Kim Tennill 10/22/24 Kim Tennill 10/22/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 8

It’s Week Eight

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic seventh week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

CELERY - Place the celery in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, which should be set to high humidity. Don't wash or cut the celery until you're ready to use it. I would recommend storing in an open plastic bag. $5

ROVER RADISH - Remove the greens from the root. If you choose to keep the greens, wash them and then store wrapped in a damp paper towel in a bag. Place in the crisper of the refrigerator. The root can store up to two weeks in the fridge in a plastic bag. Wash before use. $5

MIXED LETTUCE - Store in a plastic bag loosely in your refrigerator. The ideal temperature for storing lettuce is at or near 32 degrees. Wash prior to use. Lettuce stores normally for UP to two weeks. $5

APPLES - I prefer to pick this variety a little early, they are still mildly tart but also sweet, which is perfect. You can display on your countertop, but they'll only last between 1 and 2 weeks, depending on the variety and room temperature. Apples in the fridge last from 2 weeks to several months. $6

BEETS - cut off immediately. Store the roots in a bag in your refrigerator. Before use wash your beets., you can peel them with a knife or peeler, or you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will come right off. Turnips do not require you to peel them, but you should use prior to use. $6

Veggie of the Week

BEETS

Beets, often underestimated, are colorful root vegetables that bring a wealth of health benefits to the table. They are a vibrant vegetable that not only enhances the appeal of meals but also enrich them with a unique earthy flavor. Rich in essential vitamins and minerals, beets are incredibly nutrient-dense while being low in calories, making them a perfect addition to your daily plate.

When I, (Kim), grew up we never ate beets. I was in my late 30’s before ever trying to incorporate them into a meal. I was please to find that I could roast, boil, pickle or juice them which all can be fairly simple. Beets also pair well with goat cheese and in salads. (Yum!)

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese (You can used beets, lettuce and apples from your bag this week!)

4 to 5 medium beets
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
2 cups salad greens, arugula or spring mix
½ shallot, thinly sliced
½ green apple, thinly sliced
¼ cup toasted walnuts
2 ounces goat cheese
Microgreens, optional
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Sea Salt
Ground Pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Wrap each beet in a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle generously with olive oil and pinches of salt and pepper. Place the beets on a baking sheet and roast for 40 to 90 minutes, or until soft and fork-tender. The time will depend on the size and freshness of the beets. Remove the beets from the oven, remove the foil, and set aside to cool. When they are cool to the touch, peel the skins. I like to hold them under running water and slide the skins off with my hands.
Let the beets cool and chill them in the fridge until ready to use.
Slice the beets into ¼-inch-thick rounds. Assemble the salad with the greens, shallots, apples, beets, walnuts, cheese, and microgreens, if using. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. Season with flaky sea salt and pepper and serve.

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Recipe - Love and Lemons

Sauteed Beet Greens

1 bunch of beet greens
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons golden raisins
Lemon wedge, for squeezing
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts or pistachios

Instructions

Separate the stems from the beet greens. Finely chop the stems and coarsely chop the leaves.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and the beet stems and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the beet greens, a few pinches of salt, and several grinds of pepper. Sauté, tossing, until just wilted.
Turn off the heat, add the raisins, and squeeze with lemon juice. Toss to combine. Transfer to a platter, top with the walnuts, and season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Sautéed Beet Greens Recipe - Love and Lemons

Additional Recipes

Whole Wheat Strawberry Beet Muffins Recipe - Super Healthy Kids

These look fun and something I might try with my kids!

Beet Smoothie | Healthy Breakfast Smoothie Recipe (wellplated.com)

Wilted Lettuce Salad Recipe (allrecipes.com)

My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (sallysbakingaddiction.com)

Parmesan Roasted Carrots Recipe - Cafe Deliteavs

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe - The Forked Spoon

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

Easy Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup - Creme De La Crumb (lecremedelacrumb.com) (perfect for your kale and the cold temps that are coming! You can use mild Italian sausage and add red pepper to your spice level)

Week 8

Kim made it back from her trip to Charlotte, NC on Monday. Matt survived last week Friday’s CSA pick-up and farmers market, which we never had any doubt he would. The trip to NC has been scheduled for some time as a girl’s trip including aunts, great aunts, cousins and Kim’s grandma. Lots of food, wine and laughs overlooking a lake with beautiful weather and bonfires was a great way to spend a four-day weekend.

The farm is still in the process of preparing for winter. We are removing plants from the tunnels and burning them in our big burn pit. Clearing as much debris as possible from the garden areas is crucial, and we primarily burn the debris to minimize the risk of disease transmission in the future. Matt is putting the finishing touches on the end walls of our last tunnel and is relieved to complete this task before the onset of colder weather. Next week marks the beginning of garlic planting, and we are also applying fall compost to any open beds within the tunnels. Preparations for the upcoming season are well underway, especially since tomato seeds are set to be started in just two months!

I can hardly believe we are already in week 8. We've successfully completed 20 weeks of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program this year, effectively doubling our offerings from the previous year. This wouldn't have been possible without the unwavering support from both our new and returning customers who have consistently shown their commitment week after week, and year after year. We are immensely grateful—thank you!

We sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s CSA, which included our enhanced newsletters, a diverse yet staple heavy weekly bag, along with the additional weeks we introduced. It’s our hope to welcome all of you back next year. Stay tuned for even more "upgrades" in the future as we aim to expand our CSA program even further!

We appreciate you and your support of small farms, small business and our small family!

Warmly,

Matt, Kim and kids

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Lettuce, spinach and kale will store for at least 7-10 days. We wash and spin dry your greens one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. The best way is with a hand crank salad spinner. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware. Greens will hold for 7-10 days.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
Celery can be stored in your crisper drawer for quite a while but, you can also chop it and store it in a freezer bag to be used for cooking later.

Kim Tennill 10/15/24 Kim Tennill 10/15/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 7

It’s Week Seven

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic sixth week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

KALE - Kale loves the crisper drawer. Does well in a loose bag in your refrigerator. Wash prior to use. Stores normally for UP to two weeks. $5

WINTER SQUASH - Winter squash will last up to a month in a cool (50 to 55 F) dark cellar or storage area, but only about two weeks in the refrigerator. We keep ours out on the counter out of direct sunlight and haven’t had any issues with it lasting several weeks. $4 2.0lbs

*Note- You will receive either butternut, acorn or spaghetti squash in your bag this week.

HERBS - (ONE of the three listed)

SAGE - To store, simply wrap the sage leaves in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Make sure to use the leaves within four to five days. Fresh leaves that are covered in olive oil can be stored for much longer in the refrigerator, about three weeks. Use the flavored oil to your advantage to sauté sage with other ingredients. For example, consider a dish like butternut squash with sage leaves (see recipe below). $2.50

ROSEMARY - You have a couple of options to store Rosemary. First, place the rosemary sprigs in a large mason jar or glass of water, just like you would with a bouquet of flowers. You can set this on the counter, and it will last a few days this way. Second, you can take a slightly damp paper towel and wring out any excess water (should be damp but not soaking wet). Wrap the damp paper towels around the rosemary sprigs. Put the paper towel wrapped rosemary sprigs into the ziplock baggie and seal it, ensuring there is no air inside. Store the bag in the refrigerator and it can last for up to two weeks $2.50

PARSLEY - trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy. $2.50

Veggie of the Week

CARROTS

For some of you this week’s veggie of the week post may look familiar as it is a copy from week 6 of our summer CSA. The original post was from the middle of June and has recipes that fit well with this week’s bag. Plus, plenty of time has passed and it may seem like a new post!

We have a busy week as Kim is leaving for a long weekend on Thursday to visit family. Matt is staying behind with the 5 kids that live at home which means he is in charge of carpool, meals, laundry, trying to potty train our youngest, football and soccer practices/games and this week’s CSA and farmer’s market. Please give him a little extra grace and patience as Matt tries to keep our life together while Kim is gone!

I will not be posting a farm update this week either. Stay tuned for next week’s farm update which will also be our LAST WEEK for fall CSA. Can you believe it??!! I’m struggling to think that we are closing in quickly on the end of October. We hope you enjoy this week’s bag and look forward to bringing you a fantastic last week once we have returned to full occupancy, lol!

Before Matt and I became market garden farmers we did occasionally attend farmers markets and stop at roadside stands. There were certain vegetables that I would gravitate towards knowing they were much, much better fresh and local. Those were typically melons, fruit of any kind, red slicing tomatoes and sweet corn. When I watch what consumers leave with at the market I feel as if these are things most people naturally gravitate towards as well.

What I did not give enough credit to, and I don’t think most people do, is how much I would love fresh carrots. They’re not something I would regularly see at farmers markets and if I did, they were small and stubby, which is another reason I never bought them. Once we grew our first good crop of carrots I was hooked, the taste was so much sweeter than store bought. (A little farmer tip…. carrots are at peak sweetness in the spring and fall) Our kids will eat carrots right out of the field, but we have a couple great recipes that your kids are sure to love too!

I found this recipe on Instagram over last winter. We had 20lbs of leftover carrots after the Thanksgiving holiday and this has easily become my go-to recipe.

HONEY GLAZED CARROT

I have included this recipe below in case you don’t have Instagram.

Ingredients:
2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut to 1.5” in length and 1/2” thickness
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup honey
2 large cloves garlic, minced (I usually omit this, but it is up to you)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin (I usually half this or omit all together, but it is up to you)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425
In a small jar, whisk together your honey, olive oil, spices, garlic salt and pepper
Add your carrots to a bowl and toss with your honey mixture
Add your carrots to a parchment-lined sheet pan, pouring any remaining honey mixture over top, and roast in the oven for 25 minutes, tossing once halfway through
Remove from oven, toss again, then service and enjoy!

I know it is colder now than when I originally sent this, but it is still a good side option. This one is very good and something we serve as a quick, healthy side dish or snack. I again included the recipe in case you don’t have an Instagram account. You can omit the dill if needed and try zucchini ribbons instead of cucumber if you have any zucchini left.

Carrot & Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:
* 1 large cucumber, shaved into ribbons (if you have zucchini try this recipe with it!)
* 2 medium carrots, shaved into ribbons
* 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/4 cup dairy-free yogurt
* 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions:
Combine Ingredients: In a bowl, mix cucumber ribbons, carrot ribbons, chopped dill, minced garlic, salt, olive oil, dairy-free yogurt, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Gently toss everything together, ensuring all ingredients are well combined and coated.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes, allowing flavors to meld.
After chilling, give the salad a final toss, adjusting seasoning if needed.
Transfer the salad to a serving dish and garnish with extra dill and enjoy.

HOMEADE CHICKEN POT PIE

FYI THIS RECIPE HAS A VIDEO! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE!

I know the image is a bit large but, sometimes transferring things from social media doesn’t work well, but this recipe was too good to leave out!

I made this recipe on Sunday for our family. Quick and easy! My daughter will come home every Sunday but, occasionally show up on a day when she knows I am making something she likes. I personally, like this recipe not only because it is easy but, it uses a lot of the vegetables we grow.

3 cups of store-bought rotisserie chicken (shred at home).

1 can of Pillsbury Grands Southern Homestyle Biscuits

1/2 cup flour

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, diced

4 celery sticks, diced

3-4 carrots, diced

1/2 cup of peas, fresh or frozen (we used frozen)

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika (I used smoked paprika but either is fine)

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 sprig of fresh thyme

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

3-4 sage leaves

1/2 teaspoon of creole seasoning

pinch of pepper

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees
Saute the onion, carrots, celery, peas in olive oil, avacado oil, butter or bacon grease for approx 5 minutes
Shred chicken, set aside
Add all seasonings and flour. Mix together with veggies in pan.
Add chicken stock and start to gently boil for a few minutes. It will thicken up. Watch and stir!
Add heavy cream, bring to a boil then reduce temp and let simmer for a few minutes.
Add mozzarella and chicken, mix
pour into either a large cast iron skillet or a glass dish.
cut biscuits in half and then top the chicken mixture with the biscuits ensure all space is covered in an even layer
bake for 12-18 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.

NOTES:

One small chicken from Wal-Mart gave us about 5.5cups which was perfect as we double any recipe.

You don’t have to use a pre-cooked chicken. This is just a step that allows this meal to be quicker and it adds lots of flavor. You can cook your own chicken and then boil the bones and scraps and make your own stock for this recipe.

If you double this recipe, let step 6 boil for more than a few minutes to allow vegetables to become tender. Careful not to burn.

I used Rosemary, Sage and Oregano, fresh for this recipe.

The creole seasoning isn’t required. I did have some on hand so I did use it.

Again, THIS RECIPE HAS A VIDEO! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE titled Homemade Chicken Pot Pie. It is a Facebook video and I think most of you have Facebook.

I paired this dish with a side Ceasar salad using our mixed lettuce, croutons and parmesan cheese.

Additional Recipes

My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (sallysbakingaddiction.com)

Parmesan Roasted Carrots Recipe - Cafe Deliteavs

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe - The Forked Spoon

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom.
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Oregano must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
With any herb you can also make a compound butter and freeze. Try this link for recipes: Herb Compound Butter Recipe - Love and Lemons or this one: Herb Compound Butter - Downshiftology
Lettuce, spinach and kale will store for at least 7-10 days. We wash and spin dry your greens one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. The best way is with a hand crank salad spinner. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware. Greens will hold for 7-10 days.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
Celery can be stored in your crisper drawer for quite a while but, you can also chop it and store it in a freezer bag to be used for cooking later.

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
carrots
green beans (if the frost doesn’t take the plants)
beets
lettuce
okra (if the frost doesn’t take the plants)
sweet potatoes
bell peppers
zucchini (if the frost doesn’t take the plants!)
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
celery
radish
kale
spinach (big maybe)
winter squash

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 10/8/24 Kim Tennill 10/8/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 6

It’s Week Six

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic fifth week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

SWEET POTATOES - Keep in a cool, dry place away from light, like a dark corner of the kitchen or in a cabinet. Also keep well ventilated. Do not store in a plastic bag but you can store in a basket or paper bag. $4 ($2 pound)

ZUCCHINI -Wash, thoroughly dry, then wrap your cucumber in a dish towel or paper towel, place in an unsealed plastic bag to allow some airflow and place them in the crisper drawer. Can store for up to 10 days. Storing zucchini in the fridge is a quick and simple way to keep zucchini fresh. Keep the zucchini whole until you're prepared to use it, avoid washing zucchini prior to storage. $1.00 x 1

DELICATA SQUASH - Winter Squash is best stored between 55-65 degrees, however, Delicata squash does not store quite as well as heartier varieties like Acorn and Butternut. Place in a cool dry room in your house (do not refrigerate) and it should last 2 months. $4 (2lbs)

FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH - Remove the greens from the root. If you choose to keep the greens, wash them and then store wrapped in a damp paper towel in a bag. Place in the crisper of the refrigerator. The root can store up to two weeks in the fridge in a plastic bag. Wash before use. $5

Veggie of the Week

Radish (French Breakfast)

Fall radishes are here. French Breakfast radishes are in your bag this week. We are hoping to give a different radish variety each week for the next 3 weeks, although as always that’s up to how quickly and well they want to grow.

