This Week you’ll find in Your Share:
- Potatoes
- Garlic
- Onions
- Head Lettuce
- Turnips
- Daikon
- Eggplant
- Hot and Banana Peppers
- Spinach
- Boc choi
- Sungolds
- Zucchini
- Chives
Next Week You Might Find in Your Share:
- Sweet Potatoes!
- Leafy green
- Garlic
- Radish
- Daikon
- Lettuce
- Beet??
- Turnip
- Herb
From Your Farmers…
I truly hope everyone got plenty of outside time to bask in the colors last week. Check the website for some photos of our own Spanish Lake in its prime. I was fortunate enough to drive north on the river road and tromp in the hills of Pierre Marquette with a couple of old farm friends. We passed through a few stands of young silver maples, the yellow so low and intense it gave a feeling we were floating among them. The mosses gleamed, so vibrant the eyes could almost sense its movement. I can’t help but think the colors of fall are nature’s joyous celebration of spring and summer’s work- that momentary hurrah before a much needed rest. While the colors are brilliant they have an apparent age to them- signs of wear and maturation- quite unlike the soft pastel colors and textures of spring. After today’s rain the trees will begin to bear the skeleton of their personalities, their leaves already softening the ground, beginning their journey toward becoming part of next year’s growth.
My guess is as the moon makes its final swing toward full, our garden growth will give one final heave upward, bearing its last large offerings, then plateau or fall down, with hard frost settling us into winter. Next week we may lightly discuss the moon’s effect on plant life…one natural phenomenon easily discernible to anyone living close to the ground, now another magical something most of us no longer recognize.
Big thanks to those of you bringing your compost. We know it can be a challenge to keep it around without inviting fruit flies and odors not welcome in the kitchen. Remember we can provide you with a lidded 5 gallon bucket or three, so you can keep it fresh, and we can keep it rich.
For the next several weeks Jehad will be our primary farmer, so let’s all give him a big thanks and praise. Jehad does most of our field work anyway, but for the remainder of the year he’ll be carrying the farm through as I shift my focus to the office, working a little closer with Randy, building momentum for next year.
Now for what you care about…food notes.
Daikon is a Japanese radish. Usually hot, peeled to tame then cook, ours our currently mellow. Recipes below. As you’ve likely noticed, the potatoes are no longer the hard bodied young spuds they once were. This summer’s heat turned a cool basement to s sauna, leading us through several struggles and shortening their shelf life. This week will be the end of our potatoes and onions, though it’s been a good run. Warm up with a baked potato topped with sour cream and chives.
For 10/30 we plan to offer sweet potatoes. We were surprised by the dig…oddly shaped tubers. Some were giant, some were finger thick roots over two feet long… so if you get a five pound potato next week don’t be too surprised. Such potatoes are the sole reason for the existence of aluminum foil. We’ll offer suggestions.
–Gabriel
Food for Thought…
From breakfast to dinner, greens can go well in every meal.
Fall is a season in which the heat-loving summer crops get phased out with the first frosts and waning sunlight, and the cool-season greens and roots thrive. You’ll be seeing a great variety of greens in your shares until we finish up in mid-November. In order to help you enjoy these delicious greens and learn some healthy news and prep ideas, keep reading with us each week.
Some greens may be less familiar than others but you’ll discover that all of them are very versatile, work great in all kinds of recipes for any time of the day, and come packed with nutrition!
You can: Ladle cooked greens into your bowl as a bed for soup. Try it with lentil soup. And try mushrooms and greens baked into an egg casserole, chard and sausage over polenta, or greens stewed with a ham hock. Looking for a healthy snack? Ever make kale chips in the oven?
As we’ve learned in our monthly dinners, beans are an excellent source of protein and a lot cheaper than meat and pair really well with greens. Try a pot pie of beans and greens.
