”).
Apparently it is disliked by fleas and fennel powder has been used to drive fleas away from kennels.
Some use it as a diuretic.
In India fennel tea is used as a compress or directly on the eye to reduce redness, irritation or inflammation. The Indians also eat raw fennel seeds to improve eye sight.

The News
We had a fabulous Half Moon Harvest Dinner here on Saturday night. The evening was perfect, the setting gorgeous, the company fabulous, and the food spectacular! Looking forward to 2 more Harvest Dinners coming up.
Just a reminder (now that I’ve got you wishing you had signed up for a Harvest Dinner before they sold out) that the CSA Potluck is Sunday August 30th.
The creek that runs right by the farm has dried up, so the ducks are sticking closer to home these days – which is nice. They were starting to venture pretty far, I’m pleased everyone is still with us.
The chickens have a mystery nest somewhere out in the woods, so we have been a little low on eggs the last few days. We are on the hunt and I’m sure we’ll locate their new favorite laying spot soon.
Our Open House is this Saturday from 2-5. If you have any friends who are interested in what we’ve got going on here, tell them to stop by. Doug the bee guy will be here, Andrew Parker the contractor will be here, Ashley from the Green Building Center will be here to talk about our solar panels, and I’ll be here to talk about the gardens.

Bee Update
With the wet June behind us and now the heat high summer on us, business at "The Hive" have turned a bit from building up the population and "drawing out" or building honey comb to collecting nectar, pollen and laying in HONEY.
On the last inspection the population was pouring out of the hive and by counting the number of frames of honeycomb with "brood"(baby bees in differing stages of growth) and frames with stored honey and pollen, the number of bees in our hive is close to FORTY THOUSAND PLUS!
Next time you visit the farm take a feel free to take a close look at the hive. You can easily approach within four feet or so with out bothering the ladies coming and going from the fields. Remember, approach and leave slowly and stay out of the "flight path" directly in front. The bees are more interested in getting home from work than bothering visitors (sound familiar?).
The smaller box on the top of the larger hive boxes is called a honey "super" (like Super man). Inside this smaller box are ten smaller frames that the bees will start to build honeycomb and fill with honey. There is a small screen below it that will only allow worker bees through. By excluding the queen from laying eggs in the super it will only contain honey. If by late fall the colony is strong enough and has enough honey stored to eat over the winter, the top super is where the honey we may harvest will come from. So far so good as they already have a good amount of honey stored.
Hope to see you at the CSA Pot Luck Dinner in August. I will be there to answer questions and we will open up the hive to let you see first hand the action. See you there-Doug

The Recipe

Roasted Fennel Recipe
Ingredients
· 1 fennel bulbs (thick base of stalk), stalks cut off, bulbs sliced
· Olive oil
· Balsamic vinegar
Method
1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Rub just enough olive oil over the fennel to coat. Sprinkle on some balsamic vinegar, also to coat. Line baking dish with silpat or aluminum foil. Lay out piece of fennel and roast for 15-20 minutes, until the fennel is cooked through and beginning to caramelize.
Serves 2.

Red Pepper and Fennel Bulb Salad
INGREDIENTS
1 medium red bell pepper
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 head leaf lettuce - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 bulb fennel, diced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
black pepper to taste.My folders:
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat broiler. Grill pepper under the broiler until the skin is blackened, and the flesh has softened slightly. Place pepper in a paper bag or resealable plastic bag to cool. Remove the seeds and skin (the skin should come off the peppers easily now). Slice into strips.
2. Set oven to bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place pine nuts and sesame seeds on a baking sheet, and toast until beginning to brown. They'll smell great!
3. Combine lettuce greens, fennel bulb, and red pepper in a salad bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce and vegetable oil. Pour over salad, and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pine nuts and sesame seeds, and season to taste with ground black pepper.

Easy Turnip and Beet Chips
I just wanted to remind everyone about turnip and beet chips! To make the chips, peel the turnips and slice about 1/8th to ¼ inch thick, cut the beets the same way (but don’t peel them. You don’t have to peel the turnips either if you like the spicy flavor of the skin…). Toss them all in a bowl with some kind of oil (peanut, coconut, olive, etc) and what ever herbs you like (my favorite combo is sage, rosemary and thyme – there is a reason they wrote a song about those), and salt and pepper. Place in one layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes – longer if you want them crispier. Mine never get truly crispy like a chip….but you get the idea. Kids will love the multi-colored “chips”.

That’s all for this week, see you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

7/22/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:21:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
July 21, 2009

Consumers will soon realize that the best way to be assured of food quality is, in the words of the old quotation, “to know the first name of the grower.”
Eliot Coleman from The New Organic Grower

The Harvest
1# salad greens
½# Asian greens mix (Mizuna and Giant Red Mustard)
¼# Arugula
2.5 oz basil
1 bunch carrots (Dragon and Yellowstone)
1 bunch beets
1 bunch scallions (Evergreen Hardy White)
1 bunch herbs
Bag ‘O Broccoli
Heirloom Tomatoes
Garlic scapes
Not everyone will get the following:
1 bunch turnips
Sweet Bell Pepper
Eggplant
Jalapeno Pepper
Edible Flowers
U-Pick – Check the board to see if you are on the list for U-Pick.
Lavender – Lavender will be labeled and available in a box in the cooler. Please take a bunch if you would like one.

Dragon Carrot – This is the carrot with the purple skin and the orange inside –beautiful! They are good for fresh eating (especially when smaller), but best when lightly cooked. They do hold their color through cooking.
Yellowstone Carrot – This one is yellow in and out with a mild pleasing flavor.
Evergreen Hardy White Scallions – Last week you got the purple bunching scallions, and this week it’s a white variety.

Heirloom Tomatoes – I know I have gone over some of the varieties in past newsletters, but I’m going to do them all (again or for the first time this year) right now….since we are in the heart of the tomato season.
Striped German: Bicolor red and yellow fruit. Complex fruity flavor and smooth texture. Medium tall vines - indeterminate
Red Brandywine: One of the best tasting tomatoes. Very rich, loud and distinctively spicy. Deep pink skin and smooth red flesh. Ours actually look a bit orange this year… Indeterminate
Yellow Brandywine: Similar to the Red Brandywine but yellow in color.
Cherokee Purple: Medium-Large, flattened globe fruits. Color is dusky pink with dark shoulders. Multilocular interior ranges from purple to brown to green. Indeterminate.
Green Zebra: green 1.5-2.5" fruits with various shades of yellow to yellowish-green stripes. Sweet zingy flavor. Indeterminate.
Aunt Ruby’s German Green: Green Beefsteak fruits, 5" to 4" deep, weigh one pound or more. Sweet juicy flesh, refreshing spicy flavor. Intederminate.
Double Rich: This is not an heirloom! as much vit C as an orange (2x that of other toms). Rich full bodied fruit that grows in variety of conditions. Indt.

You may notice the word indeterminate at the end of all those descriptions….Indeterminate refers to the growth habit of the plant. An indeterminate variety will just keep growing until it dies (whether from predation, sickness, or someone pulling them out of the ground!). Determinate varieties have a set amount of growth they will do in their lives, where a semi-determinate variety will grow for a longer period than the determinate, but not nearly as long as an indeterminate.

Nutritional Tip (and other random factioids)
The word Broccoli comes from the Italian words piccolo bracci, which mean “little arms”. Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae). Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K, and A as well as dietary fiber, it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties (there are a lot of these in broccoli, so I actually won’t get into them all – you can look it up!). The benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if boiled for more than 10 minutes. Steaming and stir frying have been shown not to reduce the presence of these anti-cancer properties. And of course eating it raw is a good option also. Broccoli leaf is also edible and contains far more betacarotene than the florets.

The News
We had a great pickling workshop on Saturday! Thanks to those of you for coming out for it. Your beautiful jars of pickled beets and carrots will be waiting here for you tomorrow.
Our canning workshop is coming up on August 15th – sign up now. There is more info about it on our website at: http://www.coppermoosefarm.com/education.html
If you have any friends out there who have been wondering about what we are doing out here, Saturday August 1st is our Community Open House from 2-5. I’d love to see any of you here also who feel like you really haven’t gotten an in-depth tour of the place. We will have experts here talking about our solar array, our bees, our greenhouse, and of course our gardens.

The Recipes

BEET SALAD WITH FETA (brought to you by Kelly and Kari of DIsh : dishparkcity.com)
Beets are a root vegetable rich in iron, potassium, niacin, copper and vitamin C. When you get a bunch of beets, don’t toss the green tops! They are very nutritious and particularly high in vitamin A, folic acid, iron and calcium. This recipe uses both the root and greens. A great antioxidant-rich salad to serve in place of a traditional lettuce salad.
1-2 bunches of beets (red or golden, or mixture) with greens (equal to 4 large beets, 8-10 small)
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

DRESSING:
3 TBSP unrefined extra virgin olive oil
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

4 oz feta cheese
sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Remove the greens from the beet roots. Scrub the beets to remove any dirt. Leave the skins on the beets (helps retain nutrients while cooking). Using a saucepan, cover the beets with water and bring to a boil, simmering for approximately 35-40 minutes for small beets, or 45-55 minutes for large beets, or until tender. Drain and let cool. Peel the skins from the beet roots, they should peel off easily by hand, or use a vegetable peeler. Cut beets into bite-sized cubes.

While the beets are cooking, pull away the greens from the tough main stem. Wash the greens by filling the sink with cool water and submerging the greens. Agitate the greens and let them soak for several minutes; any dirt present will settle in the bottom of the sink. Remove the greens. Using a vegetable steamer, steam the greens for 1-2 minutes. Remove and let cool. Finely chop the greens.

Make the dressing by mixing olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, maple syrup and garlic.

Toast the raw pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for several minutes, stirring constantly, until they are light brown and begin to pop.

Mix the beet roots, greens, scallions, pumpkin seeds and dressing together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill the salad. Stir in feta prior to serving.

