Erehwon Farm CSA Newsletter Week 15 of 19  September 19, 2005 Farm Report Rain came in at about .7 for the week which is about what we need to keep everything green.   Our glorious fall weather is here again with a noticeable change in the intensity of the sunlight, a crispness in the air, and mild temperatures.  The greens are improving with the cool weather so we should have nice lettuce, spinach, spicy mix, arugula and others for our final weeks.   We noticed this week that the leaves were disappearing from the tops of the tomato plants and closer inspection revealed that an army of hornworms were clear cutting the greenery.   The consensus from our helpers and volunteers was, “Yuk!  I’m not touching that!”  Of course the upshot was that yours truly was relegated the task of picking them off and squishing them in the dirt. Ick!  We will try to have some on display next Sunday.  You can see a picture here: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/hornworm.htm Volunteers continued to help this week.  Jane Casey went through the tomato patch like a buzz saw and brought back loads of fruit (apparently not deterred by the hornworms or maybe did not spot them).  Bimla Kecht came out on Wednesday with her friend Magdalen (who hails from Italy) and their two children and they harvested more tomatoes for us.  Bimla took home some eggplant and tomatoes and promised to make an Indian dish for Sunday.  Magdalen is hoping to come, too, and might even make a bit of authentic Italian Pizza. Yum!  On Friday, Barb Hicks came and picked herbs for the market – not an easy task filling all those little bags!  She also weeded the herb garden and it is now the one area of the farm that really looks neat! Also on Friday, at the St. Charles Farmers’ Market, Robin Migalla put performed an outstanding cooking demo (see her “Beautiful Kale writeup below) to promote the eating of our favorite plant,  kale.  She put together a cooking cart with a stove and all her ingredients and we provided the green stuff.  Soon the smell of onions was wafting among the shoppers and many came to have a look and then stayed to have a conversation with Robin and a plate of delicious kale.  It was awesome!  If anyone from the Food Channel happened to be at the market, I’m confident Robin will have a new career offered to her.  We sold all the Kale we brought!  To provide more help to kale, which cannot speak for itself, we are considering the creation of the American Kale Society.  We may run kale for office (Michael Moore once ran a ficus plant for Congress)!  Maybe a sports team – hear the techno rock music, see the flashing lights and fireworks, and watch the Chicago Kale skate out onto the ice!   Thanks Robin! Finally, I happened to visit the Fresh Market store next to Lowe’s in Geneva to look at their produce.  I have to say that most everything looked great and I got some ideas about how to improve the cosmetics or our products a little.  There were some very nice heirloom tomatoes from Elburn ($5.00 per pound, yikes!) and some fingerling potatoes ($3.00).  The greens looked good but were certainly not as fresh as what Erehwon offers.  I talked to Wendy the produce manager and found out some details about becoming a supplier for them next year. From Your Garden This Week Standard shares should include: (subject to change of course)   Lettuce Spinach Tomatoes: Various kinds.   Potatoes – Carribe Red Winter squash Carrots Jumbo shares may also include raspberries, strawberries or a melon, kohlrabi Extras:  Pick  3 or 5 for jumbo subscribers plus one herb. Beets Spicy salad mix (to spice up your salad) Arugula (to spice up your life) Mizuna (mild, for salads) Salsa pack (tomatillos, cilantro, and hot peppers) Eggplant Sweet Peppers (3)  (We have a lot so if you want a larger quantity of various colors, just say so.) Hot peppers Bag of red/brown/orange mini sweet peppers Red Cabbage Mini Cabbage (2) Kale Chard Summer Squash Gourd – Various shapes and sizes. U-Pick:  Grape tomatoes, dried beans Herb List Dill(,We have dill heads for pickling. An extra consists of 10 heads and additional heads can be purchased at the rate of 5 for $1.) Regular dill. Basil—regular, lemon, lime, Thai, dark opal (purple with a wonderfully strong flavor)(pesto sized bag available if you ask) Chives, Cilantro, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint—spearmint, Oregano, Parsley—flat leaf or curled,  Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Winter Savory Pages from Grandma Beth’s Cookbook I found this on the Internet: Winter Squash Peeling winter squash can be a challenge to the novice. The thin-skinned varieties (acorn, butternut, delicata and sweet dumpling) can be peeled with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Most recipes using these varieties call for cutting the squash in half. Position the squash on a cutting board, stem end facing you. Place the blade of a heavy chef’s knife horizontally along the length of the squash. With a hammer or mallet, repeatedly hit the back of the blade near the handle to drive it into the squash until it breaks in half. Place the larger varieties (Hubbard and Turk’s Turban) on newspaper and use a sharp cleaver to split the hard-rind open. Or use the chef’s knife method described above. Once you have a slit cut, bang on a hard surface and pull apart. Pieces are easier to peel. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and strings and discard, or set aside if you plan to roast the seeds. For instructions on roasting seeds, visit our website Pumpkins and More and substitute squash seeds in the recipe. To cook winter squash, place unpeeled pieces cut sides down on a shallow baking dish and bake in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes or longer. Check for doneness by piercing with a fork or skewer. When tender, remove from the oven and allow the pieces to cool. Spoon out the soft flesh and mash with a fork or process in a blender or food processor. Peeled pieces can be cut into cubes and boiled until tender. Use with any recipe calling for cooked mashed or pureed squash. Or microwave the squash pieces on high for 15 minutes or longer. Small acorn squash and spaghetti squash can be pierced in several places with a long-tined fork or metal skewer and baked whole. Piercing prevents the shell from bursting during cooking. Place the squash on a baking dish and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 325°F. Test for doneness by squeezing the shell. When it gives a bit with pressure, it is done. Stuffed Acorn Squash 3 acorn squash 4 medium apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped 1 small orange, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped 1 cup cooked diced ham 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup butter Cut squash in halves crosswise; remove seeds and fibers. Combine apples, orange, diced ham, brown sugar, and butter. Spoon mixture into the squash halves, dividing evenly. Place halves in shallow baking pans. Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes in a preheated 350° oven, or until tender. Variations Try leaving out the ham and adding raisins instead. Wrap in foil and cook on the grill. Add nuts—I think walnuts would be good. Peel and cut up the squash and combine ingredients in a casserole dish instead. (Good for children (or husbands) who might be fooled by the sweetness into thinking this is NOT a veggie dish.) Announcements Farm Day: September 25 Farm day activities are beginning to shape up and we have a tentative schedule of events:   We are aware of the possibility of rain and have some backup plans to keep you dry. 3:00 Erehwon opens its gates.  We should have some balloons posted at the driveway entrance on Route 38. 3:00 – 8:00 Relax in the grassy area and meet your fellow subscribers. 3:30, 4:00, 4:30 Farm Tour.  See how we grow your stuff!  Burn your fingers in our hot compost!  Watch a demo of how we make raised beds with Tim at the wheel of our JD! 3:30 to 4:30 Face painting (Katie Bartel is looking for a source of materials so if you know where to buy them, let me know ASAP.) 4:00 Julian Miller will show how he makes an eggplant dish. Taste Bimla’s special Indian eggplant and Tomato recipe (If anyone else would like to put something out for tasting, we’ll have a table set up.) 3:30 to 5:00 Veggie scavenger hunt run by Grandma Beth. 3:30 to 5:00 Draw a farm picture and post on our board (Alexis Compton, Beth’s granddaughter). 4:00 to 7:00 OD Tapo IMI Steel Drum Band (Gerard and Sandy Brillowski) 5:00 Potluck Supper 5:30 – 6:00 Farm History Talk:  Jerry Johnson of the Garfield Farm Museum will tell us about where our farm came from. 7:00  Come ‘round the fire and make s’mores (provided by Georgine Bosak) and sing your favorite tunes along with Betty Sanders. Notes:  Bring your chairs and a folding table would be great.  If you arrive much before 5:00 you may put food into one of the refrigerators in the west end of the chicken coop (closest building to the grassy area.  We are looking for volunteers to help us clean up and set things up at 11:00 a m. next Saturday. Farm Pickup Times Wednesday Pickup:  Starting Wednesday, September 28, we would like to change the hours to 4-6:30 because it will be getting dark earlier.  If you cannot get to the farm by 6:30, call Beth’ s cellphone ( 630-346-1503 )and she will bag you order and leave it in a cooler on the table for you (you can drive right in, get your bag, and continue around the circular drive. Friday Pickup: Since some of our extras, such as herbs, are unsold items from the Friday Farmers’ Market in St. Charles, and Beth gets back to the farm about 2 p.m., if you could come after 2:15, it would help us have time to get everything onto the tables. Beth is offering a discount to subscribers on perennials: 6” pots $4 (6/$20) and 4” pots $2 (6/$10) including herb plants to grow indoors durng the cold months.  Check our web site http: //erehwonfarm.com/I-PlantSale.html for a partial list of perennials.  