Week Fifteen: Back to School

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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.