Wilted Greens with Toasted Sesame Seeds & Mango ( i found this one on the internet – try the asian greens mix with this)
¼ cup water¼ cup tamari (or soy sauce)2Tbs rice vinegar2 Tbs rice wine (mirin)1 Tbs dark sesame oil1 tsp vegetable oil1 garlic clove, minced6 cups Asian greens (mizuna, mustard, bok choy, chinese celery)1 mango, pitted, peeled, julienned¼ cup red onion, thinly slicedToasted sesame seedsWhisk together water, tamari, vinegar, rice wine & sesame oil. Set aside. Heat vegetable oil in saucepan. Cook garlic for 1 minute. Add vinegar mixture; heat 2 minutes. Toss greens, mango & onion in a large serving bow. Pour warm dressing over salad; sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip (I had a couple people send this recipe to me; Meg, Alayne….someone else too…)
Time: 15 minutes
1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling.
1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée.
2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.
3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
That’s all for this week. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

7/15/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:40:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
July 14, 2009

The most widely grown GMO crop is Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybean, a soybean engineered to withstand being sprayed with Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide, Roundup. When farmers spray their herbicide-resistant crops, the weeds die but the crop survives. Getting plants to do this trick means fewer weeds for farmers and more sales of Roundup for Monsanto. As of August 2006, 89% of the soybeans, 65% of the cotton, and 36% of the corn planted in the United Stated were herbicide-resistant (HR). In the first nine years HR crops were planted, herbicide use increased dramatically. A study done by the former head of the Board of Agriculture for the National Academy of Sciences found that farmers who plated Roundup Ready soybeans used 2 to 5 times more herbicides than farmers who planted conventional soybeans.
Uncertain Peril, Claire Hope Cummings

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
½# spinach
¼# arugula
½# stir fry mix
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch scallions (Purple Bunching)
Garlic scapes
1 bunch mint
1 bunch lavender
Not everyone will get:
1 bunch beets
1 bunch turnips
Sweet pepper (Sweet Cal Wonder Orange Bell or Ace Bell)
Eggplant (Rosa Bianca)
2 oz basil

Carrots – Two varieties went out this week: Napoli (orange) and White Satin (pale yellow). White Satin is new for us this year and I am quite impressed. It is a very sweet and crunchy carrot, basically coreless and my new favorite!
These will store best in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Scallions (or bunching onions) – The variety this week is Deep Purple Bunching. These will store best in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Nutritional Tip and other random factoid
Carrots: The cultivation of carrots dates back thousands of years to cultures in Central Asia and the Middle East. They were also grown by ancient Greeks and Romans for medicinal uses. They became popular in Europe during the Renaissance, making their way to the US with the early settlers. Carrots were such a popular vegetable that they became the first vegetable to be canned for winter storage and sales in local markets in the US.

Carrots belong to the Umbelliferae family, along with parsnips, fennel, caraway, cumin, and dill. They are the richest source of the antioxidant, pro-vitamin A. This nutrient has been linked to cardiovascular health, cancer prevention, and healthy eyes. Fresh carrots are a great add to salads and stir-fry. They make a great snack and are easy to pickle.

The News
Our Pickling Class is this Saturday from 2-5 (the class will be taught by Becca Brenner of Park City Holistic Health). Come learn a fabulous way to store the summer harvest for later use. You must sign up ahead of time, and you must do it by Thursday. If we do not get enough people signed up we will have to cancel the class. The cost is $50 and you will go home with at least 2 jars of veggies you pickled, and the knowledge to pickle your way into winter! Email me if you would like to sign up.
The ducks have finally discovered that there is a creek flowing about 10.5 feet away from their pen. They disappeared on Lorin the other day, only to be found happily floating upstream. Who can blame them? I’m only surprised it took then so long. Unfortunately they don’t like to come home until just before dark…..and we do have lives around here….sometimes…..so Craig has been working on putting chicken wire around the chicken yard so no one can sneak out anymore. That’s the big news around here this week.

The Recipe
This comes from Becca, and can also be found on her blog (playfulnoshings.blogspot.com), along with many other recipes.
I found the recipe in one of my new favorite cookbooks, Chefs on the Farm by Shannon Borg and Lora Lea Misterly. We adjusted some of the ingredients and the presentation (they suggested serving it in a soup bowl, but I wanted to see all of the summer colors). The only extra ingredients we needed were some organic lasagna noodles, Utah's own White Wine, and homemade ricotta cheese.
This is a delightful, fresh summer dish. It is so easy to make and the white wine makes the dish a bit more festive.
Pasta with Beets, Stir Fry Mix, and Parsley
4 medium beets, trimmedUtah salt1/2 cup local unsalted butterBlack pepper2 shallots, minced2 cloves local garlic minced16 large stir fry mix leaves, leaves chopped, stems finely diced1/2 cup white wine12 pieces of uncooked lasagna pasta, cooked and cut into 4 inch squares1/2 cup homemade ricotta1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the beets in a shallow baking dish. Pour in water about halfway up the level of the beets, and add a sprinkling of salt. Cover. Put in the oven and roast until fork-tender, about 40 minutes. Remove and cool the beets in the dish until ready to handle, then peel, dice, and reserve.
3. Set some salted water to boil for the pasta. In a saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add the reserved beets. Toss and heat just through, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set cover askew and keep warm over low heat.
4. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Cook the shallots, garlic, and chard stems until soft, about 3 minutes. add 2 more tablespoons of butter. After the butter melts, stir in the chard leaves and cook gently for about 3 minutes, or until soft. Season with salt, then stir in 2 more tablespoons of butter and the white wine. Cook the mixture for about 5 more minutes.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta for 3 to 4 minutes, until al dente. Drain and toss the pasta with the remaining butter.
6. Assemble the meal: Begin with a layer of the chard mixture, then lay a pasta square on the mixture and fill with more of the hard mixture, beets, and a sprinkle of ricotta. Continue stacking and top with chard, beets, and ricotta.

That’s it for this week. Hope you’ve had a fabulous one so far, and we’ll see you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

7/07/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:38:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
July 7, 2009

When Organic and conventional crops are contaminated with GMO’s, they have to be pulled up, burned, or sold as transgenic crops, which bring the lowest prices. Organic and conventional farmers now have to pay more for their seed to be certified GMO-free. They have to install elaborate systems of separation to keep the GMO’s out of their crops and bear the costs of testing – which can amount to $300 per test. And they lose export markets that shun GMO’s. The American Farm Bureau estimates that U.S. farmers loose $300 million a year because the European Union will not accept U.S. corn.
Uncertain Peril, Claire Hope Cummings

The Harvest
1# salad mix
¾# spinach
¼# arugula
Garlic scapes
1 bunch herbs (cilantro or dill)
1 bunch lavender
Not everyone will get the following:
1 bunch turnips (if you didn’t get them last week, you got ‘em this week)
1 bunch beets
Heirloom tomatoes (check the board)
U-Pick tomatoes (check the board)
2 oz basil
Edible flowers
Bell Pepper
Rosa Bianca Eggplant
Jalapeno pepper

Lavender – What joy lavender is! And so much you can do with it. As with all the herbs it is going to store best in a little bit of water on your counter, out of the sun. If you don’t want to use it right away hang it upside down and dry it for later use (whether that be for cooking or just for its scent throughout the house). Both of the recipes this week have to do with lavender, so I hope you have some fun with it.
Beets – I’m trying not to be too effusive here, but YEAH! It’s beet season! Lorin was just mentioning how effusive I was over the scapes also, but I can’t help it, I love it when new crops are ready. The best way to store the beets is to cut their tops off and store them both in a plastic bag in the fridge. Yes, the greens are edible also, and so very good for you. Steam or sauté the greens. My favorite way to prepare the beets themselves is to toss in a little oil (coconut is my favorite), herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme are my favorite), garlic (or garlic scapes), salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Yumm.
We grow 3 varieties of beets here at Copper Moose Farm: Chioggia (the red ones), Red Ace (the purple ones), and Golden (the yellow ones).
U-Pick – The u-pick season is slowly starting. For right now there are not enough cherry tomatoes for everyone to pick every week, so I will put a list up on the white board. I will have the correct sized baggies in the greenhouse for you to grab for harvesting. Please use our baggies. All of the u-pick items are in the cold frame (the little greenhouse structure out in the field). There will be signs out there to help you figure it out in case we are not around. Please do read the signs, there are different varieties of cherry tomatoes out there, so you need to know what color means ripe for each variety.

The Nutritional Tip and other random factoids (from Becca)
Arugula: Arugula is a peppery, aromatic green that may look like other leafy greens, but is truly a cruciferous veggie. It is also known as rocket, roquette, and rucola. The use of arugula dates back to the first century, AD as a main ingredient in oils and aphrodisiac tinctures. Today, it is used mainly in Italian cooking as well as spring salad mixes (much like ours here at Copper Moose). Arugula is high in the immune boosting vitamins A and C and the minerals calcium and potassium. It is also high in phytonutrients, free-radical fighting compounds, which have been shown to aid in fighting several kinds of cancer.All of it's amazing nutrition-qualities aside, Arugula features well in pesto, fresh salads, and stir-fries.

The News
If you are a flower share member, it is official, the season has started. Unless something random happens, I will have a bouquet for you each week until it slows down again later in the season (September).
Yoga was beautiful last Thursday morning. Join us at 7 am Thursday mornings for yoga on the lawn with Becca, with baked treats and tea afterwards!

The Recipe
From the Gardener’s Community Cookbook:

Lavender Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream pinch of salt
1 cup milk Blossoms from 10 sprigs of lavender
1/4 cup honey 4 extra large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1. Combine the cream, milk, honey, sugar, salt, and lavender in the top of a double boiler. Set over simmering water and cook, stirring occasionally, unti beginning to thicken, about 10 minutes.
2. Lightly beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Whisk in half the warm cream mixture. Whisk this mixture back into the double boiler. Continue cooking over the simmering water, stirring from time to time, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the spoon, about 10 minutes more.
3. Strain the cream mixture into a clean bowl. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, and chill. Serve as a sauce for berries, chocolate cake, plain pound cake, or sponge cake. Or spoon into side bowls and accompany with cookies.

