What to Do With Your Share---Week 2

Calling all Artists
This is a special year for the CSA, as we initate a new project, The Fair Share Farm CSA Art Competition. We are looking to tap into the creative energy of our membership, and find out what food means to you. Your fellow member Stacey Cook has volunteered for the daunting task of heading up this exciting venture.

We have started a website, www.fairsharefarmart.com, that we hope will soon be filled with artwork from members of all ages. The website outlines the basics to date: lots of art; a selection of the best adult, teen and kid entries by a panel of judges; and a showing of the winners at Bad Seed on the First Friday of September. Prizes to be announced, with 12 of them to hopefully grace a 2011 Fair Share Farm CSA calendar.

We would like to have every membership submit at least one piece of artwork. A photo, painting, poem, quilt, puzzle, dance, song or sculpture. Whatever medium best suits you to express your thoughts. We hope you will all join us in what is sure to be a fun community project.

And if you have any web design talents, we would love to have your help setting up our website, so that we can easily post all of the submissions for the world to see.
Tom and Stacey

In the Share
The items in this week's share includes a couple new items, both well known to the seasoned CSA member. Hakurei turnips are the white, radish looking vegetable that is not a radish. While sweet and succulent are not words you might associate with a turnip, they apply to the Hakurei. Great raw or cooked, they are a wholesome treat.

Tat soi, that deep green rosette of a plant is from the general family we call Asian greens. Yukina savoy is from the same family, but with larger, crinkled leaves. From top to bottom they are edible, from the crunchy stems to the spinach-like leaves.

Enjoy too the nice photo of Tuesday's asparagus harvest by our intern Emily.



Stir Fry Heaven
We've said it in the past, and will repeat it here--it is stir fry season for the CSA. This time of year the many wonderful vegetables of Asian cuisine are at their peak. Your chance to make a meal that will be tough to duplicate later in the year is now.

Stir frying is an art easily mastered by following some simple rules. If you know how to chop vegetables, add them to a pan, and stir, you are most of the way there. An excellent summary of the "rules" of stir frying, by Rhoda Parkinson, is a simple click away.

Fair Share Farm Spring Stir Fry
A recipe that uses 5 items from the share, it is a truly local dish. We can tell you too, that it made for a quick and delicious dinner tonight.

Remember that stir fry is a high heat cooking process, so keep the heat on. Also, as PBS cook Martin Yan says "it's stir fry, not stare fry." You need to be constantly stirring as you cook.

Ingredients
2 tbsp sesame oil
1-1/2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 green garlic (bottom half)
3 Hakurei turnips
1 bok choi
1 tat soi or yukina savoy
6 to 8 lovage leaves
cilantro for garnish

Sauce:
1/4 cup soy or tamari sauce
3 tbs water
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes or 1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch dissolved in 1 tbsp cool water



Method

• First step is to ready the ingredients. For the tat soi and bok choi you will want to chop the stems and the leaves separate. Likewise with the turnips, chop the white root and the tops separate.
• Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside
• Heat a wok or large skillet, add the sesame oil
• Add the ginger, stir and cook for 30 seconds
• Add the turnips and green garlic, stir and cook for 2 minutes
• Add the bok choi and tat soi stems, cook for 1 minute
• Add the greens from the bok choi, tat soi and turnip, and the lovage, cook 1 minute
• Add the sauce and cook for 1 more minute

Serve immediately over hot rice and garnish with cilantro if desired.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 2

The freshness continues this week with the arrival of the Hakurei turnips. A big bunch is coming your way, so be sure to use the whole lot, tops and all. Add them to a stir fry, eat them raw, cook and mash them, there are lots of possibilities.

The green changes this week too with the addition of tat soi. We use it just like we would spinach and as a core ingredient in stir frys.

Stir Fry Soup

One thing to remember with this week's share is that it is still stir-fry season. We like Asian cuisine because it is adept at using lots of vegetables in a hot, cold, or fermented dish. Monday night we cooked up a stir fry using the week's vegetables and some stuff from the fridge.

To make things a little more interesting, and to make an even heartier dish we added chicken stock (you can also use vegetable or beef stock) just as we were done making the stir fry and made it a soup. Serve it in a nice big soup bowl over rice, garnish with cilantro, and it's a meal.

