Check out CSA Gourmet blog, the creation of House in the Woods CSA member, Elizabeth DeRose! Its a great new resource for local, seasonal, fresh from the CSA share recipes and ideas. And she’ll answer all your cooking questions, so comment on her blog and ask away.
And another CSA-inspired blog, A Simple Thought, by our summer intern, Lisa Curcuruto. Check it out, ask her questions about her experiences on the farm, and enjoy the good read. I really want to try out her kale recipe. And I like that new members can relate to her entries, because this summer is a first-time farm experience for Lisa.
Beautiful wonderful delectible healing garlic. I could go on.
I even like how it plants. You plant it in the fall (not in the busy spring planting season) and harvest “between solstice and fourth of July” (in the words of my farmer friend Eric from Country Pleasures Farm). Oh my, how we have harvested. Thank goodness Phil likes to think outside the box and used his plow to dig under the garlic row. We used to pitchfork every bulb! And stab some. He only sliced a few with the plow. After the row is plowed, its collecting and bringing to the barn in the pickup truck. Pitchforks, lay still. Saved Phil’s back and tons of time. The barn chairs are full of garlic bundles instead of concert-goers. Phil says the bundles are not watching a concert, they are awaiting trial. Who shall be hung (in the barn to cure) and buried in the fall? Who shall be eaten alive by CSA members and Common Market shoppers? But I prefer the vision of a spicy concert. Before I send you a photo of the garlic harvest, I need to share the scape photos I took last month.
OK, I love garlic scapes too. They are a fun and loopy byproduct of the garlic plant. Its the seed pod, and since you don’t even grow garlic from its seed (you plant its cloves from the bulb), you can snap off these seed pods. i love that they are edible. They have a garlicy juice that stays on my hands for a day or two. Chop em up and scapes are wonderful in stir-fries or roasted or baked.
May has been a whirlwind of farming adventures! Here are some “journal notes about goats”:
One of our goats, Hazelnut, arrived this week [early May] with her sister, who is just visiting, and I already have a dozen farm stories to share. OK, Hazelnut is a companion goat. A “companion” goat, you may ask, with a smirk? Yes, indeed. The milk goat arrives later in the week, and Hazelnut will be her little friend. And who’s the twin over there? That’s Hazelnut’s sister, Apricot. Another nice little goat, she is. She is just visiting until the milkgoat arrives. Oh dear, the companion to the companion goat.
Animals make the best story fodder. Noah and I took to reading a chapter book to the goats in the morning. I set up a blanket seat for us and we read James Herriot Dog Stories to the goats all this week.
They are a little playful at the beginning and want Noah to put out his hand for a hand-headbutt. They eat and enjoy our company. Then they settle in and lay down near us, listening to the stories. One morning, when I paused from reading, Hazelnut looked up at me with an expression like “Keep reading”. Eventually, they nap.
Noah and I laugh that we are like Fern in Charlotte’s Web, reading to the animals in the barn. We watch the cows come in to listen across the fence (wondering if we’re passing out some grain). The chickens stroll in to see if there are any chickens in the story, some of them crossing into the goat paddock to check out the grain bucket. Now a good laugh, because today, I was surprised when Tigger the cat peeked out from an opening under the shed wall next to me and joined the crew. There are cats in some of the stories, so no wonder.
Sitka is there too, laying patiently on the other side of the gate, wondering if he’ll ever be invited into the goat house. For now, he waits patiently, and listens for his favorite dog in the stories, Gyp the sheepdog. Sometimes he gets excited and barks at the goats, and I have to stop reading and tell him to lay down again.
Today [later in the week] was exciting. Our milk goat Avanell arrived and it was time for my first try at milking. She seemed to get along with the other two just fine, gently letting Hazelnut play headbutt with her. She followed to the goat milkstand and jumped right up to eat. She finished eating well before we finished milking and she patiently waited. Such a good goat! So patient with our beginner hands doing the pinch and squeeze over and over. Yes,”we”. Jonah needed to try, and Phil needed to help. And when we were finally done, she jumped down and just walked over to her gate. At first, my left hand wanted nothing to do with this party, and I was slow. But it only took about four days to coordinate and not long before it was easy. Welcome, Hazelnut and Avanell!
An exciting week at the farm, with our first CSA veggie pickups. Here are some highlights.
I think the bok choi won my prize for most beautiful offering in the share.
Yes! Real dirt on vegetables! Straight from the garden.
These Oasis white turnips are so sweet and mild. I like them best in a salad or thinly sliced and marinated in a dressing all by themselves.
