Blue Gate Farm News – Volume VII , Number 13
– August 26, 2008
In
this week’s box:
Beans: Carson/Empress Mix or Fortex Green Beans
Onions:
Mercury (red)
Tomatoes:
assorted (see 7/29 newsletter for descriptions)
Wild
Plums
For
those with the Cheese option: Roasted Red Pepper Chevre & Pesto Chevre
For
those with the Egg option: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)
For
those with the Herb option: Basil, Parsley, Garlic Chives
Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Dilly Beans
Fresh
Wild
Rain this week: 0.45” (from 8/19 - 8/25)
What’s up on the farm?
What a fabulous
week to be on the farm. The weather has
been just about perfect and we are truly being spoiled by it. We were thrilled that the conditions were so
perfect for our high tunnel raising this past Sunday. We were joined by about 20 enthusiastic
members, friends and family for the big event. What fun to see the big structure take shape
in so short a time. Huge thanks to those
who came out to lend a hand. For those of you who wanted to join us but had
a scheduling conflict, don’t worry, we still have to put up the bigger tunnel
and will announce when that date is set.
This past week has
focused on getting the irrigation system back in shape, after not having been
used all season long, harvesting the remaining onion crops and general garden
clean up/mowing. All of the onions and
shallots are now in the packing shed, hanging from the rafters to dry. The Copra (storage) onions and shallots did
very well, the Ailsa Craig (sweet) onions were fair and the Mercury (red)
onions hardly grew past golf ball size as they were in the wetter area of the
gardens. Even though the red onions are
small, they will work just fine in recipes, but they probably won’t store for a
long period of time, so we recommend storing them in a cool dry area and using
them relatively soon. These little
onions would be perfect on shish kabobs or tossed whole into a pan of roasting
vegetables.
One of the things
that we served for lunch during the high tunnel raising was our homemade Dilly
Beans. A member asked for the recipe,
saying that it might be a good way to use up some of the beans they had been
receiving in their box. Great idea, Matt!
So that is one of the recipes we are
including this week. The Dilly Beans are
a great alternative to dill pickles on sandwiches and burgers and are especially
tasty in chicken salad or just as a quick snack.
The fun item of
the week is the Wild Plums. We have a
number of these trees around the farm, but the one in the new orchard was
perfectly ripe on Monday and loaded with more than 30 pounds of fruit. So we thought it would be a fun opportunity to
share a new fruit with you. Wild plums
aren’t the best fresh-eating fruits, they’re a little “wangy,” but they make a
very tasty sauce or jam and when we found the ice cream recipe we just had to
include that as well. We hope you enjoy
this little fruit inclusion.
Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean
Dilly beans
Yield: about 4 pints
2 lb Green Beans; Trimmed
¼ c Salt
4 Fresh
Dill; Heads
4 Garlic
Cloves
1 tsp Cayenne
pepper
2 ½ c White Vinegar
2 ½ c Water
Trim ends off beans, leave
whole. To each pint jar, add 1/4 ts. cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic and 1 head
dill. Pack beans, lengthwise, into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space.
Combine remaining ingredients and bring to boiling. Pour, boiling hot, over
beans, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles with a chopstick. Adjust
caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield: About 4
pints.
These need to mellow for at
least a month or two (longer is better) to develop the best flavor. If you open
a jar right away you will think they are too salty and/or vinegary! You can
make this recipe as a half batch, or make the full batch of brine and store the
unused portion in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Recipe Source: The Blue Book, Ball Corp.
Fresh (Wild)
1 c. fresh wild plum
quarters, with pits removed
¼ c. white corn syrup
1 T. lemon juice
sugar (or honey) to taste
Puree plum quarters in
blender. Add corn syrup and lemon juice. Sweeten to taste with sugar or honey.
Serve on sliced peaches, ice cream, pancakes or waffles.
Recipe Souce: A
Wild
3 cups wild plums, washed
1 cup sugar
1 can condensed milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Place plums in a saucepan, crush with a potato masher, add 1 cup sugar; cook
until plums have softened and sugar has dissolved. Pass through a sieve and
discard skins and pits. Chill until ready to make ice cream. Add condensed milk
and whipping cream to puree. Chill until very cold. Process in an ice cream
maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to plastic container
and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving. Serves about 6.
Recipe Source:
www.cafelynnylu.blogspot.com