Hi BUG Farm Friends!

Here is a photo from a BUG Farmy field today, with the first planting of your spring greens growing quickly!

We have been gratefully, joyfully, and busily prepping, planting, watering, and weeding our many backyard farm plots over the past few weeks. It seems like our our fields are downright bursting, clamoring, and screaming to grow, one of the beautiful phenomenon of this lush green, fresh season known as Spring. I have to admit it makes me a bit giddy to witness the magical nature of rampant photosynthesis taking place in our little backyard farm oasises. I am also very excited to be passing on the sun energy of these tasty greens to your coolers, dinner plates, and bellies so very soon-How soon you may ask? Well read on my friends for this and other announcements.....

FIRST 2013 CSA DELIVERY: Thursday May 23rd!!!!

Wahoo, how exciting it is for us and for you, our beloved farm supporters! And if you are on the fence about joining, or know some other folks out there with mouths and bellies ready for some eco-local, tasty fresh urban farm goods, please do know we still have plenty of room to add more CSA members for the season, and it is not too late to sign up (conveniently on our website)! Like I mentioned before, we can set up payment plans for those who are unable to pay for their entire 6 months worth of veggies at one time (just send us an email about it : )  Shares also remain available for our wonderfully innovative and tasty-convenient prepared veggie soup and raw juice shares. Doesn't a quart of juice and/or soup made fresh from BUG Farms ingredients sound like a good idea? We thought so too.

COME VISIT US AT THE WASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS PLANT SALE THIS SATURDAY MAY 11th!

That's right, we will have a booth with some tasty pre-season greens for sale, and info on our CSA Program! If you are a current CSA member, come swing by for a free bag of greens as a token of our gratitude for your support! Also, if you come and sign up for a CSA right there on the spot, you will also recieve a bag of free greens! The plant sale is a way fun community event, and as a past employee of Wasatch Community Gardens, I am so happy to be a support in any way to their wonderful mission.

REFER A FRIEND TO JOIN AND GET FREE FOOD PROGRAM!

After wondering how we can bolster our CSA membership this year, we thought the best way was to reward our wonderful members who proactively helped us in recruiting new members! So, if you can recruit a friend or neighbor to join the CSA program, we will give you 4 weeks of a free Fruit or Dry Beans or 2 weeks of a free Soup or Juice Share! Just have them or you send me an email saying who reffered who and I will add it to your membership. This program will end on Wednesday, May 22nd. If you need any information or flyer materials please email me for electronic versions or come and stop by at the Plant Sale on Saturday and pick up a stack to take with you and spread around. The best form of advertising is through word of mouth, so if you love what we do, and the food you recieve, please help us out and spread the word! Our goal is to have at least 25 more CSA members before the beginning of our CSA deliveries in order to stay a solvent comunity-based farming business, so your help is invaluable to us.

Sharon is Teaching a Growing Dry Beans Workshop with Wasatch Community Gardens May 18th!

As you know, I loove dry beans, that's why we offer them as a CSA add on share offering, and the folks at Wasatch Community Gardens asked me to lead a workshop on how to grow, and eat these wonderful legumes. If any of you are interested in attending, please register through the WCG website here. Here is the description and details for the class:

Hi There BUG Farmy Friends!

I hope the Springtime is treating you well and you are all getting excited for the coming season of fresh food bounty! Here at BUG Farms we have been obsessively monitoring the National Weather Service's Forecasts trying to coordinate the best times to be out farming. It seems like I always forget the tendency towards anxiety I experience when I have no control over the weather and subsuquent soil moisture in the fields, and there are lots of beds to be worked and crops to be planted each week that all depend on good soil conditions. I think my mind consciously puts that anxiety behind me as soon as the spring is over in order for me to continue to love this work, ha!

I am also going through the maze of getting everything approved for me do be legit for the Fresh Soup and Juice CSA Shares. I knew it would be a process, but boy oh boy, it really is! But at least it will ensure that you will all be recieving the safest, as well as tastiest and freshest prepared foods as possible! We will be renting commercial kitchen space from the lovely ladies of Urban Pioneer Foods, which is another really awesome new food venture in Salt Lake. I am excited to be working with them this year.

We also still have plenty of openings for our CSA, we are only at about half our capacity, and in order to pay the BUG Farmers and fully utilize all of our new spaces, we need more CSA members! So, now is the time to sign up for your CSA Share this year! Click here to find the Sign Up Page! Also, please pass our CSA information on to anyone you may think would be interested in the tastiest, eco-local food in Salt Lake City. I have some lovely flyers all ready, and if you are interested, send me an email and I will send them over to you.  Well, I also have some other announcements, so read on below!

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BUG Farms at the Downtown Pop-Up Market TOMORROW 10AM-3PM!

That's right, you can all come say hi and buy some of our super early overwintered produce and eggs, and sign up for a CSA share tomorrow! We will have some very tasty overwintered carrots, baby chard, curly kale, lettuce mix, and our lovely rainbow-hued chicken eggs for sale. It is going to be located indoors at the Salt Lake Hardware Building at 155 N 400 W. I hope to see you there!

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Updates on Pickup Locations!

