BUG Farms CSA Week 7 (A) Newsletter
Hi BUG Farm Friends!
I hope you are all basking in the long early summer days, I know the plants are! We have been gratefully watching our summer squash, beans, eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes blossom out and fruit up nicely, our tomato crop is looking very good this year. They are loving their home at our Claybourne plot that boasts Millcreek irrigation water. Finally this week, there were enough carrrots and a few beets to be able to pass out for an extra early (3 weeks ahead of last year) taste of these lovely root crops! Hopefully the beets and carrots will soon be mid-summer CSA staples, but these first ones are always so precious : )
Also, I am excited to announce that this is the first week of the Fruit Share! This week we will enjoy some lovely Bing Cherries from Riley Orchard down in Payson. I will include my recipe for a tasty Cherry Cobbler that I make for they guys at lunch, and it uses some of the unique flours that we have been recieving in the Grain Share.
As for the chickens, they seem to be taking their fowlish time with beginning to lay eggs. Patience and love are both virtues that come in handy in being both a farmer and CSA member I suppose : ) I will keep you posted as to when the egg shares will start. Also, if you are interested in joining the soon-to-come Egg Share, please send me an email so I can put you on the list : )
--------------
CSA Week 7 (A) Share Includes:
- 1 bunch Radishes
- 1 bunch Kale or Chard
- 1 bunch Carrots or Beets
- 1 bag Brassica Mix
- 1 bag radish Microgreens
- 1 bunch Purplette Onions
--------------
Grain Share: Multi-Grain Cereal with cracked Rye, Rice, Oats, and Buckwheat!
This looks super tasty! Just cook it up like a hot cereal or porridge, 2 parts water/milk to 1 part cereal and cook until tender. I bet serving this with some sliced cherries and coconut milk would be extra tasty and cooling for this time of year. Yum!
--------
Heirloom Bean Share: Calypso Beans
From Zursun: Also known as Yin/Yang bean, Calypso, is a dramatic black and white heirloom with a distinct potato flavor and smooth, creamy texture. Enjoy in soup or side dish garnished with crisp bacon, sour cream and salsa - like baked potato with a twist!
Also check out this lovely page from penandfork.com giving nice, entertaining instructions about cooking dry deans in general, and specifics about Calypso beans: http://penandfork.com/recipes/how-to-cook-calypso-beans/
------------
Fruit Share: Bing Cherries!
So if you don't just eat all 2 lbs of cherries straight out of the bag first, you might like to try this simple but super yummy cobbler recipe with some of them : )
Sharon's Cherry (or any stone fruit) Cobbler- feel free to add or omit any ingredients, this is just a baseline recipe, I change it up all the time myself : )
Fruity Ingredients
2 lbs cherries, stemmed and pitted
1 c chopped dates
1 c soaked and peeled chopped almonds
1/4 c fruit juice or jelly (whatever you have around to get some juices flowing)
Batter Ingredients
1/2 c wheat flour (or not if you are Gluten Free)
1/2 c "other" flour (use any combination of rye, buckwheat, garbanzo, spelt, etc)
1/2 c rolled grain (oats, barley, rye, etc)
1/4 c flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c sugar (jaggery, coconut sugar, sucanat, maple syrup, etc to taste)
4 Tbsp "Cooling Spice Blend" (equal parts ground cardamom, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, rose petals)
1/4 c ghee or butter or oil
1-1 1/2 c kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, nut milk, etc
In a bowl, lightly combine all "fruity" ingredients until just mixed. In another bowl, mix all the dry batter ingredients together, and then in another smaller bowl mix the wet batter ingredients together, combine the dry to the wet batter ingredients and stir until just mixed (don't stir too much or it wont be as fluffy). Use a smallish baking pan (9"X9" maybe) and spread the fruity ingredients on the bottom. Then plop on top the batter. Go ahead and bake it at 350 for about 30 min or until the batter is cooked and some cherry juice is flowing. I like to serve this with whipped cream with rose petals or with coconut cream with a bit of rose water and maple syrup stirred in. Yummy!
-------------
Recipes, etc....
So I am still on a cherry kick, and here is a yummy salad dressing to make with them to have on top of your microgreens and brassica mix, why not add some sliced purplette onions too?
10 fresh cherries, pitted
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 3 large limes)
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or black if you don’t have any white pepper)
1/2 cup canola or other neutral flavored oil
Place the first 6 ingredients (cherries through pepper) in a blender and puree until smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Taste (I add a pinch more salt) and adjust seasonings.
Makes 1-1/4 cups
Lemon Carrots
Here is a lovely, simple way to enjoy these first of the seasons carrots, from the same penandfork.com website.
2 cups carrots, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Boil carrots in water salted with 1/2 teaspoon of salt until crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and pat dry. 2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, lemon juice and butter. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in carrots and cook until heated through about another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
--------------
Ok, well that's all till next week! Let me know if you have any questions : )
Best,
Sharon
