Churchview Farm

week twelve

2010-08-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

So, August has been quite a month. Hope you're still enjoying the scads of heirloom tomatoes in shares... I've received some pretty awesome feedback. One (possibly biased) local chef claims that they're the best in the city. And speaking of local chefs, watch for an upcoming post about the fabulous Pittsburgh restaurants where you'll find our herbs and produce on the menu.

This week, depending on share size, you received: heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet pepper, variety of hot pepper, winter squash (baby blue hubbard, sweet dumpling, green buttercup, butternut, or Thelma Saunders sweet potato squash), rattlesnake beans, husk cherries, cilantro, and savory.

A word about husk cherries - don't fear them. Part of the tomato (nightshade) family, they're strange, tasty, and pretty hard to find. Kind of like cherry tomato meets pineapple meets vanilla. They're versatile too... if you're feeling adventurous you can cook them down into a jam. One of my chefs made them into hot sauce. Or toss them in a fruit salad with melon, berries, mint, lemon/lime basil and a bit of sugar. Or just eat them like candy. Impress your friends... they're a novelty. Here's some more info if you're feeling researchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis

Some suggestions for the winter squash from chef Kate Romane of E2 (part of Enrico's Biscotti Co.) restaurant... cube and saute or roast the squash with garlic, shallots and herbs. The savory that you received this week or sage would work well, but certainly experiment with any herbs you have on hand. You could even get nuts and throw in some chopped kale if you still have that hanging around. Toss in some olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of white vinegar or lemon juice. Adding grains like barley or farro make this a super hearty meal.

Kate also suggested an early fall salad with lentils.... cook the squash with caramelized onions, shallots, garlic. Add apples for a touch of sweetness plus salt, pepper, a bit of cinnamon, and mint. Shove that mess into a pita smeared with goat cheese? Good god, I'm hungry.
Try it. The woman teaches a seasonal salad class, she knows what she's doing.

mmmm.... berries

week eight

2010-08-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

Ah, August... The heirloom tomatoes are ripening, the peppers are beginning to turn brilliant colors, and the berries are starting to really pour in. About those tasty berries - you'll start receiving them this week and every other week until they're done. One week farm pick up will get them and the next week the deliveries will get them, and here's why: we pick buckets every other day or so but those picked earlier in the week won't keep until the weekend, so they will mostly be sold to the restaurants I deal with. CSA members will get the berries picked close to the weekend. Finally! I know you've all been waiting very patiently for these.

In shares this week you received our first sampling of some heirloom tomatoes, either a mixed pint of cherries, grapes and pear tomatoes or a couple larger paste or slicing tomatoes. You also received cucumbers, summer squash (yellow crookneck, lemon or white bush Lebanese), cabbage (savoy or red), a bunch of carrots (the little round ones are called Paris Market), and a bunch of sweet basil. Yum.

Tis the season for being inundated with summer squash. It's not going to stop any time soon so let's stay on top of using these little suckers, lest you hold on to them and suddenly find that you have enough to build a squash-fort. Here's a few tasty and easy recipes to try...

stuffed summer squash, using your chard and herbs - http://chaseblackwell.com/stuffed-summer-squash/
summer squash pizza, using your greens, herbs and garlic (and might as well throw some shallots on there.... why not?) http://piesinthesky.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/big-bleu-summer-squash-pizza-with-garlic-spinach/
a superfast summer squash and parm pasta (with basil, of course) http://tryanderr21.blogspot.com/2009/09/pasta-with-summer-squash-parmesan-and.html

week seven

2010-07-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday you received a few pounds of new potatoes, shallots, garlic, hot pepper, cucumbers, beans, chard, and full shares got our first harvest of summer squash - yellow crookneck and white bush Lebanese. These squash, and all of the summer squash you'll receive from us, can be used in many and various ways - including interchangeably with zucchini. It's true! I promise! Zucchini bread, fried zucchini, etc. I know we've been here before, but I just want to reiterate :)

Speaking of, one of the recommendations I gave a member at farm pick up was to slice and marinate the squash in oil, a bit of salt, and any variety of the herbs I've been giving you and grill it as a side dish. As far as the new potatoes, I'm sure most of you are stocked up with ways to use these, especially with your garlic and shallots, but here's a quick recipe for roasted potatoes with garlicy mustard vinaigrette http://pleasepassthepie.blogspot.com/2009/10/roast-potatoes-with-garlic-and-more.html.

I made a tasty potato dish this week by roasting them and mashing them up (skins and all, of course) with shallots, garlic and sage sautéed in butter and topped with fresh chives. If you're wondering what to do with shallots, fear not. They're in the family Allium which makes them an onion relative, but they have a much sweeter, milder flavor. Think of them as a fancy, expensive gourmet onion.

For those of you who received squash this week, or thinking ahead for those who will get it this Sunday, this pizza sounds amazing - I haven't had a chance to make it yet but hope to do so tonight.... summer squash pizza with garlic and spinach (or in your case... chard) http://piesinthesky.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/big-bleu-summer-squash-pizza-with-garlic-spinach/

week six

2010-07-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

This week you received some new items, and *gasp* no kale or chard. Though I did make a big pile of kale and beet chips last night and proceeded to inhale the whole batch before even bothering to remove them from the tray. Yum.
This was our first cucumber harvest and there just wasn't enough for all the shares to get some, so partials received a head of lettuce instead. Everyone has a small bunch of carrots, a bag of beans, bunching onions, a couple beets, a big wad of sweet basil (including opal), a bunch of sage, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Those of you who asked for them also received a bag of cooking apples.

Thanks to our new herb garden we're giving out a ton of herbs this year. I've said it before and I'll say it again - there are tons of ways to preserve herbs and if the blog posts don't give you enough ideas just email me and I'll provide some more. Drying, freezing, pesto-ing, and butter are just a few. You might get tired of them now but you'll definitely appreciate having them all winter. And they can seriously be used in pretty much anything - pasta, eggs, pork/beef/chicken/fish, vegetables, marinades, dips, and even desserts. Earlier this week we made herb-y grilled corn: tossed a large bunch of chopped herbs in some melted butter and painted it onto the ears of corn as they roasted on the grill. Herbs even look and smell pretty awesome in a bouquet on your kitchen table. My favorite use of the beans is to blanch them in boiling water, chop any or all of those herbs you received and smother them in melted butter, mix with the beans and a dash of kosher salt.

Next week we'll have more potatoes along with garlic and shallots. You should have some heads of savoy and red cabbage as well. I expect the cucumbers and beans to keep rolling in, and we might throw in some green and hot peppers. I've been expecting the raspberries to be ripe for weeks now so I'm going to go ahead and stop promising that.... they'll just show up in shares one of these days as a happy surprise. Some of you coming to the farm for pick up went into the produce garden with me for a taste of the just-starting-to-ripen husk cherries... Think tiny cherry tomato meets pineapple and vanilla. Sounds strange, tastes delicious.

week five

2010-07-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

This week you received more kale & chard, white & purple bunching onions, a mix of beets (early wonder, chioggia, and golden), a variety of new potatoes (nicola, yellow fin, red gold, purple viking), dill, flat leaf parsley, and a mix of basil (lemon, lime, cinnamon). I just found an amazing recipe for pasta with beets and spring onions - you can also use some of your chard in this one - http://circle-b-kitchen.squarespace.com/food-and-recipes/2010/6/8/pasta-with-beets-and-spring-onions.html?SSScrollPosition=285.

There are a ton of options for cooking beets, and most of them start with roasting. Rub the beets with olive oil, wrap in tin foil and roast in the oven for about an hour. When they're done they'll be perfectly roasted and easy to peel. From there you can cook up some of your chard and beet greens and serve them with the sliced roasted beets - perhaps drizzled with some balsamic and honey. Goat cheese and beets with their greens are my absolute favorite combination. At CSA pick up this week I heard someone talking about slicing them raw and baking them into beet chips. That sounded super tasty so I found a bunch of recipes to try here: http://www.tastespotting.com/search/beet+chips/1. Why not get crazy and make beet and kale chips?? I just blew your mind a little, didn't I.

If you're having trouble keeping up with the weekly onslaught of herbs and need more ideas for using and preserving, just ask me for some more hints. I know I keep saying this, but they can improve the flavor and jazz up pretty much any dish. I would chop the dill and parsley with some garlic, toss them in olive oil and a bit of salt with those new potatoes, and roast them. Fast, simple, yummy. In the comments I posted two recipes from CSA member Rachel Kottler, for basil parfait and basil sorbet - either of which would be pretty amazing using the lemon and lime basil.

We're starting to pick a lot of beans and cucumbers at the farm this week, and we've got a batch of carrots ready as well. The raspberries are still trickling in and some of you who come for farm pick up had the chance to pick and sample some on Sunday. Here's hoping they're ready this week! And in other exciting news, I've been eating the first few cherry tomatoes the past few days... a Peacevine Cherry and Beam's Yellow Pear. They were, of course, delightful and I expect them to start ripening pretty quickly in the hot weather that's supposed to return this week.

It's on

2010-07-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

We've recovered from a rocky spring and are starting to see some great results....

Danielle pulls the first shallot harvest... they're curing for a couple weeks then we'll have an abundance of these tasty gourmet delights

New potatoes (yellow fin, purple viking and red gold) and shallots - partners in tastiness. What makes a potato "new," you ask? They're just immature potatoes; smaller with thinner, more delicate skin, harvested when the flowers fall off the plant. Mature potatoes are harvested when the plant dies.

Dragon's tongue beans! These tasty heirlooms will be in your CSA shares in the next few weeks, along with other gourmet bush bean varieties like green Jade and Beurre de Roquefort yellow wax. Later this summer they'll be joined by the fantastically sweet Rattlesnake pole bean.

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The first peppers and cukes, slowly but surely....

Looks like we'll have cherry tomatoes before the end of the month! These are two (soon-to-be) colorful heirlooms - Violet Jasper and Thai Pink Egg

Churchview Farm does Digital Salad @ the Mattress Factory!

2010-07-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

On Monday I had the opportunity to participate in a ridiculously fun day as part of the Community Art Lab summer camp program at the (amazingly cool) Mattress Factory museum in the North Side. Friend, CSA member and media artist Heather Mallak is leading the camp this summer and has some amazing projects lined up. Nutrition and local foods are part of the focus so Heather asked me to spend some time talking to the kids. They interviewed me and we gave a gigapan virtual tour of the farm (link below), talked about bees and chickens, and they tasted some veggies and edible flowers. They were a fun group of incredibly smart and creative kids, and I really had a blast. We brought some eggs for each of them to take home (many were convinced they could hatch them into chicks, despite how many times I tried to explain the incubation process), nasturtium seeds that they planted, and an assortment of our veggies for their Digital Salad project.

