Week 3

Hi everyone,
This might be a bit short since we actually are having a few dry, sunny, beautiful days! The rain we've had over the last month has been really challenging. It put everything on the spring planting schedule way behind. So now that the weather is giving us a window, there's a lot to do!

As you saw in an email a few days ago, the veggies available to give out this week are a bit limited. There's plenty more on the way, and lots more is getting planted right now to be ready for future CSA days, but right now things are a bit tight. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

Here's what you have:
Salad Mix (with pea shoots- so tasty!)
Swiss Chard (very nice in a quiche or frittata)
Rhubarb
And depending on your pick-up day and share size:
Tuesday Large share- beet greens
Tuesday regular share- arugula
Thursday both shares- Asian Greens

-Don't worry, if you haven't had it yet, you will soon!

I have another rhubarb recipe to share from a CSA member. This is especially good for people with gluten or dairy sensitivities.

(copied from the "Stuff I feed Brian" blog)
Buckwheat Rhubarb Cobbler Recipe - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free version

Gluten Free Rhubarb Buckwheat Cobber - with yogurt on top!

Ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat groats soaked for about 30 minutes
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
cinnamon
6-8 tbs honey*
2 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs chia seeds stirred into 8 tbs water to make chia gel
4-6 stalks of rhubarb sliced thinly (about 2-3 cups)
1/2 tsp lemon zest
*for a vegan option replace honey with maple syrup or agave

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If using solid coconut oil, scoop a teaspoon of the coconut oil onto a glass casserole dish that has a lid.  (About 8"x8" or a 9" diameter round dish is good.). Place in the warming oven for a couple minutes to liquefy the oil and then tilt the pan to grease the dish. 
• Place your chopped rhubarb in the baking dish and mix gently with the lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of honey, and about 3 tbs of water. 
• Mix together your gluten free flour and baking powder in a bowl. 
• Drain the soaked buckwheat. Mix together the buckwheat, chia gel and 1 tbs liquefied coconut oil. 
• Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients as well as some cinnamon and the remaining honey. 
• Plop your buckwheat mixture on top of the rhubarb and cover. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees, uncover the dish, and bake for about 30 more minutes or until golden brown on top. 
• While this is a great, naturally sweetened dessert, I also justified eating leftovers for breakfast because buckwheat and fruit are both breakfast foods. Tasted great with yogurt on top!

And here's another recipe for rhubarb pie:
Ethel's Rhubarb Pie
"Here is my grandmother's Rhubarb Pie; very sweet, and very good, especially after it has been refrigerated."

3 cups Rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces before measuring
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 T flour
large pinch of salt
Mix sugar, flour, egg and salt. Add to rhubarb and bake between crusts.(I have made the pie with just a bottom crust successfully). Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes to brown the top crust, then turn oven down to 350 F for 30 minutes.



Also, I had a request for tips on how to freeze some of the greens you've been getting. It's pretty simple, but it won't work equally well for all the different greens. Probably the best sports about being frozen are spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens and kale. Arugula is probably too delicate- it'd be better to make it into a pesto (which will keep quite a long time, preserved in the olive oil).
The basic method is to blanche the greens lightly (i.e. boil it for just a few seconds), then drain it, pat it dry a bit, then put it in a freezer bag or tupperware. However, I don't really like the idea of boiling greens. It just seems too rough. I've asked around, and what seems to work even better is to put the greens to be frozen in a bowl with a microwave-safe cover, and heat in the microwave from 1-2 minutes until wilted down. (You may have to experiment with the time, depending on the size of the greens, your microwave, etc). Once they're wilted, you can chop them up slightly and put them in your freezer container. Once frozen, they can be thawed and used in quiches, casseroles, lasagna, spanakopita (Greek spinach pie/pastry- delicious!) or just heated up with a drizzle of vinegar as a side. I don't know exactly how long they'll stay good in the freezer, but in my experience, if I use something within a year, it's fine. But feel free to use your own scruples, as I don't think that is an official guideline. :>)

Spanikopita- yummy!

CSA Week 2

Hi everyone,
Welcome to week two. We're a little sick of the rain at the moment- I mean, of course it's good to have plenty of water as things are growing, but it's a bit tricky to get out into the fields to do what needs doing when it's so soggy! But there's not controlling the weather, so we'll just have to wait it out. Sometimes I feel like I'm always complaining about the weather (in relation to gardening and farming, that is). If it's not raining too much, then it's terribly dry, or it's unseasonably hot, or it's unnaturally cold... you get the idea. You might think I'm just impossible to please, but what I've come to realize is what a delicate balance of weather is needed to grow food. We need just enough water, but not too much. We need sun and warmth, but not too soon. And a late cold spell can be disastrous. It's kind of amazing we ever get a successful crop! On the other hand, many plants are surprisingly resilient: tomatoes that are seemingly drowning in puddles of water will somehow make it through and recover. Peppers that were sunburned and scorched can rebound with some water and shade. Somehow things usually work out OK, but it can be very stressful when the weather is so completely out of our control and seems to be more and more erratic every year.

