August 11th, 2016 Week 9 B

Threshing Table Farm Week 9 A

August 11th, 2016

What’s in this week’s box?

Swiss Chard potatoes Beans Jalapeno peppers

Dill Onion Carrots Eggplant

Cucumber Tomatoes Summer Squash Sweet Peppers

Cilantro

It’s the salsa box!! Everything you need to make a fabulous fresh salsa is in this box! The tomatoes are just beginning. Do you remember in spring when I asked you to vote for a new variety of vegetable? The Berkley Tie Dye tomato was one of the winners. They are beautiful! A little oddly shaped at times, but so pretty! They’re a mild tomato with great flavor. We’ve tried to get one in every box along with other varieties- enjoy! And to those of you who voted… Great Pick!!

The Jalapeno peppers are in the paper bag. Do not touch the insides of them with bare hands! I learned the hard way from a salsa making event. The oils from the peppers can really burn your skin!

Week 9 is our half way point in the season. Hard to believe we’re half way through- but that means there are still 9 weeks of fabulous veggies! If you are a summer half share, we wish you farewell! If you want to extend your share to a full share to continue receiving your box of produce each week- please let us know. We will see if we can work something out.

We’re expecting some good rains Wednesday and Thursday. Amongst all of our regular harvesting, we are working hard to get the onions pulled into the greenhouse to finish curing before the rain comes. We’ve got about half of them in there now. It’s a race against nature!

We have a sassy pig on the farm. He crawls out under the electric wire- several times a day. He doesn’t travel far and he puts himself back in if we shower the pigs with water (they love that!) or feed them scraps. (Their favorites are from Table 65’s kitchen or our pack shed.) If you’re at the farm this weekend- take a look by the hoop house. You may see him up to his antics. J

Claudia has been busy taking photos this summer and putting them on Instagram. Check out all that’s been happening around here! Find us on Instagram at:

threshing_table_farm

We’re less than 2 weeks from our Pack Shed Party! We hope you can make it!!!

We’re looking for a few volunteers to help with parking and managing the pot-luck food. (Uncovering/adding serving utensils,etc. when it’s time to eat, removing empty containers, etc.) Please let me know if you’d be able to help. Thank you!!!

Please come to Threshing Table Farm’s

2nd Annual Pack Shed Party!!

Friday August 19th,

6:30pm -??

Music provided by Gravel Road

Please bring a dish to pass,

A-H main dish

I-P salad/side

Q-Z desserts

Chairs and beverages for your family are helpful too! We will provide lemonade and water. We will be passing a hat (or two!) to pay the band; So come with some cash, and show your appreciation!

Our address is:

2249, 150th st, Star Prairie WI

Thanks so much! We can’t wait to see you there!!

Farm City Day: The 2016 Farm City Day will be held on Saturday, August 13 at the Kruschke family’s Crisdhome Farm near New Richmond. This is a great community opportunity to see how a farm runs. There will be a free lunch, farm tour, ice cream, petting zoo, and lots of vendors. The event will take place rain or shine. For more information visit www.sccfarmcityday.com.

Kruschke’s are our neighbors- and we’ll be helping out with this event. Come on out and see their dairy farm! I’ll be there with a table about the farm as well as helping to serve the free lunch from noon-2. We’ll also have our farm open from 8am-2pm- stop by and say hi to Mike! We’ll be open for the pubic every Saturday from 8-1 until the season is done.

Phil’s Raspberries

Phil’s fall raspberries are starting!! We should have them each week until heavy frost comes. Please let me know if you’d like to order any- I’ll be able to get them to you starting next week. $4 a pint. If ordering, please let us know:
*Which Thursday you would like them
* Where your pick up site is.

Checks can be made out to Phil McConville. – and mailed to us at: Threshing Table Farm, 2249 150^th St. Star Prairie, WI 54026 (or left at the farm in the “egg $” bucket.)

Needed: Egg Cartons. Drop them off at the farm anytime! Thanks!!

In this box….

Carrots: Keep in crisper drawer or plastic bag.

Potatoes- Store in cool, dry place.

Beans: Store in plastic bag left open in the refrigerator.

Swiss Chard: Store in crisper drawer, salad spinner, etc.

Dill and cilantro: Plastic container in refrigerator.

Onions: Starting to cure. Counter is probably fine, but watch closely for soft spots.

Tomatoes: On the counter. We like to send them in varying stages of ripeness so you can have some to use all week. They’ll ripen nicely on your counter.

Cucumber and Summer Squash: Crisper Drawer. Summer squash and zucchini can be used interchangeably in all recipes.

Eggplant: Refrigerate

Peppers: Crisper drawer

Pot Luck Potato Salad

I threw this together for a church pot luck on Sunday. No exact measurements- but it sure tasted great!!

4-6 potatoes, boiled until tender. Cool. Dice.

1 summer squash, diced

small handful of onion, diced

2 Swiss chard leaves and stems, chopped, sautéed in olive oil

Dill, chopped

Salt and Pepper,

Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Gently toss all together. Enjoy!!

*Best at room temperature. Feel free to add additional veggies you have on hand.

