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Dear Common Thread CSA Members,
We were hoping for rain last week and we got it and then some - it's been pretty steady since. We've had some wet harvests and delayed plantings but we're still moving along. We've put in the winter squash, brussel sprouts and hot peppers recently, also more kale, carrots, spinach, green beans, arugula, and radishes. We've also been busy putting up deer fencing, trellising and pruning tomatoes, seeding fall crops, cultivating, and weeding.
It's time for garlic scapes! This strange looking, quite pretty flower of the garlic is tasty and can be used like a garlicy scallion. It can be chopped small and added to salads or use a few scallions in a sauteed dish in place of a garlic clove.
The hoophouse cucumbers are starting to come in - we have one row inside to tide us over until the field cucumbers start, so we're just distributing one cucumber at a time to start but there will be larger quantities soon.
We're still clearing the last of the potatoes from last year out of the cooler. This week we are distributing Adirondack Red, which is red/pink both on the outside and on the inside. Sometimes people put them with blue and white potatoes for red, white and blue oven fries or potato salad although it looks more pink, purple and white.
One of my favorite ways to prepare beets is to sautee them and then add the chopped up greens and then serve them warm or cold with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. Another new discovery is that if you just put small beets on a grill until the inside is soft you can peel off the outer layer and have delicious soft beets to eat. Here is a tasty looking recipe from epicurious.com
ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH BEET GREENS AND FETA
INGREDIENTS
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic ( or a few garlic scapes)
- 7 medium-large beets (about 3 inches in diameter) with greens
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons chopped drained capers
- 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk oil, vinegar and garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing generously with salt and pepper.
Cut green tops off beets; reserve tops. Arrange beets in single layer in 13x9x2-inch baking dish; add 1 cup water. Cover; bake until beets are tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Peel beets while warm. Cut beets in half and slice thinly. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in capers and 1/4 cup dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
Cut stems off beet greens; discard stems. Wash greens. Transfer greens, with some water still clinging to leaves, to large pot. Stir over high heat until just wilted but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain greens; squeeze out excess moisture. Cool; chop coarsely.
Transfer greens to medium bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Arrange beets in center of platter. Surround with greens; sprinkle with feta. Drizzle with any remaining dressing.
Thank you all for joining the CSA and spreading the word about the CSA! We've almost reached our goal, we just need 13 more shares for the summer. We also have plenty of fall shares available.
We welcome voluteers on the farm! Good times for us are Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and Saturday morning, just call or email to give us a heads up if you decide to come. We can especially use help with harvesting and weeding carrots right now. We also welcome your pictures and recipes for use in the newsletter or on facebook.
Yours in the field,
Wendy and Asher
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