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Harvest Week 6 - July 8, 2010
A Note from Your Farmer...
Cookbooks
We highly recommend the cookbook, "From Asparagus to Zucchini" put out by the Madison Area CSA Coalition. It gives essential tips on how to use many of the typical vegetables you will be receiving in our CSA. I have gone ahead and ordered 75 of these books (even though only 30 of you bought one in advance). I hope they will be in for the next delivery. Go to our website to order online and receive yours. : http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/store/312 $18). At that time we will submit our order to the publisher and should receive copies in early July.
T-Shirts
We would like to get another order of Ploughshare Farm T-shirts. You can preorder your shirt at http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/store/312
Show the world that you are a Ploughshare CSA Member with this originally designed T-shirt. Made with Certified Organic cotton.
On the front: Ploughshare Logo
On th
e back: The act of putting into your mouth what the Earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the Earth." Francis Moore Lappe (Author of "Diet for a Small Planet")
Summer Squash
Parsley and Basil
Week 6 Newsletter
Posted 7/8/2010 10:15am by Gary Brever.
Harvest Week 6 - July 8, 2010
| This Week's Share * Summer Squash * Fennel * Parsley and Basil * Onions * Napa Cabbage * Romaine Lettuce * Butterhead Lettuce * Spinach (full shares only) * Beets * Chard * Broccoli (most but not all shares) |
|
This Week’s Box
The past two weeks of sun and then rain has made it wonderful vegetable growing weather. You’re beginning to see in your box many of the delights and diversity of mid-summer. Root crops (beets and onions), fruit crops (summer squash), leafy crops (spinach and lettuce) and seed crops (broccoli) are all together in this week’s box.
According to Rudolf Steiner, in his lecture “The Evolution of Earth and Man and Influence of the Stars:”
“The root primarily nourishes the head (the nervous system).
The middle of the plant, stem and leaves, primarily nourishes the chest (the rhythmic system—heart and lungs).
Fruit (including fruiting vegetables, such as squash and cucumbers) nourish the lower body (the metabolic system—digestive organs).”
This week’s activities—
It’s amazing how quickly vegetables grow this time of year. In fact, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find that the crew came back with a few hundred pounds of cucumbers when just last week I only found a couple. We must make sure that items such as summer squash and cucumbers are picked three times a week so they do not get too big out in the field. They are then stored in our large walk-in cooler until packing day on Wednesday.
Interns:
The following is an excerpt from Mary Jo Forbord’s essay What Comes Next:
My crystal ball is experiencing some technical difficulties, so I hope you will help me envision what comes next for Minnesota agriculture.
As I look around my farming community, it seems we have run the course of six generations of northern European immigrant farm families since the homesteading days of the 1860s. The earliest settlers staked their claim in the rich and deep prairie soil, but it was a tenuous beginning at best. Survival for the first white people through the first winters was possible only because of food and medicine offered by indigenous people. In desperation, white settlers dug into the prairie and overcame their fear and trepidation of the native people to accept their gifts of survival.
The settlers moved in quickly, the Indians were relocated to reservations, and the medicine bundles that held the botanical cures were burned in great bonfires to remove the last traces of the indigenous culture. Carving subsistence from the soil with oxen, horses, mules, and many strong backs, yields and railroads grew to supply wheat to Minneapolis, known by 1880 as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.”
By 1927, 2 billion people lived on the planet, 119 million people lived in the United States, and the farm population was at 28 million, almost a quarter of the total population. The USDA Yearbook of Agriculture heralded the “eastern march of the combine” and “a tremendous increase in the use of large power units in agriculture”. The 1927 Yearbook forecasted that “increased efficiency resulting in an increased output per worker may necessitate a reduction in the number of farmers.”
Fast forward to the 21st century. With 6.6 billion people living on the planet and the U.S. population topping 300 million, less than one million people in the U.S. now claim farming as their principal occupation. The decline is evident as I look around my community and to my
neighbors, mostly descendants of the first white settlers, mostly older couples or widowers past 70 years of age, their children living elsewhere, and far removed from farming. Most now rent their farmland to larger operators. With 50% of farmland transitioning in ownership in the next 10 years, I am more than curious about the fate of farming and my community. I hope some answers will be found in the statistics of the 2007 Census of Agriculture, which promises that “your response will provide a brighter future for you, your operation and your community.”