This one comes from the internet (I have made it, it’s great):
Lemon-Lavender Shortbread
· SERVINGS: MAKES ABOUT 1 1/2 DOZEN COOKIES
Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon dried lavender blossoms, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a medium bowl, mix the sugar with the chopped lavender and grated lemon zest. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat in the butter at moderate speed. At low speed, beat in the flour and salt until a soft dough forms. Transfer the dough to a sheet of wax paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Form the dough into a 4-inch log and chill for at least 45 minutes longer.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Slice the shortbread dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and place the rounds on ungreased baking sheets. Freeze the rounds for 10 minutes.
Bake the shortbread for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Transfer the baked shortbread to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make Ahead
The cookie-dough log can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw slightly before slicing. The baked shortbread can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

I just want to remind everyone that all of the recipes from past years are on our website. If you are looking for something to do with your beets, turnips, spinach, you name it – you can find a recipe on our website.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow between 8-6 - Daisy

6/30/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:37:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
June 30th, 2009

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and depending upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.
- Galileo

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
½ # baby spinach
Pac Choi
Herb bunch (dill, cilantro, oregano or chives)
2 oz basil
½# stir fry mix (if you didn’t get it last week you’re getting it this week)
Garlic Scapes (the long curly green bean looking things)
Not everyone will get:
1 bunch turnips
1# tomatoes
Jalapeno Pepper
Beans
Edible Flowers

Garlic Scapes – If you haven’t had these before boy are you in for a treat! You can use them any way you would use garlic. They are milder than a garlic clove would be, so if you are using it as a substitute for garlic you may need to use more. One of my favorite ways to cook garlic scapes is to cut them up to about the size of a green bean and then sauté in butter – that’s it! They are fabulous. You can use the entire scape, you may want to cut off the last two inches or so (the little flat end), just cause the shape and texture isn’t quite as pleasant as the rest of it.
Garlic Scapes will keep for a very long time in a sealed plastic bag in your fridge.
Garlic Scapes are a reproductive part of the garlic plant. Basically it’s the garlic flower, before it’s had time to mature. If we were to let it do its thing, it would form a ball on top that would be filled with little garlic pearls (not a technical name, it’s just what they look like). If a garlic pearl were planted, in two years you would get a small bulb of garlic. We snap these scapes off for two reasons: 1 – they are fabulous to eat. 2 – once we take the scape off the plant, the garlic focuses on it’s secondary reproductive part which is the bulb. Garlic plants that have had the scapes removed have larger bulbs at harvest time.
Enjoy!

Nutritional Tip (and other random factoids) From Becca this week:
Beans: The ancestor of most beans originated in Peru and spread throughout South and Central America by migrating Indian tribes. Beans were brought to Europe by Spanish and Portuguese traders in the 16th century and spread to North America by early settlers.

Most bean varieties are high in antioxidants, fiber, minerals, and protein. These nutrients act as anti-inflammatory and immune boosting compounds. They also help with cardiovascular and brain health. Beans are a great snack on their own, as well as delightful adds to salads, sautés, and casseroles.

The News
Don’t forget to join us for Yoga starting this Thursday. Class starts at 7 am out on our events lawn (just south of the greenhouse, in between the flower shed and the field). Bring a mat if you have one, otherwise Becca will have some extra’s here. It’s $15 for drop in. Then stay for some muffins and tea all made with CMF delights. Hope to see you here.
There will be extra bags of salad, pac choi, herb bunches, and flower bouquets available for sale tomorrow.
Don’t forget to bring you bags back.

The Recipe
Candied Turnips (off the web somewhere)
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 pound(s) turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• 2 tablespoon(s) (1/4 stick) margarine or butter
• 1/3 cup(s) sugar
•
________________________________________
Directions
1. In 12-inch skillet, heat turnips with salt and enough water to cover to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 7 to 10 minutes, just until turnips are tender when pierced with knife. Drain. Wipe skillet dry.
2. In same skillet, melt margarine or butter over high heat. Add sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until amber in color, about 2 minutes. Add turnips and cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until well coated.

I candied my turnips last week, but couldn’t remember this recipe so I just cut the tips off, cut the greens off, made sure they were all around the same size (1” squares) and sautéed in butter and brown sugar at low heat for….10- 15 minutes (until they had softened). It worked quite well and was very tasty.

Pac Choi Egg Rolls with Sweet-and-Sour Dipping Sauce (From the Gardener’s Community Cookbook)
½ cup sweet-and-sour dipping sauce (recipe follows)
¾# pac choi, finely chopped, washed and patted or spun dry
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 large garlic clove (or 2 garlic scapes) minced
2 tbsp minced cilantro leaves
½ tbsp soy sauce
10 egg roll wrappers
veggie old for deep frying

Prepare the dipping sauce and set aside
Place the pac choi, spring onions, garlic, cilantro, and ginger in a bowl and toss to mix. Add the soy sauce and toss again. Set aside.
To form the egg rolls, place a wrapper on the counter. Spread about 2 tbsp of the greens mixture in the center. Rill up the wrapper, envelope style, and if necessary, seal the final fold with a little water to keep the envelope from springing open. Continue with the remaining wrappers until you have 10 egg rolls. Set aside.
Pour ¾ inch of oil into a wok or heavy skillet and heat until smoking. Place as many egg rolls in the wok as will fit without crowding and fry, turning once, until lightly browned and crispy, about 1 minute. Lift the rolls out of the oil and transfer to paper towels to drain. Continue with another batch until all the rolls are fried.
Serve right away, accompanied by the dipping sauce.

The rolls may be wrapped and set aside for up to several hours before deep-frying. Longer than that and they get soggy.
Sweet-and-Sour Dipping Sauce:
1 cup ketchup ½ tbsp ground ginger
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar pinch of ground nutmeg

Place all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes, until the consistency is slightly sticky and the spices no longer taste raw.
Remove and cool. Use right away or store, covered, in the fridge for up to 6 weeks!

That’s all for this week. See you tomorrow between 8-6, and if I miss you…have a fabulous 4th of July Holiday!
Daisy

6/23/09

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:13:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
June 23, 2009

On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Harvest
¾# salad greens
2 oz basil
2.5 oz arugula
1 bunch herbs (dill or cilantro)
Not everyone will get the following, but you will get one of the following….
1# tomatoes (Cherokee Purple, Red Brandywine, Yellow Brandywine, Double Rich, Striped German). Check the list on the white board to see if you get tomatoes this week.
Jalapeno pepper
1 bunch turnips
1 bunch radish
Bag of beans (purple and green)
½# Gwen’s Favorite Stir Fry Mix

Turnips - Ahh yes, turnip season is starting. I know some of you are dreaming of turnip chips right now! Me too, but these may be too small for turnip chips. These are baby turnips – we have a lovely recipe for them later in the letter. Both the greens and the roots are edible. The greens should be cooked before eaten…mostly because they are prickly. For storing you are going to want to cut the tops off the roots, store them both in plastic bags in the fridge.
Jalapeno Pepper – I just usually toss mine into the fridge, but I am sure that putting it in a plastic bag would help it keep longer.
Striped German Heirloom Tomato – This is my favorite! It is a large multicolored tomato, with an exciting citrusy flavor. It’s a great slicer as the red, orange and yellow colors are a show stopper. So, don’t wait for it to turn all red – it won’t. The red part is mostly on the bottom, with the top being yellow. Don’t confuse it for the Yellow Brandywine which will be all yellow with no red.
Stir Fry Mix – You may recognize some of the characters in the stir fry mix from your salad mix. The stir fry mix is made up of more mature Mustard Greens, Tatsoi, Kale, Swiss Chard, and Bulls Blood Beet Greens. We call it a stir fry mix because it will taste best lightly cooked. You can chop it up and throw it in at the very end of a stir fry (they only need a moment of cooking), or you can steam them for a couple minutes for a side dish, put them in a quiche, chop them up and add them to your cooking scrambled eggs, use in burritos or enchiladas…..you get the picture. The stir fry mix will have a slightly spicy flavor due to the Mustard Greens and the Tatsoi. Enjoy.

Nutrition Tip and other random factoids (from Becca this week)
Mustard Greens: Mustard Greens were originally grown in India over 5,000 years ago. They are packed full of phytonutrients like glucosionlates, antioxidants C and E, B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium and magnesium. These nutrients are associated with healthy lung and heart function, bone health, and soothing the nervous system. The high level of magnesium in mustard greens help to reduce stress and promote healthy sleep patterns. Mustard Greens are a great peppery add to salads, delight on their own in garlic, olive oil stir-fry, and mixed into bean and rice dishes.

The News
Yoga starts next Thursday (July 2nd). It’s hard to believe July is upon us already, but it is….and that means Becca’s yoga series starts (this is a class for all levels). Yoga will be every Thursday morning through August, 7-8am. Muffins and tea will be served afterwards. Bring a mat if you have one, if you don’t, there will be extra’s here. You can sign up for the full series by emailing me, or you can just drop in for classes when it works for your schedule.
Thursday mornings, 7-8 am, July 2nd through August 27thAll 9 Classes - $108 ($90 for Copper Moose Farm CSA members)Drop in - $15 per class
Hope to see you here. Dress in layers as it can be a bit chilly at 7 am….
Joy oh joy the sun is out! What a relief. We’ll be busy here this week trying to get back on schedule…..and so will the veggies probably. As I have mentioned before, the salad greens loved the rainy weather, but it seems that some other crops may have slowed down a bit. I expect we will see a huge growth explosion (all over the county) in the next week with the warm sunny weather.
If you got your greens in plastic bags this week…….it means you have all the cotton bags at your house…..which is not the goal. You should have one set and we should have one set.
There will be additional bags of salad greens available for sale in the fridge, along with some additional herbs. Help yourself – its self service as far as making your own change using the money jar which is on the tables near the sink. (3/4# salad greens $7.50, herb bunch $2).

The Recipes
The following 3 turnip related recipes come from Becca.
Roasted Turnips in Wine with Baked Brie and Goat Cheese
1 bunch turnips, cleaned, greens reserved for Turnip Greens Meal1 cup red wine 1/4 cup honey 2 Tablespoons butter Place turnips in saucepan; add remaining ingredients and enough water to barely cover. (You may also add other root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, etc.) Simmer until tender. Pour into baking dish and bake at 350 degrees 1/2 hour. Serve with baked brie, goat cheese, and fresh bread. 2-3 servings.
Baked Brie
1 large sheet of puff pastry dough or 1 tube of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 round or wedge of Brie cheese (do not remove rind) Raspberry Jam, or other sweet jam Brown sugar 1/4 cup of maple syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a stick-free cookie sheet, lay out the puff pastry or the crescent rolls flat; put brie round or wedge on top. Spread jam on brie, fold dough over top, cutting off excess dough. Drizzle maple syrup and place a handful of brown sugar on top. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes, pastry should be golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.Serve with crackers and apple slices.