French Breakfast are a small to medium-sized variety. They have an elongated shape and the skin is thin, smooth, with a two-toned color of fuchsia red with white tips. When fresh the are juicy, with a crisp texture that provides a satisfying crunch. They tend to be more mild, earthy, and subtly peppery than your traditional round, red radish. When cooked, these radishes take on a gentle sweetness with a nutty, mellow taste. The leafy green tops are also edible, featuring a crisp texture and a flavor that is fresh, green, and slightly peppery. If you by chance can hold off on just eating them raw, because trust me they are delicious on their own, I put a few recipes below.

Don’t throw out those radish greens, give this a try!

Radish Greens Pesto

½ cup pine nuts or pepitas
1 small garlic clove
1/4 tea spoon sea salt
ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup radish greens
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 - 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil, more if preferred
¼ parmesan cheese, grated.

Instructions

In a food processor, combine the pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper and pulse until well chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse again.
Add the radish greens and basil and pulse until combined.
With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse until combined. Add the Parmesan cheese, if using, and pulse briefly to combine. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.
Makes about 1 cup

I have never made this recipe, but I thought it looked interesting. I wish I had the basil and garlic to add to your bag, but you know…. farming :(

How to Use Radish Greens Recipe - Love and Lemons - if you click the link there is also a recipe with suggestions for sauteed radish greens too!

https://www.loveandlemons.com/hummus-recipe/

Hummus; I know I haven’t provided you with any of the ingredients but, homemade hummus is delicious and is great for dipping radish, warmed up pita bread, bell peppers (if you still have any from last week), carrots or celery. It is a favorite at our house!

Additional Recipes

. French Breakfast Radishes Sautéed in Butter – coolcookstyle

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe - The Forked Spoon

Roasted Sweet Potatoes - Skinnytaste

Easy Homemade Applesauce Recipe - NatashasKitchen.com

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

Recipe : Fresh Apple Donuts | The Cake Blog I know this one doesn’t fit the “healthy bill” but COME ON it’s fall and who doesn’t love apple cake donuts!)

Old Fashioned Easy Apple Crisp - The Chunky Chef

Sauteed Zucchini Recipe – WellPlated.com

The Best Zucchini Lasagna (Delicious and Not Watery) – A Simple Palate

What’s Been Happening Here

Weirdly, I started to write an update of what has been happening here and change the “If All Else Fails” section and I think last week’s update did not in fact update from the previous week…. so, if you read the same updates or storage tips two weeks in a row, sorry about that.

We are in fall clean-up. Ripping out tomato vines, cultivating fall weeds that still want to come up, cleaning our garage/wash pack area in preparation for our final markets, we planted all the strawberries but then ordered 1000 more… so were not done yet! Matt is finishing our last tunnel (still), we are pulling our final apples and sweet potatoes this week as our final excavation of the back fields will happen and all the root crops need to be out. I am looking forward to proper drainage of those fields next year which will increase our yields for next year. We are also preparing for Lincoln University to come to the farm this Saturday for a beginning farmers follow-up on how we prep for the winter, I’ll talk more about this next week.

We are in our final stretch of summer markets with only 3 left in Sedalia and Columbia. We will tip-toe into the winter market in Columbia but, only with what we have left. I had planned to have an abundance going into the winter but, we can’t seem to keep up with demand, which is a great problem to have, and it has left us with less than we anticipated.

On a final note: I left the pictures the same because 1. My kids are cute, let’s face it. 2. I don’t think the update happened last week to explain the pictures. Far left is our youngest “helping” (I use that term loosely) lay fabric, set irrigation lines and plant strawberries. The middle picture is our beds prepped with irrigation lines before weed fabric was installed. We normally do not lay weed fabric, but this is a new-ish area and berries do better when planted into plastic mulch or fabric plus it will help keep future labor costs at bay by keeping the weed pressure low. The far two right pictures are of our second middle son, high up in the bucket helping us pick apples and our last picture is our other middle son attending homecoming with his girlfriend and our exchange student with his date.

ON A FINAL NOTE: after this week’s pickup there are only TWO CSA weeks left for the fall season. It’s going by so fast!

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Potatoes will store well out of direct sunlight in a cool dry place for several weeks.
Apples can store in your crisper for weeks without problem.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Zucchini can be shredded and frozen.
Celery can be stored in your crisper drawer for quite a while but, you can also chop it and store it in a freezer bag to be used for cooking later.

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
carrots
green beans
beets
lettuce
okra
sweet potatoes
bell peppers
Fairy Tale Eggplant
zucchini (green or yellow)
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
celery
radish
kale
spinach (big maybe)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 10/3/24 Kim Tennill 10/3/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 5

It’s Week Five

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic fourth week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

I want to apologize to SEDALIA for the change in contents in your box last week. For those that had a change on the contents in your bag I will try to get eggplant, and patty pan to you over the remaining weeks of CSA.

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

OKRA OR EGGPLANT

Refrigerate unwashed, dry okra pods in the vegetable crisper, loosely wrapped in perforated plastic bags. Wet pods will quickly mold and become slimy. Okra will keep for a few days. $5 (1lb)

Store away eggplant from direct sunlight and use it as soon as possible after harvesting or buying. You can place it in a vented bowl, but avoid sealing it in a plastic bag, which can increase decay. Eggplant is not a cold loving vegetable but, if you want to keep it in the refrigerator do so in the warmest place in the refrigerator and keep lightly covered. Eggplant will remain fresh for 2-4 days. $5

BELL PEPPERS - Clean the peppers and ensure they're dry, add them to a mesh or plastic produce bag, leave the bag open, and place them in the low humidity drawer. Peppers when nice and firm can last one-two weeks in the fridge. 3 - $5

Veggie of the Week

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are here!!! Freshly dug today, they are a nutritional powerhouse and super versatile. They are high in fiber, rich in antioxidants, and support immune system function. They are also a great source of vitamin A essential for vision and skin health and vitamin C which boots your immune system.

Sweet potatoes can be roasted, baked, mashed or a guilty favorite….fried!

Sweet Potato Fries

Yield:4 to 6 servings

2pounds sweet potatoes, peeled
2tablespoons olive oil
1teaspoon garlic powder
1teaspoon paprika
1teaspoon salt
½teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400. (may need to be higher, oven dependent)
Cut the sweet potatoes into sticks ¼ to ½ inch wide and 3 inches long and toss them with the oil.
Mix the spices, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and toss them with the sweet potatoes. Spread them out on 2 rimmed baking sheets.
Bake until brown and crisp on the bottom, about 15 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is crisp, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

A few notes:

Preheating the baking sheets really helps the crisping. Heating the baking sheets until a drop of water bounced on them then toss the fries on - cook till crisp then turned.
Placement in the oven matters a lot. Those in the pan on the top rack were much crisper than the ones in the middle rack.
No need to peel the sweet potatoes.
Parchment paper helps. No peeling of course. I prefer to season them fresh from the oven.
ENJOY!
The BEST Sweet Potato Fries Recipe! | Gimme Some Oven
Sweet Potato Fries Recipe (with Video) (nytimes.com)

This recipe is so quick and easy and great as a fall side, if you have a pressure cooker it is even easier! Baked Sweet Potato - Recipes by Love and Lemons

This is a quick and nutritious side for dinner this week! It does require peeling and cubing but, these fall flavors are coming in and are delicious.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes - Skinnytaste

Additional Recipes

Celery is coming in this week, and it is full of flavor…. so, so so much better then store bought! Also, the golden delicious apples are so so so good this week!! They are sweetening up but also crunchy. Trying to figure out what to do with all the apples? I have given some quick recipes below!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe - The Forked Spoon

Easy Homemade Applesauce Recipe - NatashasKitchen.com

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

Recipe : Fresh Apple Donuts | The Cake Blog I know this one doesn’t fit the “healthy bill” but COME ON it’s fall and who doesn’t love apple cake donuts!)

Martha Rose Shulman's Roasted Okra Recipe (nytimes.com)

Air Fryer Okra - A Beautiful Mess

What’s Been Happening Here

Well rain has been happening here since Sunday. Big, fat drops of rain in generous amounts! While it has slowed us down, which is hard as we always seem to be behind, we also desperately needed the rain. We were definitely square back into drought territory for the last 3-4 weeks. Hopefully the couple of inches we received as well as the cooler weather the rain brought will bring us back too little to no drought. On Saturday after the farmers market, we quickly sprang into action harvesting the remaining winter squash and all of the pumpkins before the rains came. We don’t normally force the kids into child “labor” but, Saturday it was all hands-on deck, even the baby. Thankfully under tractor headlights we were able to have everything in the wash/pack shed tucked away and curing for future markets. This week we are harvesting the rest of the apples and getting them tucked away for storage, although at the rate they’re selling they likely won’t store long!

Note: we will not be placing pumpkins into CSA bags as the few small pumpkin varieties we grew this year are decorative. If you would like pumpkins feel free to reach out. I can send you information on the varieties and pricing.

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Kale will store for at least 7 days. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware
Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom
Apples can store in your crisper for weeks without problem.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.
Carrots will store well in your crisper drawer with their tops off.
Patty pan can be shredded and frozen if you are unable to use it this week. It can be used as a substitute for zucchini in muffins or bread
Keep eggplant out at room temperature and try to use them soon after, as eggplants don’t do well in the cold. If you do need to store them for longer, place in an unsealed bag or container, and then keep in the crisper drawer

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
onions
carrots
lettuce
okra
sweet potatoes
patty pan squash
bell peppers
Other peppers (poblano, jalapeño, anaheim, banana, etc.)
Fairy Tale Eggplant
zucchini (green or yellow)
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
celery (maybe, they are sizing up well)
kale

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 9/24/24 Kim Tennill 9/24/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 4

It’s Week Four

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic third week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too! I know I did hear from SEVERAL of you regarding the delicata squash from last week. For many of you it was new and everyone that reached out really enjoyed them, which makes us HAPPY! It is always fun to try something new and enjoy it.

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

HERB - Parsley, trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy. $2.50

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

PATTY PAN - Storing patty pan in the fridge is a quick and simple way to keep it fresh. Keep the patty pan whole until you're prepared to use it, avoid washing patty pan prior to storage. $2.50

FAIRY TALE EGGPLANT -store away from direct sunlight and use it as soon as possible after harvesting or buying. You can place it in a vented bowl, but avoid sealing it in a plastic bag, which can increase decay. Eggplant is not a cold loving vegetable but, if you want to keep it in the refrigerator do so in the warmest place in the refrigerator and keep lightly covered. Eggplant will remain fresh for 2-4 days. $5

KALE - Kale loves the crisper drawer. Does well in a loose bag in your refrigerator. Wash prior to use. Stores normally for UP to two weeks. $5

RED DELICOUS APPLES - I prefer to pick this variety a little early, they are still mildly tart but also sweet, which is perfect. You can display on your countertop, but they'll only last between 1 and 2 weeks, depending on the variety and room temperature. Apples in the fridge last from 2 weeks to several months. $6

SPAGHETTI SQUASH - Winter Squash is best stored between 55-65 degrees, however, Delicata squash does not store quite as well as heartier varieties like Acorn and Butternut. Place in a cool dry room in your house (do not refrigerate) and it should last 2 months. (2lbs) $6

Veggie of the Week

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash… another favorite! In fact, I just ate spaghetti squash for lunch today. This year we grew a variety of squash that is smaller and is more of a single size. Although, some of the squash didn’t get the memo and still turned out quite large. Regardless of the size of squash you receive in your bag they are all ready to eat!

Spaghetti squash is a type of winter squash that, when cooked, has a unique texture compared to other winter squash that resembles spaghetti noodles. It is typically oval or oblong in shape and has a hard, yellow skin. When you cook spaghetti squash—whether by baking, boiling, or microwaving—the flesh becomes tender and can be easily scraped into strands with a fork.

This vegetable is low in calories and carbohydrates, making it a very popular alternative (thanks keto diet trend) to traditional pasta. It is also rich in vitamins A and C, as well as fiber. Spaghetti squash can be served with a variety of sauces and toppings, but my favorite is homemade spaghetti sauce!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash (or two, dependent on your appetite and size of squash)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line large, rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.
Trim stem end from squash, then cut each squash in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard seeds and pulp.
Place squash on baking sheet with parchment paper and equally divide olive oil, salt and pepper between the two halves.
Place squash halves on prepared pan with skin side down. Transfer to oven and roast 30 to 45 minutes or until tender, and the center scrapes away from the skin.
When squash is tender, spoon sauce over squash or you could add a little salted butter and eat without sauce. Serve immediately.

A few notes:

You can scoop the flesh out and place in a separate bowl, or my favorite is to use the skin as a bowl and place the sauce right in.
I prefer to roast with olive oil, salt and pepper. That’s it. I find no reason to add a “sweetener” of any kind. It adds calories that I don’t need, and I find the squash to be delicious as is.
MY FAVORITE way to eat this squash is to load it with a fresh spaghetti sauce. Using San Marzano tomatoes, you can get them canned at Wal-Mart, fresh carrots, onions, garlic, celery and a blend of seasonings makes it a perfect fall dish. We make a large pot of sauce at a time and eat it over several days. I will also use the sauce for lasagna subbing noodles with zucchini or doing a zucchini roll up. If anyone is interested in a sauce recipe send me a message or email and I can get one together for you.
ENJOY!

This recipe is something I am going to try this fall as it looks quick and easy. It also could fit a vegetarian dish or Meatless Monday. It does call for kale, which is in your bag this week. Spaghetti Squash w/ Chickpeas & Kale Recipe - Love and Lemons

I know Patty Pan squash is likely a new one for many of you this week. It is very similar to zucchini in taste.

The quickest and easiest way to prepare it is to sauté it in olive oil. This recipe calls for parsley and basil. I’m sorry to say I don’t have any basil this year but, I have included parsley in your bag this week. This is a quick and nutricious side for dinner this week!

Sautéed Patty Pan Squash Recipe - Love and Lemons

Additional Recipes

I know not everyone loves Kale but, its fall and there are so many good recipes to use it in! My favorite is a copycat soup, Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden.

Zuppa Toscana Recipe (a la Olive Garden) (gimmesomeoven.com)

Sausage & Kale Stuffed Acorn Squash - Hungry by Nature (if you have any acorn squash left this is a good one to try!)