Wow, I can hardly wait to see that promise come true, but the 2007 data won’t be released until 2009. For now, the 2002 statistics will have to do:
• The average age of all U.S. farmers is 55.3 years, an increase of about one year per year since 1978.
• 26% of farmers are age 65 or older.
• 5.8% of farmers are less than 35 years old. The number of farmers under age 35 has dropped by about 20 percent in each census since 1982.
------
With 
the average age of a farmer in the United States today now approaching 60 years old I feel it is critical to now be asking ourselves, “Who is going to be growing food for our communities in future generations?” Farming requires many skills that take years to master. This is one of the reasons that Ploughshare Farm’s internship program is such an integral part of what we do. Many who come to our farm for our internship program have no previous farming experience. Most of them are idealistic (and HOPEFUL!!!), college aged young men and women, wanting to spend a summer getting their hands dirty. I would say, without exception, that their experience on our farm is the hardest work that they have ever done and for most of them will ever do in the future. However, (also without exception) their year on Ploughshare Farm ends up being one of the most memorable experiences that they have, gaining knowledge that they can take with them no matter where their lives lead. Many of our interns (we have now had over 30 interns come through our program) decide that the work is too hard and the profit margins are too little to actually make a living in farming. However, we also have had several interns that I know that have gone on to work and manage other farm operations or have gone into a farm related educational program.
Our in
terns receive a wage, room and much of the board when they stay here. In addition, this year we have enough interns on our farm that we passed the legal threshold so 
that we now have to pay for unemployment insurance as well workman’s compensation. Because of these added costs, our internship program has become a very large expense for our farm.
We now have a way for you to support our internship program with a scholarship. You can now donate online and the money will be spent to help defray some of the costs associated with our internship program by giving a donation of $50, $100, $500, $1000 or even $5000. You can go online to http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/store/326 if you wish to donate.
You will also be hearing from interns in the upcoming newsletters tell about their experience on the farm.
The past two weeks of sun and then rain has made it wonderful vegetable growing weather. You’re beginning to see in your box many of the delights and diversity of mid-summer. Root crops (beets and onions), fruit crops (summer squash), leafy crops (spinach and lettuce) and seed crops (broccoli) are all together in this week’s box.
According to Rudolf Steiner, in his lecture “The Evolution of Earth and Man and Influence of the Stars:”
“The root primarily nourishes the head (the nervous system).
The middle of the plant, stem and leaves, primarily nourishes the chest (the rhythmic system—heart and lungs).
Fruit (including fruiting vegetables, such as squash and cucumbers) nourish the lower body (the metabolic system—digestive organs).”
This week’s activities—
It’s amazing how quickly vegetables grow this time of year. In fact, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find that the crew came back with a few hundred pounds of cucumbers when just last week I only found a couple. We must make sure that items such as summer squash and cucumbers are picked three times a week so they do not get too big out in the field. They are then stored in our large walk-in cooler until packing day on Wednesday.
Interns:
The following is an excerpt from Mary Jo Forbord’s essay What Comes Next:
My crystal ball is experiencing some technical difficulties, so I hope you will help me envision what comes next for Minnesota agriculture.
As I look around my farming community, it seems we have run the course of six generations of northern European immigrant farm families since the homesteading days of the 1860s. The earliest settlers staked their claim in the rich and deep prairie soil, but it was a tenuous beginning at best. Survival for the first white people through the first winters was possible only because of food and medicine offered by indigenous people. In desperation, white settlers dug into the prairie and overcame their fear and trepidation of the native people to accept their gifts of survival.
The settlers moved in quickly, the Indians were relocated to reservations, and the medicine bundles that held the botanical cures were burned in great bonfires to remove the last traces of the indigenous culture. Carving subsistence from the soil with oxen, horses, mules, and many strong backs, yields and railroads grew to supply wheat to Minneapolis, known by 1880 as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.”
By 1927, 2 billion people lived on the planet, 119 million people lived in the United States, and the farm population was at 28 million, almost a quarter of the total population. The USDA Yearbook of Agriculture heralded the “eastern march of the combine” and “a tremendous increase in the use of large power units in agriculture”. The 1927 Yearbook forecasted that “increased efficiency resulting in an increased output per worker may necessitate a reduction in the number of farmers.”
