Hi friends,
Ben here, reminding you that tomorrow I'll be delivering vegetables to you, for the last time this year. It's been a real privilege learning to farm with your support. I took a plunge, going straight from first-year apprentice on a CSA in Maine to managing one of my own in a new climate, and you stood behind me, even when things didn't go quite as planned. I learned a lot out there, one thing being that I don't want to farm in this climate, ultimately. Not that there's anything wrong with it. I applaud the farmers who do grow here. They're some of the most talented farmers in the country, and I've appreciated being down here and learning something new every time I talked to Alex Hitt, or John Soehner, or young farmers like George O'Neal or the guys here at Ever Laughter. I'm glad that they can take the heat, and provide wholesome food for the Triangle, because I just can't (take the heat). My upbringing in Maine gave me a strong constitution for the cold. If I were a vegetable variety in the seed catalog, I would be "cold-hardy" as opposed to "heat-resistant." During my first year farming in Maine I liked getting up at dawn on a May morning and going to the field wearing my coat and knit cap, only to shed it later as the day warmed up. I have to say I was a little taken a back when we had 90-degree days for weeks on end here in April! See, I love crisp fall days, it's my favorite season. I guess you could say I'm wired to expect the leaves to be turning and falling off the trees right now. Not that it's not lovely and mild...we sure could use some rain though. If I didn't have irrigation, we wouldn't be eating anything but okra (maybe) right now!
So I think in the end I'm going to farm somewhere up north. I've been taking some time to explore other places, like North Carolina. I might try some other places yet, before I settle down. But when I do settle down, I want it to be somewhere I can farm for the next five decades. So I want to be pretty sure I can work comfortably there. I also have realized that I need to gain some more skills to pursue my ultimate dream, which is to grow food using draft power from horses and oxen. I've learned a few things about growing vegetables, but it's going to take some work to make a teamster out of me yet. I did recently have the opportunity to drive a single horse in Virginia doing some field work, and it convinced me that this is my cause--growing food with the least amount of petroleum possible. I do think we're close to peak oil, if we haven't peaked already, and I want to implement a farm system for my lifetime which is not dependent on fossil fuel, rather which relies on live power--renewable and sustainable for generations to come. I'm looking into apprenticeship opportunities in different parts of the country right now, so there's a good chance that by spring I'll be giving it a shot somewhere far away!
I hope you all enjoyed your produce this year. I was glad to grow it, and even when it fell short of perfection I know I was trying my best, and I always knew I that I had a supportive group of folks out there. There's hope for us all, as long as people are willing to take a chance on cooperative ventures like CSA. We put our trust in people and the work that they do with care to make the community better, and we don't only judge the final product, but also their intention, and the good work that they strive to do. Because we all want to live the good life, with connection to our food, and our community. I'm glad I had the chance to do that with you all this year. And I hope you'll sign up for other CSAs. Timberwood Organics in Efland delivers to Southern Village. Many other farms have local pickup: Eco Farm or Elysian Fields Farm at the Carrboro Farmers Market on Wednesdays, for instance. CSA is what I ultimately want to do with my animal-powered organic farm. I believe in it, because I believe in your power to change the world by supporting small farms and other community-based enterprises.
So, what will we have to eat tomorrow? There'll be more greens (man alive, it's been too long and I just can't get enough)--I'll try to stuff a little more in the bag tomorrow so you can have a cleansing feast of good tonic greens. There'll be radishes, and okra, and peppers, and one last round of basil. I just made some fresh pesto today for lunch, and it made me think we should go for it one more time, cause once it's gone, it's gone, right?
Thanks again, folks. We'll see ya tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Ben Whatley
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sweet Potato Hash
Hey guys,
Well we sure missed the rain today...Better luck next time I guess. We
only got a little drizzle. I was out transplanting fennel for the fall
with the guys at Ever Laughter Farm. Then I went over to my plot at
Breeze Farm to check on our veggies. Pulled some morninglories out of
the radishes, which we should get a little of over the next couple
weeks if a groundhog doesn't come get em first. I've been marking my
territory out there, if you know what I mean, to deter him, but
they're persistent, and tough little guys. Don't mean to scare you
here. We'll probably get some radishes and some greens next week to
vary the ration of okra et al.
That being said, there's more okra this week (did somebody say
Jambalaya..?), a small variety of peppers, basils, black-eyed peas,
and sweet potatoes. I'll be delivering tomorrow same time.
This recipe comes out of the book "Around the Southern Tabe" by Sarah
Belk. We've made variations on this theme by frying diced sweet
potatoes with peppers, okra, or tofu, so don't worry if you're
vegetarian or don't like country ham. I'll quote here some interesting
tidbits from her book before giving you the recipe:
"'Hash," a word that comes from the Old French word "hacher" or "to
chop," supposedly found its way into the English language in the
mid-1600s, but there are recipes for hash-type dishes dating at least
as far back as the fourteenth century. An invention of neccessity that
has seen many variations...the traditional New England version, red
flannel hash, for example, is generally made of the leftovers of a New
England boiled dinner: corned beef, carrots, and potatoes. (Some
authorities assert that the red color comes from the addition of
beets.) [...] The version here blends the slight sweetness of sweet
potatoes with the saltines of ham and the bite of onion to produce a
rich flavor more surprising, perhaps, than traditional hash. But it's
as wholesome a hash as any!
"Sweet Potato Hash"
2 T vegetable oi (less, if using nonstick skillet)
2 T unsalted butter (less, if using nonstick skillet)
1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 medium) peeled and diced in 1/4-1/3 in
cubes (approx. 3 cups)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 lb Smithfield or other dry-cured country ham, diced into 1/4 in cubes
1. Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add
sweet potatoes and onion, toss to coat, then cover and cook over
medium-low heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Increase heat to high, add ham and cook, tossing occasionally, 4 to
5 minutes, or until potatoes are golden-brown with some crisp edges.
Serve hot, accompanied by fried or poached eggs.
Serves 4.
--SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
Well we sure missed the rain today...Better luck next time I guess. We
only got a little drizzle. I was out transplanting fennel for the fall
with the guys at Ever Laughter Farm. Then I went over to my plot at
Breeze Farm to check on our veggies. Pulled some morninglories out of
the radishes, which we should get a little of over the next couple
weeks if a groundhog doesn't come get em first. I've been marking my
territory out there, if you know what I mean, to deter him, but
they're persistent, and tough little guys. Don't mean to scare you
here. We'll probably get some radishes and some greens next week to
vary the ration of okra et al.
That being said, there's more okra this week (did somebody say
Jambalaya..?), a small variety of peppers, basils, black-eyed peas,
and sweet potatoes. I'll be delivering tomorrow same time.
This recipe comes out of the book "Around the Southern Tabe" by Sarah
Belk. We've made variations on this theme by frying diced sweet
potatoes with peppers, okra, or tofu, so don't worry if you're
vegetarian or don't like country ham. I'll quote here some interesting
tidbits from her book before giving you the recipe:
"'Hash," a word that comes from the Old French word "hacher" or "to
chop," supposedly found its way into the English language in the
mid-1600s, but there are recipes for hash-type dishes dating at least
as far back as the fourteenth century. An invention of neccessity that
has seen many variations...the traditional New England version, red
flannel hash, for example, is generally made of the leftovers of a New
England boiled dinner: corned beef, carrots, and potatoes. (Some
authorities assert that the red color comes from the addition of
beets.) [...] The version here blends the slight sweetness of sweet
potatoes with the saltines of ham and the bite of onion to produce a
rich flavor more surprising, perhaps, than traditional hash. But it's
as wholesome a hash as any!
"Sweet Potato Hash"
2 T vegetable oi (less, if using nonstick skillet)
2 T unsalted butter (less, if using nonstick skillet)
1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 medium) peeled and diced in 1/4-1/3 in
cubes (approx. 3 cups)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 lb Smithfield or other dry-cured country ham, diced into 1/4 in cubes
1. Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add
sweet potatoes and onion, toss to coat, then cover and cook over
medium-low heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Increase heat to high, add ham and cook, tossing occasionally, 4 to
5 minutes, or until potatoes are golden-brown with some crisp edges.
Serve hot, accompanied by fried or poached eggs.
Serves 4.
--SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Pumpkins...and Pumpkin Recipes.
Howdy howdy,
Well I just got back from the Durham Farmers Market with Will from
Ever Laughter Farm, where I was helping him run the stand. It's a nice
market. You should check it out sometime after the CSA ends,
Wednesdays 3:30-6:30 and Saturdays 8-12. We had some leftover burgundy
okra, which you'll get to try tomorrow actually. I bought it off of
him at a generous discount to add to your bags, because I thought it'd
just be nice for you guys to try the red, almost purple okra. It's
pretty striking. Tastes about the same, but it just looks so pretty.
It'll be mixed in with our regular green okra. There'll be a little
more than usual, since you'll be getting my whole harvest plus the red
stuff. I would suggest okra and tomatoes, with onion, salt, and pepper
in the southern fashion. Or fried--Susannah is reported to be the
expert among us on frying okra. Maybe ask her how she does it...
