Week 5 6-15-2011

Week 5,

A few items of business

Please return your box each week. If you pick up at Nature’s Bounty simply leave your empty box in place of your full box and I will pick it up the following week.

In your box this week- lots of new items coming in!

Baby Carrots- Good fresh carrot flavor! Snack food! Eat whole and uncut or slice up large carrots into sticks. Cook or steam lightly to retain nutrients and flavor. I like carrots cooked until just fork tender. Also see carrot recipe below.

Lettuce mix- Enjoy the salads! Probably the last week of lettuce mix.

Kale- Curly variety. Kale is so packed full of nutrients! This curly variety holds up well to cooking. You can steam or simmer it and then sauté with sausage or beef. BUT… PLEASE TRY the Baked Kale Chip recipe below. It is amazing! Eat your healthy kale AND have the crisp crunch of a chip.

Swiss Chard- Need another idea? See recipe below.

Squash/zucchini- We love baby squash and zucchini. It is so tender and tastes like summer. We use it interchangeably in recipes. Grill, sauté, fry, bake-anything! Tonight I plan on slicing the zucchini or squash into long, flat pieces, brush it with olive oil and salt, and then grill it. Try a grilled piece on your burger!

Cucumbers- Dress with a bit of oil, vinegar, dill, and salt. Cukes are a summer standby. We never eat cucumbers out of the summer season. They never have the garden flavor and grocery cukes must be shipped in from warm climates. I’d rather think about cukes for most of the year, and then enjoy the real thing during the summer.

Spring onion- This rare Japanese spring onion is a beautiful blue- green. Use the green part of the stalk as well as the white stalk. Use it fresh or cook it. We lovingly grow our onions from seed, so that’s why they are ready a bit later that other spring onions at the local farmers’ markets.

Fresh garlic- Enjoy now. Fresh garlic won’t last as long on the shelf, because it hasn’t been dried. It will last several weeks. You’ll also receive some dried garlic in upcoming weeks.

Dill- Sprinkle over sliced cucumbers or try dill with carrots in the recipe below.

All recipes at end of newsletter

Pig Wranglers and a Sweet Potato Jungle

Last Friday, our big afternoon project was not out in the vegetable field, but with our young pigs. We played pig wranglers with our youngest batch for several hours-they almost made us tear our hair out! The pigs in question are twelve piglets we purchased form Warren Wilson College about 6 weeks ago. When we first get piglets we keep them in a corral because they are so small they will slip through all but the smallest gaps in a fence (several of these actually developed a habit of worming their way through the gaps in a pallet we use as part of the fence!). After about a month of eating they are big enough to learn about electric fences. We string up a double line and hold training sessions. We let them into their electric fence area and watch to make sure they don’t run through the fence. After about 3 practices they generally know what the fence is and they don’t want to have anything to do with it. Now they are ready to go to a paddock in the woods. So we trimmed back some of the brush that has grown up this spring and strung up some electric line. Now comes the fun part; moving the pigs to their new home. Usually pigs herd relatively well. We can get them all moving in one direction out of their old area and toward their new area. Not these pigs, they wanted to go in every direction except the one we wanted them to go in. To top it all of many of them confidently explored the woods alone. It took us about one and a half hours of crashing through brambles to move these little guys thirty feet to their new paddock! Every time we got them close to their paddock they would decide that that was the least interesting part of the woods and scatter in all directions around us. Boy was it frustrating! But in the end they got tired and a little more cooperative. Now they are happily rooting in the woods.

He looks innocent now!

This week we also planted sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are an interesting crop because you actually grow miniature plants from last year’s roots to transplant. It all starts the previous fall when you save out your best potatoes for “seed” potatoes. You then store them in a dry cool area with some airflow until about April. In April you “wake” you potatoes up by allowing them to get warmer. Once the outdoor temperatures are safely above frosting, place the sweet potatoes in a pile of mostly decomposed mulch or very loose soil. Within about a month small green sprouts will begin appearing. In about another month there is a sweet potato jungle! Each sweet potato will send out up to a dozen sprouts, called slips, from one end of the potato. Once these slips are about 6 inches tall (ideally anyway, Mine are always bigger because if you neglect them for a week they grow from 6 inches to 16!), snap them off at the potato and plant. The little slips typically have begun to send out small rootlets of their own. When placed in the soil and watered well they will establish themselves in about a week. After that, watch out, because sweet potatoes are related to morning glories and they will take over! They are a long season crop that appreciates warm weather, so after about three months of patient waiting we should be able to dig up our sweet potato treasure.

Harvesting spring onions

Recipes

Sweet Dill Carrots

Adapted from How it All Vegan!

