The end of the season!

Well, the 18 weeks of CSA for 2010 comes to an end with the box you receive today, September 29. It has been an interesting summer, and very unusual because of all the rain and the insect issues that we have had on the farm.

We hope that all of you have enjoyed your produce as much as we have.  We would love to hear feedback from you, and welcome your comments. 

We want to thank all of you for participating in this community activity, and hope that you will continue to buy local and organic.  This could not have been possible without all of the members of the CSA, and all of the help from Temple Israel and Beth El.  

We would especially like to thank Susan Fellman Witkowski and Wendy Goldberg for organizing the CSA with each of the synagogues. Without them, none of this would have come together!  We also want to thank all of the shleppers and the sitters, and the staff at  Beth El and Temple Israel who all made this project possible (and fun). 

We enjoyed meeting everyone who came out to pick up the boxes and hopefully showing you a little of what goes in to putting food on your table. 

New in your box this week are “Tongue of Fire” Italian shell beans.  A shell bean is one which must be removed from the shell before using.   These are an Italian heirloom, in Italian, Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco.

Tongue of Fire

 They are a cranberry-variety originally collected from Tierra del Fuego on the tip of South America. The pods are ivory tan with red streaks and spots as they mature.  The seeds are large and roundish.  They have an excellent flavor and texture and are good fresh, canned, frozen or dried.  You might try sautéing them with a little onion, garlic, and thyme (or other favorite Mediterranean herbs). 

As for the boxes, you finally do not have to return them!  We encourage you to continue to use them for shopping or fruit and vegetable storage.  They are pretty strong, and since they are waxed, they are water resistant. 

We wish you all a happy and healthy year, and hope that you continue to enjoy locally grown food!

Small Wonder, French Breakfast, and Easter Egg

Spaghetti squash and radishes, that is.  With the growing season rapidly drawing to a close it is interesting to note how we are able to replant the tender spring crops like radishes and lettuce (although the cute little head lettuce in your box is courtesy of our friends at Rhizosphere Farm) and at the same time harvest very long season fall crops like winter squash, of which Small Wonder is a variety.

Small Wonder

If you are watching the seasons, note that we have quietly slipped into fall, as the autumnal equinox was yesterday.  And, although the first hard frost (temperatures below 28F) probably will not happen until well into October, the average date for the first dip of the thermometer below 32F is generally in late September or early October.

So, in your box, in addition to more Liberty apples and assorted other goodies, you will find Small Wonder spaghetti squash and either (or both) French Breakfast and Easter Egg radishes.  Thank goodness for the moderating temperatures and shorter days of fall so that we can relive some of the simple pleasures of spring! 

Easter Egg radish (kosher)

The spaghetti squash is delicious simply cut in half and baked, cut side down on greased baking pan until fork tender. Scoop it out of the skin, fluff a bit with some EVOO, salt, and pepper, and you have a lovely side dish.  Or, check out this very simple, but lovely recipe.

French Breakfast

As for the radishes, little needs to be said.  However, I did find this recipe from the Piedmont region of Italy that sounds pretty tasty.  Try it out and blog back what you think!

Bagna Cauda

Ingredients

12 small to medium radishes
sea salt to taste
1/2 cup extra- virgin olive oil
5 or so anchovies
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Instructions

Wash radishes. (1) If some aren’t bite-size, cut them in half, and sprinkle with sea salt. In small saucepot, gently heat the olive oil (on lowest flame) with the anchovies and the crushed garlic, but don’t let the oil begin to bubble. (2) After about five minutes, gently stir the anchovies until they disintegrate into a kind of sludgy paste. Remove pot from stove. (3) Distribute the radishes into several small serving bowls, and drench them with the bagna cauda.   Serve with some crusty French bread.

Liberty Apples!

With the beginning of autumn imminent, (September 21 is the autumnal equinox, half way between the summer solstice, the longest day of the year on June 21, and the winter solstice, the longest night, on December 21) the summer crops are nearly done or giving little produce, the long season crops are being harvested, and we are continuing to put away food for the winter.

One long season crop that we always enjoy and is now ready is the apple. No wonder that apples and honey (also harvested in the fall) are a traditional Rosh Hashana treat for wishing a sweet new year to all.  Well, the apples were not quite ready for an early Rosh Hashana this year, but they are ready now!  

This week you will receive some liberty apples, courtesy of our friend Tom who has an all natural Liberty apple orchard in Council Bluffs.  Liberty is very similar to appearance to McIntosh, but its flavor is a bit more tart and its flesh is crisper.

