Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 11: August 21, 2008
To return to the 2008 Harvest Guide page, click here
Welcome to the eleventh week of the 2008 Community Supported Agriculture season, here at Spoutwood Farm! Here we are, at the halfway point of our 22-week Harvest season. We are proud to present another bumper harvest of “vegetables so fresh, they almost dance” from our well-tended gardens. As always, we are grateful for the excellent work of our apprentices, Dana Hunting, Derek McGeehan, and Zach Trimble, as well as the working and regular shareholders who have helped them.
Un-August-like cool temperatures continue, making for pleasant harvesting today. But the song of cicadas makes it clear that it’s still summer, however September-like it may feel. Vegetable farming, like farming in general, has its trade-offs. Generally speaking, green leafy vegetables like it cool; the classic summer vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, prefer it hot. And sadly, the lack of rainfall recently has meant that Benjamin Stoltzfus’ corn is drying up, so we’ve seen the last of those luscious ears. But our two-acre CSA gardens continue to produce, and we’re happy to pass the results on to you, our shareholders!
Rob and I (Tom), along with Zach, attended “Ag Progress Days” this week, located up by State College. It’s interesting to note that conventional agriculture is starting to hit back against organic/sustainable ag, questioning its benefits and defending conventional farming. That’s good: it means we’re making an impact. If they were ignoring us, that’d mean we were too small and inconsequential to be bothered with. Many thanks to our loyal shareholders, who believe in the value and importance of what we’re doing here! Such challenges also keep us honest, puncturing over-inflated claims and preventing us from presenting hearsay as fact. Like the relationship of wolves with the caribou herds, challenges just make us stronger.
Please feel free to drop us a line if you discover a new recipe, have any cooking tips, or would like to share your favorite way to eat the veggies from our harvest - email us and we’ll share with everyone else! Again, that address is: csa@spoutwood.com. As the old commercial used to say, “please make a note of it.” Thanks!
Tomatoes: Another fine tomato harvest this week. Rich with flavor and health benefits, tomatoes are one of the true joys of summer. Dana asks me to remind our shareholders that if your tomatoes are slightly under-ripe, just letting them sit on the counter or windowsill for a few days will take care of the situation. But watch them, because some (like the large Brandywines) can ripen unevenly. Don’t let them rot! Also please note, Green Zebras (striped) and orange Valencias will not turn red, not matter how ripe you let ’em get… Quick meal or side, courtesy of Thomas Anonymous: cooked rice of any variety, butter, and chopped fresh tomatoes. While rice is still warm, add butter, tomatoes, and enjoy!
Eggplant: Still another classic summer vegetable, similarly associated with summer cooking. Rata¬touille (no, not the movie…), eggplant parmesan, and baba ganoush are among the many possible uses for this popular veggie. Select from Italian-style (“bell”), Oriental (long and thin), and “Beatrice” – an Italian type also, with a pink-violet complection.
Swiss Chard: This delicious, attractive, and nutritious large-leafed plant is our main leafy green (or as they used to call them, “pot-herb”) for the week. May have white (Fordhook Giant) or colored (Bright¬lights) stems. More delicate (and faster-cooking) than kale, use as you would spinach or another green. May be blanched or sautéed lightly and layered with parmesan, romano, or asiago cheese and baked en casserole for a lovely gratin. Also delicious in quiche.
Onions, Red and Yellow: Cooking and slicing onions. I don’t have to tell you how to use these! Good in almost any savory dish, cooked or raw.
Potatoes: Not technically a root vegetable, potatoes are actually tubers. Call ’em roots or call ’em tubers, however, I call ’em delicious! A mix of several varieties of these delicious below-ground dwellers. Delicious roasted, boiled, steamed, fried, hashed, mashed, in salads, soups, and casseroles, and just about any other way you can imagine! Store in a dark place, and cook before eating.
Peppers, Green: One of the classic Summer vegetables, green peppers find their way into all sorts of salads, stir fries, soups, casseroles, and many other dishes, or may just be eaten out of hand. Also great for stuffing with a vegetarian or meat-based filling!
Peppers, Anaheim: A mild chili pepper, although some are “warmer” than others. Roast, stuff with cheese, use in salads and mild salsa. Delicious!
Peppers, Habañero: Spoutwood only this week. A hot chili pepper – use with caution!