Veggie Quinoa Chili

½ lb ground beef, optional

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup minced onion

2 t. garlic, minced

2 t. chili powder

1 t. ground cumin

1 t. paprika

½ t. chili flakes

1 c. quinoa, rinsed

1 small summer squash, diced

1 15oz can black beans

1 c. corn

2 cups diced tomatoes (or 1 can)

4 c. water

Salt to taste

Cilantro, avocado, sour cream for garnish

Brown beef in large soup pot. Add olive oil if needed, garlic and onion. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add spices and cook 2 more minutes.

Add quinoa, summer squash, beans, corn, tomatoes and water. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.

Top with cilantro, avocado and sour cream.

Mango Salsa

1 mango

2 tomatoes

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno

¼ cup chopped onion

2 T. chopped cilantro

1 tsp. minced garlic

Chop all ingredients. Seed the jalapeno as well as chop it.

Mix together and serve. Great as a topping on fish or chicken as well as eaten with tortilla chips or crackers.

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

August 4th, Week 8 – 2016

What’s in this week’s box?

Celery leaves potatoes Beans SavoyCabbage

Dill Onion Carrots Eggplant

Cucumber Broccoli Summer Squash Pepper

Beets Radishes

We are playing a little bit of catch-up this week. Two weekends ago we spent lots of time away from the farm at the county fair. This past weekend, the kids and I spent the weekend in Kewaunee, WI to celebrate my grandma’s 90^th birthday. We had a great family reunion. It was wonderful to be in the place where I fell in love with farming. Claudia was very excited to milk cows with her great- uncle Mark and she even got to name his newest cow. Her name? St. Croix! My grandma was a farm wife for most of her life. She and my grandpa are still an inspiration to me. She’s seen so much in her 90 years! I am the only grandchild on either side of my farming family- who is a farmer. I’m humbled to be carrying on that legacy.

Luckily for our farm, Mike was here holding down the farm this weekend. We couldn’t both be gone two weekends in a row. We’re starting to pull the garlic and it looks amazing! The onions are starting to get pulled and cured. The tomatoes are starting to show their colors and oh my goodness… the first ground cherries are ready if you look really carefully! And they taste amazing! You’ll have to take my word for it for another week or two until we have enough to share. So much still to get done and so much amazing food coming your way!

August is full of farm fun!!

Please come to Threshing Table Farm’s

2nd Annual Pack Shed Party!!

Friday August 19th,

6:30pm -??

Music provided by Gravel Road

Please bring a dish to pass,

A-H main dish

I-P salad/side

Q-Z desserts

Chairs and beverages for your family are helpful too! We will provide lemonade and water. We will be passing a hat (or two!) to pay the band; So come with some cash, and show your appreciation!

Our address is:

2249, 150th st, Star Prairie WI

Thanks so much! We can’t wait to see you there!!

Kruschke’s are our neighbors- and we’ll be helping out with this event. Come on out and see their dairy farm! We’ll also have our farm open from 8am-1pm- stop by and say hi! We’ll be open for the pubic every Saturday from 8-1 until the season is done.

Needed: Egg Cartons. Drop them off at the farm anytime! Thanks!!

In this box….

Carrots: Keep in crisper drawer or plastic bag.

Potatoes- Store in cool, dry place.

Beans: Store in plastic bag left open in the refrigerator.

Broccoli: Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator

Dill and celery leaves: Plastic container in refrigerator.

Onions: Not cured yet, so keep them in the crisper drawer

Savoy Cabbage: Crisper Drawer

Cucumber and Summer Squash: Crisper Drawer

Radishes and Beets: Take tops off the roots for long term storage. Store greens like any salad greens. Roots in the crisper drawer.

Eggplant: Refrigerate

Peppers: Crisper drawer

Cucumber Sandwich Spread

1 ½ cup chopped cucumber

Chopped celery leaves to taste

3oz package cream cheese

½ cup mayo

1 T. minced onion

salt and pepper to taste

Mix and serve on bread or crackers. Yum!!

Grilled Eggplant

Eggplant, sliced

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Sprinkle egg plant slices lightly with salt. Place in colander and let stand one hours. Wipe excess salt off eggplant. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Grill, broil or sauté on both sides until golden brown (approximately 5-8 minutes.)

Eggplant Pizzas

2 medium eggplants, unpeeled, cut into ½ inch slices

½ cup olive oil (reserve 1 T.)

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. pizza sauce

1 c. grated mozzarella cheese

(Other pizza toppings, optional)

Place eggplant slices on baking sheet. Brush each slice with oil and broil until the eggplant is golden brown. Turn the slices over and repeat. In a large sauce pan, heat 1 T. oil and sauté onion and garlic. Add pizza sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and carefully spread on eggplant slices. Sprinkle with cheese and broil 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the eggplant heated through.

