Recipes, produce information and forum for Zoe's Garden Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members. Zoe's Garden offers CSA subscriptions in the Park City, Heber, Salt Lake, Ogden & Lindon areas. Our purpose is to provide the freshest naturally grown produce possible by delivering it to our local members within a day of picking.

Friday, September 30, 2011

October 9th Farm Day -- Plant some garlic

David would like to invite people to the farm on Sunday October 9th.  He'll be planting garlic bulbs for the spring and would love people to see the farm and help out.

1700 North Fort Lane, Layton, UT

I'm guessing it will be from 10-2.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Week 20 Lists

Please keep bringing back your boxes.  This last week or two, please bring bags to take your produce home in so that you can leave the boxes behind and not risk keeping them through the winter. The boxes are pricey and bump up the price of the shares when they have to be replaced prematurely.

This is the last regular pickup week for the season.  Those that weathered the very sparse spring with us (signup before June 22nd - email me if in doubt) will get an extra box next week in thanks for your early patience.  Don't forget to sign up for the winter CSA to keep the food flowing.  I have to accentuate just how special local seasonal produce is running through the winter.  It is incredibly hard to find!  I promise you will be missing all these fresh veggies before Thanksgiving rolls around -- guarantee your supply!

Top: white patty, cantaloupe, tomatoes, turnip greens
Mid: broccoli, pears, raspberries, okra, San Marzano tom, arugula
Bot: lemon cuke, nectarine, Marisol pepper, eggplant, Armenian cuke,
marketmore cuke, peaches, plums
SMALL
white patty pan
marketmore cucumber
lemon cucumber
Armenian cucumber
broccoli
nectarines
peaches
plums
spinach
arugula
tomato
San Marzano tomatoes
raspberries
turnip greens
cantaloupe
purple eggplant
okra
Marisol peppers
pears
Raab, golden raspberries, yellow squash, bitter melon,
yellow pattypan (Frankenstein'd with something)

MEDIUM
broccoli raab
yellow squash
bitter melon
golden raspberries
yellow pattypan
extra pears
extra red raspberries
Top: Napa cabbage, Japanese cuke, blackberries, strawberries, red cabbage
Mid: romas, cherry toms, green basil, purple basil
Bot: young spaghetti squash

LARGE
napa cabbage
Japanese cucumber
blackberries
strawberries
green basil
purple basil
purple cabbage
young spaghetti squash
cherry tomatoes
roma tomatoes
extra peaches
extra plums

New this week, we have okra, eggplant, and fresh basil.  All pretty straightforward.  Maybe place a paper towel in the bags with the basil to keep them fresh.  The okra and eggplant would probably benefit from being wrapped loosely in their plastic bags in the crisper.

That eggplant is an Asian variety -- a little skinny for the typical eggplant parmesan, but not impossible.  Try it in a stir-fry, tempura battered, or roasted with other vegetables.  After cutting them up for cooking, eggplants benefit from a bit of salting before cooking.  Salt them, leave them to sit wrapped loosely in a towel or paper towel for 30 minutes, then rinse them before cooking.  It will remove the excess moisture and improve texture.

The arugula is a little exotic to most people, but very accessible once you experiment a bit.  It is a very sharp, peppery green when raw, but just pleasantly bitter when cooked.  In smallish amounts, add it to salad.  It is also fantastic wilted by the heat of a meat or 'meaty' topping (tempeh has a nice quality, as does nicely crisped tofu) that is hot from the oven or skillet (think a bed of arugula greens topped by sliced pork roast, potatoes, and olive oil just before heading to the table).  This week, I did a quick saute of cottage bacon, onions, garlic, and apples, and put a triple handful of chopped arugula into the skillet as a pot of pasta finished up.  Toss it all together and tasty occurs (especially if a little cream finds its way into the mix).

Sign up for Winter Shares

The end of the summer shares and the beginning of the winter are creeping up on us.  If you'd like to be certain of being in the first week of veggies, sign up by Oct 4th.  That will give your first payment time to clear and us the time needed to get you on the lists.

