THIS WEEK’S SHARE
ARUGULA: an aromatic, bright green, salad green with a peppery mustard flavor; rich in iron and vitamins A and C.
-How to use: add to salads, soups, and sautéed vegetable dishes.
-How to store: very perishable, so use up quickly; store in plastic bag in refrigerator for up to 5 days.
GREEN BEANS (Jade): long, slender, deep green, filet bean
-How to use: raw in salads, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, etc.
-How to store: refrigerate in plastic bag for up to 1 week.
CANTALOUPE OR WATERMELON: You will receive Sugar Cube Cantaloupe (personal-size with intensely sweet flavor; heavily netted 2–2 1/2 lb. fruits (just a bit bigger than a softball) with deep-orange, aromatic flesh perfect for single servings) OR Dark Belle Watermelon (dark-green skin, bright-red flesh, oblong 5-7 lb. fruit with thin rind, and very sweet flavor).
-How to use: slice, dice and serve as drinks, salads, or salsa, or in a bowl of ice cream.
-How to store: if melon seems not quite ripe, store at room temperature until sweet smell is coming from the soft, stem end; then store in the refrigerator.
KALE: You will receive either Lacinato Kale (also called “dinosaur kale, tuscano, or black kale”; dark green, noncurled, blistered leaves, but heavily savoyed; have a sweet, mild, cabbage flavor and are interchangeable with broccoli, mustard greens, and other hearty greens in recipes) OR Green Curly Kale (well-ruffled, curly green leaves on green stems; this variety makes a good, roasted “kale chip”)
-How to use: for salads, soups, and light cooking.
-How to store: keep in plastic bag or damp towel in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
GARLIC BULB: a bulb of several papery white cloves; believed to help in fighting infections, cancer prevention, bolstering the immune system, lowering blood pressure and preventing heart disease, used as an expectorant or decongestant, and at least some people believe that it can ward off vampires and insects.
Cooking tips: to mellow garlic’s strong flavor opt for longer cooking; to enjoy its more pungent flavors and increased medicinal benefit, use it raw or with minimal cooking.
-How to use: minced raw in salad dressings, sauteed and added to stir-fries, meats, vegetables.
-How to store: fresh garlic can be stored in an open, breathable container in a cool, dark place for many months.
YELLOW BULB ONIONS: You will receive Patterson (medium-large, blocky bulbs with dark yellow skin and thin necks; excellent storage onion).
-How to use: can be grilled, roasted, sauteed, or chopped in salads, soups, and other dishes for flavor
-How to store: wrap in damp towel or plastic bag in fridge for 2-7 days.
RED or WHITE BUNCHING ONIONS: young shoots of red or white bulb onions with long green stalks and milder tasting than large bulb onions; full of great fiber and antioxidants, high in potassium and source of vitamins C and B-6.
-How to use: the bulb, flowers, and green leaves are edible; can be cooked, grilled, roasted whole as a vegetable; chopped in salads, soups, and other dishes for flavor.
-How to store: refrigerate in damp towel/plastic bag for 2-5 days.
GREEN/RED BELL OR RED CARMEN PEPPERS: You will receive Green/Red Bell (medium-sized green-to-red bell pepper with fruity, sweet flavor; excellent source of vitamin C, fair amount of vitamin A) 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).
-How to use: eat raw for best nutrient retention; can be added to soups, stews, omelets, quiches, stir-fries, etc.; excellent stuffed.
-How to store: refrigerate unwashed in hydrator drawer for 1-2 weeks; can be easily frozen by washing, chopping, and placing in freezer bags; can also be dehydrated or dried.
AMAROSA FINGERLING & BLUE POTATOES: You will receive both AmaRosa Fingerling (small, oblong potatoes with smooth, ruby red skin and speckled red flesh; have a firm texture, nutty, earthy flavor, and are high in nutrients like potassium, vitamin C, and dietary fiber: good for roasting, potato salads, and pair well with fresh herbs, garlic, and olive oil) AND All Blue (an heirloom potato with deep blue skin and flesh; moist texture; perfect in salads, baked, or boiled) *Interesting note: Most blue fleshed cultivars contain 90 times more antioxidants than white tubers, and the antioxidants in potato tubers are enhanced by cooking them.
-How to use: good roasted, baked, boiled, mashed, or in salads; mix both colors into one dish
-How to store: keep unwashed in cool, dark place in paper bag.
RADISHES (Pink Beauty): pink-colored root with mild, spicy flavor; excellent source of vitamins A, C, and the B’s!
