Harmony Valley Farm: lettuce

As we roll past the halfway point in the month, summer vegetables are fading away and we’re getting closer to the end of our growing season. Many farms wrap up their harvests by the end of October, but we’ll push on through November. We still have beautiful tat soi, radicchio, escarole, kale and bok choi remaining in the fields. These will be our late fall & winter greens that we hope to include in your boxes through November. Many of you may be wondering about sweet potatoes. We are happy to report we finished harvesting them earlier this week. They are “curing” in our greenhouse right now and we hope to start putting them in your box as early as next week if they are ready! That’s a little glimpse of what’s coming your way.

As for this week, we have a nice selection of greens for eating raw and cooking! This will likely be our final week for spinach, salad mix and the last of our head lettuce. This week we’re featuring one of our favorite lettuce varieties, Summer Crisp. You can read more about why this is one of our favorites in this week’s Vegetable Feature Article. Summer Crisp lettuce is a versatile variety that may be used in a variety of salad applications. This week we’re keeping it simple and traditional with Caesar Salad (See Below)! This version uses yogurt instead of raw egg yolks in the dressing. It does call for anchovies which is a staple ingredient in a traditional Caesar salad. If you’ve never used anchovies, don’t be afraid. They contribute a nice salty, umami flavor to the dressing that is quite tasty. You can find little jars of anchovies in the grocery store section near the olives, canned tuna, etc.

Mini Pepper Chicken Nachos
photo from heatovento350.com

We are nearing the end of pepper season, with the possibility of another week or so of picking if we don’t get a frost. This week enjoy those little mini sweet peppers in this recipe for Mini Pepper Chicken Nachos. Skip the chip and use the pepper instead! We also stuck two more little jalapeño peppers in your box this week. Check out this recipe for Grilled Jalapeño Burgers and put them to use!

It’s time to get serious about eating winter squash now! You know I like a tasty pizza, which is why this recipe for Butternut Squash & Apple Pizza with Sage, Feta & Pickled Onions caught my attention! As much as I like a good pizza, I also like a good taco. If you receive cabbage this week, consider making this recipe for Life Changing Crispy Baked Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw. They are pretty amazing!

Lastly, I included a few hearty meal ideas that match the changing weather of fall. As the temperatures continue to get colder, we’re all going to start craving more hot, nourishing dishes such as this recipe for Cider Braised Chicken with Apples and Onions or this Hungarian Beef & Onion Stew.

That’s a wrap for today. Over the next week Richard and I will be laying out our preliminary plans for what will be going into the final six boxes of the year. Can you believe it—only six more boxes?!? Have a great week and I’ll see you next week!—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Summer Crisp Lettuce

By: Chef Andrea Yoder

Description: We grow many varieties of head lettuce here at Harmony Valley Farm, each of them carefully selected with specific characteristics we’re looking for at different times in the growing season with their own special flair to keep things interesting and diverse. Lettuce can be a tricky crop to grow. In general, lettuce is best grown in the more mild, cool temperatures of spring and fall. During the heat of the summer it bolts very quickly and typically does not taste good. While spring and fall are more conducive times of the season for growing lettuce, it is still very vulnerable to field and weather conditions. There are many varieties of lettuce, but they are not all created equally. We have tried to select varieties that have greater disease resistance, are beautiful with good flavor, and have good field-holding ability which gives us a longer window in which to harvest them.

So with that background, I want to introduce this week’s head lettuce. It’s a unique variety called “Magenta.” This variety is classified as a Summer Crisp lettuce, also known as Batavia lettuce. It’s a unique type of lettuce that is kind of a mix between leaf lettuce, iceberg and romaine. The heads start out similarly to a leaf lettuce, which is loose and open, but as they mature the inner leaves start to wrap into more of a compact head. The texture of the leaves is kind of a cross between iceberg and romaine. There are several things we like about this lettuce. First of all, it is tolerant to heat so it does well even in the heat of late summer and early fall. It also has a longer harvest window whereas some varieties can quickly go “over the hill.” Lastly, it tastes pretty good, lacking the bitterness that Romaine can develop sometimes. You will seldom see this variety of lettuce in a regular grocery store, but over the past few years this has become one of our favorite varieties of head lettuce to grow and eat!

Head Lettuce sprouting in the greenhouse.

Preparation & Use: When you are ready to use your head lettuce, cut out the base of the stalk and pull off the leaves. Gently swish around in a bowl of water or a clean sink of cold water to loosen any dirt, especially the lower part of the leaves near the base. Put the washed leaves in a wire basket or colander, hold it by the handle and shake vigorously over the sink so the water is spun out. If you do not have a basket, you can wrap the lettuce in a clean cloth and blot out the water, a salad spinner also works well and is relatively inexpensive.

This variety of lettuce has enough structure to the leaf to hold up to thick, creamy dressings such as a a Caesar dressing as in this week’s featured recipe. You can use this lettuce in any recipe or use that you may normally reach for iceberg or romaine lettuce. Of course, you can also dress it lightly with a vinaigrette.

Storage: Store these heads loosely wrapped in a plastic bag or stored in a covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. When storing, add paper towels to the plastic bag to keep lettuce fresher longer. Do not store near ethylene-producing fruits, like apples or bananas, to avoid rapid decay.

Caesar Salad

Yield: 4 servings

“In this version of a Caesar salad, raw eggs are replaced with plain yogurt. Otherwise, the flavors are authentic, combining tart lemon juice, briny anchovies, and savory Parmesan cheese with crunchy lettuce and crisp garlic-scented croutons.”

