Eaters' Guild

Rain and then some...
the farm had a great soaking, in particular on Monday, making for a challenging field day.  We were just able to get a cover crop of buckwheat planted, having to plant only over every other pass, seeding on the pass downhill (not a big hill), the uphill pass carried out on the road adjacent the field.  IT was just too mucky to get traction uphill otherwise.  At least we'll see good germination, as has been the case with other recent sucessional plantings of baby lettuces, mustards, turnips, etc.  Naturally, the day could be filled with clean up and maintenance around the farm, which is constantly back burnered--a  short break from the field never hurts.

Seasonal news--this is the time of year we try to eek out the time to go off farm and harvest blueberries to add a tasting to shares.  Given the pace of this season, we are unable to take the, at least, two days off farm, required to make this happen.  When I mention 'tasting' of berries, it is just that, a pint in half shares and quart in full shares. The travel plus harvest time necessary would be better used making things happen here at home.  If you wish to pick your own, closest to us is Pleasant Hill farm in Fennville with Organic Blueberry U-pick.  They pick for frozen sales, so no fresh pre-picked berries--only U-pick at $2.50/lb.  In the Holland area is the Blueberry Heritage farm, a certified og farm as well.  I don't have more details than this except a webpage (www.berry-bunch.com).  Sorry for this little absence.

**Beware of splitting tomatoes--we do plan to have tomatoes for you early in the week.  Given the wet conditions, know that fruit splits are likely, and we will do our best to give you clean fruits.  If the weather clears over the course of the week, this will be less of an issue later.  Onions are back, this time in their more adult form.  They've been pulled from the field and dry down over the next few weeks before being boxed up for storage.  You'll notice the outer skins beginning to dry--both reds and yellow.

As for recipes, nothing springs to mind.  Any veggies stumping you?  Any suggestions?  Let me know!  And, if you haven't already, mark you calendar for Aug. 30, 1 pm CSA farm potluck.
Have a great week!
Laurie, Lee and Iris

Hello from the farm....
We've just completed our 14th week of delivery.  We've made certain entry into the second half of the CSA season (we go 25 weeks), and where have we come...?  Our first glimpse of tomatoes, the cherry type, this past week.  The orange, sweet ones are a hybrid variety going by the name of 'Sungold'.  These are always a favorite.  You will find these most often in fresh markets--as opposed to stores.  Due to their thin skins and relatively high sugars they're not good shippers as they're prone to splitting.  We found this to be the case especially after the rains the end of the week last, so you may have experienced this is your box.  The other tomatoes delivered were red grape, and a plum tomato called 'juliet'.  Juliet makes a great paste/sauce and is a variety we often offer as u-pick once the tomato season is well under way, so stay tuned for this. 

We have a new farm intern.   Emma joined us this week, and you can meet her at the Wednesday South Haven Farmers' Market.  Emma is from Grand Rapids and spent the first part of the season on a start-up vegetable farm in Tennessee.  We are quite happy she's here, and as the weeks pass we hope she can still say the same.  Another place to meet Emma and the other interns, Shaun and Zach, is here at the farm for our next CSA potluck.  Date and time is Sunday, August 30 at 1 pm.  We ask that you bring food to share, your table settings--plate, tableware and beverage vessel--and if it is easy enough, bring a lawn chair.  We have water and tea available.  We will commune around the meal, and take a walk through the farm.

Field notes:  Peppers and eggplant have started fruiting.  As these become abundant, you will receive them for your share.  Cucumbers--a big disappointment this season.  THe plants aren't real healthy and fruits are sparse--adding up to crop failure more or less.  Potatoes are bountiful, and onions are due to be harvested and brought in to dry down.  This is a lovely sight, especially when we let out thoughts creep a few months ahead to cooler, non-growing months...Bulb fennel, a favorite of many, a stumper of many--hasn't shown up yet.  We had poor germination the first round, and seedling death the second try; but, the plants are in the field on the third round, and will be a later season (late September) showing, given all things go well here to then.

For now, enjoy the week.  Happy eating!
Laurie, Lee, and Iris

Hi there--
Theoretically we're in those dog days of summer....what do we have to show for it???  Well, nothing too exciting (yet) given we've been spared oppressively warm nights(--I guess we're sleeping well)--but we are seeing glimpses of sweet corn.  We will have some for the spread today (tues) in Kalamazoo, and we'll play it by ear....for the rest of the week.  We plant sweet corn in successions, and given this turns out predictably, everyone will get a tasting over the next few weeks.  Early succession ears are on the smallish side, but still very sweet--and not too buggy--or more descriptive, wormy.  Please accept our apologies in advance if some of these unsavory beasts turn up in an ear or two.  (If it helps you tolerate cutting them away, keep in mind all they have eaten in their brief lives is corn....)

The rest of the spread is something in the realm of:  cabbage, potatoes, garlic, squash, cooking greens and salad mix.  A note on the salad mix is this week we are adding purslane.  It is a pretty, succulent-like leaf; and we have some beautiful plants on the farm right now.   Just a little factoid for you, Purslane is the plant containing THE HIGHEST amount of omega-3 fatty acids.  It tastes mild, and is something new to look for in the regular old blend.