That's one week!  Prepaid veggies until February!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Apples and no-spray

David wanted me to mention that the apples have some worm holes in them this week, and that he's aware they aren't as pretty as they could be.  There isn't a great deal of information on the timing of organic sprays to deter the bugs, and getting it right in terms of when the bugs are laying eggs is tricky.  The apples themselves are still fine, but there are a few worm holes in there.  At least you know they're healthy!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Week 19 Lists

SMALL
Armenian cucumber
White pattypan
Yellow pattypan
Crookneck squash
Peaches
Spinach
Turnip greens
Broccoli rabe (Rapini)
White peach
Arugula
Bartlett pear
Wealthy apple
Stanley prune
Raspberries
Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Lemon cucumber

Top: Armenian cuke
2nd: crookneck, yellow and white pattypan
3rd: raspberries, white peach, prunes, peach, lemon cuke
Bot: cantalopue, Bartlett pear, Wealthy apple

Top: spinach, tomatoes
Bot: broccoli rabe (jaggedy), turnip greens (round)
MEDIUM
Zephyr squash
Flying saucer squash
Golden raspberries
Marketmore cucumber
Napa cabbage
Nectarines
Straightneck squash

Top: cuke, golden raspberries, nectarines, napa cabbage
Bot: flying saucer, zephyr, straightneck
LARGE
Beets
Doughnut peach
extra Peaches
Green cabbage
Sorrel (lemon spinach)
Young spaghetti squash
Straightneck squash
Golden zucchini
Green zucchini
Strawberries
Blackberries
Cherry tomatoes
Asian pears (nashi, apple pears)

Top: sorrel, cabbage, cherry tomatoes
Mid: young squash, Asian pears, beets, green and golden zuccs
Bot: jalapeno, strawberries, blackberries, doughnut peaches

Notice the 3-year old hand snaking another berry.  I had to snap
this pic in a rush because the strawberries were nearly gone and
she was starting on the blackberries. She does this weekly with the fruit.

Broccoli Rabe (aka Rapini, Rape, Broccoli raab)
A close relative of turnip greens, this jaggedy leafed green is very common in Italian cuisine.  Mine was missing the telltale florets that look like miniature broccolis, but you might find small yellow flowers on yours.  Store it loosely wrapped in plastic in the crisper.  It is all edible.  The most common dish for it is chopped and sauteed gently with garlic and olive oil for 15 minutes or so.  Serve tossed with pasta.

Turnip greens
Treat them as the broccoli rabe and you won't go wrong.  Traditionally served boiled with ham or bacon, these can be cooked up any of the ways you've found you liked kale, Chinese broccoli, bok choy, or collards.

Sorrel (aka Lemon spinach, Spinach dock)
This is a strong flavored green, very citrusy and bright.  The sourness comes from oxalic acid, the mildly poisonous ingredient that makes rhubarb so sour and sets your teeth on edge when you chew it.  (Don't worry, it is only poisonous in large quantities.)  It is a fantastic addition to salads, and is often used in soups and sauces.  I like tossing some with equal parts spinach, some sliced tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper, and feta cheese (or fresh Mexican cheese like cotija).

Asian pears (aka Nashi, Chinese/Japanese/Korean pear, Apple pear)
These look like small apples (or large brown apples in some varieties), but they taste like crisp, dry pears.  Imminently snackable.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Winter subscriptions are active!!

I wanted to put the link up for the Winter CSA signup through Farmigo.  We're good to go with all the details I mentioned before, but now you can register!

http://csa.farmigo.com/join/zoegarden/winter2011


The winter season starts October 11th.  Don't miss it!  Installment payments are available, and for those that want a bigger share, I noticed it is very easy to sign up for two shares at once.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Week 18 Lists

I'm sorry, but no pictures tonight.  I locked the keys to my car in the trunk after a meeting.  It was late when I got dinner and later still when I got back to the car with the spares.  The "new" stuff this week would be arugula (we saw it this spring, though), lemon cucumbers (they look sorta like lemons and have great flavor), watermelons, and apples.  That's all pretty standard, minus the arugula, which the medium and large share could confuse with their spinach by sight (but never taste).

David says the watermelon is always a gamble on how ripe it is.  Other melons are easy to judge, watermelon - not so much.  If it turns out to be too ripe, it is still totally edible just a little mealy in the texture.  Too green -- try salting it before you eat it, or blend it into smoothies, mixed drinks, or just dropped into a pitcher of water.

