Happy Harvest August 31, 2012

Posted on 30. August 2012 by admin

What a bounty we have enjoyed all season. Some of the summer crops are slowing down, some are hanging in there. Have you frozen some pesto for a taste of summer in mid-winter? You can freeze it in small containers or even an ice cube tray, then pop em out and freeze in a bag. I have a few designated herb ice cube trays. See the list of fall crops to look forward to in September!

 

 HAPPY HARVEST AUGUST 31, 2012

CSA members choose 8 from the following harvest items:

onions

garlic

potatoes (white Kennebec, heirloom)

tomatoes–mix of reds, heirlooms and romas

jalapenos

basil (sweet or red)

thai basil (use like sweet basil or as a green vegetable in a sautee)

bell peppers, and pimentos and italian long peppers–likely plenty of reds

sweet potato greens–sauteed green vegetable

we’ll check on eggplant, but its been really slim pickings

UPICK THIS WEEK

green beans–probably pretty tough by now, but go check em out if you like

flowers–zinnias, pick a bouquet, get em while they last

herb garden–looking good: sage, parsley, chives, oregano, sorrell

LOOK FORWARD TO THESE CROPS IN SEPTEMBER:

pie pumpkins

butternut squash

acorn squash

sweet potatoes

Chinese cabbage, a lettuce type

cucumbers, a late crop of em by next week, we hope

loose leaf lettuce (we hope!)

Posted in Veggies, Weekly CSA Harvests | Leave a comment

Happy Harvest August 24, 2012

Posted on 23. August 2012 by admin

Happy Harvest August 24, 2012

CSA members choose 8 from the following harvest items:

onions

garlic

potatoes (white Kennebec, heirloom)

tomatoes–mix of reds, heirlooms and romas

jalapenos

basil (sweet or red)

thai basil (use like sweet basil or as a green vegetable in a sautee)

bell peppers, and pimentos and italian long peppers–likely plenty of reds

sweet potato greens–sauteed green vegetable

we’ll check on eggplant and chard

UPICK THIS WEEK

green beans likely still hanging on this week

cherry tomatoes–just a snack this week, they are slowing way down

flowers–zinnias are doing great, pick a bouquet

herb garden–looking good: sage, parsley, chives, oregano, sorrell

Posted in Veggies, Weekly CSA Harvests | Leave a comment

Antique

Posted on 20. August 2012 by admin

I ventured off the fields and out of the kitchen and out of the woods today, doing some long-overdue errands.

So I’m in Office Depot and they don’t sell a regular old style phone with a cord. The Office Depot man looks at me, through me. Searching for the why, in my inquiry. Really, I can’t buy one of those? “They are antiques,” he tells me, with no sense of nostalgia in his voice. He tried to sell me a corded phone with an answering machine. No thank you, just a phone, please. I’m not asking for a rotary here, just one of those white plastic phones on a little phone bed.  He looks through me again. He carefully ventures into the “smart phone is the way to go” conversation. I pull out my really old style cell phone and ask for a cord to charge it in the car. He looks relieved that I have a cell phone of any kind, I think he wasn’t sure and was kind of worried. Against his better judgement or training that customers are always right, he said “I hate to tell you this, but even my father is going with the cell phone instead of land line.” He starts in on the smart phone routine again, thinking he can upgrade me and forgetting that he no longer works for Verizon Cellular. He brags about his bandwidth, even on a cloudy day inside. He starts in “You know that commercial about the Verizon phone…” I jump in, with just a little glint in my eye, because I know I’m honing in on my point: “No, I don’t have a television.” He stops, he’s speechless, looking through me again…and carefully…he sounds worried…”Your joking, right?”

“No.”  And there we go. He says his smart phone provides him constant access to the internet, email, texting and phone at all times. That’s exactly why I don’t want one. He says he didn’t want that either, but he got used to it very quickly. Well, my point exactly. He ends with “Try Walmart”. NOW, I wasn’t about to disturb him with my thoughts about Walmart.

I know I’m the customer he is going to go home and talk to his wife about. The one that totally perplexed him. And I have to admit, I walked out of there feeling like the crazy old man who still drives his horse and buggy through the town full of new cars. But when I go home, to my cabin in the woods with no television or air conditioning or comcast access, I feel a balance of new and old that works for me.

Posted in Family, On the Farm | 1 Comment

Happy Harvest August 17

Posted on 17. August 2012 by admin

Happy Harvest August 17, 2012

House in the Woods is represented in a new cookbook geared to CSA veggies–Vegetable Bliss by Julie Sochack. I’ll have a book sample to show you today, let me know if you would like to join in a bulk CSA order.

