Surveys are now up on the website (www.mudcreekfarm.com) for 2009 CSA members. Tell us what you liked and didn't like about the CSA this year-- knowing your favorite vegetables will help us grow more of them next year! Thanks,
Farmer Erin
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Home stretch!
Well, there's one more week of distribution. It's cold & rainy, and I'm tired. But what a great feast we're having! The hearty root vegetables have made their debut, with the celeriac, parsnips, rutabagas... the steady carrots... the potatoes are back again... yum. I'm going home to roast some up myself. If you haven't figured it out yet, you can throw just about any vegetable in the oven with olive oil & salt and it will taste delicious.But just in case you aren't too familiar with the delicate flavors of the celery root (celeriac)... here's an easy recipe for you. Celery root will store in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator for about 3 months. Try it with apples, onions, & spices, blended in a soup. Or in chunks in a stew. Or grated raw in a salad. Or...
Celery root gratin
2 celery roots
4 large potatoes
1 C cream
1tsp dijon mustard
1/2 C grated swiss style cheese
Peel and slice both the potatoes and celery root into 1/2 inch slices.
Layer in a baking dish seasoning with salt and pepper after each layer
Mix cream and dijon mustard and pour over layered roots.
Sprinkle with the cheese.
Cover and bake at 350F until tender about 30-45 min
Uncover and brown the cheese.
CELERIAC & SHRIMP SALAD
2 lbs shrimp (rock shrimp if you can find it)
2-4 medium size celery root, grated (after grating place in lemon water to prevent browning)
1 bunch green onions
1 1/2 - 2 C fresh citrus (orange)
1/2 C chopped cilantro
fresh lemon juice
coriander
salt, pepper
olive oil, (not much- a Tbs. or so)
You can use the celery root raw or blanch for a few minutes. Drain well.
Garlic planted!
The garlic went in! We had amazing weather for it, sunny & warm. Folks showed up just before 2pm, and we got everything set up for distribution. Then, magically, the bicycles arrived. A crew of about 8 biked out from Rochester, as a practice round for their big trip planned in 2011, when they will bike across the country, stopping at CSA farms along the way & making a documentary. Pretty cool, eh?
Well anyway, they were really pros at planting garlic. Especially Liz Henderson (who literally wrote the book about CSA farming). How great to have her help and experience. We got just about 4 whole rows planted, which works out to be about 4,000 bulbs of garlic planned to come out of the ground next July.
I marked the beds with the row marker... then we pushed in the cloves of garlic... then I drove the tractor down the row & covered up the cloves with a little more soil. This is my first experience with growing garlic, so we'll see how it goes.
After planting all that garlic (in less than an hour with so much help!), we took a cider & donuts break. Then we had the real potluck, and folks showed up with more food. What a celebration! Next time we'll get a string band...
Well anyway, they were really pros at planting garlic. Especially Liz Henderson (who literally wrote the book about CSA farming). How great to have her help and experience. We got just about 4 whole rows planted, which works out to be about 4,000 bulbs of garlic planned to come out of the ground next July.
I marked the beds with the row marker... then we pushed in the cloves of garlic... then I drove the tractor down the row & covered up the cloves with a little more soil. This is my first experience with growing garlic, so we'll see how it goes.
After planting all that garlic (in less than an hour with so much help!), we took a cider & donuts break. Then we had the real potluck, and folks showed up with more food. What a celebration! Next time we'll get a string band...
Friday, October 9, 2009
Blessings of Fall
Well, as much as I have been secretly wishing for an indian summer, it looks like winter may be pushing its way in (Rochester is used to bossy winters, I guess). But the harvest is still quite bountiful. This week we gave out broom corn as an autumnal decoration bonus!
Swiss chard is pretty decorative itself.
Many of the crops on the menu these days are long-term storage pantry items, not needing refrigeration. Onions, potatoes, squash... and most of the other food hardly needs the fridge when the temperature drops into the 50s anyway. Mmm... root crops are just what our bodies need to warm us up as the evenings get darker & chillier.
A young CSA member enjoys some of his last time on the tractor...
Shares were heavy this week, inculding 2 heads of broccoli, cabbage, carrots, beets, swiss chard, squash, potatoes, onions, beans, celeriac, pumpkins, peppers, & eggplants.
Make some beet soup! Add apples to it!
Some hardworking work-traders bringing in the last ? of the green bean harvest:
Most of the farm gets covered up with blankets these days due to frost. We just started to break into the fall cabbages-- fennel & rutabagas to come!
Still lots of food in the ground...
Some happy broom corn customers:
Only 3 more weeks of distribution!
I could eat pumpkin pie for 3 meals a day. If only pumpkins grew in pie form...
Luke & I have been busy making hot sauce to sell at the farmers market. We have 7 different kinds! These will be for sale to CSA members soon (once we order those cute little bottles)... stay tuned. They will definitely keep you warm over the winter, and can be liberally applied to almost anything for a spicy "Mud Creek Farm" infusion of flavor!