Turnip Greens Meal
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil3 Garlic cloves, minced 1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced (can find these fresh at Park Silly)1 Tablespoon Red Raspberry or cider vinegar 1 large red onion, sliced 1 can black beans 2 Tablespoons soy sauce 1 large potato, cubed (I would substitute a couple of the turnips...) cleaned greens from one bunch of turnips.
Put all ingredients in a large pot, in the order listed. Bring mixture to boiling point, stir, lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 or 20 minutes, or until potato is tender. Serve with a chilled fruit and yogurt accompaniment.
This last one comes from our good friend Alayne (many of you will remember her from her hard work here at the farm the last two summers)! She is living it up in Chamonix France, tending a beautiful garden, and creating wonders in her kitchen. Thanks for the recipe Alayne – keep them coming!
Radish Leaf Pesto
- 2 large handfuls of good-looking radish leaves (could substitute turnip leaves I bet, if you don’t have enough radish leaves), stems removed- 30 grams (1 ounce) hard cheese, such as pecorino or parmesan, grated or shaved using a vegetable peeler- 30 grams (1 ounce) nuts, such as pistachios, almonds, or pinenuts (avoid walnuts, which make the end result too bitter in my opinion)- 1 clove garlic, germ removed, cut in four- a short ribbon of lemon zest cut thinly from an organic lemon with a vegetable peeler (optional)- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to get the consistency you like- salt, pepper, ground chili pepperPut all the ingredients in a food processor or blender or mini-chopper, and process in short pulses until smooth. You will likely have to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. This produces a thick pesto; add more oil and pulse again to get the consistency you prefer. (This can also be done with a mortar and pestle; it's great for your karma and your triceps.)Taste, adjust the seasoning, and pack into an airtight container (I use a recycled glass jar). Use within a few days (it will keep longer if you pour a thin layer of oil on the surface) or freeze.

Hope you’re all out enjoying the gorgeous weather! See you tomorrow between 8-6. Daisy

6/16/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:12:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
June 16, 2009

The damages of our present agriculture all come from the determination to use the life of the soil as if it were an extractable resource like coal, to use living things as if they were machines, to impose scientific (that is, laboratory) exactitude upon living complexities that are ultimately mysterious.
Wendell Berry in The Unsettling of America

Last week after pick-up day we found too many green tomatoes that had been picked lying in the beds……please make sure your kids know not to touch any of the plants in the greenhouse, and especially not to PICK anything in the greenhouse. Thanks.

The Harvest
¾# salad greens
½# spinach (cooking spinach)
Pac Choi
Herb Bunch
Not everyone will get:
1 bunch radish
2 oz basil
Edible flowers
1# Heirloom tomatoes (Cherokee Purple and Red Brandywine)
Beans – Blue Lake Bush Bean (green), Royal Burgundy (purple/red)

Pac Choi – Pac Choi is similar to boc choy – they are all actually just slightly different varieties of Chinese Cabbage. The two varieties you are getting today are Red Choi and Joy Choi. Your choi will store best in a plastic baggie (tied) in your fridge. Pac Choi is great in stir fries – use the whole thing, leaf and stem. The stems make a really nice, juicy addition to stir fries. You can also steam it whole and then serve as a side vegetable. Pac Choi can also be lightly brushed with olive oil and put on the grill for a moment. And then there is the good old stand-by of just chopping it up and adding it to your salad!
Red Brandywine – The original Red Brandywine was introduced in 1889. These large, rosy red fruit have an excellent flavor.
Beans – Normally these would be a u-pick item, and they will be once they are ready for harvest in the cold frame. The ones ready right now are in the greenhouse and they are a little more difficult to harvest, and the plants are more delicate. So, we’ll be harvesting these until more are ready in the cold frame. These will store well in a plastic baggie in the fridge (there’s a new one eh).

Nutritional Tip (and other random factoids): From Becca this week…..
BasilEven though Basil is now grown all over the world, it is native to India, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Africa. The word basil comes from the Greek word basilikohn, meaning royal, which gives us some understanding of how these cultures saw and used this aromatic herb. Basil is packed full of 80 health promoting nutrients. Recent research reveals that basil's flavonoids and volatile oils promote DNA protection and anti-bacterial properties.Some medicinal uses for basil are: rubbing fresh leaves on insect bites to relieve the pain and itch, an infusion of local honey and basil leaves to relieve cold/allergy symptoms, and an infusion of almond oil and basil leaves massaged into the body to relieve sore muscles.Basil is an important herb in Thai and Italian cooking, and is most often featured in pesto dishes, alongside olive oil, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts. Use it raw in a fresh caprese salad and enjoy the immune boosting qualities of this ancient gem.

News
Rain, rain, rain….that’s about all that’s been on my mind, and probably many of yours also. Things are doing pretty well out here, despite the routine down pours. We (those of us that work here, and the veggies that grow here) are looking forward to some nice sunny days though. Just give me a few weeks and I’ll be talking about the heat!
We are only slightly off schedule due to the wet conditions. I haven’t been able to get into the field with the tractor because the soil has been too wet. Working the soil when too wet does damage to the soil structure, which could take a year or more to recover. Because of that we have missed a sowing of salad greens, and are just a little off track on some transplanting. Not that big of a deal though, you won’t even notice…..and neither will I once I forget about it. It has made me realize though, how used to being “in control” of the water I am. I have spent all of my life in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah….all states where you have to irrigate to grow. I turn the water on when it fits into my schedule….the only times it’s too wet to plant is when I have messed up. Ahhh, just another fabulous opportunity to learn about myself and practice acceptance of the things you can not change.
If you got any of your greens in a plastic bag this week that means you have two weeks worth of cotton bags at your house and we need them back!
Just a reminder to folks who like to put their greens into plastic bags here at the farm and always leave their cotton bags here - you need to bring in your own plastic bags for that – thanks.

The Recipe
Spinach, Feta and Herb Quiche (I made this one this weekend – tasty!). Ohh – you could put radish or basil is this too! The crust may make it seem intimidating, but go for it – it’s easier than it first looks!
Crust:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, at room temp
2 to 2.5 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 425.
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Cut in the butter and pulse several times until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Continue to pulse while adding the water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough adheres to itself when pinched.
Gather the dough into a ball and set the ball on a sheet of plastic wrap. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap and roll the dough into an 11-13” circle. Remove the top sheet and turn the dough into a 10-12” tart or pie pan, pushing gently into the corners and up the sides. Place in the refrigerator to chill before baking, up to overnight. If chilling overnight, remove from the fridge 30 minutes before baking.
Note: the dough can also be mixed by hand. You will need slightly more water with this method.
After chilling for a bit, with a fork, prick all across the bottom of the crust and bake until beginning to puff up on the bottom, about 12 min.
Gently prick the bottom again to allow steam to escape. If the sides are beginning to collapse, press them up with the fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes more, until the crust is golden on the bottom and around the edges.
Remove and continue with the recipe, either right away of after the crust has cooled a bit but not longer than 1 or 2 hours and never chilled.
The Filling
6 oz spinach 2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs 6 oz feta
1 cup milk salt and pepper to taste
.5 cup half and half 2 tbsp chopped herbs
2 cloves garlic 1 cup mushrooms
1 tomato (sliced)

Turn oven down to 400.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes (until the mushrooms begin to soften). Add the spinach and quickly sauté – don’t over cook! Pull off heat and set aside
Whisk together the eggs, milk and half and half. Add chopped herbs, salt and pepper and feta cheese and mix.
Place spinach mixture in the pie crust. Next layer the tomato. Pour the egg mixture over the top.
Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until puffed and set. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes

This one comes from Becca; another great recipe to use some herbs….and looks like a fun one to do with the kids.

Bread PretzelsI pulled out my dear old friend, The Joy of Cooking, for this one. Chop and add your fresh Copper Moose herbs to the flour, butter, salt, and sugar mix.
Combine in a mixer bowl:1 cup 105-115 degree water1 package active dry yeast
When dissolved, add and beat at least 3 minutes:1 ½ cups sifted organic flour2 tablespoons organic, local butter½ teaspoon local salt1 tablespoon organic sugar
Stir in:1 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose organic flour and as many chopped up herbs from Copper Moose Farm as you think sounds good and kneed until the dough loses its stickiness. Let rise in a covered greased bowl until doubled in bulk. Punch down and divide into 12 pieces for pretzels or 36 smaller pieces for sticks. With you palms, roll the 12 pretzel pieces into 18-inch lengths about pencil thickness, tapering the ends slightly. Loop into a twisted oval . Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise until almost doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 475.
Have ready a boiling solution of :4 cups water5 teaspoons baking soda
Do not use an aluminum pan for this mixture. With a slotted spoon, carefully lower the pretzels into the water about 1 minute, or until they float to the top. Return them to the greased sheet.
Sprinkle with:Coarse saltBake until crispy and browned, about 12 minutes. They are best served at once, but will keep about on week in an airtight container.

That’s all for this week. Don’t forget to check the white board in the greenhouse for the tomato list and the flowers list. See you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

6/09/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:36:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
June 9, 2009

Since WWII, American farmers have increased their use of agricultural pesticides tenfold – to about one billion pounds (500,000 tons) per year, yet crop loss due to agricultural pests has doubled.
Dr. Arden Anderson, Science in Agriculture

The Harvest
¾# salad greens
*¼# arugula
½# spinach
*1 bunch herbs (tarragon, oregano, thyme, or mint)
2 oz basil (not everyone will get this week)
1 bunch radish (not everyone will get this week)
1 oz edible flowers (only a few people will get this each week, I’ll just be working my way down the list……)

* The arugula is probably going to be a little wet and muddy this week from all the rain, so make sure you give it a good wash and dry when you get it home

* If you find you keep getting the same herb bunch week after week feel free to swap out for another type of herb. There will usually be a box of extra herb bunches in the cooler for our “a la carte” customers. It will say “herb bunches $2” – swap your bunch out for another variety in that box if you would like. You can also buy additional herb bunches from that box!

This week there will also be additional bags of salad mix ($7.50), spinach ($5) and arugula ($4) in the cooler for sale.

Nutritional Tip (and other fun factoids)
Oregano is native to Europe, the Mediterranean region, and South and Central Asia. It is high in antioxidant activity due to a high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids. Oregano also demonstrates antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogens. Both of these characteristics make Oregano great for food health and food preservation.
In the Philippines Oregano is mostly used medicinally, for relieving children’s coughs. In a mild tea it has a soothing effect and aides in restful sleep. Used topically, Oregano is one of the best antiseptics because of its high thymol content.
Beyond all that, as I am sure you all know, Oregano is widely used in Italian and Greek cuisine.

