The Community Farm Kitchen

We've Moved!

2010-03-17T14:31:00.002-04:00

Hello friends of the CFK and followers of the blog,

Please update your bookmarks, because we've moved! I'm still posting regularly to the blog, which is now hanging out at http://www.harvest-kitchen.com/blog/ which is on our beautiful new website.

It's been a great three years over here, and I still love this blog layout, but I'm excited to have everything under one roof, so to speak.

If you haven't already done so, be sure to explore the new website to learn about the exciting changes we're undergoing right now. Continue to check the new blog for regular updates.

Peace,
Mary

LWK Week 6: Plowing through!

2010-02-17T15:43:00.006-05:00

I can't believe we're already at week 6 of this adventure! Only two weeks to go. Fortunately, we're offering another three months (6 weeks) of LWK in a special one-time-only March-May share. Sign up now if you haven't already--shares are limited!

Last week I had a fun adventure being the Guest Chef for the Friday Mornings @ SELMA local foods breakfast salon. (read more about it here!) The pictures on today's blog post are highlights of that experience. We made some tasty quiche and warm apple-spice waffles. I was thrilled to have so many Community Farm Kitchen cooks join me in the kitchen to bring off a triumphant morning!

So, on the LWK front, I'm excited about all the tasty local treats we have to offer this time. I just discovered that Calder Dairy offers sour cream and cottage cheese (thank goodness for home delivery meaning I don't have to lug pounds of dairy products all around town.) Once again we're also featuring incredible noodles from Pasta e Pasta--lasagna this time. Read on!

Roast Chicken with Rosemary Orange Butter --ever since I first clapped eyes on the gorgeous whole chickens we've been getting I've wanted to roast them whole rather than pulling them apart. Well, here goes!
Baked Lasagna - Old Pine Farm ground beef, our taste-of-summer frozen tomatoes, and Pasta e Pasta's lasagna--is your mouth watering yet?
Beef Stroganoff- Just a classic, perfect to show off Calder Dairy's sour cream.
Red Wine-Braised Pork Steaks with Peaches, Cinnamon, and Couscous We have these lovely peaches from Locavorious and had to *something* with them, right??

I guess that wraps it up. Stay warm, people. We'll see you Friday.

Mary

Photos: 1. Quiche at SELMA 2. Many hands make light work 3. Proud chef at the end of a successful breakfast run--serving over 100!

February Days are Warmed by Long Winter Kitchen pt 5

2010-02-03T16:59:00.005-05:00

Michelle and I are so excited to be back with another fabulous (if we do say so!) selection of dishes. Last week I had an incredible meeting with Kris, the farmer who is raising our meat. We talked about a lot of things (including the future of the Long Winter Kitchen--stay tuned for further developments!). She told me about the challenges of being a female rancher, what her son thought when he went to work at a conventional meat processing plant (imagine a 19-yr-old boy reduced to showing emotion and horror!), and what she's learned from the other farmers she works with to source this incredible meat. There were a few stories I thought you'd find interesting: did you think last week's cuts of lamb were small? Well, it's not your imagination. Kris is raising a heritage breed of lamb that doesn't get as large as modern breeds. But, I hope you'll agree, that these animals who were bred for flavor deliver. Another interesting factor that you haven't seen because we've been taking your chickens apart: the chickens we get in your shares are all different sizes--not standardized. Kris points out that this is because she doesn't cull the smaller birds from her flock as they do in traditional chicken farming. She says "This is the real world--I'm not going to waste a chicken because it's a little smaller than the others!" She's also raising some heritage chickens along with modern breeds, so that accounts for some of the variability too. I'm learning so much from being part of this meat CSA... as with any CSA, you learn to live with uncertainty and variety!

SO, This week's menu:
Corn and Kielbasa Chowder --a small portion of kielbasa lends a punch to this creamy chowder with summer's sweetest corn preserved by Locavorious and our own homemade chicken stock.
Chicken Chili - a white chili--just the thing to warm these snowy days.
Pasta Fagioli - bursting with flavor from our summer harvest of tomatoes and Old Pine Farm's ground beef
Vegetable Rich Pot Roast - We're going to the freezer and throwing the whole summer into the pot for this one! Eat it and read seed catalogs and think of summer.

And, Michelle and I are working hard to get the details nailed down for CFK 2.0. Stay tuned, as I said. We're excited about what's coming next........
peace
Mary
Photos: 1. Steamed Lamb with Thyme and garlic 2. The Breakfast Dish 3. Steak with roasted pepper sauce.

Time for Cozy: Long Winter Kitchen Week 4

2010-01-20T12:15:00.009-05:00

It's that time again! The cooks are rolling up their sleeves for another cooking adventure. I (Mary) am happy to report that I returned from my trip to the east coast safe and sound (and temporarily phone-less, but my phone is back now, phew!). It was great to dive right back into cooking the day after my return. Not only did we get to work with the terrific meat from Old Pine Farm as usual, your Steak Diane featured the most beautiful mushrooms from my friends at Michigan Mushrooms (their webpage seems to be down right now, but look for them at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market). Chef-extraordinaire Veronica made those delicious dumplings in the Chicken and Dumplings and I'm sure everyone has been warming up with the veggie-rich Bad Bob's Spaghetti Sauce. Yum! You might be interested to learn that Bad Bob is actually Michelle's dad. :-)
This week we're going to be using Michigan-made noodles from Pasta e Pasta, another Farmer's Market friend.
This weeks menu:
Rosemary Pork -- another amazing recipe from Veronica

Lamb Steamed with Thyme -- one of my Christmas books this year was Wild Cooking by Richard Mabey. I read the book and couldn't wait to try out this recipe.

Saucisse et Oeufs aka The Breakfast Dish...if your breakfast doesn't yet include amazing local eggs, meat, homemade Parker House rolls, and broccoli, it's about to!

Momma Janet's Chicken Noodle Soup--The only thing to keep you warm and healthy on these cold winter days. Featuring noodles from Pasta e Pasta. Yum!

Is your mouth watering yet? I, for one, can't wait. See you Friday!
peace
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. Beef Shortribs from December...too pretty to ignore. 2. MUSHROOMS from Michigan Mushrooms--also far too pretty. 3. Michelle holds up the world's largest steak. 4. Chicken Marsala featuring lesser mushrooms, but still delicious.

LWK 3: Winter Sets In

2010-01-05T19:49:00.007-05:00

While Mary is busy with her traveling adventures to New York and Boston, I decided to take a stab at writing our LWK blog. Whew! That is how I feel having survived the onslaught of our kids and grandson from Florida over the holidays. 5 adults, one- 3 year old and 4 dogs ranging from 100 lbs down to 3 lbs, all in a 1910 farm house with one shower. Great food and cozy surroundings made for a very memorable holiday. Our last cook up feels so long ago and I have cooked a dozens of family meals in between. I must say, as a person who loves to cook, I continue to be amazed at the quality of the food Mary and I are working with at the LWK. Knowing where our food comes from and how it gets processed is so important. If any of you have seen the movie Food Inc, you completely understand.As we begin week 3, our menu is designed to add comfort as temperatures hit single digits and winter sets in. This weeks yummy dishes include:

Steak Diane with local mushrooms
Grandma’s Chicken & Dumplings
Oven Braised Barbeque Pork
Ham Hocks and Navy Bean Soup
Dad’s Spaghetti Sauce

--Michelle

P.S. Here are some pictures from the Long Winter Kitchen prep days to bring back memories of the summer.
1. Fresh tomatoes ready to be processed
2. Tomato processing team hard at work!
3. Quarts of tomatoes ready to be frozen for the winter

A cold wind blows: Long Winter Kitchen Week 2

2009-12-10T16:13:00.006-05:00

Here we are at the second week of the Long Winter Kitchen. I should clarify that the Long Winter Kitchen is not going to be a weekly thing--it's a twice-monthly pick up. Because of holidays and other commitments we're doing the first two weeks back-to-back, but in the coming months it'll be every other week. I'm quite grateful for this because this month is a little crazy and I wouldn't want to keep on with this relentless pace too much longer. Still, the first week was *very* rewarding! Everyone seems excited about the food--and I'll say it certainly was smelling and tasting delicious when we finished. I'm personally most excited about our new containers (only kidding) which we'll be using next year in the CFK as well.
The first week of cooking was lots of fun. Michelle and I had help from Veronica, Jordan, and Cynthia. It was quite low-key compared with the end of the summer season. We had relatively little prep to do--though we had to thaw the meat and chop a few vegetables. It was truly a joy to work with the high-quality meat from Old Pine Farm and the frozen vegetables from Locavorious. I was also pleased to see that most of our cold-storage vegetables are holding up pretty well. The flow of the day was unfamiliar as well: once everything was in the pots/oven, all we could do was wait for it to be done! Then we took advantage of the cold weather outside to hurry the cooling and put everything into its fancy new containers.
So, with one week under our belts, it's time to announce this week's menu:
Chicken Marsala with fresh mushrooms from Michigan Mushrooms, my Farmer's Market friends!
Shepherd's Pie a classic British dish for cold winter nights
Quiche Lorraine chock full of delicious bacon and tasty veggies
Stir-Fried Beef and Lamb with Vegetables with a citrus-y sauce
Slow Cooked Pork with Root Vegetables featuring my personal favorite, parsnips.
everyone will also be getting eggs.

Yum!
See you Saturday!
Mary
Photos: 1. Veronica adds cranberries to the cranberry-pork-apple dish. 2. Last week's share lookin' fancy!

Long Winter Kitchen Week 1

2009-12-03T16:33:00.005-05:00

Well well well. After months of planning and organizing, many trips to our freezer warehouse, coordinating orders with farmers, one long day processing tomatoes, and much more, we are finally ready to get cooking in the Long Winter Kitchen.

In other news, (see photo, left), I'm back at the Farmer's Market on Wednesdays with the CFK Bakery--selling delicious Pendle Hill Brown Bread, Mary's Crunchy granola (sweetened and unsweetened) and four kinds of muffins (including vegan ones!). Stop by on Wednesday Dec 9, Dec 16, and Dec 23 and Saturday Dec 19!

But, back to the Long Winter Kitchen. Our meat comes from Old Pine Farm and Locavorious is helping out with frozen local veggies. We also are "root cellaring" some root crops in a cooler facility--Tantre farm onions, Our Family Farm potatoes, Frog Holler carrots, and more. We've also got garlic from the Community Farm and oregano from my own garden. Our goal is to make these meals with as many local ingredients as possible, even in the dead of winter!

So, I don't have any colorful stories about your meat when it was on the hoof...just a lot of tales of enthusiastic women (Rena, Kris, Veronica, Michelle, and myself) meeting and talking and dreaming and emailing endless spreadsheets. After Saturday I hope to have good cooking tales. In the mean time whet your appetite with considering this menu of favorites:

Lamb Curry This recipe comes directly from Zingerman's mail order chef Veronica who is helping us get started with the LWK.

Cranberry Apple Pork Roast Taking advantage of the flavors of the season with fresh local apples and frozen cranberries from Locavorious.

Beef Stew Crammed with slow-cooked beef and as many delicious local veggies as we could find. Yum!

Chicken Divan Michelle's specialty--always popular with her family. I'm looking forward to it!

Chili con carne Michelle says "We'll do this the way my mom used to"...with locally grown hot peppers, tomatoes, and Old Pine Farm ground beef, I'm sure it will be delicious.
Well, I'll be seeing all of our lucky LWK families on Saturday!!

peace
Mary
P.S. Also, enjoy that cute photo of Anna and the CFK cauliflower from the end of the season. Soon I'll have LWK photos to share!

Grand Finale Pt 2

2009-11-19T09:07:00.008-05:00

Well! What a week of Kitchen work it's been! Last week the kitchen crew worked extra long and hard to prepare that unbelievable bounty and I think some CFK members were a little overwhelmed with the over 10 items they received. Never fear, this week won't be quite as huge, but just as delicious.
Even though I wasn't at the farm, last week's cooking marathon yielded its own adventures. From having just a little too much of every dish, to the overwhelming deliciousness of Hobbit Soup (I credit the Rutabagas), to dying immersion blenders, there was something to figure out every day. Not to mention trying to squeeze everything into the fridge at the end of the day--that was a puzzle! Check out Peter and Jason demonstrating how *stuffed* the fridge was for distribution! This week we have some more delicious items, mostly featuring squash, and also some end-of-season items such as hot sauce and kim chee.
When you visit the kitchen, I want to make sure you remember to check out the "wall of fame" opposite the door: I've posted pictures of almost everyone who cooked with us this summer. It's a gorgeous gallery. I hope the pics give an idea of how much fun we have cooking for you. More than one member commented that it gives you an idea of HOW everything gets made (HUGE bowls! Lots of chopping!). So, check it out. I personally can't stop looking at it, even though I know everyone! I'm so grateful to this smart and talented crew for giving so much energy and hard work behind the scenes at the CFK. Most of them are gone by the time members arrive, but you should know who they are!
SO, this week's menu:
White House Butternut Squash Soup --a recipe straight from the Obama administration, courtesy of this NYTimes article
Rutaloaf - a rutabaga-based dinner loaf from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook (2001). As recipe author Karen says, "Everyone loves Rutaloaf! Even my teenager!"
Brussels Sprouts with Honey Mustard Sauce - Sauce recommendation from my friend Aaron. I'm actually going to give you your sprouts fresh for you to cook your favorite way, but we'll give you a little tub of sauce to go with.
Pumpkin Bread from Simply in Season Need I say more??
Kim Chee - after a week of fermentation, this Korean sauerkraut will rock your socks
Stuffed Carnival Squash - Like acorn squash but more colorful! This yummy fruit-and-seed based stuffing also comes from Simply in Season
Squash Malagushim - a tasty squash curry from Laurel's Kitchen
Cauliflower Risotto with Saffron and Dill from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 265
Parsley Cubes
Hot Sauce
another winter squash
dried chili peppers
Garlic

So much yumminess! I'd better get to work!
See you Friday for the end of the season (*sniff!*)
peace
Mary
Photos: 1. Becky, Peter, and Jason get tough on some leeks. 2. Sauerkraut! 3. Peter and Jason show off a FULL refrigerator! 4. Becky hard at work and Jason tasting some Hobbit Soup 5. Anna and Amanda chopping kale 6. Jason looks like a butcher after chopping beets. 7. Amanda and a "crone" rutabaga

Grand Finale!

2009-11-11T18:16:00.011-05:00

There is so much to say about the Grand close of the season... how hard we worked last week on the farm on cold days and warm days and days that started frozen and turned warm... we brought in such a bounty from Mother Earth! We harvested roots like rutabagas and turnips and leeks, greens like napa cabbage, kale, and parsley, and brassicas like Brussels sprouts and cabbage and cauliflower. It was hard work but it felt so good to be harvesting these amazing vegetables for all the members. Saturday, the day of Grand Finale itself was amazing. For a start, the weather was perfect: warm and sunny. Exactly the sort of day when you WANT to be outside. Aaron and I headed out to the farm fairly early to do the last of the harvest and set up for distribution. After lunch, CFK cooks Jason, Jake, Anna, Amanda, and Becky all joined us at the farm for the Big Pick Up. I sent them scurrying around the barnyard picking up dozens of roots, boxes of greens, and hundreds of winter squash. Finally, we loaded it all into our cars. I didn't think Jason would make it up the hill with his trunk full of winter squash, but somehow he managed. We returned to the kitchen to try to squeeze everything into the fridge and pantry. The energy of the day was amazing--you could only feel good about bringing in such a lot of food for the winter.
At that point the work had only just begun. It's Wednesday and it's already been a busy week of cooking (and juggling things to make room in the fridge for everything!). I'm really excited about the menu we're working on. I think you'll really enjoy it. Here we go....
Share
Cauliflower - 1 head
Rutabaga - 4 lbs
Carrots and beets - 1 lb total
Turnip - 2 lbs
Garlic - 8 heads
Daikon - 3
Cabbage - 1 head
Tatsoi - 1 bunch
Mizuna - 1 bunch
Arugula - 1 bunch
Parsley - 2 plants
Brussels sprouts - 2 stalks
Kale - 3 plants
Big napa - 2
Small napa - 2
Blue hubbard - 1
Mixed squash - 1
Carnival squash - 3
Small Leeks - 2
Butternut squash - 3
Mixed squash - 1
Acorn squash - 3
Big leeks - 6

and the Menu (sorry, no page numbers right now)
Week 1:
Beet and Carrot Burgers from Farmer John's Cookbook: A favorite from the beginning of the season returns!
Leeks and Asian Greens with Pasta from Greens, Glorious Greens this recipe was recommended by a CFK member, and it looks perfect!
Creamies from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook 2001 Everyone always asks "What are Creamies?", well it's an incredibly tasty casserole of squash and cabbage and kale, spiced up with tahini and soy sauce. We made it today and I think you'll like it!
Sauerkraut that's been fermenting for a few weeks--it's finally ready to go, all salty and flavorful!
Groundnut Stew from Simply in Season Peanut-based tastiness.
Hobbit Stew - learned this root-y recipe from my fellow cook Kurt at Pendle Hill. Contains no hobbits, but all of a hobbit's favorite root veggies!
White Bean Kale Soup from Greens, Glorious Greens Another perennial end-of-year favorite, this soup is sweet with squash and spicy with curry. Yum!
Nitya's Dahl with Napa Can't go wrong with this Indian beans-and-greens combo, I think.
Leeks with Pears and Mashed Potatoes from The Boxing Clever Cookbook The veggie combos in this cookbook are always so unexpected but somehow they always work. We made this one today and I'm really pleased with it. One taster plans to make it for dinner tonight!
The Grand Finale Green Salad with the usual Asian greens
Parsley Cubes - wait and see!
One Acorn Squash

There's more to come next week, but I think this post is long and overwhelming enough, right?
I'll post again with more pics and the rest of the menu in a few day's time.
See you Friday!
Mary
Photos: 1. Farm workers enjoy lunch on a cold harvest day. 2. Harvest crew with Kale and Brussels sprouts 3. Megan with the parsley 4. Aaron with arugula 5. Jason and a wheelbarrow of squash 6. Jake can carry three boxes of napa! 7. Anna de-stalks the Brussels sprouts 8. A car-trunk full of squash! 9. The pick up crew has a laugh.

More photos in next post!

Week Twenty Two: Last Regular Harvest

2009-10-29T11:42:00.007-04:00

Here we are at the antipenultimate pick up for the CFK. This season has simply flown by! As the harvests decrease slightly in volume we are able to get ahead on other items we'd fallen behind with during the busier season. Last Friday, as some later pick up folks might know, Jake cleaned the stove and it looks fantastic. I know he's not satisfied yet, but it's really a vast improvement. At the farm, things are winding down. On Tuesday we spent time gathering up more of the infinite irrigation tape that is out in the fields as well as harvesting daikon radishes and eating cookies left over from Saturday's membership meeting. After an early lunch, we workers went home. Wednesday was similarly relaxed as we brought in the final "regular" harvest before Grand Finale. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, there is plenty of food. We picked over 200 heads of napa cabbage from one field, bunches of mizuna and arugula from another, and loads of leeks from a third. We cut down the palm-tree like curly kale plants. It was relatively warm and not wet, despite the rain on Tuesday night. Rainwater had collected in the leaves of the kale, though, causing a beautiful deluge when a plant was cut. What a wet fall we're having! Fortunately, the cauliflower seems to be loving it....
This week's harvest:
Black Spanish radish - 1
Mizuna - 1 bunch
Daikon radish - 1
Arugula - 1 bunch
Choice - Broccoli or Cauliflower - 1 head
Leeks - 2
Kale - 1 plant
Delicata squash - 2
Chinese (napa) cabbage - 3
Pie pumpkin - 2

and the menu:
Napa Cabbage Slaw from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 61
Barley Risotto with Roasted Squash and Leeks from The Farmer's Market Cookbook p. 197 I bought this cookbook while living in Wales and I don't use it often, but its recipes are always delightful and this one sounds particularly delicious.
White Bean and Kale Stuffed Delicata I found this tasty treat here. After the popularity of a bean-kale-delicata dish from two weeks ago, I feel like this will be another hit.
Cauliflower, Apple, and Coconut Soup from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 113 Another tasty seasonal combination. We need soup on these cold rainy days, right? We'll throw the broccoli in here too.
Leaf Fall Salad with arugula and mizuna

Members, make sure you read your reminder email carefully this week for important announcements.

That's all, I think!
Mary
Photos: 1. Purple cauliflower! 2. Jake cleaning the stove. I think it looks cool with its top removed--like flowers. 3. Kristin modeling her kale plant. 4. Kristin as jolly green giant. 5. Jason sorting the salad bags.