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant - Foodess

Roasted Fairytale Eggplant - Life's Little Sweets (lifeslittlesweets.com)

What’s Been Happening Here

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Kale will store for at least 7 days. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware
Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom
Apples can store in your crisper for weeks without problem.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.
Carrots will store well in your crisper drawer with their tops off.
Patty pan can be shredded and frozen if you are unable to use it this week. It can be used as a substitute for zucchini in muffins or bread
Keep eggplant out at room temperature and try to use them soon after, as eggplants don’t do well in the cold. If you do need to store them for longer, place in an unsealed bag or container, and then keep in the crisper drawer

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
onions
carrots
lettuce
okra
sweet potatoes
patty pan squash
bell peppers
Other peppers (poblano, jalapeño, anaheim, banana, etc.)
Fairy Tale Eggplant
zucchini (green or yellow)
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
celery (maybe, they are sizing up well)
kale

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 9/17/24 Kim Tennill 9/17/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 3

It’s Week Three

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic second week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

NEW POTATOES - Keep in a cool, dry place away from light, like a dark corner of the kitchen or in a cabinet. Also keep well ventilated. Do not store in a plastic bag but you can store in a basket or paper bag. $5 (1.75 Pounds)

CANDY ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. (WHITE) $1.50

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

GREEN BEANS - Green beans can store in the bag in your crisper drawer for up to 5-7 days 1lb $6

GOLDEN DELICOUS APPLES - I prefer to pick this variety a little early, they are still mildly tart but also sweet, which is perfect. You can display on your countertop, but they'll only last between 1 and 2 weeks, depending on the variety and room temperature. Apples in the fridge last from 2 weeks to several months. $6

Veggie of the Week

Delicata Squash

I’m so excited for fall squash especially Delicata! I’m guessing many of you have never heard of this squash and I am thrilled to be the one to introduce it to you. I fell in love with it last year when a farmer at the Columbia Farmers Market told me I had to try it. Delicata is sweeter and creamier than other fall squash and is so easy to prepare! The only way I have prepared it is roasted. It is quick, flavorful and adds a different vegetable to the table than the summer staples we have been working our way through the last several months. I don’t think I have seen it in a grocery store before, at least not Marshall and Sedalia so, if you enjoy it, I would keep my eye out for it at farmers markets near you and stock up!

Roasted Delicata Squash

2 pounds of delicata squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line large rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.
Trim stem end from each squash, then cut each squash in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard seeds and pulp. Cut squash halves crosswise into 1-inch slices.
Place squash slices in large bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss until well combined.
Place squash slices on prepared pan in even layer. Transfer to oven and roast 22 to 24 minutes or until tender, turning once halfway through cooking once the side that is down has turned brown.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together orange juice and maple syrup.
When squash is tender, spoon juice mixture over squash and return to oven for 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

A few notes:

If you choose to peel winter squash, it is much easier to remove it after it has been baked. The roasting process of the squash allows the skin to lift off in the oven. Otherwise, the process can be difficult. If peeling before baking is necessary for your recipe, a sharp potato peeler should do the trick but may yield less squash than the former method. Honestly, when I roast my delicata we eat it skin and all.
To achieve even roasting, it is very important to arrange the squash slices in an even layer on the baking pan. If you need two pans, use two pans.
I prefer to roast with olive oil, salt and pepper. That’s it. I find no reason to add the extra glaze. It adds calories that I don’t need and I find the squash to be sweet enough as it is.
ENJOY!
How to Roast Delicata Squash - Foxes Love Lemons

This recipe is something I am going to try this fall. It does call for beets, which are coming soon. If you save your delicata you could try this! Spiced Lentil Soup with Roasted Beets & Delicata Squash — Produce On Parade

Additional Recipes

Delicata Squash and Sausage Gratin – Kalyn's Kitchen (kalynskitchen.com)

Homemade Caramel Apples - Sally's Baking Addiction (sallysbakingaddiction.com) (something fun for the kids this week!)

15-Minute Green Beans and Bacon - Easy Side Dish (iowagirleats.com)

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

Perfect Potato Soup Recipe - How to Make Potato Soup (thepioneerwoman.com)

What’s Been Happening Here

First lets start with YEAH carrots and beans this week! Carrots will be a repeater throughout the fall CSA but, enjoy the beans as they may be a one hit wonder. Beans and peas didn’t produce as well for us this year and we can’t quite put our thumb on why.

The walls are up on our new tunnel including hip boards and base boards. Matt is finishing placing the final screws and then we will be done with the “inside” stuff. We hope to add compost, nutrients, till, shape beds and plant strawberries in the next week. The earlier we plant the better chance we have at giving the plants a good start before cold weather sets in. End walls and plastic will also be happening at about the same time. Fingers crossed this bad boy will be done in the next 2-3 weeks. We are trying to work around two markets a week, harvesting, school schedules and we’re once again back to being taxis for our children with after school activities. (we’re living the dream over here! lol)

We have cultivated and diligently walked the fields daily scouting for pests to ensure a good crop this fall and apparently the little buggers in the far-right picture moved in quickly. Matt is outside tonight spraying an organic product that does fabulous at controlling a wide variety of worms. The worm-killer is a bacteria called Bacillus Thuringiensis and once the worms ingest the bacteria it produces a toxic substance that attacks their cells. I can tell you a get a warm feeling when I see the aftermath of a good round of BT and little dead foliage eating worms are left. (sorry, that’s a little morbid isn’t it!)

I have also been doing a little fall clean up around our house. Pulling out annuals, removing flower beds that just aren’t working and setting traps for voles/moles. They are back with a vengeance this year. Of course, after I have pulled up flowers and cleaned areas up, our dogs have to come and dig around in the now exposed fluffy dirt and then take a nap. This is one of our dogs Kenobi that has clearly made himself comfortable in one of my flower planters after a long day of running the wood lines…. and for those asking… yes, he is that Kenobi… as in Obi-Wan Kenobi.

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

If you don’t get to your beans or would like to freeze them check this site here. How to Freeze Fresh Green Beans (simplyrecipes.com)
You can freeze onions. Simply chop them up and store in freezer bag or containers and pull out as needed to use.
Bell peppers you can chop and freeze. Make sure you get all of the air out of the bag and seal them well in a freezer bag.
Apples can store in your crisper for weeks without problem.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.
Carrots will store well in your crisper drawer with their tops off.
Potatoes will store well out of direct sunlight in a cool dry place for several weeks.

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
potatoes
onions
carrots
lettuce
okra
sweet potatoes
patty pan squash
bell peppers
Other peppers (poblano, jalapeño, anaheim, banana, etc.)
Fairy Tale Eggplant
slicing tomatoes (red or heirloom type)
spaghetti squash
zucchini
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
celery (maybe, they are sizing up well)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 9/10/24 Kim Tennill 9/10/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 2

It’s Week Two

Welcome! We are hope that you had a good first week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CHERRY TOMATOES: Store tomatoes at room temperature for best taste. If tomatoes are refrigerated, remove them from refrigeration about 30 minutes prior to serving to regain some of their original flavor $4

BUTTERNUT SQUASH - Winter squash will last up to a month in a cool (50 to 55 F) dark cellar or storage area, but only about two weeks in the refrigerator. We keep ours out on the counter out of direct sunlight and haven’t had any issues with it lasting several weeks. 2.50lbs $5.00

CANDY ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. (WHITE) $1.00 X 2

HERBS -

Veggie of the Week

Butternut Squash

I’m so excited for fall squash! Butternut squash is such a versatile crop and can store for long periods of time under the right conditions. Butternut is a nutritional powerhouse packed with flavor. Butternut squash is rich in vitamins A and C. These nutrients boost your immune system and promote healthy skin. It’s also high in fiber, aiding digestion and keeping you full longer, plus it’s low in calories. You can roast it, puree it, or add it to soups. Its sweet, nutty flavor pairs well with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Try it in salads, pasta, soup or as a side dish. A great dish to add butternut too is pasta and herbs pair in so well!

Quick side note: It’s going to be warmer this week and our first couple of recipes will reflect lighter meals, but if you want to save your squash, I will add heartier options too.

This recipe will use many options in your bag this week, I apologize that we will not be able to provide the garlic (crop failure this year). It is simply and easy, which is something we love in our household!

Butternut Squash and Pasta With Sage Recipe (thespruceeats.com)

This recipe looks yummy! My mother made something similar not that long ago and it was delicious. Might add a little grilled chicken too. I know it is a more complex, but want to wow dinner guests or your family this week? Try this!

Butternut Squash Salad Recipe - Love and Lemons

. This is going to be something I try in the coming weeks as the cooler weather sets in. Super simple in a blender and then warmed over the stove. Using vegetable broth instead of cream makes it an option for our vegan families. If you have been saving your vegetable scraps or have made homemade vegetable broth from your summer CSA this is the time to put the broth to use. It also uses fresh sage and rosemary. Pair this with fresh crusty loaf of bread or better yet eat in a bread bowl!

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe - Love and Lemons

This is a side dish that incorporates apples, which you also recieved this week. Pairs great with baked or roasted chicken. Want to be fancy, try marinating lamb chops with rosemary, garlic, olive oil…. well I’ll put the reicpe here, Garlic & Rosemary Grilled Lamb Chops - Delish D'Lites (delishdlites.com). Add the squash apple bake as a side or the soup would be delicious paired with a salad…yum!

Butternut Squash and Apples Recipe - Roast 'em up! - Pip and Ebby

Additional Recipes

Cracker Barrel Copycat Skillet Fried Apples - Feels Like Home Blog

Sauteed Zucchini Recipe – WellPlated.com

Air Fryer Zucchini | Air Frying Foodie

Oven "Sun-Dried" Tomatoes - Gimme Some Oven

What’s Been Happening Here

We have completed our fall plantings of radish, spinach and lettuce… finally! Our new misting systems have worked wonders. They ensure even and quick germination, giving our crops the best start possible. In just four short weeks, we hope to include these in your weekly bags. Our brussel sprouts and fall beans are also coming along, although slowly but, nonetheless they are coming. We have cultivated and diligently walked the fields daily scouting for pests to ensure a good crop. Fingers crossed these will also make it into your bags before the end of the fall CSA.

This week we also attended a disease workshop in Jefferson City where we were asked to speak on our experiences with diagnosis and management. It was an informative session, and we were excited to be a part of it.

We’ve also been busy with the start of football, fall soccer sign-ups, FFA sales have begun, and of course farmers markets.

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Lettuce will store for at least 7 days. We wash and spin dry your lettuce one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware.
You can freeze onions. Simply chop them up and store in freezer bag or containers and pull out as needed to use.
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Fresh sage must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
Zucchini can be shredded and frozen as well.
Apples can store in your crisper for weeks without problem.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
potatoes
onions
okra
sweet potatoes
patty pan squash
delicata
bell peppers
Other peppers (poblano, jalapeño, anaheim, banana, etc.)
Fairy Tale Eggplant
cherry tomatoes
slicing tomatoes (heirloom type)
butternut squash
spaghetti squash
acorn squash
zucchini
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
San Marzano tomatoes (roma type)
green beans (BIG MAYBE)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 9/3/24 Kim Tennill 9/3/24

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 1

It’s Week One

Welcome! We are excited to have you for our first Fall CSA. This year, we are thrilled to have your support, and we have worked hard to provide 8 weeks of produce for you and your family. We are excited to get started!

By now, you should have received a welcome email with information about your pick-up location and day of the week. Some of you were a part of our summer CSA and have already experienced some of the changes that were made to our CSA. For those that were not a part of our summer CSA the next few paragraphs are for you.

We have made a few changes to our CSA this year. One of the changes we've made is that we will no longer be sending generic last-minute emails, which includes eliminating Kim yelling, “I’m sending an email soon” as you're picking up your bag! (Veteran members will know what we mean. lol) This newsletter will include recipes and storage information to help you make the most of your CSA bags every week. We hope that this new format will energize you for the season and encourage you to try new vegetables and recipes, expanding your culinary repertoire.

We are striving to set up our CSA exactly as we envisioned it when we started four years ago. While we still have many ideas, we are being realistic and implementing them gradually year by year. In the weekly newsletters, we will also highlight a crop each week, providing information on how to use it and sharing our go-to recipes as well as, my new category of, if all else fails do this (insert what this is). This is something we have attempted in the past, but now we are committed to doing it to the degree we had originally planned.

Furthermore, we will include short updates on the farm in each newsletter. These updates may include recent developments or events that have taken place on the farm or something to do with our family. We have received requests from multiple members to know more about us, the farmers. We understand that pick-up locations can be busy, and we haven't always been as accessible as we would like. So, consider this newsletter as a glimpse into our crazy farm life.

Lastly, we will be providing a list of vegetables that you COULD be getting in your box for the next week at the end of each newsletter. We are hoping to be more transparent earlier in the process to allow you to get a glimpse of what could be coming and have the time to look up your own recipes that you want to try.

We appreciate your support and trust in us. We couldn't live this life without you. As we embark on this journey together for at least the next 8 weeks, we ask for your well wishes and prayers if you're the praying type. Thank you once again for being a part of this community.

Warm regards,

Matt and Kim

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CANDY ONIONS (red and white) - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. These won’t be quite as large as the goliaths we have sent previously. $1.00 x 3

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES- The best way to keep summer tomatoes fresh and full of flavor, store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders-down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight. NOTE: Heirloom tomatoes are not as shelf stable as red slicers. They will be softer, which is okay, but they will go bag quicker than the others. We DO NOT recommend putting them in the refrigerator to try to prolong shelf life, they will lose flavor. 1.00lb $4

OKRA - Refrigerate unwashed, dry okra pods in the vegetable crisper, loosely wrapped in perforated plastic bags. Wet pods will quickly mold and become slimy. Okra will keep for a few days. $5 (1lb)

ACORN SQUASH - Winter squash will last up to a month in a cool (50 to 55 F) dark cellar or storage area, but only about two weeks in the refrigerator. We keep ours out on the counter out of direct sunlight and haven’t had any issues with it lasting several weeks. 2.75lbs $5.50

Veggie of the Week

Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are one of our favorite fall vegetables. We much prefer the orange, red and yellow ones as we think they are sweeter compared to the green which sometimes can taste a little bitter. I also love them because they add visual appeal to our plate, which only adds truth to the statement, “we eat with our eyes and not our stomachs.” Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, which support eye health and boost the immune system. One medium-sized bell pepper contains more vitamin C than an orange, did you know that…. because I didn’t! They also provide fiber, which aids digestion and keeps you feeling full plus, their high-water content keeps you hydrated. Bell peppers also known as “sweet peppers” are very versatile. You can enjoy them raw in salads, grilled, roasted, or stuffed. They pair well with a variety of dishes, from stir-fries to fajitas. Try adding diced bell peppers to omelets for a colorful breakfast or toss them into pasta for a burst of flavor. I also love them with fresh hummus, which is so easy to make!

My go-to meatloaf recipe is from the website Stuffed Peppers - Once Upon a Chef A few notes that I have made are:

I love to make a large batch of taco meat and set some aside to stuff peppers with later in the week. Replacing ground beef with ground lamb and lean pork. (We always have ground lamb and pork which is why I use it often) You can also sub in hamburger for Italian sausage, if you like it hot a hot sausage or you could also add black beans.
I also sub rice out for cauliflower rice as a lower carb options. It’s easy and I just throw it in frozen to the mix.
In the past I have simply cut the top off the pepper, scooped out the seeds and filled the pepper like a cup. Recently, I have started to cut the peppers in half and then fill. They are easier to cut into bite sized pieces this way or if you don’t cook the pepper all the way through you can pick them up like a burrito and eat them.

Bell Peppers and Hummus

BEST Hummus Recipe - Love and Lemons

Super simply hummus recipe and I have yet to dislike a recipe I have picked up off of Love and Lemons. I’m still tweaking the recipe to fit our family likes but, it is a good starting point. You can also add peppers to the hummus or you can pair with a nice warm pita on the side. YUM!