Extra produce is still being sold to Natural Oasis restaurant twice a week, where the up-and-coming chef, Nick, creates AMAZING delicious concoctions with it! Make sure you have dinner there before he has to start buying from someone else for the winter-- everything on the menu is $4 (including delicious desserts) and everything is vegan (aka: good for you!)
PS:
What angry dairy farmers do... (the best farmer photo ever!)
Swiss chard is pretty decorative itself.
Many of the crops on the menu these days are long-term storage pantry items, not needing refrigeration. Onions, potatoes, squash... and most of the other food hardly needs the fridge when the temperature drops into the 50s anyway. Mmm... root crops are just what our bodies need to warm us up as the evenings get darker & chillier.
A young CSA member enjoys some of his last time on the tractor...
Shares were heavy this week, inculding 2 heads of broccoli, cabbage, carrots, beets, swiss chard, squash, potatoes, onions, beans, celeriac, pumpkins, peppers, & eggplants.
Make some beet soup! Add apples to it!
Some hardworking work-traders bringing in the last ? of the green bean harvest:
Most of the farm gets covered up with blankets these days due to frost. We just started to break into the fall cabbages-- fennel & rutabagas to come!
Still lots of food in the ground...
Some happy broom corn customers:
Only 3 more weeks of distribution!
I could eat pumpkin pie for 3 meals a day. If only pumpkins grew in pie form...
Luke & I have been busy making hot sauce to sell at the farmers market. We have 7 different kinds! These will be for sale to CSA members soon (once we order those cute little bottles)... stay tuned. They will definitely keep you warm over the winter, and can be liberally applied to almost anything for a spicy "Mud Creek Farm" infusion of flavor!
Extra produce is still being sold to Natural Oasis restaurant twice a week, where the up-and-coming chef, Nick, creates AMAZING delicious concoctions with it! Make sure you have dinner there before he has to start buying from someone else for the winter-- everything on the menu is $4 (including delicious desserts) and everything is vegan (aka: good for you!)
PS:
What angry dairy farmers do... (the best farmer photo ever!)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Garlic Planting Postponed...
Well, we finally got the rain I've been asking for all September... but 3 inches is enough-- it can stop now! The ground is way too saturated to plant garlic tomorrow. So, the Planting Party & Potluck will be postponed until Oct. 18th, which will be a much drier day hopefully! Cross your fingers for sunshine.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Using up those eggplants...
Here's a good one to use up the eggplants. It's meant to be an appetizer/dip but I think it might be yummy on pasta too...
Herbed Eggplant Dip
Makes about 2 1/3 cups
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
a 1 pound eggplant, cut into dice (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch)
1 teaspoon salt
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well, spun dry and minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Accompaniment: Garlic flavored toasts or Pita Chips
Preparation:
In a large heavy skillet cook onion and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring until softened. Add eggplant and salt and cook, stirring until eggplant begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Cover skillet and cook eggplant, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender. Remove skillet from heat and cool eggplant. Stir in remaining ingredients and salt an pepper to taste. Put all into bowl of food processor and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped and blended.
If you are going to put over pasta you might want to not put into processor and just toss together over pasta? I haven't tried that yet but the flavor is really good. It would probably be great to add artichoke hearts and some red peppers or roasted red peppers.
Herbed Eggplant Dip
Makes about 2 1/3 cups
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
a 1 pound eggplant, cut into dice (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch)
1 teaspoon salt
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well, spun dry and minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Accompaniment: Garlic flavored toasts or Pita Chips
Preparation:
In a large heavy skillet cook onion and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring until softened. Add eggplant and salt and cook, stirring until eggplant begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Cover skillet and cook eggplant, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender. Remove skillet from heat and cool eggplant. Stir in remaining ingredients and salt an pepper to taste. Put all into bowl of food processor and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped and blended.
If you are going to put over pasta you might want to not put into processor and just toss together over pasta? I haven't tried that yet but the flavor is really good. It would probably be great to add artichoke hearts and some red peppers or roasted red peppers.
Autumn harvest...
Well, I think that fall is officially here when we pull the winter squash in from the field. With the help of a few devoted farmhands, we hauled them all into the greenhouse to cure for a week or so.
Summer crops are on their way out-- less peppers & eggplants (finally!), and more greens, radishes, turnips, and root crops. Lettuce continues to come in by the bushel!
We finally got rain! A whole inch overnight, and more on the way... the 5 acres of cover crops I just planted are soaking it up. Check out the new fields for next year-- they'll be turning green soon with oats, peas, triticale, and vetch. An inch of rain sure makes for muddy harvesting though.
As I was leaving the farm Sunday evening, it started pouring again, but the setting sun still was shining beneath the raincloud. Everyone had just left distribution with their bags of produce, handfuls of flowers, kids, dogs, and aunts. I stood in front of the fields by myself, witnessing this magical light that was falling over the farm. What an incredible place this is. A rainbow arched over the sky as I drove back down the gravel road home.
Dad really did some hauling of that squash.
I can't wait to eat these delicata...
Mmmm... squash is the perfect filling food for these cold nights.
Oh! And the first fall broccoli was delicious! Cabbages are soon to come...
And let's not forget the glorious Swiss Chard.
Food, glorious food.
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