Spring CSA

Week Thirteen of the Spring CSA may include a mix of the following: Spinach, Lettuce, Kale, Turnips (either Golden Ball or Hakurei), Apples and Zucchini.  This week you will receive either spring Hakurei turnips or stored Golden Ball turnips, both are delicious in their own preparation.  We are striving to get zucchini into everyone’s bags for Week 13, however if we run short this week you will receive a substitute, but you can rest assured you will definitely get it in your bag for Week 14.  Please note that the weekly photo is not an exact depiction of what is in your share, but rather a reference image.

The weekly letter will be coming to your inbox the day before your pickup, and is also available at stillmansfarm.com/blog and stilllifefarm.wordpress.com.  

Weekly Featured Item: Zucchini and Summer Squash

At Still Life Farm we like to get a head start on the summer season by growing early season greenhouse grown zucchini and summer squash.  It’s a bit of a tricky operation, and usually includes “fun and exciting” early season tweaks like turning on greenhouse heaters at 3am on those cold spring nights and hand pollinating blossoms.  It’s totally worth it, however, to get a little bit of a jump on the season and have a bit of summer in the spring.  We are so excited to get to share some of this super special early crop with you!

If you are looking for ideas on what to do with Golden Ball Turnips, check out Rutabaga Soup recipe from the Still Life Farm Blog January 2019 post.

 

Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini

*Looks like they are calling for some chilly weather this weekend, so try this warming summer soup with the zucchini.  Total fine to sub those canned summer tomatoes and basil pesto for this recipe.  The recipe calls for cooking the tortellini in the soup for the last few minutes.  I prefer to cook the pasta separately and then add it to the soup when serving, otherwise it sucks up all the broth.

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1/2 Tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cup sliced zucchini
• 8 oz fresh tortellini pasta
• 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a 5-quart Dutch oven, brown sausage.  Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 TBS of drippings. Sauté onions and garlic in drippings.  Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.  Skim fat from soup.  Stir in zucchini and parsley.  Simmer covered for 30 minutes.  Add tortellini during last 10 minutes.  Garnish with Parmesan cheese, more fresh herbs or pesto, and cracked black pepper.  Serve with crusty bread.

 

#cookingwithStillmans

Don’t forget to play along with our friendly Spring CSA cooking competition.  Show us what your making with all that local food!  Take a picture and post it to your social media with the #cookingwithStillmans.  Every week a winner will be chosen at random and receive a fun farm prize!

The Week Twelve winner of our #cookingwithstillmans challenge goes to @kat.mclellan for a beautiful presentation of her Picnic Salad incorporating asparagus and bok choi!

Farm Dirt

Stillman’s Farm. Beautiful “Super Flower Blood Moon” over the farm last night.  Between the fountain gurgling, the insects, the night breeze, and the moon, the porch was the perfect place to unwind last night after Copley Market.  Tons of crops have made it out to the the fields and irrigation is running to make sure everything get set in nicely.  Starting to transition to Summer CSA/Summer Market mindset and things are busy, busy.

Still Life Farm.  As stated earlier, we are picking lots of zucchini and squash from the greenhouse…pretty exciting.  The cherry tomato greenhouse is also looking amazing.  With last week’s warm weather the plants have jumped about eight inches in height!  Met with our steel building contractor yesterday to brainstorm options on how to keep our Storage Building project moving forward, even with the delayed building delivery.  Kip fell asleep mowing the lawn with me this morning.  Apparently there are too many fun and exciting things happening around the farm and he is exhausted.

Winter CSA.  Interested in eating local all year round?  Visit the Still Life Farm website to read more about our Winter CSA .  Early Bird Discount available through June 1, sign up today! Sign up for Winter CSA!

Eat well & love your food,

Halley Stillman (Still Life Farm) & Genevieve Stillman (Stillman’s Farm)