Rolling Out 2017 CSA Shares!

2016 Vegetable Share

It’s hard to believe this is our final week of CSA deliveries and Christmas will be here in less than two weeks! As we wrap up another year, we are already looking ahead to another CSA growing season. Regardless of how a year may unfold, we always strive to be prepared each year, with a plan for success in hand. 2017 will be no different and we’re anxious to put our plans in action and see what will unfold.

We’re excited to roll out our 2017 offerings and are already receiving CSA sign-ups for next year! You’ll find our updated CSA sign-up form on our website and there’s a link to it in this week’s email. We are offering an “Early Bird” sign-up offer again this year for members who sign up before February 14, 2017.  You can find more details about this offer on the front page of the sign-up form.

Our share offerings will remain the same for the 2017 season. We are continuing to offer the same vegetable share options, summer & autumn fruit shares and a coffee share in partnership with Kickapoo Coffee Roasters. While the pricing for our fruit shares will remain the same, we did apply a small increase to our vegetable and coffee shares.  As we discussed the 2017 coffee share price with Kickapoo Coffee, they felt it was important to institute a small increase this year as coffee prices are rising.  The good news is that this increase will be passed on to the producers!  As for our decision to increase our vegetable share price, we’d like to offer a little background.

2016 Fruit Share

For the past six years we’ve chosen to hold our vegetable prices at the same rate.  Back in 2010 we reached our peak in CSA membership and were packing 1,100-1,200 boxes per week.  We enjoy growing vegetables for CSA and consider it a very important part of what we do.  Our plan, at that time, was to maximize our CSA membership and decrease our production for wholesale accounts.  Unfortunately, the year we made this decision was the year we started to see a slight decrease in our CSA membership.  It was also about the time we were experiencing the economic recession and we assumed the decrease was associated with a change in consumer priorities and resources.  When we consulted with some of our core, longtime CSA members and shared with them what was happening.  They advised us to hold our prices steady, continue to do a good job and ride out the hard economic times.  Word of mouth advertising has always been our greatest way to sell CSA shares, so we decided to hold our prices to make it affordable for our members and focused on looking for ways to increase efficiency, decrease expenses, etc.

Unfortunately we have continued to see a slight decrease in CSA shares each year and overall the decrease each year has added up to about a 25% decrease in vegetable shares since our peak in 2010.  We’ve queried our membership as well as other growers around the country who are also experiencing the same reality.  Why is this happening?  Perhaps it is related to the fact that organic food has become more available at farmers’ markets as well as in mainstream grocery stores, Wal-mart and even the local Kwik Trips and convenience stores!  While it is good to see growth in the organic market, we believe it has impacted consumers’ choices to shop at other outlets instead of choosing to “eat out of the box.”  We continue to value our direct relationship with our CSA members. We believe sourcing your food through CSA provides a value beyond just the price you pay when purchasing food at Wal-Mart and the like.  We continue to invest resources, time and effort to produce the highest quality vegetables with good taste and nutrient density.  We try to do our part to connect you with “your farm” and provide a transparency that is not always present in our food supply today.  We understand that “eating out of the box” is different than shopping at the grocery store and do our best to provide our members with resources so they can find success in using the vegetables and creating delicious meals.

So, despite the fact that our CSA numbers have decreased, we still value CSA and want it to be part

Weighing strawberries at 2016 Strawberry Days.

of our business.  The reality though is that we cannot continue to absorb the increases in expenses we’ve experienced over the past six years.  The cost of some packaging and field supplies has gone up, at times fuel prices have been high, and the cost of labor has also gone up.  We recognize our crew works hard and we want to continue to support a living wage.  Thus our final decision was to increase our vegetable share price by about 3% on average across the vegetable share options.

Most of our CSA Sites will remain the same for 2017.  In the Twin Cities we are adding a new site in the St. Louis Park area.  We are still looking for a new site location in the North Plymouth area on the west side of Minneapolis.  If you are in this area or have a friend who may be interested in hosting a site, please contact us for more information.  Additionally, we are continuing our partnership with Lunds & Byerlys which allows us to expand our delivery options to the greater Twin Cities area with delivery to any of their 27 store locations.  If you are interested in learning more about this option, please reference the “Lunds and Byerlys CSA Sign-Up Form” on our website.  In the Madison area we will be closing our Marinette Trail site, however we will be adding a site located nearby on Robin Circle.

Before the end of the year you will be invited to participate in an End of the Season Survey.  We appreciate your feedback and this is your chance to offer input about what vegetables you might like to see in the boxes next year (Time to grow jicama again?  Radish seed pods, escarole, lemongrass or cardoons?) or communicate any other ideas or thoughts you may have for the future of our CSA.
In closing, we’d like to thank you for your support of our farm this year.  While we had some weather challenges to deal with and certainly miss having sweet potatoes this fall, knowing our membership was behind us is a huge encouragement for us.  We hope you and your families have a peaceful and restful holiday season and winter.  We look forward to growing for you again in 2017.

Sincerely, Farmers Richard and Andrea

Making A Connection

By Farmer Richard

CSA Members enjoying the scenery of
'their'  farm during our Harvest Party!