It's not news yet, but this week we will establish a date for our next farm gathering, and let you know next time around.  We aim for a Sunday in August, so sometime near the end of the month.  Below I will share our summer squash dish from dinner last night.  I kinda wing it at the stove, so you'll need to taste and adjust as you go!

Have a great week and be well
Laurie, Lee and Iris.

Indian Style Squash

4-6 Summer squash/ zucchini cut into 1/4 inch discs and halved--place in colander, sprinkle 3-4     pinches of salt and mix.  Let sit over plate or in sink for 15-30 min to release moisture from     squash.  Pat dry-ish with cheesecloth or other absorbent towel.
2 onions--sliced
1/4-1/2 cup ghee or preferred sauteing oil
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2-3 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp maple syrup
garlic, minced--to taste

Heat 1/4 c ghee or cooking oil on med-high heat.  Add onions, coriander, cumin and tumeric.  Saute a few minutes.  Add prepared squash and mix well.  Add garam masala, and salt, mix well.  Saute 10- 15 minutes, stirring reqularly.  Check and adjust seasoning.  Once squash is wilted, add lemon juice, maple syrup and garlic.  saute a few more minutes and serve.  Accompanies Dahl beautifully.

Hey there--

Sorry for the silence last week, the recipe below is easier done than transcribed from my head...and I just altogether ran out of time.  So we continue with what was said last time, and this week we add summer squash to the repertoire.  The season is hopping along.  Garlic is pulled and ought to be dried down enough to add to your shares next week.        
We've started irrigating more regularly--pretty much as we'd expect for July.  Veg. for the week--salad mix, carrots, kohlrabi (i think), green onions, zucc/summer squash and kale.  I leave off with a kale variation on       Palak (Spinach) Paneer.  This, we served at the farm gathering in June.  It's a great way to use a lot of kale, just in case it is hanging around.....if you have some already in the freezer, you can thaw this, and use it as well--or you can hold some over, from weeks prior, this way to make a large quantity.  It wasn't easy to think it as a 2 bunch recipe as we will make a 6-8 bunch equivalent batch for the three of us, and have only a little left to heat as breakfast the next day.  Keep tasting as you go, and adjust seasoning as needed!  
Be well and enjoy your week!

Laurie Lee and Iris

Kale Paneer

This recipe serves 2, over rice.

Paneer is fresh cheese.  It is a lot like tofu as it takes on the flavor of that which it is paired, you can fry it, and it doesn't melt.  It is easy to make:
On the stovetop, heat 1/2 gallon milk to 195F--it is very important you heat the milk this high or else the curd will not separate completely.  Once milk is to temp, remove from heat and  add 2 tbsp cider vinegar, while stirring.  You will see the milk curdle, and gradually the curd will separate from the yellowish whey.  If the whey remains cloudy, either the milk wasn't hot enough, or a little more vinegar is needed.  Too much vinegar will flavor the cheese.  Once the curd is separated, strain from whey (carefully as it is very hot), add 1/2 tsp salt and lightly mix in with a fork, and let curd set in strainer to bind together.  you may leave this now and prepare kale

Chop 1 onion, 1-2 inch fresh ginger, 1 seeded and veined jalapeno, and saute in oil or ghee.  Add 1-2 tsp ground cumin, and 1-2 tsp ground coriander.  Once all is well wilted, remove from pan and set aside.  Heat pan with fresh cooking oil, add 2 bunches kale-- de-stemmed, torn, and sprinkled with salt, and saute on med-high heat until bright green and wilted.  Place kale and cooked seasoning mixture into a high powered blender or food processor.  Pulverize this to a chunky, thick paste.  Here, you may cut your paneer into cubes and saute in pan with fresh oil until lightly brown on some sides, then add veg paste and heat; or place the veg paste from blender into your saute pan, add cubed paneer and heat.  At this point you will need to add milk as necessary to keep the mixture loose but not sauce like, it should have some body and hold atop a bed of rice.  For finishing touches, while heating, add 1/2 tsp garam masala and salt to taste, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon, and continue to heat through.  

Hello there-
it's the usual bustling morning here at the farm.  Salad mix is harvested, greens--chard and kale-- are being bunched,  along with beets, and kohlrabi. Indeed, it is a pleasant morning for harvest, and perfect temps for perky produce.  We made the blind introduction of kohlrabi last week, so I'll give it more attention now.  IT is in the kohl crop family, ie broccoli, cabbage, kale...Interestingly enough, these are the same species of plant, Brassica oleracea, just selected for different physical characteristics--Kale-leaf, cabbage-leaf, broccoli-flower, kohlrabi-stem.  Pretty cool eh?  So this gives you some idea of taste, and maybe even some preparation ideas.    The part of the plant intended for eating enjoyment is the enlarged part of the stem at the base, we call these heads or bulbs, which it really is neither, but for descriptive sake, it works.  Generally we eat kohlrabi raw, most often we make cole(kohl)slaw, and I've put this recipe below.  We've heard numerous suggestions from market goers, the most common being a light steam to the sliced bulb, topped with butter, salt and pepper.  The outer layer on this bulb is thick and a little tough, but not impossible to eat, particularly when cooked.  When we just slice, dip and eat, we peel this layer to get to the tender/crisp delight held inside.  THe leaves of the plant are perfectly edible, but will need a good steam or boil--soups and stews are great destinations for these.  The goats here particularly like them.  I know there are many recipes out there for this unusual vegetable.  IT has a history that goes back to grandmas garden for many, and we think it is making a comeback.  

