Maplewood Organics

CSA Newsletter

Volume 5

Issue 14- Farm

September 17, 2009

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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 (

http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M13345) to view your CSA contents for the upcoming week. You can also find our newsletters posted to that blog. If you want to look back at recipes, you can look there!

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:

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High-density planned grazing or mob grazing is a form of foraging that follows nature. By increasing the amount of animals per acre and decreasing the time spent in any one area, animal and pasture performance are greatly enhanced. Improved pasture forage volume, soil structure, nutrient content, and water-holding capacity all lead to healthier pasture land and result in healthier, fast-gaining, high-quality beef. In addition, planned grazing eliminates soil erosion and greatly reduces run off."

High-Density Holistic Planned Grazing

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.)

Recipes of the Week

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.

Eggplant Bruschette Gourmet | March 2006 Yield: Makes 4 (hors d'oeuvre) servings

1 baguette

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 garlic cloves, whole clove left unpeeled

1 small eggplant (1/2 lb)

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano

1/4 teaspoon coarse gray sea salt

1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.

Cut off and discard 1 end of baguette, then cut 12 (1/4-inch-thick) crosswise slices from baguette (reserve remainder for another use). Lightly brush 1 side of each slice with some oil (about 1 tablespoon total) and arrange, oiled sides up, on a baking sheet. Toast until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. While toasts are still warm, rub oiled sides with cut side of garlic clove half, then transfer to a rack to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Halve eggplant lengthwise and make shallow 1/2-inch-long incisions all over cut sides with tip of a paring knife. Arrange eggplant, cut sides up (without crowding), in a shallow baking dish and add unpeeled garlic clove. Sprinkle thyme, rosemary, oregano, sea salt, and pepper over eggplant, then drizzle eggplant and garlic with 2 tablespoons oil.

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.

Top toasts with eggplant mixture and sprinkle with cheese.