Maplewood Organics

CSA Newsletter

Volume 5

Issue 14- Farm

September 17, 2009

Week 14

We finally got a bit of rain Sunday during our morning harvest. We only got 1/10 of an inch…better than nothing. We hope to get more at the end of the week.

We’ve included some blue potatoes for you to try this week. It’ll be fun to mix them with your Yukon Golds.

Remember to go to our Local Harvest website blog (

Garden Progress

The sungold tomatoes are still coming on strong! Our green cabbage looks amazing! We have to schedule our sauerkraut production days soon. I’ll let you know when they are so you can come help if you want to. We’ll just ask you to bring along your food processor to speed things up!

We’re getting to that time of year when frost is more and more likely. Our first hard frost will reduce the amount of veggies we’ll have to distribute in our shares. We have enough row cover to cover some crops, but not all.

We should have a new batch of radishes within the next week or two to include in your shares. We have more carrots coming along. With all the rain we had early in the season, we do have some crops that are not producing well, including our winter squash and pie pumpkins. I’m trying to work out trades with other farmers to get more winter squash for you. We will not be buying in corn this year. The farmer we usually buy from has a shortage this year. He lost his whole first crop and has had low production in his subsequent plantings. We’ve tried unsuccessfully to include sweet corn for two years now. I think in the future we will buy some in at wholesale price to have available for sale to anyone who wants to buy corn at a discount.

Farm News

Sadly, our bull, Junior, injured himself last week beyond repair. We had a veterinarian visit on Friday. After examining Junior, she delivered the bad news. His lacerations are too severe to fix. Eric and Richard and the interns are butchering him tomorrow before he gets an infection. We’re having him custom cut to feed our families. We have already started the search for another bull. We want to continue breeding our own herd, so this is our necessary next step. We very sorry to see Junior, our easy-going, easy-to-handle bull go.

Here is another excerpt from our upcoming brochure that explains how we graze our cattle graze our pastures:

Winter CSA – SOLD OUT

You may place your name on a waiting list for our winter CSA, which runs October through December. If someone cancels, you have a chance at a share in the order that you signed on. (The total cost to you is $140.)

Grilled Red and Green Cabbage Slaw Bon Appétit | July 2008 Yield: Makes 6 servings

Coleslaw on the grill? Absolutely. It makes the cabbage and green onions tender and adds just a bit of smoky flavor.

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1/2 cup tarragon vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil plus additional for brushing

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

1 medium head of red cabbage (about 1 3/4 pounds), quartered through core

1 medium head of green cabbage (about 13/4 pounds), quartered through core

1 bunch green onions (about 6), trimmed

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Whisk vinegar, sugar, 1/2 cup oil, mustard, and tarragon in medium bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper.

Brush cabbages and green onions with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill cabbages until dark grill marks form, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Grill green onions until charred on 1 side, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer vegetables to work surface.

Chop green onions and cabbages; place in large bowl, discarding cores. Add dressing; toss to coat. Season slaw to taste with salt and pepper.

Bake until garlic is very tender, 30 to 35 minutes, then transfer garlic to a cutting board and continue to bake eggplant until very tender, 20 to 25 minutes more. When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze flesh from peel onto cutting board.

Transfer eggplant to cutting board and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Scrape out flesh with a spoon onto cutting board, discarding peel. Finely chop eggplant and garlic together and transfer to a bowl. Add parsley and remaining tablespoon oil, then stir until combined well. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

CSA Newsletter

Volume 5

Issue 13- Farm

September 10, 2009

Week 13

Remember to go to our Local Harvest website blog (

Flowers for Special Events

Garden Progress

The new crops are looking good! Brian seeded down two more rows with buckwheat to hold them until we’re ready to plant the garlic. Brian and I transplanted broccoli too. The plants didn’t look good when we first got them. They had had a rough start. I didn’t think I’d plant them at all. Since they perked up, I decided to give them a try. We’ll use row cover to see if we can get a late crop out of them! Eric and Brian planted a row of fresh kale for the fall yesterday. This is my first time trying it directly from seed in the garden this time of year. It should do well with the cool nights we’re having. We just need a bit of rain now!

Our poor slicing tomatoes were really hit hard with the blight. We’re lucky if we get 20 every week. We’ll continue to offer them as extra choices to you. At least the paste and cherries are still producing well!

