In the Box

• Red Potatoes
• Green and Red Curly Kale
• Acorn Squash
• Cinnamon Basil
• Italian Red Garlic
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Head Lettuce
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Roma Tomatoes
• Hot Peppers
• Cucumber

When the season began this year I had many goals. Some were for the farm and some were for me personally. One of the personal ones was that I wanted to try to reduce the stress caused by all the seasonal ups and downs. I jokingly referred to it as ‘Zen and the Art of Farming’. I wanted to keep my inner peace despite what the weather, bugs, diseases, wind, employees, customers and markets could throw at me.

Well, I’m not sure that I have succeeded at that goal. Or else, the weather picked up the challenge and decided to push me to my limits. This has been a year of weather extremes. It’s too dry and then too wet. First it’s hot then it’s too cold. Several farmers that I know have decided to throw in the towel after this season.

I am not quitting, but it was very challenging to get hit with the earliest frost I’ve seen in my 18 years of farming. Our average first frost is October 1st. Last Saturday I left for farmers market before dawn. I knew we had frost, but did not see the extent of the damage until returning home Saturday evening. We lost all the tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and patty pans. Peppers, tomatillos, sweet potatoes and basil were partially killed by the frost. We had tried on Friday to cover all the vulnerable crops, but the wind was so strong that the covers blew off.

Some years I am ready for the frost, but not this year. I would have liked to have a couple more weeks of the summer crops. I’m trying to put a positive spin on all of this. I’m trying to see it as an opportunity to get all the fall clean up done earlier than normal.

So, an early frost obviously has an impact on the items in your boxes. This will be the last week for tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and probably peppers. Cherry tomatoes are in the greenhouse, so the frost did not hit them.

But there is some good news as well. The fall crops are looking good. We dug the first potatoes last week. You have a small taste this week. There will be more in the weeks to come.

Kale actually tastes sweeter after a frost. The kale recipe listed below is a great way for non-kale fans to eat and enjoy kale.

Head lettuce is back in your boxes. The deer have been enjoying the lettuce, so I harvested the heads at the baby lettuce stage. You got a couple of small heads this week.

Cinnamon basil was the one basil that survived the frost. It has a sweet spicy scent. I did make some pesto with it on Sunday. It tasted great, but was definitely different from sweet basil pesto.

Something I’ve learned from some of the local restaurants is to mix pesto with mayonnaise and use in sandwiches. Try making a cheese, pesto mayo, and apple slices in a sandwich. I think the cinnamon basil pesto would be great in this context.

This Week’s Recipes

• Corn and Kale Skillet Cake
• Thai Chicken with Basil
• Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

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When the season began this year I had many goals. Some were for the farm and some were for me personally. One of the personal ones was that I wanted to try to reduce the stress caused by all the seasonal ups and downs. I jokingly referred to it as ‘Zen and the Art of Farming’. I wanted to keep my inner peace despite what the weather, bugs, diseases, wind, employees, customers and markets could throw at me.

Well, I’m not sure that I have succeeded at that goal. Or else, the weather picked up the challenge and decided to push me to my limits. This has been a year of weather extremes. It’s too dry and then too wet. First it’s hot then it’s too cold. Several farmers that I know have decided to throw in the towel after this season.

I am not quitting, but it was very challenging to get hit with the earliest frost I’ve seen in my 18 years of farming. Our average first frost is October 1st. Last Saturday I left for farmers market before dawn. I knew we had frost, but did not see the extent of the damage until returning home Saturday evening. We lost all the tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and patty pans. Peppers, tomatillos, sweet potatoes and basil were partially killed by the frost. We had tried on Friday to cover all the vulnerable crops, but the wind was so strong that the covers blew off.

Some years I am ready for the frost, but not this year. I would have liked to have a couple more weeks of the summer crops. I’m trying to put a positive spin on all of this. I’m trying to see it as an opportunity to get all the fall clean up done earlier than normal.

So, an early frost obviously has an impact on the items in your boxes. This will be the last week for tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and probably peppers. Cherry tomatoes are in the greenhouse, so the frost did not hit them.

But there is some good news as well. The fall crops are looking good. We dug the first potatoes last week. You have a small taste this week. There will be more in the weeks to come.

Kale actually tastes sweeter after a frost. The kale recipe listed below is a great way for non-kale fans to eat and enjoy kale.

Head lettuce is back in your boxes. The deer have been enjoying the lettuce, so I harvested the heads at the baby lettuce stage. You got a couple of small heads this week.

Cinnamon basil was the one basil that survived the frost. It has a sweet spicy scent. I did make some pesto with it on Sunday. It tasted great, but was definitely different from sweet basil pesto.

Something I’ve learned from some of the local restaurants is to mix pesto with mayonnaise and use in sandwiches. Try making a cheese, pesto mayo, and apple slices in a sandwich. I think the cinnamon basil pesto would be great in this context.

