THIS WEEK’S SHARE
ARUGULA: You will receive a small bunch of 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.
RED ACE BEETS WITH GREENS: round, smooth, deep red roots with sweet flavor and medium-tall
-How to use: greens can be substituted for spinach and chard in recipes; roots good in soups, stews, roasted, boiled, steamed, excellent grated raw into salads or baked goods.
-How to store: separate roots from leaves and store unwashed in plastic bags in hydrator drawer of refrigerator for up to 2 weeks; store greens wrapped in damp cloth in plastic bag for up to 1 week.
NAPA CABBAGE: You will receive half a head of Napa Cabbage (crinkly, thickly veined leaves, which are cream-colored with celadon green tips; unlike the strong-flavored waxy leaves on round cabbage heads, these are thin, crisp, and delicately mild; good source of vitamin A, folic acid, and potassium)
-How to use: excellent in stir-fries, soups, or salads; can be sauteed or eaten raw.
-How to store: refrigerate for up to 1 month.
CARROTS WITH GREENS (Mokum): a very sweet, slender, “pencil carrot”. Carrot leaves are very nutritious with lots of protein, minerals and high levels of vitamins, especially ‘C’ and ‘K’.
-How to use: can be used raw as carrot sticks, grated in salads or juiced; steamed or sauteed, in stews, soups, casseroles, or stir-fries.
-How to store: refrigerate roots in plastic bag for up to 2 weeks; greens may last up to a week refrigerated in plastic bag.
CUCUMBERS: You will receive either Olympian (considered a slicing cucumber with dark green, straight 8- to 9-inch fruit; crisp with fresh flavor) OR Little Leaf (considered a pickling cucumber with blocky, medium-length, distinctively bright emerald green fruits, which are good for fresh eating and pickling).
-How to use: raw or pickled in salads or sandwiches, can also be julienned, sauteed, or baked.
-How to store: store them in a sealed plastic bag in refrigerator crisper drawer for up to a week; use up leftovers as soon as possible.
FRESH HERBS: You will be receiving fresh herbs off and on throughout the summer, since harvesting them often means they need a few weeks to recover before we harvest again. Here are a couple of links to help you know more about how to use fresh herbs: https://www.urbancultivator.net/cooking-with-fresh-herbs/ . The following is a good link to help you identify your herb with images and descriptions: http://theherbexchange.com/25-best-herbs-to-grow-in-your-kitchen-garden/ . You will receive 1 of the following:
*Cilantro: Wednesday members will all receive Cilantro (the flat, delicate, lacy-edged leaves and stems of the coriander plant, which look a lot like flat-leaf parsley, but has a distinctive, almost citrus fragrance that lends itself to highly spiced foods, such as tacos, salsas, soups, stews, and salads; medicinally has been proved to chelate toxic metals from our bodies and considered a powerful tissue cleanser).
*Oregano – Friday/Saturday members will be receiving either Oregano (of the mint family and is similar to marjoram, but not as sweet and more pungent flavor and aroma; good in soups and tomato-based dishes) OR Mojito Mint (this mint has a green stem with large green, crinkly leaves and has a much milder flavor with hints of citrus, which make it good in salads, desserts, smoothies, and even your water bottle; great for muddling in cocktails; aids in digestion).
-How to use: make a soothing tea or infusion; also the flowers make a pretty garnish and a flavorful addition to salads
-How to store: store herbs upright with cut stems in 1 or 2 inches of water and refrigerate for up to 1 week or wrap in slightly dampened cloth or plastic bag and store in refrigerator.
RED CURLY KALE: well ruffled red or green leaves with red stems; gets redder and sweeter after a frost
-How to use: Boil or steam until color brightens; great in omelets, quiches, lasagna, casseroles, soups, stews, salads, and smoothies.
-How to store: keep in plastic bag or damp towel in refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks.
ONIONS (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.
-How to use: great for salads, soups, sandwiches, slices, and other dishes for flavor
-How to store: not for long storage; wrap in damp towel or plastic bag in fridge for 2-7 days.
NEW RED POTATOES: New potatoes are just young potatoes that haven’t had time to convert their sugar fully into starch and often have a crisp, waxy texture and thin, underdeveloped wispy skins.
-How to use: good boiled or pan-roasted, but particularly suited for potato salad, since they hold their shape well after being cut and cooked.
-How to store: refrigerate new potatoes if not used within 2-3 days, but use up sometime during the 1st or 2nd week of receiving them; these potatoes have not been cured, so will not last as long as “cured” potatoes, which should not be refrigerated, since low temperatures convert the starch to sugars and may turn dark when cooked.
RADISHES (Pink Beauty): pink-colored root with mild, spicy flavor and greens included; 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.
ZUCCHINI (Golden & Green): gourmet golden and green zucchini with uniform, cylindrical fruits.