6-10 medium carrots or 12-15 small carrots,

sliced into your favorite shape (small carrots can be left whole)

2 tblsp chopped fresh dill or 1 tblsp dried dill

1 tblsp sweetener, your choice

1 tblsp olive oil

In a medium pot or steamer, steam the carrots until they can be pierched easily with a fork. Drain and then place the carrots in a small bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir together until well incorporated. Makes 2-4 servings.

You can't see the forest for the dill!

Kale Chips recipe: Kalyn’s Kitchen, Roasted Kale Chips with Sea Salt http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/03/recipe-for-roasted-kale-chips-with-sea.html

I liked the Kalyn’s Kitchen recipe because the higher temperature made everything go faster. Try her plastic bag trick to oil the kale, you’ll use less oil!

Here’s another great recipe for Kale Chips:

Baked Kale Chips

Rated:	Prep Time: 10 Minutes	Ready In: 20 Minutes
Submitted By: LucyDelRey	Cook Time: 10 Minutes	Servings: 6

"These are a low calorie nutritious snack. Like potato chips, you cannot stop at just eating one. They are great for parties and a good conversation topic."

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch kale 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2.	With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3.	Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 6/15/2011

Creamy Baked Swiss Chard and Pasta

I don’t like to call anything “noodle casserole,” so I’m renaming this dish Creamy Baked Swiss Chard and Pasta. You may omit the parsley if you wish. –Marie

VEGETABLE NOODLE CASSEROLE

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

3 tbsp. olive oil
2/3 c. chopped walnuts
1 lg. onion, thinly sliced
2 lg. carrots, coarsely grated
1 lg. bunch Swiss Chard, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 c. minced parsley
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
8 tsp. soy sauce
1 c. sour cream
Salt
3 c. pasta
2 c. grated Jack cheese

Heat oil in large frying pan and saute nuts until lightly browned. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, then stir in onions and carrots.

Sauté until onion is translucent, then remove from pan. Add chard, garlic, parsley and thyme and sauté until chard is limp.

Combine soy sauce and sour cream; add to chard mixture along with walnuts, onions and carrots.

Stir to mix well. Add salt to taste. Spread pasta in a lightly greased 2 quart casserole and spoon vegetable mixture over top.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake in 400°F oven for 15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and casserole is heated through.

Serves 6.

Zinnias

Week 4 6-8-2011

Week 4

A sad note: The spinach crop has failed due to a sudden fungus/ leafminer problem. We may rescue and harvest what is left.

This week’s vegetables-This probably the last week of large quantities of greens so enjoy! The season will move on into carrots,summer squash, onions, cucumbers, and basil.

Make sure to wash veggies before cooking or eating! I like to use a large bowl to swirl the veggies around in.

Radish- I love them grated and dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then marinated in the fridge for 30 minutes or longer.

Sugar Snap Peas- They aren’t blue ribbon beauty peas, but they just barely survived the heat wave, so we are thankful for the harvest.

Baby Lettuce mix-

Head lettuce- We think this is the last week of head lettuce. The heat is adversely affecting their growth.

Swiss Chard-

Poc Choi- Try cooking with the Sugar Snap Peas!

Red Russian Kale- See recipes below

Parsley- see Parsley hummus recipe below

CSA Newsletter: Weeds in the Garden and Organic Principles

In the garden this week the weeds grew. It is amazing how we turn our back on the weeds for a week or two and they are suddenly knee high! In some ways the dry, hot days have been helpful. They make the weeds grow more slowly and die more easily when hoed out. In the paths of the big field we had planted a clover cover crop. In some areas it has done well, outcompeting weeds and blooming nicely (the blooms help attract beneficial insects). But in others the clover didn’t take as well and the weeds quickly filled the void (nature does not like bare ground). No the weeds are kind of like a cover crop as long as we don’t allow them to seed, so we mowed them all down. Many weed seeds can survive for up to 7 years in the soil without germinating. This is called the weed seed bank. Every time you till seeds are brought to the surface to grow. This is like a withdrawal form the bank. If you allow the weeds to seed this is like a deposit. Unlike most accounts, this is one where you don’t want to make any deposits. Overtime, if no plants go to seed we can reduce the number of weeds we have to contend with.

Depleting the weed seed bank is the primary weed control strategy available to organic farmers. In the short term we can weed, cultivate, and mow. But in the long run that is time consuming and tiresome. By eliminating the seeds we can prevent a problem before it occurs. Weeds are such a challenging problem that even farmers who have reduced or even eliminated pesticide use cannot imagine giving up their herbicides. This has led to some confusing labeling in the marketplace. Is “pesticide free” the same as “chemical free.” In either case is the farmer still using chemical fertilizers? (because the fertilizers don’t typically come into direct contact with the plant many farmers will say “chemical free, except fertilizers”). There are responsible and irresponsible ways to use many of the chemical tools at our disposal at farmers. But, as confusing as this sounds, never assume that a broad statement like “chemical free” means the vegetables were raised in anything like a balanced organic system. Always ask.

