Tantre Farm CSA Newsletter
WEEK #16
Sept. 6-12, 2015
If needed, please contact Richard Andres & Deb Lentz at 2510 Hayes Rd. Chelsea, MI 48118 e-mail: tantrefarm@hotmail.com phone: 734-475-4323 website: www.tantrefarm.com.
In our newsletter, we try to give you an accurate listing of the produce in your box; however, since the newsletter is published before the harvest, we may sometimes substitute some vegetables for others. The information provided here is also published each week on our website.
We try to keep the printed newsletter to a 2-page maximum, which means that we won’t list all the share items’ descriptions every week, but refer you to previous newsletters for information on items that have already appeared in your shares.
**Also, if you’re having trouble identifying any unfamiliar produce, please look for “Veggie ID” with additional information on our website under CSA INFO or under RECIPES.
THIS WEEK’S SHARE
ARUGULA: an aromatic, bright salad green with a peppery mustard flavor, which is rich in iron and vitamins A and C. See Week 9 for usage and storage information.
BEETS: You will receive Red Ace (round, smooth, deep red roots with sweet flavor and medium-tall, red-veined green leaves). See Week 7 usage and storage information.
CARROTS (Hercules): sweet, orange, cone-shaped roots; good eating quality and stores well. See Week 9 for usage and storage information.
SWEET CORN (Vision): exceptionally tender, super sweet, yellow ears; great for fresh eating and freezing. See Week 14 for usage and storage information.
FRESH HERBS: This week there will be no fresh herbs again, unless you come to the farm and pick your own. Several college students have gone back to school in August, and we just don’t have enough interns to pick the herbs for everyone, while we are transition with new people joining us later in September. Please feel free to come and u-pick and also volunteer any day this week to help us out.
KALE: You will receive Red Russian Kale (the stems are purple, and leaves are deep gray-green, purple-veined, flat, non-curled, and tooth-edged.) See Week 2 for usage and storage information.
LETTUCE: You will receive a head/heads of Green/Red Leaf, Romaine, or Buttercrunch. See Week 2 for usage/storage information.
ONIONS (Cippolline): a traditional Italian onion known for its flat, oval shape and delicately mild, sweet flavor; ranges in size from 1 to 3 inches; used for pickling and to season a wide variety of dishes and especially good grilled on a skewer. See Week 7 for usage and storage information.
SWEET PEPPERS: You will receive Red Knight Bell (big, blocky, thick-walled, green-to-red pepper with sweet flesh) or Carmen (6 inch long, tapered fruit that ripens from green to a deep “carmine” red; sweet taste in salads and when roasted and fully red-ripe) or Glow (bright orange, tapered, thick-walled, fruits are 4-5″ long, and are deliciously sweet and fruity) or Aura (golden yellow, tapered, thick-walled fruits, that are deliciously sweet and fruity). See Week 13 for usage and storage information.
POTATOES, FINGERLING: You will receive Russian Banana Fingerling (an heirloom potato with small, banana-shaped tubers with yellow skin and light yellow flesh; used by chefs for its delicious flavor and smooth “waxy” texture that doesn’t fall apart when cooked; nutritionally rich in vitamin C, fiber, and potassium).
-How to use: good baked, boiled, roasted or in salads
-How to store: Keep unwashed in cool, dark place in paper bag.
RADISHES: You will receive Amethyst (bright purple skin and crisp, mild white flesh). See Week 9 for usage and storage information.
U-PICK RASPBERRIES (only available on the farm): The sweet fall red and golden raspberries are just coming in. 1 pint is available as part of your share this week, if you are able to come out to the farm and pick it yourself. $4 for any extra pints picked.
