Weekly Abundance, Vol 21-09

This Week’s Produce

Sugar Pie Pumpkins – Just in time for Halloween.  These little pumpkins are breed for flavor not for size.  If you’d like, you may decorate it for Halloween.  The best option is to draw a scary face on your pumpkin with a felt tip pen.  If you’d prefer to carve it, you may.  Just carve it immediately before setting it out for Trick-Or-Treaters.  Bring it in and put it in the refrigerator as soon as the festivities are over.  Cook it the next morning.  Better yet, cook it and serve warm Pumpkin soup just before the little Trick-Or-Treater’s head out in to the cold.

Lucinato Kale – Lacinato, black, or Dino kale is very dark green, with remarkably firm, deeply ridged leaves. This kale takes a bit longer to cook than other greens; the upside of which is that the leaves hold their shape even under long cooking times, making it a great addition to soups and stews.  This kale is being harvested fairly young, and the cool weather makes it much sweeter than summer harvested Kale would be.  It combines well with chard and beet greens.  Because the kale takes a little longer to cook, put it in the sauté pan first.

Silverado Chard – I just found this great recipe for Chard with Gnocchi.  I love gnocchi so I can’t wait to try it. http://localfoods.about.com/od/fall/r/ChardGnocchi.htm

Rose Finn Apple Fingerling potatoes – Rose-blushed beige skin and deep yellow flesh, occasional airplanes or second growth distinguish this very fine fingerling.  This potato’s exquisite flavor and cooking qualities set it apart.  Try them roasted.  They are delicious to eat and lovely to look at.

German Butterball Potatoes – These potatoes are similar to the famous Yukon Golds.  They make terrific French Fries.  If you’d rather forgo all that fat, try home made baked Potato chips.  Thinly slice the potatoes  into a bowl.  Drizzle with good quality olive oil.  Add a pinch of sea salt and paprika to taste.  Mix to coat.  Lay the potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Bake them in a hot oven, about 400⁰, checking them frequently to be sure they do not burn.

Jimmy Nordello Sweet Peppers – This is my first season growing these peppers and they quickly became my favorite.  It is difficult to get Bell type peppers to ripen in the Pacific Northwest unless you grow them in a green house type structure.  Not true these peppers.  They ripen up nicely to a beautiful red and are sweet and delicious.  My family particularly enjoys them sautéed with onions and Italian Sausage and served over baked polenta.  To learn about the history of Jimmy Nordello’s, visit http://www.iowasource.com/food/cooks_0807.html

Brandywine Tomatoes - These tomatoes were harvested when they were just beginning to turn colors with the intent that they be used as green tomatoes.  Think Fried Green Tomatoes or Green Tomato Pie.  (See recipe below).  They have continued to ripen since being picked.  Though you may use them like a red tomato, they will not have as much flavor as those harvested at the peak of the season.

Hot Peppers – Alma Paprika, Hungarian Wax, and Aci Sivri Turkish. For those of you that like a bit of heat in you cooking, these peppers are just for you.  The Hungarian Peppers are easy to stuff and to peel after roasting.  Aci Sivri is suitable for Middle Eastern dishes.  Or dry and grind them to make your own Paprika seasoning.  Try them in Hungarian Paprikash with Dumplings.  This recipe also uses our terrific free range, pastured poultry.  http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1839,157162-232204,00.html

Bell Type Sweet Peppers – These thick fleshed yellow peppers are great raw in salads or cooked.  Perhaps a Sweet Pepper Tart with goat cheese.  Follow the package directions to prepare a Puff Pastry Crust.  Sautee onions, garlic, Jimmy Nordello Sweet Peppers and the Bell Peppers until soft.  Spoon over the pre-baked Puff Pastry.  Top with crumbled goat cheese.  Bake in a 375⁰until the cheese begins to turn golden.

California Early White Garlic – This garlic has a semi-rich flavor without the bite of hot garlics.  It combines well with most foods.

Frontier Onions ­– Use these storage onions in any recipe that calls for yellow onions.

Farm Life

Fall is definitely here.  It has rained several times now.  The cover crop is beginning to grow as are the winter weeds.  It is time to plant overwintering onions and garlic.

Speaking of which, the Garlic Planting Party scheduled for November 1 has been canceled.  When I developed the schedule in the fall of 2008, my grandson had yet  to be born.  He arrived on October 31, Halloween   So, I will be in Bellingham, WA celebrating his first birthday this weekend.  The garlic and onions will be planted when I return.

