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Letter from a Farmer,
In just a month we will be celebrating our 25th year as a CSA community with a big party at the farm. We hope you will join us to mark the milestone on Saturday, September 10. (See below to RSVP and volunteer.) If anyone is interested in sharing a skill, a craft, music, arts, kids activities please let us know. We want the event to reflect the amazing group of people who support the farm each season.
Other news from the fields:
While we are in the thick of summer crops we are also thinking about fall. The last of the fall brassica transplants went in last week. We just have a few plantings of head lettuce left to plant in the fields. We are seeding arugula, broccoli rabe, and watermelon radish for fall deliveries, too. The sweet potatoes are vined out over the ridges and baby sweet potatoes are growing under the soil. The fall carrots are germinated and we are keeping them free of weeds. The garlic and onions are drying in the greenhouses. (And a pole barn, the onions didn't all fit in the greenhouses. A bumper crop.)
We mowed down what remained of half of the potato plants on Saturday. The other section of potatoes still has big, leafy plants growing. Because we grow hay and we are surrounded by dairy farms that make hay we have a big problem with an insect called leaf hopper. The leaf hoppers move to potatoes and beans once the hay is cut. This year there was and still is a huge population of leaf hoppers. The leaf hoppers love to eat potato plants. We have a few organic products we can use to impede leaf hoppers so the population doesn't get completely out of control. They are an insect pest we have to learn to manage and live with.
We grow varieties that have some built in resistance to leaf hoppers. The family of Kueka Gold potatoes that includes the variety we are growing this year, Satina, stand up better to leaf hopper. Those plants are still going pretty strong. We will harvest new potatoes from the mowed plants next week. Then we will let the other potatoes rest in the soil for a few weeks so the skin can harden. New potatoes are harvested just after the plants are mowed down before the skin has time to mature. That is why new potatoes have such delicate skins and why we don't wash them before we deliver them.
Our cover crop plan is in place for the fall. Cover crops and green manures are our main tools to build soil health. Soil doesn't like to remain bare so we want to cover the earth with plants that help us keep weeds under control, feed our soil microorganisms, feed livestock, or build nitrogen and organic matter levels. This week we will begin planting oats & peas on fields where we will grow early crops in 2017. We are planting short season clovers in fields that need more nitrogen. We also have quite a few sections planted in cow peas, a summer cover crop that fixes nitrogen and grows during hot, dry weather when most other cover crops won't grow. In September and October, we will plant rye & vetch to provide us with straw for our 2018 season and to bring nitrogen into the soil.
We have a few weeks before the root crop harvest starts to get the farm ready for the big party and to keep the fields free from weeds. We also need to do soil tests to make sure we stay on track for improving the health of our soil. These tests help us plan for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Keeping our eyes on the future while we celebrate our past. Hope to see you all in September! ~Jody
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Summer sky over next week's sweet corn.
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Carmen Sweet Peppers: Long, sweet yellow and red peppers. Store in a dry cool location, not the fridge. Wash them right before you use them. Use just like a bell pepper, cooked and raw. They also freeze very well. Chop them up and freeze them raw to enjoy all winter long.
Tomatillos: Tomatillos come in a papery wrapper. Store in a cool dry place and take the paper wrapper off before you prepare them and wash them well. They are used in salsas and sauces. They have a sour/lemony flavor.
Mariachi Hot Peppers: They are a small pepper in yellow, red, and orange shades. They should be stored in a cool, dry place and washed just before using. They have a mild heat and are good in salsas or used to spice up a cooked dish.
Roasted Eggplant wth Tahini, Pine Nuts, and Lentils
For the Lentils:
2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks (about 1 cup; 170g)
2 small stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 1 cup; 115g)
1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup; 225g)
6 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
12 ounces (340g) brown or de Puy lentils
2 bay leaves
4 cups homemade vegetable stock or water (about 1L) (see note above)
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons (10ml) red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or sherry vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
For the Eggplant:
2 large Italian or small globe eggplants, about 1 pound (450g) each
4 tablespoons (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large sprigs fresh rosemary
To Serve:
2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 cup pine nuts (about 2 1/2 ounces; 70g)
1 recipe Tahini Sauce With Garlic and Lemon
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
For the Lentils: Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 450°F to prepare for roasting eggplant. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add lentils, bay leaves, stock or water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer, cover with the lid partially ajar, and cook until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. (Top up with water if lentils are at any point not fully submerged.) Remove lid, stir in vinegar, and reduce until lentils are moist but not soupy. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and keep warm until ready to serve.
For the Eggplant: While lentils cook, cut each eggplant in half. Score flesh with the tip of a paring knife in a cross-hatch pattern at 1-inch intervals. Transfer to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, cut side up, and brush each eggplant half with 1 tablespoon oil, letting each brushstroke be fully absorbed before brushing with more. Season with salt and pepper. Place a rosemary sprig on top of each one. Transfer to oven and roast until completely tender and well charred, 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and discard rosemary.
To Serve: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and pine nuts in a medium skillet set over medium heat. Cook, tossing nuts frequently, until golden brown and aromatic, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to halt cooking. Stir half of parsley and rosemary into lentils and transfer to a serving platter. Arrange eggplant halves on top. Spread a few tablespoons of tahini sauce over each eggplant half and sprinkle with pine nuts. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and rosemary, drizzle with additional olive oil, and serve.
www.seriouseats.com
Tomatillo Salsa
4 large tomatillos, husked, coarsely chopped
1 serrano chile, seeds removed if desired, chopped
1 avocado, finely chopped
Kosher salt
Pulse tomatillos and chile in a food processor to a coarse purée. Transfer to medium bowl and fold in avocado; season with salt.
www.bonapetit.com
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Big Red thinking about a career change.
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COMING NEXT WEEK: new potatoes, chard, slicing tomatoes, saladette tomatoes, Carmen sweet peppers (red & yellow), head lettuce, salad mix, parsley, cilantro, corn, green beans, and garlic.
FRUIT: blueberries or plums
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FRUIT SHARE NEWS: Almost all of the fruit farmers in New York lost their stone fruit and cherries due to the weird winter and spring temperatures. The apples and pears look good so far so we will have a more diverse share once the apples and pears come in.
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ORDER ROXBURY FARM GRASS FED BEEF: We have plenty of beef available for sale on our online store. Place an order and we will send it to your CSA Site along with your veggie share. Your order will be in a cooler along with your invoice. Support the farm and enjoy completely grass fed beef. Click here to see what we have available.
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Ina Garten's Tapas Peppers
1/2 cup cream sherry
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 to 5 peppers
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
3/4 cup chopped green pitted olives (4 to 6 ounces with pits)
8 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and minced OR more olives for a vegetarian version
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
1 scant teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
2/3 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs from a baguette (crusts removed)
1/3 cup good olive oil
Minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Combine the sherry and raisins in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Drain the excess liquid and set the raisins aside.
Meanwhile, cut each pepper in half through the core and remove the ribs and seeds. Cut each half lengthwise into 3 wedges and arrange them cut-side up in a single layer in two large shallow oven-to-table baking dishes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt.
In a medium bowl, combine the steeped raisins, garlic, olives, anchovies, tomato, saffron, bread crumbs, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread about a tablespoon of the mixture on each pepper wedge.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling is a little crisp on top. Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature
www.thekitchn.com
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