Tantre Farm CSA Newsletter
WEEK 7
July 10-16, 2011

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

THIS WEEK’S SHARE
We usually try to give you a pretty accurate listing of the produce in your box, but since the newsletter is published before the harvest, sometimes we may substitute some vegetables for others.

RED ACE BEETS & GREENS: See Week 5 newsletter for more information.
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.

GREEN BEANS and YELLOW BEANS: You will receive Maxibel French Fillet (very slender green bean with firm texture and good taste) and Rocdor (long, slender, yellow bean; meaty, firm texture and no watery taste).
How to use: raw in salads, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, etc.
How to store: refrigerate in plastic bag for up to 1 week.

BROCCOLI or CABBAGE: You will receive Broccoli (deep emerald green, tiny buds that are clustered on top of stout, edible stems) or Cabbage (a sweet green cabbage; considered a beneficial digestive aid and intestinal cleanser)
How to use: steam, stir-fry, roasted, or chop raw into salads
How to store: refrigerate for up to 1 week or more

CUCUMBERS: long, cylindrical, green-skinned fruit of the gourd family with mild, crisp flesh. The thin skin doesn’t need peeling, unless waxed for longer shelf life in stores.
How to use: raw or pickled in salads or sandwiches, can also be julienned, sautéed, 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 GARLIC: See Week 5 newsletter for more information.
How to use: minced raw in salad dressings, sautéed and added to stir-fries, meats, vegetables
How to store: fresh garlic can be stored in an open, breathable basket in a cool, dark place for many months; if cloves begin to get soft or moldy, break off bad clove and chop up others and pack into small jar filled with olive oil; then refrigerate

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 from the following:
Anise Hyssop—soft, sweet, anise-scented leaves are used as a seasoning, as a delicious licorice-flavored tea or herb blender drink, and in potpourri. It was used medicinally by Native Americans for coughs, fevers, wounds, and diarrhea.
Black-stemmed Peppermint—forest green leaves with deep purple veins and stems, strong minty leaves are good as a hot or iced tea, and adds a delicious flavor when minced and added to cooked peas, carrots, potatoes, salads, and fresh strawberries.
Summer Savory–dark-green, narrow leaves with clean, piney fragrance and peppery flavor; goes well with soups, stews, bean dishes of any sort, succotash, cabbage, and sauerkraut; used by the Romans as a bee sting treatment and an aphrodisiac.
French Sorrel–slightly tart, lemon-flavored green; excellent for salads, soups, and sauces; can be used in omelets, breads, or cooked as a side dish; leaves are shaped like spinach, but paler green in color; high in vitamin A and contains some calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin C

LETTUCE: You will receive loose-leaf lettuce and a few heads of red or green leaf lettuce.
How to use: raw in salads, sandwiches, or use in soups
How to store: refrigerate in plastic bag for 3-5 days

SUMMER ONIONS: See Week 4 newsletter for more information.
How to use: can be grilled or roasted whole as a vegetable or chopped in salads, soups, & other dishes for flavor
How to store: wrap in damp towel/bag in fridge for 2-7 days.

NEW POTATOES (Red Norland): smooth, red skin and white flesh; great baked, boiled, or roasted
How to use: 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, so are 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.

SUMMER SQUASH/ZUCCHINI: You will receive some variety of Soleil Yellow Zucchini or Yellow Slick Pik or Plato Green Zucchini. *Keep in mind yellow or green “zucchini” and “summer squash” are basically interchangeable in recipes.
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.

SWISS CHARD (Rainbow Mix): See Week 4 newsletter for more information.
How to use: greens can be prepared like spinach, and stalks like asparagus; good steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, and in soups.
How to store: wrap in damp cloth in a plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 2-4 days.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. FARM DINNER WAS DELECTABLE: Thanks to those who joined us for a memorable “French-themed” meal Monday night with the farm crew, and especially to CSA member, Kim Bayer, who had all the ideas! We prepped a variety of greens and veggies and fashioned them into a savory fava bean appetizer, baguettes with garlic scapes sautéed in butter, salade niçoise, vegetable tian, followed by lavender honey ice cream with berries, and accompanied by borage and anise hyssop herb drinks. The evening even culminated with a rosy, orange sunset!