Delivery subscribers can order by email and we will deliver. Kale, Beautiful Kale By Robin Migalla Yes, kale is truly beautiful.  As a matter of fact, it is so beautiful that Pizza Hut, the largest consumer of kale in the United States, uses it to decorate their salad bars.  While Pizza Hut may cherish the beauty of kale as decoration extrodinare, the rest of us would do well to look at its nutritional properties. Around the towns of Bremen and Oldenburg in northwestern Germany there is a whole culture around kale.  Sometime in the month of January, most social clubs will have a "Grühnkohlfahrt" ("kale tour") where members will visit one of the inns to consume large quantities of kale, sausage and schnapps.  Most communities in the area even have a yearly kale festival which also includes naming a "kale king." Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) is an edible plant in the cruciferae (mustard) family.   Cruciferae in Latin means, “forming a cross.”  This term comes from the fact that the four petals of the flowers of cruciferous plants appear to form a cross.  All of the cruciferous vegetables are high in isothiocyanates (pronounced eys-so-thigh-o-sigh-an-ates).  These powerful phytochemicals are what make vegetables like kale the best cancer preventative foods. Kale and collards are the two cruiciferous vegetables nearest to their ancestral cabbage-like plants.  With little hybridization, kale remains one of the most nutritious vegetables.  As a matter of fact, kale has the highest anti-oxidant abilities of ALL leafy green vegetables.  One of these anti-oxidant nutrients is lutein.  When it comes to lutein, kale is the “top dog” in the entire fruit and vegetable kingdom.  There is strong evidence lutein protects against cataracts and macular degeneration.  It also has been implicated in keeping the carotid arteries cleared of plaque. Another medicinal property of kale is its vitamin balance.  With its high vitamin K, potassium, calcium, vitamin A, and folate content, it’s an important food to prevent osteoporosis and give us healthy bones and teeth.  It’s also rich in chlorophyll, vitamin C, protein, amino acids, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, manganese, copper, and selenium.  Basically, kale is some really powerful anti-aging medicine. Kale can be a bit of a challenge to even to most skilled wizards of the kitchen.  A couple of key points to remember is that kale needs plenty of cooking time.  It also needs the aid of a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to make it tender.  Finally, it needs a fat source to liberate the many fat-soluble nutrients like folate, lutein, and vitamin K.  What follows is a delicious recipe that is also quick and easy to help you make use of this king of nutrition. Sautéed Kale and Onions Ingredients: 1 bunch of fresh kale 1 large yellow onion - chopped Juice of ½ a lemon Olive oil 1 to 2 tbsp. butter Wash and dry the kale leaves and remove the stems.  Chop the kale into 2 to 3 inch pieces.   Heat a large iron or stainless steal skillet over a medium-high heat.  Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the onions and sauté until clear being careful not to burn them.  Add the chopped kale to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the kale has turned bright green.  Next pour the lemon juice over the kale and cover the skillet tightly.  Stir occasionally for 15 to 20 minutes until the kale has turned a dark green.  The longer the cooking time, the more tender the kale will become.  Just prior to serving add the butter. Today’s cooking demo was presented by Robin Migalla, Erehwon CSA subscriber and head of the Elgin Chapter of the Weston A. Price Association.  She can be contacted at rmigalla@earthlink.net  . We Get Mail Hi Tim, for extras this week I will have, beets, broccoli and spicy salad mix. See you on Wednesday. You had asked what other veggies we would like next year; ginger, garlic bulbs, more potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, celery, more onions, more parsley. Also, brussel sprouts and okra. I noticed the jumbo orders get fruit, I will definately get a jumbo order next year and would love to see some fruit every week. I'm going to miss your produce this winter. I am making sure I freeze a lot of tomatoes to remind me of the great organic produce I got all summer. Bimla Thanks for your great ideas.  We plan to greatly improve our garlic output next year and also our green onions so we can have them all season.  We have a good supply of parsley this year so just ask for a big bag of flat or curled if you want some.  We’ll have to research how to grow ginger and sweet potatoes.  We have planted several apple trees and hope to plant more this fall.  We will also plant more raspberries and strawberries, and melons so, hopefully, everyone will get some fruit.  We have some volunteer sugar snap peas that came up from peas that fell on the ground in August so we will plan more plantings next year.  We will pant brussel sprouts and okra and celery.  tf