Photos from the day, along with the Churchview Farm gigapan virtual tours (2009 and 2010 farm tour) here: http://blog.digitalsalad.org/?tag=churchview-farm urchview-farm

Some info on the camp and Digial Salad project here: http://blog.digitalsalad.org/?page_id=2

Photos and interview from the day here: http://blog.digitalsalad.org/?cat=1

week four

2010-06-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

More greens this week... man oh man are we going to be a healthy bunch! You received head lettuces, two kinds of kale, french breakfast radish, a big bunch of cilantro, and a mix of dill, chives, and lemon & lime basil. I'm loading you up with recipes this week (thanks mostly to intern Danielle M.) so you can use up all these greens by the time we return on July 11 - remember there is no CSA pick up on July 4th.

Try a Swiss Chard and Leek Tart (http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/01/leek-and-swiss-chard-tart/). Danielle points out that you can use any combo of dark greens (insert kale here), and since leeks aren't in season just substitute bunching onions or garlic scapes.
And I haven't tried these but I think they sound fantastic - Creamed Chard with Spring Onions (http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/creamed-chard-and-spring-onions/) and Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Swiss-Chard-with-Raisins-and-Pine-Nuts-231509).

And what to do with all those herbs? The answer is - pretty much anything. Even though we're growing cilantro all season, there never seems to be enough when the tomatoes and peppers come rolling in and everyone wants to make salsa. Like dill, cilantro freezes very well and that's a excellent way to preserve it - just chop it up and store it in a jar in the freezer. I use herbs all winter that way. I think cilantro leaves tossed in a salad gives it a great zingy flavor, especially if you chop a bit up with some of your lemon and lime basil and a few chives to mix with oil, white vinegar, salt, pepper, honey or sugar and a bit of lemon or lime juice for dressing. Another way I use herbs is for a little something I call "emergency dinner," when I don't have time or energy to really cook. I grab a big heap of whatever herbs are closest, chop them up, give them a quick saute in butter and mix with pasta. Sometimes I also saute onions and garlic, add some lemon zest, or add some cream and parmesan cheese for a heavier sauce. The options are endless - yay herbs!

And don't forget about those radish sandwiches, which are perfect in this hot weather. Check the blog posts from last spring for more ideas.

week three

2010-06-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

Aside from some spring bugs and setbacks with those crops, things are going very well with the summer crops - we just have to get there! In fact, we had a small unexpected harvest of some hot peppers and strawberries this week - which was way more exciting than it should have been. I've been pinching off the strawberry flowers to let the plants establish for their first year, but I'll let the everbearing variety fruit now that the first round of flowering is over. I don't expect a significant amount this year but you never know. And speaking of berries, the hot weather has speeded up the flowering of the raspberry plants and they're already starting to set fruit. Expect them to come a little earlier, probably starting in about three weeks and continuing into September.

Danielle transplanting melons

The summer squash and melons are finally in the ground and the winter squash is seeded! The new field behind the barn is plowed, dug and planted - better late than never. The potatoes are kicking ass as well.... when we were hilling them this past week we caught a glimpse of a few nice sized potatoes already, so hopefully we'll have new potatoes in a few weeks.

potatoes, and lots of them

This was a very light week, but that gives many of you a chance to catch up on the leftover produce of the last two weeks. And finish up that lettuce, because it's returning next week. This week you received pac choy (slightly nibbled), more chard, herbs (chives, garlic chives, thyme, sage, oregano and savory) and garlic scapes. We ran out of bunching onions so only full shares received those, but we have large second and third crops of those that will be ready in a few weeks. Thanks for being so understanding about the spring issues.

I emailed about the garlic scapes so I think you all have an idea of what to do with those. You want to use the soft, flexy part (not the part of the stem that's rigid) and chop and saute in any recipe that calls for garlic. We made an easy chard, garlic scape and parmesan cheese scramble by essentially chopping the ingredients and frying them along with some of our eggs. Tonight I'm going to saute some more scapes and add them to a pizza. And some of you are wondering what to do with all the herbs, specifically the savory. They're are so flavorful and versatile, you can use them to add amazing flavor to almost any dish. Tarragon is wonderful with eggs, savory is frequently used in chicken and fish dishes, etc. If I have a bunch of random herbs I need to use right away, I just chop them all up and toss them in pasta with butter. I also mix some them in with salad greens. You'll be receiving a lot of herbs this summer, so preserving them is also a good idea. Oregano is, in fact, more flavorful when it's dried, and I chop and freeze things like chives, cilantro, parsley and tarragon and use them all winter. Making herb butter is also a great way to preserve herbs - just chop them up (individually for flavor-specific butter or mix and match) and mix them into room-temperature butter with a bit of lemon zest. Form into rolls, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate (or freeze, for long-term storage).

Members at farm pick up have been telling me about some great recipes they've tried or invented using our produce - I encourage everyone to share these, either by commenting on blog posts or on the Churchview Farm Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Pittsburgh-PA/Churchview-Farm/111380458885761?ref=ts&ajaxpipe=1&__a=12).

State of the Crops - spring 2010

2010-06-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

I try to keep members updated about the general goings-on at the farm, but things have been so hectic I haven't had time this year. The wet weather has really set us back - we're just now getting the potatoes hilled (and those of you doing farm pick up probably saw my parents and I working on this Sunday afternoon). Though we have flats of summer squash started and doing well, ready to flower in fact, we haven't been able to get them in the ground yet. In addition to the new 6,000-ish square feet for the potato/onion/shallot field we also plowed about 8,000 square feet behind the main barn. This area is for all our winter and summer squash, melons, and second and third cucumber plantings... Though we'll only plant about 5,000 sq feet this year and cover crop the rest. A twice-broken tractor (recently repaired) and wet weather really set this project behind, but it should be ready to plant on Wednesday - as long as we don't get a soaking before then. About an inch of rain per week is all we need and as you know it's been well over that. So we definitely anticipate tons of our great varieties of summer squash and melons, they just might be a few weeks later.

This weather also makes for perfect conditions for many diseases to thrive and spread - including the late blight which has unfortunately already been reported in the area. I am staying ahead of the game this year and treated the tomatoes with an organic copper solution last week, and we plan to schedule this or similar treatments regularly through the season. Treatment essentially involves carefully misting each leaf of the plant, giving all surfaces even coverage. It's certainly labor intensive but I am determined to do everything I can to (safely) avoid the heartbreak and disappointment we experienced last year as a result of this blight. The blight can impact other crops in the nightshade family, so we will treat the potatoes as well.

As you've noticed on some of the greens, we're having a few insect issues this spring. They really did a number on the chard and tatsoi, and started in on the pak choy as well. We're treating mainly by using row covers, hand-picking and applying diatomaceous earth - a chemical-free mechanical pest control. We're also hoping to cut down on this pest population by not planting any more of these susceptible crops until the fall. Instead of seeding or cutting more of these dark greens for early summer harvest, we will tear them out and seed things like more carrots, beets and eventually turnips and parsnips. Insect control and our IPM (integrated pest management) plan is a big part of why we practice crop rotation - the same crops won't be planted in these beds or fields for at least 3 years, not only to give the soil a rest but to thwart these insects.

You also probably noticed that your bunches of spinach were on the small side this week. We had very poor germination with our spinach crops and by the time the problem was apparent it was too late to seed more. Look for more spinach in the fall, and in the meantime you can substitute the tatsoi and chard! You would have carrots in your shares by now but our entire first seeding failed and we're still not sure why. The successive seedings of carrots (three as of today) are doing well, so that's certainly good news. You will see carrots throughout the season since we continue these successive seedings through fall. Another crop you'll see a lot of, but a bit later than usual, are bush beans. The wet weather a few weeks ago rotted off the newly emerged seedlings of all three of our bean varieties. This isn't a huge setback, since we reseeded right away and those seem to be doing well, so that only puts us about two weeks behind. We'll do a second seeding of these soon for a late summer crop. In addition to bush beans, this year for the first time we're trying pole beans - a delicious, sweet-right-off-the-vine variety called Rattlesnake.

In brighter news, the transplants are doing well. Tomatoes, sweet basils, peppers, eggplant and husk cherries are all off to a good start. The first seeding of cucumbers are up and you'll start to see those in shares in mid July. The cabbages look good, and I'm hoping the first round of beets and carrots will be ready soon. And it won't be long until we can dig up some new potatoes! Hang in there and enjoy those greens while you can ;)

week two

2010-06-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Keep those salads coming! This week in CSA everyone received a bunch of French breakfast and cherry belle radish, several heads of lettuce (oakleaf and/or butterhead varieties), a bunch of redbor and winterbor kale, a bunch of tatsoi, and a small bundle of spinach. We planned to include a variety of herbs as well but ran out of time on Sunday morning - look for those in the next CSA.

members Maeve and new mommy Chris
Most of you (aside from 2009 members) may be unfamiliar with tatsoi. I find it very similar to spinach and use the two interchangeably. Raw in salads, cooked in soups or stir fries, or just wilted in a hot skillet with olive oil, garlic and lemon zest - it's pretty delicious any way you use it. Last year some members used it to make "spinach" lasagna, and I just found a great recipe for a very simple browned butter pasta with tatsoi (http://appetiteforchina.com/recipe/brown-butter-pasta-tatsoi). I've only ever grown tatsoi in the fall, which (as with most crops) is much easier because there are essentially no insect pests to worry about. It also grows differently in the fall, in a low rosette, whereas in the spring it's more upright. I planned to trim the plants in order to let them regrow for a second spring harvest but the wet weather and other conditions have encouraged such a high pest population for us that it would be a waste of time to try this crop again before fall.

qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqEmma, Charley and Amy with shiny new member Sam
And since we're on the dark greens let's talk about kale! It's a member of the brassica family - just like tatsoi, broccoli, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Like many brassicas kale is incredibly nutritious, packed with vitamins and antioxidants galore, and is rich in beta carotene and calcium. I also find it generally delightful. You can use it in many of the ways you use chard and spinach, but unlike those greens it should be cooked and the center rib removed. Kale is excellent in classic "beans and greens": chop & saute the kale in olive oil with garlic and onions, toss with black-eyed peas and sprinkle with grated or shredded parm. This is one of Todd's all-time favorite dishes, but he adds a twist - he fries bacon and sautes the ingredients in the bacon grease instead of olive oil, then adds the chopped bacon. I must admit it's pretty tasty. Another fun way to use kale that I've heard a lot of people talking about this year (including member Rachel Kottler, who suggested the recipe) is kale chips. You can find a few recipes to choose from here: http://www.tastespotting.com/search/kale+chips/1

move over basil, hello chard!

2010-06-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Danielle, one of the wonderful CV Farm interns, passed along this recipe. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds amazing.... so much so that I think it deserves its own post (other week one recipe suggestions posted below). What a tasty and creative use for chard, which members will be receiving all spring. And while it is both versatile and delightful, it's never too early to get creative. This is also a great way to preserve it.
Enjoy!

