Wednesday, November 25, 2015

CSA Newsletter for November 2015

Farm Update



Fred harvests spinach
on Monday.  This
particular spinach is
headed to the Greentree
Co-op in Mt. Pleasant,
where you can find our
produce for the next
couple weeks.
Hello everyone!   The farm is covered with a dusting of snow, the veggies are almost done for the year, and hibernation time is upon us.  While Fred is able to continue to harvest some things, most crops are over and done, so our pace of work is significantly slower than in the summer.  We are continuing to deliver veggies to a few restaurants and stores, but the harvest is pretty limited this time of year, and Fred's work is mostly focused on preparing for the winter freezes and snows.  My farm work has also slowed down immensely, and just in time, because we had our new baby last Tuesday!  His name is Timothy Franklin Monroe, and he is sweet and happy and healthy.  We're definitely enjoying our cute new addition to the family and the slower pace that November brings.  The holiday season will also be here soon, and a CSA share makes a great gift for a loved one.  We had several people last year who got half shares as gifts for their parents, so that is an excellent gift option for those who like to cook with delicious veggies!





Sunrise, Sunset

Jane and Jessamine meet their new
little brother for the first time.
Every November without fail, I begin to reflect on the cyclical nature of life, and the farming life in particular.  There's something about switching my focus from farm and field to hearth and home that causes me to reflect on the year as a whole, and I find myself feeling deeply thankful for another harvest season completed.  I am always very aware this time of year that our November activities (preparing the fields for winter, waking a little later in the morning now that the sun is rising a little later, preparing foods that are heartier and more autumnal in nature) are pretty much what every farmer in similar climates has done every November for farther back than anyone can remember.  The things we are doing now would have been very familiar and recognizable to my grandparents 50 years ago, as well as their great-greats in centuries past.  In fact, I wrote an article to that effect last year around this time, which you can read here.)

Because we harvest the lower leaves
first, the lacinato kale looks like mini
palm trees by this point in the season.
But the wonderful thing about life is that although it has its rhythms and its cycles, it isn't static.  Although I am doing many of the same things I was doing last November, I look at my kids who are another year older and more independent, and our new little baby who last year at this time was only an idea, and now very much exists in flesh and blood.  And the farm continues to grow as well.  Over the course of the last year, we've expanded in many ways, adding new crops, new delivery options, new certifications, new infrastructure, and a new body of experience to what was there last year.  I look around and think "when did all of this happen?", and it reminds me of Fiddler on the Roof (which is perhaps one of my favorite movies ever), where the parents are reflecting on both the cyclical and forward-moving nature of life upon the occasion of their daughter's marriage.  And I know that although things will keep progressing and changing, they'll also keep circling back around, and next November I'll be doing and thinking the same things I'm doing now, but a little older and wiser.

And as in years past, I am incredibly thankful for another season successfully completed, another year of experiences, knowledge, and wisdom gained, and another year of serving our community in our own little way.  And thank you all for being there with us through the journey!

Recipes

When I was a kid, I thought I didn't like sweet potatoes because we only ever ate them at Thanksgiving, and only mashed up and topped with mini-marshmallows.  If you are partial to that particular preparation, knock yourself out.  But if like me, you prefer your sweet potatoes unmashed and un-marshmallowed, try out these Honey and Rosemary Sweet Potatoes as a delicious alternative for Thanksgiving!



Saturday, October 24, 2015

CSA Newsletter for October 24, 2015

Farm Update
We've covered this planting
of winter spinach with plastic
so it can overwinter and be
ready to eat in the spring.

Hello everyone!  This will be the last of the weekly newsletters for the year, and after this you can look for them on a monthly basis until the CSA kicks off again next year!  We've wrapped up the Midland and East Lansing drop-offs for the season, and Alma and Mt. Pleasant still have one drop-off left, so we'll see those folks this week.  The weather is also signalling the end of the season; we've had several more frosts, and many of the crops are winding down for the year.  We should continue to have a few things (lettuce, spinach, kale, carrots) for a few weeks, so if you experience veggie withdrawal, you'll be able to find some of our produce at Greentree Co-Op in Mt. Pleasant or at ELFCO in East Lansing for another month or so.   It's been another great season, and we just want to thank all of you for being a part of it!  We hope to see you again next year!




What to Expect in Your Share This Week

This lovely Little Gem head lettuce
will be part of the shares this week.

