Week #12 August 31, 2015
Your box this week, depending on size, may contain the following vegetables:
I learned from one of my art students how to help the plight of the monarch butterflies. We have many milkweed plants in our tall grasses, which is a favorite place for them to feed and lay one small egg that becomes a catepillar. So here is “my” chrysalis, still surviving after the original catepillar escaped this white bucket and took a stroll around our wash station at our most busy time. I just about stepped on him, but corralled him back to the bucket. Last Saturday by 2:30 p.m., he had hung himself upside down from this branch in a “J” position. By Sunday morning, the chysalis had formed. At any moment, the butterfly will emerge and take about a day to grow a little, fortify himself and get ready for flight. Within 4-7 hours, he will begin the mating cycle.........and so it continues!!
Field or Storage Onions Broccoli Summer Squash Eggplant Sweet Peppers Cabbage Tomatoes Herbs (basil, dill or mint)
Kale Cucumbers Melons Carrots Radish Potatoes Baby Kohlrabi Beets
CORRECTION: Last week, I mentioned that Calvin, our grandson neé potato poster boy, was our 5th generation farm hand on the Utz side. Actually, I’m proud to say, he’s 6th generation UTZ.
Hmm-m-m-m-m, about those ..............
tomatoes. I know we’ve highlighted the tomatoes previously, but it’s time to give you an update. UGH. It’s not been a pretty year for this fruit. While some species of the plants appeared to be shutting down as of last week after the Fall-like temps, the hard driving rain on Sunday morning added to their pain. Tomatoes don’t especially like a lot of moisture on their above- ground parts. So, we were not surprised to see the condition of the crop this morning. Some people call heirloom tomatoes “ugly” tomatoes because of their naturally ocurring folds, chasms and shoulder splits, but they are sharing the limelight this year with so much spotting and all-over splitting. For every tomato, including the smaller cherry and artisan types, we pick, we must cull out almost 2/3 of them as simply not marketable. Needless to say, our quality control in a year like this goes out the window. We have to accept a lot of our produce as “ugly” this year. The good thing is, in most cases, it does not affect the taste or the nutrients......certainly not the fact that you have clean, nontoxic veggies to use for your meals! Eat HAPPY, eat HEALTHY!!!
Ellen, a former student and volunteer who was in town before her last year of college started, chose to come out and help us with the sea of storage onions (believe me, you’re seeing only a small portion!). In the background is Lindsey, doing her share of the process.
Farm tidbits:
We think we finally got all those onions out of the field, but it seemed they just kept appearing for a while. We’ll have plenty to share!
I bragged to Kristen today that, for our dinner guests on Saturday, I used 10 or 11 different fresh and stored veggies from the fields in various dishes. I even played it last minute and created on the spur of the moment. Thankfully for our friends, it all turned out pretty tasty! Jim’s finished prepping the larger high tunnel so we can start our fall crop planting for season extension. We are working on the low-heat “greenhouse”, formerly the art studio in the barn, but I’m also in the process of moving my stuff out, so, it’s going a little slower.....especially as we are also readying for our Farm to Table charity event!
“Foodie” Corner”
Eggplant: the comeback kids( ( Easy, Delicious Eggplant Dish We thank Stephanie for sharing her dinner creation with us. Can’t wait to try it! Ingredients: 1 large onion chopped 6 carrots julienned 1T butter Several T olive oil 1 eggplant cut into thin pieces, 1/8- 1/4”
Preheat overn to 400˚
1/2 c panko, smashed into finer pieces 1 egg 2 T milk 2 scallions, cut into small pieces Grated mozzarella or parmesan cheese Herbes de Provence, to taste
Caramelize chopped onion and julienned carrots. Whip egg and milk together; dip cut eggplant pieces into mixture, one piece at a time; dust each side with crushed panko; lay each piece on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper; bake about 15 minutes or more until each piece is crisp. To serve, mound the crisp eggplant pieces on a plate; cover with caramelized onion and carrots; grated mozzarella (or parmesan, or both) on top; sprinkle with cut scallions. With a fresh green salad, this makes a pretty good meal!
Speaking of easy, this is about the simplest recipe for yummy stuffed peppers that I’ve seen. It is Shared by one of our volunteers, Kristen, who of course uses fresh tomatoes whenever she can. Thanks, kristen!