Sorry folks, but enjoy these heavy boxes!  Also, we'll have signups for the winter share available on Farmigo within the week (if I don't lock my computer in my trunk again).

I've been snacking my way through the cukes and the fruit, but I'm swimming in a sea of cabbage and summer squash.  I'll put up instructions for freezing the summer squash (great for slipping into winter soup and pasta sauce) and maybe I'll take a stab at REAL sauerkraut to share with you all.  All you need is salt, spice, a big pot, and a rock.  I'll wash the rock first, I promise.

SMALL
watermelon
cantaloupe
arugula
peaches
doughnut peaches
plums
tomatoes
raspberries
Armenian cucumber
white pattypan squash
yellow pattypan squash
kohlrabi
lemon cucumber

MEDIUM
golden raspberries
spinach
extra large watermelon
flying saucer squash
Japanese cucumber
young spaghetti squash

LARGE
extra raspberries
blackberries
extra tomatoes
apples (wealthy)
strawberries
cabbage
Napa cabbage
extra large watermelon
long bean

Friday, September 9, 2011

Winter Share Official

With some feedback from the members, we have the official details on the Winter Shares now. We should have Farmigo set up to accept your applications in about a week. Deliveries will start the week after the summer shares end.

What’s different about a winter CSA? Most farms don’t offer one! You’ll be able to enjoy fresh, seasonal produce grown by a local farmer through most of the winter. Weekly selections will come from the following:

· Pasture raised beef and lamb
· Fall storage crops such as potatoes, onions, beets, a wide variety of winter squash, turnips, cabbage, garlic, shallots, apples, pears, Asian pears, frozen berries and peaches, and fruit and berry preserves
· Fresh vegetables that don’t mind cool weather, such as kale, broccoli, chard, mustard, kohlrabi, mixed salad greens, spinach, brussel sprouts, microgreens, and probably even tomatoes, summer squash, and eggplants (at least through the end of the fall)


The details on the shares:

· Twenty weeks, starting October 11th
· A single size of share, roughly 1/3-1/2 bushel of produce per week
· A vegetarian box at $35/week, or add a couple of pounds of beef and lamb (ground and roast) for an additional $15/week
· Drops on Tuesday in Ogden (Harvest Moon), Salt Lake (Granato's), Holladay (Granato's), AND Wednesday in Park City (Recycle Center)
· Check our blog for more news, and we’ll provide links to the sign up: http://zoesgarden.blogspot.com/
· Email us at produce@zoegarden.com

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A couple of recipes

Here's a recipe that uses kohlrabi AND summer squash that I found on the Straight from the Farm blog.  Visit their site -- they have good pictures of filling the empanadas.


Kohlrabi & Squash Empanadas
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated
2 medium kohlrabies, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large summer squash, cut into small cubes
2 large scallions, both white and green parts, finely cut
1 radish, minced (optional)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
1 box of pre-made pie crust or one batch homemade*
1 egg

In a medium skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and ginger to brown.  Add kohlrabi cubes, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Toss well and cook 3 or 4 minutes until kohlrabi are softening a bit.  Add squash cubes and continue to cook for 4 more minutes.  Add scallions, radish, nutmeg and another pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix well and cook for one minute before removing from heat.  Set mixture to this side to cool.

Roll out dough to be a little thinner than pie crust typically is.  If you are using pre-made crust from the store, run your rolling pin over it once or twice.   Using a cereal bowl or large circular cookie cutter, cut out 6 inch-ish circles from the dough.  It should yield about 15, give or take depending on your cutter and dough thickness.

Pre-heat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Prepare egg wash by beating egg with a teaspoon of water and set to the side along with a small bowl of water.

To make the empanadas, spoon one tablespoon of kohlrabi and squash mixture into the center of a circle of dough.   (It’s better to have less filling than too much or the empanadas won’t hold together. Feel out the right ratio that allows you to close off the dough without any filling popping out.)   Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it around the outside edge of the dough.  Fold dough over the filling to create a half circle.  Press down edges.  Carefully pick up the dough pocket and pinch edges (see photo) to seal them tightly.  A fork can also be used to crimp the edges if you want a less tedious method.

