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Crop Talk
The Newsletter of Great Country Farms
September 14, 2015: CSA Week 16
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18780 Foggy Bottom Road
Bluemont, VA 20135 |
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Great Fall Greens
As cooler weather returns to the Blue Ridge, we start getting hungry for sturdy fall greens. This week's share includes one of the brassicas family's nutritional powerhouses: kale. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, "k
ale has a 3:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio - an exceptionally high amount of protein for any vegetable, which is one reason why it has recently been acclaimed as
the "new beef.
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Surprisingly, like meat, kale contains all nine essential amino acids needed to form the proteins within your body: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine - plus, nine other non-essential ones for a total of 18." (Read more here.) Follow this link to Rachel Ray's 20 kale recipes.
 Alongside the kale, we have a few rows of beautiful Swiss chard, which Dr. Mercola describes as a member of "the chenopod food family, along with beets and spinach. It's an excellent source of vitamins C, E, and A (in the form of beta-carotene) along with the minerals manganese and zinc. When you eat Swiss chard, you get a wealth of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits... and the betalin pigments in Swiss chard support your body's Phase 2 detoxification process, which is when broken-down toxins are bound to other molecules so they can be excreted from your body." (Read more here.)
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CSA Week 16 ~ September 15-20
Shares this week include:
- acorn squash
- kale
- tomatoes
- zucchini
- green beans
- plums
- Gala apples
Please protect your share from the heat. Fifteen minutes on a sunny front porch will ruin fragile items like peaches and lettuce. If you won't be home when your delivery arrives, please consider providing a cooler with icepacks to keep your food fresh until you return. Be sure the inner dimensions of your cooler will accommodate a box that measures 19 x 10 x 9 inches.
Remember that there's no CSA pick-up or delivery on Mondays.
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Marnie Montgomery, certified Tellington T-Touch practitioner and owner of The Joyful Dog, a canine education and wellness center in Leesburg, invites you to bring your dog to the farm this fall. She'll be offering three opportunities for you and your dog to play and work together at the farm: Puppies on the Farm, Fun and Focus, and Great Country Games. These are multi-session courses scheduled for Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Sundays in September or October.
 Marnie first came to the world of dog training and T-Touch while searching for ways to help her own dog relax and control his impulses. The combination of bodywork and movement, which are foundational to T-Touch, and the clarity inherent in clicker training and other rewarding techniques, helped him become a delightful companion.
For more information about Marnie, or to register for one of these special sessions, visit The Joyful Dog online. |
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Featured Recipes
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This easy, one-pan dish combines complimentary flavors, textures, colors, and nutritional elements -- quick and simple!
Kale Salad with Apple and Root Vegetables
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This refreshing, super-healthy salad is one of chef Marcus Samuelsson's favorite ways to showcase kale; massaging the leaves with vinegar, salt and olive oil makes them tender and sweet. This recipe is adapted from the chef's book Marcus Off Duty
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Combining Two Portuguese favorites-kale-and-sausage soup and a bean, sausage, and tomato stew-makes a simple, sensational one-pot meal. To keep the focus on the vegetables, we've used just a tiny amount of fresh sausage; you can add more, if you like, or substitute dried chorizo or pepperoni."
Read more here.
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| Week 16 CSA UPICK Bonus: September 8 - 13 6 apples ~ $4.47
1 bag Concorde grapes ~ $2.99 Year to date Upick Bonus Value: $171.26
What is this? Each week we offer a bonus u-pick item for members visiting the farm and this ticker tracks the dollar value of the bonuses. Many members find that month picking adds a nice extra value to their CSA share.
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| This Week in the Farm Market
Plums
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Potatoes
Pie Pumpkins
Peppers
Garlic
Nectarines
Okra
Squash
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New Traffic Pattern in the Roosteraunt
Last weekend we established a new system in the Roosteraunt: guests enter through the door on the left (closest to the emu enclosure) and pass through different stations to order their food, choose their drinks and side items, pick up their food, and pay for their meal. We made this change in hopes of facilitating efficiency, so people will spend less time in line more time enjoying the farm and the glorious fall weather. If you happened to be here on Sunday, when the system had its debut, we'd love to know how it worked for you. We thought it went pretty well.
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Please Drive Slowly
This is an appeal to slow down when you drive through the tiny village of Bluemont. Last week a Bluemont resident sent an email to several local businesses, informing us that two children were almost hit by a truck in front of the Bluemont General Store the other day. Apparently the incident prompted a police response.
"We want Bluemont to grow and prosper," the resident wrote. "We love the life that new businesses can bring to our sleepy little town, but most of all we want to feel safe, and we want our kids to be safe."
To that end, please drive safely through the village and keep your eyes pealed for children.
Thank you so much!
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