1ST CSA box of 2014!

The first box of the season!   If you get a small share, your box contains:  1 head of romaine lettuce, 1 bunch of radishes, 1 bunch of curly kale, and 2 pints of strawberries.
If you get a regular share, your box contains: 1 head of romaine, 1 head of green bibb lettuce, 1 bunch of radishes, 1 bunch of curly kale, 3/4lb of spinach, 1 bunch of green garlic, 1 head of frissee, 2 pints of strawberries.

The first box is a little on the small side.  Things are really growing and soon the boxes will be full up!  In the meantime, enjoy the sweet berries and greens!

It is a funny time of year when the days fluctuate between 85 and 60 degrees and the nights are from 40 to 60 degrees.  The berries love the heat and the squash, tomatoes, and fennel are growing by leaps and bounds but the radishes and turnips wither in the heat.
This will be the only radishes you get this spring.  The frissee is very mild and a nice addition to salads.

So, maybe all of you already know about kale chips but in case you haven't tried making your own yet, here is how:
wash the kale, tear the stem off, shake as much water off the leaves as you can (the drier the leaves are, the better), and place in a bowl.
drizzle some olive oil over the kale and sprinkle with salt (and pepper) and toss so that all the leaf surfaces are lightly covered with oil and salt.
put in single layers on baking sheets in a 325 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes (until crispy).

Please be sure to bring back your empty wax box, pint container, and cloth bag next week!  No need to wash the bags, we'll wash them all.  Please keep the wax box out of the sun so the wax doesn't melt!  Please also keep box and bags away from pet fur.  If you don't want to keep up with returning box, bags etc every week, just bring your own basket or bags and transfer at market.

CSA pre-season POTLUCK and FARM TOUR

Field ready for onion transplants

COME TO THE FARM FOR A VISIT and TO SHARE A POTLUCK MEAL TOGETHER!  MAY 3rd!  FARM TOUR STARTING AT 4pm. INFORMAL MEETING ABOUT THE CSA AT 5:30pm.  POTLUCK AT 6pm. 
It is almost time for the CSA to begin!  Well, less than 4 weeks from now.  And we want to invite you out to the farm to see the beginning and to meet us and other CSA members and to enjoy a meal together before it starts.  Please let us know if you think you're coming.  We will have a grill ready and will cook meat from the farm for everyone.
There will be signs directing you where to park.  If you would like to take the grand tour please arrive by 4:15.  Small, informal tours can happen anytime between 4 and 5:30 but a tour of both places we farm will only happen once leaving at 4:15.
We hope to see you!

 GAINING GROUND FARM   

2014 COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE SHARE

NOW ACCEPTING MEMBERS FOR 2014!

We offer a wide variety of vegetables each week that are all grown in accordance with organic standards.  Examples of weekly boxes last year are available to read thru on this blog.

We offer 2 share sizes for the 22 week main season share.
 CSA SHARE OPTIONS
Full Season Share:
There are 2 share sizes:  "regular" shares are intended to feed a small family (2 to 4 people).  The "small" share is great for individuals and couples. 
The full season share is 22 weeks starting May 14 and ending October 15.
Full season Regular: $525.  Full season Small: $350
Peak Season Share:
This share is great if you want to try the CSA out or if you're planning to be gone early summer.  It is less of a commitment in time and finance.  This share runs for 8 weeks from July 23 thru September 10.  Available in regular or small.
Peak season Regular: $250.  Peak season Small: $180
Extended Fall Share:
This share provides 4 boxes from October 22 thru November 19 (you choose 4 out of 5 dates).  Fall crops include carrots, beets, leeks, cauliflower, greens, sweet potatoes, shallots, winter squash, Irish potatoes.  Most of the veggies in these boxes will store into the holiday season.  You can sign up for this now or in early fall.
One size only: $120

Eggs:
In the past we have sold egg shares for the full 22 weeks.  This year, we will take put you on the egg list and each week of the CSA we will have eggs available for you to buy.  If you don't need them every week, you do not have to buy them.  They'll be $5/dozen.

