Late Fall and a Bountiful Harvest

Hi everyone-

I don't really have any excuses for being such a terrible blogger. I just don't spend enough time on the computer to get new posts written. But I do have some time today and I thought I'd wrap up the season with a few things.

First of all, to all of you who subscribed to Lucky Moon's CSA this year, thank you so much for participating! We had a really great season with about 60 shares altogether. The weather was generally good, and we had one of the best crops of tomatoes in a long time. I've never seen anything like it, but I am a newcomer to growing on a large scale like this. Tables and tables full of tomatoes... it was quite a sight!

Well the tomatoes are gone now and Sue and Claude are busy getting everything ready for the winter. Even with the harvesting over, there is still lots to do before the snow flies. I've been over a few times and we have lots of great fall produce ready to sell at winter markets: lots of winter squash, tons of carrots, rutabagas, beets, garlic braids and single bulbs, onions, shallots, and still some cold weather greens (I think).

If anyone's looking for some excellent carrots to carry you through the winter to add to soups, stews, as sides or simply to snack on, feel free to give Sue a call.

Also, eggs are back into higher production as the young chickens have just started laying.

I've had some time to do more cooking and baking lately, and I wanted to encourage anyone who still has their pumpkin from the CSA sitting on their counter top to use it to make a real pumpkin pie. Until last year, I had never made one from scratch before, but it's really not difficult. Not to mention that the pumpkins you received make really excellent pies! Some people received long oval-shaped pumpkins (though you might not have recognized them as pumpkins) and others received more of a classic pumpkin, though a bit small to use for jack lanterns.

Cooking them is really very simple. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and strings in the inner cavity. Oil a baking dish and place the pumpkins cut-side down (though I don't think this really matters one way or another) and cover the pan with foil. Bake in the oven at 350-400 until the rind is easily pierced by a fork and the flesh is very tender. This might take more than an hour, so do it on a day when you'll be around the house and can check on it every so often. As a bonus, your house will smell great! Once the flesh is very tender, let the pumpkin cool in the pan until you can handle it comfortably. Scoop and scrape the flesh out of the rind and mash it up in a bowl. Don't waste any of that great pumpkin! At this point you can either use the mashed pumpkin in any of your normal recipes that call for canned pumpkin, or you can let the pumpkin puree cool completely and then put it in a container (tupperware works well) and freeze it.

Whenever you do plan on making that pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, or pumpkin pancakes, pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw. It handles freezing and thawing very well and really keeps its flavor. I froze some last fall and used this September and made the best pumpkin pie I've ever had. I also recommend the recipe in the newer Joy of Cooking- really topnotch.

Feel free to use any kind of winter squash to make a pumpkin pie. Winter squash and pumpkin are really the same thing, so don't let the names throw you off. Buttercup squash supposedly makes a really great pumpkin pie.

Well, I guess that's about it. I hope everyone has a safe and healthy winter- remember to spend time with family and friends and eat great food!
We would love to have you join us again next year for 2011 and please pass the word to other people you think might like participating in a CSA. We'll be in touch in the new year to send out information for next season.

All the best from Lucky Moon Farm!

Sarah

Recipes!

Hi everyone-
It's the first of September, and things are progressing pretty well on the farm. This week, you're getting:
Salad mix (lettuce, Asian greens, arugula, baby Swiss chard, spinach)
Beans
Broccoli
Potatoes (Nicola)
Onion
Summer Squash (enjoy it while it lasts!)
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Eggplant (everyone will get some over the season; we're keeping track of who's received it so far and who hasn't)
Cilantro


So here are a bunch of recipes in case you're looking for a new way to prepare some of these veggies:

Summer Squash Saute- serves 8
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Lbs assorted summer squash, thinly sliced into disks
1/2 tsp salt
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, combine oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the squash and salt and toss to coat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes, stiring occasionally, until the squash begins to break apart.
- Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

Chocolate Zucchini snack cake- 12 servings
1 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or just use regular flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vanilla yogurt
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini
3 cups chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350, grease a 11 x 8 inch baking pan.
-Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
-whisk the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the zucchini and 1 1/2 cups of the chips. Add to the flour mixture and stir until blended. Spread in the pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
-Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips over the cake. Spread with a spatula as the chocolate melts, placing back in the warm oven if necessary.

