In the Box

• Haricot Vert
• Fennel
• Sweet Dumpling Squash
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Roma Tomatoes
• Zucchini & Patty Pans
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Hot Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Melon

The green beans are finally here. It’s the end of summer, but better late than never. They are called Haricot Vert because they are a French style of beans. They are long and slender and have great flavor.

A couple of new things are in your boxes this week. Fennel is the white bulb with the ferny leaves. It has a subtle licorice flavor. You can use the bulb raw in salads. Try it in place of celery. It can also be cooked. It is a great addition to vegetarian spaghetti sauce. Try the leaves in salads or in place of dill in potato dishes. You can dry the leaves to use at a latter date. To dry the leaves, place them in a brown paper bag and place on the dash of your car on a sunny day.

Sweet dumpling squash is also new this week. These are the round, cream colored striped squash. This is a type of winter squash. I like to cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until a fork goes through the skin easily. Some folks like to bake squash with a little sugar. Try the sweet dumplings without any sugar. They are naturally very sweet. While it is baking, rinse off the seeds, place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt, garlic salt, or tamari (soy sauce). Roast until they just start to turn dark. They make a delicious snack.

The red peppers have started to come in. Some of them need to ripen a little. Just place them on your kitchen counter for a day or two. The peppers will turn a deep, cherry red. They are delicious to eat raw, cooked or roasted.

You also got a couple of specialty peppers. One is a brown pepper called Chocolate. Or you got a small red pepper called Lipstick. Or perhaps you got a round red pepper called Alma Paprika. Or you got a long skinny red pepper that looks like it should be a hot pepper. It is a wonderful sweet pepper called Jimmy Nardello. All of these peppers are sweet and very tasty.

For hot peppers this week you got a Serrano (small, green and hot), a Hungarian Hot Wax (yellow and medium hot) and 2 green chiles (large, green and mildly hot).

Melons are coming to an end, so enjoy these while you can. If you got a watermelon, the striped ones have yellow flesh. The dark ones are red fleshed.

This Week’s Recipes

• Zucchini, Fennel & Andouille Pie
• Fennel, Bean and Pasta Salad

News From the Farm

We went from drought to flood in a couple of weeks. We received over 10 inches of rain in the last week. Even though we have sandy soil, there are limits to the amount of water the soil will absorb. Fortunately, all of our standing water is in the low spots on the farm. We had some puddles out in the field, but no real problems.

Our tomatoes, cucumbers and melons are very unhappy with all the rain, however. The tomatoes have split open and their skins are peeling back. So I think that our tomato harvest will not be very large in the next few weeks. Plus, we have had to harvest a lot of crops while the plants are wet. This makes some of them unhappy as we spread the plant diseases while we move through the plants.

But despite all the issues on our farm, I really can’t complain. There is not a river running through our farm or produce floating on a new lake. Many farms were seriously hurt by all the rain and lost thousands of dollars of income. Most farmers learn to live with the obstacles that the weather puts in our paths, but this was overwhelming for many. I wish them well as they clean up and try to recover.

Fall Farm Party

Our annual fall picnic is coming up soon. Come to the farm on Saturday, September 8th. We will start at 4 and go as long as folks want to stay. We will have a farm tour, potluck dinner, and a fire with marshmallows to toast.

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Ingredients:

½ tablespoon butter, softened
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
¾ cup diced onion
¾ cup diced fennel bulb
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups diced zucchini
1 link (4 oz) andouille sausage (or a vegetarian alternative)
½ teaspoon crushed fennel seed
salt and pepper
3-4 ounces Swiss cheese
3 large eggs
½ cup milk
for garnish: diced roasted red pepper, chopped black olives, or chopped fennel leaves

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a pie plate with the butter. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over buttered areas. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium flame. Add onion, fennel, and garlic; sauté until vegetables are partially tender, about 5 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high; stir in zucchini, andouille, fennel seed, salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until zucchini is tender, 3-5 minutes. Spread mixture on platter; cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile grate cheese; sprinkle 2/3 of it into pie pan. Beat eggs with milk in bowl. Stir cooled vegetable mixture into egg mixture; pour into pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Rim outer edge of pie filling with garnish choice. Bake until set, about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Source: From Asparagus to Zucchini, 3rd Edition

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Ingredients:

1-2 fennel bulbs, leafy tops removed and reserved
1 small onion
olive oil
1 can (28 ounces) kidney beans, drained
2-3 cups cooked pasta
1 teaspoon lemon pepper

Directions:

Thinly slice fennel bulbs and onion; sauté in olive oil. Chop reserved fennel tops and add to cooked mixture with remaining ingredients. Serve chilled.

Serves: 4-6

Source: From Asparagus to Zucchini, 3rd Edition

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We went from drought to flood in a couple of weeks. We received over 10 inches of rain in the last week. Even though we have sandy soil, there are limits to the amount of water the soil will absorb. Fortunately, all of our standing water is in the low spots on the farm. We had some puddles out in the field, but no real problems.

Our tomatoes, cucumbers and melons are very unhappy with all the rain, however. The tomatoes have split open and their skins are peeling back. So I think that our tomato harvest will not be very large in the next few weeks. Plus, we have had to harvest a lot of crops while the plants are wet. This makes some of them unhappy as we spread the plant diseases while we move through the plants.

But despite all the issues on our farm, I really can’t complain. There is not a river running through our farm or produce floating on a new lake. Many farms were seriously hurt by all the rain and lost thousands of dollars of income. Most farmers learn to live with the obstacles that the weather puts in our paths, but this was overwhelming for many. I wish them well as they clean up and try to recover.