Bee Talk
You got it! This is the section where Doug (our Bee Guy) will give you periodic updates on our bee hive. I’ll just turn it right over to Doug:
We’ve got Bees! This spring here at the farm we brought in a hive of about 6 thousand European “Carolina” honey bees, to help make the farm that much more self-sufficient and benefit not only the vegetable and flower crops but the surrounding flowers and fields. As this is the first year for the bees and us, the amount of honey harvested in the fall may be small if any. The bees need a fair amount to remain in the hive to eat over the winter. We are going to play it pretty safe this fall and leave quite a bit as we don’t know exactly how cold and long the winter will be and how it will impact the hive. The bees are genetically classified as “Carolina” and have been raised in the Baltic states of Eastern Europe for hundreds of years. We selected this type due to there ability to over winter in particularly cold regions well. They are very docile and are for the most part unconcerned about people or animals. They are actively gathering nectar and pollen, building honeycomb and raising the hundreds of new bees. The hive population is about 16-18 thousand as of early June. About two to four hundred new bees are born every day! Feel free to walk over and check out the hive the next time you visit the farm. It is on the west side of the green house. If you watch from the end of the wood chip path you should be able to see the girls coming and going. The hive front door is at the base of the hive boxes. As mentioned before the bees are very docile and will not even notice you are there so long as you stay clear of the front entrance “flight path”. There is an empty hive currently sitting near the gate entrance to the field you are welcome to open it up and see all of the parts up close and bee free. If you have questions about the hives or beekeeping pleas let me know. Thanks and cheers to a sweet summer season Doug (the beekeeper in training) cdfryer@yahoo.com

Here are a few photos of the bees:

This last photo is the one that Doug is referencing in the following sentences: “In one of the photos there is a cell on the honeycomb frame that looks like a small peanut. It is a queen cell. The bees may be in the process of replacing the current queen (like laying three or four hundred eggs ain't enough.. sheesh!).. This is apparently a normal thing based on the queen’s laying ability and age.

The News
Well, it’s been raining a lot as I am sure you’ve all noticed…..the greens are loving it and growing like weeds. The tomatoes in the greenhouse don’t seem to mind the cooler weather too much; we are starting to see some of the big heirloom tomatoes coloring up! We do seem to be having a bit of an aphid problem on the peppers and eggplant right now. We usually get some of that in the spring, and have good success treating it with Lady Bugs. The treatment seems to be taking a little longer this spring…. It seems the cooler weather is just perfect for the aphids….hence their proliferation. The good thing is that it doesn’t seem to be affecting fruit set at this point, so we have lots of fruit maturing on the peppers and eggplant.
The Lady Bugs are great at eating aphids, but their offspring are even better! The juvenile stage of the Lady Bug looks like this crazy little black and orange speckled dinosaur/alligator like thing. See if you can find any in the greenhouse! Leave them where they are though, they are hard at work.

The Recipe
This comes from Quail Hill Farm Cookbook.
Spinach Cottage Cheese Gratin
Preheat oven to 350. Oil an 8”X10” gratin dish. Cook 3 bunches of spinach with water still clinging to leaves in wide skillet until wilted. Press out and reserve liquid. Finely chop spinach. Beat 5 eggs with ½ cup chopped parsley, ½ tsp dill seeds, ½ tsp ground coriander, 1/2tsp salt and a little pepper. Add 2 cups small curd cottage cheese, spinach and reserve liquid. Bake for 45 minutes.

And this comes from Gardener’s Community Cookbook.
Arugula Lover’s Pesto
1 cup coarsely chopped arugula leaves
½ cup fresh parsley leaves
½ cup coarsely cut winter greens (such as Mizuna or giant red mustard)
½ cup walnut halves or pieces
2 to 4 garlic cloves, to taste
1 to jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped, to taste
½ tsp salt
½ cup parmesan cheese
½ cup olive oil

Wash the arugula, parsley, and winter greens all together and let drip dry in a colander.
Pulverize the walnuts in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients, including the still-moist greens, and process until minced as fine as possible. Use right away or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

That’s all for this week, hope the kids are enjoying the beginning of their summer break!
Daisy

6/02/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:34:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
June 2nd, 2009

A truly fertile soil is inwardly alive.
Rudolf Steiner

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
2 oz arugula
Basil (for those of you who did not get it last week)
1 bunch radish (not everyone will get this week)
1 bunch herbs (mint, thyme, or tarragon)
Edible Flowers

Let me introduce you to a little “friend” of mine. Some of you may remember this character from last year…..the Flea Beetle . Yup, this little guy is the one doing all the damage you see to your salad mix (the tiny holes). They like the spicier greens (mustard greens, Mizuna, arugula, Tatsoi). We cover all of those greens here at the farm with a light row cover to keep it hidden from them….but sometimes they still get in. I am going to call this ‘the spring of the flea beetle’; their damage is very wide spread right now…..we’re doing our best. I think I have mentioned before that farming is teaching me to share…..even when I don’t want to; this week it’s with the flea beetles.

Edible Flowers – I only send out a couple bags of these a week….so we’ll slowly get through the list…The best way to store these little beauties is floating in some water in a little bowl, either in your fridge or on the counter. Edible Flowers are great to use on salads, floating on the top of a chilled soup, as a gorgeous garnish for desserts…..and anything else that sounds good to you. Right now the flowers that we have are Pansies, Chamomile, and Nasturtiums. The Nasturtiums have a spicy flavor, the Chamomile tastes like….chamomile, and the Pansies are very subtle.
Last year Alayne put some Chamomile flowers into a scone batter and WOW, was it fabulous….subtle but wonderful.
Nasturtium
Pansy
Chamomile

Nutritional Tip (and other random factoids):
The radish was first domesticated in Europe in the Pre-Roman times. Radishes are actually packed with lots of good stuff – believe it or not! They are rich in ascorbic acid, folic acid, and potassium and are a good source of Vitamin B6, riboflavin, magnesium, copper, and calcium. So eat em’ up!

The News
The CSA Potluck Party is going to be Sunday August 30th from 5-8. Don’t miss it. It’s a great time here at the farm with all your fellow CSA members! We will provide the main dish and beverages, and you all bring one of your favorite vegetable dishes or desserts. We try to accommodate everyone with as many of the ingredients for their dish as we can. We’ll talk more about that later. But put it in your calendar now!
Compost – we are going to set up a compost bucket for you on Wednesdays. The only items I can accept are things that came from Copper Moose Farm. So…if you don’t eat your radish greens, put them in a container and bring them back the next week. Some of your greens are going bad, bring them back here….you peel your carrots, I’ll take that! You get the picture. I can not accept cooked food – even if it is from the farm. So, to re-cap, I can only accept compost items that came from Copper Moose Farm.
Thanks to all of you that made it to the CSA Prep Class – it was a great exchange of ideas! Some of you expressed interest in the juicers Dave was talking about – here is Dave Spealler’s contact information if anyone is interested in getting a good quality juicer: dave@cgiwest.com, 435-655-0058.
Along with the juicer talk came a great “keep you young” juice recipe from Debbie Sebek. Here it is:
Fresh Juice Drinks by Dr. Bernardo
Make Drink 1 – 3X’s / day
“Secret to Youth & Good Health” Juice
(Juice together items below)
Item Amount Details
1. Ginger Root ¼” Slice of
2. Daikon Radish ¼” Slice of Makes Alkaline
3. Asparagus 5 whole spears
4. Broccoli 1 Cup of
5. Beet ¼ - ½ of a
6. Granny Smith Apple - 1 whole
7. Pineapple ½” Slice of Fresh Take off skin
8. Carrot 1 whole
9. Cucumber 1/3 of a Cleansing
10. Cilantro Handful of Pulls metals out

IMPORTANT: MUST drink with a Straw w/in 20 min. of making
NOTE: Use organic ingredients whenever possible

The Recipe
These come from one of my favorite farm cookbooks, they’re from Smith and Hawken - “The Gardeners’ Community Cookbook” by Victoria Wise.

Radish and Chive Canapés
8 oz quality cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp butter, softened
½ to ¾ cup finely chopped radishes
½ cup chopped fresh chives
Salt
Pumpernickel triangles and/or small cocktail rye bread rounds
Thinly sliced radish rounds, watercress tips, and/or whole chives for garnish

In a medium bowl, beat together the cheese and butter until fluffy. Lightly squeeze the chopped radishes to press out extra moisture and add to the bowl. Add the chopeed chives and mix well. Season with salt to taste, cover, and refrigerate until firm but still spreadable, at least 1 hour to overnight.
When ready to serve, mound the cheese mixture on a serving platter. If using, arrange a ring of radish rounds, watercress tips, and whole chives around the cheese. Surround with a border of overlapping pumpernickel and rye bread slices around the edge of the platter and serve.
Note: If you don’t have enough chives to make half a cup, top the measure with minced green onion.

Herb-Marinated Feta Cheese
2/3 cup olive oil
1 heaping tsp green or red peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, slivered
2 tbsp shredded fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
3 bay leaves, preferably fresh
1/2 # feta cheese, cut into ¾ inch cubes

Place the oil, peppercorns, garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, and bay in a quart jar. Cap and shake well. Add the feta, taking care not to crumble it, cap again, and gently turn to mix. Let stand at room temp for several hours, turning the jar several times. Use right away or store, covered, in the fridge. Bring to room temp before serving. Keeps indefinitely.

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow - Daisy

5/26/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:32:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
May 26th, 2009

As George Watson pointed out in his book, Nutrition and Your Mind, the nutritional integrity of an individual’s diet determines the integrity of that person’s thinking and emotional stability. When farmers regenerate the soil, they recondition the food chain. This, in turn, improves the nutritional integrity of society, thereby enhancing people’s thinking and emotional stability. No drug, psychiatric counseling, rehabilitation program, welfare check, educational system, or legislative mandate can ever have such an all-encompassing influence.
Dr. Arden Anderson, Science in Agriculture

We are so excited to be starting the CSA this early! A week earlier than last year and 3 weeks earlier than 2007!! As I mentioned last week, these first few boxes will be mostly herbs and greens as we wait for more vegetables to come into season. I hope you enjoy the freshies!
If you still owe for the organic cotton bags, which are yours, please plan on bringing that money tomorrow ($25 per membership). I will send out invoices this afternoon for those of you that do still owe. Any outstanding balances will show up on this invoice…..no time like the present!