Halibut with Roasted Beets, Beet Greens, and Dill-Orange Gremolata

Ingredients

Servings: 4

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
3 medium (1 1/2- to 2-inch) beets with green tops attached; beets trimmed and scrubbed, beet greens very coarsely chopped (4 to 6 cups)
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
4 6- to 7-ounce halibut fillets or mahi-mahi fillets (about 1 inch thick)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush large rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Mix dill and peel in small bowl for gremolata. Place beets in medium glass bowl; add enough water to cover beets halfway. Microwave on high until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain. Cool beets slightly. Peel and cut into slices. Return beets to same bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon gremolata, and onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss well. Toss beet greens in another medium bowl with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Spread beet slices in single layer on half of prepared baking sheet. Mound beet greens on other half of baking sheet. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper; place fish fillets atop beet greens. Brush fish with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle fish with 2 tablespoons gremolata.
Roast fish and vegetables until fish is just opaque in center, about 8 minutes. Divide fish and vegetables among plates. Sprinkle with remaining gremolata and serve

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

July 7 Week 4 B

Threshing Table Farm Week 4 B

July 7th, 2016

What’s in this week’s box?

Bok Choi Peas Parsley
Beans Sunflower Sprouts Kale Turnips Onion Baby Red Potatoes Lettuce

Tonight I am writing this letter to the gentle rumbles of thunder and the soothing sounds of rain. I am one happy, relaxed farmer! We have been needing rain really badly. Mike has been moving irrigation non-stop every 12 hours for the past week and then some. Everything has been so dry! Irrigation is helpful, but nothing beats the rain that nature provides. We hope to see some huge gains in our zucchini, summer squash and cucumber patches as a result.

We hope you all had a wonderful 4^th! We got a lot of farming done as well as some visiting and sitting around the camp fire. It’s always good to have a reason to stop working and enjoy the people and land around u s. Hopefully, you got to do the same. Now that July is here it’s time to get ready for the county fair! The boys’ have been working with grandpa on their woodworking projects, Claudia is sorting through photos she’s taken for the photograpy project and all 3 are working with their show calves.

We are excited to be sharing the first of the potatoes with you! They are not washed. Baby red potatoes have a very fragile skin. They will wash right off if you are not careful. We feel it is best to send the potatoes dirty and allow you to wash them off before you prepare them. You will see them like this for a few weeks, until the skins toughen up and then we will be washing them for you. The paper bag they come in is an effort to keep the dirt off of the rest of your food.

Cooking Class

Moorish Style Pork with Couscous

One of our CSA members Sue Keskinen and her sister, Katje, will be teaching this cooking class on July 19th from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in our packing shed. They will show you all the steps to create this meal and also give you the recipes. You will then enjoy the meal and have the opportunity to ask questions about its preparation. If you like, you can bring your own wine or beer to have with the meal. Class size is limited to 10 people.

Cost: $10, bring payment to the class.

Please RSVP to Sue at skeskinen@yahoo.com

Phil’s Raspberries

Phil’s Raspberries are ready!! If you pick up at the farm, there will be some for sale on Thursday. If you would like to order some to be delivered with your share next week, July 14^th, please e-mail me with your order. 1 pint of raspberries is $4. First come, first serve. We will fill orders as they and the berries come. Phil also offers u-pick in beautifully groomed raspberry beds. Give him a call if you would like to come to Star Prairie for raspberry picking. 715-781-5861

Bok Choi – Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Peas- store in a covered container in the fridge.

Lettuce- Salad Spinner and then store in covered container.

Kale- Great for salads or sautéing. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Potatoes- Store in cool, dry place. Because these have not been cured, use soon.

Beans: Store in plastic bag left open in the refrigerator.

Sunflower sprouts- Store in a plastic bag in fridge.

Parsley- Plastic container in the refrigerator

Turnips: Remove greens for longer storage. Store greens as you would any salad green, Turnips do best in the crisper drawer.

Onion: These are young onions that are being pulled to make room in the onion patch. You can use the greens as well as the bulb. Store in the refrigerator.

Bok Choi Salad

topping:

1 cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup sesame seeds

dressing:

3 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 fresh onion with greens, thinly sliced
1½ pounds bok choy

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread slivered almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Set aside.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a saucepan set over medium heat. The moment the sugar is completely liquefied, add almonds, stirring briskly to coat, then sesame seeds, stirring until evenly distributed. Do this quickly, so that the mixture does not burn. Immediately transfer nut mixture to a plate and let cool.
In the same saucepan, bring the dressing ingredients to a boil: sugar, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add sliced green onions and remove from heat. Dressing can be used while warm or cool.
Meanwhile, slice the bok choy crosswise into ½-inch pieces. Bits of dirt can lodge themselves in the greens’ numerous crevices, so thoroughly wash and dry the greens after you’ve chopped them. Place bok choy in a large bowl, and toss with dressing. Just before serving, add the nut mixture and toss well.

Potato, Green Bean and Parsley Salad

2lbs new potatoes
½ lb long green beans, ends removed
olive oil
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted
salt and pepper
small handful of parsley, roughly chopped
150g feta

Halve the spuds if need be and boil in plenty of salted water until they are tender. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Blanch the beans in boiling water for about a minute – you want them to retain their fresh crunch so take care not to overcook them. Run under cold water to cool them down, drain, then add to the potatoes. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, followed by all remaining ingredients except for the feta, and toss everything together to combine.

Taste and season accordingly, then transfer to a serving platter or dish. Scatter the feta over the top and serve.

Here are some options I found on line for dressings to pair with sunflower sprouts. Add them to lettuce salads and try one of these dressings!

