August 30th, 2018

Week 12

In this week’s Box:

Tomatoes                   Potatoes                          Eggplant                               Beets

Summer Squash             Sweet Corn                            Onions

Garlic                         Beans                             Kale                                      Basil

Oregano

Dear Members,

Sunday morning I woke to the sound that every farmer dreads. Hail. Mike was already up and outside, moving vehicles inside and closing up what doors he could. Hail lasted for about 20 minutes. It felt like hours, and we could only imagine what havoc it was wreaking on our plants. In the midst of it, Chumley, our horse broke out of his pen and ran for it. He is more afraid of loud noises in his old age and the hail coming down on to his metal shed must have been more than he could take. The pigs happily shoved each other trying to eat the hail. For them, it was like manna from heaven.  It was nice to see someone enjoying this weather.

After the weather cleared, we took a drive around the fields to look at the immediate damage. Then, we took a longer drive around the neighborhood trying to track down Chumley. Thankfully, he wandered back home about the time we circled back. He was no worse for the wear. We cannot say the same for our plants.  The things I’m saddest about are the tomatoes. We were so excited about the absolutely thriving jungle that was our tomato patch. Now, it’s just tomatoes hanging on dead branches. The good news: The leaves took the hardest hit. The tomatoes are a bit bruised, but not terrible. So we do have a fair amount to give this week. You may see more bruised, cracked spots from the hail. Use them sooner rather than later and cut off the bad spots if they are mushy. The blossoms were all wiped out. So whatever green tomatoes we have on the plants right now are all we are going to get. We’ll pick them as they ripen and hopefully we have some for the next few weeks.

The greens also took a big hit. Our arugula was going to go in the box this week, along with beet and Asian greens. They were all beaten down badly. Our Swiss chard was just starting to come back from the mid-summer mowing we give it. It too was badly damaged. It may bounce back in a few weeks, but we won’t know for a bit. Same for the broccoli. The almost mature broccoli did fine, but the young “Teenager” plants are really beaten down.  Time will tell.

When the neighbors were done checking their soybeans and corn, they stopped in to see how we fared. The question came up about crop insurance. Mike explained that there is no govt. crop insurance program for our type of farm. But better than an insurance program, we have you, our members. By purchasing your share up front, agreeing to take on the risks and rewards of our farm season, we know we won’t be out money from the hail damaged crops. It still is a loss we feel terribly, but your support helps us to weather those risks much more successfully. THANK YOU.  We couldn’t do this without each and every one of you.

GREAT NEWS!

The heat and rain has been great for some of our crops. We have awesome sweet corn this week!! We are really excited about that!  Due to the earlier drought, the ears didn’t really size up, but they are tasty. We also have the FINAL crop of green beans. They are a bit weather beaten, but they’re here!

Phil’s Fall Raspberries are  here!!

AND… He has time to pick them! Let me know if you would like to order some, and I’ll send them with your share. $4 a pint. I would need to know how many pints you would like by noon on Wednesday.(Today!) Or we can send them the following week.  Please make checks out to Star Prairie Berries and mail them to us at Threshing Table Farm, 2249 150th St. Star Prairie, WI 54026

PACK SHED PARTY!!

We are only a little over a week away from the pack shed party! Please stop by and stay if you can! Great food, awesome band, a bonfire and dancing! The kids have a blast playing around the farm and it’s a great community get together!

Bring a dish to pass, a chair, beverages and we’ll pass the hat to pay the band. It’s a great time, please join us!!  It’s one of our favorite events on the farm. It is important for us to celebrate this beautiful farm and the people who support it. (And to take a break from all the work!)

TAHER Farm Dinner!

The fall dinner put on here at the farm by extremely talented chefs is next weekend!

6pm on Saturday, September 8th. Sorry for the late notice- but the final plans came together recently. $65 per seat. It will be delicious! It will be beautiful and a lot of fun! Tickets are VERY limited!! Please let us know ASAP if you would like some. Send us an e-mail and it will be first come, first serve.

A little family news…

Claudia is busy this week at the MN State Fair showing dairy cattle with our neighbors, Crisdhome farm. She is having a blast! And since she gets out of school for 4 days, that’s an extra bonus. Malcolm started school last week as well and so far, so good. Jonas is getting anxious to start next week.

Doodle the cat is quite sick. It sounds like Pneumonia. Luckily, Dr. Bohl, our neighbor, knows how to help sick cats! A good round of antibiotics and Doodle should be back up to greeting everyone with a meow and a few cat antics. As sick and friendly as he is, he sure put up a HUGE fight about getting a shot!