Greens--if you can handle heating the oven in summer, the kale chip recipe below is for you.  IF you feel like you get plenty of greens, you will soon be saying you can't get enough.  Kids love these too!  This recipe works with both kale types, curly leaf and lacinato (this one is very dark green, elongated, flatter, and looks like lizard skin), and works with collards too...

We are still struggling a lot at one pick up site, a little at another.  A common thread being the locations are places of business--which we don't want to say it is that there is produce theft on the rampage, but on the other hand, being a "business"  this may be unsettling for some, perhaps you feel you are in the way, or have the need-to-quickly-grab-your-share-and-get-out sort of feeling.  Keep in mind we are guests here, but we have full permission to use these spaces.  On the same vein, we ask that you maintain the sites with some dignity and leave it neater than it was when you came, if possible.  For instance, if you empty a box, or see an empty produce box, you can carefully, without tearing the box, fold it flat, and, if applicable, open the box of produce below to display the veg. for the next person.  The folded box can be unobtrusively set to the side.  IF you see a sign that has slipped out of place, perhaps you could put it where it belongs for the next farm member to see.  For those in Benton Harbor, we are in process of seeing if there is a space out of the way of the entry we can use, perhaps this can allow members to take the time they need to read the guidelines for filling the weeks share correctly.  We would also accept volunteers to 'person' the site, even if just for an hour.  ALSO, we have suggested a large window of time for these sites.  We've suggested that you have a 24 hour period to get your produce.  Because the produce is just sitting there you could see this as an option BUT  we highly encourage you to observe a much smaller window.   If we would need to hire a site overseer, we would likely make pick up a 2-3 hour window.  I cannot say we have had a perfect record in the first 2 or 3 hours post delivery at these sites, but we have fewer problems the earlier folks come to get shares.....Please consider this on pick up days.

For those of you who sent it, thanks for the strawberry gratitude.  All but one comment was thankful and positive which is very nice given the offering of these turned out to be rather a fiasco, and a large expense to the farm...Just for the record, we've learned from this that we won't have these available for shares in future seasons.  

Anyway, moving forward--were thinking there will be carrots and green onions for all shares NEXT week.  Those hot days last week seemed oppressive at times, but we need more of that to keep the peppers, tomatoes, melons and summer squash, corn, all that peak season veg., growing well.  If you can stand it, do your summer heat dance, and then get to the beach.  There's a lot of season left, stay tuned.

Have a great week!
Laurie Lee and Iris

Kohl(rabi) slaw

4 kohlrabi--peeled and cut into matchsticks (shredded is okay, but makes a soggy slaw)
1/2 onion thinly sliced or 4 green onions, chopped white and green parts
1/2 tsp whole celery seed or 1 tsp celery seed powder
1/2 tsp salt
 toss the above and make the dressing below, or use your own recipe or fav. prepared dressing

In a blender:
2 eggs
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt

start the blender low and go to medium speed.  Through the lid pour slowly but steadily:

olive oil--about 1 cup.  as the blender is running, watch as you pour in oil and you will see the mixture begin the thicken. as the hole in the middle of the mixture closes, stop blending.  Do not overblend or your homemade mayonnaise will go thin.  If the mixture does not thicken maybe the 1 cup oil isn't enough, I'm guessing here on amount of oil, since I wing this one....

pour the finished dressing over tossed vegetables.  Adjust seasoning--more salt if needed, pepper and/or paprika if you like...Serve immediately.

KALE CHIPS

Preheat oven to 400F

Tear kale leaves--de-stemmed or not--into 2-3 inch pieces. (I like it de-stemmed, Lee tolerates the stems in because he doesn't want to bother stemming leaves)

Place the leaves in a bowl, and toss lightly with oil.

Place leaves approximately one layer thick on cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with salt if desired.

  Bake 10 minutes in oven.

You would like these to be crisp and light, so after 10 minutes, if they are still limp, turn the leaves on the baking sheet and bake a few minutes longer.

Serve/eat immediately--ENJOY!

HI there--
Happy Solstice, happy Summer!  I really need to be brief today--but I don't want to go without saying thanks to those of you who could make it out Sunday.  Being Father's day, I'm certain there were family events all around, and hopefully everyone had a great weekend where ever you were.  The potluck food was the usual, fantastic, and the weather couldn't have been better.

