Harmony Valley Farm: spinach

This week we’re excited to share a unique summer green with you, Egyptian Spinach! We don’t grow this vegetable every year, but if you’ve been with us over the past decade, you may remember receiving it from time to time. Every time we grow it, I make this traditional Egyptian Spinach Soup (See Below). If you are looking for a place to start with this vegetable, try this soup. It is so delicious and every time I eat it, I feel so invigorated! I also included a recipe for Stewed Egyptian Spinach with North African Spices (See Below). This is a recipe that was recommended to us by a CSA member the last time we grew Egyptian Spinach. It’s a very simple recipe, but tasty and adaptable.

Our second crop of zucchini is almost ready to start harvesting. I wanted to find some different ways to use zucchini beyond the usual zucchini bread, muffins, etc. In my search I came across this unique use of freezing raw chunks of zucchini and using them in place of frozen banana to make a Zucchini Smoothie (That Tastes Like a Chocolate Milkshake!). I tried it out and it’s actually pretty good! So if you have more zucchini than you can use right now, cut it into chunks and freeze it so you can use it later in the year! I also found this delicious recipe for Skillet Garlic Butter Chicken with Zucchini & Orzo. I’m excited to try this one and I think it’s going to be a keeper, as well as one the whole family will like!

Creamy Potato Fennel Bake
Photo from www.adventuresincooking.com

We are having what appears to be a great onion year! This year may go down in CSA history as “the year of the scallions.” We’re almost finished with them, but honestly, I’ve still been finding plenty of ways to use them. This week I was reminded of my Chinese chef instructor from culinary school who always emphasized the importance of garlic and scallions as the basis for many Chinese dishes. If you’re looking for a different use for this week’s scallions, consider making this Ginger Scallion Sauce. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks and use it to season noodles, rice, chicken, etc. The article about this recipe includes other suggestions for how to use this sauce.

This is our second week of harvesting fresh, new potatoes. I have a few tasty recipes to share with you that utilize other vegetables in the box. This Cauliflower Potato Red Lentil Curry is a simple recipe that will make tasty leftovers. You could also toss those tasty potatoes on the grill and follow this recipe for Grilled Potatoes with Creamy Dill Sauce. Or, if you have some fennel in your refrigerator from last week consider making this Creamy Potato Fennel Bake!

Alright, the harvest wagons are coming in so it’s time for me to sign off. Before I do, I’ll mention a few new vegetables coming in very soon. Is anyone ready for fresh sweet corn or tomatoes? How about melons? The peppers and eggplant also have fruit set on, so it won’t be long before we’re deep into summer vegetable bounty! Have a great week!—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Egyptian Spinach

by Andrea Yoder

Egyptian spinach, also known as Molokhia, jute mallow, or Jew’s mallow, is a fast-growing leafy green that is best suited to the heat of the summer. Despite its name, Egyptian spinach is actually in a different vegetable family than the spinach you are most familiar with. Egyptian spinach is a member of the mallow family, along with okra, cotton, and cacao. It is a highly nutritious ancient green thought to have originated in Egypt before spreading to other parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and eastern Mediterranean areas. It is often referred to as “the food of the kings” as legend tells the story of an Egyptian king who ate this green in soup to recover from illness. Egyptian spinach is now a common vegetable eaten regularly in the aforementioned areas surrounding the Middle East where it may be purchased fresh, frozen, and dried. An Egyptian spinach plant can grow to be about 4 to 6 feet tall and can get extremely bushy. Its long, lance shaped leaves resemble mint and can be harvested multiple times throughout the season.

Egyptian spinach contains a soluble fiber that gives it a viscous texture, similar to that found in okra. You’ll notice this fiber when you cut into the leaves and stems. The viscosity of this green is more apparent when used raw in salads but is hardly noticeable when the green is cooked or used in soups where it functions as a thickener.