     It is now official, reported in major and minor news outlets across the country…CSA farmers are losing members faster than they are being replaced with new members. We started to see a decline in our CSA membership around 2009, and unfortunately we aren’t the only farm that has seen numbers slowly slide each year.  Many thought it was the economic downturn, but overall sales of organic foods is still consistently continuing to grow each year.  More and more people are concerned about the health of their family and turning to organic.  So why the decline in CSA membership?
     We, and other CSA farmers, have been asking this question and trying to figure out what’s going on for the past few years.  One reason may be supersaturation of CSA farms offering shares.  During the past 6 to 8 years the number of new CSA farms has grown faster than the rate of new members interested in joining a CSA.  Most of the growth in CSA farms has been beginning farmers with little experience.  We have long understood that CSA farming is “graduate level” farming, not for beginners.  Growing a wide variety of crops to fill boxes over a full season requires skill and experience.  Many consumers have been alienated forever by a poor CSA experience, “All we got was kale!”  Certainly not true, but a perception from “new” CSA customers who were also new to eating “in season.”

A picture of a summer CSA box contents from Harmony Valley Farm

     Organic food has also become more available at almost all supermarkets, mostly shipped in from distant growers. The advantage for customers is they can stop in and buy a few items of their choosing for dinner without the commitment of the whole box of CSA vegetables. It is good that more acres somewhere in the world are being farmed organic, without toxic chemistry, but what about eating locally and eating in season?
     Another contributing factor to the decline in CSA may be attributed to the growth we’ve seen in farmers’ markets.  The USDA estimates farmers’ markets have doubled over the past 10 years.  While it may be convenient for customers to shop at their small neighborhood markets, this growth has not been as good for farmers.  In addition to pulling members away from choosing a CSA share, farmers are also seeing their sales at each market become diluted.  Many farmers now have to go to several markets per week to sell the same amount of produce that they used to sell at a larger, once-a-week market!

Farmer Richard digging Sweet Potatoes with CSA Members.

     Finally, as times have changed we’ve seen an influx of home delivery services that will deliver not just vegetables, but everything to your door and only what you order!  If you want to break it down even further, there are now meal delivery services that will deliver everything you need for a meal or two in one package.  It may not be “organic” and you have to ignore all the excess packaging for the service, but if you only cook a couple meals a week it may seem like a good option.
     As you can see, there are now lots of options for where and how you can purchase food!  Unfortunately some families have less time to plan and cook meals, thus they opt for choices with the highest level of convenience.  So where does CSA fit into the current picture?
Well, despite the decrease we’ve seen in our own membership over the past seven years, we still consider CSA to be beneficial to our business and the part of our business we enjoy the most.  We’re not ready to “give-up” on our CSA and don’t believe CSA is going out of style.  Despite the changes we’ve seen in the food supply over the past 7-10 years, the concept of CSA remains the same.  CSA still stands for “Community Supported Agriculture” and offers one of the most holistic approaches to sourcing food for your family.  Yes, you are supporting our farm by purchasing shares with us for the season, but it’s so much more than that.  We are part of the same community and we support each other.  As CSA members, you have direct access to your farm and the land where your food is grown. We talk to you each week through our newsletters and email communications and you can talk to us any time you’d like.  You are welcome to come to the valley where your food is grown…breathe the air, walk in the soil and experience not only the food we’re producing, but the land and area in which it is grown.  Last week Bobbie reminded us all just how special and unique our region is and we want to share this experience with you as well.

Farmer Richard showing a CSA member how to 'drive' a tractor!

     When you participate in a CSA, you have an opportunity to connect with the people and places where your food comes from.  You learn what it means to eat with the rhythms of nature and embrace the seasonality of eating.  When melons are in their peak (as they are this week), you eat melon several times a day!  In the spring you long for anything green and in the fall we can’t wait to eat rich winter squash and sweet potatoes.    
     We have seen and heard so many positive stories from members about how CSA has changed and made a positive impact on their lives.  We have many members who joined our CSA when their children were little, twenty years ago.  These kids had the opportunity to grow up as “CSA kids.”  They are now healthy adults seeking out their own CSAs and continue to ask “where does my food come from?”  For many of these kids, their first taste of vegetables was something from our farm.  Many of them visited our farm when they were youngsters.   They camped in the meadow and played in the creek, fed the animals, got to sit on the tractors, gorged on warm strawberries in the field, picked peas right off the plant and built lasting memories of their farm.   They know what “real” food tastes like, understand how to eat with the seasons, and know how to cook and prepare whole foods!  We’ve heard many stories about picky eaters who, after a visit to the farm, will now eat vegetables…but only vegetables from “their farm!”  Other members have told us they eat more vegetables and have seen positive health benefits as a result of eating out of a CSA box.  Yes, eating out of a CSA box requires time and cooking, but it also gives you an opportunity to learn new things about food, build culinary skills and gives you an opportunity to spend invaluable time cooking and eating with your family.

Farmer' Richard and Andrea with Captain Jack the dog!