The recipe this week comes from my mom, and uses a lovely New England
pie pumpkin (the name comes from the variety, not where it was grown
of course--it was grown by me right here in NC). It's real tasty, and
it's great to have a savory idea for pumpkin, since it's really too
early for pumpkin pie, right? Here it is:
South American Pumpkin Casserole
1 small pumpkin
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1 t cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
1 t ground coriander
1 cup chopped bell pepper
a few hot chili peppers, roasted (optional) or 1 t cayenne pepper and
1 t chili powder
3/4 t salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (sold in bulk bin at Weaver St Market)
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar or mexican blend cheese
Cut pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and their surrounding
pulp into a sink of cold water. Allow to soak to help separate seeds
from pulp. Bake pumpkin halves at 350 degrees on an oiled baking sheet
for 45-50 minutes or until very soft.
While pumpkin is baking, roast a handful of hot chili peppers, if
using. Wearing gloves (try not to touch the inside of the peppers with
your fingers), cut off stems, slice open peppers, remove seeds, and
toss onto an oiled baking sheet. Coat pepper flesh with oil and place
skin side up. Roast under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, until skin
blisters and begins to blacken, watching constantly, as this happens
fast. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit. Scoop peppers into a
plastic zip-lock bag and close. This can be done ahead and stored in
fridge.
Saute onion, garlic and spices in olive oil until onion is
translucent. Add bell peppers and salt, stir, cover and leave on low
heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in roasted chili
peppers.
Allow cooked pumpkin to cool, scrape from shell and mash well.
Beat eggs and mix into mashed pumpkin, followed by cooked quinoa. Add
corn, sauteed onions and peppers, cilantro or parsley, and grated
cheese. Stir to mix well.
Bake in an oiled dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes covered, then an
additional 20-30 minutes uncovered.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
While baking prepare pumpkin seeds for roasting. Spread seeds onto an
oiled baking sheet, toss to coat with oil, then sprinkle with salt.
When casserole comes out of the oven, turn heat down to 325 degrees.
Roast seeds for about 25 minutes until toasted golden brown and
crispy, stirring every 10 minutes.
---
UPDATE:
So I have been throwing around the idea of taking a week off since the
harvests are getting thin and I'm waiting for radishes, among other
things, to mature. I didn't think the sweet potatoes would be ready
until late September, but it turns out that some of them can be
harvested now. I'll harvest some tomorrow, cure them for a week in the
house so that they will store better, and bring them to you next week.
Same thing the week aftert that. We'll harvest a little at a time
until they're gone. As is stands, tomorrow will be the 16th week of
produce distribution for the year. That means that September 23rd will
be the 20th week, and the last day of our 2010 CSA.
As concerns what we're going to do once the market ends to get
everybody their shares. I've decided I'll deliver everybody's shares
next Thursday (9-2-10) between 6 and 7, and if that works well, we'll
keep doing that until the end of the season. Tomorrow I'll ask
everybody for their exact addresses to make sure I have them right,
and we'll see how that works the following week. TOMORROW IS NORMAL
PICK-UP AT THE MARKET, unless you're a Carrboro person whom I normally
deliver to. Great!
Recapping the harvest:
Okra (red and green)
Tomatoes
Thai basil
Peppers
Pumpkin
See ya tomorrow then!
Ben
Well I just got back from the Durham Farmers Market with Will from
Ever Laughter Farm, where I was helping him run the stand. It's a nice
market. You should check it out sometime after the CSA ends,
Wednesdays 3:30-6:30 and Saturdays 8-12. We had some leftover burgundy
okra, which you'll get to try tomorrow actually. I bought it off of
him at a generous discount to add to your bags, because I thought it'd
just be nice for you guys to try the red, almost purple okra. It's
pretty striking. Tastes about the same, but it just looks so pretty.
It'll be mixed in with our regular green okra. There'll be a little
more than usual, since you'll be getting my whole harvest plus the red
stuff. I would suggest okra and tomatoes, with onion, salt, and pepper
in the southern fashion. Or fried--Susannah is reported to be the
expert among us on frying okra. Maybe ask her how she does it...
The recipe this week comes from my mom, and uses a lovely New England
pie pumpkin (the name comes from the variety, not where it was grown
of course--it was grown by me right here in NC). It's real tasty, and
it's great to have a savory idea for pumpkin, since it's really too
early for pumpkin pie, right? Here it is:
South American Pumpkin Casserole
1 small pumpkin
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1 t cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
1 t ground coriander
1 cup chopped bell pepper
a few hot chili peppers, roasted (optional) or 1 t cayenne pepper and
1 t chili powder
3/4 t salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (sold in bulk bin at Weaver St Market)
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar or mexican blend cheese
Cut pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and their surrounding
pulp into a sink of cold water. Allow to soak to help separate seeds
from pulp. Bake pumpkin halves at 350 degrees on an oiled baking sheet
for 45-50 minutes or until very soft.
While pumpkin is baking, roast a handful of hot chili peppers, if
using. Wearing gloves (try not to touch the inside of the peppers with
your fingers), cut off stems, slice open peppers, remove seeds, and
toss onto an oiled baking sheet. Coat pepper flesh with oil and place
skin side up. Roast under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, until skin
blisters and begins to blacken, watching constantly, as this happens
fast. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit. Scoop peppers into a
plastic zip-lock bag and close. This can be done ahead and stored in
fridge.
Saute onion, garlic and spices in olive oil until onion is
translucent. Add bell peppers and salt, stir, cover and leave on low
heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in roasted chili
peppers.
Allow cooked pumpkin to cool, scrape from shell and mash well.
Beat eggs and mix into mashed pumpkin, followed by cooked quinoa. Add
corn, sauteed onions and peppers, cilantro or parsley, and grated
cheese. Stir to mix well.
Bake in an oiled dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes covered, then an
additional 20-30 minutes uncovered.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
While baking prepare pumpkin seeds for roasting. Spread seeds onto an
oiled baking sheet, toss to coat with oil, then sprinkle with salt.
When casserole comes out of the oven, turn heat down to 325 degrees.
Roast seeds for about 25 minutes until toasted golden brown and
crispy, stirring every 10 minutes.
---
UPDATE:
So I have been throwing around the idea of taking a week off since the
harvests are getting thin and I'm waiting for radishes, among other
things, to mature. I didn't think the sweet potatoes would be ready
until late September, but it turns out that some of them can be
harvested now. I'll harvest some tomorrow, cure them for a week in the
house so that they will store better, and bring them to you next week.
Same thing the week aftert that. We'll harvest a little at a time
until they're gone. As is stands, tomorrow will be the 16th week of
produce distribution for the year. That means that September 23rd will
be the 20th week, and the last day of our 2010 CSA.
As concerns what we're going to do once the market ends to get
everybody their shares. I've decided I'll deliver everybody's shares
next Thursday (9-2-10) between 6 and 7, and if that works well, we'll
keep doing that until the end of the season. Tomorrow I'll ask
everybody for their exact addresses to make sure I have them right,
and we'll see how that works the following week. TOMORROW IS NORMAL
PICK-UP AT THE MARKET, unless you're a Carrboro person whom I normally
deliver to. Great!
Recapping the harvest:
Okra (red and green)
Tomatoes
Thai basil
Peppers
Pumpkin
See ya tomorrow then!
Ben
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Okra,..and My Mom's Pesto!
Heya good people,
I'm very excited about two things this week. One is okra, which I love
to eat raw, snapped right off the plant. We'll pick it fresh tomorrow
to try to recreate that experience as best as we can, and later we'll
explore ways to cook okra together. It makes a great pickled garnish
on a bloody mary...anyways...more on that later...maybe.
The other is pesto. I grew up eating a lot of pesto that my mom and
dad made our garden's basil and froze for the winter. They always
added the cheese later, freshly grated, never frozen. That was one tip
I got from them. The other was about growing basil plants in the first
place. They showed me how to pick the tops of the plants aggressively
at first to encourage them to bush out and produce more leaves. A tip
which helped me grow a lot of basil this year.
Well this week it's one for pesto. Everybody's getting a big bag,
which should be about enough for this recipe which my mom was kind
enough to share with me. Me and all my farm mates can vouch for the
deliciousness of the lemon-parsley variation--wow! She brought us up a
bunch that she'd made with our basil. I wish I could do that with all
of our vegetables. Just send Mom home with a big box and pick up some
prepared food--heaven. Anyhow, here's yer recipe--thanks Mom:
"Pesto"
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup olive oil (first cold-pressed extra virgin)
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 t. salt
1/3 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste
In a food processor, puree olive oil, garlic, salt and nuts until
smooth. Add basil and process to your desired consistency. Scoop into
a bowl and mix in grated cheese by hand. If you want to freeze it, it
freezes best without the cheese added, which you can add before using,
after defrosting.
Pesto has many uses, such as pasta sauce, topping for fish or chicken,
or simply spread on crusty bread with a fresh slice of tomato.
Lemon-Parsley-Basil Pesto variation
To the above recipe substitute 1/2 cup fresh parsley for 1/2 cup of
the basil, and add the freshly-squeezed juice of one lemon. Very
tasty.
--Very tasty, indeed!