Because sunflower shoots are pretty crunchy, they pair best with something creamy. Here are some topping ideas for a sunflower shoot salad:

Goat cheese + lemon vinaigrette (Blend 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon warm water, the zest of one lemon, salt, and black pepper.)
Cannellini beans + creamy vinaigrette (Blend 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of soft tofu, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1 chopped shallot, salt, and black pepper.)
Avocado vinaigrette: Blend 1/4 cup of lime juice, 1/2 of an avocado, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, salt, and black pepper.
Yogurt sauce: Blend 1 cup yogurt, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Thin with olive oil and lemon juice. (Variation – Nutty yogurt sauce: Whisk in up to 1/4 cup of your favorite nut butter to the yogurt mixture. Thin with olive oil, rice vinegar, and honey.)

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

June 30, 2016 Week 3 “A”

Threshing Table Farm Week 3 A

June 30, 2016

What’s in this week’s box?

Garlic Scapes Peas Basil Beets

Sunflower Sprouts Kale Turnips

Baby Romaine Strawberries Parsley Lettuce

Summer has moved in and spring is gone. We see it in the vegetables as well as the neighbor’s field crops around our farm. The spinach is done . We will miss it but it was a treat while it was here! The heat this past weekend did it in. The beets have sized up beautifully and we’re sending them this week but then we’ll be taking a break from them for a while. The kale is ready for its first picking and we look forward to many more. Strawberries are still in full swing and we’re thrilled to have Sugar Snap Peas!!! These are super sweet peas that are meant to be eaten, pod and all. On a side note- the sweet corn is way past my knees! (Ever hear the saying, “Knee high by the 4^th of July”? It refers to a farmer’s goal of having knee high corn by the 4^th.) Our 1^st planting is on track! Of course, my knees are closer to the ground than most, but we won’t worry about that detail.

The Sunflower sprouts are nutritious and delicious! We took a trip to Milwaukee this winter and while there, visited Will Allen’s Growing Power Greenhouse. We saw them being grown there and thought we would give them a try. Yummy! The sprouts are great to mix into salads as well as eat them as a snack.

We try real hard to keep extra plastic packaging out of the CSA boxes. It keeps costs down and most importantly, doesn’t add garbage to the world. We use the cloth and mesh bags to deliver things to you that might otherwise get “lost” in the share box. Please feel free to take them home with your produce. When you’ve emptied them, please return them the following week when you pick up your produce. We’ll wash and reuse them. My mom, aunts and sister have sewn these for us over the years. It’s fun to see what color/design is on the bag each week. There are a lot of designs to choose from!

The cucumbers are starting to come in the hoophouse! We were able to plant them out there earlier than in the field. We just have a short “trial” row of cucs in the hoophouse and the bulk of the cucs are in the field. We just have a dozen or so cucs that are ready, so we’ll be putting them in random boxes. If you have a cucumber, you’ve won the veggie lottery! No worries, in a couple of weeks everyone will be getting lots of them!

Wanted: Clean ice cream buckets with handles. Covers optional. As we head into bean picking season, they come in really handy. Leave them at your pickup site and we’ll get them. Thank you!!

Garlic Scapes- Scapes are the early treat the garlic plants give us each summer. Cut them into tiny pieces and sauté or cook as you would garlic cloves. Great fresh garlic flavor! You can freeze scapes too. I dice them up, package, label and freeze. You can grab a pinch or two of scapes out of the freezer any time you want to sauté garlic.

Peas- store in a covered container in the fridge.

Lettuce- Salad Spinner and then store in covered container.

Kale- Great for salads or sautéing. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Beets- For storage, remove the greens from the root. The root can be stored in a drawer in the refrigerator. The greens should be stored like lettuce or Spinach. Great for salads and sautéing.

Sunflower sprouts- Store in a plastic bag in fridge.

Basil- I’m changing my thought on the basil- I’m having the best luck putting it in with my salad greens in a covered container.

Parsley- same as basil

Strawberries- Refrigerator. But really, did they make it home?

Turnips: Remove greens for longer storage. Store greens as you would any salad green, Turnips do best in the crisper drawer.

Looking for a cooking class to boost your veggie intake?

Well look no more! Member Susan Keskinen is offering a class on the farm-

Save the date!! Tuesday, July 19^th. More info to come in next week’s newsletter!!

Roasted Beet and Turnip Salad

For the salad

3/4 lb. red beets, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch wedges
1/2 lb. turnips
1/2 lb. potatoes
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
salt
3 cups torn salad greens
1 lightly packed cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts

For the vinaigrette

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
salt
1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. fresh orange juice; more to taste
1/2 to 1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1 to 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
black pepper

Roast the vegetables

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl, toss the beets with 1 Tbs. of the oil and 1/2 tsp. salt. Transfer to a large rimmed heavy-duty baking sheet. Spread into a single layer.

In another large bowl, combine the turnips and potatoes with the remaining 1 Tbs. of oil and another 1/2 tsp salt. Transfer to a large rimmed heavy-duty baking sheet. Spread into a single layer.

Roast the vegetables, flipping with a spatula halfway through and rotating the baking sheets, until browned and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the sheets. Transfer to a large bowl.