     We value the connection we have with you through our partnership in CSA.  There are so many benefits beyond the actual box that come along with the CSA experience.  This is something special and unique that a supermarket or home delivery service will never be able to match

Vegetable Feature: Green Curly Kale

By Andrea Yoder

     In the foreward to her book, Brassicas—Cooking the World’s Healthiest Vegetables…, Laura B. Russell states “When Hippocrates said ‘Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food,’ there’s little doubt in my mind  that he was referring to foods drawn from the brassica family.”  We thought it fitting, given the topic of our main article, to feature green curly kale.  This is just one of several varieties of kale we grow.  Our other varieties include red curly, lacinato and baby kale as well as collard greens.  These greens vary from others we’ve sent your way in that their leaves are thicker than say spinach.  As such, they need to be cooked a little longer or “marinated” to soften the leaves.
     Kale may be eaten raw or cooked.  Raw kale salads have become quite popular in recent years and are great for the summer when lettuce and spinach are less available.  If you choose to eat kale raw, we recommend thinly slicing it and “marinating” it for 30 minutes or more with oil and/or an acidic ingredient (such as vinegar or lemon juice) to soften the leaves and make them more palatable.  Kale may also be stir-fried, sautéed, steamed or added to soups, stews and the like.  Baked kale chips are also a fun way to eat kale and a healthy alternative to potato chips!  Due to the recent surge in popularity of kale, there are loads of recipes available on the internet.  We hope you enjoy your “Wisconsin Superfood” this week!

Kale Chips with Almond Butter and Miso

Yield:  4-6 servings

¼ cup almond butter

2 Tbsp warm water

¼ cup chopped onion

1 ½ Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 Tbsp white miso

2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp cider vinegar

1 tsp tamari

¼ tsp ground turmeric

⅛ to ¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 bunch green or red curly kale, washed

Salt, to taste

1.       Preheat the oven to 300°F.  Lightly grease two sheet trays and set aside.

2.       Place all of the ingredients except the kale and salt into a blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth. 

3.       Shake any excess water off of the kale.  Strip the leaves off the main stem.  Discard the stems and tear the leaves into large bite-sized pieces.  Place the leaves into a large mixing bowl and drizzle the almond butter mixture on top.  Using your hands or tongs, mix the kale to evenly coat all of the pieces with the almond butter mixture.

4.       Spread the kale pieces evenly on the two sheet trays and lightly sprinkle with salt.  Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes.  Remove the pans from the oven and lightly toss the kale pieces.  Return the pans to the oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until all the pieces are crispy. 

5.       Remove from the oven and let cool, then carefully lift the kale chips off the baking sheets and serve.

Recipe adapted from one originally published in Food & Wine magazine in March 2012.

Vegetable Quesadillas with Pistachio-Kale Pesto

Yield:  4 servings quesadillas and 1 cup pesto

Kale Pesto:

½ cup pistachios

1 clove garlic

½ cup olive oil

2 cups raw kale, packed

2 cups basil, loosely packed

Juice of 1 lemon, more to taste

Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Quesadilla Filling:

2 medium zucchini
1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

8-10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 cup cheese, shredded (variety to your liking)

Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 tortillas (9-10-inch)

1.       Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Cut zucchini into slices ¼-inch thick.  Lay them on a sheet tray and brush with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Flip the slices over and repeat on the other side.  Thinly slice the onions and toss with enough olive oil to lightly coat.  Put the onions on the sheet tray with the zucchini.  Place in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until the zucchini are tender.  You may need to remove the onions before the zucchini is finished. 

2.        While the zucchini is baking, prepare the pesto.  Place all the ingredients for the pesto into a high speed blender or a food processor.  Blend until nearly smooth. Adjust seasoning with additional salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed.

3.       Assemble the quesadillas.  Spread approximately 2 Tbsp of kale pesto on half of each tortilla.  Top with zucchini slices, onion, and cherry tomatoes.  Sprinkle cheese on top of each tortilla, then fold in half. 

4.       Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add ½ Tbsp olive oil. When the skillet is warm, add the quesadillas and cook on each side for about 2 minutes or until the tortilla is golden and the cheese is melted. Cut into quarters or thirds and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from one originally sourced from purelyelizabeth.com

"A Year Of Blooms" - What's Inside the CSA Calendar & Resource Guide?

Is it really July already!?  Time to turn another page in the calendar…the 2015 HVF CSA Calendar that is!  Our new calendars are finally here and have been at your sites for the past few weeks now.  If you haven’t had a chance to pick one up yet, we’d like to encourage you to do so.  Our hope is that you’ll enjoy the beauty of this calendar, but also consider this calendar to be part of your connection to your farm and an important resource guide.  If you are thinking…. “I really don’t need another calendar to hang on the wall,” I’d like to mention that this calendar is more than just pretty pictures and dates to hang on your wall.  It is actually a very useful tool to guide you through your CSA experience this season.   We had extras made, so feel free to take more than one per household if you’d like to have them in more than one location.  Read on to find out what’s inside!