In other news, on Monday I planted turnips, radishes and Asian greens
for you guys (mid-September), the moles haven't gotten all the sweet
potatoes yet, and we're just gonna keep going as long as we can. If we
have to take a break and come back to it in September, we will, but
hey, that okra ain't gonna quit now that it's goin, I don't think! We
have a few squash plants that survived the heat as seedlings, and
hopefully more than a few beans each coming soon.
To summarize:
OKRA
TOMATOES
BASIL
HOT PEPPERS
We'll see ya on the morrow!
Ben
I'm very excited about two things this week. One is okra, which I love
to eat raw, snapped right off the plant. We'll pick it fresh tomorrow
to try to recreate that experience as best as we can, and later we'll
explore ways to cook okra together. It makes a great pickled garnish
on a bloody mary...anyways...more on that later...maybe.
The other is pesto. I grew up eating a lot of pesto that my mom and
dad made our garden's basil and froze for the winter. They always
added the cheese later, freshly grated, never frozen. That was one tip
I got from them. The other was about growing basil plants in the first
place. They showed me how to pick the tops of the plants aggressively
at first to encourage them to bush out and produce more leaves. A tip
which helped me grow a lot of basil this year.
Well this week it's one for pesto. Everybody's getting a big bag,
which should be about enough for this recipe which my mom was kind
enough to share with me. Me and all my farm mates can vouch for the
deliciousness of the lemon-parsley variation--wow! She brought us up a
bunch that she'd made with our basil. I wish I could do that with all
of our vegetables. Just send Mom home with a big box and pick up some
prepared food--heaven. Anyhow, here's yer recipe--thanks Mom:
"Pesto"
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup olive oil (first cold-pressed extra virgin)
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 t. salt
1/3 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste
In a food processor, puree olive oil, garlic, salt and nuts until
smooth. Add basil and process to your desired consistency. Scoop into
a bowl and mix in grated cheese by hand. If you want to freeze it, it
freezes best without the cheese added, which you can add before using,
after defrosting.
Pesto has many uses, such as pasta sauce, topping for fish or chicken,
or simply spread on crusty bread with a fresh slice of tomato.
Lemon-Parsley-Basil Pesto variation
To the above recipe substitute 1/2 cup fresh parsley for 1/2 cup of
the basil, and add the freshly-squeezed juice of one lemon. Very
tasty.
--Very tasty, indeed!
In other news, on Monday I planted turnips, radishes and Asian greens
for you guys (mid-September), the moles haven't gotten all the sweet
potatoes yet, and we're just gonna keep going as long as we can. If we
have to take a break and come back to it in September, we will, but
hey, that okra ain't gonna quit now that it's goin, I don't think! We
have a few squash plants that survived the heat as seedlings, and
hopefully more than a few beans each coming soon.
To summarize:
OKRA
TOMATOES
BASIL
HOT PEPPERS
We'll see ya on the morrow!
Ben
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Thai basil...and Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe!
Howdy folks,
Ben here. Hope yall had a good week so far, and are gearing up for a
good weekend, soaking it up before school sucks everybody back in, you
know...I have. I've been making some transitions. The farm where I've
been living north of Hillsborough, Ever Laughter Farm, lost their
intern a little early this season, and finding themselves shorthanded,
asked me if I wanted to work for them for the rest of the season. I
said yes, and gave my notice to my friends at Neal's Deli, where I had
been working 35 hours a week since before I even started this CSA
project. Hard to say goodbye, but it was the right thing of course.
Now, just as before, I'll be doing a second practically full time job
in addition to growing veggies for you folks, but it's not easy to get
started from scratch, you know, with student loans, car payments,
health insurance, and bills that won't wait, so I've got to do it. But
at least now I'll be farming all the time, just about every day, I
guess. I think we'll keep our Thursdays, but as you may know, the
Southern Village market ends this month, so I may go to a shorter
pickup window or delivery outright. Let's think about it a little over
these next couple weeks and see what makes sense.
It's slim pickens out there, I hate to say. The tomatoes are dying
off, the peppers are slowing down, and the melons are all done. That's
just part of the hard lesson I'm learning this year in North Carolina.
I really had to have four plantings of tomatoes out there, with fresh
seedlings every month from April to July ready to set out. I wish I
had a farming coach who could have looked at my plan and said, "you're
gonna run out of stuff in August, what's your plan?" All those plants
that will just live the whole season up in Maine can't make it in this
heat. Too bad. I wish I had more to offer you. Some more squash and
cukes are coming on, okra too and there'll be sweet potatoes at the
end, but it may be neccessary at some point to take a break and wait
for things to grow before finishing it out with a bang, hopefully.
Nothin new this week. Thumb-length okra out there, so I can say,
safely I think, that you have that to look forward to next week, but
anyways. I'm going to highlight thai basil this week, and instead of
giving a recipe, acknowledge my ineptitude with Asian cooking, and
just give a shout out to Vimala and her crew at the Curryblossom Cafe,
recently opened in Chapel Hill. I brought her some leftover Thai basil
and chilis last week and she said she was going to use them in a
chicken dish the very next day. LaVonne and I ate dinner there and
loved it. Her community-oriented cooking and compassion are one of a
kind. Check out curryblossom.com or head down to the courtyard on
Franklin where Sandwhich used to be Tues-Sat 5-9. Deliciousness, and
real Farm-to-Fork philosophy put into practice.
So what's it gonna be?
Tomatoes, while they last
Thai basil
1`Ancho Poblano pepper
Some little Italian frying peppers--just a little hot, but I would try
frying em in hot oil, salt em pretty good and serving with toothpicks
as a snack with beer
And 1 more winter squash--either a butternut or a delicata
I'll see ya tomorrow then--
Ben
Ben here. Hope yall had a good week so far, and are gearing up for a
good weekend, soaking it up before school sucks everybody back in, you
know...I have. I've been making some transitions. The farm where I've
been living north of Hillsborough, Ever Laughter Farm, lost their
intern a little early this season, and finding themselves shorthanded,
asked me if I wanted to work for them for the rest of the season. I
said yes, and gave my notice to my friends at Neal's Deli, where I had
been working 35 hours a week since before I even started this CSA
project. Hard to say goodbye, but it was the right thing of course.
Now, just as before, I'll be doing a second practically full time job
in addition to growing veggies for you folks, but it's not easy to get
started from scratch, you know, with student loans, car payments,
health insurance, and bills that won't wait, so I've got to do it. But
at least now I'll be farming all the time, just about every day, I
guess. I think we'll keep our Thursdays, but as you may know, the
Southern Village market ends this month, so I may go to a shorter
pickup window or delivery outright. Let's think about it a little over
these next couple weeks and see what makes sense.
It's slim pickens out there, I hate to say. The tomatoes are dying
off, the peppers are slowing down, and the melons are all done. That's
just part of the hard lesson I'm learning this year in North Carolina.
I really had to have four plantings of tomatoes out there, with fresh
seedlings every month from April to July ready to set out. I wish I
had a farming coach who could have looked at my plan and said, "you're
gonna run out of stuff in August, what's your plan?" All those plants
that will just live the whole season up in Maine can't make it in this
heat. Too bad. I wish I had more to offer you. Some more squash and
cukes are coming on, okra too and there'll be sweet potatoes at the
end, but it may be neccessary at some point to take a break and wait
for things to grow before finishing it out with a bang, hopefully.
Nothin new this week. Thumb-length okra out there, so I can say,
safely I think, that you have that to look forward to next week, but
anyways. I'm going to highlight thai basil this week, and instead of
giving a recipe, acknowledge my ineptitude with Asian cooking, and
just give a shout out to Vimala and her crew at the Curryblossom Cafe,
recently opened in Chapel Hill. I brought her some leftover Thai basil
and chilis last week and she said she was going to use them in a
chicken dish the very next day. LaVonne and I ate dinner there and
loved it. Her community-oriented cooking and compassion are one of a
kind. Check out curryblossom.com or head down to the courtyard on
Franklin where Sandwhich used to be Tues-Sat 5-9. Deliciousness, and
real Farm-to-Fork philosophy put into practice.
So what's it gonna be?
Tomatoes, while they last
Thai basil
1`Ancho Poblano pepper
Some little Italian frying peppers--just a little hot, but I would try
frying em in hot oil, salt em pretty good and serving with toothpicks
as a snack with beer
And 1 more winter squash--either a butternut or a delicata
I'll see ya tomorrow then--
Ben
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Delicatas. Fresh Tomato Sauce.
Hey yall--
Delicata. Nuff said. Nicest little hard squash there is. Cut in half,
scoop out the seeds, then slice little thin half moons, toss em in
dressing and maybe some chopped nuts.
Fresh Tomato Sauce, now that's a little bit of heaven that I hope all
yall have partaken in already with our tomatoes. But in case you
haven't, today you'll get a nice lot of paste tomatoes, San Marzanos
to be precise. What I do with the sauce is to saute garlic and onions
in olive oil, throw in a handful of chopped basil, and your peeled and
chopped tomatoes. (To peel, drop them in a pot of boiling water for a
hot minute, transfer to an ice bath to peel.) Or alternatively, you
can use "grated" tomato pulp. Cut the things in half and put them
through a cheese grater--just compost the skin that's left in your
hand. Or just do what makes you feel good. Now's the season.
So in addition to yer maters and the delicata squash, you'll get a sun
jewel melon, a bag of basil, and a couple of jalapeno peppers.
