Tantre Farm CSA Newsletter
WEEK #16
Sept. 8-14, 2019
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.
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. 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. **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.
If you are new to our CSA, since you signed up with a prorated share, you can find all past newsletters on our website under the NEWSLETTERS tab.
THIS WEEK’S SHARE
GREEN BEANS: You will receive E-Z Pick (a round, tender, dark green, snap bean with good sweet flavor). See Week 8 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
SWEET CORN (Potawatomi): AND WHAT WE ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR… CORN! See feature article! These yellow kernels come with excellent sweet flavor. Corn is often referred to as maize and is an ancient staple food of the Americas; everything on the corn plant can be used: “husks” for Tamales, the “silk” for medicinal tea, the “kernels” for food, and the “stalks” for fodder; contains a significant amount of vitamin A, B-complex, phosphorous and potassium along with vegetable protein. * We don’t treat our corn with pesticides, so you may find some earworms enjoying the corn too; just break off the damaged part and cook the rest of the ear.
-How to use: ears of corn can be steamed in 1-2 inches of water for 6-10 minutes, or drop ears into boiling water (enough to cover) for 4-7 minutes; ears of corn can also be roasted unhusked in the oven or outside grill for about 20 minutes.
-How to store: refrigerate with husks on, and use as soon as possible to retain sweetness and flavor.
U-PICK FLOWERS (only available on the farm): This week you can pick up to 15 stems for as part of your share. You may want to bring a vase/jar to keep your flowers fresh going home, but we will have donated yogurt containers to fill with water as well. Your bouquet is part of your share, although you may always feel free to make a donation to pay for seeds, if you like.
NO HERBS: We are letting our smaller patches of herbs rest for another week.
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 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
LETTUCE: You will receive Green or Red Leaf lettuce and/or Romaine lettuce. See Week 1 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
ONIONS: You will receive Cipollini (a traditional Italian onion known for its flat, oval shape and delicately mild, sweet flavor; ranges in size from 1-3 inches; used for pickling and to season a wide variety of dishes and especially good grilled on a skewer) 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 7 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
SWEET RED PEPPERS: You will receive 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), Red Knight Bell (big, blocky, thick-walled, green-to-red pepper with sweet flesh) or Lipstick (sweet, cone or heart-shaped peppers with juicy, thick flesh; delicious in salads and salsas, but also great for roasting). See Week 13 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
POTATOES: You will receive Kerr’s Pink (very pale skin and cream flesh; mealy, cooked texture, so makes a good specialty/salad potato variety; good roasted, mashed, or in salads) and Mountain Rose (rosy-skinned inside and out, these versatile, all-purpose spuds are deliciously moist, but not waxy textured; extra nutritious, and high in antioxidants; excellent baked, mashed or fried). See Week 8 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
U-PICK RASPBERRIES (only available on the farm): Come to the farm and pick a pint for yourself as part of your share.
TOMATOES: You will receive any of the following: Geronimo (newer variety but already one of the most widely used beefsteak varieties; fruits are very large, firm, nice red color and good taste), Green Zebra (ripe as a green fruit with a yellow blush and darker green stripes; delicious, tangy salad tomato; beautiful sliced into wedges for salads), Mountain Magic (bright red, round tomatoes with very sweet flavor; excellent in salads), including San Marzano (early, large classic Italian Roma tomato; delicious, balanced acidic flavor and meaty flesh makes for good sauce and paste), and Rose (deep pink, heirloom, medium-sized tomato, which is meaty and flavorful) See Week 9 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
WATERMELON/HONEYDEW: You may choose from Mini Love (sweet and firm, oval-round fruits avg. 3–5 lb. Distinctive, bright green rind with dark green stripes and dense, bright red flesh) or Sunshine (8-10 pound oval-rounded fruit; green-striped shell with bright yellow flesh, which is brittle, juicy, and very sweet), OR Honey Blonde Honeydew (flavorful, yellow-skinned honeydew; oval fruit with sweet, delicious, orange flesh). See Week 10 newsletter for usage and storage tips.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. PIZZA PARTY FUNDRAISER on Sept. 8 was a HUGE SUCCESS! Thank you so much for all of you who joined us at the farm for a farm tour, pizzas, salads, door prizes, bonfire, etc. to support farm to school education and school garden support for Agrarian Adventure. We are so grateful for the turnout and the generous donations. We were able to raise over $1000, thanks to you! This will help support funds for our Farmer in the Classroom coordinator this fall. If anyone was not able to attend, but would still like to help us out with a donation for continuing our programs in the spring, please feel free to go to the donation button on the website at www.agrarianadventure.org. We really appreciate it!
2. STILL ROOM: TOMATO PRESERVING WORKSHOP on Sept. 15 from 1 – 4 PM at Tantre Farm: Former Tantre intern, Noelle Dronen, will facilitate mostly how to can tomatoes, but also some demonstration will be on dehydrating and freezing tomatoes. There will be active participation and “take-home” samples for those attending. Please bring a Quart Size Canning Jar with a lid. You can also buy one from us for $1. Please register with your Name, Phone Number, and E-mail Address in the body of the email to us. Bulk tomatoes will be available for you to buy. This is a great time for canning, freezing, or dehydrating! $5 for CSA members and $10 for nonmembers.
