CSA Harvest #5

Good day all! We wanted to include a few images of life at the farm these days.. summer means never a dull moment and it seems if you listen close enough you can hear the plants growing! The picture at the bottom is of a swarm of bees that left the hive and during a tornado of whirling, buzzing honeybees flew about 100 feet before landing on the branches of an apple tree. By nightfall they were shaken back into a new hive with more elbow room and are bringing in nectar like mad!

Also above you can see the early green tomatoes of the Glacier tomato.. today as I took the picture I noticed the first red tomato and interestingly enough on the same day last year (the 29th of June) we also found the first red tomato! Surprising given that this spring has been much colder and wet.

In other farm news we have had many baby birds leaving the nests around the farm. It is great to rest on the hoe for awhile and watch them flutter around a bit wobbly while their mom keeps a close eye on each one. So far there have been tiny baby sparrows, and noisy stellar's jays and then the newest ones fledging have been American robins. They are entertaining to watch as they search out worms and grubs in the soil their head constantly bobbing up and down as they hop down the rows. Loved those little birds until this afternoon when Asinete and I did our nightly strawberry harvest and realized that too many of the best, ripest berries had huge chucks slashed out of them and then we saw the baby robins bobbing innocently away down the aisle. Disturbing and aggravating yes but we were able to harvest enough berries between tonight and a few nights ago to get some to all of you today.. including the baby robins! We are hoping in the next few days a strong wind will carry them farther down the river and that this won't be a problem for long! We try to look at it as our land tax.. hopefully if we are willing to share a bit we can be rewarded by a more plentiful harvest.. let's hope so!

We hope you can all join us for the farm tour coming up this Sat July 17th with one tour at 3pm and another at 5pm. Please rsvp to us via email if you think you can attend and how many you will be with. We will provide juice and snacks and may even bust out the hand cranked ice cream maker (throwing in some ripe berries!)

Thank you and enjoy the newest goodies that this season has brought!

Suzie, Asinete, MA and Violet

Harvest This Week Includes:

Yukon Gold New Potatoes

Snowball Cauliflower or Romanesco Cauliflower

Rainbow Chard

Rainbow Carrots

Snow peas (not much longer we promise!)

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce

Seascape Strawberries (not a lot this first week but more to come!)

Broccoli (less this week but one more big harvest before the fall crop comes in)

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley (goes great with potatoes see recipes below!)

How to Cook it and Store it:

The Yukon Gold potatoes in your basket are called new potatoes because they were just dug out of the ground today and their skin has not cured. You will notice the skin on these are very thin and some even peel off. Because of the thin skins new potatoes do not store well and are best eaten within 2-3 days. If you need to store longer than this please put in the crisper bin of your fridge. No need to peel these buttery beauties as most of the nutrients in a potato lies right under the skin. kept in a

Garlicky Yukon Gold Potatoes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, large ones quartered small halved.
* 6 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
* 2 Tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Brush a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Arrange the gold potatoes on the baking sheet, cut side down, and bake for 45 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl.

Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until crisp and lightly browned; do not let the garlic get too brown or it will be bitter.

Pour the garlic and oil over the potatoes, add the parsley and toss. Season with salt and pepper and serve at once.

Yield: 8 servings

Yukon Gold Potato Gratin
SERVES 4

Ingredients

* 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1 lb yukon gold potato
* 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
* 2 tablespoons sour cream
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, very finely minced
* 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/3 cup chicken broth or white wine
* 4 fresh thyme sprigs (to garnish)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round or oval baking dish.

2.Slice potatoes 1/8-inch thick and combine thoroughly in a mixing bowl with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, the sour cream, olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper.

3. Arrange potatoes in a neat overlapping pattern in the baking dish. Pour chicken broth over potatoes.

4. Bake 35 minutes, until potatoes are nearly-tender and the cheese and potatoes are starting to brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake another 10-15 minutes.

5. Garnish with thyme sprigs and enjoy!



Rainbow Chard~ Please keep your chard wither wrapped up in a damp towel in your fridge or in a plastic bag. It does tend to wilt quickly if not wrapped. This chard is chock full of nutrients! Here are some recipe ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/2 small red onion, diced
* 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
* 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* salt to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the chard stems and the white wine. Simmer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt if needed.

Chard, Sausage and Feta Frittata~

Ingredients

* 12 ounces swiss chard, stems and centers removed
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 cup onion, chopped
* 8 ounces mild Italian sausage, casings removed and broken up
* 8 large eggs
* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F Spray 8x8x2 baking dish with nonstick spray.

2.Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add Swiss chard and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain and finely chop. Place in a kitchen towel and squeeze dry, set aside.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add sausage and cook until browned and done, breaking up with a fork; about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

4. Whisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add chard and sausage mixture, then feta; stir to blend. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.

5. Bake until set in center, 45-55 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15-20 minutes. Turn over onto a platter, then flip to so that the frittata is right-side-up. Cut into 20 pieces.

6. NOTE: Can be made 1 day ahead. Place frittata pieces on baking sheet, cover and chill. Rewarm in 325F oven for 10 minutes, or until heated through.


Enjoy!!