In this week’s box:

Broccoli        Kale        Summer squash      Potatoes      Cucumbers      onions

Fennel          Dill         Spicy globe basil      Savory      Turnips and greens      Beans

The fair was last week and a lot of fun! The kids showed some of what they learned during the last year and then learned even more while at the fair. Jonas’ highlight was showing Comet the rabbit. Comet enjoyed the outing but was glad to come home to his spacious cage and much quieter surroundings. (Those roosters in the rabbit/poultry barn are sure noisy!) Malcolm earned a Reserve Champion ribbon on his maple syrup and presentation on how to make maple syrup and Claudia did really well in calf showmanship. She’s happy to see how much she’s improved since last year and excited to head to the Wisconsin State fair next week. Everyone ate a lot of fair food that we enjoyed immensely. But, it’s nice to get back the veggies on our plates!

 

On the farm we are continuing to fight the weeds. We have planted the fall carrots and some fall lettuce.. The summer carrots should be ready in a couple of weeks. The green beans are in the box this week and a fairly steady supply of beans will follow. The summer squash are invading!  But we love it!  Cucumbers are coming in at a close second. Lots of good recipes are out there to help you use your cucumbers and summer squash.

 

Summer wouldn’t be summer without summer visitors. This week we were blessed with my sister and her 3 kids visiting from Indiana. They have been having fun running around the farm, swimming in the pool and playing with their cousins. My sister has been helping with the running of the house and meals. That has been a treat!

 

CHICKEN ORDERS

If you ordered chickens from Farm Sweet Farm, I will be picking those up today.  They will be in my freezer and ready for pick up as early as tomorrow.  Please let me know when you will be coming to pick them up and I will make sure to be handy to get them out for you and figure out your total payment.  Thanks!

 

Pack Shed Party

Friday, August 25th. Potluck, Gravel Road, camp fire- lots of great people!

Come one, come all! Bring your own beverages and chairs. We will provide lemonade and water.

Bi-Frost Farm’s Goat milk cheese!

Time to order more Goat’s Milk cheese. Deliveries will be the first two weeks in August.

Due to Meg’s does not milking as much as they should be, she is  short on milk. Therefore she is  only making two kinds of Chevre right now, Plain and Garlic Dill, as they are the most popular. She’s hoping in September to be adding Feta/Salzkase back to the line up.  Order your cheese at:  bifrostfarms.com
715-643-2208

Veggie Info:

Broccoli: Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator

Kale: Plastic bag or crisper drawer

Summer Squash: refrigerator

potatoes: cool, dark place. New potatoes have fragile skins. Wash when you are ready to use and use sooner, rather than later.

Cucumbers: Crisper drawer

Onions: These are fresh, so keep them in the refrigerator

Fennel: refrigerator

Dill and Basil: In glass of water on counter or in plastic bag in refrigerator.

Savory: Leave on the counter to dry or place in refrigerator to keep fresh.

Turnips/Greens: Cut greens off of turnips for storage. Place turnips in crisper drawer and store leaves as you would any greens.

Beans: Keep in a plastic bag in the refrigeartor

 

Turnips with Onions

5 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 T. butter

1 medium onion, chopped

3/4 tsp. marjoram

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Cook turnips 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain. In same saucepan, melt butter. Add onions and cook until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook approximately 5 minutes, stirring often. Turnips should be golden brown.

Cucumber Salad

Mix:

1 1/2 cups sliced cucumber,

2 T. onion,

2 T. feta,

1 Tbsp.red wine vinegar,

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. dill.

Toss and enjoy.

 

Ribbon Summer Salad

2 zucchini, trimmed

1/4 lb deli sliced ham

1/4 cantaloupe, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. white wine vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. dried mint

1/8 tsp. salt and pepper

Run a vegetable peeler lengthwise along zucchini to make long ribbons. Stack ham slices and cut into 1 inch strips.

In a medium bowl, combine zucchini, ham and cantaloupe. In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together. Toss gently and serve.

 

Turnip Green Pesto

Use turnip greens in combination with basil, in your favorite basil pesto recipe.