We will have strawberries in your boxes this week.  In fact the notes here will be strawberry centric.   The berries are certified organic--they will be 2 varieties, honey eye, and another that I cannot remember just now.  Honey eyes are the honey of strawberries, smallish and SWEET--I feel we are fortunate to get them.  If you pre-ordered a flat(s), I've accumulated these from the email inbox, and there will be a stack of flats with names on them.  Please take the flat with your name only--Everyone will be taking home some berries with their shares  (Full share=2 Quarts , Half share=1 Quart).  Again, if you feel you ordered, and there is no flat with your name on it, please do not take any other than what would be part of your share.  Call or email us, and we will do what we can to rectify the miss.  269-427-0423  

Even more local, there is an organic fruit farm in Fennville, Kismet Organics--they have U-pick berries now.  I don't have contact just in front of me, but they do have a website, and I'm thinking you can find them at LocalHarvest.org.  FYI--We do not source our berries here for a few reasons, one being they cannot meet our quantities for shares and sales.

There will be vegetables this week too..heehee-- BUT now, I need to leave to pick up the strawberries, and cannot give them much lip service this week.  IF you have questions, or need prep. ideas, or have prep. ideas, pass your inquiries or knowledge along to us--we're happy to share.

Be well everyone!
laurieleeandiris

HI there--
I only have a few minutes, and only a few things to cover.  First, hang on another week with more of the same----this is generally an awkward time in the share season, and given the cool temps, nothing is growing speedily to break into the monotony.  Not bad for the crop, not great for our waiting appetites.  GOOD NEWS THOUGH--we have made contact with Sandy and Bernie Ware at Ware Farm, in Bear Lake.  They grow strawberries, and have been our source for strawberries every year but last--due to troubling seasonal variations.  THis years crop, they say, is looking good, and we should be able to bring them to you sometime in the next 2 maybe 3 weeks.  A sweet hiatus from radishes and collards eh?  If we can get the numbers we hope for, we will have some to sell to you as flats or half flats PREORDER at a better-than-market-stand price.  I will let you know as soon as we know we can get them so that you can submit your order.  Given there are many YAHOO.COM members out there that don't directly receive these mailings, please pass this info along, when it comes, if you know another farm member using yahoo.  Thanks.  On our farm front, we are looking at kohlrabi and beets in the nearer future, at least one of these next week.  This is good news, yes.

Pick up revisited--If you are picking up at an un-personed site, please follow the written guidelines for pick up closely.  If you are 2 persons sharing a full share, it is important you still take one full share size bag of salad and not 2 half share bags.  WE leave produce to the count of folks/share types we have picking up, so you can figure in your mind, what would happen otherwise in this situation.  If you are picking up at a farmers market--aka a personed site, please come by 12:00 noon.  This gives a four hour window, and hopefully ample time.  If you have to come later, please let us know ahead of time.  

I have greens recipes to share, sent to us by another farm member--they sound great (thanks Elizabeth!)  THE salad turnips were a flash in the pan, I only ate a bunch myself, but they will be back again this season.  

Spicy Potato Sausage and Greens Soup
 
1 # bulk hot Italian sausage
1/2 C chopped onion
4 C chicken broth
4 C thinly sliced potatoes with skins
4 C water
2 C packed chopped fresh collards, kale, spinach, chard, or other green
1/3 C whipping cream
salt and pepper
 
Heat soup pot over medium.  Add sausage and oniions and cook until no longer pink.  Add broth, potatoes, and 4 C water.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, 10-15 mins.  Stir in greens, cook 1-2 mins.  Stir in whipping cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.  This reheats and gets even better the next day.  Serves 8-12.

Red, White, and Spring Green Crunch Salad
1 small bunch red radishes, stems, leaves, and ends trimmed
1 medium turnip or 4-5 salad turnips, scrubbed (1/2 pound)
1 small cucumber, halved lengthwise and seeded
4 Tbls rice wine vinegar
1 Tbls sugar
4 Tbls chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste
Finely dice radish, turnips, and cucumber.  Combine with remaining ingredients and 4-5 Tbls of water in a bowl.  Chill 1/2-1 hour before serving.  Serves 6.

POTLUCK Sunday. Hope you can make it!!--directions to the farm from M-43:

Take M-43 into Bangor.  There is one traffic signal (blinking) in Bangor at Center ST (also CR 681)  You will turn north here.  From this intersection we are 0.7 mile on the east side of the road.  There is a sign at the drive, little set back from the road, you enter here.  If you pass this drive, there is a second about 100ft ahead, you can enter here as well.  IF you go as far as 24th street, or further to CR 380 (stop sign) you have gone too far. 

