Our Daily Tasks: Covering and Uncovering

Our Daily Tasks: Covering and Uncovering

The winter wonderland where we grow your veggies.

The winter wonderland where we grow your veggies.
Photo credit: Emily Hammon
Want to join and receive your own share of delicious veggies each week? If you are interested in signing up, please email us at greededgegardens@gmail.com. For more information or to download our Enrollment brochure, visit our website at www.greenedgegardens.com/CSA.

We love sharing our wonderful produce with you! We started this blog so that we can keep you up to date with all that is happening on the farm. It is also an opportunity for all of us to get to know one another better. One of the strengths of a CSA is the direct relationship between the farmer's experience and your experience receiving fresh vegetables weekly.

We want to hear from you, so please feel free to share recipes, thoughts and ideas-just click on the COMMENT below each post to add to our CSA community.

September 22, 2010

Week 15 Newsletter

Week #15 September 22, 2010

    Last week, I mentioned our need for a good soaking rain since the drai-nage projects were complete. Little did I imagine that less than 48 hours later, the tor-nado sirens would be sounding! The farm and its occupants as well as the crew who work here were extremely fortunate in the storm. We lost electricity for three days. We did get some rain. We mostly got WIND! We were able to empty the walk-ins into the refrigerator box on the deli-very truck. The cooler box engine is separate from the truck engine so the diesel bill wasn’t too awful. The natural gas generator provided the power we needed to run the packing room last Friday, and the portable generator went from one small refrigerator to another to the chest freezer in rotation. It took Kip a whole day to disconnect the temporary water lines and extension cords and restore things to normal. We are ever grateful to have had the equipment we needed to keep the electricity flowing to the food storage areas. Fall planting for winter continues.
    Preparations for the event of an early frost are being made by placing the support hoops and unfurling the row covers along the beds in the fields. The endwalls of the houses are still being closed up with plastic for protection from the cold and winter winds. Amazement was the watch-word during the harvest of a bumper crop of sweet potatoes! Rob has some pictures of the prize-winning spuds on the blog. The largest topped out at 7 ½ lbs! The winter squash harvest is scheduled for later this week, too. Of course, we continue to water seedlings and irrigate the rows of greens as well as hoeing and weeding the beds of mature plants.
    Thanks to all of you who have replied concerning your intentions to continue (or not) with the Winter 2011 season. Many people have already paid or sent a deposit. Others have let us know they will not be joining for the winter months. Whatever your choice, please take a moment to let us know. Thanks in advance.
From all of us at Green Edge,
Becky (Kip, Dan, John, Cale, Rob, Julia, Penny, Guinevere, Morgan, Geoff, and Lauren

THIS WEEK’S VEGGIES

Kale – One of our all-time favorite greens! We welcome this tasty treat back to the line-up. Truly, kale is the harbinger of fall
Mushrooms - This week’s mushrooms are shiitake. Production of oysters mushrooms has slowed somewhat, but we expect them to return soon.
Sunflower/MicroMix Microgreens - Folks in the Upper Arlington site will be receiving the MicroMix microgreens this week. The mix has a tangy radish-like flavor while the sunflower ones have a mild, almost nutty flavor and are juicy and crunchy.
Heirloom Tomatoes - This week we send you these amazing tomatoes. Chopped and added to onions, garlic, and the cilantro you received is a good base for some wonderful fresh salsas.
Cilantro – This pungent and distinctive flavor is a must for many ethnic dishes. We pleased to have this for you this week. So often the extreme heat causes it to bolt (go right into making seed) that it is hard to keep available in the middle of the summer.
Salad Mix - The salad mix will begin to have greens other than lettuces again. This week the mustard greens were thinned and added to the lettuces, along with the Petsai and the mizuna. You may find some tanginess to some of the leaves. Fortunately, the mustard leaves are pretty recognizable and easy to pick out if ne-cessary.

The Combo Corner

The fruit selections from Cherry Orchard this week include Melrose apples (Ohio’s state apple), Yellow Delicious apples, and Concord grapes.
This week’s bread from The Village Bakery and Café is Ukrainian Rye. The cheese share from Integration Acres this week includes Chase Cheddar, their white goat cheddar, and Grif-fin’s Dream, the French-style aged Chevre.

OTHER FARM NOTES
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A GREAT CHARITABLE IDEA?

WE THINK WE HAVE ONE!!!
20 years ago, Kip and I planted hundreds of trees for a nursery of landscape plants. The last Bur Oak is still in the field and is looking for a new home. See a pic-ture of it on the blog. This is a 15’-20’ specimen tree that will need a tree spade to be dug. More information will be available in a week or so. If you are intrigued, give Becky a call for more details.

Thanks again to all who are SO wonderful for returning the waxed boxes to us.  We are still missing many, so if you are waiting until the end of the season to return them, please don’t wait.  We are concerned that we will not have enough to finish the season without re-ordering them.  Packaging costs remain our 4th largest expense, and we really need your help to keep that cost as low as possible.  Thanks for your help with this!
Recipe: FRESH CILANTRO-LIME SALSA
2 lbs. of fresh tomatoes, diced and well-drained
1 med. onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ teaspoon coarse salt (sea or kosher)
1-2 fresh jalepeno or Serrano chilies, seeded and finely chopped
In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients and stir well. Serve with tortilla chips as desired.
from the Muir Glen recipe website.


Recipe: FRESH SALSA

3 LARGE TOMATOES, CHOPPED
½ MEDIUM ONION, FINELY CHOPPED
1 CLOVE GARLIC, FINELY MINCED
2 SERRANO OR JALEPENO PEPPERS, FINE LY CHOPPED
JUICE OF 1 LIME
1/8 TEASPOON OREGANO, FINELY CRUSHED
1/8 TEASPOON SALT
1/8 TEASPOON PEPPER
½ AVOCADO, DICED
COMBINE ALL OF THER INGREDIENTS IN A GLASS BOWL. SERVE IMMEDIATELY OR FEFRI-GERATE AND SERVE WITHIN 4-5 HOURS.
~from the website great-salsa.com

Recipe: Mushroom Tapenade

4 oz wild mushrooms (chanterelles, porcini, or shiitaki etc.)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp marsala
3 to 4 calamata olives, pitted & chopped
1 tbsp minced fresh basil
1 tbsp minced fresh oregano
1 tsp minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper
Cut mushrooms into 1/2 inch strips. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat; add mushrooms and sauté for one minute. Stir in marsala and olives; cook for one additional minute then remove from heat. Transfer mixture to food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer tapenade to bowl; stir in herbs. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Tapenade can be made up to two days ahead.
from Chateau Ste. Michael Recipes located in Washington state



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