Week 9 Newsletter

Athens Hills CSA

The Athens County Fair closed for this year last Saturday. I love county fairs. They are a celebration of all things rural – from 4-H to Grange, grandstand events to the rides, car fights to harness racing, you can see and interact with lots of different people than from everyday life. What a hodge-podge of human beings! In my childhood, lots of women from the area would submit their entries for judging in the different contests for pies, pickles, or preserves – or maybe cakes, quilts, or clothing. In that time, most women were home-makers so this was their time for recognition. I just wish we all still knew what they knew about preserving food for our families for a year. So speaking of preserving, many folks have had us deliver canning tomatoes last week and this week. There will still be more available next week too, but if you still want some or some more, let Becky know soon so she can add your name to the ever-growing list. On the farm, there is still weeding, watering, and planting to do. The ‘early basil’ house is being turned for the next planting of ‘winter salad mix’. The fall greens are being transplanted into the newly tilled fields, and more salad mix, herbs, beets, spinach, and Asian greens are being seeded. Thankfully, there was some rain this weekend and yesterday. It has been so dry that we had to water so that we could weed the beds. Now that’s dry! We continue to work on the projects like finishing the equipment shed, mowing fields, and breaking ground in new fields for next season. Plans for the Winter 2012 CSA are beginning. All summer we have had folks contacting us to be put on the Waiting List. As usual, current members and last Winter 2011 members have the opportunity to secure their spots first, just remember to let us know you intentions when we send out the invitations in the coming weeks. Thanks for that. Please remember to return both of the green bags from last week so we will have enough for next week’s deliveries. And thanks for that as well. Enjoy the respite from the hot and humid normal days of August. Have a great week.
From all of us at Green Edge,
Becky (Kip, Dan, John, Maria, Kurt, Rob, Marie, Penny, Guinevere, Diedra, Bethany, and Alicia)

This Week's Veggies
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.
Beets - 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.
Mushrooms - This week you receive either oyster or shiitake.
Swiss Chard - This green is the summer stand-by. Verstaile, mild, and nutritious with a low glycemic load although a little high in sodium. Stir-fry or sauté are just a few of its uses.
Sweet Peppers – We grow a variety of sweet peppers, and your shares will reflect that variety. For the names of each, just refer to the blog where they are labeled with a picture…
Slicer Tomatoes - Round and red are these hybrid beauties. They are easier to transport, and store than their fragile heirlooms cousins. They are firm enough for chunking into salads or slicing for the ultimate sandwich.
Cherry Tomatoes – we grow both Sweet 100 (red) and Sungold (orange tomato candy). We usually mix them, and hope you enjoy them that way.
Summer Squash – There is about 1 lb. in the bag this week. The squash plants are slowing down, so there might not be squash-a-plenty much longer. We grow several varieties. Look on the blog for pictures of each with the name.


The Combo Corner
The fruit selections from Cherry Orchard will include yellow peaches, Champaign apples, and blackberries – MAYBE A COUPLE OF EARLY PEARS TOO!
This week’s bread from The Village Bakery and Café is the French Galette, a roundish, crusty loaf.
This week’s Cheese Share from Integration Acres is Smokey Goat. Chris says the experiments with the cow milk mozzarella are going great – some of that soon maybe! Yummy.


PICKUP CONTACT NUMBERS & HOURS
NEW ALBANY – 614-216-9370 12-8pm
TIBET – 614-784-8124 11am-6pm
BEXLEY MARKET-614-252-3951 3-8pm
UPPER ARLINGTON- 614-506-3086 4-8pm
CLINTONVILLE COOP – 614-261-3663 11 am-8 pm
PLATES STUDIO –DUBLIN - 614-336-9502 4-8 pm
HYACINTH BEAN – 740-594-9302 12-6pm
Please remember to call your host first if problems arise. Since they are closer to you, they can usually resolve the problem. Feel free to call us if the host is unable to help you – 740-448-4021 Thanks!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I heard a statistic last week that said over 46 million people in the United States are receiving food stamps. By my gross calculations, that number represents about 15% of the population. Simply astounding.


Recipes:

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt to taste (optional)
Directions
Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the chard stems and the white wine. Sim-mer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt if needed.


Swiss Chard Pesto
This recipe is a variation on a traditional Egyptian dish. It includes the addition of toasted pine nuts and parmesan, to give more breadth to the flavor. If you would rather cook just the traditional dish, see the Variations section.
INGREDIENTS:
1 knob of butter 2 Tbls of olive oil 2 cloves of garlic bunch of Swiss chard handful of pine nuts 100g fresh grated parmesan of pecorino cheese handful of fresh coriander (cilantro)
METHOD:
1. Wash the chard thoroughly and shake to dry.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the olive oil. Peel and chop the garlic and sauté e for 2 minutes.
3. Chop the chard stems and add them to the pan. Stir and then cook, covered, for 5 minutes.
4. Roughly chop the chard leaves and add them to the pan. Cool for another 3 minutes.
5. Toast the pine nuts for a couple of minutes (either under a pre-heated grill or in a dry pan)
6. Turn off the heat under the chard, Add the cilantro leaves, pine nuts and parmesan
7/ Puree to the mixture until it looks like pesto.

Chard & Veggie Bake with a Mush-room, Quinoa, and Goats Cheese
For the bake:
Olive oil
Six shallots, roughly diced
One bag of chard, chopped
500ml stock
Three carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces
Two turnips, chopped into bite-sized pieces
One can of mixed beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
For the topping:
*Four cloves of garlic, minced
*One punnet of mushrooms, crumbled by hand into large breadcrumb-sized pieces
*One cup of quinoa
*100g goats cheese
*Salt and freshly ground pepper
 
METHOD:
Heat the oven to 400F. Rinse the quinoa well, simmer it in 2 cups of boiling water until the germ starts to separate, and then drain and set to one side to cool. ~Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick stockpot or casserole pan then turn down the heat and add the shallots. After 2 or 3 minutes, add the chard. Cover and wilt down for 3-4 minutes. ~Now tip in the stock, and throw in the carrots, beans, and seasoning. Give it all a food stir, replace the lid, & continue to simmer for around 10 minutes. ~Meanwhile, mix together the minced garlic, cooked and cooled quinoa, crumbled mush-rooms and goats cheese in a large glass bowl that you can get your hands into. This is sticky but fun. Check the veggie mix for flavor, adjust as neces-sary and then spoon it into a large, lightly oiled baking dish. Cover with the quinoa mix and bake in the oven for 20 minutes before switching the oven to grill and browning off the top for around 5 minutes.
Enjoy. ~ from VegBox Recipes.com