Heirloom Tomato Salad w/ Aioli and capers
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 recipe for Lemon Aioli (see below)
2 paper thin slices red onion
1/4 cup basil leaves
2 tsp capers, rinsed, drained and finely chopped

-Arrange the tomato slices on 4 salad plates
Use the back of a spoon to spread aioli on the tomatoes. Separate the onion rings and scatter over the aioli. Scatter on the basil and capers.

Aioli:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/2 tsp lemon or lime zest
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic minced

-Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Week 13

Hello-
Cool, rainy start to week 13 that is reminding me that the summer is starting to wane. Of course, we often have a really nice September and the first half of October here in CNY, so it's not like the good times are over yet... but still, it makes me think.

This week you're getting a nice variety:
Green Cabbage
Broccoli or Cauliflower
Summer Squash
Red Cipolinni onions
Bag of assorted tomatoes (to find out what kinds they are, see my last post)
Cherry tomatoes
Dill
Salad mix (lettuce, asian greens, beet greens and baby swiss chard)
Arugula

I have just been given a whole bunch of recipes, so I'll be posting them soon.
Here's one that has been tested and found to be very tasty:

Broccoli-Cashew Salad - 4 servings
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups broccoli florets, cut into small, uniform pieces
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
1/4 cup slivered red onion
1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes

Combine mayonnaise, vinegar and salt in a large serving bowl. Whisk until smooth.
Add the broccoli, cashews, onion and red-pepper flakes. Toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Week 12 (I think!)

Hi everyone-
Same old story- I've been so busy I barely check email anymore, but things on the farm are going pretty well, as you may have guessed by the increasing weight of your bags every week.
This week has an especially pretty bunch of vegetables (tasty and aesthetically pleasing!)
You're getting:
Purple Viking potatoes (purple skins with pink splotches and very white flesh)
Rainbow carrots- an assortment of white, pink, orange, yellow and "Purple Haze" carrots
Beet Greens (which aren't green at all :>)
Saffron Shallots
Assorted summer squash- in all shades of yellow and green
Hot peppers (they are roughly equivalent to Jalapenos)
Assorted cherry tomatoes (including the sweetest of the sweet, Sungold, Black Cherry, Sweet Chelsea (big round red ones), Principe de Bourgese (red with a pointed end) Fargo Yellow Pear, and Juliets (firm, red, oval ones)
Broccoli or Cauliflower
Bag of assorted tomatoes- Note if you get a green tomato, it's not unripe- it's a variety called Aunt Ruby's German Green, and it's one of my favorites for sandwiches.

Arranged on a table, that would be quite a colorful picture!

My little sister (who's not so little anymore...) has expressed disbelief at the idea that tomatoes come in other colors than red, and I realize that many of the varieties that we grow at Lucky Moon are fairly unusual. So here's a list of the tomatoes that are grown at the farm, and where I can, I'll include a picture:
Sandwich Tomatoes-
Brandywine- ever popular, large pink tomato, probably the most famous of the Heirloom tomatoes

Aunt Ruby's German Green- green tomato that's beautiful when sliced- has a faint yellow-pink blush on the blossom end

Striped German- rainbow tomato!

Black Krim- dark purple tomato

Rutgers- the Campbell's soup tomato- it's a bright red

Cosmonaut Volkov- Large, round, bright red tomatoes

Jubilee- yellow/orange

Green Zebra- small round tomatoes, but they turn faintly yellow with dark green stripes

Rose de Berne- perfect small round tomatoes that are a lovely rose-pink color

Spring Shine- Small pink tomatoes with greenish shoulders

Paste Tomatoes- good for sauce or fresh eating!
Amish Paste- large, dark red, ox heart tomatoes (apparently the way they are shaped, but I've never seen an ox's heart, thankfully)

Orange Banana- medium-sized, oval, orange tomatoes

San Marzano- smooth oval , red tomatoes that are the classic Italian paste tomato

Cherry Tomatoes- so sweet and juicy!
Sungold- our favorite sweet orange bites of heaven

Fargo Yellow Pear- not the most flavorful, but the yellow pear-shaped fruits are so cute!
Black Cherry- dark purple, and very sweet