Swiss Chard and Toasted Pecan Pesto
Use chard in place of basil and toasted pecans in place of the toasted pine nuts. All other ingredients remain the same.
4 cups packed fresh Swiss Chard leaves, torn
1/4 cup plus 3 Tablespoons Extra virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup of Toasted Pecans, chopped
2 large Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmagiano Cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Splash of Lemon Juice, optional
Either use a mortar and pestle and grind all the ingredients together or use a blender/food processor and puree all the ingredients until a paste forms. Some folks like a chunkier pesto while others like a more smooth pesto consistency. Use a little more liquid (this is where the lemon juice works well) and blend longer for the smoother version. This particular pesto is excellent smeared on a baguette with fresh goat cheese and topped with sprouts. It is also fantastic tossed with pasta. I use it on sandwiches, in salad dressings and even on grilled meats. By far, a crowd pleaser and my favorite summertime pesto.

Note: Pesto may be stored in the freezer. Just portion into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once frozen solid, pop out the cubes and place in a freezer bag. Also, just like regular pesto, this pesto will blacken (oxidize) once exposed to air. To prevent this, top off your pesto with olive oil before recapping to seal out the air. Always store your pesto in the refrigerator, unless you freeze it.

week one! welcome 2010 members

2010-06-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first pick up of our 2010 season and marked the start of our second year hosting a Community Supported Agriculture program! It was a great start to the season... spring shares full of leafy goodness, meeting new members at the farm, and the chickens were reminded how much they love CSA pick up days after eating an obscene amount of cracked corn and other treats provided by all the enthusiastic kids.

Julie, my mom, and Todd and I were up early bright and early on Sunday morning harvesting all the produce for week one. This week everyone received heads of oakleaf and/or butterhead lettuces, deep purple and hardy white scallions, arugula, french breakfast radish, and some combination of bright lights, perpetual spinach and bionda chard. I mentioned that June is heavy on greens so it will pretty much be the Month Of Salads, but for variety's sake you might try using some of those salad ingredients to make a radish, lettuce and spring onion sandwich. I eat these quick & refreshing sandwiches all spring - butter two slices of bread, spread sliced radish (lightly salted) sprinkled with sliced spring onions on one half and and lettuce on the other. Sometimes instead of butter I'll spread fresh goat cheese on the bread. Sound disgusting? Trust me, it's amazing.

Lots of you had questions about the chard. Essentially, chard can be used in place of spinach in any recipe. Some members told me they were making a chard lasagna, some were making chard quiche or omelets, a friend of mine simply sautes it with garlic and mixes it with quinoa. It's wonderful in stir fries or sauteed with garlic and lemon zest as a side dish. Julie makes a standard stuffed pepper stuffing and wraps & bakes it in the chard leaves instead of peppers. Unlike kale, you can chop the ribs of (fresh) chard and use them along with the leaves. The options are endless! Get creative and post your recipes on the blog.

As far as storage suggestions - it's always best to use the ingredients when they're as fresh as possible but the chard will store pretty well in the crisper drawer of the fridge, rinsed and wrapped in a damp towel in an unsealed plastic bag. The same goes for lettuce storage; it keeps for a surprisingly long time treated the same way.

new members explore the chicken coop, and Todd pawns off a weeding job on returning member Elliot Morris

spring firsts

2010-03-29T06:02:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we started seeding some crops indoors and last weekend we saw some more springtime firsts... the first harvest of the year (technically a crop from last season - leeks we overwintered under straw... they're delicious!), the first direct seeding outdoors ('hardy white' and 'deep purple' bunching onions), and the emergence of our first 2010 crop - the garlic we planted in the fall (left). It has a long way to go; we won't harvest this until August, but I'm thrilled to see the first shoots poking through the straw.

Our partners in beekeeping, Gary Marshall and Tony Indovina (the "bee guys" as I call them) came over a couple weeks ago so we could do some spring maintenance. This involves removing the overwintering wind barriers we set up around the hives, and opening the hives up so we can do a spring inspection. Everything looks great - so much so that we added a honey super to our original hive and brood boxes to the newer hives. The bees overwintered well, are producing lots of brood (new bees) and all is shaping up for this to be a season of bountiful honey harvests. The first harvest of the light spring honey (my favorite) will be in early June.

Notice the orange/yellow stuff that looks like water wings on this lady's back legs (left)? That's pollen that she's collected from some of the first flowering vegetation on and around the farm, and she's carrying it back to the hive.

Our seedlings are doing well indoors and we've been adding new plantings every week. We're about to move some early crops outdoors to harden off, which will open up space on the shelves for the 400 + heirloom tomatoes and 300 peppers and eggplants that are still (mostly) in the germination tent (where we monitor soil temp and keep it as warm as possible until germination). Every week we'll be starting new crops indoors and out - later in April we'll start the melons and squash inside, and I'm starting some cabbage and lettuces this week. There's lots of planting going on this coming weekend - we'll transplant the kale, chard, leeks, onions and brussels sprouts that we started indoors in February, and we'll start direct-seeding beets, carrots, arugula, spinach, radish and other late spring crops that members will receive in the first weeks of CSA.

My mom, Julie and I have been hard at work with our new fabulous intern, Jess, preparing the beds for planting. In the pic above, Julie is incorporating by hand (and fork) the composted manure we spread on the beds in the fall. The next step was to aerate all the beds with a broadfork - no tilling here! Then we cover the beds with black fabric to heat the soil and prevent weeds from germinating until planting time, when it comes off and is replaced with straw mulch. It's a lot of work but the soil looks fantastic, and as we build it with these natural amendments, cover crops, and our sweat and careful labor, it gets better every year.

My dad has been hard at work in the berry patch (the chickens are helping) cutting down the raspberry stalks from last year and getting the rows ready for additional plants. As they spread each year we transplant them to make additional rows. The new stalks are already starting to grow, and these tasty berries will start rolling in around mid July.

Keep in mind that we will be selling seedlings later this spring at one of our first on-farm markets! If you're planning to have a veggie garden this year, treat yourself to some of the same exquisitely tasty, lovely, and unusual heirloom tomatoes, peppers and eggplant that we'll be growing on the farm. Watch the blog for more info, or email info@churchviewfarmpgh.com to add your name to our Market notification list.

Happy spring!

getting started

2010-03-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

The snow is melting and we're finally getting our hands in the dirt again! I'm really looking forward to the 2010 season... new crops and varieites, a full season with the chickens (along with some new ones), new CSA members (and returning ones as well), and the chance to apply the incredibly vast amount of knowledge we picked up last year during our first season of CSA. We're expanding significantly this year, not only to accommodate our growing CSA family but also to experiment with things like markets on the farm and selling to a few local restaurants. In taking on more commitments we knew we'd need more help and were lucky enough to get Julie, our work-for-share in 2009, for the 2010 season as a part-time grower and consultant. We're also taking on a few interns, which takes a bit of the pressure off my poor parents.

A few weeks ago our 2010 seed orders started to roll in and my mom and I started the first flats last week... onions, brussels sprouts, kale, the first batch of chard, and some other early greens. They're already up! Below are our Red Marble onions and the Bright Lights chard - you can already see the red, pink and yellow in the stems.

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We'll be seeding flats indoors pretty regularly through the spring. We have a new shelf system set up in the basement with a heated germination chamber, and as soon as some of the cool weather crops are ready we'll rotate them out into cold frames and plant them in the field to make room for the later starts indoors. With the exception of our new strawberries, we start all of our plants from seed and doing everything in a small space is a bit of a challenge.

I'm hoping to get the snap peas in soon, but so much depends on the weather. After all the melting snow and rain this week we need to give the soil some time to dry out before working in it. There is something growing in the main produce garden though... the cover crop of winter rye we seeded late in the fall is getting started again in the raised beds where we'll transplant our heirloom tomatoes in late May.

Keep checking the blog for updates as we get ready for the 2010 growing season.

2010 produce list!

2009-12-31T05:34:00.000-08:00

There's been lots of snow at the farm, and though the farm work hasn't stopped for the winter we're already looking to spring! As part of our prep work in the fall we plowed and hand-dug beds for new growing areas. By the time we start planting we will have more than tripled our growing space from the 2009 season. We now have a large garden space dedicated to annual and perennial herbs, we've added some garlic beds, and have more than doubled the size of the produce gardens. Below is the updated produce list.

We do not grow any GMO seed, nor do we purchase seeds from companies that sell genetically modified seed. The majority of our seed is of the heirloom variety. Where you see an asterisk* next to the variety, that signifies that it is NOT heirloom.

crop/variety
BEANS
bean (pole)/rattlesnake
bean (bush)/beuerre de rocq.
bean (bush)/dragon's tongue
bean (bush)/provider
bean (bush)/jade
BEETS
beet/burpee's golden
beet/early wonder
beet/chiogga
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
brussels sprouts/diablo*

CABBAGE

cabbage/melissa savoy*

cabbage/super red 80*

CARROTS
carrot/cosmic purple
carrot/berlicum 2
carrot/vitana*
carrot/paris market
CHARD
chard/perpetual spinach
chard/bionda de lion
chard/bright lights
CUCUMBERS
cucumber/marketmore
cucumber/national pickling
EGGPLANT
eggplant/long purple
eggplant/florida high bush
GARLIC
garlic/german extra hardy
garlic/russian red
GREENS - CHINESE
tat soi
pac choi/mei qing choi
GREENS - HEAD
lettuce/forellenschuss
lettuce/anuenue*
lettuce/cherokee
lettuce (red bib)/red cross
lettuce (bib)/tom thumb
radicchio/fiero*
GREENS - LEAF
lettuce/flashy green butter oak
spinach/space*
arugula/rocket
mache
lettuce/blushed butter
lettuce/summer mix
lettuce/sweet valentine
HUSK CHERRIES
ground cherry/aunt molly's
KALE
kale/redbor*
kale/winterbor*
KOHLRABI
kohlrabi/kolibiri*
MELON
melon/emerald gem
melon/noir des carmes
ONIONS
onion, bulb/red marble*
onion, blub/dakota tears
onion, blub/white wing*
onion, bunching/deep purple*
onion, bunching/evergreen hardy white
leeks/bleu de solaize
shallots/picasso
PARSNIPS
parsnip/harris model
PEPPERS
pepper, sweet/king of the north (red)
pepper, sweet/yellow monster (yellow)
pepper, sweet/sweet chocolate (choc brown)
pepper, sweet/orange bell (orange)
pepper, sweet/aji dulce(small, multi-colored)
pepper, hot/purple jalapeno
pepper, hot/maule's red hot
pepper, hot/aji crystal
pepper, hot/bulgarian carrot chile
pepper, mild-hot/hungarian hot wax
pepper, mild-hot/anaheim
pepper, mild-hot/krimson spice*
pepper, mild-hot/ancho gigantea
POTATOES
potato, early/satina