Radish Suggestions

Radishes it seems are one of those vegetables that people love or hate. We love them because they are a great snack in the field. We wipe off the dirt and crunch into them. Their juiciness and spiciness are a refreshing treat when we walk by the patch.

Emily Akins knows how to enjoy them and came up with her own radish sandwich recipe on her blog (check our Blog Roll).

Welcome to the Vegetables

Welcome one and all to the 2011 Fair Share Farm CSA. The fields are in great shape this Spring and we are hoping for a bountiful season. For those of you who don't know, this part of the blog is written by me, Tom the Farmer. It is the spot you can go to get ideas for cooking each week's share.

Depending on time and personal energy, you may find a recipe from a recent meal here at the farm, a list of tried and true favorites, or other suggestions for cooking up your veggies (or all of the above). You can also search the blog, or go to our website and; a) search the Recipe page or b) check out our 2004 - 2007 Newsletter archive. In all cases you will find recipes that we have tested and tasted, and that each use a large array of share items.





Since the 2005 CSA seaon we have had leeks in the first week's share. This week's amount is heftier than normal, since we have to dig an entire bed before they flower, and want to get them to you while they are still fresh.

Once we made leeks as staple of our shares we found that those unfamiliar with this noble allium quickly fell in love with it. Part of the reason has been our suggested recipe. If you are new to leeks be sure to try Angel Hair Paste with Leeks and Garlic Saute. Last year's Asparagus and Leek Fritatta is also a winner. It is a good way to use the small bunch of asparagus. In future years, when our new patch is producing we plan on this item being a larger share.

Stir Fry Season
This week's recipe is a variation on the stir fry recipe in last years Week 2 blog. I recommend reading that blog post, as it references an excellent article on the basics of stir frying. We received lots of comments last year on how stir fry's became a delicious "go to" meal for many members.

On Saturday we had a hankering for just such a meal, especially after staring at these prime vegetables in the fields all week long. But as we pulled the ingredients together we realized that we had no ginger root in the house. We did find some candied ginger in the freezer though, and substituted it with great results.

Spring Stir Fry 2011
While suspiciously similar to last year's recipe I hope that it serves to illustrate that for many CSA share recipes you simply use what you have.

Ingredients
2 tbsp sesame oil
1-1/2 tbsp chopped candied ginger (or ginger root)
2 green garlic (bottom half) You can also add green onions
3 to 5 radishes
1 to 2 bok choi
6 to 8 lovage leaves (optional)
Cilantro for garnish

Sauce:
You can use the sauce from last year's recipe, or as we did, simply look in your fridge and find all of those Asian sauces that may be in there. We used a combination of oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, chili garlic sauce and fish sauce.

Method
First step is to ready the ingredients. For the bok choi you will want to chop the stems and the leaves separate. Likewise with the radishes, chop the root and the tops separate
Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside
Heat a wok or large skillet, add the sesame oil
Add the candied ginger, stir and cook for 30 seconds
Add the radishes and green garlic, stir and cook for 2 minutes
Add the bok choi stems, cook for 1 minute
Add the greens from the bok choi, and radish, and the lovage, cook 1 minute
Add the sauce and cook for 1 more minute

Serve immediately over hot rice and garnish with cilantro if desired

What to Do With Your Share---Week 2

The fields continue to produce in a grand fashion this week. The name of the game for week 2 is greens and roots, with some juicy red fruit thrown in. Time to settle into an eating cycle full of these early, cool season crops. Keep your wok and salad spinner handy.

We have several types of greens this week: lettuce, kale, Asian greens, and turnip tops. The leaf and head lettuce is at its tender best, making this a great time to make a "big salad." Get your biggest salad bowl, clean and spin a whole head of lettuce, and top with some onions, turnips, radishes, green garlic, nuts, seeds, cheese, etc. The real homemade local touch is to then make your own salad dressing. We recommend our Garlic Scape and Strawberry Dressing. Simply substitute green garlic for the scapes.

Wednesday harvest

The Asian greens this week are also good fresh in a salad, the tat soi and yukina savoy have the deep color and body of spinach. You can use these greens to make a fresh and delicious stir-fry too. Or go one better and make a savory stir fry soup. Serve it over rice noodles and you will think you are at a Vietnamese restaurant. Either way, consider stocking up on your Asian cooking supplies to get the best out of the next few week's offerings.