At Bluebird Farm we raise all of our produce following the organic standards for fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and all other growing techniques. In addition we strive to work with the ecology of the soil, our plants, and insects instead of against them. We work to establish patterns that encourage our vegetables instead of discouraging weeds. We try to increase beneficial insect populations instead of eliminate pest insects. In other words we are trying to build a positive ecological system of growth rather than a negative system of suppression.

Vegetable Recipes

Fettucine with sausage and kale

Recipe from Shiloh at Tumbling Shoals Farm in Wilkesboro, NC. We both have stands at the Hickory Farmers’ Market, and she sends her vegetable customers over for our ground Country or ground Italian sausage for this recipe! She says this recipe is how she gets her farm customers “hooked” on kale! It’s certainly an all-star vegetable in this awesome recipe!

Makes 4 servings
A quick hearty Italian dinner. I prefer to use whole wheat spaghetti, but the fettucine is great too!

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound hot turkey or pork sausages, casings discarded and sausage crumbled
1/2 pound kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped
1/2 pound or less dried egg fettuccini pasta
2/3 cup chicken broth
1 ounce finely grated pecorino romano cheese plus additional for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook sausage, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, until browned, 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, blanch kale in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove kale with a large sieve and drain. Return cooking water in pot to a boil, then cook pasta in boiling water, uncovered, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander. While pasta cooks, add kale to sausage in skillet and saute, stirring frequently, until just tender, about 5 minutes. add broth, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then add pasta and 1/2 cup reserved cooking water to skillet, tossing until combined. Stir in cheese and thin with additional cooking water if desired. Serve immediately with additional cheese on the side.

Gourmet, March 2006

Indian-Spiced Kale & Chickpeas

We love Indian vegetarian dishes! This dish goes well with chicken and lamb for a meal with meat. The chickpeas add a great texture and a source of protein to this recipe. You may experiment with different ratios of spices to suit your tastes.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/indian_spiced_kale_chickpeas.html

From EatingWell: October/November 2005, EatingWell Serves Two

Chickpeas make this exotic dish a terrific player in any vegetarian menu.

4 servings, about 3/4 cup each | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1 1/2 pounds kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped (see Tip)
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, (see Ingredient note)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add kale and cook, tossing with two large spoons, until bright green, about 1 minute. Add broth, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in chickpeas; cover and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving : 202 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 1 mg Cholesterol; 32 g Carbohydrates; 9 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 415 mg Sodium; 499 mg Potassium

2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1.5 vegetable, 1 very lean meat, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Tip: A 1- to 1 1/2-pound bunch of kale yields 16 to 24 cups of chopped leaves. When preparing kale for these recipes, remove the tough ribs, chop or tear the kale as directed, then wash it--allowing some water to cling to the leaves. The moisture helps steam the kale during the first stages of cooking.
• Ingredient Note: Garam masala, a ground spice mixture traditionally including coriander, cumin, cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom and cloves, is commonly used in Indian cooking. Find it in the specialty-spice section of large supermarkets.

Parsley Hummus with Whole Wheat Pita Chips

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/06/recipe-for-parsley-hummus-with-whole.html

Marie’s notes: This is a recipe that represents the parsley hummus that I make with my food processor. I assemble all of the ingredients, whip up a batch of hummus, and stick the food processor in the dishwasher. Voila! Healthy, quick, and economical hummus for snacks and lunches. We like to include hummus in wraps and sandwiches.

I never use a recipe for hummus; I use approximate ratios. The hummus that I make does not have any sour cream in it, but it has a total of 5 or 6 tablespoons of olive oil instead. Sour cream is not traditionally used to make hummus.

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups hummus, recipe adapted from Parsley Hummus in The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh.)

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped parsley (pack parsley into half-cup measure, then chop in food processor)
1 tsp. minced garlic (about 2-3 garlic cloves)
1/4 cup sour cream (I used low-fat sour cream)
3 T tahini sauce
1 1/2 T lemon juice
2 T sesame oil
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. salt (or less, this seems like a generous amount of salt, so add salt to taste)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or hot sauce
1 T water (more or less, depending on how thick you like it)
3-4 pieces whole wheat pita bread, cut into triangles
olive oil, for spraying pita and baking sheet

Preheat oven to 450 F. Drain chickpeas (garbanzo beans) into a colander placed in the sink, then rinse until no more foam appears and let the water drain off.