I also wanted to send you an updated list of our current CSA Pickup Locations. We found a host in the Avenues, and also we are partnering with The Leonardo and will be offering a pickup location at the museum! Our other new pickup location will be in Sandy at one of our backyard plots out there, so folks in the south valley can have a more convenient pickup location. All pickups will be on Thursdays, EXCEPT the Sandy Pickup will be on Fridays. Here is the current list:

• WASATCH COHOUSING- 1411 S Utah St (1604 W)
• 455 W 1700 S-Mountain Valley Seed
• AVENUES-approx 5th Ave and F St.
• SUGARHOUSE- aprox. 2700 S 1800 E
• EAST DOWNTOWN- approx 1300 E 700 S
• UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARK- Bright Horizons Day Care Center
• SUGARHOUSE- We Are Yoga Studio-2065 E 2100 S
• SUGARHOUSE- approx 1700 S 1700 E
• DOWNTOWN- The Leonardo-209 E 500 S
• SANDY- approx 1700 E 9600 S (Friday deliveries)

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Payment Plans Available for CSA Shares!

I just wanted to let many of you know who haven't already asked, that yes, we can set up a payment plan that spans over the season for you to pay for your CSA Shares. If you are able to pay in full by May 1, 2013, that is greatly appreciated so that we can cover our up front expenses, but we don't want that to be the prohibiting factor in people signing up for our CSA. So, if you want to split up your payments over the season, just send us an email with your payment plan and we can make that happen. We ask for at least a downpayment of $100 when you sign up, and then please make sure your entire balance is paid off before the end of the growing season at the end of October.

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Please Make Checks out to Backyard Urban Garden Farms

Our bank doesn't like to accept checks made out to "BUG Farms" or "BUG" since it isn't my "official" business name, so please to make sure I can cash your checks, please write them out for "Backyard Urban Garden Farms". Also, please send your checks to:

Sharon Leopardi

1411 Utah St #21

Salt Lake City, UT 84104

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Ok, well that's it for now friends, don't forget to "Like" our Facebook Page and visit it for fun photos and updates about BUG Farms!

Happy Spring,

Farmer Sharon

Springy Greetings BUG Farm Friends!

After a 4 month winter journey in India, I (Sharon) am excited to be back at home in Salt Lake and ready to get the 2013 CSA season going! I hope all of you made it through the winter season unscathed and excited for the lengthening days, thawing soil, and soon to be culinary realities of tasty BUG Farms grown food! We have already jumped into our first plantings for the season, putting in onion sets at one of our newly acquired plots in Sandy. This year we will have about 1.35 acres of land spread on 10 backyards in the Salt Lake Valley, and we hope to provide food for 100 full shares each week, but that will work only if you sign up again for this season, and tell your friends about the bounties of the BUG Farms CSA program : )

In this first BUG Farms Newsletter of the 2013 season, I have some springishly exciting info on our expanded CSA offerings, CSA Pickup Locations, and upcoming events- so read on farm friends!

BUG Farmers Sharon, Elliot, and Amy excited to plant our first beds for the 2013 Season!

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New CSA Offerings for 2013!

As I had mentioned last season, we are excited to be offering for the first time this season a prepared Veggie Soup Share and a Raw Juice Share in addition to our normal Veggie and add-on shares. These shares can be ordered independently or in conjunction with the veggie shares. If you want home delivery for either of these shares and haven't ordered a veggie share, there will be an extra delivery fee of $100/full, $50/half share, but no extra fee for pickup shares. To sign up for these new shares and all our other shares, click here for the website! Here is some info on these new share options:

For a customer-written overview of our CSA Program, click on this link:  http://www.examiner.com/food-in-salt-lake-city/b-u-g-farms-is-the-new-kid-on-the-block-community-supported-agriculture-review

To Learn Details About Our CSA Program, Read On........

What is a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership between us, BUG Farmers, and you, the locavore consumer! CSA's are a business model that allows you as a consumer and us as farmers share the risks and benefits involved in growing your food in an urban, grassroots, and community-based way. You purchase a subscription to the farm (a "share") and become a member.Our CSA program gives an opportunity for families and individuals to directly access urban farm fresh produce throughout the growing season while directly supporting small scale, sustainable, grassroots community agriculture. Your upfront payment is indispensible in covering start-up farm expenses and also providing living wages for the folks who are growing your food. Without your support, we would not be able to continue growing good food for our Salt Lake Community. We hope you will consider becoming a member of the BUG Farms CSA Program.

What Are My Share Options?

There are 2 basic option types: The Full Share, and the Half Share. Both provide the same amount of produce in each delivery, but the Full Share comes every week, and the Half Share comes every other week during the growing season. If you buy a Half Share, based on your delivery or pickup location, you will be assigned to either Week A or Week B distribution. Pricing for shares are outlined below:

How Long Is The Season?

We will plan to have our 2013 harvest season, weather permitting,  from mid-May to the end of October, give or take a week or two depending good graces of Mother Earth : ) The total season should last between 22-25 weeks.

How Will I Get My Veggie Share?

There are 2 ways of getting your veggies each week: HOME/OFFICE DELIVERY or CSA PICKUP LOCATIONS.