 

Kale, Fennel and potatoes

3 T. olive oil

3/4 lb potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large bulb fennel, chopped

salt and pepper

1 bunch kale, torn from thick stems

hot sauce for serving, optional

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and fennel, season with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden and tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the kale and cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted, 8 to 10 minutes more. Serve with the hot sauce

 

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

 

 

 

 

 

In your box:
Dill Lettuce Baby potaotes Broccoli
Chives Parsley Summer squash Fennel
Fresh onions Red Mustard Greens Arugula Cucumber

This box packs a punch! There is a lot of flavor and aroma for all your cooking needs. We are really excited to see some newcomers this week. The cucumbers are just starting and the baby potatoes! Yum! We sent parsley, dill and chives because those are our 3 favorite herbs to add to new potatoes. The fennel has sized up beautifully and we’ve been working with new lettuce varieties, (new to us anyway) looking for lettuce that will hold up in the heat of mid-summer. So far, so good.
The peas are on their way out.  It’s always too short of a season in my opinion. There are 2 silver linings though-

1. Though there are not enough peas to pick and put in the boxes, there are still a lot out there. Please come and pick your own peas to your heart’s content! The peas are trellised in the field right next to our driveway. Stop by any time before Sunday and help yourself.
2. Green beans are just around the corner! It looks like we should be seeing those next week. Yeah beans!

Last week I took a quick trip over to Kewaunee for Farm Technology days to promote local foods and CSA farming. It was a fun event that showcased the many aspects of agriculture. It was an intersection of many ag issues and the people who work within them. There is always something to learn as well as teach at these events. I’m grateful for my amazing family and employees that stepped up to make sure that my being gone didn’t slow anything down on the farm!

We are busy getting ready for the fair. We LOVE the county fair. The kids learn so much through their 4-H projects and we all enjoy gathering with friends, old and new. There are always funny stories about what happens as we get the projects ready. This year it involves the cat Luna and the rabbit Comet. During the winter, both Luna and Comet reside in the house. Luna’s favorite place to sleep is on top of Comet’s cage and occasionally, we catch her tormenting Comet by sticking her paw in the cage and poking him. Luna is an extremely talented hunter. Mice, birds, rabbits, squirrels, you name it. So we make sure to keep them apart as much as possible. Sunday night, Jonas went to get Comet from his outdoor cage and bring him into the house to get his nails trimmed. Jonas is taking him to the fair and his nails need to be neat and tidy. It was pretty late and dark by the time he went and got him and brought him in. Grandma was visiting, and she was getting ready to leave after Comet’s nails were done, so she offered to put Comet back in his cage. Without her knowing it, Luna had crawled into Comet’s cage while he was in the house. In the dark, Grandma didn’t see Luna, so she put Comet in the cage and locked it up. The reason that this is a funny story and not a tragic one, is because they both came through the night unscathed. The next morning Mike saw Luna and Comet nose to nose in the cage and as soon as Luna saw him, she meowed pitifully to be let out. I don’t know what made her not eat that rabbit, but we are so glad she didn’t!! Comet couldn’t have slept a wink the whole night! If you would like to see Comet at the fair, come on out to Glenwood City Friday-Sunday and find him in the rabbit and poultry barn. Claudia will have her calf, Hopscotch at the fair also. Look for Riverside 4-H Club in the dairy barn. Legos, crafts, garden produce and more will be exhibited by the kids too.

If you follow the farm on facebook, you know that we have harvested the garlic. We have NEVER had such bountiful or beautiful garlic. We are excited to share it with you! It will be a few weeks out yet though, as we are drying and curing it first. I checked the bees and they look good too. I like to put 3 deep boxes on for them, (this is their food to feed them in the winter.) when this box is full, I can put on the boxes that are strictly for me to harvest honey from. So far, they look to be doing really well.

Pack Shed Party!!
Friday, August 25th, 6:30-? Delicious Pot luck, Great Music by Gravel Road, lots of fun on the farm. Bring your family and be a part of it! Bring your own beverages and chairs. See you in the Pack Shed!!!! (Or out by the camp fire)

Pork
Pigs from our farm will be ready in September. If you are interested in a whole or half hog, please give David Jensen a call for all the details. Honestly, I am so sad to see them go, but opening my freezer and knowing I have delicious pork to eat from pigs that were loved, raised with grass to eat, trees to scratch on and dirt to dig in, makes me very happy! As I do not choose to be vegetarian, I do choose to eat humanely and sustainably raised meat. It’s worth it!
Dave’s Phone # 612-685-0155
Beef- Check out www.farmsweetfarm.com for grass-fed beef or talk to Dave Jensen about his locally raised beef.