Week Twenty One: Cool mornings; Sunny days

2009-10-22T11:01:00.007-04:00

Oh my, it's hard to believe we only have one "regular" week left--though we've got lots of cooking still ahead of us. It was a lovely week at the farm. On Tuesday we planted four beds of garlic with a big team of workers. Now it's all tucked in for the winter under a mulch of straw--the promise of tasty seasoning in the year to come. We also had a visit from a very special guest: former farm worker Angela brought her 3-month-old baby Ben to visit the farm for the first time. It was so delightful and distracting to play with the baby at lunch and during the afternoon. Ben seemed to enjoy the farm, seeing the sunshine and the cows and being held by doting friends. Life is good when you're an adorable baby. Pictures coming soon, I hope--I never remember my camera when anything exciting is happening at the farm!
Wednesday was another gorgeous, golden fall day. It wasn't even very cold, allowing us to sit outside for a relaxed lunch. Aaron came to help with the harvest once more, which was fun. The harvest has decreased a bit in quantity, but fall veggies are some of my faves and I'm excited to work with these tasty treats. The frost has sweetened the mizuna, arugula, and tatsoi so much that they almost taste like different greens--you'll be surprised.
This week's share:
Turnips - 3
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Daikon radish - 1
Oriental greens - 1 bunch
Kale - 2 plants
Little winter squash -2
Mei qing choi - 1
Garlic - 8 cloves
Parsley - 1 bunch
Pie pumpkin or Jack-o-lantern - 1

Menu - This week I'm reviving some big hits from last fall. These tried-and-true faves were popular with CFK members last year, and I hope you'll enjoy them too.
Turnips with Greens and Raisins from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 159 - so tasty one CFK member had to re-create the recipe himself.
Pumpkin (and other squash) Sage Soup From Farmer John's Cookbook p. 315
Choi Salad with Fruit and Creamy Dressing From Farmer John's Cookbook p. 78 - one of my absolute favorite choi recipes.
Dressed Grain - from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook (2001) p. 37 A classic farm dish from Karen Chalmer. I think we'll do quinoa.
Daikon in Plum Sauce - from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 275 This is a new one, but I'm always looking for a creative way to use daikons and this looks simple and tasty.
Frost-Sweet Salad Mix - Last week saw the last of the lettuce, but we're still getting arugula, mizuna, and tatsoi, and they're SO sweet, you won't believe.
And we're working on another batch of Kristin's popular Hot Pepper Chutney, so there's that to look forward to as well.
Phew, that's everything.
See you Friday!
Mary
Photos: 1. Farm workers Kristin, Ricardo, Mary, Helen, and Aaron pose with Bob the cat and pumpkins 2. Beautiful turnips 3. Kristin shows off a masked winter squash 4. Dressing the Spaghetti Squash Salad 5. Pumpkins of all colors

Week Twenty: Cool Fall Days

2009-10-15T11:19:00.006-04:00

It's been another good week here at the CFK. On Monday I went out to the farm to help out with a field trip of first and second graders from Ann Arbor Open School. The kids had so much energy and all seemed to love the farm. They helped with feeding the animals, separating garlic for the garlic planting (while keeping warm at a bonfire), and took a hayride. Anne always asks field trip kids if they might want to be farmers one day, and almost all of these kids responded with an enthusiastic YES. I can't blame them--I love being able to spend time outdoors at the farm. In fact, I was just reminiscing to a friend this week about how I used to stare at the Monet paintings in my calendar during class in highschool--longing to escape the classroom into fields and gardens. On Tuesday Melanie and I got to work on a crock of sauerkraut which will be ready to distribute in a few weeks time. Wednesday was a busy and chilly morning at the farm. Despite frozen fingers, we were able to bring in a bounty of leeks, daikon, kale, and more. Paul tells me that this is officially the Last Hurrah for the lettuce, but that it has been the Best Lettuce Year EVER at the Community Farm, with few crop failures, lots of good rain, and essentially ideal conditions. Hope you've been enjoying the bounty.
So, this week's share:
Choice: 1 spaghetti squash OR 2 delicata squash (we chose both)
Hot peppers - 2
Sage - 2 sprigs
Soup Box (potato, carrot, and broccoli) - 1
Assorted Oriental Greens - 1 bunch
Eggplant - 3
Kale - 3/4 lb
Leeks - 2
Daikon radish - 1
Lettuce - 2
Jack-o-lantern - 1

Menu
Delicata Squash with Kale and Cannellini Beans I noticed this recipe in the October Martha Stewart Living while hanging out with former farm worker Angela and her baby Ben yesterday afternoon. Looks perfect!
Thai Eggplant Dip A twist on Baba Ganouj that I found in From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 75
Ginger Miso Soup a vehicle for daikon radish and kale? what more could we ask this week! From Farmer John's Cookbook p. 275
Spaghetti Squash Salad with Citrus Dressing I spotted this recipe last week in Serving Up the Harvest p.452 and am excited to give it a whirl--rather a change of pace!
Karen's Potato Leek Soup a classic favorite from Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook (2001) p.53. Warming and delicious.
Last Hurrah Salad with lettuce and oriental greens.
We'll also finally give out the Pasta with Broccoli we missed last week...sorry about that...hopefully we'll be more on top of things in the future!

I think that's all. Hope you're doing well!
Mary
Photos: 1. Still life with kraut ingredients (note purple inside cabbage!) 2. Melanie working on the sauerkraut 3. Adorable soup boxes in distribution area. Yum! 4. Kristin picking up her share.

Week Nineteen: The Frost King is Here!

2009-10-08T12:50:00.007-04:00

Wow, what a change a week can make. The season shift into autumn has really happened now, and the effects of the Frost King's visit to our farm are obvious. We're already beginning to focus on the end of the season--which, it is hard to believe, is only a month away! All of the summer crops are really gone, though we're still distributing the last of what we had saved in the barn. Autumn crops are going strong and I have to dust off my memories from last year of what delicious treats there are to make with bok choi and winter squash.
We had a short work day at the farm on Tuesday due to the cold and rain. We spent some time gathering in the irrigation tape from the pepper and basil beds which will be cultivated soon and put to sleep for the winter with cover crops seeded. Wednesday was windy and chilly, but the harvesters spirits as we brought in the veggies. My friend Aaron joined us for the morning and, in addition to picking some gorgeous mizuna and playing with the goats, he serenaded us with an impromptu drum solo on the lids of the honey jars in the barn.....maybe you had to be there.
Anyhow, with this week's bounty I feel that we're returning to the refrain of early spring: "Here, have some (LOTS of) green stuff!"
The share:
Sweet peppers - 4
Spaghetti squash - 1
Daikon radish - 1
Hot pepper - 12
Eggplant - 2
Cauliflower - 1
Broccoli- 2 heads
Bok choi - 16 (!) plants
Kale - 1 lb
Swiss chard - 3 plants
Endive or chickory - 1 head
Garlic - 4 bulbs
Choice: Mizuna, arugula, tatsoi - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Fennel - 1 bulb

Menu:
Cauliflower Millet Soup - this is a perennial favorite here in the CFK. With tons of protein, what more can we expect from Diet for a Small Planet (p. 290)
Eggplant-Chard Curry - Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 355
Spaghetti Squash with Green Sauce - this recipe comes from my head. The green sauce will be a version of Katharina's Green Sauce we enjoyed in the spring.
Pasta with Broccoli - every once in a while the CFK goes posh. This tasty recipe comes from Craig Clairborne's New York Times Cookbook p. 263
Stir Fried Bok Choi with Sweet Tahini Sauce We're going to try something different and stir fry the Bok choi and other veggies and package them seperately from their sauce (from Diet for a Small Planet p. 263).
Frost King Salad with lettuce, endive, chickory, mizuna, tatsoi, and arugula.

Hope you'll enjoy it all!
See you Friday
Mary
Photos: 1. Distribution board with Nancy's art--lots of bok choi in the foreground 2. Daikon and spaghetti squash 3. Aaron and the goats, Morgan and Delilah 4. Broccoli and Cauliflower

Week Eighteen: Birthday Frost

2009-10-01T10:46:00.007-04:00

Well, last night the temperatures were low enough to threaten the tender summer veggies we've been enjoying for so long. In anticipation, we had a very busy harvest morning on Wednesday, bringing in all the chard, basil, peppers, and eggplants. A cold wind was blowing and we had to bundle up--fortunately, just when we were frozen to the bone, Paul brought us some delicious warm chai to help us finish the harvest! What a change from the balmy weather we've been enjoying all September! As we raced around bringing in the harvest, a favorite song came to mind, which I hope you'll all enjoy in the above music video. We think the Farmer's Chorus of Helma, Karen, Mary, Kristin, and Rebecca (complete with basil, chard, and clippers as props) are just about ready for the Big Time! (Thanks to Ricardo for such a steady hand with the camera). The song, "Hurry Hurry", is a great favorite with the Steiner School third graders and Karen's daughter Lucilla (now a glamorous teen) helped write the words to the third verse about the pony. :-)
So, this harvest represents essentially the LAST of the summer crops. Deciding what to make was really tough. I hope we'll be able to make Cauliflower Millet Soup (a CFK fave) in a future week because I'm really excited about what I DID decide to make!
Summer's last bounty is:
Eggplant - 2
Green onions - 1 bunch
Cauliflower - 1 large head
Hot peppers - 1 plant
Broccoli - 3 heads (!)
Swiss chard - 7 plants (!!!)
Parsley - 1 bunch
Mizuna - 1 bunch
Fennel - 1 stalk
Lettuce - 3 heads
Basil - 2 plants (!!)
Sweet peppers - 10 (!!!)

Menu--after long deliberation--
Eggplant Mykonos - this stew from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 353 has basically everything we got this week. Yum!
Barley Broccoli Salad from Serving up the Harvest p. 126
Cauliflower Pie Hopefully a new favorite from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 267
Mediterranean Green Sauce from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 86 We had this earlier this summer and it was sooooo good and a great way to use up tons of chard.
Basil Thogaiyal (Chutney) - another Indian specialty from Nitya, it's spicy and tasty and a great way to use up basil
and of course, our classic Pesto ... I hope you're not overwhelmed by having this several weeks in a row. It's so tasty and it keeps in the freezer for a taste of summer all winter long.
Finally, Celebration Salad with lettuce, mizuna, and peppers. Crunch crunch!

See you Friday!
Mary--who turns 25 today!
Photos: 1. Mary making Arugula Potato Salad in a cooking demo at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market last Saturday. 2. A gorgeous Preying Mantis at the Farm 3. Peppers and Broccoli in this week's share 4. Melanie tubs up last week's roasted veggie salad

Week Seventeen: Transition to Fall

2009-09-24T13:34:00.006-04:00

You can tell that the seasons are turning, despite the warm weather we've been having the past few days. Out at the farm we're beginning to see the end of summer crops like tomatoes and summer squash and melons (positively the last of those this week). As crops finish, the beds where they were have been tilled, and the fields are beginning to look empty and bare for the winter. In one field, all that's left is a bed of turnips, standing alone in an expanse of rich, brown earth.
Over the weekend a large crew of cooks processed 8 bushels of farmer's market tomatoes so that we'll have them for the Long Winter Kitchen program. On Tuesday I drove with Rena of Locavorious to the freezer warehouse she uses near the airport. It was quite an adventure to see a freezer twice the size of Home Depot--let me tell you that 200 qts of tomato sauce seem like a lot in my kitchen and nothing at all in the scope of that place! After visiting one end of the food system--where massive quantities of frozen food are shipped around the country on pallets--it was a pleasure to return to the farm and spend an afternoon harvesting peppers. Wednesday was another busy harvest morning--we had so many heads of broccoli to bring in it took many trips with the garden carts to transport them all.
This week's season-transformational share:
Broccoli - 2 heads
Cabbage or Cauliflower - 1 head (we chose both)
Eggplant - 2 (!)
Hot peppers - 4
Choice: small box summer squash or small box tomatoes (we chose both)
Kale - 3/4 lb
Basil - 1 plant
Assorted oriental greens (mizuna, tatsoi, arugula) - 1 bunch
Parsley - 1 bunch
Green onion - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 3 heads (!!)
Brussels sprouts greens - 2
Fennel - 1 plant
Sweet pepper - 4
Melon - 1 pc (positively the end of these rockstars!)

And the menu--
Cream of Broccoli Soup from Moosewood p. 23 (and vegan version from this site) simply the best way to devour so much tasty broccoli!
Cavolfiore Sauce from Moosewood p. 163 Pasta al Cavolfiore is a family favorite. Now you can enjoy it too! yum!
Pesto - I know you need more of this.
Roasted Eggplant-Pepper Salad I haven't tried this recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd, p., but it uses so many of our ingredients this week I have no doubt it will be delicious!
If that doesn't use up enough eggplant, I may make Baba Ganouj as well.
Remember a few weeks ago when I said I'd make Melon Salad with Lime? Well, I'll really do it this time!
We're also going to try a recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living: Kristin's Green Pate is my farm colleague's adaptation of a treat from Martha. We're making a few surprise substitutions, but this is a tasty delight.
Fall Festival Salad with so much lettuce, scallions, mizuna, and tatsoi. Yum!

Phew! Must go get to work on this ambitious menu!!
See you Friday
Mary
Photos: 1. Ricardo, Nikki, and Anne hang out the Fall Festival Banner 2. Locavorious' pallet in the freezer warehouse. I wish the photo could show how cold it was in there! 3. Broccoli!!! 4. Kristin shows off the broccoli.

Week Sixteen: Cool and Spicy

2009-09-17T11:29:00.008-04:00

The weather this week has been so interesting! Tuesday was positively hot out at the farm. Like last week we picked tomatoes and more winter squash, bringing in a heroic harvest of acorn and butternut squash that give us all something to look forward to as we move into fall. After harvesting, we turned to weeding the leek patch, or rather, the paths in the leek patch! The weed galanzoga had grown so large that it was a bit like charging through a jungle and I kept expecting to meet dragons in the form of tomato horn worms who were busy eating the purslane. Fortunately, the leeks are looking fine despite the weeds. Maybe there is something in this beneficial weeds business! Wednesday was surprisingly chilly. I hadn't expected the cold front to descend on us so soon, but fortunately had some warm clothes to put on at the farm. My dad came out to the farm with us to do some more of his volunteer hours, and we all had fun bringing in a bountiful harvest of kale and other treats. He found it hard work, though, and was quite ready for a nap by the time we got home. We had other visitors at the farm, including Lisa Sullivan who told us tales over lunch about meeting Evo Morales, president of Bolivia.
This week's bounty is:
Tomatoes - 4 lbs
Summer squash - 1
Choice: Broccoli OR cabbage - 1 (we chose both!)
Kale - 1 lb PLUS 1 bunch
Hot peppers - 4
Eggplant - 2
Oriental greens (arugula, mizuna, and tatsoi) - 1 bunch
Sweet peppers - 4
Lettuce - 2 heads
Parsley - 1 bunch
Orchard fruit - 1 box
Basil - 1 plant
Melon - 1 piece
Green onions - 1 bunch

And the Menu:
Red Red-hot Vegetable Chili - a favorite from Hollyhocks and Radishes p. 28
Pesto - promised last week but not delivered. yum yum!
Eggplant Shu Mai - We won't make the dumplings since the filling alone is unbelievably delicious. I had some at a dinner party earlier this summer and have been dying to share it with you. We'll basically follow this recipe.
Coleslaw with Apples I'll be adapting a non-mayo dressing for this cabbage salad from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 71 and From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 45
Greens in Peanut Sauce from Simply in Season p. 195
Equinox Salad with lettuce, Oriental greens, and sweet peppers
If there's time we may also make Salsa, but I don't want to promise anything after last week's craziness!
Finally, everyone will get what may be the last of the melon for the season.

Also, I want to announce that I will be having a cooking demonstration at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market next Saturday, Sept 26 at 10.30. Be there!
Finally, check out our newest program, the Long Winter Kitchen.

I guess that's all! See you Friday.
peace
Mary
Photo explanations: 1. Julie shows off an unusual tomato 2. Lotus purees a HUGE bowl of soup. 3. The late shift, Becky and Jake, are shocked by the number of dishes we've left for them. 4. Mary, Becky, Lotus, and Megan staff the CFK table at the Homegrown Festival 5. Parsley, squash, and peppers ready for distribution.

Week Fifteen: Back to School

2009-09-10T14:18:00.005-04:00

Well, the school year's come around again. Students are back and suddenly we're reminded of just how quiet it's been around this town over the summer! Out at the farm, however, it still seems pretty summer-y, since we're still getting plenty of classic summer crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and basil. All the same, on Tuesday we experienced the full scope of this kind of strange season we're in--the weather has been so cool and wet all summer that we spent the morning harvesting a huge number of tomatoes and the afternoon picking the first of the *winter squash*! It was a weird combination, but an excellent day's work. It poured in the morning, so I was feeling raindrops dripping off my nose as I picked tomatoes, but seeing the amount we brought in -- 8lbs per share!--made it all worthwhile. Then the winter squash harvest is always one of my favorite tasks. After picking the squash and piling them in the field, workers make a chain and toss the squash hand to hand to the tractor. It's fun for me because I get to enjoy throwing and catching, which I never did as a child.
We won't be eating those winter squash for a few weeks. In the mean time, we have plenty of the bounty of summer to enjoy!

This week's share:
Eggplant - 1
Basil - 1 branch
Potatoes - 1 box
Kale - 3/4 lb
Swiss chard - 3/4 lb
Sweet peppers - 3
Summer squash - 3
Lettuce - 2 heads
Garlic - 1 head
Parsley - 1 bunch
Hot peppers - 3
Orchard fruit - 1 box
Tomatoes - 8 lbs (!!)
Watermelon - 1
Cantaloupe - 1

And the menu ---
Lasagne an adaptation of all the best of the Moosewood recipe and suggestions from my co-workers at the farm (chard! eggplant! summer squash! yum!)
Marinated Tofu and Vegetables from Simply in Season p. 141
Curried Vegetable Bisque from Simply in Season p. 240
Kale Chips - this is always a popular way to dispose of kale, but I've never done it for the CFK before. Hopefully you'll enjoy!
We will also probably make Pesto if we have enough basil left over from the other things.
I'm also considering making a tasty melon salad as a change from the fresh melons we've been having... though it's hard to imagine what might improve these sweet treats.
And, of course Back to School Salad with lettuce.

Enjoy!
peace
Mary

Photos: 1. Potatoes and peppers in the distribution area 2. A harvest of blossoms 3. So many stuffed chard leaves!! (from a few weeks ago)

Week Fourteen: Watermelon and Cantaloupe!

2009-09-03T13:15:00.007-04:00

Firstly, I was featured on Annarbor.com last week! Read Jen Haines' excellent article here!
It's been another good week at the farm. These cool mornings have been deceptive--we workers start the day in multiple layers and wind up scattering sweatshirts, socks, scarves, and warm hats around the fields as the day warms up. On Tuesday afternoon we visited the hay field to dig the last of the potatoes. As we worked, we noticed a cloud of dragonflies hovering in the air over the field. It was so magical to be surrounded by these fluttering wings--kind of like being accompanied by fairies. On Wednesday we started very early on our big harvest. We picked whole lime basil plants and brought in Napa cabbage thinnings. Unfortunatley, due to the cool weather this summer we are not getting a good sweet corn harvest this year. On the other hand, we aren't seeing much of the tomato blight that many local farms are getting, so that's good. Also this week, some of the other apprentices helped with the melon harvest--so many large watermelon and cantaloupe that a *tractor and wagon* were required to bring them all in! Hope you're hungry for summer fruit... :-)

This week's bounty
Choice of 1 eggplant or 4 ears of corn (we chose a combo)
Edamame - 3 plants
Potatoes - 1 box
Sweet peppers - 3
Lime basil - 1 plant
Napa greens - 1 1/2 lb
Pears (from our orchard trees!!) - 1 box
Parsley - 1 bunch
Cantaloupe - 2
Lettuce - 2 heads
Radishes - 3
Sweet basil - 7 tips
Garlic - 1 bulb
Summer squash - 2
Hot peppers - 3
Watermelon - 2
Tomatoes - 6 lbs

With all that bounty we'll be making:
Victoria's Stir Fry - my Chinese buddy's favorite stir fry sauce on napa cabbage, radishes, and peppers.
Herb-Roasted Potatoes - from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 165
Ratatouille - Classic summer stew of deliciousness from Moosewood p. 119
Lime Basil Pesto - we're adapting the classic Moosewood recipe (p. 74) by using cashews to balance the unusual lime basil flavor.
Kristin's Hot Pepper Chutney - fellow farm worker Kristin learned this spicy-sweet condiment recipe while WWOOFing in Ireland. Yum!
Tomato Juice - summer, straight up.
Solidarity Salad with Edamame Happy Labor Day.
Also, everyone will be getting a watermelon AND a cantaloupe as well as just a taste of sweet corn.