2. SUMMER WORK PARTY/OPEN HOUSE this coming Sunday, July 17: Come anytime between 1-4 p.m. This is the second of three scheduled work parties. Members are invited to bring family and friends to Tantré Farm to help with weeding, harvesting, planting, etc. or just visiting the farm in the summer. This is a voluntary event for those of you who would like to help out and/or see the farm. Some Tantré Farm refreshments will be provided, but you are welcome to bring an hors d’oeuvre or refreshment to pass that folks can snack on throughout the work time as well. HELP NEEDED: Also, we could use some help to “set up” at 11 or 11:30 AM, and “clean up” at the end around 4:30 or 5 PM. Our farm workers work very hard on the farm during the week, and technically it is their day off, so it would be great if some folks could make time to help before and afterwards! Please call or e-mail, if you can help, especially with setting up tables and chairs, etc.

3. WEEDING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Thanks for all the help with weeding! Despite the lack of rain, we still need help in the perennial garden, if anyone has a little bit of time.

4. PICK UP TIMES & LOCATIONS REMINDER:
Farm on Wed.–10 A.M. to 7 P.M.
Farm on Fri.–2 P.M. to 7 P.M.
Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market (Wed.)–7 A.M. to 12 P.M.
Community High School (Sat.) –7 A.M. to 12 P.M.
Chelsea Farmers’ Market (Sat.)–8 A.M. to 12 P.M.

THOUGHTS FROM A WAYFARING BUCKEYE…
by Shaun Schoonover (Tantre Farm Intern 2011)

To paraphrase Thoreau, I came to Tantré to live deeply, to rout out all that was not life. The explosive catalyst some months back was waking to the realization that I had yet to do either since my initiation into adulthood. I wanted to participate more fully in life, the full-blooded, soul-swelling marrow at the heart of the matter, not the factitious and convoluted existence that has been built up over and around it and us, creepingly, since the simple, naked days of Eden. I wanted to acquire the skills and knowledge to live well.

We truly own our lives to the extent that we can grow, produce, and create for ourselves, and from a life closely connected to the natural world emerges a freedom I believe is rarely felt or experienced in our modern times, something that amounts to more than the shallow excess of unbounded choice afforded to us by our boxstore benefactors. There is a glaring difference between the mutualistic interdependence amongst neighbors that typified the small communities of the past and the infantile dependency on the corporate monoliths that comprise the typical suburb of today. The past may be dead, but the collected wisdom of those times shouldn’t die with it. Amongst all the monumental mistakes and blunders, our kind bore healthy fruit as well, and the seeds of such ought to be saved so they can be sown in perpetuity.

I want to be one of the seed sowers of our times, not only to improve my own life but to enable others as well, to help build healthy additions to those past roots to make them even stronger, thereby taking back some of that autonomy and self-determination lost over the years, two vital things for the healthy functioning of any individual or society. As Wendell Berry has repeatedly suggested, the health of humans and the health of the land are both inextricably linked to the way we produce our food. Changing our relationship with the land is imperative to saving our species. To be in tune with the natural cycles of life, all that effloresces from the living earth, is to remember from whence we come, that we are one part of the whole, and that our lives are governed by something deeper and more sacred than the monotonous, standardized time-clock cycle of modern living.

Though working the land can be an arduous journey, there is definitely joy to be found in hard work when it’s for an honorable end, when there is greater purpose involved, and the means to that end are in one’s own hands and not some faceless externality, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be willingly enmeshed at Tantré for the summer.

RECIPES

POTATO SALAD WITH GREEN BEANS (from www.cooks.com)
1 1/2 lbs. red potatoes
1/2 c. sliced green onions or ½ cup sweet onion bulb
1/3 c. dry white wine
1/3 c. chicken broth
1 tbsp. dry sherry
*Vinaigrette Dressing (recipe follows)
1 lb. cooked green beans, cut into halves and chilled
Salt and pepper

In covered saucepan, cook potatoes in 2 inches boiling water until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. While potatoes are still warm, cut into quarters. In large bowl, toss warm potatoes with onions, wine, broth and sherry. Set aside 30 minutes. Toss with Vinaigrette Dressing. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Just before serving, add green beans and season with salt and pepper to taste.

*Vinaigrette Dressing
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp. fresh savory, minced
1 tsp. fresh basil, minced
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram, crushed
1/4 tsp. paprika

ORANGE AND GARLIC-ROASTED BEETS (from The Genesis Farm Cookbook) Serves 6.
1 pound medium beets, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 medium garlic cloves, crushed with ½ tsp. of salt
2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
½ tsp. finely grated orange peel
2 tsp. olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the beets with all of the above ingredients until they are well-coated. Roast the beets for about 40 minutes, shaking the pan and stirring occasionally, until they are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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