Newsletter for Week 3

Newsletter for 6/30 Pickups

So much of our life here on the farm centers around the weather, and what it is or was doing. The telling of the story of the week is hard without at least one or two mentions. But the since today is a real gift of sun with no humidity, enough has been said already. The tomatoes are setting nicely, and it shouldn’t be too long before you have some. The same story holds for summer squashes. They are very close to being ready to begin harvest, so you will have them soon! There may be some repeated information this week as well as recipes from previous years as I spent most of yesterday in the Emergency Room with one of the interns who was not well. Fortunately, all the tests for the REALLY bad stuff were negative, so we’re baffled but happy that today she’s a little better and is definitely on the mend. However, there hasn’t been much ‘make-up’ time for me to finish the newsletter. My apologies. On Monday, we managed to pull everyone together to discuss the plans for OPEN FARM DAY. To help the flow, we decided that having dessert at the Grange is much easier and means we don’t have to split our numbers to set things up. So, we plan to eat (including dessert) around 1:00 pm, then share a little history of the farm, hear a little from our partners, and then off for the farm tours which we will schedule in waves. We hope you can make it! We did have a few glitches the first two weeks at pickups, but they were easily fixed. Thanks for reading the instructions and having patience as these first weeks are always good for a few things we couldn’t anticipate. And another thanks for such a great return of the bags and/or boxes! We hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July and that you get to spend it with friends and/or family.

THIS WEEK’S VEGGIES

Salad Mix - We have a delicious and beautiful array of lettuces that we combine to make this mix. You can find a couple of romaine varieties, red & green leaf lettuces, some butter heads, and others cut and mixed for your salad-eating pleasure throughout the season.

Beets - You can't get much more out of these late spring beauties. Their roots are soooo delicious & sweet and the leaves are vitamin-packed and wonderful sautéed as you might do with any of our greens—a little butter or olive oil and some garlic and onion helps to makes this veggie into a great side dish

Sweet Basil – The official start of summer for us is pesto, and we’ve been enjoying it for several weeks now! We hope you will too! You may also see packages of this in both Columbus Whole Foods. (Look for the Green Edge logo.)

Carrots - So sweet and crunchy, they’ll be hard to resist. You know what to do with these gorgeous late spring gems :)

Mushrooms - Our shiitake mu-shrooms are featured this week. Try them marinated and roasted on the grill, or in a tangy veggie kabob.

Sunflower Microgreens - If you’re not familiar with micro-greens, you are in for a surprise! Unlike sprouts (which are only grown in water), these are grown in soil and therefore im-part the nutritional additions from the soil. These have a mild, almost nutty flavor and are juicy and crunchy.

The Combo Corner
The fruit selections from Cherry Orchard will start in July.

This week’s bread from The Village Bakery and Café is Bo’s Brown Bread.

The cheese share from Integration Acres this week includes Feta and Smokey Goat.



The GREEN BAGS provided by us for you to carry your veggies is actually on loan to you for the season. We have two per member, so please return your GREEN BAG each week that you pick up. We are happy to support the goal for allto use fewer resources. But you need to help by joining with us in the effort to keep the GREEN BAGS in the recycling loop. Thanks so much!


Recipe: Basil Pesto (Makes about 1 ¼ cups)

4 C. packed fresh basil leaves, washed well
½ C. pine nuts, toasted until golden,cooled, and chopped fine
½ C. freshly grated Parme san (about 1½ oz)
2 large garlic cloves, minced ¼ C. plus 3 Tbs. ex-tra-virgin olive oil

Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In a saucepan of boiling salted water blanch basil, a handful at a time, 2 seconds, transferring with a slotted spoon to bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain basil in a sieve and pat dry.

In a food processor, purée basil with remaining ingredients until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Pesto may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap.
(Recipe courtesy of Gourmet, September 1996, found at epicurious.com)

Want to Save Some Pesto for Later?
You can make a larger batch and freeze it for later use. The easiest method is to put the pesto in a sandwich bag-gie, cut off one corner and squeeze into ice cube trays. Cover with saran wrap and freeze. Once the pesto cubes are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag. To thaw, simply toss a cube or two into the food you are cooking, or let sit out to thaw more slowly. You may want to stir in some fresh olive oil as it thaws.


RECIPE: Beets in Savory Yogurt Sauce serves 3-4
6 medium beets
2/3 C. plain yogurt
2 tsp. parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp chives, finely chopped

- Scrub beets and cut off all but an inch or two of tops and roots.

- Cook until tender, about 25 minutes.

- Peel and slice beets, and mix with yogurt and herbs. Heat briefly to warm sauce, or refrigerate and serve chilled.

Note: This sauce is also good with carrots.
From: The Green Thumb Cookbook
Rodale Press, 1977

RECIPE: Beet Salad with Champagne-Tarragon Vinai-grette Serves 4-6

(If you can’t find champagne-tarragon vi-naigrette vinegar, use white vinegar and some fresh tarragon.)

1 Lb. beets, preferably several varieties 6 small yellow potatoes 3 Tbsp cham-tarr vinegar 1/3 C. extra-virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp minced shallots 1 Tbsp minced fresh tarragon 1 Tbsp capers About ½ Lb. fresh baby greens, washed and drained ½ Bulb fennel, trimmed and sliced into thin rings Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Into a 9x13 baking dish, pour ¼ inch of water. Arrange beets in a single layer, cover pan tightly with foil, and bake until beets are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove beets from pan and allow to cool. Then carefully peel and discard skins. (ed. Note: The skins should slip easily from the beets. If they’re cooked, you can use your hands.) Slice beets into ¼-inch thick rounds and reserve. Place potatoes in a large pot filled with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Slice, unpeeled, into ¼-inch think rounds and set aside. Pour vinegar into a small bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil and beat until a thick emulsion is formed. Add shallots, tarragon, and capers. Chill. Arrange greens among serving plates. Distribute beets and potatoes attractively on the greens. Scatter fennel slices over the plates and drizzle with vinaigrette. Sprinkle with salt and pep-per and serve. From: The New American Farm Cookbook ,

Fred and Linda Grif-fith, 1993