HOME/OFFICE DELIVERY: One of the many unique things about our CSA program is our delivery service. For a small additional fee, if you live within Salt Lake City, there is no need to remember to pick up your CSA share, we deliver it directly to your house or office! The one time delivery fee is $50 for a Half Share and $100 for a Full Share. This helps us cover our costs in fuel and extra labor.

If you are getting a Home/Office Delivery, we need to make sure you have a way of keeping your veggies cool and fresh until they get inside your fridge. Therefore, please make sure you have a cooler with a cold freezer pack outside your front door of hour house/apartment, or have some way of storing your produce in your office, either in an office fridge or cooler, before taking it home with you. 

CSA PICKUP LOCATIONS: If you don't mind coming to a pickup location for your veggies and are on a tighter budget, the Pickup Share may be the way to go for you. Since it is still early before the season starts, we don't have all of our pickup spots chosen, and they are still subject to change. Here is a list of our current dropoff Locations:

• Wasatch Cohousing: 1411 S. Utah St (1605 West)
• 455 W 1700 S-Mountain Valley Seed
• AVENUES-TBA
• SUGARHOUSE- aprox. 2700 S 1800 E
• EAST DOWNTOWN- approx 1300 E 700 S
• UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARK- Bright Horizons Day Care Center
• EAST SUGARHOUSE: SHIVA CENTRE- 2165 E 2100 S
• 1700 E 1700S

How Much Food Will I Get In My Delivery?

Understand that even with our best planning and farming efforts, mother earth is the real decider on what grows and what doesn't! Each delivery should contain between 5-9 different veggie/greens/herb items. The exact quantity and variety will change each week depending on the harvest for that time of the season. For example, if the slugs and snails decide to eat up a certain bed of spinach, then you may not have spinach for that week.   Generally, one delivery should last 2-4 people cooking at home a weeks worth of veggies. If you are single, think about teaming up with a friend and splitting a Full Share, or try a Half Share where you will have 2 weeks to eat your produce before getting another delivery.

June deliveries could look like this:
4 oz microgreens
6 oz lettuce mix
6 oz baby spinach
1 bunch Rainbow chard
1 bunch Red Russian kale
1 bunch French Breakfast radish
1 bunch Parisienne carrots
1 bunch cilantro
2 medium summer squash
 
August deliveries could look like this:
8 oz mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes
1 bunch rainbow carrots
1 bunch rainbow beets
1 large eggplant
1/3 lb green beans
1-3 sweet pepper
2-4 hot peppers
1 bunch/bag basil
1 bunch chard
4 oz sunflower sprouts
 
October deliveries could look like this:
2 lb potatoes
2 acorn squash or 1 larger winter squash
2-3 storage onions
6 oz. spinach
1 bunch chard
4 oz microgreens
1 bunch pea shoots
6 oz lettuce mix

Exact quantities and varieties can vary a bit, and some weeks you may recieve more different veggies than others.

Don't Forget the Add-On Shares!

Fruit Share-From Riley Orchards down in Payson. Chris Riley and his brother Jordan Riley are young farmers who are taking over the reigns of their family's orchard down in Payson. They are trying to keep their land in orchard instead of selling out for development, which is a sadly increasing trend as urban sprawl spreads to the best and only fruit growing regions along the Wasatch Front. I felt like it would be a good fit to partner with them to offer their lovely fruit with our CSA Deliveries each week. Expect about 20 weeks of fruit beginning the First week of July until the end of October with types changing each week. Each delivery will include either a 2 lb bag of cherries or 5 lb mixed bag of peaches and/or apples depending on what is available for harvest that week. Full Shares: $120 Half Shares $65

Heirloom Dry Bean Share- I LOVE Dry Beans! I have been eating them all winter and savoring in the many delicious heirloom varieties. One small company in South Central Idaho called Zursun Beans works with local farmers to provide an extensive variety of beans and lentils. I spent a long time picking out the most unique and tasty varieties to offer in the CSA Share. Full Shares $120 Half Shares $65

What If I Am Out Of Town?

We are hoping to provide veggies for up to 130 members this year, which makes member management a very BIG JOB. So to streamline the member management, and reduce errors, if you know you are going to be out of town, there will be a couple of options: Coordinate a friend who will pick up your share at your delivery location and eat it or keep it for you for that week. We won't be able to deliver it to a different address though. Another option for Half Share members is to switch your delivery to your "off week". The bottome line is to please LET US KNOW AT LEAST A WEEK AHEAD OF YOUR ABSENCE and we can figure out something for you : ) Remember that even if you miss 2-3 weeks of deliveries, you are still receiving a GREAT DEAL for all of the fresh, local, sustainably grown veggies throughout the season!

How Do I Pay For My CSA Membership?

Currently, we can only accept a check in the mail, or cash in person for CSA payment. Due to the difficulty of setting up online credit card payment, and the extra fees associated, we will not be offering that option right now. Hopefully that wont be a huge problem for you. We understand that paying for the whole season at once may be challenging for some of you. If that is keeping you from joining, send us an email and we will try to work with you in splitting up your payments. But, if you have the ability to pay all at once, that would be really helpful on this end and lots of good and tankful vibes will be going your way : ) We really want to offer our tasty veggies to as many folks as possible in our community, and offer as low of a price as we can, while still being able to function sustainably as an urban farming business. We aren't in this for the money, but we do need money to be able go grow food and pay the rent for ourselves : )

Here we are, the last delivery week of our loong season! I am very grateful to mama earth this year, we had a nice early spring (we started deliveries 4 weeks sooner than in 2011) even if our summer crops were cut a bit shorter from the early frost. Overall, we delivered 3 more veggie shares in 2012 than 2011. This year we had a total of 120 CSA Members, and grew all of that food on 5 backyards totaling less than an acre. I hope you have all enjoyed the bounty for the past 6 months : ) We have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to grow honest food, live in community, and learn more about sustainable urban farming that your support has provided us.