Thanks for being there for me. I'm trying for you and I'll see you tomorrow!
Ben
Delicata. Nuff said. Nicest little hard squash there is. Cut in half,
scoop out the seeds, then slice little thin half moons, toss em in
dressing and maybe some chopped nuts.
Fresh Tomato Sauce, now that's a little bit of heaven that I hope all
yall have partaken in already with our tomatoes. But in case you
haven't, today you'll get a nice lot of paste tomatoes, San Marzanos
to be precise. What I do with the sauce is to saute garlic and onions
in olive oil, throw in a handful of chopped basil, and your peeled and
chopped tomatoes. (To peel, drop them in a pot of boiling water for a
hot minute, transfer to an ice bath to peel.) Or alternatively, you
can use "grated" tomato pulp. Cut the things in half and put them
through a cheese grater--just compost the skin that's left in your
hand. Or just do what makes you feel good. Now's the season.
So in addition to yer maters and the delicata squash, you'll get a sun
jewel melon, a bag of basil, and a couple of jalapeno peppers.
Thanks for being there for me. I'm trying for you and I'll see you tomorrow!
Ben
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Acorn Squash...and Fresh Salsa
Hey yall,
So I returned this week from Maine. Not to make you jealous or
anything, but the highest temperature we got was 88, I think, and even
then we could just jump into the lake or retreat into the woods. The
vacation that I'd planned months ago just happened to end up falling
during an extremely hot week here, it seems. But I guess you can't go
wrong planning a vacation away from this area in July. It was good,
but it's even better to be back and be tending the crops. LaVonne did
an amazing job last week, and she had some help harvesting from my
mates at Ever Laughter Farm--they're young farmers who sell at South
Estes Market (by A Southern Season) on Saturdays, with veggies, pork,
and free-range eggs, so check em out sometime! They have a website,
too. Everlaughterfarm.com
All this rain we've been getting just beaten the tomato crop almost to
a pulp. Split, cat-scratched, and bursting. I was talking to my
friends at the Carrboro Market today, seasoned, expert growers, and
they confirmed that you gotta have some cover to grow nice tomatoes in
a rainy period--whether it be a greenhouse, hoophouse, high tunnel or
haygrove. And it rains a bit more up there in the microclimate north
of Hillsborough. You don't need heat, but you need to have a way to
moderate the climate, to protect from wind and rain. Tomatoes in these
structures are grown just like any other, organically, in the dirt.
You can irrigate just as much or as little as you want, to control the
flavor intensity of the tomatoes at the time you want it, but you keep
the rain off the leaves and fruit, which invites disease and poor
tomato quality. I might have the opportunity to lease a small
(50-foot) structure next year from NC State. We'll see, it's a little
investment for sure, but you'll love having beautiful, smooth-skinned
tomatoes if it's a rainy July next year.
So needless to say, the tomatoes this week are for the most part what
we call "canners," as opposed to camera-ready "slicers." Great for a
fresh tomato sauce with basil, or spicy, juicy fresh salsa. I wish we
still had cilantro, but there's just too much heat to keep a crop
going without it bolting really quickly. Maybe you know somebody with
a shady garden who's growing some. Anyways, a rough recipe for fresh
salsa will follow the harvest list.
Here goes:
1 acorn squash (it's been cured for storage, so don't worry about
cooking it right away--should keep up to 4 months)
1/2 of a Spanish Moon melon (heirloom, crazy type)
A few ripe tomatoes
1-2 hot chili peppers (Jalapeno and/or Serrano)
Some basils
1-2 little leaf cucumbers
For the salsa, you wanna get maybe 1/2 of a medium onion, any color, a
couple cloves of garlic, a lime, several sprigs of cilantro, and your
peppers, and tomatoes. De-seed your peppers and tomatoes, then dice
everything up, the garlic and peppers somewhat finer than the onions
and tomatoes. Chop up the herb and combine it with the other
ingredients. Squeeze some lime over it all, salt to taste, and put it
all in a bowl in the fridge for at least half an hour to let the
flavors combine. You got some good salsa. LaVonne and I did this many
times last summer in Maine. I think you'd call this a Pico de Gallo
type salsa, just the basics you know. Pick up some peaches from Mr.
Ferguson at the market and try a peach salsa...mmm.
Alright then, see ya tomorrow!
Ben
So I returned this week from Maine. Not to make you jealous or
anything, but the highest temperature we got was 88, I think, and even
then we could just jump into the lake or retreat into the woods. The
vacation that I'd planned months ago just happened to end up falling
during an extremely hot week here, it seems. But I guess you can't go
wrong planning a vacation away from this area in July. It was good,
but it's even better to be back and be tending the crops. LaVonne did
an amazing job last week, and she had some help harvesting from my
mates at Ever Laughter Farm--they're young farmers who sell at South
Estes Market (by A Southern Season) on Saturdays, with veggies, pork,
and free-range eggs, so check em out sometime! They have a website,
too. Everlaughterfarm.com
All this rain we've been getting just beaten the tomato crop almost to
a pulp. Split, cat-scratched, and bursting. I was talking to my
friends at the Carrboro Market today, seasoned, expert growers, and
they confirmed that you gotta have some cover to grow nice tomatoes in
a rainy period--whether it be a greenhouse, hoophouse, high tunnel or
haygrove. And it rains a bit more up there in the microclimate north
of Hillsborough. You don't need heat, but you need to have a way to
moderate the climate, to protect from wind and rain. Tomatoes in these
structures are grown just like any other, organically, in the dirt.
You can irrigate just as much or as little as you want, to control the
flavor intensity of the tomatoes at the time you want it, but you keep
the rain off the leaves and fruit, which invites disease and poor
tomato quality. I might have the opportunity to lease a small
(50-foot) structure next year from NC State. We'll see, it's a little
investment for sure, but you'll love having beautiful, smooth-skinned
tomatoes if it's a rainy July next year.
So needless to say, the tomatoes this week are for the most part what
we call "canners," as opposed to camera-ready "slicers." Great for a
fresh tomato sauce with basil, or spicy, juicy fresh salsa. I wish we
still had cilantro, but there's just too much heat to keep a crop
going without it bolting really quickly. Maybe you know somebody with
a shady garden who's growing some. Anyways, a rough recipe for fresh
salsa will follow the harvest list.
Here goes:
1 acorn squash (it's been cured for storage, so don't worry about
cooking it right away--should keep up to 4 months)
1/2 of a Spanish Moon melon (heirloom, crazy type)
A few ripe tomatoes
1-2 hot chili peppers (Jalapeno and/or Serrano)
Some basils
1-2 little leaf cucumbers
For the salsa, you wanna get maybe 1/2 of a medium onion, any color, a
couple cloves of garlic, a lime, several sprigs of cilantro, and your
peppers, and tomatoes. De-seed your peppers and tomatoes, then dice
everything up, the garlic and peppers somewhat finer than the onions
and tomatoes. Chop up the herb and combine it with the other
ingredients. Squeeze some lime over it all, salt to taste, and put it
all in a bowl in the fridge for at least half an hour to let the
flavors combine. You got some good salsa. LaVonne and I did this many
times last summer in Maine. I think you'd call this a Pico de Gallo
type salsa, just the basics you know. Pick up some peaches from Mr.
Ferguson at the market and try a peach salsa...mmm.
Alright then, see ya tomorrow!
Ben
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Butternut Squash
Hi everybody, this is LaVonne. I'll be taking care of the harvest and market tomorrow as Ben is on vacation up in Maine this week. I've been trying to hold down the fort while he's gone - trellising and suckering tomatoes, taking out the old corn stalks and, as always, there are plenty of weeds waiting to be pulled. It was brought to my attention that a couple of the Sugar Baby Watermelons distributed last week were unripe. Please let me know if this was the case for yours, too, and I'll hook you up with one this week. Never hesitate to tell us if something is off with your produce, we're always learning new things as first year farmers, and it is really helpful to have your input.
In your CSA bags you can expect to find a couple of lemon cucumbers, a variety of tomatoes, blackeyed peas, a melon, some genovese basil (great for making pesto), and a butternut squash. Below you'll find a recipe for butternut squash soup from The Foster's Market Cookbook.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Tomatoes and Thyme
1 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
1/4 cup olive oil
6 medium tomatoes, cored and halved
4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 red onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, or 4 teaspoons dried
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
juice of 2 oranges
1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Place squash cut side down in large baking dish. Add 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the dish and roast 35 to 40 minutes, until squash is soft to the touch.
3. Toss tomatoes and garlic with 2 tbs of the oil and the vinegar in a baking dish. Roast 30 to 35 minutes or until soft and skin is slightly shriveled. Let cool, then lightly crush tomatoes into small pieces, saving the juice. Set aside until ready to use.
4. Heat the rest of the olive oil and butter over medium heat in large saucepan. Add onion, cook and stir for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add carrot and celery and cook another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Add the broth, salt, pepper and reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered, 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Scoop the squash flesh from its skin and add to soup. Simmer another 20 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and add spices. Cool slightly and puree in a food processor with a metal blade. Return to pot, add tomatoes, their juice, and orange juice. Serve immediately. (it also freezes well)
*I'm a big advocate of altering recipes, so if it seems too daunting or like there are too many ingredients, just make it work for you!