At the regular drop-offs:
  • Potatoes
  • Carrots
  • Lettuce
  • Broccoli or beets
  • Brussels sprouts or surprise veggie
  • Kale, cabbage, or broccoli leaf
  • Celery root, parsley, or Little Gem head lettuce

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:
Potatoes                     Potatoes
Carrots                      Carrots
Lettuce                      Lettuce
Broccoli                    Beets
Brussels sprouts       Surprise veggie
Kale                          Cabbage
Celery root               Parsley

Recipes

There is nothing like a good stew for a chilly fall day!  This Beef and Cabbage Stew is a perfect comfort food that also happens to be full of veggie goodness.  If you get a celery root in your share this week (or if you still have one in your fridge from a few weeks ago), you can substitute that for the celery called for in the recipe.  Enjoy!


Saturday, October 17, 2015

CSA Newsletter for October 17, 2015

Farm Update


Look at this lovely planting of lettuce, which will be in the
shares this week!
Hello everyone!  We hope everyone is staying warm during this chilly weekend!  Don’t be surprised if there are a few minor changes to the CSA options this week as we see the effects of the freezing temperatures over the weekend.  We are hopeful that most cold-hardy crops will do well through the freeze since things have had several weeks to acclimate, but nothing is for sure.   This last week has been mostly about harvesting and preparing for freezing weather.  Fred covered one of our main broccoli plantings that we hope to have for next week, and he also prepped the small greenhouse for being heated once again.  The workload has started slow down, but it has also been a little harder as the cold makes working outside less productive than in warmer weeks.  Looking out at the farm, it is easy to see that things are winding down as the main green areas are our cover crops and the few plantings that are still producing veggies for the next few weeks. The ever-present frogs and snakes have also started to leave us, and the grass and areas that surround the farm are turning browner.  We have a really nice planting of lettuce in the coldframes right now, which is where almost all of the lettuce is likely to come from this week. 


For those of you in the Lansing and Midland drop-offs and delivery routes, this will be your last week of veggies for the 2015 season.  For those of you in the Alma and Mt. Pleasant areas, you still have this upcoming week and the following week since you started a week later in June. We have really enjoyed working with all of you in the CSA this year, and if you have any feedback or suggestions that will help make your share or CSA experience better, we would love to hear from you as we will quickly enter the planning stage for 2016 soon.  Also, if you are interested in signing up for next year, just let us know and we’ll get you set up for the 2016 season!



What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:

  • Sweet potatoes or potatoes
  • Spinach, winter squash, or Brussels sprouts
  • Carrots
  • Lettuce
  • Broccoli or beets
  • Kale or cabbage
  • Onion or shallot

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:
Sweet potatoes          Potatoes
Winter squash           Spinach
Carrots                      Carrots
Lettuce                      Lettuce
Beets                         Broccoli
Kale                          Cabbage
Shallot                      Onion




Veggie Spotlight:  Spinach

Back in the spring, we uncovered last fall's planting of
spinach to find it waiting for us, ready to eat!
Though referenced a bit earlier in Persian writings, one of the earliest recorded accounts of spinach being cultivated was in the 7th century, when the King of Nepal gave it to the Chinese as a gift. During the Moorish empire, spinach first entered Europe through Spain by Arab agronomists who developed the spinach we think of today. There it grew immensely in popularity and was famously loved by Catherine de Medici, who requested that she have it for every meal. Even though spinach is now popular here in the United States, by far most of the world’s spinach is still consumed in Asia. In fact, even though the US is the world’s second leading producer at 3%, China actually produces 85% of the world’s spinach (though this data is almost 10 years old). Spinach has been an outstanding crop for northern small farms like ours, because our cooler climate helps it to be darker, thicker, and more flavorful than California spinach. It has a unique ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures (well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit) as long as it does not get exposed to too much wind while frozen. This cold hardiness comes from its origins back in Persia where it would sprout in the fall, withstand the cold of winter, and flower in the spring.