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Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen corn
2 cups finely chopped, firmly packed kale
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil
2 cups milk
1 cup diced onion
butter or oil for frying
optional: basil, garlic, sweet or hot peppers

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, salt, corn and kale. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs, melted butter or oil, and milk to combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix briefly. Heat butter or oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, basil and peppers. Add the sauté mix to the batter, mix again, then drop about ¼ cup batter per cake into the hot skillet, adding more oil or butter as needed to keep cakes from sticking. Cook until cakes begin to bubble, about 3 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is golden, 1 or 2 minutes longer. Serve warm with sour cream and salsa.

Serves: 4-6

Source: Unknown

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Ingredients:

3-4 tablespoons seeded and finely chopped green chili peppers
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
¾ cup chopped cinnamon basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
½ teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 whole chicken breasts, boned, skinned, cut into ¼ by 2 inch strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, halved and sliced ¼ inch thick
hot cooked rice

Directions:

Mix chiles, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, basil, mint, and cornstarch. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in large skillet or wok over high heat. When oil is hot, add chicken and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until meat loses its pinkness, about 4 minutes. Remove meat; keep warm. Heat remaining oil in pan. Add onion and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add chili mixture; return chicken and its juices to pan. Cook, stirring until sauce thickens slightly. Serve with rice.

Serves: 4-6

Source: Asparagus to Zucchini, 1st Edition

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Ingredients:

1-pound potatoes, unpeeled
6 cloves garlic
¼ to ½ cup milk
½ stick butter

Directions:

Chop potatoes into similar sized chunks. Cover with water and put on to boil. Peel garlic. Add whole cloves to boiling potatoes. Cook until a fork goes through the potatoes easily. Drain. Add some milk and butter and mash. Add more milk if needed.

Source: A Luna Circle Farm original

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In the Box

• Broccoli
• Haricot Vert
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Delicata Squash
• Parsley
• Roma Tomatoes
• Hot Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Lemon Balm
• Cutting Celery

As we head into mid-September, the summer veggies are waning while the fall vegetables are coming in strong. This will be the end of the green beans and the beginning of the fall broccoli. Tomatoes are still being harvested, but the quantities are getting smaller.

Red peppers are the exception. We are having a bumper crop this week. Remember that peppers are very easy to store for the winter. (Refer to last week’s newsletter for details). Roasted peppers are very easy to make and freeze. They are very expensive to buy, so take advantage of our surplus and roast some of your own.

Monday morning (our CSA harvest day) dawned cold and drizzly. One of the advantages of the rain is it keeps down the mosquitoes. But the down side of a rainy Monday is that we cannot harvest basil, as it will turn black. So we cut some different herbs for your boxes. Parsley is a familiar herb. Lemon balm has been in your boxes once before this season. You can use it to make iced or hot tea. Or you can chop it up and add it to fish, chicken, or roasted vegetable dishes about 1-2 minutes before the dish is done.

The other herb in your boxes is called cutting celery. It looks just like Italian parsley, but smells like celery. True celery is a very hard crop to grow in our climate. Every time I’ve tried the result has been very strong flavored celery. So I’m trying the cutting celery. Just chop it up (including the leaves) and use it wherever you would use celery. I’ve used it in soups, egg salad, tuna salad and pasta salads.

You also got several delicata squash in your box. We are having some problems with our winter squash. You may remember my writing about the squash maturing earlier than normal. We had to harvest it much earlier than we expected. Well, it has been out in too much sun and rain. We did try to erect a tarp about 4 feet above the squash to cast some shade. It has helped some, but the delicata is still showing some stress.

So we gave you lots of delicata squash this week. They may have a few spots on them, but I thought it was better to give them to you now instead of composting them. They are a very tasty squash and should be cooked right away. Just cut them in half, lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and any spots. You can bake or steam them until they are tender. You can freeze any excess for use at a later date. By the way, the skins are edible as well. If you don’t want to eat them, try giving them to your dogs or cats. Mine love delicata squash.

The rest of the squash seem to be doing better. There will be more of them in the weeks to come. It does look like I need to build some more vegetable storage space as we are currently using all we have. One more thing to add to the list…

This Week’s Recipes

• Sungold Sauce with Bow Ties
• Mexican Pepper Casserole

News from the Farm

This last week I have discovered that a farmer’s sanity is directly proportional to the number of mosquitoes buzzing around her head. We all looked like colorful bank robbers out in the fields. We had to be covered everywhere except our eyes. Wind, rain, or midday sun helped as did bug spray.

About 25 folks braved the mosquitoes to come to the farm party on Saturday. We had a great potluck with dishes falling into 2 food groups - tomatoes and chocolate. All of it was delicious. Thanks for coming.

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Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 quart whole Sungold cherry tomatoes, stems removed
1 large clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
10 ounces bow tie pasta
fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet until quite hot, but not smoking. Add tomatoes and let them sizzle for a minute or two, shaking pan occasionally. Add garlic and salt, stir and cover. Cook over medium-high heat until the Sungolds can easily be flattened with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of salted, boiling water; drain and keep warm until sauce is done. Uncover cherry tomatoes and flatten them with a wooden spoon to release all the juices.

Continue to cook uncovered over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened and juices are reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Add the sugar and additional salt to taste. Place cooked pasta in individual pasta bowls, and spoon some sauce over each bowl (a little goes a long way). Sprinkle some basil over each bowl and serve hot.

