Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 14- September 2, 2002
Want a printable version of this Harvest guide? Click here.
Condolences for Kurt: Kurt Weins, our assistant farmer, has just returned from New Jersey where he has been helping his family cope with the loss of his father. I know you will want to wish him mental or actual condolences.
On-line Recipe Resources: For more ideas on how to put all of your fresh Spoutwood vegetables to use try utilizing Internet resources. There are countless websites dedicated to sharing recipes, many of them with a health conscious bend. Two of our favorites are www.epicurious.com and www.vegweb.com. Vegweb is the best web resource I have found for vegetarian recipes. It sponsors an exhaustive collection of vegetarian and vegan recipes that are sure to tickle your taste buds. For those of you not so concerned about eating meat and dairy products, epicurious.com provides a full range of delicious recipes. Try them out and let us know what you think.
Rain: As you are well aware, we have been blessed with considerable rainfall recently. August brought six and ½ inches of the wet stuff. Let's hear it for falling water!
Marketing Committee: The Core Group is forming a Marketing Committee. We want to start working this fall to increase our membership for next year. We need several creative thinking members to join us in this effort. If so inclined, please contact us right away at 717-235-6610.
Plastic Bags: We have purchased clear strong plastic bags for distributing our shares as I'm sure you've noticed. It helps us save money if you return them to us. And send any other plastic bags you might have. Thanks.
www.spoutwood.com: keep up with us on the internet.
Chard and Collards: We are sending chard and collards while the kale deals with a major harlequin bug infestation.
Radish Greens: These are thinnings from our fall planting. You can eat the whole plant, but some of you may want to cut the tougher root portion off.
Onions: We'll give out these yellow onions at least once more over the next few weeks.
Bell Peppers: Our pepper crop is still coming on strong. You might even see a red pepper mixed in with the green.
Yellow Squash: Yellow squash is over, sad to say
Patty Pan: Patty Pan also is basically over, although this rain may give them a last spurt.
Cucumbers: We're still getting lots of cucumbers each week. Be sure to include them in your salads. We're certain you'll enjoy this cooling summer treat.
Tomatoes: If you get a tomato that isn't fully ripe set it out on a counter top or in a sunny window sill with the stem side down. With just a little patience your tomato can still reach its peak flavor. You should each get a Valencia variety, a yellow tomato that we think has a special low acid taste. We hope we're not flooding you with tomatoes. We have lots more that we're not giving out. If any of you want extra, let us know, but you'll have to stop by the farm to pick them up
Blue Potatoes: We experimented with these tasty blue potatoes. You are getting only a token amount this year. Let us know what you think.
Eggplant: This week's share includes a variety called Orient Express, characterized by its long, slender shape. They are a specialty, early harvest breed. Some of you will also be getting a purple striated variety as well as the more usual purple-black variety.
Herbs: This weeks share includes some fresh basil sprigs as well as rosemary. Try combining basil with tomato in any dish and we're certain that you won't be disappointed. Rosemary is one of the more versatile herbs. Thanks go to my wife's cousin in Virginia for this excellent rosemary.
Flowers: Apple mint flowers, chive flowers, black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia), bronze fennel flowers, jerusalem artichoke flowers, tansy and New York ironweed are a few of your floral treats this week
Ratatouille
from RUTH'S KITCHEN http://emr.cs.iit.edu/~reingold/ruths-kitchen/recipes/sides/ratatouille.html
½ lb zucchini, scrubbed and sliced into 1/8-inch slices 3T olive oil
½ lb eggplant, scrubbed and sliced into 3/8 inch slices 2 cloves mashed garlic
½ lb thinly sliced yellow onion 3T parsley
1 sliced green bell pepper salt and pepper
1 lb ripe tomatoes peeled, seeded, and juiced
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray two cookie sheets with olive oil or another vegetable oil spray. Put the zucchini and eggplant slices on the cookie sheets. Brush very lightly with olive oil, and bake until slightly brown on each side. In a skillet, cook onions and peppers slowly in 2 T. olive oil for about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, and season to taste. Slice tomato pulp into 3/8-inch strips. Place tomato slices over onions and peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Uncover, baste with the tomato juices, raise heat, and boil for several minutes, until most of the juice has evaporated. Put 1/3 of tomato mixture in the bottom of a casserole. Sprinkle with 1 T. parsley. Arrange 1/2 of the eggplant and zucchini on top, then half of the remaining tomatoes and parsley. Put the rest of the eggplant and zucchini, and finish with the remaining tomatoes and parsley. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Correct seasoning. Raise heat for 15 minutes, basting if dry. Serve cold, warm, or hot.
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
©2002 Spoutwood Farm, Inc.