Fast forward to the 21st century. With 6.6 billion people living on the planet and the U.S. population topping 300 million, less than one million people in the U.S. now claim farming as their principal occupation. The decline is evident as I look around my community and to my
neighbors, mostly descendants of the first white settlers, mostly older couples or widowers past 70 years of age, their children living elsewhere, and far removed from farming. Most now rent their farmland to larger operators. With 50% of farmland transitioning in ownership in the next 10 years, I am more than curious about the fate of farming and my community. I hope some answers will be found in the statistics of the 2007 Census of Agriculture, which promises that “your response will provide a brighter future for you, your operation and your community.”
Wow, I can hardly wait to see that promise come true, but the 2007 data won’t be released until 2009. For now, the 2002 statistics will have to do:
• The average age of all U.S. farmers is 55.3 years, an increase of about one year per year since 1978.
• 26% of farmers are age 65 or older.
• 5.8% of farmers are less than 35 years old. The number of farmers under age 35 has dropped by about 20 percent in each census since 1982.
------
With the average age of a farmer in the United States today now approaching 60 years old I feel it is critical to now be asking ourselves, “Who is going to be growing food for our communities in future generations?” Farming requires many skills that take years to master. This is one of the reasons that Ploughshare Farm’s internship program is such an integral part of what we do. Many who come to our farm for our internship program have no previous farming experience. Most of them are idealistic (and HOPEFUL!!!), college aged young men and women, wanting to spend a summer getting their hands dirty. I would say, without exception, that their experience on our farm is the hardest work that they have ever done and for most of them will ever do in the future. However, (also without exception) their year on Ploughshare Farm ends up being one of the most memorable experiences that they have, gaining knowledge that they can take with them no matter where their lives lead. Many of our interns (we have now had over 30 interns come through our program) decide that the work is too hard and the profit margins are too little to actually make a living in farming. However, we also have had several interns that I know that have gone on to work and manage other farm operations or have gone into a farm related educational program.Our in
terns receive a wage, room and much of the board when they stay here. In addition, this year we have enough interns on our farm that we passed the legal threshold so that we now have to pay for unemployment insurance as well workman’s compensation. Because of these added costs, our internship program has become a very large expense for our farm. We now have a way for you to support our internship program with a scholarship. You can now donate online and the money will be spent to help defray some of the costs associated with our internship program by giving a donation of $50, $100, $500, $1000 or even $5000. You can go online to http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/store/326 if you wish to donate.
You will also be hearing from interns in the upcoming newsletters tell about their experience on the farm.
Cookbooks
We highly recommend the cookbook, "From Asparagus to Zucchini" put out by the Madison Area CSA Coalition. It gives essential tips on how to use many of the typical vegetables you will be receiving in our CSA. I have gone ahead and ordered 75 of these books (even though only 30 of you bought one in advance). I hope they will be in for the next delivery. Go to our website to order online and receive yours. : http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/store/312 $18). At that time we will submit our order to the publisher and should receive copies in early July.T-Shirts
We would like to get another order of Ploughshare Farm T-shirts. You can preorder your shirt at http://www.ploughsharefarm.com/store/312Show the world that you are a Ploughshare CSA Member with this originally designed T-shirt. Made with Certified Organic cotton.
On the front: Ploughshare Logo
On th
e back: The act of putting into your mouth what the Earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the Earth." Francis Moore Lappe (Author of "Diet for a Small Planet")Summer Squash
One of the most versatile and easy to enjoy items of the summer harvest is summer squash. Yellow squash and zucchini are included in this week's share and both are tender, mild and delicious. Store your summer squash loosely wrapped in plastic in the fridge, but make an effort to use these veggies (or if you want to get technical, fruits) right away for the best flavor and texture.
Summer squash makes an easy addition to whatever you are already making. Grill, steam, roast, saute, bake, fry, braise, often all you need is a bit of oil or butter and a light seasoning of salt and pepper. A simple way to enjoy your summer squash is to trim the ends, chop and saute with onions, garlic, mushrooms, or any other veggie you have on hand. Toss with al dente pasta and enough of the pasta water to make a sauce and top with parmesan cheese. This dish makes a hearty dinner one night and the leftovers are a fresh tasting cold salad to enjoy the next day.
