Hello Food Farmers,                                                                   11 June 2012   

We want to welcome back all of our returning members and our new Food Farmers. We are sending 165 shares to over 250 households this season.  In spite of our best efforts, there may be some errors we didn’t catch. Please let us know if you have any problems. It’s your first share pick-up day for this season, so here is a reminder of what you need to do!

Sometime between 4:00pm and 7:00pm you arrive at your pick-up site to find a stack of reusable plastic boxes.  Before you take your box, you check the site for messages or a paper copy of Notes from Food Farm (unless you have signed up for the email version!) On one of the boxes, you find a sticker with your name on it.  That’s your box of veggies!

Opening your box is the best part.  The first few deliveries will contain lots of greens (this is northern Minnesota, after all).  The quantity and variety pick up rapidly as the season progresses. In fact, later in the summer the challenge is often, “How do I use all of this?”  Successful use of your share requires a different approach to meal planning than the conventional way. Instead of making a menu and then getting ingredients, try waiting to see what’s in your box and then planning accordingly.  There will always be at least one recipe featuring produce of that week in the Notes from the Farm.  You could also Google a vegetable and search for recipes and nutritional information from the drop down menu. Also, the Food Farm Cookbook is available for $10 and is a great resource.

It is very important that your share box be returned – clean – each week!

Some folks have trouble remembering to return their boxes each week. You may bring bags to transport your share back home, leaving your box at the site. Please clean any veggie bits and moisture out of the box before leaving. Or, you might try emptying, rinsing and drying your box as soon as you get your share home and putting the box right into the trunk of your car so you don’t have to remember it when you leave to pick up next week’s share.  A box that sits for a week or more with moisture and veggie bits is not pleasant for us to deal with!

As you look at your box of veggies today try to guess what vegetable you are receiving 9 weeks earlier than last year.  If you guessed CUCUMBER you are right.  This spring we planted cukes in the ground in a greenhouse on April 13^th.  The luscious beets, baby lettuce mix and spinach are grown in the greenhouse, as well.

The bad news is we probably won’t be able to send any SNAP PEAS this year. The 8 inches of rain we received between May 22 and May 30 washed out the seed of three successive plantings.  More than $125 worth of seed and all our hopes for one of your favorite summer treats, down the drain.  Also, the first and third plantings of the brassica family – broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower – are heavily retarded in growth due to the same drenching. The plants that have survived are stunted and will produce very small heads. Fortunately we have six successive brassica plantings, and the others are looking more promising.  Another quirk we are noticing this season is a proliferation of moths in varieties we rarely see.  They are producing numerous caterpillars which are munching the leaves of plants even in our greenhouses, so you will notice some holes in the spinach especially.

FOR EGG SHARES ONLY!  REMINDER!    Eggs will be delivered to your summer share pickup site TODAY, and each week for the summer share season.  The eggs will be available only during normal summer share pickup time – 4pm to 7pm.  There will be a cooler at each site containing the number of dozens needed for Egg Shareholders only. PLEASE CHECK OFF YOUR NAME WHEN YOU REMOVE YOUR DOZEN FROM THE COOLER! Empty cartons may be left when you return your veggie share box each week, please stack them neatly and return only one-dozen-size, clean, serviceable, cardboard egg cartons.

Today’s share: Green-topped Beets, Cucumber, Baby Lettuce Mix, Pac Choi, Rhubarb, Spinach

CELESTIAL SOUP with SPINACH                   Easy to make and very delicious!

4 green onions, minced              ¾ t. salt                        1 t. peanut or sesame oil                        2 T. soy sauce

6 cups chicken, vegetable broth, or water            3 cups (or more!) spinach or other greens

Mince scallions, chop spinach, place everything in a deep bowl. Bring liquid to a boil, pour over chopped veggies. Cover and let stand for a few minutes & serve.   You may add splash of lemon juice to each serving.             Makes 6 servings

Beet Raita with Dill, Lime, & Honey                                   from Jackie Falk

¾ cup plain yogurt                                             2 T. chopped fresh dill

1 ½  t. honey                                                     1 ½ t. fresh lime juice

½ pound beets, washed & grated

Whisk together the yogurt, dill, honey, & lime juice in a bowl. Add the beet and mix thoroughly. Chill & serve cold.  Raitas are usually served with spicy dishes to cool the palate. Makes 1 cup.

Hello Food Farmers!

