Erehwon Farm CSA Newsletter week 4 of 19 – July 3, 2005 Hello subscribers on this Fourth of July, 2005.  Sorry to be a little late with our newsletter but we were involved with a family gathering.  Hope all of you are taking a little time to rest and to reflect on the great history our country and it’s strengths that have allowed us to endure so well for so many years, even in the face of so many challenges like those we are now facing. Farm Report:   Eight days in a row of 90 degrees or more!  Could this be a preview of global warming?  If so, in 2020 we may be offering all kinds of exotic fruit in our CSA: figs, bananas, papayas (Gotta look at the positive side!).  The leafy vegs, especially lettuce, tend to turn bitter in this weather so it has been a bit of a challenge to keep production up until the warm-weather crops are ready.  Cabbage, broccoli, and related crops are not too happy in this weather, either.  Regardless of the weather, pests, and diseases, Kale rules!  And not only is it   superior grower, it looks great, keeps growing late into the fall and is one of the most healthful foods around, at least according to this web site: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38 Squash, tomatoes, peppers, and beans are all looking good and only the eggplants are having difficulty: the flea beetles continue to snack on their leaves.  Hopefully, one of the organic sprays may slow them down a little.  Volunteers turned out in great number this week:  Arsenio Sala helped water and clear out old crop residue, Robin Migalla helped water and weed the fruit area, yanking out some pigweed that was nearly as tall as she!  The Suevels and their army of offspring marched through the pea area picking the big old tough pods and clearing all the weeds.  A number of subscribers took up our offer to pick peas to take home and thanks to these efforts, the plants have started to flower again and we should have more peas, please.  Karen Kulzer helped us recycle excess seedlings and potted plants, Rebecca helped with peas and harvesting, and Barb Hicks helped with harvesting.   Barb came back on Saturday to pick up some produce for the Aurora Homeless Mission and stayed to weed the squash patch.  She worked long after I dropped out, claiming backache, and finished the whole thing! And, piled up the weeds to put in the compost pile.  Awesome!   She was so determined that I think I actually saw some weeds, seeing Barb coming, pulled themselves up and ran for cover in the adjacent soybean field!  Jeanine Clark took some extra peas and greens for the KARE animal rescue in St. Charles – said the critters really appreciated the gnarly peas.  We deeply appreciate the help from the volunteers.  This is a building year for us and their additional help makes it possible for us to work on projects to improve the farm. I’m thinking of running an ad in the local paper:  Erehwon Heath Club Accepting New Members  Come for a weekly workout in our fine outdoor facility.  No membership fees to pay!  No long-term contract to sign!  Good upper body workouts and squats.  Improve your hand-eye coordination in the privacy of our fenced pea area.  Complete soil body rubs to improve your health.  Personal trainer is on-site and available to help.   What to Expect this Week Garlic – I’m planning to pick the first of the hardneck garlic and will name the variety next week.  We should have several different varieties and would appreciate your feedback if you have a favorite. Lettuce Small bags of arugula, mizuna(pointy leaves), komatsuna (rounded leaves), and tatsoi (darker green, rounded crispy leaves) I know some of you (Dana G.) would prefer a few less of these but I’m trying to keep the subscriber bags full until to good stuff is ready. Baby beet greens Jumbo Orders should get a few baby carrots, small squash, cauliflower big basil, and maybe something else. (We give jumbo orders the first pick of new items that are available in limited quanties) Extras (Pick four this week)  Note:  Delivery customers need to respond by email, farm pickup subscribers do not.) Onions Kale Kohlrabi Sugar Snap Peas Garlic Scapes Swiss Chard (last week I to substituted spinach for chard because I wanted to let the plants grow some.  Small bags are available this week. Spinach (small bags.  It looks like we are finally getting the hang of growing spinach.  We are planting some every week – keep your fingers crossed.) Herbs:  We have a full selection.  This week you can ask for big basil and big cilantro. For Sale:  Seasonal flower arrangements.  Beth will provide small arrangements similar to those she sells at the farmers’ markets for $6 or 2 for $10.  (Arrangements are about ½ the size of the arrangements subscribers get with the flower option).  Arrangement will be available on the farm on Wednesday and Friday afternoons and can be ordered by delivery customers. Beth will also quote a price for larger arrangements or multiple bunches for parties.  