Principe de Bourgese- Italian-type, dark red with a pointed end, very good tomato flavor

Sweet Chelsea- large round, red cherry that has a wonderfully sweet flavor

Juliet- plants produce loads of firm, oval, blemish-free tomatoes that are great for drying, slicing in salads, adding to pasta or just eating fresh


Bon Appetite!
Sarah

Week Nine

Hello-
It's high summer and I have to remind myself to enjoy every hot steamy minute of it. It comes and goes so quickly! The tomatoes are pouring in and I still can't get enough of them... the peppers are recovering pretty well from their aphid attack and are sending up new growth even as the first peppers on them are turning all sorts of bright colors- reds, oranges and yellows, mostly, but there are some lovely shades of purple and green, too. To control the aphids, which are tiny little bugs that reproduce incessantly and suck the juices out of the plants, leaving them brown and wilted, Sue bought a box of ladybugs and set them loose in the pepper tent. Ladybugs love to eat aphids, and they really went to town in there. We weeded the peppers today (which is very hot work, since the pepper tent is actually a pepper sauna...) and didn't find a single aphid, just lots of ladybug babies. I've read about using beneficial insects to control a problem like this often enough and I plant lots of flowers to try and attract beneficial insects to my garden, but I'd never seen what 4500 hungry ladybugs can actually do to an aphid infestation that must have numbered in the millions. Very cool-
Here's a picture of some not-so-lovely aphids:

And here's a ladybug nymph that turns into a full-grown ladybug

Here are some other pictures of summer!

Garlic that's drying before getting braided-

A delicious pasta "sauce" made from some of my heirloom tomatoes, fresh PA peaches and an Ailsa Craig onion from the garden. Yum!

Happy Farm Day!

Hello everyone-
Today Lucky Moon Farm took part in Madison County Agriculture's Open Farm Day. It was the first year Lucky Moon has been involved in the program, though I think this is its third year running. Open Farm Day is the feature event of the county's "Eat Local Week." We spent many hours getting the farm looking its best and we were lucky to have good weather and lots of visitors! Thank you to everyone who came out to the farm and had a look around. It was nice meeting you and it was fun to show everyone who came what Lucky Moon Farm is all about. I was really impressed by how many people decided to take part in the giant farm open house that included 37 farms and 3 farmers' markets. If I wasn't busy helping out at Lucky Moon today, I would have loved to visit some of the farms on the list. Really, without a program like this, I would never have known about a lot of the places that were on the list of farms to visit. If you're interested in finding a local spot to get beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs, vegetables, miniature donkeys, organic grains, flour, lambs fleeces, yogurt, milk or even elk meat, then I suggest you take a look at the website: http://madisoncountyagriculture.com/buylocalweek/openfarm.html There are links to information about each one of the farms, and if you download the "passport" that people used today, then you can read a little bio/description about each one of the farms. I hope all of you who traveled around today had fun and hopefully found some local folks who produce some of the food you need.

For the rest of the season, we're planning on having a farm stand open on Saturdays (sorry if I told anyone differently today) and we'll be offering a variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, in the coming weeks. The "stand" will actually be inside the sugar shed which is the first building on the left as you pull into the driveway. It will usually be a serve-yourself kind of thing, but the veggies will be fresh and tasty!
For those of you in our CSA, the tomatoes are starting to pour in and it's time to get out all those great tomato recipes that you've been saving up!

Here's a dinner that seems rather gourmet for such a simple supper:

The other night, Andrew and I sliced up a bunch of cherry tomatoes and tossed them in with some whole wheat pasta (really good flavor!), olive oil, salt and pepper, some oregano and basil I had in the herb garden and a little Romano/Parmesan cheese for the top. Oh, and make sure to slice the tomatoes over the bowel that you toss the pasta, oil and herbs in so you don't lose any of the juicy goodness!

