Maplewood Organics

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Week 8

Lots and lots of beans!!! The first crop is finishing up and the second crop is coming in. You should be able to freeze some for the winter if you want to! We are also offering leeks and onions this week. We are anxiously waiting for the tomatoes to start turning red. The plants look very healthy and we have lots of green tomatoes. We're also waiting on our broccoli and cauliflower that are late in maturing. They really don't like hot weather... I'm hoping that the rain this week will move some of our crops along. There is a bounty preparing to come your way!

Save the Dates

Saturday, August 7th, 1:00-5:00pm @Maplewood Organics

Crop Mob

Bring friends, neighbors, and family. Come ready to weed, harvest, plant cover crop, mulch! Help us clean up the gardens for some great fall growth. Light refreshments will be provided! Please RSVP by emailing or calling by August 6th (maplewoodorganics@yahoo.com or 868-5083).

Saturday, September 18th, 5:00-8:00pm

Come enjoy good company, tour the farm by foot and hay rides, and eat delicious Maplewood and member food! Please bring a dish to share. Maplewood Organics will provide burgers and fixings, place settings, and non-alcoholic beverages. We'll have dinner around 6:00. Keep an eye out for an Evite for this event.

Garden Progress and Farm News

So we saved the garlic harvest for Robert's return this week. It'll all be dug on Tuesday! Eric and I started digging up the red potatoes on Sunday. I took some plant samples and sent them to the UVM lab to have them tested for blight. I'm happy to report that we DO NOT have late blight! Hurray! Really terrific news. We do have early blight and potato leaf hoppers, but these are both manageable problems and are not a risk to our tomatoes.

Maggie has been weeding like crazy. She cleared some areas in the squash part of the garden. I noticed a difference with a couple days in the plants. The next priority area is the onions so we can harvest more easily. Then back to the squash. Eric should get to try out the tractor in our new plantings this week or next. If it works like we think it will, I'll learn how to drive that tractor too!

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Recipes of the Week

Leek and Onion Bisque recipe

6 cups of chicken stock.
1 clove of garlic chopped.
1 cup of leeks, cleaned and chopped.
1 cup of celery chopped.
1 cup of onion chopped.
¼ cup of white wine.
¼ cup of sour cream.
¼ cup of cream cheese.
¼ cup of heavy cream.
2 tablespoons of butter.
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Sauté the chopped leeks, celery, onion, and garlic in the butter until tender.
Add the chicken stock and white wine and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from stove and purée in your food processor.
Add the sour cream, cream cheese and heavy cream and blend thoroughly.
Strain through a fine sieve and return to pot.
Bring back to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste.

Crispy Kale Recipe from http://kidscooking.about.com/od/sidedishes/r/crispykale.htm?p=1

Kale recipes aren't normally on the top of most parents lists when they're looking for vegetables the kids will like. But I urge you to try this crispy kale. It is really extraordinary.

Although the kale is roasted, not fried, it becomes crispy and salty, almost like french fries.

This kale recipe is incredibly healthy, too. It boasts a whopping 309% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 201% vitamin C, 14% calcium, 10% iron, 3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and it only has 112 calories and 1 gram of saturated fat per serving!

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes

•6-8 cups chopped fresh kale, hard stems removed (Just adjust according to how much you have.)

•2 Tbsp. olive oil

•1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

•1/2 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt

1.Place a rack on the lowest shelf of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.Spread kale out on a sturdy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Toss to coat completely.

3.Place on the lowest rack of the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

4.Remove from oven and stir so that kale can get crispy all over.

5.Bake another 8 to 12 minutes or until kale is crispy. It should be just lightly browned and crispy to the touch.

If kale still bends, rather than crackles, when you touch it, it isn't done yet. Return it to the oven. Turn down the heat if it is getting too brown. Continue cooking until crispy.

6.Remove from oven, and sprinkle with sea salt (Maldon sea salt1 makes it taste fantastic) and serve immediately.