CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has red cabbage and arugula, beets, green onions and leeks, celery, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, parsley, and winter squash.

Field Notes.  The work on the irrigation ponds has begun!  As I hear the machinery I think two things 1)we are on the clock and how much will this cost and 2)this will be great next summer when it is dry.  Once there is enough change to show the before and after photos, I will take them and post them.

Our other HUGE news is Loyal is moving here to join forces with us.  He is a young farmer with strength, energy and vision.  He also sees how far Ken has brought the land, and how valuable his decades of experience are.  When Ken builds something he says it should last his lifetime, and now Loyal requests they build to last HIS lifetime.  Neither is keen on spending time on repairs...

And now it is autumn - as the leaves drop, the woods opens up.  The big dig should start later this week with the potatoes.  Then we will move on to items I will bury in sand in the root cellar.  

From the Kitchen.  Ken made a great lentil soup with leeks, a meaty bone, lentils, carrots, a couple stalks of celery, and some tomato.  It was great.  I made a ratatouille we all liked.  It was from Nourishing Traditions - a cookbook and more.  Saute each item and layer in an oiled shallow baking pan: eggplant, onion, peeled and seeded tomato, minced garlic( I combined the garlic with the tomato. and some thyme.  I also topped with some grated cheese - bake about an hour at 350 degrees.

Ken prefers this over the stewed ratatouille we have had.  This new recipe maintains the distinct flavor of each vegetable.

I have also been sauteing onion, adding chopped pepper and using this for omelettes OR adding a green vegetable like chopped cabbage or broccoli side shoots for a delightful, colorful medley. I dress the vegetable medley with either an interesting vinegar like umeboshi ( a Japanese style pickled plum) or a creamy cheesy sauce depending on what else I am serving - with beef stroganoff it was the vinegar and with a tomato dish it was the creamy cheesy sauce.

I chop off the celery leaves and dry them like herbs for winter soups and stews.  Ken has been using celery a stalk or two at a time in soups, stir fry or even kim chi!  Its flavor rounds out and adds depth, but too much overpowers!

'Til Next Week, 
Judith