The Harvest
¾# Salad Mix
¼# arugula
1 bunch herbs (Chives, Tarragon, or Mint)
1 bulb garlic
**2 oz basil (not everyone will get this week)

**When I have items ready to harvest, but not enough of it for the entire CSA, I harvest it and send it out to as many members as I can. The following week I will send it to members who have not yet received it, and so on. You’ve got to trust me on this one….I keep very good records on this, and I promise you that when the season is over, everyone will have received the same amount as everyone else. Those of you splitting shares, if you are alternating weeks, you may feel that I keep shorting you on an item, but you have to remember that I do not take into account split shares…I treat that box as one share. So if you feel you haven’t been getting something that you have seen on the harvest list……talk to your splitting partner.

Salad Mix – The mix this week is different than you will see in the future. This is a mix of baby spinach and our piquant mix. Usually our salad mix is a mix of lettuces and our piquant mix, but the lettuce is growing a little sluggishly right now….so we’re using the spinach instead.
Here are the cast of characters in the piquant mix:
Bull’s Blood Beet Greens
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Red Russian Kale
Giant Red Mustard
Early Mizuna
Tatsoi

We double wash the salad greens here at the farm, in plain culinary water. Our sinks and the surfaces in the packing area are always cleaned with disinfectant, but no disinfectant is put in the water that washes the greens. You may want to take it a step further and wash them at your home – it is up to you. If you do wash again, make sure you dry them VERY WELL. If the greens are kept too wet in the fridge, the will go bad MUCH more quickly.
The salad mix is packaged in your new organic cotton bags – to keep the salad the freshest I think you are going to need to place the cotton bag in a plastic bag and then into the fridge. These are new to all of us, so tell me how it’s going and what you’re finding out.
YOU NEED TO BRING THESE BAGS BACK WITH YOU NEXT WEEK. There will be a box for you to drop them in when you come to get your veggies.

Arugula – We do not wash the arugula. It is just too delicate for our big salad spinner….so it’s up to you to wash this beauty. If you do not already own a salad spinner….it’s time to buy one. As with any of the greens that you wash, make sure it is well dried before you store it in the fridge in a plastic bag.

Herbs – All the herb bunches will store best in a glass with a little water in it, on your counter or in the fridge. Just like a mini bouquet of flowers! If you know you will not use the herbs, but want them for later use (winter), simply hang them upside down from the rubber band, away from direct heat. Once they are dry and crumbly you can put them in a little container or plastic bag for storage. Herbs that dry well are: tarragon, dill, sage, thyme, and oregano.

Basil – My new theory is that the basil is going to store the best with their stems in a little water on your counter. I have had some on my counter since Saturday and it still looks brand new. You can also try a plastic bag (not completely closed as the basil needs to breath) either on the counter or in the fridge.

Garlic – you guessed it…this is saved from last year. Some of it may be sprouting a bit – no better evidence that you are eating something alive! Now that’s gotta be good for you! Garlic should not be stored in the fridge. It will not be in your boxes either (as they are in the walk-in-cooler), it will be available on the counter for you to grab – don’t forget it!

Nutritional Tip (and other random factoids)
As I am sure you all know, spinach is very high in calcium and iron…but did you know that your body does not absorb the iron very well unless it is eaten with vitamin C? Yup, it’s true, so squeeze a little fresh lemon on your salad to help your body get the most out of that spinach.
It is most likely that spinach was first domesticated in Nepal. The Muslims, who conquered that area, helped to spread it to other areas in the Muslim world. By the 11th Century it was a common plant throughout the Muslim World.

The News
Beginning of the season – yippee! I will be around the building all day tomorrow to say hi and get everyone oriented. Lorin Tedeschi will be working here full time this summer; you’ll hopefully meet her tomorrow, and be seeing a lot of her for the rest of the season.
After tomorrow’s pick-up we will not be sticking as close to the building on Wednesdays, so if you come to get your veggies some week, and you don’t see either Lorin or I, that’s fine – grab your veggies, say hi to the chickens, enjoy the view, marvel at the beauty of a working farm, and hopefully we’ll see you next time!
Ramirez the Rooster – yup, he’s still around, and he’s still a meanie! Please no kids in the chicken yard. Ramirez means business, so it’s best to “appreciate” him from our side of the fence (to date, he has not bothered jumping the fence). None of the other chickens are any danger at all, and are most likely to mob the fence hoping to get fed when you wander over to it. Feel free to bring them stale bread any time you want, they will adore you for it!

The Recipe
This week’s recipes come from Kelly Epstein, a new member of Copper Moose Farm CSA and Co-Owner of DISH, a catering business located here in Park City.

Here are two options to dress your early season greens, using the garlic and fresh herbs from your basket. Any herbs work equally well in either recipe. Our favorites for the creamy herb dressing are chives and tarragon. For the basic vinaigrette, basil works particularly well but any herb will be great.

Creamy Herb Dressing
3 tablespoons 1/2 & 1/2
1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon hot water
1/2-1 tablespoon minced fresh herb, packed
salt and pepper to taste

In blender, mix 1/2 & 1/2, sour cream, lemon juice and agave nectar. Add hot water to desired consistency. Stir in fresh herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

Basic Herb Vinaigrette

4 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons fresh herbs of choice
1 teaspoon hot water

In blender mix all ingredients except water, salt and pepper. Blend to combine. Add hot water to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

That seems like more than enough info for one week… see you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

10-14-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:30:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
October 14th, 2008

There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder. ~Alfred Austin

Week 19! Wow, the last week, another season under our belt….ok, our 2nd season under our belt. Hope you all feel as good about the season as we do. I’m impressed we got 19 weeks after the spring we had – that’s 2 more weeks than last year’s CSA! I have so enjoyed getting to know those of you I didn’t already know, and seeing old friends again. It’s going to be sad without Wednesday social day around here…….. Thank you so much for your smiling faces, recipes, suggestions, support, and shared passion for responsibly grown food. I look forward to seeing you all out on the slopes/skate track/trails this winter, and back out here come spring time!
I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to our in-kind-members this year – you all helped out soooo much, could not have done it without you! I hope to work with you again next year.

The Harvest
~1# salad greens
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch herbs (cilantro or dill)
1 bunch radish (for those of you who did not get them last week)
3 oz basil (with this week’s basil I have made it even for everyone)
Sun Flower Seeds
Copper Moose Farm 2008 Potluck Cookbook (1 per membership)
* If you forgot your onion twist last week, I still have them – get them this week.

Sunflower Seeds – These seeds come from our Zebulon sunflowers this year. They were the dwarf variety that was in the ore cart planters and the whiskey barrel planters at the greenhouse door. They have an amazing geometrical pattern in their bright green center. Because they are dwarf they are great for borders or planter boxes. They will get to be 28-36” tall and are an early bloomer.
I would recommend holding on to these until the spring, then pop them in the ground or a planter after danger of frost has passed (June 15th up here). Water them well until they have germinated.

Copper Moose Farm 2008 Potluck Cookbook – They’re done! Well, most of them are done. Due to a printing error, I do not have 50 ready. So, if there are none left when you get here, there will be a piece of paper for you to write your name down on – as soon as the rest of the cookbooks are done I will send you an email and you can swing by and pick yours up. Sorry for the inconvenience. Also – we will be printing extra’s, they will make great gifts! If you are interested in buying a couple, we sure would love the help in making these possible! I will have a sheet out for those of you who would like to buy a couple extra’s – put your name down and how many you would like. It would be great if you could pay for them up-front, but if not, we can bill you.
Thanks again to Kim Denkers for designing and compiling these – they look fantastic! And thanks to all of you for contributing your recipes!

The News
Lots of opportunities to stay connected to the farm this winter!
We will be having our Holiday Flower Party again this year. I will send out an email when we have all the details sussed out. Hope to see you for that.
We plan on selling eggs this winter - I will send out an email when the details are together on that one also.
Keep your eyes peeled in February for our invite letter to join the 2009 CSA. I will hold your spot for 2 weeks after I send that email out, after that, I will open up your spot to someone on our waitlist. So don’t dally, if you want to join again for next year send in the form and payment as soon as you get that email in February.

The Recipe
Carrots with Lemon (from Quail Hill Farm Cookbook)
Peel about 4-5 carrots, juice a lemon and set the juice aside. Toss the carrots with Kosher salt a little water and olive oil into a heavy frying pan and cook covered for a bit. Uncover, add some more oil, and turn up the heat to caramelize the carrots. At the very end, when the carrots are done, add the lemon juice and let it thicken in the oil.

Well, that’s a wrap! Look forward to seeing you tomorrow….for the last pick-up. Thanks again for a great season.
Daisy

10-7-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:29:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
October 7, 2008

In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it. ~Frank McKinney Hubbard

Wednesdays are the pick-up day…..please come get your boxes on Wednesday between 8-6. Thank you.

Hello all. Well, this week was supposed to be our last……but……..the harvest is still bountiful, so how about we do another week? (I’m going to assume you all just said yes). One more week – October 15th will be our official end. If for some reason you do not want a box on October 15th, please email me and let me know that. Otherwise, I will plan on packing boxes for you all – ready for your pick-up on October 15th.

The Harvest
1# salad greens
½# baby spinach
¼# arugula
1 bunch carrots
Handful of garlic cloves
Onions
1 bunch radish (half of you will get them this week, half next week)
1 bunch herbs
3 0z basil (half of you will get this week, half next week)
U-pick cherry tomatoes

Garlic Cloves – There will be two baskets of garlic cloves (I broke apart the bulbs and selected the best cloves to keep for seed – there is nothing wrong with these cloves, they just weren’t the most outstanding). So, take a handful of cloves.
Onions - The onions are not completely cured, so I have twisted them together and tied them with twine for easy hanging. If you plan on storing these onions for any length of time, please hang these in a warm, dry, sunny spot until the necks are completely dry.
If you plan on eating them fresh – then just go right for it.

Becca’s Nutritional Tip
(This one comes from me this week, not Becca…after getting Becca’s great tips these past weeks, it will be obvious to you all that I am not the one with a PhD in nutrition..)
Radishes are high in vitamin C, and rich in minerals such as sulfur, iron and iodine. If you forgot about them in the fridge for a little too long, just soak them in ice water to help crisp them up a bit.

The News
Big stuff going on around here these days: we’ve put the sod in for our “event” area, Craig is masterfully working at erecting the new cold frame, most of the beds have been worked in the greenhouse, most of the beds outside are ready for winter, and one of the ducks has a terrible limp.

