- • Tomatoes
- • Cherry tomatoes
- • Potatoes
- • Hot peppers
- • Basil
- • Parsley
- • Green beans!!
- • Eggplant
- • Lettuce
- • Cucumbers
- • Summer squash
- • Apples
- • Onions
- • Garlic
- • Tomatillos
- • You pick black berries – they are on, pick yourself a flat to make jam!!
It is that time of year again, time to put up the surplus vegetables for the long gray winter. The canning party is set for September 7th (Saturday). Please plan to spend the better part of the day with us, we start at 9:00 am and plan to finish by 5:00(?). Please see attached list of items to bring and email me with your questions. No experience in canning necessary, this is a great opportunity to get into canning and start your pantry. Mary Kay, our memeber chef will be on hand this year as my old college friend Jay, the microbiologist, to help move recipes along and answer questions. Every participating family will take home a sample of all the recipes made on that day, last year that was 16 jars of canned goods!! Space is limited so please sign up early. there will be a wait list for those who want to just chance it and come if they can on that Saturday.
Recipes for the canning party this year include: Indian spiced tomato chutney, plum chutney and shallot marmalade to name a few.
We managed to get the overwintering cauliflower and broccoli planted. This crop will be harvested in March – May of next season. We are trialing about 8 varieties of overwintering cauliflower and 4 varieties of cabbage. You will get a chance to weigh in next season when we all get to taste it.
We managed to finish the harvest of the onions and shallots. All that weeding make a huge difference, our onions are some of the best we have had in years! We are busy trying to keep up with the weeding of fall crops while seeding a few items and transplanting as we are able to make room. Our winter squash is looking good in some areas and others the production seems down. This likely has to do with fertility in the different gardens. More work for the upcoming season!
Lynn Baker’s bees that have lived happily on our farm for years but last week all 5 hives died. Lynn is unsure what happened, but we noticed them acting in an odd manner with far more activity than is normal. The bees were coming out of the hives in droves and at all levels and over the next few days they all died off. There were some yellow jackets and moths that could have been the culprits or it could have been something sprayed in the area. We have seen many other pollinators that seem to be in good health, but we will watch that closely. It is very unfortunate and sad.
The kids and I have been busy canning. We are over half way to our goal on pickles and peaches. I am just starting the tomatoes. I hope to can over 100 quarts of tomato sauce for the upcoming year. We should have tomatoes for sale later this month or start of next month. We will sell surplus tomatoes for $1.50/#. Please let us know if you are interested and we will send you an email or text.
Have a great week.
Green bean recipes from Suresh:
All the 3 recipes are with beans.
Wash and clean the Green or Purple Beans from your CSA share. We harvested them today, so many of them. Trim the ends and chop it fine. Set it aside.
South Indian Coconut Steamed Beans aka Beans Palya – cooking time 15 mins
This is a traditional dish. We make this pretty often in our family. It goes well with rice dishes or with lentil soups.
Ingredients: Chopped Beans, Black Mustard Seeds, Split Garbanzo (Chana) beans, Fresh Grated Coconut
Method
1. Heat organic olive oil in a wok
2. Toss black mustard seeds, once they crackle, throw in some split garbanzo beans. Toast until it is golden brown
3. Toss in the chopped green beans. Add salt, some water. Cover and steam till the beans are tender but still crisp.
4. Add fresh grated coconut. Adjust the salt if needed.
5. Optional, to make it more spicy, you can add some dry curry powder and cook for a few more mins.
South Indian Bean Lentil Spicy Crumble aka Beans Paruppu Usili – cooking time 30 mins
We love this dish. We dont make it as often as we would like. We tend to make it during special occasions or festivals. When I was growing up, I would pester my mom to make this often.
Paruppu usili is a traditional south-indian side dish. It is a dry curry made with the combination of dhal and vegetables. Usili can generally be made with many vegetables, string beans, cluster beans or carrot. This does consume a lot of oil.
Ingredients: Chopped Green or Purple beans, Split Garbanzo Beans (1 up), Red Chillies,
Dal Mixture
Wash and soak the chana dhal in water for 1 hr. Coarsely grind it with red chillies and salt in a blender. I use vitamix to get this done.
> Option 1 – You can fry this, as part of the preparation, it does take up a lot of oil.
> Option 2 – You can make a little balls and steam in a pressure cooker. You can allow it to cool and pulse in the blender
Method
1. Heat organic olive oil in a wok
2. Toss black mustard seeds, once they crackle, Toss in the green beans and saute until it is 3/4th cooked.
3. Add the Dal Mixture and fry until the beans and it comes together well.
4. Serve as a side dish.
South Indian Mixed Veggie Sagu – Cooking time 45 mins
Saagu is a coconut based curry from Karnataka, India. It is usually served with flat bread (naan, or pita bread, chapatis ) or lentil pancakes (dosas). The first time I tasted it was when my mother in law made it. In our home Bindu makes this. It is delicious, chock full of vegetables.