Make the vinaigrette

Heat the oil in a 8-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and softened, about 15 seconds. Remove from the heat. Let the oil cool for 3 to 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small heatproof bowl, whisk the vinegar, honey, orange juice, zest, thyme, mustard, 1/4 tsp. salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper. Whisk the warm oil into the vinegar mixture until emulsified.

Season to taste, adding more orange juice, salt, or pepper as needed.

Assemble the salad

In a large bowl, combine the greens and parsley leaves. Lightly season with salt and then drizzle with 2 Tbs. of the warm vinaigrette. Toss, taste, and add a little more dressing, if necessary. Arrange the greens on a platter or plates.

Season the roasted vegetables with a pinch more salt, and dress them lightly with 1 to 2 Tbs. of the remaining vinaigrette. Scatter over the greens, then top with the hazelnuts. Serve right away, passing the remaining dressing at the table.

Turnip Greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic scape, chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound turnip greens, washed, stemmed, and chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until tender and fragrant. Add the washed and cleaned turnip greens. Mix together. Cook until they have wilted down, about 3 minutes. Add pepper to taste.

In a small bowl, whisk the Dijon mustard with the chicken stock. Add to the wilted greens and cook until the liquid has all but evaporated. Add the toasted pecans and serve immediately.

Kale, Basil and Avocado Salad

1 bunch of kale, stems removed

2 roma tomatoes diced
1 large ripe avocado chopped into cubes
2 stalks of celery finely sliced
¼ cup of soaked sun dried tomatoes finely sliced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
½ a teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of fresh raw pinenuts
2 tablespoons of finely chopped basil

Chop the kale well and massage with olive oil, salt and lemon to soften and wilt slightly. Mix the massaged kale with all the remaining ingredients. Pile high in serving bowls and serve with a wedge of fresh lemon.

Kale & Almond Milk Smoothie:

1C kale
1C almond milk
1-2 Tbsp nut butter
½ banana

Kale & Blueberry-Honey Smoothie:

1C kale
½ C blueberries
½ C strawberries
½ C plain yogurt
1 Tbsp honey

Kale & Orange Smoothie:

1C kale
1C ice
1C orange juice
2 Tbsp mint leaves
2 Tbsp cilantro
2 Tbsp parsley

*For fruit smoothies use frozen fruit or just add up to 1C of ice

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

Week 2 B – June 23, 2016

Claudia found a friend in the field!

Threshing Table Farm Week 2 B

June 23rd, 2016

What’s in this week’s box?

Garlic Scapes Spinach Basil Beets

Red leaf Lettuce Swiss Chard Green Onions

Baby Romaine Strawberries

Hello from the farm! What a beautiful week of weather we’ve had! A little bit of rain, some humidity, cool mornings, hot afternoons and lots of sunshine are making things grow! We are in the most intense time of our farming season. There is a lot of pressure to weed every spare moment. We’re also spending a lot of time harvesting and washing produce while still planting things into the field. It makes for very early mornings and very late nights, but the sunrises and sunsets are worth every minute of sleep we are lacking!

Great news! The Strawberries are amazing!! We keep bee hives at Demulling Farm and in exchange, we can pick strawberries for our boxes. They need the bees and we need the berries, so it’s a win-win! Many of you ordered 5lbs or more of berries to be delivered with your share. If you would like to do the same for next week, please send us an e-mail with how many 5lb flats you would like and mail us a check written out to: Demulling Farms. $18 for 5lbs. (Or if you are at the farm, drop it in the “egg money” container.)

Not so great news: The peas are not quite ready. Mother nature has taught me not to commit to anything when it comes to veggies. So- I should have known better than to promise peas this week… I’m either a slow learner or just really optimistic. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the peas will be ready… next week. (Yes, definitely optimistic.)

We have had an interesting year with lettuce. For reasons we can’t figure out, we’ve had poor germination in the greenhouse. So we planted LOTS of flats of lettuce to make up for the ones that didn’t grow. Once in the field, we’ve battled the goats! We love our 2 pygmy goats, Tina and Cheyenne who wander the farm eating scrub brush. In 5 years, they’ve never bothered the fields. This year- they’ve found the lettuce and are quite the fans. Malcolm is the #1 goat chaser who runs them off when they’re spotted in the field. They’ve been leaving the lettuce alone the past few weeks so we’ve got lots of beautiful lettuce!

When we moved our chickens out into the moveable coop, we had 1 mama and 7 babies that couldn’t go with. So we let them free-range around the farm. They’ve been fun to watch and it’s boggled our minds to see how many miles they put on each day! One moment they’re in the shed, the next under the swing set and a few moments later- near the treehouse. Last week, they found the greenhouse and were attempting to eat the baby plants there. 3 times we chased them out and that was the last straw. They were moved into the permanent coop with a fenced yard. I wondered how mama would take to this confinement and I can honestly say- I think she’s relieved! She’s been exhausted running after all those little ones and is thrilled that they are all in the same place!

Spinach- Store as you would any salad green. Eat raw or cooked.

Lettuce- Salad Spinner and then store in covered container.

Swiss Chard- Great for salads or sautéing. Salad spin and then store in a covered container.

Beets- For storage, remove the greens from the root. The root can be stored in a drawer in the refrigerator. The greens should be stored like lettuce or Spinach. Great for salads and sautéing.