Select 8 items from these yummy choices:

tomatoes

green peppers–italian long peppers, bell peppers,  pimento peppers

red peppers–the fall weather brings on the ripening of greens to red. Enjoy these red peppers!

garlic–hard-neck garlic is special and hard to find, especially locally grown organic…try this fragrant garlic sauteed with pasta and/or veggies!

basil–sweet or red

basil–thai–this one cooks down like a green vegetable rather than an herb. try it with a soy sauce based sautee!

jalapenos–time to make fresh salsa!

maybe chard–get your greens

onions–enjoy these fresh farm onions! They are so good.

sweet potato greens–they wilt down like a spinach, splash with vinegar, yum!

white potatoes–heirloom potato grown in Maryland Kennebec

baby potatoes–sautee or bake these with butter/olive oil and herbs and lots of garlic, oh my!

UPICK

zinnia bouquet

cherry tomatoes–sungold and matt’s wild cherry

green beans–Help us pick out the row so they’ll keep providing…Provider beans

Bring the kids out to collect your veggies and u-pick with you…its a great way to get them involved and knowing where their food comes from. Kids get excited about eating green beans and cherry tomatoes when they picked them straight from the vine.

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Who eats better??

Posted on 16. August 2012 by admin

A yummy note from CSA Member Elissa…

Heirloom tomato soup with onions and garlic (and veggie stock from season’s extras), sauteed corn and sweet potato greens. Who eats  better than your CSA members??

CSA Meal

Posted in Recipes, Veggies, Weekly CSA Harvests | Leave a comment

Happy Harvest August 10

Posted on 9. August 2012 by admin

Happy Harvest August 10, 2012

House in the Woods is represented in a new cookbook geared to CSA veggies–Vegetable Bliss by Julie Sochack. I’ll have a book sample to show you and talk to you next week about a bulk CSA order.

tomatoes

green peppers–italian long peppers, bell peppers,  pimento peppers

red peppers–the fall weather brings on the ripening of greens to red. Enjoy these red peppers!

eggplant

garlic–hard-neck garlic is special and hard to find, especially locally grown organic…try this fragrant garlic sauteed with pasta and/or veggies!

basil–three kinds–sweet, thai, and red.

jalapenos–time to make fresh salsa!

chard–get your greens

onions–enjoy these fresh farm onions! They are so good.

 

UPICK

zinnia bouquet

cherry tomatoes–sungold and matt’s wild cherry

green beans–the green beans are in! Lovely and delicate first week of Provider beans

 

Noah and Jonah will be selling their watermelons, as available.

 

THAI BASIL LOVE– When stir-fried in an Asian dish, Thai basil is more like a green vegetable than an herb. Its a totally different leaf than sweet basil.Thai basil wilts down in the pan and acts like spinach then…load it on! Oh oh with onions and soy sauce, maybe simmer down some thin eggplant slices til they are soft, then top with thai basil til it wilts down. Yum.

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Kids Basket Snack Tour

Posted on 2. August 2012 by admin

KIDS BASKET SNACK TOUR: SATURDAY AUGUST 4, 10-11am
This is geared to our littlest CSA members, we’ll take a garden tour searching for good things to eat and put in our baskets. Bring a basket or a bucket or bowl (ideally though, something with a handle). Then we’ll visit the goats. RSVP helps! Weather-permitting. Invite a friend–Non-CSA members are invited, we just ask for a small donation to the farm, free for CSA members.

Not in the CSA? RSVP and I’ll send you directions so you can join us for this event.

Posted in Events, Family | Leave a comment

Happy Harvest, Happy August 3

Posted on 2. August 2012 by admin

Happy Harvest August 3, 2012

The summertime veggies are here, create your variety by changing up your selections from last week. No reason to get tired of anything, just choose the eight items that inspire you. What have you been loving to make during this summer bounty? Find new inspiration with a recipe or two, peruse the recipe section of this farm blog for new ideas.

tomatoes–reds, heirlooms, some romas and pastes

green peppers–italian long peppers, bell peppers,  pimento peppers

eggplant–italian, gourmet round beatrice eggplant, long japanese eggplant if we have them

garlic–hard-neck garlic is special and hard to find, especially locally grown organic…try this fragrant garlic sauteed with pasta and/or veggies!

