Tag Archives: beets

June 30, 2016 Week 3 “A”

Threshing Table Farm                        Week 3 A

June 30, 2016

 

 

What’s in this week’s box?

 

Garlic Scapes                 Peas                                     Basil                                    Beets

Sunflower Sprouts       Kale                                      Turnips

Baby Romaine             Strawberries                  Parsley                             Lettuce                

 

Summer has moved in and spring is gone.  We see it in the vegetables as well as the neighbor’s field crops around our farm. The spinach is done . We will miss it but it was a treat while it was here! The heat this past weekend did it in.  The beets have sized up beautifully and we’re sending them this week but then we’ll be taking a break from them for a while.  The kale is ready for its first picking and we look forward to many more.  Strawberries are still in full swing and we’re thrilled to have Sugar Snap Peas!!! These are super sweet peas that are meant to be eaten, pod and all.  On a side note- the sweet corn is way past my knees! (Ever hear the saying, “Knee high by the 4th of July”? It refers to a farmer’s goal of having knee high corn by the 4th.)  Our 1st planting is on track! Of course, my knees are closer to the ground than most, but we won’t worry about that detail.

 

The Sunflower sprouts are nutritious and delicious! We took a trip to Milwaukee this winter and while there, visited Will Allen’s Growing Power Greenhouse. We saw them being grown there and thought we would give them a try. Yummy!  The sprouts are great to mix into salads as well as eat them as a snack.

 

We try real hard to keep extra plastic packaging out of the CSA boxes. It keeps costs down and most importantly, doesn’t add garbage to the world.  We use the cloth and mesh bags to deliver things to you that might otherwise get “lost” in the share box. Please feel free to take them home with your produce. When you’ve emptied them, please return them the following week when you pick up your produce. We’ll wash and reuse them. My mom, aunts and sister have sewn these for us over the years. It’s fun to see what color/design is on the bag each week. There are a lot of designs to choose from!

 

The cucumbers are starting to come in the hoophouse! We were able to plant them out there earlier than in the field.  We just have a short “trial” row of cucs in the hoophouse and the bulk of the cucs are in the field. We just have a dozen or so cucs that are ready, so we’ll be putting them in random boxes. If you have a cucumber, you’ve won the veggie lottery!  No worries, in a couple of weeks everyone will be getting lots of them!

 

Wanted:  Clean ice cream buckets with handles. Covers optional.  As we head into bean picking season, they come in really handy. Leave them at your pickup site and we’ll get them. Thank you!!

 

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.

 

Peas- store in a covered container in the fridge.

Lettuce- Salad Spinner and then store in covered container.

 

Kale- Great for salads or sautéing.  Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

 

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.

 

Sunflower sprouts- Store in a plastic bag in fridge.

 

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.

Parsley- same as basil

 

Strawberries- Refrigerator. But really, did they make it home?

 

Turnips: Remove greens for longer storage. Store greens as you would any salad green, Turnips do best in the crisper drawer.

 

 

Looking for a cooking class to boost your veggie intake?

Well look no more! Member Susan Keskinen is offering a class on the farm-

Save the date!! Tuesday, July 19th. More info to come in next week’s newsletter!!

 

 

Roasted Beet and Turnip Salad

For the salad
  • 3/4 lb. red beets, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch wedges
  • 1/2 lb. turnips
  • 1/2 lb. potatoes
  • 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  •  salt
  • 3 cups torn salad greens
  • 1 lightly packed cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • 1/4 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts
For the vinaigrette
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
  • salt
  • 1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
  • 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbs. honey
  • 1 Tbs. fresh orange juice; more to taste
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
  • 1 to 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • black pepper

 

Roast the vegetables

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl, toss the beets with 1 Tbs. of the oil and 1/2 tsp. salt. Transfer to a large rimmed heavy-duty baking sheet. Spread into a single layer.

In another large bowl, combine the turnips and potatoes with the remaining 1 Tbs. of oil and another 1/2 tsp salt. Transfer to a large rimmed heavy-duty baking sheet. Spread into a single layer.

Roast the vegetables, flipping with a spatula halfway through and rotating the baking sheets, until browned and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the sheets. Transfer to a large bowl.

Make the vinaigrette

Heat the oil in a 8-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and softened, about 15 seconds. Remove from the heat. Let the oil cool for 3 to 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small heatproof bowl, whisk the vinegar, honey, orange juice, zest, thyme, mustard, 1/4 tsp. salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper. Whisk the warm oil into the vinegar mixture until emulsified.

Season to taste, adding more orange juice, salt, or pepper as needed.

Assemble the salad

In a large bowl, combine the greens and parsley leaves. Lightly season  with salt and then drizzle with 2 Tbs. of the warm vinaigrette. Toss, taste, and add a little more dressing, if necessary. Arrange the greens on a platter or plates.

Season the roasted vegetables with a pinch more salt, and dress them lightly with 1 to 2 Tbs. of the remaining vinaigrette. Scatter over the greens, then top with the hazelnuts. Serve right away, passing the remaining dressing at the table.

  • Turnip Greens

    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 small onion, chopped
    1 garlic scape, chopped
    1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
    1 pound turnip greens, washed, stemmed, and chopped
    Freshly ground black pepper
    2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
    1 cup chicken stock
    1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

    Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat.

    Add shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until tender and fragrant. Add the washed and cleaned turnip greens. Mix together. Cook until they have wilted down, about 3 minutes. Add pepper to taste.

    In a small bowl, whisk the Dijon mustard with the chicken stock. Add to the wilted greens and cook until the liquid has all but evaporated. Add the toasted pecans and serve immediately.

Kale, Basil and Avocado Salad

1 bunch of kale, stems removed

  • 2 roma tomatoes diced
  • 1 large ripe avocado chopped into cubes
  • 2 stalks of celery finely sliced
  • ¼ cup of soaked sun dried tomatoes finely sliced
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • ½ a teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh raw pinenuts
  • 2 tablespoons of finely chopped basil

Chop the kale well and massage with olive oil, salt and lemon to soften and wilt slightly. Mix the massaged kale with all the remaining ingredients. Pile high in serving bowls and serve with a wedge of fresh lemon.

 

Kale & Almond Milk Smoothie:

  • 1C kale
  • 1C almond milk
  • 1-2 Tbsp nut butter
  • ½ banana

Kale & Blueberry-Honey Smoothie:

  • 1C kale
  • ½ C blueberries
  • ½ C strawberries
  • ½ C plain yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp honey

Kale & Orange Smoothie:

  • 1C kale
  • 1C ice
  • 1C orange juice
  • 2 Tbsp mint leaves
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro
  • 2 Tbsp parsley

*For fruit smoothies use frozen fruit or just add up to 1C of ice

 

 

Have a great week and happy eating!!

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas

 

Week 2 B – June 23, 2016

IMG_2301Claudia 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