See you Friday!
Mary

Photos: 1. Happy Farm Workers after a morning of harvest: Ricardo, Kristin, Mary, Paul, Katharina, Anne, Nikki 2. A wagon-load of watermelon 3. Nothing wrong with these tomatoes! 4. Pears 5. Thank you, Dani, for putting together our pizzas last week!!

Week Thirteen: Rainy harvest

2009-08-27T09:41:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone!
Yet another great week at the farm. This week's harvest contains tons of delicious summer delights. We're getting sweet corn for the first time this week. Farmer Paul says it's not been a really good year for corn, but we should get a few ears for the next week or two. On the up side, it's been a TERRIFIC year for the melons, and there are even more this week! I'm going to continue to send these sweet treats home as they are-because how can you go wrong with melons, right?-but if you're finding them overwhelming, some of my cookbooks have very intriguing melon soup recipes that you might consider trying. (Just ask).
On Monday I visited the farm with my dear friend Anna and was so happy to have the chance to show her around and walk the fields in the sunshine. Tuesday was another glorious day. We thinned the turnips (yum!) and finished weeding and thinning the bok choi. In the afternoon we did our VERY LAST planting of the season, planting out the lettuce we transplanted last week. Then we headed into the main crop tomatoes for the first really big tomato harvest of the year. The tomatoes are looking gooooooood, but we continue to need more heat to get the big harvest we really want. Wednesday, as you may have noticed, was rather rainy. In spite of rain coat and rain trousers, I got quite soaked while picking Swiss chard and basil. Fortunately, we'd done a lot of the work in advance and were able to finish our harvest work a little early. We also had some great help from a pair of cheerful members, Nate and Jennifer.
This week's share:
Tomatoes- 4 1/2 lbs
Hot peppers - 3
Lime basil - 24 tips
Potatoes - 1 box
Garlic - 1 bulb
Sweet peppers - 3
Kale - 1/2 lb
Swiss chard - 1 1/2 lb
Summer squash - 6
Sweet basil - 12 tips
Corn - 4 ears
Lettuce - 2 heads
Green onions - 5
Cucumber - 1
Parsley - 1 bunch
Cantaloupe - 1
Watermelon - 1

And the Menu:
Pizza - my dad makes this all the time, so consider it a house recipe. We'll basically follow the sauce from Moosewood (you might get extra sauce). We hope you'll enjoy this delicious treat!
Stuffed Swiss Chard Leaves - I found an attractive stuffing here. Yum!
Kale and Potato Soup - a classic from Laurel's Kitchen p. 160
Courgettes (Zucchini) with Garlic and Lemon - this light substitute for mashed potatoes is very tasty. From Boxing Clever p. 127
Dog Days Salad with lettuce, cucumber, and sliced zucchini
A taste of fresh sweet corn and a watermelon and cantaloupe.

Bring a big bag for this haul!
See you Friday...
Mary
Photos: 1. Jars of zucchini pickles all ready to go! 2. Cynthia dishing up the green beans, herbs, squash, and tomatoes 3. Last week's to do list with everything checked off!!!

Week Twelve: Halfway time

2009-08-20T12:12:00.006-04:00

Hard to believe we're roughly half way through the 2009 season, isn't it? In some ways it's difficult to imagine that we have so much more to go, and in others it seems like time is just flying. As usual at this time of year, we're having some staff-summer-vacation-combo issues, but I'm stoked about the two last-moment volunteers who will be joining us in the kitchen tomorrow. Let's hear it for Jason and Marissa! Yay! This month has actually seen a crazy assortment of great folks stepping into the kitchen, so I want to take this moment to thank everyone who's been working with us so far. Here goes: The Kitchen regulars: Michelle and Cynthia and Becky: these ladies never stop and give so much! Early season regulars: Blair and Eliza: we miss your company and thank you for your hard work and ideas. August guest chefs: Nell who helped with fritters and potato salad, Nitya the hard worker who brought us that Indian feast, Megan who gave us two great weeks, Jana who brought us so many tales from Grand Rapids (and did all the work for last week's oriental green beans and greens), and now Marissa and Jason. Also, we have our newest regular: Jake, who is a master dishwasher and carrot washer. In September we will be rejoined by Julie and Amanda, great cooks from last year. Hooray for the cooks!!!
It's been a good week out at the farm, as usual. We were busy despite the heat weeding and thinning the fall crops, especially the asian greens. We're always looking ahead at the farm, it seems! Anne also shared some delicious pickled zucchini with the apprentices.....guess what we'll be having this week.... Paul reports that it's looking like a good year for melons and we should be getting corn very soon.
This week's bountiful share:
Carrots - 1 lb
Tomatoes - 1 1/2 lbs
Hot peppers - 3
Cucumber - 2
Melon - 1
Greens - 1 lb
Sweet peppers - 3
Summer squash - 6
Choice: 1 lb green beans OR 2 baby heads of cabbage (we chose both!)
Sweet basil - 5 tips
Parsley - 1 bunch
Lime basil - 10 tips

Menu
Tabouli Everyone's favorite parsley vehicle since Anne told us to make the parsley bunches TWICE as big this week! From Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 104
Cabbage Salad with Thai-style Fresh Herb Dressing from From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 44
Prizewinner Green Beans with Tomatoes and Herbs from From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 23 This deceptively simple dish has indeed been a prizewinner with CFK members in the past.
August Soup Another delicious combination of all the vegetables we have on hand. From The Community Farm Cookbook 2001 edition p. 57
Zucchini Pickles - like Bread and Butter pickles, but with squash! from The Ball Blue Book of Canning p. 53
and, a special treat: Zucchini Bread needs no explanation. from The Community Farm Cookbook 1994 edition p. 71

We have our work cut out for us, it seems!
See you Friday.
peace
Mary
Photos: 1. Michelle shows off chard stained glass. 2. Know your hot peppers! 3. Nancy gathers her basil and parsley. 4. Nikki grabs a cucumber.

Week Eleven: Gazpacho Time!

2009-08-13T18:12:00.010-04:00

Sorry for the late-in-the-day post! It's been a busy week around the farm and the kitchen.
Tuesday was a fun day out at the farm because my dad joined us for a day of work. My family is a member of the farm independent of my work there, so my dad had to get his volunteer hours in just like any other member. He had so much fun picking tomatoes in the fields and gossiping about Montcalm county with Kristin (Montcalm is where Kristin grew up and where our family has had a second home for over ten years, so it was fun for them to swap stories). After a delicious farm lunch, my dad took off and the rest of us stayed around to transplant the last lettuce of the year, eat the first melon of the year, and begin thinning the napa cabbage. Truly, a season-straddling moment!
Wednesday was another great harvest day--a golden morning. However, the harvest is almost overwhelming. Cynthia and I were completely exhausted by the time we had loaded the car with 18 shares worth of veggies. Yikes! Way to go, Mother Earth.

And here it is:
Green Beans - 1 lb
Melon - 1
Potatoes - 2 lbs
Green onions - 5
Garlic - 1 bulb
Swiss chard - 1 1/2 lbs
Cucumbers - 3
Tomato - 1 lb
Carrots - 1 lb
Sweet peppers - 3
Lettuce - 2 heads
Hot peppers - 3
Summer squash - 6
Sweet basil - 7 tips
Parsley - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Lime basil - 10 tips

This week's menu is:
Gazpacho - when the days are so hot, there's only one thing everyone wants to eat.... gazpacho, a chilled veggie soup! Seems like every cookbook I own has a version, so mine is some kind of combo (I actually made a comparative chart back in 2007 when I made gazpacho for a wedding shower). Mostly it's like the Moosewood version.
Zuccanoes - Stuffed Zucchini from Moosewood p. 120
Megan's Own Mashed Potatoes Supreme - Last week our newest cook Megan told me about her favorite way to make mashed potatoes...yummy!
Oriental Green Beans with Kale - tastiness from The Community Farm Cookbook p. 47
Zucchini and Swiss Chard Soup - a new recipe from this blog, I like anything that uses this combination of vegetables right now!!
The Livin' Is Easy Salad with lettuce and grated carrots
also, everyone will get a tomato and a melon and maybe one other special fresh item surprise!
See you tomorrow...!
Mary
Photos: 1. Megan stirring last week's Sambar 2. Dosa on the griddle, and everything on the stove in the background. 3. Mary and Cynthia working on packaging the Dosa 4. All that Raita in its tubs 5. Gorgeous potatoes and tomatoes in the sun. 6. Cynthia feels like Rosie the Riveter after loading the van. 7. Mary with lots of food

Week Ten: Nitya's Indian Feast!

2009-08-06T13:18:00.007-04:00

It's been another good week out at the farm. Irrigation made our weeding job on Tuesday a lot easier--they'd run the drip lines for a while which made the ground soft enough to pull out weeds. We were working on the basil and eggplants and peppers out in Heron, the field my co-worker Kristin likes to call Mordor. This is part of Kristin's involved Lord of the Rings analogy for the farm. Heron is the farthest field from the barn and usually baking hot, and the ground is often dry and hard and difficult to work with. Nonetheless, it grows some beautiful veggies, so it can't REALLY be like Mordor! Wednesday's harvest went well and we've got quite a bounty of good things once more.
Last week we had Nell Wiener join us as guest chef for her sister Eliza's last day of working with us. We had a really fun day together making the Arugula Potato salad and zucchini fritters. Nell reminded me that we made practically the same menu when she joined us last year (pictures). She told me she liked the potato salad so much she made it for herself afterwards and that she remembers that making this potato salad is what she was doing when she heard the news of the stock market collapse last fall--somehow "Economic Collapse potato salad" doesn't have the ring I was looking for with recipe names, though.
This week I'm excited to welcome Nitya Sethuraman as our guest chef! She's a member of the CFK and has been looking for an opportunity to teach me more Indian cooking. I'm very excited about the menu we have planned.

Here's the harvest:
Cabbage - 1 head
Garlic - 1 clove
Tomatoes - 1 box
Potatoes - 2 lbs
Carrots - 1 bunch
Swiss chard - 1 lb
Cucumber - 4
Sweet basil - 6 tips
Summer squash - 4
Lettuce - 2 heads
Hot peppers - 2
Lime basil - 5 tips
Sweet peppers - 2
Green onions - 5

Menu
the Indian part of the menu is
Sambar - a delicious combination of veggies, lentils, spices, and coconut
Raita - cucumber-yogurt-spice
Dosa - vegetables wrapped in thin pancakes=Indian burritos!

The Irish part of the menu is:
Colcannon - this dish is always a CFK hit--a traditional combination of potatoes and greens. Plus, there's a fantastic song about it!

As always, there will also be a lovely green salad (Dancing Along Salad) of lettuce and other tastiness and we'll be sending home a cucumber and a tomato. Yum!

peace
Mary
Photo explanations: 1. All (clean) hands on deck to mix last week's zucchini fritters 2. CFK ladies and guest chef Nell make the fritters. 3. Frittering away! 4. Mixing the gorgeous potato salad.

Week Nine: Deep summer rain

2009-07-30T11:37:00.010-04:00

I guess I've been saying this for weeks now, but I think summer has truly arrived in all its bounty. Plus, we got an INCH of rain at the farm on Tuesday night, which made the earth soft for digging carrots and made all the plants really perk up and start growing. With this and the heat, I think we're in great shape for the rest of the season.
In other wonderful news, we had a wonderful wedding at the farm on Sunday. Former farm apprentices Aura and Michael "picked" each other in a beautiful ceremony and celebration led by Anne and Paul. I worked with Aura and Michael for a few years and it was such a joy to be part of their special day and to celebrate their love for one another and for the farm. In the CFK this week we'll be making the same potato salad Cynthia and I brought to the wedding--yum yum. I guess it comes as no surprise that the farm is an idyllic setting for a wedding and reception, and it was fun to spend time with other farm apprentices and to meet Aura and Michael's families.
Tuesday and Wednesday were good work days out at the farm. Tuesday was spent harvesting parsley and tomatoes and working on weeding chores. Wednesday was so busy trying to bring in all the gorgeous crops--it took Rebecca all morning just to rinse the Swiss chard--2 lbs per share is a lot!
Here's the share:
Tomatoes - 1/2 lb
Lime basil - 12 tips
Summer squash - 4
Garlic - 1 bulb
Potatoes - 1 box
Swiss chard - 2 lbs
Cucumber - 2
Carrots - 1 bunch
Radish - 4
Lettuce - 3 heads
Parsley - 1 bunch
Arugula - 1 bunch
Green onions - 5

Menu:
Arugula and Potato Salad from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 11
Chard Cheese Bake from Laurel's Kitchen p. 192 (with Vegan option)
Lime Basil dressing - I just made this up to showcase this unique and delicious flavor. Goes well on radishes!
Roasted Carrots with Rosemary - I learned this simple recipe while working at Pendle Hill. Always a hit.
Oven Baked Zucchini Fritters - adapted from a few different places including this site. You all enjoyed those veggie burgers a few weeks ago; hopefully these will be just as tasty!
Oh Be Joyful! Salad with lettuce and spring onions
fresh cucumber and tomato
sliced radishes to be used for topping salad, spread with butter, or marinated in the lime basil dressing.

Phew! We'd better get busy...!
Mary

We're happy to welcome guest chef (and Eliza's sister) Nell to the kitchen this week. Last year around this same time we had help from her and it was great fun. Hooray!

Pictures: 1. Newly-weds Aura and Michael PICK each other! 2. Idyllic wedding at the farm 3. Becky stirs zucchini and onions for last week's pasta dish 4. Eliza preps radishes 4. We have a full car of veggies. Note that we re-use boxes from the Ypsi co-op...none of our vegetables come from California! 5. Colorful radishes and cukes ready for their dressing.

Week Eight: Buried Treasures

2009-07-23T12:33:00.005-04:00

What a lovely and much-needed rain shower we got in Ann Arbor this morning! I don't know how much rain they got at the farm, but let's hope it was plenty!
We did a lot of digging this week: potatoes, garlic, and carrots are all coming out of the ground like buried treasure. Digging for potatoes is a challenging but fun job--after forking through the dirt and removing the withered potato plant, you have to dig carefully all around to ensure that you've got all the potatoes. Each one emerges like leprechaun gold--a delightful treasure! The garlic is another job--you can tell where they are from the stalks, but it's a trick to loosen them with the fork without impaling them. I'm getting better at this all the time! The carrots were tough to get out of the dry ground, but we had a big crew to work on that on Wednesday and the carrots themselves are real rewards for our hard work.
We also did the last major planting of the year on Tuesday: broccoli for fall harvest will be settling into the fields well with this rain. The summer crops like tomatoes and peppers don't like the cool weather we've been having, but other crops like beans and carrots are thriving. Hopefully the heat will come soon to bring on our summertime treats.
This week's bountiful harvest is:
Green Beans - 1 lb
Potatoes - 1 box
Cucumber - 1
Tomatoes - 4
Radishes - 10
Greens - 1 lb
Carrots - 1 bunch
Summer squash - 4
Garlic - 1 bulb
Lettuce - 2 heads
Parsley - 1 bunch
Arugula - 1 bunch
Basil - 2 tips

Menu
Pasta with Summer squash, Arugula, and Herbs from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 13 This dish is so light and summer-y, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Spicy Green Beans from Laurel's Kitchen p. 181. This is a new one for me, but I love the sound of green beans with cloves and cinnamon. Should be tasty!
Carrot Soup from Laurel's Kitchen p. 159. Well, while we're in the cookbook, let's use this recipe which should show off our orange beauties
Radish Cucumber Salad I was puzzled about these until I found this recipe!
Chard and Zucchini with Almonds Another web find, I'll be doing my own adaptation from these two sources.
Beauty of the Rain Salad with lettuce and arugula and maybe some carrots and radishes.

That's the lot! See you Friday!
peace
Mary
Photos: 1. Megan, Ricardo, and Helen washing carrots 2. Luscious cucumbers 3. Colorful Pure July Soup from last week--yum!

Two Recipes by request

2009-07-23T09:54:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Regular weekly update will be coming later today, but by request I'm posting a couple of recipes.

Firstly, here is the Fava Bean Guacamole recipe that has become so famous around the farm community. It comes from The Boxing Clever Cookbook by Jaqui Jones and Joan Wilmot. This British cookbook is quite hard to get ahold of in this country, so I think it's worth posting the recipe. The title of the cookbook is a reference to Box Schemes, a British version of a CSA--this cookbook should allow you to do your box scheme cleverly. It's a bit obscure, but a great cookbook.

Fava Bean Guacamole (Mary's adaptation)
2 c shelled fava beans - take off the outer shell for sure, but it is up to you whether or not you want to take off the inner shell. I don't usually bother, but you certainly could.
1 bunch fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic (or some garlic scapes!)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 small onion (spring onions work well for this)
1 small hot pepper, fresh or dried. I also sometimes use a splash of hot sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Steam or boil the fava beans until slightly cooked--this makes it much easier to remove the shells. Put garlic and onion into food processor and gradually add other ingredients to puree to a rough paste. Taste and adjust seasonings

Second is the Beet-and-Carrot Burgers that everyone has been raving about. This comes from Farmer John's Cookbook by Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics (subject of the recent film, The Real Dirt on Farmer John)
Beet and Carrot Burgers
1/2 c sesame seeds
1 c sunflower seeds
2 c grated beets
2 c grated carrots
1/2 c minced onion (I use the food processor to do all the grating and mincing)
2 eggs (we actually didn't use any eggs in the CFK burgers. Vegans might add extra flour or cornstarch for stickiness)
1 c cooked brown rice
1 c grated cheddar cheese (leave out for vegans--baking time will be slightly shorter)
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c chopped parsley
3 T flour
2 T soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1/4 t cayenne pepper (this flavor doesn't come through until after the baking, so be cautious)

1. Toast the sesame seeds and the sunflower seeds in a dry cast iron skillet.

2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl

3. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Shape patties and arrange on baking tray (suggest using your hands!)

4. Bake at 350 degrees until brown around the edges and not squishy in the middle, about 30 minutes or more depending on size of patties. You can turn them over if you'd like, but I haven't done that.

Yum yum!
Mary
Picture shows me taking the outer shell off the fava beans and leaving the inner shell!

Week Seven: Summer's bounty

2009-07-16T14:26:00.007-04:00

We're looking at another great week here at the CFK with amazing vegetables simply pouring in from the farm. This is Blair's last week cooking with us, and we'll certainly be missing her and wishing her luck as she begins to work full time at the Greening of Detroit. We hope she'll be back as a pickling consultant later in the summer, though.

It's been a good week out at the Farm. We had a busy day on Tuesday harvesting green beans and parsley, weeding Brussels sprouts and carrots, and transplanting baby lettuce. The carrot weeding was tough because it's important not to disturb the plants too much in this hot, dry weather, so we had to leave some weeds in place--not very rewarding, actually! The Brussels sprouts job was much more satisfying. Wednesday was a very relaxed harvest day. We arrived early, but worked efficiently and finished all the harvesting quite early. But don't think this means we didn't get much food, because on the contrary it's a huge harvest.

Here we go:
Green beans - 1 lb
Carrots - 1 bunch
Radishes - 2
Basil - 2 tips
Tomatoes - the first two!
Swiss chard - 1/2 lb
Kale - 1/2 lb
Beets - 1 bunch
Garlic - 1 bulb
Cabbage - 1 head
Summer squash - 4 (!)
Arugula -1 bunch
Parsley - 1 bunch

I'm really excited about this week's menu:
Italian Zucchini Pie from Simply in Season p. 134. The cookbook claims that this is one of the best zucchini recipes ever, and after making it for dinner last night, I had to put it on the menu. Yum!
Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Beet Greens, Apples, and Raisins from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 69. This beautiful dish was a hit last year and I've been waiting to get some cabbage in this year to make it again.
Grated Raw Beet Salad from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 59 Another favorite from last year--tasty and unusual.
Pure July Soup from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 86 This soup recipe basically called for everything we have this week, so I have to make it, right? It looks really tasty, so I hope you'll enjoy it.
Spicy Crunchy Salad with Arugula and radishes and some grated carrots
We'll also be sending home the first taste of summer in the form of tomatoes and green beans for you to enjoy fresh. Mmmm.

See you Friday! Don't get stuck in Art Fair traffic!
peace
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. Beautiful radishes at distribution time in the barn. 2. Colorful beets, carrots, and parsley ready to be made into last week's beet-and-carrot burgers 3. My dinner table with Italian Zucchini Pie 4. Blair grating carrots in the trusty food processor.

Week Six: Rockstar Veggies!