We suggest that you keep at lease some of the following ingredients on hand to compliment the vegetables in your share.

Fresh ginger
Rice and/or rice noodles
Sesame oil
Soy or tamari sauce
Hot sauce
Fish or shrimp sauce
Oyster/hosien or other prepared sauce
Peanut butter
Limes
Corn starch

With them you can make your own stir fry sauces. A peanut sauce recipe is in our August 23, 2011 blog. You can also buy prepared sauces. Just check the ingredients on the label.

The herb choice this week is full of fresh, Spring flavor. Cilantro, also known as Chinese parsley, is an excellent garnish for your stir fry (a little lime juice is nice too). Dill goes well in salads, homemade salad dressing, and is great with potatoes. The oregano is a savory herb that compliments most cooked meats and vegetables. When dried it is the seasoning that gives pizza sauce its traditional flavor.



Pickin' berries with the members

What to Do With Your Share---Week 3

We are rolling now. The harvest has begun in earnest. There has been a real growth spurt of late, and whatever is harvestable is being taken from the field and put in the shares. Predicting a share is as hard as predicting the weather.

Such unpredicatble behavior can be fun, as you find yourself in unique situations, like having a surplus of lettuce and strawberries at the same time. We enjoy such short-lived instances and figure out ways to bring the two together.

The first pickings of 2013

Our go-to recipe is salad with creamy strawberry and garlic dressing. The recipe from Week 4 of 2010 details this recipe. If you have some green garlic left from a previous share use it, otherwise, skip the garlic and add an extra strawberry or two to this delicious salad dressing.

For your salad, any of the lettuces that you get will go well. Add some broccoli florets, hakurei turnips or bok choi leaves and you have half a meal. Enjoy these tender greens now, as Summer will soon take lettuce out of the shares.

We also recommend a hearty stir fry. Depending on the type share you get and what you might have left over, the type of stir fry you cook can be different. I suggest going to the top-left hand corner of this page and searching the blog for stir fry. Several great suggestions are there, including a favorite of mine-Stir Fry Soup.

High tunnel just before mowing

Fair Share Farm CSA---Week 15

BOK CHOI: These hearty Asian greens love to grow in the fall. They are getting bigger by the day. Enjoy them in a stir-fry or any other way you would use a mustard green. They make a simple dish if sautéed with garlic and garnished with some lemon. They are also great in a stir-fry soup.

ONION: The last of the season, these wonderful alliums are the storage variety and should hold well, though they are good enough to eat right away. A little stronger than the sweet onions of the spring and summer, they are great cooked.

RADISH: Growing a perfect radish is harder than you think, but we may have nailed it this week. These beauties out of the high tunnel are a gorgeous red color with very little heat. Juicy and crunchy they are good in a salad or as a sandwich with cheese or butter.

SALAD TURNIPS: Harvested out of the field, these turnips are a little blemished but packed with flavor. A little peeling may be in order, but then simply slice them up and eat them raw. Or add them to the above mentioned stir-fry soup.Yum!

GARLIC: Garlic returns to the shares. We use it in just about everything we cook. It's earthy flavor captures the essence of the farm.

LETTUCE X 2: The lettuce this week and next is coming from the high tunnel. They need to be picked this week as most of them are peaking. The flavor and nutrition comes from our efforts to constantly increase the high tunnel's fertility, through animal rotations, cover cropping, beneficial insect habitat,  water management, and reduced-tillage.

GREENS CHOICE: The greens abound right now. Choices include sprouting broccoli, kale and chard.

HERB CHOICE: We will be clipping down the rosemary plants in the high tunnel to prep for the coming winter. We hope to give everyone a sprig or two mixed with other herbs. Check the label on the crate for your choices.

This week my sister Jeanne Ruggieri and her husband Alan, as well as a high school chum of mine, Joe, paid the farm a weekend visit. It was a splendid time that included CSA work, winemaking and relaxing. It was a beautiful time on the farm. We are always glad when friends and family come to visit so they can better understand what life on the farm is really like.

As we head into the second month of fall the summer cover crops have given up their spirit. So we mow them down and turn them in so that they can provide nutrition to the land when the growing season begins again in the spring.