See you soon,
LaVonne
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Crunchy Corn Relish...and Cantaloupe!
Howdy folks--
LaVonne and I just ate a cantaloupe and a watermelon, and we're very happy. We hope you'll like them both. Thank heavens for that rain, huh. I just got the cover crop planted in time, too. Seeded about half of the area I'm growing on, or about 7500 sq feet, to field peas and foxtail millet, which are crops I'm growing, not for cash or food value, but for building fertility and supressing weeds in the time before another cash crop is planted. So that means that everywhere the spring crops were grown--the carrots, beets, potatoes, cole crops, lettuce, etc.--is being rested for the summer. And all that rain really helped to water the seed in! Which is great, except 2" of rain in 24 hrs also burst a lot of ripe melons. The sun jewel melons looked like somebody put a firecracker inside of them, well some of them anyways. The cantaloupes held up well, though, and you're getting one! If it doesn't smell all the way ripe, and with some of them it may be the case, just let it sit on the counter until it seems ready, not more than a few days.
Another cucurbit which I'm excited about is the lemon cucumber. We'll try to have a ripe one of those in everybody's bag tomorrow, and supplement as we can with the few little pickling cukes we have going still.
We'll also have some tomatoes and basil.
And some black-eyed peas in the shell will be waiting for you to shell them. Some are all the way dry, others still green. But they'll all have peas in them for you to cook. The green ones are really a delight.
This week's recipe for Crunchy Corn Relish comes from Sara Foster's cookbook, The Foster's Market Cookbook. It is served at Foster's with Salmon Cakes, but she writes that it would go well on top of grilled salmon or sauteed soft-shell crabs, as well. Very summery and tasty--hope you like it.
kernels from 2 ears fresh corn
1/4 c red onion, diced
2 T dry white wine
1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 T peeled, julienned fresh ginger
1 1/2 T fresh thyme or 1/2 T dried thyme
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T pink peppercorns
1 t whole coriander seeds
1/2 T sugar
1 bay leaf
1 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
3-4 scallions, trimmed and cut into thinly sliced rounds
3 fresh basil leaves, cut into very thin strips (chiffonade)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place the corn, onion, wine, vinegar, ginger, thyme, garlic, peppercorns, coriander, sugar, and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir and cook about ten minutes, until the seasonings are incorporated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the green pepper, red pepper, scallions, and basil and stir to mix.
3. Add the corn mixture to the pepper mixture and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use. Discard the bay leaves before serving.
See ya tomorrow!
Ben
LaVonne and I just ate a cantaloupe and a watermelon, and we're very happy. We hope you'll like them both. Thank heavens for that rain, huh. I just got the cover crop planted in time, too. Seeded about half of the area I'm growing on, or about 7500 sq feet, to field peas and foxtail millet, which are crops I'm growing, not for cash or food value, but for building fertility and supressing weeds in the time before another cash crop is planted. So that means that everywhere the spring crops were grown--the carrots, beets, potatoes, cole crops, lettuce, etc.--is being rested for the summer. And all that rain really helped to water the seed in! Which is great, except 2" of rain in 24 hrs also burst a lot of ripe melons. The sun jewel melons looked like somebody put a firecracker inside of them, well some of them anyways. The cantaloupes held up well, though, and you're getting one! If it doesn't smell all the way ripe, and with some of them it may be the case, just let it sit on the counter until it seems ready, not more than a few days.
Another cucurbit which I'm excited about is the lemon cucumber. We'll try to have a ripe one of those in everybody's bag tomorrow, and supplement as we can with the few little pickling cukes we have going still.
We'll also have some tomatoes and basil.
And some black-eyed peas in the shell will be waiting for you to shell them. Some are all the way dry, others still green. But they'll all have peas in them for you to cook. The green ones are really a delight.
This week's recipe for Crunchy Corn Relish comes from Sara Foster's cookbook, The Foster's Market Cookbook. It is served at Foster's with Salmon Cakes, but she writes that it would go well on top of grilled salmon or sauteed soft-shell crabs, as well. Very summery and tasty--hope you like it.
kernels from 2 ears fresh corn
1/4 c red onion, diced
2 T dry white wine
1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 T peeled, julienned fresh ginger
1 1/2 T fresh thyme or 1/2 T dried thyme
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T pink peppercorns
1 t whole coriander seeds
1/2 T sugar
1 bay leaf
1 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
3-4 scallions, trimmed and cut into thinly sliced rounds
3 fresh basil leaves, cut into very thin strips (chiffonade)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place the corn, onion, wine, vinegar, ginger, thyme, garlic, peppercorns, coriander, sugar, and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir and cook about ten minutes, until the seasonings are incorporated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the green pepper, red pepper, scallions, and basil and stir to mix.
3. Add the corn mixture to the pepper mixture and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use. Discard the bay leaves before serving.
See ya tomorrow!
Ben
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Gazapacho...and Melons!
Howdy folks--
As always, one or another vegetable is trying to steal the show. This week it's a fight between melons and sweet corn. I'll tell you a few things about them, and you can try em and decide for yourself. First, the melons. They're a Japanese variety called Sun Jewel. They're yellow and white striped and taste kind of like a crisp honeydew. Very nice small melon to split for dessert. There'll be one of em in the bag tomorrow.
The corn, of which there will be a couple of ears, is an heirloom variety called shoepeg corn. Its kernels are somewhat irregularly shaped, with kind of crooked rows. The plants are pretty nuts, I mean they're 12 feet tall, maybe some are higher. Taller than a basketball hoop, for sure. I chalk that up to the fact that the seeds are open-pollinated, which means you can save seed each year from your best ears and breed super corn for your farm or garden over a number of years. It's the old way, before Monsanto, and I think the corn is the best, although low-yielding compared to hybrid corn.
There will also be a handful of edamame, or snackin' soybeans. Just steam in the pod and pop em out for some good finger food.
And some Thai sweet basil. Great for Asian cooking, or just a breath mint.
And tomorrow is a tomato blowout! I'm giving you a gazpacho recipe, and for that you'll need plenty of ripe tomatoes. They'll be a mix of varieties, and should make for a pretty and tasty soup. The recipe is from Neal's Deli, where most of you know I also work as a line cook.
You'll need:
8 medium tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
1 medium yellow onion, fine diced
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and fine diced
2 jalapeno chili peppers, fine diced
3 lemons, juiced
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
3/4 T. salt
1/2 T. pepper
Core tomatoes and cut an "x" into the bottom. Cut out any bad spots. Blanch in a pot of boilng water until skin just begins to wrinkle. Plunge tomatoes into an ice bath. Peel tomatoes, cut in half horizontally and squeeze out seeds. Rough chop tomatoes. Save all tomato juice!
Combine garlic, tomatoes, and tomato juice. Add onions, cukes, chilies, and lemon juice. Add cayenne, salt, and pepper.
Garnish with croutons and a drizzle of olive oil.
See ya tomorrow then!
Ben
As always, one or another vegetable is trying to steal the show. This week it's a fight between melons and sweet corn. I'll tell you a few things about them, and you can try em and decide for yourself. First, the melons. They're a Japanese variety called Sun Jewel. They're yellow and white striped and taste kind of like a crisp honeydew. Very nice small melon to split for dessert. There'll be one of em in the bag tomorrow.
The corn, of which there will be a couple of ears, is an heirloom variety called shoepeg corn. Its kernels are somewhat irregularly shaped, with kind of crooked rows. The plants are pretty nuts, I mean they're 12 feet tall, maybe some are higher. Taller than a basketball hoop, for sure. I chalk that up to the fact that the seeds are open-pollinated, which means you can save seed each year from your best ears and breed super corn for your farm or garden over a number of years. It's the old way, before Monsanto, and I think the corn is the best, although low-yielding compared to hybrid corn.
There will also be a handful of edamame, or snackin' soybeans. Just steam in the pod and pop em out for some good finger food.
And some Thai sweet basil. Great for Asian cooking, or just a breath mint.
And tomorrow is a tomato blowout! I'm giving you a gazpacho recipe, and for that you'll need plenty of ripe tomatoes. They'll be a mix of varieties, and should make for a pretty and tasty soup. The recipe is from Neal's Deli, where most of you know I also work as a line cook.
You'll need:
8 medium tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
1 medium yellow onion, fine diced
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and fine diced
2 jalapeno chili peppers, fine diced
3 lemons, juiced
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
3/4 T. salt
1/2 T. pepper
Core tomatoes and cut an "x" into the bottom. Cut out any bad spots. Blanch in a pot of boilng water until skin just begins to wrinkle. Plunge tomatoes into an ice bath. Peel tomatoes, cut in half horizontally and squeeze out seeds. Rough chop tomatoes. Save all tomato juice!
Combine garlic, tomatoes, and tomato juice. Add onions, cukes, chilies, and lemon juice. Add cayenne, salt, and pepper.
Garnish with croutons and a drizzle of olive oil.
See ya tomorrow then!
Ben
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Carrots with Sage Butter,..and TOMATOES!
