Suncrest Gardens Farm

Fresh Items:

1. Carrots 1.5#
2. Red Norland Potatoes 3#
3. Beets 1#
4. Black Radishes 1# (peel black skin to reduce heat)
5. Onions
6. Spinach-3/4#
7. Eggs

Value-Added Items

1. Roasted Vegetable Stock 1 Qt: water, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, thyme, rosemary, bay, salt & pepper
2. Cream of Tomato Soup 1 Qt: tomatoes, vegetable stock, onions, carrots, celery, basil, half and half, olive oil, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper (Reheat until hot but DON’T BOIL.)
3. Spicy Bean Soup 1 Qt: tomatoes, vegetable broth, onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, beans, summer squash/zucchini, garlic, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, basil, oregano, coriander, salt, pepper (use as a ready to eat soup, or as a base)
4. Zucchini 1 Qt: drain off water and used for baking, breads, muffins, chocolate chip cookies
5. Pumpin Puree 1 qt or ~4 cups: use as plain cooked pumpkin for bread, pie, muffins, or even pumpkin granola (remember 1 can of pumpkin = ~ 2 cups)
6. Rhubarb 1 Qt: drain off water and use for baking, pies, muffins, breads, sauces
7. Green Peppers 1 pt (frozen): sliced bell peppers (Use in a stir-fry or add to a pasta dish, spaghetti, or other cooked dish as they will not have the texture of fresh, but add flavor. You can break off as many as you need and store them in the freezer.)
8. Corn Salsa 1 pt: tomato, onions, garlic, cilantro, corn, jalapeno, salt, pepper
9. Strawberry Sauce 1 pt: Suncrest Gardens strawberries, sugar, vanilla extract (Add a little to yogurt, smoothies, pour over pancakes or waffles, or put on ice cream.)

With our current stretch of early spring weather and warm temperatures, everything is coming out of dormancy early. Rhubarb has started to peak out of the ground. Buds are swollen on the fruit trees. And the bluebirds are back in town!

We have disced the asparagus in preparation for an earlier harvest. However, any late frosts will kill the above ground stalks. So I am not overly eager for things to be this ahead of schedule as mother nature will always have the upper hand as we wait for our last frost date to pass. It’s hard not to already feel behind right now, but then I have to look at the calendar and realize that we’re doing fine and we have to cautiously proceed in the outside gardens.

I want to thank all of you CSA members for embarking on this new journey of winter CSA eating. I think it was a success. It was a new spin on the simple fresh abundance that is available during other seasons, and the boxes were filled with a variety of colors and tastes to hopefully make your winter eating a little more interesting. As always, I love your feedback as it helps us only improve what we do at Suncrest Gardens Farm.

Our Spring CSA shares will begin the first WED in May and the Summer CSA shares will begin the first WED in June.

Some have asked about our wood-fired pizzas, and our opening date is the first FRI in May. We plan to be open every FRI May-September and also on THUR June-August for the peak summer, 4:30-9pm both days. We do have a great line-up of live music scheduled and I’ll be posting those updates soon.

Happy Spring!

Your farmer, Heather

Eat Well. Smile Often.

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Raw Items

1. Carrots 1.5#
2. Red Norland Potatoes 3#
3. Black Radishes 1#
4. Onions
5. Spinach
6. Eggs

Frozen/Minimally Processed Items

1. Roasted Vegetable Stock 1 Qt:water, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, w squash, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay, salt & pepper (made Wed AM, so freeze to store or keep in fridge)
2. Minestroni Soup 1 Qt: roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, water, vegetable stock, carrots, zucchini, green beans, beans, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, pepper (Add freshly boiled noodles to this base if you like, with some parmesean cheese. You could also add meat to this if desired. Or turn it into a pasta sauce!)
3. Butternut Apple Soup 1 Qt: roasted butternut squash, onions, water, vegetable stock, apples, apple juice, olive oil, butter, cream cheese, ginger, nutmeg, sage, salt, pepper (some like this with croutons or dried bread crumbs and parmesean, made Wed AM, so freeze to store or use within 3 days in fridge)
4. Roasted Spaghetti Sauce  1 Qt: roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper (I love to add 1 can of tomato paste to deepen the tomato flavor/color and add salt/pepper/garlic to taste. You can also add cooked hamburger or sausage, red wine, fennel seeds, and italian seasoning for a lovely lasagna base.)
5. blueberries 1 pt (frozen): whole blueberries, keep frozen until you want to use them. Picked from Cain’s Orchard in Hixton, Wisconsin.
6. raspberries 1 pt (frozen): whole berries, keep frozen until you want to use them.