And if you have not made your farm shift yet for the year we have 3 Saturdays left for the season. We are appreciative of the work the CSA performs at the farm every year. The benefits are countless, both for us and for you.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 3

This “Sprummer” weather has really been something so far. We have learned over the  past 10 years that all you can do is go with the flow, and adjust your growing practices to fit the situation. In our case that has meant harvesting up to a month earlier than in the past and irrigating starting n April. A few more than anecdotal examples of this seasonal shift are in our past blogs and harvest records.

This year the strawberry harvest is already winding down. In 2010 we spotted the first ripe berry in mid-May and didn’t pick a full quart until tomorrow, the 23^rd  of May. Other years showed a similar timeframe, with the first harvest somewhere at the end of May.

Likewise, the sugar snap peas are in full flush at the moment. In other years, it would be at least two weeks before we would start picking them. Best case with all of this, you eat better earlier in the year. Worst case, we’ve screwed up the balance of atmospheric gases with pollution, and we won’t be able to count on a “regular” season of weather too often.

Napa cabbage

The Share
Opportunities abound for delicious meals with this week’s vegetables, and any that you have left from last week. Remember, that for most all of the greens that we give you the best place for them is in a bag in your vegetable crisper. They will last over a week in such storage conditions. Vegetables will dry out in a fridge if not in a bag, so be sure to keep them happy.

First, a couple links to recipes. If you look to the right, you will see a link to member Emily Akins' blog Everything Begins With an E. Her post of May 15^th is for braised lettuce with peas..just the thing for your share. If lettuce has accumulated, here is a good chance to eat some in a new way.

Re: the peas, you can “string” the sugar snap or snow peas and cut them into small pieces as a substitute for individual peas. Remember, with both types of peas we give you the pods are edible, but it helps to snap off the top and pull off the string (see photo). Try the recipe on that link too.

The turnips will be in the shares for a while, so keep our curried Hakurei turnip recipe in mind.

Raw Stir Fry SaladOur suggested recipe for this is an Asian vegetable salad/slaw, or as Rebecca noted, it is a "raw stir fry." It started as we pulled a Chinese cabbage last week to check them out. I wanted to make a slaw, but felt that was a little too normal and finely chopped. So I cut up the more solid ingredients (turnip, radish, cabbage stem) into chunks while chopping up the greens. Tossed with an Asian sauce it really is the same ingredients as a stir fry, but raw.

Ingredients:Any that your want from your share. It is a good use for the Chinese cabbage. Also good in it would be radish, turnips, turnip greens, peas, broccoli, onion. Cut greens fine and other parts chunky for a good mix of textures.

Dressing:For a slaw-like taste I go for a dressing that is about half oil and half sharp tasting liquid (ie, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, fish sauce). You can try the following and adjust to your taste:
5 tbsp sesame oil, 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp chopped ginger.

Method:
Prepare vegetables and mix well in a large serving bowl. Toss with dressing. Serve as is or over warm or cold rice. Garnish with cilantro and crushed peanuts.

What to Do WIth Your Share---Week 19

The last days of summer are here, with the Autumn Equinox occurring at 10:04 am on Friday. The days keep getting shorter, and the nights are growing cooler. Farming for a living makes you realize that the sun is the true clock of our lives, not the digital device on your wrist or in your phone. We enjoy this time of year, as the sunrise creeps south every morning, reminding us to stock up and prepare for the Fall and Winter, and enjoy the beauty of Autumn.

Asian Greens
Speaking of seasons, it is once again stir-fry season. Our wok is getting a workout with the Asian greens, turnips, radishes and hot peppers that grace the shares. Now is a good time to make the most of these nourishing green vegetables. Our Stir Fry Primer is all the farther you have to go to master the art of the wok.

Hakurei Turnips
The Hakurei turnip is one of those vegetables that make us happy to be CSA farmers. We are pretty sure that not too many folks knew what they were before they joined the farm. It feels good to be able to offer a new vegetable to people and have them enjoy it like you all do. The Spring planting was a great success, and this Fall’s will certainly rival it. Don’t forget that both tops and bottoms are edible. So be sure to use the greens too, either in a salad or a stir-fry.

O’Henry Sweet Potatoes
We hope that you enjoyed the orange Beauregard sweet potatoes in the Week 17 shares. This week, as promised we are handing out a white sweet potato called O’Henry. We trialed about 30 feet of these last year and were very happy with their productivity and taste. White, sweet, potato says is all about these delectable tubers.