She will be starting a weekly delivery to local businesses that would like an arrangement for their lobby or office.  Delivery customers should leave a check to cover the cost in the cooler after they pick up their bags and flowers. Question of the Week If there is something you would like us to grow that we are not growing, I would be happy to try it out.  I can still get seeds and plant most crops or will try for next year.  Let me know your suggestions. What we Need on the Farm We have an immediate need for a used refrigerator – don’t care what it looks like but needs to work well enough to keep vegs cool.  Have a budget up to $50 and will pick it up. We will also take plastic pots to recycle, especially one-gallon and larger. Subscribers may bring grass clippings, weeds, leaves, and other non-woody yard waste for the compost pile.  You can also leave vegetable scraps but no meat or dairy items do not compost well and draw animals.  Please no dog or cat waste as they contain pathogens that remain in the soil.  Take home a bag of finished compost if you like; we have a screen available to get the woody stuff out. Pages from Grandma Beth’s Cookbook Sorry about missing last week. I had a graduation party on Saturday and went to visit my daughter on Sunday. It wasn’t until I got home on Sunday night that I remembered about the newsletter. So I owe you a recipe, but I‘ll wait until later in the season when there is more stuff to work with. Last winter Tim bought a bunch of those salad bags of greens. (I think they were buy 3 get 1 free or something.) I was desperately trying to use them up before they went bad. One night I had planned on making a pasta dish I make quite frequently during the winter and then serving a side salad. Somewhere during the process I got lazy and decided to combine the two dishes. It works well with any greens that do not need to be cooked. Since you all have been getting a lot of greens lately, you might be interested in trying this recipe. I don’t have a name for it. Sauté chopped onions and garlic in olive oil. (How much you use depends on your taste. I personally believe there is no such thing as too much garlic, so I tend to use a lot. I also like this dish with a lot of onion.) Add canned salmon. (Canned tuna, canned clams, or fresh salmon or tuna would also work well. If you are a vegetarian, you can leave the meat out.) Add lemon juice to keep from drying out. Add some vegetables (I like frozen corn in the wintertime, but sugar snap peas, broccoli, or summer squash will also work well.) I also add capers and sometimes herbs (maybe a little lemon basil, oregano, or thyme). Heat through (if adding raw vegetables, cook until the veggies are the desired degree of doneness). Spoon over the greens while still hot. This will wilt the greens a little bit, but if the greens are already a little past prime, this will mask that fact. Serve with grated parmesan cheese. We Get Mail Baby summer squash, mint, and basil will be welcome at our house as extras this week. Thanks so much for the continuing stream of delicious fresh veggies. Hope you have those killer beets started for later in the season! I can't wait to get back to my pickled beets and eggs... Jane Halteman I have identified a section of our beet row labeled “Jane’s Gnarly Beets.” No one will be allowed to pick those beets until they are the size of softballs.  tf Hi Tim, This week, we'd like to try some kale, baby summer squash, thai basil, beet greens and spinach. If the spinach just gives up on you, then whatever baby green is available. The greens from last week were great. Everything has been just great so far! A suggestion for where to donate extra food is the People's Resource Center in Wheaton. They run a food pantry and Saturday is a long, busy day that runs until 3 or so. They also have a clothing bank, computer training, ESL, etc. Best, Jen PG Thanks for the suggestion.  The resource center looks like a great place for helping low- income people.  We will do some checking.  tf Hi Tim - the flowers were beautiful! Can't wait to see what comes in our next delivery... As for extras, we're still working on last week's salad greens. We've added some of our own harvest to the mix. We'll take some kohlrabi, garlic scapes and summer squash in this week's delivery. Hope you got some of this evening's small rain shower! Thanks, The Tortorici's We did get  about .45 inch of rain last week which was very helpful – now if we could get just a little more… Hello Tim and Beth, We think of you out there sweltering daily and continue to petition the Heavens for rain. I'd like as many scapes as you can spare -we love them on everything! It is however difficult to cut up such a form lovely plant and I've done a few sketches. I'll grow some of my own next year but in the meantime I'd love more. We'd also appreciate some basil. Thanks for publishing letters; I find myself lifting recipes every week. All best, stay as cool as you can, Jenny “…lifting recipes…” Are you doing this for a workout? Do you print them out on heavy paper first before you lift them? Seems like you might go for something a little heftier like, say, bales of hay.  tf Hi Tim-I am back from NJ and enjoy reading the newsletter each week. If supplies allow, I would love to get some extra baby squash, thyme, any kind of basil, and mint. I am especially looking forward to your tomatoes-tomatoes are my favorite and I hope to make several batches of homemade spaghetti sauce this year. Betty S. Tomatoes are coming, I hope by the end of July.  