Tantre Farm CSA Newsletter
WEEK #20
Oct 9-15, 2016
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 often before the harvest, we may sometimes substitute some vegetables for others.
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.
THIS WEEK’S SHARE
ARUGULA: an aromatic, bright green, salad green with a peppery mustard flavor; rich in iron and vitamins A and C. See Week 1 newsletter for usage and storage information.
BROCCOLI: emerald green, tiny buds that are clustered on top of stout, edible stems. See Week 5 for usage and storage information.
CARROTS (Mokum): a very sweet, slender, “pencil carrot” with edible green leaves. Greens are delicious in soups and also salads. See Week 5 for usage and storage information.
EGGPLANT: You will receive Nadia (slender, purplish-black, glossy-like, bell-shaped fruit) or Orient Express (dark purple Asian type with long, slender, glossy fruits, which are delicately flavored and quick cooking). See Week 8 newsletter for usage and storage information.
U-PICK FLOWERS (only available on the farm): A bouquet per household of up to 15 stems will be part of your share, if you are able to come and pick it. Extra bouquets cost $4.
FRESH HERBS: In general, store herbs upright with cut stems in 1 or 2 inches of water and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or wrap in slightly dampened cloth and store in refrigerator.
You may CHOOSE ONE bunch (NOT one bunch of each) from the following 5 options:
–French Sorrel–slightly tart, lemon-flavored green; excellent for salads, soups, and sauces; can be used in omelets.
–Rosemary—pine needle-like leaves used with potatoes, bread doughs, risottos, mixed vegetables, and meat dishes, as well as in sweet dishes such as lemonade, creams, custards, and syrups.
–Marjoram–a small and oval-shaped leaf, which is light green with a greyish tint. When fresh it is spicy, bitter, and slightly pungent with camphorlike notes, so often added to fish sauces, salad dressings, tomato-based sauces; goes well with vegetables including cabbages, potatoes, eggplant, and beans.
–Italian Flat-leaf Parsley—flat, glossy, dark green leaves have a strong parsley/celery flavor; especially good in omelets, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, soups, pasta and vegetable dishes, as well as, sauces.
–Black-stemmed Peppermint–superior fragrance and flavor; forest green leaves with deep purple veins and stems; leaves are good as a hot or iced tea, and adds a delicious flavor when minced and added to cooked peas, carrots, potatoes, and salads.
KALE: You will receive Green Curly (well ruffled green leaves; great for kale chips, in a salad, roasted, and in soups). See Week 1 newsletter for usage and storage information.
ONIONS: You will receive Copra (medium-sized, dark yellow-skinned storage onions; excellent storage onion staying firm and flavorful after most other varieties have sprouted) and Red Zeppelin (medium to large, globe-shaped bulbs with deep red color and will store for six months or more under proper conditions). See Week 8 newsletter for usage and storage information.
HOT PEPPERS: Everyone will receive Jalapeño (small and conical pepper, ranging from green to red; hot chile pepper used commonly in Mexican or southwestern cooking), Padron (heirloom pepper famous in Spain; smaller peppers are milder, but the larger the pepper, the more it grows in heat; they say 1 in 6 are hot, so it’s a surprise; serve sautéed in olive oil with a little sea salt, or chop into many other dishes), and one of the following: Joe’s Long Cayenne (long, slender, bright red fruits tapering to a point with medium heat; are excellent for homemade hot sauce and dry well for dried hot pepper flakes) or Hungarian Wax (a yellow-orange, hot pepper with smooth, waxy fruits tapering to a point; good for stuffing and pickling) See Week 15 for usage and storage information.
SWEET PEPPERS: You will receive Green Bell Peppers (large blocky cells with fruity, sweet flavor), 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 Red Knight Bell (big, blocky, thick-walled, green-to-red pepper with sweet flesh). See Week 14 for usage and storage information.