2009-07-09T11:32:00.011-04:00

This week's vegetables are SO beautiful and glamorous--they can only be rockstars. Check out the pictures and see if you don't agree. :-)

It's good to be back, though I enjoyed my week's holiday very much. We had good sailing, though some days the weather was better suited to sitting inside reading, playing games, and making music. All of which are perfect vacation activities--I got a LOT of reading done. Ask me about The Wild Trees, a fascinating book about climbing redwoods--it's probably good that I didn't read this book BEFORE starting the CFK or I may have run away to California to go to grad school and study/climb tall trees instead! Other vacation adventures included kayaking when it wasn't windy enough for sailing, and capsizing my sister's sailboat on a VERY windy day.

Back at the farm, though, it's amazing how much changes in a single week. The mulberry tree is bearing now, and there are raspberries in the hedge-rows. Farmer Anne's brothers and sisters and parents are visiting for a family reunion, which adds to the party atmosphere. Her brother shared a delicious berry-topped pie with all the farm hands on Wednesday in honor of a family birthday. Yum! We got a lot of weeding done on Tuesday and had a relaxed harvest morning on Wednesday. It's good to be back.

This week's ROCKSTAR share
Summer squash - 3
Oriental Greens (arugula and mizuna) - 1 bunch
Swiss Chard - 1 1/2 lbs
Beets - 1 bunch
Carrots - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Green onions - 5
Parsley - 1 bunch

This week's menu - so, I'm super-excited about these recipes. I usually have four cooked dishes and a salad, but this week I decided to go for a larger quantity of each dish rather than doing an additional dish and having smaller quantities of each one. Let me know what you think about this change. I also like how Blair made the recipe titles bold, so I'm doing that too. :-)

Split Pea and Zucchini Soup from The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook p. 30 This recipe's delicate flavor has made it popular in the past two CFK seasons.
Baked Beet-and-Carrot Burgers from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 60 This veggie burger recipe sounds incredible.
Mediterranean Summer Greens Sauce from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 86 Complete with olives and capers, this versatile sauce should be delicious.
Rockstar Salad with lettuce, green onions, arugula and mizuna, and grated carrots.

That's all for this week! See you Friday!
peace
Mary

Photos: 1. Carrots fresh from the ground. 2. Helen shows off the rockstar beets. 3. Mary sailing! 4. Bob the cat thinks the pie looks delicious. 5. Carrots! 6. Chard! 7. Swiss chard standing tall in the field.

Mary is out, carrots are in!

2009-07-01T21:50:00.002-04:00

Greetings CFK devotees and members, guest blogger Blair here. While Mary is off sailing the ocean blue, or rather, some lake in Canada, I'm stepping in to give you all your weekly CFK news. After Cynthia and Michelle, two cooking regulars, harvested your shares this afternoon, the three of us met up in the bowels of the anthroposophical society, a.k.a. the CFK kitchen, and planned your meals for the upcoming week. It seems the sunny days that precipitated all this gloom were kind to the community farm of Ann Arbor, for thick and crunchy lettuce heads, juicy swiss chard, beets, carrots, and even a few early zukes are all on offer in this weeks cornucopia. To get right to the point, this week's share consists of the following:

15 Garlic Scapes (no, it isn't your imagination, the numbers continue to climb)
choice of 1 Zucchini or 1 bunch of Kale (we chose both)
5 Green Onions
1 1/4 lbs Swiss Chard
1 bunch Arugula
1 bunch Parsley
2 heads Lettuce
1 bunch Beets
1 bunch Carrots

And what scrumptious dishes will we be creating in Mary's notable absence?
Fear not, for Mary left us well supplied not only with a fair share of kitchen wisdom, but also with an army of cookbooks and past recipes. We weeded through all of these sources and finally whittled down this week's menu to the following 5 dishes:

Shredded Beets and Greens Slaw with Mandarin Oranges (Michelle says this dish from Greens Glorious Greens was a huge success last year)
Garlic Scape Soup (a recipe from Supernatural cooking by Heidi Swason, we're thinking this creamy (vegan!) soup will show you once and for all that there is no end to the goodness and possibilities when it comes to garlic scapes)
White Bean and Carrot Hummos (We're using parsley and white beans to make this carrot spread into a CFK original)
Kale and Swiss Chard Sautée (Cynthia found this recipe in Green's Glorious Greens, and we're hoping that between the crunch and heat of hot peppers and chard stalks, you're going to be thinking twice about what's waste and what's good for eatin'.)
Castaway Salad: Arugula, lettuce, Green Onions, Toasted Almonds, and Strawberry Vinegarette (named in honor of Mary's vacation, we couldn't resist showcasing this spicy mustard green alongside the sweetness of green onions and strawberries.)

And that's just about everything that will be coming your way this Friday from the CFK. We're looking forward to cooking for you all, rest assured that your produce is in good hands!

Week Four: Heat Wave

2009-06-25T14:50:00.008-04:00

At the Membership Meeting on Saturday Anne told us that with the solstice (which was on Sunday) comes a change. High summer arrives and the hot nights ripen the summer crops as spring crops come to an end. We begin to seed and plant the fall crops. Well, with these hot days I'd say we're seeing that pattern! Work continued this week at the farm despite the heat. We workers tried to stay cool by dipping our arms and heads in buckets of water (cold water on the inside of the elbows can cool you down so quickly!). On Tuesday we planted Brussels sprouts and weeded chard and picked peas. On Wednesday I was glad to get the work done early in the day before the heat really kicked in. We harvested a great crop of fava beans as well as the first beets and carrots of the season. Everything at the farm is looking great, though the strawberry beds need weeding to ensure that they thrive for next year--call the farm to volunteer for that important task. While you're there you should check out the *awesome* work that got done on the leek beds--leek weeding is important because the leeks stay in the ground all season and get big so slowly it's hard for them to keep ahead of the weeds.
Also this week I've been enjoying reading a collection of essays, The Gift of Good Land by Wendell Berry. I'm not sure whether to be encouraged or discouraged that we're still facing many of the same problems 30 years after he wrote these essays. But he's a great writer and can really capture the nature of a situation, so I find his writing very interesting.
So, this week's BOUNTIFUL share--note the new summer-y crops!:
Sugar snap peas - 1 lb
Carrots - 1 bunch
Beets - 1 bunch
Garlic scapes - 26
Swiss chard - 1/2 lb
Green onions - 5
Parsley - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Fava beans - 1 lb

Menu
Fava bean Guacamole from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 102. After I made this unusual guac last year it has become the standard thing to make with fava beans at the farm--Anne even sent the recipe to the seed catalogue! I hope you enjoy it too.
Quick and Delicious Borscht from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 25 Another favorite from last year. This is more of a vegetable-soup-with-beets type of borscht.
Blair's famous Garlic Scape Pesto - Blair's own creation. Another yummy green spread!
Chard Chickpea Balti from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 47 This British interpretation of Pakistani food was popular last summer (read about what Balti is here)
Longest Day Salad with lettuce and maybe some grated carrots or something like that.

See you Friday!
Peace
Mary
Photos: 1. Mary picking up greens in the barn. (Photo by Nikki P.) 2. Blair and Mary planning the week's menu at Cafe Verde (photo by Michelle H.) 3. Mary's cookbooks at Cafe Verde (Photo by Michelle H.) 4. Farmer Paul and the bees (Photo by Nikki P.)

Week Three: Garlic and Mosquitoes

2009-06-18T11:32:00.006-04:00

What a busy week we've had. On Tuesday we had a great team out at the Farm, which was good because we had a lot of work to do. We spent the morning picking peas and then we transplanted ("dibbled") some lettuce for the green house. We also planted some gorgeous lettuce plants out in one of the fields. We'll be eating that in just a few weeks! Over lunch we got to hear stories from Vivian, a friend visiting from Spikenard Farm, where they have a bee sanctuary. Evidently it's important to plant things that will bloom in succession so that the bees always have food. Vivian describes Spikenard as an island in the middle of corn-and-soybean agriculture in Southern Illinois.
In the afternoon we had a big weeding project working on the summer squash. We eliminated QUITE a lot of galanzoga, a weed that is all over our farm, so that was exciting.
Wednesday started out in the pouring rain, which is unusual on a harvest morning in my experience. The rain let up after we finished harvesting the herbs, but we were out in the rain long enough to be wet down to the underwear! It was also pretty mosquito-y after the rain stopped, as Cynthia discovered when she was picking kale. This was our first week for harvesting the lovely garlic flowers or scapes. These unusual-looking veggies are one of the treats of spring. And they make great jewelry (follow links to pictures from last year's post). After a busy harvest morning and lunch and picking up the shares, the day ended with attending a concert by former farm apprentice Andrea. She was having a benefit to raise money for her recent knee-surgery. Not only was the music fabulous, but I saw many many CFK members, Farm members, and Farm workers there. It was definitely the place to be!

Sooo, this week's green green green share is:

Sugar snap peas - 1 1/2 lbs
Green onions - 10
Kale and Swiss Chard - 1 lb
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Garlic blossoms (scapes) - 18
Dill - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 4 heads

Menu
White Beans and Garlic Scape Dip from last year's NYT article about scapes
Chard with Sweet and Sour Ginger Sauce from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 88
Nitya's Veggies and Lentils - one of the members of the CFK has taught me to make this traditional dish from southern India. One of the ingredients is "Nitya's Mom's spice mix" so I know you'll like it. :-)
Dilly Green Goddess Dressing adapted from Laurel's Kitchen p. 133 - basically I'm planning to make some yogurt and throw herbs into the blender until we acheive deliciousness. Sound good? Vegans will get a vinaigrette.
Sabertooth Tiger Salad with lettuce, green onions, and maybe a few chopped up sugar snap peas
fresh lettuce
a big bag of sugar snap peas - who could ever have enough?

So, that's about it. I hope you're enjoying everything so far. We're looking forward to seeing you for pick up on Friday!
peace
Mary
Pictures: 1. Blair working on salads last Friday. 2. Eliza tub-ing up your Spinach Tarragon Soup 3. Ricardo, Helen, and Kristin picking strawberries last week (photo by Nikki P.) 4. Cynthia weighing out sugar snap peas.

Week Two: Sun and Rain

2009-06-11T18:18:00.003-04:00

Here we are at week two. The first week was amazing. In the kitchen, we kept busy all day long, but were mostly ready for everyone by the end of the day. CFK members managed to find their way to the pick up, so all went smoothly. The cooking team, Blair, Cynthia, Becky, and Eliza, worked really hard, but they are such good spirits. I'm excited about working with them this year. I hope you realize how much fun we have cooking your food!
It's been a good week at the Farm as well. CFK orientation on Saturday was really delightful--the weather was beautiful. On Tuesday we planted watermelon and cantaloupe. We had a LOT of beautiful seedlings and ended up planting MORE of these delicious summer treats than most years. I, for one, think this is a good thing. :-D Harvest day on Wednesday was a busy morning, but again good company made the work go smoothly. We finished a morning of bringing in greens with picking sugar snap peas, the candy of the farm. I hope you'll agree that they're a delicious snack just to crunch on--the hard part is stopping! This week we have the last of the spinach crop and the beginning of the Swiss chard. Seems like spring is ending--seasons change so quickly around here--or maybe they just shade gradually from one to another. We got FOUR more heads of lettuce each this week--I love how crisp and delicious it is...
Sorry about the lack of pics--I forgot my camera. I'll try to remember next time.

This week's share:
Sugar Snap Peas - 1 lb
Swiss Chard - 1/2 lb
Green onions - 10
Spinach - 1 lb
Dill - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 4 heads

Menu
Veggie Burrito Bake from Simply in Season p.64 with tortillas from the Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory
Creamy Spinach and Tarragon Soup from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 85 - this is a new raw foods recipe, but it's got good ingredients and I'm sure it'll be delicious.
Dill Pesto from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 260 - traditional for the CFK at this time of year :-)
Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 63- probably the most delicious salad dressing we made last year. With all this lettuce we need to give you some salad dressing, right?
Fresh sugar snap peas - will you make it home before you eat them all?
"Strike a Chord!" Salad with lettuce and green onions
Washed lettuce

See you Friday!
peace
Mary

Week One: Best Spinach Harvest Ever!

2009-06-03T17:00:00.008-04:00

Hello and welcome (back) to the CFK Season for 2009! I am so excited to be getting started. In addition to keeping these weekly posts about what's happening at the farm, complete with shares and recipes, I also am going to be updating my twitter feed on a daily basis, and sometimes more often. So, if you want to follow along with the food, visit http://www.twitter.com/commfarmkitchen You don't have to be a member of Twitter to follow the posts, but they also appear on the left upper side of THIS blog page! Woo.

This has been a great week at the farm. Last weekend 3rd graders from the Rudolf Steiner School came to the farm for an overnight field trip, and their energy really helped kick off the harvest season with Saturday's first harvest.

Rain early in the week led to a late start on Tuesday, but we spent a good afternoon planting lettuce, picking strawberries, and tidying up for Wednesday's harvest. Today we all arrived bright and early and ready to go. We spent the morning picking MASSIVE quantities of spinach and green onions. Then we bunched some herbs and got everything ready for the harvest. It was a beautiful, relaxed way to start our season.

This week's FULL share was:
Green onion - 6
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Sage flowers - 1 sprig
Spearmint - 1 bunch
Spinach - 3 lbs
Lettuce - 4 heads (!!)
Strawberries - just a pint

Our first CFK menu will consist of:
Spinach Mushroom Green Onion Quiche from Simply in Season p. 60 --I got the mushrooms in a barter from Michigan Mushrooms at the Farmer's Market last week! They gave me a HUGE bag of mushrooms in exchange for my granola. I think it was a good deal :-)
For those who need it there will also be Vegan Quiche - tofu-based deliciousness!

Katharina's Spinach Sauce - a perennial CFK favorite, I learned this pasta sauce recipe from my friend Katharina (read about her biodynamic training in the previous post). It's deceptively simple and yet incredibly tasty.

Cilantro Hummus - I'll be doing a variation on the Pendle Hill Hummus recipe. There are a lot of funny stories about making this hummus last year, but we don't need to talk about how the chickpeas made a mess all over the kitchen now, do we?

Tamarind-Mint Dressing - A new recipe I found here, this sounds perfect for grilled vegetables and other grilled items...

Scrumptious Spring Salad - lettuce, green onions, sage blossoms, yum!

Lettuce for your salad and sandwich pleasure.

Strawberries - a tiny taste of heaven

Enjoy! See you Friday, and don't forget our orientation--Saturday at 10 am.
peace
Mary

Photos: 1. Chalkboard in the distribution area at the farm. 2. Green onions - yay! 3. Sage flowers - pretty 4. Farmer Paul sets out lettuce 5. Cynthia shows that our car is full of greens.

Shares still available for 2009!

2009-05-12T08:18:00.006-04:00

Hello all! I've been owing you a post for ages. The most important thing going on is that there are still shares available in the Community Farm and the Community Farm Kitchen for 2009. Field work is well under way at the farm and we're seeing some of the best germination in spinach and beets that we've seen for a while, so it looks like it'll be a great season. All that's needed is YOU!
For more information on pricing, please visit http://www.communityfarmkitchen.com/join/ . To join, email me at info(at)communityfarmkitchen(dot)com. I'm always happy to answer questions about the CFAA and the CFK. One of the best ways to figure out what the CFK season is like is to read the archives on this blog that describe the shares, menu, harvests, and adventures of the past two seasons. Please tell your friends!

Back in March, before I started work out at the farm, I took a journey. First I went to Boston, where I got to attend the wedding of Julia Wise and Jeff Kaufman. As many readers will remember, Julia came out to Michigan in the summer of 2007 to help me launch the CFK. I can definitely say that we would not be where we are today if it hadn't been for her help and hard work that first year. Julia spent the summer checking the mailbox for letters from Jeff (who actually wrote her faithfully but almost never got around to posting the letters!) and washing lettuce with me in the kitchen. We listened to a LOT of Woodie Guthrie music, sang songs, and made a quilt. Jeff and Julia's wedding was beautiful--simple and elegant and full of music, good food, and dancing. Julia and Jeff both come from families of keen folk dancers and they invited most of the members of the Swarthmore Folk Dance Club to the wedding. Julia and Jeff now live in Boston where she works for Oxfam. I hear that they've recently adopted a kitten. Picture: Anna and Garrett Cole, Jeff Kaufman, Julia Wise, and Mary at the wedding.

My journey also took me over to the UK where I got to meet my new baby nephew who lives in London with his family. I also got to visit Emerson College in Sussex, where my friend Katharina has been studying biodynamic agriculture for the past year and a half. Katharina and I met when we were working together at a biodynamic dairy farm in Wales back in 2007. She taught me to make Katharina's Green Sauce, which is a perennial favorite here at the CFK--should be especially good this year with all this nice spinach that's coming up at the farm. At Emerson I got to attend Katharina's graduation. Her biodynamics class was small, but everyone in it was extremely interesting and smart. As part of the graduation ceremony I got to hear a little about each person and what his or her future plans are. Talk about recession-proof jobs: Katharina and her classmates all have job offers! I guess good biodynamic farmers are in high demand. :-) Katharina herself will be living in a cob house and working on a micro dairy in Oxfordshire. Picture: Katharina (second from L) and BD classmates singing at their graduation.

Finally, as many of you already know, the CFK Bakery has been a hit at the Farmer's Market. We were there on Saturdays during April and will be there on Wednesdays this week and for the rest of May. I sell Pendle Hill Brown Bread, a dense, flavorful, moist bread suitable for toast and sandwiches; Crunchy Granola (both sweetened and unsweetened); and several kinds of muffins: bran, chocolate, and vegan chai tea muffins. This week I've also got rhubarb muffins--yum! I hope you'll stop by and say hi sometime. The plan is for the Bakery to take a break when the CFK season starts in June and to return in the late fall. Picture: Mary and Becky and the CFK stand at the Farmer's Market.

I guess that's about all for my news. I look forward to seeing many CFK friends as the season gets going.
peace,
Mary

A New Purpose!

2009-03-06T17:09:00.003-05:00

Well, spring seems to be in the air after such a cold, snowy winter. So, I'm just checking in with the blog. Regular updates won't start until I start work at the Farm. I've been busy this winter with the CFK Bakery, (see picture) and I'm hoping to be able to sell some of my baked goods at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market in April and May.

The real purpose of this post is to announce the new purpose of the CFK Blog:
This year, the CFK Blog will continue to report each week on the share and the CFK menu, including cookbook references to inspire all farm members to try new recipes with their veggies. We will also continue with pictures and stories from Mary's time at the Farm, hoping to help everyone feel connected with what happens at the Farm between pick up days. We are also planning to expand tales from the farm with guest contributions from other farm apprentices, members, volunteers, and farmers. There's much to look forward to and much for everyone to learn. Let us know what you'd like to see on the CFK blog!

So, hooray! Guest contributors! More content! Wahey! In the mean time, I'm off next week to attend the wedding of dear Julia who helped launch the CFK in 2007 and then I'm continuing on to the UK where I'll get to attend the graduation of my friend Katharina (of Katharina's Spinach Sauce!), who's been attending a Biodynamic course at a Waldorf college--Emerson College--in Sussex. I'm sure these events will be worthy of a post on this blog when I return.

So, for now, tell your friends about the CFK. We're still looking for members. Also, check out this article about me from the Ann Arbor Chronicle!

And also visit the brand new Washtenaw Local Food Portal - hopefully your one-stop-shop for info about what's going on in the area with local food. Yay!

peace out
Mary

Season Retrospective

2008-11-20T18:00:00.012-05:00

Well, we're finally done with the cooking for this year. It's time to look back over the season and look ahead to next year. It's been a fabulous season: thank you, everyone, for all your support and love. I'm going to post some pictures from the last two weeks of cooking and transcribe this message from Farmers Anne and Paul about how the season went out at the farm.

Some Sums of the Year
One of the most frequently asked questions this time of year is "How was the year?" so here are a few condensed summations of our 2008 growing season at the farm.
1. Our cows turned 10 and 12 years old and were again praised by the vets on the good care and homes we provide them, and the other farm animals.
2. Milkweed patches were saved and we saw monarch butterflies emerge.
3. Bumper crops outnumbered weak ones.
4. Drip irrigation (a great water saving system) was a must and was responsible for many of the successful crops.
5. Our praying mantis population has increased as we spotted them and new insects. This is a good sign (diversity). As well, we had a good frog year on the farm (a good insect control).
6. The bees swarmed a number of times, helping to assure their sustainability. This means new bee queens began new families on the Farm.
7. We hosted about a dozen school field trips, teaching children farm chores and exciting them about the prospect for them to become future farmers.
8. The solar tractor project was completed: the tractor was built, the solar panels were erected, the wires hooked up, and the tractor pulled hay wagons, cultivated the fields, and helped harvest fall crops.
9. As a farm we published our second book, an inspiring outreach tool (and a happy true story!).
10. Hope was born. Mama chicken Jessica hatched our first home-grown chicken in 21 years, who we now call Hope.