Digging sweet potoatoes with the CSA

We think a good way to try these out is to mash them. It really brings out their sweetness and creaminess. Simply cut off any tough spots, cut into large chunks, and then boil or steam until tender. While still hot mash them before adding some salt, butter and milk/cream. Yummy.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 2

Things are growing fast out here. The alliums are plumping up, greens are peaking, and the first fruits of the season are here. We like what we see out there right now, and are enjoying the nice harvest.

For the next several weeks it will be stir-fry season. The Asian greens are quite happy with the weather and have sized up as well as they can during spring. So this time of year we like to link you to Twenty Tips for Stir-frying by Rhonda Parkinson. Another suggestion is Stir Fry Soup from our blog five years ago.

Bok choi

Tonight at dinner we made a fried rice with egg and vegetables.  Regularly having cooked rice in the fridge, a boatload of vegetables, and fresh eggs at hand makes this a go-to meal. We cook the veggies first, add several eggs to the middle of the wok to scramble, throw in some rice, stir it together. and cook until the rice crisps up a bit. A hearty meal.

On the way to making fried rice with egg and vegetables

Our recipe above is a little ahead of the harvest curve, with some hakurei turnips and gailan, but it can be made with most any of the roots and greens you have in our share. Short on fresh ginger, we even used crystallized ginger for flavor. What doesn't get eaten tonight is perfect for lunch.

What to Do With Your Share---Post Season Week 1

This week we start harvesting from the high tunnel. It is very difficult to schedule peak harvest times for the vegetables we grow, and sometimes we let things keep growing if they are happy. The Tokoyo Bekana is listed in the seed catalog as a miniature Chinese cabbage but will be about the biggest thing in your share. It's great when things thrive.

We've been using it up in the stir fries.  We have made it two ways recently.  One is with Parker Farms pork sausage rolled into mini-meatballs that have been browned and added to the dish. The other uses their sirloin strip. Marinate the strip in sesame seed oil, rice wine vinegar and garlic before broiling for about 20 minutes (turning once). Let it rest, cut into strips and add to the stir fry.

Stir fry with pork sausage

Out in the fields we have been preparing the ground for next year. We started putting down cover crops wherever we could once the rains stopped this summer, and they have done quite well, growing into a significant plant mass. Yesterday I started chopping them down in preparation for the rain and some subsequent tilling.

mowed cover crops

What to Do With Your Share---Week 4

May has been great this year. If we were a baseball player we would have a pretty good batting average. Our weakest hitter so far has been the root vegetables, but hakurei turnips and a few radishes finally step up to the plate. Looking forward to keeping them on the roster for the near future.

A favorite of ours with the hakureis is a curry from this blog exactly 5 years ago in 2011. We also recommend the curried spring vegetable stir fry from 2014.

The Asian greens haven't seemed to stop growing. This week's bok choi is a variety called joi choi. The bed it was planted in this April had some remnant seeds of buckwheat in it. These small grain plants are not a real weed problem, as they are easily hoed out or killed by frost. The flowers are an early source of food for flying insects and perhaps a reason we have so few pests this spring.

The herb choice this week is a mixed bunch. See if you can tell the parsley apart from the cutting celery and the dill from the herb fennel. This group of herbs are all ready for picking now and can be used to garnish just about any dish. Try the cutting celery with a stir fry, or the herb fennel with your chard.

We hope you got the email about the  strawberry patch Upick. It is open until it runs out of berries for members and their families. The kiddos who have come so far have all left red-handed. It is supposed to be a beautiful week and we need a least a few folks to keep the patch picked.

In the meantime we can spend some time getting the tomato beds weeded, staked and mulched. Make hay while the sun is shining.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 14

The cool down that has been October has started my cravings for cold weather comfort food. Soups and stews are back on the menu, and there is a bounty on the farm this fall. It has been a good season to preserve, and hope you can take advantage of the opportunities this year has presented. Check out the bulk list for recipes for pickled beets and green pepper relish.

The ripe sweet peppers that are still filling the harvest crates are a great compliment to the other vegetables in the share. A stir-fry with this week's greens is always enhanced by colorful, fresh peppers. Add some broth, stock, ferment juice, or other cooking liquid and you can have a wonderfully hearty soup.

