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 2nd Pack Shed Party will be happening on AUGUST 19TH! 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 8th 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.
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.
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.
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
*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