Hooray~~~!!!

Thank you. Thank you all for your support in keeping this farm going. Your financial support brings one level of this farm vitality, but the deeper level, one that comes from our hearts and returns to the heart of the farm, that is the most important. There are so many hidden chores that you all do that keep this farm vibrant. Whether you've cleaned sheets, baked goodies, brought in boxes, carried wagon loads of weedy feasts to the chickens, recorded share payments, moved rocks from the new picnic area, repaired hay wagons, or weekly cleaned the composting toilet, we thank you for the work you have done. Thank you.

Reserving your Spot
For the first time in a while, this year we had more people who wanted to join than who we could serve, so we formed a waiting list. Now openings for next year are available to the entire public. We have not had this situation for a while so you may not be used to needing to do this. So for now, if you want to ensure a place in the farm for next year, you can fill out a reservation form. This actually helps us plan for the upcoming growing season.

Don't Say Goodbye!
With the trees as our walls, the sky as our ceiling, touching the earth as our daily task, that we will miss. The smiles on the children's faces as they pop fresh berries (chemically-free) into their mouths or the fascinations of folks as they stare into the eyes of our cows, that we will miss. The stories, the recipes, the updates of your lives, that we will miss. But every morning, no matter how much snow falls or how tired we are, animal chores must be done. That is the pattern of our life. Every morning and every evening we will be at the farm. But there is more to our lives. Every Wednesday and Saturday until January 1 we will be at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market selling wares. When January 2 comes we mend clothes, read books, take walks, and give love to our neglected friends. In February this year, Paul will go to California for a month of meditation work. When he returns he will present a meditation program at Friends Meeting House in Ann Arbor. To learn more about that, visit www.easwaran.org
I hope to help out at a Thereputic Retreat at the Rudolf Steiner Theraputic Center in Ann Arbor. Then it will be warm, at least in our greenhouse. Seeds will arrive and be sown by the 10th of March. And all begins another year of joy, excitement, learning, and sweat. Much the same, a lot new and if we are lucky, we'll see each other again. So we say, not goodbye, but "See you later!"
With much love and peace to you all,
Anne Elder and Paul Bantle, farmers at the Community Farm of Ann Arbor

Photo explanatiosn: 1. Romanesque cauliflower 2. Colorful cauliflower and broccoli 3. Claire, Michelle, and Amanda processing rutabagas 4. Rutabagas: peel and chop! 5. CFK Employee Appreciation Day: a Carrie Newcomer concert!! 6. Grand Finale Share pt. 1!! 7. Claire bags up the stuffed squash 8. Claire, Becky, and Michelle with vibrantly colored butternut squash and beet salad. 8. Grand Finale Share pt. 2!!
I hope these pictures give you a sense of the joyful spirit in which all of the Kitchen food is processed. Thanks for a good year.... reserve your spot for next year TODAY!

Grand Finale!

2008-11-04T14:03:00.007-05:00

What a day! Saturday was absolutely gorgeous--balmy and sunny. We spent the morning bringing in the last of the greens--kale and oriental greens that are best harvested fresh. At 11 am the members started to arrive and the festival atmosphere kicked in. Amanda, Michelle, Becky, and Cynthia all came out to help me gather the 14 CFK shares, which was so great. As you're about to see, we got a LOT of food. We basically filled the back of my minivan and Michelle's SUV. It would've taken me all day to pick it all up by myself. I'm so lucky to have such dedicated folks working for me! Anyhow, there were tons of people at the farm: children running around, people carrying squash hither and thither, everyone eating cookies and ice cream and swapping recipe ideas and pre-winter hugs. It's hard to say goodbye to a beautiful year, but here at the CFK it feels like the work is just beginning!

The Final share was:
Radishes (black or daikon) - 1
Beets - 1 lb
Rutabaga - 6 lbs (!!)
Garlic - 10 bulbs
baby Leeks - 8
Mei qing choi - 2
Kale - 5 plants
Assorted oriental greens - 1 bunch
Broccoli or cauliflower - 1
Parsley - 2 plants
Brussels sprouts -2 stems
Napa cabbage - 4
Bok choi - 1
Big leeks - 4
Butternut squash - 6
Green or orange squash - 2
Acorn squash - 2

The Grand Finale menu will be split up over the next two weeks. This is just an initial menu; there will be some extras (hot sauce, dried hot peppers, garlic, etc) that we'll figure out at the very end. This menu contains a lot of old favorites as well as food ready for storing through the winter. Enjoy! :-)

Katharina's Green Sauce (house recipe)
Tabouli from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 104
White Bean Kale Soup from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 172
Miso Soup from Sundays at Moosewood p. 408
Choi Salad with fruit and creamy poppyseed dressing from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 78
Pumpkin Bread from Simply in Season
Stuffed Acorn Squash from Simply in Season p. 208
Mashed Rutabagas (house recipe)
Beet dish TBA
Marinated Radish Salad from Simply in Season p. 48
Potato Leek Soup from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 53
Golden Stew from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 60
Rutaloaf from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 35
Napa and Choi with peanut sauce from Simply in Season
Creamies from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 39
Kim Chee from Anne Elder's recipe
Kale for the freezer
Broccoli and Cauliflower for the freezer
Parsley cubes (frozen parsley suitable for use in sauce and soup)
Fresh Brussels sprouts
Butternut squash
Green Salad Mix

phew. we're going to be busy this week!!
See you Friday!
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. CFK workers and the final harvest!! 2. Michelle's car full of veggies 3. Mary's car full of veggies 4. A mountain of Napa cabbage 5. Goth caterpillar

Harvest time!

2008-10-30T10:52:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone,
As most of you should know, there's NO pick up this week because Grand Finale, the final harvest of the year, is Saturday. However, I didn't want to leave everyone hanging with no post, so here I am. Besides, I have all these adorable pictures of Napa cabbage from last Friday that I thought I should share.
It's been a very busy week out at the Farm as we prepare for Saturday's distribution. We've been harvesting everything that will keep for a few days. On Monday they brought in the leeks--though I missed it, leek harvest holds a special place in my heart because it was two years ago during the leek harvest that, in conversation, we came up with the idea that eventually became the Community Farm Kitchen. On Tuesday we got incredibly cold while harvesting root vegetables. It's a wonderful harvest of rutabagas, which are one of my favorites, so I'm looking forward to making some delicious dishes with these sweet roots. We also got some gorgeous beets and plenty of monster daikon radishes! After pulling the roots we have to chop off the leaves and bag and weigh the roots and box up the leaves to be fed to the cows and goats. Rebecca developed a game where we each try to guess what the final share amount of a given vegetable is going to be. 5 pounds of rutabaga each, anyone? We'll know the winners on Saturday. Yesterday was another cold day at the Farm, but we kept warm with a lunch of hot soup and a busy job of picking Brussels sprouts (and yes, chopping off the leaves--a favorite treat for the goats and cows!). Anne says this might be the best Brussels sprouts harvest ever--we have a lot to look forward to in these sweet treats. Other tasks at the Farm this week have been tidying up and putting things away for the winter. We got to wrestle with hoses, put away chairs, and mulch the garlic we planted. Soon the Farm will be resting quietly for another season.
In the mean time, I'm off to pickle last week's daikons and clean out the refridgerator at the kitchen, ready for a huge influx of vegetables on Saturday. Hope you're as excited as I am!
peace
Mary
Photo notes: 1. Chopping up the lovely napa cabbage. 2. The inside of a napa 3. Cynthia looks undaunted by the amount of cabbage she has to chop.

Week twenty: Dancing with the Frost King!

2008-10-23T11:05:00.006-04:00

Well, there is no doubt it is the end of the season. This Wednesday morning was very frosty: I found ice in the chicken's water bucket and the hose was so frozen we had to leave it in the sun for a few hours before we could use it to rinse the veggies. Despite starting harvest much later than we have through the season, frost was still visible on the ground and the collards were essentially frozen as we harvested them. It was beautiful, of course, with each leaf and blade of grass beautifully outlined with delicate white. I'm sorry to say I didn't have my camera out at the farm, but I'll try to get some good frost photos in the next weeks. It was also cold, but the farm workers put on plenty of layers. I pulled off my usual winter look of a cross between Ronald McDonald and the Abominable Snowman in my bright yellow winter coat, bright yellow rain trousers, red wool hat, and black wellies. Farm Angel Karen brought us hot coffee cake and a thermos of hot chai to keep us going through the chilly morning. Farm cat Bob was spotted belly-up in a sunny spot trying to gather some warmth and succeeding in looking very silly. :-)
These pictures show some of the food from last week. Here are before and after photos of your "Tennessee Sweet Potato" pie pumpkins and the squash that went into that Carribbean curried vegetable dish. They are so beautiful! (Amanda is trying to look gleeful about cutting them up).
So, this is the penultimate harvest --
choice of Broccoli or Cauliflower - 1 head
Bok choi - 1
Collards - 1 plant
Mei qing choi - 1
Turnips - 1
Napa (Chinese) cabbage - 1 beautiful head
Assorted oriental greens - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
(positively the last) Eggplant - 1
choice of root vegetables (daikon radishes or rutabagas) - 2

This week's menu:
Millet-Cauliflower-Broccoli Soup from Diet for a Small Planet p. 290
Swede (Rutabaga) with Greens and Coriander from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 70
Napa cabbage with Ginger and Cilantro from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 107
Sweet and Sour Bok Choi and Eggplant from Diet for a Small Planet p. 262
Frost King's Salad Mix with Arugula, Mizuna, and Tatsoi

and we're going to make pickled daikon for making Kim Chee in a few weeks' time. I got the recipe from Anne--it comes from Paul's time in Korea. I'm excited to try Kim Chee again this year, this time with a little help from a real expert. Sound good?

Enjoy the autumn weather!
peace
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. Amanda gleefully prepares to chop up these lovely winter squash and pie pumpkins. 2. Beautiful pumpkin pie filling 3. Choi Salad not yet tossed, looking crisp and bright. 4. Michelle and Becky tossing the Choi Salad--up to their elbows in veggies!

Week Nineteen: Flavors of Fall

2008-10-16T12:17:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone!
What a lovely week. We're enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, even as the shorter days and rains let us know that we're firmly into fall. At the Farm this week we had a field trip from the 3rd graders at the Detroit Waldorf School. These kids were live wires, bringing a lot of energy and laughter to the Farm as they helped out with chores, met the animals, and went for a hay ride on the solar-powered tractor. In the afternoon we began the garlic planting. There's something very satisfying about the garlic--it's a connection from one year to the next. It gets planted and mulched at the very end of the season in preparation for the following year. In the spring, we enjoy the garlic flowers and in the summer we dig the bulbs. Then it seems like no time before we're dividing bulbs into cloves to plant for the next year. On Wednesday the rain kindly held off until we'd finished the harvest and were sitting down to enjoy our lunch.
So, without getting TOO wet and cold, the workers were able to bring in this bounty for you:
Turnips (with yummy tops!) - 2
Hot peppers - 3
Small eggplant - 1
Mei qing choi - 1
Bok choi - 1
Big eggplant - 1
Garlic - 1
Broccoli OR Cauliflower - 1
Mizuna OR Arugula - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Parsley - 1 plant
Winter squash - 1

And the menu will be:
- Turnips with Greens and Raisins from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 159 - Had this for dinner last night and I think the recipe's a keeper! ;-)
- Choi salad with Fruit and Creamy Poppyseed Dressing from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 78 - Look! I found something other than a stir fry to do with the choi!
- Baba ganouj from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 71
- Caribbean Curried Vegetables (Colombo de Giromon) from Sundays at Moosewood p. 131
- Baked Pumpkin - suitable for making into a pumpkin pie. We got these gorgeous "Tennessee Sweet Potato" Pumpkins in the share this week (I'll take a pic before we bake them up). Anne says they make excellent pumpkin pie, so I'm going to send home the pulp in quantities suitable for making into a pie (along with a favorite recipe). The pumpkin will keep for ages in the freezer and can be used in pies, breads, and soups all winter long!
- Snappy Fall Salad Mix

Sound good?? See you Friday!
Mary

Week Eighteen: Rainy Harvest Morning

2008-10-09T11:26:00.007-04:00

I've been saying that Fall is coming/here for about a month now, but there can really be no doubt this week. The Frost King has arrived, putting an end to basil, eggplants, peppers, and turning weeds and tomato plants brown in the fields. Karen and I spent a lot of time on Wednesday pulling the irrigation tape from the field where these summer crops grew in preparation for ploughing the field under for the winter. The morning was wet but not too cold--good harvest weather. We cleared the Swiss chard field, bringing in a bounty of FOUR PLANTS per share. We're planning to make a delicious green soup to capture the sunshine in the Swiss chard for the cold winter days ahead. Tuesday was a bright day at the farm. We did the last of the clean up from the Fall Festival and headed to the "hay field" to harvest diakon radishes and bok choi and mei qing choi. Going back to the weekend, the Fall Festival was really fabulous--I was thrilled to see many CFK members and families at the farm enjoying the potluck, bonfire, solar-powered hay rides, and music.
Also, here's a picture of the lovely birthday cake the CFK workers brought me in the Kitchen on Friday--thanks, ladies!
Anyhow: this week's share:
Sweet potatoes - 2 lbs
Hot peppers - 2
Swiss chard - 4 plants (!!)
Bok choi - 1 plant
Stevia - 1 sprig
Mei qing choi (baby bok choi) - 1 plant
Broccoli - 1 head
Radish - 1
Choice - 1 broccoli OR 1 cauliflower
Eggplant - 1
Sweet peppers - 20 small ones (!)

And the menu:
New Favorite Green Soup from Laurel's Kitchen p. 156
Chinese Peppers and Choi from Laurel's Kitchen p. 204
Helen's Polenta with Eggplant from Laurel's Kitchen p. 287 (guess which cookbook I had open today?)
Oriental Broccoli and Cauliflower from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 46
Mashed Sweet Potatoes from Serving the Harvest p. 293

That's all! See you Friday!
peace
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. Pans of Biryani--so colorful--on their way into the oven. 2. Claire stirs up the dressing for last week's Asian slaw 3. Birthday cake (from Big City/Small World bakery--yum!!) in the thick of the action at the CFK 4. The bottoms of the bok choi look like flowers on the window sill!

Week Seventeen: Fall Festival this Weekend!

2008-10-02T11:33:00.002-04:00

Well, Fall's been creeping up on us for weeks, but it really seems to be upon us now. Suddenly. Tuesday at the Farm was pleasantly warm for the most part. We got a little chilly when it started raining later in the day, but nothing putting a raincoat on didn't fix. Wednesday was another story! As soon as I arrived at the farm I realized it was a day for two sweatshirts, my rain pants and my rain coat. Being dry helped a lot as Karen and I waded into the wet kale field to harvest. Even so our fingers were frozen by the time we were done. However, cheerful conversation and singing with our visitor Moira kept us happy. We celebrated the arrival of fall by singing a very cute fall song: "Hurry hurry hurry hurry, we must all get fat and furry! Not a moment to be lost, I can see old Jackie Frost!" Each verse describes a different woodland animal hurrying off to prepare for winter. Wednesday was also my birthday, so we had lots of delicious breakfast treats during the harvest time. At lunch time we warmed up with hot tea. It was a good way to start my birthday!
Everyone at the farm is looking forward to the Fall Festival this weekend--farm members should plan to come for music and dancing and potluck fare.
This week's huge harvest:
Sweet potatoes - 2 lbs
Choice of broccoli or cabbage - 1
large eggplant - 1
Oriental greens - 1 bunch
Kale - 3/4 lb
Hot peppers - 1 branch
small eggplant - 1
Sweet peppers - 6
Bok choi - 1
Swiss chard - 1 plant
Radish - 1
Hubbard squash - 1
Basil - 1 plant

And the menu:
Pesto (again!) from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 267. Everyone seems to be enjoying this and Cynthia's becoming quite the pesto-making expert!!
Blue Hubbard soup from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 315
Chard (and Kale) with Sweet and Savory Spices from Greens Glorious Greens p. 81
Eggplant Biryani from Sundays at Moosewood p. 306 and The Best-ever Vegetarian Cookbook p. 170
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with summer savory- house recipe
Crazy Spicy Asian Cabbage and Greens Salad - I'm going to make this up taking clues from various recipes. Should be delicious!

See you Friday!
peace
Mary

Week Sixteen: Time for Fall crops!

2008-09-25T11:05:00.010-04:00

Hello everyone!
I'm back from Sacramento (great wedding, fun times with family, etc) and it looks like all the CFK workers did an amazing job with last week's ambitious menu. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the gradual change of seasons. This Wednesday harvest morning was still summer-y warm, but you could sense the change of season in the crops and the feel of the morning. We were talking a lot about the Fall Festival (coming up on Oct 4) and the Grand Finale harvest (scheduled for Nov 1)--fall is here; winter is coming. We haven't had a frost yet, so we're still enjoying summer crops in abundance--basil, eggplants, and pepper, but we're beginning to clear the fields of those kinds of things. The fall crop of kale is beginning to come in and I think we'll be having broccoli and cabbage very soon. At the same time, new things are in evidence-- a broody chicken has hatched an egg and the farm now has a sweet baby chick. While washing the basil I rescued a gorgeous praying mantis--she's probably just getting ready to lay her eggs. On the whole it's great to be back after my break.
Here's the harvest for the week:
Choice of 1/2 lb potatoes or 1 eggplant
Hot peppers - 1 plant (!) (more hot sauce...)
Oriental greens (arugula, mizuna, or tatsoi) - 1 bunch
Choice of 1 bok choi or 1 bunch of turnip greens
Kale - 1/2 lb
Winter squash - 1
Basil - 1 plant (!)
the last Lettuce - 1 head
Garlic - 1 head
Eggplant - 1
Sweet peppers - 6
Jack-o'lantern pumpkin

Menu:
Vegetarian Groundnut (peanut) Stew from Simply in Season p. 207
Turnip Greens with Misa sauce from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 91
Eggplant Nicoise from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 405
Pesto from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 267
**hey guys, I don't usually do the same recipe week after week (or even more than once, if you haven't noticed) but pesto is so great, it keeps really well in the freezer, and makes for a delicious taste of summer all winter long, so I thought no one could have too much. Plus it's by far the best thing I've ever heard of to do with huge amounts of basil, so I hope you'll forgive me. Enjoy!**
The End of the Summer Salad with the last of this year's lettuce and oriental greens
Folks who didn't get a pumpkin last week will get one this week! :-)

See you Friday!
peace
Mary
Photo explanations: 1. Mary visiting the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco 2. Baby chick! 3. Bug-found-on-food-of-the-week: praying mantis 4. Beautiful Kristin shares beautiful raspberries 5. Freshly extracted honey is available for sale at the farm. 6. My car is full of vegetables

Week Fifteen: Green harvest

2008-09-18T14:55:00.011-04:00

This week is a HUGE harvest of green things, so look forward to so many different ways to prepare greens. I'm actually writing from a coffee shop in Sacramento, California where I'm visiting family for my cousin's wedding (yes, I always go away for weddings!) but I've left the CFK work for this week in the capable hands of Claire, Cynthia, Michelle, and our newest workers, Julie and Becky. They've got their work cut out for them but I'm sure they'll do a great job.
It's been a good week at the Farm. The fall crops are thriving after a rainy weekend. Despite the heavy rains, the crops were not damaged and though some fields are too wet to work in, the Farm is doing well. On Tuesday we began digging the sweet potatoes as well as picking hundreds of sweet peppers and eggplants. Wednesday was a glorious morning--the perfect temperature for a harvest. The great thing about working at the Farm is seeing the seasons change gradually: summer doesn't shift abruptly to fall. It's more like gradual shading. With the last harvest of melons and the beginnings of the Asian green crops it's finally beginning to feel like fall to me. And it should be a good one!
This week's (green-heavy) share is:
Potatoes (sweet and white) - 2 lbs
Summer savory - 1 stem
Turnip greens - 1 bunch
Basil - 1 big branch
Bok choi - 1
Oriental greens (arugula, mizuna, tatsoi) - 1 bunch
Swiss chard - 1 lb
Sweet peppers - 6 (!)
Eggplant - 1
Lettuce - 2 heads
Diakon radish - 1
iffy Melon -1
baby Jack o'lantern - 1

And the menu will be:
Pesto from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 267 (Same as last week, but who could have enough of this basil-y treat??)
Saag Aloo (Potato and turnip green curry) from Gaia's Kitchen p. 58
Eggplant Salad from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 178
Chard Cheese Bake from Laurel's Kitchen p. 192
Crunchy Bok Choi Salad from From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 33
Equinox Salad with lettuce, arugula, mizuna, and tatsoi
your choice of the LAST little melon or a baby jack-o-lantern!