Stir-fry ingredients

In the Share - Week 3 Extended Season

 ASPARAGUS  An extra big bunch for all.  The hot weather has it growing fast.

LETTUCES (2)  We have plenty of lettuce for everyone to get two of what is left in the high tunnel.  We have butterheads, Forellenschluss, and red leaf lettuce remaining.

HAKUREI TURNIPS  See Tom's post for a stir-fry that uses the tops and the bottoms, plus bok choy or almost any other green you may have waiting for a recipe. 

RADISHES  More baby bunches from the high tunnel.  Just enough to give your salad a kick.

SPINACH  Probably the last harvest of the spinach in the high tunnel.  It fed us all well since last fall and we are grateful for it. 

TAT SOI  Both the tat soi and the bok choy in the high tunnel have been disappointments this Spring.  Not sure why, perhaps they got too chilled earlier.  You will be receiving baby heads that will fill in nicely in a stir fry or salad with other greens.

CARROTS It is nice to have fresh carrots this time of year.  The ones in the field are still so small. 

CHOICE:  KALE, SWISS CHARD OR GAILAN  We are clearing out the high tunnel so here is an assortment of greens to choose from.

HERB CHOICE:  Cilantro, dill, tarragon

NEXT WEEK:  The first week of the 24-week season!  Lettuces and salad greens.  Asparagus and green onions. 

After last week's cold spell, the temperature has increased dramatically.  We waited until the frost-danger had passed and now all of the summer fruits:  tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, cucumbers and squash are ready to be planted.  So far, we have 550 tomato plants in the ground, with another 350 to go.

It is also time to cultivate the spring beds.  Weeds are still small in most places and are vulnerable to the cultivator sweeps on the electric tractor.  The onion beds got the treatment yesterday and are looking great.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 3

Pooped. Not the best word to start a food blog, but one that applies this week. Our overtime work to catch up on planting, along with taking the engine block head and radiator out of our main tractor has been a bit exhausing. We borrowed a boroscope from a local shop and Keith Stubblefield spotted Grandpa's burnt valve problem. I took out the radiator and found a shop in North KC where they said it was 80% plugged. As we speak they are getting ready back East to rebuild the whole thing. Hoping we don't have any leftover parts when we put it back together.



But through it all we have eaten well, enjoying a wonderful Parker Farms leg of lamb. A main ingredient in the sauce was mint jelly. I made some in preparation of Bad Seed's Food Preservation Class series. Fellow member Emily Akins and I are teaching a series of 4 classes on how to do everything from making mint jelly, to pickling a cornichon, to making catsup/ketchup, to fermenting sauerkraut. The details are here, at http://www.badseedfarm.com/.

I have heard from more than one person that the stir fry recipe from last week's blog is good. Between this week's and last week's share you should have all the makings for an incredible fresh stir fry. Make sure you take advantage of the Asian greens, green garlic and turnips.

While we are lettuce heavy this week, it needn't be a bad thing. The Romaine lettuce is perfect for a Ceaser salad. You can add things like chicken or tofu to make it a meal. I searched on Google, and found videos for "tasty," "most bitchin,'" "delicious," "crispy," "killer," and "real" salads. Take your pick.

In the Share - Week 22

O'HENRY SWEET POTATOES F/P  We love these sweet buttery beauties.

BROCCOLI F  A short harvest this time around.  We will get some to the partials next week. 

LETTUCE P  So, we had a little break-in with a deer last week, hence the paltry supply of lettuce.  We have the area they didn't find well-covered now and hope to have more lettuce for you all before the end of the season. 

SMALL CABBAGE F  Read all about our stellar fall cabbage crop below.

BOK CHOY  F  I recommend stir-fry with the hakureis.

SWEET PEPPER F/P  Cooler temperatures means less ripening, so expect more green and purple ones from now on.

EGGPLANT or BEETS F/P The first of the fall beets (no tops, just roots) and nearing the end of the eggplant.

HAKUREI TURNIPS F/P  Salad turnips that we rarely cook and instead prefer straight out of the field.  Exception:  stir-fry with bok choy.

TOMATOES F/P The end of tomato season is coming soon, but here's a few more.