Put parsley and garlic into bowl of food processor fitted with the stainless steel blade. Process about 1 minute, until parsley is well chopped. Add drained chickpeas and process 1-2 minutes, until beans are mostly smooth. Add sour cream, Tahini sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil, olive oil, cumin, salt, and cayenne or hot sauce. Process until mixture is very smooth. Test thickness and add a bit of water if you'd like it to be a little thinner.

Cut whole wheat pita into triangles. Spray baking sheet with olive oil, then arrange pita triangles in a single layer. Spray top of chips with olive oil. Toast chips 4-5 minutes, then turn and toast 1-2 minutes more. (Watch them carefully at the end because they can get too brown rather quickly.)

Serve hummus with pita chips. Can also be served with cauliflower, celery, carrot sticks, or red bell pepper strips.

This printable recipe from Kalynskitchen.com.

Posted by Kalyn at 8:17 PM

Week 3 2011

Week3:

Every day around the farm now comes with several cleansing sweats. On Monday, Marie got a little taste of dizzying heat exhaustion after 2 ½ hours of hoeing weeds from kale plants. And it was only 10:45 am! Even William admitted to still feeling tired from the previous day’s unintended dehydration when we were harvesting veggies this morning.

Because of this uninviting heat, our schedules around the farm have shift slightly the past 2 days. During the 12:30-3 lunch “siesta”, we eat a healthy farm lunch, take a 15 minute power nap, make phone calls, box eggs, purchase animal feed at the mill and think of more projects outside! I’m even writing the newsletter now, instead of at 11 pm! After the siesta, we’ll check up on the farm animals and head back out for more garden work.

The life of a pea plant is ephemeral. T he vigorous vines twirl upward and the little tendrils unfurl, revealing delicate white flowers. Will Coffey, CSA member and volunteer extraordinaire, ate one of the first 3 peas that we harvested last Wednesday. We had to search hard for those first peas. Today, just one week later, we harvest 30 pounds of sugar snap peas from the plants! Enjoy them while you can- we don’t think there will be much of a harvest next week due to the suffocating heat killing the flowers.

Sugar Snap Peas- Enjoy raw or lightly cooked. Remove the string on larger peas before cooking.

Arugula- Probably the last arugula until the fall.

Baby Lettuce Mix-

Head Lettuce, Green or Red Butterhead type-

Swiss Chard- Braised Swiss Chard with Asiago: Cook 1 clove garlic, 1 chopped onion, and chopped Chard stems over medium low heat in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup of water and chopped Chard leaves. Cover and cook until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, add a dash of lemon. Grate Asiago cheese or fresh Parmesan and toss over fettuccine.

Bok Choy- a crisp, healthy Asian vegetable. Cook lightly to preserve its health benefits.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/5382-need-health-benefits-bok-choy/

Cilantro- Try the Honey Cilantro Vinaigrette recipe. Add diced cilantro to anything for a fresh Southwestern flavor! Cilantro is a cool weather crop.

Dill- Sprinkle over potato salad, grilled fish, fresh goat cheese and salads

Radish-We learned of an amazing new way to enjoy radishes this weekend: cut in half lengthwise and eat with a hearty slice of butter!

Enjoy!

William and Marie

Recipes Below

Asian Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce-

Sauté 4 garlic cloves and 1 chili (or 1 teaspoon chili powder) over medium heat in a medium pot for 4 minutes. Then add 1 cup water, ¼ cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy), and 2 teaspoons brown sugar. Stir vigorously to combine. Thicken sauce over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Makes about 1 ¼ cups of sauce

Stir Fry Vegetables

Saute 1 onion and 2 carrots over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add chopped bok choy and cook for about 3 minutes. Turn up heat to medium high heat and add a splash of water. Add roughly chopped bok choy leaves and stir. After about another minute of cooking, lower heat to medium andpour peanut sauce over veggies. Cook over medium heat until some sauce absorbs or vegetables are done to your liking.

Serve over soba noodles, basmati rice, or brown rice.

Honey Cilantro Vinaigrette

Adapted From Passionate Vegetarian

Makes about 1 ¾ cup

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch cilantro

½ cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup honey

1 jalapeno pepper or 1 pinch cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce(optional)

1 ½ teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste, freshly ground

1 cup olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping the sides when needed. With the machine running, slowly pour olive oil into dressing. Taste for salt and pepper. Best if aged for at least one hour or overnight.

Arugula and Grilled Shiitake Salad with a Honey Cilantro Vinaigrette

Adapted from Passionate Vegetarian

8 to 10 medium, or 6 to 8 large, fresh shiitake* mushroom caps, stems removed, sliced (save stems for stock) * use other mushroom varieties if shiitakes are not available

1 onion, chopped into large pieces for skewers

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Honey Cilantro Vinaigrette

Several cups of arugula, washed and dried, - may mix arugula with lettuce

Grill style A: Skewer mushroom slices and onion pieces. Leave space between pieces for even cooking.