The Recipe
Courtesy of Martha Stewart this week

French Onion Soup
Ingredients
Serves 6
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 pounds yellow onions, sliced 1/4-inch into half circles
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 3 cups Homemade Beef Stock
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small French baguette, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated on the large holes of a box grater (about 3 cups)

Directions
1. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot on medium-low heat. Add onions. Spread them out in as thin a layer as possible. Sprinkle with sugar, and cook, stirring just as needed to keep onions from sticking, until they are melting and soft, golden brown, and beginning to caramelize, about 1 hour.
2. Sprinkle flour over onions, and stir to coat. Add sherry, stock, and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, to allow the flavors to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Meanwhile, lightly toast bread under a broiler; set aside. Ladle hot soup into six ovenproof bowls. Arrange the bowls on a baking pan. Place 1 or 2 slices of toasted bread over each bowl of soup. Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated cheese over bread in each bowl, and place under the broiler until cheese is melted and crusty brown around the edges. Watch carefully that bread doesn't burn. Serve immediately.

That’s all for this week – I’ll see you tomorrow between 8-6.
Daisy

9-30-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:28:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
September 30th, 2008

In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death.
~Sam Llewelyn

Hello, hope you are enjoying this gorgeous fall as much as we are! The weather has been perfect for getting the outside beds ready for winter and pulling in the last of the harvest. Next week (October 8th) will be our last CSA distribution.

The Harvest
Salad mix
¾# baby spinach
¼# arugula
Onions (Rossa Di Milano and Valencia)
Cabbage (Red Integro or Copenhagen Market)
Small Sugar Pumpkin
U-pick cherry tomatoes
1 bunch herbs (cilantro, dill, mint, tarragon, or chives)

Onions – This is just a taster of what you will get next week. Rossa Di Milano and Valencia are storage onions. I pulled them last week – so the onions you are getting this week have not fully cured – that means that they will not keep as long as cured storage onions. They will keep just fine for a week or two, but they probably shouldn’t be stored for a month. These onions should not be kept in the fridge, but in a cool/dry location.
Rossa Di Milano is a mildly hot midsized Italian variety. It is an excellent keeper.
Valencia is a Utah strain of Yellow Sweet Spanish onion – mild flavor and good storage life.

Small Sugar Pumpkin – This strain dates back to the 1800’s. It has high quality, string-less, thick, sweet flesh that makes delicious pies. Not all of them are orange right now…..the season wasn’t quite long enough for them to ripen on the vine. If you get one that’s partially green, put it in a sunny location (outside is fine) and I think…….it will finish coloring up. I wouldn’t bother cooking with it until it is orange.
Anyway, the pumkins will be outside on the table – please take one.

Becca’s Nutritional Tip
Pumpkins are a great source of calcium, fiber, iron, and zinc – all nutrients that are important for strong immunity. But don’t forget about those pumpkin seeds! Pumpkin seeds are abundant in protease inhibitors which fight intestinal viruses. Also, the oil in the pumpkin seeds helps to fight inflammation. So whether using a pumpkin for baking, soup, or decoration, make sure to bake the seeds and enjoy throughout the week as a healthy snack.

The News
Thank you to all of you who sent in your survey – I appreciate all the feedback.
As you may have noticed, the newsletter has gotten a bit more colorful. Let me know what you think. I am trying to highlight first time vegetables and important information for those of you who like to skim the newsletters. Is it too much?

The Recipe

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
INGREDIENTS
• One medium sized pumpkin
• Salt
• Olive oil
METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.
2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.
**I like to also add a little cayenne pepper (just a little) to my toasted pumpkin seeds.

Tempting Pumpkin Pie
Flaky Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
15 ounces pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Roll pastry, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down pie plate, 9 x 1-1/4 inches. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
Trim overhanging edge of pastry even with plate. Cut scraps of rolled pastry with tiny cookie cutter. Sprinkle cutouts with sugar; press on pastry edge.
Heat oven to 425 F.
Beat eggs slightly in medium bowl with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in remaining ingredients.
To prevent spilling, place pastry-lined pie plate on oven rack. Pour filling into pie plate. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 4 hours or until chilled. Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie after serving.
Note:
The cutouts that top the filling are baked on a cookie sheet while the oven is at 425°F. It will take just a few minutes for them to bake golden brown. Let cool. Once pie has baked and cooled, top with baked pastry.
Preparing Filling
Wash your pumpkin to remove any dirt. Using a large chef's knife, cut the pumpkin into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on the size of the pumpkin.
The easiest way to remove the seeds, and pulp is to use a filleting knife along the inside of the wedges.
With a little practice, this will leave little or no scraping needed.
Arrange the pumpkin wedges in a large roasting or sheet pan and bake, uncovered, for one hour at 325 F, and two more hours at 300 F.
The meat should be tender all throughout, and not watery under the dry skin that formed. Turn off the oven and leave the door cracked for ventilation. Let the pumpkin cool and continue to dry for several more hours.
Remove the skin and any exceptionally dry or leathery parts, and puree thoroughly.
Please note that most of the dry surface of the meat is still sufficiently tender to be used, but probably not the stem corners. Because the pulp is so dry, it will take several minutes with the food processor, and a number of stirs and scrapes, before the pulp liquefies enough to turn over by itself and puree properly. Once it does this, a good minute or more of pureeing will result in a wonderfully smooth, pumpkin paste. Store in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator.
The pumpkin puree is now ready for use.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
INGREDIENTS
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
METHOD
1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.
Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Serves 8.
*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.

Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll see you tomorrow!
Daisy

9-23-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:31:00 +0000

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

9-16-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:31:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
September 16, 2008

Recent polls throughout the Midwest report that the primary concern of farmers these days is corporate concentration. If there is any one thing that brings the myth and the reality of the heartland into sharp contrast, it's the increasingly small number of players at the top and the increasingly dire straits of farmers at the bottom. Agribusiness is now controlled by a handful of agrochemical/seed/pharmaceutical companies. They are highly integrated and interrelated, meaning that just a few companies own or control the seed, farm inputs, shipping and transportation, mills and processing.
Claire Hope Cummings, Uncertain Peril

I chose this quote because of a trip we took last week to see a very large farm in Arkansas (14,000 acres). Wowzers! On so many levels! One of the Wowzers had to do with what is happening/has happened to the farm communities in this country. These towns are decaying....There are people there with no work because all of the farm land is run by just a few families. Very few human beings are needed to run the very large machines that do all the seeding, spraying, tilling and harvesting. The few families running these farms feel lucky (for the most part) to still be in the business - it's hard with this global economy. To survive they have had to become VERY large. I learned a lot. I learned about a part of my country that I had not been to before. I personally experienced (for the first time) one of the other ways to grow food, the way most of our country grows food. I learned that large, conventional growers (at least the guys I talked to) can't imagine the stress of running a market farm with many, many different crops; just as I can't imagine the stress of running a 14,000 acre farm with just 4 crops. I learned, again and again, the power of an open mind. I learned that one man working that farm won't walk into his rice fields because he "had to poison that field 10 times this year".......

The Harvest
¾# salad mix
6 oz baby spinach
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch leeks
¾# garlic (Georgian Crystal or Metechi)
2# potatoes (German Butterball)
1 bunch herbs
Bell Peppers (Purple Beauty)
Not everyone will get the following:
¼# arugula
3 oz basil
Cucumber
1.5# heirloom tomatoes
Eggplant
1 bunch beets

Georgian Crystal Garlic – Georgian Crystal is a Porcelain variety originating in the Republic of Georgia, between the Black Sea and the Aral Sea. The Porcelains are known for their rich flavor, very large cloves, and good storage. This variety should keep well into March if stored correctly. The Porcelain varieties are also considered superior medicinal garlic.

German Butterball Potato – This potato is a great choice for roasting, frying, and mashed (hmmm, that just about covers it!). With its russeted skin and buttery yellow flesh it is a great all-purpose potato. It stores well to boot!

Bell Peppers – this is the end, my friends, the end of the bell peppers for this season. So…….some of them are small and definitely not to their full flavor. But, I’m sending them out anyway, do with them what you wish.

Becca’s Nutritional Tip
When Napoleon’s ships blockaded Europe in the 19th century, preventing regular sugar can shipments, a commercial sweetener was made from beets. This naturally sweet vegetable is high in iron, potassium, niacin, copper, and vitamin C. Beet greens are rich in vitamin A, iron, and calcium. To create a sweet, colorful, and nutritious twist to dinner add grated beets over potato and vegetable dishes. A fresh juice of carrot, beet, and parsley is a healthy choice for breakfast or a great mid-day snack.

Dark leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, and beet greens are some of the richest sources of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. (The greener and fresher they are, the more nutrient dense they will be). One cup of cooked kale has only fifty calories, several grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and hardly any fat. This cup of kale is also loaded with calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin C. Dishes that call for leafy greens should not be cooked for long and are best prepared just before eating them. Steaming with just a bit of water or olive oil is a quick and healthy method for cooking these nutritious powerhouses. Also adding them to soups, where the nutrients are absorbed into the stocks are also a nutritious cooking method.

The News
I’d like say goodbye and give a big thanks to my friend Alayne for a great season……for the last two seasons actually! It’s been great working together! I have really appreciated her calm energy, speedy hands, and devotion and attention to the health and happiness of all living things on this farm. She is off for some well deserved R&R in Europe. We will miss her!

If you haven’t done so yet, please send in your recipe from your potluck dish. Kim Denkers has offered to put our little cookbook together for this year. Yeah Kim! We would love to get this out soon…..so send in your recipe!

Survey!! At the bottom of this email (and in attachment form) you will find the survey. Please help us be better at what we do by filling it out and sending it back to me, in whatever format you want. Email is great, but if you would rather drop it off anonymously, then just put it on my desk tomorrow. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

The Recipe
Creamed Carrots (why not!)
Taken from Smith and Hawken Gardener’s Community Cookbook

1 stick melted butter
2 pounds carrots, julienned
4 medium onions
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsely
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
¾ cup ½&1/2

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter, carrots, onions, parsely, salt and pepper and ½ cup of the half-and-half in a 13x9 inch baking dish. Toss to mix well.

Pour the remaining half-and-half over the top and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and the cream is thickened almost to curdling.

That’s it for this week. Hope you are having a great one.
Daisy
Survey ‘08

Have we met our goals this year? What were your goals for this season? Please fill out the survey below and get it back to me. Your input is so valuable to us. We want to know what you liked, what you adored, and what was not enjoyed as much. It helps me decide what to grow next year, and alerts me to adjustments that need to be made in our CSA program.