Boxes can be picked up at the Wednesday Montford Market between 2 and 6 pm. If this doesn't work for you, let us know and we can arrange something else.

WE ARE FULL FOR THE 2014 SEASON!  IF YOU HAVE ALREADY TALKED WITH US, WE HAVE SAVED YOU A SPACE, AND PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL TO LINE UP A WAY TO COMPLETE PAYMENTS.  THANKS EVERYBODY, SEE YOU AT MARKET!

 

October 23, last regular season box

Small shares:  1 carrot bunch, 2 fennel bulbs, 1 radish bunch, 2 lbs. beets, 2 lbs each of japanese and all purple sweet potatoes, 1 garlic, 2 onions, 1/2 lb baby swiss chard, a handful of sugar snap peas.
Regular shares:  all the above plus 1/2 lb more swiss chard, 1 lb. more beets and more onion and garlic.  Also,1 lb. of broccoli, 1 pint of sugar snap peas, 3 eggplants.

sunrise October 23, Catherine and Cate picking sugar snap peas

This morning at 7 am it was lightly raining as we headed to the field to pick the peas in your boxes.  As the sun started rising, the sky turned this gorgeous pink and there was a rainbow behind us.  It is worth the cold hands and feet to see beautiful mornings like this.
Your last box of the season has lots of roots in it.  The sweet potatoes are dirty because they keep better that way.  These are ready to eat but will get sweeter if you wait a couple more weeks and keep them in a dry, warmish place.  Both the Japanese and all purple varieties are not as sweet as the orange.  The Japanese ones have a chestnut like flavor and both are more starchy in texture.
One of the plastic bag has swiss chard and the peas in it.  The other has beets in it and these will keep for weeks in your refrigerator.

Great Radish Salad
-1 bunch of radishes,washed and thinly sliced
-with the tops, cut the section off that is just stem and discard then chop the leaves and wash.
-1 small red onion, thinly sliced
-1 or 2 raw gold and chiogga beets, shredded (no need to peel)
-a small handful of sugar snap peas (optional)
-a few sprigs of fresh cilantro or parsley
- 1 tsp ume plum vinegar and 2 tsp. olive oil
- juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon
- freshly ground black pepper to taste

 combine all ingredients, tossing lightly.  let sit 15 minutes before eating

Thank you for being part of our CSA this year.  In 16 years of farming, this has been by far the most challenging.  The weather has presented us with one challenge after another and though I feel a little beaten down, I know we have made it thru and learned a great deal too.  Thank you for sticking with us and we hope you have a healthy, happy fall and winter!

October 16th CSA

small shares this week:  3/4lb. lettuce mix, 1-2 heads tatsoi, 1 bunch of carrots, 1 bunch of beets, 1 kohlrabi, 1 bunch of french breakfast radishes, 2 lbs. orange "covington" sweet potatoes.
regular shares this week:  all the above plus 1/4lb more lettuce, 1 head red radicchio, 1 small head of broccoli, 2 more pounds sweet potatoes.

Beet in the field

The sweet potatoes will be sweeter if you wait a few weeks to eat them.  They keep best at 50 - 60 degrees and dry (not in the refrigerator).  The longer they sit, the sweeter they get.  Next week we'll put some japanese and all purple ones in the boxes so you have a sample of all the varieties we grow.

The tatsoi is best stir-fried with some onion, salt and pepper.  Add a little lemon juice or vinegar before eating so that the iron becomes available to you rbody.

The radicchio, in my opinion, is best enjoyed raw.  We make a salad of 1 head of chopped radicchio, 1 to 2 pears or apples cut into chunks, 1 cup of toasted walnuts, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, a sprinkle of salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and if you like, crumble blue cheese on top.

The kohlrabi is small and so tender it doesn't need to be peeled if you eat it within 2 days.  It is a nice addition to salad raw or lightly pickled.  It is good in tuna or chicken salad.  It is good roasted with potatoes.

MARINATED CARROTS from the Talisman cookbook
1 bunch carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano

Wash carrots and cut into thick slices.  Boil in water for 10minutes or until tender but not overcooked.  Drain well and place in bowl with all other ingredients, stirring and mixing well.  Let stand in marinade for 12 hours before serving.