We actually grow more spinach at the farm than many folks in the CSA realize, because it is most abundant at our farm earlier and later than the normal CSA season.  This spring especially, our overwintered spinach did extremely well for a good mid-to-late May crop.  It is always one of the last and first crops we seed every season.  Currently, spinach at the farm is seeded using our field seeder, which can be modified to seed our coldframes as well. Spinach is seeded in early to mid-March in the coldframes and is able to germinate at low temps. When it is up it is usually very frost hardy. The first field seeding of spinach was early this year (on March 30th), and we immediately covered it with our clear perforated plastic tunnels, which act like mini-coldframes.  Spinach takes a lot of fertility, so we always put down extra manure pellets before planting.  This year we grew two varieties: the traditional Tyee and a new variety called Ashley.  The spinach you can get in your share this week is the Ashley type, and we have been impressed with the dark green leaves and nutrient-density of this new variety.  We have started talking to some seed companies to see what other new varieties might be coming out that have the nice dark leaves, but also display better heat tolerance than current varieties.  Better breeding work will be required to get more weeks of spinach into the shares as breeders adapt new varieties to deal with heat stress, which is the main limitation we face trying to grow spinach in the summer.  Growing the Ashley variety we were able to get two more week of spinach this season than we would have had with just the old Tyee variety.

Here is a planting of spinach under a covering of clear plastic.
The plastic will help insulate the spinach through the long
winter so we can eat it early in the spring.
One thing that makes spinach unique compared with other veggies we grow is that we seed it in the fall for a crop next spring. When Fred grew spinach in Ohio he could reliably count on the spinach planted in the fall to come back for a great early spring crop, but with harsher temps and longer winters here in central Michigan we have to cover it to get it to survive reliably. In winters with lots of snow cover, the spinach comes back very well regardless of low temperatures, because the snow actually has an insulating effect on the plants beneath it.


Spinach is considered a superfood because it is absolutely packed with vitamins and nutrients, ranking just behind things like kale for its nutrient content. We are glad to have it in the shares and our table again, and hope you enjoy this unique and tasty green this week as well!

Recipes

If you are like me, you are now totally excited to get some yummy spinach meals on the table!  Here is a recipe for Garlic Parmesan Chicken (with lots of sauteed spinach!) to get you started.  Totally delicious, fast, and so easy even I can do it! :-)

Saturday, October 10, 2015

CSA Newsletter for October 10, 2015

Farm Update


We harvested the last of
the sweet potatoes on
Friday, just in time for the
light frost we had this morning!
Hello everyone!  Even with the weather cooling down, we’ve still had fairly pleasant working conditions at the farm so far.  We had our first very light frost this morning but any crops that would be affected are already in storage or done for the season.  We got the rest of the sweet potatoes dug up from the field on Friday evening, so now they are all curing in the greenhouse.  Because sweet potatoes are actually a tropical plant, they need a lot of heat to get as big as we sometimes see them.  It was a pretty cool summer in general, so the sweet potato harvest wasn’t large, but there are still plenty for the remaining weeks for the CSA.  The fields are starting to look significantly emptier and large swaths of the field are now planted with cover crop.  The tomatoes vines are on their way out after the huge influx of tomatoes we had a few weeks ago, and the cooler weather has also started to take its toll on the health of the plants. The plantings of carrots are still looking very robust and healthy. The yield and quality on the last planting were some of the best we have ever had on the farm.  At home we have definitely transitioned to the hearty fall comfort foods, cooking a lot with the Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and other root veggies.  Fred is already starting to look at ideas for next season, including a new system for our tomatoes and how to improve a few areas of the farm that struggled this year.  On Thursday we had our final food safety inspection for our farm, which went very well.  It looks like the Group GAP food safety program we were involved with (where several farms work together to become GAP certified, thus minimizing the expense to each individual farm) is a template that will be used increasingly around the state in coming years.  It was a success for some small farms in the U.P. last year and again this year with a small group of farms (including ours) here in the Lower Peninsula.  We are hoping that being involved with this program will eventually open up more markets, help us be ready for the implementation of the federal government’s Food Safety Modernization Act (read more about that here), and aid in the original goal of better ensuring the safety of the great veggies we produce.

What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:
Our purple kale, aside from being
yummy, as also gorgeous to look
at!  Its intense color and lovely
frills make it a favorite in
ornamental gardens and on the
table.