Egyptian spinach is most often used in a traditional soup that contains a chicken broth base along with coriander, cumin, and garlic. I found several different versions of this soup, each with their own variations. Since I’ve never been to Egypt or have had a chance to eat authentic Egyptian Spinach soup, I had to settle for doing my best to adapt the recipes I found to a recipe we can make in the U.S. Egyptian spinach may also be steamed, stewed, or boiled and dressed with a sauce or dressing as simple as a little bit of soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. When preparing this green, separate the leaves from the stems. The upper portion of the stem is tender and can be cut into bite-sized pieces and cooked. The lower portion of the stem is more tough and fibrous and should be discarded. While this green can be eaten raw, we think it is best when cooked in soups, curries, etc.

I mentioned earlier that Egyptian Spinach is a very nutritious green, boasting as much as 4-5 times greater nutrient levels than regular spinach. It is high in beta carotene and other B vitamins, calcium, Vitamins C & E, Potassium, Iron and of course, fiber. It is thought to boost the immune system to fight off illness but may also have significant impact on the health of our skin to prevent acne, reduce dryness and feed it with anti-aging nutrients. It is also thought to contribute to soft, healthy hair and some believe it may even reduce graying!

Store Egyptian spinach in a warmer part of the refrigerator and use it within a few days of receiving it. If you’re not going to use it right away, freeze it for use later in the winter when your immune system needs a boost!

Egyptian Spinach Soup

Serves 4

8 cups water

2 chicken legs

2 chicken thighs

1 medium onion, diced and divided in half

½ tsp cumin, ground

1 tsp plus ½ tsp coriander, ground

1 bunch Egyptian Spinach, leaves and stems separated

1 Tbsp sunflower oil

4-6 cloves garlic, crushed

Salt, to taste

Ground Black Pepper, to taste

1 lemon, sliced into wedges

Cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)

2 cups cooked rice

Heat water and chicken legs and thighs in a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat so the liquid continues to simmer. Simmer for about 1 hour, then remove the chicken pieces from the broth and set aside to cool. Skim the surface of the broth to remove any impurities or excess oil. You should have about 5 cups of broth now. If not, add enough water to get 5 cups total. When the chicken is cooled, pull the cooked chicken off the bone, cut into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
Add half of the onion, ½ tsp cumin and 1 tsp coriander to the broth and return the soup to a simmer. Cut the tender portions of Egyptian spinach stems into bite-sized pieces and add to broth. Roughly chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces and stir into the hot liquid. Add the chicken pieces and simmer for about 10 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, it’s time to prepare the “tasha.” This is an important part of the soup and is what makes this soup unique and tasty. In a small sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the crushed garlic. Stir and cook over medium heat until the garlic is nicely browned and smells toasty. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in ½ tsp ground coriander. Carefully add the tasha to the soup. You should hear a “tsssh” sound when you do so. This means you did it right—congratulations!
Continue to cook the soup for about 10 more minutes. Just before serving taste a spoonful and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve the hot soup with cooked rice. Some versions of the recipe put the rice in a bowl and ladle the soup on top. In other versions, the rice and soup are served in separate bowls and combined together bite by bite. Either way you choose to do this, it’s important for each diner to garnish the soup with a squeeze of lemon, the remaining diced onion (optional) and cilantro (optional).

This recipe was written by Chef Andrea and is based on researching different traditional recipes and their variations.

Stewed Egyptian Spinach with North African Spices

Yield: 4-5 servings

Spice Blend:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

½ tsp ground chili pepper

1 tsp coriander seeds

Egyptian Spinach:

3-5 tsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tomato, chopped or ½ cup tomato sauce

1 ½ cups water

1 jalapeno, minced

¼ cup cilantro, rinsed and chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp spice mixture, plus more to taste

1 bunch fresh Egyptian spinach

Prepare spice mix: Mix all ingredients and place them in a warm cast-iron. Heat it on a low temperature and continuously stir, roughly until fragrant. Remove from the stove immediately. This process will take about 2 minutes. Blend the mixture using a spice grinder.
Prepare the Egyptian spinach by removing the leaves from the main stem. Roughly chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces and set aside. You should have 2 ¾-3 cups of greens.
Heat 3 tsp oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic. Stir and sauté over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned.
Add chopped fresh tomato or tomato sauce and ½ cup of water. Cover and simmer for about three minutes. Add jalapeno, cilantro, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp spice mixture, and stir to combine. Add the Egyptian spinach and an additional 1 cup of water. Cover and continue to simmer until the spinach is softened. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking with additional spice mix and salt as needed. Serve hot with steamed rice or other grains or flatbread such as naan or pita bread.