On to the veggies!
Cucumbers- Crisper drawer
Lettuce, Arugula, Mustard Greens- Salad spinner and then keep in a covered container. Mustard Greens have a real kick!
Broccoli- Keep in plastic grocery bag in the refrigerator
Fresh onions- keep in the crisper drawer. You can use the greens as well as the white bulb.
Summer Squash/Zuc: refrigerate.
Dill, Chives, Parsley- in a plastic bag or covered container in the refrigerator
Fennel- Crisper drawer. Try adding a few Tablespoons of trimmed fronds to your meatloaf or other beef dishes.
Potatoes- cool dark space, not the refrigerator. These will not keep long as they are not cured. Use them soon! We send them unwashed, as the skins are very fragile. Wash when you are ready to use them.

 

Mustard Greens- These are the small bunch of purple/green leaves Super spicy when eaten raw, but not so when cooked. Use raw in salads or sandwiches for a kick. Saute for a side dish or in a stir fry or throw them in the crockpot with a roast. Give it a try.
Sauteed Mustard Greens
Mustard Greens Chopped
Arugula, Chopped
1-2 cloves garlic chopped
1 young onion, chopped
1 T. olive oil
¼ cup water
1 T. white vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan. Add Garlic, onions and some salt. Add greens, water and vinegar.Cover and cook on medium low and cook 10-15 minutes, until greens are cooked to your liking. Check to make sure you have enough liquid when cooking. Serve warm with rice.

Summer Squash salad
Slice up summer squash or zucchini. A combination of colors is always pretty. Add a splash of olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. Toss. Add dill, diced onion and/or chives. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss again. Serve immediately, but best after it’s marinated together for awhile.

 

Fennel, Bean and Pasta Salad
Fennel bulb, leafy tops removed and reserved
1 small onion
Olive oil
1 can kidney beans
2-3 cups cooked pasta
1 tsp. lemon pepper

Thinly slice fennel bulb and onion. Saute in olive oil. Chop reserved fennel tops and add to cooked mixture with remaining ingredients. Serve chilled. Makes 4-6 servings.

 

**Fennel is also great roasted with potatoes or shredded raw on salads.

Happy Eating and have a great week!
Jody, Mike, Claudia Malcolm and Jonas
Hope to see you at the fair!!!

Greetings from the farm!

In your box:

Broccoli                                  Summer Squash                                Beets with tops                        Radishes with tops

Peas                                       Basil                                                  Green Onions                          Lettuce

Arugula

I’m listening to the thunder roll and we just came in from watching a beautiful lightening show and a visit from our neighbor. We could use a little rain, but it also makes it harder to do field work, so wet night or dry night- we’ll take the good of either.  I am writing this newsletter a few days early this week. I generally write the newsletters Tuesday nights. By Tuesday I have a good idea of what is going to be in the boxes, so there are few surprises. As it is Sunday night, I am making my best guess as to what will be harvested for the boxes- but don’t be surprised if something is missing or extra by Thursday.

I am leaving town tomorrow evening (Monday). Which is absolutely unheard of. I never leave during the farm season! But- it’s a pretty special occasion. Farm Technology Days is being held in Kewaunee, WI this week. Farm Tech days is a 3 day farm show like no other. 1 county hosts it each year. This year, for the first time it is being held in Kewaunee. I grew up in Kewaunee and most of my family is there. My family has farmed there for at least 7 generations. My parents have been involved in the planning for this event. It’s taken 3 years to plan and 1,600 volunteers to make this show happen. 30,000 people will attend the 3 day show.  These shows are always about big ag.  Held on huge dairy farms, this time it is no different. It will be held on a 6,000 cow dairy farm.  There is a part of the show called, Innovation Square. In Innovation Square, the hosting county decides what should be highlighted as new, innovative farming trends. I imagine that in the past, it has held robotic milkers, GPS systems on large combines, drones, that kind of thing. Frankly, I haven’t attended in years because I am too busy farming and also because there isn’t a lot at these shows for farmers of our scale.  This show will be different. My dad decided that what is new and innovative in farming, are farms that are feeding the people in their communities.  Small, local farms and their products and economic impact.  He took that idea to the rest of the planning committee and they agreed. This is a first for Farm Technology Days! My hope is that it will go well and all counties will leave space for small, local farms in the future shows.  So of course, I decided last winter that I would not be attending Farm Tech days, because it’s a 3 day event in July. I’m too busy. But then in March, my dad called to tell me that they would have a whole tent, just about CSA’s and they wanted me to run it! I was flattered, but couldn’t see how to make that happen. Claudia said, “Mom, it’s a once in a life time opportunity- do it! We can manage the farm!” So- I am! I am only attending on Tuesday, so I can drive out Monday night and come back Wed. morning. (It’s a 5 hour drive to Kewaunee.) Mike is taking Tuesday off to be here on the farm and everyone else will pitch in to make everything run smoothly. My friend Jen is going with me so that I have company for the long drive. We’re looking forward to our adventure. I hope to inspire others to farm or support a farm that feeds their community.  Wisconsin Farmer’s Union is helping to set up the displays and find other farmers for the other two days of the show.  I’ll report on how it went next week!