  • Choice of sweet potatoes and beets
  • Choice of Brussels sprouts, spinach, or lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Choice of broccoli or cabbage
  • Choice of winter squash or kale
  • Choice of parsley, cilantro, chives, or celery root
  • Choice of onion, shallot, or leeks

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:
Sweet potatoes          Beets
Lettuce                      Spinach
Carrots                      Carrots
Broccoli                    Cabbage
Kale                          Winter squash
Cilantro                     Parsley
Onion                        Leeks




Recipes

Fall is here for real, and with it comes warm comfort foods!  Try out this recipe for creamy, chock-full-of-veggies Autumn Chowder.  It's one of those meals that takes very little time to prep, and if you don't finish it all, it freezes and rewarms really well for a busy evening when you don't have time to cook.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

CSA Newsletter for October 3, 2015

Farm Update

This is the time of year for beets,
which do really well in the fall!
Hello Everyone!  This week turned into fall in a hurry, and you will see that reflected in the veggies in the share this week.  Even though it has gotten colder, fortunately we have not had any frost at the farm yet, although the wind has made working out there less than pleasant.  This weekend we have been digging up the sweet potatoes and slowly working our way through them.  This last week we were also able to seed our second round of cover crop into the land where we plowed under some of our old plantings of different veggies.  We had our organic inspector out at the farm last Sunday and the inspection went very well. This always involves a lot of paperwork since we have so many varieties, so we are glad to have the inspection off our list and done.  Our tomatoes have slowed down in a big way as the temps have gotten lower and the vines are starting to die back.  Everything in the field has slowed down bit, and the fields are slowly becoming emptier as we near the end of the season.  Now that we have just a few weeks left, it is a good time to sign up for next season if you're interested!  The cost for a half share will be $290 for the 2016 season, and a full share will be $540.  So if you're interested in signing up, just let me know, and I'll put you on the list.  We expect sign-up to be strong again next year, so it's a good idea to sign up sooner rather than later so you're assured your spot in the CSA for 2016.  It also helps us out, because if you put down a full or partial payment before the new year, that allows us to have some working capital in December and January, which is when we incur most of our farm expenses.  Even though we're still very much in the thick of the 2015 season, we're already starting to plan for 2016, and we'd love for you to be a part of it!


What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:
In the shares this week, you'll have options for two broccoli
variations:  regular broccoli, and broccoli leaf (the one on the
right).  This is a standard part of our cooking greens mix, and
you can sautee it up like you'd do with kale or chard.

  • Choice of Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes
  • Choice of winter squash, broccoli, or beets
  • Choice of carrots or Swiss chard
  • Choice of lettuce, tomatoes, or snap beans
  • Choice of cabbage, kale, or broccoli leaf
  • Choice of leeks, celery root, or frisee
  • Choice onion or shallot

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:
Brussels sprouts        Sweet potatoes
Winter squash           Broccoli
Carrots                      Carrots
Lettuce                      Tomatoes
Cabbage                    Kale
Leeks                        Frisee
Onion                       Shallot


Veggie Spotlight:  The Onion Family


These are the onions and shallots we have in season right now.
From left to right, we have red onion, red shallot, Copra
onion, and yellow shallot.
Onions are one of the earliest and most widely eaten vegetables in the world, dating back to 5000 BC. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians were two peoples known to use onions, and in the Middle Ages the onion was very prominent in the peasant diet.  Even when Europeans first came to the Americas, the Native Americans were found widely using wild onions as well.  Part of this long history is due to the long storage life of bulbing onions.  Even when other foods were unavailable in the winter, onions could be kept for a long time, making them especially popular and prominent in winter meals.  

In your shares this season you have seen several members of the onion family, including yellow shallots, red shallots, red onions, yellow Copra onions, white pearl onions (little white round onions we had in the spring), green onions, chives, and leeks.  All of these onions have slightly different flavors and textures, so they are suitable for different uses in the kitchen.  Fred's personal favorite is the red shallot, and I love the bright springy flavor of green onions.

Even though onions can be a pain to weed (especially in a year like this one) our onion family crops grow exceptionally well because our soil is naturally suited to them.  Our back field is black sand that is high in organic matter, and it is almost spongy when you walk on it.  It is a little more moist than our front fields, which is perfect for onions.  Our onions also take a lot of nutrients and are one of the heaviest feeders on the farm, especially since we cram as many as we possibly can into the field.  Each type grows a little differently.  Our chives are a perennial that come back each year.  Our green onions and pearl onions are seeded into greenhouse flats in the early spring, with several seeds planted together and then transplanted into the field.  There they grow in clumps of several onions together. For our bulbing onions and leeks, we buy plants that come in the mail from an organic nursery out in Delaware, and plant them directly into the field in mid-April.  Our shallots are seeded thickly into greenhouse flats, then trimmed to only about 3 inches tall and separated individually and transplanted into the field in early May.  After the shallots and bulbing onions start to die back in the field, we pull of them out and dry them on racks in the greenhouse.