Be well--have a great week
Laurie, Lee and IRis

Hello everyone--
I caught myself as I was putting 'spring' in the subject line.  Sure feels like spring, and I suppose according to the calendar it still is, but something about being in the second week of June, seems odd to feel so spring like.....well, so be it.  We get what we get and we adjust accordingly.  For the most part, the plant life is thriving and vibrant.  Those of you with gardens see the delay a cool seasons start has on the heat loving crops--tomatoes and peppers being the most obvious, and coveted for most--but the temperate greens and kohl crops find this lovely, or so I surmise from their perky appearance.  Referring back to our subject line, we're talking garlic this week.  Not the bulbous, clove-y kind, but the long, green, crunchy form.  Garlic scapes or scants, as we've heard them referred to as, or dragon's tongues as we affectionately call them, are the immature flowers of the garlic plant.  These offer a hint--or a lick--of the mature harvest flavor.  The flowers, which resemble more a curly-Q stem or string bean, can be chopped and used raw in pestos, or as a sprinkle to dressings, or cooked dishes, they can be chopped and sauteed as you would garlic, or left whole and roasted or sauteed as you might asparagus or green beans.  They have a VERY long storage capacity when kept in the crisper, not that you would have any reason to not eat them right away--but in this we feel you won't find them imposing or inconvenient in any way.  Does it harm the garlic to take the flower?  Quite the opposite---the bulb would feed the flower in order to self propagate.  We, the eaters, step in and liberate the bulb from such burden in order to grow bountiful, fat bulbs for our own harvest and pleasure.

As for the other veg in your share we have your salad mix, radishes and collards....Collards, with being so early in our season of cooking greens, I'm shy to pass you a greens heavy recipe.  But still, what to do with a bunch of collards?  I would suggest breakfast (if you have the time, in the morning, otherwise, make it for dinner--it is nice to enjoy the meal called breakfast if you normally don't or cannot).  Saute the de-stemmed and torn leaves in butter, ghee or oil of choice--if you're into bacon, cook this first and use the leftover pan drippings.  Really don't skimp on the fat in the saute.  Being a heavier leaf, collards will take a few more minutes to cook than kale or mustard greens--and don't use water--these leaves are supple and filled with moisture to aid cooking.  With tongs or a fork, toss the leaves as they cook add salt and pepper to taste--a pinch of coriander is nice.  May take 5-10 minutes, med-high heat.  Once the leaves are vibrant, deep green, remove from the pan.  Serve with eggs prepared to your liking--poached is our choice--and a side of soba noodles or your favorite bread toasted in the hot collard skillet.  

Enjoy the week. If you haven't already done so, mark your calendar for the 21st, our potluck gathering here at the farm.
BE well
laurie, lee and Iris

HI-
Good day to you.  Sorry to miss correspondence last week, something in the air made it a doozy, and I couldn’t find the space in the day to sit for long at the computer.  We’re in the midst of week four, and over this and next week, you’ll see some veggies go and others enter the picture.  The spinach is seeing a last harvest throughout the week.  Some of you will have this, while others will find young and tender collards in their place.  At this stage of the collards growth, the leaves are so tender, you can use them as you would cooked spinach.  Cooking time, steaming or sautéing, may be a little longer, but not much.  Asparagus will bow out in the next few weeks.  Harvests are reduced, as we expect, but what a nice run, right?  A Japanese salad turnip, named Hakurei, are ready for harvest over the next week or so, beets and kohlrabi are not too far off.  In the meantime, there is plenty of salad mix and radishes, keeping things light and spicy.  

A few announcements—first we are planning our Solstice potluck for Sunday June 21, 2009.  We gather here at the farm between noon and 1 pm.  We’ll eat around 1-1:30.  Then we will take a loosely guided farm tour.  Bring appropriate shoes for tromping around the fields and around barnyards—with animals, and what animals eliminate.  For the meal, bring a dish to pass or an interesting beverage, your table settings, and if you have lawn chairs that are easy to bring, throw them in as well.  The farm address is 26041 County Road 681, Bangor 49013.  You may google map us, but if you’d rather directions directly from us, email, and I’ll get them right back to you.  We hope you can make it, the food and company makes these days wonderful!

--Second: weeders needed.  If you are hankering to weed carrots—we’re the ones to contact.  The carrot beds are looking nice, and green, and a little too leafy…The string of rain has boosted the growth of well, everything—some (weeds) more than others (carrots).  Between rows are cultivated, and now we need to remove in-row weeds.  If this activity suits you, let us know. (Due to the tenderness of baby carrot plants, this work is best for mature hands and attention spans.)

--Third:  We cannot speak highly enough of our farm interns.  This year we have Shaun, James and Zach living, learning and working the farm.  We’re encouraging their input on the blog page—they take an inspired approach to living and being, and have much to teach us in return.   

Finally—recipes.  Listed below is a website forwarded to us by a farm member (thanks Tanya).  I haven’t checked it out yet, but said to have great recipes to cover the CSA season, and all the variety of veg. offered.  Also a recipe for Asparagus—sounds yum.

http://www.greenearthinstitute.org/recipes.htm

This is a recipe I received from a friend and she got it from the Chicago Trib.
Asparagus Soup
2 tbs olive oil
1tbs butter
2 leeks(I substituted half an onion), finely chopped
1 lb asparagus(I just used a big fistful), cut into 2 inch pieces, save the tips to the side
1 medium potato, peeled, and cut into to 2 inch pieces(roughly)
1 quart or 4 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper
1 or 2 tbs FRESH lemon juice(Don't use that bottled garbage, yuck)
a dollop of sour cream for garnish(I didn't use this, it was so good it didn't need it)

Heat oil and butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add onions and cook until soft(about 5 minutes)
Add asparagus and potatoes and cook until beginning to soften(about 5 minutes)
Add chicken broth, salt and pepper, heat to a boil and then reduce heat to low and cook until everything is tender(about 15 minutes)
Meanwhile, heat a saucepan of water to boil and add asparagus tips.  Boil until tender but still bright green(about 3 minutes).  Drain and set aside to garnish bowls of soup.
Puree the soup in batches in a blender and return to pot.
Stir in lemon juice to taste.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with asparagus tips and sour cream(if you wish).