A few notes about your veggies:

Garlic- Small but valuable!! We are thrilled with the garlic crop this year. They cured nicely. These bulbs will last for months. We’ll be sending them for several weeks (or more!) until we run out. Leave in a dark, dry place to store.

Eggplant: Also survived the hail, so you might see some damage. Store in the crisper drawer.

The rest you’ve seen before, and are surely experts on by now!

Kale Beet Salad

1 bunch kale, washed, dried, ribs removed, roughly chopped
1 pound beets, washed, dried and peeled
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper
olive oil
1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

Lemon-Honey Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 lemon, juice of
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried rosemary
Salt and pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Prepare ingredients as indicated above.
Toss kale with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast in oven for a brief five minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Take peeled beets and cut them into 1 1/2 wedges. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss with a little olive oil making sure beets are well-coated with the olive oil and spices.
Place the beets on the middle rack of the 400 degrees F-heated oven. Roast for 45 minutes, tossing/turning beets twice.
While beets are roasting, make the lemon-honey vinaigrette. Simply mix vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl, whisk to combine. Set aside.
When beets are tender to your liking, remove from oven and let them cool slightly.
In a medium salad bowl, combine kale, beets and sliced red onions. Dress your salad with the lemon-honey vinaigrette, and toss together. Garnish with the toasted slivered almonds.

Tomato Eggplant bake

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 tomato, sliced
1/4 cup grated fat-free Parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick oil spray. Arrange eggplant rounds on the cookie sheet and sprinkle Parmesan over the eggplant. Layer one slice of tomato on top of each eggplant round. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

August 23rd, 2018

Week 11 A

Hello Members,

In your box this week:

Tomatoes        Bell Peppers                   Jalapeno Peppers               Summer Squash

Cucumbers     Savoy Cabbage              Carrots                                Basil

Onions            Green and yellow beans                                            Lettuce

Dill                   Sweet Corn

Oh… Happy Day! It was so wonderful to get some rain this week! We’ve been watering non-stop, but we can only do one section of the field at a time. And no one does it like Mother Nature! We’re still keeping the watering up, we could use more rain, but none the less, it was really nice to have some.

The tomatoes are picking up steam! We are happy to be giving those this week along with basil, peppers, onions and other tomato loving veggies.  If all goes well, we will have tomatoes until frost. Hard to believe we are even mentioning the “F” word in August, but September is coming. And with it- usually frost. But enough about that! Hopefully we have a good month or more before that happens!

The sweet corn took a beating in the hot, dry month we’ve had. The husks are much drier than they should be, but the corn seems to be quite good. Of course, we can’t open and taste the ones we’ve given you, but we did sample quite a few cobs as we picked and were surprised by how good they were. Hopefully we didn’t find the only sweet ones in the field as we were sampling.

The onions are curing very nicely. The hot dry weather has been good for that. The whites are not long keepers, so use them in the next few weeks. The yellow onions will store much longer, but hopefully you will get to use them up before long.

Our oldest two kids start school on Thursday and the youngest starts next Tuesday. Many of you are also getting ready to send your kids back to school or work in the school yourself. Good luck to everyone!

PACK SHED PARTY!!!!

Friday, September 7th.

6:30-? Music by Gravel Road. Potluck. Bring your own beverages, chairs and we’ll pass a hat to pay the band. Bring your family and friends too! It will be a great time!

Storage Tips:
Tomatoes: Leave on counter to fully ripen.
Savoy Cabbage: Great cooked, raw, in any recipe calling for a green cabbage. Savoy leaves are easier to use when making cabbage rolls, etc. than other green cabbage. Store in the crisper drawer. Place in plastic bag for longer storage.

beans: Covered container in fridge (Or plastic bag)
Summer Squash, cucumber, pepper: Refrigerator, crisper drawer.
Basil: A covered jar in the fridge. Or on your counter in a jar of water.
Onions: dry place out of direct sunlight.

Carrots: Crisper drawer, in plastic bag.

10 minute Tomato Basil Salad

1 large tomato, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste (optional)
Directions
Combine tomato, basil, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl; toss until tomato wedges are evenly coated

Cabbage Cucumber Salad

1/2 head  cabbage shredded or chopped
2  cucumbers sliced
2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped
2 tablespoons onions chopped
2 teaspoon salt divided
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons avocado or extra virgin olive oil
additional salt and pepper to taste

Finely shred or chop cabbage, discarding the core. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and mix thoroughly with hands pressing into the cabbage to help release natural juices. Set aside
Add chopped cucumbers, fresh dill and green onions.
Squeeze the juice of one lemon. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Pour oil and combine well.

