Produce Subscription (Week 30)

Again, the season is really wacky this year, isn’t it? Talk of heat indexes and reduced outdoor activities for health reasons. (We interpreted that to mean we should not be digging both potatoes AND carrots this week. Sorry, just carrots. Red new potatoes next week!)

And speaking of carrots…we continue to struggle to grow these temperamental roots. How can something so simple, grow so difficultly (is that a word?) I still have to find several hundreds of feet of carrots in the weed, I mean carrot, beds, so we can have some more carrots in a month or so. Believe it or not, we planned and planted to have carrots weekly. Not! So, best laid plans and all that.

But we do have rows and rows of Japanese eggplant and peppers!

Your boxes will be in their respective drop site locations by 9am Wednesday. (Dropsite Location Details) Find the box with your name and have at it!

If you have any questions, please call Roger on his delivery phone 626 488 5437 (if before 10a) and the farm phone 715 426 7582 (if after 10am).

The pickin’s are expanding in your boxes this week.

Carrot Well, they are here. Trying to get excited about them; it’s a love/hate relationship!

Cauliflower More raw crunch for your daily salad fix. Also try it creatively made into Hummus-Crusted Cauliflower Steaks

Squash, zephyr Slowly but surely they are coming along. We’ll try not to inundate you in the next few weeks!

Zucchini And a green zucchini squash twin to the Zephyr.

Cucumber, slicing Two varieties. Cucumbers seem to be here to stay for awhile. Enjoy!

Cucumber, lunchbox A handful of these for your little lunchboxes to eat-from-the-hand.

Broccoli Broccoli Cheezze Soup this week!

Broccolini Note: Some received this week, some last week. Actually a broccoli/Gailon cross with a slightly different flavor package. Eat the entire thing, marinated with soy sauce/olive oil/salt/pepper and lightly grilled as an appetizer.

Lettuce, green summer crisp A couple green summercrisp heads for pairing with your crispy cucumbers.

Kale (Red Russian) Great for bright green smoothies or some soulful Green Cheezzy Mac

Onion, mini purple Wonderful lavender color, sliced paperthin, and added to your salads.

Cilantro Sauté some frozen/canned tomatoes, frozen sweet pepper, onion, paprika/cayenne, dash of maple syrup and a bunch of cilantro; then pour over corn tortillas layered with a mixture of chives/wheat meat/Tofutti cream cheeze/dash of sea salt. Bake 350 for 25min. Mmmmm, a quick enchilada lasagna!

Basil Mince and whisk with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt for a nice light cucumber dressing. Or try a refreshing Basil Strawberry Iced Tea on one of these hot afternoons.

Parsley You must try a sprig or two in your green smoothies; healthy and gives a nice bright flavor twist. Also mince and put in just about anything you cook for enhanced depth of flavor.

Recipes for your consideration

If you are like me, you need to hide your cauliflower to enjoy it! This soup is pretty amazing at doing just that. The creamy-ness is wonderful; the flavor rich and full.¬

Cauliflower and Basil Soup

1 1/2 # cauliflower (approx 1 head)
2 medium onions, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock/broth or water
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups plain almond, flax or rice milk
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil or parsley, chopped

Trim leaves from cauliflower head and trim stem(s) from florets. Chop stems and keep separate. Break florets into 1" pieces.

In large pot, heat olive oil and sauté onion for 5min, then add cauliflower stems. Sauté 5min more. Add florets, broth/water, and salt; cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10min, until cauliflower is tender.

Uncover and scoop out 2 cups cauliflower and reserve. Transfer the contents of the pot to a blender, add almond/flax/rice milk and blend until smooth. Pour back into pot with reserved cauliflower, add black pepper and basil/parsley; and stir until heated through. Serve hot.

The Mix—Twin Cities Natural Food Co-op Production Mar/Apr 2013

Tofu is actually quite good. We eat it a lot and can tell good tofu from not so good tofu. It’s not just a protein to add to something with lots of sauce that will be absorbed by the tofu. This “shake-n-bake” salad is excellent.