Note from Chef Andrea: This recipe was recommended to us by a CSA member several years ago who tried it and really liked it! It was originally published in Edible Alaska. When I prepared this recipe, I added one pound of browned ground beef and an additional ½-3/4 cup of tomato sauce to the pan when I added the Egyptian spinach and served it over rice as a main dish. I also think it would be tasty with diced zucchini and/or peppers added to the mixture. Play around with it and adapt it to your liking!

Friday, April 16, 2021

April Farm Update…..Ramps, Overwintered Spinach and the start of a new CSA Season!

By Andrea Yoder & Richard de Wilde

Rows of gorgeous Green Garlic!

Spring is here and we’re just 3 weeks away from the first CSA deliveries of the 2021 season! Every day we see a little more green filling our valley as our wooded hillsides come out of winter hibernation. Despite the fact that we’ve had a quite chilly week with temperatures in the low thirties overnight, we would still describe this as an early spring. Things are changing quickly and the growing season is starting to take shape. Here’s a little glimpse of what’s happening on the farm.

Remember those gorgeous sunny, warm days back in March? Those were the days that jump started the garlic crop and we had to strip back the cover and loosen the mulch to make sure the sprouts could push through! The green garlic looks quite nice and we are planning to start harvesting some next week. Richard can’t remember ever putting green garlic in the first CSA box of the season, but it will be in the first boxes this year!

Unloading our first ramp harvest this week!

You cannot talk about spring happenings at Harmony Valley Farm without talking about ramps and overwintered spinach. These are two crops many people, ourselves included, look forward to every spring. We started harvesting overwintered spinach last week and yesterday we did our first ramp harvest! We know everyone would like to receive these two items in the first few CSA boxes in May, and we hope we’ll be able to include them. Unfortunately, we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature and the season for both of these crops is starting a little early this year. So if you are one of those people who needs to get your fill of ramps and overwintered spinach before their short season is over, we encourage you to head to your local food co-op and stock up on these items now! If we are still able to harvest ramps in May, they will certainly be in your box. And that overwintered spinach? We are doing our best to manage the crop and hope to be able to time it just right so we can do a second harvest off these plants for the first few CSA deliveries.

Antonio hand-harvesting
Overwintered Spinach

We are also happy to report we had a very good harvest of overwintered parsnips and sunchokes. The parsnips are so sweet and delicious, they need nothing more than to be tossed with oil, salt and pepper before roasting them. Our spring sunchoke harvest was very plentiful and we’ve been staying busy washing and packing them for our wholesale partners. Not only are they an important part of our spring diet, they also help us financially while we’re getting the season underway.

Last week we did our first plantings of salad mix, baby spinach, arugula, cilantro, radishes, baby bok choi, dill, hon tsai tai and baby white turnips. While we plan to plant these crops in the first week of April, we seldom have the opportunity to actually do so! The radishes are already up and we’re crossing our fingers that they will be ready for the first week of deliveries!

While we are anxious to plant more crops, it takes awhile to get fields ready in the spring. Over the past two weeks the guys have been working hard to spread compost and minerals, subsoil, rototill and shape beds for planting. This year we partnered with a new supplier for our compost and we’re very pleased with the product. We had to pay a little more for it, but it is well-made, easy to spread and for the first time in many years we have had favorable conditions to be able to spread compost on all of our fields in the spring! We also invested heavily in mineral applications, including trace minerals. Adequate fertility in the soil is a key to producing delicious vegetables, but it’s also important for producing healthy plants that pass their nutrients on to us! We were also able to put minerals on our pastures where we graze our animals as well as the fields where we grow hay to feed them in the winter. Just like humans, animals can taste the difference and always favor the mineral rich parts of the pastures. I guess you could say they are grass connoisseurs and definitely have discerning palates!

