Field Notes Farm CSA Newsletter
Week 4: July 5, 2016
Dill – Everyone’s favorite pickling spice! The leaves are great freshly chopped to brighten a dip, dressing or sauce.
Kohlrabi – Our favorite variety just happens to be a fantastic purple! This brassica has a nice, juicy crunch with a mild cabbage/apple flavor.
Cucumber – The first of the season!
Salad Turnips – A mellowed out radish with a satisfying crunchy. Slice raw onto a salad, roast or grill
Lettuce Mix – This Gourmet Lettuce mix features different varieties of romaine, lollo, red leaf, and green leaf lettuces.
Green Onions
Magenta Romaine Lettuce Head
Arugula
Zucchini
Radishes
Sugar Snap Peas
Green Beans
News from Field Notes Farm
I (Polly) returned from a trip to visit friends in Denmark to find the vibrant colors of summer had arrived on the farm! All around the farm you can find flowers growing in the edges, nooks, and side spaces of our 2 acres. We have planted these intentionally! (We will admit there are some flowering weeds as well.) The flowers provide an attractive force for pollinating insects – bees, moths, butterflies, etc. and other predatory bugs likely to hunt our bug pests.
Borage is a tall self-seeding annual that flowers early and all season long. This is often the first plant we see bumblebees and honeybees buzzing around in the spring. The flowers of the plant have become a culinary delicacy. They are a bright purple and have a sweet, cucumber like flavor.
Calendula – This edible flower has a tangy flavor and provides medicinal qualities for many topical healing salves. They are a self-seeding annual that comes in a variety of sunny yellows and oranges.
Cosmos – Theses “sensation” flowers provide endless flowers to attract bees, especially leaf-cutting bees.
Nasturtium – Both the bright orange flowers and its leaves are edible. The orange flowers are known to deter Aphids, Squash Bug & Striped Pumpkin Beetles, while yellow flowering varieties attract them. (We have orange ones!)
Poppy -The feathery red flowers are another “sensation” flower providing a landing spot for bees. The bowl of the flower holds copious amounts of pollen for the bugs to take home as well. Unfortunately, the seeds of the variety we have are not for culinary use.
Sunflowers – I can proudly say I have been growing these in my backyard since I was in kindergarten, but we take them to a whole new level. We have at least 7 different varieties of sunflowers growing, most just coming back from a stand last year. Birds love to hang out on the tall top of the stem and snack on the seeds later in the season.
In the heat of summer, it can be nice to have quick ways to dress up your vegetables that do not require any cooking, baking or grilling –here are our favorite ways!
For the dips and dressings, simply combine all ingredients and stir.
Marinated Green Beans
½ pound green beans
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, loosely packed
1 T minced onion
1 small clove garlic, pressed or minced
juice of 1/2 small lemon
1/2 tsp crushed dried rosemary
2 T olive oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
Mix all marinade ingredients together. Cover beans and let sit for at least 1 hour (overnight is best.)
Curry Dip
Great for peas, cucumbers, and radishes.
8 ounces sour cream
¾ C mayonnaise
4-5 tsp. Curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced.
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper or horseradish (optional)
Radish Tzatziki
You can also substitute the classic cucumber for the radish.
¾ C finely grated radish
¼ small red onion, finely grated
¾ C Greek Yogurt
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon lemon zest
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
Good For All Salad Dressing
Use a mason jar or re-sealable container to mix in
3 parts olive oil
2 parts mustard
1 glove garlic crushed.
1 part balsamic vinegar
1 part lemon juice
—–What if we saw things like we had never seen before? As if we knew we would never see them again?—–