Radish salad—sooo good, a summer staple for us.

I bunch radish, washed and shredded
½ onion shredded
¼ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
½ c feta cheese
juice of ½ lemon
½-1 c plain yogurt
1 tsp dill weed (or more to taste)
½ tsp spearmint (optional)
salt to taste
Combine all, serve at once—does become soupier as it sits.

Be well—have a great week!
Laurie, Lee and IRis

Hello--
Gorgeous day today!
Our first week went off with only a miss or two.  We have a couple details to add to a couple pick up sites.  In Kalamazoo, at the Frayers',  Portage, at the chiropractic center and in Benton Harbor--the Livery....if you would be the last person to empty a box, please carefully, without tearing the tabs off, fold the box to flat and set it to the side.  TO do so, ON THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX, you need to gently slide the tabs that tuck into the slots, out of these slots.  The tabbed flaps of the box fold/bend--if you look closely you see the factory pressed folds-- in order to make this easy, and to prevent ripping the tabs off of the box.  Once these tabs are ripped, the box is non-functional except for kindling a fire....These are tedious instructions, but we would like to use these boxes until they fall apart from carrying so much produce again and again, not because they were needlessly damaged.  Thank you for doing so.  This simply helps our host by keeping the area tidy for their businesses or lives to carry on as undisrupted as  possible.

SALAD MIX--there is a sampling this week.  I say sampling because it is difficult picking since the resident weeds are less affected by cooler soil temperatures, and out-grew the salad mix.  Given this, please pardon an occasional unintended plant this succession; It may be grass, or something else more exotic, but none of the uninvited will cause harm.  ASPARAGUS will grace your box, though less abundantly than last week.   This was a casualty of the frost we had over the weekend, your share will exhibit this.  The RADISHES and SPINACH faired conditions fine--so you have another meal to enjoy these.  Did you know you need to trim the greens from the radishes so that the radish doesn't loose moisture and become spongy?  Even more, did you know that there is at least one cool recipe for radish greens?  Well you do, and there is...a farm member (thanks Carol!) sent us this, and while I haven't tried it, it sounds great.  Pasted at the bottom.

Email alert:  It is a moot issue since this doesn't reach the folks that need to hear it--but not only does Yahoo block our emails, so now, it seems, does comcast.  So if you know someone who uses these carriers, and would otherwise be getting our emails, you could let them know the symptom, and this would be great.  We do send this out to the group--and have had it suggested that this is the problem.  I believe that, but have no reasonable solution.  These notes can be viewed at the blog which can be accessed through  eatersguild.com

Have a great week!
LaurieLEe and Iris

Radish Leaf Pesto

- 2 large handfuls of good-looking radish leaves, stems removed
- 30 grams (1 ounce) hard cheese, such as pecorino or parmesan, grated or shaved using a vegetable peeler
- 30 grams (1 ounce) nuts, such as pistachios, almonds, or pinenuts (avoid walnuts, which make the end result too bitter in my opinion)
- 1 clove garlic, germ removed, cut in four
- a short ribbon of lemon zest cut thinly from an organic lemon with a vegetable peeler (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to get the consistency you like
- salt, pepper, ground chili pepper

Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender or mini-chopper, and process in short pulses until smooth. You will likely have to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. This produces a thick pesto; add more oil and pulse again to get the consistency you prefer. (This can also be done with a mortar and pestle; it's great for your karma and your triceps.)

Taste, adjust the seasoning, and pack into an airtight container (I use a recycled glass jar). Use within a few days (it will keep longer if you pour a thin layer of oil on the surface) or freeze.

Chocolate & Zucchini [http://chocolateandzucchini.com]

May 12, 2009
Good Day to You!