HERB CHOICE F Sage, cilantro, dill or hot peppers

NEXT WEEK:  Sweet potatoes, carrots (finally!), tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, garlic, broccoli, lettuce, greens and herbs.


FARM REPORT:

The small cabbages that are in the full shares this week are the best of the fall crop.  Our favorite fall vegetable, the one we hope to depend on for income in our old age, failed.  At the time that we planted them we knew we were taking a risk.  We had waited as long as we could before preparing the soil for planting.  After the seemingly never-ending rain, we didn't know if we would have another chance.  We ended up with cloddy soil, but we were able to get the plants in and thought the transplants would be able to handle it.  Two months later it is clear that no such handling took place.  A good half-acre of crop including cauliflower, broccoli, turnips and radishes- is a bust.  Luckily we planted in other areas after the soil conditions had improved so that we have enough of other crops to get us through the end of the CSA season. 

On a brighter note, we put the roof back on the high tunnel this week.  It was a team effort and a success.  See Tom's post for a view from the top. 

In the Share - Week 19

O’HENRY SWEET POTATOES (F/P) White sweet potatoes are super creamy and oh so sweet!

GARLIC (F/P) Soon it will be time to plant next year’s crop but we still have many heads for eating.

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P) Welcome back the Hakureis! Eat em like an apple, in case you forgot.

LETTUCE (F/P) We are so close to having enough lettuce for everyone. There may be a few folks on Saturday that we’ll have to send something else. It was darn difficult to get these babies to sprout in the summer heat, but they are looking good now.

BOK CHOI/TAT SOI BUNCHES (F/P) Stir-fry season is back. Check Tom’s post for a reminder.

KALE, RAPINI OR COLLARDS (F) Aphids are invading our brassicas. We will try not to send them in with the shares, but wash well and check the backs of the leaves just in case. PLUM

PURPLE RADISHES (F) I am loving our fall radishes. They are so juicy. Add em to your stir-fry for a crisp crunch.

SWEET PEPPERS, HOT PEPPERS OR OKRA (F) The summer crops are winding down, but we’ll have a bit more until frost.

HERBS OR ARUGULA (F/P) Sage, thyme, basil or arugula.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery shares, Of the Earth fruit shares

NEXT WEEK: More turnips, greens, peppers and herbs. Leeks, beets and cabbage. The Autumnal

Equinox this week marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Days and nights are even in length and the plants respond by slowing their growth and sweetening with the cooler temperatures. With only five more CSA distributions after this week (last pickup: Oct. 26 & 29) it is time to celebrate the completion of another successful season. Tom and I look forward to this time of year all season long when we can finally relax and just have a good time with our community of eaters.

We hope you all can attend the 9th annual Fair Share Farm CSA Harvest Dinner on October 29th from 4-6 pm. As always, the event will take place at St. James Lutheran Church, 1104 Vivion Road (same spot as the Spring Signup) and everyone is asked to bring a dish for the best local, organic potluck west of the Mississippi.

  The Fair Share Farm CSA Core Group is planning a fun event including a raffle to benefit our Veggie Voucher fund. Raffle tickets cost $1 (cash only) and you can buy as many as you want to increase your chances of winning. Thank you to Blue Bird Bistro and the MisFit Ranch Bed and Breakfast for being the first two to donate gift certificates for the raffle.

With it being Halloween weekend, costumes are encouraged. Prizes will be awarded for the best children’s costumes. If you would like to help with set-up, clean up or have something you would like to donate to the raffle contact Ann & Mark Flynn, FSF CSA Social Coordinators. Ann and Mark will be sending out an evite to all of our members soon, so watch for that in your inbox.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 2

It's been a verdant spring. Things have really burst on the scene this year. The trick is to keep the same pace as the plants in the field. It's the time of year when we make the really big stir fry.

For us it means to cook for four instead of two. The wok is something to be filled, so we chop up whatever we have available. Bok choi, tat soi, onions, green garlic, broccoli, gai lan; they all go well in a stir fry.

Massaged kale

Another recipe possibility this week is kale salad. Far from tough, the kale in the shares is prime for this tactile recipe. The key to it is de-stemming and chopping the kale, before massaging it with a little salt and olive oil.