Our CSA calendar is our way of connecting you to our farm throughout the entire year.  Yes, there are pretty pictures to look at each month and hopefully you’ll enjoy the theme of this year’s calendar-- “A Year of Blooms.” Throughout the season we captured pictures of different flowers in bloom.  Some of them are from fruits or vegetables and others are wildflowers.   Our hope is that you’ll keep this calendar handy and hang it in a convenient place where you can enjoy its beauty, but also refer to it regularly.  Beyond the pretty pictures, you’ll find that our calendar has been customized to include our delivery schedule.  If you’re a little unclear about all this ‘Green Week’/ ‘Brown Week’ business, refer to your calendar.  We’ve laid out the entire delivery season complete with color coding for the different delivery weeks.  You can even go a step further and mark your specific delivery dates on your calendar.  We also highlight that time of year when our delivery schedule changes a little bit around the holidays.  This can be a tricky time to remember when you are supposed to pick up your shares, so we encourage you to reference the calendar so you don’t miss out on anything!
Some of the most important and useful information in the calendar is in the very last pages.  If you flip to the back of the calendar, you’ll find all of the site locations including site hours and contact information.  If you need to contact your site host for some reason during the season, it can be very handy to just flip to the back of the calendar for this information.  You’ll also find one of Farmer Richard’s favorite pages in the calendar.  He admires the “Don’t Rip That Box!” page and hopes everyone will take a minute to review these important guidelines for breaking down the CSA boxes.  If the boxes stay at the site and are broken down properly, we will be able to reuse them again instead of having to throw it away after a single use.

Having a CSA calendar in your kitchen might be a handy idea, especially on delivery day when you’re putting away the contents of your shares.  Another important piece of information in the calendar is our “Storage Tips” section.  If you’re not quite sure how or where to store a particular item in your box, just flip to the back of the calendar and refer to the list of vegetables.  This list will answer most of your questions, but we’ve also provided a few recommended resources for storage information that you may find additionally helpful.
I hope you’re starting to see that this calendar really is more than just dates on the wall.  We actually consider it to be a CSA Resource Guide.  In the front of the calendar you’ll find important reminders about how you can make the most of your CSA experience.  Please take a moment to read this brief information so you are fully informed about the details of pickup day, how to use the Choice & Swap boxes, etc.  When everyone follows the guidelines we have smooth and successful pick up days and everyone leaves with the shares they signed up for!
Finally, we acknowledge that learning to eat “out of the box” is a transition and we want to remind you that you are not alone in this adventure.  Page 3 of the calendar and resource guide highlights a few resources you might find helpful to guide you as you learn about storing and preparing the different vegetables in your box from week to week.  It’s a good place to turn to if you’re stumped by a vegetable and looking for more information or places to turn to for recipes.
If you haven’t picked up your calendar yet, or you’d like another one, please look for them at your site this week.  We appreciate your support of our farm and hope you are enjoying  your seasonal eating adventure!
--Farmers Richard & Andrea, Capt. Jack The Dog, and the Entire HVF Crew

Vegetable Feature: Cilantro

by Sarah Janes Ugoretz

This week we’re excited to feature cilantro, one of the most healthy herbs out there! Beyond its renowned fragrance and its bright, citrusy flavor, cilantro is a powerhouse when it comes to medicinal properties. In Sarma Melngailis’s cookbook, Living Raw Food, she cites some of cilantro’s unique nutritional properties including one of its most unique features in supporting chelation. This process refers to cilantro’s ability-as a “substance that has a great molecular surface area and a negative ionic charge”-to essentially remove various toxins, heavy metals, molds, yeast, and fungi from our bodies.  This is an especially important property for those of us who reside in urban areas and are exposed to a number of airborne pollutants on a regular basis. Beyond its work as a chelator, cilantro is also an excellent source of zinc, thiamin, dietary fiber, and vitamins A, C, E, and K--just to name a few.
Thought to have originated in Greece, cilantro’s culinary history spans millennia. According to Lynda Balslev, writing for a 2010 National Public Radio article, coriander seeds were found in 8,000 year old caves in Israel, are referred to in the Bible and in ancient Sanskrit texts, and were even sprinkled across the floor of King Tut’s tomb. It wasn’t until the 1600s that these seeds made their way to the Americas, but today, cilantro is widely used throughout the American Southwest, Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as in parts of Asia and the Middle East. Here in the Midwest, you’re most likely to encounter cilantro in salsas or guacamole, but it is also an excellent addition to shakes, salads, and-as you’ll see in the accompanying recipe-in soups.
Outside of the U.S. and Mexico, cilantro often goes by other names--primarily, coriander, pak chi, or Chinese celery. Unlike most of Europe where the entire plant is referred to as coriander, in the U.S. we identify the seeds as coriander and the leafy part of the plant as cilantro. Though they come from the same plant, coriander seeds and cilantro have entirely different flavor profiles.
For storage purposes, cilantro keeps best if kept upright in a jar with water. Cover with a plastic bag and place the jar in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that you can use not only the leaves, but the stems as well since they are thin and tender enough to blend right in with any dish!

Spring Shiitake & Cilantro Soup

by Andrea Yoder

Serves 4-6

2 Tbsp Sunflower oil

⅔ cup green garlic, greens & bulb chopped finely

3-4 green onions, greens and bulb separated

1 Tbsp minced ginger

6 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly (approx. 2 to 2 ½ cups)

1 ½ tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Freshly ground white pepper, to taste (optional)

⅛ tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp mirin or rice wine vinegar

⅔ cup asparagus, cut into ½-inch pieces

4 baby white turnips, tops removed, chopped finely

½ cup chopped cilantro

Toasted sesame or peanut oil, to taste

1. Heat the sunflower oil in medium sauce pot over medium heat.  Finely chop the bulb or lower portion of the green onion.  Thinly slice the green onion tops and set aside to garnish the soup at the end.  When the oil is warm, add the finely chopped onion and the green garlic.  Sauté for 1-2 minutes and then add the ginger and shiitake mushrooms.  Sauté for 2-3 more minutes or until the mushrooms start to soften.
2. Add the salt and season with black and white pepper and crushed red pepper if desired.  Add the chicken or vegetable stock, cover and return the soup to a simmer.  Simmer for 8-10 minutes.
3. Remove the cover and add the soy sauce, mirin and asparagus.  Simmer for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the finely chopped turnip, cilantro and green onion tops.
4. Adjust the seasoning to your liking with additional salt and pepper if needed. 
5. Portion the soup into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of sesame or peanut oil.

Cocount Rice with Lemongrass & Cilantro

Recipe borrowed from Lorna Sass’ book, Lorna Sass’ Complete Vegetarian Kitchen

2 ½ cups water

1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut into 1-inch pieces, or 2 tsp dried lemongrass, placed in a tea ball or tea bag

1 cup long-grain or basmati brown rice

½ cup unsweetened, grated coconut

¾ tsp salt

⅛ to ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flaces

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1. In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, bring the water and lemongrass to a boil.  Add the rice, coconut, salt, and red pepper flakes.  Return to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 45 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, until all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.  
2. Remove the tea ball or pieces of lemongrass.  Stir in the cilantro as you fluff up the rice with a fork. 

Featured Vegetable this Week: SWEETHEART CABBAGE

by Andrea Yoder

This summer cabbage has become one of our favorites over the past several years since we started growing it. Not all cabbages fare well in the early part of the season, so we save the bulk of our cabbage plantings for the fall when the weather is more cool and the cabbages thrive. Sweetheart cabbage is a little different though. It’s characterized by a pointy head with tightly wrapped leaves. It is known as a salad cabbage and has a mild, sweet flavor with tender leaves. It grows well even in the early part of the summer.

Sweetheart cabbage is characterized by a pointy head.

Since sweetheart cabbage is known as a salad cabbage, it can be used in a variety of raw preparations. I recommend slicing it thinly or shredding it for use in vegetable slaws or other raw salads. It can also be used in spring rolls, or use the leaves as a wrap in place of tortillas or bread. Sweetheart cabbage is also tasty when lightly cooked. It’s an excellent candidate for a stir-fry alongside a host of other early summer vegetables including snow peas, broccoli, carrots, onions, garlic and summer squash. You could also use it in a filling for egg rolls or just simply saute it with butter and fresh garlic.

Store your sweetheart cabbage loosely wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Lightly rinse the outer leaves before using. If you don’t use the entire cabbage for one preparation, wrap the remaining portion of cabbage and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

This recipe was adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook. It is a simple way to turn leftover steak into the next day’s lunch or a quick summer dinner. Feel free to substitute or add other vegetables to the mix as they are available, such as sweet peppers, broccoli, kohlrabi, etc.

Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

4 to 6 servings

Spicy Peanut Dressing:

½ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar

⅓ cup sunflower oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp maple syrup 

1 tsp minced garlic

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 ¼ tsp soy sauce

1 ¼ tsp siracha or hot sauce (optional) 

2 tsp minced fresh ginger

2 Tbsp lime juice

½ cup chopped salted, roasted peanuts

Salad: 

12-16 oz cooked, rare steak (sirloin, flank or other of your choosing), cut into 1 ½” x ¼” strips 

1 large or 2 small cucumbers, cut into bite-sized chunks

1 cup snow peas, stems removed, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup shredded carrots

2 cups finely sliced sweetheart cabbage

¾ cup thinly sliced onion

4 oz salad mix, lettuce or other salad greens

1. Prepare the dressing by whisking together all the ingredients (except for the peanuts). Refrigerate until ready to use. Stir in the peanuts just before serving.

2. About 10 minutes before serving, combine all the veggies, except for the salad mix, in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the vegetables with enough of the dressing so that everything is lightly coated. Portion the salad greens onto individual serving plates. Top the greens with some of the vegetable mixture, slices of beef, and chopped peanuts. Drizzle with more of the dressing.

Featured Vegetable this Week: COLLARD GREENS

by Andrea Yoder

We seldom highlight collard greens and they are often overshadowed by the recent increase in popularity of kales, which are very similar in nature. Collards are in the family of brassicas and thus are related to vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli & turnips. They are characterized by thick, sturdy, flat, rounded leaves and boast  a host of nutritional attributes including being low in calories, high in fiber, and they are good sources of beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, B vitamins and antioxidants. They have long been an important staple ingredient in southern cooking in the United States. The plant is thought to have been brought to the US during the era of slave trade either directly from Africa or possibly from Haiti. Collards are eaten in countries throughout the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Farmer Richard looks over the field of collard greens

The traditional southern way to prepare collard greens is to boil or cook the greens for 30 minutes or more in a broth with some sort of a pork product such as a ham bone, ham hock or bacon. While collard greens do need a bit more cooking than spinach to become tender, it is a common misunderstanding that this is the only way to cook collards. Because they are a thicker green, collards do stand up to moist-heat cooking methods such as braising. They are a great addition to soups, stews, bean, lentil and grain dishes where they can be cooked with the other ingredients without becoming overcooked. While cooking collards with liquid will likely yield the softest texture, they can also be stir-fried or lightly sautéed, methods that highlight their flavors and bright green color. You can also use collards in raw salads or slaws, just make sure you allow a few hours for the greens to rest in the dressing or vinaigrette to soften the leaves. Some southern cooks will make a creamy cole slaw using thinly sliced collard greens and serve it on top of a barbecued pork sandwich.

The large flat leaves also make a great wrapper and can be used in place of a tortilla, spring roll wrapper or the like. You can fill them with a whole host of ingredients such as finely chopped greens or other veggies, cooked grains, beans, meat, hummus, etc. Add a sauce to the wrap or dip it in a flavorful dipping sauce and you have a meal! You can use the leaves raw, or blanch them briefly in boiling water, cool and then pat dry. This will help soften the leaf and make them more tender.

The leaves are large and flat which make them perfect for wrappers!

Collards can stand up to other more bold flavors and ingredients including hot peppers, onions, garlic, ginger, curry & other pungent sauces, pork, soy sauce, and cream. Store collard greens loosely wrapped in plastic in the crisper drawer until you are ready to use them. Wash them in a sink of clean water and shake off excess water. Remove the thick center stem and then prepare the leaf by leaving whole, cutting into bite-sized pieces, or stack the leaves and roll them so you can slice them thinly.

Simple Garlicky Greens

“If there could be only one recipe in the world for leafy greens, 

I’d vote for this one.”

—Nava Atlas, Author of Wild About Greens

This is a basic recipe for cooking greens that can be used for a variety of greens including kale, spinach, mustard greens and a variety of Asian greens (eg bok choi, yukina savoy, etc). This can easily be a “go-to” recipe that serves as a base for a whole host of variations. In addition to the suggestions below, you can simply mix Garlicky Greens with beans or grains to round out a meal.

4 to 6 servings
1 bunch collard greens
1 to 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or sunflower oil
3 to 4 cloves garlic, crushed
Juice of ½ to 1 lemon, or apple cider vinegar, to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

1. Cut leaves away from stems. Stack a few leaves on top of each other and roll snugly from one of the narrow ends, then slice thinly. Chop in a few places to shorten the ribbons.


2. Heat the oil in a large steep-sided skillet or stir-fry pan. Add the garlic and sauté over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden.


3. Add the greens and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until just tender, approximately 5 to 8 minutes. Add small amounts of water, wine or vegetable broth during this time, if needed—just enough to keep the bottom of the pan moist.


4. Add the lemon juice or vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Variations:

Sweet Additions:  Once the greens are cooked, stir in ¼ to ½ cup raisins, dried cranberries or currants.

Nutty Additions:  Sprinkle ¼ to ½ cup toasted nuts over the top of the greens in the pan prior to serving.

Savory Additions:  Once the greens are cooked, stir in any of the following:  ½ cup sliced brine-cured olives, ½ cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes, or 2 to 3 Tbsp capers.

Spicy Additions:  Stir any of the following into cooked greens, to your taste: dried hot pepper flakes, fresh seeded and minced hot chili pepper, chili oil or hot sauce.

Spicy Peanut or Cashew Sauce

Recipe borrowed from Nava Atlas’s book, Wild About Greens

This rich, spicy sauce is great on just about any variety of greens.  It is a great addition to the Simple Garliky Greens recipe in this week’s newsletter.  Serve the sauce with the greens or mix the greens with a cooked grain (rice, quinoa, wheat berries, etc) and top it off with the Spicy Peanut Sauce.

4 to 6 servings
1 Tbsp olive oil or other healthy vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, top and bottom parts, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 fresh hot chili pepper, seeded and minced or a pinch of dried red pepper flakes
½ cup natural-style chunky peanut butter or cashew butter
1 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tsp granulated sugar

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and the bulb part of the scallions. Sauté over medium-low heat until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the tomatoes, chili pepper, and the green top parts of the scallion. Cover and cook just until the tomatoes have softened, 2 to 3 minutes.


2. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, and sugar. Once the peanut butter starts to soften from the heat, stir to combine with the tomato mixture and add a small amount of water, just enough to make this a medium-thick sauce. Stir into nearly done greens.

Featured Vegetable July 3-5: Fennel

Fennel is a unique vegetable, unlike any other we grow. It is in the same family as carrots, dill, and parsley which are characterized by their feathery tops and round, flattened flower heads called umbels. Fennel is distinguished by its licorice or anise-like flavor and aroma. For those of you who like the flavor of licorice, this could quickly become one of your favorite vegetables. If you are not a fan of licorice and would rather put your fennel in the swap box, I’d encourage you to read on and consider giving it a try.

Fennel in the field at Harmony Valley Farm.

Fennel is a crisp, sweet-scented vegetable. The entire plant is usable, starting with the bulb at the base of the plant which is the portion that is most often eaten. The stems extending from the bulb can be used to flavor soups, stocks, etc, but are often too fibrous to eat. The feathery tops are called fronds. They have a mild, fresh fennel flavor and are used more as a seasoning or herb. They can be chopped finely and added to salads, used to garnish soups, or blend them into fruit or vegetable drinks or smoothies. You can also stir the chopped fronds into yogurt or sour cream along with scallions, cucumbers or other herbs and use it as a sauce or dip for vegetables, bread, fish or poultry. If the plant is left to form a flower, the pollen from the flower can be collected and used as a seasoning.

Fennel is common in Mediterranean cuisine including Italian and Greek cooking. It can be eaten raw, braised, grilled, boiled, roasted or sautéed. It is often used in gratins, cream soups, seafood dishes, simple salads and antipasto platters. Fennel pairs well with many foods including: lemons, oranges, apples, honey, white wine, olives, beets, tomatoes, potatoes, fish, seafood, pork, cured meats, beans, cream, Parmesan cheese and blue cheese.

Fennel contains a volatile oil called anethole which is responsible for its licorice flavor and aroma. It has been shown to reduce inflammation and aids in digestion. The flavor of fennel is strongest when eaten raw. When sautéed or cooked, the oils volatilize which lessens the intensity of the flavor and the sugars in the vegetable start to caramelize. Thus, cooking mellows and sweetens the flavor while the color changes from bright white to a golden hue. When eating fennel raw, I recommend thinly slicing or shaving the bulb. Cutting it in this way makes it tender and delicate, as opposed to overwhelming. One of my favorite ways to enjoy fennel is to dress thinly sliced fennel with a simple honey-lemon vinaigrette. So simple, yet very delicious. Store your fennel wrapped loosely in plastic in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.

White Bean & Fennel Salad

Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy

This salad pairs very well with seared salmon or any other fish. For another variation, consider adding a can of tuna and/or chopped olives to the salad.

White Bean & Fennel Salad with Seared Salmon

Serves 4

1  cup dried cannellini, navy or other dried white beans, soaked overnight in water to cover
2-3 scallions, bulb and green tops
2  small or 1 medium fennel bulbs, with fronds
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
5 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1.   Pour the soaking water off the beans and put the beans in a pot. Add fresh water to  cover by a few inches, bring to a boil and boil hard for 10 minutes. Lower the heat,  cover and cook gently until the beans are tender but still hold their shape.

2.   While the beans are cooking, prepare the remaining components of the salad.   Thinly slice the scallions. Trim off the stalk and fronds from the fennel bulb. Finely  chop 3 Tbsp of fronds and set them aside. Cut the fennel bulb into quarters and  remove the core. Slice the fennel very thinly and set aside.

3.  Whisk 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice with the lemon zest, vinegar, oil, and ½ tsp salt.

4.   When the beans are done, drain them, pour them into a shallow bowl and let them  cool for 5-10 minutes. Toss them with the lemon vinaigrette, fennel seeds, and  sliced fennel. Season well with salt & pepper. Gently stir in the scallions and fennel  fronds. Adjust the seasoning to your like with salt and black pepper.

5.  Serve the salad at room temperature or just slightly warm. 

Blended Lemonade with Ginger & Fennel

by Andrea Yoder

Yield:  3 servings

½ cup honey
2 ½ cups water
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
½ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup fennel fronds, tightly packed

1.   Combine honey, water and ginger in a small pot. Bring the water to a simmer  over medium heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Stir to make sure the honey 

is fully dissolved. Remove the pot from heat and set aside to cool to room  temperature.

2.   Carefully pour the honey and ginger mixture into a blender.  Add the lemon  juice and fennel fronds.  Blend on high speed until the mixture is smooth and  bright green.

3.   Serve over ice.  Garnish with a stem of fennel fronds or lemon slices

Fennel-Almond Cake with Summer Fruit

This recipe was inspired by Deborah Madison’s recipe for Carrot Almond Cake with Ricotta Cream that was published in her book Vegetable Literacy.

Makes One 9-inch cake

4 Tbsp butter plus more to grease the pan
1 ½ cups almonds
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
⅔ cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups unbleached cake flour or whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
4 large eggs
¼ tsp vanilla
1 cup fennel, chopped finely
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
Whipped cream, to garnish
4-5 cups fresh fruit (Blueberries, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, etc)
Juice of 2 oranges

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Melt the 4 Tbsp butter and set it aside to cool.
Use a small amount of butter to grease the sides and bottom of a 9-inch
cake pan. Dust the sides of the pan with flour.

2. Pulse the almonds with the orange zest and 2 Tbsp of the granulated
sugar in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground. Sift
together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and the remaining 2/3
cup sugar on high speed until pale, foamy, and thick, about 5 minutes.
Reduce the speed to low and add the ground almond mixture, the
vanilla, and finally the flour mixture, incorporating it just until well
mixed. Pour the cooled butter over the batter and then quickly fold it in,
followed by the fennel.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and put the
cake in the center of the oven. Lower the heat to 350°F and bake the
cake until it is springy to the touch in the center, lightly browned, and
beginning to pull away from the pan sides, 40-45 minutes. Let cool
completely in the pan, then run a knife around the edge to fully release
the cake. Place a plate on top of the pan and invert the pan to remove
the cake onto the platter.

5. Just before serving, dust the cake with the confectioners’ sugar. Mix the
fruit of your choosing with the juice of 2 oranges.
6. Serve each slice of the cake with a spoonful of whipped cream on top
and garnish with a mix of fresh summer fruit.

Second Match-up Complete, Third Match Competitors

In a much closer match in the Spring division, the Sugar Snap Peas edged out the Kohlrabi to move on to a match later against the overpowering Ramps.  I am just looking forward to eating all of these soon! Here is how we are currently standing in the bracket.

Remember Capt Jack picked all the vegetables and he is eagerly awaiting the results. You can see he is contemplating his bracket picks below.  Can you guess which vegetable he wants to win?

Now for the next round of contestants - both hailing from the Summer division of the Vegetable Bracket. Our first vegetable is the mouth-watering, sweet and adorable Mini Sweet Peppers. These little peppers are not only cute and colorful, but are terribly sweet when eaten raw or cooked.  What is my favorite way to eat them you ask (when they make it into my house)? I would have to say raw with a little garlic and herbed Brebis cheese stuffed in them. Yum!! This vegetable is a true team player, you just can't eat one!! We plant ½ acre of these little sweethearts and with all the colors, the rows look like little Christmas trees when they are loaded with ripe peppers.

The second vegetable contestant is not quite as flashy as the mini-sweet pepper, but equally beautiful and plentiful in its own way.  As the green beans come to the playing field, they recruited their yellow bean counterpart to join them on center-stage to add a little color to the competition against the mini-sweets.  Who doesn't love a fresh green or yellow bean?!  Green & yellow beans are usually considered to be more of the “old favorite” vegetable that has stood the test of time and comes back as a customer favorite year after year. One planting is never enough, so we plan to plant as many as 6 different crops each year!  If the weather cooperates, that means everyone will eat beans until they are coming out your ears!  Quickly sautéed with garlic, roasted until golden brown, or simply tossed with a light vinaigrette…..the crisp, fresh, mild flavor of green & yellow beans will always find their place on the summer dinner plate.

 So the real questions is.....  Who will the winner be!

First round results and Second match line up!

Results after the First Match-up

At the end of the first match-up, ramps took an overwhelming lead right from the start and never looked back.  They beat out the overwintered spinach by an embarrassing margin. This does make me a little sad, as I do love both of them, I was hoping for a closer match.  I am also a little partial to the extra sweetness of the  overwintered spinach.  But, the votes are in and we move on to our next match-up in the Spring division!  

In this round, we have the ever versatile Kohlrabi. In is raw state it is has a crisp sweet and clean taste that can be eaten out of hand or shredded into a slaw (and so much more). Kohlrabi can also be cooked and adapts beautifully to cooking styles as different as Indian and German. Kohlrabi translates to 'cabbage-turnip' in German. As you can see in the picture below, it is also an exotic looking vegetable. Do not be intimidated by its bulbous stalk and collard-like green tops. You may think this is a root vegetable, but don't be fooled, that bulb you see grows above ground. 

And competing against the Kohlrabi we have the beloved Sugar Snap Peas.  At my house, these peas never make it to the front door from my garden.  Who can resist the sweet, fresh taste of a newly picked snap pea from the garden? Certainly not me, and I have no idea how the crew gets any back from the field for our CSA members at all.  Of course peas can also be cooked.  . . . . . .

So the big questions is, who will win today's match-up?

Our CSA Boxes This Week!

Two great shares this week with extra delicious packed inside! Take a look at what is in this week's CSA Boxes!

This Week's Veggie Share:

Red Savoy OR Red Sweetheart Cabbage
Spinach or Salad Mix
Red and Yellow Onions
Spaghetti Squash
Honeynut Butternut Squash
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli Romanesco OR Cauliflower
Broccoli
Carrots
Purple Viking Potatoes
Green Curly Kale
Celeriac

This Week's Fruit Share:

Pippin Apples

Asian Pears

Biodynamic Thompson Grapes

Brown Turkey Figs

Braeburn Apples

Biodynamic Limes

Pomegranates

Check out our Vegetable and Fruit Newsletters for information and recipes for this week's shares!

All Signs Point to Fall

Fall is in full swing here at Harmony Valley Farm! This week's CSA box has a lot of our great fall harvest vegetables. This includes:

Porcelain Garlic, Red Onions, French Fingerling Potatoes, Carrots, Spaghetti Squash, Honeynut Butternut Squash, Salad, Broccoli, Escarole (our feature vegetable), Red or French Breakfast Radishes, Red Mustard and Parsnips.

Our newsletter this week has simple ideas for each of these items and also goes in-depth on our feature vegetable, escarole. Chef Chelsea shares two very simple, yet delicious, recipes for our enjoying the escarole as well.

Photo by Abbey J. Steffen

Photo by Abbey J. Steffen

If you're more of a meat person, we could talk for hours about the quality of our beef and pork here at Harmony Valley Farm.

 Farmer Richard took some time out of his busy days here at the farm to share a little about his experiences that brought him to raise his own beef and pork. He also takes the opportunity to go more in-depth about our 100% grass-fed Angus and pasteurized pork. We feel it is important that you know all there is to know about where your meat is coming from - and we are happy to share that! 

Check out the newsletter for this Pasture Walk Down Memory Lane with Farmer Richard.