potato,early/red gold
potato, mid-season/yellow finn

potato, mid-season/purple viking
potato, storage/german butterball
potato, fingerling/french fingerling
RADISH
french breakfast
cherry belle
SNAP PEAS
snap pea/sugarsnap
snap pea/cascadia
SQUASH
squash, summer/white bush lebanese
squash, summer/lemon squash
squash, summer/gentry*
squash, winter/sweet dumpling
squash, winter/thelma saunders sweet potato
squash, winter/uncle david's dakota dessert
squash, winter/jack-be-little pumpkin
squash, winter/waltham butternut
squash, winter/hubbard baby blue
STRAWBERRIES
strawberries/earliglow
strawberries/ozark beauty
TOMATOES (all tomatoes are heirloom varieties)
tomato, cherry/peacevine cherry
tomato, cherry/black cherry
tomato, cherry/sungold (select II)
tomato, cherry/violet jasper
tomato, cherry/green grape
tomato, cherry/thai pink egg
tomato, cherry/chadwick cherry
tomato, cherry/red fig
tomato, cherry/gajo de melon
tomato, cherry/beam's yellow pear
tomato, cherry/currant sweet pea
tomato/glacier
tomato/garden peach
tomato/green zebra
tomato/yellow brandywine
tomato/cherokee purple
tomato/plum lemon
tomato/golden monarch
tomato/pineapple (mr stripey)
tomato/brandywine
tomato/emerald evergreen
tomato/caspian pink
tomato/pink accordian
tomato/tlacalula pink
tomato/royal hillbilly
tomato/pink honey
tomato/mushroom basket
tomato/pink oxheart
tomato/mortgage lifter
tomato/purple russian
tomato/paul robeson
tomato/carbon
tomato/coipa
tomato/striped roman
tomato/gold medal
tomato/mary robinsons german bicolor
tomato/big rainbow
tomato/ananas noire
tomato/german red strawberry
tomato/goldmans italian-american
tomato/roman candle
tomato/golden sunray
tomato/striped cavern
tomato/moonglow
tomato/hungarian heart
tomato/dr.wyche's yellow
tomato,paste/orange banana
tomato, paste/federle
tomato, paste/olpaka
tomato, paste/san marzano redorta
tomato, paste/amish paste
TURNIPS
turnip/gilfeather
turnip/purple top white globe
HERBS/ANNUAL
parsley/dark green italian
cilantro/caribe
dill/bouquet
summer savory
chervil
BASIL
sweet/genovese
sweet/lettuce leaf (aka lg leaf italian)
purple/red rubin
lemon/sweet dani
lime*
cinnamon
thai/siam queen
HERBS/PERENNIAL
chives
garlic chives
thyme
sage
rosemary
oregano
tarragon
winter savory
mint
lavender

week twenty, the end! (kind of)

2009-10-26T06:03:00.000-07:00

It's the official end of our first CSA season, which is pretty hard to believe. Last year at this time we were still only considering CSA as an option for the farm and here we are with our first growing season almost over, two more honeybee hives, 30-odd chickens, and plans for significant expansion next year. We had a few stumbles, battled a lot of pests and diseases and learned a LOT... overall I consider the season a success. I hope you feel the same and that you'll be back with us in the spring of 2010.
Without the constant and generous help of some seriously amazing family and friends we never could have done this - and that includes the wonderful, patient first-year members... you all rock, thanks so much!

Even though this is the 20th week and the last of the significant harvests are in, there will be some "straggler" crops including a new batch of chard, mache, more radish, carrots, spinach, herbs, kale, bib lettuce, golden beets, and (if the greedy pig of a ground hog left any for the rest of us) snow peas. There won't be any more shares or delivery but as long as we have any harvests coming in you're all welcome to come to the farm and pick your own bag of whatever we have. I'll email weekly, starting the first week of November, to let you know what's available and you can contact me if you'd like to stop over. Hopefully we'll also have some eggs to sell.

This week everyone received leeks, potatoes, shallots, parsley, kohlrabi, French breakfast and cherry bell radish, parmex carrots (full) or a bag of arugula (partial) and a giant, lovely stalk of brussels sprouts.
The kohlrabi you have might look different than what you're used to seeing in the store. This variety is best harvested at about 5 cm, probably a little smaller than you might be used to but the flavor is pretty amazing - let me know how it compares. It's great just sliced on a salad with a citrus dressing or roasted with other veggies (including winter squash).
I've had some questions as to storing the brussels sprouts - just snap each sprout off the main stalk and store in a net (onion) bag in the fridge. I think these might be the veggie I've looked forward to most all season, and last night I made one of my all-time favorite recipes - roasted brussels sprouts with honey. Trim and wash the sprouts, pat dry, and put in a shallow baking dish (in one layer). Drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt, mix, and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Check them after 15 mins - you do NOT want soggy, overdone brussels sprouts. Take them out of the oven, drizzle with as much honey as you'd like, serve. The outside leaves get crisp and brown, the olive oil and salt brings out the amazing flavor, and the honey gives it a touch of sweetness. Yum.

Earlier this week Todd and I made another one of fall favorites, leek and potato soup. This is a simple soup with fantastic flavor... there are a lot of simple recipes for it out there but my favorite is still Alton Brown's: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/leek-potato-soup-recipe/index.html

Keep checking the blog for updates, plans for next year, and thrilling farm news. Hope to see you all at the farm this fall!

Farm Photos

2009-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

your farmers! Todd and I with one of the feathery new residents

CSA member Zeev (with dad Dror) munches on a nasturtium flower

The construction begins! Friends and family help Todd and I transform an old hunting trailer into a new home for the chickens

jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjmjjJulia (visiting from San Fran) suits up
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Liz and Emily had the misfortune to be visiting us that weekend... I immediately put Liz to work
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my friend Ellen (with my dad) spent the whole weekend slaving at the farm
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hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmy mom, building the roosts
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h gggggggggggggggggggggEllen & Todd install a window (pulled from the trash)
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my dad and Todd put up some fencing

The chickens arrive!

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Heather and Dror, with Todd

Zeev meets the chickens
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CSA member Emma Kottler is very enthused hhh my mom passes out a treat of cracked corn
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Emma explores the coopbbbbbbbbbbbbbmember Chris Whispell overcomes her fear of chickens
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just two days after their arrival - our first eggs!

Week Nineteen

2009-10-18T15:25:00.002-07:00

one of our praying mantis, hard at work on some brussels sprout greens

I'm pretty excited about the change in seasons... Instead of slathering on sunscreen before early morning CSA harvest, we're pulling on layers and scarves and boots and I'm loving it - as well as the change in what we're growing and harvesting. We covered the beans and peppers with frost-protective row covers this past week but pretty much everything else is fine in cold weather. Things like brussels sprouts, arugula, mache and the deep greens actually have improved flavor after frosts. You'll notice a change in quantity and variety of what you receive and it's all part of the season winding down. I plan to keep going as long as there's a significant harvest. Things to look for in the next couple weeks are more radish and dark greens, kohlrabi, carrots, chard, arugula, mache, bib lettuce, brussels sprouts, leeks and potatoes.

CSA members Charlie, Amy and Emma Kottler with their aunt, Kathy Ellis

In shares this week you have butternut squash, a variety of peppers, carrots, tatsoi, parsley, daikon radish (full), French breakfast radish (partial), and a container of habaneros if you indicated to me that you wanted them. Some of you might be unfamiliar with daikon radish - here's a link to some basic info including preparation and nutrition facts http://whatscookingamerica.net/DaikonRadish.htm. They can be treated like any other radish (see spring posts for radish sandwiches), used in salads, soups, or juiced and added to tomato sauce for a great kick (thanks Julie!).

Butternut squash is one of those foods that is versatile and pretty delightful any way you prepare it, but my good friend Liz made an amazing dish that's my new favorite - baked butternut squash fluff. Cut squash in half longways and scoop out seeds (you can roast these w/ salt, pepper and cayenne). Roast in the oven until soft, let cool slightly and scoop out the meat into a bowl. Add one or two eggs (depending on how much egg you like), some milk (not too much), a touch of ground/grated ginger, cinnamon and honey (2 T). Mix with a hand mixer to "fluff", spread in a small (no bigger than 9x13) baking dish and top with walnuts and a touch of brown sugar (for a nice crunch). Bake until nuts begin to brown. You can also add grated coconut to the topping - yum. Thanks Liz!
CSA member Kathryn just sent me a recipe for fall squash soup from the Frick Cafe - it sounds amazing and uses your squash, parsley and shallots http://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/start/documents/Fallsquashsoup.pdf
thanks Kathryn!

The big news for this week, of course, is that we now have chickens! 31 laying hens arrived on Saturday afternoon, kindly brought to us by Lynne of Dream Thyme Farm http://www.dreamthymefarm.com/. The ladies (and one patient rooster) seem very happy in their new home, and quite a few of you came to the farm for CSA pick up yesterday and had the chance to see them. They sleep in the coop at night and during the day when no one is around they'll stay in a large fenced area to keep them safe from local predators like fox, coyote, raccoon, and hawks. After they get used to their new surroundings and when we're at home to monitor them the chickens will be free to roam the farm and forage for tasty bugs, slugs, seeds and etc. Their diet also includes organic grain feed from a local mill, which is free of any and all hormones, antibiotics and GMO seed. This high-quality feed and their ability to roam about and forage for an ultra-healthy balanced diet means some very happy chickens, and some pretty fantastic tasting eggs. Hopefully you'll be able to see for yourselves soon - eggs will be available for purchase all winter (though they will lay at a much slower rate during the cold months) and of course next season, but I'm hoping to be able to include half a dozen in each of your shares before the end of the season.

Week Eighteen

2009-10-06T08:19:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the late post this week. We've switched gears from concentrating on fall prep to focusing our energies on finishing the chicken coop. Lynne, the wonderful farmeress from Dream Thyme Farms has offered us 30 laying hens and chicks... they arrive in two weeks. Free range pastured eggs, coming soon! You'll have the opportunity to purchase eggs from us as soon as they arrive, which may be at or after the end of CSA shares this season.

I've had a lot of questions from members regarding how long this season will continue. The answer is, when the harvest stops rolling in. There will probably be a gap of a week or two because I have some beans, peas, kohlrabi, spinach and etc that will need a bit more time, plus the brussels sprouts and leeks won't be harvested until after we've had some decent frosts so you'll probably pick up a final bag in early November. Things have been winding down and will continue to do so until there are no more significant harvests. I think that in addition to the November bag there will be two or three more pick up weeks in October.