Hey yall,
Farmer Ben here. I don't mean to overshadow the carrots and sage
butter, which is a wonderful dish, and one which I'm going to give you
everything you need to make it tomorrow, but it strikes more of a fall
tone, while tomatoes are ushering in the summer. And are they ever off
to a good start! Tomorrow we will have a cup of sun gold cherry
tomatoes, a big beefsteak tomato, and an heirloom slicer which will
either be a "Rose," a "Valencia," a "Rose de Berne," or a "German
Johnson." To go with that, we will have other exciting things (it's a
shame really that tomatoes always steal the show!) like:
Snap beans (for fresh eating or cooking)
A mixed bunch of carrots
The sage and parsley you'll need for the recipe
And a big spaghetti squash--a meal in itself!
Here's the recipe, which comes again from "Vegetarian Cooking for
Everyone" by Deborah Madison...
First the Sage and Garlic Butter. You'll need:
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 T chopped fresh sage
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 T finely chopped parsley
Heat the butter and oil in a small skillet over high heat. When
bubbling, add the sage and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic
and cook until it has perfumed the oil. Remove from the hear, stir in
the parsley, and season with a pinch of salt and plenty of pepper.
Now to steam the carrots, you'll want to chop the carrots into rounds
or any other shape you desire, as long as the pieces are uniformly
sized, so they'll cook evenly. Steam them, covered, over boiling water
until they just yield to the tip of a knife, 5 to 12 minutes depending
on the size. Put them in a big bowl and toss them with the sage
butter. Bon appetit!
SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
Farmer Ben here. I don't mean to overshadow the carrots and sage
butter, which is a wonderful dish, and one which I'm going to give you
everything you need to make it tomorrow, but it strikes more of a fall
tone, while tomatoes are ushering in the summer. And are they ever off
to a good start! Tomorrow we will have a cup of sun gold cherry
tomatoes, a big beefsteak tomato, and an heirloom slicer which will
either be a "Rose," a "Valencia," a "Rose de Berne," or a "German
Johnson." To go with that, we will have other exciting things (it's a
shame really that tomatoes always steal the show!) like:
Snap beans (for fresh eating or cooking)
A mixed bunch of carrots
The sage and parsley you'll need for the recipe
And a big spaghetti squash--a meal in itself!
Here's the recipe, which comes again from "Vegetarian Cooking for
Everyone" by Deborah Madison...
First the Sage and Garlic Butter. You'll need:
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 T chopped fresh sage
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 T finely chopped parsley
Heat the butter and oil in a small skillet over high heat. When
bubbling, add the sage and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic
and cook until it has perfumed the oil. Remove from the hear, stir in
the parsley, and season with a pinch of salt and plenty of pepper.
Now to steam the carrots, you'll want to chop the carrots into rounds
or any other shape you desire, as long as the pieces are uniformly
sized, so they'll cook evenly. Steam them, covered, over boiling water
until they just yield to the tip of a knife, 5 to 12 minutes depending
on the size. Put them in a big bowl and toss them with the sage
butter. Bon appetit!
SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Carrots!
Hey yall,
End of another week here at Driftwood Garden. Sitting here eating
fried potatoes and thinking it'd be great to give you all an
interesting potato recipe. Here's a little something we did at Farm to
Fork this year--we're actually mentioned in the Independent today,
although misidentified as the Whatley-McKinley Farm (since I worked
with Chris McKinley of BoxCarr Farms). It uses some small potatoes
that you'll find in your bags tomorrow, along with:
Little bunches of dill, parsley, and cilantro
Green shallots (use like scallions)
Beets
Carrots
1/2 of a red cabbage
A big old Daikon
Swiss Chard
Some new cukes (they're picklers, so you can slice em up and make some
really simple refrigerator pickles with the fresh dill, or eat em
fresh)
A few squash
---
from chef2chef.net
Roasted Potatoes Buried in Sea Salt
Try using red new potatoes or small yellow potatoes in this dish,
burying them completely in the coarse sea salt or Kosher salt. The
results -- crisp skin and soft, buttery insides -- with just the right
amount of saltiness. The salt acts as a kind of "crust" without
overwhelming the potatoes. Brush the hot salt off the potatoes using a
pastry brush or your hands well wrapped in a pot holder.
Ingredients
(3 servings)
6 md New potatoes
1 c Coarse sea salt or Kosher salt
Instructions
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Place the potatoes in a medium-size roasting pan or ovenproof skillet;
do not crowd the pan. Pour the salt over the potatoes; there should be
enough salt so that only the very tops of the potatoes peek through.
Roast the potatoes until tender, about 45-minutes. Brush the salt off
the potatoes before serving. Serve hot.
Serving
With the potatoes serve any roast.
SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
End of another week here at Driftwood Garden. Sitting here eating
fried potatoes and thinking it'd be great to give you all an
interesting potato recipe. Here's a little something we did at Farm to
Fork this year--we're actually mentioned in the Independent today,
although misidentified as the Whatley-McKinley Farm (since I worked
with Chris McKinley of BoxCarr Farms). It uses some small potatoes
that you'll find in your bags tomorrow, along with:
Little bunches of dill, parsley, and cilantro
Green shallots (use like scallions)
Beets
Carrots
1/2 of a red cabbage
A big old Daikon
Swiss Chard
Some new cukes (they're picklers, so you can slice em up and make some
really simple refrigerator pickles with the fresh dill, or eat em
fresh)
A few squash
---
from chef2chef.net
Roasted Potatoes Buried in Sea Salt
Try using red new potatoes or small yellow potatoes in this dish,
burying them completely in the coarse sea salt or Kosher salt. The
results -- crisp skin and soft, buttery insides -- with just the right
amount of saltiness. The salt acts as a kind of "crust" without
overwhelming the potatoes. Brush the hot salt off the potatoes using a
pastry brush or your hands well wrapped in a pot holder.
Ingredients
(3 servings)
6 md New potatoes
1 c Coarse sea salt or Kosher salt
Instructions
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Place the potatoes in a medium-size roasting pan or ovenproof skillet;
do not crowd the pan. Pour the salt over the potatoes; there should be
enough salt so that only the very tops of the potatoes peek through.
Roast the potatoes until tender, about 45-minutes. Brush the salt off
the potatoes before serving. Serve hot.
Serving
With the potatoes serve any roast.
SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Beets!
Hey folks,
It seems that these emails get sent later and later as the days get longer...It's easy to lose track of time out there and just work until dark like I've done all year. Well that wears you out real quick...Well here it is so I can put myself to bed and be fresh for the harvest tomorrow:
A couple big yukon gold potatoes
A few summer squash
A bunch of Hakurei salad turnips
A bunch of Swiss chard
A bunch of baby beets!
A bunch of Yukina Savoy--a succulent Asian green like Tatsoi
A bunch of chives or scallions
A head of broccoli or cauliflower
The recipe this week comes from Bev Carr, who coordinates activities up at the market. She wrote it herself using our Swiss Chard. I'll give you a printout tomorrow with your bag.
See ya tomorrow!
Ben
It seems that these emails get sent later and later as the days get longer...It's easy to lose track of time out there and just work until dark like I've done all year. Well that wears you out real quick...Well here it is so I can put myself to bed and be fresh for the harvest tomorrow:
A couple big yukon gold potatoes
A few summer squash
A bunch of Hakurei salad turnips
A bunch of Swiss chard
A bunch of baby beets!
A bunch of Yukina Savoy--a succulent Asian green like Tatsoi
A bunch of chives or scallions
A head of broccoli or cauliflower
The recipe this week comes from Bev Carr, who coordinates activities up at the market. She wrote it herself using our Swiss Chard. I'll give you a printout tomorrow with your bag.
See ya tomorrow!
Ben
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Harvest and Frisee Salad
Howdy Ag-Supporting Community members,
CSA share pickup is tomorrow as always, from 3:30-6:30 at the market in Southern Village. Hope you had a good week! It was a long week for me, with many preparations for and finally the execution of the Farm-to-Fork Picnic at the Breeze Farm on Sunday. Together with Neal's Deli and BoxCarr Farms I prepared a homemade Italian Sausage sub with wilted rapini and my pickled fennel, a beet salad, grilled turnips and carrots (BoxCarr's carrots--ours aren't that far along yet), and salt roasted new potatoes (you're getting some this week!). There were some great chefs, farmers, and artisans in attendance, as well as some 600 really supportive community members. Lots of fun, and a real privilege for a first-year farmer.
Growing for yall is a privilege, too, and with further delay let me announce the harvest this week:
1 bunch of cilantro
1 lb new red potatoes
1-2 Daikons
1/2 of a large head of chinese cabbage
1 bunch of tatsoi
1 head endive (featured this week in the recipe)
1 small head of lettuce (it's getting late in the year, and too hot, to grow much more lettuce!)
and 1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard
Now for the recipe (from nytimes.com): Frisee Salad with Poached Egg (uses Endive)
A note on how to use the head of endive included in this week's share. First of all, it looks a head of romaine lettuce, but tastes pretty bitter on the outside. What you want to do is peel off the outer few leaves until you reach the inner leaves which have been blanched light green almost white. Chop these into bite-size pieces and use in this recipe for "frisee." Frisee refers to the curly endive, not the broad-leafed endive that I grew (also called escarole), but it'll be good in this salad, trust me.
For the salad:
1 head frisée, tender light green leaves only, washed and dried (about 3 cups).