Have a nice weekend everyone-
Oh, and I'm looking for a good tomato sauce recipe if any of you have one that won't cause you to be disowned by your family if you share it. I know these recipes can be closely guarded family heirlooms. :>)

Week Eight

Hi everyone-
Sorry I missed a few weeks in there... life has been very busy.
Things at the farm are going well- we had a hot, dry start to July, and now we've had a nice amount of rain, so most everything is growing happily. We're harvesting very often to keep up with how quickly everything is ripening. The zucchini and summer squash are doing well despite the setback they had earlier in June when a fair number of them were washed away by heavy rains and a torrent of mud from a neighboring field. The peas are starting to fade, but there are still buckets of them coming in every few days, and now the beans are starting up.

And the really exciting news is that the tomatoes have arrived, ladies and gentlemen! Of course, not all at once, but there is a nice supply of cherry tomatoes that are ripe and practically bursting with juicy sweetness (I'm remembering how a few of them tasted today when we were working in the greenhouse) and some of the sandwich tomatoes are ready, too. We had two Black Krims for lunch- I forgot ho much I love tomato sandwiches. And for any of you who are in our CSA, you'll be enjoying them soon!



Andrew and I made a version of Egg Foo Young for dinner tonight, and it was very tasty-
It's more of an Egg Foo scramble than an omlet, but we had it over some couscous, and loved it. Rice would be the more obvious choice, of course, but we had limited options.

Here's what we did:
Gravy: 1 cup water, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 2 tsp sesame oil (or another oil)
Mix until smooth in a small sauce pan and then bring to a boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for about a minute until the gravy thickens and becomes clear.

Egg Foo Young:
In a wok pan (we just used a large, nonstick skillet) heat up some oil and add:
1 onion, chopped as fine as you like it
Some scallions (we used about 4)
1 green pepper, chopped
Peas- can be snow, snap or shelled peas- a good sized handful, and it helps to cut them into half or thirds
We also threw in some Arugula at the last minute and let it wilt down
NOTE: the great thing is all these veggies are optional and easily replaced by others- beans, bean sprouts, shredded broccoli or cabbage, chopped carrots, corn, etc. Whatever sounds tasty to you.

In a separate bowl, mix 4-6 eggs (depending on how many people you're trying to feed), 1 Tbsp soy sauce and some black pepper. I also had come Thai Basil in my garden, so I minced some of that and added it to the egg mixture.

Once the veggies have stir-fried until they're tender-crisp, reduce the heat to low and add the eggs. Cook until the eggs have set, and if there are more veggies than eggs, try scrambling the whole mixture- it works quite well.

Serve over rice or couscous with the gravy drizzled on top.


Hope you're all enjoying your summers!
Sarah

Week Five

Hello-
Another rainy start to the week, but the weather reports are sounding more positive for the weekend. Today wasn't too bad- we were able to get everything harvested without getting soaked. There are a variety of tasty veggies in your bags this week :
Spinach
Salad greens
Scallions
1 beautiful bulb of Lucky Moon garlic :>)
Sweet young carrots
Snow peas
Raspberries
Possibly arugula, depending on the weather


I love this time of year because it seems that every week something new is ready to eat from the garden. I'm sure by the end of the summer my appetite for zucchini or spinach or peas will be satisfied, but right now, that first sweet carrot just pulled out of the ground and rinsed off tastes better than any candy! Snacking on a few of the first snap peas that I've had since last summer- you'd think I'd never tasted them before. But that's one of the pleasures of eating things in their own season; their long absence makes them even more enjoyable. Your palette has time to forget how things taste, so eating them again when they're at their very best (fresh from the garden) is really special.


In our modern, on-demand world, the concept of delaying pleasure, especially when it comes to food, is practically forgotten. We have access to all kinds of food and produce at all times in the supermarket, so many people don't know that vegetables even have a specific season. Although it is incredibly convenient if you want to have bell peppers and blueberries in February, it means that we end up eating a lot of mediocre-tasting produce. And no wonder, if those peppers and blueberries have to come all the way from Chile or California or Holland (yes, I saw eggplant the other day in the store that came from Holland- that just doesn't make sense. Can't we grow eggplant on this side of the Atlantic?) So I'm not trying to tell you to eat things only in season- that's up to you, of course. But enjoy these "first fruits" from the farm and see if you can't taste the difference.