Anyway, enough rainy day blues! You have a lovely collection of greens this week. Lots of tender young greens to cure what ails ya!
Here's the list:
Salad Mix
Baby Spinach
Asian Greens (spicy- think stir-fry!)
Garlic Chives (can be used like normal chives, but adds a garlic flavor, too)
Radishes- some ruby red beauties for your salads
Pea Shoots (taste like new peas- great on your salad, eaten fresh out of the bag, or on top of a stir-fry)

 

(Asian greens- mustard, mizuna, tatsoi, collards, etc)

It's salad season, and I always look forward to those first salads after a winter of dried, canned or frozen produce (we put up a lot of our own food and don't often buy much in the produce section of the grocery store). After a bland, cold, grey winter, a fresh, colorful bowl of salad greens is just the ticket. I often forget to buy things like salad dressing, so I make my own. It's very simple, and I learned it while staying with some farming folks in Southern Germany.

Maple Vinaigrette
Olive Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Maple Syrup

I start with a dollop of olive oil, add about an equal dollop of vinegar and then a smaller dollop of maple syrup. I usually mix these up in a jam jar and then taste them to see what needs a bit more added. If it tastes too oily, I add more vinegar, and then usually a tad more maple syrup to sweeten it up. You can also use honey or sugar, but I like the maple flavor.

If you're looking for recipes for Garlic Chives, they are very common in Chinese cuisine. Here's a link to some more information about them and some recipes: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/a/garlicchives.htm

Week 1 of the 2013 Season!

Hi everyone-
Welcome to the 2013 season at Lucky Moon Farm! We're so glad you've decided to join us for another adventure in farming and food. All of you returning members, welcome back! And to anyone who's new, thanks for giving it a try. Local, sustainable farms are only possible with the support of local consumers, and we really appreciate that you've chosen to invest in our farm and in the area's local food network. And we promise you beautiful, healthy, naturally-grown vegetables in exchange for your patronage. So let us begin!

First of all, my name is Sarah VanNorstrand, and I work at Lucky Moon Farm for Sue & Claude Braun, who own and run the farm and CSA. I help out with whatever they're doing (planting, harvesting, weeding, etc) as well as try and keep up a basic blog to let you know what's in your bags (in case you don't remember what the sign said) and some ideas about how to use them. 

By now, you've already received your first bag of veggies- Remember that this is just the beginning, and what might seem like a light bag at first will quickly get loaded up with some of the heavier produce (but that's all still growing at the moment :>)

This week, you have a nice assortment of spring produce:
Salad Mix
Arugula (spicy greens, often used in Italian cooking, or just look up some of the many recipes on line- it's very popular right now as a salad with roasted beets and goat cheese, just to give you an idea- it also makes a great zippy pesto)
Radishes- ruby red, but they've got a kick!
Shallots (part of the onion family- they cook up amazingly in butter or olive oil)
Rhubarb

I love rhubarb. It's perennial (meaning it comes back every year- plant it once and feed it, and it will live a long, long time), it's one of the earliest things ready to eat in the spring, and it makes a lot of food. Not to mention, I love how it tastes, especially when combined with strawberries. They balance each other out- tart and sweet and perfect!
Of course, there's the classic Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, which in my opinion, can't really be beat. But you can use it in quick breads, in a crisp, in jam, cakes, muffins or as a sauce to put on ice cream, pancakes or French toast. And it's really pretty- the bright, cheery greens, pinks and reds are a nice splash of color early in the spring.

So part of joining a CSA is experiencing new foods. There will probably be something you'll get in a bag along the way that you have never eaten or don't know what to do with it. That's ok! I'll try to post some recipes with my list of vegetables for the week, but also feel free to dive into some cook books (my favorites being Joy of Cooking, any of the Moosewood cookbooks, and whatever one your mom used the most :>) or explore some of the many recipe websites with literally thousand and thousands of recipes to try. I often use Allrecipes.com when I really have no clue. Also, please feel free to send me any of your tried and true recipes. I'll be happy to post them here for other people to try- the best way is to email them to me at sarah_ziegi at yahoo dot com

 

Here's a recipe for Rhubarb Muffins from Joanna Frittelli:
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Topping:
1 teaspoon melted margarine or butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinammon

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tins. Combine sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk; beat well. Stir in rhubarb. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients in rhubarb mixture just until blended. In a separate bowl, mix topping ingredients. Spoon batter into tins, sprinkle with topping and press lightly into the batter. Bake 20-25 minutes until muffins are golden brown and a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Makes 20 muffins.

Enjoy!