Jerusalem artichokes, sunchokes, are a member of the sunflower family and are a native plant to North America. I love growing native foods and reintroducing them to our area’s cusine. The benefits of growing natives verses some of our better known grocery store varieties is that we are stewarding the natural indigenous biodiversity in […]
I love the enthusiasm for everyone to get their volunteer hours in, so here’s the scoop on the schedule for volunteering-
Community Farm Day 2013
If you want to come to the farm to help Saturday June 7th will be our first farm day of the season. We will be planting, weeding, mulching, milking and making meals for our help, and you are invited. Our days start at 7:30 am with the morning milking and go all day long until evening milking at 7:30 pm. Come for as little or as long as you like.
We can definitely use some help at the markets to distribute CSA’s. You may schedule this type of help at the market closest to you. Please let me know by Tuesday before the market day so we can make sure we are not overbooked with help. We only need one person per market per week to help. Our markets usually go from 9-1 Cumberland is 9:30 – 2:00. We could use help setting up and making sure all of our members get their share.
For those of you who have time during the week, we are picking washing bunching and prepping Tuesdays through Fridays at the farm too, please schedule in advance for this type of help by email.
Of course we love to see those recipes so keep them coming!
We have lots of romaine lettuce to give out this week, along with a farm favorite- Lamb’s Quarter! I will be making Paneer and yogurt to go with the lamb’s quarter in one of my favorite recipes for this time of year- Lambs Quarter Palak Paneer. You may use lamb’s quarter in any recipe that calls for spinach, and this winter I made some spanokopita that was out of this world using lamb’s quarter instead of spinach.
Lamb’s quarter is closely related to Quinoa. It looks very similar to quinoa and I have a hard time telling them apart when weeding. We eat the young greens. They taste remarkably like spinach, and have the same nutrients, only way more nutrient dense than spinach. Good and good for you! So when thinking of some of your favorite spinach recipes, try substituting lamb’s quarter and let me know how it goes.
Strawberries are starting, and you should be seeing some during the next few weeks.
Broccoli will be abundant this week!
My Favorite Breakfast
1-2 handfuls of oatmeal-I haven’t had my coffee yet and getting a measuring cup is too much of a bother.
cover the oatmeal with just enough water to cover the oatmeal
microwave for 1 minute
add 2-3 spoonfuls of yogurt, 1 spoonful of raw sugar,2-3 sliced strawberries.
My Second Favorite Breakfast
2 slices of bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 bunch of kale
2 eggs lightly beaten
put ingredients in hot skillet in the order listed first frying the bacon until cooked, then add kale until wilted then add eggs and cook until they are opaque and no longer runny.
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture.
Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil.Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.
Meet the newest team members! These little guys will be turning our compost this summer.
I have so much to tell you again about what’s been going on at the farm this spring! First, we got our piglets for our compost program this season. We also built another cold frame and planted it with early tomatoes, French Breakfast Radishes, and Beets.
Broccoli and cauliflower under row covers
We have begun planting our early cold season crops and will continue to plant and work the soil as weather permits.
Jerusalem Artichokes
We harvested all of our Jerusalem artichokes, aka sunchokes this week, and will provide them for our CSA members and Market. Cooked sunchokes are best when eaten within 2 days. When raw, they store well in your fridge’s vegetable bin, wrapped loosely in a paper towel.
Roasted Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts and Sunchoke
1 head Cauliflower
1 pint of brussel sprouts
2-3 sunchokes
3 T olive oil
1 t sea salt
1/4 cup chives
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine all the vegetables, coat with olive oil and season generously with salt.
Spread the vegetables on a sheet tray in an even layer, don’t pile them up. The vegetables don’t need to be spread out but they need to be pretty much in a single even layer. If this is not the case, use 2 trays.
Put the vegetables in the preheated oven. 15 minutes into the cooking process, stir the vegetables so they have the chance to brown all over, and rotate the tray to insure even cooking. Repeat this process after another 15 minutes. Roast the vegetables for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are roasty brown and should smell almost like popcorn!. Check for doneness. This means taste some! If they aren’t very roasty brown, let them go for another few minutes until they are. Season with salt, if needed. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chives and serve immediately.