So what is the difference between leeks, shallots, and onions in the kitchen?  Leeks and shallots both have milder, more complex flavors than the otherwise harsher flavor of raw bulbing onions.  We had often noticed that many good recipes called for shallots rather than onions, but we were skeptical at first that they would really be all that different.   Now after growing and using them, we are shallot converts!  Now we save some red shallots every season to use throughout the winter, and barely use bulb onions. There certainly are great times to use bulb onions, especially when a more prominent onion flavor is desired (often with heavier dishes that include red meat). If onions are just a little too oniony for you, the shallots can be used instead, as they are milder and the size of the rings is smaller.  In the same vein, we personally love to use leeks chopped into small rings for omelets and in our winter venison stews, as it add more flavor without overpowering other more subtle flavors.  We like to use the shallots this time of year in our Brussels sprout/winter squash/bacon fry, as well as our roasted root vegetable mix.  The shallots are also great fresh in salads, as they do not overpower the flavor of the greens and other ingredients.


Our onion crops are becoming more prominent on our farm as folks (and especially the higher-end restaurants we supply) recognize and appreciate their excellent flavor.  We certainly appreciate them at home as well, especially as we get into the richer foods of fall and winter.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!


Recipes

My guess is that you already know what to do with your onions and shallots, but you are probably wondering about the mysterious celery root that is available in the shares this week.  Celery root (also called celeriac) is a root vegetable with a distinct celery flavor.  It is knobby and kind of weird-looking, but it was traditionally a winter staple in the days before refrigeration.  It cooks like a potato but tastes like celery, so it is commonly used in fall and winter soups and stews.  Also, don't worry if you don't get to it right away; it will last forever in the fridge.  (I've used five-month old celeriac before, and it still tasted great.)  So here are some recipe ideas for this probably unfamiliar veggie:

Simple as That Celeriac:  This aptly-named hash is super easy to make, and requires just a few ingredients to make a really great side dish.  Or for something a little fancier, try this Potato and Celery Root Gratin with Gruyere.  Rich and creamy, this gratin also calls for some shallot goodness, so if you've never played around with shallots before, here's your chance!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

CSA Newsletter for September 26, 2015

Farm Update


Hello everyone!  This week it still feels a lot like summer (except for the chilly, foggy mornings) but there is definitely a feeling that fall is coming soon.  The winter squash have cured in the greenhouse and we have been enjoying them at home.  The first sweet potatoes still need a little time, and we have been able to let most of the planting grow a little longer outside since we have not had a frost yet.  The tomatoes are now on the downhill trend as the vines are starting to look a little worse for wear after producing a lot of tomatoes over the last few weeks.  The carrot plantings look really nice and we should have a lot of really nice carrots for this fall.  The weed issues have mostly subsided and only the white aphids are giving us any trouble at this point.  Our first fall spinach planting came up a little sporadically, but the second has come up better and spinach should make an appearance in the shares in mid-late October.  This week we also tried a new green we had never eaten before, and it was awesome!  (Sweet potato leaves!  Who knew?)  The idea was given to us by CSA member Kelvin Grant who saw them at a farmers’ market while travelling, and we are so glad he did, because now we’re hooked!  We’re going to include a small amount of the sweet potato greens in the shares this week if you’re interested in trying them, and we’ll include the recipe we used too.  The weather is starting to turn, and the calendar says it’s fall, but we still have about a month of great veggies in store!



