Kale Soup

Thanks to Gail Farfel for sending this in.

Kale Soup with Soy and Lime (from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything)


2T Peanut oil
1 c minced onion
2T minced garlic
4 cups broth, preferably warmed (I use beef, but you could use chicken or vegetable)
1T soy sauce
Salt to taste
3c. roughly chopped kale leaves

fresh minced jalapeno chile and lime wedges to serve with hot soup

Saute onion in peanut oil until golden brown. Add garlic and cook 1min, then add broth. Bring to boil, then turn to simmer and add soy sauce. Add salt to taste.

Add Kale to broth and cook until tender (3 to 10 min, your preference). Correct seasoning and enjoy.

Serve with jalapeno and lime wedges

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

Here's a very simple and quick recipe for tomato sauce:

This sauce is best made with very ripe tomatoes. If you wish, you may peel the tomatoes before chopping. Simply cut an "x" in the bottom of each tomato and plunge the tomato into boiling water for 30 seconds and remove. The skins will come off easily.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

3 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (about 2 pounds)

One 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano, or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

2 cups hot water or vegetable stock

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 bay leaf

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, uncovered, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and dried basil and oregano, if using, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the water or stock, wine, and bay leaf, and bring to a boil, stirring to blend.
Reduce heat to low, season with salt and pepper, and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until the desired consistency is reached. If using fresh basil and oregano, stir in at this time. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
If not using immediately, transfer to a container and allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Makes about 4 cups.

Source: InnerSelf

Corn

It is best to consume the corn you get in your share within a couple days of getting it. Make sure you put it in the fridge as soon as possible. 

Some ears might have a worm, just take it out and cut the part off and you're set. That's just a fact of life when growing corn organically. 

More Recipes

Thanks again to Tamara and Katie for sending these in! 

From Tamara:

Pasta with marinated tomatoes and goat cheese

FOR EACH SERVING, add the following ingredients:

-equivalent of one extra-large tomato (sliced extra thin or chopped; or use roasted tomatoes, or a combination of both)
-1-2 cloves garlic, chopped finely or mooshed
-2-3 Tbsp good olive oil (or more if you like to dip bread in the sauce afterward)
-1 tsp capers
-Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn or chiffinade
-2-4 oz dried pasta (I used spirals, but the recipe calls for farfalle, rotelle or penne)
-Salt & pepper
-1/4 of a medium onion chopped
-2-3 oz goat cheese

Put your water on to boil for the pasta, then chop and mix all the ingredients except the cheese.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and spread the cheese on it so it melts (or almost melts).

Quickly add the marinated tomato mixture and toss to serve.

You can also do this with feta cheese, in which case you don’t have to melt it on the pasta; in fact the feta is nice even with cold pasta.

From Katie:

Here's an elegantly simple recipe for French Potato Salad from Julia Child's The Way to Cook. This is perfect for summer meals and potlucks as it is lovely served at room temperature.
 
First you cook the potatoes and then you make the salad. Julia likes to slice the potatoes, and here’s what she says about it “ The easiest way to achieve cooked sliced potatoes is to slice them first before simmering them. You will of course get criticisms from those worthies who say if you don’t cook them whole you’re throwing away the best parts, or you’re losing nutrients and/ you’re wasting this or that, etc., none of which I believe” (Julia Child, 361). I’ll leave it to you to decide—I usually leave the skin on, which I’m sure would horrify her, but—whatever—I do like how easy it is to cook the potatoes this way.
 
You need 1 ½ pounds warm sliced cooked potatoes (instructions follow)
2 Tbs finely minced shallots or scallions
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ cup chicken stock or potato cooking water
1 ½ Tbs wine vinegar 

2-3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
2-3 Tbs light olive oil. (optional)—I like it much better with the olive oil
 
Basically you need to cook the potatoes within ½ hour of peeling and slicing them (if you do this)—and as you do it, you need to put them in cold water. Put them in a pan and cover with cold water and 1 to 1 1/1/2 tsp salt per quart of water. In Julia’s words, “Bring to a simmer, and simmer 2-3 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender—keep testing by eating a slice to be sure. Crunchily undercooked potatoes are dreadful, and overcooked potato slices will disintegrate.” Drain out the cooking water, saving some for the salad and using the rest for soup if you wish. Cover the pan and set aside for 3-5 minutes (but no longer than 5), to allow the slices to firm up. Then uncover the potatoes and plan to season them while warm.
 
Turn the warm potatoes into a bowl and toss gently with 2 Tbs shallots or scallions, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, stock or cooking water, vinegar and parsley. Let steep 10 minutes or so, tossing gently several times. Then correct seasoning, toss with the optional oil, and the potatoes are ready for serving.

