October 14th, 2012
This past week was very constructive as we were able to get some of our strawberry plants started as well as began drilling another water well. We are close to begin broadcasting dolomitic limestone on our second ten acre field in the "back forty." (For those of you not familiar, crushed limestone neutralizes the acidic based soils that are native to our part of Texas. Ideal soils have a pH between 6 & 6.5) After liming we can begin planting.
Recipe: Wondering what to do with Italian eggplant? Here is a twist on eggplant caponata that I came up with that is really tasty and easy to make. You can use some of those leeks that came in your shares as well.
1/4 cup olive oil 1 medium-sized onion or leek, finely chopped
3to 4 medium-sized cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
1 large eggplant (peeling optional), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 can condensed cream of tomato soup or 3 tbspoons tomato paste
jar of small pitted green olives jar of marinated artichoke hearts (drained, about 4 hearts cut into 2 or 3 smaller pieces) a little juice (1 cup) from the marinated artichokes a few basil leaves (optional) - Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the leeks/onion, garlic and salt, and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent (5 to 8 minutes).
- Add the eggplant cubes, stir and cover. Cook until the eggplant is very well done (15 to 20 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add small amounts of additional oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to prevent sticking.
- Stir in tomato soup (or paste) and artichoke juice, and heat to the boiling point. Add the olives and remove from heat.
- Stir in the artichoke hearts, then cool to room temperature. Taste to adjust the seasonings, adding the optional herbs, if desired.
- If you don't like olives, you can skip them and allow alive lovers to add them as they wish. I added some garlic stuffed olives, but they were rather large.
I suggest cooking ahead of time as the flavors really mettle together nicely; even better so the second day. I served warm a long side some blanched green beans with smoked turkey, but you can use as an appetizer as well with pita chips.
Starbucks In West Univ., Now A CSA Drop Site. We're excited to announce that the Starbucks at Buffalo Speedway and Westpark is our newest pick up location for the West University side of town. Deliveries will be on Wednesday's, 330-730, beginning this coming week.
New Seabrook Location. We're also happy to announce that the Seabrook Waffle Company has joined our list of Pick Up Locations. Our CSA shares can be found there on Thursday's 330-700. A link to their website can be found at Seabrook Waffle Company Farm Dinner Set For Saturday December 1st. We've heard about how great Justin Turner is as a chef and now we're ecstatic that he will be joining us in hosting another one of our farm dinners. It will likely be a little chilly by then, so we will probably begin early afternoon. For those that will like to stay into the evening, a nice campfire may be inviting. This will be an adult oriented event. More details to come. Desire Some Local Pork? No we're not talking politics here! We're talking the real deal, as in oink oink! Yep. we've got some piggies that are ready for processing. Don't worry if you don't want a whole pig, you can have quarter or half as well. If interested just let me know by email and we can visit. On a similar note, we will be providing details about our upcoming pork/poultry program in the near future. (For those that have already contacted me, we will be in touch with this coming week.) Whole Foods Houston? WDF is now a "bona fide Whole Food produce vendor." Should you occasionally shop at WF, enjoy our produce, and/or like to support local farms, you can do us a favor by telling (or leaving a note for) the respective produce "team leaders or assistants" that you hope to see our "produce goodies" on their vegetable racks soon. The WF locations that we are currently servicing are the following: - Kirby
- Bellaire
- Woodway
- Montrose
Fall CSA Program This week our shares should include our first cutting of broccoli, along with some more green beans, cherry tomatoes, baby greens and more eggplant. Perhaps you can try that recipe above. Our first delivery was two weeks ago, but not to worry as we still have share openings available and registration prices are prorated accordingly each week. Thus you can still join and pay for just the deliveries that remain in the program. (Ordering Cut off's are Sunday's at midnight.) So to receive a delivery for this coming week, you need to register by tomorrow, Sunday night.) Items expected to be harvested within the Fall program include Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Green beans, Kale, Arugula , Basil, Peppers , Eggplant, Salad mix, Summer Squash, Dill, Zucchini, Bunching Onions, Winter Squash, Carrots, Beets, Micro Greens, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach and more.. For more info and registration visit this link Fall CSA Program & Registration
For a short registration tutorial, consider reviewing the instructions located at the bottom of this update.
Like To Participate In Our CSA, But Will Be Gone Some This Fall? Consider our Alternating Week Share and/or splitting a share with a friend/relative. An easy way to split is for you take the whole share one week and defer it to your partner another week. Just include their email address when you register. Sorry, we don't have provisions for splitting credit card payments.
Woodlands Home Delivery For You? For those of you living in zip codes 77380,77381,77382,77384 consider, at a slightly higher coast, trying our home delivery service. Delivery days are Thursday's, normally after 3 pm. Just go to the CSA link at Fall CSA Program & Registration and select the Woodlands Home Delivery tab.
Local Eggs? The change in seasons has resulted in the hens becoming a little confused and consequently egg production is way way down. So egg availability is limited and requires that we source from farms other than just Dustin's Eggs. All of our eggs are local free range eggs and feed on rich non GMO grain diets.
Thanks for reading, Van Cell 713 876 8645 www.woodduckfarm.com csa@woodduckfarm.com PS If you have moved or not interested in receiving our updates, please click the "unsubscribe" link above to "option out" of any future emails. CSA Online Registration Tutorial , i.e. the Heights etc. select continue, this will take you to our shopping cart. 2) Choose your desired share size where you select "add to order." 3) Place your mouse over the first available date, i.e. Sept. 26th etc.The date should turn yellow, left click your mouse and all the dates should light up green. 4) Select "CONTINUE" , and/or scroll down to add items to your CSA pick up order for any particular week, i.e. eggs, honey etc. (FYI not all locations can receive 100% of our "add on orders."
5) Once your selections are determined and dates highlighted in green, go to "check out."
6) This should take you to our registration page where existing customers can log in or new customers can provide info, i.e. name(s) email(s) etc.
7) Follow the prompts at the bottom of the page to complete your purchase via PayPal. FYI, your credit card payment is with PayPal on a secure PayPal server, not our website.
8) Should your payment be successful, you should receive a prompt email confirmation from PayPal.
9) Delivery reminders will be sent out a day or so prior to your scheduled delivery week-day. If you received a registration/pmt confirmation from PayPal, but do not get an weekly email pick up reminder, please contact us so we can insure your weekly notification.
FYI Sunday Midnight Is Our Typical Weekly Cut-off Time. With this in mind, please consider ordering by midnight Sunday; this will insure orders being delivered the immediate coming week. Reading this email too late? Not to worry, our prices are prorated each week to reflect correct prices; so orders and registrations received later will begin the following week.
|