2008 CSA Survey
1) Here is a list of the veggies we grew this year. What were your 3 favorites, and your 3 least favorites?
Salad greens arugula pac choi cabbage
Spinach radish turnips beets
Carrots onions scallions leeks
Broccoli potatoes garlic heirloom tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes eggplant cucumbers bell peppers
Hot peppers basil herbs (cilantro, dill, tarragon, chives, mint, sage, lavender, oregano) edible flowers mature greens (swiss chard, mustard greens, stir fry mix, kale)

2) What veggies did you not get enough of?

3) What veggies did you get too many of?

4) What was the best part of your CSA experience?

5) What was your least favorite part of your CSA experience?

6) Did you enjoy the newsletters? Any suggestions?

7) Are there any veggies that we don’t currently grow that you would like to have?

8) Would you like to have the option to choose a salad mix that is simpler, i.e. – less flavor and texture?

9) Flower share members – what did you think of the flower season? Any feedback?

10) Anything else?

9-9-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:30:00 +0000

Thanks to all of you that came to the potluck. Your dishes were all beautiful and delicious! And to those of you who didn’t make it – we hope to see you at next year’s CSA Potluck!
If you did bring a dish to the potluck, could you please email me the recipe? There has been an outcry for a little Copper Moose Farm CSA Potluck ’08 recipe folder…..so I’d love to put that together and send one home with each of you before the season is over.
Since not everyone was able to make it, and because this is very important stuff, I wanted to go over a few things we talked about at the Potluck regarding next year.
First off, I plan on this year’s CSA running at least through September. When I know exactly which week will be our last, I will let you know.
Our policy for signing up for the next year’s CSA will be the same as last year: I will send out an email around the end of February inviting you all to join again. Once you get that invite email, you need to send in the form and payment if you want to be members again. The membership prices will remain the same for next year. Two weeks after I have sent the invite letter to you, I will extend it to our waitlist folks, if there are any spaces available. In a nutshell – I will hold your spot for 2 weeks after I send the invite letter, if you have not returned the form and payment at that point, I will fill your spot.
The CSA is going to stay the same size as it was this year = 50 families. We would like to perfect our system with the size it is.
We are going to add a small hoop house to our farm system. The hoop house will be 50 feet long, and a couple beds wide. It’s going to be moveable so we can slide it down the beds it covers – basically giving us the flexibility of two greenhouses in one. Part of the space inside the hoop house is going to be dedicated to more of our favorite cherry tomatoes! The rest of it will go to a variety of other crops.
I have heard a lot of concern this year over heirloom tomatoes, and I would like to address some of them. Heirloom tomatoes have been bred for their superior flavor. You don’t find them all over the grocery store for a few reasons: they don’t ship well due to delicate skins, the plants themselves are susceptible to most diseases and therefore are hard to grow, and they are low yielders in comparison with other tomato varieties. Growing them in a greenhouse adds to the concern over disease and pest problems. We don’t have many of the natural pest predators and cleansers here in the greenhouse that are present outside (birds, the sun, the frosts..). The growing season is not long enough up here at 7,000 ft to grow them outside – so our heirloom tomatoes must be grown in the greenhouse.
With all of that said, the point is that they are not really suited for this climate, and we are really fortunate to have them, and have them as early in the season as we did (all due to this amazing building). Tomatoes, especially heirlooms, are a big treat up here. Next year, the hoop house is not going to GREATLY change the amount of heirlooms you receive throughout the season. You will not be getting tomatoes every week next year, just like this year. I want you to be happy with your CSA experience, so if not getting tomatoes every week or every other week is ruining it for you, then maybe this isn’t the gig for you…..sad as it is to say that.
We have to harvest the tomatoes twice a week. They do not keep on the vine, nor do they keep off the vine. Once harvested, I need to send those tomatoes out, whether to you or to restaurants or a market. We harvest all the ripe tomatoes on Wednesday morning to distribute to you all. Then we must harvest them again on the weekend. This year we were taking them to the Park Silly Sunday Market – inviting you to come pick some up there, and selling them to the public. This is one of our outlets for crops that must be harvested twice a week (mostly flowers and tomatoes). When CSA members did come get tomatoes at the market, I recorded that, so that all members will get approximately the same amount of tomatoes throughout the season.
The greenhouse is obviously our most limited growing space. The peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and tomatoes must be grown in a greenhouse up here to be productive. Because of that we can not grow enough for every member to get every item each week. Next year, getting a cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, pepper or eggplant every couple weeks will continue.
We are a CSA; our goal is to provide you with a wonderful variety of vegetables and fruits that can be grown sustainably in this bioregion. Our goal is to possibly expose you to new vegetables, or new varieties of old favorites. Our goal is to help you find ways to prepare vegetables you have never eaten before, and maybe in the process you realize that you do like….turnips, or arugula, or eggplant (for example). Our goal is to keep your fridge full of some of your everyday favorite veggies. Our goal is to connect you with the people growing your food and the land it is being grown on. Our goal is to provide you and your family with the opportunity to see the weekly changes on this farm. The CSA is the life blood of this farm, and we put you first whenever possible.
But we are not only a CSA. Copper Moose Farm also sells produce to restaurants, caterers, and markets. We need to do that to make this business sustainable.
Next week I am going to send out a survey for you to fill out. Your input is incredibly valuable to us, we want to make this CSA the best it can be and we can only do that with your help. Thank you, in advance, for your input.

A garden is never so good as it will be next year
– Thomas Cooper

The Harvest
1# salad mix
Cabbage
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch leeks
Gold Coin onion
2# potatoes (Russet Nugget)
Fish peppers
Not everyone will get the following:
1.5# heirloom tomatoes
Cucumber
Eggplant
Sweet peppers (Sweet Cal Wonder Bell, Purple Beauty)
¼# arugula
3 oz basil
2 oz Shiso
Squash

Squash – The squash was damaged by the frosts last week, even under a heavy cover. It’s still hanging on, but the production has dropped way down. Bummer.
Potatoes – Russet Nugget this week! Russet Nugget was released by Colorado State University in 1988. This variety is excellent for French fries and baking. Russet Nugget is going to be the best variety this year for long term storage…..if you can hold off.

9-2-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Copper Moose Farm) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:29:00 +0000

CSA Newsletter
September 2nd, 2008

I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error. ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988

The Harvest
1# salad mix
Carrot bunch
Beet bunch
Leek bunch
2# All Red Potatoes
Hot pepper (Fish)
Herb bunch
Cabbage or Arugula (what ever you didn’t get last week)
½# Swiss Chard or Kale (mature, meant for cooking)
Gold Coin Onion
Garlic (Purple Metechi)
Not everyone will get the following:
Basil
1.5# Heirloom tomatoes
Cucumber
Eggplant
Sweet pepper (Purple Beauty)
Squash

Garlic – the first of the garlic! Yeah! Garlic will be out near the sinks along with the potatoes and tomatoes – should not be stored in the fridge. All of our garlic this year (and last) are Hard Neck varieties. I think you will find the flavor superior. Hard Neck garlic does not store as well as Soft Neck garlic, which is why most varieties at the grocery store are Soft Neck. Having said that, I keep the Hard Neck at my house good until at least March or April. Garlic just needs a cool, dry, dark spot for good storage (garage or basement perhaps).
You will notice the beautiful purple striping on the skin of this garlic. Purple Metechi is a Purple Stripe variety. Metechi is listed in the Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of heritage varieties as endangered and hard to find. I got the original seed for this garlic 3 years ago from Johnny at Ranui Gardens. Now I save enough garlic each year to re-plant for the coming season.
Purple Stripe varieties do well as baked garlic……and just about anything else you could think to do with it. Enjoy.

All Red Potatoes – a.k.a Cranberry Red. This potato has red skin with delicate pale pink flesh. Low Starch content makes it a good boiling potato for salads or any dish that requires potatoes to retain their shape.

The News
This is the 14th week of the 2008 CSA. We promised you 16-20 weeks of great food, and we’re definitely going to make that. I think we’ll be able to keep going for around 4 more weeks.
Got a pretty hard frost last night, lost some of the flowers, but everything else fared pretty well under covers. We are looking at another one tonight. But man! are the days gorgeous or what? And what about that 2 inches of rain!
We slaughtered 2 of the roosters on Saturday. Russell Taylor, the fella we are getting the Steers from, came up and helped us out. You’ve got it – he did the head chopping off part…..we did the plucking. Anyway, we had 2 too many roosters, and they were causing havoc in the flock, so they had to go……into the oven! I thought I was prepared, but really, I wasn’t. I went to bed that night remembering the little dance the biggest rooster used to do for the ladies……
Anyway, Ramirez is the one remaining rooster. He’s a nice guy, kind of funny looking, but we like him.
Speaking of the chickens – they moved over to our neck of the woods this weekend – don’t forget to check them out when you’re here tomorrow. They are being kept in a little yard right now, to give them time to get used to their new hood, but in a couple days we’ll start letting them free range again.

CSA POTLUCK – we are looking forward to seeing you here this Saturday at 5 for the CSA potluck. It will all be outside, so don’t forget to bring a warm layer. If any of you have not RSVP’d yet, but you’d like to come – just let me or Alayne know tomorrow.

Becca’s Nutritional Tip
Garlic, leeks, onions, shallots, and chives are part of the allium family. They have a long standing in history as therapeutic foods used to treat high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, worms, and the common cold. They have also been considered helpful in boasting immunity and destroying certain viruses and bacteria. Throughout history they have been referred to as the “poor man’s” antibiotic. Blended garlic, shallots, and chives make a healthy base for sautés, soups, and sauces. (To avoid the “tearing” when chopping members of the allium family, hold a piece of moist bread between the lips. The fumes seek moisture, and will find the bread before your eyes.)

The Recipe
Classic Potato Salad (from the Gardener’s Community Cookbook)
Serves 4-6
1 medium thinly sliced
Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh summer savory leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh marjoram leaves
1 cup mayonnaise
4 medium potatoes, cooked and cooled
2 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper

1. Place the onion in a small bowl and add vinegar to cover. Set aside
2. 2. Mix together the basil, savory, marjoram, and mayonnaise in a medium bowl. Set aside
3. Slice or dice the potatoes, and place them, with the eggs, in a large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Drain the onions, squeeze out the extra liquid, and add them to the bowl with the potatoes. Stir in the mayonnaise mixture and serve right away or refrigerate for up to overnight.

That’s all for this week, see you tomorrow.
Daisy