I hope also for a heavy harvest so we can offer some extras for like-minded people.  tf Hello, Tim & Beth! We are so delighted to be receiving your produce again this summer and especially enjoying salads with such delicious and varied greens. Our 3-yr-old daughter, who has a fairly limited repertoire when it comes to veggies, has also gotten excited about the sweetness and crunchiness of sugar snap peas and the fun of counting how many peas are inside each pod. Thank you! Peace, Dennette Alwine Yep, another Lombardite who enjoys exciting activities like counting the number of peas in a pod.  Well, I suppose if you get some data from enough pods, Beth (who, by the way, has a master’s degree in statistics) could crunch (pun intended) the numbers and write an article for the newsletter. PS:  The oatmeal bread was outstanding – we finished it up with some peas we cooked up at the farm on Friday – dipped it in the garlicy olive oil. Yum!   Ok, I am finally emailing back! The following are ones we would particularly like (and we are having a hard time eating up all of the green leafy lettuces, so we could probably reduce that a bit). Kohlrabi Garlic Scapes Baby summer squash Thank you Tim and Beth, everything has been wonderful, and the flowers always look great in the middle of our hectic kitchen.   Dana G. Jeanine Clark says  reptiles really like those greens – maybe Keith or Lauren could get a pet turtle or boa to help out.  ;-) tf Hi Tim, Well my rain dance has not worked yet. We thought for sure we would get a little rain yesterday. Anyway, I am glad you survived delivering during Swedish Days. For extras, if we could have spinach, swiss chard (is this baby? We got that red spotted green last week, I put it in salads – it was good). Definitely beet greens – great juiced and great eating! Arugula and Kohlrabi. And, can I purchase some Basil and Cilantro? I can leave a check or cash if you let me know how much it will be. Our tomato plants are in pots, I am hoping I will do you proud and grow them big and healthy. Thanks for all the hard work you do to make our meals great. God willing, I will get a day to come out and help – between work and my Mom I am lucky I get to eat the good veggies! Thanks again! The red spotted green was a lettuce variety called “freckles,” available from Johnny’s Seeds.   I saw your tomato plants strategically placed on the path I use to make deliveries to your home.  Please be kind to them; I’ll be watching.  tf Hi Tim, Chris Davis Lafeber of the JUMBO order here...also, fellow Californian of 50 years. Our housesitter did not understand about the pick up last week...she thought it was a farmer's market. Anyway, she will be by this week, on Friday afternoon. I would like regular basil; mint; thyme; oregano; marjoram; chives; cilantro; garlic scapes; chard; kale; baby mizuna greens I love fresh herbs and salads...(obviously) and am excited about them. I love flowers, too... even edible ones! Thanks for all your hard work. Chris Yes, miss that California...nice to be able to visit my parents, sisters and daughter out there along about the middle of January.  “So what are you doing on the farm to get the ground ready for spring planting?  We just put in our peas.” they say.  “Nothing. The ground is frozen, two feet down.” I respond.  Their uncomprehending looks convince me they are clueless.  tf Hi Tim, I have the "Jumbo" order, but it seems to be too difficult for you to fill on Fridays right after the Farmer's market. Would it be easier to fill my order if I got it on Wednesdays instead? Please let me know asap. Thanks, Chris Davis Lafeber Our apologies to all who had to wait on Friday.  We got behind in out harvesting and in addition some of the crops we had planned to harvest were available in limited quantities because of the drought and hot weather.  Your garden management team is working hard to improve the situation.  tf Hello Tim- I just sent over a check for $30 for delivery to the Elgin drop off location. Please let me know where I should pick up my veggies on Tuesday. Thanks for accommodating me, I will no longer have to make a mad dash to Elburn every week :) -Noreen Thankfully, one less crazed driver streaking along the back roads of Campton Township. Message to tailgaters: I’m not deliberately driving slowly – my old (13 yrs) truck just doesn’t have as much poop as it used to (me too). tf