Fennel
Summer squash makes an easy addition to whatever you are already making. Grill, steam, roast, saute, bake, fry, braise, often all you need is a bit of oil or butter and a light seasoning of salt and pepper. A simple way to enjoy your summer squash is to trim the ends, chop and saute with onions, garlic, mushrooms, or any other veggie you have on hand. Toss with al dente pasta and enough of the pasta water to make a sauce and top with parmesan cheese. This dish makes a hearty dinner one night and the leftovers are a fresh tasting cold salad to enjoy the next day.
FennelWith a sometimes mild and sometimes intense anise flavor, fennel can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Wrapped loosely in plastic, it will keep in your fridge for a week or two. The bulb is what you will be eating, although the feathery fronds make a nice garnish or can be used in place of dill as a fresh herb. To use, slice off everything just above the bulb top and cut the bulb vertically into quarters or slice it in half and then repeatedly chop lengthwise or crosswise.
For an interesting twist on any of your favorite dishes, substitute fennel for celery. It works especially well in pasta sauces that feature sausage. Or prepare it alone by grilling, sauteing, roasting, or top a salad with raw shaved fennel. Fennel also works great simply quartered, tossed with olive oil and baked until tender (30 - 40 minutes).
For an interesting twist on any of your favorite dishes, substitute fennel for celery. It works especially well in pasta sauces that feature sausage. Or prepare it alone by grilling, sauteing, roasting, or top a salad with raw shaved fennel. Fennel also works great simply quartered, tossed with olive oil and baked until tender (30 - 40 minutes).
Parsley and BasilNot the ruffled kind that you find on garnishing your plate but the flat leafed kind that will enliven just about any dish, fresh Italian parsley is anything but ordinary. Basil tastes as good as it smalls and adds a fresh dimension to your meals. It is not difficult to find occasion to use either of these herbs as they can both play an important role in soups, sauces, vinaigrettes, and salads as well as pasta, vegetable and egg dishes.
To make traditional pesto, simply combine the basil leaves, rinsed and dried, with a half of a clove of garlic, a tablespoon of pine nuts or walnuts and 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a food processor. You can also double the batch by adding your parsley leaves. Once processed, top with a bit of oil and store in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a couple of months. Stir in freshly grated parmesan just before serving.
If you can't use your parsley and basil soon after you get your share, take the time to place the plants stem down in a jar of water with plastic loosely placed around the leaves. Set the glass in the fridge and change the water daily. Or to save yourself the hassle, just chop them up and enjoy right out of the box. Toss it on your salad greens, with your sauteed summer squash and onions, or atop your grilled fennel. Its hard to go wrong with with these versatile herbs.
Onions
This week you will find spring onions in your share box. These fresh veggies should be kept in the fridge until use. It is unlikely that suggestions are needed for onion use as they are one of the most common ingredients in meat, vegetable and pasta dishes, so perhaps you might like to try something different with these onions to really explore the wonderful flavor of your local, organic vegetables.
If you have never caramelized onions, you are in for a treat. This slow cooking method changes the flavor of the onion from, well, oniony, to a sweet taste that is full of depth. Simply slice or chop your onions, cover and cook in a skillet over medium heat. After 15 minutes they will become dry and start to stick to the pan. When this happens, stir in a bit of butter or olive oil to coat the onions and add a pinch of salt. Now just let them cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and adding more oil or butter when they start to dry out. Be careful not too add too much fat, which will make the onions greasy. Now is the fun part. Cook them for any length of time you wish, they will change from soft and mildly oniony in taste to sweet and brown with a jam-like texture. In fact, if you let them cook long enough you will have an onion jam that is great for thickening sauces, spreading on sandwiches or flavoring any other dish. The jam will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.
Napa Cabbage
With a ruffled elongated leaf, the Napa cabbage has a wonderful mild taste and works really well raw as well as cooked. Just keep this veggie in the fridge and use it within a week or two. To use, take off the first few layers of leaves until you reach the tightly packed head. Then remove the core by cutting around it on the stem end and pulling the core out. The head can then be shred by cutting it first into quarters and then crosswise into strips.
If you wish to cook your cabbage be sure to refrain from overcooking. It is so much tastier and enjoyable when it it prepared al dente, that is, crisp and tender but not mushy. Cooking it in boiling water for about 5 minutes and tossing it with melted butter and a dash of salt and pepper will do the trick.