Farm News

Photography for our new beef brochure and farm files starts today! We’re excited to have a professional photographer coming out to try to capture all that we do here. This is part of a marketing plan that we made through a grant we received call the Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Grant. Our brochure is a piece of the plan to more effectively market our 100% grass-fed, certified organic beef that we produce from a rare and exceptional breed, the Galloway. Here’s an excerpt:

Originally from southwestern Scotland, Galloway is said to be one of the most tender and flavorful beef breeds. This uncommon breed of cattle, dating back to 1530, is unrivaled as a grazing breed. Medium-sized, with short legs, well-suited to grazing, and Vermont winters, Galloways grow a naturally dense, insulating coat that eliminates the need to produce undesirable layers of outer fat. Galloways are said to "fatten from the inside out" resulting in leaner, well-marbled carcasses with large rib eyes. Maplewood Organics currently has about 45 head of cattle, including our sire, Junior, breeding stock, teenage calves and yearlings, with plans to grow the herd gradually to fit our land and customer demand."

Winter CSA – SOLD OUT

You may place your name on a waiting list for our winter CSA, which runs October through December. If someone cancels, you have a chance at a share in the order that you signed on. (The total cost to you is $140.)

Annual CSA Member Cook-out

This is a clone recipe of the very popular sweet and sour cabbage slaw served at the popular North Woods Inn California restaurant chain. Plan ahead. This salad needs a long marination time. It's good after 48 hours, but even better after 4 or 5 days. This is the perfect make-ahead salad.

•1/2 head red cabbage

•1/2 cup vegetable oil

•1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

•3 Tbsp sugar

•2 tsp salt

•1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt

•1/4 tsp black pepper

•3/4 tsp onion powder

Shred half of the cabbage finely and the other half coarsely. Place in a large bowl.

Whisk together vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, seasoned salt, black pepper, and onion powder.

Toss the dressing with the cabbage. Scrape the salad with the dressing into a zip-top bag or covered container and refrigerate at least 48 hours or until cabbage turns deep red, softens a bit, and flavors meld. It's even better after 4 or 5 days.

This red cabbage salad and a green salad with a creamy blue cheese buttermilk dressing are served together as a duo along with garlic cheese bread.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Brush cut sides of squash halves with some of the butter. Place cut-side down on a broler rack set 3 inches from heating element & broil 5 minutes. Turn squash & broil another 3 minutes.

CSA Newsletter

Volume 5

Issue 12- NMC

August 31, 2009

Week 12

Wow! We’re 2/3 through the CSA already! Only six weeks left after this! We have red potatoes this week! We’ll offer them to you for two weeks. Then we plan to give you a sampling of blue potatoes to try something a little different. Remember to go to our Local Harvest website blog (

Flowers for Special Events

Garden Progress

We’re making good progress on weeds. They slow down this time of year like everything else. There’s much less weed pressure in our new plantings to it’s easier to keep up. The turnips, radishes, lettuce, Swiss chard, and beets we planted recently are all coming in nicely. Eric and Brian transplanted some of the chard to even out the row where the walk-behind seeder missed and clumped. When we’re done weeding out the onions and leeks, we’ll move on to the new carrots and beets planted in the big garden. We’re watching our cauliflower plants to see if we get any side shoots. I never have, but a friend grew some last year in her home garden and had side shoots!

I finally got to make salsa this weekend. Last year I only had extra enough to make 10 pints. I made 36 pints on Saturday. I plant lots of paste tomatoes so that I can put up salsa and sauce for my family for the winter. I’ll have some for sale too, so you can add some to your cupboard for the winter.

Farm News

With the departure of Ellyn last Wednesday, the number of interns has decreased yet again. The only two that remain, Eric and Brian, will be here at Maplewood beyond the end of the CSA. While the amount of hands has declined, the amount of work has not. It seems like we are finally getting control of the weeds, but we still have a lot to take care of and not enough time with the CSA harvests. The current planting of beans is finally dropping off, but the second planting looks as if it could be ready to produce fairly soon. The third and final planting of peas is coming to an end as well. Zucchini, Cucumber, and Eggplant continue to round out the extras, but the latter two give promising signs that they may make their way into everyones share next week. If only we could get some real rain... ~Eric T. Noel, the intern

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Winter CSA – SOLD OUT

You may place your name on a waiting list for our winter CSA, which runs October through December. If someone cancels, you have a chance at a share in the order that you signed on. (The total cost to you is $140.)

Annual CSA Member Cook-out

Please keep an eye out for an e-vite for this event in your email inbox soon!

Red Cabbage with Apple

In a Dutch oven or large deep skillet, melt butter; add cabbage and apple slices, mixing well. Add bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add wine, vinegar and sugar; stir to mix well. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Serves 4 to 6.