Germ testing beet seed in the
greenhouse to test seed quality

As we finish preparing fields, we’ll move on to planting. We hope to see warmer temperatures next week which will be more favorable for direct seeding beets, carrots, parsnips, chard and possibly even the first peas. We did start transplanting onions a week ago. It takes quite awhile to plant all of our onions and we hope to finish them today. We are anxious to transplant more crops including the first broccoli and cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage and leeks. We are also anticipating a shipment of strawberry and asparagus plants today, purchased from Nourse Farm in Massachusetts. It’s already time to plant next year’s strawberry field!

While we’ve completed about three-fourths of the plantings on our greenhouse plan for this year, we still have plenty of greenhouse work to complete over the next few weeks. Next week we’re scheduled to plant our first tomato seeds in the greenhouse and we hope to plant zucchini before this week is finished. It’s also time to transplant the herb packs we’ll deliver for you in mid May!

Leonardo, Antonio and Isidro
transplanting peppers

So who is doing all this work? Good question! We welcomed back 24 of our field crew who comes from Mexico on agricultural guest worker visas. We were happy to see them on March 29, but from a distance as they had to quarantine due to their recent travel. Thankfully they had an uneventful quarantine period and everyone remained healthy and well without so much as even a cold! While we all wish the pandemic would move into the past, we also acknowledge it is still very much a concern at present. Our crew members understand the importance of how our individual choices impact the work we’re able to do at the farm and they did their part to minimize their risks of exposure both before they departed their homes as well as during their travels. Their efforts were clearly effective and we are thankful they are all in good health, ready and eager to work! We are looking forward to welcoming another group of workers the last week in April and have our fingers crossed that they will arrive without any delays. We are also grateful for the opportunity to work with Family Health La Clinica, an organization that offers mobile health services to migrant workers. They have been an invaluable resource for our farm as they have helped us navigate managing our workspace throughout the pandemic to keep our workers safe. They will be coming to the farm to administer vaccinations to any crew members who would like to receive it. In the meantime, we continue all of our precautionary practices to do the best we can to remain healthy so we can all keep farming!

We’ve received several emails from CSA members inquiring about the use of plastic liner bags in the CSA boxes this year. Just as we are continuing our precautionary practices on the farm, we will also continue to take a precautionary approach to CSA deliveries as well as with CSA pick up procedures. While we hope that we’re collectively making forward progress in moving past the pandemic with vaccinations, etc, we also feel that we need to continue to be precautionary and would like to continue to offer a safe pick-up option for all our members knowing some of you are high-risk individuals or live with high-risk individuals. We realize the concerns for transmission of the virus on touch surfaces may be less than we thought one year ago, however using the plastic liner bag in the CSA boxes serves other purposes as well. We want to limit the time each member is in the site and continue to ask that only one member enters the site at a time. The use of the bag also helps achieve a quick in and out pick up. Thus, we will continue to use the plastic liner bags for now. We’ll certainly reassess as the year goes on and if at some point we feel it is appropriate to discontinue using them we will do so.

Repurpose CSA bags as covers for
storing artwork!

In the meantime, we do ask all CSA members to continue to follow the pandemic procedures we laid out last year to facilitate a quick, safe CSA pick-up. This includes wearing a mask when you go to pick up your share, physically distancing at the site and only one person enters the site at a time. As for the bags, we encourage you to find ways to repurpose them in your own homes or communities. Last year we compiled a list of ways you, our members, were creatively repurposing them in your homes. You can view that list HERE, and we ask that you continue to send us your creative ideas as you find more ways to repurpose them. If your collection goes beyond what you can use in your own home, you may also consider checking with other organizations in your community such as your local food pantry, schools, community centers, etc. They may be able to use them for projects, etc. in their organizations and might appreciate the donation! At the very least, the bags are recyclable.