This week you received kale (I am tearing out the kale plants this week! Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief), potatoes, herbs and nasturtium, a variety of peppers, purple haze carrots, and pumpkins. Again, those who asked for habanero peppers also received those packaged separately. The small red or orange peppers that were loose in your bags are the aji dulce sweet peppers - they look like a habanero but have no heat, so don't fear them!

Don't forget to check previous blog posts for tasty recipes if you haven't tried them all. I highly recommend this curried roasted pumpkin soup - my mom made it last week and it was excellent http://neckredrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/10/curried-roasted-pumpkin-soup.html (they specify a kind of curry powder but any will do)

Have a great week!

Week Seventeen

2009-09-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

It was a wet, wet morning today! Here's my dedicated and hardworking employee (also known as mom) harvesting and artfully bundling all your herbs in the pouring rain.
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This week everyone has more bunches of wonderful tatsoi, carrots, a head of Chinese cabbage (called Blue), parsley, basil, dill, nasturtium, and a winter squash called Blue Ballet, which is a smaller variety of the traditional (and enormous) hubbard squash. There were also habaneros for those who asked for them.

Try this recipe for green jade soup - it involves some additional items but also uses your cabbage, tatsoi, and carrots: boil 3 cups vegetable stock and add about a cup thickly sliced carrots, 3/4 T grated ginger, a cup sliced leeks or onions, a cup sliced mushrooms, and 2 cups chopped Chinese cabbage. Lower the heat and simmer for about ten minutes until veggies are tender. Add all of your chopped tatsoi and, if you care to, 1 cake of cubed tofu. Cook for 5 minutes, add salt to taste (recipe from Moosewood Cookbook)

Hubbards can be used like any hard-skinned squash - roasted, pureed in soup, or made into a pie, which is what my mom did with these squash last year for Thanksgiving. CSA member Amy Kottler just picked up her share and gave me her idea for roasted hubbard squash that honestly made my mouth water. She slices the squash in half and roasts it in the oven with butter, brown sugar and salt (2 T brown sugar to 1 T kosher salt) so it has a caramelized, salty-sweet, kettle-corn kind of thing going on... everything about that sounds delightful to me. Thanks Amy!

Member Heather Mallak also shared a photo of what she called a "roasting pan of wonderfulness" made with her CV Farm peppers, potatoes, beets and tomatoes - it looks pretty fantastic.
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When members came to the farm to pick up their shares today they all commented on a potted pepper plant that I have sitting out on the porch, a smaller version of this guy:

My dad's uncle, Gene Rockacy, who actually help my grandfather build this farm, starts tons of these lovely pepper plants from seed and sells them at local markets. They live inside all winter and not only to they look amazing, covered with peppers in shades of red, purple, yellow and orange, but the little suckers taste great - and they're spicy! If you'd like to have homegrown hot peppers all winter long (my mom has had her plant for years) let me know and you can purchase one from him. I have to find out an exact price but I'm pretty sure the small ones are about $4, and I can just pop it in your weekly share.

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Uncle Gene and his daughter, Carol Jean, picking raspberries on the farm

week sixteen

2009-09-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's like spring all over again! We have lots of greens, lettuces, arugula and spinach growing, along with snap peas, carrots, scallions, Brussels sprouts and etc. We're approaching the last month of our first year of CSA here at CV Farm, but there's still lots to look forward to.

This week everyone has tatsoi (full shares have two bunches), an assortment of peppers, habaneros (for those who wanted them), a bag of Blushed Butter lettuce, a winter squash called Green Buttercup, a small bunch of broccoli raab, and an edible bouquet of parsley, a variety of basils, and nasturtium.

For those of you unfamiliar with tatsoi it is (according to recipe czar, because I'm too lazy to explain it) "a dark green Asian salad green that has a spoon like shape, a pleasant and sweet aroma, and flavor like a mild mustard green, similar to bok choi. Tatsoi is generally eaten raw, but may be added to soups at the end of the cooking period. When tatsoi is mixed with other greens it enhances the flavor and nutritional value. Tatsoi may not be available in your regular grocery store. Specialty markets may carry it, or it can be grown from seeds, in warmer climates." I basically treat it like spinach - but don't expect a spinach flavor because it's a bit different.
Broccoli raab (rapini) is a new adventure for all of us! This is the first time I've grown it and the first time I've cooked with it. Let me know what you think.

The Green Buttercup squash can be treated like any winter squash.... roasted in the oven with herbs, butter and brown sugar, or chopped and sauteed with butter, sage and shallots. Friend, CSA member and once-weekly CV Farm slave Julie even made hers into a yummy pumpkin-esque pie.

some other recipes to try this week:
This is a simple recipe I use for stracciatella soup - fast and easy to prepare, and just pair it with a salad for a great fall meal. You can use your parsley, and substitute the tatsoi for spinach.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/stracciatella-soup-recipe/index.html

Broccoli raab is fairly versatile, but here's a simple recipe I tried for broccoli raab saute: heat 2 tspns olive oil over med heat, add 2 medium cloves of garlic sliced very thin and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (or some of your hot peppers), stir for about two minutes (don't let the garlic burn). Add broccoli raab (you can chop into large pieces or cook it as-is... the closer to the top of the stem you are the less bitter the flavor) and cook for about 4 minutes, until tender. Season with salt and pepper (recipe from The Washington Post). And here's a tip I found online - Much of the bitterness can be removed by blanching it (cooking it briefly in boiling water) first. Try bringing a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add broccoli rabe and cook 5 to 6 minutes, or until bright green and crisp-tender.

week fifteen

2009-09-13T17:14:00.001-07:00

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Brussels sprouts, just doing their thing

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spring redux - blushed butter lettuce & carrots

This week everyone received potatoes, shallots, acorn squash, kale (sigh - I know), a bundle of herbs (parsley, dill, variety of basils), a bouquet of flowers (sunflowers, zinnia, amaranth), and raspberries. Full shares also received a pint of cherry tomatoes, and if you indicated to me that you wanted them, some habaneros (if you'd like to get habaneros in your share just let me know).

Last night I stumbled upon two great recipes for the kale and potatoes and made a surprisingly fast and amazing dinner. These might involve some ingredients not everyone has laying around, but I think they're worth it. For the rosemary-chile mashed potatoes combine 1 cup of olive oil, 3 rosemary springs, and and finely chopped and seeded habanero (wear gloves!!) in a small saucepan over high heat. When the sprigs begin to spit and bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove oil from heat, strain into a glass jar, let sit for 30 minutes. Cook and mash the potatoes (about 2 lbs for this recipe). Add 1/4 cup of the oil to 3/4 cup milk, a tablespoon of chopped rosemary and salt to taste. Mix, add to mashed potatoes. You can save the leftover chile oil for future use - I used some of it in the kale dish. (Recipe from Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen)
You could also roast or mash the potatoes and finish them with shallots (finely chopped and sauteed in butter) and a handful of chopped parsley and dill with a bit of coarse salt.

Gingered greens and tofu was also wildly tasty. Slice 2 blocks of tofu into 1-inch pieces and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Make a marinade of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup dry sherry, 1/4 cup rice vinegar and 3 tblspns brown sugar. Pour the marinade over the tofu and broil for 7-8 minutes or until the tofu browns, then turn with a spatula and brown the other side. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok on high heat (I used the chile oil) and add 2 tblspns grated ginger and 6 (ish) cups coarsely shredded kale. Stir until greens wilt. Add 3 tblspns lime juice, 2 tblspns chopped cilantro, and a few more splashes of the chile oil. Drizzle with honey and toss with the broiled tofu and marinade. (Recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook)

Look at all these lovely pumpkins! We started harvesting them and are storing them in the root cellar for a few weeks - expect them early to mid October.

And this is why we've started harvesting them a little early...

a rat bastard ground hog is living somewhere in the garden (we think) and has done this to about half a dozen of our pumpkins. Vengeance will be mine.

Have a great week!

CSA member Rachel Kottler and her niece Aisha after picking raspberries this Sunday

week fourteen

2009-09-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

This week everyone received Salsa In A Bag! In your CSA tote is everything you need to make an amazing batch of farm fresh salsa: tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, onions, and a heap of herbs - cilantro, parsley and basil.
My mom is generously sharing her recipe... this is the salsa I've been eating all my life and everyone who has tried it thinks it's the best. Obviously, adjust the mounts to what you have or how much you want to make.

Marjean's Salsa:
4 C tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped* (she uses 2 1/2 cups red tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups green tomatoes)
3 C peppers - seeded & chopped (she uses 2 cups sweet and 1 cup hot, adjust according to your heat preference)
1 C chopped onions
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tblsp sugar/honey
1/3 C cilantro
1/4 C parsley
1/4 C basil
1/2 C tomato paste
1 C cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Jar or can and process (for instructions and suggestion on canning, email me)

*note for tomato prep: drop tomatoes in boiling water for about 15 seconds or until skins split, run under cold water, then peel. Cut out stem, slice in half crosswise and squeeze gently to remove seeds and juice.

Week Thirteen

2009-08-30T15:06:00.001-07:00

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CSA member Emma Kottler at farm pick up this week. Emma has an astonishingly diverse palate for someone who doesn't have much in the way of teeth.

This week everyone received a mix of heirloom tomatoes and a bag of cherry heirlooms, a selection of peppers, beets, chard, variety of basil, parsely, cilantro, and a container of raspberries (full shares received a large container).

Sick of raspberries yet? They'll be coming in like this for a few weeks at least. If you're interested in some recipes for preserves or pies, let me know. And something else I'm doing with the berries now for holiday gifts? Finding cute bottles, filling then with vodka and a bunch of raspberries and putting it in the freezer for a few months to make raspberry-infused vodka. I'm also going to try this with the lime basil.

I found a great recipe online for a fairly simple pasta with beets and beet greens - I cut up the chard as well and treated it the same way as the beet greens in this recipe. http://theitaliandish.blogspot.com/2009/08/pasta-with-roasted-beets-beet-greens.html
And here is a fantastic recipe for summer squash (use your pattypans!) and heirloom tomato gratin http://noshandtell.blogspot.com/2009/08/summer-squash-and-heirloom-tomato.html

aaaaWe thought we wouldn't have onions this year due to an incident early on in the season - the entire bed was crushed when the tractor accidentally pulled the grapevines down on top of them (whoops). But on Sunday afternoon Todd and I harvested a surprising amount of wonderful red and white onions that are curing right now and will be in shares soon.

This is one of the beds of fall veggies we planted a few weeks ago. The tatsoi, Chinese blue cabbage, and snow peas are off to a great start.
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Lately we've found a few toads in and around the garden... this one peed on Todd's hand
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In the news!

