Fresh and Value-Added Items:
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Beets Beet and Sweet Potato Fries, Chocolate Beet Muffins
- Onions
- Cabbage, Green Roasted Cabbage with Lime and Sriracha, Sauerkraut in a Mason Jar
- Eggs-1 dozen Phad Thai (substitution tip: use ketchup in place of tamarind juice)
- Raspberry Jam-1/2 pt
Frozen Items:
- Vegetable Stock 1 Qt: water, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, rosemary, sage. bay leaf, salt & pepper. Uses for stock.
- Roasted Tomato Basil Soup/Base 1 Qt: roasted tomatoes, onions, vegetable stock, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme (instead of soup, add 1 can of seasoned tomato paste to this and pour it over cooked pasta of your choice with parmesan cheese and sauteed chicken, optional)
- Roasted Broccoli Soup 1 qt: roasted broccoli, vegetable stock, onions, potatoes, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Add gryure or cheddar cheese before serving. Sour cream or plain greek yogurt can also be added if a creamier texture is desired.
- Zucchini 1 qt: shredded zucchini, thaw and drain excess water. Zucchini and Corn Pancakes
- Raspberries 1 pt (frozen): whole berries, keep frozen until you want to use them. Great in yogurt and smoothies.
- Kale 1 pt (frozen): blanched kale leaves Raspberry & Kale Smoothie
- Roasted Sweet Peppers 1 cup: Add to dishes to deepen flavor such as pasta, salads, dips. Add to pizza toppings, tacos, or create a sandwich spread with them. Purée in a blender with another 1/4 cup (or more) olive oil and salt to make a condiment that’s good for anything from burgers to steamed fish.
- Roasted Eggplant Dip 1 pt: eggplant, peppers, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, chipotle seasoning. Use as dip for crackers, veggies. Works as spread on sandwiches and pizza.
- Grandma’s Frozen Corn 1 pt: sweet corn, water, butter, sugar, salt Veggie Enchiladas with Corn and Black Beans
We’ve entered the intermediary change of seasons where I have switched to mud boots, but we have not officially entered mud season. The kids seem to need their outdoor gear/boots dried at least 3 times a day but it is wonderful to see them play freely outside again. The sunshine and warmer temperatures have brought much cheer and delight to all critters and people on the farm.
The cold nights kept the spinach growth to a minimum since our last CSA delivery where I had planted the idea of fresh spinach soon. I hold out optimism for a picking for our next (and last) winter delivery as we will not have any in this week’s box.
The radish and arugula seeds have germinated in one of our high tunnels bringing with them a heightened sense of joy and renewal of our new growing season. More carrots and salad were planted in another tunnel to get a jump on the spring/summer seasons. It is simply wonderful to be able to work in the dirt and warmth to satisfy this internal call to get one’s hands dirty when nature is still thawing just beyond that sheet of plastic in our hoophouse.
In our grow room, the shelving units with lights are full of little onion, broccoli, leek, and cabbage seedlings waiting to make the journey into the main greenhouse this weekend. Baby tomatoes and peppers have also been started in order to be ready to be planted in the high tunnels where they will provide an earlier harvest in summer.
We’ve also been working with our new sprouted barley (aka fodder) system. We soak 10 pounds of barley seed a day and then spread them onto 2 shelves into our automatic watering system. It takes about 8 days for the seeds to grow several inches of fresh green barley grass and a solid root mass before being harvested for feed for our animals. We estimate 60 pounds of feed coming from the 10 pounds of grain. The sprouted seeds offer greater nutrition, enzymes and minerals in a more digestable form for the chickens and other farm critters. I continue to work out the automation kinks to the system, but am hopeful that this system will provide a healthier, reliable food source while also lowering our feed bill. The proofs in the pudding, so we’ll continue to monitor the fodder system and harvest yields.
Eat Well. Smile Often.
Your Farmer,
Heather