May 30, 2013
Strawberries or Valencia Oranges: The oranges are at their peak now. Valencia’s stay on the tree for more than a year. The spring sunshine ripens the fruit while next years crop flowers and forms. The strawberries are in a lull due to the windy conditions three and four weeks ago. The flowers did not set enough fruit when it was windy.
Lettuce: Young lettuce cut from a bed with twelve rows in it. We cut and pack this in the field. Keep it cold in the fridge and only take out and wash what you need. I have been told it stays good for over a week. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Broccoli or Romanesco: The cool weather over the last ten days has done wonders for the broccoli and romanesco, they love it. On Saturday they will be toast when temperatures are forecast to reach 99F. Store in the fridge.
Italian Parsley: A wonderful culinary herb. A very long time ago I supplied Safeway’s in England with this herb. We had to barcode the packages and delivery them to their three distribution depots. I am happy not to be doing that now!
Apricots: Not the most beautiful of fruit but that is because they are not sprayed. These dry farmed delicious fruit are grown by Bill Crepps in Winters. Bill is no longer certified organic because of all the paperwork and expense. He has not changed how he farms.
Chard: These plants are new this spring, grown in a greenhouse and transplanted just like the collards Store in a plastic bag in the crisper..
New Potatoes: These are small and we are only putting about a pound in every one’s box. The plants are yielding about 12 oz each so as the yield goes up you will see more in your box. These may be small but they are very special. This is one crop that you can taste that it has been organically grown. Store in a cool dark place.
Tokyo Turnips: I like to eat these salad turnips raw just like radishes. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Wakefield Cabbage: I was very excited to be able to find the seed of these delicious cabbages here. I have grown them in England. The shape is very unusual. Store in the crisper.
Onions: These were sown in late August last year and are now ready to harvest dry. Store in a cool dry place.
Beets: The germination of beets is improving each year. I believe we suffer from the fact that these soils have traditionally grown many crops of beets before. Store in the crisper.
Carrots: A beautiful bunch of carrots from our fields. Normally carrots are grown in very sandy soil to aid germination and shape. Our soil is a loam so it imparts more flavor to the carrot. Please remove the leaves and store the roots in your crisper.
Please return your boxes and strawberry baskets every week. We reuse these and it saves us a great deal of money. Take care unfolding the boxes as the flaps can be damaged easily. All the produce in your box every week is certified organically grown unless otherwise stated… Nigel
May 28, 2013
What a bounty! I just took a random box as we were packing for Wednesdays delivery.
May 22, 2013
5 TB Butter
1/2 Carrot, chopped
1/2 Onion, chopped
8 cups herbs: Cilantro, Chives, Spinach, Sorrel, Lettuce leaves
2 small Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 TB salt plus to taste
4 cups water or more to cover, OR Eatwell Farm Chicken Stock
Lemon Juice
Optional: croutons, chives, herby oil, sour cream, yogurt to garnish
Melt the butter in a big soup pot. Add the carrot and onion and cook until tender . Add the potatoes, water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook at a simmer until the potatoes are completely tender and beginning to fall apart. Add the herbs. Taste the soup and salt until the broth tastes good. Blend in batches until it is as smooth as possible. If the soup seems fibrous, pour it through a fine-mesh sieve. This can be served hot or cold.
Squeeze with lemon juice just before serving and top with little croutons and any other herbs or garnishes.
May 22, 2013
This past weekend, one of our market crew, Amie Bailey, recommended a book, “An Everlasting Meal” by Tamar Adler. Found the ebook version and started reading first thing Sunday morning. She was right, it is fantastic. Not so much a cookbook, however it does have great recipes, but really more of narrative about food, eating and cooking. Many chapters cover ways of saving or recovering from mistakes like over cooking and under cooking, but what I really loved was the way she explained the process of treating food, primarily vegetables by layering use and process to make multiple meals throughout the week. Tamar recommends putting all your vegetables out on the counter and cooking many of them right away. She particularly likes roasting and light boiling. By doing this preparation step before refrigerating you are half way to a multitude of meals. A great example is the Garlicky Leaf, Stem and Core Pesto which I think would taste wonderful on steamed or roasted broccoli crowns and the pesto itself of course uses the core which so often is simply tossed into the compost bucket. It would also taste great on roasted or boiled potatoes!