Thanks to all who came out to the BUG Farm Tour and Harvest Feast last Saturday! We had over 60 folks come out to take a peek at our backyard farms, chickens, and the beautiful Wasatch Cohousing Community that I call my home. I haven't seen a tastier potluck spread than the one we had either. The dishes ranged from local multicolor carrot spagetti to purple cabbage slaw to butternut black bean soup to honey spice cake with chocolate sauce to apple crisp galore! Everyone ate well and had fun getting to know each other. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by such an awesome group of folks. It was such a fun time that I am hoping to make this an bi-annual event, so next year look for the Opening Season BUG Farm Tour and Feast in May. 

I am now staring my India trip in the face, and after months of planning, I just got hit by the excitement bug (pun intended?) this week! I am now in the Oh-Gee-What-Did-I-Forget phase, trying to get as much of the BUG Farms planning for 2013 squared away as possible before I leave Salt Lake in 10 days. For those of you interested in keeping tabs on my travels, I will be updating my personal facebook page with photos etc while I am gone. I will be checking my email very sparsely from November 10th thru March 14th. Hanley and possibly Elliot will be occasionally checking emails over the winter if you need something from us. Otherwise expect to hear more from us after I return in Mid-March. Well, gosh, I guess this is the last newsletter for 2012...what am I gonna do every Wednesday evening without having to write to all of you?! Well, only one other announcement below...read on!

Early Bird pricing for our 2013 Veggie CSA from Now until November 10th! Here is the pricing breakdown below:

To get this great discount, feel free to sign up for your Veggie Shares through the website. I will add the discount AFTER you sign up, and will send you an updated invoice once that is done. Please be sure to send us your downpayment of $100 before November 10th, 2012. We will be adding more options as the season gets closer (Raw Juice Share, Wheatgrass Juice Share, Soup du Jour Share, etc), which you will be able to include as they are available. We are also still working out next year pickup locations, so for now if the one you need isn't on there, go ahead and sign up for another one, and send me an email and we will change it to the correct pickup spot as it is added.

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Week 24 Veggie Share Includes:
1 bag mixed cut greens

1 bag whole lettuce heads (new for us, they are sure tasty and cute!)

1 bunch cilantro

1 bunch chard or kale

1 bunch Beets Or Onions

1 bag potatoes
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Grain Share: Half Shares: Sorghum Flour  Full Shares
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Heirloom Bean Share: Spanish Pardina Lentil:

Good for the earth and good for you, these heirloom Spanish Pardina lentils are sustainably grown on small farms in Idaho’s Snake River Canyon. The region’s ideal growing conditions produce lentils with a distinctive nutty taste and creamy texture – just right for soups, stews and casseroles.

• Originally from Spain’s Pyrenees region, these hearty lentils are often used in soups and stews.
• They hold their shape beautifully and thicken considerably during cooking.
• Mild, versatile and exceptionally nutritious, they are perfect for soups, stews, side dishes and salads.
• These botanical heirlooms are a part of living history, supporting centuries-old plant varieties and preserving the genetic diversity of our food supply.

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Fruit Share: Apples, Fuji and Red Delicious!

Apple Slaw with Cilantro Lime Vinegarette

2 apples sliced into thin batonettes

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 large garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 jalapeno, minced

1 tsp white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime

2 tsp of finely minced cilantro

2 TB olive oil

salt to taste

Slice the apples and set aside. Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk thoroughly to combine. Toss the apples in the vinaigrette, allow to marinate for 15-30 minutes. Enjoy!
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Recipes, Storage Tips, Etc...

Baby Lettuce Heads: They store best if you keep the whole head intact. You can even keep them root end down in a bowl of water with a plastic bag over the top of the bowl and lettuce for the best longevity. Or just keep them in a sealed plastic bag in the produce drawer, but they will wilt quickly uncovered in the fridge. I like to thinly slice the whole head together for ribbons of lettuce. I also cut the mixed cut greens this way to put on top of a soup or stew-yummy and nutrient packed!

Portugese Potato and Cilantro Soup

4 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 cups vegetables or 6 cups chicken stock
salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 In a large saucepan, saute the onions and garlic in 3 Tablespoons of oil for 5 minutes, until limp, then add the last Tablespoon of oil and the potatoes and stir-fry for a minute.
2 Add the stock, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, until the potatoes are mushy.
3 Remove from heat and puree.

4Return the soup to the pot, season with salt and cayenne, and stir in the chopped cilantro.
5You can serve the soup cold--or reheat by slowly bringing it to a simmer.
6Ladle into soup plates and top with a sprinkling of cilantro or chives.

