Common Ground Garden

 


September 27, 2013


Volume 19, Issue 14
Common Ground Garden Rows
 


Greetings!

 

 

A Note from the Production Manager   

Kate Ritger 

Kate Ritger 2013

Greetings Subscribers and Friends!

Do you have a canvas bag, brown paper bag, or box at home? Bring it to distribution this week. Our bag supply is running low. Thanks!

 

Put it on your calendar: Last pick-up will be Thursday, October 17. We've got a few more weeks to go! There are still lots of potatoes, onions, leeks, squash, pumpkins, gourds, carrots, beets and greens in store.

 

The cantaloupe are still ripening very slowly. In hotter weather they can ripen overnight. I will continue to pick them when they are ripe and distribute them to as many of you as possible.

I had a big crew of volunteers last week for about an hour so we stripped the tomato plants. We'll have green and slowly ripening tomatoes for you to help yourself to. In past years I've made green tomato salsa and even an occasional fried green tomato. See what you think.

 

We're harvesting daikon radish this week! The daikon is a large Japanese radish. It's sharp, rich in Vitamin C and a natural digestive and blood cleaner. My two favorite ways to eat them are pickled and shredded with carrots and fried in patties (see the recipes below). They also store well in the refrigerator for at least a month. My hope is to make some samples of these recipes for Thursday.

 

Have you ever wondered if you live near other subscribers? Or where exactly our garden partners are located? Do you just love maps? Last spring an Environmental Studies student, Emily Krulc, made a map of this garden information for her GIS (Geographic Information Systems) class. Rest assured that she did not have access to your names or other personal information. Emily made a poster board of the map for us. Take a few minutes on Thursday to check it out. 


Meet our new quality control agent: Clare McPherson!
Clare loves to get up close and personal with the vegetables! And we love her visits.


  

 

Stock the Freezer with Pesto!    

We still have more basil if you want to stock the freezer with pesto. We'll continue harvesting entire plants.

 

White Grape Juice for Sale!
  We still have some red grape jelly, syrup, juice and cucumber/bean pickles in stock, but the supplies are limited. We are also adding white grape juice to the menu. It will be frozen and pasteurized, and ready for sale on Thursday. Same price as the red grape juice, $4.50 for a � gallon.

Grape Jelly: $4 � pint, $8 pint
Grape Syrup: $3 � pint
Grape Juice (frozen, pasteurized and ready to drink): $4.50 � gallon
Dill Pickles: $7 quart
Dill Pickled Green Beans: $8 quart

 

We Want Your Leaves!

Please bring us your leaves. We want to use them next season for mulching the tomatoes and other vegetables. No branches or grass clippings please, but lots of leaves!

 

Stock Your Freezer with Meat 

Beef, pork, duck, goose and chicken! Christina Traeger of Rolling Hills Traeger Ranch has specials on meat to stock your freezer. Her animals are all 100% corn and soy free. Contact Christina at 320-293-2995, or [email protected] to place your order now.

 

Kidney Beans!
Full shares, this week you are receiving a gift of kidney beans from some friends of the garden, Bob and Lynn Valek. A neighbor of Bob's shared the beans with him, and so he shares them with us. Time to make some chili! Dry beans can be soaked and cooked on the stove, or, as I discovered last year, can be cooked in a crock pot! Put them in dry with plenty of water and come home at the end of the day to cooked beans! Enjoy.

 

This Week in Your Bag
Lots of daikon radishes!
   
Produce    

Daikon radishes, lettuce, carrots, peppers, Krimzon Lee peppers, potatoes, cantaloupe, hot peppers and assorted herbs. 

 
Bread of the Week

Sourdough

          
Notes for Subscribers
Contact information 

Ryan Kutter, Garden Director: 320-219-3389
Kate Ritger, Production Manager: 262-339-7737 

[email protected] 

  

Reminders   

  • Please bring back the cardboard flats for tomatoes - it saves me trips to the liquor stores.
  • Please continue to bring reusable bags to pick-up. Thanks!
 

Distribution takes place every Thursday afternoon, unless otherwise notifed.

  • 4-6 p.m. at the Common Ground Garden. You really can't miss the barn at Saint Benedict's Monastery. Enter at the college entrance from Minnesota Street near 4th Ave SW. Make a right at the stop sign and follow the gravel road out to the barn.
  • 5-6 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church in St. Cloud. For a link on Google maps, click here 
  • If you are unable to pick up during the scheduled time, be in touch with me and we'll make other arrangements.
    A friend or family member can pick up for you, or we can find another time.

 

Community News
Garden Evening Hours 

Garden evening hours: Mondays 5-7 p.m. Guests, visitors and helping hands of all shapes and sizes are always welcome at the garden but especially on Monday evenings. Your assistance in the garden helps us live our mission of providing local produce to people throughout central Minnesota ... and its really fun! Come garden with us.