What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:
We'll have a small amount of the sweet potato
greens in the share this week, so if you're feeling
adventurous or love greens, try them out!
  • Choice of cherry tomatoes or beets
  • Choice of 4 tomatoes or snap beans
  • Choice of carrots or young head lettuce
  • Choice of sweet potato greens, cabbage, or kale
  • Choice of winter squash or potatoes
  • Choice of broccoli or lettuce
  • Choice fennel, onion, or shallot

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:

Cherry tomatoes        Beets
Snap beans                4 Tomatoes
Young head lettuce   Carrots
Cabbage                    Kale
Winter squash           Potatoes
Broccoli                    Lettuce
Shallot                      Onion


Irrigation on the Farm


If you ask any old farmer, he can probably tell you what the weather was like in any given year during his farming career.  My grandpa has a weather-related memory bank that goes all the way back to the mid-1950’s, and every year is a little bit different from every other year.  I’ve only been at this farming thing for five years, but I’m already building up my own weather memory bank, because so much of our routines and workload (not to mention our livelihood) is contingent upon what the weather happens to be doing at the moment.  This year has been rainier than most, so it seems strange to do an article about irrigation in such a wet year, but even though it has been wet we have irrigated at least one of our crops almost every week since April.  Each crop’s needs are different, but the methods we use to irrigate are mostly the same.  The biggest water users on our farm are the blueberries and potatoes, which both have to be constantly watered during certain times in their life cycle.

On the farm we use a drip tape irrigation system to water our crops. This is a 1- inch(ish) wide perforated black plastic tube that comes on huge rolls and can be cut to any length we need.  The drip lines are then laid right up next to the base of the plants they’re watering, which allows us to water the plants themselves very thoroughly without watering the weeds that always want to grow up around them.  These tubes are fed by larger, stronger main lines that are hooked to our well.  The well we use is 110 feet deep into the ground and actually has some ground pressure that lets water into our system even without the pump (like an artesian well).  However, most of the time we use the pump to give enough pressure to the system so we can irrigate larger areas of ground at the same time. 


The advantages of the drip tape system are that we can just irrigate the row where we need the water, and water it very deeply in a short amount of time.  Because we are able to just put it in the row we need watered (and because the line drips very gently), this allows us to get around having as many weeds since we are only watering the row.  The main reason we had so many weeds this year is because the plentiful rain watered all of our ground all the time, instead of our more controlled method of watering when we don’t get such abundant rainfall. While plants need enough water to grow up healthy, there are times when more water is not beneficial, like when we withhold water on certain crops at certain times to improve flavor.  For instance, this time of year we hold back the water on all our tomatoes so that the stronger tomato flavor and concentrated sugars yield a superior tasting tomato. (That’s why tomatoes you buy in the store are often really bland; most of them are raised in systems where they are overwatered, and it dilutes the flavor.)  Irrigating with the drip tape is also way more efficient (it uses less than 50% of the water of overhead systems) and also allows us to grow things like lettuce in mid-summer because of how thoroughly it waters the row.  Compared with overhead irrigation systems, it also allows us to keep more water off the plants’ foliage, which really helps keep a lot of plant diseases under control. 

Though not one of the most riveting farm topics, irrigation is definitely crucial not only to growing healthy plants, but also to getting top-notch flavor and quality. With most veggies being more than 90% water, the water that is used is very important to the quality and safety of the final product.  For most of the world’s farmers, access to clean, abundant water is a real struggle.  Fortunately, that is not as much of an issue here in the Michigan, where we are almost entirely surrounded by fresh water and have high groundwater levels.  Just one more thing to appreciate about the Great Lakes Sate: even in dry years (of which I’m sure there will be many in my weather memory bank after a few more decades), we’re able to get each crop the water it needs to have the best possible plant health, taste, and quality.


Recipes

If you're one of the adventurous types who will be trying the sweet potato greens this week (seriously do!  They're so good!), you'll probably want a recipe for them.  This is the one we used, and the sauce was phenomenal!  (We just skipped the sugar it called for, because we found it really didn't need it.)  So enjoy this recipe for Sweet and Savory Sweet Potato Leaves!

Saturday, September 19, 2015

CSA Newsletter for September 19, 2015

Farm Update

The kale is still going strong!
Hello everyone!  The farm feels like we are on the downswing now, as more and more of the fields are emptied of veggies, tilled under, and planted with cover crops.  We are just on the border between summer and fall, where we still have abundant summer veggies, but we’re also getting into our fall favorites.  The tomatoes have really excellent flavors right now, and they’re still pretty abundant, although they are starting to slow down a little.  We’ve also been canning plenty of tomato sauce at home in preparation for the long cold winter ahead.  We just started harvesting the first sweet potatoes today, and yesterday we ate the first of the winter squash.  We’ve had plenty of rain over the last two days after a pretty dry week, which was especially good for the Brussels sprouts, carrots, and lettuce.  In other good news, we passed our final GAP inspection on Monday, and should be certified in the next few weeks!  It’s been a lot of work and a lot of details, but it will allow us to expand into new arenas for selling our produce.  I’ve had a few people ask if we’re still planning on doing the CSA now that we’ll have the capacity to sell to larger markets, and the answer is a resounding yes!  The CSA is our first love and our first priority, and that isn’t going anywhere.  The community aspect of the farm is a huge part of why we do what we do, and makes all of long hours and hard work worth it.