Ingredients: Chopped Beans, Carrot, Peas, Sweet Potato/Potato, Sweet Bell Pepper
Ingredients for Sauce: 2 tbs poppy seeds, 2 cloves, quarter inch cinnamon stick, 1 jalapeno pepper, fresh grated coconut (quarter cup) or quarter cup of coconut milk, small bunch of cilantro, 2-3 tbs roasted split garbanzo bean (optional), mint (optional)
Method
1. Heat organic olive oil in a wok
2. Toss black mustard seeds, once they crackle, Toss in all the vegetables with salt and cook until the green beans are almost cooked.
3. Grind the ingredients for the sauce into a fine paste with water if necessary.
4. Add the sauce to the cooked vegetables.
Gazpacho
By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN
Here’s what to do with that last bit of baguette, too hard to eat, and the last of this summer’s tomato crop. Gazpacho originated in Andalusia long before the tomato arrived in Europe, and originally the soup was made simply with stale bread, water, vinegar, garlic and olive oil. Bread adds a wonderful texture. Keep a pitcher in the refrigerator for refreshing snacks and quick, healthy lunches.
• 2 thick slices stale French bread, crusts removed (about 1 ounce)
• 1 pound ripe tomatoes, cored and peeled
• 2 garlic cloves (more to taste), halved, green shoots removed
• 1 slice red or white onion, coarsely chopped and rinsed with cold water
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or wine vinegar (to taste)
• 1/2 to 1 cup ice water, depending on how thick you want your soup to be
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Garnishes (optional)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber (more to taste)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup small croutons (a good destination for the rest of your stale bread)
• 1 hardboiled egg, finely chopped
1. Place the bread in a bowl and sprinkle with enough water to soften it. Let sit five minutes, until soft enough to squeeze out the water.
2. Combine the bread, tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil, vinegar and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Pour into a bowl or pitcher, thin out as desired with water, cover and chill for several hours.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the garnishes, if necessary. Place them in small bowls on a platter. Serve the soup in glasses or bowls, and pass the tray of garnishes.
4. Yield: Serves four
5. Advance preparation: This gazpacho will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator.
Zucchini and Egg Casserole
Sauté 3 cups of Zucchini chopped
1 medium onion
crush 2 cloves of garlic
Mix: 4 eggs
1/4 cup dried or fresh parsley
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
Then add to above and mix well. Place in an 8 X 8 baking dish gently oiled with butter or pam. Bake for 25 minutes and then add 1 cup of jack cheese to the top of the dish.
Cucumber Salsa Salad
By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN
This salad, which resembles gazpacho, is a lovely, light way to begin a Mexican meal. Serve it atop lettuce leaves as a salad, or serve over rice. Alternately, use it as a sauce with fish, chicken or fajitas.
1 long European cucumber, very finely diced
Salt to taste
1 small red onion, finely minced
5 medium-size ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, seeded if desired and finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (to taste), plus several sprigs for garnish
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Leaf lettuce or Boston lettuce for serving (optional)
1 avocado, sliced, for garnish
1. Place the finely diced cucumber in a colander, and sprinkle with salt. Toss and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Rinse the cucumber thoroughly with cold water, and drain again on paper towels.
2. Meanwhile, place the onion in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and drain on paper towels.
3. Combine the tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, vinegar, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Add the cucumber and onion, and season to taste with salt. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. Serve the salad on lettuce leaves, garnished with slices of avocado and cilantro sprigs, or spoon over steamed rice.
Yield: Serves six.
Advance preparation: You can assemble the salad a few hours ahead, but don’t add the cilantro until close to serving time.
Zucchini Pesto
Lyn–this is the one that was in the Oregonian–it’s quite good! Pretty tasty straight up, but seems like it would be great on crostini or pizza, or w/chicken or fish, for instance…
1/2 c olive oil
1 large shallot chopped (I used a sweet onion)
6 garlic cloves
3 Tbs toasted blanched almond slivers
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 ” dice
1 c basil leaves
@tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.
Sauté garlic and onions in 1Tbs oil until softened, not browned. Transfer to blender or processor and blend with remaining ingredients (except oil) until smooth. Gradually add in oil with blender running until smooth and creamy. Season w/S&P to taste.
Apparently keeps several days in fridge or freezes well