TOMATOES: You will continue to receive a wide variety of tomatoes, so any of the following: Heirlooms– Brandywine (large, heirloom, beefsteak tomato–often over 1 lb.–with a deep pink skin and smooth red flesh; known as one of the best-tasting tomatoes) or Black Krim (dark brown-red color; tangy, rich, and sweet and when sliced makes beautiful dark slices) Sauce Tomatoes– San Marzano (early, large classic Italian roma tomato; delicious, balanced acidic flavor and meaty flesh makes for good sauce and paste) or Verona (similar to Juliet, but with even tastier, somewhat plumper, deep red “cocktail plum” fruits; good in sauces and in salads). Grape/Cherry Tomatoes–Five Star Grape (oval to oblong, baby red grape tomatoes, which have a chewy texture, sweet taste, and few seeds), Chiquita (deep rose-pink grape tomato with great flavor and pleasant texture), or Sun Gold Cherry (exceptionally sweet, bright tangerine-orange cherry tomato; less acidic than the red cherry tomato, so slightly less bland in flavor; popular as a garnish, in salads, or as a cooked side dish that can be sautéed with herbs). See Week 11 for usage/storage information.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. ENDING SUMMER CSA DATES: The end is drawing near. This is just a reminder that our summer shares are ending in just a few weeks. That means Oct. 7 (Wed.), Oct. 9 (Fri.), and Oct. 10 (Sat.) are the last distribution days for our Summer Shares.
2. TOMATO PRESERVING WORKSHOP this coming Sunday, Sept. 13! Cold weather is moving in this week, and we have tomatoes to can! It’s short notice, but we would like to can tomatoes this coming Sunday, Sept. 13 from 1 to 4 PM. Former Tantre Farm intern, Noelle Dronen, is available to teach us to can, but only this coming Sunday, while we have such an abundant supply. We will also work on dehydrating and freezing tomatoes. There will be plenty of tomatoes in bulk for you to buy, so you will be able to preserve more yourselves. There will be active participation and “take-home” samples for those attending. Plan on bringing a Quart Size Canning Jar. Please REGISTER with your Name, Phone Number, and E-mail Address in the body of an email reply to us. There will be a small $5 fee for materials. This is a great time for canning, freezing, or dehydrating before the cold weather sets in!
3. Still LOTS of Room at the TAPENADE COOKING CLASS for Sept. 16 from 6 to 8 PM: CSA member, Noemi Barabas, will be demonstrating how to use up every last bit of your share. We will be making tapenade spreads for bread, soups, and rice/pasta, so that you can try many ways to use up items that you might not normally think are usable! All of these will be pulled together into a special meal to share together. Please register soon with your NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS, and PHONE NUMBER. $5 fee for materials.
4. FALL WORK PARTY/END-OF SEASON POTLUCK will be Sunday, Sept. 20, between 1-4 P.M. Please bring an hors d’oeuvre, snack, or refreshment for our end-of-season potluck. Members are invited to bring family and friends to help harvest squash, pumpkins, and potatoes before the first frost. You may come just to enjoy the farm and walk around to see the produce and the animals, listen to music, or just eat at the potluck throughout this time. We also will have sit-down activities, such as onion or garlic cleaning or dried herb stripping. Lots of kid-friendly activities, such as wagon rides, feeding animals, and bubbles. All who come will be able to take something home with them, such as a pumpkin or a winter squash. Please dress appropriately for the weather.
5. U-PICK AVAILABLE: Please call ahead if you plan to pick on other days besides Farm Distribution Days (Wed. and Fri.), so we can make sure someone is around to help you. -U-pick Golden/Red Raspberries—1 pint FREE! Extra $4/pint
-U-pick Flowers–You may pick 1 bouquet of up to 15 stems per household for “free” in the u-pick flower garden on the farm. Whenever possible if you can donate $1 or $2 that will help to pay for some seed and labor costs. Extra bouquets will cost $4.
-U-pick Tomatoes—many tomato varieties available
Members–$0.50/lb. Non members–$0.75/lb.
-Already picked tomatoes – available for $1/lb. We will have half bushels at market and at the farm for $25/box.