Garlicky Leaf, Stem and Core Pesto
from ‘An Everlasting Meal’ Tamar Adler
4 to 5 cups stems, leave, and cores of cauliflower, broccoli, kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, cabbage, sliced or diced into 1/2” pieces
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp Salt
Water
Put everything in a pot just big enough to hold it and add water to cover by half. Cook it at below a simmer until anything you prod with a wooden spoon is smashable. Keep just enough water in the pot to make sure the bottom’s not burning, adding a little water as you need it. When everything is soft, puree it quickly in a blender or food processor, or simply smash it with a wooden spoon until you get tired, leaving moments of appealing irregular textures.
This is delicious dolloped on toast with grated Parmesan, or treated as a side dish and served with fish or meat, or, with a cup of Parmesan cheese added, mixed with hot pasta.
May 22, 2013
East Sacramento Host Peter having a great time at last Saturdays strawberry day with his grand daughter.
(Listed from shortest shelf life to longest shelf life)
Strawberries: These will be in your box relentlessly now. Eat right away as we pick them ripe and they will not last long. The store bought stuff has been picked way under ripe so that it can survive the journey to the distribution depot then to the store and wait in back stock until shelf space is available.
Lettuce: Young lettuce cut from a bed with twelve rows in it. We cut and pack this in the field. Keep it cold in the fridge and only take out and wash what you need. I have been told it stays good for over a week. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Italian Parsley: A wonderful culinary herb.
Eureka Lemon: This versatile fruit adds a great touch to winter greens and salads. These are from Bill Crepps at Everything Under The Sun. They have not been washed, brushed or waxed. Bill is not certified organic. He is not good with paperwork or the bureaucracy of organic certification. He farms just the same as before when he was certified organic. Just one lemon this week as Bill is coming to the end of his crop.
Bonus item this week….Broccoli: This crop has come on much faster than Jose or I though so we have a nice medium head for each of our shares this week as a bonus.
Valencias or Apriums: The oranges are nice and sweet for juicing. The apriums are the first stone fruit of the season, eat them quickly.
Red Kale: These plants are new this spring, grown in a greenhouse and transplanted just like the collards Store in a plastic bag in the crisper..
Spinach: Crocodile spinach is back. We love the names of the varieties. Roberto has sown another heat tolerant variety called Donkey, this has germinated well. Store in the crisper in a plastic bag.
New Potatoes: These are small and we are only putting about a pound in every one’s box. The plants are yielding about 12 oz each so as the yield goes up you will see more in your box. These may be small but they are very special. This is one crop that you can taste that it has been organically grown. Store in a cool dark place.
Red Radish: Radish makes a wonderful addition to salads and I like to eat them raw with just a little lemon salt. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Arugula: Fast growing and delicious crops makes a wonderful pesto. Store in the crisper.
Beets or Cabbage: The germination of beets is improving each year. I believe we suffer from the fact that these soils have traditionally grown many crops of beets before. Store in the crisper.
Carrots: These come from Los Pablos at Terra Firma Farm in Winters. We have more of our own bunches of carrots in the coming weeks. Store in the crisper
Please return your boxes and strawberry baskets every week. We reuse these and it saves us a great deal of money. Take care unfolding the boxes as the flaps can be damaged easily. All the produce in your box every week is certified organically grown unless other wise stated as in the case of the lemons today. Have a great rest of the week and will see some of you on the farm this Sunday… Nigel
May 20, 2013
The Organic Consumers Association asked up to pass this on to everyone.
Ask you’re your senators today: Please support Sen. Jeff Merkely’s (D-Ore.) amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act. The rider was slipped, without debate or a vote, into the emergency Continuing Resolution signed into law in March, to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will offer an amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act, which gives Monsanto immunity from federal law. As long as it remains in force, even the federal courts can’t stop Monsanto from planting new genetically modified crops, even if they were illegally approved and could threaten human health or the environment.