Welcome to the opening week of our CSA season.  Saturday in South Haven went relatively smoothly, given an untimely, yet characteristic spring day…The earth is greening slowly, even some trees seem reluctant to unfurl their leaves just yet.  We are finding field growth very slow as the soil just isn’t warming any too quickly.  The compost spread late March needs some 50+ degree avg. temps in order to activate.  The microbes we depend upon to liven the soil, and release the nutrition held in the compost, remain dormant otherwise.  April, on average was a little cool—and May hasn’t exactly been warm.  The radishes and salad mix seem suspended in a miniature holding pattern, making harvest rather timid and un-plentiful.  Really, our experience is different every year.  On the other hand, we have seen a dandy asparagus season so far.  The last two nights of chilly temps has left some damaged stalks behind, but this doesn’t seem to have a huge impact on our distribution of the crop.  Organic asparagus is hard to come by, and very special, particularly when you are eating it within 24 hours of harvest.  Every season we become greater asparagus snobs, eating all we can from our crop to the point of almost loathing it, knowing we will abstain from the sub-standard representation that can be found throughout the year, flown in from California or Mexico, or further….there’s my proof—complete snobbery.  
     The straight-from-the-pickers-mouth update on salad mix is that we will need to wait another week harvest it for distribution.  There is a good deal of spinach—so this will need to stand in as the leafy green this week.  The spinach is an over-wintered field crop.  This is planted late fall, not for harvest, but solely intended for spring harvest.  You will have tender spring radishes, asparagus, and green onions to round things out.  Looking ahead, these items, except for onions as they are finishing this week, will be the make up of the boxes for a few weeks out.  We like to begin our season this early in order to give you the asparagus part of the season, but things can be, and we are finding, are quiet in coming on, and your share may seem repetitive. As the season revs up, the variety will as well.  This isn’t unusual for each season, and we like to put this out there as a reminder.
    FYI:  We are not accepting more members for the season.  We haven’t quite met our designated capacity, but we feel it will be advantageous for all that we cap shares at the number we have now.  If you passed our CSA info along to friends or colleagues, thank you.  If you know people still interested, you can feel free to let them know we are filled for the season.
    
Thanks for joining us this season—I’m leaving off without recipes, if you need prep ideas for these spring delights, let me know!
Be well
Laurie, Lee and IRis
   
 

Here we go!                            May 1, 2009

The ground is soaked, but all in all, it has been a nice start to the season.  We ask for and expect rain of spring.  The biggest obstacle placed on our operation is getting into the field with tractor and transplanter to place seedlings in the ground.  There is also the issue of rinsing fertility away with such heavy rains in a short time.  We have no way of knowing how great the impact will be on present field crops, only time will tell, and we will do our best to adjust and make amendments where we can.  

The main purpose of this email is to thoroughly cover pick up protocol.  There is a good amount of detail to be covered here, so please keep this note for further reference.  We give you the contact information for your pick up location and this can be valuable to you when you need to personalize your pick up.  We are often hard to reach in a pinch, and contacting your host directly is most efficient,  

We are doing things a little different this year, for those of you who have been with us in the past.  We have changed over to a B.Y.O.B.—Bring Your Own Bag.   This helps us keep costs down, and allowed us to keep share prices where they have always been for another season.  At your location your bag is filled on site, either by us, or by you.  If your site is un-personed (Kalamazoo, Portage, Benton Harbor, Saugatuck huh?? I will explain) there will be sign clearly stating what you are to take according to your share type.  Please observe this…..we know you will; we will leave produce to accommodate the number of shares.  The produce is rinsed, and will be either bunched, bagged (salad mix—these bags are bio-degradable), or otherwise, easily measurable.

On pick up time windows:  The set times for pick up are fairly ample and it is best to meet this time frame.  As mentioned earlier, there can be that day when something comes up and you just can’t get there.  This is when you call your host and arrange for another time, or just as a courtesy, let them know you will be late.  The point at which your produce becomes your hosts produce is 24 hours after your pick up time begins—with two exceptions, in Portage and Saugatuck, noted below**.  You may get your veggies after this time, but you need to call your host and make arrangements.  Here are the days and times:

TUESDAY—Begins May 12th
     KALAMAZOO—127 N. Berkeley—Hether and Matt Frayer  381-0847
                   4:30-9:00 pm.
    PORTAGE—4250 S. Westnedge,--Kalamazoo Community Chiropractic Center
388-3003     5:00pm-night-fall  (located just north of Kilgore, you can/should park in the Blockbuster parking lot in order to reserve space for the clinics clients)**please come by noon the next day.
WEDNESDAY--Begins May 13th
    HOLLAND—Farmers Market  8am-noon  (Look for the RED tent)
    SAUGUTUCK—SummerTime Market—BlueStar Hwy at the bridge in Douglas
                 10am-5pm **come within this 7 hour window, no next day pick up
    BENTON HARBOR—190 5th ST.  The Livery 925-8760, liverybrew.com
                                          5pm-midnight
    EATERS’ GUILD FARM—26041 CR 681  269-427-0423, 989-965-1528
                             After 3 pm
SATURDAY--BEGINS MAY 9th
    SOUTH HAVEN—Farmers’ Market—8am-noon
    EATERS’ GUILD FARM—after 3pm

Hello!  A note to farm members for the 2009 season--If you have not received a confirmation email from us, please send us an email, or call us.  Ideally we have contacted all members--but as I learned again today, somehow we miss something, somewhere.  If you have a yahoo account, we often find that our messages don't get through to you; it may take a few tries.  The blog could become the regular contact method...so stay tuned.  Thanks for joining us this season.  These sunny days make for a great start!