Recipes

Thanks to Tamara and Katie for sending these in.

From Katie:

Here's a seasonal pasta recipe that makes use of the beautiful zucchini and tomatoes from this week's harvest. It's from The Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library--Pasta.
"Spaghetti al Pomodoro in Insalata" (Spaghetti with Summer Garden Puree).
  
 10 oz. ripe tomatoes, peeled and halved (I'm too lazy to peel them, so I skip this step, and I think it comes out fine--and anyway there are nutrients in the skin)

 salt
 1 zucchini
 1 1/4 lb spaghetti
 1/2 stalk celery, trimmed and cut crosswise into slices 3/4 inch thick
 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
 freshly ground pepper
 
Sprinkle the tomato halves with a little salt. Place them cut side down in a colander for about 1 hours, to drain off excess juice. (I skip this step for small tomatoes like ours).

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the green skin from the zucchini and set it aside. The zucchini itself can be saved or used in a soup (or zucchini bread/ cake--I've heard that our fellow CSA member AnneMarie makes delectable zucchini cake).
 
Cook the pasta to al dente.
 
Meanwhile in a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, celery, zucchini skins, parsely, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Process until smooth and creamy.
 
Drain the pasta and arrange it on a platter. Pour the sauce over the top and toss well. This dish may be served immediately or at room temperature.
 
Serves 6.

From Tamara:

Provencal Vegetable Gratin 

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for dish
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
5 to 6 medium plum tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
2 medium yellow summer squash, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 7 by 11-inch baking dish with olive oil.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add onions, garlic and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until completely softened and cooked but not browned. Stir in the basil and thyme. Spread on the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Toss the sliced vegetables with the remaining olive oil and salt, and pepper. With the long side of the baking dish facing you, alternate the sliced vegetables in compact upright rows on top of the onion mixture.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the vegetables are softened, about 30 to 35 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Continue baking until cheese begins to brown, about 20 minutes or so. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Mid season update...

We hope you are all enjoying your shares this far. The weather has been good and we haven't had to water the crops yet. We had some really hot and muggy days in July but the weather in August has been perfect.

The pests have only gotten stronger; particularly the woodchuck. Damage has been much more than we had anticipated. Despite the challenge of dealing with crop damage, we are thankfully that we have been able to get decent harvests so far.

Volunteers are needed. Please let us know if you would like to volunteer for a day (or even half a day), it will be much appreciated !

Thanks for your support!

Incredible Kale Recipes

Submitted by CSA members John and Josephine Adams. You will be thanking them after you make the delicious Portuguese Kale Soup!

Portuguese Kale Soup

1 lb kale
1 lb potatoes
1 lb smoked sausage (I used turkey sausage)
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 Tb olive oil
2 Tb butter
2 qt chicken, beef or pork broth
3 lb peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cup kidney beans
salt and freshly ground pepper

Strip the leaves from washed kale, and cut diagonally into wide slices. You should end up with 6-8 cups of lightly packed kale. Wash, peel, and chop potatoes, and keep in cold water. Prick sausage; blanch in boiling water for 5-10 minutes to release fat. Drain; cut into 1/2 inch slices; set aside. In a large saucepan, saute onions, carrots and garlic in oil and butter, cooking until softened, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and broth, and simmer, partially covered for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. Mash the potatoes against the side of the pot (or puree with some of the broth and return to the pot). Stir in tomatoes and kidney beans, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the kale and sausage, cook 5-10 minutes longer, and season to taste. (Serves 6-8).

P.S: I skipped the tomatoes and kidney beans to be kid-friendly, and it tasted fine.


Kale Chips

Wash and remove hard center rib from kale. Place large bunch of kale leaves in a big plastic bag and add 1 Tb olive oil. Shake the bag evenly to distribute a very thin layer of olive oil to both sides of the leaves.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 4 minutes on each side. Sprinkle salt to taste.

Leaves will turn very dark green/brown, but taste great!

Early July Field Report

Peppers, tomatoes and potatoes are all looking strong. The tomatoes have already started to set fruit and so have the peppers.

Tomatoes

The corn is also looking good. The first planting is almost 4 ft high. Hopefully we can keep the deer away from it!

Corn

The deer continue to challenge us. We had hoped they would have stayed on the chard but this past week they moved on to lettuce. That led us to try one more step to deter them, a product made out of mint and rosemary oil that is certified for organic growers. So far so good.

I am finding fawns between the two fences on a regular basis and today I was able to document the incident, which will be forwarded to the proper authorities!