I am now routinely working in cold, wet weather.  Every day, I am grateful for the Muck brand mud boots I received for Christmas two years ago.  They are large enough to accommodate a thick pair of wool socks comfortable and are very durable.  Someday, I’ll have to post a picture here of me in my boots and my bright blue rain gear.

Featured Veggie of the Week

Our featured veggie this week is green tomatoes.  The term green tomato is a bit of a misnomer.  It’s not just any green tomato.  This is an un-ripe tomato, not a variety that has been bread to be green when mature.  But, it can’t just be any un-ripe tomato.  If it is too small or too “un-ripe” it will be too caustic to eat.   In the fall of 2008, The Oregonian ran a great article on choosing and using Green tomatoes.  You can find it at http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2008/09/we_love_green_tomatoes.html

Those of you that attended our first picnic event at the farm got to sample our neighbor Laura’s Green Tomato Pie recipe.  It was so popular she has given it to us.

Green Tomato Pie

1 Tbls Mild Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

2 Tbls Butter

¼ tsp Cinnamon

2 Tbls Flour

1 ¼ cups Sugar

¼ tsp Ginger OR 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

3 cups Green Tomato’s, diced

1 Unbaked, packaged pie crust

Pre-heat oven to 350⁰.   Mix flour and sugar.  Sprinkle one quarter of mixture on pie crust.  Cover with Green Tomatoes and sprinkle with salt.  Cover with sugar and add either Ginger or Pumpkin Pie spice.  Dot with butter.  Sprinkle vinegar over the pie filling.  Put remaining flour/sugar mixture over the top of the filling. Cover with top crust.  Bake for approximately 50 minutes.  Test with a toothpick inserted in the middle.

Weekly Abundance, Vol 19-09

This Week’s Harvest

Dumpling Winter Squash

Tomatoes – Yellow Taxis, heirloom Brandywines and Silvery Fir Tree

Peppers – Classic Green Bell Peppers and ripe, red Jimmy Nordello’s

Cucumbers – Marketmore green slicing, light green Armenians, and yellow Lemon Cucumbers

Broccoli

Beets

Silverado Chard

Parsley

Lettuce – Cosmo Savoy romaine lettuce.

Upcoming Events

Those of you that have perused the Calendar of Events know that I had planned a Garlic Planting Party on November 1.  I am cancelling this event in order to attend my grandson’s first birthday party in Bellingham, WA.  Not to worry, I will still plant the garlic.  It will just happen on a different day.

Farm Life

As you might imagine, I monitor the weather closely this time of year.  I am particularly watching for a forecast of a hard frost.  Many of our greens are fine in a light frost but must be covered with floating row cover before a freeze.

The plants aren’t the only thing that benefit from the row cover.  It also provides a toasty warm area for snails and slugs.  So, I try to wait as long as I can before covering the greens.  Otherwise, we will lose the plants to the snails instead of the frost.

If you would like to know the current weather at your farm, visit the Weather Underground web site at http://www.wunderground.com/US/OR/Laurel.html.  This “Laurel, OR” weather station is within a mile of the farm so reports pretty accurate conditions.

The forecast this week calls for rain and relatively warm temperatures.  This could mean that the tomatoes continue producing, or, it could mean that they all split and rot.  Before weeks end, I will pick all of the immature Brandywines to be sure we don’t lose them.

Under the proper conditions, the Brandywines will keep for several weeks, allowing me to continue to offer them to you as green tomatoes.  If you have any large shallow boxes to store them in, I could certainly use them.  There are hundreds of pounds of tomatoes in the field.  Boxes about the size of an Under Bed Storage Container would work well.   They do not need lids.  Think Fried Green Tomatoes…  Green Tomato Pie…  Green Tomato Chutney….  Yummm.

Plymouth Barred Rock Laying Hen

As mentioned last week, Artisan Organics has laying hens for sale for only $15 each.  These girls should continue to lay large, brown eggs through the winter.  If you are interested, please let me know via e-mail farmer@ArtisanOrganics.net.

It is time to sign up for the 2010 CSA Season.  Forms are available at the Farm Stand and at CSA pick up sites.  Current CSA shareholders will receive first priority until December 1, 2009.  After that, Registration will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

Veggie of the Week

Sweet Dumpling Squash

This week we have first of the season Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash.  This small, mildly sweet-tasting squash resembles a miniature pumpkin with its top pushed in. Weighing only about 7 ounces, it has sweet and tender orange flesh and is a great size for stuffing and baking as individual servings.  Sweet dumplings are tiny but great for roasting and presenting whole.  This recipe for Savory Stuffed Sweet Dumplings uses both the squash and our tomatoes.

http://www.foodreference.com/html/savorystuffedsweetd.html

I might find that an ice cream scoop makes it easier to remove the pulp and seeds.

