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!

 

 

 

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- 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