Hello from the farm,

We've had a warm and full week here in these fertile fields while keeping an eye toward the sky for some rain. We transplanted 1500 winter squash plants down on the Baker field: butternuts, acorn, Long Island Cheese and some specialty varieties for trial. We planted fast and furiously in ancipation of the forecasted rains which didn't actually arrive then, but such is late June-August. The summer squash, zucchini and patty pans are making a great showing, as are the cucumbers.

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest:

• Summer Squash: add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook. See recipe below.
• Cucumbers: add to your lettuce and greens for salad. Dice and add to yogurt with onions and garlic scapes.
• Napa Cabbage: see Kimchee recipe below or use in salad or stir fries. Mild and crisp.
• Chard or Swiss Chard: sautee, oil, garlic, parmesan etc.
• Lettuce Heads: Beautiful Cherokee or Solix red lettuce or green heads.
• Kale: this nutritional powerhouse is great stir-fried with olive oil and garlic (scapes)
• Garlic Scapes: the soft neck of the garlic--wonderful garlic flavor, cooked or raw. Discard any firm portion unless you enjoy the crunchiness. Collards: similar to kale--highly nutritious--butter or bacon fat flavor greens superbly!
• Scallions: mild green onion, use fresh or cooked.
• Bok Choi: this Asian cabbage is excellent stir-fried, w/peanut butter, peanut sauce, soy sauce, garlic onion, etc...Otherwise use as a substitute for regular cabbage in cooking.

For the Birds

When we planted the first blueberries back in 2001, we did not know just how much the birds were anticipating the fruit as well. In the early years, a few birds, especially robins, came and ate a small portion of the crop. The next few years became increasingly worse, culminating in a weekend where they ate every berry off that had any hint of color--probably half of the entire crop. That began the netting of the rows, as our visual scare devices were always rendered ineffective after a few days. After a few seasons of netting and its inherent trapped and/or dead birds, a friend from Berks County told me that an electronic bird call repelling speaker had turned his 95 percent loss of blueberries into 95 percent saved. With a testimonial like that, we hooked ours up about three weeks ago, and it is amazing to see birds cruising in for the berries, then hearing the warning calls, and then doing a U-turn away from the berry patch! Enjoy the berries and lack of netting this year.Fresh picked, sun warmed blueberries are amazingly good.

Food to Share?

If you are making, or have made a dish with veggies from the farm and would like to share your success and recipe with other shareholders, please feel free to bring in some samples and a recipe to display with it here at the distribution table.

Zucchini Patties (Summer Squash) Recipe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup grated raw zucchini
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoons butter

Preparation:
Press excess moisture out of grated zucchini between paper towels. Mix together everything but butter to make the batter. Melt butter in skillet. Spoon batter (about 2 heaping tablespoons per patty) into skillet. Flatten lightly with spatula. Cook over medium heat until nicely browned on both sides. Serve plain or top with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

Serves 4.--from southernfood.about.com

Eating Seasonally--Great Cookbooks

We have some excellent cookbooks for sale at the farm.

• Our long awaited Goodwill at Homefields Farm Cookbook is a compilation of shareholder recipes and information from us. It was compiled by shareholder Virginia Brown, and Farm staff Elizabeth Swope. Available for a donation.
• The Simply in Season cookbook does an excellent job of taking you through each season--summer vegetables and how to use, winter veggies, spring recipes and fall recommendations. A staff favorite.
• Simply in Season Children's Cookbook: fun child-orient recipes and pictures.
• Farmer John Cookbook: Eccentric, eclectic, Farmer John of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" movie, his Angelic Organics CSA is one of the best known in the country.

Did you know that you can pickle almost any vegetable with salt and water? see http://awesomepickle.com/archives/tag/bok-choi

Kim Chee Recipe:

This Korean spicy "sauerkraut" of a sort is outstanding. It is enjoyed in Korea and Japan. I like to get it from the Viet My Asian grocery across from McCaskey High School--the brand they carry is Kimchee Pride from NYC and my favorite of the kimchee I've purchased.

1 large head Chinese (celery or Nappa) cabbage
Salt--non iodized is preferred
4 green onions (including tops)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 dried hot red chili (about 2" long), crushed
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1. Cut cabbage into pieces, 1-inch long and 1-inch wide.
2. Sprinkle 2 Tbs salt on cabbage, mix well, and let stand 15 minutes.
3. Cut green onions in 1-1/2 inch lengths, then cut lengthwise in thin slices. Wash salted cabbage three times with cold water. Add the onions,garlic, chili, ginger, 1 Tbs salt and enough water to cover. Mix well.Cover and let stand for a few days.
4. Taste mixture every day. When it is acidic enough, cover and refrigerateup to 2 weeks.

Makes about 1 quart. --from http://www.cheriestihler.com/recipes/kchee.html

Enjoy, and see you soon!

Scott