This week's share - July 1 & 3

Lettuce, snap peas, turnips & turnip greens, basil and cilantro.

Couscous with Asparagus, Snow (or Snap) Peas and Radishes (Serves 6)

From Katie Goodland (CSA member):

Here's a recipe that uses three vegetables from this week's harvest (of course you can substitute at will as vegetables come in and out of season). I was wondering what to do with radishes since I really don't like to just snack on them anymore--they are too spicy. I found the following recipe in Vegetarian Times May/June 2007 that makes uses of those hot hot radishes, the snap peas, and parsley.

Couscous with Asparagus, Snow (or Snap) Peas and Radishes (Serves 6)
1/2 lb. asparagus, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/4 lb. snow peas, sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch strips (about 1 cup)
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 2inch strips lemon zest
1 10 oz pakg. couscous
3 radishes (about 1/3 cup)
2 T lemon juice (note T =tablespoon and t= teaspoon)
2T chopped parsley
2 T chopped chives
1 T chopped mint

1. Cook asparagus and snow peas in large pot of boiling salted water 2-3 minutes or until crsip-tender. Drain and rinse under cold water

2. Bring broth and lemon zest to a boil in large pot. Put couscous in bowl, and stir in broth. Cover, and let stand 10 minutes. Discard lemon zest.

3. Fluff couscous with fork, and stir in asparagus, snow peas, radishes, lemon juices, chives, parsely and mint. Season with salt and pepper.

Living among the crops... and weeds!

Probably because it's been so wet during the past couple weeks, this extremely young american toad frog was found hopping around the carrot bed. I (Pedro) later found what could very well be one of his parents hanging around the summer squash:

Jack also found a fawn sleeping right under the fence when he was baiting it. Not to mention the bear that chased us out of the field last week. Ok, that was a joke.

Turnip Recipe from Katie

Hi Everyone,
I would like to echo everything Tamara said. This is my second year as a CSA member. I love discovering vegetables that I would never buy in a grocery store and learning how to cook them. I don't think I'd ever bought turnip in my life, until last year I found myself looking at a whole bag of them from the CSA. I had no idea what to do with them. So, I turned to my trusty meatless Italian cookbook, and found a recipe that is really fabulous (what isn't good with garlic and olive oil?) Since it's turnip season, I want to share it with you.

Katie


Rape Bianche/ White Turnips
from Carnevale Italiano, The Romagnolis’ Meatless Cookbook (p.222)
1 ½ to 2 lbs small white turnips
2 quarts water
3 teaspoons salt
2 garlic cloves
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped turnip greens (optional)

Peel the turnips. Washing and saving the leafy tops (if any, and cut into wedges).
Cook the cut-up turnips in the boiling salted water 10 minutes or until just tender. Drain well.

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a large frying pan until golden and then discard the cloves. Add the drained turnips, the chopped parsley, and abundant pepper. If your turnips come with greens, chop the tops and add to the turnips with the parsley. Sauté over high hear 5 to 10 minutes or until the turnip wedges are lightly browned around the edges. Serve hot. For 6.

My adaptation: I tend to be a lazy and forgetful cook. When I did this off the top of my head the other day, I simply sliced the turnips very thin, and tossed them in the pan with the garlic in the olive oil. When they were starting to brown, I tossed in the chopped up turnip tops. I skipped the boiling water and the parsley, and thought it came out just great. I added this to my salad. It would also be great as a side dish or tossed with small shaped pasta.

Volunteer submission

One of our volunteers, Tamara, shares her experience at the farm:

"Hi! I'm Tamara, and I work on Wednesday mornings at Sun Valley CSA as a volunteer for almost 2 months. I wanted to share with all the members what an enriching experience it has been, not only using my own hands and body to create nutritious food for my family and yours, but also recapturing the lost art of small farming...not to mention wonderful conversation with 2 really interesting dudes!

Each time I visit, I learn something new about farming...

(1) food losses are expected as a part of the process, and they are addressed by over-planting, re-planting, deterring pests, weeding, etc.

(2) obtaining variety for members during the season takes careful planning and knowledge of plant varieties. For example, we have 3 varieties of corn; each one matures at different times. This way we will receive corn shares for a longer period of time than if there was one variety.

(3) every farm has it's own flavor of challenges and blessings. Our farm is challenged with extensive weeds, insects and some deer problems. But the benefits of our field is that it has plenty of moisture because of the location near the river. There is no "perfect" farm, however. Farming is an art of working around (or with) whatever nature hands you.