Grill style B: Place mushroom slices and onion pieces in vegetable or fish grilling cage.

Preheat grill to high. Lightly brush the mushroom caps and onion pieces with the oil. Prepare veggies for your chosen style of grilling. Grill veggies for 6 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally. The mushrooms should be softened with nice grill marks. Remove vegetables from grill. Drizzle the hot vegetables with about 3 tablespoons of the Honey Cilantro Vinaigrette and toss well.

Serve over cold greens with Honey Cilantro Vinaigrette. **You may also let the vegetables come to room temperature while other items cook on the grill.

Muddy Creek Mushrooms is a great source of delicious, locally grown shiitake mushrooms. They grow the best shiitakes I’ve ever tasted! Shiitakes are usually available when the temperature is below 85 F. Call for availability. Patrick and Mary Stephens 3515 Seals Road Morganton, NC 28655 (828) 584-2128, (828) 403-5569

Week 20

Hello all,

Rain and beautiful weather usher in the final week of Bluebird Farm 2010 CSA. The official Bluebird Farm rain gauge registered 2.1 inches from the first drops Sunday am to the final rain Monday night. Thankfully, the rain came in well measured bursts interspersed with drizzle. The last thing we wanted was a 2 inch deluge in one hour.

On Monday our older pigs loaded into the trailer to go to the butcher. Getting to the trailer was a little bit of an adventure. We had mixed the two age groups of pigs together about two weeks ago. So we had to somehow open the fence and herd the big pigs out while holding back the seven, very curious and excited little pigs. In the end four little ones came along for the walk to the holding pen. They had a great time exploring the woods without the older pigs bothering them (they were too busy exploring as well). But after the hullabaloo of corralling the older pigs into the holding pen the younger pigs were ready to head home. Petunia had jumped into the herding at the corral (usually she was more in the way than a help) and now she wanted to “help” with walking the young pigs home. So Marie and Petunia led the way along the forest road with the four little ones trotting along behind. I brought up the rear to make sure no one stayed behind. It was pretty funny seeing Petunia’s fluffy tail leading four curly pig tails up the road.

The big vegetable field is looking tired and worn out. The tomatoes are showing more blackened branches than ever before. Many fruit are damaged by insects, the sudden switch from dry to wet, and fungus that invades when plants become weak. It is the sort of garden that makes me start to think about clean up: the hard, dirty, but ultimately satisfying work of pulling up plants, taking down trellises, removing irrigation, mowing, and soil preparation for next year. I can already see the field in its fall state. The landscape of towering tomatoes, sprawling vines, and unruly weeds replaced by the groomed look of a made bed or mowed lawn-a welcome respite from the exuberance of summer vegetable gardening.

The garden from the hill. Next year's garden is in the far left

We feel a little like the garden at the end of a season. Our muscles are past tired and our minds have trouble with basic organization and focus. Cooler weather and shorter days make us want to spend more time reflecting than actually working (of course we don’t get to do that quite yet). As we talk about this year we never cease to be amazed at all the support and encouragement we receive. When we moved back to North Carolina we didn’t expect Morganton to be very interested and passionate in what we are doing at Bluebird Farm.

A moment with the bee (look closely in the center of the photo)

In our early planning discussions we frequently pointed out Morganton’s proximity to Hickory, Charlotte, and even Winston-Salem. But you have shown that you care about what we are doing. You care where your food comes from, you want to know your farmers, and you believe in what we are doing. We have been humbled, excited, and inspired to receive this response. Without such positive feedback it would be hard to want to continue working this job that is challenging in the best of years (and this wasn’t one of the best years). And so, even as we clean up from this year we are preparing for next year. We have been spreading organic soil amendments (manure, granite dust, lime), seeding cover crops, and writing down thoughts and observations about this year’s crops before they fade in our minds.

We want to hear from you as well. Please watch for an upcoming survey about your experience with Bluebird Farm CSA. We will be asking questions about quantity, quality, variety, communication, and logistics. When you do receive the survey please take the time to fill it out. Community supported agriculture requires open communication both ways between farmer and consumer.

With our increased knowledge of the fields we are working, improved soil conditions, and more planning based on a year of work we look forward to a great year next year. We hope you will join us!

Bluebird Farm after the CSA

· You can find us at the Morganton Farmers Market on Saturday 10/2 and 10/9 from 8-noon

· We will restart our Farmer Fridays at Catawba Valley Brewing Company after the Morganton Market ends with greens, eggs, pork, and chicken

· We will continue to be at the Hickory market on Wednesdays and the Conover market on Saturdays through October

· We will have pork and eggs available for much of the winter, see upcoming emails for availability at the farm and in town

· There is one post-CSA chicken batch in mid-November

Week 20 box

New!

