Can you believe it's August? I certainly can't. It feels like there's not enough hours in the day, every day, and so the days fly by and feel like minutes. Luckily we've taken a few trips down to the river swimming hole to remind us to take a moment to enjoy the summer, and Jon and I will take a short vacation this week in PEI, thanks to Lisa's hard work picking up the slack the next 4 days!
Addie is back from camp and always willing to lend a hand!
If these bouquets pique your interest, you can still sign on for a flower share!
Thanks to all of you who filled out the Mid-Season CSA Survey, and a little reminder to those of you who haven't yet gotten the chance! You can still fill it out by clicking here.
Teri and Camelia with a table full of gorgeous garden fare at the Bridgewater Farmer's Market
Please remember to return your bags with each week's delivery- it makes things so much easier for us (see, you pick up your stuff after we've left, so if we don't get your bag from the previous week when we drop off the new delivery, then we're stuck). And thanks to those of you who do!
One last snapshot from the farm and then I'll get to what you're waiting to hear about:
This is a photo of our cute little "chosen family". We had a chicken that went broody (wanted to sit on eggs), so we put a hefty amount under her. She was just a little chicken, and it must have been too much for her, so she enlisted the help of her little white friend. They both sat faithfully on those eggs for 21 days and hatched out an assortment of ducklings and even a chick! Now they share the mothering duties, too.
What's in your basket this week:
Stir-Fry Mix
Back by popular demand, our seasonally-changing stir-fry mix. This week it contains such delights as tatsoi, yukina savoy, pea tendrils and red bok choy. All of these greens can be lightly steamed or stir-fried, even eaten raw or added to a salad. These are the milder of the asian greens, with a nice cabbage flavour and not a lot of intense heat like some of the mustards. The green garlic which has made another appearance in your bag is begging to be friends with your stir-fry mix!
Blueberries
Jon and Addie both sport new haircuts in the blueberry patch!
BLUEBERRIES!!
The overarching conclusion we reached by asking in our survey "what would you like to see more of in your basket?" was fruit and berries. Well, you got 'em! These are unsprayed highbush blueberries from a neighbour's farm, as we don't have enough bushes to supply all members at once. Jon, Lisa, Camelia, Peter, Addie and I went this afternoon and picked these gorgeous, delicious berries from huge bushes: some as old as 60 years! If there's enough demand we may be able to repeat this offering in a future basket, or offer berries for sale via your CSA bag. If you're very happy with them, let me know and we'll see if we can't schedule another picking!
Feel free to throw that little cardboard container back in your bag for us to re-use.
Zucchini
One of the zucchini plants got mixed in with a planting of winter squash, so we ended up with a huge ignored behemoth yellow zucchini, which fed us for more than one meal. I did my "eggplant treatment" on it, which worked out well, here it is:
RECIPE: Fried Zucchini (or eggplant!)
Ingredients:
- 1 medium to large zucchini
- salt
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour (we used buckwheat to make it gluten-free)
- desired seasonings of your choice
Directions:
Cut zucchini into 1/2" planks, salt both sides, and let sit on a plate while you get the rest of the ingredients ready. Beat two eggs in a bowl, and in a separate bowl, mix flour with seasonings (I used salt, pepper, and some dried oregano- you could use almost anything, including cinnamon, garlic, other herbs, etc). Fry zucchini planks in oil (both sides) until tender and cooked. Then dip in egg, followed by dipping in flour mixture, and fry both sides a second time (until flour is cooked). Delicious with a bit of added asiago or other hard, strong cheese.
Beans
Beans, glorious beans! I was just thinking about all the great things I have to say about vegetables, and what would happen if there was something that I really hated that I had to tell you about? Luckily, beans are not it; I have nothing but great things to say about beans. Yum! If you're sick of beans as a side dish, try cooking them and then giving them an ice bath to stop the cooking process (and keep them crispy), then add them to salads (leafy or potato), or even make a cold bean salad. You can eat these raw, too, if it's your thing.
Green Garlic
I love our green garlic. It's so juicy and crisp and delicious. I keep thinking of how good it goes with everything, so we keep putting it in your basket. If nothing else, your house will be vampire-free!