Enjoy your summer!
Sarah

If you still have some Rhubarb in your fridge from last week, here's a recipe Kathy sent me:

Rhubarb Bread I

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce)

1 egg

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped rhubarb

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves. (I people doubled the topping)
4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

-Kathy

Week Four (rain, go away)

Hi everyone,
Just a quick post:
Here's a recipe to use some of the rhubarb you're getting this week. Any others out there? Email me at luckmoonfm@gmail.com

Rhubarb Squares- (Kelli made these for Sue and I and they're verrrry tasty :>)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp. melted butter or margarine
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. rhubarb, cut into small pieces (1/2")
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda

1) Mix white sugar, nuts, butter and cinnamon until crumbly.
2) Cream together brown sugar, shortening and the egg.
3) Add sifted flour and soda alternately w/ sour cream. Add rhubarb.
4) Turn batter into a greased and floured 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with sugar/nut mixture.
5) Bake at 350 degrees fro 45- 50 minutes.

And a few quick pics:

Week Three

Hi everyone,
So, we're wrapping up a very wet Week Three. Hopefully this stretch of weather will let up soon- we really don't want this to become a repeat of last summer... I'm going to try and remember to bring the camera to the farm tomorrow or the next day and post some pictures of the farm here on the blog. It's lovely this time of year when everything's sending out tons of new growth.

In your bags this week, you received a bag of spinach, a bag of mixed salad greens, radishes and Swiss chard. Kelli Johnson has been giving me some great recipes that I can't wait to try. Here's one that uses the chard and spinach that looks like it would make a tasty dish:

Baked Swiss Chard an Spinach w/ Chickpeas and Feta Cheese
4-6 servings

4 Tbsp olive oil
10 oz Swiss Chard, heavy stems removed
1 Lb Spinach, heavy stems removed
One 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained
4 scallions (white and green) chopped
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped dill
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spread 1 Tbsp oil around a 12x9x2- inch casserole dish
2) In a steamer pot, steam Swiss chard until it wilts, about 4 mins. Add the spinach to the steamed chard and steam another 4 minutes until the spinach wilts, too. Remove both greens and drain, squeezing out excess water once they are cool enough to handle.
3) Chop greens and toss with remaining 3 Tbsp of oil, chickpeas, scallions, garlic, dill and season w/ salt and pepper.
4) Transfer to the casserole dish Push the feta cheese down into the mixture and bake until it's sizzling, about 35 mins. Serve hot.

Hope you all are doing well and are enjoying these first weeks of summer.
All the best!
Sarah

Week 2!

Hello everyone-
Just wanted to give you a heads up about what vegetables we're planning on harvesting this week.
Spinach
Mixed Greens
Basil
Asian Greens
Radishes

Also wanted to let you all know that strawberry season is just kicking off, and a favorite place of mine to go picking around here is Tre-G Farms, just off Route 20. They've opened earlier than usual, so get out there while the picking is good!
Here's the info they list:

Tre-G Farms
8183 US Route 20, Manlius, NY 13104.
Phone: 315-682 9315.
Directions: Route 20, 1/2 mile west of Pompey Center,
between the crossroads of Pompey Center Road and Watervale Rd.

Also, I wanted to share this link with you if you like to pick fruit in the summer (this has been one of my favorite things to do ever since I was a kid). Take a look at http://www.pickyourown.org/nycentral.htm and it will tell you by county where you can pick all sorts of things. It's a handy website.

Oh, and here are some more recipes that people have sent me:

Spinach Salad w/ Strawberries and Pecans
8-oz Spinach
1 c. strawberry halves
1 c. pecan halves (or walnuts, or almonds)

Dressing:
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/3 c. oil
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small onion
2 tsp poppy seeds

In a large bowl, combine spinach, strawberries and pecans.
Dressing: mix cider vinegar, oil, sugar, dijon mustard, salt pepper and onion in a food processor until smooth. Add poppy seeds and mix.


Sauteed Spinach w/ Roasted Garlic, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Feta
~10 oz spinach
3 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 c. onions, chopped
1/2 c. sun-dried (or roasted) tomatoes
1/4 c. sherry (optional)
1/4 c. lemon juice
5 T. butter
1/2 c. feta
salt & pepper to taste

Over medium heat, saute garlic and onions in olive oil until golden brown ( ~ 2 min). Add tomates, add sherry and lemon juice and reduce by a third ( ~3 min) Add butter and toss until it melts. Add spinach. Cover and stir occasionally until the spinach is slightly wilted and warm (~ 3 min). Add feta and cook briefly until slightly melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.
NOTE: this is a great to toss with your favorite pasta!


