Field Notes Farm CSA Newsletter
Week 3: June 28, 2016
Green Onions – A few more weeks of green onions and then we will switch to spring onions.
Magenta Romaine Lettuce Head – A crisp and flavorful romaine. Chop off the bottom inch, rinse off the leaves in cold water.
Butterhead Lettuce – Delicate leaves that melt in your mouth.
Arugula – Salad green with a little spice. Mix with lettuces to mellow out or make an arugula salad with goat cheese, nuts, berries, and a vinaigrette.
Zucchini – Heavy pest pressure on zucchini this year. We may not have the regular abundance we did last year, so savor the flavor.
Radishes – French Breakfast variety. Great for salads.
Turnips – a mellowed out radish with a satisfying crunchy
Carrots – Sweet and crunchy. These carrots are coming from our hoophouses. You can expect a bunch of carrots in half or more of your boxes.
Sugar Snap Peas – They just keep coming: Munch munch munch.
Green Beans – Last season we were so proud of our green bean timing. The first beans were ready the week after the last peas. No such luck this year! These first beans are out of one of our high tunnels. Big green beans, but good flavor and crunch.
Basil – demands that you use it fresh and soon! Chop and top your stir-fry or burger to add a fresh touch to a dish
Strawberries – These berries were grown by our long-time mentors and friends Steve and Karen Keune on their farm in Seymour WI.
News from Field Notes Farm
Polly is in Copenhagen Denmark this week, so I (Oren) am holding down the fort. The farm is in full bloom and has gone wild after the hot weather and regular rain. We need to catch up on some weeding, but first we need to harvest the amazing amount of produce that we have in the field! Our yields are up substantially this year and harvest days have been long. Our tomatoes are 5 feet tall and climbing, our sugar snap peas have grown to 10 feet tall and are covered in fruit, We’re excited to grow ground cherries on landscape fabric this year for easy harvesting.
In addition to our workshare and farm artists, we have a few other people helping us out this season. Monica Endres has started working for us Tuesday through Friday. Monica has been studying dance for the past 2 years at UW Stevens Point. She plants to WWOOF (worldwide opportunities on organic farms – a work exchange network) in New Zealand starting this October. We very much appreciate her work and willingness to learn. Olav Bjornerud has also joined us for a few days a week. He helped us build hoophouses last spring and we are happy to have his help again.
Our friends Robin and Sarah River help us out once a week again this year in exchange for produce. They are expanding their own gardens and are taking their meat and produce to market in Neenah for the first time this year. Their pastured animals are beautiful and they are only a few steps away from certifying organic. Robin is growing potatoes for us again this year, you will see them a few times across the season.
Forrest Bricco and Madeline Moran have started a small market garden just north of Appleton. This year they are helping at our Appleton farmers market stand and occasionally out on the farm. In exchange we are helping them with seeds, plants, soil work, technical support, encouragement, and they are selling their produce alongside ours at the market.
All together the community of our farm continues to grow, and as always, we enjoy sharing it with you.
Evolution Salad
A flavorful and stupendously simple salad I had at a brunch this spring from my favorite chef, Jamie Oliver.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 to 5 large carrots
4 to 5 turnips
4 to 5 radishes
Sprigs fresh mint
¾ C Green Onion, chopped
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
Handful mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, etc)
Feta or goat cheese
Grate carrots, turnips and radishes into a bowl. Pick the leaves off a few sprigs of fresh mint and finely chop them. Add the green onions to the bowl and toss with the veg together. Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add 6 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil and 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice and mix well. Serve right away, as it is, or let it start evolving…
Put a good handful of mixed seeds into a hot, dry frying pan and toss and toast them for a minute. Once toasted, sprinkle the seeds onto your salad. Either toss these slices into your salad, or lay a few slices on a serving platter and pile the carrot salad on top.
And for the full Monty, crumble over some feta or goat cheese before tucking in.