POTATOES: You will receive Russian Banana Fingerling (an heirloom potato with small, banana-shaped tubers with yellow skin and light yellow flesh; good baked, boiled, or in salads), Mountain Rose (rosy-skinned inside and out, these versatile, all-purpose spuds are excellent baked, mashed or fried), and/or Adirondack Blue (round to oblong, tubers have glistening blue skin enclosing deep blue flesh; superb for mashing or salads; very high in antioxidants!). See Week 8 newsletter for usage and storage information.
U-PICK RASPBERRIES (only available on the farm): The harvest is slowing down, but you can still pick 1 pint as part of your share this week, if you are able to come out to the farm and pick it yourself. SALE on U-PICK: $3 for any extra pints picked this week.
TOMATOES: We still have tomatoes for you, so take them if you want to hang onto a few more bites of summer!! You will receive a few of any of the following varieties: Tiren (early, classic San Marzano shaped tomato with same meaty texture and great flavor for sauce), Amish Paste (large for a sauce tomato, slightly irregular, plum-to strawberry-shaped fruits avg. 8-12 oz. with excellent flavor; good in salads and great for processing. A Slow Food USA Ark of Taste variety), or Geronimo (newer variety but already one of the most widely used beefsteak varieties; fruits are firm, nice red color and good taste). See Week 9 newsletter for storage and usage information.
WHITE HAKUREI TURNIPS and GREENS: A white salad turnip with round, smooth roots that have a sweet, fruity flavor with a crisp, tender texture. Both roots (good source of Vitamin C, potassium, and calcium; good in salads and soups) and greens (slightly sweet and can be boiled, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, and since hairless, are good in salads; excellent source of vitamins A & C and good source of riboflavin, calcium and iron) are edible!
-How to use: good in salads and soups, roasted, steamed, sautéed,
-How to store: remove greens from turnip root and store separately in plastic bag in refrigerator for up to 3 days; roots can last up to 1-2 weeks in refrigerator.
WINTER SQUASH & PIE PUMPKINS: Everyone will receive Butternut (light, tan-colored skin; small seed cavities with thick, cylindrical necks; bright orange, moist, sweet flesh; longest storage potential of all squash), Acorn (small, green ribbed squash with pale yellow flesh; great stuffed with rice, breading, or soups), and Baby Bear Pie Pumpkin (deep orange, 1 1/2-2 1/2-lb. fruits are about half the size of a normal pie pumpkin.) See Week 16 for usage and storage information.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. LAST WEEK OF THE SUMMER CSA: That means Oct. 12 (Wed.), Oct. 14 (Fri.), and Oct. 15 (Sat.) are the last distribution days of the summer shares until our fall shares begin next week.
2. BRING BAGS! Please bring bags (cloth for yourself and/or any “grocery-size” plastic and paper to share with others), a cooler, or a box to receive your produce this week, so you can leave the share box behind if we won’t see you again this fall.
3. MUSHROOM DAY AT TANTRE FARM ON OCT. 16 FROM 11 AM until 6 PM. Come to this mushroom workshop led by local forager, Rachel Mifsud, for all day or any part of the day. She has been leading the monthly Foraging Series at Tantre Farm. See detailed descriptions of each of the following Mushroom Classes in Week 19 newsletter or the calendar on our website.
–Mushroom ID Class: 11-1 pm, $25
–Mushroom Walk: 1:30-3:30pm, $15
–Grow Your Own Mushrooms: 4-6pm, $25
**$50 for the entire day ($15 discount) Registration link if you want to pre-register: https://squareup.com/store/willforageforfood
4. STILL OPENINGS FOR THE SAUERKRAUT WORKSHOP at the FOOD HUB on SATURDAY, OCT. 23 from 1 to 3 PM: Come make your own sauerkraut at the Washtenaw Food Hub using Tantre Farm produce! Brinery Fermentation Expert, Melissa, will be leading this Farm-to-Fermentation workshop that will cover the basics of wild vegetable fermentation. Participants will take home a jar of fermenting sauerkraut made during the workshop. We also will give a tour of the Food Hub, and describe the buildout of the new Farm Market area that is under construction. Please register by email with your NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS, and PHONE NUMBER. $5 fee for materials.