2009-08-28T07:31:00.001-07:00

The Post-Gazette wrote a lovely profile of our farm, and I think it's also great publicity for local CSA programs in general. Yay!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09239/993354-47.stm

Week Twelve

2009-08-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

This week everyone received quite a few tomatoes! I posted some great recipes below for the fastest, tastiest farm dinner ever - starting with another great recipe from Jen for mock crab cakes (using patty pan squash instead of crab) with herb-caper mayo, beans with herb butter, and heirloom caprese salad. You might be suspicious of these squash-cakes but I assure you they are beyond delightful - much more than they should be for being so simple. Todd loved them, and he is not usually fond of "mock" anything.

Full shares received a container of cherry tomatoes, 6-8 large heirloom tomatoes (depending on size), pattypan squash, variety of peppers (the orange ones are called Yummy!), a mix of basils, a container of raspberries, peaches, and cut flowers, including some of our lovely sunflowers. Partial shares received cherry and heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, variety of basils (sweet, cinnamon, lime and Thai), a container of raspberries, and flowers.

There are less beans this time around because the second planting was a little smaller. And some sad news - I think this will be it for the cucumbers. The bacterial wilt virus has definitely killed off most of the plants at this point and I am planning to tear them out this week. I can use that space to plant some arugula and other tasty fall greens, and we'll move the support fence to where we've planted the snow peas, which are up and will soon need something to climb. We are going to combat this awful virus next year by moving all cucurbit crops (cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, squash) outside of the produce garden area and grow them in newly dug beds on a different part of the property. We will also spray regularly next season with an organic insecticide (made from chrysanthemum) called pryethrum which will help eliminate the cucumber beetle, the pest responsible for spreading the wilt virus.

The peaches were also a bit of a disappointment... we have a raccoon (or family of) that, apparently, enjoys climbing the peach tree and taking a bite from every other fruit. Hopefully next year we can combat this with some barrier fencing. Or firearms. Just kidding.

This Sunday was lively at the farm for CSA pick up... we had a few member families stick around to pick some extra berries for themselves. My friend Sarah, her husband Jason and sons Elliot and Jasper stopped by for an afternoon of berry picking, followed by a spirited round of throw-black-walnuts-at-the-barn-until-they-shatter-into-a-million-pieces which was seriously more fun than it should have been.

Sarah and Elliot

The raspberries are coming in strong and we are picking a few buckets every other day. If you would like to arrange to come to the farm on Sunday to pick some more of your own for pies, preserves, ice cream, etc, just let me know. There's plenty to go around.

Recipes:

pattypan "crab" cakes - 2c coarsely grated summer squash, 1c Italian bread crumbs, 1 onion (finely chopped), 1 Tbs mayonnaise, 1 Tbs Old Bay seasoning, 1 egg (beaten). Combine, adjust texture, form into patties. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes covered loosely with foil, then broil until tops are golden. Makes 4 big or 6 medium cakes. I also made a mayo sauce to go on top - just a handful of whatever herbs you have, chopped finely and added to a cup of mayo and a bit of cour cream. Mix in a few capers and blop a spoonful on top of each cake.

Chop some more herbs and toss them in melted butter with the beans (blanched for barely a few minutes), and serve with a caprese salad (alternating slices of tomato and buffalo mozzarella, drizzle olive oil and sea or kosher salt on top with some torn basil leaves) and voila! Fast and amazingly delicious dinner right from your CSA bag. You might finish it off with some berries over ice cream drizzled with honey for dessert. And those of you who have peaches could dice them and serve in a bowl with raspberries, shredded cinnamon basil and honey on top.

week eleven

2009-08-15T18:40:00.001-07:00

Items for this week are heirloom tomatoes (full shares also received a container of cherry tomatoes), a variety of peppers, potatoes, a variety of beans, cucumbers (some of you also received a lemon cucumber), a mix of fresh herbs - basil for your tomatoes and parsley and dill for your potatoes, and fresh raspberries. Full shares also received eggplant.
Please remember to return your containers when you're finished with them! And we'd love to have any plastic clamshell containers that you don't use - these are perfect for the berries and cherry tomatoes.

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Nothing is more lovely to me right now than a wagon full of heirloom tomatoes. You all have these in your shares this week. Keep an eye out for my current favorite - an heirloom I'm growing for the first time this year called Garden Peach. They are about the size of, well, a peach, with a yellowish color and skin that is slightly furry, like that of a peach. They taste amazing!

We've been lucky so far in controlling the tomato late blight that has been crippling farmers and gardeners all over the northeast, especially those who grow organically. Many have been completely wiped out, and unfortunately some of the CSA farms in our area had to tell their members not to expect many tomatoes at all this year. We are keeping it under control with an organic copper-based spray and by being vigilant about regularly checking for and removing infected leaves, but we are still definitely seeing the affects. While we feel extremely lucky to have tomatoes at all, there are a lot less than we normally would have.

You've been getting cucumbers pretty regularly, and especially if you held on to some from last week a great way to use them is to make chilled cucumber and dill soup: peel and seed three cucumbers. Chop and put in a blender with two cups buttermilk, half cup sour cream, tablespoon of olive oil, a few tablespoons of chopped dill, a pinch of sugar (or teaspoon of honey), and a splash of white wine vinegar. Puree and garnish with fresh dill.
The potatoes would be excellent simply roasted in the oven with herbs. Cut them into half or thirds, coat them with olive oil and and add your chopped parsley and dill with a sprinkle of salt, and roast.
I found a new tasty recipe for microwaved honey eggplant. Combine half a cup each of chopped parsley and breadcrumbs with three tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons honey, one minced garlic clove, and a pinch of salt. Cut a medium eggplant crosswise into one-inch slices and score the top of each slice. Put the slices in a dish and spread the breadcrumb mixture over the tops, pressing into the slits. Partially cover with wax paper and microwave for about five minutes. Remove the paper and cook for another two or three minutes until very soft. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Also check out Rachel's comment from the week nine post, she shared a great recipe for a vinaigrette to dress potatoes and green beans.

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Some turkeys in front of the berry patch (they are regular welcome visitors to the farm).

week ten

2009-08-15T18:18:00.001-07:00

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Items for week ten: heirloom tomatoes, a container of cherry tomatoes, a variety of peppers, pattypan squash, cucumbers, herbs including sweet and lime basil, and a bouquet of fresh cut flowers grown on the farm.

This week the Post Gazette photographer visited for CSA pick up, taking photos for the piece they are writing on our farm! Rebecca got some great shots that will be included in the print and online editions of the article, which they tell me will probably be in the Thursday August 27th edition of the paper in the food section. A great group of shareholders came to the farm with their families, and everyone left with some delicious raspberries that they picked themselves. Well... some berries may not have made it home ;)

Thanks again to everyone who came! It was a fun afternoon.

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Elliot in the berry patch, and Ziad with his haul. They are two talented and enthusiastic berry pickersaaaa

Dror, Heather, and their baby Zeev. Dror's mother Zahava, and her friend Izak were visiting from Israel

Folks who came to the farm also had a chance to see Todd do a brief hive inspection

Week Nine

2009-08-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

This week everyone has potatoes, cucumbers, kale, a big bunch of sweet basil, lime basil and parsley. Full shares also received pattypan squash, beans, and a container of a mix of heirloom cherry tomatoes. Because there weren't many melons and eggplant, these went to partial shares - fulls will get these the next time we harvest. Partial shares also received three full size heirloom tomatoes instead of the mix of cherries.

I know shares have been heavy on the greens this year, and I hope you aren't all sick to death of kale! I planted too much, but there are a lot of great ways to use it. Here is a link to a simple recipe for kale and potato hash - www.eatingwell.com/recipes/kale_potato_hash.html
if you don't have shallots just substitute onions.

The lemon basil is excellent in a vinaigrette, but it also makes an amazing pesto when mixed with regular basil, and parsley. In a food processor combine 2 cups (packed) basil leaves (lime and sweet), 1 cup parsley leaves, 1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts (toasting the nuts for a few minutes in a dry pan on the stove top gives them a great flavor), 3-4 garlic cloves, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Process into a paste, and slowly add 1/2 olive oil while the mixer is running. Pesto is wonderful on fish, chicken, in pastas, on bread, with your tomatoes... I love pesto in pretty much anything. My friend Jen makes a fried egg and pesto sandwich for breakfast, which is just an egg between two slices of toast smeared with pesto. I haven't tried yet but sounds like the tastiest breakfast sandwich ever.

For those of you who have eggplant this week, you might try slicing it, salting the slices lightly and letting them sit for a few minutes, brushing them with olive oil and tossing them on the grill with some pesto on top.

Farm Photos

2009-07-29T16:50:00.001-07:00

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bulb onions bbbbbbbbbbbbshallots

coming soon... flowers!

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bbzinnias bbbbbbbbbbbbbbsunflowers, amaranth and cosmos

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peppers bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbtomatoes!

fruit...

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peaches bbbbbbbbbbbbbbthe very first raspberries

know your squash....

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green buttercup bbbbbbbbb butternut bbbbbbbbbbbbbbhubbard blue ballet

amazing summer, fall and spring honey... now with Ellen's fabulous labels!

I hope those of you who haven't had the chance yet will be able to visit soon and see firsthand how your fruit and produce is coming along.

Week Eight

2009-07-27T07:52:00.001-07:00

This week everyone received: beans (three varieties), basil (variety), parsley, cucumbers (english and/or pickling), peppers (variety), chard (variety), scallions (ishikura and deep purple), and full shares also received purple haze carrots.

You may notice that your chard has some some small holes... there is a mystery beetle that I'm having problems with, and some other local farms are as well (there's a discussion about it on the listserv). This beetle manages to get under the row covers and cause the damage to chard and beet greens, and currently no one is sure what it is or how exactly to deal with it. But we're working on it!

We have honey for sale! Contact me if you'd like to buy some. The first 8 oz bottle is $5 and if you return the bottle your next one will be $4. We currently have all three varieties of honey (spring, summer and autumn) and plan to do a few more harvests this year. Thanks to my friend and stellar graphic designer Ellen for the amazing honey labels (and all the CV Farm labels/logo/design)!

If you're at a loss as to what to do with this latest batch of chard, I can share two great suggestions from CSA members. My friend Jen likes to wrap the chard leaf like a little package around a few slices of tomato, some goat cheese (or cheese of your choice, though goat is excellent with this), drizzle with balsamic and grill! Julie shared a link for a great and amazingly simple recipe for stuffed chard with fresh marinara - www.eatingwell.com/recipes/stuffed_chard_marinara.html

week seven

2009-07-19T15:20:00.001-07:00

This week everyone received: beets, carrots, peppers, pattypan squash, cilantro, three kinds of beans, a cucumber, nasturtium (edible flowers) and half a dozen organic pastured eggs from Green Circle Farm.