-How to use: raw, roasted, used in soups, sliced in salads, sandwiches, or stir-fries, grated in slaws; radish greens are delicious in soups or stir-fries
-How to store: refrigerate in plastic bag/damp towel for 1-2 weeks.
SUNSHINE KABOCHA SQUASH: red-orange, flat-round fruit with dry, sweet, bright orange flesh; excellent for baking, mashing, and pies -How to use: can be baked, microwaved, or roasted, or use as a side dish, a base for sauces, or even as a stuffed “boat”
-How to store: store uncooked whole in a cool, dry, dark place at 50-60°F (10-15°C) for about 2 to 3 months
ROMA or CHERRY MIX TOMATOES: You will receive any of the following: Granadero (bright red, 4-5 oz Roma tomatoes with very good flavor; thick-walled fruit are good for fresh tomato sauces, salsas, and salads) OR Cherry Tomato Mix (may include a colorful variety of Sungold, Sungreen, Sakura, Indigo Cherry).
-How to use: saute, bake, broil, or grill; eat raw in salads or add to soups, stews, or sauces.
-How to store: keep at room temperature for up to 1 week or less.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. SUSTAINABILI-TEA COMMUNITY TABLE AT THE WASHTENAW FOOD HUB with TRENTON VON KLINGER OF PLANTWISE ON WED. SEPT. 10 from 5 -6 PM: Iced Tea and mug are provided for a suggested donation of $5 or more. Please feel free to bring your own mug and favorite tea. We’ll gather to sip, share stories, and hear what others in the community are up to. Each week features a special host and theme to spark conversation, but you’re welcome to bring any topic to the table related to food, sustainability, or community life. Join us this Wednesday with Trenton from Plantwise, which is dedicated to creating, restoring, and interpreting native ecosystems and plant communities. He will provide you with expert tips and engaging discussions on landscaping with native plants. Learn how to start and maintain your native garden. All attendees will go home with a free native plant seedling donated from Feral Flora. Join us the following Wednesday, Sept. 17 for another Community Tea event with Jena Jones, chemist, fiber dyeing instructor, spinner, and knitter. She will demonstrate wool scouring and dyeing, share tips, and introduce The Michigan Fiber Shed—an excellent resource for local fiber enthusiasts.
2. ENDING SUMMER CSA DATES: The end is drawing near for our Summer CSA. This is just a reminder that our summer shares are ending in just a few weeks. That means Sept. 24 (Wed.), Sept. 26 (Fri.), and Sept. 27 (Sat.) are the last distribution days for our Summer Shares.
3. THANKS FOR COMING TO THE TOMATO PRESERVING WORKSHOP on Sept. 7: During the workshop our 10 enthusiastic participants managed to put up almost 72 quarts of canned tomatoes, 6 trays of dried cherry tomatoes, and 9 gallon bags of frozen tomatoes during our 3-hour workshop. This is an incredible amount of help from our community of CSA members to help feed our farm crew throughout the coming months! All went home with 1 jar of canned tomatoes and the knowledge of how to can on their own. We are very grateful to Jessica Read, who facilitated the workshop, and all these hardworking participants! Some went home with their own box of tomatoes to preserve as well. Happy canning!!
4. FINAL GRASS LAKE MARKET ON WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10 from 3 PM to 8 PM: Deb will be attending the last market in Grass Lake today with a wide variety of produce. This is a monthly, downtown-wide event in Grass Lake, Michigan, offering a variety of local vendors, fresh produce, artisan goods, live music, food trucks, and family-friendly activities. Each month there has been a different theme, and all ages are invited to dress up and join the fun! Vendors join in with themed products and activities, The theme for this month is Global Village Market. Hope to see you for our last market in Grass Lake for 2025, and say hi to Deb!! See website or Facebook for more details: https://www.grasslakemarket.com/
5. FALL PLANT & MUSHROOM FORAGING WALK ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, from 12 – 2 PM: We are hosting a leisurely plant walk at Tantre Farm with our local foraging expert, Rachel Mifsud from Will Forage For Food. Plant walks are excellent learning opportunities for those with beginning to intermediate foraging skills and for anyone wanting to learn more about their local flora. Our discussion will include information about identification, methods of harvest, preparation, and use of around 20-25 edible plants and mushrooms to focus on. Kids under 12 are free with paid adult. You may want to bring a notebook, camera, and water. Unlimited class size, drop ins are welcome, and cost is $25. Use the code TANTRE at checkout for a 20% discount. To register ahead of time or find more information, just go to her website at https://www.willforageforfood.com/store/p/plant-and-mushroom-walk .