Enjoy and have a good week!
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. Winter squash and Chard being prepped at the CFK last week. 2. Flowers for wreath making and a beautiful harvest of eggplants and peppers share the barn space 3. Jack-o-lanterns arranged for pick-up 4. Mark your calendar for the Fall Festival, Oct 4! 5. Monarch chrysallis found on a turnip green. Note the gold speckles. 5. Sunflowers outside the barn 6. Farmer Paul shares a moment with Maeve, one of the youngest farm members. :-)

Week Fourteen: Falling into Autumn

2008-09-11T11:25:00.002-04:00

Well, ready or not, Fall seems to be upon us. I hear it's going to be hot again in the next week, but we can't avoid the fact that it's already mid-September! Somehow the summer has slipped away again and we're back to chilly harvest mornings and fall crops. This Monday we did one of my favorite farm tasks--harvesting winter squash! This job is a bit scratchy and hard on the hands, but it's also great fun tossing the squash from hand to hand out of the field and into the wagon. It's like a game! Farmer Anne says my throw has improved from last year :-). One fun aspect of the task this time around was getting to use our new solar-powered tractor to pull the wagon we loaded the squash onto. It's so quiet and pleasant to be around with its electric motor. Wednesday's harvest morning started off quite chilly but we gradually took off our outer layers and by afternoon it seemed positively hot in the fields.
This week's harvest was:
Choice of 1 lb tomatoes or 2 summer squash
Pears - 1 box
Swiss chard - 1 lb
Bok choi - 1 lb
Eggplant - 1
Melon - 1
Hot peppers - 3
Sweet peppers - 4
Garlic - 1 bulb
Basil - 1 (large) branch
Damaged winter squash - 1
Plus, I spent some time in the u-pick tomato patch picking tomatoes to be used in recipes in the coming weeks!

And the menu will be:
Pesto from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 267
Ratatoille from Moosewood p. 119
Creamy Choi Soup from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 80
Winter squash and chard and sweet pepper curry from Sundays at Moosewood p. 303 (Thanks to Suzanne for the gift of the cookbook!)

We're beginning to develop rather a backlog of hot peppers, so I'm planning to try making our own CFK Louisiana Hot Sauce. Hopefully this will be nice and spicy!

That's it for now. See you Friday!
Mary
ps. sorry, no pics this week. We'll try for next week!

Week Thirteen: Back to School

2008-09-04T10:51:00.005-04:00

Well, this week was back to school for students from kindergarten through grad school. At the CFK, though, it's just another week of summer with crops rolling in. We had Labor day off on Monday, but were at the farm for another busy harvest morning on Wednesday. While picking basil, chard, and tomatoes we talked about how much we need rain.... hopefully some of the rain we got in Ann Arbor on Wednesday also fell on the Farm! Anne the farmer says the drought has meant that the weeds have also not been growing as much, which is good because it means that when it's too hot and we can't work in the fields, there's also not as much work to do!
This week's beautiful share is:
Potatoes - 1 1/4 lb
Sweet peppers - 5
Eggplant - 1
Yellow cherry tomatoes - 11
Hot peppers - 3
Chard - 1 1/4 lb
Summer squash - 2
Corn - 2 ears
Melon - 1
Parsley - 1 bunch
Summer savory - 1 sprig
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Basil - 8 tips
Tomatoes - 5 lbs

And the menu will be:
Georgian Chard with corn and peanuts from Greens Glorious Greens p. 124
Tomato Sauce (house recipe)
Roasted eggplant and pepper salad from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ROASTED-EGGPLANT-AND-PEPPER-SALAD-WITH-PITA-BREAD-AND-SESAME-SPREAD-1080
Courgette (zucchini), Potato and Coriander pie from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 116

That's about it!
See you on Friday!
Mary
Photo info: 1. Bob the farm cat is ready for his close up 2. Beautiful ingredients for last week's stew 3. Red and yellow tomatoes

Week Twelve: Happy Labor Day!

2008-08-28T11:40:00.010-04:00

Well, we finally got some rain at the Farm, which is a great relief. We could certainly use some more, but the farmers and plants are relaxing a bit after the tension of the drought!
It's been a good week. On Monday my friend Emily came out to help us dig potatoes in the morning and regaled us with tales of her CSA on St Croix in the Virgin Islands! We're in the midst of a long-term project weeding the fall brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale) in the farm's most remote field. The rain has softened the soil and made that project a lot easier. Harvest this week is incredibly bountiful and varied. You're going to enjoy your first (and possibly only for this year) taste of sweet corn. Farmer Paul tells me that it's been a disasterous year for the corn, meaning that circumstances just came together in the worst way for corn (wet spring delayed planting and impacted germination, dry summer caused the plants to not create as many ears). So enjoy these ears as a reminder of how sweet corn can be and look forward to getting more another year. On the other hand, Farmer Paul says this is the best lettuce we've had at this time of year in a long time, so enjoy even more bountiful, sweet, crispy lettuce! Also, we've begun to harvest the main crop tomatoes, so look forward to enjoying the juicy tastes of summer even as many folks head back to school.
This week's harvest:
Potatoes - 2 lbs
Hot peppers - 4
Basil - 7 tips
Parsley - 1 bunch
Sweet peppers - 2
Yellow tomatoes - 3
Eggplant - 1
Swiss chard - 3 leaves
Summer squash - 3
Lettuce - 2 heads
Corn - 6 ears
Melon - 1
Tomatoes - 5 lbs

And the menu:
Zucchini Basil soup from Gourmet Magazine, July 2008 (thanks to Elaine!)
Potatoes with Coconut Milk and Basil from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 120
Baba Ganouj (Eggplant spread) from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 71
Spicy Summer Vegetable Stew mostly made up by me based on Moosewood p. 118
Fresh melon
Fresh sweet corn
Solidarity Forever Lettuce Salad (in honor of Labor day)

Enjoy!
Mary

Photo explanations: 1. Sunflowers by the barn 2. luscious lettuce 3. Rainbow chard 4. CFK's share of peppers and summer squash 5. Melons! 6. Angela shows off the gorgeous eggplants.

Week Eleven: Drought Continues

2008-08-20T22:37:00.008-04:00

Hello everyone! I'm back from a very relaxing vacation with my family. We had a great time in Ontario, including "Inviting Ontario Home for Dinner" at a local farmer's market and of course relaxing on the beach.
I hope everyone's been enjoying the wonderful food that the CFK workers prepared in my absence. It looks like it was really a fabulous menu and I really appreciate having such great workers that I can go off and relax for a week in high season!
At the farm, things are going well but we're still desperately needing some rain. It's very interesting because it looks like this year's harvest will have exactly the opposite strengths and weaknesses from last year, when we had a drought in July. This year's drought is having a bad impact on summer fruit crops such as sweet corn, tomatoes, and melons. Although we'll be getting some of those crops, we'll won't see the abundance of previous years. Instead, thanks to plenty of rain during germination in July and ongoing irrigation, the fall root crops (carrots, beets, turnips, etc.) and brassicas (Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, etc.) are looking really good. This is all part of being in a CSA, of course, and I hope you'll enjoy all the veggies we get!
With that in mind, this week's harvest is:
Yellow cherry tomatoes - 2
Baby Oriental greens - 1 lb
Swiss chard - 3/4 lb
Parsley - 1 bunch
Sweet peppers - 2
Summer squash - 2
Lettuce - 2 heads
Cucumber - 3
Hot peppers - 2
Baby squash - 1
Basil - 13 tips
Melon - 1 piece
Tomatoes - 1 1/4 lb
Radish - 1

Menu
Gazpacho (house recipe)
Gold Medal Chinese greens with carrots and radishes stir-fry from Greens Glorious Greens p. 112 (renamed in honor of the Olympics!)
Gratin of Greens from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/GRATIN-OF-GREENS-20005
Sarah Haggett's Zucchini Orzo salad (recipe learned at Pendle Hill)
Lighting Bolt Salad with lettuce and radishes and whatever else is still around at the end of the day--cucumber? green pepper?
Fresh tomato
Melon

Enjoy!
Mary
Photo explanations: 1. Mary and sisters sailing on the Georgian Bay. 2. Good harvest at an Ontario farmer's market 3. Mary relaxing while CFK workers work overtime! 4. Community Farm tomatoes getting washed at the Kitchen

Week Ten: Ready for Rainfall

2008-08-14T19:23:00.002-04:00

Without wet weather, this week's share is less plentiful then of recent. But fear not, while Mary's on vacation, we've dreamed up a thrilling menu for this week rich in squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes:

Zucchini Crusted Pizza

(Community Farm Cookbook)

Mashed Rutabaga Potato Supreme

(Farmer John's Cookbook p.298)

Tomato Basil Soup

(Michelle's own recipe!)

Marinated Cucumber Salad

(Farmer John's Cookbook p.98)

And of course, Lettuce!

Week Nine: Sailing away!

2008-08-07T09:55:00.008-04:00

This week has been busy with preparing everyone for me being away ALL week next week! I'm leaving the Kitchen early this Friday to attend the wedding of my sister's best friend and then we're leaving for a sailing vacation in Georgian Bay, Canada. It should be a good, relaxing time since I know the lovely CFK ladies will pull off an awesome week in my absence. Cynthia, Nora, and Claire all helped plan this week's menu so they'll be all set to plan the menu next week. Out at the Farm we're still experiencing a drought which means that some of the summer crops are not going to be as prolific as in past years. However, with irrigation things are still looking ok and we keep hoping it will rain soon. Also, Anne tells me that the fall crops are looking GREAT, so that's something to look forward to. The heat has meant we've had some shortened work days, but we're reaching the peak of the season and there's a lot less to do with planting and thinning--mainly we're working on harvesting and weeding these days.
So, this week's harvest was:
Potatoes- 2 lbs
Hot pepper - 1
Tomatoes - 1 box
Gladiola flower - 1
Carrots - 6
Swiss Chard - 1 lb
Garlic - 2 bulbs
Summer squash - 4
Lettuce - 2 heads
Parsley - 1 bunch
Cucumber - 4
Basil - 15 tips

The menu for this week will be:
Pesto from Moosewood p. 74
Greek-stuffed Zucchini from Laurel's Kitchen p. 217
August Soup from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 59
Spicy Cucumber Salad from From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 69
Lazy Days Lettuce salad
a fresh tomato and some raw potatoes for your home cooking pleasure!

I also wanted to share with you all this note I got from my friend Meg who's in the Peace Corps in Mali. She's trying to raise interest and funds for a women's collective garden project. Read all about it:

Thursday, July 31 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Mali! I hope things are going well in the US and you're enjoying the summer weather. The weather here has been hot as usual but bearable, since things cooled down a bit with the beginning of the rainy season in June. I've now been serving in the Peace Corps in Mali for over a year, in the village of Feremuna in the Sikasso region. For the moment, things are pretty busy around here. I've been spending my days helping to weed my host family's fields and assisting the Feremuna women's organization in their garden. This year they're growing beans during the rainy season and will begin vegetable gardening once the cold season comes.

In addition to working in the fields and in the garden at Feremuna, for the past few months I have been working with another women's organization in Station N'Tarla, a small settlement down the road from Feremuna. It is with this organization that I plan to base the remainder of my 2008 work, a garden project that will increase the yearly income of the women's cooperative.

The women's cooperative of Station N'Tarla, Badenya Ton, has been in existence for over ten years. Since becoming a state-sanctioned cooperative in 2005, their activities have included farming two hectares of corn, millet and beans during the rainy season, the profits from which are used to support each individual woman's small commerce activities during the rest of the year. Every three months following the growing season, women are able to take small loans of 2500 to 7500 CFA (about 6-18 USD) to buy materials for their small businesses, which range from buying and reselling rice to preparing refrigerated drinks to sell in market. In addition to these activities, the women have recently begun literacy training, which took place during the hot season from March to May of 2008.

For the past year and a half, the women have also been planning a community garden project in hopes of increasing the financial power of the cooperative. At the time that I first met with the cooperative, in December of 2007, they had already begun preparing the garden for work in 2008, obtaining permission for the use of a 1 hectare parcel of land from the village and a donation of wire fencing from the French NGO Fondation Pour L'Enfance. From March to May of 2008, they commissioned the digging of two wells in the garden space and are currently growing rainy season crops of corn, beans, rice, and peanuts.

My work with Badenya Ton will focus on preparing the garden for vegetable gardening during the 2008 cold season, including the installation of the wire fencing to protect the area from roaming animals and the digging of two more wells to ensure adequate water for the area. I also plan to conduct a series of trainings on gardening techniques I have studied during training with Peace Corps. The project will be executed through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which allows me to raise funds directly through family, friends, and interested parties in the US. Our goal is to raise $1958.75 out of a total project cost of $2621.25. Badenya Ton will contribute the equivalent of $662.50 (about 25 percent of the total project cost) to cover the cost of labour for digging the wells and installing the fencing. We hope to raise the funds before the beginning of the cold season in October so the area will be ready for a full season of vegetable gardening.

I believe this is a worthy endeavour and I hope that you are interested in helping the women's cooperative of Station N'Tarla to expand their activities and grow as an organization.

To make a donation, go to https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=688-270 , enter the amount you would like to give (any amount is greatly appreciated!) and click Donate. Your contribution is completely tax deductible, and Peace Corps will send you a receipt. If you cannot make a donation yourself, please forward a copy of this letter to anyone you think would be interested. If you have any questions please email me and I'll get back with you as soon as possible.

If you would like to see some pictures of the Badenya Ton at work, I have posted some at

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023802&l=7e693&id=10301328

Thank you, merci, i ni che from myself and the women of Station N'Tarla.

All the best,

Meg Munroe

Photo explanations (mostly from last week's cooking): 1. Nora frittering away the afternoon. 2. Nell adding some parsley to the cucumber soup 3. Mary up to her elbows in potato salad. 4. Women of the Badenya Ton cooperative working in their field.

Week Eight: Pray for rain...

2008-07-31T12:11:00.009-04:00

It's been another good week at the Farm, though we could really do with a good soaking rain. On Monday my friend Jared spent the day with us at the Farm and pitched in with the potato harvest, making a soil mix, digging garlic, and moving straw into the barn. It was a big day of work and it was so nice to have the extra hands and (of course) Jared's company. I think he had a good time despite the heat and hard work because he kept saying he had to leave and actually wound up staying the whole day. :-) The Farm does that to people. Remember that anyone can come out to join in the work of the farm any day except Sunday, so come on out some time!
On Wednesday it was another huge harvest to bring in, but this week all I can remember reveling in the community aspect of the Farm, with my co-workers being more like friends and mentors than anything else. Even when we're very busy there's always time for a hug and a kind greeting. I'm so lucky to work here!!
This week's share is:
Potatoes- 2 lbs
Choice of 1 box tomatoes or 2 little cabbages (when there's a choice like this I get some of each)
Beans - 1/2 lb
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Swiss chard - 1/2 lb
Parsley - 1 bunch
Carrots - 5
Basil - 13 tips
Cucumbers - 3
Summer squash - 3
Lettuce - 2 heads
Arugula - 1 bunch
Garlic - 1 head
Mint - 1 stalk

This week's menu is:

Zucchini Fritters from The Farmer's Market Cookbook p. 114
Potato Salad with Arugula from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 11
Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup from Moosewood p. 30
Vegans get Red, White, and Spring Green Crunch Salad from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 129
and this week we REALLY will do the Oriental Green Beans (and Chard!) from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 47
Don't Forget to Vote (Primaries Aug 4) Salad with lettuce, carrots, and cabbage

The Fritters are going to be VERY labor intensive, but they're delicious and they'll be worth it. My dear friend Nell will be joining us in the Kitchen for the day and with her help I'm sure we'll manage to fritter away (noontime, suppertime, chore time too!). For the Cucumber Yogurt Soup Claire and I are busily making some homemade yogurt, so look forward to that!

That's about all, I think. E.W. suggested that at the end of posts I put up a brief explanation of the photos, so here goes: 1. Massive amounts of prep work gets done every week--and the veggies are so pretty and colorful! (Swiss chard in the foreground, summer squash in the background) 2. Nora shows how huge the Swiss chard leaves are! 3. Last week's beets and beet greens were so pretty 4. Garlic hanging in the barn to dry 5. Another full car load of veggies to take home 6. In the middle of yogurt making. Enjoy! - Mary

Week Seven: Journey into Summer

2008-07-24T11:14:00.012-04:00

So as most of you know now, I wasn't in the Kitchen on Friday. I was on the train going to Philadelphia where I attended the wedding of my college friends, Sara and Andrew. While there I also spent the night with my dear friends Anna and Garrett who made me a delicious dinner out of their CSA share. Down in Delaware they're already getting sweet corn! Mmmm. And of course, the Kitchen ran well in my absence. I've heard good things about the food that Margaret, Michelle, Cynthia, Claire, and Nora made (one of my friends is encouraging me to refer to these lovely ladies as my minions--I'm not so sure!); I know they worked really hard. It's good to know I can leave the work in their capable hands!
After a seriously sweltering weekend, I'm sure we're all welcoming this slightly cooler weather. Yesterday at the farm was one of those perfect days: sunny, breezy, perfect temperature. There was a LOT to get done, as you'll see when you check out how much food we brought home. Missing work on Monday (on train returning from Philly) I missed out on the first round of garlic digging. It's amazing how much can change at the Farm after only a short absence. I'm sure I'll get to dig some garlic in the next week. I hear it's a lot easier than it was last year, when the hard ground made it heartbreaking (finger-breaking, pitch fork-breaking, and back-breaking) work. The goal is to get the garlic cloves out of the ground without breaking them off their stems or poking them with the pitch fork--it's harder than it sounds! Anyhow, I arrived at the Farm on Wednesday to find the barn full of drying garlic. We brought some home, but we won't be using it for a week or two until it's dry. In the mean time we're still finishing up the garlic scapes. Enjoy these pictures from the distribution area of the Farm--the barn where members (including myself and Cynthia) go to collect the shares. Speaking of which, this week's share is:
Beans - 1 1/4 lb
Choice of 1 box of early tomatoes or 1 cabbage
Parsley- 1 bunch
Swiss Chard - 1/2 lb
Basil - 5 tips
Carrots - 4
Garlic - 4 cloves
Beets - 4
Lettuce - 2 heads
Summer squash - 3
Potatoes - 1 box
Cucumbers - 3
Arugula - 1 bunch

This week's menu will be:
Summer Squash and Arugula with Fresh herbs pasta sauce from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 13
Tabouli from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 104
Beans and Potato Curry from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 49
Balsamic Beets and Beet Greens with Chard from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 23
and depending on how many beans end up in the curry we may do Oriental Green Beans from The Community Farm Cookbook p. 47
My Salad Days Salad with lettuce and cabbage
and everyone will get one fresh cucumber to enjoy.

Remember, we always welcome feedback here on the blog or in the emails!
See you Friday!
Mary

Week six: Art Fair Madness!

2008-07-17T10:55:00.008-04:00

Well, that crazy art fair week has arrived and I hope everyone's reveling in it! This week at the farm has been quite hot. On Monday we spent the day weeding the summer fruit vegetables--peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. For once we have a field that looks really neat and weed-free right next to the barn! Harvest morning on Wednesday went really well. We finished early, before the real heat of the day kicked in, despite the fact that Cynthia and I were extremely late after getting stuck behind a line-painting truck on Scio Church Road. As ever, I forgot to take my camera to the Farm, but I did get some great pictures of us cooking last week, so enjoy these shots of your food in the making. On the Kitchen front, it's going to be in interesting week because I'm going to be away on Friday--heading out of town to attend the wedding of two of my friends. However, after an excellent cooks' meeting last night I have complete confidence in Cynthia, Michelle, Margaret, Claire, and Nora. They've got a great menu lined up for you this week!
This week's share:
Cabbage - 1 head
Summer squash - 2
Greens - 1/2 lb
Parsley - 1 bunch
Cucumber - 1
Arugula - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Potatoes - 1 box
Carrots - 7
Beets - 4

The menu is:
Colcannon from Laurel's Kitchen, p. 197
What is Colcannon? I'm so glad you asked. It's an Irish dish with potatoes and greens. And there's this fabulous song about it!

Asian Cabbage Slaw from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 259
Split Pea and Zucchini soup from The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook p. 30
Beet, Carrot, and Cucumber Salad with Lime Vinaigrette from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 133
Very Artistic Salad with lettuce and arugula

a note about CFK stock: you might notice on some of your labels that we use "homemade stock". Well, it's true! We make our own vegetable stock by boiling vegetable scraps (onion peel, parsley stems, apple cores, carrot ends, whatever we have to hand) in water for a while. No added salt but plenty of flavor. Hope you enjoy!