Easy Vegetarian Omelet With Bell Peppers Recipe (thespruceeats.com)

Easy omelets in the morning make for a great breakfast filled with protein and vegetables to make you full.

Western Omelette – Lemon Tree Dwelling

Bell Pepper Fajitas | Greater Chicago Food Depository (chicagosfoodbank.org)

Fajitas are also a great choice with peppers. Chicken, steak, shrimp they are all great and a crowd pleaser.

Additional Recipes

Best Southern Fried Okra Recipe – How to Make Fried Okra (thepioneerwoman.com)

Roasted Okra Recipe (allrecipes.com)

Air Fryer Okra - No Breading or Eggs! (runningtothekitchen.com)

Roasted Acorn Squash Recipe - Love and Lemons

This recipe calls for sage or rosemary. You don’t have to use it, but I will start incorporating weekly herbs to go with fall recipes!

Stuffed Acorn Squash – WellPlated.com

Cracker Barrel Copycat Skillet Fried Apples - Feels Like Home Blog

What’s Been Happening Here

For the last 6 weeks, since our summer CSA has ended, we have been packed with spending time with our kids before school returned on August 20th. We enjoyed time in the Smokey Mountains, took family pictures, visited Dollywood, went white water rafting, spent time with Kim’s parents, brother and nieces/nephews, saw several bears right at our cabin, went on numerous mountain coasters and more. We also went to the state fair for a day, school shopping, went to a pre-season Chiefs game and we welcomed our exchange student for the school year. WHEW! Are you tired yet…. because we are!

Don't they just look thrilled, well a couple do the rest were not thrilled for the first day of school.

This is right off our back deck. They came every day sometimes twice a day! Not always the same bears but, they were super close to our cabin.

Our exchange student is from Mexico and is settling in nicely to his junior year with our son Wyatt. Football season is starting as well as 4H, gymnastics and all the other school events and activities. We also started our 8th high tunnel today and took possession of our strawberry plugs. So exciting for strawberries next spring! I’ll be posting pics next week of our progression on the tunnel. Matt is not new to the construction game, and I think this one will go up fairly quickly, which is good. Our schedule is crazy and will continue to be for a little while. We still have a LOT to harvest, and we are just finishing our fall planting this week of radish, turnip and spinach which should all be in your fall boxes by the 5th or 6th week!

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these three tasks:

I’m leaving this blank this week. It’s the first week and we better be using everything we sent!

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
potatoes
onions
okra
sweet potatoes
delicata
bell peppers
Other peppers (poblano, jalapeño, anaheim, banana, etc.)
Fairy Tale Eggplant
cherry tomatoes
slicing tomatoes (heirloom type)
butternut squash
spaghetti squash
acorn squash
zucchini
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
San Marzano tomatoes (roma type)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 7/22/24 Kim Tennill 7/22/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 12

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

CHERRY TOMATOES - Store tomatoes at room temperature for best taste. If tomatoes are refrigerated, remove them from refrigeration about 30 minutes prior to serving to regain some of their original flavor. $4

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

SWEET BASIL - Fill a jar, a vase, or a glass half-way or so with water and put the basil bouquet (trimmed-stems down) in the water. Make sure no leaves are in the water, or they will turn dark and slimy. Set on your counter out of direct sunlight. Should last several days, make sure to change the water occasionally. $2.50

PARSLEY - (full share ONLY) Trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy every few days $2.50

CUCUMBER/ZUCCHINI -Wash, thoroughly dry, then wrap your cucumber in a dish towel or paper towel, place in an unsealed plastic bag to allow some airflow and place them in the crisper drawer. Can store for up to 10 days. Storing zucchini in the fridge is a quick and simple way to keep zucchini fresh. Keep the zucchini whole until you're prepared to use it, avoid washing zucchini prior to storage. $1.50

HEMME CHEESE MOZZARELLA - Place in fridge. Best eaten fresh this week! $6 (NOTE: only one per family. Full-share folks, there will not be two of these in your bag, just the one!)

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

If you haven’t had an heirloom tomato, you are missing out on a truly delicious experience. Heirloom tomatoes are the ORIGINAL tomato, they have been passed down through generations. These tomatoes come in a wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes, making them a popular choice for home gardeners and chefs alike. One of the main reasons why heirloom tomatoes are so beloved is their exceptional taste. Unlike mass-produced hybrid tomatoes, heirlooms are bred for flavor rather than shelf life or uniformity. This results in a rich, complex taste that is hard to find in store-bought tomatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes may not look like the perfect round ones you see in the grocery store, but that's because they are supposed to be different. Their odd shapes and occasional cracks are part of their charm and authenticity. These tomatoes are delicate and require gentle handling, but the effort is well worth it. We LOVE them sliced on a sandwich, sliced with a little salt and pepper on their own or in Caprese Salad.

If you see these beauties at a farmers’ market, know that the farmer puts in a TON of work to get these on their table. They are not always the least expensive and they may not be perfect but, the next time you see an heirloom tomato at the farmers market, don't hesitate to buy them while they are in season. You won't regret it!

So, we are hoping that you are surprised by the fresh Mozzarella Cheese in your box this week. Thank you to those of you for filling out your customer survey. We appreciate your time in doing that and we hope that you enjoy this summer treat along with the fresh basil and heirlooms. Of course, the obvious recipe to make this week is Easy Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes - Cooking Curries. This is such a delicious and easy recipe perfect for summer.

Another great treat we love with heirlooms is chunky salsa. Heirlooms add a great, less acidic flavor to salsa.

Fresh Pico de Gallo Recipe (inspiredtaste.net)

We also like using flatbread, pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil and cherry tomatoes for an easy lunch or dinner.
Caprese Flatbread - thechowdown (thechowdownblog.com)

A few others to try:

Heirloom Caprese Pesto Toast – The Dancing Cookbook

Heirloom Tomato Pasta - Gimme Some Oven - this looks yummy!

Penne With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Recipe (nytimes.com)

Week 12

Welcome to week 12. We hope that you enjoyed your bag last week and that you were able to utilize all the items we packed for you.

This week the excavators arrived. They moved loads and loads of dirt around. Fixed one of our large gardens, added a water way behind several of our tunnels and leveled the pad for the new high tunnel due to arrive in September. We also had our well given a small makeover allowing for more pressure to pump the water out to our crops that are the furthest away from the spickets.

We also attended the Saline County Fair this week with our middle son. He participated in 4H this year and he entered smoked and unsmoked hams he and his dad worked on together. He didn’t win grand prize but, he did get a blue ribbon. He sold one of his hams at the end of week sale and was able to get $400 for it! He was very excited and has already been talking about what he can invest in for next year’s 4H project with the money he raised at the sale.

Along with excavators, plumbers and county fair we have been diligently working on finalizing fall crops. Misting carrots seeds, flame weeding beds, pruning, leaning indeterminate tomatoes and we planted 6 new fruit trees. We are looking to the future of the farm, and we need more perennial options for long term success. Fruit trees seemed like the obvious choice!

As you all know we are at the end of our Summer CSA. We’re not sure if we’re sad it’s over or excited for the fall. We blinked and the 12 weeks is gone which, we say every year at the end of the season. Are you ready for a break or are you hoping the season would have just kept on going? Maybe with the break you’ll miss us so much you will be incredibly excited to see us at the start of the Fall CSA, lol.

We have expressed this before but, we want to say again, thank you so much for supporting our small family farm. Your support means the world to us and helps us continue doing what we love - providing fresh, locally grown produce to our community.

As a small family farm, every purchase makes a big difference in our ability to keep our farm running smoothly. We know you take a risk and place your trust in us in advance to deliver every week fresh, delicious produce and we truly strive to never let you down. We take pride in growing high-quality fruits and vegetables. Your support allows us to continue investing in our farm's infrastructure, ensuring that we can provide even more local produce in the future. We truly appreciate each and every one of our customers. Thank you for being a part of our journey and helping us grow!

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

You can freeze onions. I love to chop them up and store in portions of zip lock bags. Perfect for winter soups, stews and etc. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat and they are softer so not great for fresh eating.
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
Cherry tomatoes, if you have these left, I’m not sure what to say because they are delicious! Just eat them like candy but if you must, try doing a small batch of sun-dried tomatoes. Oven "Sun-Dried" Tomatoes - Gimme Some Oven
Carrots and beets will store well in your crisper drawer with their tops off.
Zucchini can be shredded and frozen if you are unable to use it this week. How to Freeze Shredded Zucchini | Cooking School | Food Network

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead! We hope to see you at the farmers market or at our fall CSA.

Kim Tennill 7/15/24 Kim Tennill 7/15/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 11

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

FRESH CANDY ONIONS (red and white) - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. These won’t be quite as large as the goliaths we have sent previously. $1.50 x 2 (red

TOMATOES- The best way to keep summer tomatoes fresh and full of flavor, store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders-down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight. 1.25lb $5

ZUCCHINI - Storing zucchini in the fridge is a quick and simple way to keep zucchini fresh. Keep the zucchini whole until you're prepared to use it, avoid washing zucchini prior to storage. $1.50

GARLIC (small) - Store on your counter in a cool, dry place with indirect sunlight. Will store for months this way. $1.50

FAILURE TO LAUNCH CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

BAGGED “BABY” BEETS - Store the beet roots in a bag in your refrigerator. Before use wash your beets. You can peel them with a knife or peeler, or you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will come right off. $5

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

ZUCCHINI

This is one of our staple summer vegetables that is versatile in use and deserves more credit than it is given. In normal summers there seems to be a plethora of zucchini and it can get sort of a bad rap as the gift you can’t get rid of. It seems like every neighbor and grandma can produce loads of zucchini and they like to drop it at every doorstep in the county. Those zucchinis are normally oversized and limited to its uses. This summer however, finding zucchini at the local farmers market seem to be difficult. The rain, disease or bugs seem to be the culprit and have made it harder to find.

Zucchini are a great low-calorie addition to any recipe. One cup of raw zucchini is about 18 calories. They are a great source of Vitamins B2, B6, and C, fiber and potassium. Zucchini can be added to a sweet bread, quiche, muffins, used as a replacement for lasagna noodles, spaghetti noodles, breaded and friend, or sauteed. I prefer the smaller, younger zucchini due to the high-water content, which is about 95%, the smaller one’s fry and sauté better. I do like the medium size ones for replacement lasagna, manicotti noodles or stuffed boats The occasional ones that hide and get overlooked until they are huge, for zucchini muffins or bread.

I TRIED to give everyone smaller to medium size zucchini. You can try these boats even with smaller zucchini.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats Recipe - Love and Lemons - this is great for those medium sized zucchini. This is a vegetarian recipe but, you could sub in taco meat and then stuff with all of the taco fixings such as salsa, sour cream, lettuce, cheese and more. YUM!

Stuffed Zucchini Boats - Dinner at the Zoo - this one is full of marinara, Italian sausage, bread crumps, mozzarella! Makes me hungry just typing those ingredients out!

Best Sautéed Zucchini Recipe - How To Make Sautéed Zucchini (delish.com) - this is an easy recipe to throw together on a busy night. When zucchini is in season this is a go to. I love to use a well seasoned cast iron pan to make this! I don’t normally add onion because I have semi-picky kids but, you can!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread - Sally's Baking Addiction (sallysbakingaddiction.com) - DON”T FORGET DESSERT! Sally’s Baking Addiction is my go-to for desserts!

A few others to try:

Garlic Herb Tortelloni — Triple H Family Farms, LLC - I actually made this tonight and it was yummy! Uses zucchini and cherry tomatoes.

Roasted Baby Beets - Recipe Girl - this one uses Rosemary in case you have any left that you preserved from previous weeks.

Week 11

Welcome to week 11. We hope that you enjoyed your bag last week and that you were able to utilize all the items we packed for you.

This week we have been seeding/transplanting for fall. Carrots, beets, celery, lettuce, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and more. This also means we have been prepping beds, moving silage tarps and adding amendments as needed. In between that time the kids, Matt and I went to the local rodeo. Our middle son is in 4h and it was our job to run the cook shack as part of our group. Matt and I signed up for the popcorn shack. He worked and I wrangled kids.

Matt and I also harvested honey this week. The first of the year. Thankfully it went without any serious mishaps which is appreciated. Matt did however get stung once, by a dead bee that was in a piece of honeycomb he ate and didn’t see the bee, stinger up as he bit into it. To be honest, I laughed more than I should have. After thousands of been flying around, separating them from their honey and none of them got a single sting in. In the end it was the one dead bee in the honeycomb he ate. LOL! He had a fat lip for a day which made me laugh every time I looked at him.

This week we are trying to keep cool. Today was brutal but, thankfully we were up early and able to get enough done prior to the heat wave. I ended up in our walk-in cooler for a few minutes desperate for a cool down. Thankfully, the rest of the week has normalized and should allow us, rain pending, to get the rest of our fall crops in and settled before we leave for vacation in two weeks!

Also, as a REMINDER, if you haven’t done the end of summer CSA survey please do so! It was emailed last week. You will get a special treat in your last bag, which is NEXT week, if you fill it out for us. It is hard to believe next week is our last week. This season is absolutely flying by.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

You can freeze onions. I love to chop them up and store in portions of zip lock bags. Perfect for winter soups, stews and etc. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat and they are softer so not great for fresh eating.
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Garlic can store on your counter without issue. You can also pop it it in the fridge if you prefer.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
Cherry tomatoes, if you have these left, I’m not sure what to say because they are delicious! Just eat them like candy but if you must, try doing a small batch of sun-dried tomatoes. Oven "Sun-Dried" Tomatoes - Gimme Some Oven
Carrots and beets will store well in your crisper drawer with their tops off.
Zucchini can be shredded and frozen if you are unable to use it this week. How to Freeze Shredded Zucchini | Cooking School | Food Network

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Tomatoes
Fresh large candy onions
Fresh red candy onions
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions
Heirloom tomatoes (planning on this!)
Zucchini

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 7/8/24 Kim Tennill 7/8/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 10

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

FRESH CANDY ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. These won’t be quite as large as the goliaths we have sent previously. $2.00 x 2

TOMATOES- The best way to keep summer tomatoes fresh and full of flavor, store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight. 1lb $5

KALE - Kale loves the crisper drawer. Does well in a loose bag in your refrigerator. Wash prior to use. Stores normally for UP to two weeks. Guys freeze this! Kale is so so good in fall soups and squash boats. $3 (smaller bag)

BLACKBERRIES OR GREEN BEANS - Marshall it is our plan to provide blackberries in your share tomorrow. Sedalia it is our plan to provide green beans. Put the blackberries in the fridge lightly covered. They will only last a couple days and then you could freeze if needed. Green beans can store in the bag in your crisper drawer for up to 5-7 days $5

GREEN TOMATOES - The best way to keep green tomatoes is one of two ways. You can store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight or stick them in the fridge. You are not losing flavor with green tomatoes by putting them in the refridgerator like you would ripe tomatoes. 1lb $5

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

Green Tomatoes

I know green tomatoes are not always a treasured summer favorite…. well, they are for me and as my CSA customers you must love them too!!