6. SAVE THE DATE–FALL FARM HIKE on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM: Come join us for a guided monthly exploratory walk around Tantre Farm with CSA member, Alisse Portnoy, who teaches at the University of Michigan, and her daughter, Jessica. Alisse and Jessica, who are longtime CSA member and look forward to sharing some of its treasures and treasure spots with you as the seasons change. We’ll use all of our senses as we take an edible hike, visit the animals, and explore the fields and the mushroom forest. We will have some special surprises with this hike, and we may even roast something delicious in the earth oven as we did last month! Meet at the picnic tables behind the Main House. Please feel free to come earlier or stay later and bring a picnic meal, which could be supplemented with a few fresh Tantre veggies! Hope to see you at the farm!
7. WANTED: TOMATO PICKERS!! Is there anyone interested in helping us pick tomatoes any weekday morning for the next few weeks, but especially on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, OR Friday mornings anytime between 7 AM and 11 AM. We will even feed you a homemade, farm-cooked lunch. We are a little short-handed, so please contact us with an email to info@tantrefarm.com with TOMATO PICKER in the Subject Line. Thanks to those who have shown up so far to help. We can always use the extra hands!!
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8. RETURN BOXES AND DONATE “GROCERY” BAGS: We are missing many share boxes, so before we have to order more boxes, we ask you to return your boxes this week, so we can reuse them. We also could use some grocery bags whether plastic or paper for members to use at various distribution sites. Please DO NOT give us your clothing bags or pieces of plastic of all different sizes, since we are not a recycling facility, and can not use those for sending produce home with members.
9. EXTENDED FALL CSA REGISTRATION COMING SOON! Some of you have inquired about our Fall CSA’s. Our 4-week Extended Fall CSA will start the week of Sept. 28 – Oct. 4 and end the week of October 19 -25 for $160. Later this week or this coming weekend, you will receive a separate email announcing when registration is open, so you will not miss it. You can always look up general details on our website about each of our CSA programs. Our Thanksgiving CSA share registration will begin sometime in October. Thank you for your patience, while we work out a few more logistics!
10. HONEYBEE U-PICK is OPEN ONLY ON SATURDAY MORNINGS: We are open this week from 8 AM until 12 PM on Saturday mornings at 5700 Scio Church Road on the corner of Zeeb Rd. and Scio Church Rd. in Ann Arbor. We will have a wide variety of TANTRE PRODUCE at our farm stand for purchase as well as local HONEY and EGGS on Saturdays. It may not be a good year for preserving raspberries. However, we have mowed some paths through the raspberry patch, and there are some raspberries ready for picking, so if you are a true raspberry lover then we recommend bringing pants, long sleeves, closed toe shoes, and just give it a try! Check our website for updates. Sign up to be on our mailing list, so you know times, prices, weather-related closings, etc. here: https://www.tantrefarm.com/honey-bee .
11. DO YOU LIKE TO WORK “OUTSIDE”? TANTRE FARM IS HIRING! Many of our college and high school students went back to school, so we are looking for part-time and full-time workers who are interested in getting their hands dirty and enjoy healthy, hearty, hard work. We provide home-cooked lunches every day with food from the farm. Please email us or fill out an application from our website at https://www.tantrefarm.com/internships/
12. PICK UP TIMES & LOCATIONS REMINDER:
*Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market (Wed.)—7 AM to 12 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time)
*MOVE Fitness & Wellness Studio (Wed)—8 AM to 9:30 AM (SARA there the whole time)
*Farm (Wed.)—10 AM to 7 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time with some self check-in)
*Washtenaw Food Hub (Wed.) –4 PM to 7 PM (Come inside the new Sunflower Farm Market to pick up your share. STAFF there the whole time)
*Pure Pastures (Wed.) —9 AM to 11 AM (JESSICA there most of the time)
*Farm (Fri.)—2 PM to 7 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time with some self check-in)
*Ann Arbor Farmers Market (Sat.) —7 AM to 12 PM (SHANNON there the whole time)
*Washtenaw Food Hub (Sat.)—9 AM to 5 PM (Come inside the new Sunflower Farm Market to pick up your share. STAFF there the whole time)
*Chelsea Farmers’ Market (Sat.)—8 AM to 12 PM (DEB there the whole time)
*Argus-Packard (Sat) — 9 AM to 3 PM (STAFF there the whole time)
*RoosRoast-Rosewood (Sat)–9 AM to 11 AM (LIZ there the whole time)
*HoneyBee U-pick (Sat)–8 AM to 12 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time)
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 “recipes” at the end, and many recipe ideas will pop up. Have fun searching!