(4) being a CSA member requires a lifestyle shift, and it is worth it because we are contributing to a higher cause. We have all gotten spoiled by the variety available in grocery stores. We get used to eating our "favorite" foods because they are always available. But people have not always eaten in this luxurious way. They used to "eat off the land," shifting recipes and kitchen activities according to what nature provided them. This is what you will have to do while you are receiving shares of veggies this summer/fall. It might mean helping each other by sharing recipes or food preservation methods. But it is well worth the effort. We are helping to drive society away from the wasteful transport of produce across the world, and short-cut big-agricultural practices like pesticide use and irradiation. Not to mention, we are getting our produce directly off the local land, when it is freshest and full of nutrients.

(5) dirt, bugs, and deformities should be welcome surprises in our weekly baskets—it’s a sign of “organic!” We are used to “perfect” and clean produce, but this is an un-natural expectation developed by big business and unethical farming practices.

(6) farming is HARD WORK for our farmers, for little reward. They are there almost every day, for long days, whether it is raining, sunshine, or scorching heat. And if you do the calculations, you will realize that your share price contributes to our farmers breaking even at best. No profit; probably loss, in fact. This is a labor of love, not money.

Bottom line, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to volunteer on our CSA farm, engage with our farmers, and help to produce this year's crop. I find it peaceful, interesting, and a nice break from "the grind" to get my hands in the dirt and enjoy some stimulating conversation along the way. It's also nice to see for myself that our CSA is "real," and learn what to realistically expect as the season unfolds. I hope you, too, will join us in the effort—even if only once—to obtain some of the wonderful benefits that I’ve found. Plus, it would just be cool to meet you!

Here’s to a bountiful harvest for us all!
-Tamara"

Thanks to Tamara for sending this in!

Parsley Recipe

My favorite parsley recipe is the traditional italian dish, pasta aglio e olio. In my opinion it's a dish that really highlights the parsley and garlic. I've used the same recipe for many years but I've added one step to the cooking process so that it always ends up very good.

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 lb cooked pasta (spaghetti and penne both work great)

Cook the pasta, drain. Drop a tablespoon or two of olive oil on the pasta and stir, this is very important and will prevent the garlic from burning and turning bitter. Heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Saute garlic until you see the smaller bits browning, then turn off the heat immediatly, add parsley and stir quickly to keep garlic from burning. Toss pasta with the mixture and stir. Season with salt and black pepper. I like to lightly sprinkle it with parmesan cheese. Makes 2 servings.

First harvest

With the recent heat wave we had such a growth spurt that the baby has come a bit early. Sun Valley Farm’s first distribution will be June 17th for Tuesday members and June 20th for Friday folk.

*Pickup time will be on from 3PM to 6PM.

Please bring a grocery bag either reusable or plastic to pick up your veggies. It looks like our first harvest, albeit modest, will be lettuce, turnips, radishes, snap peas and parsley.

If you are not familiar where the farm is located, click on "About the Farm" located on the right side of the blog. There is a good map and we are located on Bear Swamp Rd in Mahwah. There will be signs on Bear Swamp Rd. on the days of harvest.

Thanks for your support!

Early June update

We've had a few challenges in the past couple weeks, mostly related to deer damage and bugs. One deer got in a couple weeks ago and mowed down one of our beds. We have been baiting the fence and doing everything we can to discourage deer from coming in. One deer seems to come in once a week but the damage so far has been minimal.

The farm seems to have an extra healthy population of cucumber beetles and flea beetles; both considered "pests". While they may have slowed down some crops, we are on top of it and proceeded to replant as soon as we noticed any damage.

Two crops have been affected. The deer went after the swiss chard, and the cucumber and flea beetles went after the cucumber. Both crops have been replanted and the damage should only delay these two crops.

Everything else is doing quite well. We will make a decision by next Friday (June 13th) on whether the first harvest will be on the 17th or 24th.

Meanwhile, a couple of snapping turtles visited the field today and laid eggs. Enjoy the pictures!

The bugs are out

After a relatively cool May, the soil seems to have warmed up and the bugs are out. The first evidence was when we saw cucumber beetles attacking some seedlings, but thankfully a few days later we also noticed a healthy ladybug population. We are constantly being challenged by nature and realize that we can't control it.

Plant growth seems to be speeding up every week. The weeds grow at a faster pace than everything else, which also means that our workload is increasing dramatically. We're in good spirits and couldn't ask for a better office to work from!

Ladybug

Cucumber beetles

Early Growth and field update...

The plants are starting to grow at a steadier pace now that night time temperatures are getting warmer...