Broccoli
Notorious for being the vegetable children are forced to eat, broccoli never lives up
to its bad reputation when it is fresh. Keep your broccoli head in the fridge loosely wrapped in plastic and use within several days. To prepare, remove the leaves (which are also edible and can be cooked with the florets) and remove the dried out end of the stalk. Take off any rough outer skin with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Separate the stalks from the florets and cut into bite size pieces.
Broccoli tastes great raw, stir fried, steams, boiled, brazed and sauteed. The stalks will need to be cooked a bit longer than the florets so start them first. If you like it crisp, cook it just until it is bright green. For a more tender bite, cook a few minutes longer, but be careful to not overcook or you will end up with a mushy texture. A good rule of thumb is to cook until a knife can easily be inserted into the stalk.
Recipes
Zucchini Bread
Roasted Carrots and Beets with the Juiciest Pork Chops
Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice with Napa Cabbage
Potato-Fennel Gratin
Sauteed Summer Squash Video
To make traditional pesto, simply combine the basil leaves, rinsed and dried, with a half of a clove of garlic, a tablespoon of pine nuts or walnuts and 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a food processor. You can also double the batch by adding your parsley leaves. Once processed, top with a bit of oil and store in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a couple of months. Stir in freshly grated parmesan just before serving.
If you can't use your parsley and basil soon after you get your share, take the time to place the plants stem down in a jar of water with plastic loosely placed around the leaves. Set the glass in the fridge and change the water daily. Or to save yourself the hassle, just chop them up and enjoy right out of the box. Toss it on your salad greens, with your sauteed summer squash and onions, or atop your grilled fennel. Its hard to go wrong with with these versatile herbs.
Onions
This week you will find spring onions in your share box. These fresh veggies should be kept in the fridge until use. It is unlikely that suggestions are needed for onion use as they are one of the most common ingredients in meat, vegetable and pasta dishes, so perhaps you might like to try something different with these onions to really explore the wonderful flavor of your local, organic vegetables. If you have never caramelized onions, you are in for a treat. This slow cooking method changes the flavor of the onion from, well, oniony, to a sweet taste that is full of depth. Simply slice or chop your onions, cover and cook in a skillet over medium heat. After 15 minutes they will become dry and start to stick to the pan. When this happens, stir in a bit of butter or olive oil to coat the onions and add a pinch of salt. Now just let them cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and adding more oil or butter when they start to dry out. Be careful not too add too much fat, which will make the onions greasy. Now is the fun part. Cook them for any length of time you wish, they will change from soft and mildly oniony in taste to sweet and brown with a jam-like texture. In fact, if you let them cook long enough you will have an onion jam that is great for thickening sauces, spreading on sandwiches or flavoring any other dish. The jam will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.
Napa CabbageWith a ruffled elongated leaf, the Napa cabbage has a wonderful mild taste and works really well raw as well as cooked. Just keep this veggie in the fridge and use it within a week or two. To use, take off the first few layers of leaves until you reach the tightly packed head. Then remove the core by cutting around it on the stem end and pulling the core out. The head can then be shred by cutting it first into quarters and then crosswise into strips.
If you wish to cook your cabbage be sure to refrain from overcooking. It is so much tastier and enjoyable when it it prepared al dente, that is, crisp and tender but not mushy. Cooking it in boiling water for about 5 minutes and tossing it with melted butter and a dash of salt and pepper will do the trick.
Broccoli
Notorious for being the vegetable children are forced to eat, broccoli never lives up
to its bad reputation when it is fresh. Keep your broccoli head in the fridge loosely wrapped in plastic and use within several days. To prepare, remove the leaves (which are also edible and can be cooked with the florets) and remove the dried out end of the stalk. Take off any rough outer skin with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Separate the stalks from the florets and cut into bite size pieces.Broccoli tastes great raw, stir fried, steams, boiled, brazed and sauteed. The stalks will need to be cooked a bit longer than the florets so start them first. If you like it crisp, cook it just until it is bright green. For a more tender bite, cook a few minutes longer, but be careful to not overcook or you will end up with a mushy texture. A good rule of thumb is to cook until a knife can easily be inserted into the stalk.
Recipes
Zucchini Bread
Roasted Carrots and Beets with the Juiciest Pork Chops
Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice with Napa Cabbage
Potato-Fennel Gratin
Sauteed Summer Squash Video
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