 

Please gather your "extras" and bring for us to reuse and recycle

            brown paper bags

            canvas bags

            plastic grocery bags

            gallon ice cream buckets

            egg cartons

 

St. Joseph's Farmers' Market 

The St. Joe Market is open every Friday, 3-6:30 p.m. Many vendors, music, children's activities, and more. Located near the St. Joseph water tower. Visit the SJFM website www.stjosephfarmersmarket.com for more information .  


Follow us on Facebook! We've been posting photos of our planting and progress.

 

 

Recipes
Check our website for more ideas, and please share your recipes with us!

Can't use all of your veggies in a week? Here are some tips for storage

  1. Scallions -- chop and put them in a zipploc in the freezer for later use.
  2. Potatoes -- store them in a dry and dark place, like under your sink or in the pantry. If you notice them getting soft (the same can happen with beets or carrots), they are getting dehydrated so cut them up and soak them in water for an hour or overnight.  
  3. Carrots and beets -- best stored in the refrigerator in plastic bags.
  4. Summer squash -- grate and freeze it in a zipploc for bread, cake or to add to soup.
  5. Winter squash -- bake and freeze it.
  6. Tomatoes -- chop them up fresh and freeze, or make sauce or salsa and freeze or can it. (Check for proper canning methods.)
  7. Peppers -- chop them up fresh and freeze; roast them with a splash of olive oil and freeze.
  8. Swiss chard/kale/collards -- saute and spread on cookie sheets for freezing. Then transfer them to bags. Freezing them on the cookie sheets first will make it easy to pull usable sized chunks from the bag.
  9. Eggplant -- roast, puree and freeze. (A subscriber recently told me her 9-month old loved the roasted eggplant. Maybe freezing it in ice cube trays would be a good portion size for toddler meals.)

 

Want to add a little spice to your cooking? Take some hot peppers home, cut the stems off and pulse them in the food processor. Freeze the pepper paste in ice cube trays and keep some in the refrigerator. Add a teaspoon or tablespoon to whatever you are cooking.

 

 

Pan Fried Daikon Cake   

from allrecipes.com

 

1 1/2 cups grated daikon radish
2 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce (such as Sriracha�)
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil for frying


Place the daikon in a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Drain daikon.Stir in the garlic, onion, egg, bread crumbs, pepper, paprika and chili garlic sauce. Mix well. Form into eight, small round patties.

 

Pour oil into a large skillet. Heat over medium heat. Fry patties in the hot oil until firm and nicely brown, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

 

Vietnamese Daikon and Carrot Pickles
from allrecipes.com

Note: I have also used far less sugar and they taste pretty great. And, in one batch I forgot salt and they even tasted great!

 

2 pounds carrots (about 5 medium sized carrots), peeled
2 pounds of
daikon radishes (about 2 large daikon), peeled
1 cup plus 4 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups warm water (warm enough to easily dissolve sugar)
About 5 pint jars

Julienne the carrots and the daikon radishes. Cut them first crosswise into 2 1/2 inch long segments. Then cut 1/4-inch thick slices lengthwise. Stack the slices and cut them again into 1/4-inch thick batons.

 

Place the carrots and daikon radishes in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 4 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt. Use your clean hands to toss the carrots and daikon with the salt and sugar until well coated. Continue to mix the carrots and daikon with your hands until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. They are ready once you can bend a piece of daikon all the way over without it breaking.


Transfer the carrots and daikon to a colander, rinse with cool water and drain well.

 

In a bowl (a 8 cup pyrex measuring cup works great for this) mix together one cup of sugar, the white vinegar and the warm water, until the sugar dissolves.

 

Prepare clean jars. Pack the daikon and carrots tightly into the jars. Pour over the pickling liquid to cover. Seal. Refrigerate. The pickles should sit at least overnight before eating; their flavor will improve with time.They should last 4 to 6 weeks in the refrigerator.Traditionally served in Vietnamese street sandwiches called Banh Mi.These pickles would be great with anything that would typically be served with coleslaw or sauerkraut, like hot dogs, or barbecued pork, or even with salad or wrapped into a spring roll. Or just eat them straight.


Yield:
Makes approximately 5 pints

************* 

Every week we will send several recipes that make use of the produce you are receiving in your bag. We also have a significant collection of recipes on our website at http://sbm.osb.org/ministries/common_ground_garden/recipes/.   Please send us your own recipes, too; either favorites from your cookbooks or your own concoctions.

 

 

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Contact information

[email protected]

Ryan Kutter, Garden Director, cell: 320-219-3389

Kate Ritger, Production Manager, cell: 262-339-7737

 

 

CGG logoCommon Ground Garden is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, where members purchase a share of vegetables and each week during the farm season receive a bountiful box of fresh produce. We pride ourselves on producing fresh, clean, healthful food picked at the peak of flavor and nutrition. As much as we are able, we grow our vegetables without the use of any chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. We use cover crops, rotations, compost and ingenuity to produce your food in a way that's healthy for you and for the community. When necessary for pest control or to combat disease, we use only products approved for organic gardening.
Common Ground Garden Rows

Common Ground Garden is the ministry of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict.

104 Chapel Lane
St. Joseph, Minnesota 56374