I'd love to hear some more recipe ideas, if you think of any.
Email me at luckymoonfm@gmail.com
Thanks!
Sarah

The First Week

Hi-

So the first week of the CSA is quickly approaching. I've been working a bunch on the farm with Sue and Claude trying to get everything planted, keep the weeds at bay and watering to try and combat the hot, dry weather. A good rain will do a world of good for a lot of the plants; some of them are just waiting for some water to really get going. But regardless, we've got lots of great greens for you all to sink your teeth into next week!

Andrew (my husband) and I had our first big salad from the garden last night for dinner. Salad might sound like a light supper, but we packed it full with spinach, mixed lettuce and scallions from my garden, along with some lovely kale that Sue gave me, added some walnuts, some seeds (sunflower and pumpkin) we had in the pantry, sharp cheddar, some dried raisins and other fruit and some crutons and drizzeled my oil/vinegar/maple syrup dressing over the whole thing and dug in. It was heavenly! All those fresh, crisp greens tasted so good after working out in the sun the whole day- it was a perfect dinner for a summer evening when I couldn't bear to turn the stove on and make our kitchen any hotter than it already was (it becomes somewhat of a furnace in the summer). Salads don't have to be boring, and they don't have to be a side dish or something you eat before the meal: they really can be the meal. Honestly, I was very hungry after working outside all day and it was a very satisfying meal. Andrew and I together ate the whole bowl of salad...

Also, I wanted to mention that I'd love it if people would either post a comment or send me an email with any ideas you might have for preparing the vegetables that you'll be getting in the CSA. I didn't grow up eating lots of fresh vegetables, so I've been trying hard to find lots of great ways to cook up all this wonderful food. I thought it would be a nice use for this blog if people would make meal suggestions that I could then post to share with everyone. Last year I didn't know what to do with beets, or kale or swiss chard, but since I've discovered some methods, I can't get enough of them. I hope some of you have a similar experience with a vegetable that's new to you this year. If you'd like to share a recipe or an idea, email me at luckymoonfm@gmail.com or just post it as a comment. Looking forward to trying them out!

To get us started, here's my salad dressing idea. It's not revolutionary, but it's very tasty: Mix olive oil (or whatever oil you care to try), vinegar (I like cider vinegar, but white or wine will work too) and maple syrup. You could probably also try honey. I start by mixing a small amount of each and tasting it frequently to get it to the sweetness/pungency that I like. Drizzle a little of that over a big bed of greens, and dig in!

All the best,

Sarah

Off to a Good Start

Hello everyone,

Sorry for not posting in a while- there's a lot going on at the farm, and I haven't been spending much time inside on the computer, which all in all I'm pretty happy about. :>)

But I wanted to update you all on what's happening at Lucky Moon.

Yesterday we got the trellising in the greenhouse set up so we can try planting a bunch of the tomatoes in there. I think we'll be able to fit about 120 tomato plants with room for a bunch of romaine and basil around the edges. The greenhouse is probably what I'm most excited about for this season. After last year's disastrous conditions for tomatoes, the greenhouse will ensure a practically perfect environment for them to grow in. They'll be safe from cold temperatures, high winds, too much rain, bugs, disease, hail storms, snow... all the conditions that can (and often do) make farming in upstate NY a somewhat tricky business. We should be planting the tomatoes anytime now, and then let them do their thing!

Outside in the elements the carrots, beets, swiss chard, arugula, asian greens and lettuce are coming up pretty well, and the onions, scallions and garlic seemed to have survived the rough patch of weather, which involved a really heavy hail storm, a snow storm and then a hard frost. Hopefully we'll start getting some warmer weather soon that will help everything take off.

About a week ago we planted the potatoes in the new ground that Claude tilled up on the hillside. The drainage should be a lot better up there. We planted ten 100 foot rows with seed potatoes about 12'' apart, so there are at least 1000 plants expected. Based on the pounds of seed potatoes we planted, there should be something like a 1/2 ton harvest. Now that's something to get you through the winter!