Transplanting onions one week ago....
just before it started to rain!

This certainly is not everything we are doing on the farm, but at least it gives you a snapshot. We are looking forward to growing food for you and your family this year and hope you are ready to start cooking and eating some tasty meals! We do still have room to accept more sign-ups for all of our delivery areas, so if you haven’t signed up yet we encourage you to do so! If you have a friend, neighbor, or know of someone who is interested in joining, please refer them to us. We will keep adding members until we’re officially sold out!

Enjoy the rest of April and we’ll see you in May!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

My Favorite Color Is Green....Is It Really Still March?

Our valley landscape is quickly changing fro

m shades of brown to shades of green. The buds on trees are opening, and some of the trees are flowering. I was thrilled to see the hazelnut trees we planted last spring in bloom! The spinach field is full of gorgeous, deep dark spinach leaves that are so full of flavor...I can't get enough! The floor of the woods has exploded with all kinds of green plants and the hillsides in the ramp woods are full of delicate ramp leaves as far as you can see. The garlic continues to amaze me with how quickly it is growing....green garlic is not far away. I even harvested some chives and sorrel today!

The peeper frogs have been joined by a whole host of critters that can be heard and sometimes seen at all hours of the day and night. Last night we went to sleep listening to the coyotes howl and yip somewhere on the surrounding hills with owls in the background. Today I spotted two different bees out in the woods and was happy to have a huge bumblebee trail me on my walk. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a bald eagle since I wasn't far from their nest, but today wasn't the day.

The greenhouses are filling up quickly. Last week Hector and Felipe worked very hard to prep the flower tunnel for planting and by Wednesday the tunnel was planted

and the irrigation was running to water the seeds so they will germinate. We still have some violas to transplant in there, but it looks like we should have flowers in time for the first salad mix! As soon as they finished the flower tunnel, they moved on to our cold frame greenhouse. This proved to be a big job getting the soil worked up and grading it for better drainage. They worked very hard and I'm very pleased to report that it is ready to receive plants on Monday. Good thing because the broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi and cabbage plants are growing really fast and need to move into a cooler environment where they will have a more moderate rate of growth to form a stronger plant.

We transplanted the first of our celer

iac plants last week and will finish those up this week. The lemongrass plants came last week and they are already potted and starting to sprout. The first round of fennel is up and those flats will move to the Big House tomorrow to make room for basil and a second planting of broccoli and cauliflower.

The packing shed crew is pulling double duty right now as both packing shed and field crew. Monday and Tuesday we'll be busy washing and packing overwintered parsnips and sunchokes. By midweek though, we're planning to harvest spinach for the first time. It's time to take our salad area out of winter storage mode and get it cleaned and ready for washing greens! Simon will be busy Monday and Tuesday getting the salad washing equipment cleaned and greased.

Ramps should be ready to harvest in about one more week....and we anxiously await the arrival of our harvest crew. In the meantime, we're watching the fields to take advantage of the opportunity to start plantin

g. We thought we might be able to get in this afternoon to plant some salad, but we had a really heavy fog in the valley this morning....so heavy you could see the moisture in the air.

I've been craving green things and hate to say it, but I am done eating turnips until we have those tender, delicate, sweet baby white spring salad turnips! Lunch today....Spinach and sorrel salad with almonds, blue cheese, apples, a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of apple vinegar. Dinner last night....Overwintered spinach salad with a creamy garlic dressing and marinated flank steak. Lunch yesterday......Burgers topped with sauteed shiitakes, ramps and Wisconsin Cheddar. In the works for dinner this week....meatballs with a creamy sorrel mushroom sauce.

Only 4 weeks until the first Farmer's Market and 5 1/2 weeks until the first CSA pack. One more week of March....it's going to be a busy one!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Espinaca

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.