Don't panic about your eggs not being refrigerated! I learned a lot from chatting with Erika at Green Circle... first of all, the U.S. is the only country that requires eggs be refrigerated. Temperature fluctuation isn't good (if you bought them cold, keep them that way) but if eggs have never been chilled they can last at room temperature for weeks. And if you have a cool basement, they can keep for about 6 weeks without ever being in the refrigerator.

Treat the pattypan squash just like you would a zucchini or any other summer squash (recipe suggestion below). More cucumbers and pattypans will be rolling in soon, but I hope you enjoy this first little sample. The bean varieties are Provider (green), Carson (yellow) and Royal Burgundy (purple - a Farmers Market favorite).

If you haven't tried the carrot recipe from last week, I highly recommend it (see my comment with a doctored version of the recipe). Another suggestion is below.

carrots: shred/peel carrots (I throw mine in the Cuisinart for insta-shredding) saute cubed tofu (or chicken) in oil until browned. Add shredded carrots, green onions, a bit of soy sauce and and a few tablespoons of peanut butter. Off the heat drizzle some honey on top and combine. Serve cold or at room temp.

beets: Don't toss the green tops - these are actually my husband's favorite green. Not as tough as chard and sweeter than kale, they cook down nicely. Roast or boil the beets and slice, set aside. Chop the greens (I also add spinach or another green, you could use the kale from last week) and cook in oil with some lemon juice, onion, and garlic. Serve with the beets and some cheese sprinkled on top (feta is perfect for this).

pattypan: Chop and saute in butter with onions, garlic, and any herbs you have on hand. Serve over pasta.

nasturtium: They have a very peppery taste and are great (and impressive) on a salad. You can also make them with the beans - toss a thinly sliced shallot (or small onion) in vinegar with a couple tablespoons of tarragon and some salt, let it sit for about 30 minutes. Snap off the ends of the beans, cut into halves or thirds, and boil with a bit of salt for no more than 4 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly, dab dry. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the dressing mixture, season with salt and pepper, add nasturtium and mix with the beans.
Or, you can just make nasturtium butter - add the coarsely chopped flowers to softened butter with a dash of salt and lemon juice. Form into logs or patties.

Photos

2009-07-14T09:32:00.001-07:00

Shivaster
removing the wax cappings from frames with a heated knife

uncapped frames in the extractor

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bbbbbbbbbbbbbbfresh honey!

Shivani, carrot harvester extraordinaire

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week six

2009-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

In shares this week:
red fire lettuce, 1 bunch of kale, 1 bunch of carrots (mokum and parmex), raw summer honey, and a few of our very first peppers.

We harvested the summer honey on Saturday (pictures soon - it was a full house!) It's definitely darker than the pale spring honey but significantly lighter than the deep, rich fall honey. Let me know what you think of the flavor.

I've noticed that even a day or two after harvest the carrots tend to become limp and wilted. This is caused by moisture loss and can be avoided by removing the green tops and keeping the carrots in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, with or without a moist paper towel. If you find that they are already wilted, put them in a shallow dish of water in the fridge and they will regain their crispness.

The peppers are a mix of sweet and mild - no hot peppers yet, and when you get them I'll make sure to package them separately. This is only a sample of our first peppers, so you might try them cut up on a salad with some red fire lettuce and herb vinaigrette.

Some recipe suggestions for this week...

kale: Thinly slice, saute with onion and garlic, cover to steam (steaming makes the leaves more tender than frying). Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top (substitute the Ivory Lace, or your favorite grated cheese) Thanks for the recipe suggestion, Kate!

carrot and couscous salad: Add couscous to a pot of boiling water, turn off heat, cover, let sit for ten minutes. Shred carrots and mix with the juice of 1 lemon, a few tablespoons of orange juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil, a bit of cumin, and salt and pepper. When the couscous is done, fluff with a fork and add to carrots with a handful of raisins. Toss and serve. (You could also substitute quinoa or any grain of your choice)

honey: There are countless uses for this amazing honey, but here are some simple favorites. My husband drizzles it on cereal, and I eat it for breakfast on a toasted whole-grain English muffin with a bit of butter. My friend Jen highly recommends honey drizzled on toast with peanut butter, and my friend Ellen uses it when she bakes bread. I love it mixed in with my favorite yogurt, and in any recipe in place of sugar (general guidelines for substituting honey for sugar in recipes can be found here: www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1923,145167-243192,00.html)

We are now selling 8-oz jars of our honey! Contact me if you're interested.

New Additions

2009-07-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

We have two new additions to the farm this week...

a third honey bee hive, and a kitten named Bunny!

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Both are adjusting well to their new home.

The new hive is a split from one of our existing hives that has been very active... perhaps too much so. We added a queen and three frames of bees and brood (soon-to-be bees) to the new hives boxes and are giving them time to get used to the new queen. This weekend we plan to do another honey extraction from the other hives and you'll receive a sample of this summer honey in shares this Sunday.

If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the farm yet this season, consider doing a Sunday pick up sometime soon. Check out the bee hives, grab some of the first raspberries from the berry patch, see the soon-to-be chicken coop, and wander around the produce garden to watch the progress of your summer veggies.

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Check back on Sunday for an item list, recipes and hints for week six.

week five

2009-07-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

Items for this week:
lettuce, cutting mix
parsley
cilantro
basil - mix of sweet, Thai, and cinnamon
chard - variety
new potatoes
Ivory Lace cheese from Hidden Hills Dairy

Some hints for this week - keep the chard fresh the same way you would the lettuce, by wrapping it in moist paper towels and keeping it in a plastic bag in the fridge. The basil is kept best by putting it in a vase of water out on the counter top or table, just change the water every other day or so. It will stay like this for a while. Get creative with the Thai and cinnamon basils - they can be used in most of the same ways you would regular basil. If you're having trouble telling the difference between the two (both are darker than sweet basil and have purple-tinted stems and flowers) just give them a sniff, the smells are distinct. The Thai basil is excellent in a curry, and the cinnamon is wonderful in a peach (or any fruit) chutney, served with meat or fish. I still have some canned some peaches from last summer, and I serve them with cinnamon basil shredded on top.

The chard can be treated just like spinach - I substitute it for spinach in lasagna recipes, wilt it by cooking with butter, garlic and lemon juice and serving as a side dish, or even using the smaller tender leaves in salads. It isn't as tough as kale and won't need to cook as long, but you will probably want to remove the thick center rib in the larger pieces.

I'm so excited about the new potatoes! "New" potatoes are actually just a potato that is harvested early - as soon as the blossoms fall off the plant (a typical potato is ready for harvest when the plant dies). Their skin is much thinner than a "full-grown" potato and they are often smaller and a bit more tender. This would be a great time to use any leftover dill or dill butter, and I would also suggest roasting them in the oven with olive oil, salt and your parsley.

Hope you enjoy the cheese! Please let me know what you think of this versus the Boltonfeta.

week four

2009-06-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Shares this week:
bunching onions/scallions (deep purple and ishikura)
carrots, 1 bunch
kale, 1 bunch
herbs, 1 bunch (dill, cilantro, parsley)
blushed butter lettuce, 1 bag
indigo radicchio, 1 head (full shares only)
red fire lettuce, 1 head (half shares only)

Many of you may be wondering what to do with the radicchio. You might just cut it up with lettuce in salad, and the leaves are also excellent used as lettuce wraps with a rice or quinoa salad (I've even used it for egg salad instead of bread or pita). Below is a link to a recipe for sauteed radicchio and fried kale. I've made this simple recipe as is, and have also added sauteed onions and garlic, serving it over pasta or black-eyed peas with parmesan.
http://epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sauteed-Radicchio-and-Fried-Kale-14271

You're still getting a lot of herbs, and I find that keeping them in the refrigerator wrapped in paper towels in an unclosed plastic bags keeps them fresh for literally weeks. If you find that you're running out of ways to use them, simply chop them up with the lettuce and scallions and try them in a salad.

I also have a suggestion for washing the lettuce. Unless you douse your greens in chemicals or have the facilities to thoroughly wash it, which we do not, there are bounded to be a few bugs. I put the lettuce in a large mixing bowl and fill it with cold water until it runs over the top. With the water running, gently push the lettuce to the bottom, forcing out more water and any bugs or dirt that floats to the top. Put the lettuce in a salad spinner (a great investment if you eat as many greens as I do) or let it drain on paper towels, wrap and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

week two!

2009-06-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here is what to expect in your CSA totes this week

more lettuce! 2 bags, a new variety of lettuce mix and another bag of red fire lettuce
parsley - 1 bunch
kale - 1 bunch
beets (mixture of golden, early tall top and chiogga)
small jar of raw, unfiltered fall honey

Shares will probably include either baby carrots or snow peas - I won't know for sure until I get into the garden on Sunday morning and start harvesting. I'm going to take whatever looks best this week. You will also most likely get more dill, as I have a lot of it, much more than I expected. Radicchio may also be included depending on the readiness of the carrots and peas.

Sadly, your beets will be minus the greens this time. I didn't row cover them and the dastardly cucumber beetles ate holes in many of the leaves - but the second planting of beets looks great and is growing cozily under row cover, so later in the season you will have those with their greens.

recipes:
greens and beans - saute garlic and onion in oil until barely browned, add kale (see below for preparation hints), cook until greens are wilted. drizzle with juice of 1/2 lemon, salt and pepper to taste. Add black-eyed peas or your favorite beans (canned, or cooked separately) toss together in heated pan to warm. We have also made this substituting a whole-wheat penne pasta for the beans. Parmesan cheese grated on top is also super tasty.

My friend Katie also has a delicious and easy recipe for kale - saute onions and garlic, add kale. Add chicken or veggie broth, or white wine, and saute until leaves are wilted, salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare the kale, strip leaves from the stems, wash, stack, slice into thick pieces.

The snow peas can be sauteed in butter with the chopped parsley, and any herbs you might have left from last. The baby carrots would be excellent with this, or cooked in butter with a bit of dill.

Beets, especially baby beets which are often candy-sweet, can be cooked, sliced and added to salads. They have such a great flavor on their own that I don't recommend doing much to them. Scrub the raw beets to remove and grit and dirt, and steam them until they are tender (can be stabbed with a fork, but are still somewhat firm). drain and immediately rinse in cold water, and peel the sides - you'll be bale to do this with your fingers.

Another suggestion for the dill, since I have so much of it, is to make a dill butter and freeze it, in anticipation of all the potatoes you'll have later in the season. Soften 1 stick of better and add the shopped dill, roll into a thick log, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze. you can slice of fresh herbed butter pats as needed!

Pick up your first shares - this Sunday, June 7!