Spinach

Radish

Cabbage & Broccoli

Unfortunately the deer are somehow finding a way to get in the field even with the electric fence. Last week we found out that they munched on some of the peas, but we should be fine because we over-planted peas. We remain concerned as they seemed to have found their way in since yesterday's rain but did not eat anything.

Onions

We managed to get over 1,000 onions in the ground on wednesday; much more than we had anticipated. It was nice to have two CSA members help us, and they certainly made it possible to get all the onions planted in one day.

It looks like we're about to get some much needed rain, which will not only help the plants but will also give us some time to rest as well. There'll be lots of planting next week and we welcome any volunteers who would like to help out and experience farming.

May Farm Update

Plants are finally starting to grow as the soil continues to warm up. Many crops have already been planted: Pea, radish, turnip, beet, carrot, spinach, cilantro, potato, cabbage, broccoli, chard, parsley and lettuce. May will bring us great growing conditions as well as long days of work. The fruit of our labor and your support should start showing up on dinner tables sometime in June.

The bee hives are doing well and more balanced since Jack worked on them. It won't be too long until they start pollinating what will eventually become your food.

Bee Hive Inspection

Jack decided to go for a more thorough hive inspection because one hive looked like it might swarm due to overpopulation. Jack decided to use the strong hive (Juniper) to strengthen a weak hive (Marigold). All went well, I got stung once when I had my gloves off but it's nothing compared to being stung by a yellow jacket.

Cabbage, and lots of it!

Today we transplanted about 450 plants of cabbage to the field. A good day of work even with the hot sun. Let's hope for some rain soon!

Cabbage Transplants

Transplanting

Transplanting

Here they come...

The peas and radishes are starting to emerge from the earth...

Peas

Radishes

Horse Manure Day

The friendly folks at Three Sisters Farm have made available to us an unlimited supply of horse manure. We will be composting the horse manure which in turn will provide the soil with incredible fertility.

Three Sisters Farm (http://www.ponypowernj.com) runs a therapeutic horseback riding program and is located on Ramapo Valley Road. We will be helping them start a three sisters garden in May.

Composted horse manure

Jack unloading the manure

Pedro and Jack unloading the manure

A hungry horse at Three Sisters Farm

Sun Valley farmers after a long day of work

Bee Hives

Jack decided to go for a quick bee hive inspection since it was such a nice day out. A bee ended up inside his shirt sleeve but he was lucky enough to get the bee out without being stung!

Planting day

It was a beautiful day out today and we managed to get a lot of planting done. Beds of beets, carrots, peas, radishes and spinach were planted today. We also prepared a few more beds for tomorrow's planting, turnips. Jack invited two volunteers to the farm this morning and we were glad they came and helped us in the morning.

Jack tills the soil as Jeanine and Pedro level it off with rakes.

Jack and Pedro preparing a bed as the volunteers watch.

Harrowing the field...

The field was harrowed today and tomorrow farmer Jack, Jeanine and Pedro will spend the day planting several rows of vegetables. The bees (as well as the farmers) are enjoying the warmer temperatures.

Farmer Jack harrowing the field.

The bees are certainly ready to start pollinating.

Field Blessing

The Field Blessing took place today at the Sun Valley Farm. It was a unique experience and we feel blessed that so many of you joined us. 

It may have been a cloudy gray day, but the energy from the group was very positive and made it a special gathering. We hope that you came away from it feeling that you experienced something special; we certainly did. 

Here are some pictures (taken by Pedro) of our gathering. You can reply to this post and show us the pictures you took. For a larger view, click on a picture.

The Field.

Farmer Jack smiles for the camera as CSA members walk down to the field.

CSA members looking over the field.

Farmer Jack gets ready to talk about the importance of bees.

The bees were active even though the temperature was only in the 40s

Farmer Jack giving a passionate speech about bees. You can see a bee flying in front of him, just to the right of the EMS logo on his jacket.

CSA members gathered by the greenhouse to hear what farmer Jack had to say.

CSA members heading back to the field.

CSA members formed a circle with farmer Jack, Jeanine and Pedro for the Field Blessing, which was performed by Jeanine's husband, Craig.

Deer enjoying the beautiful land.

Thanks to PD. Schmidt and Steve Fowls who sent in the following pictures:

From right to left: Farmer Jack, Farmer Pedro, Farmer Jeanine and Pastor Craig. (PD. Schmidt)

Farmer Jack giving a tour of the field before the blessing.. (PD. Schmidt)

The Field. (PD. Schmidt)

The compost pile which needs a bit of work.

The Field Blessing Circle. (Steven Fowls)