Beet Soup with Greens, Apple Salad and Cilantro-Walnut Pesto

1. To make the soup, place the beets and broth in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain, reserving broth. When cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the beets. Set aside 2 beets. Place half of the remaining beets in a food processor. Measure the broth and add enough water, if necessary, to make 9 cups. Add half of the broth to the beets in the food processor and puree until smooth. Repeat with remaining beets and broth. Combine the batches and season with salt and pepper. Reheat before serving and stir in the lemon juice.

2. To make the beet greens, heat 1-1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beet greens and sauté for 10 minutes. Add water, cover, and cook until tender about 10 minutes more. Coarsely grate the reserved beets and stir into the greens with 1-1/2 teaspoons oil,1/2 teaspoon salt, a dash of pepper, and the lemon juice. Set aside.

3. To make the apple salad, heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Stir in the apple, walnut oil, lemon juice, parsley salt, and pepper. Set aside.

4. To make the pesto, place the cilantro, walnuts, and olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the salt and lemon juice.

5. Place the beet-green mixture, the apple mixture, the pesto, and the sour cream in separate bowls. Ladle the soup into bowls. Serve, passing the condiments separately.

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Well, Thanks for a wonderful season, looking forward to start growing again next year!

Love,

Sharon

 Hi BUG Farms CSA Members and Friends,

When we went to harvest greens this morning, we had to wait for the sun to thaw them out after a big frost last night! Even though it was cold on the hands to harvest, it was a treat for the eyes with all the greens covered in sparkling crystals- a lovely fall sight on the farm : ) We are getting down to the wire with our season- just one week left after this one, and for those of you recieving Week A Half Shares, this will be your last veggie delivery for 2012. We have been quite pleased with the season this year, with a nice warm spring and a bounty for our warm season crops. We just planted our garlic seed for next year on Monday, and our minds and fields are ready for a rest and looking forward for what next season will bring : )

In other farm news, we are excited to announce that a fellow SPIN urban farmer Elliot Musgrove will be joining with BUG Farms for next season! He has been running his own backyard based urban farm called Elliot's Fresh down in Sandy for the last 2 seasons. We are excited to be including his lovely Sandy based farmplots with our current backyard properties in Salt Lake so we can hopefully do some more longer season, hands off crops like garlic, winter squash, long season onions, and more potatoes for the CSA next year. 

BUG Farms Tour and End of Season Potluck! Saturday, October 20th 5pm Tour, 6:30 pm Food!

Before the season is over, we wanted to give all of you BUG Farms Friends and Supporters a chance to come on out for a fun evening at our Farm(s). We will start with a tour of 3 of the backyard farms, the chickens, and of Wasatch Cohousing where I live. We will then meet back in the Common House for a potluck. Bring a dish-maybe even using some local ingredients, or bring a donation ($5-10) if you don't have time to make a dish to share. You can take this opportunity to sign up for the 2013 CSA in person, and I will have some of my jams, dried fruits, and maybe some other farmy suprises available for donations as well : ) Please RSVP at bugfarms@gmail.com and please tell us wether you plan on bringing an dish or donation. Everyone is welcome, not just CSA members, so feel free to tell your friends!

Early Bird pricing for our 2013 Veggie CSA from Now until November 10th! Here is the pricing breakdown below:

To get this great discount, feel free to sign up for your Veggie Shares through the website. I will add the discount AFTER you sign up, and will send you an updated invoice once that is done. Please be sure to send us yourdownpayment of $100 before November 10th, 2012. We will be adding more options as the season gets closer (Raw Juice Share, Wheatgrass Juice Share, Soup du Jour Share, etc), which you will be able to include as they are available. We are also still working out next year pickup locations, so for now if the one you need isn't on there, go ahead and sign up for another one, and send me an email and we will change it to the correct pickup spot as it is added.

Next (and Last) Cheese Delivery from Mesa Farm Market on Oct. 25th!

That's right, be sure to place your final goat cheese orders with us by Sunday, October 21 for the Thursday October 25th delivery! Cheese Pricing is below:

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Week 23 Veggie Share Includes:

1 bag potatoes or onions

1 bunch kale or chard

1 bunch sorrel or radishes

1 bunch broccoli rabe/rapini

1 bag cut greens mix

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Grain Share: Sorghum Flour

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Heirloom Bean Share: Large Lima

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Fruit Share: McIntosh and Granny Smith Apples!

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Recipes and Storage/Cooking Tips....

Broccoli Rabe: We had this green one week in the spring, and here it is again in the Fall : ) This veggie looks kinda like a boquet of flowers, you can use both the stocks that are the thickness of a pencil or smaller, leaves, and flower stalks. Generally you chop the whole plant up and sautee everything together. It is often used in Italian cooking and pairs very nicely with beans. To store it, you can fold the taller flower stalks in half and store in an airtight plastic bag. Or, better yet is to put them in a glass of water like a bunch of flowers and store it in the fridge like that.

Sorrel: Some of you will be getting this tangy, lemony green this week. Chop it up and add it to your salad for a lemony zing, or a simple sorrel and potato soup can be very nice as well. Store it similarly to Broccoli Raab, either in an airtight bag or like a boquet in a glass of water in the fridge.