Green Onions- Store in Produce drawer; the ENTIRE onion can be chopped and eaten.

Basil- I’m changing my thought on the basil- I’m having the best luck putting it in with my salad greens in a covered container.

Strawberries- Refrigerator. But really, did they make it home?

Please remember to bring bags, boxes or containers when picking up your produce. We’d like to keep costs down by making sure we don’t lose any of our delivery boxes. It also helps to ensure that no boxes are used for things other than produce.

Recipes

Spaghetti and Beets

I made this dish up for supper- yum!

Diced beets

Chopped beet greens

Olive oil

Garlic scapes

Cooked Spaghetti

Spaghetti Sauce (with or without meat).

Saute the beets and garlic scapes in olive oil. When tender add beet greens to the pan. Saute until wilted. Place spaghetti on your plate, top with beets and then spaghetti sauce. Top with cheese if you would like.

Chard Salad

2 tsp. olive oil

3 green onions, chopped

1 garlic scape, chopped

4 cups chopped swiss chard

½ cup dried cherries

1 T. water

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 1 minute. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add chard, cherries, 1 tablespoon water, pepper, and salt; toss to coat. Sauté 2 minutes or until chard begins to wilt. Stir in vinegar.

Basil and Spinach Pesto
1 cup packed spinach

1 cup packed basil leaves

1 T. chopped garlic scape

1/3 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup olive oil

¾ cup parmesan cheese

**Pesto is made to taste. Add or subtract any amounts to get the taste you like.

Blend all in food processor until smooth.

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

June 16, 2016 Week 1

lenz-July 09, 2014-547A0171

Threshing Table Farm Week 1A

June 16, 2016

What’s in this week’s box??

Garlic Scape Spinach Basil Beets

Lettuce Swiss Chard Green Onions

The first greens of the season are a reason to pause and savor the moment. It’s one of those moments in the year that marks the passage of time and the promise of so much more to come! Put your feet up, enjoy a fresh salad and feed your body and soul. This is a small taste of all that summer promises.

Welcome to a brand new farm season! It’s year 9 for us on the farm and we’re just as excited as every year before! It’s wonderful to watch for the return of our old friends in the garden- crunchy spinach, curling garlic scapes , fragrant tomato plants, and even the stubborn weeds! We’re happy to have dirt in our hands again, worms surfacing and birds serenading us. Thank you for returning as a member (or starting new!) It feels like our community has reconnected after the long winter. This is most evident as we visit with our work share members in the field while we harvest or plant.

New Things:

*We are now in our new pack shed! We built it last summer and Mike’s been working hard to finish some final projects in it. The ability to wash everything in the shed and have larger cooler space is wonderful! We recently hosted a “Farmin’ After 5” for the New Richmond Chamber. It’s was a great night with opportunity for other area business people to enjoy the farm with their families. It reminded us of our Pack Shed party last August. We’re happy to share that a 2^nd Pack Shed Party will be happening on AUGUST 19^TH! Save the Date! More info to come! Gravel Road will again be providing the music… You don’t want to miss it!!

*We have two new pick up sites- Hill Murray School and My Happy Place in Somerset. Welcome! We appreciate our pick up sites and coordinators a lot! Please tell them thank you for hosting when you pick up. Great news if you pick up at My Happy Place (or want to get a little shopping done…) My Happy Place is open until 6pm.

*Mama hen and 6 little ones… Too cute!

* A hoop house we put up in December. We’re trying several things inside- tomatoes to hold after frost, basil that may escape the prairie winds and cucumbers- crawling up a trellis. It’s fun watching what grows best and what is best left outside.

*Threshing Table Farm T-shirts! More info to come!

*And more…. Keep reading the newsletters!

The kids are enjoying summer vacation. Jonas is at 4-H camp this week and the older two are helping with Vacation Bible School. They are all HUGE helps on the farm! Claudia, who graduated from 8^th grade rivals Mike and I for the number of hours spent farming. It helps that our full-time employee Laura is so much fun to hang out with. The boys can be seen out working with us most mornings and everyone is looking forward to the County fair and working at (or thinking about working at) their projects.

Newsletters:

A newsletter will come your way on Wednesday morning EVERY week. Even on weeks you don’t get produce (if you are a half share.) PLEASE read them! I try to keep it to two pages. (Though I’m never successful with the first letter!) Each newsletter will give you farm news, recipes and storage tips as well as a list of what is in your box. If you are a half share and it is your “off” week , information and recipes will very likely help you use your share the following week. The newsletter is the best way to connect with what is going on here at the farm. In addition, find the Threshing Table Farm Facebook page and “like” us! (You can also follow us on Insta-gram. Claudia keeps everyone updated with great farm photos there. )

Produce:

Please note that though we take great care in making sure that your food is safe and clean, we cannot wash produce on the farm as well as you can in your kitchen. Though you don’t have to worry about chemicals being on your food from our farm, nature is all around us. Our vegetables grow in… well… dirt! So please wash your produce once again- at home, before eating or cooking. If you don’t have a salad spinner, we highly recommend getting one.

Spinach- Store as you would any salad green. Eat raw or cooked.

Lettuce- Salad Spinner and then store in covered container.