So things are going well and are looking good for the first week of the CSA. I hope you're all looking forward to your fresh veggies! I love the first greens of the seaon- the flavors are so crisp and clean. Especially after a winter of eating root vegetables and stuff frozen from last summer. It's good, but nothing like when it's picked fresh from the field!

Happy Spring, everyone-

Spring has totally sprung

Hi everyone,

Not too much to report, but the unusually warm weather (this is the first week of April, right?) has sent everything into a growing frenzy. I think I can actually watch the leaves of my rhubarb plants unfurl. I was over at the farm today helping Sue prune and clean out the raspberry beds before the plants leaf out completely (they're still supposed to be somewhat dormant). She has a lot of plants; enough to usually give out quarts of raspberries in the CSA, so it took a while and my arms look like war zones, but the plants look great this year. With the weather last summer (wet, cold and crummy) and marauding bands of hungry rabbits during the previous winter, there wasn't much of a crop last year. But we managed to keep the bunnies out this winter and with some decent weather, there should be lots of lovely raspberries to give out (and plenty to eat while picking :>)

Sue showed me what she's been able to do with the greenhouses so far; there's plenty of great-looking lettuce, some spinach (but it's actually gotten too warm and a lot of it has bolted), kale, turnips, and carrots. This is really exciting, because even though this spring has been awfully warm so far, we often can't start planting anything outside in Central New York until late April, and even then it's a gamble. But with all these hoop-houses, next year we might even be able to start the CSA in April or May!

At home, I've been getting all my flower beds ready and Andrew helped me get some super deer fencing put up around the vegetable garden. It's actually more of a fortress: I have 8' T-poles, heavy duty 7 1/2' netting, and a (mild) electric fence around the whole thing. Andrew thinks if this doesn't work, our last resort will have to be either a dog or a moat with crocodiles. His vote is for the crocodiles. My garlic is up, the rhubarb is rapidly expanding, and now I'm anxiously waiting to see the first asparagus shoots to emerge.

Well, that's the news. Hope all of you are doing well, eating good food, and are planning on growing something in your yard this year. You don't have to be able to eat it, but I think it makes it more fun. I won't say that gardening is always easy, but it is incredibly rewarding.

All the best,
Sarah VanNorstrand

CSA Time!

Hi Everyone-

I just wanted to remind you all that it's time to sign up for Lucky Moon's CSA if you were thinking about subscribing to the farm this year. We're really hoping to have some new people join us as well as people from previous seasons. So let your friends and neighbors know about some of the great benefits to supporting a local CSA: the excellent quality and freshness of the produce, the chance to support a small, local farm that doesn't use any chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, and the assurance of knowing exactly where your food came from and how it was grown. Who actually knows how they grow food in Brazil? Are the farmers and workers treated well? What about E-coli? And how much gasoline and refrigeration does it take to get food from California to Central New York? Good things to think about when there is such great produce to be had right in your own backyard (relative to Brazil and California, anyways), where you can see first hand how the food was grown.

The list of produce Sue and Claude are planning on growing this season include: tomatoes (cherry, sauce, salad and sandwich), potatoes, onions, peppers, beans (yellow and green), peas (sugar and snow), lettuce of all kinds, spinach, kale, swiss chard, beets (red and golden) cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, herbs, carrots, shallots, garlic, rhubarb, cucumbers, summer and winter squash, asian greens, bok choy, and more.

The options are either a full or a half share, and you can have it delivered or pick it up yourself. We will be having a pickup location at my house (right in the middle of Manlius) this year, in addition to at the farm in Cazenovia, and the pickup option offers a discount.
The price breakdown is as follows:
Full Share, delivered: $525
Full Share, pickup: $445
Half Share, delivered: $390
Half Share, pickup: $315

These can all be paid in two separate installments, but an initial payment is due pretty soon, by March 31st, if possible.

If you or someone you know is interested, please contact Sue and Claude by calling them at 655-2283, or by emailing me (Sarah VanNorstrand) at luckymoonfm@gmail.com.

We really hope you decide to give subscription farming and Lucky Moon a try- I'm pretty sure you'll find it's a really wonderful way, for multiple reasons, to get food on your table.