Broccoli Rabe and White Bean Soup

• 8 ounces broccoli rabe (rapini)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 2 cups coarsely chopped onion 
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 cups water
• 1 (3-inch) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind
• 1 (16-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
• 5 (1-ounce) slices whole wheat bread, toasted 
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Whew! Those were some seriously cold temperatures last weekend! It also happened quite a bit earlier than hoped, we didnt freeze until the end of October last season. I am sad to announce we lost our zucchini, basil, green bean, tomato, pepper, eggplant, and tomatillo crops to the freezing nights down here in Glendale. After doing a careful survey of our remaining crops, we have decided to end the CSA on Thursday October 25th (Week B). This will have given the CSA a full 24 weeks, and also there was the extra early bonus share at the beginning of the season, so I feel good about ending at that date- 3 weeks more food than last season : )

In other news, I thought I would give you all a heads up that I (Sharon) am excited and grateful to be able to take a winter trip to India from mid November through mid March! I am planning on volunteering and learning at Vandana Shiva's Navdanya Biodiversity Conservation Farm near Dehra Dun for at least a month. Then I want to head south to study Ayurveda- especially focusing on Ayurvedic cooking and herbs. There are so many amazing places and organizations in India, I am still researching places to visit and study. I hope to return with more knowledge, inspiration, and perspective to incorporate into my life here and with BUG Farms next season : ) So because of that, I will have limited reachability during that time. This is one of the reasons I am asking for early sign up before November 10th-to make things easier to step back into once I return in March just in time for spring planting. Farmer Hanley will be taking care of the farm, chickens, checking email, etc. while I am gone over the winter. Enough about that! Below are announcements and your Share details for the week!

BUG Farms Tour and End of Season Potluck! Saturday, October 20th 5pm Tour, 6:30 pm Food!

Before the season is over, we wanted to give all of you BUG Farms Friends and Supporters a chance to come on out for a fun evening at our Farm(s). We will start with a tour of 3 of the backyard farms, the chickens, and of Wasatch Cohousing where I live. We will then meet back in the Common House for a potluck. Bring a dish-maybe even using some local ingredients, or bring a donation ($5-10) if you don't have time to make a dish to share. You can take this opportunity to sign up for the 2013 CSA in person, and I will have some of my jams, dried fruits, and maybe some other farmy suprises available for donations as well : ) Please RSVP at bugfarms@gmail.com and please tell us wether you plan on bringing an dish or donation. Everyone is welcome, not just CSA members, so feel free to tell your friends!

Early Bird pricing for our 2013 Veggie CSA from Now until November 10th! Here is the pricing breakdown below:

To get this great discount, feel free to sign up for your Veggie Shares through the website. I will add the discount AFTER you sign up, and will send you an updated invoice once that is done. Please be sure to send us your downpayment of $100 before November 10th, 2012. We will be adding more options as the season gets closer (Raw Juice Share, Wheatgrass Juice Share, Soup du Jour Share, etc), which you will be able to include as they are available. We are also still working out next year pickup locations, so for now if the one you need isn't on there, go ahead and sign up for another one, and send me an email and we will change it to the correct pickup spot as it is added.

Next (and Last) Cheese Delivery from Mesa Farm Market on Oct. 25th!

That's right, be sure to place your final goat cheese orders with us by Sunday, October 21 for the Thursday October 25th delivery! Cheese Pricing is below:

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Week 22 (B) Veggie Share Includes:

 1 bunch Beets with tasty greens

1 bag microgreens

1 bag mixed cut greens

1 bunch Kale or Chard

1 bag Potatoes

Tomatoes OR Sweet Peppers OR Eggplant (last of the season!)

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Grain Share: Full Shares:Rye Berries    Half Shares: Millet Flour

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Heirloom Bean Share: Trout Beans

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Fruit Shares: Jonagold and McIntosh Apples

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Recipes, Etc...

Rosy Rice Risotto with Beets and Kale

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 2 medium/large beets, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups chopped white onion
• 1 cup arborio rice or medium grain white rice
• 3 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups chopped kale (or baby spinach for a milder taste)
• freshly shaved parmesan cheese, to taste

Baked Kale Chips
Adapted from a bunch of inspiring places

1 bunch (about 6 ounces) kale 
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet (I needed two because mine are tiny; I also lined mine with parchment for easy clean-up but there’s no reason that you must). Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.

Kale-Dusted Popcorn If you’re making the chips with the intention to grind them up for popcorn, I’d use less oil — perhaps half — so they grind without the “powder” clumping. I ground a handful of my chips (about half) in a mortar and pestle (well, actually the “pestle” was MIA so I used the handle of an OXO reamer, not that anyone asked) and sprinkled it over popcorn (1/4 cup popcorn kernels I’d cooked in a covered pot with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, shaking it about with potholders frequently). I seasoned the popcorn with salt. I liked this snack, but I think Parmesan and Kale-Dusted Popcorn would be even more delicious. Next time!

Mom’s Apple Cake-from Smittenkitchen.com

6 apples, Mom uses McIntosh apples
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar

2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan. Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Toss with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spread half of apples over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean.

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That's it for this week!

