The Cornucopia Carrot Vol. 3, Issue 12

Greetings to you all,

It has been a beautiful week of warmer temperatures and sunshine. It almost seems odd to have to think about watering again - most vegetables need at least 1" of rain per week. We have been busy harvesting, but also doing a lot of planting seeds and transplants for fall.

Our biggest job this past week was harvesting the garlic. We are happy to report that it is all hanging and drying nicely. John and I were both amazed at the rate of drying over the weekend. This weekend we rushed home from market and set off for Kanawha, Iowa - about 150 miles - to a tour (sponsored by Practical Farmers of Iowa) at the farm of our mentors. We had an enjoyable evening visiting.

In your basket this week....

Zucchini - nice standard green zukes great for cooking and baking. If you have extra, you can always grate it up and freeze it to save for soups later on.

Cucumbers - Yummy! crispy and delicious

Cherry Tomatoes

Potatoes - Kerr's Pink

Green Beans -

Green Peppers - first of the season!

Garlic -

Whole shares will also include Red Cabbage this week.

Have a Great Week!

The Cornucopia Carrot Vol.3, Issue 11

Good evening!

Another rainy afternoon brought us inside, but not before we accomplished a lot of work outdoors.  It is time for garlic harvest and I am estimating that about 1/3 of it is pulled and stacked in the barn waiting to be trimmed and hung to cure.  The girls think it looks really "cool" hanging in long strings from the rafters to the floor.  Adrienne took some pictures before supper and we will get those posted soon.  It is actually a fairly messy job due to the rains.  Ideally we would have a few weeks of drying weather before garlic harvest, but it looks like that is not to be, so we must forge ahead and hope that it dries well without any fungal problems.  We cannot wait too much longer, or the bulbs wrappers will start to deteriorate or worse, the bulbs will "shatter" as they get overripe. 

Our helpers did a great job of prepping your veggies today and John also had some help clearing out old plants.  We rented a big mower for the tractor to even out the pasture and mow off the old strawberry plants in preparation for plowing.  While all of this was going on, I managed to transplant about 800 Kohlrabi which will benefit from the cloudy damp conditions, and plant a row of late basil.  The girls donned rain gear and hosed each other off along with the potatoes and carrots :0)

Our little piggies continue to thrive and are a good source of entertainment.  The turkeys also continue to grow and do well.  If you are interested in a turkey for Thanksgiving be sure to reserve one now - thank you to those of you that have already ordered.  We ordered the turkeys a little later than usual so that they would be ready just before the holiday and we are hoping to offer them as a fresh (not frozen) bird.

In your basket this week......

Kerr's Pink Potato - this is a wonderful tasting Irish masher.

Tomatoes - either cherry or regular

Carrots - crispy and sweet

Daikon Radish - wonderful in salads or sliced up on a sandwich

Onions - these are really getting "huge", but are wonderfully sweet and delicious - red or white.  If you find yourself getting ahead on onions, just chop them up and put them in the freezer - ready to pull out and add to a cooked dish  when you are in a hurry.

Green Beans - we are amazed at how the cool weather has affected the rate of growth of the beans.  We really could use some warm days of sunshine

Broccoli - we had really hoped to bring you some zucchini this week, but once again the cool weather........., anyway, zukes for sure next week!

Whole shares will also have a cucumber this week.

Some Recipe ideas that I tried this week that you may also enjoy.....

Root Veggie Slaw 

I heard the idea for this on my way home from market last week while listening to the public radio show "The Splendid Table".  The great thing about it is that you can use just about any veggies you have on hand, and the dressing is a nice light change from traditional creamy slaw dressings.  (from The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider)

1 small celery root (@12oz)

4 med. parsnips (8oz)

2 parsley roots (8 oz)

1 tsp lemon  or orange zest

8 oz yellow or red beets

Dressing:  whisk all ingredients together and pour over vegetables and stir - taste and adjust seasonings.

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

Kosher salt - to taste

Pinch of sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil or roasted hazelnut or walnut oil

1 tsp. warm water

Freshly ground black pepper - to taste

I used the dressing recipe above, but my veggie mix consisted of:

chopped cabbage

peeled, finely chopped raw beets (these add nice color)

minced onion

grated carrots

grated daikon radish

You could also use small chunks of broccoli or cauliflower - use your imagination!