The new veggie in the box this week is the black radish. It’s a first timer for myself and a trendy vegetable for those diversifying their local winter diet. The inky skin is a bit strange, but it keeps the root nice and crisp for the long term storing. I personally peeled the skin, and then sliced it thin to see how I liked its flavor. It was pretty good, but I don’t really like raw radishes so I have a hard time relating. However, I do like them cooked and the raw ones grated and tamed down by adding them to a vinagrette or salad. Here’s a radish salad recipe to try, or simply add the slices to a sandwich for some kick.

Korean Radish Salad

3 medium black Spanish radishes
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Red pepper (or less to taste)
2 teaspoons Sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons rice Vinegar
2 tablespoons Minced scallion (or red onion)
l teaspoon minced garlic

Peel radish and cut into match stick pieces about 2 inches long. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 10 minutes. Rinse to remove excess salt and drain well. Wrap radish in several thicknesses of cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. In bowl, combine radish with red pepper, sugar, vinegar, scallion and garlic, mixing well. Serve at once or refrigerate to blend flavors. Serves 8 as side dish.

There is only 1 more delivery left to the winter CSA and it seems like the weather is pushing towards spring. Our days will soon be busier with spring plantings and preparations for the long days ahead.

If you still need to renew your CSA subscription for next season, now is the time to do it. Our spring shares are almost full.  Here’s the link to the sign-up information for the upcoming 2012 CSA seasons. You can customize your membership by picking and choosing which season works for you or receive a discounted rate by becoming a Year-Round CSA member.

Your farmer, Heather

Eat Well. Smile Often.

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Storage Vegetables

1. Carrots 1.5#
2. Red Norland Potatoes 3#
3. Beets 2#
4. Onions
5. Spinach
6. Butternut Squash
7. Eggs: Crepe Recipe with Rhubarb Vanilla Compote 

Frozen/Minimally Processed Items

1. Roasted Vegetable Stock 1 Qt:water, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, w squash, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay, salt & pepper
2. Broccoli Cheese Soup 1 Qt: broccoli, chicken stock, cheddar cheese, onions, cream, butter, flour, garlic, salt, white pepper (DON’T BOIL when reheating!)
3. Roasted Tomato Basil Soup 1 Qt: tomatoes, chicken stock, onion, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, butter, salt, pepper, thyme
4. sweet corn 1 qt (frozen): corn, butter, water, salt, pepper, sugar
5. grated zucchini 1 qt (frozen) Chocolate Zucchini Bread
6. rhubarb 1 pt (frozen): chopped rhubarb Rhubarb-Vanilla Compote
7. raspberries 1 pt (frozen): whole berries, keep frozen until you want to use them  Raspberry Vanilla Smoothie

The sunshine we’ve had with the milder temperatures was a welcome treat this past weekend. The boys were home for a long weekend and we had pretty much thrown the hat in on sledding (but who knows what may still come). So instead of getting drippy wet in the cold puddles outside, the boys helped pick spinach on Sunday and played in the hoophouse. It was 75 degrees and sunny in the hoophouse. We sometimes call it “our little Mexico escape”. It took them only about 4 minutes to slink down to their skivvies and start dancing around in the dirt. For about 2 hours, they got to enjoy a little escape where the dirt was warm, the sun was bright, and the clothing was optional. Their mother refrained from such extremes, but I too enjoyed the warmth and laughter of the afternoon.

