Squash and cucumbers and corn and a tomato? 🙂
Please check your box when you pick up. I will harken back to earlier letters where I recommend opening your box and checking out what’s in it. Well, this is a good exercise to see what you’ve got and ask questions, but it also ensures you don’t get an entire box of greens 😉 We try very hard to remain organized when unloading the truck, but mistakes happen sometimes…but not yet this year J.
You MAY have these things: Summer squash of some variety or color, corn, beans or cucumbers, chard or beets, tomato?, blueberries, potatoes?…
Now that corn is happening, I like to remind our new members that our corn is always today’s, so we feel it is very important to eat it the day we picked it. Yes, I know that isn’t always possible, but there is nothing better that steamed corn (it only takes 4-7 minutes)! If you are not a corn on the cob eater (and you really should give it a shot if you have had unsatisfying experiences), cut it off the cob and toss in your veggie sauté or sprinkle on salad.
In the coming weeks you will be seeing peppers and hopefully lots of tomatoes. We have just started picking a few, so I cannot be sure when you will first get any in your box.
Recap: Some of you are asking about coming to the farm. Here’s the recap: Everything is in New Braintree. You are welcome most anytime. Please email me in advance, if you can. I will try to leave a farm map out for you – that way you can navigate to the crops of your choice. Otherwise, you can roam freely and happen upon what you like 😉 As I said last week, you can pick anything you like and only ask you to please be fair if you would like a quantity of anything.
Baked Risotto with Greens (which is in the oven as I type)
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 3/4 cups low-salt vegetable or chicken stock
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce (jarred pasta sauce will do)
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
- 1 bunch greens such as kale, beet greens, or chard, stems removed, washed and coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400. In 1-quart baking dish, combine oil and onion over moderate heat. Cook until onion is soft, 3-4 minutes. Add rice, stir to coat with oil, and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, tomato sauce, and greens, and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat. Add half the cheese and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and bake for 30-35 minutes, until rice is cooked through and has absorbed most of the liquid. Should be moist but not soupy.
Erica Fletcher (adapted from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria cookbook)
I found with kale I needed to cook on stove top with cover on for another 6 minutes to get the kale to wilt down enough and use additional ½ cup water. I used the leftovers with cooked ground beef to fill peppers for impromptu stuffed peppers 😉
also check out Marinated Kale and Green Bean Salad and Cucumber Drink and Swiss Chard, Summer Squash, and Black Bean Quesadillas
Farm Dirt
We’re digging potatoes and there is hardly anything sweeter than a new potato! I can eat a pound of them boiled up with butter… and to be honest, I have done that for a few lazy dinners. And pulling up potato plants and rooting around for those wonderful tubers, is like finding buried treasure. The second crop of tomatoes has been suckered and is looking good. The hops are blooming and there are cones on some of them!
We’ve had some interesting birds around and I have most enjoyed watching the Yellow Warbler snack on the black aphids on my lovage. It’s kind of a riot of yellow with the warbler/lovage blossom combo. We have plenty of squash and cukes for any canning/pickling/baking projects you may have – so order your box today!
We’ve had plenty of rain the past week, hopefully we don’t see any more violent storms.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