Non members–$1.25/lb. for perfect tomatoes & $0.75 for 2nds
6. PLASTIC OR PAPER GROCERY BAGS AND YOGURT CONTAINERS (quart size for u-pick flowers) NEEDED, if you would like to donate some to the farm or at markets. We are running low.
7. EXTENDED FALL CSA SHARE COMING FOR 2015: We have been getting requests already for our Extended Fall CSA Share. This share runs for 3 weeks from the week of Oct. 13 through Oct. 31 for $100 celebrating all the bounty of the fall vegetables! There usually is plenty of room, since we still have a lot of vegetables in the fields. We’re trying to finalize the set up for registration, so we will send a separate email when the website is ready. Non-members are welcome, so encourage others to register too. **Chelsea Farmers Market will not have a distribution on Saturdays though for the Fall Shares. The other distribution sites and days are the same.
8. PICK UP TIMES & LOCATIONS REMINDER:
Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market (Wed.)–7 A.M. to 12 P.M.
MOVE Fitness & Wellness Studio (Wed)—8 AM to 12 PM
Farm (Wed.)–10 A.M. to 7 P.M.
Washtenaw Food Hub-UM employees (Wed)–3 PM to 6 PM
Washtenaw Food Hub (Wed.) –6 P.M. to 8 P.M.
Farm (Fri.)–2 P.M. to 7 P.M.
Community High School (Sat.) –7 A.M. to 12 P.M.
Washtenaw Food Hub (Sat.)—9 A.M. to 12 P.M.
Chelsea Farmers’ Market (Sat.)–8 A.M. to 12 P.M.
RECIPES
**Keep in mind a very easy way to find recipe ideas for almost any combination of share box ingredients is to type the items into your preferred “search bar” with the word “recipe” after it, and many recipe ideas will pop up. Have fun searching! Lots and lots of ideas!
BEET-RASPBERRY SOUP (http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/beet_raspberry_soup.html From EatingWell: July/August 1993) 6 servings.
1 pound beets, (6 medium), scrubbed
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots, (2 medium cippolline)
1 cup raspberries
1 cup low-fat milk
2 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Cover beets with cold water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Drain the beets, reserving 1 1/4 cups cooking liquid. Peel the beets. Cut one beet into matchsticks and set aside; cut the remaining beets into chunks.
Place the beet chunks, shallots and raspberries in a blender or food processor and puree, adding the reserved cooking liquid as needed for a smooth consistency. To strain the seeds from the mixture, pour through a fine-meshed sieve set over a large bowl. Stir milk, vinegar, lemon juice and sugar into the bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Garnish each portion with the julienned beets.
SPICY CORN KERNEL “PAN” CAKE (From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, MACSAC) Serves 4.
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 heaping c. fresh corn kernels (cut from 6-8 ears)
2 Tbs. minced fresh basil, cilantro, or parsley
2 Tbs. minced green onion
1-2 Tbs. minced jalapeño or serrano pepper
3 Tbs. cornmeal
3 Tbs. flour
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Garnish: fresh basil, cilantro or parsley
freshly made or bottled salsa
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure oil into a heavy, ovenproof, medium-sized skillet (cast-iron is best) and heat pan in oven for 30 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients except the last two in a bowl, then press evenly into hot pan. (Don’t stir corn in the pan, or the crust won’t form properly.) Bake 25-30 minutes, until edges are brown and crispy. Run a spatula around the outer rim and underneath the corn cake to loosen it from the pan. Wearing hot pads, place a heat-proof serving plate face down over the pan and invert pan so the cake drops onto plate. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with salsa. Gluten free!
ROASTED FINGERLING POTATOES
1 pound fingerlings (washed and not peeled)
2 Tbs. olive oil (or more–just enough to coat it all)
any herbs (such as rosemary, basil, or thyme) to taste
salt and pepper to taste
In large bowl toss potatoes with oil and seasonings. Cut as needed so all our about the same size. Spread in a single layer in a baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes (until tender and golden) in a 425 degree oven. If you are short on time, cut potatoes in thinner slices and bake for shorter amount of time.