POTATO ARUGULA SALAD (from Capay Organic Farm CSA “Farm Fresh to You” website) Serves 4-6
1 1/2 lbs red potatoes or blue potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar or regular vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp of fresh minced tarragon or thyme
1 bunch arugula, rinsed and chopped or torn
2 cloves minced garlic
1 pt of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp salt
Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add cubed potatoes and cook until tender, about 12-15 minutes. In a bowl, mix next 5 ingredients until salt dissolves. Whisk in oil until it thickens. Drain potatoes, return to pot. Toss with dressing, tomatoes, and arugula. Serve at room temperature.
BLUE POTATOES MASHED WITH ROASTED GARLIC (from www.foodnetwork.com )
2.5 lbs (about 4 cups) blue & red potatoes
2 1/2 oz (about 2-4 cloves, depending on size) roasted garlic
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Parmesan, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste
Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes. Boil them in salted water for approximately 15 minutes or fork tender. Once potatoes have cooked, drain the water. In a large bowl add the garlic, sour cream, butter, and Parmesan to the potatoes, and mash until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
GREEN BEAN AND ROASTED TOMATO SALAD (from Capay Organic Farm CSA “Farm Fresh To You” website) Serves 2
4 tomatoes, each cut lengthwise into 4 slices
1/4 tsp (heaping) Dijon mustard
1/4 lb green beans, trimmed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup mixed salad greens (arugula, lettuce, etc.)
1/4 tsp freshly grated orange zest
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes in one layer on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until edges are browned, and cool. While tomatoes are roasting cook beans in salted boiling water 3 minutes, or until crisp-tender. In a colander drain beans and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain beans and pat dry. In a bowl whisk together juices, zest, mustard, oil, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange tomatoes, overlapping them, on 2 plates and mound mixed salad greens and beans on top. Drizzle salads with vinaigrette.
SUNSHINE KABOCHA CHEESECAKE (from www.growingchefs.org )
For the crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cups finely ground ginger cookies, homemade or store bought
1 Tbsp granulated white sugar
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb cream cheese or yogurt cheese, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup pureed Sunshine kabocha squash
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Grease 8-inch pie pan. In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, finely ground ginger snap cookies, sugar, and melted butter. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared spring form pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the cheesecake filling. In a separate bowl, stir to combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. With a hand mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth (about 2 minutes). Gradually add the sugar mixture and beat until creamy and smooth (1-2 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the vanilla extract and pureed winter squash. Pour the filling over the chilled ginger crust and place the spring form pan on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Place a cake pan, filled halfway with hot water, on the bottom shelf of your oven to moisten the air. Bake the cheesecake for 30 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degree and continue to bake the cheesecake for another 10-20 minutes, or until the edges of the cheesecake are puffed but the center is still wet and jiggles when you gently shake the pan. Loosen the cake from the pan by running a sharp knife around the inside edge (this will help prevent the cake from cracking). Then place a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan so the cheesecake will cool slowly. When completely cooled, cover and refrigerate at least eight hours, preferably overnight, before serving. This recipe in an 8-inch pan serves 10-12 people.
Note: Using yogurt cheese instead of cream cheese gives a slightly sour flavor, making the cake more savory than sweet. To cook squash, cut in half, deseed and cook in a little water in an oven at 350-400 degrees.
CHILLED CANTALOUPE SOUP (from The Cool Mountain Cookbook by Chef Gwen) Serves 6
6 cups chopped cantaloupe, about 1 (4 lb) melon
1 1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 sprig fresh peppermint
Place all ingredients, except for the mint, in a large bowl and stir. Place half the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour soup into a pitcher, and repeat with remaining mixture. Taste and whisk in more cinnamon, honey or even lemon juice if desired. It should taste sweet and tart, with only a hint of cinnamon. Chill the soup until ready to serve. Remove the mint leaves from the stem (discard) and stack the leaves on top of each other. Roll lengthwise into a tight “cigar.” Slice crosswise into thin strips. Pour the chilled soup into six soup bowls. Garnish each with a sprinkle of shredded mint and serve. Variation: Serve with dollop of yogurt.
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