Crispy Tofu Salad

1 package firm/extra firm tofu (Wildwood is the best.)
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp each sea salt, garlic & onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika & freshly ground pepper
High heat oil

spinach & mixed field greens
cauliflower, finely chopped
cucumber, finely chopped

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider or red wine vinegar
1/8 cup maple syrup or sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Put a high-sided pan on medium-high heat.

Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes. Put all the dry ingredients into a sealable container and shake together. Once combined, toss in the tofu cubes and shake again until everything’s fully coated.

Now that the pan’s hot, pour in enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, and a little extra. While you’re letting the oil heat, chop up the vegetables that’ll be in your salad.

Carefully spoon in enough of the tofu cubes to partially cover the pan, but don’t crowd it. Let them fry up. They’ll start to brown a bit and become crispy when they’re done. Keep frying them in batches until they’re all done.

Let the tofu rest on some paper towels or a cloth towel for a few minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and spoon on the tofu hot or cool with your salad, either way, tastes great! :)

From: http://hipsterfood.tumblr.com/post/74849088282/westsoy-remember-those-vegan-cheesesteaks-us

We haven’t tried this one yet, but getting up the nerve. (You’ll need a good movie in the DVD player to keep you company while you scrape.) Probably will substitute maple syrup for the sugar. Yep, I think it is worth it.

Cucumber Lime Granita

1 tablespoon grated lime rind
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 mint sprigs
1 pound chopped English cucumber

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute; remove from heat.

Add mint; let stand 10 minutes. Discard mint.

Place juice mixture and cucumber in a blender; process until smooth. Cool completely.

Pour mixture into an 11 × 7?inch baking dish. Cover and freeze for 45 minutes; scrape with a fork.

Freeze. Scrape mixture every 45 minutes until completely frozen (about 3 hours).

Remove from freezer; scrape with a fork until fluffy.

From: Cookinglight.com

Everyone feel free to add your favorite recipes to the website.

For Your Reading Pleasure

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (pub. 1932)

This novel made #88 on The Big Read list of 200 favorite novels in Great Britton, created in 2003 by over three-quarters of a million readers.

(I stole this review from an online used book store…better than I could have written.)
Published in 1932, this novel is a hysterically funny, tongue in cheek parody of the heavy handed, gloomy novels of some early twentieth century English writers who had previously been so popular. Tremendously successful when first published, “Cold Comfort Farm” caused quite a stir in its time.

The novel starts out innocuously enough, when well educated Flora Poste finds herself orphaned at the age of twenty. Discovering that her father was not the wealthy man she believed him to be, she is resigned to the fate of having to live on a hundred pounds a year. Opting to live with relatives, rather than earn her bread, she seeks out a most unlikely set of relations, the odd Starkadder family who live in Howling, Sussex.

Therein begins what is certainly one of the funniest novels ever written. When Flora arrives in Howling, she meets her odd relatives, who live in neglected, ramshackle “Cold Comfort Farm”, where they still wash the dishes with twigs, and have cows named Graceless, Pointless, Feckless, and Aimless. Headed by a seventy nine year old matriarch, Flora’s aunt, Ada Doom Starkadder, who has not been right in the head since she “saw something nasty happen in the woodshed” nearly seventy years ago, they are a motley and strange crew indeed. Confronted with their dismal and gloomy existence, Flora sets about trying to put things to right.

Peppered with eccentric, memorable characters, this book will take the reader on a journey not easily forgotten. It is one that is sure to make the reader revisit this novel yet again, like an old friend who is missed too soon.

You can find it for less than $5 in many online used bookstores. Fun read for those who appreciate the British wit.

Farm News

Deer and potato bugs headline this week (again!) Persistent little buggers, they are. The deer have taken to pawing the row cover like it is deep snow, to get at the lettuces and other choice snacks underneath. Not quite diggin’ this activity, like they are. But it seem to be keeping them away from the beans! So we might have to pick them afterall :(

And rows and rows of beans— yellow, green, shell, dry—a whole host of beans! But then there is the picking thing…

The warm weather crops are going crazy with these temps. Happy to see it. Peppers are coming along, and the eggplant and the tomatoes and the summer squashes. The boxes are starting to get heavier, topping 15# this week.

The northern type bananas are almost here.

Please bring your boxes back this week. Reduce – Reuse – Recycle (thanks!)

Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the vegetables.

Roger and Lara