Green Tomatoes believe it or not can be a versatile ingredient. They can be used for fried green tomatoes - my number one reason to love them, in salsa, and chutney. They can also be pickled or roasted for a unique twist on classic recipes. Green tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, which promote healthy skin and immune system function, as well as a good source of fiber.

I think most of you know that Matt and I previously lived in Georgia for a number or years before moving back to his hometown, Marshall. Matt was in the military when we met and I relocated after we were married. It would seem like a long coming dream to get out of the military and away from the “city” and the hot South Georgia weather. I vividly remember thinking of days where the military wasn’t in quite so much control of our lives. Don’t get me wrong, we liked our lifestyle but, being closer to family was important and Georgia wasn’t our favorite. Fast forward to now and while I was writing this newsletter Matt, and I are both trying to figure out how he retired from that life 11 years ago. It just seems like a lifetime ago while at the time it seemed like moving anywhere without the military was a lifetime away.

During the time we were dating, Matt and I used to travel back and forth to visit each other. I was a college student in Ohio, while he was stationed at Ft Benning, GA. Whenever I would visit Georgia, Matt would take me to different local restaurants. One particular memory that stands out is when he took me to Ruth Ann's cafe. It was a quaint little cafe with a predominant focus on fried food, as is most things in the south.

I vividly remember looking at the menu and deciding to try the fried green tomatoes. It was a dish I had never tried before, but from that first bite over 19 years ago, I fell in love with them. The tomatoes were freshly fried to perfection, with a seasoned crispy golden-brown crust. I dipped them in spicy ranch sauce, and I knew right then and there that I would be a lifelong fan of fried green tomatoes.

I later brought my mother to Ruth Ann's cafe when she came to visit, and she shared the same enthusiasm for their fried green tomatoes. It's amazing how a simple dish can create such lasting memories.

I know we are trying to promote healthy eating through our CSA but, just do it… fry the green tomatoes.

Photo Credit: Caitlyn Bensel and Rebecca Cummins

Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe (southernliving.com)

A few others to try:

Easy Green Tomato Chutney Recipe • Lovely Greens

Green-Tomato Chutney Recipe (nytimes.com)

Green Tomato Salsa Verde Recipe (nytimes.com)

Reduce Food Waste! How to Freeze Kale - Budget Bytes - if you’re not using the kale now FREEZE it.

Authentic Pico De Gallo Recipe - NatashasKitchen.com - a good summer salsa recipe. I use lemon juice instead of lime but, to each their own. You can omit the cilantro as I know not everyone loves it. Also, I know there is at least one vendor that jalapeno’s if you choose to add those as well.

Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes {Easy to Make!} - Spend With Pennies - use those leftover herbs with this one.

Week 10

Welcome to week 10. We hope that you enjoyed your bag last week and that you were able to utilize all the items we packed for you.

We are deep into tomato season ya’ll. Red slicer tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, paste tomatoes, plus we have 3 successions of tomatoes that are growing. I think in total we have close to 900 plants in the ground just of tomatoes…. I know that number makes me stagger a little too. We are getting ready to transplant our 4th and final succession of 126 plants and it seems a little surreal to think that those tomatoes will be producing in approximately 75 days. We harvest for 4-6 weeks and then rip them out and that’s it, no more until 2025. In 75 days, it will be the third week of September which seems crazy. We started this summer CSA 70 days ago and that seems just as crazy!

New in our farm life this week we have upgraded to a full square terminal at checkout which seems a little daunting. We also purchased a used refrigerated box to keep some of our less cold loving crops at a comfortable temp of 68 degrees. Crops such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, certain herbs, potatoes, winter and summer squash love to be cooler but not cold. We placed the new cooler next to our walk-in cooler that sticks pretty close to 35 degrees. I know the picture looks a little rough, but we haven’t finish cleaning up after move in. Ask Matt how wonderful of a chore that was! lol.

We ripped out the final onions of the summer in muck which isn’t my favorite and prompted me to immediately make a phone call to our friend who owns an excavating company to fix a few of our field’s ASAP! No, I didn’t take pictures while we were harvesting because I was hating life during that particular moment. Thankfully, our friend is coming in the next two weeks before fall brassicas, the last of summer squash and a final root crop planting. The image below is just a fraction of the onions we have - (insert my shell-shocked emoji face)! These will cure over the next several days. We have fans and tons of circulation going because of the wet conditions in the field resulting in wet onions, which every farmer is dealing with. I am not complaining about rain but COME ON let’s have a little break please. The last two years we were in a drought and now the rain spicket seems to want to drown us.

Lastly, and I don’t have our own picture yet, but we finalized our strawberry plug order this week for delivery in September and we purchased another high tunnel. This is it guys, I can’t deal with anymore. I told Matt this is the last one, seven is a great number to land on. Our new boy will look like the image to the right and will arrive in 8ish weeks. It is 30x96 ft and will be used for its first season as the strawberry house, 2000 of those bad boys to be exact.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Kale will store for at least 7 days. We wash and spin dry your lettuce one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware.
You can freeze onions. I love to chop them up and store in portions of zip lock bags. Perfect for winter soups, stews and etc. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat and they are softer so not great for fresh eating.
Blackberries can freeze. Lay out parchment paper on a try and lay blackberries on the tray apart from one another. They freeze well and can be placed in a freezer bag when done. They won’t much together this way and can be used for jam, smoothies or a frozen treat on a hot day.
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Green tomatoes will store for quite a while in the refrigerator.
Store unwashed fresh beans in a reusable container or plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper. Whole beans stored this way should keep for about seven days. I really prefer fresh beans and they’re simple to fix, but you can find a recipe to freeze a small batch if needed.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
Cherry tomatoes, if you have these left, I’m not sure what to say because they are delicious! Just eat them like candy but if you must, try doing a small batch of sun-dried tomatoes. Oven "Sun-Dried" Tomatoes - Gimme Some Oven

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Tomatoes
Fresh large candy onions
Fresh red candy onions
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions
Beets
Heirloom tomatoes
Zucchini (maybe, fingers crossed)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 7/1/24 Kim Tennill 7/1/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 9

IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

LARGE FRESH CANDY ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50 X 1

HERBS - Parsley , trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy. $2.50

FAIRY TALE EGGPLANT - store away from direct sunlight and use it as soon as possible after harvesting or buying. You can place it in a vented bowl, but avoid sealing it in a plastic bag, which can increase decay. Eggplant is not a cold loving vegetable but, if you want to keep it in the refrigerator do so in the warmest place in the refrigerator and keep lightly covered. Eggplant will remain fresh for 2-4 days. $5

LETTUCE MIX - Store in a plastic bag loosely in your refrigerator. The ideal temperature for storing lettuce is at or near 32 degrees. Wash prior to use. Lettuce stores normally for UP to two weeks. $3 (smaller bag)

BLACKBERRIES OR GREEN BEANS - Sedalia it is our plan to provide blackberries in your share tomorrow. Marshall it is our plan to provide green beans. We are hoping to then switch for next week with Marshall receiving blackberries and Sedalia receiving green beans. Storage is minimal for blackberries. Put them in the fridge lightly covered. They will only last a couple days and then you could freeze if needed. Green beans can store in the bag in your crisper drawer for up to 5-7 days $5

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

FAIRYTALE EGGPLANT

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Fairy tale eggplants are currently in full swing. Despite not being a common feature on American dinner tables and being a rarity in supermarkets, these small Asian-style eggplants offer a delicate, creamy flavor that is not bitter and contain very few seeds. They can be grilled or sautéed. The tender skin of these eggplants does not require peeling, making them a convenient option for cooking. They can also be stir-fried or roasted in the oven, showcasing their versatility.

While no single nutrient stands out in eggplants, they are rich in a range of health-promoting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants such as folate, potassium, and vitamin C. Additionally, eggplants are packed with fiber, offering about three grams per cup, which supports gut health. Despite their beauty, some visitors to farm stands may find themselves puzzled on how to best prepare these unique eggplants and my guess is you might have the same question as well. Have no fear I have several good recipes below!

Cut 3/4 to 1 pound of baby eggplants in half lengthwise.

In a large bowl, toss the eggplant with about 2 tablespoons olive oil (enough to generously coat the eggplant), 2 minced garlic cloves, salt, pepper, (red pepper flakes also if you wish), and 4 to 6 large mint leaves, coarsely chopped; let stand to marinate for about 30 minutes. Mint is optional but, I do know vendors at the market sell it.

Grill the eggplant in a grill basket over medium-high heat, covered. Turn occasionally until the skins are slightly charred and the flesh is tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer the eggplant pieces back to the bowl you used to marinate them. Immediately toss them with a splash of red wine or balsamic vinegar, a sprinkle of flaked sea salt, and a small handful of freshly chopped mint. Enjoy!

This is an easy recipe that I have tried and enjoyed! Here is the link as well as a few others:

What to Do With Fairy Tale Eggplants (Those Adorable Small Ones) | The Kitchn

Roasted Fairytale Eggplant - Denison Farm

Stuffed Fairytale Eggplants – Norman's Farm Market (normansfarmmarket.com)

Sungold and Fairy Tale Pasta: A Simple Summer Delicacy — Four Root Farm - this one incorporates cherry tomatoes!

I have wanted to try doing homemade sun-dried tomatoes and this recipe looks easy!

Oven "Sun-Dried" Tomatoes - Gimme Some Oven

Margherita Pizza Recipe - Love and Lemons - we’ve tried this and YUM!

Garlic Herb Tortelloni — Triple H Family Farms, LLC this one is also a regular at our house!

Week 9

This week is going to be a little short and sweet as I didn’t give myself enough time to “polish” my newsletter as well as I like.

This year, we made an attempt to give ourselves a break by taking two days off each week, but we haven’t been very successful. We have managed to at least take 1.5 days off, which has been a relief. Finding skilled workers has been a challenge, so we often find ourselves working long hours to keep up with the demands of the farm. We are so thankful for our employees but, when it’s their first year the challenge to teach and balance our time is hard. The work seems never-ending, making it difficult to stay on top of everything. This isn't a complaint, but rather a reflection on the hard work and dedication needed in farming.

Fortunately, we were able to take a few days off last week to spend time with our nieces who were visiting from Michigan. We took them fishing, swimming, to Science City, and to the movies. We even had them help us pick potatoes, turning it into a fun game that they enjoyed, well at least for one bed and then they realized this was hard work and they dropped like flies. (lol)

Apart from family time, we have been busy planting fall brassicas and tending to our fall squash. We have had difficulty in seeding beets and carrots due to the heat affecting germination, but we plan to address this soon.

With the help of our kids and nieces last week, we completed the harvesting of all the summer potatoes. We were thrilled to have harvested a total of 1 ton of potatoes, double the amount from last year. It has been an excellent potato season so far, with two more beds of potatoes to harvest in late August or early September for the fall season.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Blackberries can freeze. Lay out parchment paper on a try and lay blackberries on the tray apart from one another. They freeze well and can be placed in a freezer bag when done. They won’t much together this way and can be used for jam, smoothies or a frozen treat on a hot day.
You can freeze green onions including the leafy green tops, the white bulb end, and the stem in between. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat. Stem and bulb portions become soft, while the green parts sometimes become tough
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Oregano must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom.
With any herb you can also make a compound butter and freeze. Try this link for recipes: Herb Compound Butter Recipe - Love and Lemons or this one: Herb Compound Butter - Downshiftology
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Tomatoes
Fresh large candy onions
Fresh red candy onions
Green Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Kale/Swiss
Cucumber
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions
Beets
Green Beans
Blackberries

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 6/24/24 Kim Tennill 6/24/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 8

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

CARROTS- If your carrots have the tops on, take them off right away to avoid limp carrots. The tops like to suck the moisture from the root (carrot) which makes for lifeless carrots. Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months. $5

LARGE FRESH CANDY ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50 X 2

HERBS - Rosemary - You have a couple of options to store Rosemary. First, place the rosemary sprigs in a large mason jar or glass of water, just like you would with a bouquet of flowers. You can set this on the counter, and it will last a few days this way. Second, you can take a slightly damp paper towel and wring out any excess water (should be damp but not soaking wet). Wrap the damp paper towels around the rosemary sprigs. Put the paper towel wrapped rosemary sprigs into the Ziplock baggie and seal it, ensuring there is no air inside. Store the bag in the refrigerator and it can last for up to two weeks! $2.50

CUCUMBERS -Wash, thoroughly dry, then wrap in a dish towel or paper towel, place in an unsealed plastic bag to allow some airflow and place them in the crisper drawer. (I used a thin, green grocery store produce bag for my tests.) Can store for up to 10 days! $1.50

SWISS CHARD -Swiss Chard will become limp and lifeless very easily. Gently wrap unwashed greens in paper towels and store loosely in plastic bags. Keep moist and cool in the lower part of the refrigerator in the high-humidity bin. Store for up to 5 days. but, have no fear you can still use it in lots of things if chard becomes a little lifeless! $3 (small bunch)

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

New Potatoes

Freshly harvested new potatoes are bursting with flavor and so tender. Their versatility allows for endless delicious possibilities in the kitchen. Last night, we enjoyed our first batch of new potatoes, which were both easy to prepare and incredibly tasty. During the initial weeks of the season, we prefer to keep our potato dishes simple. A drizzle of olive oil, a dab of butter, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and roast in the oven at 425 degrees. Pairing these flavorful potatoes with BBQ chicken, fresh sweet corn, and sliced tomatoes on the side makes for a great meal.

Last year, we were surprised to see our entire stock of 800lbs of potatoes sold out by August. This year, we have increased our production by 30%, and fortunately, a decent amount of rainfall from mother nature has led to, so far, a great harvest. Potatoes truly are a remarkable vegetable that appeals to even those who claim not to enjoy veggies. While indulging in fries and potato chips every day may not be the healthiest choice, potatoes themselves are nutrient-rich and make an excellent addition to any meal.

Iron Skillet New Potatoes

1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes (cut in half or quartered to make 3/4-inch thick pieces) I leave whole if small enough
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp chives or green onion, chopped, plus more to garnish

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Take a large skillet and add 1 Tbsp butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil. and add your Rosemary. Arrange potatoes in the skillet, cut-side-down in one layer. Cook uncovered and undisturbed for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown crust forms on the bottoms.

You can also try the following recipes with your new potatoes:

Boiled New Potatoes with Garlic - Spend With Pennies

Crushed New Potatoes Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen

Additional Recipes This Week

Rainbow Chard and Onion Omelet — Katrina Runs for Food (katrina-runs.com) If you have any leftover parsley from last week, you can use it in this recipe along with your rainbow chard.

Roasted Fairytale Eggplant - Life's Little Sweets (lifeslittlesweets.com)

Grilled Fairy Tale Eggplant - BoulderLocavore.com

What to Do With Fairy Tale Eggplants (Those Adorable Small Ones) | The Kitchn

Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant - Foodess

WEEK 8

It’s late February when I write this and spring lambing season is happening. I returned back to the farm after my afternoon rounds of picking up kids from school and daycare and noticed two sets of twins were born sometime that day. It’s pretty amazing how animals labor on their own, give birth, clean up their young and are out grazing with their young all on the same day. Currently we have an all-black ram as our primary stud in the pasture and he has added some beautiful color to our herd. I’m excited to see over the next few weeks how many more lambs are born. (UPDATE: we had 25 lambs in all with most mothers giving birth to twins and one giving birth to triplets!)

