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Thursday, July 17, 2008

3rd Week of July

A Week at the Farm
Mid-July, can the tomato boom be far off? We are starting to harvest a few, and are anticipating a larger harvest in a week or two. Continuing on with introducing the trainees at the farm:
  • Jeff has worked here at the farm since last season and quickly became seasoned. He is the resident handyman, putting together trellises, signs for the PYO field, assembling irrigation and doing excellent harvesting work with the zucchini and cucumbers, which need particularly tender care.
  • Tim has been here but a few weeks and is doing a great job. He is especially skilled with harvesting and weed control and his enthusiasm for pretty much any project is appreciated.
  • Orie enjoys the farm very much and especially likes the old Farmall tractor, having memories of them from growing up. He has been doing a great job with the garlic.

Water Conservation at Home
Saturday, August 23, 10am

Water Conservation at Home: inside the house and out, including cisterns (rainbarrels), presented by Matt Kofroth, Watershed Specialist with the Lancaster County Conservation District. Please sign up at the distribution table, email me or call 717-871-3110 to attend.

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest

  • Beets: see the salad and pickled beet and red beet egg recipes below
  • Eggplant: slice and put on the grill or skillet—brush with olive oil and soy sauce
  • Swiss Chard: see the Italian recipe below
  • Cucumbers: great for munching on plain, but also see cuke/tomato salad recipe below

Thank You

Special thanks to shareholder Peter Shannon for donating a misting fan. It has been very much appreciated on some of these extremely hot and humid days by both trainees and staff. Thank you to all the hands and hard work that make this possible, and to you for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and appreciation for the vegetables.

-Scott

Beet Salad
from shareholder Deborah Barkun

Wash, peel, and grate raw beets (easy in a food processor). Toss in 1-2 cloves of garlic or garlic scapes. Add 1 cup of garbanzo beans and 1 cup of minced parsley. Dress with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the zest and juice of 1 orange, the zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. It is delicious as is or after it sits and "pickles".
(The NY Times suggests adding goat cheese, but was plenty tasty sans cheese.)

Justina's Bietola (Swiss chard)
from shareholder Joan Shannon

Serves 2
Pan fry 2 pork chops (or chicken parts)* till browned. Season with salt and pepper and other seasonings to taste. Add 12 oz can of Hunt's tomato sauce (or home canned tomatoes, or
commercial crushed or diced). Mix bought sauce with 1/2 can water. Simmer on low 30 minutes. Remove chops. Place Swiss chard in pan and simmer on low for 30 minutes (we steam it slightly beforehand, stalks in bottom of steamer). Stalks should be cut into small pieces, with leaves cut just twice or so. Near end of cooking, set meat on top till hot, then serve. The dish is not complete without good (crusty, dense) Italian bread - and dipping is required!

*It also makes a good vegetarian dish minus the chops/chicken. Even if eaten with meat, best with small portion of meat in proportion to chard. May substitute beet greens for some or all of chard.

Pickled Beets and Red Beet Eggs
from Lorena Breneman

1-2 lbs beets, tops cut off (use in salad!) Cook till tender in two inches of water. Drain and save water. Slip skins from beets and discard skins. Cut beets into chunks and set aside. Measure beet water, add water if necessary to make one cup. Add 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, one cinnamon stick, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add beets to juice and chill. Add hard-boiled eggs and voila! - red-beet eggs!

Scott’s Simple but Super Cuke Salad

This is my version of a salad that I was served by Mikhail and Anna Zotov, Russian friends who were learning English in Virginia.
Dice and combine in a bowl:
An onion
A few tomatoes
One or two cucumbers
Two cloves of garlic
Add a healthy shot of olive oil, stir and let sit for a while before eating, or refrigerate for later
--add black pepper and salt if desired

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