This Week’s Share
- Basil
- Beans
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Corn
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Garlic
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Summer Squash
Basil- Fresh basil deteriorates quickly so use as soon as possible. For short term storage, wrap in a lightly damp towel and refrigerate. Do not wash prior to refrigeration. You can freeze fresh leaves in a plastic zip-lock bag. Remove air, seal and freeze. Do not thaw before use.
Beans- This week you will receive either Dragon Tongue or Venture our second planting of green beans.
Cabbage- We grow three types of cabbage: Charmant a smooth green leaf variety, Super Red 80 a red leaf, and Melissa a green savory (crinkly leaves). This week we will be giving out either Charmant or Super Red 80.
Carrots- Try a simple puree of carrot soup with sauteed onions, freshly grated ginger and a dash of salt.
Corn – This week we will be harvesting both another round of Fleet, the variety you received last week, and Sugar Buns. Enjoy more corn on the cob, or try the corn fritter recipe below.
Cucumbers- How about chilled cucumber soup? Blend cucumbers with plain yogurt, a pinch of fresh mint, basil, and salt and pepper.
Eggplants – We grow two varieties of eggplant, Nadia, which is an Italian bell type, and Orient Express, an Asian type. Both can be used in recipes calling for eggplant. I find Orient Express to take slightly less time to cook. Eggplant can be grilled, broiled, baked, steamed, and sautéed. The eggplant is just starting to come on, so expect just one or two at first, and then eventually enough to make a meal based on them. For now, grill your eggplant and enjoy it on sandwiches or burgers.
Garlic – Killarney is the variety of garlic you’ll receive this week. It is one of the spiciest garlic we grow.
Lettuce- The lettuce has been enjoying the cooler temperatures.
Onions – The onions in the share are a torpedo type called Red Bottle. They are a fresh onion versus a cured onion, so store them in your refrigerator before using them.
Summer Squash- Try squash grated or thinly sliced into green salads, or shredded to make a squash slaw.
Recipes
Corn Fritters
adapted from Gourmet Magazine
- 2/3 cup corn (cut from 2 ear)
- 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Cook corn in a small saucepan of boiling water until tender, about 3
minutes. Drain in a sieve, then rinse under cold water and pat dry.
Whisk together cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a
bowl.
Whisk together milk and egg in another bowl. Add to dry ingredients
and stir until just mixed. Stir in corn.
Heat oil in cleaned skillet over moderate heat until hot but not
smoking.
Working in batches of 4, spoon in a heaping spoon of batter per
fritter into skillet and fry, turning over once, until lightly
browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer with a spatula to paper towel to
drain.
Traditional Basil Pesto
adapted from Savour Italy by Annabel Langbein
Puree 2 cloves garlic. 1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts, 1 cup bail
leaves, 1/ 2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup olive oil in a food
processor. Fold in 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese.
Almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds can all be used to substitute
the pine nuts. Adding the cheese is also optional if you’d like to
make a vegan pesto. Pesto can be frozen and then thawed for later use.
Broiled Eggplant and Zucchini with Pasta and Pesto
Tanya’s recipe
- 1-2 eggplant
- 1-2 zucchini or summer squash
- 1 pound pasta – penne, spirals, or shells
- 1-2 Tablespoons of your favorite pesto recipe
- capers
- olive oil
Boil the pasta, rinse with cool water, drain and set a side. Slice the eggplant and zucchini in 1/4 inch rounds. Use a pastry brush to coat both sides of each piece of squash and eggplant as you lay them out on a baking sheet. Broil on the top shelf of the oven, just under the boiler for 5-8 minutes, keeping an eye on them as the will cook quickly. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn over the squash and eggplant to cook the other side. The exact time under the broiler will depend on your oven. You are looking for a lightly browned color, but beware that this doesn’t quickly turn charred. When the eggplant and squash are cooked, set aside to cool for a few minutes. Then toss together the broiled vegetables with the pasta and your favorite pesto. Add a few tablespoons of capers if you wish and if you have any tomatoes on hand these too.