If you didn’t know we do occasionally have lamb meat available. If anyone is interested to know when we have availability, please reach out to us via email or at the market and we can add you to the list.

This week, in late February, we are busy planting carrot seeds. We have carefully sown seeds in 3 beds, with each bed containing approximately 4-5 thousand carrot seeds. This will ultimately result in around 150-200 bunches or bags of fresh, delicious carrots for our customers. During our busy season, we harvest half a bed of carrots every week to keep up with demand. Luckily, spring is the perfect time to sow multiple beds at once, as the cooler weather allows carrots to stay fresh in the ground for weeks after they are ready to harvest. The carrots that you have been enjoying in your bags are all from the planting we did this week, as shown in the pictures below.

Broad forked, compost added, direct seeded, drip lines stretched back out!

Surprisingly, February 2024 was unusually warm compared to previous years since we relocated to Missouri in 2012. Typically, February is considered the coldest month of winter until the temperatures start to rise in March. We have been making the most of the warm weather by starting our early spring projects, while also hoping that the warmth doesn't last long. Excessive warmth could cause plants to bud prematurely, potentially leading to fruit loss if a sudden cold spell hits. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can successfully make it through spring without this happening. I guess by the time you’re reading this we will already know, and I will post an update!

UPDATE: we thankfully had very little loss due to very warm to very cold swings. We did lose some strawberry blossoms that had prematurely budded but, for the most part we made it!! Apples are also still going strong for a fall harvest! The spring was certainly a very warm one and pushed us in our vegetable farming knowledge in seeding, transplanting, covering and protecting.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
You can freeze green onions including the leafy green tops, the white bulb end, and the stem in between. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat. Stem and bulb portions become soft, while the green parts sometimes become tough
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Oregano must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom.
With any herb you can also make a compound butter and freeze. Try this link for recipes: Herb Compound Butter Recipe - Love and Lemons or this one: Herb Compound Butter - Downshiftology
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
You can store eggplant in the refrigerator in an airtight bag for up to 5-7 days. You can also freeze it but everything I have read recommends cooking the eggplant and some say to puree it. I haven’t tried this, but it may be worth your time to look it up.

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Fresh Onions
Tomatoes
Fresh large candy onions
Green Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Kale/Swiss
Mixed Lettuce (maybe)
Cucumber
Cabbage
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

As a reminder, please remember to bring back your black bags at pick-up. Thank you!

Kim Tennill 6/18/24 Kim Tennill 6/18/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 7

In your box this week and how to use it

SPRING ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50

CABBAGE - Do not wash your cabbage until you are ready to use it. Place your cabbage in the crisper drawer and/or in a large plastic storage bag to hold in its natural moisture. Don’t cut the cabbage until you are ready to use it, this will increase your storage life. Use your cabbage within a month although they could last up to two months when stored appropriately. $5

HERB - Parsley , trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy. $2.50

POTATOES - Keep in a cool, dry place away from light, like a dark corner of the kitchen or in a cabinet. Also keep well ventilated. Do not store in a plastic bag but you can store in a basket or paper bag. $5

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

CABBAGE

I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know one of my great-grandmothers very well. She lived until I was in my late thirties, and she was sharp as a tack until the very end. I didn't ask her often enough about her life. She lived through numerous major historical events and occasionally I would ask questions about her time living during the depression or her Polish parents that emigrated here. Her parents emigrated from Poland to Canada, with each of them arriving individually through a program where they paid off their passage and expenses gradually after their arrival. Despite both coming from the same village and possibly knowing each other, they only began their relationship after moving to Canada. Eventually, they relocated to the Detroit, Michigan area, but job opportunities became scarce. Just before or at the onset of the Great Depression, my great-great-grandfather purchased land in west Michigan and relocated his wife and children there. They took up farming to support the family, with my great-great-grandmother preparing many traditional Polish meals to feed everyone.

The one meal that was prepared regularly for us growing up and still continues to show-up is Galumpkis. Most people know them as cabbage rolls, but for us they have always been called by the Polish name of Galumpkis. Galumpkis are cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of ground meat, spices and rice that are baked in a tomato sauce. Healthy and delicious!

How my grandmother made her Galumpkis:

1 head of cabbage
1 pound Ground beef
3/4 Cup precooked long grain rice
1/4 Cup ,chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 can of tomato soup
water

Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add whole head of cabbage and simmer until leaves begin to loosen and can be easily removed from head. (Once outer leaves are removed you may need to leave cabbage in a bit longer to loosen the leaves that were covered)
Once leaves are removed and cool enough to handle remove the hard vein from center of each cabbage leaf. (I only do this on the really large veins)
In a large mixing bowl mix, mix ground beef with rice, parsley, salt and pepper.
Spoon about 1/4 cup of meat mixture onto the center of a cabbage leaf and roll over once then tuck sides of the leaf in and continue to roll up to encase the meat mixture.
In a bowl mix the tomato soup and a can of water together. Put 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the mixture into the bottom of a casserole pan. then place the galumpkis with the seem side down into the dish.
Continue until you use all of your meat mixture. You may not use all of the cabbage leaves depending how big the head of cabbage is.
Pour tomato mixture over cabbage rolls and season with salt and pepper
Cover casserole with foil and place in oven for 30-40 minutes.
Remove foil and serve. I like to scoop as much as the tomato sauce on top of the galumpkis when serving.

Have fun experimenting and let us know how it turns out!

A couple other recipes to try this week:

Kiebasa and Cabbage. Another family favorite!

Kielbasa sausage: Look for this smoked sausage in the deli meats section of the grocery store.
Green cabbage: Green cabbage turns buttery and crisp-tender when sautéed!
Butter or bacon grease: Melt the unsalted butter or bacon grease and brown the kielbasa on both sides..
salt and pepper

Slice the kielbasa and chop the cabbage. Core and chop 1/2 head of green cabbage into rough 1-inch pieces.
Brown the kielbasa. Cook until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove and set aside
Add the cabbage. Cook until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits.
Add the kielbasa back to the cabbage. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!

Egg Roll in a Bowl Recipe - NatashasKitchen.com - great for using carrots, cabbage and onions in your box this week!

WEEK 7

The long summer days are coming on strong and filled with never-ending tasks on the farm, our bodies start to slow down, and we have a tendency to lose our fresh from rest vigor. It feels like all the energy we stored up during winter and the excitement of spring has been sucked right out of us. The weeds are growing rapidly as the temperature continues to rise. Matt and I I are working tirelessly to ensure the farm runs smoothly, while we also have to juggle taking care of maintaining the yard, cooking in the kitchen, and keeping up with the laundry. With 4 kids still at home and two farmers who sweat daily, the laundry is ridiculous.

Our two year old “assiting” in planting.

Silage tarp used to “cook” weeds before we plant again.

We are currently nearing the one-third mark of the season, and it seems to be a recurring pattern at this time every year. This feeling usually lingers for approximately four to six weeks until we hit the end of our summer CSA and take a week vacation with our kids in early August. There is another wave of energy that hits once the kids return to school and the countdown to fall happens. A renewal to our excitement as we push those last plantings and start to prepare for the change of seasons again. We love farming, but it and mother nature can be fickle beasts.

Thankfully up to this point the rain has been relatively frequent and in the amounts that are needed. Our back gardens are planted and have germinated well and fingers crossed we are on our way to a plentiful fall crop.

iF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
You can freeze green onions including the leafy green tops, the white bulb end, and the stem in between. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat. Stem and bulb portions become soft, while the green parts sometimes become tough
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Oregano must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom.
With any herb you can also make a compound butter and freeze. Try this link for recipes: Herb Compound Butter Recipe - Love and Lemons or this one: Herb Compound Butter - Downshiftology
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Green Onions
Tomatoes
Fresh large candy onions
Green Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes (big maybe)
Kale/Swiss
Mixed Lettuce (maybe)
Cucumber
Cabbage
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 6/10/24 Kim Tennill 6/10/24

Summer CSA Week 6

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

SPRING ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50

CUCUMBER - Wash, thoroughly dry, then wrap in a dish towel or paper towel, place in an unsealed plastic bag to allow some airflow and place them in the crisper drawer. (I used a thin, green grocery store produce bag for my tests.) Can store for up to 10 days! $1.50

HERBS - Parsley and Rosemary $2.50 each

Parsley -Trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy (every few days

Rosemary - You have a couple of options to store Rosemary. First, place the rosemary sprigs in a large mason jar or glass of water, just like you would with a bouquet of flowers. You can set this on the counter, and it will last a few days this way. Second, you can take a slightly damp paper towel and wring out any excess water (should be damp but not soaking wet). Wrap the damp paper towels around the rosemary sprigs. Put the paper towel wrapped rosemary sprigs into the ziplock baggie and seal it, ensuring there is no air inside. Store the bag in the refrigerator and it can last for up to two weeks!

BEETS or TURNIPS - cut off immediately. Store the roots in a bag in your refrigerator. Before use wash your beets., you can peel them with a knife or peeler, or you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will come right off. Turnips do not require you to peel them, but you should use prior to use. $6

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

CARROTS

I found this recipe on Instagram over the winter. We had 20lbs of leftover carrots after the Thanksgiving holiday and this has easily become my go-to recipe.

HONEY GLAZED CARROT

I have included this recipe below in case you don’t have Instagram.

Salad during the hot summer months? This one is very good and something we serve as a quick, healthy side dish or snack. I again included the recipe in case you don’t have an Instagram account. Also, I heard Kent’s Produce is going to be at the market tomorrow and will have fresh dill if you wanted to give this a try.

Carrot & Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:
* 1 large cucumber, shaved into ribbons
* 2 medium carrots, shaved into ribbons
* 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/4 cup dairy-free yogurt
* 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

A few additional recipes:

My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (sallysbakingaddiction.com)

For my sweet tooth lovers, carrot cake. YUM

Parmesan Roasted Carrots Recipe - Cafe Delites

WEEK 6

We are HALFWAY through the season already; the time as always seems to be rushing by. The heat is turning up and it doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. Lots of water for us and the plants, specifically for less heat loving plants such as leafy greens and brassicas that are quick to bolt in the heat. Last season had less than favorable rainfall, but this season we have been plugging along with just a little bit too much rain. (I’m NOT COMPLAINING, promise!) Our outside plants are drinking in the rainfall and growing strong, which is what they will need to make it through the real heat that we all know is coming.

Cultivating our front garden, in my normal attire of overalls, messy bun and dirt for makeup.

Summer produce started to arrive last week and it's always a fun time of the year when your bags are a mash up of spring and summer crops, just like in the fall when summer produce mixes with fall produce. I’m hoping cherry tomatoes, and more cucumbers are starting to show themselves next week and new potatoes and candy onions are just starting this week. I do love a cold cucumber and sweet onion salad. I could make a whole shareable size bowl and eat it all myself!

As you all know I took a trip to Michigan last week. (I’ve included a few pictures from my trip below) I am originally from the mitten state, and I love going home when I can which, isn’t as often as I would like. When I was a kid, I couldn’t imagine why someone would want to move to MIchigan, but as an adult I realize what a mistake that is. I have lived in Ohio, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and visited many others. Honestly, they all have their charm but, Michigan offers so much more. If you haven’t thought about visiting or taking a summer or winter vacation to Michigan, talk to me, and I can give you several reasons why you should.

My kids (the ones old enough to stay) go every summer for 3-4 weeks and bounce between grandparents and their uncle (my brother.) They visit their cousins, go to the amusement parks, water parks, zoo, movies, museums, splash pads, the beach, whatever fair or festival might be going on, camping and one of their favorites boating. My dad lives on a lake, and they spend hours behind the boat tubing, surfing or knee boarding. Sending them to Michigan will give them lifelong memories of summers and fun.

We appreciate your understanding while I was gone, and Matt was trying his best last week! He did a great job but, he was ready for me to come back to work.

iF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
You can freeze green onions including the leafy green tops, the white bulb end, and the stem in between. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat. Stem and bulb portions become soft, while the green parts sometimes become tough
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Oregano must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
Parsley wash and dry thoroughly. You want to make sure no excess water is present as that can cause freezer burn. Cut the lower part of the stems. Place cleaned and dried parsley in a large freezer bag and push it down to the bottom.
With any herb you can also make a compound butter and freeze. Try this link for recipes: Herb Compound Butter Recipe - Love and Lemons or this one: Herb Compound Butter - Downshiftology
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Green Onions
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes (big maybe)
Zucchini
Cucumber
Beets
Cabbage
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 6/3/24 Kim Tennill 6/3/24

Summer CSA week 5

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO STORE IT

LETTUCE MIX - Store in a plastic bag loosely in your refrigerator. The ideal temperature for storing lettuce is at or near 32 degrees. Wash prior to use. Lettuce stores normally for UP to two weeks. $5

CARROTS- If your carrots have the tops on, take them off right away to avoid limp carrots. The tops like to suck the moisture from the root (carrot) which makes for lifeless carrots. Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months. $5

SPRING ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50

PARSLEY: Trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged. Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy (every few days $2.50

BEETS OR SWEET TURNIPS- cut off immediately. Store the roots in a bag in your refrigerator. Before use wash your beets., you can peel them with a knife or peeler, or you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will come right off. Turnips do not require you to peel them, but you should use prior to use. $6

BROCCOLI- store in a bag in the high-humidity vegetable crisper of your refrigerator for 3-4 days. I would highly recommend you wrap with a plastic bag to keep fresh for longer. KEEP IN MIND we try very hard to limit sprays and use of harsh chemicals on the farm. Broccoli and Cauliflower attract worms. Primary the cabbage worm and armyworms. You may consider soaking your heads in a sink or cool water to which you've added 1/4 cup of salt and 2 tbsp of vinegar. You will need to keep the heads submerged in the water for at least 20 minutes. Then pat dry and store. You may see a couple of “friends” in your sink after this process. $5 (1 pound)

TOMATOES- The best way to keep summer tomatoes fresh and full of flavor, store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight. $4 (1 pound)

As a reminder Kim is in Michigan this week and Matt and Kylie are holding down the farm. There will be no newsletter this week but, we will be back to our normal next week! We appreciate your understanding!

Matt and Kim

Kim Tennill 5/27/24 Kim Tennill 5/27/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 4

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

SPRING ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50

SWISS CHARD OR KALE - Kale loves the crisper drawer. Does well in a loose bag in your refrigerator. Wash prior to use. Stores normally for UP to two weeks. Swiss Chard will become limp and lifeless very easily. Gently wrap unwashed greens in paper towels and store loosely in plastic bags. Keep moist and cool in the lower part of the refrigerator in the high-humidity bin. Store for up to 5 days. but, have no fear you can still use it in lots of things if chard becomes a little lifeless! $5

HERBS - Oregano OR Parsley . $2.50

Parsley: Trim a little off of the bottoms of the stems so that they can take in more water. Fill a jar or glass partially with water and set the parsley inside. An inch or two of the stems should be submerged.: Cover the jar of herbs loosely with a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it becomes cloudy (every few days). The herbs should stay fresh for 1 to 2 weeks.