On the farm, we’re excited to have both broccoli and summer squash arriving!!  It looks like Cucumbers could be as early as next week and maybe potatoes?  This rain and humidity has been great for growing. The weeds are their worst in July. If you ever thought about volunteering out at the farm, now would be a great time! We’ve got lots of weeding to do! I find it very therapeutic. If you’ve got some thinking to do, do it while weeding. It works for me!

Bean Bags

We send our peas, beans, cherry tomatoes and any other small items in cloth bags we call bean bags. These are used to help cut down on the amount of plastic we might otherwise have to send in your boxes. My mom and her sisters spend many winter days sewing these for us. We love all the fun and beautiful fabrics they are sewn in and they love that it uses up scrap fabric and my mom and aunties can visit while sewing.  However, we only have a limited number of them. Please remember to send them back to us with the boxes at your pick up site. You are welcome to take them home, but return them the next trip so we can wash and reuse them.  Thank you!!

Storage tips:

Broccoli: Store in a plastic grocery bag

Summer Squash: Zucchini is a type of summer squash. So when we say summer squash, it could be any color. Use it all the same. They are very interchangeable. Store in the crisper drawer.

Beets:  Remove the tops and store as you would any green.  Beets do well in the crisper drawer.  Beet tops can be used as you would Swiss chard.

Radishes: Remove the tops and store as you would any green. Radishes will do really well in a plastic bag or a bowl of water in the refrigerator.

Peas: Crisper Drawer

Basil: Glass of water on the counter or try in a closed canning jar in the refrigerator. Sometimes I have luck with that. We have 3 kinds of basil.  The first cutting is always when they are small plants. This encourages much more vigorous growth. We have large Genova basil, which we gave a few weeks ago, and some small plants of lime basil and spicy globe basil. I can’t say which you will be getting, so that will be a surprise.

Green onions:  Crisper Drawer

Lettuce and Arugula: Salad spin and then store in a covered container or platic bag in the refrigerator.  Arugula is spicy, so it’s great mixed in with a salad of lettuce.  Hopefully, we’ll see more robust bunches of arugula in the weeks to come.

 

Recipes:

Beet Hummus

one very large beet (or two medium beets)

2 T. of tahini

2 cups chickpeas

2 medium cloves of garlic (Or use those leftover scapes)

1 small lemon, juiced

Peel and chop beets into medium cubes, put into sauce pan with just enough water to cover beets and simmer until beets are tender. Drain the water. Combine beets, chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, salt and tahini in food processor and blend. Add a little water if the consistency is too thick for your liking.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

2 sticks butter, room temp.

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cups sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 Tbs. cocoa powder

4 eggs

1 cup, pureed, cooked beets

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients, except beets and beat with electric mixer until smooth. Fold in the beets. Spoon the batter into paper lined cupcake tin. (Makes 12 cupcakes.)

Bake 20 minutes. Use the toothpick test to see if done.

Oven roasted broccoli with Parmesan, Garlic and Lemon

One head broccoli, cut into bite sized florets

Olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup grated parmesan

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl, toss the broccoli with olive oil, lemon zest and garlic. Spread broccoli on large baking sheet in a single layer and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan and return to the oven. Bake another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and squeeze a wedge or two of lemon right over before serving.

Cold Zucchini Salad

zucchini or summer squash

coconut oil or oil of your choice

minced garlic

red wine vinegar

Slice squash into thin strips lengthwise. Fry lightly  in hot oil until soft throughout. Transfer squash to a bowl; salt lightly. Discard most of the oil in the pan.  Add generous amounts of garlic and sauté lightly. Add 1/4 inch of red wine vinegar to the pan and bring to a quick boil. Toss sauce with the squash. Cover and refrigerate, serve in a few hours.