Just a quick note and a few updates. Your spring Hot Compost newsletter went in the mail on Friday and should be showing up in your mailboxes shortly. It has all sorts of information about the coming year as well as your summer share pickup site and instructions. I’m also emailing a pdf copy to everyone, although it doesn’t contain your pickup site assignment.

There were two websites mentioned in the article about increasing healthy food access. Here is the link to Harvest for the Hungry (and I’ve attached some more information about the program to this email).

https://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/OurFamilyOfPrograms/HarvestForTheHungry/OverviewAndAccomplishments.aspx

Here’s the link to the Good Food Network: http://www.goodfoodnetwork.org/

Finally, you may have noticed we’ve had a ton of rain recently and I’m sure you’re wondering how that’s impacting the farm. We’ve received nearly 8 inches of rain in the last 9 days, and because our land is pretty flat there is standing water in many fields.

We’re especially concerned with the peas, spinach, and early kale and it looks like those crops may not make it through. The first planting (2 beds) of carrots are probably not worth saving, but amazingly the rest of that field looks OK (8 beds). Even though the seeds were just germinating, it looks like only a small percentage of the seed was washed out and if we have nice weather in the next few weeks they should pull through. The fields with early potatoes, onions and broccoli are all quite wet but they will probably survive as long as we get some heat and wind to dry things out in the next few days. We are fortunate that many of the transplants are still in the greenhouse waiting to go out once the fear of frost is gone, so they are looking very good still. However, the fields that we’re supposed to plant into will take nearly 2 weeks to dry out at this point, so we’re a little concerned the plants will be stressed by the time we can get them into the field.

Many of the veggies in our early share boxes are planted in the greenhouse, and most of those things look good, including an early planting of cucumbers that might be ready for the first delivery! We’re excited for a good year of veggies, even though things don’t look very nice right now.

I took the photos this morning before we got another 1/2″ of rain, but after Ben’s cows arrived!

Think sun!

For the farm crew,

Janaki

Hello everyone, just a quick post to let you know about a couple of fun things the farm has been a part of lately. We were in an article in the Duluth News Tribune about the growing CSA movement in the northland back in March. In early April we were the subject of a podcast done by the Land Stewardship Project on farm transitions between generations. Finally, we were just featured in a story about local food in health care and educational institutions in the News Tribune today. The links are below if you’d like to check us out . You can download the podcast from LSP’s website, or subscribe on iTunes by searching for Ear to the Ground.

The spring is going well so far at the farm, hopefully we’ll post some pictures soon!

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/226760/
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/podcast.html?s=A+pioneering+csa
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/229454/

Hello Food Farmers,                                                                                   13 March 2012 Tuesday, March 13, 2012 is the last Winter Share delivery for the season.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the vegetables this winter. Please take our Winter Share Survey (10 easy questions!) by going to : http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2QDZSRJ

Please have your CLEAN boxes back to your site by Monday, March 19.To save an extra trip you could bring your own container and transfer your veggies at the site. We need to have every share box returned!  Summer Shares are delivered in these same boxes.  The farm van will go to each Pick-up Site on Monday evening to collect the boxes. Thanks!

We have an opening for an intern this summer. Farm member Pam Benson connected her nephew with us last summer, which worked out very well!  Anyone interested should email or call the farm to discuss the position.

Please consider joining us at Amazing Grace Café on Friday, March 23, 7 – 9 PM for the annual Farmers Take the Stage! It is a fundraiser for the Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Association, whose work is helping to build a local, sustainable food economy.  You will be amazed to see your very own FARMER JOHN perform!  You don’t want to miss this!

We start all of our vegetable transplants here on the farm.  So far the onions, leeks, and first planting of TOMATOES are up and looking fine!  John built two ‘germination chambers’ this year and they are proving to be a nice improvement to our previous arrangement.  The first tomatoes germinated in only 30 hours.  We are excited for this new season of growth!

ROASTED VEGETABLE SOUP

3 large carrots                                                                               1 small rutabaga, peeled   1 small parsnip                                                                             3 medium potatoes            2 medium onions                                                                       1 small sweet potato, peeled 1 bulb garlic                                                                                   1 tbsp olive oil             water, evaporated milk, or soymilk                                                   salt and pepper to taste

Wash and roughly chunk carrots, rutabaga, parsnip, sweet potato, and potatoes. Place in bottom of slow cooker. Peel and wedge onions, also toss into cooker. Remove exterior paper from the garlic bulb, but do not separate cloves. Using a serrated knife (a bread knife works well) cut about 1/8 in from the top of the cloves. Flatten vegetables in cooker and place bulb of garlic on top of them. Drizzle the garlic with olive oil. Turn the slow cooker on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Once done, remove garlic; mash cooked vegetables into a puree. Squeeze garlic into the puree and stir to combine. Thin the puree with your choice of liquids, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and keep warm in slow cooker until ready to serve.