Sweet potatoes

Boc Choi

Swiss Chard

Kale

Old favorites

Tomatoes

Peppers

Basil has retired for the year

Recipes

Roasted Sweet Potato Puree with Coconut Milk (from Grub by Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry)

3-4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

4 tablespoons pure maple syrup (molasses is good too, but does have a stronger flavor-start with 2-3 tablespoons if using molasses and taste for flavor)

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse sea salt

½ cup coconut milk, warmed

· Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly oil a baking dish or roasting pan

· In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, maple syrup, olive oil, and ½ teaspoon sea salt. Toss well.

· Transfer the sweet potatoes to the prepared pan and roast for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until slightly crisp on the edges.

· Remove from the oven. In a food processor, combine sweet potatoes with the warmed coconut milk. Puree, adding more coconut milk for your desired consistency, and transfer to a serving dish.

Parky’s Southern Braised Kale with Sweet Potatoes (from Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon)

3 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed

1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil such as canola, corn or peanut.

1 bell pepper, diced

½ onion diced

1 to 2 jalapeno peppers minced

2 pounds kale, washed, tough ribs removed leaves stacked and coarsely chopped (you may substitute any hearty green or combination of greens)

1/3 cup mild vegetable stock

1 orange

1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 medium tomatoes chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

· Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add sweet potatoes, lower heat, and simmer until just tender, about 25 minutes

· Heat oil in nonstick deep skillet over medium high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, and jalapeno. Saute 5 minutes

· Add kale. Top with sliced sweet potatoes. Pour the stock over the dish, cover, and braise until the call is cooked, but still bright green, 4-5 minutes.

· Grate the rind of the orange; squeeze its juice into a cup. When the kale is done uncover and add about 1 tablespoon of grated rind, 3 tablespoons of the juice, 1 tablespoon vinegar, the tomatoes, and salt and pepper.

· Taste, adjust flavors with orange, vinegar, salt and pepper as necessary.

Preparing for winter

Hello all,

CSA Farm Day- many of you are up to your ears in fall activities and are unable to come the CSA day this Saturday. If you are able to come we need to hear from you by tomorrow evening (Wednesday 9/22).

Remember, after this week there is only one more week of CSA. We have had a great season with all of your support and encouragement. Come see us at farmers markets through the month of October. There will be one more CSA chicken pick up for all chicken CSA members on Wednesday, October 13^th.

Friday began early, picking up some baby chickens from the post office. Whenever I call down there in the morning they seem a little surprised to receive such an early call. They also seem relieved that someone is coming to get the noisy babies out of their office. The chicks are usually chirping so loudly that I can hear them over the phone as the post master looks at the address on the chick box. The only way to get them to quiet down just a little bit is to crank the heat in the car on the drive home-even on a hot morning like Friday. Now the chicks are happily munching, cheeping, and growing in their shelter.

Happy chicks

Our pigs are now (at least most of the time) getting along together. Two weeks ago I wrote about the big pigs chasing the little pigs all the time when we tried to put them in the same pen. We had to put up an electric line between the two groups to let the little pigs have some peace and quiet. However, the older girls (who have never broke down their fence before) continually broke through to the young pig area. After almost a week of constantly moving pigs and fixing fences we just took the fence down and told the little pigs to “stand up to those big bullies”. So far they have done just that and everyone is enjoying being a pig in the woods!

happy sheep

In the garden we have planted almost everything we plan on planting this fall. All we have to do for them is some minor weeding and harvest. But there is never time to sit around at the farm! We have been busily preparing next year’s area. We have spread lime to improve our pH, granite dust to make up for our potassium deficiency, and horse manure to add nutrients and organic matter. The next step is to plant a winter cover crop and hope for rain. Actually, because we need the cover to germinate before it gets to cold we will probably put up overhead irrigation (sprinklers-as opposed to the drip irrigation we use for vegetables) to ensure adequate moisture.

Week 19 box

Stir fry mix

Cherry Tomatoes

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Peppers- see recipe below

Basil

Parsley

Recipe:

Roasted Pepper Spread

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled

6 medium bell or sweet peppers, chopped roughly and roasted (see below)

8 ounces Neufchatel reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1 can chickpeas, 15 oz, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon miso (you can find it at Nature’s Bounty. Maybe Ingles? If you want to substitute it try tahini and salt instead)

2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

Minced parsley

Mince garlic in food processor. With the motor running, add each ingredient until smooth. Garnish with parsley.