I have been making lots of Feta Cheese and our hens are producing lots of eggs this week too…
Time flies when you’re having fun! I have a great line up for this week- some new ingredients to work with:)
Purslane Salad
1 bunch of purslane
1 red onion finely diced
1 tomato finely diced
Dressing
juice of 1 lemon
4 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid. Shake until well blended.
Tear leaves away from the stem of the purslane and chop the stem into 1/4 pieces. Mix the leaves and stems of the purslane with onion and tomato. Pour dressing over the mixture and toss until the purslane is well coated.
Melons!!!!!
We’ll have three different types of cantaloupe along with some watermelons coming on, and you’ll be sure to get at least on kind this week. We have sweet granite, lambkin and banana cantaloupe and sweet favorite watermelon.
Peppers
If you don’t tolerate hot peppers, now would be the time to tell me. I have 4 varieties of sweet peppers planted, and only 2 kinds of hot peppers. We’ll be picking sweet italian peppers, green and yellow bell peppers, aji dulce peppers, and the pimientos are not ready yet. On the hot front, chiles and pablanos.
Tomatillos are still doing great! I wish my tomatoes would take notes from these prolific producers. You’ll still be getting tomatoes too.
Celery
It seams like every other year is a celery year, and this is the year for celery. We have been enjoying it fresh with peanut butter. Wow, our celery is so much better than what you buy in the store, the flavor is intense, and the texture is real!
Spaghetti Squash
Yes it is still going strong this week, and it remains to be my all time favorite veggie!
If you haven’t seen our FB page lately, then I’ll leave you with this thought, as we all have a great week!
Oh yeah baby, black raspberries it is for our shares this week along with some other lovely items for you to enjoy!
Black Raspberry Cobbler
1 cup black raspberries
1 t minute tapioca
3T sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 T baking powder
2 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla
Combine black raspberries, tapioca, and sugar in a 8×8 baking dish and set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, baking powder and flour. Pour batter over the berries and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm with milk over it.
Some other things you can expect to see this week are:
Summer Squash- mixture of Yellow Squash, Zuchini and Patty Pan Squash
Salad greens
Carrots
Peas- probably the last week for them.
Cut flowers of zinnias, calendula, echinacea, snaps and larkspur
Barley – if we can get a good dry day this week, we’ll be harvesting the barley for our CSA’s first!
Also, I picked 2 cucumbers last week. I picked five cucs today. I may be up to my elbows in cucs very soon, and if it happens by Tuesday, you’ll get some cucs to cool you off this week!
Wow have we ever been getting things done around here! Our gardens are mulched, and we have all of our summer veggies in the ground and running. Some of our beds are getting prepped for the second planting and we are picking like nobody’s business. Busy busy bees are we!
Rob and I have just taken our walk through the gardens, a weekly routine to see what we have to go in our shares. I have been watching the elders come out for a couple of weeks now, and they look like they are ready to go this week.
Remove the tiny flowers from the stem. Mix all ingredients, except the elder flowers and the coconut oil. When mixed well, add the flowers to the batter and stir well. Melt the oil in a skillet and pour 1/4 c full of batter. Cook the pancakes until the edges are dry and bubbles begin to “pop” at the surface. Turn the pancake over and cook the other side until golden brown. Serve with syrup or fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Red Candy Apple Onions
French Onion Soup
6 large red or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
Olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups of beef stock or chicken stock, or a combination of the two (traditionally the soup is made with beef stock)
1/2 cup of dry vermouth or dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon of dry thyme
Salt and pepper
8 slices of toasted French bread
1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
1 In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30-40 minutes (or longer). Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization.
2 Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, vermouth or wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf.
3 To serve you can either use individual oven-proof soup bowls or one large casserole dish. Ladle the soup into the bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.
Yield: Serves 4-6.
Leeks
Leek and Potato Soup
3 leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean. Use only the white and pale green parts, chop.