No comments yet »

Our annual fall picnic is coming up soon. Come to the farm on Saturday, September 8th. We will start at 4pm and go as long as folks want to stay. We will have a farm tour, potluck dinner, and a fire with marshmallows to toast.

No comments yet »

In the Box

• Red & Yellow Onions
• Kale
• Thyme
• Sweet Peppers
• Spaghetti Squash
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Hot Peppers
• Zucchini & Patty Pans
• Sungold Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Roma Tomatoes
• Cantaloupe (Dayton St & West Side sites)

This box showcases the wonderful heirloom tomatoes that we have this week. Enjoy them. With all the rain this week, the tomatoes may not be so plentiful next week. The roma tomatoes are usually used for cooking, but I find them good to slice up and eat. Below I have listed some methods that you can use to preserve your tomatoes to eat during the tomato off-season.

Kale is making its first appearance of the season. Kale is a delicious green that has great nutritional qualities. It is high in vitamins A, B, and C and it has lots of calcium. Kale also has the highest protein content of any vegetable. I like to sauté it with onion and garlic in sesame oil.

Thyme is the aromatic herb in your boxes. If you have never had fresh thyme, you are in for a treat. I always thought thyme was a boring herb. But I always had the dried, out of an old bottle type. Fresh is delicious. Try mixing olive oil, thyme, zucchini and patty pans and either grill or sauté them. Thyme is also great in tomato dishes or on fried potatoes. You can dry or freeze the extra for future use.

This Week’s Recipes

• Sausage and Kale Soup
• Late Summer Bruschetta

Food Preservation Tips

We will all miss tomatoes in the winter. Here are some simple preservation ideas so you can enjoy them during the winter:

1. Freeze tomatoes without cooking them. Simply cut off the splits and put the whole tomato into a freezer bag. Place in the freezer. Remove in January and add to pasta dishes.
2. Dry tomatoes. Spray baking sheets with a baking spray. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. (Romas work best for this). Place tomatoes skin side down on the baking sheets. Roast at 200 degrees until tomatoes are almost dry. (This will take 6 to 8 hours. I like to do this overnight). Then put the almost dry tomatoes into freezer bags and place in the freezer.
3. Make spaghetti sauce. Sauté onions, pepper, basil and thyme. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until it thickens. Put into freezer bags or jars and freeze.

Fall Farm Party

Our annual fall picnic is coming up soon. Come to the farm on Saturday, September 8th. We will start at 4pm and go as long as folks want to stay. We will have a farm tour, potluck dinner, and a fire with marshmallows to toast. Plus, there may be some fun and games. Please join us.

News from the Farm

Those of you who are still doing rain dances can stop now. We have had more than enough rain - at least for this week. Monday morning the rain gauge was overflowing at 6 inches. So I’m not sure how much rain we’ve actually had. Big thanks go out to my crew who slogged through the rain on Monday harvesting veggies for your boxes. We also worked last Wednesday in a cold drizzle to get the squash harvest in.

The sandy soil on the farm does absorb lots of water. But at this point the soil is very saturated. We do have standing water in a few places around the farm, but so far, not in the fields.

Too much rain can be a problem for some of our plants. Tomatoes and peppers tend to split even more than normally. Heavy rain can also knock off blossoms, which means that future fruit does not grow.

But the biggest problem is that so much moisture brings in diseases that shorten the life span of the plants. Some of these diseases come because there is not enough airflow and the plants don’t dry out. Some problems come because the roots are too waterlogged. I hope that none of these things become problems.

I hope you all are safe (and dry) in this wet weather. Let’s hope for some balance in the wind and weather. Have a good week.

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Ingredients:

½ pound sausage (veggie sausage works, with some olive oil)
1-cup onions, chopped
garlic to taste, minced
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1-cup potatoes, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1½ cups evaporated milk
1-3 cups kale, chopped
parsley to taste, chopped (optional)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Brown sausage in soup pot and drain all but a spoonful of fat. Remove sausage. Sauté onions and garlic in reserved fat until soft. Return sausage to soup pot. Add, chicken, potatoes, salt and pepper, bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are soft, 10-15 minutes. Add evaporated milk, kale, and parsley, and cook until tender (a few minutes). Garnish each bowl with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Source: Simply in Season

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Ingredients:

2-3 large tomatoes
1 crunchy sweet pepper
1 medium sweet onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
small handful fresh basil, chopped
crusty bread
shredded mozzarella or grated Parmesan (optional)

Ingredients:

Chop the vegetables into a midsize dice. Combine with garlic, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and basil. Slice bread. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle on cheese, if using. Broil bread for several minutes until bread or cheese browns a bit. Top the sections with some of the vegetable mixture.

Serves: 4

Source: Asparagus to Zucchini, 3rd Edition

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We will all miss tomatoes in the winter. Here are some simple preservation ideas so you can enjoy them during the winter:

1. Freeze tomatoes without cooking them. Simply cut off the splits and put the whole tomato into a freezer bag. Place in the freezer. Remove in January and add to pasta dishes.

2. Dry tomatoes. Spray baking sheets with a baking spray. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. (Romas work best for this). Place tomatoes skin side down on the baking sheets. Roast at 200 degrees until tomatoes are almost dry. (This will take 6 to 8 hours. I like to do this overnight). Then put the almost dry tomatoes into freezer bags and place in the freezer.

3. Make spaghetti sauce. Sauté onions, pepper, basil and thyme. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until it thickens. Put into freezer bags or jars and freeze.

No comments yet »

Our annual fall picnic is coming up soon. Come to the farm on Saturday, September 8th. We will start at 4pm and go as long as folks want to stay. We will have a farm tour, potluck dinner, and a fire with marshmallows to toast. Plus, there may be some fun and games. Please join us.

No comments yet »