What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:
We'll have plenty of broccoli and cabbages as choices in the
shares this week!




  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Tomatoes or beets
  • Kale or cabbage
  • Lettuce or snap beans
  • Winter squash or Brussels sprouts
  • Broccoli or carrots
  • Fennel, frisee, or shallots

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:

Cherry tomatoes        Cherry tomatoes
Tomatoes                   Beets
Kale                           Cabbage
Lettuce                      Snap beans
Winter squash           Brussels sprouts
Shallot                       Fennel
Carrots                      Broccoli


Veggie Spotlight:  Winter Squash

Delicata squash is one of the main varieties we grow.
The winter squash is actually one of the oldest cultivated vegetables known to mankind, and its domestication can be traced back 8,000 years in the Americas.  Like most early vegetables, these first squash were eaten mostly for their seeds as the flesh was not very palatable.  Over time Native Americans selected varieties that had a more palatable sweet flesh, that more resemble the winter squash we think of today. Even though squash was grown from the area that is now Southern Canada to Chile for millennia, it was not known to the rest of the world until Columbus came to the Americas and brought it back with him to Europe.  Now common throughout the world, most squash is produced in India and China. 

Butternut squash is another variety of which we grow a lot.
On our farm we grow mostly Delicata and Butternut squash, and just a few Acorn squash.  In mid/late April we seed greenhouse flats with our winter squash seed and then let them grow in the greenhouse for a few weeks. After that, we put them outside for anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks to “harden off” the plants, or get them acclimated to outside conditions before planting them in the field.  Then we transplant them into raised black plastic beds and water the plants. We try to plant them just before some rainy weather to help the plants get a better start.  The black plastic also helps the plants grow more quickly early in the season, because it keeps the soil surrounding them warmer.  This year we planted them the last week of May, and then we got a freak freeze on June 2nd, which is extremely unusual (and detrimental!).  After that, we weren’t sure if we would have any squash at all because that is quite a shock to the systems of a delicate new transplant.  The plants never did look very good the entire season, but they pulled through, and we now have some great tasting squash.  The other squash-related mystery of the year is the unexplained lack of pests this year.  Most years, we have a major squash bug infestation that all but decimates the planting.  Hope springs eternal I guess, because we keep putting it in the ground every year despite the fact that we usually don’t get much out of it. However, this year a greatly reduced population of bugs came out, and the insects who did show up seemed to be much weaker than usual.  We’re not entirely sure what happened to them; maybe an insect disease, or maybe some natural predator helped keep them under control.  But either way, we are thankful they have been such wimpy foes this year!  Just yesterday we ate the first delicious butternut squash after curing them in the greenhouse for a few weeks, and we look forward to giving them out in the CSA shares over the next few weeks.  Enjoy!


Recipes

So if you're looking for something to do with your squash this week, check out this recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto!  This creamy comfort food is perfect for the cooler days we're likely to see in the near future!

Or if you're trying to hang on to summer as long as you can, try these Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes for a quick and easy side dish.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

CSA Newsletter for September 12, 2015

Farm Update

Hello everyone!  It's really starting to feel like fall.  The fields are looking emptier as we're tilling old plantings under and preparing to plant our cover crops.  We've seen more disease in the field this last week because of all the rain we've had, but it has slowed down in the last few days.  The weed pressure has also slowed down, which usually happens as temperatures get cooler.   This morning, Fred planted some more romaine lettuce in one of the coldframes after taking out all the cucumber plants that used to occupy that space.  He also recently harvested all of the winter squash from the fields, and it is currently curing in the greenhouse to increase its storage life for the winter.  Ironically enough, we're kind of glad that the cooler weather is slowing the ripening of the tomatoes down.  With as hot as it was, they were all ripening at once; now we are more likely to get a steady ripening, which means tomatoes for a longer period of time.  Fall is definitely in the air, and so begins the subtle shift that will wind down the farming season.