I hope you have a good week and we'll see you next week for the last regular season box!

October 9th CSA

ROOT BUNCH DIAGRAM

Small boxes this week have:  1 mixed root bunch, 1 bunch of Danver's half long (variety name) carrots, 1 head of escarole, 1 head of romaine and some smaller heads of lettuce mix, either 1 zucchini or 2 patty pans, 1 eggplant, 1 head of garlic and 1-2 red onions, 1 small fennel bulb, a few german butterball potatoes.
Regular boxes have:  all of the above though larger quantities of onion, garlic, potatoes, and fennel as well as 1 lb. of october beans, 1/3 lb. shallots.

There is a bag in your box containing from top down: 1 head of escarole, various varieties of small lettuces, and 1 head of romaine.  The escarole is a bitter green that can be used in salad if you like bitterness or can be added to soup or braised to mellow the bitter flavor.  If you are unable to tell the difference between the romaine and escarole by sight, pinch off a piece of leaf and taste it.
I know I said the summer squash was thru but we were surprised to see a good harvest yesterday so I thought we would give it to you one more time.  Also, we were surprised by an abundance of eggplant here at the end of the season so there is 1 more for you!
The diagram of the root bunch is hopefully helpful.  Not everyone got a white beet but all bunches got atleast 1 of everything else.  Some of the watermelon radishes are pink on the outside and some are all white; they are all pink inside hence the name.  The radish can be eaten raw or roasted with other roots.  The scarlet turnips add a nice color and zing to soup broth.  I like quartering all the roots along with carrots and potatoes, tossing with olive oil and s & p and roasting at 425 for 30 mintues or so and eating them.  You can also do the roasting and then puree and use as a soup base.
 Escarole Soup Recipe

The October beans need to be shelled and are a nice addition to soup or cooked alone.  They have a creamy, pinto like texture and a unique flavor.  I like all beans and these are one of my favorites!  I hope you enjoy them.

Justin picking and bunching Danver's half long carrots

We hope to finish the sweet potato harvest this week and get them curing so that we can put them in your box atleast once.  Otherwise, we are weeding and maintaining.  The fruit trees we planted in spring need weeded and to have gravel put around their bases to keep the mice and voles from girdling their bases this winter.  We are starting construction of a potting shed / intern housing.  And we are watching the leaves change, keeping out from under the walnut trees so as to not get knocked out by falling walnuts, and eating well.  Hope you all are too!

October! 2 CSA

DIRTY

CLEAN

Small boxes this week:  1 bok choy (some have 2 small), 1 bunch carrots, 1 bunch baby beets, 1 head of romaine or butterhead lettuce, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 head of garlic, 2 red onions, 1 pint of hot peppers.
Regular boxes have: all the above and 1 bunch of japanese white turnips, 1 costata romanesca zucchini, 1/2 lb. spinach.

My thought was that you could make a small batch of hot sauce for your winter.  If you totally will not use the hot peppers, you can exchange them for something else at the stand today.  Here is a recipe for hot sauce:
Peel the cloves of 1 head of garlic.
Peel and quarter 2 red onions.
Wash and cut the ends off  1 bunch of carrots.
Wash and de-stem 1 pint of hot peppers. (the box has red serranos, orange habaneros, green and red jalapenos)
Put all the veggies on sheet pans 1 layer thick and toss with a little olive oil and salt.
Roast at 400 degrees until sizzling and starting to brown.
Let cool.
Squeeze the juice out of 4 limes.
Combine all ingredients with 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped cilantro leaves.
Grind in a food processor, adding apple cider vinegar to get desired consistency.
Add salt to taste and 1/4tsp of mace or nutmeg.
Let simmer on stovetop for an hour or so to blend the flavors.
Let cool and store in your refrigerator in a mason jar.  It will keep for several months.

We are transplanting next springs' onions today and beginning the large task of digging all the sweet potatoes tomorrow.  If anyone wants to get your hands dirty and earn extra sweet potatoes, we can use your help tomorrow cutting vines!  Let me know if you're interested.

Hope you have a great week!