-How to use: use in salads, dips, grilled, casseroles, stuffed, or mashed with butter and seasonings.
-How to store: store in plastic bag in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. FORAGE AND FEAST Cooking Class on SUNDAY, Aug. 17, from 11 AM -2 PM: Come to this foraging class and turn our collections into a gourmet meal with local foraging expert, Rachel Mifsud, from “Will Forage For Food”. Plant walks are great, but what do you do with stuff once you get it home? This class is designed to teach you exactly that. We will go out and forage for about an hour, then we will bring our harvest into the kitchen where we will combine it with previously foraged items (from my stash), farm fresh ingredients, and some grocery store staples to make a gourmet meal that we will share. Our meal will include an appetizer, a main dish, 2-3 sides, a desert, and both an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic beverage, all made with wild ingredients. Please note any dietary restrictions when you register. Bring your harvesting basket if you have one. It will also be helpful if you bring your favorite kitchen knife and a kitchen towel. And you may want a notebook to jot down recipes as we go.
Cost: $75, includes guided foraging, a cooking class, and a gourmet meal!!!
There is limited space. Only payment holds your spot. To reserve your spot, go to https://www.willforageforfood.com/store to register. Use the code TANTRE at checkout for a 20% discount.
2. CHELSEA FARMERS MARKET RELOCATED TO CHELSEA STATE BANK FOR JULY 26: We have been asked to move the Chelsea Saturday Farmers Market location on Saturday, July 26, to the Chelsea State Bank at the corner of Old US 12 and M-52 due to the Sounds and Sights Festival taking place over at Palmer Commons this weekend, so all of you members who pick up at the Chelsea Farmers Market, please find us at the bank.
3. WEEDING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: If you are interested in helping out–even if it’s just for 10 or 15 minutes before you pick up your box at the farm, come join us. We definitely could use the help!! Please contact us any day of the week or evenings until dark. Thank you!
4. FARMERS MARKETS: If you need to supplement your share with a few extra items, we are set up at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market on Wed. and Sat. starting at 7 AM. We will also be at the Chelsea Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8 AM-1 PM. On top of that, our Sunflower Farm Market (formerly known as the Washtenaw Food Hub Market) is open on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 to 7 PM and on Saturdays (free coffee and tea!) as usual during our CSA pick up times from 9 AM-12 PM, so please feel free to purchase all your basic local needs and a few extra treats at any of these markets. Finally, we also have a small farm stand at the HoneyBee U-pick (more details below).
5. SUNFLOWER FARM MARKET EXPANDING HOURS AND MORE DAYS OPEN: Starting Aug. 2 we will be open from 9 AM until 5 PM on Saturdays and now Sundays as well! If you pick up at the market on Saturdays, you may pick up your share anytime between 9 AM and 5 PM starting NEXT WEEK. Also, this Saturday, July 26, we are happy to host Smiling Jim’s Organic Seasonings for a pop up from 9 to 11 AM with free samples of seasoned veggies and beef roast.
6. HONEYBEE U-PICK (5700 Scio Church Rd., Ann Arbor) OPEN ONLY ON WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS FOR JULY: We are open from 8 AM until 4 PM on Wed.(maybe closing at noon on Wed. due to limited berry picking) and Saturday. You may u-pick blueberries and maybe some raspberries this week. We also will have a wide variety of extra Tantre Farm produce at our farm stand for purchase as well as local honey and eggs on Saturdays. Check our website daily if we are open. Sign up to be on our mailing list, so you know times, prices, weather-related closings, etc. here: https://www.tantrefarm.com/honey-bee/
7. DO YOU LIKE TO WORK “OUTSIDE”? TANTRE FARM IS HIRING! 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. Room and board are available for full time work, and part time work is available as well for an hourly wage. Please email us or fill out an application from our website at https://www.tantrefarm.com/internships /
8. DO YOU LIKE TO WORK “INSIDE”? SUNFLOWER FARM MARKET IS HIRING! We’re seeking an enthusiastic and organized person, who is passionate about supporting a vibrant local food community. This person needs to be able to work independently, take initiative, solve problems efficiently, and provide outstanding service to both customers and fellow team members. Please email your resume and cover letter to sunflowerfarmmarket@gmail.com and info@tantrefarm.com.
9. 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 12 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)
REFLECTIONS ON THE FARM
by Richard and Deb
As this world strains to make something of itself, it is good to find some time to appreciate the beauty of the land, the blue sky, the trees, and the abundance of summer. It is July and the first of the cherry tomatoes are ripening. We’re looking forward to harvesting more carrots, red & yellow onions of different shapes and sizes, and multicolored sweet peppers. We’re gathering more arugula, summer amaranth greens, and the cucumbers are exploding. It took several days to harvest the garlic last week with all the crew working together, but now it is stacked in the barn drying and curing. Golden and red beets are carpeting several rows in the field. A blanket of green and golden beans are producing a small ocean of tender pods. The mid season blueberries are slowing down at HoneyBee U-pick, but a few of the last rows still have a few green berries. We hope you were able to pick a few blueberries last week.