Beans and tomatoes
1 pound green beans, broken into pieces
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 garlic clove (smashed)
2 T. minced basil
¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
2 cups tomato chunks
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Cook green beans in boiling water, 5 minutes till tender crisp. Drain beans and rinse in cold water.
Combine fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.
Combine green beans with the tomatoes and toss with the vinaigrette.
Add pine nuts just before serving.Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Happy Eating!!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas Lenz

10B  August 16th, 2018

Dear Threshing Table Farm Members,

In your box this week:

Potatoes              Carrots                      Napa Cabbage                         Tomatoes

Cucumbers           Summer Squash      Sweet Corn                              Chives

Lettuce                 Bunching Onions      Beans                                       Broccoli

It is hot and dry on the farm.  I’m sure your yards are dry as well. We’ve been doing what we can to stay cool and hydrated in the heat. We’re very grateful for the cool nights and air conditioning in the house. Mike and Malcolm have been orchestrating the irrigation, hoping to water as much as possible.  It’s never enough, but the effort is valiant. We are watching the corn around our farm wither as well. Our neighbors have giant irrigation pivots, and those aren’t doing it  either. We could really use some rain.  When Chumley walks in his grass pasture and kicks up dust, you know it’s dry! Poor Chumley. He gets put out on grass, but there’s nothing substantial to eat. We put him back in his pen and feed him grain. But he gets bored, wants back out on grass, but then can’t find anything to eat and wants to go back into his pen.  It’s a frustrating life for the old guy right now.

Aside from the lack of rain, things are going well on the farm. We’ve got a lot of great produce! The summer squash and cucumbers are still coming, but are definitely slowing down. Peppers and eggplant are picking up steam and this batch of lettuce seems to be holding it’s own in this heat which is a small miracle. Sweet corn is here! The cobs are small, but tasty. We’re picking tomatoes for the first time this week and at this point, it looks like we should have several weeks of tomatoes. They’ll be coming in greater numbers each week for awhile.

What you need to know about our tomatoes!

We choose many varieties for their TASTE! and also color, size, growing attributes and to have different varieties. Many of these are heirloom. You will see many colors of tomatoes. They are beautiful! BUT… They are also imperfect.  Scabs, cracks, knot-holes, are all normal. We try to pick them before peak ripeness, as they will continue to ripen after picking. We want you to be able to eat them over a few days, not have to eat them all immediately.  Choose the ripest ones to eat first. Leave the rest on the counter to ripen slowly. DO NOT REFRIGERATE TOMATOES!!! Unless you want to save them for a very long time. But you will lose taste.  We do have a German Green tomato. If you see a green tomato with some striping on it, do not wait for it to turn red. It’s ready when the tomato is no longer hard. A ripe tomato will be firm, but have a little give to it.

Elsewhere- we’re pulling all the forms, uniforms and school supply lists together. Time to get everyone ready for school.

Tomorrow I pick up the organic chickens from Farm Sweet Farm that were ordered this spring. If you ordered them, watch your e-mail and I’ll send a note with pick up directions.

Storage Tips: 

Potatoes: We were finally able to wash them! The skins have cured enough. Store in a dark, cool place until ready to eat. Do not store in the refrigerator.

Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Onions, Napa Cabbage, Lettuce, Carrots, Broccoli: Crisper Drawer, plastic bag or containers will keep them even fresher.

Sweet Corn: Crisper drawer

Zucchini Pita Pockets

6 whole wheat Pita Pockets

1 c. thinly sliced zucchini

2 medium tomatoes, Sliced

1/4 cup green onions, diced

6 leaves lettuce

Feta Cheese

Tzatziki sauce

Put all ingredients in pitas.

Napa Cabbage Salad

1 head Napa cabbage, shredded

2 large carrots, finely grated (if carrots are not in the cabbage mix)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup (2 ounces) – more, if desired- crumbled feta cheese
garnishes:  onion slices and pepperoncini (optional)
Directions:
Place cabbage and carrots in a large bowl, and toss.
Place olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano and dry mustard in a jar; cover tightly and shake to blend. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss well. Mix in feta cheese.
Top the slaw with a few onion slices and/or sliced pepperoncini.

Carrot Zucchini Cake

9 ounces white whole-wheat flour (about 2 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 large eggs

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup grated zucchini

3/4 cup drained canned crushed pineapple in juice

4 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese,

softened 1 tablespoon unsalted butter,

softened 2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Combine sugars, butter, and eggs in a separate bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir carrot, zucchini, and pineapple into sugar mixture. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; stir until moistened. Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 33 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack.

Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat just until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cake. Sprinkle with coconut flakes. Cut into 16 pieces.

Praying for rain…

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas Lenz