Cucumbers: Another classic summer vegetable, cucumbers are lovely in salads, fresh or marinated; and of course pickled. Mix with yogurt and mint for a classic Indian raita. Select from green or “blonde” cucumbers, depending on availability. Probably the last week for these.
Summer Squash: A variety of varieties for your munching pleasure: Zephyr, yellow and green zucchi¬ni, patty-pan (both white and green-yellow “sunburst”) and yellow crook-neck. Enjoy lightly steamed, broiled or grilled, etc. With tomatoes, eggplant, squash, and green peppers all available this week, this might be a good time for ratatouille. See “Vegetable of the Week” for additional ideas.
Sacred/Thai Basil: With a different taste and fragrance than Italian basil, this variety is often used in Thai cooking. Please note: Basil should be placed in a vase with water, as you would cut flowers. Most refrigerators are too cold and tend to blacken the leaves. Or, grind/chop and freeze for use later.
Sage: Most commonly associated with turkey and other poultry, sage can be used to flavor soups, salads, casseroles, and much else.
Flowers: Today our flowers include “a bunch of different things” (according to one member of the flower crew), chosen for both color and scent. A mix of wild and cultivated varieties, including Queen Anne’s lace, New York ironweed, tansy, zinnias and African marigolds.
Bread: For those who purchased bread shares, today’s selection from Atwaters is a
(sorry, thats all the info the webmaster received :)
(None received this week, webmaster)
CSA Potluck & Core Group Meeting: Saturday, August 23rd – 5:00 Core Group, 6:00 Potluck
Help put the “community” in “community supported argriculture”… and help use up some of these copious vegetables at the same time. Bring yourself and your favorite dish to Spoutwood for our third CSAPotluck and Core Group Meeting this year. Not too late to participate! Bring a dish and come out, whether you’re interested in the core group or not. Be there or be trapezoidal!
Next Mother Earth Harvest Festival meeting: Sunday, August 24th @ 4:00 p.m.
Just under two months to our 4th Annual Mother Earth Harvest Fair, October 5th!
It’s not too soon to start making plans for Spoutwood’s 4th annual Mother Earth Harvest Fair, to be held here on the Farm on Sunday, October 5th, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Combining the charm of an old-fashioned country fair, time¬less traditional arts and crafts, and cutting-edge ad¬vances in green building and renewable energy, the MEHF is a celebration and showcase of healthy, sustainable, and balanced living in the Chesapeake bioregion.
• Green Building, Alternative Energy, the Sustainable Household, Food and Farming, Nature and the Environment, Health and Healing, BALLEs, Sustainable Communities, Wisdom Traditions, and much more.
• Farmers Market with produce and products from local farms.
• A Children’s Village with crafts and fun for our younger guests.
• Farm animals and wildlife
• Food and drink vendors galore
• Music, storytelling, and dramatic presentations, including special appearances by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter
Adrienne Young and her band, Little Sadie
http://www.adrienneyoung.com
Information: greenman@spoutwood.comc 717-235-6610 http://www.motherearthharvestfair.com
Volunteers are still welcomed and encouraged!
BAGS: Requested, Recycling of Same (including paper bags)
As most of you will know, there are various share items which must be bagged even within your usual share bag. And frankly, we’re low on appropriate bags. Thus, we’re asking our shareholders to please bring in plastic bags that you might have at home. We are looking for both standard grocery-sized bags, and smaller plastic bags such as those used for produce in supermarkets, to keep news¬papers dry, etc. If at all possible, please help us by bringing them in pre-sorted as to size.
Also, please be aware (if you aren’t already) that your plastic share bags can be re-used the following week! Better yet, invest in a cloth “market bag” that can be used over and over again. We are in the process of investigating Spoutwood-themed practical items to offer for sale, including Market Bags -- stay tuned to this space! In the meantime, if you bring back your plastic ones, you’ll help us and Mother Earth alike. Many thanks, from us and the Home Planet.
Need your rubber bands? Fine… but if you don’t, we would be pleased if you could bring those (or any excess beyond your needs) back with you when you come. We’d be happy to reuse them to bundle your produce in the weeks to come.
If your small paper bags (used for potatoes, etc.) are in reasonably good shape, we’d be grateful if you’d bring those back, too, so we can reuse them. Help us save money and resources! Thanks.
(None received this week)
If you have comments or suggestions about this website, please send email to:
and we will hammer things out.
Home - About Us - Education - CSA - Observatory - Events - Contact
©2008 Spoutwood Farm, Inc.