We believe it is important to share peace and kindness with others and to help each other out on the farm and in our community. Two of our CSA members, Jean and Lynn, generously came out for a few hours this week to clear the path of the herb garden with sharp-edged hoes and sharp-edged minds, removing the weeds as if they were just an afterthought. Swinging hoes like a pendulum clock, which spelled the end for the grasses in between the herb beds by renovating and defining the beds of sage, oregano, and sorrel. If anyone else has time to spend an hour or two on the farm, you are always welcome and we are grateful for the extra hands. We hope the rest of the world is able to find peace and time for helping each other in this increasingly tumultuous world.
On another note, a few students from Michigan State University asked if they could spend some time observing birds and insects on our farm, since they are studying about 15 farms using organic practices in the region. They have conducted a couple of bird surveys so far this summer and have discovered 65 bird species on our farm, which is the biggest bird list out of all the farms in their study! We are grateful to provide healthy habitat for all of these birds, which help us celebrate the season of the sun and the earth and the sky with their beautiful diverse songs all day long.
Along with the birds, we have found our place in this biome through the ecology of this land, our home. This gift of good soil is the true refuge on the land, and through generating good food it brings good people together to sing, dance, and find a peaceful refuge in this increasingly unstable world that we live in. We hope you are able to find enjoyment and refuge throughout these beautiful, abundant, Michigan summer days.
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 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 oregano
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.
REDBOR KALE WITH RED BEANS, CILANTRO, AND FETA CHEESE (from Local Flavors by Deborah Madison) Serves 4
1 1/2 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp thyme leaves or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 white onion, finely diced
1 large bunch redbor or red curly kale
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
3/4 cup chopped cilantro, divided
3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Drain the beans, cover with plenty of water, and bring to a boil. Remove scum from surface, then add herbs, salt, and all but 1/2 cup of the onion. Lower the heat and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Slice the kale leaves from their stems with a knife. Chop coarsely into bite-size pieces and rinse well. Bring a few quarts water to a boil; add salt and the kale. Simmer until tender, 5-7 minutes, and then pour into a colander to drain. Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the remaining 1/2 cup onion and 1/2 cup cilantro. Cook over medium heat until the onion softens, about 10 minutes. Then add the kale and beans with enough of the cooking liquid for plenty of sauce. Simmer together for at least 10 minutes; then serve garnished with crumbled feta and the remaining cilantro.
BEET, CUCUMBER, AND SWEET ONION SALAD WITH DIJON-HONEY DRESSING (from Bon Appetit, July 2002)
6 medium beets, trimmed
1 large cucumber, unpeeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1/2 sweet onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
4 tsp honey
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup corn oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each beet in foil, enclosing completely. Place on rack in oven and bake until beets are tender when pierced with fork, about 1 1/2 hours. Cool in foil. Peel beets, then cut each into 6 slices. Arrange beets, slightly overlapping, on half of large platter. Arrange cucumber slices on other half. Scatter onion in center. (Can be made 4 hours ahead; chill.) Whisk honey, vinegar, and mustard in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over vegetables.
ZUCCHINI-CILANTRO DIP (from Bon Apetit, March 1996) Makes about 2 1/2 cups
2 medium zucchini or summer squash, trimmed, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper
Assorted cruditis
Pita bread, cut into triangles
Place grated zucchini in colander and sprinkle with salt. Let drain 30 minutes. Rinse zucchini. Drain well. Using kitchen towel, squeeze as much water from zucchini as possible. Whisk 1 cup yogurt, 3/4 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar in medium bowl until well blended. Mix in zucchini, cilantro, garlic, cumin and cayenne pepper. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Cover dip and refrigerate 2 hours to blend flavors. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Transfer dip to serving bowl. Serve with cruditis and pita bread.
SHREDDED CARROT, RADISH, AND MINT SALAD WITH CHICKPEAS (from https://www.sustained.kitchen/latest/2021/5/2/shredded-carrot-radish-and-mint-salad-with-chickpeas )
1 to 1.5 cup shredded radishes
1.5 to 2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
1 can of chickpeas
Shred carrots and radish on the large holes of a box grater. Place carrots and radishes in a strainer inside a large bowl. Toss with salt. Let sit while you move on to the next step. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Rinse the chickpeas and transfer them to the pan. Saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Press lightly on the carrots and radishes to remove excess juice. In a large bowl, stir together strained carrots and radishes, chickpeas, and all remaining ingredients.
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