Thursday, June 16, 2011

Notes from Your Farm June 16

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Thurs 3-7pam
Fri: 11-7pm
Sat: 9-1pm


Hello from the farm,

We hope you enjoyed last week's harvest. It's great to be eating fresh from the field lettuce and vegetables once again.   This week we relished the crisp cool weather and abundant sunshine.In organic growing weed control is always a great challenge, and we've been mulching the aisles with straw to deter weeds.  We tranplanted a mighty lot of winter squash yesterday--the hard squash like butternuts and Long Island Cheese, not to be confused with summer squash like zucchini.  The harvest outlook is very good with melons, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes in particular growing outstandingly well.

From the fertile fields:

Garlic scapes--great for pesto or any recipe calling for garlic
Lettuce heads: Cherokeee and Tropicana lettuces-crisp and delicious for salads, sandwiches
Red Romaine salad mix--salads or sandwiches
Greens: chard, kale and collards--highly  nutritious and some say delicious ;-) see recipe below
Asian Cabbages:  Bok Choi is great sauteed--olive oil, soy sauce, ginger, peanut butter etc, while Napa cabbage is lighter and more lettuce-like, used for making spicy kimchee or stir-fries.

Shares Available:  we do have shares available--spread the word. 

Why Organic is More Nutritious:

Organic produce have more vitamins and minerals. Why?  "Apparently stress, like fending off bugs or surviving a dry spell triggers plants to generate defensive compounds which enrich their nutritional value.  Crops grown with fertilizer and pesticides have a cushy life and don't produce as many of the stress-induced micronutrients.  Interestingly, some of these defensive compounds add flavor, so that blemished peach is not only healthier for you, but it may taste better too."  --Sandra Anderson



What's Up
When you come up to the barn, check out the pergola with the vine on it--it's a hardy kiwi vine which will eventually yield grape-sized kiwis with smooth edible skin.  The pergola was built five years ago by Eagle Scout Andrew Nguyen to shade the distribution area and provide edible aesthetics.  Success. Thank you Andrew.  I grafted some female branches to the vine this spring, so fruit is possible next spring even though the framework of the vine is male and non-fruiting. There are fifty species of kiwis worldwide, several of which can be grown in our climate and have desirable fruit.
Tomatoes looking good
Farmer’s Breakfast (a delicious way to enjoy greens)
1T oil
6 collard, kale, or chard leaves, chopped coarsely
1 scallion, chopped into
½ inch pieces
6 slices pepperoni, cut in fourths (optional)
1 tsp. butter
2 eggs
2 slices smoked cheddar
2 plum tomatoes, diced
Heat a skillet. When hot, add 1T oil. Toss in collard leaves, scallion, and pepperoni. Saute till scallion is tender. Push to one side of the pan and add the butter to the other side. Fry the two eggs in the butter. When done to your liking, put on two plates, top with the cooked collards, scallions and pepperoni. Lay a slice of cheese on top, tuck a tomato each on the side, and broil till golden. Serve with Tabasco Chipotle sauce, coffee and a square of dark chocolate!
--from Lorena Breneman, the farmer’s wife

 Thank You

 
Thanks this week to Elizabeth and Law Reh for persevering excellence with carrot weeding, each of the trainees for great work with straw, and Kim for a super job of distribution here at the barn and signs. . Thank you Turner family for getting the bird scare audio working again! and to Bob McClure for fixing the scale and for the sign work for the PYO field

 Enjoy!

Scott Breneman
Farm Manager 

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