Kohlrabi is the alien purple thing. Nobody comes into the CSA familiar with it, but kohlrabi is easy to make friends with. I like it best peeled and sliced raw, like carrots. I gave out samplesall weekend, so that nobody gets scared of the purple alien. Its docile.
Yep, that’s a big super cabbage.
Jackie actually brought her clay pot and we planted her herbs right at the sale display.
Our new (as of last year) veggie shed. Needs a better name than that. Any suggestions?
Thank you to all who bought plants at our seedling sale last week. A great turnout, I thank you all! Still stocking your garden? Its not too late to buy plants, just let me know and we can set up a time for you to come by.
One of the most delicious tastes of summer is the heirloom tomato. These old-time varieties are bred for their taste and unique characteristics, unlike hybrids developed for a thick skin to withstand shipment to the grocery store. They are also indeterminate plants which means they flower continuously so you get a longer harvest. Heirloom varieties are bred for backyard gardens with a priority on taste–find out for yourself in your garden.
Sale Hours —
MAY 2-8:
Sunday May 2, 10am-5pm
Tuesday-Thursday (May 4th-6th) from 4-7pm
Friday May 7th, 10am-5pm
Saturday May 8th, 10am-5pm
2104 Mt Ephraim Rd, Adamstown, MD 21710
Contact ilene@houseinthewoods.com or 301-607-4048 for directions and appointments off-hours.
$4 per tomato plant, $3.50 for others, plus 6% sales tax. Ask about other plants for sale. We have another dozen heirloom tomato varieties beyond this list!
Bring a box for your plants. Return pots to our mailbox, well re-use them!
May 2-8, 2010. More info–ilene@houseinthewoods.com301-607-4048
REDS AND PINKS————————————
____ Black Krim–Dark red beefsteak with rich sweet taste from Black Sea of Russia
____ Brandywine–Pinkish red, most popular heirloom originated in 1889.
____ Cherokee PurpleA favorite, from Tennessee cultivated by the Cherokee Tribe.Plants loaded with beefsteak tomatoes. Deep red interior flesh, rich, complex flavor.
____ Arkansas Travelerflavorful perfect rose-pink heirloom, 100 years oldfrom the south. Tolerant of high heat, humidity, drought. Resistant to splitting.
UNIQUE COLORS————————————-
____ Old Germana mild sweet tomato, with red-yellow streaks to skin and flesh.Low acid, as are most yellow, orange and green tomatoes.
____ Persimmon–Rose-orange like a persimmon, big, sweet. Fruit up to 2 pounds!
Vigorous and prolific plants.
____ Green Zebra–A magic tomato, green with dark green stripes, skin blushes
yellow when ripe. Green salsa or even green sauce! A hit for contrast on a potluck platter. Also have some Cherokee Green.
PASTES for cooking and saucing————————————————
____ Speckled Roma–Paste tomato, Red with a hint of orange and wavy yellow
streaks, a beauty! And sweet, you’ll want to cut some for the salad too.
____ Purple Calabashrich red tomato good for saucing. Squatty shape.
____ Orange Banana –another unique paste, this one is orange!
CHERRIES————————————————
____ Matts Wild Cherry–Mini red wild cherry tomatoes, prolific. Cute little stems
with six bite-size tomatoes on each. Kids love em!
____ Sungold Cherry–Orange, super sweet mini tomato. A rare exception to our
heirloom rule in our tomato collection, this hybrid is worth it. Our CSA members
eat them all up on the car-ride home.
PEPPERS and EGGPLANT——————————————————
____ Marconiheirloom long green bell pepper that ripens to red
____ Purple Beautybeautiful purple skin, green inside like a regular bell pepper
____ PimentoRipens to red quickly, tangy but mild, ideal for cooking or roasting
____ New Acea boxy hybrid green bell pepper that ripens quickly to red
Chicken feathers can be really beautiful, take a look.
This one is named “Around the World” and I must admit that I have grown fond of sitting with this chick. It relaxes and sleeps in my hands. Some of them chirp all upset until you put them back with their friends. Not “Around the World”, not in my hands. This chick actually holds back from jumping out of my hands back to the rest, like it wants to stay with me. I think I’ll make it a little sack to carry along with me on my chores. I think it will be my special chicken friend. UH OH…next thing you know, I’ll have a kitchen goat.
Hi, I’m Noah. This is my pumpkin plant. I planted the seed this week, and I’m waiting for it to come up.
It’s growing in this greenhouse.
The cat is sleeping near it, in the greenhouse too.
This is an experiment about a magnet and radishes [Mom adds: we are observing the effects of a magnet on seed growth]. We planted a magnet and some radish seeds, some near the magnet and some away from the magnet. We found that the radishes growing near the magnet are taller, bigger, and stronger. And there are more of them.