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)*
2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
Marjoram – dash
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce
Salt & Pepper1 Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown the leeks.
2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add marjoram, parsley, and thyme. Add a few dashes of chili sauce to taste. Add some freshly ground pepper, 1-2 teaspoons salt or more to taste. Serves 4-6.
Cilantro
We’ll be supplying the cilantro for you to use this week. Did you know that cilantro actually removes toxic heavy metals from your body like mercury?
Peas
For your sir fry creativity and color!
Kale
Kale chips
Ingredients
1 bunch kale, washed and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Directions
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.
Summer Squash
3-4 Zucchini Squash and Summer Squash, sliced
3 sprigs of fresh Thyme, minced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 ounces of Chevre or Feta, crumbled
In a medium bowl, toss the sliced squash, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper together, making sure all of the squash slices are coated.
Heat a medium saute pan and saute the squash on medium high, stirring occasionally until tender, about 10 minutes. You want them to still have a little crunch.
Remove from the heat, and plate. Top with crumbled cheese.
Chevre
Thyme
Thyme for the above recipes 🙂
We have lots of thyme to share, but for now it’s time for me to make some cheese!
This week is so exciting for me! We have a wonderful list of products and recipes on tap for this week. You will start to see more of the products coming to you, and we have only just begun! I have been trying to respect those with special dietary needs, so if you see something that you may have wrote on your dislike list and you want to try it, just message me so I can get it to you.
Here’s what we are getting:
1. Wild Spinach
2. Salad blend of- 3 varieties of lettuce, beet tops, kale, pea tendrils and Mustard Greens
3. Garlic
4. Turnips
5. Cilantro
6. Paneer
7. Yogurt
8. Basil
9. Fresh cut Iris to make you smile until next week 🙂
Now for the fun part, what am I to do with this stuff?
The wild spinach should be used first because it has the shortest storing time. You can still eat it after it wilts, but who wants that? Wild spinach can be used in any recipe that calls for spinach. You can use it in your favorite Quiche recipe, on pizza, with pasta, as a wild spinach dip, and for my favorites, Palak Paneer and Lamb’s Quarter Pesto.
Lambs Quarter Pesto:
remove leaves from stem and wash (there is a slight “dusty” feel to the leaves which is normal and will wash off for the most part)
Blend in blender or food processor
1 1/2 cups of wild spinach leaves
3-4 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
blend using a wooden spoon carefully to push the mixture into the blades without hitting the spoon
add olive oil as needed to get a paste like mixture while blending
Uses for the pesto:
On Pizza instead of tomato sauce
stuff mushrooms with it and bake
Couscous salad: add pesto to cooked couscous, lemon juice to taste and diced onions, salt and pepper, stir till all is coated and green
Palak Paneer
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 cup yogurt
5-6 cups fresh wild spinach, torn
4 sprigs fresh cilantro leaves
8 ounces paneer
coarse sea salt to taste
In a large saucepan heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, red chilies (optional ingredient) and onion until brown. Mix in the cumin, coriander, turmeric and yogurt (add more or less to achieve desired creaminess). Add the wild spinach, handfuls at a time until it is cooked down, about 15 minutes total. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Pour wild spinach mixture into a blender or food processor and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, and cilantro (add more or less according to taste). Blend for 15 to 30 seconds, or until the spinach is finely chopped. Pour back into the saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
In a medium frying pan heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, and fry paneer until browned; drain and add to spinach. Cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Season with salt to taste.
Turnips
Turnips can be used as a substitute for potato in some recipes or along with potatoes. I have also had sweet and sour turnips that were prepared with vinegar and sugar, julienned (cut in thin strips) with carrots. The whole plant is edible bulb and greens, although the greens are better at a young age.