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon or chives
1 sweet red pepper, very thinly sliced
4 thin slices baguette or whole grain bread, toasted, rubbed with a cut clove of garlic and cut into squares
4 large or extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon vinegar (any kind)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced or pureed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons walnut oil
1. Combine the lettuce, herbs, red pepper and croutons in a large bowl.
2. Poach the eggs. Fill a lidded frying pan with water, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the water. One at a time, break the eggs into a teacup, then tip from the teacup into the pan (do this in batches if necessary). Immediately turn off the heat under the pan and cover tightly. Leave for four minutes. Lay a clean dish towel next to the pan, and using a slotted spoon or spatula, carefully remove the poached eggs from the water. Set on the towel to drain.
3. Whisk together the vinegars, salt, mustard and garlic. Whisk in the oil. Toss with the salad until thoroughly coated, and distribute among 4 salad plates. Top each serving with a poached egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with some thyme leaves and serve.
Yield: Serves 4.
Advance preparation: You can poach the eggs up to a day ahead. Keep in a bowl of water in the refrigerator. Drain on a kitchen towel before assembling the salad. The lettuces can be washed and dried, and held in plastic bags in the refrigerator overnight.
SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
CSA share pickup is tomorrow as always, from 3:30-6:30 at the market in Southern Village. Hope you had a good week! It was a long week for me, with many preparations for and finally the execution of the Farm-to-Fork Picnic at the Breeze Farm on Sunday. Together with Neal's Deli and BoxCarr Farms I prepared a homemade Italian Sausage sub with wilted rapini and my pickled fennel, a beet salad, grilled turnips and carrots (BoxCarr's carrots--ours aren't that far along yet), and salt roasted new potatoes (you're getting some this week!). There were some great chefs, farmers, and artisans in attendance, as well as some 600 really supportive community members. Lots of fun, and a real privilege for a first-year farmer.
Growing for yall is a privilege, too, and with further delay let me announce the harvest this week:
1 bunch of cilantro
1 lb new red potatoes
1-2 Daikons
1/2 of a large head of chinese cabbage
1 bunch of tatsoi
1 head endive (featured this week in the recipe)
1 small head of lettuce (it's getting late in the year, and too hot, to grow much more lettuce!)
and 1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard
Now for the recipe (from nytimes.com): Frisee Salad with Poached Egg (uses Endive)
A note on how to use the head of endive included in this week's share. First of all, it looks a head of romaine lettuce, but tastes pretty bitter on the outside. What you want to do is peel off the outer few leaves until you reach the inner leaves which have been blanched light green almost white. Chop these into bite-size pieces and use in this recipe for "frisee." Frisee refers to the curly endive, not the broad-leafed endive that I grew (also called escarole), but it'll be good in this salad, trust me.
For the salad:
1 head frisée, tender light green leaves only, washed and dried (about 3 cups).
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon or chives
1 sweet red pepper, very thinly sliced
4 thin slices baguette or whole grain bread, toasted, rubbed with a cut clove of garlic and cut into squares
4 large or extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon vinegar (any kind)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced or pureed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons walnut oil
1. Combine the lettuce, herbs, red pepper and croutons in a large bowl.
2. Poach the eggs. Fill a lidded frying pan with water, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the water. One at a time, break the eggs into a teacup, then tip from the teacup into the pan (do this in batches if necessary). Immediately turn off the heat under the pan and cover tightly. Leave for four minutes. Lay a clean dish towel next to the pan, and using a slotted spoon or spatula, carefully remove the poached eggs from the water. Set on the towel to drain.
3. Whisk together the vinegars, salt, mustard and garlic. Whisk in the oil. Toss with the salad until thoroughly coated, and distribute among 4 salad plates. Top each serving with a poached egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with some thyme leaves and serve.
Yield: Serves 4.
Advance preparation: You can poach the eggs up to a day ahead. Keep in a bowl of water in the refrigerator. Drain on a kitchen towel before assembling the salad. The lettuces can be washed and dried, and held in plastic bags in the refrigerator overnight.
SEE YA TOMORROW!
Ben
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
LaVonne's Birthday Harvest
Hey yall, Ben here. Sorry this email is coming so late tonight, but I've had to prepare and harvest for the big Farm-to-Fork Picnic this weekend, and it's been kind of an around the clock effort. And it's LaVonne's birthday tomorrow, don't tell her but I've been working on little surprises for her, too. But I do want to let you know what to look for in your bags tomorrow, Thursday May 20 (the Birthday Harvest!):
1 bunch beet greens
1 bunch turnip greens
1 head of broccoli
1-2 large daikon radishes
1 bag spinach
1 bunch tatsoi
1 head endive (a salad green in the chicory family)
1 bag lettuce mix
And...squash blossoms. These are some of the male squash flowers, which we remove because they are delicate and delicious (can't take them all though, because they are needed to pollinate the female flowers, which produce the squash). Here follows a recipe for the creative cook who wants to make a gourmet hors d'ouvre--if it sounds like too much work, then top a salad with the raw flower, that's good too.
FRIED SQUASH BLOSSOMS WITH CHEVRE
This recipe is an adaptation from one used at Chez Panisse. The masa harina, available at any grocery store, makes for a more crisp, delicate batter than all-purpose flour or cornmeal.
1/4 cup finely chopped mixed herbs, such as chives, tarragon, or chervil
1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced shallots
12 fresh open squash blossoms
1 cup fresh chevre--try the local Celebrity Dairy, which you can get at Weaver St, I think
Large pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup masa harina (extra fine cornmeal)
Two large pinches salt
Pinch freshly ground white pepper
Vegetable oil
In a small bowl, mix together the herbs, shallot, chevre and salt.
Open up the individual blossoms wide enough to insert a teaspoonful of cheese mixture. Do not overfill or fried blossoms will be soggy. Twist the ends of the blossom together gently.
In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs together with 1/4 cup milk. In a separate medium bowl, mix together masa harina, salt, and pepper. Dip each blossom into the egg mixture and then roll quickly and evenly in the masa harina mixture, gently shaking off excess. Refrigerate for a few minutes.
Pour 1 inch of oil into a small shallow saucepan or skillet. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Deep-fry the blossoms in batches until they begin to turn light golden brown. Drain on baking rack set over paper towels, and serve immediately.
1 bunch beet greens
1 bunch turnip greens
1 head of broccoli
1-2 large daikon radishes
1 bag spinach
1 bunch tatsoi
1 head endive (a salad green in the chicory family)
1 bag lettuce mix
And...squash blossoms. These are some of the male squash flowers, which we remove because they are delicate and delicious (can't take them all though, because they are needed to pollinate the female flowers, which produce the squash). Here follows a recipe for the creative cook who wants to make a gourmet hors d'ouvre--if it sounds like too much work, then top a salad with the raw flower, that's good too.
FRIED SQUASH BLOSSOMS WITH CHEVRE
This recipe is an adaptation from one used at Chez Panisse. The masa harina, available at any grocery store, makes for a more crisp, delicate batter than all-purpose flour or cornmeal.
1/4 cup finely chopped mixed herbs, such as chives, tarragon, or chervil
1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced shallots
12 fresh open squash blossoms
1 cup fresh chevre--try the local Celebrity Dairy, which you can get at Weaver St, I think
Large pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup masa harina (extra fine cornmeal)
Two large pinches salt
Pinch freshly ground white pepper
Vegetable oil
In a small bowl, mix together the herbs, shallot, chevre and salt.
Open up the individual blossoms wide enough to insert a teaspoonful of cheese mixture. Do not overfill or fried blossoms will be soggy. Twist the ends of the blossom together gently.
In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs together with 1/4 cup milk. In a separate medium bowl, mix together masa harina, salt, and pepper. Dip each blossom into the egg mixture and then roll quickly and evenly in the masa harina mixture, gently shaking off excess. Refrigerate for a few minutes.
Pour 1 inch of oil into a small shallow saucepan or skillet. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Deep-fry the blossoms in batches until they begin to turn light golden brown. Drain on baking rack set over paper towels, and serve immediately.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Harvest This Week
Hello CSA members of Driftwood Garden,
The first distribution of your share starts tomorrow, Thursday May 13th. The bag will be available at 3:30 at the Southern Village Farmers Market--we'll be there until 6:30 (some of you who live farther away have arranged for delivery--Tom Munk and Chris/Mari, we'll drop off on our way home, about 6:45-7:00). I'll have recycled brown shopping bags to keep your produce together--it'd be great if you could save these, and more of them from your shopping, and bring us some bags from time to time to replenish the supply.
The harvest this week will include:
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of salad turnips and/or radishes
1 bunch of mixed kale and hon tsai tsai
1 bag of mizuna and/or tatsoi
1 head baby bok choi
1 bag of spinach
1 bag turnip greens (recipe follows!)
And so it is my intention to include a recipe each week in this email, featuring some new item that you'll find in your bags. These will come from various cookbooks written by real chefs to be sure, but your first recipe of the year is gonna be one authored by me. This is how I like to cook greens for Sunday brunch, but it could be a side dish at supper, too.