1 head of Summer Crisp or Romaine Lettuce

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus ½ cup

2 cloves garlic

3 or 4 slices French or Italian bread each ⅜ inch thick, crusts removed and cut into ½-inch cubes

Salt and ground pepper, to taste

6-8 good-quality anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained

1 ½ tsp dry mustard

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 ½ Tbsp plain yogurt

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Break off the leaves from the lettuce core. Wash and dry well. Tear into bite-sized pieces. Place in a salad bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel, and refrigerate to keep crisp.
In a large frying pan over low heat, warm the 3 Tbsp olive oil. Using the flat side of a chef’s knife, smash 1 of the garlic cloves and add it to the oil. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the bread cubes and fry, stirring and tossing, until crisp and golden on all sides, 4-5 minutes. Discard the garlic. Sprinkle the bread cubes with a little salt. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Set aside to cool.
Chop the remaining garlic clove and combine with the ½ cup olive oil in a blender. Puree until smooth. In a small bowl, using a fork, mash the anchovies until they form a paste. Add to the oil and garlic in the blender along with the mustard, lemon juice, and yogurt. Blend at high speed until smooth. Add 2 Tbsp of the Parmesan cheese and blend again. Season with a little salt, remembering that anchovies are salty, and a little pepper.
Add three-fourths of the dressing to the lettuce and toss to coat well. Add about half of the remaining cheese and toss again. Taste and add more dressing or more seasonings to taste. Sprinkle with the toasted croutons and the remaining cheese. Serve right away.

Recipe borrowed from Cooking At Home, a Williams-Sonoma cookbook by Chuck Williams.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Spring Farm Update!

By Farmer Richard and his sidekicks Andrea & Captain Jack the Dog

Spring is different every year and as we write this update temperature is on our minds. We were happy to see the snow melt away towards the end of March…..and then woke up to a winter wonderland on March 23! Once the snow melted again and things dried out, we were able to dig overwintered parsnips and sunchokes….just before it rained! After some rainy, cold days, we were thankful for warm days in April which allowed us to get some field work done. We planted all the parsnips as well as the first beets, carrots & peas. The transplanting team worked hard to plant all the onions and then moved right into transplanting the first crop of head lettuce, fennel, basil, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kohlrabi. They also managed to get the parsley and Brussels sprouts in the ground! Thankfully everything was in place before the next wave of rain. This past week has been cool and wet. In fact, it’s downright chilly today and there is a chance of frost! Don’t worry….the crew covered the strawberries yesterday to protect the blossoms so there should be plenty of strawberries to pick on June 21 at Strawberry Day! (Mark your calendars!)

Weather talk aside, we’ve had a pretty good spring and have a lot of good field updates. First, our asparagus and rhubarb crops are producing beyond our expectations! Both of these perennial crops take about 3 years to establish before we can do any substantial harvests off them. Over the past few years we’ve put in new rhubarb and asparagus plantings. Richard & Jack have been waiting patiently (Andrea not so patiently) for our new fields to become established and this is the first year we can harvest from all of these fields! Despite the cool weather we’re still seeing some impressive asparagus harvests. The rhubarb field is also producing well and the bright red stalks are gorgeous!
As we look ahead to June, we should mention that our first two pea plantings are in and looking good. Sugar snap and snow peas should be ready for the first to middle part of June. The pea vine looks like it might be ready as early as next week. The strawberry field is blossoming and the plants look healthy. We do watch the weather closely though (that darn weather topic again). The blossoms can’t take the frost, so we’ve covered the field with our giant field blankets to get them through the week…just in case Jack Frost pays our valley a visit.

Anyone interested in garlic? We’re happy to report the garlic crop appears to have overwintered nicely with about a 99% survival rate! We’re planning to harvest green garlic next week….and before we know it we’ll be enjoying garlic scapes and fresh, juicy bulb garlic.

Our pastures are lush and green and the cattle love their days grazing the hillsides. Our goat pasture is full of young energy with nine new kids and more on the way! We’re also happy to report we have pigs roaming our pastures again! Last week we got 15 piglets. It took them a few days to acclimate to their new home, but it looks like they’ve adapted well. They’ve also grown accustomed to the nightly deliveries of compost from the packing shed. Just like us, they are enjoying many spinach salads for dinner. The chickens moved to the pasture with the pigs. They’re a little more vulnerable to pesky predators, but are learning to defend and protect themselves. Manuel and Juan Pablo have done five plantings of “salad greens.” This is our first week of harvest from our spring-planted salad greens. We should have salad mix, baby kale and more baby arugula coming soon! We’re also learning how to use a new vacuum seeder we got this spring. We’ll use it to plant our cilantro, dill, bunched arugula, baby bok choi and radishes. It was fun having a shiny, new piece of equipment. It’s dirty now, but seems to be working well and we’re thankful to have it as it will help us fine-tune the plantings for greater precision.

Jack is happy to have the field crew back from Mexico so he can play ball at lunch time. Richard has been hunting for morel mushrooms in his spare time and Andrea is having fun cooking them along with asparagus, spinach, ramps and all of the other tasty green things available now!
Kelly & Beth have been busy in the office preparing for the start of deliveries. Lately they’ve been working on processing orders for maple syrup. Our friend and neighbor, Alvin Miller, had another pretty good year for making maple syrup. If you haven’t taken advantage of this offer yet, don’t wait. We’ve extended our deadline until May 20th, but that’s the absolute last day for orders! Alvin needs time to bottle the syrup, so make sure you send your order in as soon as possible so Alvin knows how many bottles to fill! We’re happy to have another season of CSA underway. While farming isn’t easy, we are blessed with great customers and a great crew! Our crew has been practicing flexibility for the past several weeks. On warm, sunny days they stay late to get the work done. On rainy and cold days they help in the packing shed and greenhouses doing whatever needs to be done. Without a hard-working crew, we couldn’t be the farm we are today. We’re glad that you’ll be sharing with us in the bounty of this year’s harvest. Rest assured we have a lot of delicious food coming your way!