Final share for 2010

Hi all:
Another season comes to an end for the Parker Produce CSA. It was certainly a great season. The weather made up for its niceness for the rest of the summer. We had 30 mile per hour, sustained winds and horizontal rain for the whole morning and into the afternoon. We tried to stay inside as much as possible but eventually had to brave the weather for a few things. Here Brittany is putting the Leeks into the bags after pulling them off the garden this morning. You'll notice this week's leeks are a different variety and they are much, much longer than last week's.
Blue Hubbard Squash is also in this week's share. It's a wonderful squash. If you're one of the folks who claims they don't like Blue Hubbard because it's too watery...I would suggest that perhaps you haven't tried cooking it quite the right way. Hubbards are a baking squash. Here is a a quick link describing the method I would use http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--34114/hubbard-squash.asp. These are from our garden and they came out pretty well this season for the stress of a late weeding. We also put in Buttercup from John for those who said they would like it.

Here is a shot of the leeks by themselves. As I said you will notice how much longer they are than the ones you received last week.

You will also find Red Russian Kale, a bunching green in this instance. We've been holding onto these all season and they turned out very well. Here is a recipe that we like in our house http://www.suite101.com/content/roasted-kale-a25130. Oven roasted Kale is a crispy treat. You'll have to scroll down past all the advertisements, etc. We also don't cut the stems off. They make nice handles for the kale. This is a delicious treat.

Finally, here is a shot of Brittany and I in the driving rain (which you can barely make out in the picture...which is weird since I could barely see Emily through it when she was taking the photo. Here we are using water collected from the barn roof to wash the leeks and carrots. This was the last thing we did before going in, sitting by the fire and getting dry. What a way to end the season.

You'll also find some tomatoes that need explanation. Green! We put a few ripe ones in, all that's left in the garden. Brittany pulled the bulk of the green tomatoes off the garden last week and they've been in the milk house. They will ripen in the warmth of your kitchen in the dark. Not all of them will ripen as some of them weren't mature. However, it's worth the effort to put them in a dark, warm place and check them daily or perhaps a little less frequently. This is a great way to enjoy local, beyond organic tomatoes later than possible in our climate. Here is a link to some interesting recipes for green tomatoes. I am actually going to try the pickles. Should be interesting. http://tipnut.com/green-tomato-recipes/

I hope everyone has enjoyed the season and that we will see you all in the Winter Club and next season! Enjoy and thank you all for participating in our beyond organic, local, real food chain!

The penultimate share...

Hi all:

We have Internet access again so I figured I'd post a quick blog update for this week's share. Many of the items are the same as last week which is good because I didn't have the camera this morning. Luckily, I took photos last week.

Here is a shot of the radishes just after they are harvested. This is how I count in the field. Bunching them in the field and keeping track of the bunches is the only way I've been able to keep track. This is much easier than guessing and having to come back out to the garden from the packing shed if I don't get enough.

Here is a nice shot of the top of the garden. This is just before the radishes were harvested. You can see the new greenhouse in the background. Happily, I've now completed the doors and end wall on the two ends and I'm in the middle of putting up the superstructure inside. It's much more secure now than it was in this photo. In the foreground you can see some of our low-tunnels which we use to cover things until the greenhouse tomatoes die off from frost and I can move the greenhouses over the fall/winter crops. Many of the things that will be available to our Winter Club members will come from this section of the garden which I can easily access in the cold, snowy winter.

Regarding this week's share, I first want to mention the leeks. Since I didn't have access last week, I hope everyone figured out a few things about the leeks. First, leeks are an amazing vegetable. They are a member of the onion family, they are beautiful, store well and hold in the field throughout the winter months if treated properly (i.e. mulched heavily). Most importantly, they are delicious and smell amazing when sliced and cooked. A couple of things you should know about leeks.

The first is the myth that only the white part is edible. I am continually shocked by the types of people who perpetuate this. Eliot Coleman himself mentions this in one of his books. The ENTIRE leek is good! And it all tastes like leek! There, now that's out of the way. The recipe I have for potato leek soup calls for 6 leeks. The recipe is considering only the white part of the leek. I've made the soup before with 2 medium sized leeks and used the entire leek. It's better. The photo above shows where I would cut the leek. The yellowish part above my finger is what I would discard, the rest is perfectly edible and tasty.

Next, due to the way leeks grow, are harvested and cleaned, they retain soil between the leaves. There is no way around this other than washing them thoroughly when you prepare them. As you can see in the above photo, this is one way the leeks collect water and other nutrients.

Here is one way to clean them. In the photo above, my ring finger is pointing at the outer layer which is often not worth keeping as it's mushy or damaged. You can peel it off like a banana peel. In my thumb and forefinger I'm pulling back a section of leek. You can do this and hold it under running water until it is clean. You will have to do this with each layer. A much better method in my opinion is possible if you are preparing an entire leek for something like potato leek soup. Simply cut the leek into medallions or any other cutting style you like. They put the pieces into a colander and rinse them that way, very thoroughly. You may even consider floating the pieces in a sink full of cold water for a while, then rinsing them in the strainer. It's more work than an onion but totally worth it.

You'll also find some winter squash in the share this week. If you are one of the folks who said you would like conventionally grown squash you'll have Buttercup in there (the green one). Everyone also got some Butternut (the yellowish one). The Butternut is actually from our beyond organic gardens. Those ones did alright after all. Brittany pulled them all from the garden this week and when I got there that day I was pleasantly surprised at how much we actually had. It didn't look like that much in the garden.

You'll also find two mixes. One is a small greens mix which contains Endive, Red Lettuce, Baby spinach and baby beet greens. The other is a braising mix containing Red Russian Kale and Mixed Chard.

Also in this week's share is the dwindling tomato crop. Frost is expected on Saturday night so we (and by we I mean Brittany-thank you Brittany) worked this week to pull all good tomatoes off the garden, green or not. They are all in the milk house, hopefully ripening. You will have received some green tomatoes today too probably (not everyone got green ones with their cherry bunches). You can put them in a darkened place, keep an eye on them and eat them as they ripen. Please note that not all green tomatoes will ripen properly. Simply discard the ones that don't.

Also, this week is the last of the zucchini and summer squash. I know some of you haven't enjoyed that part of the share. I am sorry about that but I have to say it's one of my favorite parts as the farmer. There really are few plants that I know of that will produce as much food from one plant as a zucchini plant. There are lots of options for zucchini of all sizes and perhaps this winter I'll have a chance to get some recipes together for them. That will help next year!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Next week is the last week of the CSA season for 2010. Please remember to return all bags and sign-up for the Winter Club.