Serves: 3-4

Source: From Asparagus to Zucchini, 3rd Edition

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Ingredients:

4-6 sweet peppers
1½ cups thinly sliced onions
4 tablespoons butter, olive oil or a combination
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon dry mustard pepper
2 tablespoons flour
4 large eggs
1½ cups sour cream or yogurt
½ pound medium cheddar, thinly sliced
paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the peppers in thin strips. Heat the butter and/or olive oil in a heavy skillet. sauté onions and garlic with salt and spices. When onions are translucent, add peppers. sauté over low heat for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour. Mix well and sauté until there is no extra liquid. Beat together eggs and sour cream. Butter a deep casserole. Spread in half the sauté, topped with half the sliced cheese. Repeat these layers. Pour the egg and sour cream mixture over the top and sprinkle with paprika. Bake 30 minutes covered. Remove cover and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Source: The Moosewood Cookbook

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This last week I have discovered that a farmer’s sanity is directly proportional to the number of mosquitoes buzzing around her head. We all looked like colorful bank robbers out in the fields. We had to be covered everywhere except our eyes. Wind, rain, or midday sun helped as did bug spray.

About 25 folks braved the mosquitoes to come to the farm party on Saturday. We had a great potluck with dishes falling into 2 food groups - tomatoes and chocolate. All of it was delicious. Thanks for coming.

No comments yet »

In the Box

• Sweet Basil
• Sunshine Squash
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Haricot Vert
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Scallions
• Hot Peppers
• Roma Tomatoes
• Zucchini & Patty Pans

We finally had a Monday without rain so we were able to pick basil. If we pick it when it is raining, it turns black. So make pesto or bruschetta. I also included a great basil and patty pan recipe in this newsletter. (By the way, this may be the last of the zucchini and patty pans as they are fading quickly).

Sunshine squash is the orange winter squash. This is in the same family as buttercup and red kuri squash. It is great to cut open, scoop out the seeds and bake. It is also great in many squash dishes. Try the coconut curry squash recipe listed below. One note: some of the squash have some skin damage. This is caused by little beetle bites. It is only skin deep so don’t worry about it. Also, if you are not ready to eat winter squash yet, don’t worry. It will keep for a long time.

Peppers have taken off. Remember if your big red peppers are not fully red, put them on the counter for a day or two. They will turn a deep red.

Tomatoes are continuing to produce, though they have a few more cracks due to the heavy rains. The cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse have finally started to produce like I expect. I think it was just too hot in the greenhouse for a while and they didn’t produce.
I hope you all enjoyed the green beans last week. Here they are again as each planting produces for about 2 weeks.

This Week’s Recipes

• Patty Pan Squash with Fresh Basil and Toasted Pecans
• Coconut Curry Squash

Storage Tips for Peppers

Peppers are very easy to put aside for the winter. Remove the seeds and stems. Slice or chop, place in freezer bags and place in the freezer.You can roast the peppers before freezing. Place the peppers on a grill or under a broiler. Let the skins blacken. Turn the peppers so all sides blacken. Remove from heat and place in a paper sack for 15 minutes. This will allow the peppers to steam for a little while and allow the skin to soften. Remove all the skin. Place in freezer bags. Roasted peppers are one of my favorite foods. They liven up many winter sandwiches, homemade pizza and pasta dishes.

Volunteer Opportunities

Labor Day means we lose many of our summer workers as they head back to high school and college. We are very shorthanded, especially the week of September 10th. If you have some free time and would like to work some, please give me a call at 920-992-6413. We have harvesting work every weekday morning and every weekday afternoon except Tuesdays. A morning on the farm is worth 2 mornings at the gym…

Fall Farm Party

This Saturday, the 8th is the annual Fall Farm Party. We will get started around 4pm and go as long as folks are here. Last year, folks stayed until around 11pm.

The party is potluck. The farm will provide all the plates, utensils, cups, etc. We will have coffee, lemonade, and iced herbal teas. We will also have marshmallows for the campfire. Please bring a dish to share. Feel free to bring alcohol if you want. Also please bring a folding chair. We do have some, but not enough for everyone.

I would also suggest that you bring bug spray. Since all the rain, the mosquitoes have been out in flocks. Bug repellent will be necessary.

I hope all of you can come.

Directions to the Farm

From Madison: Take Stoughton Rd/Highway 51 north. About 15 miles north of Madison, turn right on Highway 60. Go east 5 miles. Look for County Highway C, but don’t turn on it. Take the 2nd left after Highway C onto Old F Rd. Take Old F to the end. Turn right and then an immediate left back onto Old F. Take the 1st right onto Moore Rd. Go 1½ miles and turn left onto Severson Rd. The farm is the first place on the left.

From Portage: Go east on Highway 16 to Otsego. Turn south on Otsego Rd. Take the 2nd right onto Breen Rd. Go one mile and turn left on Severson Rd. I’m the 3rd place on the right.

From Columbus: Same directions as Portage but go west on 16 to Otsego.

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