Dill
It's either self-fulfilling prophecy or just great luck that my last name is Dillon, because Dill is-- by far-- my favourite herb. I put it in everything, and when there's beautiful fresh baby dill around, I even chop it up and freeze it so I won't even have to look at that dried stuff in the wintertime.
Fennel
Lots of people are nervous about fennel, and I can't say I blame them. I wasn't too sure about it until I just went for it and started experimenting and adding it to my cooking repertoire. The first way I ever enjoyed it was a simple fennel orange salad, as I've mentioned in an earlier newsletter. Below is a recipe that cooks it, which removes a lot of the licorice taste and makes it a bit more palatable for some. A trick I've found that helps is having a very sharp knife and getting the slices as thin as you possibly can. It's almost like it has so much flavour, like a strong herb, that it needs a little bit of a different approach than a carrot. But it's still delicious!
RECIPE: Sauteed Fennel
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cloves garlic, sliced
1 head fennel, thinly sliced
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
water
Directions: 1 Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat until just smoking.
2 Add the oil, garlic, fennel, and start tossing, to coat fennel in oil.
3 Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4 As the fennel starts to caramelize, add a splash of water to steam for 1 minute.
5 Remove from the heat.
Kohlrabi
You're bound to have a couple of things in your bag that you don't know what they are this week, kohlrabi being one of them! The kohlrabi is the round space-ship-like thing, which will be either purple or green. It's got a great crunch and a mild cabbage flavour, and if nothing else it's something different to impress your friends and family members with! I enjoy it best peeled, cut into sticks and served raw with dip or a sprinkle of your herb sea salt. However, there are a lot of recipes out there, and I encourage you to try something new with it (and let me know how it turns out!). I found a good one that makes use of some other things you have in your basket this week:
RECIPE: Kohlrabi Slaw
1 kohlrabi
1 cup apple
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1 Peel kohlrabi
2 Shred the kohlrabi and apple. You may use a food processor for this. I hand grate using a cheese grater.
3 Mix 1 Tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill in a glass bowl. Whisk in 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
4 Add shredded kohlrabi and apple and toss.
5 Chill for 30 minutes or more.
Goes very well with fish.
P.S. I would try adding some fennel to this one as well!
1 cup apple
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1 Peel kohlrabi
2 Shred the kohlrabi and apple. You may use a food processor for this. I hand grate using a cheese grater.
3 Mix 1 Tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill in a glass bowl. Whisk in 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
4 Add shredded kohlrabi and apple and toss.
5 Chill for 30 minutes or more.
Goes very well with fish.
P.S. I would try adding some fennel to this one as well!
Full-size shares also get:
Potatoes
A staple that you simply cannot (and should not!) live without. I'm craving potato salad this week! In our household, to avoid the various food allergies and intolerances, we make an event of it and have "potato salad bar". We cook and cut up the potatoes, and then all the other ingredients go into separate bowls and it's a create-your-own experience. Some of our favourite ingredients include: home-made mayonnaise (our happy hen eggs are unbeatable for this), eggs, dill, garlic, fennel, apple, green onion, and pickles.
Broccoli
Our broccoli is tender and sweet, and I hope I have been creative enough in telling you how to make use of your kohlrabi and fennel this week that you should be able to figure out a use for this!
I may regret this, so:
Please don't send me emails saying "I didn't get any tomatoes in my bag this week!"
But here's a photo of what's coming soon!
Beautiful heirloom tomatoes!
Can't wait for all the great recipes you'll share this week!
One last note: Jon and I will be away this week, so if you have something super urgent, please contact Camelia (685-3901, camelia@watershedfarm.org). If it's not urgent, you can email and I will reply upon my return. Otherwise, we'll be back Saturday morning at the Bridgewater Farmer's Market, hope to see you there!
--
Teri Dillon
Watershed Farm
768 Allen Frausel Road
Baker Settlement, Nova Scotia
B4V 7H8
c. 902.212.2301 | p. 902.685.3901
WatershedFarm.org
Follow us on Facebook
Check out the new Watershed Farm blog!
Teri Dillon
Watershed Farm
768 Allen Frausel Road
Baker Settlement, Nova Scotia
B4V 7H8
c. 902.212.2301 | p. 902.685.3901
WatershedFarm.org
Follow us on Facebook
Check out the new Watershed Farm blog!
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