Adapted from Passionate Vegetarian, 2002.

William and Marie

Week 18 CSA

Hello all,
Another reminder to all Wednesday chicken shares: tomorrow is the day to pick up your fresh pasture chicken. If you have a chicken share and you usually pick up your veggie box at Phifer or Nysie’s on Wednesdays, please come to the farm for veggies and chicken.

Important dates for the CSA: This is 18th week out of the 20 week CSA. The last veggie and egg CSA date is Wednesday, September 29th or Saturday, October 2nd. Please remember that you are all invited to the CSA Farm Day on Saturday September 25th for a beautiful fall afternoon of farm fun. The last chicken CSA pick-up is Wednesday October 13th from 4-6 pm.

It has been gorgeous dry, clear, dry, cool, dry, breezy, and dry weather. While we can’t complain too much about the weather we could stand a little more rain. Luckily enough we timed our last several plantings in the garden with the wet days we have gotten.
Our fall transplants of boc choi, chinese cabbage, lettuce, and kale are standing in vibrant green rows out in the field. However, you wouldn’t notice their bright little sprouts against the brown soil at first. What catches your eye are the giant white caterpillars, well not really caterpillars, but that’s what we call them. We have metal hoops about waist high and about 6 feet across from foot to foot. We set the hoops up over our garden beds and stretch a white spun fabric over them. Many of you have seen this row cover at the farm or in our photos. Right now we are using a lightweight cover for insect protection. Later in the fall we will switch to a heavy weight fabric for frost protection. Currently we have three of these hoops side by side running the 120 foot length of the field.
It is like entering another world when you lift the edge of these hoops and look under. The wind doesn’t blow; the air is moister and a little warmer. It’s like a little protected vegetable haven. Under each hoop are two beds separated by a narrow pathway. And down the beds are our little rows of bright green fall vegetables. Their green is almost incongruous with this time of year. Most grass, trees, and other plants are the dark rich, tried green of late summer. But not the vegetables, they have the bright almost neon green of spring in their leaves.
We tried something new with spinach this fall. Spinach is notorious for its poor germination. Ask almost any farmer or gardener about spinach and they will either tell you they have trouble growing it, or they have no trouble because of some complicated scheme they devised to make it work. Our new complicated scheme is to place the seeds between damp paper towels. We then put the towels in a plastic bag in a dark cool place for about three days. At this point almost all the seeds have germinated! They had little roots less than a quarter inch long. I then made small trenches about 1 inch deep and put the seeds down the bottom. I was afraid that the seeding might break off the roots and that the seed wouldn’t be able to regrow. But hey, farming is about trying new things. Next I put fish emulsion across them to give a little boost. Then I tamped the soil back over the seeds. Today we have rows of spinach with their two cotyledons (false leaves) reaching upward. Now the battle with the insects begins. We hope to win that one with the help of cooler nights. With any luck we will have some delicious spinach in a few weeks. Just in time for the last CSA week? We certainly hope it will grow quickly for Week 20, our last CSA box.

Week 18 box
New this week!
Stir-Fry mix (can also be used as a spicy salad mix)
Chop roughly and lightly stir fry in dishes the last few minutes. It is also good added to quiches. If eaten raw treat kind of like arugula-eat alone or add to lettuce for a peppery spice. It’s great with feta cheese too.
Some old favorites
Cherry tomatoes-
Tomatoes- all of the tomatoes are winding down with the cool days, love them now, because they are leaving us soon!
Eggplant- maybe? We’ll see what pops out of the garden tomorrow morning
Peppers
Basil- Lots of flowers now- soak flowers in honey for a wonder flavor
Look forward to Swiss chard soon!

Pasta with Mizuna and Sausage
Mizuna is one of the primary greens in our stir-fry mix. I love its peppery flavor more than other spicy greens like arugula. Use stir-fry mix in this recipe (I thought it sounded better with Mizuna in the title) Feel free to substitute the sausage with cooked mushrooms.
1 large onion, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 tbl sp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup chicken broth
½ lb-1 lb of your choice of sausage, mostly cooked- a little pink is fine,
½ cup roasted peppers, cut into bite-size pieces
1 bag of Stir-fry mix, leaves chopped into 2 inch pieces, stems diced into ½ pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
12 oz medium bow tie pasta
¼ shredded Parmesan cheese or Manchego
½ tsp. freshly cracked pepper

1. In a large skillet cook onion in oil until tender. Stir in garlic, broth, sausage, roasted peppers. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Add greens; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until greens are wilted. Remove from heat.
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Toss pasta with sausage mixture, basil, cherry tomatoes,cheese, and black pepper.

Week 17 CSA

Hello all,
We love hearing all of your wonderful food and farm stories. Thanks for sharing- nice stories with good food, family, and friends!