Swiss Chard- Great for salads or sautéing. Salad spin and then store in a covered container.

Beets- For storage, remove the greens from the root. The root can be stored in a drawer in the refrigerator. The greens should be stored like lettuce or Spinach. Great for salads and sautéing.

Green Onions- Store in Produce drawer; the ENTIRE onion can be chopped and eaten.

Basil- Does best in a glass of water on the counter.

Recipes

*I imagine some amazing salads will be taking place this week. Here are a few other ideas for your produce. Enjoy!

Wilted Beet and Chard Salad

beets with the leaves
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces of goat cheese, crumbled

For the dressing:
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Chop off the beet greens and set them aside. Peel the beets and either grate them on a box grater or in a food processor.

Wash the beet greens and chard. Shake to remove excess water, but no need to dry. Remove the tough center ribs and give them a rough chop. Stack the leaves on top of each other and slice them crosswise into thick ribbons.

Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot on medium heat. Add the stems and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the leaves of the chard and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the leaves have wilted and taste very tender. If the leaves still taste bitter, season with additional salt. Transfer the chard to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

To make the dressing, whisk together the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Season with salt and pepper, then stream in the olive oil while whisking vigorously.

Combine the greens and the shredded beets, and toss with the vinaigrette (depending on how much chard you have and how saturated you want your greens, you may have some vinaigrette left over). Serve, topping each plate with goat cheese.

This salad will keep refrigerated for up to one week. Wait to top with goat cheese until serving.

Fresh Basil Dressing

Small bunch of fresh basil

¾ cup olive oil

½ tsp. sea salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. lemon juice

Blend all in a blender or food processor until smooth and serve with salad.

Spinach and Garlic Fritatta

3 Tablespoons olive oil

10 eggs

1 cup finely chopped raw spinach

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 T. chopped basil

Chopped garlic scapes (to taste)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F
In a large bowl mix egg, spinach ,cheese, herbs, salt and pepper.
Heat oil in 10-inch ovenproof skillet on the stove. Add the garlic scapes and sauté until tender on med. heat.(about 5 minutes).
Pour egg mixture in skillet with garlic and cook over low 3 minutes Place in oven and bake uncovered 10 minutes or until top is set.
Loosen bottom with spatula and cut into wedges and serve

Next week: Peas and Strawberries J

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

June, 2016

Hello Threshing Table Farm members!

Just a quick note to say Happy June! We are so excited to get those first veggies out to you and we know you are too! Things aren’t ready yet- so thank you for your patience! We’ve been very busy planting, weeding and more weeding! The fields are starting to fill up- Beans, beets, lettuce, cabbage, swiss chard, kale, spinach, green onions, regular onions, leeks, and more recently tomatoes- are all in! (Plus more I’m forgetting- like the first two plantings of sweet corn!) The greenhouse is still packed and we’re continuing to plant in there as well.

The weeding continues to take up much of our time- today we’ll be weeding the peas! (Did I mention the peas?) We also have lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet potatoes in our hoophouse. The sweet potatoes are on trial to see how they will do in our new hoophouse. Remember the chance to vote for new veggies this spring? The Berkley tie-dye tomato plants were transplanted in last night! Soon the Autumn Crown pumpkins will come out of the greenhouse too.

We’re battling flea beetles on our broccoli and chineese cabbage. Those buggers are quite industrious and plentiful. The potato plants are just starting to emerge and already we are seeing potato bugs and their eggs. They too are very excited for the new plants to emerge. We’re keeping an eye on the potato bug population for now and we’re keeping the cabbage covered with white row cover that allows the sun and rain through- but hopefully not the flea beetles. The broccoli can usually take a pretty good munch by the beetles and still thrive. In a few weeks, the flea beetle “season” will be behind us, so we’re charging forward with optimism. 🙂

We’re not sure if enough things will be ready to go in two weeks (June 16th) or if we’ll hold delivery off until the 23rd. We’ll keep you posted when we make the decision. Timing is everything. Though the first box or two is usually a little lighter, we hope to make sure you have some variety, so we’re waiting on several things to ripen at once.

Happy Summer Vacation and graduation for all those moving through the school seasons. The kids are all home for the first day of summer vacation today and we’re happy to have them home again. They are good helpers and even better comic relief. And once the peas and carrots are ripe, I hear a lot less of “Mom, we don’t have anything good to eat!”

Please let us know if you have any questions and we’ll be back in touch soon!

Jody and Mike Lenz

February, 2016 Newsletter

Hi Threshing Table Farm Members!

We are about a week from starting the greenhouse, but a lot of farming has already been happening in preparation. This farming takes place in the form of planning, inspiration and building relationships. All of this is important to do in the winter, because it sets the stage for much of what we do in the summer.

Pick up sites
We have had some changes to our pick up sites. The changes are reflected in our sign up link on the website, but we wanted to review them here.

Somerset
Our Somerset site will be moved a few doors down the street this year. Instead of picking up at Somerset Rental, you may pick up your share at My Happy Place on Main Street. Cherie and staff will have the boxes available from 10:00am – 7pm. (The boxes may be available earlier- we’ll get those details worked out closer to summer.)