basil–three kinds–sweet, thai, and red

jalapenos–time to make fresh salsa!

chard–get your greens

scallions–so fresh tasting

beets–likely the last week of these wonderful beets, I will miss them

UPICK

zinnia bouquet

cherry tomatoes–sungold and matt’s wild cherry

green beans–the green beans are in! Lovely and delicate first week of Provider beans

 

Posted in Veggies, Weekly CSA Harvests | Leave a comment

Quick summer salads and sandwiches by Ilene

Posted on 26. July 2012 by admin

I’m a busy farmer and mom, I don’t spend a ton of time preparing dishes. I spent today harvesting onions and then needed a potluck dish to go. I spent five minutes and chopped a cabbage, some parsley, some green peppers, tossed in some white sesame seeds and some vinagrette dressing, grabbed the kids and we were out the door. I laughed when the cole slaw got rave reviews, “Ilene, you have to share this recipe.” I wanted to say, OK, first you need to grow a really good cabbage from seed, plant it out with love, raise it organically and close to home, wait for it to ripen, harvest. Add it with other random veggies ready in the garden, toss with dressing, and you are good to go. That’s pretty much the secret recipe.

The veggies shine on their own and my family tends to eat “whole foods”, quite literally, sliced and raw or combined simply. Here are some of my favorite summertime combinations, they are five minute salads and sandwiches, the veggies are the stars:

pesto and sliced tomato grill cheese sandwiches

hummus dip with scallions and garlic blended into it–dip with slices of green pepper or cucumber..or spread the hummus on a piece of bread with a slice of tomato, oh my! its my picnic lunch fave these days, and the heirloom tomato slice makes it

sautee scallions and garlic and thin discs of japanese eggplant and peppers until eggplant is soft, include a splash of soy sauce, add last a handful of thai basil and simmer til it wilts like spinach…so yummy…add chicken or asian noodles if you wish

five minute farm slaw: chop cabbage, dump vinagrette salad dressing over it (could just be balsalmic and olive oil and chopped basil), add sesame seeds, scallions, shredded carrots, thinly sliced peppers, a little salt

change farm slaw to tomato-cucumber salad–chop tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers in bigger pieces than slaw, include same dressing. Add chopped sweet basil.

On my to-do list are these two:

fresh salsa

gazpacho–or I’ll just go to the Common Market Cafe and eat theirs, they are making gazpacho with our heirloom tomatoes and I’m hearing rave reviews.

Posted in Heirloom Tomatoes, Recipes, Weekly CSA Harvests | Leave a comment

Happy Harvest July 27

Posted on 26. July 2012 by admin

Happy Harvest July 27, 2012

tomatoes–reds, heirlooms, maybe some romas

green peppers–italian long peppers, bell peppers,  pimento peppers

eggplant–italian, gourmet round beatrice eggplant, long japanese eggplant as available

garlic–its a bit split, but still so very tasty and fragrant and special to have locally grown organic garlic

basil–three kinds–sweet, thai, and red

jalapenos–time to make fresh salsa!

chard–get your greens

scallions–so fresh tasting

cabbage–last of the cabbage

cucumbers–the last week of cukes from this planting, hopefully more coming in a later set

beets–maybe the last week

we’ll check the kale, but it may be done

UPICK

zinnia bouquet

cherry tomatoes–sungold and matt’s wild cherry

COMING SOON: more green beans

So many choices continue for this week, create your variety by changing up your selections from last week. No reason to get tired of anything, just choose the eight items that inspire you. What have you been loving to make during this summer bounty?

Some of my favorites are simple to make:

pesto and sliced tomato grill cheese sandwiches

hummus dip with scallions and garlic blended into it–dip with slices of green pepper or cucumber..or spread the hummus on a piece of bread with a slice of tomato, oh my! its my picnic lunch fave these days, and the heirloom tomato slice makes it

sautee scallions and garlic and thin discs of japanese eggplant and peppers until eggplant is soft, include a splash of soy sauce, add last a handful of thai basil and simmer til it wilts like spinach…so yummy…add chicken or asian noodles if you wish

five minute farm slaw: chop cabbage, dump vinagrette salad dressing over it (could just be balsalmic and olive oil and chopped basil), add sesame seeds, scallions, shredded carrots, thinly sliced peppers, a little salt

change farm slaw to tomato-cucumber salad–chop tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers in bigger pieces than slaw, include same dressing. Add chopped sweet basil.

Posted in Weekly CSA Harvests | Leave a comment