5. STILL SPACES FOR THE EXTENDED FALL CSA SHARES: This share runs from Oct. 16 through Nov. 5 for $105 celebrating all the bounty of the fall vegetables! The link for online registration is http://tantrefarm.csasignup.com. Please sign up by Oct. 15, so you won’t miss any of those 3 weeks of produce. Please go to our website for more information. We are prorating these shares as well, so if you need to miss a week of the Extended Fall CSA, just send us an email, and we will register you for the weeks you will receive a share. Hope to share more of this abundant fall harvest with you throughout October! Tell your friends and family!!
6. THANKSGIVING CSA on November 19! This CSA is very close to being open for registration! A more detailed email notice about this will come out to you sometime this week. You can also read more details about the Thanksgiving Share on our website under “CSA Info”. This share is a one time pick up of 60 to 80 pounds of produce for winter storage or to stock up on vegetables before the holiday for $120. This share will be available for pick up on the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market from 7 A.M. until noon or at Tantré Farm from 2-5 P.M.
7. THANKSGIVING TURKEYS: Thanksgiving turkeys are available to order from Two Tracks Acres, a 10 acre farm in Grass Lake, Michigan. These are free-range, broad breasted white turkeys that range 13-25 pounds. Turkeys are $4.50/lb, and are fresh (not frozen) with on farm pickup the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Contact Stephanie Willette at twotracksacres@gmail.com or visit the website www.twotracksacres.com.
8. FROZEN LOCAL FRUIT AND VEGGIE SHARES FROM LOCAVORIOUS AVAILABLE FOR WINTER: Tantre Farm member and Locavorious CSA founder, Rena Basch, provides locally grown, delicious, frozen fruits and vegetables in the winter months as Winter CSA Shares. Locavorious members receive 4 shares of local frozen fruits and veggies, including Tantre’s sweet peppers, tomatoes, kabocha, blackberries and strawberries! This CSA promises to continue provide you with the “taste of summer” all winter long! Shares are only $215. Share pick-up places include Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Morgan & York, and the Washtenaw Food Hub. Contact Rena for more information at rena@locavorious.com or 734-276-5945, or visit www.locavorious.com to sign up.
9. U-PICK AVAILABLE: Please call ahead if you plan to pick on other days besides Farm Distribution Days (Wed. and Fri.).
-U-pick Golden/Red Raspberries—1 pint FREE! Extras $3/pint
-U-PICK Flowers–You may pick 1 bouquet of up to 15 stems per household for “free”. Extra bouquets will cost $4.
-U-PICK Christmas Limas Beans–$2/lb. (a large, flat dried pod with beans a light cream color with maroon splashes; this favorite heirloom has a butter-like texture and a subtle chestnut-like flavor; use in soups, stir fries…Yum!!)
10. INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR CSA IN 2017? We are NOT doing a “roll-over membership” for 2017 like we did last year which means members were automatically rolled over into the next summer season. This became a very frustrating and confusing process for many members and on our end as well. All members will renew their registration just like usual with online registration. You will all receive a separate email informing you when registration opens. Summer CSA Shares will be available for $650 for 20 weeks from June through mid October in 2017.
11. PICK UP TIMES & LOCATIONS REMINDERS:
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 (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 1 P.M.
**Thank you for a wonderful Summer Season filled with gratitude, community building, and a bountiful harvest. Please feel free to contact us throughout the rest of fall and winter for any fall storage produce or come visit us at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Chelsea Farmers Market, Argus Farm Stop, and People’s Food Coop throughout the winter. Thank you for being a member of the Tantre Farm Summer CSA!!
–Deb, Richard, and the Tantre Farm Crew
Back to top