The massaging action tenderizes the kale and deepens it's color. Such a simple step to enjoying this hearty and nutritious vegetable. Once you have prepared the kale you can add whatever salad ingredients you enjoy the most or have on hand. We tossed in some craisins, toasted pumpkin seeds, and chopped green garlic, along with the juice of 1/2 a lime.

The high tunnel is ready for a feeding, so we are emptying it out to for mowing, spading and seeding with cover crop. In the photo below Jody and Megan are dismantling a portion of the end walls so that I can drive the tractor inside and prepare the soil.

In the Share: Week 14

BULB FENNEL: Chop the white part of a couple stalks along with some fronds and add to any fresh salad.

SWEET POTATOES: Dug several weeks ago and cured in the greenhouse. We’ve cutting them into wedges and covering with a cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic rub. Toss in olive oil, then the spice mix, and bake at 425 30 minutes or until browned and tender.

LEEKS: Started in the greenhouse in February and in the ground since March, these slow growing cousins of onions are worth the wait. Check out this recipe from our first season in 2004. www.fairsharefarm.com/archive/info/Newsletter/2004/week_18_september22.pdf

LETTUCE: Big, leafy heads from the high tunnel.

ASIAN GREENS: It’s a great time of year for a fresh stir fry. Check out these recipes from our first blog of 2011 https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/2011/05/welcome-to-vegetables.html

KALE OR CHARD: happy, leafy greens

GREEN PEPPERS: Summer’s swan song, a great stir fry addition.

SAGE: Chop the sage leaves fine and add them to the sweet potato rub described above.

RECIPE: Going through old blogs checking for leek recipes, I came across the final blog of 2016. https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/2016/10/what-to-do-with-your-share-week-24.html. Leeks and fennel were center stage, just as they are this week. It’s a nice tradition to carry on.

FARM REPORT:
Just two weeks ago, the summer sizzled and the fields were full of flowers and a buzz with insects including a migrating monarch who is hopefully far to the south by now.

Saturday morning, frost laid a heavy blanket over the farm. In a few hours, the heat-loving plants were gone and our fields turned into a graveyard. Only the hardiest roots and leafy greens survive. In anticipation for the big event, the farm crew worked quickly to dig the sweet potatoes and pick crate after crate of green peppers.

Meanwhile, inside the protected high tunnel the plants are happily oblivious to the drama.

Nature puts on quite a show out here. You never know what you are going to see next. After one little shower last week, this was the view from the farm house.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 1

Welcome to the first week of the 2017 CSA season. Looking forward to sharing another year of farming with you. We are glad you have returned as we re-shape the CSA for a year.

One thing that isn't changing is that we will put out these blog posts on Tuesday night to help you better enjoy the share. If you are looking for a recipe suggestion you can start a search right here on our blog, as we have posted recipes for every share since 2008.

If you want to cook fresh, you can chop up just about everything in the share, dress it, toss it, and eat it. For a spicy dressing try a sesame oil based Asian dressing, or a creamy one using some Fair Share Farm eggs.

If you want to cook the veggies check out our stir fry primer and Spring Stir Fry recipe. That includes the gailan or sprouting broccoli. It is one of our favorite vegetables and we plan to grow more this spring.

Ferment Share:
This week's ferment share is what we call a sauerkraut slaw. Made with our best storage vegetables, it is great as a condiment, or as a side slaw. Put it in a soup, on top of a fresh salad, on a grilled cheese sandwich, or to accompany some fish.

We are happy to be starting our ferment sales. We may have a lag as we wait for this year's first harvests. We hope it will be a year filled with variety for you.

tree frog in the marjoram transplant

What to Do With Your Share---Fall Extended Season Week 1

Another blog night, another Royals World Series game. Not a thing I ever thought I would be saying. We have found though that they have turned the rainbows blue and white on the farm.

With the start of the extended season, the high tunnel harvest begins. Our feeding of cover crops and compost appear to have enlivened the soil since last spring. Our first cuttings include arugula, cilantro and gai lan (Chinese broccoli). From the field you are getting the head style broccoli (Italian broccoli), as well as some wonderful fall lettuces.

The two broccoli types you can use pretty much interchangeably. Both work well in a stir-fry, or in a hearty pasta dish.

You can also make a soup with the gai lan or tat soi. Substitute them in this bok choy soup recipe from member Emily Akins, or this stir-fry soup recipe from our May 23, 2011 blog.