Blue Gate Farm News – Volume VII,  Number 1  –  June 3, 2008

 

In this week’s box:

Asparagus (first half of members this week, second half-next week)

Lettuce (assorted heads)

Radishes: Cherryette and Easter Egg Mix

Spinach Mix: Space, Tyee and Bordeaux (red stems)

Special surprise:  free copy of Edible Iowa River Valley!

 

For those with the Goat Cheese option: Plain Chevre and Chipotle

For those with the Egg option: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

 

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Thai Spinach Dip

                                                       Beijing Radish Salad

 

Rain this week (from 5/27 - 6/2):   1 +”  (our rain cage went flying during the tornado so who knows…)

 

What’s up on the farm?

Welcome to the first delivery of the Summer 2008 CSA season.  It’s been a busy few weeks since our last newsletter compounded by damage from the tornado that visited us last Friday morning (it went on to inflict heavy damage on the nearby town of Attica).  The high-tunnel was destroyed and the crops within heavily damaged; two 1500 water tanks went flying – one smashed to pieces against our fence and the other was found in a neighbor’s treeline about ½ mile SW; part of the chicken coop roof was ripped off, and several row covers used to protect select crops from insect damage were shredded.  We are thankful that all of the people and animals are safe and our home had very minor damage.  Lots of work ahead to clean up the damage and then to replace the lost structure.

 

All of the summer transplants are in the ground…whew!   The first sowings of beans, edamame, beets, carrots, turnips and kohlrabi are all up and we’ve started the second sowings of beans.  We revel at the promise of vegetables to come, at the same time we begin the war of the weeds.  Since we don’t use any chemicals on our farm, we have some of the healthiest weeds in the county.  One of our new bee colonies swarmed but we were able to re-acquire as it rested for the evening in a nearby tree – so we now have two colonies in active hives where just the day before there was only one.

 

The CSA boxes are a little light at this time of the season and you will notice the abundance of greens.  This is part of the joy of eating fresh, seasonal foods.  As the season continues the weight and variety of the boxes will increase with the arrival of heavier crops including beans, tomatoes, potatoes and squash.  One thing that does remain somewhat consistent is the presence of some cosmetic damage caused by our local insects.  This is another of the indications that we are truly a chemical-free farm.  We try to keep the insect population under control, but they are simply a fact of life in a naturally grown system.  We hope you can overlook some minor leaf damage and we will do our best to keep it to a minimum.  Also we do our best to provide you with clean produce, but you may find a little dirt here and there or (yikes!) possibly an insect.  We do wash the produce and sort it to the best of our ability, but we are processing a significant volume and it is possible that at some point you will find a little “nature” in your box.  If and when it happens to you, we apologize ahead of time and hope you will forgive the oversight.

 

We recommend that you store the spinach in its bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Asparagus is best kept in the fridge on the top shelf, upright in a glass with the cut ends in a couple inches of water.  For radishes, remove leaves and refrigerate the unwashed greens in a loosely wrapped plastic bag.  Store radishes dry and unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week.  Finally, we like to store fresh heads of lettuce wrapped loosely in a damp cotton or linen dish towel and placed in a large sealed plastic bag.

 

Important dates:

June 29^th   CSA Member Ice Cream Social at the farm 2:00pm-5:00. Come out for a relaxing farm visit and enjoy tasty ice cream treats, too.

October 5^th     Farm Crawl 2008, more info to follow

October 12^th   Annual Harvest Party, more info to follow

 

 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean

 

 

Thai Spinach Dip 

1  cup chopped fresh spinach

1  8-ounce carton dairy sour cream

1  8-ounce carton plain fat-free yogurt

1/4  cup snipped fresh mint

1/4  cup finely chopped peanuts

1/4  cup peanut butter

1  tablespoon honey

1  tablespoon soy sauce

1  to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

   Vegetable dippers (such as peeled baby carrots, zucchini slices, and/or cucumber sticks)

 

1. In a medium bowl combine spinach, sour cream, and yogurt. Stir in mint, peanuts, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. Serve with vegetable dippers. Makes about 2-1/2 cups dip.

 

            Recipe Source: Better Homes and Gardens

 

 

Beijing Radish Salad

1 bunch watermelon radishes or one medium daikon radish
2 tablespoons rice or balsamic vinegar (or a combination)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Wash and julienne radishes. They can be peeled or not as you like. I often use a mandoline to do the julienne-ing, or you can grate them. Mix together the rest of the ingredients and dress the radishes with the dressing.