Collards are a really great source of calcium and vitamin C. We’ve been eating them through the year but soon their flavor will actually improve after a frost. They are a lot like cabbage leaves, so try stuffing them as you would cabbage leaves sometime. I’ve adapted
Cajun Inspired Stuffed Collard Rolls from the website dailywaffle.com.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of large collard greens
4 strips bacon, roughly chopped
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 a large red bell pepper, diced finely
1/2 a medium yellow onion, diced finely
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 hot pepper, diced
1 sprig of thyme
1 t. sweet paprika
3/4 c. cooked rice
1/2 c. diced tomatoes
2 t. apple cider vinegar
salt & pepper
1/2 c. chicken broth
Preheat the oven to 375F. Rinse collards and cut out the thick stems. Blanch the leaves in boiling water for 1-2 minutes until bright green
and slightly softened. Immediately drop them into ice water to stop the cooking and set aside.
In a large skillet, render the bacon over low-medium heat. Add the peppers, onion and garlic and saute until softened. Set aside.
In the same pan, brown the pork over medium heat, breaking it up into bite size pieces. Drain off excess fat. Add back the bacon and pepper mixture. Mix in thyme, paprika, rice and tomatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with apple cider vinegar. Taste it and adjust seasoning as needed.
Depending on the size of your collards, put 1/2 to 3/4 c. of filling near the top of the leaf. Fold the top of the leaf over the filling and pull back gently so that the filling is snug and completely wrapped. Fold over the left and right sides of the leaf and roll down to the bottom of the leaf. (Basically like a burrito). Put into a 10×7 (or 8×8) baking dish, seam side down. Repeat until all collard leaves are filled.
Add 1/2 c. chicken broth to the baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
Drizzle with more cider vinegar (or hot sauce) to taste before serving.
What are your favorite types of greens? Want to share a dinner experience or connect with other subscribers? Visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/seedsofhopefarm.
–Randy
More Recipes…
Here is a recipe brought to us by one of our farm members:
Garbanzo Beans and Greens
2 center cut bacon slices
1 chopped carrot
½ cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp crushed red pepper
2 ½ cups fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth
2 (15-ounce) cans organic chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed/drained
4 cups chopped fresh kale (or collard, mustard, boc choi, any green)
½ cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
4 lemon wedges (optional)
Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan using a slotted spoon, and crumble. Add one cup carrot and chopped onion to drippings in pan, and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add paprika, ¼ tsp salt, cumin, and red pepper; cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken broth, one cup water, and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add four cups kale to bean mixture. Cover and simmer for ten minutes or until kale is tender, stirring occasionally. Ladle about 1 ¼ cups bean mixture into each of four bowls and top each serving with 2 tsp yoghurt. Sprinkle with bacon, and serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
Adapted from the website foodinjars.com, we suggest:
Biscuits with Cheddar and Mustard Greens
Ingredients:
§ 3 cups whole grain flour
§ 1 tablespoon baking powder
§ 2 teaspoons kosher salt
§ 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
§ 2 cups cooked leafy greens, well-chopped (try batches with different greens, maybe you’ll like chard or turnip greens more)
§ 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Add the grated cheese and combine with a fork.
3. Stir in the cooked greens.
4. Add 1 cup of milk and stir. Continue adding milk and mixing until the dough just comes together and all the flour is incorporated.
5. Using a large spoon, cookie scoop or a 1/2 cup measuring cup, portion the dough into a parchment or a non-stick silicone baking mat.
6. Bake drop biscuits at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, until they are golden brown on top and the visible cheese bubbles slightly.
7. Remove from the oven. Serve hot.
You can freeze these biscuits either prior to baking or after. This makes for easy dinners when you need them, and something to go well with a butternut soup this winter.
What follows are two turnip recipes from Helen Nearing’s Simple Food for the Good Life.
Shredded Turnips
Grate a pound of white winter turnips. Cook for 15 minutes in a skillet with 4 tbsp of oil or butter. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Glazed Turnips
3 white turnips, peeled and diced
3 tbsp butter
½ C maple syrup
Cover turnips with boiling water. Cook 15 minutes and drain. Put butter and syrup in a skillet. Saute until glazed, turning occasionally.
Turnips and Apples
5 small turnips, peeled and cubed
1 c boiling water
3 apples
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
Simmer turnips in the boiling water while peeling and cubing apples. Simmer both together until tender.
Add lemon juice and honey and serve.
CAASTLC's Seeds of Hope Farm 