Repeat above process to finish all the empanadas, laying them on the lined cookie sheet when done.  With a fork, prick the tops once and brush with egg wash.   Bake for 8 minutes and turn over.  Bake another 5 to 7 minutes until deep golden brown and flaky.  Best served straight from the oven.

_________________

In case you've been throwing your beets and cabbage into the bottom drawer and forgetting about them, I harvested these from Simply Recipes:

Beet Hummus - you can use up our cucumbers dipping in it

Roasted beets with balsamic and orange zest glaze - side dish

Colcannon - Irish mashed potato and cabbage dish

Italian sausage and cabbage stew - cabbage stew doesn't sound super appetizing, but the recipe sounds pretty tasty

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Week 17 Lists

Sorry for the late post, everyone.  Still adjusting to the school year - three kids in three schools!

A couple of items:

  • Winter CSA - We should get the sign-ups onto Farmigo within two weeks.  We're assuming drops at Harvest Moon in Ogden, the Recycling Center in Park City, and the downtown and Holladay Granato's locations.
  • Peaches and other soft fruit - David heard your complaints about the squashed peaches.  There's a certain amount of marking that happens up near the stems where the branch pushes on the peach.  He knows they're going into the boxes perfect (he has supervised extensively the last three weeks) and arriving in pretty good shape (that'd be me), but he thinks a combination of being perfectly ripe and subject to free-range cantaloupe rolling around in the box is leading to bruised fruit.  He has scavenged for plastic containers to keep them protected and has started picking them just a little greener to help the problem.  PLEASE RETURN ANY PLASTIC CONTAINERS TO KEEP COSTS DOWN AND ENSURE FRUIT SURVIVAL!  Heck, throw in your extra salad containers, fruit boxes, and lid-less tupperware.  Reduce, Reuse, then Recycle.
  • Raspberries -- Red raspberries grown at elevation and heat (umm, most of Utah) get white patches of sun-spots (called "white drupelets", which sounds silly).  They aren't bad, moldy, or unripe.   Eat as usual.  Also, when they get to be very ripe they shrivel a bit, especially the goldens that are showing up in the shares this week.  David said, "They're ugly, I'm not going to deny it."  Also fine, just sweeter than usual and very soft.  Honestly, mine didn't make it home - they barely made it from the middle school to the preschool this afternoon.  Raspberry mold is big and furry -- you can't mistake it.  I promise you're not getting moldy raspberries.
  • Bacon and Eggs -- Zoe's doesn't do pork anymore and can't do eggs at the moment.  I'm going to plug another local alternative.  Tonight my son made fried rice with Zoe's carrots, leeks, red cabbage, and garlic, and also eggs and a tiny handful of small-batch-cured "cottage bacon" from Clifford Farms.  That bacon was amazing, and her eggs are the only ones I'll use to replace my girls' when they aren't laying enough to fill our fridge.  They are just down the row (Eastward) from Zoe's at the SLC farmer's market.

top: cantaloupe, cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, spinach
mid: raspberries, plums, peaches, Old Germans, romas
bot: yellow and white pattypans, stright neck, zephyr, Arm. cuke

SMALL
spinach
yellow pattypan squash
white pattypan squash
zephyr squash
straight neck squash
peaches
plums
Roma tomatoes
Old German tomatoes
Armenian cucumber (actually a muskmelon, eat the skin)
cantaloupe
raspberries
cabbage
broccoli
kohlrabi
top: crookneck, Italian striped, Napa cabbage, bitter melon
bot: flying saucer, beets, golden raspberries

MEDIUM
flying saucer squash
Italian striped zucchini
Napa cabbage
crookneck squash
bitter melon (see last week's post for suggestions)
golden raspberries
beets
top: bok choy, green beans, spaghetti squash
mid: strawberries, long red beans, amaranth, Shiro plums, cherry toms, San Marzano
bot: doughnut peach, blackberries, Caspian pink, White wonder

LARGE
baby bok choy
Blue Lake green beans
young spaghetti squash
red long bean
amaranth
cherry tomatoes
Shiro plums (means "white" or "castle" in Japanese, but these are yellow and not made of stone)
strawberries
San Marzano tomatoes (the famous Italian sauce tomato)
white wonder tomato
Caspian pink tomato
blackberries
doughnut peaches (cutest things EVER)
extra plums
extra peaches