Community Supported Agriculture Newsletter
327 Route 21C
No.
6
Dear CSA members:
During the long days of summer, I like to walk the
vegetable fields in the evening to think about the coming day’s work and to
breathe in the quiet and cooler air that is special to the setting sun. Sometimes I just tick off the list in my head
of what needs to be done, sometimes I reorganize the priorities, sometimes I
notice something I had been too busy to notice in the bustle of the day, and
sometimes I think I am plain crazy to be out in the fields and not home in my
bed sleeping.
Yesterday evening
I was struck again by what a beautiful place this farm is. The hills and the landscape have not only
grown on me during the last eight years I have been here, but I think perhaps
the landscape has grown within me as well.
The contours of the hills against the sky, the patterns of the clouds,
the positions of the old trees, the hedgerows and the fence-lines could almost
be part of my own bloodstream.
Perhaps at that
time of the evening I was getting too tired to think well, but there is
something vitally interesting and engaging for me about really getting to know
a landscape, breathing it in at the end of a long day and having that breath be
revitalizing. And eight years of
walking, plowing, sowing, harvesting, irrigating, driving pick-up trucks and
tractors, fixing fence-lines, herding cows and heifers, opening and closing
gates, all become part of my own being, even as I recognize this farmland as
itself a living, breathing, individual farm.
As farmers,
or tenders to this landscape, we are doing things all day long that are in
service to the farmscape. There are
particular impressions we might have of the farm, formed from doing and
evaluating and working with something so living and varied as our farm is, day
in and day out, but never from being able to converse with the farm in
words.
A farmer may need
to be open to some other languages, or use some fine tuned sensibilities, to be
patient enough to listen to what the farm is saying, and then to formulate a
balancing response in the form of agricultural practice. It is perhaps this call and response, this
hardly perceptible rhythm forming between the farm and myself that I am only
vaguely able to discern, that makes me think that I could sense the farm’s
landscape in my bloodstream.
Katy
Looking Forward to
Next Week
Anticipated for July 21st
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Basil
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Broccoli (for some)
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Cucumbers
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Lettuce
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Mini onions
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Rainbow chard
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String beans
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Summer squash &/or Zucchini
Patience is a
Virtue…
Especially if you
have signed up for a FRUIT SHARE.
Fruit arrives as it
ripens, so there may be some weeks without any fruit at all, and other weeks
where there seems to be an abundance.
Despite local rumor,
pestering the site manager does not hasten the ripening process.
Tips for Preparing Beets
First, cut off the
edible leafy tops within an inch of the beets.
The tender young leaves can be used raw in salads. The larger leaves are best sautéed or
substituted in recipes that call for Chard.
Next, scrub the
beets well. To use the beets raw, peel and grate to add to salads. To
cook beets, peel, dice, and sauté in a little oil.
Whole, unpeeled
beets can be boiled in salted water or steamed until tender. To
bring out a more intense, earthy flavor, put scrubbed, unpeeled beets in a
pan with about a ½” of water. Cover the
pan with foil or a tight fitting lid and roast the beets in the oven at 3750
until tender, about 40 minutes to an hour, depending upon the size and number
of beets.
However you cook whole
beets, once they are done and have cooled slightly, slip off the skins. Your beets are now ready to eat!
Beet Salad with Orange, Feta and Walnuts
3
tablespoons walnut or salad oil
1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
2 tablespoons orange juice
1
tablespoon white vinegar
3
medium beets, cooked, peeled and
sliced (about 3/4 pound)
2
Tbsp. broken walnuts, toasted
3 Tbsp. crumbled feta cheese
Ground pepper, to taste
Mixed
Salad Greens
In a screw-top jar
combine oil, orange peel, orange juice, and vinegar. Cover and shake well. In a medium mixing bowl gently toss the beet
slices with the dressing. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. To serve, let mixture come to room
temperature. Gently stir nuts into beets. Sprinkle with feta cheese and season
with pepper. Spoon over mixed greens. Adapted
from Cooking Light,
Classic Pesto
There are
probably as many ways to make pesto as there are chefs! This version contains less oil and nuts than
traditional pesto and freezes well.
2
Tablespoons coarsely
chopped walnuts or pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups basil leaves (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
Drop nuts and garlic through food chute with food processor on; process until
minced. Add oil; pulse 3 times. Add basil, cheese, and salt; process until
finely minced, scraping sides of bowl once.
Yield: 3/4 cup (from Cooking
Light, September 2002)
Spaghetti with
Zucchini and Garlic
Garlic lovers can stir some pesto into this quick and
easy recipe…
2 small to medium
zucchini
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti, cooked 1/2 cup grated cheese, either Parmigiano or Romano
Pile up 2 or 3
layers of paper towels on a work surface.
Working on the paper
towels, shred zucchinis using a box grater holding the zucchini at an angle.
Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add
extra-virgin olive oil to the pan Add chopped garlic to the oil. When garlic
speaks by sizzling in oil, add shredded zucchini.
Season zucchini with salt and pepper. Sauté
shredded zucchini 7 to 10 minutes.
Add hot, drained pasta to the pan. Toss
spaghetti with zucchini and garlic oil.
Add a couple of handfuls of grated cheese to
the pan. Adjust seasoning and serve.
from Rachel Ray for the Food Network, www.foodnetwork.com
.