What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:

  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Choice of tomatoes or kale
  • Choice of carrots or potatoes
  • Choice of lettuce or broccoli
  • Choice of beets or cabbage
  • Choice of frisee, basil, or specialty tomato
  • Choice of onion or shallot

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:

Cherry tomatoes        Cherry tomatoes
Slicing tomatoes        Kale
Carrots                       Potatoes
Lettuce                       Broccoli
Cabbage                     Beets
Basil                          Specialty tomato
Onion                         Shallot


Saying Good-bye to Summer Bounties and Hello to Our Favorite Fall Fruits and Vegetables:
A Guest Blog Post by Moushumi Mukherjee




With summer coming to an end so is the harvest of many fruits and vegetables. Though almost all of this summer produce can be grown at other places, and most of them are available in our local supermarkets, they neither retain the flavor nor the nutrient density of the farm fresh produce we get at Monroe Family Organics or other local farms, so my suggestion would be to make use of the fall fruits and vegetables which can also be very delicious and nutrient dense. These are the top ten fruits and vegetables I would vote for their nutrition and taste:

Beets: Best in the fall and bursting with purple or golden hues, one can feel very confident about the nutritional quality of beets. Beets contain compounds that may enhance the blood flow to the brain and decrease the likelihood of dementia.

Sweet Potatoes: Sweet potatoes are the star of fall vegetables. Their dark orange color speaks for their high Vitamin A content and it has a wonderful combination of Vitamin C, Potassium and fiber. They can be eaten baked or grilled, and are a wonderful accompaniment to any meal.

Brussels Sprouts: Brussels sprouts and cabbage are packed with antioxidants and Vitamin C, fiber and other cancer fighting nutrients.  Roasted with a little bit of olive oil and sea salt they are delicious.

Pears: Whether you would like to eat pears by themselves or add them to a dish or salad, they are packed with soluble fiber and help to boost your healthy cholesterol levels.

Acorn Squash: Fall means various members of the quash family.  Most all squashes are rich in Fiber, Potassium and Vitamin A. Acorn squash can be eaten by itself, and as a main dish or side dish it is a fall favorite. 

Pumpkins: Another member of the squash family that is often overlooked for its nutritional value are pumpkins. Pumpkin seeds in particular are a great source of omega 3s that protect heart health. They can be toasted, mixed into salads, and can be a favorite snack adding crunch to any meal.

Carrots: I am sure most of you have tasted the wonderful carrots we have been getting from Monroe Family Organics. They are a wonderful source of beta carotenes and antioxidants and are the perfect snack, side dish, or an addition to any other dish.

Cranberries: The bright purple red color of cranberries speak of their nutritional status. They are readily available as juice or dried, and again can be added to a salad or trail mix and are very well known for their cancer fighting properties.

Moushumi Mukherjee is a registered dietitian with a masters in human nutrition from MSU. She has worked as consultant with hospitals, nursing homes, home care and hospice. She launched her own business in the last couple years and now offers classes, one on one counseling for various nutritional concerns, and writes blogs. If interested in consulting with her call at 732-762-1068 or emailat shoomita@yahoo.com.This is what Moushumi has to say about Monroe Family Organics:
I am a strong believer in food for the soul, and from the farm to the mouth is what I like to call it. In the last few years I have tried various different organic farms and often visit the farmers markets in the Lansing areas. However what makes Monroe Family Organics so special is the family feel to it. Michele works with you so closely and prices are also much more affordable compared to other organic places, leave alone supermarkets. I feel very honored to write a blog for them.

Michele's Note:  Thanks, Moushumi!  Now I am even more excited about all the wonderful fall produce that is right around the corner! :-)

Recipes

Cinnamon, Butter, and Brown Sugar Carrots:  Doesn't the title just sound like fall?  This recipe also has the benefit of being extremely fast and easy to make, so if you're like many of the CSA members I've talked to who are running around at a frantic pace getting back into the school year rhythm, this is a great way to get some delicious carrots on the table quickly!  (And a little bit of brown sugar and butter probably never hurt anyone... everything in moderation!)

Beets and Greens:  One of our favorite fall veggies is beets, and this is one of our favorite ways to prepare them.  A lot of people don't realize that not only can you use the beet greens, they are totally delicious, and I love that this recipe makes use of them!