The outrage that erupted in response to its passage made the Monsanto Protection Act national news. It was lampooned by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sponsored the Continuing Resolution, offered a public apology. Now, there’s a campaign to force Sen. Blunt to resign and worldwide “March Against Monsanto” protests are scheduled for May 25.
The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the farm bill on Monday, so please take action today. Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act!
May 17, 2013
Helen May gave birth at 4pm this afternoon to her first and out first female calf, May Belle.
May 17, 2013
Strawberries
Apricots or Valencia oranges
Lettuce
Italian Parsley
Radish
New Potatoes
Red kale
Arugula
Spinach
Eureka Lemon
Carrots
Beets or cabbage
May 17, 2013
Last week Nigel and I got a preview of the potatoes. They were so incredibly, amazingly delicious we ate fried potatoes and eggs 3 days in a row. These potatoes are not starchy and don’t need to be rinsed before frying and they fry beautifully! Wash well, chop and fry in a pan with a good oil or bacon fat. Add in chopped carrots when the potatoes about half way cooked. Then closer to finish throw in some chopped onion, garlic and some greens, a little arugula or basil. Add a little Eatwell Farm Rosemary Salt or Smoked Chili Salt or some fresh oregano. Eat with fried eggs if you like or just a simple green salad. I guarantee you will want to eat them 3 days in a row too!
May 16, 2013
This past Sunday we had our first Farm Kitchen Class; “Bacon 101”. Taught by Eatwell Farm member Stephen Pocock while his partner Jill Cohen cooked bacon. They are Damn Fine Bacon, and I have to say the name is the perfect description. Unlike the men in my house I do not consume large quantities of bacon, but I do love to cook with it. Really good bacon adds so much flavor and can be used in a wide variety of dishes. With Damn Fine Bacon the flavor is so terrific and strong it only takes a small amount and cooking with bacon is a great way to get just a little meat in a very satisfying way. With the class we offered a bacon inspired lunch featuring bacon/potato frittata, green salad with a bacon/avocado dressing and bacon/pineapple upside down cake. I think everyone enjoyed it as there were no leftovers! Since we have fresh dug potatoes, a treat you will truly enjoy, this frittata recipe worked out perfectly. If you prefer a vegetarian version leave out the bacon and to give it a little punch of extra flavor substitute the bacon for some of the fresh oregano, and for sautéing use a shot of olive or sunflower oil. Enjoy!
Frittata with Potatoes, Bacon, Chard and Cheddar Serves 6 to 8
1 bunch Chard and/or Collards washed and chopped, using leaves and stems
1# Potatoes, washed well 4 to 5 slices Bacon
1/2 cup sliced Onion 1/4 cup chopped Garlic
1 cup shredded Cheddar 1/4 cup Milk or Half and Half
8 Eggs Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil potatoes until barely done, they should be just turning soft in the middle when you test with a fork. Don’t boil them too fast or they begin to fall apart, keep an eye on them because you don’t want mushy potatoes! Drain, cool, then slice to about 3/4” thickness.
While the potatoes are cooking start the bacon. Fry in a large enough pan to cook up your vege. Again, don’t over cook, and save the bacon fat for the chard/collards. When the bacon is finished, remove from the pan, and when cool enough to handle chop into bits. If you are not using bacon go straight to the next step using vegetable oil and add a little oregano while sautéing the onions and garlic.
To the fry pan add the onions, sautéing until shiny, then add the garlic and chard or collard stems cooking a minute or so, then the leaves and the milk or half and half and cook until everything is well wilted and the liquid is nice and creamy. Turn the off the heat and mix in the bacon bit
In a bowl beat the eggs, salt and pepper to taste (if you have flavorful bacon and sharp cheddar you probably don’t really need to add salt or pepper). I line a 9 x 12” baking dish with parchment paper to make serving and clean up a little easier. Layer the potatoes in the baking dish, then the vegetable/bacon mix, sprinkle on the cheddar cheese, then pour the egg mixture over it all. At this point you can rearrange the vegetable mix to distribute evenly. Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes. I found in my oven that was just a bit too long so test it at 30 minutes to get a sense of how it is going, insert a knife in the center and if it comes out pretty clean you are good to go. You can serve this hot, warm or even cold leftovers. Really lovely with a nice fresh green salad.
