Hello Farm Members!

In your box this week you will find:

Cabbage             Onion               Beans                          Rutabaga                      Kale

Parsley                Thyme             Tomatoes                     Carrots                        Bell Peppers

Summer Squash                         Cucumbers                  Potatoes

 

This is a week of changes and excitement  around the farm. Claudia starts school at Hill  Murray this Thursday. Laura, our steadfast, hardworking employee started school at Century College this past Monday. We will miss those two laughing and working together!  We’ve got some great people who are stepping in to fill in those labor holes. It’s wonderful to have a deep pool of fabulous people to help us out on the farm. We are really grateful to our employees, volunteers and work shares. We couldn’t do it without you!

We are also looking forward to the Pack Shed party!! Please come and join us!!!!!!  Friday night, 6pm potluck, followed by Gravel Road, camp fire, lots of visiting, dancing and fun on the farm! This life we live is intensive, exhausting and too often- serious work. It’s a great thing to be able to relax, kick back and enjoy the farm and the people in our community.

Fabulous fun fact! We’ve accidentally made the discovery that if you store parsley with basil together, in a glass of water, both herbs will last for a very long time. My basil looked great for over a week! The parsley must have a great preservative effect on the basil. Try it and see how it works for you! Sadly, our basil is not looking good, so we cannot send any this week. I am sending parsley, so if you have beautiful basil of your own, put them together in a glass of water. We have a younger batch of basil still coming, so we hope to see some more basil soon.

Elsewhere on the farm- we are winning the battle of keeping Chumley on grass but not wandering free! Our very old horse loves to be put out on grass, but refuses to stay in the temporary fences we make for him. He then quickly wanders off our property, which is not safe. We have started to tie him to a stake in the ground and so far, so good! He gets out on grass for a good part of the day and we feel better, knowing he is where we left him!

The baby chick keeps on peeping and growing. Mama hen is doing  a great job keeping her baby safe from predators, including a black lab puppy who is just too excited about everything! Mama hen has taught Tess who is in charge.

We’re starting to pull the onions in and we are eyeing up the winter squash. It’s turning color nicely and should be ready in the next few weeks to start sending. The cucumbers are quickly coming to a halt. The summer squash is also halting, but at a much slower rate. We should have some for the next few weeks.  The beans we picked this week didn’t time out quite right. One patch was nice but larger than I’d like. The next patch was nice as well, but smaller than I’d like. Kind of like Papa bear beans and Mama Bear beans. Maybe next week, we will find the “just right” sized ones. You’ll know which ones you got as soon as you see them.

We are really thrilled with the tomato crop so far. Beautiful, big tomatoes! And small tomatoes! And striped tomatoes! And yellow tomatoes! This is the first picking and we have a beautiful assortment. There are just a few for each of you this week, but that should increase as the weeks progress. Tomatoes do better if we pick them before they are completely ripe. They will continue to ripen as they sit on your kitchen counter. Use them as they ripen to your liking.

We’re waiting on the next patch of Sweet Corn, so no corn this week.

Cabbage is again a mixed lot. You will get a green Savoy or red cabbage. Use them interchangeably.  Rutabaga is a nice fall item. Some were getting so big though, we decided to harvest a little early. If you would like to store them for a fall dinner, you can. Just place in the crisper drawer and check it now and then for any bad spots. It should store just fine.

Order your Bifrost Goat cheese for delivery the first two weeks in September. www.bifrostfarms.com

Check out last week’s newsletter for info about a bread making class with ancient grains from sunflour mill.

And next week I hope to have the final details for the fairy house pottery class that will be held on the farm September 22nd.

Taher Farm Dinner Saturday, September 23rd. See the e-mail Mike sent out on Monday. If you would like to come, order tickets ASAP. We expect the dinner to sell out quickly.

Storage tips:

In your crisper drawer or open plastic bag in your refrigerator:

Cucumbers, summer squash, cabbage, beans, rutabaga, carrots, kale and peppers

Kitchen Counter: thyme (It will dry nicely), in a glass of water- parsley, tomatoes and onions.

In a dark cabinet: Potatoes

 

Recipes

Raw rutabaga salad

1 whole rutabaga

1 orange

1/4 cup raisins

Grate the rutabaga on a mandolin or large side grater. Put the strips into a bowl. Peel the orange and cut into bite size pieces. Mix the orange pieces with rutabaga. Add some raisins.

Zucchini with pasta

8oz spiral pasta

1/2 c. olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

2-3 small summer squash or zucchini

2 small carrots, sliced

1 pepper, seeded and sliced thin

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta. Heat oil and sauté garlic until slightly browned. Add vegetables and stir. Saute 3-5 minutes or until tender crisp, stirring frequently. Toss with parsley and drained pasta. Season to taste. Sprinkle with grated cheese before serving.

 

Cabbage Sandwich Spread

1/4 cup chopped cabbage

3T. chopped apple

3T. chopped carrot

3T. chopped celery

3T. chopped bell pepper

1 T. chopped onion

1/4 cup mayonnaise

Mix together and spread on bread

 

Roasted chicken, potatoes and thyme
1 1/2 lb.  boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Sweet paprika, to taste
2 Tbs. olive oil
1  onion, finely chopped
1 lb.  potatoes, quartered
8 carrots,  cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. gluten-free flour mix (Or regular flour.)
1 1/3 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup   dry vermouth or dry white wine
1 1/2 Tbs. minced fresh thyme

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and then generously with paprika. In a large, heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onion to the pan and stir, then add the potatoes and carrots. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until the vegetables are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the flour mix and stir to coat. Gradually stir in the broth and vermouth and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil.

Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through, stirring and turning the chicken over occasionally, about 25 minutes. Stir in the thyme. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Divide the chicken and vegetables among 4 warmed plates and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Weeknight Gluten Free, by Kristine Kidd (Weldon Owen, 2013).

Happy eating and see you at the pack shed!
Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas