Harmony Valley Farm

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T11:56:00.000-06:00

What would you think if you got this monster sweet potato in your CSA box? (The coffee mug is for scale)

It weighed in at just under 7 pounds.

Happy Thanksgiving, eat well and be well!

First Snow!

2011-11-10T16:40:00.000-06:00

It's hard to take a picture of a snowstorm, but it was actively snowing during salad harvest today! Yesterday was actually the first snow, you can see it in the rows between beds. It snowed more on the ridge and actually stuck, but it's been a little warmer here in the valley. Warm enough to make a muddy sloppy mess.

Our crew is dwindling, as the guys go home for the winter. We'll have another bunch leaving after next week's work and only a small crew through the CSA deliveries in December. Then things really slow down, enough for a very small crew to handle things until spring. I'm already thinking spring!

Persimmon Bread

2011-10-31T13:20:00.000-05:00

Still have some persimmons hanging around? Or did you like them so much, you bought more?

Here is a recipe I made last week, adapted from (James) "Beard on Bread".
It is super moist and delicious! Great for with coffee or chia for breakfast or as a late night snack!

2 c APF
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
4 oz butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1/4 c brandy
1 c persimmon bread (about 4 blended)
1 persimmon, diced
1 /2 c pecans, walnuts or hickory nuts toasted and chopped
1/4 c coconut shavings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together: flour, salt, soda, spices and sugar.
Combine: butter, eggs, brandy and puree.
Stir wet ingredients into the dry and thoroughly combine.
Fold in diced persimmon, nuts and raisins.
Pour into a greased loaf pan and top with coconut.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. Lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top to prevent the coconut from over browning. Test center of bread with a skewer. Bread is done when the skewer comes out clean.

Los Hermanos Morales Peralta

2011-10-26T16:39:00.000-05:00

Rafa with Iceberg

The H2A is a special agricultural visa that allows Mexican farmers to journey to our farm for the growing season and return home for the winter. We are fortunate to have many referrals of friends and family from our longtime seasonal H2A workers and this is how we met the Morales Peralta family. We are fortunate to have such a smart, energetic and friendly family working with us!

Rafael

Manuel

Jenny, Ramon, Vicente, Manuel

We first met Manuel Morales Peralta in the spring of 2009, when he arrived to work at our farm with his first H2A visa. The third child in a family of 4 boys and 4 girls, Manuel kicked ass his first year! He came to us with tractor skills, a twinkle in his eye, and a beautiful singing voice. We trained him in on irrigation and he helped Vicente keep all the fields well watered. Since then, he’s become an integral part of the harvest crew and our primary salad planter. You have him to thank for the contents of your bagged mixed greens! Just by watching and assisting our previous salad planter, he has learned quickly how to operate the machine at the proper pace and settings, and the plantings improved once he took over. Because of his experience on the harvest crew, planting accuracy has increased. For instance, from his years bunching cilantro, he knows that we plant it in five rows and that is how he does it. If you plant it in 15 rows, your plants can’t thrive and you get a poor stand, meaning no cilantro! He is rightly & justifiably proud of the most recent salad plantings – the fields are brightly colored, vibrant and with extremely straight rows!

Manuel’s little brother Rafael is so pretty. Andrea and I wish we had his skin and sculpted eyebrows. Last year he was going for the Mexican Amish look, but this year he’s gone 1985 preppy! He can pull off either look, let me tell you. His first season with us (2010), his housemates convinced him to be their cook every night of the week – that is how good he is! Chef Katie worked side by side with him at last year’s farm parties, learning his techniques for salsas (sauces) and goat/pig preparation. Along with Angel, he built our new underground oven for pig & goat roasts.

Rafa really likes learning new skills and is not afraid to ask for new, different and more work. Like his brothers, he is mechanically inclined and quite clever. After a frustrating season of crop losses due to bugs, pests and uncontrolled disease, Rafa took over our spraying program. We use organically approved products to protect plants from disease and attempt to control flea beetles during vulnerable parts of the season, and Richard has been able to rely on Rafa to defend the fields with the sprayer. Rafa maintains the equipment, fixes it as needed and figures out the formulas for mixing the sprayer solutions. Again, because of his experience on the harvest crew, he has an intimate knowledge of the plants and fields. While he is out in the field, he does “scouting” for Richard, looking for worms and bugs and fields that need his attention. Then Richard can hand him a map with the acreage of that crop and Rafa can figure out how many gallons of solution to make for that job. Just like his brothers, he takes pride in finishing the job, doing it well and then moving on to the next task. There is very little wasted time with these guys!

Manuel, aka Caleman

Alvaro is the latest addition to our family, from theirs. One year older than Rafa & several younger than Manuel, he had worked previously in Mexico and the U.S. with horses and other animals. He is a skilled horse trainer and wise guy. Even though this is only his first year here at our farm, because of his excellent English language skills, great attitude and mechanical aptitude, Richard has been able to train Alvaro in on a number of new jobs and make him crew leader.

The three brothers work well together and have done a great job taking over the FMC harvest duties. The FMC is a root harvesting machine that takes 3 skilled operators: Two tractor drivers that have to stay in sync, driving alongside the harvest bin on a trailer, keeping it under the harvest elevator, operated by the third man. Besides watching the steering cylinder and making other adjustments, you have to watch your speed and turn the elevator on and off appropriately. Richard has seen people struggle to learn all the techniques and learn the subtleties of this machine, but Rafa learned fast. With confidence, he can grease and maintain the machine and fix it in the field if it breaks down. With finesse and skill, he can get those first 4-5 feet of harvest rather than driving over it as he gets properly lined up.

Rafael, selecting discs

As with our other H2A employees, these guys have a desire to do things right and to please us, their employers. They want to learn everything about working at the farm and they say they want to work here the rest of their lives. Besides a great work ethic, they have proven to be consistent and more than willing and able to do hard physical work. Once when the FMC was broken down, the harvest crew challenged themselves to do the job faster than a machine would – and they did!

Alvaro

The Morales brothers are family men. We had expected to see Alvaro in 2010, but he decided to stay home and help his family from Mexico while one of their sisters was seriously ill. They each have a wife at home, raising the children and keeping the home fires burning, until Papa gets back home from work – in 6-7 months! It takes a lot of motivation to leave your family for half the year, but they do it to build better lives for themselves and their extended families. But they have certainly enriched our lives while they are here in the U.S., and we all certainly would not be eating as well without their efforts in the fields.

Feeling Peachy

2011-09-14T13:58:00.001-05:00

I like to make a big mess when I'm canning. Hopefully you can keep your canning space tidier than mine!

We had a couple of cases of beautifully ripe peaches hanging out so, we decided to put them up!
I canned 16 quarts of peach quarters and 8 pints and 5 jam jars of peach jam!

To can peaches you must first peel the skin off. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, score the bottoms of the peaches and toss them in the water for 30-60 seconds. If your peaches are a little firm, let them stay in the water for 60 or more seconds to soften them up. Then let them cool in a bowl of ice water. The skins should come off very easily. From here you can make the canned peaches and jam!

Peach Quarters
6 c water
2 c honey
quartered peaches

Bring water and honey to a simmer. Stir to dissolve honey and remove from heat.
Fill the jars with the peaches then fill with the simple syrup.
Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Peach Jam

This recipe calls for a special type of pectin that is low in methoxyl. This pectin reacts with calcium to thicken rather than sugar. This allows you to make jams and jellies that are full of rich fruit flavor, undiluted by large amounts of sugar. I used Pomona's Universal Pectin which comes directions for making all sorts of jams and a Jamline in case you have questions! I used the basic recipe in the package and then added cinnamon, allspice and crystallized ginger!

4 c peaches
1/4 c lemon juice
1 T 1 t calcium water

1/2-1 c honey
1 T pectin powder

Bring peaches and lemon juice to a boil. If you are using other spices or flavoring agents, now is the time to add them!
Add the calcium water.
Mix pectin with honey and add to fruit. Stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes to thoroughly dissolve and distribute pectin. I used a potato masher to mash up large chunks of fruit.
Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Fill your sterilized jars to 1/4 inch from the top, lid and process in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Everybody Loves Jack

2011-08-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

I can dive for rocks in puddles and creeks of any depth

Meet Captain Jack de Wilde, the official Hospitality Coordinator at Harmony Valley Farm. Somebody quick, make him a cape! Besides somehow being so dang cute all the time, he does put in a full day at the farm. Read all about it in this week's CSA newsletter!

Very Zen in the snow

I love winter. Throw me some snow.

Total spaz.

Jack and his friend Joe

I am proud to represent the best farm ever, Harmony Valley Farm

Meet the Crew: Packing Shed Supervisors Logan & Jenny

2011-08-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

Logan

This spring we had the opportunity to hire not one, but two great people! Jenny and Logan joined our packing shed crew within weeks of each other. They’ve both fallen into their roles here based on their varied skills and interests. While they both share the job of packing shed supervisor, they also have their own responsibilities. They have been a tremendous help with maintaining inventories, receiving product, managing pest control, monitoring and enforcing food safety procedures and records, managing seeds, ordering supplies, and much, much more! We’re glad to have them both as part of our team.
We asked them to interview each other for this week's CSA Newsletter.

Jenny

Can Do!

2011-07-31T21:45:00.004-05:00

Today I heated up my apartment in Madison with some canning!

I am working on putting up some of my rhubarb. I'm a little behind, I know.

BUT today I made a big dent in my freezer stock pile of HVF produce!

17 jam jars of rhubarb-strawberry jam
10 pints and 1 jam jar of rhubarb BBQ sauce
2 pints of drunken dark cherries (not from HVF, but from Wisconsin)
1 jam jar of drunken cherry molasses

All that and I'm not done yet! I still have a gallon bag of rhubarb to save for another day!just finishing up the bbq sauce!

What have YOU been canning or want to can this summer??

Coming Soon - Melons!

2011-07-18T15:27:00.000-05:00

Tasty personal sized melons, perfect for CSA boxes or gobbling up in one sitting.

¡Ajo!

2011-07-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

Richard thinks the crew will finish the garlic harvest by Saturday. It's looking good, real good. Not as great as he would have liked, but that's the way it goes. With our porcelain garlic you are always hoping for nice, big heads but this year they are a little smaller than he would have liked.

The bunches are drying in the greenhouse now, grouped in bunches of 15 or 20 and organized by variety.

Sorry folks, but we have to save the very biggest as seed garlic for next year's crop. No worries, there will be enough for the CSA boxes for the season and then some.

Just in time for the Garlic Dinner at Harvest in Madison!

July Days

2011-07-08T17:13:00.000-05:00

The big news is that the new truck arrived today, just in time to load for the Madison CSA deliveries!
Our old Mac delivery truck is nearly obsolete - at least finding replacement parts to keep it in good running condition was certainly difficult. It was just time to make the change.

Pictured left to right: Rogelio (Madison delivery driver), Juan (mechanic & market truck driver), and José Manuel (Madison delivery driver).

Benjamin

Fresvindo

After such a slow, cool spring I think we're finally catching up. Sometimes it's all or nothing, hurry up & wait, you know? Richard promised me melon pictures, so we'll get those up soon.

Juan Diego

We're harvesting some very interesting items for our CSA members, including radish pods - new this season!

Living Piggy Lives

2011-06-27T13:33:00.003-05:00

The pigs were just too cute today. I had to take a few pics of them!

At first, they weren't too sure about me... they maintained a safe distance.

But then their curiosity got the best of them...

Hoping to find some snacks!

I had to reward their trust with some left overs from lunch.
These piggies eat well!

After their photo shoot, they were simply exhausted. Nap time!

menu for June 27-July 1

2011-06-24T14:36:00.002-05:00

Another week has flown right by. A rainy week but that doesn't stop the flurry of activity at Harmony Valley Farm. Time to post the next weeks menu.
Lunches
Monday-Orange beef and barley stew*Leafy green salad with grapes*biscuits and jam
Tuesday-Hamburgers and rolls with condiments and cheese*Roasted Potatoe salad*Strawberry Ice Cream
Wednesday-Chipotly Beans, Rice and Tomatoes*Corn muffins* fresh fruit* Vegetable and greens salad with creamy vinaigrette
Thursday-Vegetable and beef lasagna*Whole wheat rolls*Leafy green salad with fruit
Friday-Pulled pork wrap with slaw*Pasta salad with vegetables*fresh fruit

Dinners
Monday- test recipes
Tuesday-Chefs choice
Wednesday-Pepper steak with mashed parsnips and carrots
Thursday-Stir-fry with vegetables and cashews*fresh green salad
Friday-Pot roast with loads of vegetables

menu for June 20-24

2011-06-20T10:39:00.002-05:00

lunches
MONDAY-Grilled Flank Steak*Creamed Baby Turnips and Radishes*Onion Batter Bread*Fresh Grapes
TUESDAY-Pit cooked Goat*Tortillas*Vegetable Couscous*Green salad
WEDNESDAY-Vegetable Au Gratin*Fruited Quick Bread*Red and Green Leaf lettuce Salad with nuts, seeds, and creamy vinaigrette
THURSDAY-Beef and Vegetable Kabobs with mushrooms*Basil Rice with greens, almonds, raisins and garlic*Lettuce salad with citrus vinaigrette
FRIDAY-Lentals a Ditalini pasta with Ham*fresh green salad * Nectarines

DINNERS
Monday-test recipes for broccoli raab
Tuesday-Egg yolk raviolis and beef cheeks
Wednesday-Spare ribs with Kohlrabi batonnets
Thursday-Salmon patties, rice pilaf, steamed vegetables
Friday-Cajun beef wraps with sauteed onions, fruited Quinoa

98 degrees and climbing ( or so it seems)

2011-06-07T18:56:00.002-05:00

The sun is beautiful but so hot the last two days. I think I could put the crews lunch on the picnic table and it would cook itself in the sun. At least in the kitchen (although it is hot) I don't have the sun beating on my head like the crew does. They are holding up amazingly, drinking lots of water and wearing hats. Tomorrow will be 89, a cool down.

Coming Soon

2011-06-06T10:33:00.000-05:00

Andrea just put the preliminary box plan on my desk. If all goes well, here's what you'll see in your upcoming CSA boxes!
June 16-17-18
Garlic Scapes, Scallions (white or purple), Strawberries, Mini Green Romaine Lettuce, Mini Red Leaf Lettuce, Bok Choi, Yukina Savoy, Spinach

June 23-24-25
Garlic Scapes, Sugar Snap Peas, Scallions, Kohlrabi, Fennel, Mini Red Leaf Lettuce, Strawberries, Green Top Carrots, Broccoli Raab, Napa Cabbage

June 30-July 1-2
Fennel, Iceberg Lettuce, Green Top Carrots, Broccoli Raab, Kohlrabi, Napa Cabbage, Green Beans, Strawberries, Sugar Snap Peas

Menu for June 6-10

2011-06-03T14:40:00.002-05:00

LUNCHES:
Monday--Hamburgers and rolls with all the extras, Baked beans, Curried pasta and fruit salad
Tuesday--Pork mushroom and barley pilaf, mixed green salad with baby bok choi, cranberry, apple and pear crisp
Wednesday--Vegetable and bean burrito, spinach salad, applesauce
Thursday--Ragout of Beef with carrots, parsnips, onions, and green garlic, Couscous with raisins, Persimmon Cake
Friday--Smoky Pasta soup, whole wheat rolls with jam, mixed green salad with apples

DINNERS:
Monday- available soon
Tuesday- available soon
Wednesday- Radish soup and Grilled cheese sandwich
Thursday- Hot and spicy pork salad with Yukima savoy, arugula and spinach salad
Friday-Spinach rice pilaf with meatballs, green salad

Menu for May 30-June 3

2011-05-31T16:57:00.002-05:00

Monday-Ham and creamy corn chowder, mixed green salad, buttermilk biscuits with pear jam
Tuesday- Beef wraps with mixed lettuce, chipotly mayo and chopped jalaenos, Ancho Chile red rice, Rhubarb Sauce
Wednesday-Mac and Cheese with green chilies, mixed green salad with citrus vinaigrette, stewed tomatoes
Thursday-Meatloaf, mashed sweet potatoes, pickled ramps, rhubarb and raspberry cobbler
Friday- Taco hash topped with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, Soft polenta and green salad with red wine vinaigrette

DINNER
Monday-Hamburgers and Fries
Tuesday-Tenderloin and risotto
Wednesday-Ham steak with green lentils, mixed green salad with apple cider vinaigrette
Thursday- Sirloin roast and Quinoa with green onions and mushrooms, asparagus
Friday-Oriental Pork Chops with peanut noodle salad, mixed green salad with sesame vinaigrette

Field Update 5.26.11

2011-05-26T16:43:00.000-05:00

The first sweet peppers, under cover. The hot peppers (jalapeño and habañero) still need to go in the ground.

Lettuce and fennel, transplanted earlier this month. In this cool weather, only growing slowly (but surely).

Today's spinach harvest. The first of the spring planted spinach - delicious and nutritious!

Farmer Richard touring the fields, checking out the weed situation and the plant progress.

Enough with the rain and cold (frost tonight and tomorrow!)! We want some sunshine and warm days.

That shiny field is our onion field, from up above.

Mid May Update

2011-05-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

Blueberry blossoms are so lovely! The currants have fruit, and the early strawberries are in blossom. We're taking advantage of every dry day to transplant and direct seed. We finally had a couple nice warm days and things are really changing and growing now! It seems like the leaves on the trees unfurled, filled in, turned darker green overnight!

These lettuce transplanting pictures were taken at the beginning of the month, May 5 I think. Notice our goat herd in the pasture across the road (and how few leaves are on the trees). It takes 7 people to transplant! One tractor driver, three guys pulling plants out of the trays and depositing in the funnel, and three to follow and make sure the plants/seedlings are safe and secure in the ground.

Here's the valley today (Friday) - much darker green and warm, finally!

Our new asparagus patch is looking healthy. We planted it last year and we'll be able to have a limited harvest next year. We have several older patches that continue to produce well, just not quite enough.

Here's the Super C tractor, with the covered strawberry field in the background.

Besides looking forward to strawberries, we also have spring radishes, arugula, salad mix, rhubarb, Hon Tsai Tai, Egyptian Walking Onions, spring spinach, and Yukina Savoy to dream about. Coming soon to a CSA box near you!

Green Garlic and Egyptian Walking Onions

2011-05-23T10:31:00.002-05:00

Lunch for May 23-27

MONDAY - Vegetable and Ham Penne, Green Salad with Green Garlic Vinaigrette.
TUESDAY - Hot Dogs with Texas Hot Sauce and chopped onions, Pasta Salad with chives, carrots, and Egyptian walking onions, baked beans
WEDNESDAY - Lentil soup, Spinach and Arugula Salad with Curry Vinaigrette, Whole Wheat Rolls
THURSDAY - Stir Fry Beef with peppers, Egyptian Walking Onions, and Arugula, Green Garlic rice and a Fruit crisp
FRIDAY - Black Bean Chili, Green salad and Habanaro Cheese, Cornbread and butter.

DINNER

MONDAY - Green Garlic and Egyptian Walking onions test recipes
TUESDAY - Steak Frites and Green Salad
WEDNESDAY - BBQ Spare Ribs with rhubarb chipotly sauce, and Arugula/spinach Salad
THURSDAY - Tuna Melt, Mixed Green Salad
FRIDAY - Sesame Pork, with rice and greens, Asparagus

Strawberry Fields Forever

2011-05-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

I was afraid the strawberries didn't even have blossoms, but the early ones do. Whew! They are covered to hold in heat and protect those precious flowers from a frosty night - we're not quite out of the woods yet, where that is concerned!

Looking back at last year, what a difference! Less than one year ago we had Strawberries on our Farmer's Market stand! One week later, they were in CSA boxes.

Last year there was actually concern that the strawberry season would be over and done with by the time our Strawberry Sunday event rolled around! This year, the exact opposite: Will there be berries for our friends to pick on June 19???

It usually works out, just not exactly how planned. So while last year our CSA members visited the farm and got to pick the last of the strawberries, it looks like this year they'll get the first!

Spinach, Arugula, and Watercress

2011-05-17T10:58:00.002-05:00

It's all about Spring and Spring greens, this week the menu is:

LUNCH
Monday-Hamburgers, Spinach salad, Sunchoke Salad, Potato Salad
Tuesday-Curry Pork with Parsnips and ramps, Maple roasted carrots and black radish.
Wednesday-Vegetable Cheese Quesadillas, fruity Barley Salad
Thursday-Pot roast with lots of vegetables, Harvard Beets, Green salad
Friday-Beef Lasagna with Habanaro rhubarb and Chive radish cheeses, spinach and arugula salad

DINNER
Monday-White lasagna with spring veggies, apple salad
Tuesday-Faleful pitas, carrot salad
Wednesday-Morel cream sauce over Sirloin, penne, steamed asparagus
Thursday-Pork with red chili sauce, spiced coconut spinach
Friday-Quiche with spinach, ramps, sorrel, and cheese, roasted veggies

Spring greens, nettles, sorrel, and spinach-yum

2011-05-07T08:37:00.004-05:00

This week we are utilizing spring greens in the salads, galettes, and soups.

Menu for May 9-13
Monday-Chili corn chowder, Corn and ramp muffins, Sunchoke salad, Spinach salad
Tuesday-Szechuan BBQ pork, Mashed parsnips, Sauteed spinach and ramps
Wednesday-Black bean pot with sweet potatoes, Brown rice, Baked pears with dates
Thursday-Spicy porcipine meatballs, Roasted vegetables, Red cabbage and apple slaw
Friday- Tomatillo Pork soup, Brown rice, Corn tortillas, Apple muffins

Dinner
Monday-Citrus pork chops with couscous
Tuesday-Falafel pita with carrot salad
Wednesday-Sirloin roast, Beets with horseradish sauce, Mashed potatoes with roasted ramps
Thursday-Ham steak, Galettes of Spring greens with Brebis cheese, (sorrel, nettles, spinach)
Friday-Tuna Penne in a creamy vegetable sauce, Watercress and orange salad

Have a great week and eat with the seasons bounty

Ready, Set, Ramps!!

2011-05-01T14:54:00.003-05:00

Get ready for ramps in this week's CSA box and newsletter!!

2011-04-29T16:42:00.003-05:00

What a lovely day, sunny and reasonable warm for the next to last day in April. I finished the menu for next week so want to post it. We had 12 more workers start today so beginning Monday we will have 45 for lunch.

Monday May 2-Beef Pot Pie with Herb Biscuit topping, Fresh Fruit Cup
Tuesday May3-Spanish Rice, Spinach Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette and Jenny is having a birthday today and she is bringing cookies for everyone.
Wednesday May 4-Vegetable Barley soup with sorrel fresh from the fields, Whole wheat dinner rolls, Raspberry jam and fresh Apples.
Thursday May 5-Soft tacos, Brown rice, Black beans, German Chocolate Cake for Richards birthday. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Friday May 6-Sage Pork and Cheese Strata, Roasted Potatoes, and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

DINNERS
Monday-Braised Beef Cheeks, Sweet Potato Pangratlato, Caramelized ramps and turnips
Tuesday-Stuffed Cabbage over Brown rice, Salad
Wednesday-Spinach and Cheese Omelette, Sweet Potato Hash
Thursday-Brandy Pepper Steak, Mashed Parsnips, Salad
Friday-Pork Scallopine over Brown Rice, Spinach Salad

2011-04-22T12:08:00.003-05:00

The last week in April now onto May flowers.
The menu for this week is:

Lunches
Monday-Beef Stew and chili corn muffins
Tuesday-Meatloaf with braised cabbage and fruit cup
Wednesday-Potato Corn Chowder with ramps and sorrel, Apple Cobbler
Thursday-Ham and Scalloped Potatoes and Baked Beans
Friday-Beef Fajitas with refried beans and brown rice.

Dinners
Monday-Orange glazed Ham and nutty Couscous Salad
Tuesday-Indian style lentils, spinach salad
Wednesday-Beef Bourguignonne
Thursday-Pasta Primavera
Friday-Loin Pork Chops and barley salad

Have a great week-end and eat healthy and deliciously.

snow, and more snow

2011-04-21T14:56:00.003-05:00

Hi friends and neighbors,

What a week. Snow is not entirely new to April but I was not ready to slip slide down the pathway to the barn carrying hot food for the crew. We are feeding them in the upstairs of the barn until the weather allows us to be outdoors again. Happily, I didn't fall or lose any casseroles and I thank Kelly and Tom for helping me carry everything. Life would be so boring if everything went according to plans.

Next week my menu will include: sorrel, chives, parsnips, ramps, and spinach. I will try and get it posted tomorrow.

Today I gave the crew, Curry Pork Ragout over Brown Rice and Sherry roasted root vegetables. No leftovers, not even in the compost bucket. Now that's what I call a good day.

See you tomorrow.

April Snow Showers bring...

2011-04-19T18:10:00.000-05:00

It's still snowing! We had to give up the field work today - the crew could no longer find the ramps on the hillside because the snow was getting so deep.

It's kind of a rude welcome to our crew from Mexico, but they are taking it in stride. They are just like my dad (in AR), rubbing it in - "At home, it's hot & sunny and I'm in my shirtsleeves"

Like Michael said, as long as I don't have to shovel my driveway! We are just tired of it - this winter wonderland is not as pretty in April as it is in December. We got some onions transplanted into the field yesterday, but we're not sure when we'll get out again - this week's forecast does not look good for getting out while it's dry. We'll have a new spring update newsletter posted soon, with updates on everything that has been going on! Drive safe and stay warm-

2011-04-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

We harvested the first of the ramps last week for Farmer's Market! Richard had a busy Saturday, despite the rain and chill.

87 pounds of ramps

Our first group of Mexican H2A visa workers made it "home" to Wisconsin early on Sunday! It's so good to see and hear them again. Lots of Spanish language on our 2-way radios, lots of chatter in the greenhouses and hopefully lots of smiles, songs and whistling at the end of the day. And of course, 17 heartfelt hugs from me this morning. What a way to start the day.

Irma and Nina are busy transplanting our edible violas in the flower tunnel. The nasturtiums are sprouting from the dirt, but we'll need the violas in the meantime. Look for them in your first bags of HVF salad mix.

I had a wonderful weekend in Minneapolis, where I attended the Seward CSA Fair. It was amazing to see the number of people looking for a farm, asking great questions about our CSA & our farming practices, and building community. I had the help of six dedicated CSA members, extolling our virtues as well. Their enthusiasm is what convinced most of the people checking out the farm! Thank you!

You have to take the good with the bad here on the farm, and sadly today we had our first baby goat casualty. She was a newborn this weekend, and just didn't make it. We had another live birth today though, we'll see if he makes it through the week. We'll keep you posted.

Meet Cute

2011-04-08T13:53:00.000-05:00

Who is cuter? Kelly the Bookkeeper or the funny kid?

Chef Bonita

2011-04-08T13:29:00.003-05:00

I arrived at Harmony Valley Farm just one week ago and already I have been pleasantly involved in the Farm. I will be cooking lunch for the busy farm crew. I awake each morning to the roosters crowing and the baby kids bleating for their Moms. I look out my window and can't help but smile as the baby goats scamper up, over and around their Moms. Monday will be day one for crew lunch and I am serving Goulash, Spinach salad, and Garlic biscuits. The rest of the week goes like this: Tues.- Spicy Black Bean Chili with Pork, Cornbread Muffins, and Applesauce; Wed.-Stuffed Peppers, Mashed Parsnips and Turnips, Pickled onions, Date Cookie Bars; Thurs.-Rhubarb Lentil soup, Vegetable Foccacia, Fresh fruit; and Fri.-Oxtail Stew, Brown Rice, Roasted Root Vegetables, Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will have to let you know how the crew responds to the menu.

The Miracle of Birth

2011-04-07T19:44:00.003-05:00

This morning as I was taking the mail to the mailbox, I heard some noisy goats. They are very vocal when they are hungry, so I thought that was it - Brandon, our animal guy, had some cow trouble at home so he hadn't done those chores this morning. So I got a bucket of grain and took it out to the trough when I saw this mama on the ground, evidently in distress, with baby goat parts just barely coming out of her hoohah. Yuck. She was the one making all the racket. Cripes - I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies! As I was planning to run up to the house and get Richard, and hoping I wouldn't see him driving off down the road to the sunchoke harvest, he showed up at the fence and said "What is all that yelling about?" I said, "She's giving birth right now and I think she's having trouble!". "Doesn't sound like it's going well. I'll be right down."

Richard slowly walked over to mama and asked me to give him a hand. OMG no, I'll give you some moral support, I've got your back about 8 feet over here. So he reaches in and we encourage her to keep pushing. Richard said it looked like one of the feet was stuck, but once he cleared away some of the goo I could see a little nose and mouth sticking out and breathing. Whew. We didn't know how long she had been in distress, so it was good to see the baby was still alive. Mama gave a push and the baby slid out and started wiggling and sneezing. Mama was in shock, with her head way over on the other side, out of reach of the baby. But she soon stood up and went straight over to the grain, leaving her baby! Duh, you have to clean him off and get him to suckle right away! So Richard went over to the trough and got mama by the horns to muscle her over to the "maternity pen". He asked me to pick up the very gooey baby - I asked him "Eeeew! How? By the belly in the middle or what?" "Aw, he's just a little slimy - get under the front and back legs". I'm thinking, I don't have any emergency pants or shirts here anymore, it'll be a mess, eeeew. Long story long, I was off the hook and let Richard do the dirty work of getting mama penned and then picking up the baby to bring him over to her, cooing "you have a baby, here you go" and gently putting him in the pen. I checked on them later and it looks like baby number 5 is doing well! (I gave her some grain and water, so I'm not completely useless)

This is baby boy number 4, the curious cat. He is always sniffing around and escaping, exploring the great big world, kicking up his heels. Making mama worry, of course.

In other farm happenings, things are growing! The large greenhouse is full to the brim with various onions, kohlrabi, parsley, fennel and more!

Fennel on the left

Celeriac

Lemongrass

In the nursery greenhouse, the celeriac continues to thrive and get transplanted and the lemongrass is greening up. Guess what? We're going to grow ginger this year! We just got a box of bulbs and will start sprouting that soon. Hopefully a successful experiment, here in Wisconsin.

Onion and garlic

Outside, I can still smell the spring onions and garlic growing and we had a dry enough time to get out to the sunchoke field and harvest!

Spring Onion

Our favorite, Porcelain Garlic

Fresh overwintered sunchokes

Cleaning up after harvest (left to right Adelina, Natalya (spraying), her husband Jacinto and the lovely Irma

Jenny, one of the new packing shed supervisors, labeling a bin of just harvested sunchokes

Espinaca

2011-03-31T14:15:00.001-05:00

Sweet Overwintered Spinach!

Look at the lovely and delicious field of spinach down at the Hammel farm! The deer fence survived the winter and the spring thaw and Richard has been harvesting samples already. Now with a little luck and a little time it will grow up and be ready for our first Farmer's Market on April 16 - our stand is under the green awning, midway on Mifflin Street (on the Square in Madison), with enough for the first couple CSA boxes too! We'll have freshly planted spinach too, no worries. The overwintered is just such a treat.

Happy Birthday baby goat number 3! Maybe we'll call your mama Brownie, on account of her big brown head. He was just born last night, so we'll hope he makes it through another cold night. This is mama's first kid so I don't yet have an opinion on whether she is a good mama or not.

I have no idea how to trace the familial relationships of these goats (is the new one a cousin, an uncle, a stepson?? Sadly, it's pretty incestuous with the goats).

Here are the brothers from another mother kicking it in the pen on their second day of life. They are so clumsy and cute they make me laugh heartily. But I'm easy, I can crack my own self up.

Kids these days

2011-03-29T15:16:00.000-05:00

Just born today, perhaps minutes before I took this picture. I call her "White Mama" (real original, huh? but she is the only all white goat we have) and she is a really good mama, so those kids should make it. Still waiting on "Ugly Mama", "Old Nanny" and several other new mamas that I haven't named. Thankfully they waited until spring!

Wishful Thinking

2011-03-25T15:54:00.000-05:00

I swear I can smell the garlic growing again! Probably too soon for that, but I'm allowed my olfactory hallucinations, right? It looks like a really nice stand this year.

Can you believe that a year ago yesterday we were in the field planting our first salad mix? Spring came so early last year - it was warm enough and dry enough to work in the dirt. This year - mud. Soul & shoe sucking muck.

Onions got their first "haircuts" today - that is another favorite smell: fresh chopped green onion in the best break/lunchroom ever, our greenhouse.

We're nervously waiting for our final H2A visa approval and have been talking to the guys in Mexico updating them with interview, travel and start dates. We're hoping to split them into two groups this year with staggered start dates. It's overwhelming to have a sudden influx of 30 crew members, all on one day.

Baby baby Napa Cabbage on the right, Kohlrabi on the left

Broccoli on the left, fennel on the right

Red Rib Dandelion

Kohlrabi

Bottom to top of pic: Leeks! Shallots! Onions!

Remember to click on the photos to get a bigger and/or closer look at the lovely green growing things.

Bottom to top: Dandelion then shallots!

Willow to transplant into hedgerows for beneficial habitat

Remember how time and labor intensive celeriac is? It is one of the first seeds planted in the nursery greenhouse, in one of these mass trays.

Celeriac, part 1

After their true leaves start to develop, after the cotyledon phase, the seedlings are replanted into trays with individual cells. This is, of course, done by hand - a delicate one at that. Once the weather warms a bit more and the seedlings get taller and stronger, they'll spend some time in the great out of doors in the cold frames. Then, finally, they are planted in the field and we won't even think about harvesting them until late August. They are so worth the wait though. One of my favorite all time veggies. Seriously.

Celeriac, part 2

We're still accepting CSA members in both the Twin Cities and in Madison, so tell your friends or sign up yourself, if you haven't already!

The future's so bright

2011-03-15T12:06:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Removing tray covers in the nursery greenhouse with lemongrass in the foreground

The big greenhouse with onions & dandelion

Clio Green Dandelion for an early planting

Onions!


Remember the Lupine Hector planted on March 1? It's just starting to sprout up through the soil.

It's still frosty and cold outside in the morning, especially in the shadow of the hills here in the valley. So our newest crew member, Logan, still has time to frost seed some prairie grass along the equipment road.

We are starting to hear the songs of the summer birds, but the frosty equipment and snow on the ground reminds us that it's not quite here. Be patient - it's just around the corner and will be here before you know it.


Moving bins for repair			"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." - W. Earl Hall

Can you smell the dirt?

2011-03-01T12:08:00.001-06:00

Planting soil

Apparently today is the first day of meteorological spring, so happy day!

The greenhouse is hot, humid and starting to fill up.

Planting Perennial Lupine

We are renovating some fields this year and making landscape improvements, including habitat plantings for birds and native pollinators. Today Hector (Tito) is planting trays of Perennial Lupine flowers for transplant later in the spring. Word is that these are difficult to establish so we'll start them in the greenhouse and move them into the ground, along with other meadow flowers, shrubs and trees. Butterflies and bumble bees love them!

Lots of pregnant goats

Marvin Jr, our billy goat, was busy this fall and it looks like we have 10 pregnant females.

We successfully kept him penned until early November, so hopefully we'll have 100% live births & survival. Last year we lost three newborns because they came too early and couldn't survive the cold. Hopefully our nannies will wait until a warm April day to have kids.

Chickens!

I walked into the greenhouse today expecting to take some pictures of little tiny green things poking up out of the soil. Amazingly, we have 4-inch tall onions already! Apparently they had a growth spurt this weekend.

Nursery greenhouse tables

CSA sign ups are coming in steadily - about 30 envelopes a day! We hope to sell out in the Twin Cities area again this season, which will justify (and help pay for) our new, slightly larger truck. The old Mack requires a lot of maintenance and spare parts are nearly obsolete.

Sadly, we've heard from a couple families in WI that will be negatively affected by the governor's budget plans. We feel for you and we hope all of our CSA members remember that CSA is a really good value, not only in purely dollars and cents, but as a reflection of your values and in valuing and respecting the earth. You still have to eat, right? Keep CSA in your budget! Feed your family well, with our delicious, nutritious, organic, hand picked, hand packed CSA selections!

Germination test trays

Tito planting lupine

Get your CSA sign ups to us this week and we'll honor the discounted pre-March 1 pricing!

Figs!!!

2010-10-15T15:13:00.006-05:00

Hello All! About a month ago in our fruit share we had black misson figs from Maywood Farms in Corning, CA. I was so excited! I love figs! I made fig jam, fig cake, figs with maple whipped cream, figs and blue cheese with arugula, baked figs with pork, dried figs, and on and on. I couldn't get enough of them. The most tasty fig dish I made though was Fig and Grape Salad with Pancetta Crostini from Alice Waters Fruit Cookbook. The recipe can be found on HVF website in the September 9th Fruit Newsletter. It was not only delicious, but a very sexy salad. If you are at the store and they happen to have figs, grapes, and pancetta; get them and make this salad. You will be very happy! Happy Cooking Katie

Sweet Potato Harvest

2010-10-08T10:38:00.001-05:00

This is the second part of the sweet potato harvest. Before we can get in and actually dig and pick up the potatoes (which is what you'll see here), the vines need to be cut and the plastic mulch removed. It's a big job! We'll see if Kelly (our bookkeeper & in house videographer) can send us that footage as well.

In a nutshell: The tractor pulls the harvester which loosens the potatoes from the ground, with a little human help. They go up the belt, which helps shake off some of the dirt. At the top of the belt, the guys are sorting the potatoes from the biggest clumps of dirt and putting them into wooden crates. When the crates are full, they go onto a pallet on a wagon. Once we get a full wagon, we drive back to the farm and unload the pallets into the nursery greenhouse (see the previous post). They need to "cure" for a couple days to make them sweet. Then they'll be washed, trimmed and sorted by size and quality. Then into your CSA box, then dinner or pie!

Sweet Potato

2010-10-07T14:07:00.000-05:00

The sweet potato harvest is about half way through. Here's what we had in the nursery greenhouse this morning. We keep it nice and warm for 4-5 days to "cure" the potatoes and sweeten them up. Then they will soon go in CSA boxes & then your belly. Kelly the bookkeeper is out in the field with her video camera - maybe she can post some raw footage of the harvest!

So far so good

2010-09-23T13:53:00.004-05:00

It rained all night (4 inches), with more in the forecast. The creek and river swelled up again. The ground is just so saturated, the water runs down the hills and follows any valley or crevice it can, including low points in the fields. I haven't had a chance to talk to Richard about how they look, but I'm hopeful that we didn't suffer much damage this time through. I just spoke to Andrea and she's a little hopped up about the crew having to slog around in the mud to harvest what we can access. No parsnips or celeriac today because we can't get across the river to them.

The last blog posting (fishing for compliments) worked almost exactly as planned. Only one backfire - not a complaint about the CSA boxes, but a complaint about my complaint about CSA member complaints in the blog post. Whew.

But here's the good stuff, to keep it positive. I've shared these notes with everyone here at the farm - it did my heart good to see Richard's face light up as he read them,especially on such a dismal, wet day like today (a good day for listening to Mazzy Star and Leonard Cohen).

Subject line: YOU ARE AWESOME!

Hello to all at Harmony Valley Farm CSA -

My family (including the dog) look forward to the bountiful boxes we receive every other week from your farm - and are always grateful for whatever is included. So often people are motivated to criticize before appreciate - and this is unfortunate. Well, we do appreciate everything you and your crew do - we also love the recipes. After seeing the struggles you have faced this year - it is nothing short of a miracle that you have been able to fill the boxes week after week and year after year.

We send you our respect, love and peace.

Subject line: nice things

Lill and I have been happy here in our third year with HVF. Highlights:

lots of edamame this year

lots of peppers

new things like lemongrass

choice items feel like surprise presents

the excitement at the pickup site where everyone's friendly and excited for their veggies and fruits

some great recipes to try with tips for new veggies

informative and polished columns in the newsletters

Thanks for all you do!

Subject line: love my farm!

I just had to write to offer my words of encouragement. I've been a member of the farm for 4 seasons. I took a break last year because I was unsure if I would still be living in the midwest following grad school and thus missed the boat on signing up with HVF. Let me say that this was the best possible way for me to realize HVF was the farm for me.

I must appreciate the time taken to send the most quality produce. To give me a variety of produce in each box, and enough to split a share between households which I have done each year I've shared a share. Working with another farm I was given a beet the size of a babies head as well as quantities of produce I was unable to split between households.

I've appreciated the care the farm has taken to hire a chef each year who provides recipes that inspire me to use all of my vegetables.

Lastly I don't think my mother would have told you 15 years ago that I would like vegetables as much as I do today. I am a recovering picky eater who strives to like more foods. Without being a member of this CSA I wouldn't know how much I love summer squash or rhubarb. Nor any number of other vegetables and fruits I haven't eaten prior to joining the farm.

So thank you. Thank you for inspiring me to try new foods. Thank you for growing good food. Thank you for providing me week after week with produce that I'm proud to cook into my meals and serve to my family and friends.

Subject line: You guys are awesome!

Hey Harmony Valley Folk,

I had your veggie share last summer and it was phenomenal! I recommend you to everyone because the quality and the variety of the vegetables was amazing. This summer I have the fruit share and it is also excellent. I think the mini peaches crisis from earlier this summer was blown way out of proportion and I definitely plan on continuing in the future. You guys do great work and I appreciate it! In fact, I'm sure the majority of people appreciate it but the grumpies are just more vocal.

Chin up!

Fishing Expedition

2010-09-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

I need some fan letters so this here is a fishing expedition.

For perspective, I need to remember that we pack over 1,000 CSA boxes each week so a couple complaints shouldn't bother me so much. But boy are they vehement sometimes.

So if you are pleased with your farm and your CSA experience this season, if you understand the ebb and flow of a CSA season (and the differences you see season after season), if you are following along with our newsletters and our weather, and if you recognize the challenges your farmers face, please send me a note to share with Richard, Andrea and the crew. We could use your positive energy!
CSA (at) harmonyvalleyfarm (dot) com

Thank you for your support, from the bottom of our hearts! We know we couldn't do it without you and we do endeavor to send you the best boxes possible that are full of clean, tasty, varied and high quality produce.

(no more complaints this week okay? I'm feeling a little fragile. My thick skin will be complete next week and then I can take it all on again)

Autumn Arrives

2010-09-21T18:49:00.010-05:00

Sorry to leave you hanging for so long! The waters did recede - do a compare and contrast to the last post's raging waters to the pictures I took today. It didn't take a whole month to go down - the waters went down almost as quickly as they rose, I just didn't get around to showing you the proof. That's the good news. It's not all bad news, but we did have quite a bit of crop & plantings damage. Read all about it in the post-rain event newsletter here.

Sad but true, no leeks this year:

Too much rain has continued to fall, but recent plantings have not washed out, so that too is good news.

It's been a bit of a struggle, but we've continued to pack beautiful boxes for our CSA this month:

Looking forward, we're leaving the summer season and transitioning to the fall crops - look at the lovely squashes!
We're going to have an awesome Harvest Party this Sunday - no puerco quemado this year, either. Angel, Rafa & Chef Katie have a plan for cooking a pig that will not involve overwhelming flames. The guys built a beautiful horno/underground oven that we can use for roasting (and check out Angel's kickin' yellow galoshes):Hope to see you at the farm this weekend!

3 inches in 2 hours

2010-08-13T09:49:00.005-05:00

As Mike from Driftless said earlier this summer, "you've got to be f*&$ing kidding me!"
This is just the view of our "creek" which is now a raging rapids. Water is flowing through the tomatoes & melons (into the rapids). The fences & stream bank repair we did just yesterday are destroyed. It's still raining.

Tomatillo Salsa Pack Salsa Verde recipe

2010-08-04T15:40:00.006-05:00

¡Hola!
The tomatillo salsa packs are here! We've just started harvesting tomatillos (and tomatoes) in earnest, so here's the recipe everyone asks for, also available to pick up at your CSA delivery site:
Salsa Verde - Yields about 1.5 cups
6-10 Tomatillos
1-2 small onions
1 jalapeño, use as much as desired for heat*
1 small bunch cilantro
1-2 cloves garlic (optional)
Salt & ground pepper, to taste
-In a small saucepan, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Remove husks from tomatillos and rinse the fruit. Boil tomatillos for about 5 minutes or just until softened.
-In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine tomatillos with remaining ingredients. Set tomatillo cooking water aside and use to thin salsa if necessary. Blend until the mixture is a coarse puree.
-Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow flavors to meld & get acquainted. Adjust seasoning and serve with tortilla chips, tacos, or enchiladas.
*For a medium heat salsa, use about 1/2 of the jalapeño with seeds. Adjust the amount of jalapeño to your liking.

Tomatoes

2010-08-04T14:58:00.011-05:00

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2010-08-03T18:04:00.004-05:00

Hello!
Mike Rhytilahti has worked for Harmony Valley Farm fora number of years. He was telling me about a chocolate zucchini cake that his wife, Erika, had made. I was curious and made it the other day for lunch. It was melt in your mouth delicious!! Everyone loved it so much I thought I should put it on the blog.
Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 tsp lemon juice)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 cup flour
4T cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups shredded zucchini
Topping:
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan. Mix all ingredients. Stir in zucchini. Pour in pan and sprinkle topping mixture over top. Bake for 40 minutes.

Thursday Night Dinners

2010-07-22T17:00:00.015-05:00

Over the last few weeks, I have really enjoyed Thursday night dinners! Cooking dinner for Richard, Andrea, Terri, myself, and a few guests here and there have been a blast. It's been a great way to play with recipes for the newsletters.

Seared Jack Fish that Richard and Andrea caught in Costa Rica with scallopini squash, green beans, tomatoes, and salsa verde. On the side, a cucumber, carrot, arugula, and beet salad with grilled bread. And of course some wine :)

Smoked trout with beet, potato, zucchini pancake, clonboo cheese, veggies, and creamy dill sauce. We also had peach gazpacho. Andrea and Tom getting excited to eat!!!

"Katie's Window in the Morning" What a view!!! Notice the hummingbird. I'm a lucky gal!!

Beautylicious Food

2010-06-04T11:55:00.014-05:00

Chef Katie, have I told you lately how much I love you?

This is the salad we had for lunch the other day - I almost couldn't eat it it was so beautiful! The contrast between the flower blossoms, the green greens and the pink red radishes was quite photogenic. The crew gobbled it up, along with the delicious Sweet & Sour Chuck Roast with Bok Choi, Yukina Savoy, Green Garlic & Potato Onions on Brown Rice.

Presentation, presentation, presentation!
Then for dinner that night, we started with her Asparagus & Oyster Ravioli, adapted from Sarma Melngailis' RAW FOOD real world cookbook:

For the asparagus & porcini filling:
1 small bunch thin asparagus
1/2 pound cleaned wild mushroom (Katie used Oyster, but porcini, chanterelle, shitaki or a combination of them will work)
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP fresh thyme
1 TBSP minced fresh rosemary
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
-Cut the asparagus into 1/2 inch lengths, on a bias, discarding the woody ends. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces. In a medium bowl, toss the asparagus and mushrooms with the olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, and rosemary. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Spread out on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 F for 2-3 hours, or until they are tender and taste like they've been sautéed.

For the lemon cream:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours or more (Katie used hazelnuts)
1 cup water
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP raw honey
1 TBSP lemon zest
(Katie added 2 TBSP coconut oil to this part, since she subbed Kohlrabi for the coconut meat coming up later in the recipe, but still wanted the coconut taste)
Sea salt
-In a Vita-Mix or high-speed blender, puree the cashews, water, lemon juice, honey, and lemon zest (& coconut oil) until smooth. Season to taste with salt. Transfer the sauce to a bowl or covered container.

To make the balsamic-fig puree:
4-5 large fresh black mission figs, or rehydrated dried figs
1/2 cup high quality aged balsamic vinegar
Sea salt
-In a Vita-Mix of high-speed blender, puree the figs and the balsamic vinegar until completely smooth. Season with salt and transfer to a squeeze bottle or covered container and set aside. Refrigerate if not using right away, for up to a few days.
For the assembly:
4 young coconuts (more or less depending on their yield) ***Katie subbed Kohlrabi for this ingredient. She used one of each color & had leftovers, so one will do.
1 small handful chopped raw almonds, preferably soaked & rehydrated
2 teaspoons almond oil or other cold-pressed oil
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Baby chervil or other fine herbs for garnish (optional)
1)With a cleaver, chop the top off the young coconuts. Reserve or drink the coconut water. Using the back of a spoon, carefully remove the meat from the top and the inside of the coconut, trying to keep the meat in large pieces as much as possible when removing it (it the meat is too soft, use it for a shake, and try your luck with the next coconut!) Cut the meat into 2-inch squares and slice the squares lengthwise as thinly as possible with a very sharp filleting knife. You should have 24 squares. Save any coconut meat scraps for shakes. Set the coconut squares aside, or refrigerate if using right away.
**Katie's step #1) Thinly slice the kohlrabi

2)Dip the coconut (or kohlrabi) ravioli squares in the lemon cream to coat well, and place three on each of 4 plates, at three points. Sauce the plates with the balsamic-fig puree so that some of the sauce will end up inside the raviolis. Top each coconut (or kohlrabi) square with about a tablespoon of the mushroom and asparagus mixture and cover with another coconut (or kohlrabi) square, also dipped in the sauce. Spoon a bit of the remaining lemon sauce over each ravioli. Top again with a bit of the mushroom and asparagus mixture.

3)In a small bowl, toss the chopped almonds with almond oil and season with coarse sea salt. Sprinkle each ravioli with the chopped almond mixture. Sprinkle with black pepper, and garnish with herbs, if desired.

yum. She served that delight with the recipe from this week's CSA newsletter, Grilled Spring Vegetables with Peanut Sauce, served over millet. We also got to try the stalks of the Egyptian Walking Onions, stuffed with Butler Farms' Herbed Tome cheese. OMG yum.

There's No Cure, There Might Be an Answer

2010-05-26T17:31:00.000-05:00

This week's CSA newsletter features highlights and recommendations from the recently released "Presidential Cancer Panel" report. You can check out the report in it's entirety online.

Here's one recommendation direct from your government's advisers, believe it or not! While it doesn't specifically endorse organics, it gets pretty darn close - which is causing quite the uproar in the
Big/Industrial/Conventional Ag community.

From the report:
"Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and washing conventionally grown produce to remove residues. Similarly, exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat raised without these medications if it is available."

Remember - don't panic, it's organic! Don't act so strange, it's free range!

Speaking of the CSA, we are packing the 4th box of the season as I write. We've made it through this first month & have sent out some really beautiful boxes. The deliveries have gone really well, really smooth so far this year - only a dozen or so calls/emails from people who had no idea where to go or what to do to get their boxes or when they would have a delivery.

With such a large CSA, those calls can be very tiresome. So we are recruiting "good" CSA members & "training" them on how to have a great season. We at the farm are scheduling the deliveries correctly and disseminating the information the people need to have a successful CSA experience.

Thankfully, I've had far more fan letters come in this year than complaints or confusion. Chef Katie's recipes are pretty popular and people are letting us know! Happily, we have adventurous souls who give everything in the box a try, even things they've never heard of before like sunchokes, nettles or salad burnet. It's also good to hear about people giving things another try. You don't know how many times I've heard tell of an aversion to radishes until someone decided to try ours!

Our CSA delivery drivers (Jerry, Andy & Matt in MN, Jeroen & Rachel locally, José Manuel & Rogelio in Madtown) are doing an amazing job getting the boxes to the right places.
Out in the field, we're getting ready for strawberries! I've picked a couple pints this week from the north end of the Early Glow beds. Don't worry, we'll still have plenty for you on Strawberry Day (June 20).

CSA Box contents for May:
Ramps
Asparagus
Chives
Overwintered Parsnips
Rhubarb
Sorrel
Overwintered Spinach
Sunchokes
Sauté Mix
French Breakfast Radish
Red Russian Kale
Spring planted spinach

Arugula
Salad Mix
Nettles
Red radish
Hon Tsai Tai
Green Garlic
Garden Herb Packs
Baby White Turnips
Salad Burnet

Ramps! Ramps! Ramps!

2010-05-10T17:27:00.017-05:00

As the ramp season is winding down, we all can't wait to bite into our first piece of ramp cheese. Andrea and I spent about 7 hours processing 200 pounds of ramps this last week. We sent the ramps off to Otter Creek Organic Dairy to be made into cheese. We first cut the roots off and then blanched and shocked them. We next took turns chopping the ramps and then pureeing them with a touch of oil. Even though we were very happy to see the last batch being pureed, we both agreed that the wonderful ramps still smelled and tasted as good as ever.

The "Mother" Ramp

Never Leave A Ramp Behind!

Andrea with the ramps

Richard's first morels of the season

2010-04-29T10:37:00.002-05:00

We've been hearing about other people's morel hunting successes, but this is Richard's first of the season. He spotted some last night under a dead elm, but just beyond a hot fence - I'm not getting anymore specific about location than that!

Chef Katie is super excited & I can't wait to taste what she does with them. And what is that beautiful shell shaped, feathery spotted shroom?

The Boys are Back in Town

2010-04-26T21:09:00.005-05:00

And none too soon! The first day back at work for the 27 guys who made it through the H2A visa process was April 12. Vicente was a little late but better late than never!

And such drama this year - it's always an ordeal, but this year was especially precarious. The thing begins with the farm getting approval for bringing in H2A visa workers. The H2A visa is a special agricultural worker visa, and we have to prove that we aren't displacing U.S. workers. We place local help wanted ads and wait to see if qualified workers apply. Then we have our housing inspected (we own two houses in Viroqua town and one here in the valley) - the inspector approved us for 41 beds, but we only asked for 30 visas. (41 seems a bit crowded for me - these are grown men who need some breathing room, right?) Once we get approval for the generic visas, we submit the names of the workers we'd like to invite/sponsor this year. (We've had guys working here for 8-10 years who have become nearly indispensable so we truly hope they come back - they are good friends to me as well)

We work with a company in Texas that does much of the bureaucratic paper work and has a liaison in Mexico who helps the guys once they get to the U.S. consulate in Mexico. They informed us that our interview date was April 21. So not good. We are having such an early, warm spring! Richard was quite upset - would we be able to bring in the overwintered parsnips & spinach? Harvest ramps? Plant & plant & plant? What would we do until April 26 without the bulk of the experienced field/harvest crew?

So our company in Texas petitioned for an emergency appointment. We weren't sure if we'd be able to get all the guys an earlier appointment so we prioritized our list of names. We also didn't want the newbies to have to go through the process on their own, so it would be preferable if they had someone who knew the ropes help them along. (Last year we had 22 visa workers, so a couple new guys this year).

They usually leave home and travel to the consulate in Monterrey, MX for the interview. If they pass the interview and are granted visas, they need to be prepared to travel right to the farm. They need to pay for the visa processing, plus pay transportation costs to the farm (they are reimbursed when they arrive, but they have to have the pesos and/or dollars in hand until then).

This year, they'd have to travel to Monterrey to meet with the liaison and then travel to the consulate that could fit us in for the emergency interview appointments. Thankfully (sort of), we got an appointment in Nuevo Laredo - north of Monterrey, on the Texas border. (We could have had to send them way back southwest across the country to the consulate in Guadalajara, so going north seemed easier.)

On Monday, April 5 we called our guys in Mexico (we have a couple leaders who spread the word to the rest of the crew for us) and told them that instead of an April 21 appointment, we got one for everybody on April 8 - that very Thursday, in Nuevo Laredo. Can you be ready? Yes, of course! I pooh-poohed Vicente's concerns about how dangerous Nuevo Laredo is - people getting killed on the streets and robbed of their very homes. He told me that not only did he hear of some visa seekers not only being rejected, but also getting murdered soon after. I thought maybe he was being dramatic. I've become complacent in my time here in the quiet and peace of Harmony Valley.

So we were all thinking good thoughts for our Mexican friends that Thursday. Ends up one of the 30 got cold feet and didn't go to the interview, two were outright rejected, 26 approved and Vicente was on hold. The 26 started their journey north on Friday, while Vicente waited. He worked for us last year, but was rejected the year before after having worked here for several years previously. The interviews serve the purpose of rejecting as many as possible for just about any reason that can be found. Vicente's shadow was a ticket he got in Arkansas in 1997! We got as much info from him as we could and I was lucky enough to find the town, reach the city clerk, and get a copy of the resolved ticket faxed to me (thank you internet & thank you Jill in Searcy AR!). I called the consulate & faxed them the info as well as emailing it to the liaison in MX so Vicente could have a copy if need be. We told him not to go home - he might be able to have another interview on Monday.

Vicente called on Monday, quite disheartened. He said "Maybe this year is not my year." While watching the news that weekend, he had seen the television reports of the violence at the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo - the place was closed until they felt they could reopen safely. He thought maybe the office wouldn't re-open for a week or more! Ends up that on that Friday, after our guys had hired the bus to take them north, someone had thrown a live grenade over the fence of the U.S. consulate. This came on the heels of other violence in March, when several people had been killed. We asked Vicente to not go home -wait & see.

Luckily, Vicente waited and the office re-opened on Tuesday. He was issued a visa, got on a bus & after a long detour through the southeast U.S. (Atlanta, South Carolina & finally Lexington KY), Vicente, our rain man/irrigation guy extraordinaire, made it to La Crosse on Friday evening. I thought he was in pretty good spirits considering his four days on a stinky old bus! Hopefully that ticket from 1997 will follow him no further and I won't doubt his stories of the difficulties and dangers on the streets in Mexico.

Our New Chef Rocks!

2010-04-16T15:49:00.000-05:00

Katie is cooking up a storm for the crew (the boys are back in town - more on that saga later) & averaging 40 plates each noon hour. She's doing it with a smile on her face and the crew seems pleased - going back for seconds!

This week's lunch menu:
Monday: Beef Roast, Spicy Lentils, Apple & Turnip Salad
Tuesday: Chili, Cornbread, Creamed Spinach & Parsnips, Chocolate chip cookies
Wednesday: Coconut Ginger Pork, Rice, Braised Burdock & Carrots, Orange & Spinach Salad
Thursday: Beef & Spinach Lasagna, Roasted Rutabaga & Onions, Rhubarb Crisp

Friday: Ham & Beans, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Slaw, Cranberry & Kumquat Relish

For dinner we had:

Monday: Pork Chops, Cranberry Quinoa, Roasted Parsnips & Carrots

Tuesday: T-Bone Steak, Sauteed Ramps, Celeriac & Sweet Potato Gratin

Wednesday: Parsnip Soup with Spinach Puree, Grilled Beef & Cheese sammies
Thursday: Skirt Steak, Pasta salad with Celeriac, Carrots & Sogne cheese, Creamed Rutabagas
Tonight it's Turtle Two Ways - Fried & in soup. Jake was a bit perturbed that Richard caught the turtle that he saved from the road, but Katie was game for preparing it, so I'm eating turtle for the first time tonight!

Next Week's Menu

Lunch:
Monday: Turkey Corn Soup, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Spinach Salad
Tuesday: Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, Strawberry Dessert
Wednesday: Soy Marinated Flank Steak, Sesame Carrots & Turnips, Rice, Apples
Thursday: Hot Dogs, Pickled Vegetables, Baked Beans, Brownies
Friday: Arm Roast, Curried Chickpeas & Ramps, Braised Turnips, Fruit

Dinner:

Monday: Skirt Steak, Sorrel Pesto, Pasta
Tuesday: Beef Gyros, Yogurt Sauce, Bulghur
Wednesday: Sirloin, Cous Cous, Curried Turnips
Thursday: Tenderloin & Flat Iron, Potatoes, Spinach Salad with Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette
Friday: Waffles, Fig Compote, Eggs & Bacon (breakfast for dinner! my favorite!!)

I don't have a chance against these 20 pounds I'm fighting, do I?

One Day Old

2010-03-01T08:53:00.005-06:00

Happy March!

Spring is coming, I swear, and here's the proof:

Onion sprouts in the greenhouse!

Baby goats, born on Saturday 2/27/10!

Career Opportunities

2010-01-20T17:13:00.008-06:00

We are always in search of hard-working individuals with an interest in being part of our team. We have several year-round positions in addition to employing seasonal employees during our peak season from April-November. While we actively recruit after January 1 of each year, we invite you to contact us any time of the year. Send us an email outlining your interest and experience as well as attaching your resume or a completed application from our website and we will let you know our current needs. Apply Now.

Please send inquiries to:
Harmony Valley Farm
S 3442 Wire Hollow Rd.
Viroqua, WI 54665
Phone: 608-483-2143
Email: bookkeeper@harmonyvalleyfarm.com

Benefits

In addition to an hourly wage, all full time employees are eligible to participate in our retirement benefits and health insurance programs. We also offer lunch for all employees prepared by our farm chef during the peak season, April-November. You will have access to produce from the farm when available. Opportunity for advancement always exists for individuals demonstrating a strong work ethic and superior performance.

Hours of Operation
During our peak season, April-November, work hours are 7:30/8:00 am-6:00 pm with a 1-hour lunch break. In the off-season, work hours are 8:00 am- 5:00 pm. Keep in mind this is a farm and there may be times when these hours will vary based on weather conditions, farm events, or other variable factors.

POSITIONS
Field & Harvest Coordinator—Hiring for 2010

We are looking for an organized, people-oriented individual who has a minimum of 2 years farming experience, with an emphasis on growing fresh market produce. In this position, you will work with the management team to plan field and harvest tasks and expedite job completion while working with a field/harvest crew of 20-25 people. You will manage quality control of product being harvested, supplies, and time usage. Basic tractor operation skills are required. Additional opportunities, based on experience, may include greenhouse management, planting, irrigation and other field work. Spanish language skills a plus. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
§ Daily & Weekly harvest scheduling
§ Manual & Mechanical harvest
§ Quality Control
§ Ensure appropriate post-harvest handling of product
§ Transport of harvest from field to packing shed
§ Record Keeping
§ Other production related tasks may include transplanting, weeding, mulching, pruning, mowing, and other field maintenance.

This is a year-round position. During the off-season, tasks may include helping as needed in the packing shed, doing inventory of seeds, seed ordering and receiving, germ testing and end of season record keeping and production reporting, time-studies evaluation, etc. Basic computer skills are a must (Outlook, Word, Excel), advanced computer skills a plus.
Position available March 1, 2010

Farm Chef—Hiring for 2010

Are you looking for a creative culinary challenge and a chance to connect directly with your source of organic ingredients? We are looking for a creative individual with cooking experience and an affinity for organic ingredients who is interested in writing and preparing their own weekly menus based on the seasonal produce available from our fields and meat from our pastures. Your primary responsibility is preparing lunch for our crew of 40-45 Monday-Friday. The sky is the limit as long as the meals are prepared on time and are nourishing enough to fuel the appetites of our hard working crew and emphasize ingredients from our farm, supplemented with staple organic ingredients from other local producers and our local food co-op.
You will also have the opportunity to serve as a resource for our CSA members by providing weekly recipes and information for our newsletters on vegetables they receive in their boxes, participating in and planning culinary aspects of on-farm events.

Additional responsibilities include weekly blog entries, food preservation, and managing food inventory and storage areas as well as purchasing.

You must have experience and references for previous work in the foodservice industry. Also must have basic computer and writing skills. This is a full-time, salaried, seasonal position. The Chef’s contract is for our peak growing season, April 5, 2010-November 20, 2010.

Assistant Farm Chef—Hiring for 2010
We are in search of an individual with cooking experience and an affinity for organic ingredients to assist our farm chef, prepare dinner for farm residents and guests, and contribute culinary information to our weekly CSA newsletters. Responsibilities include assisting with lunch prep and cleanup several days weekly, assisting with food preservation projects, assisting with maintaining neat, clean and orderly kitchen and storage areas, and filling in for the Farm Chef in their absence. You will also have the opportunity to interact with CSA members at our three annual on-farm events and through weekly written and recipe contributions to our vegetable, fruit and/or cheese newsletters for our CSA members. You will also prepare dinner 4-5 nights weekly for 3-5 farm residents and any guests of the farm.

Previous culinary/cooking experience and references required. Also must have basic computer and writing skills. This is a part-time (20-25 hours/week), salaried, seasonal position. The Assistant Farm Chef’s contract is for April 26, 2010-November 20, 2010.

Shop & Field Crew Member—Hiring for 2010
We are looking for an individual with 2 or more years of experience working on a farm to be part of our shop and field crew. Must be willing to learn organic farming methods and be a flexible, cooperative team member. Experience with operating tractors and implements required. Basic skills with preventative maintenance and repair of machinery and facilities, and computer skills are preferred. Depending on your skills & experiences, as well as the needs of the farm, you may work independently or as part of a team to perform any of the following responsibilities:
§ Soil preparation
§ Transplanting & seeding in the field
§ Mechanical cultivation & harvest
§ Seeding cover crops
§ Fertilizer, mineral and pest control application
§ Pasture management & caretaking of animals (cattle, pigs, chickens and goats)
§ Irrigation setup
§ Equipment & facility maintenance and repair
§ Turning and spreading compost
§ Record Keeping
This is a year-round position with tasks varying with the seasons. We are looking to recruit individuals with an interest in working here for a minimum of two years in order to build a strong team with continuity from one season to the next.
Position available March 1, 2010

Delivery Driver—Available for 2010 Season
We are looking for an experienced truck driver with a valid CDL and a clean driving record. You will drive a 27' straight truck on a delivery route to Minneapolis/ St. Paul or Madison. If driving to the Twin Cities, you will leave the farm Wednesday evening, stay overnight in the Twin Cities, and complete deliveries Thursday morning before returning to the farm in the afternoon/early evening. If driving the Madison route, you will leave the farm very early on Saturday morning, complete deliveries and return to the farm in the afternoon. We are looking for more than just a truck driver; you will be representing Harmony Valley Farm to our customers. Responsibilities include:
-Delivery of wholesale produce orders to warehouses
-Delivery of retail orders to stores and restaurants
-Delivery of Community Supported Agriculture boxes to home sites
-Meticulous set-up of CSA sites which involves neatly stacking the correct number of boxes, and set-up of a newsletter and brochure table.
-Keeping careful logbook entries
Position available May 2010

Packing Shed Coordinator—Position Available for 2010
We are looking for an individual with excellent communication and organizational skills to work in our packing shed. In this position, you will work with our current packing shed coordinators and management to plan, coordinate and supervise the flow of production to complete washing and packing of product for distribution to our CSA, wholesale accounts and farmer’s market and supervise packing shed crew members. Your primary responsibilities include the following:
Wholesale/Retail Sales: Receive orders, communicate with Sales Manager, Bookkeeper & WS coordinator in the packing shed to ensure orders are filled and shipped correctly. You will also schedule and plan trucking, coordinate consolidated shipping /cross-docking.
Market: Ensure product being harvested for Farmer’s Market is received from the field, washed, sorted and stored appropriately for market quality standards. Pack product for market and load the truck including all needed supplies. Complete inventory of product upon return from market.

General responsibilities include supervising wash/pack operations to ensure proper packing and maintain quality standards. Prepare packaging needs (labels, boxes, containers, etc). Wash and pack produce. Enforce and supervise sanitation practices, help maintain general orderliness of supplies, inventory and work areas.
Required Skills Include:
Computer Proficiency (Microsoft Word, Excel)
Able to work as a part of a team with effective communication
Experience operating fork lift and pallet jack
Previous supervisory experience
Spanish language skills a definite bonus

Position available March 1, 2010

Assistant Production Manager

We are looking for an individual with a minimum of 2 years experience farming vegetables to join our team as an Assistant Production Manager. In this position, you will assist with the planning and management of field operations including soil nutrition management, cover cropping, planting, cultivating, disease prevention and management, composting and maintaining surrounding field areas. Work will involve planning as well as execution of the plan, record keeping, and management of 3-5 crew. This is a year-round position. In the off-season, you will assist with record keeping, planning for the upcoming year, equipment maintenance and other related tasks.

Required skills include:
Experience operating tractors, skidsteer
Basic computer skills (Word, Outlook, Excel)
Able to work as part of a team with effective communication
Willingness to learn and contribute to the success of the farm

Spanish language skills, experience with specialized vegetable implements, machine repair and maintenance skills are a plus, but not required.

The potential for ownership in shares of the farm exists for the right individual who demonstrates a strong work ethic and contributes to the success of the farm.

Position available immediately.

Snow Day!

2009-12-09T10:28:00.009-06:00

So far we've had about a foot of snow and it's still coming down. We told the packing shed crew not to come in today, but the guys who live here in the valley came in to help us clear some snow. I'm not sure how much experience any of them have with the snow - I know José Manuel has worked winters in Canada, so he's probably non-plussed, but Danielo, Vicente, Antonio & Juan may have not worked this far north, this late in the year. Danielo goes home on Monday and the rest of remaining H2A visa workers leave December 20, hopefully making it home for Navidad/Christmas with the family.

(Most of the H2A crew left mid-November, we just had a few stragglers who wanted to work another month, for various reasons. Here they are on the way to the airport or waiting at the airport)

We're snowed in for the day, so we'll have to delay our Twin Cities CSA meat delivery until Friday. Other than that slight inconvenience, we'll do some office work, have some cocoa & let Jack the dog out as much as he'd like - he loves the snow! Stay safe & warm and enjoy the snow!

All About Parsnips

2009-10-21T12:38:00.000-05:00

While many CSA farms are winding down their season and tucking away their farm for the winter, at Harmony Valley Farm we are still hard at work harvesting and packing vegetables! It’s always exciting to be a part of the fall harvest….the culmination of a season’s worth of work to produce a crop. But there’s also some nervousness as this time of year can be rather unpredictable. Richard tells stories about the year they got 3 feet of snow on October 29. Just two weeks ago, we scrambled to get the sweet potatoes harvested and put covers on lettuce, fennel, chicories, and mini-sweet peppers before the frost arrived. The weather turned cold quickly with freezing temperatures over the weekend and we were fearful that the daikon, turnips and other crops would be damaged, but thankfully they were not. The cold snap was followed by more cold along with rain. It’s hard to harvest roots in slippery mud; it just doesn’t work. How many more days do we have to get everything done? You never know so you just keep forging forward—you can’t wait for the perfect day. On the flip side, we could get a couple more weeks of nice, dry days with moderate temperatures. We aren’t counting on it this year, but there have been years when we’re able to harvest salad greens until the end of October/first of November!
We still have daikon and turnips that need to grow, but they’re growing slowly in the cool weather. We have parsnips that are getting too big, but the forecast for the rest of the week is for rain so we’re not sure we can get the rest out of the ground. We still haven’t harvested the sunchokes and we are only in the middle of garlic planting. We’ve never missed a garlic planting, but we have planted into mud just to get it in the ground before it’s too late. The beauty heart and black radishes need to be dug as do the rest of the rutabagas. In the meantime, we can’t forget about the cabbages or the rest of our responsibilities. We’ve had to change our strategies along the way. Instead of relying solely on our FMC (the machine typically used for harvesting roots), we’ve brought the old potato digger and another piece of machinery into the picture along with a lot of hand harvesting. We had a digger breakdown yesterday and we are down two tractors right now…we are praying we don’t have any more breakdowns. The coolers are filling up fast….where are we going to store all these veggies until they are washed and packed for their final destination!?
Since this is the first week you have parsnips in your box this fall and this is “parsnip push” week here at the farm, we thought perhaps you might enjoy learning a little more about this interesting white root. Parsnips are one of our major crops—this year we planted 8 acres. Since they have a long growing season, it’s important to plant them early. If you miss the window of opportunity, you miss having a crop for the year. The parsnip seed is very interesting—a small, flat disk referred to as a winged seed. Don’t cough, sneeze, or stand near a fan while you are dealing with these seeds, they are so lightweight they can easily blow away. It’s important to plant them into moist soil at just the right depth—1/4” deep. Plant them too shallow and they might just lay there. Plant them too deep and they might not be strong enough to push through. It takes 2-3 weeks to germinate a parsnip seed, partly because the soil is still cold at that time of year. In the meantime, a blanket of spring weeds can sprout up all around the little seeds. One of the first methods of weed control we use for this crop is called flaming. We literally burn off the weeds in the bed to get rid of them. But you have to do this right before the parsnips pop from the ground. Do it too early and more weeds will grow up, do it too late and you burn your crop as well. This year we had a field of parsnips planted on one of our newly acquired fields. What a nightmare of weeds! The weeds seemed to grow three times as fast as the parsnips! We mechanically cultivated as much as we were able and then sent a hand weeding crew through twice. We debated if it was even worth investing the time and effort into to save the crop. In the end we decided to keep it, and invested the labor to remove the weeds to improve the land for future years.
We won’t harvest all the parsnips this fall—just enough to hold us through January. We will leave two acres to overwinter until the spring. Not only do parsnips tolerate the colder weather, but they actually improve in flavor and texture after a freeze. Our sweetest parsnips, in fact, are the overwintered parsnips that are left in the ground throughout winter, and dug in the spring. Don’t get me wrong, they are pretty tasty right now. Before refrigeration, parsnips were a wintertime staple that could be stored for months in a root cellar or packed in a mound of sand. So, if you find yourself accumulating parsnips throughout the upcoming deliveries, don’t worry—they won’t spoil quickly. Store them loosely wrapped in a plastic bag with some moisture and they will hold just fine for several weeks in your refrigerator. Parsnips may lose moisture over time and become shrunken and rubbery, but this is no reason to discard them. Go ahead and add them to your next soup, and they will perk right up.
Like the other members of the Umbelliferae family we have featured this year (such as celery and celeriac, fennel, carrot, etc.), parsnips originated in the Mediterranean basin and have been cultivated for several thousand years. They have been a fixture of European cuisine, particularly the northern countries with cooler climates and shorter growing seasons.
Parsnips are closely related to carrots, with an arguably more complex flavor. They can be prepared in many of the same ways as carrots, although eating raw isn’t nearly as common. Parsnips need not be peeled, but depending on the usage you may wish to, if the skin is thick or stringy. With their high sugar content, parsnips caramelize well. Roasting them at a high temperature, then reducing heat slightly and finishing cooking with a lid will create a chewy, browned exterior and a soft interior. Steaming is also a good way to retain and concentrate all of the parsnip’s flavor and create a soft, smooth consistency. Besides for soups and stews, boiling isn’t recommended because the parsnip will lose flavor (and nutrients) into the cooking water. In American cuisine, the most common uses of parsnip are in purees and root mashes, either alone or with other roots and tubers, and simmered with soups, stews, and roasts. In her book Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, Elizabeth Schneider notes that although American recipes from the 19th and 20th centuries have tended to use parsnips in rich, heavy preparations such as creaming and frying, the versatile parsnip really shines in more complex preparations as well. Records of ancient Roman recipes show that parsnips were sometimes combined with white wine and olive oil, fresh coriander and pepper, cumin and chives, celery seed, honey, and nuts, among other things.
So whether you jazz it up with exotic spices, or simply toss it in the pot with the Sunday roast, it’s hard not to enjoy the sweet flavor of parsnip.

Sweet Potatoes: They're Not Really Potatoes & they're not Yams Either

2009-10-14T16:48:00.006-05:00

Written by Farmer Richard and Chef Bri

As the first snow of the year falls on the valley this week, our newest vegetable to reach your box is of tropical origin. (Strange!) Sweet potatoes are native to tropical areas of South America and were first cultivated there about 5000 years ago. They like hot, sunny days and warm nights, growing best at an average temperature of about 75°. Even with the great diversity of foods we have learned to grow here in our region, sweet potatoes are a remarkable accomplishment.

Sweet potatoes are traditionally a southern crop, requiring high heat units to produce a sizable/marketable crop. It is not recommended to grow sweet potatoes in Wisconsin – after all, they are a tropical plant! There has never been a commercial sweet potato industry anywhere in the Midwest, and for good reason. Almost all sweet potato varieties have been developed in the south and will not produce sizable tubers in the Midwest. So once again, your contrary farmer, who ignored and defied conventional wisdom (remember when they told me “you can’t make a living growing organic”?) said, “I’ll give it a try!” After several years of experimenting, we found two varieties that would produce sizeable tubers in a normal year, in a special production system. Georgia Jets are the most productive for northern climates but oh are they ugly! Our choice is Beauregard, which does fairly well in the north, but tends to set fewer tubers per plants. They often get very large (think scary 3-5 pound potatoes) in a normal summer, so based on advice from growers we visited in Livingston, CA we went from 12” to 8” spacing in rows to get more modest sized tubers.

In the sweet potato growing regions of the south, they select planting stock and plant those tubers in outdoor beds of peat moss to grow the “slips” for planting in the field. The “slips” or sweet potato plants are cut off above the original tuber to prevent diseases from the seed tuber from transferring to the new plant. Those slips are planted into the field to produce a crop. The only way we could produce slips of our own would be to store tubers and plant them in a greenhouse, meaning a huge new and expensive greenhouse just for sweet potatoes. So we depend on our southern friends to ship us slips that grow up after they have planted their fields. Our Livingston, CA organic growers are very inconsistent but the new organic growers in Delaware had a very good price. Sadly, they were plagued by wet weather and delivered poor quality plants too late. Thankfully, our friends at Steele Plant Company in Gleason, TN once again came through for us with a second late supply to fill our field.

We plant in late May or early June, just before the heat of summer. We plant the slips 8” apart on a raised bed, covered with dark green plastic to absorb and hold the sun’s heat and mimic the hotter southern soils where sweet potatoes are traditionally grown. But this year we didn’t have the summer heat they needed and our fear was a low yield of small tubers. I had dug a few potatoes out around the edges and thought there was just not much there. I even told the harvest party tours that they should not expect to find much, but when we dug a couple dozen plants, we found some very nice sweet potatoes. Not jumbos, but nice size and shape!
I started to think more positively about the whole crop, but only digging them would tell the whole story. When the weather forecast called for a week of freezing nights, we knew it was time to get them out of the ground, since they are very sensitive to any temperature approaching freezing.

So on Wednesday of last week, we tackled the 1+ acre field with all the crew we could manage to spare from other harvests and set a must do goal of all out of the ground before the freezing forecast for Friday night. Angel & Nestor started mowing vines and leaves, then cutting the stems off from the vines, using their own homemade invention of a vine lifter stick to lift the vine and cut it off without cutting the largest sweet potatoes that stick up out of the ground.
A crew of 7 or more followed, walking behind the digger, gently pulling the banana like clumps off the digger and onto the bed so they did not get buried in muddy clods of dirt. Oh, did I mention that it rained every day? Not too much though, and we continued non-stop until Friday at 4pm, when all the sweet potatoes went into the greenhouse to begin the curing process.
Sweet potatoes come from the field at only 4 or 5 brix, which translates roughly to that percentage of sugar. The 5-6 day cure at high humidity and 85° F temperature will double the sugar content to 10-12%. Now that is a sweet potato that tastes good and sweet without adding anything!

So dig samples as you will, but it is the actual field dig that shows you what you really have for the season. I was nervous and I felt foolish, a grown man who has raised sweet potatoes for 20 years, and yet the morning of the dig I could not wait to see them come up and over the digger. I walked the first four beds with Lucio, grabbing banana shaped bunches and gently tossing them on top of the moist earth. After those four beds, I was ready to leave catching them to younger hands. I hauled loads home and stacked the pallets close and high for curing.

The final estimate: 23,000 pounds of sweet potatoes! Just over the national average yield, and not bad at all for a heat loving crop during a record cool summer.

Here in the U.S., sweet potatoes do not represent a food crop of great significance. Most Americans think of sweet potatoes as a Thanksgiving accessory and not an everyday food. But in other areas of the world, particularly certain countries in Africa and Asia, sweet potatoes are a staple crop and represent one of the largest sources of caloric intake. The various cultivars of sweet potatoes grown throughout the world vary in color, texture, sweetness, moisture content, etc. It seems that the bright orange varieties most enjoyed in the U.S. are really only popular here, as well as Canada and Australia. Most of the rest of the world likes to grow sweet potatoes that are white, and also a bit starchier and less sweet. This is a shame, because it is the bright orange color that makes sweet potatoes such a nutrient-dense vegetable. In a 1992 study that compared fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron, the Center for Science in the Public Interest ranked the sweet potato as the most nutritious vegetable.

The possible preparations for sweet potato are as diverse as the cultures that eat it. As a moist, firm starch with smooth texture, it lends itself to both dry heat and moist heat cooking methods- basically, nearly anything you can dream up. Some of the most popular preparations for sweet potato are baking, frying, and mashing. For some, it may take a small leap to get past sweetened dishes that involve sweet potatoes doused in butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows. To start out, you can substitute sweet potato for nearly any dish you’d otherwise use potato, and in doing so you reap the benefits of all the extra vitamins. Sweet potato also lends a rich flavor to savory preparations and pairs well with cheese, garlic, herbs such as rosemary, and spicy or smoky flavors. They can be cooked either peeled or with the skin left on. Although sweet potato skins are considered edible, the skins can sometimes be tough or fibrous depending on the plant. Try it to see if you like it.

Tropical as they are, sweet potatoes do not like to be cold. Refrigerating them will damage the flavor and texture. They are best stored in a cooler spot in the kitchen, well ventilated, not wrapped in plastic. A hanging basket is great if you have one. If you choose not to eat them right away (but why wouldn’t you want to?), they should keep for up to two or three weeks as long as they don’t become overly dry. Do keep an eye on them to watch for moisture loss or mold.

Try this recipe!
Sweet Potatoes in Curried Coconut Sauce over Kale
From Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider

1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes
½ celeriac root if you have one, or 1-2 celery stalks
1 ¾ cups water
1 or 2 small fresh green chilis
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp minced or coarse-grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ to ¾ cup coconut milk
1 bunch kale, collards, or similar cooking greens
Lime wedges

1. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into ¾” dice. Chop enough celery/ celeriac to make ½ cup. Stem chili, seed, devein, and mince.
2. Combine chilis, water, salt, curry, ginger, and garlic in a pot and bring to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and celery and simmer, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer to thicken sauce somewhat, about 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup coconut milk and cook at a bare simmer about 5 minutes to blend flavors. Taste and add more coconut milk to taste.
3. Meanwhile, strip off and discard kale stems. Thin-slice leaves. Set on a steamer rack over boiling water. Cover and cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Arrange kale on a serving plate and spoon the sweet potatoes over. Serve hot, garnished with lime.

Serves 4 as a main dish. Serving with cracked wheat, millet, or quinoa is suggested.

Know your Winter Squash

2009-10-07T10:57:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures of the varieties we grow - Kabocha (orange & pumpkin looking), Butternut (pear shaped), Festival (squat striped) & Delicata (long striped)

Check out this week's super informative newsletter, all about Winter Squash.

Tuesday highlights

2009-09-22T17:14:00.002-05:00

Washing dishes today, I noticed that we had dirtied (and I was washing) all 7 hotel pan lids that the farm possesses. Seven lids, new record! I got a little bit geeked about this, thought about posting a blog, and realized that this is why I never post blogs. Inane. Hey readers out there in readerland, today at lunch we used seven lids! Also, your hardworking farm crew put away 98 burritos today. Way to go, team!

In other news, I just cut into my first winter squash of the year. Heavenly. I love that smell. It reminds me of jack-o-lanterns. Tonight for dinner I am making the roasted corn pudding in squash recipe from Heidi Swanson's recipe blog, 101 cookbooks. It looks like it will be pretty awesome.

The farm continues to be busy. Always busy busy busy. Fall is elbowing its way in.

Busy busy busy

2009-09-16T10:16:00.011-05:00

I walked down to put a letter in the mailbox this morning and this is what I saw:

Whole Foods truck arrival,

cabbage coming on to the yard,

bagging tomatoes, cleaning turnips, cleaning onions,

construction/adding on to the box shed, wagon repair, chicken manure delivery &

porta potty servicing. I didn't even get into the barrel washing room. Not to mention office work, field work & Chef Bri cooking away (lunch today will be black eyed peas & pork, sauteed kale & a fruit salad. Yum.)

Busy busy busy day (it's also a CSA pack day, so lots to harvest/wash/pack). Actually a busy week. For real, a very busy season! I've been living and working here for two years now so you'd think I'd be used to the level of activity. But today I was astounded. It's a lot to keep track of! Way to go Richard, you captain of industry, you!

Ranting and Raving and Raspberries

2009-09-15T16:29:00.000-05:00

Raspberries – To have or have not?
Just taking an informal survey: Should we grow raspberries for our CSA or not?

The following is just a little ranting & raving, in the hopes that you’ll come to understand where we’re coming from and appreciate the challenges facing farmers & CSA farms:

We’ve been putting raspberries in the CSA boxes, but not listing them in the newsletter as an item in the box. Sometimes we can’t pick enough to put in all of the boxes, so rather than put them on the list and get complaints from someone who didn’t get a container in the box, we put them in as many boxes as we can and consider it a bonus.

We try to harvest the day we pack boxes, but depending on the weather or the other work, we sometimes pick them the day before we pack CSA boxes. Each berry is picked and packed by hand, with care. Raspberries are fragile little things. The bushes ripen at different rates, so a container of berries may contain under ripe, overripe and perfect berries, depending on the person who picks them. (Plus the crew has to deal with the perils of snakes and spiders in the raspberry rows!) We put an absorbent liner in the containers and keep them in a cooler with a fan blowing on them, in an effort to keep them dry and fresh. We visually inspect each container before we pack it in a box – if there is any mold or decay, we don’t pack it. Sadly, after the boxes are packed, closed and put on the truck sometimes mold grows, as quickly as overnight.

We’ve had a few complaints that the bonus raspberries were moldy when the CSA member opened the box or after being in the fridge for a day or two. Moldy raspberries are very disappointing, but some acts of nature are out of our control. I am probably way too sensitive and need to grow a thicker skin, but we take complaints seriously (and a bit personally). We hold ourselves to a high standard and we pack exceptionally high quality boxes each and every week. Considering the number of boxes we pack, we get very few complaints, thankfully. Personally, I think you should only complain if you’ve already complimented – please don’t criticize for one bruised item in the 4th or 15th box you’ve received if you didn’t take the effort to tell us about how much you loved any number of items in boxes 1-14. Look at the whole season with some perspective!

CSA boxes do not grow on trees or sprout fully formed out of the ground. Each item in your box was planted, cared for, harvested, cooled, cleaned and then packed carefully & mindfully in your box. The boxes are not always going to be perfect and there is bound to be differences in the produce found in each box – different sizes, different colors, different varieties.

If you came into CSA with the expectation of a perfect box each week, full of your favorite items (unblemished and faultless) and only containing familiar and favorite items, then CSA may not be right for you.

If you find fault with the box because you saw something on our Farmer’s Market list or an item of ours at the co-op that wasn’t in your box, our CSA may not be right for you. We grow about 100 different crops for three different markets: CSA, Farmer’s Market and Wholesale. This diversity protects our CSA members – if we have a crop failure, we can still pack our CSA boxes by utilizing the crops originally planned for those other markets. We do everything we can (and with almost 17 years of CSA experience & 35 years of farming experience, Richard knows what he’s doing!) to provide for our CSA members.

Richard & Andrea work 7 days a week consistently, generally getting up at 5 in the morning and working until 9 or 10 at night. (I don’t work that much without getting a bit “bent out of shape” as Richard characterizes my crankiness. I try to keep happy (myself & those around me) and limit work to around 45 hours a week)

Our crew of 50 (!!) starts at 8am and works until at least 6 pm, M-F, with an hour for lunch. We’ve had a full crew for most Saturdays this season too! Besides the time invested, it’s blood, sweat, tears and a lot of pride in the work we do. Because we put so much of ourselves into the work and put such great effort into each CSA box, it’s hard not to take complaints personally. I think it’s important that CSA members remember that joining our CSA is not simply purchasing a box of produce –it’s not the same experience as going to the store or market to pick out your own produce. One of the main tenets of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is the development of a relationship between grower and consumer. It’s not simply an exchange of goods for cash. It’s a commitment to a farm for the season – good and bad. It’s a connection between CSA members and the farm, a relationship to the place where your food comes from, and recognition of the effort it takes to produce it.

Thank you for listening. Now go eat your veggies!

CSA box pictures - End of July,August & September so far

2009-09-15T14:38:00.002-05:00

My favorite vegetable

2009-09-03T08:50:00.004-05:00

Eloquently described by Chef Bri in this week's newsletter:

Broccoli Romanesco is perhaps the most dramatic vegetable you can hope to find in your CSA box, or anywhere. Our September 20, 2003 newsletter listed some of the descriptions this unique vegetable has earned, including “it may be part starfish, part wedding cake.” I would like to suggest that dinosaur be added to the list. Although I have never actually seen a dinosaur, that’s what I tend to think of when I look at the pale green vegetable’s spirals of bumpy buds.

Broccoli Romanesco’s spiraling shape, in fact, is that of a logarithmic spiral, or fractal. This unique shape is repeated in surprising places throughout the natural world, from the shells of mollusks, to the heads of sunfl owers, to the shape of the Milky Way galaxy. The simplest way to describe the logarithmic spiral is to say that, as the spiral grows larger, its total shape is unaltered by each successive curve. To say that the shape of Romanesco is a fractal is to say that each smaller section of the vegetable is patterned after the shape of the whole. For instance, you will notice that the bumpy florets on the cone-shaped vegetable are successively smaller as they spiral toward the pointed tip. Within each floret, however, there are also spiraling bumps arranged in this same pattern. For a vegetable, that’s pretty remarkable! So before you dig in, be sure to gather round friends and loved ones, gaze into Romanesco’s logarithmic spiral, and ponder the mysteries of the universe.

Romanesco is more closely related to caulifl ower than broccoli. Like broccoli and cauliflower, the part of the plant we eat is the flower. Its closely bunched buds have a similar texture to cauliflower, but are slightly more tender and have a shorter cooking time than cauliflower. Its light texture makes it good eaten raw as crudités. Like broccoliand cauliflower, its flavors are carried nicely by fats, such as butter or olive oil or a creamy cheese sauce. The entire head of Romanesco can be roasted whole, for a dramatic presentation. Or it can be cut into individual florets and steamed or sautéed. We recommend gentler cooking methods, to help maintain the unique shape of the florets. Like cauliflower and broccoli, Romanesco can quickly become unpleasantly mushy if cooked just slightly too long, so keep a close eye on it.

Romanesco can be stored several days in the refrigerator, loosely covered. It seems to be more perishable than caulifl ower, so keep an eye out for softening or discoloration. You may be tempted to put it on display as a conversation piece, but remember to eat it before it starts to go bad. Take a few photos, then cook it up and enjoy.

Paletas

2009-08-14T12:11:00.005-05:00

One of the favorite parts of my job: handing out popsicles to the crew on hot afternoons.

Another favorite thing: Wearing as little clothing as possible on a hot summer day

Favorite thing to find on my desk this week: Hand carved eggplant head (with a tattooed tear for every year he's been away)

2009-07-30T14:13:00.002-05:00

Here we are at the end of July already, about halfway through summer, and we've hardly had any summerlike weather. I'm no expert on these things, and I'm not originally from these parts... but it seems this has been an exceptionally cold summer around here. Being from the upper peninsula of Michigan, I don't mind the cool weather. Surprisingly, the veggies don't seem to mind it too much either. They just keep on coming. Even tomatoes and peppers are starting to ripen.
Everything moves so fast here that it can be hard to keep track of all the vegetables coming and going. As soon as one vegetable is done for the season (bye, ramps. see you next year, asparagus) it is replaced by a new vegetable just coming into season (hi, eggplant. good to see you again, tomatoes).
To date, this is a list of all the veggies I have gotten to know for the first time on the farm this year:
Ramps
Nettles
Sorrel
Burdock
Beauty heart radish
Black Spanish radish
Fresh horseradish (I know all about horseradish in a jar.)
Sunchokes
Komatsuna
Mizuna
Dandelion
Yukina savoy
Sweetheart cabbage
Green garlic
Amaranth

My brain has been very busy with all of this learning going on. It's kind of exciting to think about- when this season is over and I graduate from the Harmony Valley Vegetable Academy, I will be such a pro at seasonal cooking and eating. What a cool job.

Eat your Veggies!

2009-07-16T11:46:00.005-05:00

Just a list of June & July CSA box contents, to match up with the pictures: Red leaf lettuce, Red Boston lettuce, Kohlrabi, Spinach, French Breakfast Radishes, Purple & White Scallions, Garlic Scapes, Yukina Savoy, Asparagus, Rhubarb, Arugula, Sauté Mix, Basil, Strawberries, Red Radish, Broccoli, Salad Mix, Napa Cabbage, Red Komatsuna, Yukina Savoy, Romaine Lettuce, Sugar Snap and Snow Peas, Summer Squash & Zucchini, Chard, Amaranth, Red Beets, Fennel, Fresh Garlic, Sweetheart Cabbage, White Cipollini Onions, Chioggia Beets, Carrots, Thai Basil, Cucumbers, Baby Bok Choi, Cauliflower, Sweet Spanish Onions, Green Savoy Cabbage, Gold Beets, Green Beans.

July update

2009-07-09T10:29:00.003-05:00

Happy Summer! We are definitely in the midst of the peak season here at the farm and are keeping busy, busy, busy!

We had another hatching of chicks last night, so will have to do some rearranging in the chicken coop. The last bunch of chicks are ready to join the outside world and general poultry population, just in time to make room for these fluffballs.

Last week we started digging the garlic and sending it as fresh garlic to the CSA, as well as drying the bulk of it for later in the season. This week's CSA newsletter tells the whole Harmony Valley Farm garlic story. It's not easy, but it is so worth it!

The other animals are doing well and getting bigger every day! Adam & Darin rave about the beautiful pastures our cattle graze on and how well they are filling out. Dan keeps an eye on the goats and pigs - the pigs are fat & happy in their big pasture! Besides a whole bunch of veggie trimmings and compostables, they also get a couple buckets of organic grain each day.

Flame Weeder

2009-07-09T10:16:00.005-05:00

I finally got to see the flame weeder in action! On Wednesday Richard trained José in on the art of burning up weeds in the carrot field. The carrots were planted about a week ago and some were just sprouting, but Richard said they were planted pretty densely so if some got burnt the field could afford that loss.

Basically the flame weeder is used when little weeds come up before your crop - you can burn the weeds off, leaving a clean field. A far more dramatic operation when done at night, but still pretty cool.

Barn dance!

2009-06-30T17:27:00.002-05:00

I'm glad to see that so many people came out to enjoy some juicy tasty berries last week. For those of you who just can't get enough Harmony Valley, or for those of you who were unfortunately unable to make it to Strawberry Day on the 21st (I fall into this group), don't forget about our upcoming BARN DANCE next weekend, Saturday, July 11th! This is a big deal, because it is the only Saturday the whole season we aren't at the Dane County Farmers Market.
Join us at 2:00 for field tours, followed by a potluck dinner, and then dancing until the cows come home... or whenever.
We'd love to see you here! Don't forget to keep the "C" in your CSA. Take some time to relax, enjoy some good food and music, and meet the people who have been growing your tasty veggies! Check out our website and click on "events" if you'd like a little more info.

Thank you! Strawberry Day inspiration

2009-06-24T16:45:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to take the time to thank all the members who attended the Strawberry Festival on Sunday. (special thanks to the first time CSA members!)

It’s wonderful to know where our food goes and how much it’s appreciated. What an inspiration you are! I’ll be sure to think of you all the next time I’m having one of those days when things aren’t going according to our plans (bad weather, equipment malfunctions).

You make it easy to keep on keepin’ on – farming that is.

Thank you!!
Sincerely yours,
Farmer Darin (picture soon come!)

First CSA box for June

2009-06-03T19:51:00.008-05:00

We've had a wonderful and delightful, if cool, spring this year & here comes summer! What is that rhyme (nearly a limerick) my friend & co-worker Mike says? Something about the weather and fun things to do in the great out of doors. I'll have to try to remember it.

Here's some pictures of what we're getting out of the fields and into the CSA boxes these days.

Some may think I'm strange, but dang those baby white turnips are sexy!

Spring veggie pizzas

2009-05-26T16:09:00.002-05:00

After work last Friday, I left the farm with an armload of leftover produce (okay, so it was a shopping bag, an overflowing shopping bag) and headed home for the weekend with fresh Harmony Valley arugula, spinach, salad mix, green garlic, and some tiny red beets leftover (and still fresh!) from the fall.
My parents and sister were visiting for the weekend, and I thought it would be a fun idea to have a few neighbors over for a little pizza party. My mother was concerned that cooking for 11 people might not be a relaxing way to spend a day off; I tactfully pointed out that after cooking for 35 people a day, dinner for 11 ain't no thang.
For pizza # 1, I finely chopped several bunches of green garlic, then pureed it in the blender with olive oil and a little apple cider vinegar. I spread it raw on an uncooked pizza crust and topped it with mozzarella and sliced summer sausage.
For pizza #2, I roasted all those tiny little beets with olive oil until super tender, then peeled them and pureed them with balsamic vinegar, oil, oregano, and black pepper. I spread this on my pizza crust as the sauce for a pizza featuring fresh chopped morels (the last of my stash for this year!) simmered in butter, Fontina cheese, and a little bit of Sterling Country Jack goat cheese. Yum.
Pizza #3 was a simple combo of sundried tomato, Capri goat feta, and lots of chopped spinach with just a little olive oil.
Served it all with a huge lovely bowl of salad and a maple balsamic vinaigrette.
So how did it turn out? Well, definite thumbs-up to the green garlic sauce. Try it. The pie's cooking time was just long enough to take the edge off the raw garlic bite, but it was still robust enough to be fun ("fun" and "garlicy" are basically synonyms in my mind.) I have been having a reeeeeeeally good time with the green garlic these last few weeks.
The morel and beet pizza was equally delightful, although the flavor of the morels sort of got buried in all of those other ingredients. I tried to select milder cheeses for this one, and felt that the earthy flavor of beets would be a nice complement to the tasty wild mushrooms. I guess the mushroom to crust ratio was just a little low. Eh, c'est la vie. There's always next year.

Spring Field Tour

2009-05-12T21:26:00.012-05:00

Read this week's CSA newsletter for the (loose) narrative. Here's the pictures to go with it (taken Sunday, May 10 - love you Mom!):

Sunchoke, (Richard goofy on) spring radish, spring spinach, lettuce, garlic field, freckles, currant blossom, blueberry blossom, asparagus, arugula under cover.

yum.

Goats on parade

2009-04-30T13:38:00.003-05:00

If it can be said that there is anything fun about washing dishes, then for me, the fun part is gazing out the kitchen window. The window overlooks the wooded slope behind the house, and this is where chickens, and recently goats, put on daily parades for my personal entertainment. For some reason, watching the entire troop of goats wander back and forth across the hill together just tickles me. It is especially exciting to watch the goats climbing trees-- there is a fallen tree that extends several yards above the ground, and some of the goats like to jump onto the trunk and walk the balance beam, as if showing off for each other. Goat gymnasts.
I was raised in the suburbs, which are pretty deficient in goats and chickens. Perhaps someday the novelty of this will wear off. But it hasn't yet.

CSA members, start your engines...

2009-04-28T13:53:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm sure we are all very excited for the beginning of CSA boxes starting next week. Here in the Harmony Valley kitchen, I am charged with preparing dinner using the vegatables in each week's CSA box -- one week ahead of the actual pickup date. So this week I have a box full of next week's forecasted CSA veggies. The week's lead time gives me a chance to experiment with veggie combinations and, hopefully, develop some fun recipes for the newsletter. So I am your guinea pig here on the farm. Actually, Andrea, Terri, and Richard are the real guinea pigs.

So far this week, I have made a burdock beef stir fry (not bad- the burdock retains a pleasant crunchy texture. Make sure to cut it pretty small, or it becomes a tiresome mouthful) and am planning a turkey and sorrel salad for tomorrow night's dinner. I have ideas for the ramps, chives, spinach, and of course the parsnips, which are always a delight to work with. I'm not quite sure yet what to do with those sunchokes. This is complicated by the fact two members of the household are not on very friendly terms with sunchokes. Still, eat from the box we must, and eat from the box we shall. We'll find something to do with those sunchokes.

Root veggie study session

2009-04-21T15:09:00.003-05:00

Well, my first two weeks cooking on the farm have been very interesting. For our meals, we try to eat from the farm as much as possible. During the early part of the growing season, before there is very much harvesting going on, this means eating lots of storage crops from last season. I had expected that this would mean lots of potatoes, winter squash, and maybe some rutabaga. Actually, I am amazed at the wide variety of veggies that Harmony Valley grows and stores for the winter. Besides the expected potatoes, we have several kinds of radishes, beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, garlic, turnips, celeriac, parsley root, parsnips, and newly harvested sunchokes and burdock. Wow. With all of these root veggies around, it can be a little daunting for a new chef trying to remember what's what. I have, on several occasions now, mistaken beets for radishes and radishes for turnips. Although, in my defense, those beauty heart radishes are huge. Like no radishes I've seen before. And those chioggia beets are very exotic looking. Nothing like the predicatable red and brown beets I am used to.
But I'm learning! That's why I am here. So, I have decided that I would benefit from a set of root veggie flash cards. If anyone knows where I can get these, please let me know.

Good enough to write home about!

2009-04-17T08:45:00.003-05:00

OMG it smells so good up in the office! I can't believe I have to smell these smells & not eat for another 3 hours!

Meet our new Summer Chef, Bri. She is awesome. She spent last week getting acquainted with the kitchen, planning some menus & doing an inventory of meat & pantry supplies.

This week she got a practice run, cooking for an abbreviated crew of about 15 before the rest of the crew arrives on Monday & she'll be cooking for about 40! (Word is that ALL of last year's crew passed their H2A interviews & will return, plus a bunch of new guys. Yay!)

Here's what we've had this week:

Monday - Cream of parsnip soup with ham, Sunflower bread (homemade) & strawberry jam, coleslaw
Tuesday - Beef chili, Rhubarb corn muffin (yum!), steamed carrots & turnips

Wednesday - Beans & sausage, braised cabbage, biscuits, fruit salad (apples & strawberries -yum!)

Thursday - Lasagna, garlic bread (homemade - I should have taken a picture - the loaves were so beautiful!), apple walnut cabbage salad (yum! this woman is creative with the cabbage!)

Friday - this is what I smell this morning, I bet it will taste as good as it smells! Turkey dumpling stew, roasted veggies (she's not sure yet what veggies she'll do - she doesn't want to repeat the turnips & carrots (even though they were really good), but since we've been cleaning the coolers & rearranging, she can't find exactly what she wants), & chocolate cupcakes.

It's always a good sign when a bunch of the crew goes back for seconds!

She also cooks dinner for Richard, Andrea & myself (and anyone else who might come to live at the farm). She can be a little more experimental with us and maybe test out some new recipes to use in the CSA newsletters. Here's what we've feasted on this week:

Monday - Cheeseburgers with carmelized onions, burdock fries, baked apples with rhubarb & walnuts

Tuesday - Garlic ginger pork (yum!), rice, orange almond salad (OMG yum!)

Wednesday - Steak with a ramp & bleu cheese sauce, sweet potato wedges, quinoa salad (which garnered a "this girl is cool" response from Richard):

Spring Confetti Salad
This colorful, crunchy side dish gets its flavor from fresh ramps, one of our customers’ favorite early spring vegetables.

½ cup quinoa
½ cup black radish, grated (or lightly steamed chioggia beets, sliced)
½ cup Carrot, finely diced
½ a bunch of fresh ramps
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

1. Rinse the quinoa in several changes of fresh water. If you do not have a fine enough sieve or colander, you can strain it with the lid of a small saucepan.
2. Cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Cook covered for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Strain off any excess water and chill quinoa.
3. Rinse the ramps and cut off the leaves from the white stalk. Reserve the white part for use in another recipe. They are great lightly sautéed, or use in any recipe as you would an onion.
4. Cut narrow ribbons of the leaves crosswise with a sharp knife.
5. Mix cooled quinoa, carrot, radish, ramps, and olive oil. A good, flavorful oil is best. (we like the Frog Hollow 2008 pressing!)

Last night, Thursday: Roast turkey & giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots

Tonight, I look forward to a corn chowder with bacon & a grilled cheese sandwich (maybe on some of my sister & brother in law's bread from their bakery, Falls Baking Co.)

I really look forward to tasting what she creates with the multitude of ingredients that will soon be available to her!

Update from the greenhouse & Fields!

2009-04-16T10:30:00.007-05:00

Besides the 3 acres of greens Adam & Richard planted on Saturday (April 11), Cody and Richard planted chard, carrots, turnips, beets and started on parsnips. Very dry here, so early to plant -which is a great start!

The greenhouses are full and thriving! The curly willow have really filled out,

the peppers have been transplanted, the basil is amazing, and look at those onions & fennel!

Outside, there are some volunteer violas in the midst of the empty flower tunnel - nasturtiums were just planted to add to our salad mix for a dash of color and spice.

Our H2A Visa applicants/crew from Mexico had their interviews in Monterrey yesterday, so we should be getting word soon on who & how many will make it to the farm for the season. We submitted 25 names this year, and have a couple more on standby/as seconds. Sometimes a good worker will fail the interview or get rejected for mysterious reasons so it's good to have extra names. But we hope all of last year's guys will make it back! Once they start (hopefully on Monday), we will really get busy in the fields.

Cold Frame Action

2009-04-16T10:14:00.004-05:00

On Monday, the cold frames were cleaned and ready to be filled up with seedlings - look at the lovely salad and kale & bok choi and kohlrabi! Big thanks to Hector who has been watering and nurturing all the plants in the greenhouses this spring. We don't know what we'd do without his hard work and goofy humor. Seriously, he is a goof.

Sweet Overwintered Spinach

2009-04-16T10:05:00.004-05:00

Available only in the early spring, overwintered spinach is the sweetest and most tender spinach you'll ever taste.

Still too short to cut, it should be ready to harvest in a week or two!

Dirt Angel in the Sunchoke field

2009-04-10T08:33:00.004-05:00

Last Friday we had a crew out in the sunchoke field, digging and picking up the overwintered sunchokes. It was a beautiful day for it & it seems most everybody was happy to be working out in the field again. Adam drove the machine that dug up the rows, with the crew following behind to pick up the sunchokes by hand and put them in buckets. Then the full buckets get dumped into the bins on the wagons. We store the sunchokes as is (dirty) in the bins, until they are ready to be packed.

I thought Adam was thrusting his arm in the dirt up to his elbow, checking the rows to make sure the machine was doing it's job (depth etc). But no, he was so dang happy to be outside, digging in the dirt, away from the shop where he'd been cooped up all winter. When I saw him later, at quitting time, he told me that I missed his dirt angels - he was so happy to be out there he laid on his back in the dirt & made angels. Spring fever?

April in the Nursery Greenhouse

2009-04-06T08:20:00.010-05:00

First Farmer's Market in two weeks (April 18!).
First CSA delivery in 4 weeks - May 7/8/9!

Simone and María spent a couple days transplanting celeriac. Delicate work! Celeriac is started in the 1020 trays (theoretically 10 rows with 20 seeds each row, but we plant more thickly than that) and then when the seedlings are big and strong enough, they are transplanted into the "200" trays (200 individual cells). We use the 1020 trays mostly for germ testing, but also for other crops with tiny seeds, such as tomatoes.

You can't really tell yet, but these trays on the heat table will soon be tomatoes!

Good looking lettuce germ test.

April 2 Greenhouse update

2009-04-06T07:51:00.010-05:00

Lacinato Kale

Basil!

Fennel & Purple Kohlrabi
Broccoli and Bok choi

Greenhouse Action!

2009-02-27T07:45:00.005-06:00

The nursery greenhouse is up and running - I mean growing! It seems earlier than last year, but Andrea says it's about the same time.

One big change is our fancy new vacuum seeder. In the past, the trays have been seeded by hand, which is quite time consuming, especially with little tiny seeds! This machine has a row of needles (that can be changed according to seed size) that suck up one single seed and shoot it down the tube, aligned over a socket in the seed tray, neatly planting as many or as few seeds as we need in each tray. (Hector is our expert operator)

After the seeds are planted, they are covered with a bit more soil and vermiculite. We tuck them in and cover them each night and say "Good morning little onions" every new day. Once we have the big greenhouse cleaned and sterilized and the seedlings are big enough, they'll move across the road to make room in the nursery for new young food seedlings!