Listed below is another root veggie salad recipe.  I think this would also be nice with equal parts daikon and carrot.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/sr/22257/japanese-daikon-carrot-salad/recipe/

Japanese Daikon Carrot Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 1/3 c peeled & finely shredded daikon radishes .
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted .
• 1/3 c finely shredded carrots .
• 3 tbsps granulated sugar .
• 1/4 c rice vinegar or white vinegar .
• 1 1/2 tsps salt

Directions

• Step #1 Toss radish, carrot & salt together in large bowl.
• Step #2 Let stand for 10 mins.
• Step #3 Knead until soft.
• Step #4 Squeeze dry. (or let drain in a colander)
• Step #5 Combine rice vinegar & sugar in small c.
• Step #6 Stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Step #7 Pour over radish mixture.
• Step #8 Toss until well coated.
• Step #9 Sprinkle top with sesame seeds.
• Step #10 Makes 2 c.
• Step #11 Company�s Coming.
• Enjoy the Japanese Daikon Carrot Salad recipe

Have a great week!

The Cornucopia Carrot Vol. 3 Issue 10

Good Evening Folks!

I hope it is dry tomorrow morning at the park for your subscription pick up. I was assured by friends this evening that it will dry up.

What can I tell you about this past week? It rained and rained, digging carrots and potatoes meant washing off mud. The onions and beets took more rinsing than usual.

In preparing today for tomorrow morning we sure miss the energy and skills of our youngest daughter. Adrienne is off to music camp at USD-Vermillion for the week.

A highlight this past week was being the "featured vendor" at the Falls Park Farmers Market. Chef Jonathan from the Sanford Hospital comes and prepares a treat for visitors to the market based on produce from the "featured vendor". Madeline liked it so much she made it for supper tonight.

California Blend Salad

1 head Broccoli (cleaned and destemed)
1 head Cauliflower (cleaned and destemed)
6 carrots (cleaned and sliced)
½ C. Favorite Dressing

1. Blanch all vegetables in steamer or olive oil
In boiling water for 4-8 min.
2. Chill veggies and toss in your favorite dressing.

Roasted 4 Potato Salad

Ingredients:
Potato Mix of Yukon Gold, Bintje, Rio Colorado & Kerr's Pink (cleaned & diced)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
olive oil
1. Mix all ingredients
2. Spread out on sheet pan
3. Bake at 350 for 25 min, or until tender
4. Serve hot or chill and serve.


In your box this week....

Cherry Tomatoes!!! - Yes! they are finally ripe in a quantity that you could all have some. John calls this a "teaser" - they may not make it home - a nice little assortment of colors, shapes and sizes. Enjoy!

Garlic - this is uncured garlic, but I couldn't resist sharing these bulbs of plump cloves with you. Peel off the outer layers and store cloves, wrapped in a "baggie", in the fridge.

Onion - Red or Yellow - we can't get enough of these sweet summer onions.

Beans - Green or Yellow - always good steamed, but also nice pickled in a bean salad.

Carrots - with all the rain we've had, these are super crispy

Potatoes - this week we are featuring a Dutch heirloom called "Bintje" a really nice white potato.

Beets - scrub these up and try roasting some in the oven to go along with your potatoes.
Due to wet conditions, these are coming to you this week without tops.

Cauliflower -

This week, the full shares will also be receiving green cabbage

Have a wonderful week!

The Cornucopia Carrot Vol.3, Issue 9

Well, you would think that someone that majored in history at college and continued to read books about the past till recently, would have learned not to repeat the error of the past. Every time John picked green beans in the past it led to back trouble. About a year ago he was treated in Sioux Falls several times and has felt much better this winter/spring compared to the previous three years. This afternoon while Janna, Jessica and Adrienne were picking beans he thought he would help! Big mistake, a few minutes later while digging carrots something in the lower back said it quit. Bottom line for our customers is that the carrot digging stopped. 

It was very beautiful outside this morning and most mornings lately. The rain was just wonderful over the weekend taking off the pressure to irrigate. We had watered pretty steady last week and were feeling on top of the moisture situation and on top of the weeds. To be blessed with a such timely rain is great. Now when it dries a bit (today) we will get on the weeds and clean up of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plant remains and feed them to the pigs.

If you have been following our posts since January you may recall we purchased some purebred Berkshire glits which were bred and gave us 19 wonderful little feeders! They were farrowed at a friends farm and were brought here about a week ago. Janna and Madeline put broccoli in the freezer today and we fed them the stumps and rejected pieces. They cleaned it up! We like taking care of our compost that way!

This wednesday our second batch of pastured broilers will go to the butcher and get packaged. We continue to hear wonderful remarks about the flavor of meat from people that have purchased them.  Now last thursday the third batch of broiler chicks arrived and with them the turkeys. We bring it to your attention now because they are heritage breeds, at 6 weeks they will be on grass till butchering, which this year will be just before Thanksgiving. They will be ready just it time so it will be a "fresh" bird! Again there will be  a limited number so please reserve one early.

This week in your shares you will find some of the following;

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Beans

Potatoes-Red Norland

Lettuce-Summer Crisp, a heat tolerant variety!

Cabbage

Onion

Carrots