Store Oregano in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week.

BEETS OR SWEET TURNIPS- cut off immediately. Store the roots in a bag in your refrigerator. Before use wash your beets., you can peel them with a knife or peeler, or you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will come right off. Turnips do not require you to peel them, but you should use prior to use. $6

GARLIC SCAPES - Garlic scapes keep well in a plastic bag in the fridge for two to three weeks.$3

A quick note before we dive into this week, I am going out of town at the end of this week and Matt will be handling the day to day alone. I will NOT be sending out a full newsletter next week (week 5) in order to make it a bit easier on both of us while I am having a quick visit with my family in Michigan. I am however packing this one full in the hope that it will hold you over until week 6. I will be sending out a condensed version of a newsletter next week telling you what to expect in your box and how to store them. Thanks for your understanding.

VEGGIEs OF THE WEEK

BEETs, SALAD “SWEET” TURNIPS and garlic scapes

You're getting a “threefer” this week. Lots of recipes for beets, turnips and garlic scapes. If you received turnips this week you will get beets next week and vice versa. You should also notice this week that if you received kale last week you will have swiss chard this week and you can reference week 3 for recipes for those.

Honestly, I don’t think I touched a single beet or turnip in my life until 2 years ago. My family doesn’t eat them, I don’t know why, but we didn’t ever have them growing up. This is why it is shocking to me how popular beets are with turnips close behind. Matt and I were both shocked at how many beets we sell at market, which lead me down the path of finding out why, starting with trying them!

The simplest preparation I have found so far with beets is to wash them well, and then roast the heck out of them. Sometimes we cook them for as long as an hour. Once they’ve cooled, peel, chop, toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, I also don’t mind a little parm or asiago cheese added at the end.

My FAVORITE way to eat beets and lots of other veggies is in a breakfast I had at a restaurant in Michigan called Anna’s House. The dish is called Hippe Hash. It has two eggs cooked your way on top of a medley of slow roasted cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, radish and beets seasoned with garlic and ginger then served on brown rice with red potatoes. Finally topped with Monterrey Jack cheese and a dollop of sour cream. . You could also sub the radishes, since there are not any in your box and use turnips. YUM YUM YUM!! You can omit the cheese, sour cream and egg and just eat all the roasted veggies, but as is, this was so, so good. I have to assume the root vegetables were all slow roasted and the cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage were roasted separately. They might have been roasted together but separate from the root veg and then brought all back together at the end. I have yet to find a copy-cat recipe that fits this dish, but maybe my CSA members can find one as the season goes on. Beets and turnips stay fresh for a long time with greens removed, so you have plenty of time to find something to try. Save a few behind and try this as the other veggies come in.

A few others to try:

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Recipe - Love and Lemons

Whole Wheat Strawberry Beet Muffins Recipe - Super Healthy Kids

These look fun and something I might try with my kids!

Sautéed Beet Greens Recipe - Love and Lemons

Something to use those nutritious tops in!

SALAD TURNIPS (HAKUREI TURNIPS)

These particular vegetables should not be mistaken for purple top turnips. They are distinct and should not be treated as the same. Spring turnips are suitable for consumption in their raw state. They can be finely diced into matchstick-like pieces and added to spring rolls, or even eaten whole like an apple - even my 7-year-old enjoys them this way! One of my preferred recipes with spring turnips is adding them to my beef stew. This is a fantastic method to incorporate more nutritious vegetables into my children's diet. If your children are picky, you can pass these off as potatoes and they won’t know the difference! The Pioneer Woman's recipe, which I have frequently prepared, is absolutely delicious.

I understand that you may be tired of winter and the abundance of soups and stews, but I assure you that this dish is worth a try. Treat yourself to a warm bowl of this stew with a side of crusty bread before the summer heat sets in - you won't regret it!

A few quick notes about my version of this dish -

This recipe is also perfect in the fall when carrots, onions, turnips are really in abundance.
For those interested in a healthier alternative, I have occasionally substituted beef with venison cubes.
I have also omitted the parsnips and the parsley garnish is mine.
Lastly, I load the vegetables and beef into the pot. One small turnip isn’t going to do it for our family. We like to have a mix of meat, carrot and turnip in every bite.

Photo Credit: Eating Healthy Today by Oliva Adriance

Beef Stew with Root Vegetables Recipe | Ree Drummond | Food Network

Spring Rolls With Carrots, Turnips, Rice Noodles and Herbs Recipe - NYT Cooking (nytimes.com)

Feel free to interpret the spring roll recipe according to your preferences. You can generously fill them with a variety of vegetables. However, the real secret lies in the sauce, which perfectly complements the rolls when paired with a delicious peanut sauce. You can purchase a pre-made sauce over the counter or you can try the ones we added at the bottom. The combination of the refreshing coolness of the roll, the satisfying crunch of the veggies, and the subtle heat of the sauce will undoubtedly leave you craving for more. If you desire a boost of protein, consider adding chilled cooked shrimp while preparing the rolls. During our previous life in Columbus, GA, we discovered these delectable spring rolls at a charming Thai restaurant. Whenever we return to the area, we never miss the opportunity to revisit and indulge in this delightful dish.

Another recipe option for spring rolls with shrimp and peanut sauce -

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimp + Peanut Sauce (bigflavorstinykitchen.com)

The recipe below is very detailed and discusses the “tuck and roll” method well, when making your rolls. -

How to Make Fresh Spring Rolls | Fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls (whiteonricecouple.com)

Also! don’t forget your greens! Greens on root vegetables are not always beautiful and likely much cleaner in the fall, but if we have a good spring crop make sure to use your turnip tops! Try the recipe below, this chef is great at explaining in detail and with photos a step-by-step process to getting tasty bitter-less turnip greens.

Southern Turnip Greens - The Cooking Bride

Garlic Scapes

Garlic scapes are likely new for many of you which, means a little information is likely needed in order to know what to do with these seasonal treats.

Garlic scapes are the thin, green stalks that grow from the garlic bulb. They are long, curvy, and kind of look like a cross between chives and scallions. Garlic scapes have a more in-your-face garlic flavor, though they’re less spicy than raw garlic cloves. Once cooked, the scapes have a sweeter flavor similar to roasted garlic. My favorite way to use garlic scapes is to make a compound butter. Compound butter is great to add garlic flavor without actually adding garlic. The recipe below calls for Oregano and Parsley, You could save your herbs this week and wait until next week to get the other herb and make this. Simply follow the storage instructions and there shouldn’t be a problem. You can also omit some of the herbs and just use butter and the scapes.

Garlic Scape Butter with Herbs - Binky's Culinary Carnival (binkysculinarycarnival.com)

You can also try to this site which gives twelve ways to use garlic scapes.

How to Cook With Garlic Scapes | Bon Appétit (bonappetit.com)

Week 4

Welcome to week 4. We hope that you enjoyed your bag last week and that you were able to utilize all the items we packed for you.

You might not be aware, but I make it a point to plan out the rough structure of our weekly newsletter well in advance. As I write this, it is currently mid-February. I am deep into our seed calendar, product expectations, CSA marketing, daily monitoring of hundreds of tomato plants due to be planted in 2 weeks and hundreds of seed starts. I am certain that by the time this newsletter is published, we will be fully immersed in the hustle and bustle of farmers markets. Our children will be finished with their school year and diving right into their summer vacation. The weather will gradually become warmer, but this also means a list of seasonal challenges.

At present, we are facing early season challenges imposed by Mother Nature. It seems like every few months, she changes her course, presenting us with a new set of problems. Currently, the weather is transitioning from cool to warm, bringing with it the arrival of strong and persistent winds. As spring continues to move in, it will be accompanied by plenty of rainfall and a weird weather pattern of 60 degrees one day and 20 degrees the next.

Recently, our most pressing issue was the collapse of the new caterpillar tunnel we had erected during the fall. This unfortunate incident occurred due to the force of 60mph winds blowing from the south. In one moment, the tunnel stood tall, and in the next, it was gone. The neighboring tunnel also suffered damage, resulting in tearing of its plastic covering. Thankfully we can fix some of those tears and make it through the season.

When using a caterpillar tunnel such as this, they are more cost effective and quick to erect or take down but, they aren’t as structurally sound as permanent structures. We had one get taken down in the spring of 2023 by wind as well.

The tunnel that we lost holds 1000 strawberry plants and is important that we get it back up quickly. (UPDATE: as you all know from the last 3 CSA bags the strawberries did make it!) Matt made a phone call to his dad and thankfully he was able to come to the farm the next day. In true farmer fashion however, stubbornness is a pretty strong trait in Matt. He had sent the photo of the collapsed tunnel to a few friends, they immediately offered to help, and Matt assured them that he needed no help and between the three of us we could get it taken care of the following day.

We are grateful to have friends that don’t listen to Matt. The next morning, we had three vehicles pull up unannounced carrying 6 additional people making 9 of us to take down, sort, separate damaged pieces, fix weed barrier and plastic mulch, make lists of needed new parts, take Matt to town to get new parts and by the afternoon the place was cleaned up. While a little wonky it was standing again. We did 21 hours’ worth of work in 3 hours, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the help. I think we could have finished it in one day, but some parts had to be shipped in, including a second round of wind stability improvements. I swear there isn’t a wind like a Missouri straight line wind.

We want to give a special shout-out to long time CSA customers and friends, Waldon and Melissa Chevalier for disregarding Matt’s nonsense and rounding up your troops to help. We especially thank State Representative Kurtis Gregory for stopping out to help. We are a very, very small business and appreciate his willingness to take time out of his busy schedule to assist a small farm in their time of need. He didn’t know us before today and yet he was willing to show up and help, which speaks for itself. (PS: He’s the guy in the orange!)

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Lettuce, Kale and Swiss Chard will store for at least 7 days. We wash and spin dry your lettuce one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware.
You can freeze green onions including the leafy green tops, the white bulb end, and the stem in between. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat. Stem and bulb portions become soft, while the green parts sometimes become tough
Rosemary can freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking
Fresh oregano must be used quickly. Whether it's homegrown or purchased, oregano should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag, it may extend the life up to one week. You may also extend the shelf life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass. Fresh oregano can also be frozen. Before doing so, though, wash and dry the fresh oregano sprigs. Strip whole leaves from stems and place in plastic bag loosely without crushing but remove all air.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs
Green Onions
Lettuce (head or mixed)
Turnip
Beets
Broccoli
Kale
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes (big maybe!)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 5/20/24 Kim Tennill 5/20/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 3

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

STRAWBERRIES - Airtight containers are always best, preferably glass. DO NOT wash your berries until you plan to eat them. $7.50 (COULD BE THE LAST WEEK!)

RADISH - Remove the greens from the root. If you choose to keep the greens, wash them and then store wrapped in a damp paper towel in a bag. Place in the crisper of the refrigerator. The root can store up to two weeks in the fridge in a plastic bag. Wash before use. $5 (LAST WEEK!)

RED SPRING ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. $2.50

KALE OR SWISS CHARD - Kale loves the crisper drawer. Does well in a loose bag in your refrigerator. Wash prior to use. Stores normally for UP to two weeks. Swiss Chard will become limp and lifeless very easily. Gently wrap unwashed greens in paper towels and store loosely in plastic bags. Keep moist and cool in the lower part of the refrigerator in the high-humidity bin. Store for up to 5 days. but, have no fear you can still use it in lots of things if chard becomes a little lifeless! $5

Week 3

Welcome to week 3. We hope that you enjoyed your bag last week and that you were able to utilize all the items we packed for you. Here at the farm, we have been busy seeding, weeding, planting and harvesting. We are only a few weeks away from our fall planting of winter squash. Did you know many winter squash varieties require a minimum of 100 days before they are ripe for harvest? Considering our limited planting area, it becomes crucial for us to meticulously plan and adhere to our planting schedule.

As many of you are new to our CSA and honestly, many of our veteran vendors may not have had proper introductions, we thought now would be a good time to introduce you to team members that you might come in contact with during the season.

We, Matt and Kim Tennill, are the proud owners of Triple H Family Farms and serve as your dedicated farmers. We have owned our farm since 2012 and started farming for market in 2017. Matt and I work together on most things on the farm but, Matt primarily takes charge as our contractor, tractor driver, equipment fixer, root crop harvester, and pest management supervisor. On the other hand, Kim efficiently manages all computer-related tasks, farm market setup, customer service, and daily farm operations. When you visit the farmer's market, it is highly likely that you will encounter either one or both of us.

Matt and I have been married for 18 years and we are blessed to have 6 children. (yes, we too are shocked we have that many kids) Our children's ages range from 2 to 22, and four of them still reside with us at home. While spring and summer demand our attention and dedication to the farm, during fall and winter, we shift gears and focus on our children's extracurricular activities, school events, holidays, and family vacation. During the spring and summer, we look like the two images above, but during the winter we do try to look like the last picture (ha-ha). This picture was taken in Mexico and it has become one of our favorite places to visit in the off season. We have taken our children who LOVE to travel and get out of school for a week to swim, snorkel, explore and stuff themselves with unlimited treats while we’re there.

Introducing a new addition to our farm this year is our dedicated team member, Kylie. Kylie is a 3rd year college student at Maryville University studying Agriculture. Her primary responsibility is overseeing our wash/pack station but, you may see her at a market or two this year. She will be in charge of keeping track of production brought in from the field, ensuring the appropriate amounts of vegetables and fruits are allocated for market or the CSA program, maintaining cleanliness in various areas such as the shop, totes, trailer, walk-in cooler, and more. Our wash/pack station has been a significant bottleneck for both Matt and I over the past couple of seasons. By hiring someone to manage this crucial area, we aim to enhance our overall efficiency and gain more time to concentrate on expanding our crop production.

Our last team member is our second son, Wyatt. Wyatt is 16 and is going into his junior year of high school. He enjoys participating in FFA, hunting, fishing and any outdoor activity involving wheels! Many of you have seen him at the market last season and you will see more of him this year at our stand or with his partner Paul of Black Arrow Farms selling sweet corn as part of their SAE project. He helps drive the tractor, run errands, cleans, seeds, plants, harvests and occasionally runs the checkout at market. Wyatt is our overall fill-in person and helps wherever he can.

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

Swiss chard and kale

Swiss Chard is not an overly popular product and sometimes gets placed in the runner-up category to spinach. It is easily recognizable with its brightly colored stems, which you can eat and taste similar to celery. It can be cooked with the stems attached or eaten raw in salads. Larger leaves have tougher stems, so separate them and give the stems a few minutes head start when cooking. Stir chard into stews and soups, or blanch or sauté it, like spinach. Leaves can be cut in small ribbons and added to rice/quinoa/pilaf/egg dishes or salads. It is an extra source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, and dietary fiber.

Kale has had a moment in the sun, but it seems to be losing its 15 seconds of fame. There have been seasons that we don’t have enough and others where we can’t give it away for free. Kale is low calorie and contains calcium, vitamin B6, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K, Usually, when something’s this good for you, it doesn’t taste good but, even though kale can taste pretty similar regardless of what it’s paired with, it can go with so many different foods including kale chips, smoothies, quiche (a favorite!), omelets, stir-fry and soups.

