Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 13: September 4, 2008
To return to the 2008 Harvest Guide page, click here
Greetings, Spoutwood Farm friends!
Welcome to the thirteenth week of the 2008 Community Supported Agriculture season, here at Spoutwood Farm – can you believe it’s September already?
The weather this week has been a little more like what we’d expect for this not-quite-Fall-yet season – even though it’s evident that the Fall crops were very much enjoying the cool weather. At the end of last week we received a fair bit of rain which the plants appreciated and allowed us to give the irrigation equipment a break. Since we finished transplanting all of our Fall crops, we’ve had more time to stay on top of the weeds in the garden. It’s really gratifying to watch how the plants take off once the competition of weeds has been eliminated.
The next big project for the garden is planting over crops for the winter. Planting cover crops is one method of restoring nutrients to the soil after the land has produced so much nutrient rich food in the summer. This is an alternative to applying synthetic fertilizers in the spring, which can run off and pollute water bodies. We are in the process of planning which cover crops we can put in which parts of the garden. Certain cover crops that stay in the ground over the winter need to be sown in areas that won’t have food crops in them until later in the growing season. Other cover crops, however, are killed by the first frost and occupy areas of the garden that will grow the first food crops of the growing season. It’s all part of organic farming practices that create the best and healthiest food for you!
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!
Carrots: Vegetable of the week! Our root crop of the week that is highly nutritious and high in vitamin A as well as beta- carotene. Please see below for more information on how to use this tasty veggie.
Red and Yellow Onions: Cooking and slicing onions. I don’t have to tell you how to use these! Good in almost any savory dish, cooked or raw. These have been cured now, so they are good for storage too.
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, no 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! Some of you will also receive sungolds this week.
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 complexion.
Beans: Some of you will receive green and purple beans this week. These tasty munchers are yummy raw or cooked.
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, Hot Paper Lantern: According to the seed company Johnny’s, these peppers are very hot. I think they are pretty good, and one should be sufficient to add that spicy touch to your meals. They can be added to stir-fries and sauces. Put them in when you are sautéing onions and other spices. Another fun thing to do with them is scrape out the seeds and roast them in the oven with some olive oil. It yields a smoky, spicy sauce that can be added to foods for an extra spice. Be careful when cutting them up; they can make your fingers burn.
Summer Squash: I have to applaud the summer squash plant for being such a relentless and efficient food producer. Squash is one of those crops that we should enjoy while paying heed to the eating locally and in season concept that when you have something coming in, that’s what you eat. And we do have squash coming in. One redeeming quality of squash is that you can use it as an ingredient in salty and sweet dishes, or just cut up on a salad. A good way to use it up is to make many a loaf of zucchini bread and freeze it for the winter (squash is interchangeable). In this weeks’ harvest, squash varieties for your munching pleasure include: 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 also might be a good time for ratatouille.
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 quite good in quiche, or just in a Sunday morning egg scramble with cheese.
Young Mizuna: Per Wikipedia, “The taste of mizuna has been described as a ‘piquant, mild peppery flavor...slightly spicy, but less so than arugula.’ Mizuna makes an excellent salad green, and can be used in stir-frys and soups.”
Oregano: Let me quote Simply in Season here, “Indispensable in Mediterranean cooking, it is particularly well-suited to tomato-based sauces. Try rubbing on roasting meat or using in meatballs.” Yum!
Basil: A few leaves to garnish a tomato and mozzarella salad with or any salad at that. Also delicious atop a pizza or in tomato sauces. Best added towards the end of cooking. Or make pesto!
Flowers: Included in this weeks’ flower bouquet are: Jerusalem artichoke flowers, garlic chive blossoms, African marigolds, yarrow, zinnias, brain celosia, celosia, and globe amaranth (a.k.a. Gomphrena).
Bread: For those who purchased bread shares, today’s selection from Atwaters is a loaf of flax and sunflower seed bread.
Orange-honey glazed carrots
serves 2-3
From Barefoot Contessa
1 pound carrots
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon grated orange zest
¼ cup orange juice
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cut carrots diagonally in 1-inch-thick slices. You should have about 2.5 cups of carrots. Place ¼ cup water, the butter, honey, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the ginger in a large sauté pan and bring to a boil. Ad the carrots, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until all the water has evaporated.
Add the orange zest and orange juice to the pan, tossing with the carrots. Simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, until the carrots are al dente (tender but still resistant when you bite) and the sauce glazes the carrots. Add the pepper and about ½ teaspoon of salt, to taste.
Gingered Carrot Soup
(serve with rice)
serves 3-4
A Moosewood Cookbook Recipe
1 pound carrots
2 cups water
½ tablespoon butter or oil
¾ cup chopped onion
1 medium clove garlic, crushed/minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
¾ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon of each of the following: cumin, ground fennel, cinnamon, allspice, dried mint
2-3 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup lightly toasted cashews
Peel and trim carrots to 1-inch chunks. Put in medium saucepan over medium heat with water, cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until very tender (10-12 minutes).
Meanwhile, heat oil or butter in a small skillet. Add onions and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, salt and spices. Turn heat to low, sauté for 8-10 minutes, until onions are very soft. Stir in lemon juice.
Use a food processor or blender to puree everything together (including toasted cashews). Do this in several batches. Put puree into a kettle and heat gently before serving.
Pineapple-Zucchini Bread
(summer squash is interchangeable with zucchini)
makes 2 9x5 inch loaves
From Derek’s Mom
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup coconut or canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini/summer squash
1 can (8 ¼ oz) crushed pineapple, drained well
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (or any other nut/seed) optional
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans; set aside.
In a bowl, beat eggs until frothy; beat in sugar, oil and vanilla and continue beating until mixture is thick and foamy. Feel free to use an electric mixer.
Stir in zucchini/summer squash and pineapple. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and nuts; add to zucchini mixture and stir just until all flour is moistened. Spoon batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves.
Come out next Thursday, September 11th, to help and see what fun Harvest Day is! We’ll need extra help because Derek and I (Dana) won’t be here.
CSA Potluck & Core Group Meeting: Saturday, September 27th – 4:00 Core Group, 5:00 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 CSA Potluck 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. There may even be some live music.
About one month 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.com 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 return the paper bags the potatoes come in as well as any 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.
Carrots are a root vegetable high in beta-carotene (the source of their orange color). They can be eaten raw, cooked, in salty dishes and sweet dishes, or by themselves!
History: Wild ancestors of carrots are likely to have come from Afghanistan. In early use, carrots were grown for their aromatic leaves and seeds, not their roots. Some relatives of the carrot are still grown for these, such as parsley, fennel, dill and cumin.
Nutrition: Carrots contain vitamins A, C, K; potassium; alpha- and beta- carotene antioxidants; fiber.
Preparation and Storage:
• Trim stem end and any dangling roots. Peel if desired and cut or shred. Stem sliced carrots in a basket over boiling water, covered 10-12 minutes. Boil sliced carrots, covered, in a small amount of water 8-10 minutes. Roast with other vegetables. Eat raw!
• Refrigerate in produce drawer for up to 2 weeks. Remove any greens attached to the carrots before storing.
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.