UNION SQUARE CAFÉ PARSNIP PANCAKES             from Park Lake Farm, Joel  Rosen

1.5 pounds Parsnips                                                                                    1 small onion       1 large egg                                                                                      1/8 tsp Cayenne powder pinch of grated nutmeg                                                               1/8 tsp black pepper           ½ tsp salt                                                                                                      ¼ cup flour        ¼ cup olive oil                                                                              1 Tbsp butter

Peel parsnips.  In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts salted water to a boil. Add parsnips and boil 3 minutes. Drain well and coarsely grate parsnips and onions. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Stir together parsnips, onion, beaten egg, spices and salt in a bowl. Add flour, stirring until just combined. Form into eight ½ -inch thick cakes placing each on waxed paper.

Heat oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat until foam subsides and sauté pancakes until golden brown.  Drain if needed and serve. Excellent with applesauce on the side!

BEET BURGERS                                              from Fresh from the Farm                          Makes 6-8 servings

4 fresh medium beets                                                      2 sprigs fresh basil, chopped     1/2 medium onion, chopped                                                      2 eggs, beaten                  Salt and ground black pepper, to taste                                     1/4 – 2/3 c flour                Olive oil                                                                                          Mozzarella slices       Burger buns

1. Trim beet tops and root. Shred beets; transfer to bowl. Add basil, onions, eggs, salt and pepper; mix.

2. Mix in just enough flour to make mixture stick together. Form mixture into 4-inch patties about 1/2-inch thick. (Don’t make too thick or centers won’t cook well.)

3. Heat 1/4 inch of olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties 2-3 minutes on one side, until crispy. Turn patties, place mozzarella slice on top and fry 2-3 minutes more, until crispy.

4. Place hot on bun; serve immediately.

Hello Food Farmers!                                                                                                           

Farm pickup notice:

There is ice in front of the rootcellar, so please be careful!

Renewal update:

Your renewals are coming in fast! There are no egg shares or poultry shares left, and summer and winter shares are going quickly, so it’s time to get your form in the mail if you haven’t already.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This month you are receiving a few extra pounds of winter squash.  The squash has stored very well this year, but it is nearing the end of its storage life, so you should plan your meals with that in mind.  How about a ‘pumpkin’ pie made with Delicata squash?  You could also cook some squash and freeze it for later use.

Rutabagas are a relative of the turnip, but are larger, sweeter, and have a more tan color. Rutabagas are high in carbohydrate, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and minerals.  To prepare, boil 1-inch chunks in water for 20-25 minutes or until tender, or steam for 20-25 minutes; or bake chunks brushed with butter or oil for 40-50 minutes.  They can also be used in fresh salads, stir-fry, casseroles, and stuffing mixtures.

GRATED RUTABAGA with ONION SLIVERS

by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large rutabaga, peeled , cut in 1” chunks

1 sweet onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges

5 to 6 Tablespoon honey

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/3 cup each wine and red wine vinegar

3 Tablespoons EACH pinenuts and currants

salt and pepper

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium- high heat. Turn rutabaga and onion wedges until golden brow, sprinkling with salt and pepper. Cook quickly with honey until glazed. Add remaining ingredients and cook, covered, until rutabagas are tender and no liquid is left in the pan. Serve hot or at room temperature on crackers, or as an antipasto or relish.

GRATIN of SQUASH with RUTABAGA

The Victory Garden Cookbook

2 lbs winter squash, peeled

1 tsp salt

½ lb rutabaga, peeled

black pepper, to taste

4 Tbs flour

2-3 Tbs olive oil

3-4 tsp garlic, minced

Parmesan or Swiss & Parmesan combination

1/3-cup fresh parsley, minced

¼-cup fresh bread crumbs, finely crumbled

Chop squash and rutabaga into ½ inch cubes. Toss with flour, garlic, parsley, bread crums, salt and pepper. Spread in oiled 11/2 quart baking dish; press lightly. Drizzle oil on top: bake at 325 degrees 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until top is crusty and vegetables are tender. Sprinkle cheese on top 30 minutes before done, if desired.  Four servings.

NOTES FROM FOOD FARM

384-4421