Simple Swiss Chard Recipe - Love and Lemons

1 bunch Swiss Chard
1.5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
pinch of sea salt, more or less to taste
Lemon wedge, for squeezing
Freshly ground black pepper
Slice the stems off the chard leaves and chop the stems into 1/4-inch slices. Coarsely chop the leaves.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chard stems and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add the chard leaves, garlic, salt, and several grinds of pepper, and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the leaves are wilted.
Turn off the heat, squeeze a little lemon juice over the chard, and toss. Season to taste and serve.

Photo Credit; Taste of Home, Over the Rainbow Minestrone

This recipe I have not done but, I am going to! It looks delicious. I know we don’t have all the vegetables yet (we will in the future!) but, you might be able to get a few from other vendors.

Over-the-Rainbow Minestrone Recipe: How to Make It (tasteofhome.com)

This is a yummy option for kale. My kids don’t even realize there is kale in it!

Bacon Cheddar Kale Quiche - Garlic & Zest (garlicandzest.com)

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Make sure your strawberries are still good and if you absolutely must - freeze them. You can do this whole if needed and later use them for a quick strawberry jam or make ice cream topping for ice cream! Fresh local berries are super sweet and we don’t add any sugar when we make ice cream topping. Smash them up until your desired consistency and add on top of vanilla ice cream.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Lettuce, Kale and Swiss Chard will store for at least 7 days. We wash and spin dry your lettuce one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill

NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Carrots
Herbs (Oregano, Sage, Parsley or Rosemary)
Green Onions
Lettuce (head or mixed)
Beets
Turnips
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale/Swiss Chard
Strawberries (maybe)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 5/13/24 Kim Tennill 5/13/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 2

WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT

STRAWBERRIES - Airtight containers are always best, preferably glass. DO NOT wash your berries until you plan to eat them.

SPINACH - Maintain loosely in a bag in your crisper drawer. Wash well prior to use. Stores normally for one - two weeks.

SPRING ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week.

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

SPRING ONIONS

Shockingly, I realized today that after 7 years of vegetable farming I don’t have a single decent photo of spring onions, better known as green onions. I have no idea how that has happened, so shout out to Johnny Seeds for their picture of green onions.

As with all of my other posts I seem to use the words I love or I like a lot, well guess what, I LOVE green onions. I love the smell; I love the taste and I love using them as much as I can, fresh from the garden. I always look forward to a few certain easy recipes when certain produce comes in from the fields. Green onions are so easy with a small amount of cream cheese, wrapped in a thin slice of ham or prosciutto. YUM YUM YUM. A great cool and easy snack in the warming months. My grandmother would make these at Easter as an appetizer and I was more into chocolate bunnies then ham and onions but, 30 years later those chocolate bunnies are the last thing I want. Funny how our taste buds change and develop as we get older.

Ham Roll Ups - Easy Appetizer Recipe (joyfilledeats.com)

Green Onions are great because you can use the entire plant, minus the tiny roots. The tops are perfect as a garnish or just to eat. I use the tops (chives/scallions), in eggs or omelets, salads, on top of bean dip or tacos, in compound butter, in dips, soups, on top of baked potatoes, salsa, potato salad, the list is endless. The onions have a nice crisp taste and are sweeter rather than spicy. I use them in much of the same way as the tops.

Perfect Baked Potato Recipe | In the Kitchen with Matt

We are fast entering grilling season and a great baked potato is always easy and delicious. For simplicity I always use my pressure cooker to make baked potatoes and I love a good Yukon Gold. They are creamy, soft and tick all the boxes for me. However, their skin isn’t crisp like this bad boy is in the picture. A nice crispy skin russet with butter, sour cream, cheese, green onions and rock salt…..again you know I’m going to say YUM YUM YUM. You can also make this a meal instead of a side dish and make it a loaded potato with pulled BBQ pork or chicken. Also, a favorite in our house.

A few others to try:

Easy Stir Fry Vegetables – A Couple Cooks

You can substitute the red onion for green onions instead.

Air Fryer Breakfast Frittata - Recipes From A Pantry

This recipe uses spinach too and is in an air fryer!

Green Onion Dip - A Dash of Megnut

Easy summer dip.

Week 2

We are currently finding our groove again in managing the farm and preparing for the start of the first tomato harvest, which fingers crossed is sometime in the next couple of weeks. Although we stay occupied throughout the year, tomato season is when we truly become swamped with work. Pruning, trellising, cultivating, scanning for pests is a daily chore, but I have to tell you, standing back and looking at a clean, pruned, trellised and organized greenhouse gives me all the warm and fuzzies.

This is from 2023. We will try not to let it get this bad in 2024!

I feel warm and fuzzy just looking at the clean organized rows forced into the chaos jungle.

One other struggle we are staying on top of much better this year, although they are still a huge problem is aphids and ants. They are the bane of my existence. If you didn’t know some ants “farm” aphids similar to how we farm cows or sheep. Aphids feed primarily on the sap from plants and secrete a liquid called honeydew. This secretion is very sugar-rich, and quite favored by ants as a food source. To add to our issue, we found out the hard way, high levels of nitrogen fertilizer favor aphid reproduction. We made a major switch in our fertilizer two years ago from a synthetic to a more natural option. While we like the new fertilizer, the recommended amounts for each crop were too much and the aphid population exploded, which then attracted the ants. (The picture below is from fall of 2023)

This is the top of a bolted carrot loaded with aphids.

Aphids themselves are not difficult to control, but you add in ants that want to protect the aphids, their food source, and the process is much more difficult to manage. Ants will kill beneficial insects, such as ladybugs to protect their food source. Ants will also take aphids with them to overwinter, and aphid eggs are extremely hardy and can survive cold winters. We had to increase our efforts tremendously, rotate in crops that aphids are less attracted too and utilize methods to reduce the population multiple times until manageable numbers can be reached. We are doing much better this year but, insects can become a problem and ruin an entire crop quickly if you’re not vigilant in scouting your fields and monitoring your crops.

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these three tasks:

Make sure your strawberries are still good and if you absolutely must - freeze them. You can do this whole if needed and later use them for a quick strawberry jam or make ice cream topping for ice cream! Fresh local berries are super sweet and we don’t add any sugar when we make ice cream topping. Smash them up until your desired consistency and add on top of vanilla ice cream.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Lettuce, spinach will store for at least 7-10 days. We wash and spin dry your greens one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. The best way is with a hand crank salad spinner. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware. Greens will hold for 7-10 days.
You can freeze green onions including the leafy green tops, the white bulb end, and the stem in between. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat. Stem and bulb portions become soft, while the green parts sometimes become tough.

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Strawberries
Kale
Swiss Chard
Carrots
Herbs
Green Onions
Lettuce (head or mixed)
Spinach
Radish
Turnip
Beets

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Kim Tennill 5/7/24 Kim Tennill 5/7/24

Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 1

IT’S WEEK ONE!!!!!

Welcome! We are excited to have both new summer CSA members and our returning veteran folks. This year, we are thrilled to have your support for small businesses and local farms. We have a wonderful selection of produce planned for the next 12 weeks and we are excited to get started!

By now, you should have received a welcome email with information about your pick-up location and day of the week. In our welcome email, we mentioned that we have changed a few things for our 2024 CSA season. For our veteran CSA members, we have some exciting news - STRAWBERRIES, finally! These lovely, red, and sweet beauties will be available for you this week. Additionally, we have extended our CSA by two whole weeks. We understand that many members are disappointed when the 10-week period ends, so we are working on gradually adding more options to lengthen or shorten your CSA experience.

One of the changes we've made is that we will no longer be sending generic last-minute emails during the hectic summer season, which includes eliminating Kim yelling, “I’m sending an email soon” as you're picking up your bag! (Veteran members will know what we mean. lol) Instead, we have taken charge of our winter “break,” or rather good coffee and maybe a little Irish Cream has taken charge and allowed us to better utilize the time. This newsletter will include multiple recipes and storage information to help you make the most of your CSA bags every week. We hope that this new format will energize you for the season and encourage you to try new vegetables and recipes, expanding your culinary repertoire.

Furthermore, we will include short updates on the farm in each newsletter. These updates may include recent developments or events that have taken place on the farm. We have received requests from multiple members to know more about us, the farmers. We understand that pick-up locations can be busy, and we haven't always been as accessible as we would like. So, consider this newsletter as a glimpse into our crazy farm life.

We appreciate your support and trust in us. We couldn't live this life without you. As we embark on this journey together for at least the next 12 weeks, we ask for your well wishes and prayers if you're the praying type. Thank you once again for being a part of this community.

Warm regards,

Matt and Kim

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

STRAWBERRIES - Airtight containers are always best, preferably glass. DO NOT wash your berries until you plan to eat them. Please keep in mind these berries are outside and may have a little dirt with the storms we have had recently, which resulted in some splash back on the plants and fruit. $7.50

SPINACH - Maintain loosely in a bag in your crisper drawer. Wash well prior to use. Stores normally for 7-10 days in the crisper drawer. $5

HERBS: You will have EITHER Rosemary OR Sage this week. $2.50

ROSEMARY - In the refrigerator 10-14 days in a bag, possibly up to 4 weeks in a jar of water. Room temperature on the counter: 2-3 weeks if in a jar of water, this is how I store it, however I usually use it up in the first week!

SAGE - Wrap the sage leaves in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Make sure to use the leaves within four to five days.

ROMAINE HEAD LETTUCE: Whole heads of lettuce are perfect for stacking on sandwiches or serving as the foundation of salads. Leave the heads intact and do not wash until you’re ready to use them. Whole heads of lettuce will stay fresher much longer than chopped pieces or individual leaves. Place in a lightly vented bag and store in your crisper drawer. Can store for up to 7 days. $6

VEGGIE OF THE WEEK

SPINACH

Our second bestselling leafy green. When we asked our customers about their preferred uses for spinach, the most common response was in salads, closely followed by smoothies. Spinach is so much more than salads and ground up into smoothies. It is incredibly nutritious and highly versatile.

Our Spinach is grown under cover to protect from those heavy spring rains. It is seeded early, and we cut from the same spinach plants once a week over a period of 4-5 weeks, weather dependent. Spinach loves cool weather and cool, moist soil and will be relatively quick to bolt once the weather turns warm. If you're not a fan of raw spinach, you are my people. Personally, I enjoy incorporating spinach in pasta dishes or lightly sautéing it. Additionally, for all the moms and grandmas out there looking to sneak in some nutritious goodness into your little ones' meals, my favorite trick is to finely chop spinach and mix it into meatloaf. They won't even notice!

My go-to meatloaf recipe is from the website Spend With Pennies. A few notes that I have made are:

Replacing ground beef with ground lamb and lean pork. (We always have ground lamb and pork which is why I use it often)
Instead of the recommended breadcrumbs I use a delicious Jalapeño and Cheese bread that is made at the farmer’s market. It adds an extra depth of flavor and is so, so good.
I occasionally make the meatloaf sauce. I use Heinz no-sugar added ketchup or another kind that has ingredients I can read and understand without corn syrup. The brown sugar is enough extra sugar. Adding in typical ketchup would add 1 teaspoon of sugar per 1 tablespoon of ketchup which, can add up quickly with how much my kids like ketchup.
I don’t use a loaf pan. I shape into a loaf and place on a sheet pan.
When I mix everything together, I put in 1/2 - 1 cup of finely chopped spinach. It doesn’t change the flavor or any other part of the dish.

SAUTEED SPINACH

**Photo Credit: Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews**

Sautéed Spinach Recipe - NYT Cooking (nytimes.com)

Super simply sauteed spinach recipe from one of my favorite places to get recipes, NYT Cooking.

Best Creamed Spinach Recipe - How to Make Creamed Spinach (thepioneerwoman.com)

Creamed spinach would also pair great as a side dish to meatloaf.

Chicken Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo- The Salt and Sweet Kitchen

I’m also a fan of a good alfredo and love a simple and quick version with simple ingredients. This one adds mushrooms, which is also something I love, but can be omitted.

Photo Credit: Rose at The Salt and Sweet

ADDITIONAL RECIPES To try this week

I LOVE to make compound butter with left over herbs. It is so easy to make. The compound butter cubes are fragrant and add so much flavor to our food. Try this recipe

Compound Butter (How to Freeze Herbs) - Carmyy

Your lettuce leaves should be big enough to make Wilted Lettuce. I know traditionally it is only green leaves that are used, but we have made it with mixed lettuce and it was delicious. You could also use your Romaine as well.

Southern Wilted Lettuce with Hot Bacon Dressing Recipe (thespruceeats.com)

I haven’t tried this recipe but, I’m intrigued. Roasted Radishes.

Roasted Radishes - Healthy Recipes Blog (healthyrecipesblogs.com)

What’s Been Happening Here

Over the past year, we have experienced a whirlwind of events, but we have successfully navigated through them and reached several of our goals! One of our biggest goals has been to fulfill the constant need to build and add infrastructure to allow the farm to be sustainable long term. We were able to complete the addition of not one, not two, but three high tunnels. These structures consist of two permanent tunnels, measuring 30'x96' each, and a third one that we built ourselves. For the third tunnel, we utilized a hoop bender and applied the knowledge we gained from erecting six tunnels prior. This particular tunnel is designed for quick assembly and is often referred to as a caterpillar tunnel. The name stems from the unique method of securing the ends of the plastic cover by wrapping it around a stake, which creates a distinctive caterpillar-like appearance, as shown below.

Photo Credit: Farmers Friend and Dubois Agrinovation

Our new structures have added an additional 4,500sq ft of bed space, which doubles our previous space under cover, and gives us as farmers more control while providing a much better growing environment. High tunnels are an integral part of our farm, and we are beyond pleased that our expansion is complete allowing more time to direct our focus in other areas.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these three tasks:

Make sure your strawberries are still good and if you absolutely must - freeze them. You can do this whole if needed and later use them for a quick strawberry jam or make ice cream topping for ice cream! Fresh local berries are super sweet and we don’t add any sugar when we make ice cream topping. Smash them up until your desired consistency and add on top of vanilla ice cream.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Lettuce, spinach will store for at least 7 days. We rinse and spin dry your greens one time. You should rinse and dry again before consumption. The best way is with a hand crank salad spinner. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware. Greens will hold for 9-14 days.
Sage you can freeze. Wash and pat them dry, remove the leaves from the stems, and pack them loosely in freezer bags for up to one year. Be mindful that freezing will intensify the flavor of the herb, so you will want to adjust accordingly for cooking purposes.
Rosemary can also freeze. Wash sprigs thoroughly and dry them well. Leave the leaves on the stem and arrange the sprigs on a baking tray so that the individual stems do not touch − this prevents the stems from freezing together and makes it easier to remove individual sprigs later. Place the baking tray in the freezer for a few hours to freeze the rosemary sprigs. Once frozen, transfer the rosemary sprigs to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Frozen rosemary can be stored for a year or more. Frozen rosemary sprigs do not need to be defrosted before cooking.
(Shout out to Plantura magazine for these herb freezing tips!)

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

Strawberries
Kale
Swiss Chard
Carrots
Herbs
Green Onions
Lettuce (head or mixed)
Spinach
Radish
Turnip
Beets

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!