Garlic Turnip and Potato Mash
2 pounds of potatoes peeled and cubed
1/2 pound of turnips sliced
8 cloves of garlic sliced
1/4 cup of milk- any kind of milk will work
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
2 tablespoons of butter (optional)
Turnip Green Casserole
1 pound of chopped turnip greens
1 tsp. sugar
Salt, pepper to taste
1/2 of (10 1/2 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. wine vinegar
1 tsp. horseradish
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Bread crumbs
Grated cheddar cheese
Blend all ingredients together except crumbs and cheese. Spoon into casserole. Cover top with bread crumbs and cheese and bake one hour at 350 degrees. Serves 6 to 8.
Fennel With Turnip Greens
Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 bulb of fennel diced
3 turnips (with greens)
1/2 cup chickpeas
1 teaspoon each: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and stone-ground mustard
Instructions
Heat olive oil over medium heat. Dice fennel and add to the pan. Remove the greens (set aside) from turnips and dice turnips, stir into fennel. Continue to cook for 4-5 more minutes or until fennel and turnips soften.
Stir in chickpeas and turnip greens. Continue to cook until greens begin to wilt (I don’t like them 100% cooked so I always let them cook down 1/2 way.)
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and mustard. Pour into pan and stir to coat. Remove from oven and serve while still warm.
So exciting to have our first CSA deliveries for the season! We are a little earlier than some of our Farmer’s Markets, so we will be meeting at Rose’s Parking lot in Cumberland, on Thursday from 11:00- 1:00, and City Place parking lot in Frostburg, on Friday from 11:00-1:00. Our Bedford Market is starting on Wednesday from 9:00-1:00, and Wholesome Living Marketplace will be open until 5:00pm for those that need a later pick up time. Our Tuesday pickup at the farm will be from 10:00 am and all day long, we have a refrigerator in the greenhouse to keep things cool and fresh.
Our CSA distributions will be light this week, as we are just getting started for the season. This is only temporary, so don’t be discouraged, it’s normal. As the season progresses, we will be packing much more variety and larger portions to fill your tummies. I wouldn’t want to waste the early season picks anyway, so here’s the line up for the week-
1. Wild and wonderful salad- blend of baby lettuces, mustard greens, arugula, pea tendrils, lamb’s quarters and sorrels.
2. Radishes
3. Eggs
4. Feta
5. Goat’s Milk Soap
6. Cozy cup of tea herbs- blend of mints, chamomile, and balms
7. First pick of the draw- We have many veggies ready for first pick (light)- you will get at least one:)
8. Lilacs to make you smile till next week.
Really exciting to get moving on the CSA’s thank you everyone for supporting local food in our community!
Cattails are truly a gift to have on our farm. Year round nutrition can be found with these native plants in all forms from roots to shoots, pollen and pods too. Comfort and function accompany cattail lore as the fluffy seeds insulated clothing and blankets, while the reeds and leaves were used for making baskets and containers.
Where cattails are found it is said that no man will go hungry. Perhaps if we started with this time of year, and throughout winter, the roots can be dug and eaten in a variety of ways. I recommend that young roots are used. The larger they get, the more fibrous and woody they become. I have stir fried cattail roots with dandelion roots and wild garlic for a satisfying and nutritious root skillet.
In the spring, the young green shoots are tender and tasty in all sorts of ways. I eat them raw in salads, and cooked in everything I can add a little spring green to. It goes well in rice, pasta, soups and stews.
As summer emerges, the young pods that will later become the notorious “cat tail” shape that we all know can be picked while still green. They can be roasted or boiled and husked like an ear of corn and eaten much like an ear of corn.
Later on the brown cat tail blooms start to pollinate. The yellow pollen can be gathered by simply shaking the yellow dust into a bag. Golden cattail pancakes can be made with any amount of cattail pollen, add flour to the pollen to make 2 cups. Add 5 teaspoons of baking powder, 2 cups of milk and 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix well then drop 1/4 cup of batter at a time onto a hot skillet with butter or oil. Turn the pancakes when they start popping bubbles on top. Serve with your own syrup or apple butter.
After the pollination the fertile seeds will emerge from the spires with white tufts. These fluffy seeds can be used for stuffing pillows, blankets, mittens and slippers. This is also just about the right time to harvest the reeds and stems for making baskets with.
goodness grows 