See you next week!
peace,
Mary

Week Five: Ramblin' in the new-mown hay

2008-07-10T11:34:00.002-04:00

I bet this won't come as a surprise to anyone, but I forgot my camera this week. I'm planning to take it to the Kitchen on Friday, though, and get pics of the food in progress. Last week the slicing of the beets was simply visually beautiful, so I want to share it with you.
It's been a great week at the Farm. Over the weekend we made hay (the title of this post refers to the folk song "Country Boy" which has verses about the seasons). On Sunday a huge team of volunteers came to the Farm to bring the hay into the barn: hard work physically, not to mention hot and dusty! I find it rewarding, though, to do a big job like that in a group. There's definitely a sense of community involved and it was lovely to be joined not only by farm regulars and apprentices but by two CFK members, Craig and Renee. After unloading 10 wagons containing something like 950 bales of hay in 5 hours, the hay crew wound up the evening relaxing and chatting in the new picnic space. It was a perfect day in so many ways: good weather (not too hot), good company (and plenty of it--no one had to overwork with a crew of nearly 25), and good work. Join us next year!
The Farm and the Kitchen have been featured in the media this week, excitingly! Check out my interview with A2ethics.org by clicking here. In this podcast (which is more than an hour long, I'm afraid) we have a great discussion about the organic/local food movement, the Community Farm, the CFK, and ethical issues surrounding these topics. It was an interesting conversation and makes for good listening. Feel free to join the site and make comments and join the conversation yourself!
Also, the Farm's Weed and Sing program was featured on WUOM. Read and listen here. This article is only like 2 minutes long and is well-worth the listen, I think, for the sake of the voices of Anne, Karen, and a volunteer, and the singing in the background.
And now, this week's share:
Fava beans - 1 lb
Zucchini (!) - 1 small
Basil (summer is here!) - 6 tips
Cabbage - 1
Green onions - 5
Greens - 1 lb
Carrots - 6
Beets - 4
Lettuce - 3
Parsley - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch

and the menu...
Roasted beets and carrots with rosemary (recipe I learned at Pendle Hill)
Green Goddess Dressing from Laurel's Kitchen p. 132 (herbed vinaigrette for vegans)
Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Beet Greens, Zucchini, Raisins and Apples from Greens, Glorious Greens p. 69
Fava Bean Pasta Sauce from http://www.seasonalchef.com/recipe0506b.htm#Pasta%20with%20Fresh%20Fava%20Bean%20Sauce
Dressed Grain from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook p. 37
"Ramblin' in the new-mown hay" Salad with lettuce and green onions and maybe some herbs.

A note about salad names, ever since last year I've been giving the salads creative names. Julia and I decided it would be more interesting than just calling it "Salad with lettuce and green onions" week after week. Instead we use lines from poems, comments on current life, etc. It's a bit like how the character in the movie Waitress gives all her pies interesting names (though a little less personal--usually it's just about a poem or song I like). :-) Thought I'd clarify that.

See you all on Friday!
Mary

Week Four: Vegetable Jewels

2008-07-03T10:48:00.008-04:00

It's been a good week out at the farm. We've gotten a lot of weeding done in the peppers, leeks, parsley, and sweet potatoes. It's been good weeding weather--not too hot, the ground fairly soft and the weeds easy to pull. Even the leek weeding, usually my bane trying to find the tiny leeks amidst the large weeds, wasn't that bad since the leeks are actually pretty big already. Anne and Paul are hoping to cut the hay sometime in the next few days and we'll bring it in on Saturday or Sunday (volunteers are welcome!). This week's harvest seems especially beautiful to me, so I'm happy to have remembered my camera so I can share that beauty with all of you.

Harvest morning was pleasantly cool and we had lots of good workers out to bring in the harvest. We've picked just about the last of the garlic scapes--harvesting a count of 1257 scapes in one morning. The hardest part of that was keeping the count :-). We spent a long time in the parsley, first weeding and then picking 80 bunches. I was excited to get a good harvest of carrots. I didn't help harvest them but I did get some pictures of Angela washing them.

Here's the harvest share:
Beets - 4
Carrots - 4
Kale and Collards - 1/2 lb
Garlic flowers - 15
Lettuce and endive - 3 heads
Green onions - 3
Parsley - 1 bunch

This week's menu:
Buttermilk Borscht (completely different from the previous borscht!) from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 24
(for the vegans: Vegan Borscht from http://swellvegan.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/jewel-toned-yummies/)
Greens in Peanut Sauce from Simply in Season p. 195
Parsley Lemon dressing from Laurel's Kitchen p. 130
White bean and garlic scapes dip from The New York Times
Justice for All salad with lettuce, endive, and grated carrots

Enjoy! See you Friday!
Mary

Week three: the rain forest

2008-06-26T12:19:00.004-04:00

Forgot my camera again this week, sad to tell. To cheer you up, however, I've added a book widget to the blog so you can look at the cook books I use and my other favorite food-related books. If you click the covers it will link you to Amazon, but I'd encourage you to also look for these books at local bookstores. I know you can get Simply in Season from Ten Thousand Villages, for example.
It's been a good week out at the farm. On Monday my dear friend Craig and his partner Megan came out to visit the farm and wound up getting roped in to help with weeding the winter squash. It was a pleasure to work in the field with them and many other guests and visitors who joined us through the day. This will probably be the last time we weed the winter squash--soon they'll overrun the field and shade out the weeds for the rest of the summer. Wednesday was a good harvest morning, though cool. We only got rained on a little bit, which was nice. The farm needs the rain and it's interesting to note that it's not always raining at the farm when it's raining in Ann Arbor. This week the farmers will probably cut hay and a few days later we'll be looking for help bringing it in--incredibly hard work--hot, sweaty, dusty, heavy--but worth it! I'll try to remember my camera that day too!
Here's this week's harvest share:
Peas - 1 lb
Beets - 3
Green onions - 7
Greens (Kale, Collards, and Chard) - 3/4 lb
Cilantro - 1 little bunch
Parsley - 1 little bunch
Lettuce - 3 heads
Garlic flowers - 15 (check out the linked NYT article!)

and the menu:
Shredded beets and greens with sliced oranges from Greens Glorious Greens p. 26. The cookbook authors point out that "According to medical sources, if you include a source of vitamin C (oranges) with your iron-rich food (beet greens) you will increase the amount of iron your body can absorb." So, be ready to feel strong and healthy!

Kale and Chard and Chickpea Balti (follow the link to find out more about what a Balti is) from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 47

Scallion and Ginger Fried Rice from Farmer John's Cookbook p. 126

Broad bean Guacamole from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 102 -- we didn't have enough favas last week to make this, but Cynthia heroically picked some for us on Wednesday and we should have enough for at least a sample all round. Ok?

Michigan Rainforest salad -- lettuce with sugar snap peas

Sugar snap peas (even more sweet and delicious than last week)

Hope you're all enjoying everything!
See you Friday.
Mary

Week Two: Here, have some green stuff!

2008-06-18T21:01:00.012-04:00

Hello all!
Here we are at week two. I hope everyone enjoyed the first week's harvest. This morning in the fields was much cooler than last week, but it made for a refreshing change, actually. There was much less urgency about getting everything in out of the sun. We had a lovely time picking spring onions, dill, cilantro, and all the other things in this week's harvest. The sugar snap peas are especially fun to pick, though you have to resist the temptation to eat them all up, they're so good! After harvest we had time to take a crew of workers into the Swiss chard weeding project--so much more pleasant this week than it was last week when we were basically cooking in the sun.
The title of this blog posting comes from about this time last year when I was ably assisted in the kitchen by my dear friend Julia. We worked very hard and every week there was some phrase that came up during cooking that struck us as utterly hilarious. One week early on we finished the cooking and had a look at what we'd made for the members and Julia said, "We've just made a whole lot of little tubs of green paste. We should tell everyone 'Here, have some green stuff!'". I think we've come around to that time again with this week's menu!

This week's share:
Sugar Snap peas - 1 lb
Beets - 3
Kale/Collards - 1/2 lb
Dill - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Fava beans - 7 (Known in Britain as Broad beans, Favas are the only variety of beans native to the Old World and therefore the only kind of beans Europeans had pre-contact with the Americas! Hooray for a Liberal Arts education.)
Lettuce - 4 small heads Paul tells me this lettuce is a very old heirloom variety, but I don't remember the name.
Green onions - 10
Garlic flowers (scapes) - 13 - Garlic flowers are very cool looking and make great jewelry (see photos!). We pick the flowers so the plant will send its energy into making the bulb that we'll harvest later. In the mean time, ground garlic flowers are used just like garlic in recipes. Yum.

This week's menu:
Dill Pesto from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd p. 26o
Broad Bean Guacamole from The Boxing Clever Cookbook p. 102 (This British cookbook's title refers to "box scheme", another name for a CSA-type program)
Quick and Delicious Borscht from Greens Glorious Greens p. 25
Dill-flavored Kale from Greens Glorious Greens p. 24
Cilantro-lime vinaigrette from From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 63
Longest Day Salad with lettuce and green onions

Fresh lettuce

Fresh sugar snap peas

Week One: What Bounty!!

2008-06-11T19:18:00.004-04:00

Well, despite my good intentions I didn't remember to take my camera out to the farm this morning. Which is a shame as there were many beautiful and entertaining moments harvesting with CFK workers Nora and Cynthia and Farm apprentices Rebecca, Kristin, Nancy, and Angela, as well as farmers Anne and Paul and many member volunteers. Highlights include picking and counting 80 bunches each of dill and cilantro (it's always a trick to hit the count exactly on when you've got 6 people picking at once and trying to have conversations rather than count all the time, but we did it!) and picking strawberries while managing not to stand on any plants or berries (it's a bit like the game Twister--the strawberry version!). It was also great to see all the new members out at the farm just finding their way as well as seeing old friends, like Mark who was a CFK member last year and who has graduated to cooking his share for himself! Finally, after a relaxing lunch in the shade, we loaded up all 14 CFK shares (it was a squeeze in the Prius with three people... it's a real shame I didn't have my camera) and came back to Ann Arbor.

Here's what the share was this week for a whole share:
Strawberries - 3 pts (!)
Sage plants for your garden - 2
Kale /Collards - 1/4 lb
Beets - 3
Spinach - 2 lb
Green Onions - 10
Lettuce - 4 heads
Dill - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch

This week's kick-off CFK Menu will be:

Grated Raw Beets with fresh dill and mustard vinaigrette from Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables p. 59 -- this is a great marinated beet topping for lettuce salad.

Katharina's Green Sauce for pasta -- house recipe (a perennial favorite I learned from my dear friend Katharina while I was working in Wales in the winter of 2007. Simple yet delicious.)

Veggie Burrito Bake from Simply in Season p. 64 -- featuring tortillas from the Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory along with kale/collards, beet greens, and spinach!

Cilantro Hummus -- variation on the Pendle Hill hummus recipe

Sprightly Salad with lettuce and green onions

Washed lettuce for your salad pleasure

Fresh Strawberries

Looking forward to seeing y'all on Friday!
peace,
Mary

Welcome to the Community Farm Kitchen!

2008-05-22T10:27:00.006-04:00

Welcome! This blog is a space where we hope to foster a community and develop a connection to the Farm itself. During the harvest season, each week we'll post the harvest share and the menu plan so you can see what's happening in the kitchen. You can see last year's harvest and menus by clicking on the monthly archives on the left of this post, which will give you a general idea of the kind of harvest and menus we expect this year.
We also welcome members to use the comments feature to post feedback about the menus including what you liked and what you didn't like, serving suggestions, and other thoughts and ideas. This year we're also hoping to post more pictures from the farm and the kitchen as well as writing more descriptions of what we do in our work, especially out at the farm, so you can feel more connected to this wonderful food. Welcome aboard!

The weather has been a bit chilly this week, but out at the farm you can tell that summer is coming. It's a busy time at the farm these days as we prepare for the harvest season to begin. We spent a lot of time last week weeding and thinning the beets, and I'm excited to see that they seem to be coming along well. Perhaps we'll be seeing borscht on the menu in a few weeks' time! Yesterday was bright, cool, and windy. We seeded the winter squash: the field is bare and newly ploughed and it's hard to imagine that later in the season it will become an impenetrable jungle of vines and blossoms and that these small seeds will produce fruit weighing as much as 30 pounds (in the case of the Blue Hubbards). After lunch the farm workers talked about philosophy and politics and our favorite parsley recipes as we planted parsley from the green house. The green house and the cold frames are full of seedlings waiting to be planted out in the fields. Everything is growing and thriving. Life is good.

Winter Squash!!

2007-11-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I reckon most of you now have more winter squash than you know what to do with, so I invite everyone to share their favorite squash recipe so that everyone can get some ideas. Feel free to post your recipe using the "comments" link or email it to me and I'll post it. To start off, here's a nice recipe from Laurie. Also, do check out http://www.recipesource.com/ for a nice, search-able recipe archive.
peace,
Mary

Butternut Squash Risotto
This recipe is for 2-4 servings.

1-2 cups arborio rice (and a small amount of oil or butter)
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 bunch fresh chopped sage
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tablespoons butter
1 squash, peeled and sliced
garnish rice with Parmesan cheese - 1/2 to 3/4 cup. Try it with 1/2 cup first.

Put sliced squash on cookie sheet - salt & pepper it.
In frying pan, melt butter until it browns.
Put sage in butter and saute for a couple minutes.
Add balsamic vinegar and molasses.
Drizzle sage mixture over squash.
Put squash in oven to soften for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Puree squash. It can now freeze or refrigerate it. It will keep in the fridge for about 1 week.

Risotto: Saute onion in oil or butter in bottom of 2-3 quart pan.
Add rice. Add small amount of stock, stirring until creamy.
Keep adding small amounts of stock and stirring, for about 30 minutes.
Stir in pureed squash. Stir in parmesan cheese.

Grand Finale Menu

2007-11-06T08:45:00.000-05:00

Menu may be subject to change....

Sauerkraut from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 45
Kim Chee from http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/korean/00/rec0010.html
White Bean Soup with Kale from Greens, Glorious Greens! p. 172
Nutty Pumpkin Bread from Simply in Season p. 178
Tabouli from Moosewood, p. 42
Cabbage with pasta from The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook p. 176
Freezer Slaw from The Ball Blue Book p. 93
Katharina's Senposia Sauce (house recipe)
Leek-Root soup adapted from The Community Farm Cookbook 2nd Edition p. 53
Bok Choi Saute from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 31
Gingery Squash Bisque from Simply in Season p. 185
Squash Malagushim from Laurel's Kitchen p. 220
Green Salad with Arugula, Tatsoi, Mitzuna, and radish
Frozen Kale
Garlic in Oil
Dried Hot Peppers
Dried Summer Savory
Cauliflower to freeze
Parsley cubes
Fresh Brussels Sprouts
Squash!

phew!
See you Friday,
Mary

Grand Finale Harvest!

2007-11-03T19:28:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

I'm quite tired after a long day out at the farm, but there is so much bounty to share. It was a joy to see several of you out at the farm enjoying the beauty of the day and the warm spirit of Grand Finale!
For our final pick up each share received...

Leeks - 6
China Rose Radish - 2
Small head cabbage - 1
Rutabaga - 1
Large head cabbage - 1
Turnips - 4
Daikon radish - 2
Garlic - 1 bunch of 10
Cauliflower - 1 box
Kale - 3 plants
Collards - 2 plants
Parsley - 2 plants
Arugula - 1 bunch
Tatsoi - 1 bunch
Mitzuna - 1 bunch
Senposia - 1 bunch
Pac Choi - 2
Napa Cabbage - 1
Brussels Sprouts - 3 stalks
Tiny acorn squash - 1
Big Acorn Squash - 5
Butternut squash - 7
Japanese Pumpkins - 1 big; 1 small
Long Pie Pumpkin - 1
Big Pie Pumpkin - 1
Great Blue Hubbard - 1

Phew! The menu plan will be posted sometime after tomorrow's meeting. Looking forward to seeing many of you there. Many thanks to Dorie and Mark and Laurie for help with collecting the shares and to Kate Carlisle for helping with the cooking this week. It's going to be epic!
peace,
Mary

Penultimate Week...

2007-10-24T21:17:00.001-04:00

This is the last regular farm and CFK pick up, can you believe it??

This week's share is:
broccoli - 1 box
arugula - 1 bunch
tatsoi - 1 bunch
mitzuna - 1 bunch
senposia - 1 bunch
Meiquing choi - 1/2 lb
turnip - 4
radish - 1
bok choi - 1
leeks - 2
flowers - 1 bunch
acorn squash - 1
pie pumpkin - 1

Menu
Creamies from The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook, 2003 edition, p. 39
Crunchy Bok Choi Ginger Salad from From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 33
Cawl Cennin (Welsh leek soup) - the totally unorthodox vegetarian adaptation of various recipes
Frozen pumpkin suitable for use in pies, cakes, soup, etc.
"A Wand'ring Minstrel I" (Gilbert and Sullivan) salad with arugula, mitzuna, and tatsoi

Enjoy!
Mary

Antipenultimate pick up!

2007-10-18T09:29:00.000-04:00

The count down to the end of the year is on!

This week's share is:
Pac Choi - 1
Rutabaga - 1
Leeks - 2
Radish - 1
Oriental Greens - choice of one bunch
Squash - choice of one acorn or spaghetti
Arugula - 1 bunch
Peppers - choice of one hot or sweet
Eggplant- 1
Lettuce - 1 (the last lettuce!)
Cauliflower - 2
Broccoli - 1 box
Flowers - 1 bunch
Pie Pumpkin - 1
Assorted Squash - 1

Menu
Positively the Last Lettuce salad with mitzuna, tatsoi, and arugula
Your Choice of one winter squash (Cinderella, Spaghetti, Acorn, Pie Pumpkin)
Bashed Neaps (i.e., mashed rutabaga) (house recipe)
Cauliflower Millet Soup from Diet for a Small Planet, p. 290
Vegetarian Groundnut Stew from Simply in Season, p. 207
Orange-ginger saute with radishes, eggplant, and pac choi, from From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 131

See you Friday!
Mary

Breezy Autumn Days

2007-10-11T09:33:00.000-04:00

Hello!

This weeks gorgeous and bountiful share is:
Leeks - 2
Hot Pepper - 1
Eggplant - 1
Sweet pepper - 1
Zucchini - 1
Oriental Greens - 1 bunch
Kale - 1/2 lb
Basil - 1 branch
Cauliflower - 2 heads
Turnips - 2
Lettuce - 4 heads
Broccoli - 3 heads
Spaghetti squash - 1
Garlic - 1
3 small pie pumpkins OR one squash choice

Menu:
Spaghetti Squash with Katharina's Green Sauce (house recipe)
Cauliflower-Eggplant Curry from The New York Times Cookbook, p. 192
Roast Autumn Vegetables with garlic sauce from Simply in Season p. 118 and 251 (turnips, winter squash, zucchini, and leeks)
Dried basil
Frozen broccoli
your choice of winter squash
Raindrop the Rooster's Favorite Salad (named for Raindrop who was very enthusiastic when I shared some damaged lettuce leaves with him yesterday) - with lettuce, tatsoi, mitzuna, and sweet peppers

Enjoy the cool weather--see you tomorrow!
peace,
Mary

The summer ends, and we wonder who we are...

2007-10-05T08:32:00.001-04:00

Hi all,
Sorry about the delay.
This week's autumnal share:
Turnips - 2
Broccoli - 2
Eggplant OR cauliflower choice of 1
Rosemary OR summer savory - 1 sprig
Garlic - 1 bulb
Acorn Squash - 1
Summer Squash - 1
Pac Choi - 1
Oriental Greens - 1 bunch
Basil - 1 branch
Lettuce - 3 heads
Spaghetti squash - 1
Flowers - 1 bunch
Variety Squash OR Pie Pumpkin - 1

Menu

"Life's a twinkling" (Carrie Newcomer) Salad
Spaghetti Squash with spaghetti sauce (sauce from Moosewood, p. 67)
Sweet and Sour Pac Choi with cauliflower, eggplant, and summer squash, from The Chinese Cookbook, p. 279
Green and Gold Soup from The Community Farm Cookbook 2003, p. 60
Pasta with Broccoli from Craig Claireborne's New York Times Cookbook, p. 438.

See you later!
Mary

Lingering summer and a rainy harvest morning

2007-09-27T14:36:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

This weeks predominantly green share is:
Summer squash - 1
Cabbage OR eggplant - 1
Flowers - 1 bunch
Hot peppers - 5
Kale - 1/2 lb
Sweet potatoes - 1 box
Senposia (collards) - 1 bunch
Tatsoi - 1 bunch
Garlic - 1 head
Parsley - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Broccoli - 2
Jack o'lantern - 1

Menu

"I Feel Pretty" (West Side Story 50th Anniversary Celebration) Salad with lettuce, tatsoi, and parsley
Sweet Potato Soup from Simply in Season, p. 238
Eggplant Cheese Pie from Simply in Season, p. 139
Oriental Broccoli from The Community Farm Cookbook 2003, p. 46
Katharina's Green Sauce for pasta (house recipe)

See you Friday!
peace,
Mary

The Frost King has come!