3. SALADS COOKING CLASS on Sept. 18 from 6 – 8:30 PM at Tantre Farm: Please join us for another great cooking class on SALADS. CSA member, Laenne Thompson, will share a flavorful assortment of recipes for hot summer nights using mostly ingredients from Tantre Farm’s weekly share box. We will break into teams to prepare them, and enjoy a feast of our creations! There will be a $10 fee for materials and handouts for each class. Please register with COOKING CLASS in the Subject Line and your NAME, PHONE NUMBER, and E-MAIL ADDRESS in the body of the email. We have 15 spaces available, so let us know if you’re interested in joining us for a special night of cooking and eating together.
4. FALL WORK PARTY/END-OF SEASON POTLUCK will be Sunday, Sept. 22, from 1-4 P.M. Our end-of-season potluck will also be at this time, so please bring an hors d’oeuvre, snack, or refreshment to pass. Members are invited to bring family and friends to help harvest squash, pumpkins, and potatoes before the first frost. You may also come just to enjoy the farm and walk around to see the produce and the animals, listen to a local musician, or just eat at the potluck anytime between 1 and 4 PM. All who come will be able to take something home, such as a pumpkin or a winter squash and a flower bouquet.
5. “EXTENDED FALL CSA” SHARE REGISTRATION IS OPEN: This year we are providing a 4-week share, which runs from Sept. 29 – Oct. 26 for $140 celebrating all the bounty of the fall vegetables! The link for online registration is http://tantrefarm.csasignup.com . Please sign up by Saturday, Sept. 28 for all 4 weeks. 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!! Due to outside exposure of potentially cold-damaging temperatures in October, we will not have Fall Shares at the Chelsea Farmers Market or at MOVE, since we have no way to protect these shares from the Oct. elements, so please choose alternate pick up locations. All other sites are the same.
6. 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 Sept. 25 (Wed.), Sept. 27 (Fri.), and Sept. 28 (Sat.) are the last distribution days for our Summer Shares.
7. 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 Flowers – 15 stems with your share and extra bouquets for $4 for members. Nonmembers $5/bouquet
**U-pick Fall Raspberries – 1 pint FREE if you can make it out to the farm to pick. Extra pints are $4/pint. Nonmember are $5/pint.
**U-pick Tomatoes – many tomato varieties are ready for picking. Members–$0.50/lb. Nonmembers–$0.75/lb.
8. PICK UP TIMES & LOCATIONS REMINDER:
**If you need to switch to different pick up sites throughout the season that usually works for all but the “limited sites”, using the Membership Actions section on the registration page. These sites have less space to drop share boxes at, so are considered “limited”. Please always email ahead to see if they are at capacity before making any switches on your own.
*Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market (Wed.)—7 A.M. to 12 P.M.
*MOVE Fitness & Wellness Studio (Wed)—8 A.M. to 12 P.M.
*Farm (Wed.)—10 A.M. to 7 P.M.
*Washtenaw Food Hub (Wed.)—6 P.M. to 8 P.M.
*Pure Pastures (Wed.) (limited site) —10 A.M. To 7 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.
*Argus-Packard (Sat) (limited site)—10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
REFLECTIONS ON THE FARM
By Deb and Richard
As the days of summer have finally shortened to autumn days, we begin each day in the dark sorting tomatoes in the barn, sweeping the packing shed, and this week finally for the first time this summer, we pick corn for the CSA shares! With a crew of 6 people and a pickup truck we head down to the field with four 20-bushel boxes. We fill each box until it is almost overflowing, giving us 80 bushels of sweet corn that we haul back to the packing shed to sort the ones that have been gnawed by raccoons and pecked by birds, or ones that are too small and unusable by anyone except for the pigs.
The 20 pigs (some over 300 pounds, some only 40 pounds) are only too happy to eat the kernels, cob, husk and all, as well as any stray worms. Snuffling around in their muddy pasture, mixing whatever is left with the dirt to complement their sweet corn entree, they are in piggy heaven! It is very interesting to watch them push the corn through the dirt, nuzzling it, covering it, uncovering it, and enjoying each succulent bite. These hogs are very excited when fed the culled sweet corn or any other “ugly produce”– pushing, squealing, with open mouthed tusks ready for the very first bite.
Consequently, after 25 raccoons, 3 opossums, and 1 skunk later, we are finding that we finally have enough sweet corn to harvest for the market and the CSA after 5 weeks of diligent trapping and relocating these voracious eaters. Good tidings for hogs; good tidings for CSA members! We should have corn for the last 3 weeks of the Summer season! If there is any interest in buying it in bulk, please let us know, since now we should have an abundance.
RECIPES
GRILLED CORN ON THE COB (from Good-for-You Garlic Cookbook)
4 ears of corn
2 tsp butter
1 tsp dried marjoram
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of paprika
Remove silk from corn, keeping husks intact. Soak corn in water for 20 minutes. Peel back husks to rub each ear of corn with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Then sprinkle with marjoram, cayenne, garlic, salt, and paprika. Pull husks up to cover corn and grill for 10-15 minutes, turning often.