Hello~
It's a snowshoe winter.
We're planning to be on schedule today (tuesday), no changes here. Post-holiday, we're finding the reprieve willed upon us by the season nice--outright quiet at times.  This last week we added another sprout to offer some variety, radish.  These are snappy little plants--great on sandwiches, in maki, in soups and salads.  If you've been with us past winters, you've become quiet familiar with them, and if you remember, our tendency to not start them on time to give them to you greened.  Logistically speaking, we lack the space in a brightly lit window to accommodate the amount of sprouts we grow, so perhaps it is just appropriate for us to give them to you started, with a few days of care and light for optimal flavor and nourishment.  Here's our advice:

To keep the radish sprouts, place the sprouts in a quart jar--you will rinse them by filling the jar with fresh water, use a screened lid (especially manufactured for sprouting) to drain, or if you do not have one of these, cover the jar opening with a towel or with cheesecloth, tightly secure the cloth with a rubberband and drain.  Once drained, you may set the jar (covered with the screen/cloth) in a windowsill.  Sprouts will continue to grow and will become green.  Once greened to your liking, you may keep them in your fridge--use in a few days for best taste.  Rinsing everyday is important.  Sprouts are living, and produce their own heat.  So without regular cooling and mixing, radish sprouts especially, can get funky fast.  On the other hand, the pea sprouts are relatively easy.  THey are ready to eat with a sprout of the root, and you can let them grow for a few days, rinsing as you do so (these are easy to drain in a colander--as can be the radish).  Once you wish to slow growth, again place them in your fridge--if used in a few days, further rinsing for the peas doesn't seem to be necessary.

We are entering the world of blogging.  OF course this necessitates having something to say, and taking the time to say it.  THese qualities have a contradictory nature in our lives as in the winter we have the time with little to tell--in the working season, there's plenty to share but few free sequential moments to send it brain to keyboard....so if we can ask, please be patient with us, it is experimental at best.  I will copy this message to the blog, and you can see what is already there.  To find the blog you can go to LocalHarvest.com, search/find eaters' guild farm (our zip is 49013) and then read our blog, or you may try the link below.

http://www.localharvest.org/blog/9939/

Check it out.  At some time we hope our website can host our blog, and be a resource for farm members and others too.  

Recipes?  Turnips and rutabagas stumping you?  I have my books ready, and try to wow you with incredible white root ideas...Be well and stay warm--LLi

DIlly turnip and carrot gratin--
2C graterd Turnips
Salt
1/3 C butter
3/4 C bread crumbs
2C grated Carrot
1/2 tsp sugar
2tsp fresh dill
Freshly ground pepper
3/4C heavy cream

Preheat oven 350F.  Sprinkle turnip with salt and set aside 30 minutes. Melt half of the butter, saute bread crumbs, set aside.  Squeeze water from turnips, combine with grated carrot.  Melt remaining butter in saute pan and add carrot, turnip and sweetner.  Cook med-low heat stirring often.  Stir in dill pepper and salt to taste.  Put all in a buttered baking dish, pour cream over and top with bread crumbs.  Bake in oven until brown and bubbly.

Scalloped Turnips
4Tb butter
1/2 c onions sliced thin
4C peeled sliced turnips
2 Tb flour
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper
1C milk
1/2C light cream
preheat oven 350F
Saute onions in 1 Tb butter until wilted. Layer in thirds turnips and onions into buttered baking dish, sprinkling  with one-third of the flour and salt , and pat with 1 TB butter between each layer.   
Mix milk and cream together and pour over turnips.  Cover and bake for 30 min., then remove cover and bake 30-40 min , or til tender and bubbly.

We've found that sometimes it's best to begin something when you can no longer escape its traction..or lure.  Like intentions to go up and nail down that loose piece of roof steel, ending its clatter and ringing threats to quit us entirely. Or fixing an old gate to save that 2 seconds extra work each time to open it.  Or this, staring at the blogosphere, starting our blog farm---as if the world were not oversupplied with such things, inedible and vacant of substance as they are.  

If these musings are enough to get you here, at least you won't be disappointed to find yourself in this blog barn.  It's an emanation of Local Harvest which will help you find a lot of the other foods and farms you should be looking for.  So clearly not a wasted click.  Before long and before your eyes glaze you'll want to search by your zip code to find good food nearby.

In this blog, your gonna want to really use your keyword seach option to find relevance.  We will have plenty of people coming here to find important weekly info on CSA pick-up issues, new crops and recipies and scheduling of events.  We'll figure out how to post photos when they are actually better than words.  Periodic newletters will be posted here for all to read as well as general rumblings from the farm scene around here.

It may be mistaken but our intent, too, is to use this as our general farm activity log which is a  requirement of organic certification.  This will be a banal list of deeds and measures about which most will find no thrills.  It may however be an interesting experiement in transparency for us and an extortive way to make us commit to keeping it current.  Any taskmasters among the CSA membership may find comfort in the metrics of our toil.  This component may also archive useful information for other growers furthering a sharing a best practices and shedding of worst.

So we hope this is a warm welcome.  It has been willing you should know.  Soon to come will be recipes and notes for this weeks winter share.  We need the bounce this new endeavor provides to get us into the expansive side of the season, out of the leisure of the cold and dark weeks and minimal chores of winter's deepest.  Thanks for helping confirm our suspicions that blogging is theraputic mainly for the blogger at the expense of the blogged...can you forgive us?