2007-09-19T21:36:00.000-04:00

Well, with the arrival of the Frost King over the weekend, it's about the end of the summer crops. However, we have plenty of lovely fall veggies to look forward to, as well as the enjoyment of the transition times.

This week's share:
Summer squash - 1
Mitzuna - 1 bunch
Tomatoes - 2 lbs
Sweet peppers - 2
Hot peppers - 10 (!)
Kale - 1 lb
Basil - 5 branches
Parsley - 1 bunch
Napa cabbage thinnings - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Cabbage OR eggplant - 1
Jack o'lantern - 1
Sweet potatoes - 1 box
broccoli - 1 head

Menu:

Baba ganouj (eggplant spread) from Moosewood, p. 92
Pesto from Moosewood, p. 74
Red Red-hot Vegetable Chili from Hollyhocks and Radishes, p. 28 (and also a mild version)
Gado gado (Indonesian peanut sauce) on Kale, Napa thinnings, and broccoli from The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook, p. 156
Roasted Sweet Potatoes from From Asperagus to Zucchini, p. 146
Tesseract Salad (in memory of Madeleine L'Engle) with lettuce and mitzuna

Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday!
Mary

Summer and Autumn Greet Each Other...

2007-09-13T14:17:00.000-04:00

This week's harvest is a real combination of summer and autumn. This is Margaret's last week before she heads back to the University of Chicago. Wish her well in the coming term!

The share:
(the last) Melon - 1 piece
Pac Choi - 1/2 lb
Summer Squash - 2
Flowers - 1 bunch
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Apples (!) - 2
(the last) Swiss Chard - 1 lb
Kale/Collards - 3/4 lb
Basil - 4 branches
Parsley - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 2 heads
Mitzuna - 1 bunch
Hot peppers - 2
Baby Chinese Cabbage - 1 bunch
Eggplant OR cabbage - 1
Sweet Peppers - 2
Tomatoes - 6 lb

Menu:
Mint-melon-lime salad from http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/salads/melon-salad-lime-mint
Eggplant Parmesan from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Eggplant-Parmesan-II/Detail.aspx
Northern China-style stir fry from Diet for a Small Planet p. 263
Swiss Chard Italian Style from Hollyhocks and Radishes p. 134
Kristin's Caprese Salad
It's Delighful, It's Delicious, It's De-lovely! Salad with lettuce, mitzuna, and sweet peppers

Hope you're all doing well. See you tomorrow!
peace,
Mary (and Margaret and Amanda)

School's in, but it's still summer on the farm!

2007-09-06T14:12:00.000-04:00

Summer crops are still pouring in at the farm, so summer food continues here at the kitchen. Hope no one minds repeats of favorites such as pesto, tomato sauce, and gazpacho. They keep well and are useful for quick meals throughout the year.

This week's bountiful share:
Summer Squash - 2
Sweet peppers - 2
Swiss Chard - 1/2 lb
Kale and Collards - 3/4 lb
Parsley - 1 bunch
Leaf Celery - 1 bunch
Hot peppers - 2
Eggplant - 1
Green beans - 1/2 lb
Basil - 3 branches
Tomatoes - 14 lbs (!!!)
Summer savory - 1 plant
Choice: watermelon or canteloupe

The menu:
Dressed Grain from The Community Farm Cookbook 2003, p. 18.
Tomato Juice (house recipe)
Tomato sauce from Moosewood, p. 66
Gazpacho (house recipe)
Ratatoille from Simply in Season p. 125
Pesto from Moosewood p. 74
your choice of watermelon or canteloupe

See you Friday!
Mary, Margaret, and Amanda

Solidarity Forever! (Happy Labor Day)

2007-08-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

Well, the students are back and the tomatoes are in.

This week's share was:
Summer Squash - 2
Green onions - 5
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Parsley - 1 bunch
Swiss Chard - 3/4 lb
Kale - 1/2 lb
Basil - 11 tips
Hot peppers - 2
Sweet Peppers - 2
Garlic - 1 bulb
Tomatoes - 10 lbs (!)
Flowers - 1 bunch
1 watermelon OR canteloupe

This week's menu:

Your choice: watermelon or canteloupe
Summer Curry based on The New York Times Cookbook, p. 192, with potatoes, summer squash, greens, and parsley.
Gazpacho (house recipe)
Tomato Sauce from Moosewood p. 66
Paul Chalmer's Salsa ("Paulsa") The Community Farm Cookbook, 1992 edition, p. 18.

See you all tommorrow. Thanks so much to Molly and her family for cooking last week, Kristin for making the salads, and Rebecca for bringing the veggies from the farm. This week Margaret and I welcome Amanda to cook with us!

peace,
Mary

Welcome, Rain!

2007-08-23T22:42:00.000-04:00

This week’s share:
1 small baby corn
5 green onions
3 summer squash
4 large corn
½ pound Swiss chard
½ pound kale/collards
1 bunch of parsley
2 hot peppers
12 tips basil
2 sweet peppers
1 head of lettuce
3 lbs tomatos
1 bulb of garlic
1 melon

Menu:

Suzy's Rainy Day Salad
Fresh Corn & Tomato Soup (The New Laurel’s Kitchen p. 163)
Sweet Pepper Pasta Toss (All Recipes.com http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Pepper-Pasta-Toss-with-Kale/Detail.aspx)
Zucchini and Rice Casserole (2nd Edition of The Community Farm Cookbook p. 39)
Spanish Greens (From Asparagus to Zucchini p. 86)
1 melon
2 hot peppers
1 Bunch of parsley

Sweet Corn!

2007-08-17T08:37:00.000-04:00

This week's share:
3/4 lb Swiss chard
3/4 lb kale/collards
1 watermelon
1 cantaloupe
2 heads lettuce
15 tips basil
7 lbs tomatoes
20 ears of corn
8 summer squash
1 bunch parsley
2 hot peppers
2 sweet peppers
1 box potatoes

Menu

Taste of Summer Stew (house recipe)
Pesto from Moosewood p. 74
Greens with hot peppers (house recipe)
Zucchini Bread adapted from The Community Farm Cookbook 1994 p. 71
"My salad days" Salad with tomatoes and lettuce
Fresh sweet corn (8 ears each)
1/2 watermelon
1/2 canteloupe
CHOICE: Dill Pickles (Ball Blue Book of Canning p. 46) OR Corn Relish (The Complete Book of Canning p. 78)

The squash are taking over...

2007-08-09T17:27:00.000-04:00

This week's share:

7 summer squash (plus 3 left over from last week)
3 cucumbers
1 lb Swiss chard
1/2 lb kale and collards
11 tips basil
1 green pepper
1 watermelon
2 heads lettuce
1 qt tomatoes
10 ears sweet corn
1 bunch flowers

This week's menu:

Lee Elder's Zucchini-Crusted Pizza The Community Farm Cookbook, p. 43
Squash with stuffing Laurel's Kitchen, p. 306
Colcannon Laurel's Kitchen p. 197
Asian Chard and Squash Saute From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 58
Hobbiton Salad with lettuce, basil, and squash
Fresh melon
Fresh sweet corn (boil for 5 minutes and eat promptly)

And we're saving the cucumbers to make pickles with next week.

Hope you're excited about squash!
peace
Mary

Into August

2007-08-01T21:17:00.000-04:00

This week’s share:

8 summer squash
9 tomatoes
9 sprigs savory
3 tips basil
½ lb. chard
1 bunch amaranth
4 cucumbers
5 green onions
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch rosemary
1 head garlic
1 ¼ lb. potatoes
2 heads lettuce
1 bunch flowers

Menu:
Kristen’s Barbequed Zucchini
Wild green soup (Laurel’s Kitchen, p. 155)
Gazpacho
Salad with cucumber, tomato, and green onions.

This week Mary and Julia will be at a wedding, so our new cook Molly is flying solo this week. Thank you, Molly!

Farewell to Julia!

2007-07-26T17:46:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!
This is Julia's last week, so be sure to bid her farewell when you come to get your food.
Julia may be leaving, but the harvest goes on and on!
This week's share:

Green beans - 3/4 lb
Greens - 3/4 lb
Carrots - 1/4 lb
Tomatoes - 4
Cucumbers - 6
Summer Squash - 5
Basil - 10 tips
Garlic - 1 bulb
Lettuce - 2 heads
Cabbage - 1
Parsley - 1 small bunch
Flowers - 1 bunch

Menu

Frozen green beans for later enjoyment
Pesto adapted from Moosewood, p. 74
Disappearing Zucchini Orzo from Animal, Vegetable, Mineral p. 193 (http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Zucchini%20Orzo.pdf)
Spicy Cucumber Salad from From Asperagus to Zucchini, p. 69
Apple and Wine-braised Cabbage from From Asperagus to Zucchini, p. 44
Beans 'n' Greens from From Asperagus to Zucchini, p. 57
House Elves' Salad (with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and carrot)
Fresh cucumber, fresh tomato

Also, we will have available sample packets from True Botanica, a homeopathic remedy company that is offering a special deal to farm members. If you would like to order something as part of the farm's group order, please email me before next Wednesday. Even if you don't think you want to order anything, you may enjoy the free lip balm!

Finally, next week Julia and I will be away, so there may be some changes in proceedure. There will be pick up, but because I haven't found enough people to substitute for me, it is possible we will not be able to cook the whole share and will have to hold some vegetables until the following week (If you pick up alternating weeks, of course, we will hold your food until the next time you pick up). It is also possible that the pick up time will be shortened or not staffed the whole time, in which case shares will be in labelled bags in the 'fridge. I will make sure the whole arrangement is clearly communicated to you all before next Friday, but I just wanted to give you advanced warning. Be in touch if you have any concerns!

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Keep on praying for rain - the farm hasn't gotten as much as Ann Arbor has!
peace,
Mary (and Julia)

Art Fair (yikes!)

2007-07-19T12:11:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you're having a good week and not trying to do anything downtown (besides purchase art, of course!)

High summer is clearly upon us, with yet another large harvest this week:

Zucchini - 3
Beets - 1
Tomatoes (!!!)- 3
Cucumbers - 5
Green beans - 1 lb
Carrots - 1/2 lb
Greens - 1 1/4 lb
Basil - 2 tips
Cabbage - 1
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Lettuce - 1 head
Garlic - 1 bulb
Flowers - 1 bouquet

This week's menu:

Chilled Cucumber Soup from Moosewood, p. 30
Prizewinner Green beans with Tomatoes and Herbs from From Asperagus to Zucchini, p. 23
Courgette (Zucchini) Fritters from The Farmer's Market Cookbook, p.114
Light Bubble and Squeak from Laurel's Kitchen, p. 187
Kale with Lemon Butter (or Lemon not-butter) from Laurel's Kitchen, p. 249
Hogwarts Salad: lettuce, beets, and green beans
one fresh cucumber
one fresh tomato
fresh basil
peeled and chopped garlic in a little olive oil for home cooking enjoyment

Hope you're having a good week! We'll see you tomorrow. Pray for rain.

peace,
Mary and Julia

No lettuce week!

2007-07-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Hope everyone's enjoying a break from the heat on this breezy day.

This week's BOUNTIFUL share is:
carrots - 1/2 lb with tops
green beans - 1 1/4 lbs
beets - 3
kale/collards - 1 lb
Swiss chard - 3/4 lb
cabbage - 1 head
garlic - 1 bulb
cucumber - 4
summer squash - 5
green onions - 8

The menu for this week will be:

Russian Cabbage Borscht - p. 27 Moosewood
"My Heart leaps up" (Wordsworth) Stir fry (containing zucchini, beet greens, chard, green beans, and green onions)
Greek Stuffed Zucchini - p. 217 The New Laurel's Kitchen Cookbook
Paul's Favorite Cucumber Marinade
Blanched and frozen kale and collards for future use
One fresh cucumber for slicing and enjoying
A small bag fresh green beans

I know people are probably sad that there will be no lettuce this week. Don't worry, it will be back later in the summer. In the mean time, Julia and I are very happy to have a break from washing 30 heads of lettuce in a single afternoon! Also, don't worry about the pretentious names for the salad last week and the stir fry this week. We've got to put our liberal arts degrees to use somehow!

In other news, please remember that pick up this week is NOT at the Anthroposophical Society House. See your reminder email for directions to the alternate pick up site. Also, we hope you will join us for our field trip to the farm on Saturday. Meet at the farm at 10.30. If you're interested in carpooling from the Pioneer Park and Ride lot, let's talk about it at pick up and gauge interest.

Speaking of gauging interest, we have a poll for you all. As you see, we got a bulb of garlic this week. We'll probably be getting a bulb or so a week for quite a few weeks. Would people like to have their garlic raw to take home and use? Would you like us to peel, chop, and store it in olive oil and send it home in a little tub for your own use? Or, would you like us just to use it in the CFK meals? We are just wondering what people would be interested in. Let us know.

See you on Friday!
peace,
Mary and Julia

Into July

2007-07-05T11:23:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

The week's share:
4 heads of lettuce
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch baby carrots
1 lb. kale and collards
4 zucchini
4 green onions
4 radishes
3 beets

The menu:
Kale and Cheese Pie (The New Laurel's Kitchen, p. 192)
Baked summer squash (Asparagus to Zucchini, p. 145)
Interdependence Day salad - with arugula, beets, and lettuce
"I dwell in Possibility" salad - with radishes, carrots, green onions, and lettuce

Mary and Julia

Summer Storm

2007-06-28T18:26:00.001-04:00

So, the heat has broken at last (for now). Hopefully the farm has gotten its much-needed rain and all the tomatoes and swiss chard plants will perk up and get growing. Just a reminder that this blog also hopes to be a place for all Community Farm members (and other local food enthusiasts) to see what we're cooking this week and to swap ideas and inspiration. All are welcome!

This week's share:
1 lb kale and collards
5 radishes
1 bunch beets
5 green onions
1 strong lettuce
4 mild lettuce
1 bunch arugula
1/2 head cabbage
2 baby zucchini

Menu:
Greens in Peanut Sauce p. 195 Simply in Season
Split Pea and Zucchini Soup p. 30 The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook
Beet and Cabbage and Beet Green Salad adapted from p. 184 From Asperagus to Zucchini
Summer Storm Salad with lettuce, arugula, green onions, and radishes
washed lettuce

Hope everyone is ready for a good holiday!
Mary

Happy Summer!

2007-06-21T11:53:00.000-04:00

Today's the first day of summer, and the farm is looking greener and greener.

This week's share:
3/4 lb. snow & sugar snap peas
3/4 lb. kale
5 radishes
20 garlic flowers
5 green onions
1 bunch arugula
4 heads of lettuce
1 bunch of dill
3 fava beans
1 bunch dill
1 pint of strawberries

The week's menu:
Spring Celebration Soup (though in this case we're celebrating summer), from Simply in Season, p. 36

Dilly Green Fritters, from Dressed Grain in The Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook, p. 37

Summer Solstice Salad Mix
with lettuce, arugula, green onions, and radishes

washed lettuce leaves

fresh strawberries

See you tomorrow!
Mary and Julia

Strawberry Week!

2007-06-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

This week's share:
Peas - .5 lb
Strawberries - 2 pts.
Greens (Kale and Collards mix) - .5 lb
Dill - 1 huge bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Lettuce - 4 heads
Green onions - 5
Garlic Flowers - 20
Radishes - 2

This week's menu:
Fresh strawberries
2 heads of lettuce washed
1 bag salad mix: lettuce, cilantro, radishes, green onions
cilantro hummus
Greens saute (serve as a side dish or on rice) from p. 85 of From Asperagus to Zucchini
Tamari Snow peas (serve on rice) from p. 41 of The Community Farm Cookbook, 2003
Tahini and Dill dip

The No Cilantro share will get dill hummus instead and of course, cilantro-free salad mix

This is also the week when those thoughtful people who joined before May 15 get their strawberry pie. Yum!

Remember, there is a change of location for pick up this week. See you then!
peace,
Mary and Julia

First harvest

2007-06-06T19:18:00.000-04:00

We harvested the week's share this morning! It is:

3/4 lb. spinach / kale
3/4 lb. sugar snap peas (practically candy. It was a struggle not to eat them all in the field.)
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch dill
10 green onions
3 heads lettuce

The menu plan for Friday is:

Dill pesto with cheddar and walnuts
Katharina's spinach sauce for pasta
1 bag salad mix with lettuce, cilantro, peas, and green onions
Green goddess dressing (from Laurel's Kitchen) using cilantro
Washed lettuce leaves and cilantro for future salads

The no-cholesterol share will get the sauce with oil instead of butter and a dill hummus instead of the pesto.
The no-cilantro share will get a yogurt dressing with green onions instead of the green goddess dressing.

See you Friday!

Welcome!

2007-06-01T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to the Community Farm Kitchen blog! I hope to make it nice and good looking soon, but I'm apparantly not very tech-savvy so this will have to do for now. I've decided to set up a blog so that I can easily post the harvest and the menu plan each week. The idea is that CFK members can see what they're getting and what they've gotten in the past and get an insight into what we're thinking about as we plan the meals. Also, other members of the Community Farm of Ann Arbor and other CSAs and anyone interested in eating seasonally can get ideas and inspiration for how to cook with what's in season. All of this is part of fulfilling the CFK's goals of helping people connect with fresh, local, seasonal food and building community. I hope you're as excited about this as I am!

And now, harvest is about to start. The first farm distribution will be next Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Anne tells me that the harvest will include lettuce, peas, spinach, dill, cilantro, and green onions. The menu this week will depend somewhat on quantities, but I'm thinking of salad and spinach sauce for pasta and some other stuff. CFK pick up will be on Friday at the Anrthoposophical Society House from 4.30 to 7.30 pm. Hope you're as excited about this as I am!

Have a good week, everyone.
peace,
Mary

The Community Farm Kitchen

We've Moved!

LWK Week 6: Plowing through!

February Days are Warmed by Long Winter Kitchen pt 5

Time for Cozy: Long Winter Kitchen Week 4

LWK 3: Winter Sets In

A cold wind blows: Long Winter Kitchen Week 2

Long Winter Kitchen Week 1

Grand Finale Pt 2

Grand Finale!

Week Twenty Two: Last Regular Harvest

Week Twenty One: Cool mornings; Sunny days

Week Twenty: Cool Fall Days

Week Nineteen: The Frost King is Here!

Week Eighteen: Birthday Frost

Week Seventeen: Transition to Fall

Week Sixteen: Cool and Spicy

Week Fifteen: Back to School

Week Fourteen: Watermelon and Cantaloupe!

Week Thirteen: Rainy harvest

Week Twelve: Halfway time

Week Eleven: Gazpacho Time!

Week Ten: Nitya's Indian Feast!

Week Nine: Deep summer rain

Week Eight: Buried Treasures

Two Recipes by request

Week Seven: Summer's bounty

Week Six: Rockstar Veggies!

Mary is out, carrots are in!

Week Four: Heat Wave

Week Three: Garlic and Mosquitoes

Week Two: Sun and Rain

Week One: Best Spinach Harvest Ever!

Shares still available for 2009!

A New Purpose!

Season Retrospective

Grand Finale!

Harvest time!

Week twenty: Dancing with the Frost King!

Week Nineteen: Flavors of Fall

Week Eighteen: Rainy Harvest Morning

Week Seventeen: Fall Festival this Weekend!

Week Sixteen: Time for Fall crops!

Week Fifteen: Green harvest

Week Fourteen: Falling into Autumn

Week Thirteen: Back to School

Week Twelve: Happy Labor Day!

Week Eleven: Drought Continues

Week Ten: Ready for Rainfall

Week Nine: Sailing away!

Week Eight: Pray for rain...

Week Seven: Journey into Summer

Week six: Art Fair Madness!

Week Five: Ramblin' in the new-mown hay

Week Four: Vegetable Jewels

Week three: the rain forest

Week Two: Here, have some green stuff!

Week One: What Bounty!!

Welcome to the Community Farm Kitchen!

Winter Squash!!

Grand Finale Menu

Grand Finale Harvest!

Penultimate Week...

Antipenultimate pick up!

Breezy Autumn Days

The summer ends, and we wonder who we are...

Lingering summer and a rainy harvest morning

The Frost King has come!

Summer and Autumn Greet Each Other...

School's in, but it's still summer on the farm!

Solidarity Forever! (Happy Labor Day)

Welcome, Rain!

*Sweet* Corn!

The squash are taking over...

Into August

Farewell to Julia!

Art Fair (yikes!)

No lettuce week!

Into July

Summer Storm

Sweet Corn!