From The Fields
I’ll write my field notes this time, from the pages of my three ring binder that I lug around with me constantly these days – referring to spreadsheets and recording harvest notes. This notebook holds the map of the season that we chart in the cold winter months, snuggled up to the computer, dreaming and scheming about the season ahead. We imagine the perfect CSA share and then work backwards from there, determining the seeding and planting dates to achieve this harvest. All of this planning is bound together in the multiple excel spreadsheets that fill my farm binder. In the dizziness of summer that is upon us, with pounds and pounds of vegetables flowing into the barn, I take refugee in these notebook pages. They offer me a chance to get my bearings – to figure out where we are between the vision we had back in January and the reality of what the season brings.
On the greenhouse seeding spreadsheet, there are only a few entries left; the Mei Qing choi and tatsoi that you got to know in the spring will be seeded in a week for a fall harvest. After that we’ll do an experimental seeding of salad greens that we’ll transplant into the Haygrove high tunnels. Up until this year we have direct seeded the fall salad greens. Because the Haygrove space is so precious and the direct seeding window for the fall greens is so short, we thought it might be worth trying to transplant the salad greens. This will also give the salad greens a jump start against the fall chickweed that thrives in the cool fall months.
The seeding and planting list is also getting shorter. All the carrot seedings that we’ll harvest thru December are in the ground. There’s a month of salad greens seedings left. Fall onions and garlic will be planted in October and stay in ground until next July. Next week we’ll plant the last of the head lettuce, including a variety trial we’re working on with Seeds of Change. And there are still a couple of seedings of turnips and plantings of spinach.
As the seeding and planting lists grow shorter, the harvest list is getting longer and heavier. The cucumbers, as you may have noticed are reaching their peak harvest. Bucket after 5-gallon bucket are loaded onto the truck and into the barn. The tomatoes are just starting to ripen, the Early Cascades, a standard salad tomato being the first to make it’s appearance. Marvel, Valencia, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Spear’s Tennessee Green, and Cosmonaut Volkov will soon follow. The very first eggplant have already made their debut. Prepare yourselves for ratatouille, baba ghanouj, and eggplant parmesan. The pepper plants look promising and the melons are starting to ripen on their vines.
Already we’re taking notes on what we could do better next year such as: how to out smart some of the “pests” that have triumphed this year, how to be more efficient with our bin washing system, how to grow better spinach, or how to keep the parsley from bolting. But really I have got my bearings, right here smack-dab in the middle of summer, with the perfect taste of the first harvest of sweet corn.
Potato Party
Join us at the farm this Saturday, August 11th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for our annual potato harvest party. Here’s what you can expect…. We will be digging Yellow Finn and Sangre potatoes with our potato digger. You can help collect the potatoes from the field. This is a great work party for all ages to participate in. The field work will wrap up around 12:30 p.m. when we will give a farm tour as we head back to the barn area for a potluck lunch. Please bring a dish to share, water, and work gloves if you like to use them. Dress in comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty and wear a hat for sun protection.
If needed here are directions to the farm. Please, no dogs.
Farmer John Movie
If you didn’t get a chance to see “The Real Dirt on Farmer John” the last time it was in town, this weekend you have another chance. The movie that tells the story of a Midwestern farm facing the challenges
of farming in America is playing this weekend at the Hollywood Theater. Here’s the schedule of show times and events:
Q&A’s with Farmer John & Director Taggart Siegel after the 7pm & 9:15pm Screenings Friday & Saturday. Sunday after the 4pm Screening
Friday Aug. 10th ~ 7pm & 9:15pm ~ Meet Amazing Sustainable Groups ~ sponsored by PACSAC, Oregon Tilth, Portland Permaculture Guild, OSALT, Growing Gardens & Sustainable Table. Meet & Greet for pie at Moon & Sixpence Pub (2014 NE 42nd) after the films.
Saturday Aug. 11th ~ Psychedelic Farmer Costume Contest. Come dressed as a psychedelic farmer for the 7pm film. Costume Contest & live music after the film at Moon & Sixpence Pub (2014 NE 42nd). Farmer John will select best costume and award prize. Sponsored by ORLO.
Sunday Aug 12th ~ Film & Benefit Community Dinner. Film at 4pm at Hollywood Theatre. Community dinner to follow at 6pm at the NE Community Center, (1630 NE 38th & Broadway) with Farmer John & the film’s Director, Taggart Siegel. Sponsored by Sustainable Business Network of Portland Cost of dinner: minimum donation: $10 adults, $5 children for tickets call (503)232-2943.
For more information about the movie visit www.farmerjohnmovie.com