Minneapolis
We will be discontinuing delivery to our Minneapolis sites of: Time Out Pilates Studio and Fairview Homecare and Hospice.

Hill Murray
We are going to start delivering to Hill Murray School in St. Paul. This will only be available for staff and families of Hill Murray. An invitation for HM families to join our CSA will be going out shortly.

All other sites will stay the same. Thank you to all of our pick- up site hosts for graciously welcoming us and our farm members each year!

We want to make sure all returning members get signed up. Please sign up soon to reserve your spot! http://threshingtablefarm.csasignup.com/members/types

Relationship Building

We cannot successfully run our farm without help from many others! We’ve been enjoying taking time to meet with others who help us move our vision forward. We are blessed with SO MANY members who support us with their time and talents! Here’s a small sampling of those we’ve been working with this winter:

Aimee and Randy Staples of Frog Hollow Studio who have been helping us design our brochures, Valentine’s postcards, flyers, etc.

Minute Man Press who have been printing the brochures and cards.

Lynzy Eggen and her mom Stacie of Designer Logo who have been helping us with T-shirt design/printing. Yes! There will be farm shirts this year!

Ilisa Ailts of Ailt’s Photography who has been working on photography ideas.

And these are just a few! We’ve been building our Threshing Table Farm community for the past 9 years and we are blessed with the talent, depth and generosity that surrounds us.

We are also thrilled to announce that Gravel Road has agreed to play for the 2nd annual Pack Shed Party! They played for the 1st Pack Shed Party and were so much fun to listen and dance to. Put it on your calendars… the Pack Shed Party will be held on Friday, August 19th. Join us!

Social Committee

The Pack Shed party is a lot of fun but does take some time to pull together. We also hope to have a few other smaller, social events during the season. We are looking for some farm members to be on a social committee for the farm. If you like to plan gatherings or want to know the farm and our members a little bit better, please let us know! We love having people out on the farm. Having others help us plan and get ready will help make sure these events happen as smoothly as possible. So please send us an e-mail if you are interested in helping. Thank you!

Inspiration

We took a weekend in January to visit Milwaukee. While there, we visited Will Allen’s Growing Power. While at Growing Power we were inspired to see how growing real food was helping people in the city of Milwaukee who otherwise live in a food desert. Real food helping real people – that’s what it’s all about really. We picked up a few new ideas of things to grow, how to use the space in our own greenhouse better and enjoyed the sights and smells of plants and animals at the Growing Power farm. It’s just what was needed to wake the farmers from a winter slumber. ï��

I’ve also been spending some time reading Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter: On Care for Our Common Home. Talk about Inspiring!! There is so much wisdom and grace in what he says. If you are interested in any part of this earth, (plants to people to social issues to technology) it’s all included. It’s not a difficult read and you certainly don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate the message. It makes me more appreciative for the natural resources I have access to and the responsibility that goes with it.

The seed catalogs are also a huge inspiration to us! We had fun picking out seeds… and now it’s your turn! We’re looking at ordering something extra- something fun to try in the garden this year. Please look at these 3 items and vote on what you would like to see in your box. (We cannot promise success, but we promise to try!) E-mail us with your choice, we’ll order the seeds for what gets the most votes and see how it grows!

Yt67Angel Hair(F1) SquashSeed Convenient size, high yields. Our smallest spaghetti squash variety has 1 1/2-2 lb. fruits, and is perfect for single servings. Highly uniform, egg-shaped fruits with slightly darker shells and sweet, nutty flavor.

Pink Berkeley Tie DyeOrganic Tomato Seed
New! Unique appearance with heirloom-quality flavor.Fruits are dark pink with green striping, and the flesh is pink with yellow streaks. The flavor is outstanding – sweet and complex like the finest heirlooms. The compact, indeterminate plants performed much better than average under disease pressure in our Albion trials. Avg. 167,400 seeds/lb. Packet: 40 seeds

Autumn Crown(F1) Pumpkin Seed
Miniature Long Island Cheese type.
Fantastic squash with excellent eating quality. Avg. fruit yield is 3-5 fruits per plant. Medium-long vine. Extremely uniform, buff-colored fruit. Combines the attractive skin and flesh characteristics of a butternut with a superior shape and great flavor. Internal color is bright orange with a small seed cavity. Fruits have the aroma of sweet melon when cut. 2-4 lb fruits.

I’ll end on a bit of sad news. Oreo, our farm friend and rabbit, passed away this winter at the age of 6 years. He was a two time Grand Champion at the St. Croix County Fair and a Supreme Grand Champion in the hearts of all of us. He’s taught our daughter responsibility and what it takes to care for an animal that is completely dependent on you. Each year Oreo visited the St. Croix County nursing home where he brought smiles and memories forth from people who missed the warmth of a rabbit. He gave Claudia the opportunity to teach others about rabbit care and as a result of his quiet spirit, she found her voice and a way to connect with others. He will be missed by young and old alike. We haven’t decided yet if we will get another rabbit. Time will tell.

Lots has been happening around here and there is so much more to come! Thank you for being a part of our community and allowing us to be your farmers.

We couldn’t do it without you!

Mike and Jody Lenz
Threshing Table Farm
www.threshingtablefarm.org
threshingtablefarm@frontiernet.net