Liberty Apple

 These apples are great for eating, baking and will store in a very cool environment for a while.  I love them shined up a bit on my shirt and eaten with a resounding crunch!  A friend made some apple crisp last night that was amazing.  I plan to make apple cider vinegar by juicing some, and putting the juice in a mason jar on the counter covered only with a cheesecloth for a couple weeks.  The yeast found naturally in the air will do the work.  Then, I will have yummy homemade vinegar to seal up and store for the winter. (I’m actually eating a Liberty as I write this)

Another new red item in your box this week is the Mountain Rose Potato. 

Mountain Rose Potato

 These little darlings have red skin and red flesh and are also high in antioxidants. Mountain Rose potatoes are moist but not waxy in texture so they are good for roasting, mashing or serving boiled. The flesh of the potato has a light pink blush, both raw and cooked.

Please remember, and mark on your calendar that the next two (indeed the last two) pick ups are on Wednesday.  The dates are September 22 and 29, and the day was changed because the holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah fall on Thursdays in those weeks.

Tomatoes, and lots of ‘em

As you have probably figured out, gentle reader (apologies to Miss Manners), it is tomato season!  You have a lot of them, I have a lot of them (mostly the imperfect ones, for me), so the question arises, what do you do with all of them?  Perhaps you have a favorite pico de gallo recipe, or you like to can tomatoes, or maybe just love caprese salad. 

Well, for me this season means that I have to get out my big roasting pan and make “Tomato Glut Sauce,” a foolproof, easy way to make a vegetarian marinara sauce that freezes well, and can bring a big ray of sunshine to a cold winter day.  I use it wherever I need a red Italian tomato sauce, mostly over pasta or on a pizza.  This is a New York Times Recipe, and is easily adaptable to what ever veggies you need to use up.  On wag even said that this recipe is “as forgiving as your favorite aunt!”

So, here it is:

Preheat oven to 400 F

Put into a large roasting pan:
6 pounds tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrots (optional)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped celery
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
9 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tablespoons each fresh thyme, oregano, basil, parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or less)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Roast for 45 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Allow to cool, process briefly to leave slightly chunky, and freeze in quart ziplock bags in 2- 3 cup portions. Makes 2 quarts (4 pounds).

Also in your box this week you will find Palisade peaches.  These come from Palisade, Colorado, which for some reason grows the best darn peaches this side of Georgia, and some would say even better! 

These are wonderful eaten fresh, just make sure you have a paper towel handy, because they are juicy.  But if you want to try something a little more interesting, why not give peach salsa a try?

Please remember that because of Rosh Hashana falling on Thursday next week, your CSA pick up will be on Tuesday September 2.

As always, we hope you are enjoying the produce!

Seckel and Bartlett Pears!

This week I spent part of Monday with my good friend Ralph who lives on a small farm southwest of town.  It had been too long, and it was good to hang out and talk.  Ralph is a cool guy, scholar, gardener, seed saver, traveler, and excellent companion.  Also, he has fruit trees – apples and pears- that he lets grow naturally with no chemicals added.  Ralph is very generous, so as we talked he and I went to the barn, got a couple of very long ladders and set them up in his pear trees.  I started to pick some of the low hanging fruit, and he reminded me not to – “Those are the “Aunt Rosie” pears! They need to be left on the tree so Aunt Rosie and come out and pick without getting up on a ladder.”  So, I climbed way up to the top of the tree, surveyed the view, took a big whiff of the sweet aroma of the pears and began to pick.  That is the story of the pears.  Thanks Ralph!

seckel pears

Seckel pears are also known as Sugar Pear and Honey Pear, which can give you a little hint of how yummy they are…….. 

There is a lot of lore around the  origin of Seckel pears, not all of it consistent.  They are sometimes called a truly “American” product having been cultivated in the USA since the early 1800s and are believed by many to be the only truly American variety of pear in commercial production.

According to some sources, the first Seckel pear tree was discovered growing near the Delaware River in Pennsylvania around 1800. Some say that Seckels are thought to have originated as a wild seedling near Philadelphia. It is also possible that German immigrants traveling westward through the area dropped fruit or left seeds behind. Another source claims the fruit to be a hybrid of European and Asian varieties.

Seckels are the smallest of the pear varieties. They are olive-green in color and may turn red on one cheek.  Inside they are  white and sweet.