Sharon

Seeing the dusting of snow on the mountains yesterday was yet another sign that the seasons are rapidly changing. I also realize that the end of our harvest season is wrapping up soon, we plan on our last delivery being Thursday, November 1st-only 5 weeks away! With the closing of this season just around the corner, we are now in the planning stages for the 2013 CSA. In an effort to help us with our early planning, as well as to give our loyal members a super good deal, we are opening up our special Early Bird pricing for our 2013 Veggie CSA from Now until November 10th! Here is the pricing breakdown below:

To get this great discount, feel free to sign up for your Veggie Shares through the website, and send us your downpayment of $100 before November 10th, 2012. We will be adding more options as the season gets closer, but you can add the add ons and/or prepared food shares at a later date.We are also still working out next year pickup locations, so for now if the one you need isn't on there, go ahead and sign up for another one, and send me an email and we will change it to the correct pickup spot as it is added. Or just let me know via email and I can sign you up for your veggie share from my end : )

Special Goat Cheese Announcements!

Over the last couple of weeks, the orders for Randy's lovely goat cheese have been too short to be able to make it worth the overnight UPS shipping to get it here. So, we are going to change the cheese offerings up a bit in order to have more cheese in fewer shipments. There will be 2 more cheese deliveries for this season.  Here is the timing breakdown below:

Again, here are the delicious cheesy options

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Week 20 (B) Share Includes:

1 bag Tomatoes and heirloom Hot Peppers

1 bag Arugula-1st cutting!

1 bag Mixed Cut Greens

1 bag radish Microgreens

1 bunch carrots (last ones of the season)

Zucchini

1 bag Potatoes Or Onions and Garlic

1 Bunch Pink Beauty Radish OR Tomatillos Or Eggplants and Sweet Peppers

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Grain Shares: Half Shares: Quinoa Flour Full Shares: 

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Heirloom Bean Share: Yellow Eye Beans Yellow-eye beans are small, off-white beans with a characteristic yellowish-brown "eye" marking the point where the bean once attached to the pod. Popular in Maine, this variety has a mild flavor that is similar to that of Navy or Great Northern beans, but is also considered superior in taste.

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Fruit Share: Apples! 2 Types:

Jonagold is a cultivar of apple, a cross between the crisp Golden Delicious and the blush-crimson Jonathan which was developed in 1953 in New York. They form a large sweet fruit with a thin skin.The apple has a fluffily crisp fruit. It is juicy and aromatic and has a sweet-sour taste

Malus domestica (McIntosh)

The McIntosh Red (or McIntosh; colloquially, the Mac) is an apple cultivar with red and green skin, a tart flavor, and tender white flesh. It ripens in late September. It is traditionally the most popular cultivar in Eastern Canada and New England, well known for the pink applesauce unpeeled McIntoshes make. It is also well-suited for cider and pies. Every McIntosh apple has a direct lineage to a single tree discovered in 1796 by John McIntosh on his farm in Dundela, a hamlet near Morrisburg, in Dundas County, Ontario, Canada. He discovered the tree as one of 20 apple seedlings while clearing the farm, which he had just purchased. He transplanted the seedlings, cultivated them, and only one of them was still alive by 1830. The surviving apple tree lived until 1909. The oldest surviving descendant died on July 25, 2011.

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Eating Ideas...

Microgreens: These little lovelies are not only extremely nutritious, but also super versatile. I often add them to any meal of the day. Put them on top of a yummy soup, casserole, pasta dish, add them to your sandwich ( I even put them in PB&J's too), put a big pile of them on your scrambled eggs, or in an egg or pasta salad. They always mix well with the other leafy greens in a fresh salad. If you don't like their fresh spiciness, try adding them to a fruit smoothie for a nutritional boost, and it does a good job of masking the spicyness too.

Brassica Mix Ideas: This mix is super versatile, it is tender enough for a raw salad, and also does well lightly sauteed with some oil, lemon juice, and garlic, or added at the end to a nice chunky soup or stew.

Radish Storage Tips: To keep your radishes fresh and crisp for longer (if you don't eat them all immediately) it is good to cut their tops off, and store both tops and roots in a plastic bag in the fridge. If your radishes ever get a bit soft, you can revive them by placing them in a bowl of water and store them in the fridge. The tops are great cooking greens, sautee them or add them to a soup/stew or casserole.

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That's all I have for you this week, thanks so much for your support and love!

Best,

Sharon

Happy Fall Equinox to all of you this week! Everything seems to be turning a warm, golden hue as the sun makes it's way farther to the south at it's fastest rate this week. I have noticed a change in how the veggies are growing and ripening as well, things are slowing down a bit, but the baby greens are loving the lovely days and cool nights. This week fall brings us the first of our cut greens harvest for the fall. This week we have a Brassica Mix of Komatsuna, baby kale, baby chard, baby mustard greens, arugula, pac choi, and tatsoi. I will be sure to give a tasty celebratory Fall Equinox Salad Recipe for some inspiration for using the returned greenish bounty : ) Announcements are below, and then come the usual Share details and recipes!

