Summer Share #3
My Fine Homestead Newsletter
6/14/2017

In This Issue:

  1. Announcements

  2. Your Box this Week - Full Share
  3. Your Box this Week - Half Share

  4. Recipes- Simple Grilled Aspargus, Asparagus Cashew Pilaf

  5. On the Farm . . . 
Announcements

This week is the 3rd week of Summer Vegetable Shares and Every Other Week members at John Muir Dr, Wayland Dr, Waban Hill, Transformations, and Spring Green Farmers Market pick up boxes today .  

MES members (Yearly, Full, Half) with pickup at Wayland Dr and Transformations pickup their monthly box this week. (Unless you've made other arrangements.)

Maple Syrup, Eggs, and handcrafted Body Care
are available at The Office Market,
Your Box this Week - Full Share
Lettuce Mix - 1/2 lb
Summer Crisp Head Lettuce - 1 or 2 depending on size. Summer crisp is also called French crisp or Batavia crisp and is a very crisp like romaine, but sweet and juicy.
Spicy Greens Mix -  1/4 lb (mildly spicy)
Sorrel - 1 bunch. Sorrel adds a pleasant, almost  citruslike sour brightness to salads.When cooked it collapses almost instantly into a pureelike texture that, with its flavor softened by a little cream or butter, goes well with meat or fish. It's also nice wilted; stir thinly sliced leaves into cooked pasta, bean or grain dishes after they are removed from heat, or sprinkle over hot chicken, fish, or meat. Store in a wet cloth or plastic bag in the refrigerator for a week or so.  
Salad Turnips - 1 bunch, (you may find a radish or two in your bunch)
Asparagus - 2 bunches, from New Forest Farm
Sugar Snap Peas - small bag, the peas are just starting so we picked to encourage the plants to produce more. Pods are edible too. Chop in half and add to salad. 
Green Garlic - 1 bunch 
Chives - 1 bunch
Parsley - 1 bunch
If you can't use your herbs in a week or so, you can freeze them for later use. Simply chop, put a tablespoon in each spot of an ice cube tray, (push the herb down in the water if it floats), add water and freeze. Add these to soups and other dishes as needed. If you don't want the water in the cube, thaw in a strainer by running warm water over it.
Your Box this Week - Half Share

Lettuce Mix - 1/2 lb
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/4 lb (mildly spicy includes arugula, tatsoi, asian greens, swiss chard)
Asparagus - 2 bunches , from New Forest Farm  
Green Garlic - 1 bunch 
Chives - 1 bunch
Parsley - 1 bunch
If you can't use your herbs in a week or so, you can freeze them for later use. Simply chop, put a tablespoon in each spot of an ice cube tray, (push the herb down in the water if it floats), add water and freeze. Add these to soups and other dishes as needed. If you don't want the water in the cube, thaw in a strainer by running warm water over it.
Simple Grilled Asparagus

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and peeled (if desired)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon (optional)


Toss asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place over a grill preheated to high heat and cook, turning occasionally, until well-charred and tender, 5 to 8 minutes. If desired, cut lemon in half and place cut side down on grill until charred, about 3 minutes. Transfer asparagus to a large plate, drizzle with remaining olive oil, sprinkle with lemon (if desired), and serve immediately.

Alternatively wrap the asparagus in tinfoil and cooked on the grill until tender.
Asparagus Cashew Pilaf
serves 6-8

1/4 c butter
2 oz whole-grain spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces
1 c minced onion
1 Tbl minced garlic
1 1/4 c jasmine rice
2 1/4 c chicken or vegetable broth
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 lb asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 c cashew halves (or more)

Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Increase the heat to medium and stir in the spaghetti, cooking until coated with the butter and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the rice and cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in the broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. 

Meanwhile, steam the asparagus until bright green and crisp-tender (about 10 minutes in a steamer basket; 3-5 minutes in a pan with a bit of boiling water). When the rice is finished, fluff with a fork, stir in the asparagus and cashews, and serve immediately.
                                        Black Duck with her ducklings.                                         
On the Farm . . . 
Whewww, it's been hot! And "gnatty'" - a term we are using to describe when the gnats or black flies are thick and not only buzz annoyingly but seemingly attack by flying in eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. It's enough to make us want to hide in the house! We've found slathering vanilla on our necks and faces to be a pleasant way to repel them, and it seems Bill follows me more closely since I smell like freshly-baked cookies.

Lately our focus has been on irrigating the fields. The heat of the hot sun along with several windy days had dried out the ground so we were watering everyday until rain came Tuesday night. Bill got a regular rotation going while checking the fields each morning in case a certain one needed to be bumped up. The pea plants are loaded with blossoms and just starting to yield so they need extra water now through the end of their harvest. The sweet potato slips that arrived last week and were planted over the weekend also require more water until they start to vine.  And so do the newly-transplanted cucumbers.  

Walking the fields this time of year is exciting - sometimes it feels like a cross between a surprise party and a treasure hunt. We search for problems but also anticipate seeing signs of crops beginning to yield vegetables. Sometimes we are surprised by something ripening early than expected. Take the sugar snap peas for instance. The past couple of seasons we planted them as soon as we could get in the field to get an early abundance of peas but kept experiencing a disappointing result. The germination rate was dismal even though we soaked and inoculated the seed. Not ones to give up easily, we waited a couple of weeks longer this spring to plant the pea seed. It felt scary and wrong, but we had made the decision thinking the delay would give the soil more time to warm and improve the germination rate. This week with pods hanging on the vines earlier than usual, we think we might have found the best time for planting peas on our farm.  

The green bean plants are up and growing fast, and the chard and kale have taken off. The carrots and beets are also flourishing. We can't wait to eat baby beets! Tiny summer squash and zucchini are making their appearance. And even though the wind has been trying hard to shred their leaves, the different varieties of head lettuce look so beautiful in their rows that I hate to harvest them!
 
The first crop of alfalfa dried beautifully in the field and was round baled. The broiler chickens were taken outside into their movable pens and are growing exponentially as they enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while foraging for insects. Shelby, one of our two milk cows, is growing rotund with her calf expected soon. Bill added more boxes to the bee hives as they are quickly fill

And the black duck successfully hatched out a nest of 6 ducklings. Sometimes I feel like Old MacDonald as she leads her little parade of babies across the barnyard - here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack!

I hope you have a great week,

Stacey