Pears ripen from the inside out, so you can’t judge their ripeness by looking at the skin. To test if a pear is ripe, apply gentle pressure near the stem end. If it gives slightly, it’s  ready to be eaten.

Pears also don’t ripen successfully on the tree. They’re picked when they have reached full size, but before the onset of ripening. If they’re left on the tree to ripen, they become quite mealy and unpleasant in texture.

bartlett pears

If need be, you can store pears in the fridge until a couple of days before you plan to eat them, then place them in a brown paper bag on the counter. The bag will capture the ethylene gas that most ripening fruits give off, which speeds the ripening process. After a couple of days in the bag, the pears should be just right.

Beware: once the pears are ripe, they have a  short shelf life so eat them right away or refrigerate immediately.

Enjoy the pears and all the rest of the goodies in the box.  Thanks for getting all those boxes back to us, by the way……

It must be August if……

in your csa box you find:

sweet corn

basil

many herloom tomatoes

purple viking and nicola (like yukon gold) potatoes

dutch shallots

siberian garlic

red white and yellow onions

zucchini!

cucumbers

watermelon

and pepppers – if you get a long skinny one, taste check it for heat before throwing it in the salad or stir fry, there are some hot ones out there!

Even though your boxes are full to the top, we still have some produce that we are donating to one of our favorite causes, City Sprouts!   they are having their annual fundraising gala this Sunday at Lauritzen Gardens.  Here is a copy of the invitation to the gala (now you are invited);

You are cordially invited to join City Sprouts in celebrating our Gala

Fifteen Years and Growing

Please join us Sunday, August 22, 2010, from 2 pm to 4 pm
at the
Lauritzen Gardens at 10^th & Bancroft Sts.

Tickets at the door are $25.00 each. A table of ten is $200.

Fantastic food by Hap Abram Catering , toe tapping music by the Prairie Gators featuring Steve Kunasek and a scintillating silent auction with irresistible items of art, gardening gadgets, gift certificates and much more. There will be a cash bar.

All to help you help us! Our annual galas provide our financial support to continue growing gardens and building community.

As the oldest continuing community garden in Omaha – we appreciate your wonderful support over the years and need your support to keep growing on growing!

This year we farmed 1.5 acres at our main sites; we hired and trained ten North Omaha at risk high school students, worked with ten other at risk youth on building and maintaining our new Decatur St. site, led the efforts to start a half dozen new community gardens in the North Omaha area, maintained fifty garden beds for families and organizations, and offered gardening and nutrition classes.

For more information or advance tickets contact Norita Matt at 402-214-0534 or email her at Norita.Matt@ci.omaha.ne.us

City Sprouts is a 501(c)(3) public charity; donations are tax deductible as provided by law

From City Sprouts’ website, here are a few words about what they are up to:

“Since 1995, City Sprouts has maintained community and family gardens in our half-acre demonstration plot at 40th and Franklin Streets in the Orchard Hill Neighborhood of North Omaha.

We work with inner-city residents and volunteers from around Omaha to grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs using environmentally responsible and sustainable gardening techniques. We provide a comfortable setting where people of diverse ages and backgrounds can work outside together.

Our mission is to sustain communities through gardening. We help Omaha neighborhoods, civic groups, schools, youth groups, and residents develop lasting, productive green spaces.

Our larger vision is to work with Omahans to build local food systems, improve community health, empower neighborhoods, and strengthen economic viability and sustainability.”

The Blooms will be there, we hope to see you there too!

Last but not least, we are dangerously low on boxes.  this week, we barely had enough to send out the shares . So, please, please, return your empty csa share boxes so that they can be reused!

Pick up next week on Wednesday!

We hope you have been enjoying the mid summer bounty of tomatoes, cukes, squash, potatoes, and onions as much as we have.  Just a short missive this week to remind you that next week the pick up is on Wednesday, August 11, rather than Thursday, as the Blooms are heading out to a family reunion weekend!

The recipe du jour is an old family favorite from Freda Bleicher’s (of blessed memory) kitchen.  With all the fresh garden veggies, this easy salad always signals to me that summer is truly here!

Freda’s Garden Salad

Combine together:

several tomatoes, chopped (1/4 inch or so)

one small to medium onion, minced

a few cucumbers, chopped same as tomatoes

a pepper or two, chopped same as cukes

Make a dressing with:

two TBS extra virgin olive oil

one TBS red or white wine vinegar

one TSP dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

a clove of garlic, pressed

blend well, and dress the veggies.  Let sit for the flavors to combine for an hour or so.  This salad is really yummy the next day!