Farm News

When I was a kid my Mom used to read a story book to me called “That’s Good, That’s Bad”. It was about a small boy who runs into a tiger, and the tiger says “Run and I’ll eat you”, but the boy is too tired to run and proceeds to tell a harrowing tale of good and bad breaks involving encounters with jungle creatures, where things that seem bad (That’s Bad!) turn out to be good, and vice versa. Farming is a lot like this story. It doesn’t rain for a month. That’s Bad because we have to irrigate and that takes a lot of time, money, and equipment. But That’s Good for the strawberry crop, which was among the biggest and best tasting we’ve grown in a long time. I go out to seed the mid season corn and way overseed it. That’s Bad, we declare as we look at it on our weekly crew crop walk last week—now we will have to thin it. But actually That’s Good, because when we do go to thin it, it turns out that wire worms, geese, and some unknown fungus found it and killed half the plants. The warm temperatures this spring and summer have pushed crops way ahead of schedule. That’s Good for the crops and hungry CSA shareholders, but That’s Bad if you are trying to kill weeds, which are growing at an unbelievable rate. Lucky for us we have a great crew of college and high school students we hire for the summer to help us hack back the weeds and bring in some of the crops. We call them the Morning Crew, because they mostly work morning hours, and their hard work is helping us keep on top of things, and That’s Good!

Hope you enjoy the harvest.

Paul, for Janine, Jake, Alice, Amanda, and Nate

CSA ANNOUNCEMENTS

-Fourth of July holiday—all CSA distributions will go ahead on their regular schedule. No changes.

-We are emailing a ‘jazzed up’ version of the newsletter to all primary shareholders. It has an easy to use ‘forward’ button so you can send it along to others if you share a share. If you are a primary shareholder, please make sure that forthillfarm@gmail.com is on your email contact list, so this ends up in your inbox. Remember, everything we used to send by US post will now be sent to your email address.

-Box Shareholders: please carefully bend back the tabs on your box when opening, without ripping them. Remove all leaves, etc, wash and air dry the box if necessary, and bring back to your drop site the next week. Thanks for your cooperation!

-Pick Your Own at the farm: We’re opening most of the herb patch this week. With the hot, dry weather this year, peas were a fast crop this year, some left but fading fast. Strawberry season about over. The Pick Your Own patch is open to all shareholders, once per week, Tues. and Thursday 2:30 to 6:30 PM and Sat. 8AM to noon.

Featured this week:

Early Wonder Beets: both the greens and roots of these sweet early beets are great to eat, chop and steam the whole lot or see recipe below. Store for up to a week in a loose plastic bag in the fridge. Also see Steamed Beets and Greens with Goat Cheese over Pasta recipe on our web site, a crew favorite.

Escarole: this is not lettuce! Very bitter raw, but wonderful for soups, or Escarole and Beans (see recipe at www.forthillfarm.com), or check out recipe below. Store for up to 10 days in a loose plastic bag in the fridge.

Cilantro: versatile herb, store in the fridge in a loose plastic bag for up to one week.

Basil tops: we have a booming first crop, we’re trying to get it cut before it flowers out so here’s another shot. Store basil like a bouquet of flowers—in a glass of water at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.

Salad turnips: we find folks really like these once they give them a try. Best chopped raw onto a salad. Can also be cooked, and greens can be steamed. Store entire bunch for up to 5 days in loose plastic bag in fridge. Roots will store for up to 2 weeks in the fridge crisper if you tear off the tops.

Also available: summer squash, broccoli, scallions, arugula (remember, store no more than 3 days in vented bag. Wash and spin in a salad spinner and store there for up to a week).

Potentially on the way: carrots, wakefield cabbage, parsley, fennel, cucumbers, summer squash, purplette onions

Recipes, suggested by Janine McCormick

Sautéed Escarole with Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Capers, By Shareholder Jennifer Armentrout, from Fine Cooking

1 head escarole, trimmed, rinsed, and cut into roughly 2-inch pieces
Kosher salt 1 Tbs. raisins

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil                                                                ½ Tbs. capers, rinsed
1-2 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled                                   Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbs. pine nuts                                                                                    ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice

*Tip: You can blanch the escarole up to one hour ahead. Wait until just before serving to add the lemon juice, though, as the acid in the juice will dull the escarole’s color if it sits too long. Serves 4.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the escarole and cook until the stem pieces start to soften, about 2 minutes (the water needn’t return to a boil). Drain, run under cold water to cool, and drain again.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic browns slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the garlic with tongs and discard. Add the pine nuts, raisins, capers, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the pine nuts are golden and the raisins puff, about 1 minute. Add the escarole, increase the heat to medium high, and cook, tossing often, until heated through and tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and season to taste with salt.

Early Summer Beet Salad, By Janine McCormick

1 Bunch beets with greens Salad Turnips or Radishes sliced thin

Fresh Spinach or Arugula Toasted nuts, like almonds, pecans, walnuts or sunflower seeds

Fresh berries in season, sliced *optional Goat cheese, crumbled

Chop up the beet greens and spinach or arugula, wash, dry and toss together. Peel and chop your beets into preferred salad-sized pieces and either steam, boil or roast until tender, whichever cooking method you prefer. Let the beets cool slightly before adding them to your greens. Toss everything together. Lightly dress with Olive Oil and an aged Balsamic Vinegar; season with fresh ground black pepper and crumbled Goat Cheese. Serve with warm crusty bread for a light meal on a hot summer day!

Couscous with Cilantro and Melted Scallions, by Perla Meyers of Fine Cooking

This would be great with grilled zucchini and grilled chicken or fish.

¼ cup unsalted butter 3 cups homemade or low-salt chicken broth

1 bunch scallions Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro Juice of 1 lemon or lime

10 oz. (1 ½ cups, or 1 box) couscous

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, add the scallions, and cook, covered, until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the cilantro, couscous, broth, ½ tsp salt, and pepper to taste. Stir, bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and remove from the heat. Set aside for 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Taste for salt, add a large grinding of pepper, and season with some of the lime or lemon juice.

Fort Hill Farm

Newsletter 4: June 29, 2010

Farm News