Weekly Abundance, Vol 18-09

This Week’s Harvest

October 7 harvest

Romaine Lettuce

Fennel

Rainbow Chard

Tomatoes – Yellow Taxis and heirloom Silvery Fir Tree.  The Taxis were picked for us by Travis and friend, a CSA shareholder at the North Portland pick up site.  He and a friend came to pick cucumbers and tomatoes for canning and picked the Taxis for us while they were at it.  Thanks Travis!

Lemon Cucumbers

Broccoli

Beets

Delicata Squash

Upcoming Events

For the last several weeks, I have been allowing much of the Basil to go to flower so that the bees will have an ample supply of pollen to build their honey stores for the winter.  The remaining basil is beginning to show the effects of the chilly nights.  But, there is still plenty left.  If you would like to make and freeze a big batch of pesto before the deep winter chill sets in, you are welcome to come out to the farm Sunday afternoon and harvest yourself an armful.

The basil is free for CSA shareholders.  All others will pay a nominal fee.  Please let me know when you might be coming so that I don’t leave the farm for the hardware store just before you arrive.

Saturday from 10:00 until 3:30 is the Open Barn at North Valley Farm in Yamhill.  This is a great opportunity to learn about grass fed lamb and beef.  And… there will be other fun stuff.  I will be there talking about CSA’s and the 2010 waiting list.  There will be an Olive Oil tasting and some great fiber crafts too.  And, if you’d like to make a day of it, the Yamhill County Art Harvest Tour will be happening the same day.

North Valley Farm is located just three miles west of the town of Yamhill at 12775 NW Oak Ridge Rd.  You do not need to make reservations to attend.  If you’d like more information about the Art Tour, please visit www.artharveststudiotour.org.

Farm Life

We have had several light frosts this week.  As mentioned above, it is showing in the basil, and also in the cucumbers.  The leaves of the cucumber plants are dying back.  There are still some flowers and small fruit though so it is possible we may have cucumbers for another week or two, depending on the weather.

As the summer crops wind down, we are going to experience a lull before the cool season crops come in.  This means there will be fewer items to harvest.  It doesn’t help that the chickens love to eat anything in the brassica family, the plant family that performs  best in cool weather.

Plymoth Barred Rock Laying Hen

The chickens have eaten a whole row of kale down to the ground and made major inroads into the cabbage.  Since we are not selling as many eggs as I had hoped, we don’t need so many chickens any way.  So…. if you’ve ever thought about having back yard chickens, now is a good time.  The chickens are on sale for only $15 each.  These girls are proven layers and have had a healthy diet free of genetically modified organisms since their very first meal.  Backyard chickens are legal in many parts of the Portland Metro Area and these hens are young enough that they should continue laying through out the winter.  If you are interested, please let me know and I will reserve you a couple.  (Sorry, for food safety reasons, I can not bring live birds to the Portland CSA pick up sites.  We don’t want chicken poop on our fresh veggies!)

Several times each year, our harvest provides living proof that we use no synthetic pesticides on our farm.  Earlier this year, you saw that in the “Holey Pac Choi”.  This week we see it in aphids in the broccoli.

If you look at the broccoli closely, you will see three different things.  The first and most abundant are the brown to gray tiny aphids.  Next are the slightly bigger green thrips that eat the aphids.  Lastly, you might see some mummified bodies of aphids left after the thrips enjoyed their meal.

The presence of the thrips on the  broccoli is a good sign.  So is the lack of ants.  (Ants and aphids have a symbiotic relationship.  The ants nurse the aphids in exchange for their sweet excrement.)  It indicates that the natural balance is tipping in our favor.  Hopefully, we will have a good hard rain to wash all the aphids off the plants.  Meanwhile we will hasten things along by pulling all of the broccoli plants that have already gone to seed or are not healthy.  The aphids  attack the weakest plants first.  If we pull those and discard them, we eliminate much of the aphid breeding grounds.

Finally, please note that sign up’s for our 2010 CSA begin soon.  Our existing shareholders will be given  first priority.  Any openings still remaining after December 1 will be made available to those on our waiting list.  If you are not a current shareholder and are not on the waiting list, please send an e-mail to farmer@artisanOrganics.net and I will gladly add you.