2009-06-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Finally it's time for the first shares! I would say that I can't believe it's already here, but it feels like I've been preparing for it for a year... probably because I have been.
The weather has been great this spring, - just enough rain at just the right times. Everything in the garden looks lush and green, and the transplants and seedlings are off to a healthy start.

totes:
Below is a pic of the *awesome* tote bags I'll be using to pack and distribute your veggies this season, and they were quite the locally made cooperative effort. The fabulous logo was designed by my very talented friend Ellen Goodman, and the bags themselves were each hand-made and screen printed by yet another talented and lovely friend, Chrissy Lambrou.
Chrissy launched her business, PristineSewing, last fall at Handmade Arcade and has been sewing up a storm ever since. She's running a bit low on inventory at the moment (perhaps because she's been slaving away on my tote bags) but please visit her website and etsy shop at http://pristinesewing.com/
Every week you will return the empty tote bag that you received the week before, as I will use these all season long. But I fully expect people to fall in love with them and want to have one of their very own - if this is the case or if you have any other handbag/messenger bag/tote bag needs, please contact Chrissy and I'm sure she will be more than happy to take orders.

share items/swapping:
Below is a list what you can expect in your shares this week! Amounts will vary depending on whether your share size is full or partial. I will post these lists every week so you will know what to expect. If you see an item (or items) on the list that you would like to swap out in order to get more of one thing or less or none of another, let me know before Sunday and I can make that change.
The supplemental item this week is some amazing feta cheese from Lori at Hidden Hills Dairy in Central PA (http://www.hiddenhillsdairy.com/):
"Bolton" means round hill and we’ve got plenty of those. This is our Greek style feta, full flavored, and packed in light brine. Soak in cold water for a time if you prefer a less salty cheese. Our Boltonfeta was awarded a bronze medal in the 2008 World Jersey Cheese Awards held in Jersey, Channel Islands, UK
Enjoy it on a fresh spring salad, mixed with herbs as a spread, or substituted for another cheese in your favorite recipe.

Sunday 6/7:
buttercrunch head lettuce, green bib
buttercrunch head lettuce, speckles
red fire leaf lettuce
lettuce cutting mix
radish, 1 bunch (mix of amethyst, French breakfast, and easter egg mix)
1 bunch mint
1 bunch mixed herbs (including dill, cilantro, savory, chives)
1/4 lb Boltonfeta cheese from Hidden Hills Dairy

recipes:
Each week I'll also provide some recipe suggestions, in case you're at a loss as to what to do with your goodies. Feel free to ask me any time for more suggestions or recipe ideas.
(I don't tend to cook with precision, so many of the quantities are approximates)

One of my favorite quick lunches from the garden this spring has been herb butter, lettuce, and radish sandwiches. Don't be frightened - if the French can do it, so can you.

lettuce and radish sandwich: soften 1 stick butter, chop approx 1/2 - 3/4 c various herbs, pinch of salt and pepper, mix. spread the butter on your favorite sandwich bread, layer lettuce and sliced radish. Refrigerate rest of butter for future sandwiches (or use as an ingredient in your favorite fish, chicken or pasta dish)

If you want to pile some of that great feta on a bed of lettuce and have at it, here's one of my favorite fast vinaigrettes
lemon herb vinaigrette:
1 Tbps lemon juice, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp brown sugar, salt and pepper, handful of chopped fresh herbs, mix.

We always have an abundance of mint in summer and my husband drinks lemonade by the gallon, so I like to snazz it up a bit.

mint lemonade: 1 C lemon juice plus a bit extra, slightly less than 1 C sugar (I use 1/2 cup agave syrup & 1/4 c honey instead of sugar), a handful of mint sprigs, 2 qts water. Shake vigorously to mix. (Drink as-is or mix with whiskey - which happens to be my favorite summer drink)

I hope you enjoy!

Honey!

2009-05-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

We did the spring inspection today, and were lucky enough to locate our star - the queen! (in the center, with the red dot).

The honey supers are already full so I plan to experiment with a mini honey harvest this weekend... and I say experiment because we've never done it before. Like so many things here, it's all just a learning experience ;)

Some frames we pulled from the hive still have fall honey, leftovers that the bees didn't eat over the winter (this is the dark honey, on the right). Spring honey (below - I scooped some out with my finger but it's practically clear) has a light, less intensely sweet and more flowery taste, while the amber-colored fall honey has a deeper, richer flavor... probably what most people expect when they taste honey.

It's pretty incredible to pull a heavy frame out of the hive, scrape off a bit of the wax capping, and taste the fresh honey. CSA shareholders will have the opportunity to do this soon, and judge the difference for themselves!

Spring update

2009-05-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy on the farm! We've been doing a lot of spring planting and even added some new varieties of fruit to our growing repertoire... Todd and I planted a few more fruit trees (another sweet cherry and two more peaches) and three blueberry bushes.

And a few weeks ago, my "crew" (my parents and Rockacy family members Gene and Joan, who were wonderful enough to lend their hard labor and potato expertise) planted two varieties of early potatoes.

The most exciting news - over the weekend our partners in beekeeping, Tony Indovina and Gary Marshall, delivered our second hive! So far the ladies appear to be enjoying their new home. We are planning to do a spring hive inspection this week and I will post those photos as soon as I can.

For our 2009 CSA members I've put together a list of the crops and varieties we are growing this year. A few varieties are missing but I would say the list is 95% complete. Here is what we are hoping to provide you with over the next four or five months:
beets
early wonder tall top
golden detroit
chioggia
radish
easter egg
french breakfast
amethyst
peas
super sugar snap
sugar snap
snow wind
onions - bulb
sweet georgia
red
supersweet
shallots
picasso
potatoes
red thumb (fingerling)
red gold
nicola
german butterball
onions - bunching
ishikura
deep purple
carrots
parmex
early mokum
vitana
purple haze
cucumber
vertina
olympian
lemon cucumber
summer squash
sunburst patty pan
bennings green tint patty pan
beans
provider
carson
jade
royal burgundy
kale
redbor
pumpkin
white pumpkin
pie pumpkins
autumn gold
greens - leaf
winter lettuce mix
summer lettuce mix
arugula
lettuce mix OG
spinach, bloomsdale
mache (lg-leaf round)
greens - head
red fire leaf
green bib buttercrunch
radicchio
butterhead, speckles
red sails
corn
spring treat
tuxedo
brussels sprouts
diablo
oliver
eggplant
inda paint
listada
Fla. High bush
peppers - sweet
yummy
aji dulee

(+ at least 3 more varieties)
peppers - mild/hot
ancho
anaheim
mariachi
chichimeca
peppers - hot
jalapeno
habanero
new mex joe parker
leeks
bleu de solaize
herbs
cilantro
bouquet dill
basil - sweet
basil - cinnamon
basil - siam queen (thai)
basil - sweet dani (lemon)
chives
stevia
mint
parsley

chervil
chard
bionda di lyon
gator perpetual spinach
bright lights
melon
orange honey
winter squash
hubbard - blue ballet
buttercup green burgess
acorn
waltham butternut
tomatoes
brandywine (heirloom)
yellow pear (h)
green grape (h)
big rainbow (h)
cherokee purple (h)
copia
persimmon (h)
caspian pink (h)
sungold (cherry)
sweet million (c)
box car willie (h)
golden mama (paste)
olpaka (pst)
garden peach (h)
grape
brandy boy
san marzano (h)
green zebra (h)
hungarian italian (pst)
victoria supreme (pst)
(+ several more varieties) mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Fruit included in summer shares: blackberries and raspberries (the new blueberry bushes aren't likely to produce enough berries for shares during the first year), sweet cherries and peaches.

Cutting flowers will also be part of your shares -
salvia
celosia red velvet
celosia pink
pumpkin on a stick (ornamental eggplant)
zinnia tequlia lime
zinnia white wedding
daisy zulu prince
marigold snowball
queen anne's lace
bells of ireand
zinnia (tall red)
sunflower (several varieties)
nastirtium

amaranth
alyssum\

seeds!

2009-03-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago we planted seeds for more than 300 veggies and flowers to be grown for CSA shares this season. Peppers (sweet, mild, ridiculously hot), eggplant, lettuces, herbs, brussels sprouts, and over 30 varieties of tomatoes (mostly heirloom), along with bunches of annual cutting flowers, are currently getting their early start indoors. Soon I plan to post the complete list of the crops and varieties of each that we will offer this year... All told, we're growing more than 80 varieties of over 25 different vegetable crops.

CSA at Churchview Farm

2009-02-11T11:21:00.001-08:00

Please visit our website at http://www.churchviewfarmpgh.com/ for updated information regarding CSA and membership at Churchview Farm

(cats may sniff your produce)

(our first honey bee hive)

About Churchview Farm

2009-02-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

In 2006 my husband Todd and I moved to what had been my grandparents’ small farm, located in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. With help from our parents we spent that summer renovating the small three-bedroom farmhouse where my father and his nine brothers and sisters grew up, and moved in October. This amazing piece of land, on a hilltop surrounded on three sides by woods, is a place where I spent a large portion of my childhood – picking berries with my grandmother, tagging along when my grandfather fed the pigs, cows and chickens, and spending time with my parents and myriad cousins. My grandparents were homesteaders, feeding their family with the produce they grew and preserved, and the meat and dairy from the animals they raised. And in a time before all-natural growing methods were trendy or widely practiced, they utilized them on their farm.

We have never used chemicals, pesticides or herbicides on the farm. The soil is supplemented with composted manure from a nearby farm, compost that we make on the property, and with organic minerals and soil amendments. We practice IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and crop rotation, and this year I will begin using a combination of cover crops and living mulch to amend the soil. Though we use organic, sustainable and all-natural growing practices, we are not certified organic. Organic certification is a daunting, time consuming and very expensive process that is not practical for many very small farms. Also, organic certification does not always necessarily equal sustainable practices. Sustainability involves the production of safe, healthy food while respecting all aspects of the farm - nurturing the soil, treating the animals humanely, and working with the natural ecosystem. In essence, it is about striving for a completely self-sufficient system – the farm using all of its natural resources to sustain itself. We are moving toward a completely sustainable system.

What is CSA?

2009-02-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and receive a weekly basket of produce. Subscriptions can be as different as one farm is from another – they vary in price, duration, options and goods offered. By making a financial commitment to a farm, individuals and families become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA, therefore sharing the risks and rewards associated with farming. In return, shareholders receive a weekly basket (or crate, or tote…) of fresh, seasonal, healthy produce that is (in this case) grown using sustainable and organic methods. In short, CSA programs connect people with their food. The closer you are to the food you purchase, the better it is for you, your family, the local economy, and the environment. The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture has a wonderful quote about the local food movement that they call the Ten Dollar Solution:

If every household in Western Pennsylvania spent $10 a week on regionally-produced food, $15 million dollars would stay in the local economy each week. That's $60 million every month, and over $700 million per year. Spending money on local food not only sustains our economy, it provides us with greater nutrition, preserves family farms, generates job opportunities, and beautifies the rural and urban landscape. And don't forget that locally grown foods are likely to be fresher, tastier and safer for you and your family.