Just Wilted Greens
1-2 lbs turnip greens (or mustards, kale, collards, spinach even)
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
crushed red pepper to taste, optional
salt to taste
1/4 cup water
Red wine vinegar on the table to splash on top
Heat a large frying pan to medium heat and just cover with olive oil. Add the minced garlic and a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes and saute a few minutes, until it is barely soft but not crispy and burnt. Add all the greens at once, sprinkle the top with a couple pinches of salt and pour the water on top of the greens. Reduce the heat to low and cook a few minutes, turning the greens with a spatula until they are just wilted but still have some crunch to them. Add more salt to taste. Serve with scrambled eggs and sausage, and have red wine vinegar available on the table for a splash of seasoning.
SEE YOU TOMORROW! Looking forward to seeing everybody--
Ben
The first distribution of your share starts tomorrow, Thursday May 13th. The bag will be available at 3:30 at the Southern Village Farmers Market--we'll be there until 6:30 (some of you who live farther away have arranged for delivery--Tom Munk and Chris/Mari, we'll drop off on our way home, about 6:45-7:00). I'll have recycled brown shopping bags to keep your produce together--it'd be great if you could save these, and more of them from your shopping, and bring us some bags from time to time to replenish the supply.
The harvest this week will include:
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of salad turnips and/or radishes
1 bunch of mixed kale and hon tsai tsai
1 bag of mizuna and/or tatsoi
1 head baby bok choi
1 bag of spinach
1 bag turnip greens (recipe follows!)
And so it is my intention to include a recipe each week in this email, featuring some new item that you'll find in your bags. These will come from various cookbooks written by real chefs to be sure, but your first recipe of the year is gonna be one authored by me. This is how I like to cook greens for Sunday brunch, but it could be a side dish at supper, too.
Just Wilted Greens
1-2 lbs turnip greens (or mustards, kale, collards, spinach even)
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
crushed red pepper to taste, optional
salt to taste
1/4 cup water
Red wine vinegar on the table to splash on top
Heat a large frying pan to medium heat and just cover with olive oil. Add the minced garlic and a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes and saute a few minutes, until it is barely soft but not crispy and burnt. Add all the greens at once, sprinkle the top with a couple pinches of salt and pour the water on top of the greens. Reduce the heat to low and cook a few minutes, turning the greens with a spatula until they are just wilted but still have some crunch to them. Add more salt to taste. Serve with scrambled eggs and sausage, and have red wine vinegar available on the table for a splash of seasoning.
SEE YOU TOMORROW! Looking forward to seeing everybody--
Ben
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Pics from Opening Day Market
Hey yall,
We attended our first farmers market of the season last Thursday at Southern Village in Chapel Hill. Here's a shot of our tent and me holding the first dollar I ever made selling vegetables:
And then we've been planting, too. My dad helped me cut some saplings to throw up some pretty monumental tomato trellising. Here's a shot of me (and my tomato plants) standing next to one of the posts:
We're going to weave twine around the plants as they grow, and see how high they get. In Maine you wouldn't need much more than six-foot trellis, but the growing season is so long here, I'm optimistic it become a veritable jungle.
I'll post tomorrow with the week's harvest (What to expect at market and in your CSA shares) and a recipe for Just-Wilted Turnip Greens. Talk to ya then--Ben
We attended our first farmers market of the season last Thursday at Southern Village in Chapel Hill. Here's a shot of our tent and me holding the first dollar I ever made selling vegetables:
And then we've been planting, too. My dad helped me cut some saplings to throw up some pretty monumental tomato trellising. Here's a shot of me (and my tomato plants) standing next to one of the posts:
We're going to weave twine around the plants as they grow, and see how high they get. In Maine you wouldn't need much more than six-foot trellis, but the growing season is so long here, I'm optimistic it become a veritable jungle.
I'll post tomorrow with the week's harvest (What to expect at market and in your CSA shares) and a recipe for Just-Wilted Turnip Greens. Talk to ya then--Ben
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Piedmont Farm Tour
Hey yall, we just had the Piedmont Farm Tour out this weekend. Many of the growers at the Breeze Farm led tours and talked with visitors. Here's LaVonne in front of a chalkboard sign we made to welcome people to our plot.
It's been a while since I updated the blog. Been working on the ground and sort of lost track. But now that it's getting close to the start of my CSA distribution, you can rest assured you'll be reading something here every week, announcing what will be in the box and at market. Yes, the market starts Thursday, May 6th at 3:30 PM on Market Square in Southern Village, Chapel Hill, NC. We'll be there with delicious baby greens, super salad mix, and maybe more. CSA distribution will start a week or two later. Then the next exciting happening is the Farm-to-Fork Picnic on May 23rd at the Breeze Farm. Chris McKinley of Boxcarr Farm (Cedar Grove) and I will be teaming up with Matt and Shelia Neal of Neal's Deli to cook some dishes for the picnic--you can purchase tickets or learn more at www.farmtoforknc.com
Let me tell you what all else I've planted since my last post almost a month ago: Tomatoes, tomatillos, summer and winter squash, sweet corn, flowers and herbs, cabbages and cauliflowers, mizuna, tatsoi, bok choi, turnips, arugula and mesclun mix, chicory. Tomorrow I'm going to put out more tomatoes, sage, and red mustard.
Here's a picture from a couple of weeks ago, tomatoes soon after planting out, covered before a chilly night.
See you at market--Ben
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Planting
I've been planting this week, with the help of many--thank you mom and dad, and Sam, Vincent, and Will from Ever Laughter Farm! Never would have got the potatoes in without you!
[onions waking up after a long dormancy]
Wednesday we prepared beds at the Breeze Farm with a collective work party for all 12 farmers' plots. When we finished that, I got right to transplanting my red and white storage onions, which were grown in Texas on Dixondale Farm and which had sleeping in a dark place in the garage since they arrived, waiting for the red clay soils to dry out enough to work. I was racing against the sunset that first day to get the first round of potatoes in the ground, and I thought it was a lost cause until the boys from Ever Laughter Farm, with a prospective intern, came by to work their plot and helped me out. They're great.
Thursday afternoon my mom helped me to plant the rest of the potatoes [mom waiving]. We also planted shallots and two kinds of scallions.Today (Sunday) my dad was there too, to offer advice from his years of organic gardening experience to prepare some very fine seedbeds with a new bedrake he got me--it's a sweet thing! We made some nice beds to plant beets, carrots, swiss chard, spinach, turnips, radishes, and daikons in. We also transplanted broccolis and lettuces. That was all we could do before the rain set in and we had to hit the pub. Wish we could plant more tomorrow, but it looks some pretty good thunderstorms tonight and showers tomorrow may make the soil too wet even to transplant cabbages and cauliflower...Good for the crops we planted today, but too bad we'll have to wait on the others. Not enough hours in the day. But it's good work, every day.
Monday, February 22, 2010
We're in!
Driftwood Garden will be growing our crops at the Breeze Farm in Hurdle Mills, which is a state-owned enterprise incubator farm. Our business and crop plans were accepted by the Extension Agents who advise the growers up there, and we're in! We'll be on the ground planting in early March. All of our seed is ordered, our transplant production is rolling, and we are taking a couple more CSA share signups! Email btwhatley@gmail.com to secure your spot.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
This is the first blog entry announcing the founding of Driftwood Garden CSA! My name is Ben Whatley, and I am going to be the farmer for a community of families who will participate in Community Supported Agriculture near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I moved south this last fall after apprenticing for the growing season on an organic CSA (Broadturn Farm) near Portland, Maine. I didn't know I would end up living in Carrboro and farming some land up in Hillsborough, all I knew was I was headed south to learn how to grow sweet potatoes, okra, and other crops we can't grow up north. I'm glad I have found so much opportunity here, but I guess you could say I washed in like a piece of acadian driftwood...
I'm participating in the apprenticeship program at PLANT @ Breeze Farm in Hillsborough, a Farm Enterprise Incubator with NC State Cooperative Extension. This winter we are studying farming through a weekly workshop series with local farmers and extension agents, and then I will have the opportunity to apply to lease land at the Breeze Farm for this enterprise. I am hopeful I will be accepted, and be able to get on the ground early to sow crops for a number of families in the area.
On this blog I will announce the weekly harvest for my CSA members, and post a recipe for a new vegetable each week, I will grow a diverse crop of vegetables and herbs, with an emphasis on variety, flavor, and nutrition. Driftwood Garden is kid and family-friendly, and I will also be offering a Senior/Young adult single share for a discounted rate.
Stay posted for news on Driftwood Garden CSA! Thanks for reading--Ben
I'm participating in the apprenticeship program at PLANT @ Breeze Farm in Hillsborough, a Farm Enterprise Incubator with NC State Cooperative Extension. This winter we are studying farming through a weekly workshop series with local farmers and extension agents, and then I will have the opportunity to apply to lease land at the Breeze Farm for this enterprise. I am hopeful I will be accepted, and be able to get on the ground early to sow crops for a number of families in the area.
On this blog I will announce the weekly harvest for my CSA members, and post a recipe for a new vegetable each week, I will grow a diverse crop of vegetables and herbs, with an emphasis on variety, flavor, and nutrition. Driftwood Garden is kid and family-friendly, and I will also be offering a Senior/Young adult single share for a discounted rate.
Stay posted for news on Driftwood Garden CSA! Thanks for reading--Ben
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