Some business
• Please return your boxes! Thank you for all the returned egg cartons and tomato pints
• We are taking deposits for pork and lamb packages. If you aren’t sure now, there will be another chance in December.
• Don’t forget the CSA day on Saturday September 25 from 4-6:30pm. Please include the number of people you expect in your party in your RSVP. We look forward to a glorious fall afternoon at the farm.

Sometimes while farming we try things that we really don’t know if they will work or not. On Monday we tried combining our younger pigs with the big ones. The younger pigs have spent the last 6 weeks or so in a corral with a small run on it. We were moving them by herding them to the pig area in the woods. Unfortunately, they had become very comfortable with their space and were reluctant to leave their home. Eventually we had to shut them out of their corral and shove them far enough away that they began to explore instead of trying to return. Of course there was one stubborn one that I had to pick up and carry about 20 feet through briar infested woods to get her moving.
Once they were on the road through the woods the little group of seven moved along pretty well. As soon as the big pigs noticed the little ones walking toward them through the woods they leapt to their feet and ran to their fence snorting, “barking” and sniffing. The little pigs, surprisingly enough were not particularly intimidated. I say surprising because the labels “little” and “big” pigs are no exaggeration here. As I mentioned the little ones are still pick-up-able, about 90 lbs, albeit not very comfortably. The big pigs however, are approaching 300 pounds. The top of their back easily come up to mid-thigh on me. The little pigs can literally run between the legs of the big ones.
Once the little ones were in the fence with the big ones the curiosity of the large pigs turned into bullying. If the seven little ones stayed together over in one corner, they would be mostly left alone. But should they try to venture out the big ones would sneak up on them and start chasing trying to get a good bite out of the little ones ears. This culminated in all of the little pigs breaking out of the fence and having a little pig party in the woods. We thought we’d try it out- some pig herds can be mixed ages, but our big pigs don’t enjoy sharing. Now the little ones have their own paddock next to the big pigs. We hope they can sort out their differences across the fence and one day live in harmony. For now they enjoy being neighbors.

Week 17 box
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Cilantro- roasted peppers (poblanos) and cilantro with rice makes a great Mexican rice
Basil

Peppers- lots of peppers this week- The peppers aren’t ripening anymore with the cool nights, so we are picking big ones and letting little ones grow before frost!
Sweet bell peppers- roast these peppers for bistro-style sandwiches, dips, steaks

Poblano peppers- sweet and rich flavor, medium spicy, best flavor roasted
This person has an amazing collection of poblano recipes that I love: http://poblanorecipes.blogspot.com/#111335279721479951

Corno di Torro- sweet Italian heirloom pepper, great for frying or roasting

Feel free to freeze them! How about halving and freezing them ? (takes up less room in your freezer) or better yet, chop roughly and freeze.
Make your own roasted peppers: Roasting peppers is simple. You may roast chopped peppers or char and blacken the entire chile or pepper with intense heat or direct flame. That means you can roast a poblano, chile, pepper, jalepeno or anything else with a gas grill, charcoal grill, gas stove range, electric or gas broiler.
Chop roughly into pieces , place on a baking sheet, and roast at 350 F for about 20-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. The longer they cook, the more the peppers will caramelize. Make sure to use a “freezer” bag, not storage bag if freezing the peppers.
Here’s a quick way to knock out a batch of whole roasted peppers. Place the peppers or chiles with stems under a very hot grill or put the peppers or chiles on a baking sheet under a preheated broiler until the skin blisters slightly and is black in spots, about 5 minutes on each of two sides. Place in a large bowl with a towel over it until cool enough to handle; this steams the skin off. Peel most of the skin off. Don’t rinse the flavor away! Use a paper towel if needed! The pepper can then be used for days in many dishes. Or freeze for later.


Recipe:
Rustic Ciabatta Pizza
This late summer rustic pizza owes its style to the rich flavors of late summer, the days the vegetables have spent soaking up the sun- their personality blends so well with ciabatta bread and olive oil.
3-4 small ciabatta loaves or 1 large loaf
Eggplant
Pepper
Tomato
Basil
Shredded mozzarella or feta
Olive oil
Sea salt
***the ratio of the vegetables depends on everyone’s personal tastes***
Cut eggplant into thin rounds or coins and spread very thinly across a baking pan. Brush lightly with olive oil. Chop peppers roughly into pieces and spread across a baking pan. Place both pans into a 350 F oven for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the tomato and sprinkle with sea salt. Chop the basil. Slice ciabatta in half and brush with olive oil. Layer eggplant, pepper, tomato, basil on ciabatta halves. Top with cheese and basil and bake for 12 minutes.