We do have the greenhouse put to good use as we’re getting busy starting seeds for the upcoming year. My helper Michele and I planted ~12,000 onion seeds last week and now have the hoophouse peppers and the first round of tomatoes planted. We both have 2 kids so they were able to play together and get REALLY dirty moving around all kinds of dirt, building roads, and eventually making mud. Oh well. I’d rather have my kids dirty and experiencing life than sitting on the sidelines with the hand sanitizer constantly on call.

For those that are saving egg cartons and jars, thank you! We will happily reuse clean egg cartons and glass canning jars so please continue to drop them off at the pick-up sites. Thanks for doing your part to reduce/reuse/recycle!

And if you still need to renew your CSA subscription for next season, now is the time to do it. Here’s the link to the sign-up information for the upcoming 2012 CSA seasons. You can customize your membership by picking and choosing which season works for you or receive a discounted rate by becoming a Year-Round CSA member.

Your farmer, Heather

Eat Well. Smile Often.

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Storage Vegetables

1. Carrots 2#
2. Red Norland Potatoes 3#
3. Beets 2#
4. Garlic
5. Onions
6. Alfalfa Sprouts
7. Butternut Squash
8. Brussel sprouts

Value-Added Items

1. Roasted Vegetable Stock 1 Qt:water, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, w squash, leeks, turnips, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay, salt & pepper
2. Minestroni Soup 1 Qt: roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, water, vegetable stock, carrots, zucchini, green beans, beans, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, pepper (Add freshly boiled noodles to this base if you like, with some parmesean cheese. You could also add meat to this if desired. Or turn it into a pasta sauce!)
3. Butternut Apple Soup 1 Qt: roasted butternut squash, onions, water, vegetable stock, apples, celery, carrots, potatoes, olive oil, butter, cream cheese, curry, ginger, nutmeg, sage, salt, pepper (some like this with croutons or dried bread crumbs and parmesean)
4. Roasted Spaghetti Sauce  1 Qt: roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper (I love to add 1 can of tomato paste to deepen the tomato flavor/color and add salt/pepper/garlic to taste. You can also add cooked hamburger or sausage, red wine, fennel seeds, and italian seasoning for a lovely lasagna base.)
5. kale 1 pt (frozen): stemmed kale, use in any dish calling for a cooked green
6. blueberries 1 pt (frozen): whole blueberries, keep frozen until you want to use them. Picked from Cain’s Orchard in Hixton, Wisconsin.
7. raspberries 1 pt (frozen): whole berries, keep frozen until you want to use them.
8. pickles 1 qt: cucumbers, onions, vinegar, water, salt, sugar, garlic, cayenne pepper, pickling spice
9. Eggs 1 dozen

Our experimental item this week is the alfalfa spouts. I grow these regularly in the winter for ourselves and grew a larger batch to give out to the CSA members for this delivery. I could forsee the temperatures staying low, and thus it makes it difficult to pick spinach when the temperatures are not above freezing in the hoophouse. The sprouts can be eaten on a sandwich or as a simple salad with dressing.

We love to make up tuna sandwiches with chopped up pickles, apples, garlic, celery seed, and salt/pepper mixed with the tuna/mayo combo. Add some sprouts and whala! I also eat sprout salads (yup, just sprouts and dressing) several times a week in the winter as a way to get my crunch and eat something super fresh and full of life. Hopefully next delivery, I’ll have a bag of fresh spinach for everyone again.

The frozen and blanched kale is also substituting fresh greens this week. It could be eaten as a simple warmed side vegetable with vinegar and spices, but I often find it useful to hide it in other creations calling for a cooked green. Lasagna is a great place to sneak it in where it’s disguised by all the other flavors, see recipe links above in spaghetti sauce description. Soups also work well if you like kale in your soup.

The frozen fruit can be used many ways. It livens up vanilla yogurt, adds another dimension to cereal, or takes smoothies to super delicious status. Remember to keep them frozen until you use them. Always check them over for a rogue leaf or stem that may have slipped in.

Eat Well. Smile Often.

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