Randy is still offering his delicious cheeses for us, so be sure to take advantage of his delicious, sustainable offerings from Southern Utah! Why not try making this recipe for Mediterranean Baked Feta with Tomatoes with some of Mesa Farm Market's tasty stuff? Please let me know of your cheese order bySunday, September 22 for the Thursday, September 27th Delivery

Cheese Pricing: 

• Chevre....$5.25 for 5 oz package
• Tomme....$9.50 per 1/2 round (approx 1/2 lb)
• Feta........$12.00 per lb (minimum 1/2 lb order).
• Yogurt.....$1.75 per 6 oz cup

It really is starting to feel like fall, and our crops of fall greens are just about ready, hopefully by next week we will have some arugula, radishes, a brassica mix, and coming soon after the lettuce mix.We also have our final planting of beans that are almost ready, but this week is a gap week for those too. We are giving the first taste of some of the fall root crops, giving you either turnip roots, potatoes, or some of our storage onions. 

This past week has been an exciting time of brainstorming for next season. I will have lots more details to share in the coming weeks, but I am hoping next season to be able to offer some fun new prepared food shares (veggie soup of the week share anyone?) and hopefully also some canned food shares(pickles, chutneys, jams, jellies and fresh juice (wheatgrass, veggie juice) as well. Stay tuned!

I have also been busy canning up some lovely new spreads this week, including a beautifully colored Raspberry Peach Jam(with raspberries from our backyard orchard) and a very tasty and unique Rosemary White Grape Jelly (with Thompson grapes from our 17th and 17th backyard farm). The same offer of 6 empty jars for a pint or a $5 donation still holds for these and all other varieties, this is just a taste of what I would like to offer for next season as well : )

Randy is still offering his delicious cheeses for us, so be sure to take advantage of his delicious, sustainable offerings from Southern Utah! Why not try making this recipe for Mediterranean Baked Feta with Tomatoes with some of Mesa Farm Market's tasty stuff? Please let me know of your cheese order by Sunday, September 16 for the Thursday, September 20th Delivery

Cheese Pricing: 

• Chevre....$5.25 for 5 oz package
• Tomme....$9.50 per 1/2 round (approx 1/2 lb)
• Feta........$12.00 per lb (minimum 1/2 lb order).
• Yogurt.....$1.75 per 6 oz cup

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Week 18 (B) Veggie Share Includes:

1 bag Tomatoes

1 bag Basil

1 bag Microgreens OR Eggplant

1 bunch Carrots

1 bunch Kale/Chard

Potatoes Or Turnips Or Onions

Zucchini

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Grain Share: Full Shares-Popcorn     Half Shares-Rice Flour

Zucchini Bread with Rice Flour (Gluten Free)

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Heirloom Bean Share: Christmas Lima Beans

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Fruit Share: Angelus Peaches!

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Recipes, Etc...

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• Generous pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 2 zucchini, sliced into half-moons
• One 24-oz can whole tomatoes
• Two 16-oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus a little extra for garnish
• Couscous, for serving

Cover the pot and bring to a slow boil. Cook for about 15 minutes. Then adjust the lid so that there's some room for steam to escape. Cook for another 15 minutes; the liquid should reduce a bit, but not too much. Add the mint and let sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. While the stew is resting, prepare the couscous. Remove the bay leaves from the stew and adjust the salt if necessary. Serve the stew over the couscous and garnish with mint.

Baked Ziti and Summer Veggies
From Cooking Light

• 4 oz uncooked ziti
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow squash
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 chopped onion
• 2-3 chopped tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Cooking spray

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Add squash, zucchini, and onion; saute 5 minutes. Add tomato and garlic, saute 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in pasta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, herbs, and a big pinch of salt and pepper.

Combine ricotta, another big pinch of salt, and egg. Stir into pasta mixture. Spoon into an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly and browned.

Variations: Use eggplant instead of yellow squash. Kick up the heat in the dish by adding crushed red pepper.

• Half-a-pound ripe BUG Farms tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced finely
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar if you have it)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cups cooked grains (I used pearl barley and brown rice; you could also use farro, quinoa, or bulgur)
• 1 c Grated Zucchini
• 1 c Thinly Sliced Hearty Greens(Kale, Chard, or Collards)
• 1 medium cucumber, diced
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh herbs (basil, dill, savory, etc)

Cut the tomatoes in half across the equator and grate on the large holes of a box grater into a wide bowl. Stir in the garlic, salt and pepper, vinegar, and oil. Add the remaining ingredients, toss together, and serve.

Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Olives from smittenkitchen.com
Adapted, barely, from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup chopped, pitted Kalmata olives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (oops, I forgot this)
2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb  block feta
Crackers, flatbread*, pita chips, or crostini, for dipping

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olives, onion, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the parsley, oregano, olive oil and a few grinds of pepper.

On a grill: Heat your grill to medium-high. Set the feta block in the middle of a piece of foil. Pile the tomato mixture on top of the feta. Fold up the edges of the foil so that it will hold in any liquid as it cooks. Place the packet straight on a grill for 15 minutes to warm it through. Remove from grill and transfer to plate or serving dish.

In the oven: Heat oven to 400°F. Check to see that your dish is oven-proof. (I didn’t!) Place the block of feta in the middle of your dish. Pile the tomato mixture on top of the feta. Bake for 15 minutes.

Both methods: The feta will not melt, just warm and soften. Serve with crackers; eat immediately. As it cools, the feta will firm up again. We found that the dish could be returned to the oven to soften it again. We did this with leftovers, too.

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That's it for this week, thanks for being a part of our farm!

Sharon