Week #25, 2019
- Lettuce
- radicchio (it is finally ready!!
- Sweet red peppers
- Hot peppers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Potatoes
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Winter squash – you can always leave it on your counter (for months) and it will get sweeter.
- Parsley, dill or cilantro
- Apples
- Eggplant
- Zukes or cukes or beans – all sadly on their way out
Our first farm to table dinner benefit was a huge success. We learned a lot and hosted about 40 people to benefit all CSA farms in the Tri-city area and beyond. The barn was transformed into a venue for rustic events with a turn of the 20th century charm. Holly, Stephanie and Mary worked their tails off to prepare the location and the food for the event. Shannon and Taylor and Luna staffed the event serving the family style tables. Isabell and Gabriela and Leigh helped get my studio and the surrounding areas in order. Many of our members participated and many more mentioned next year! We hope to add this as an annual event, volunteers??
Fall came this week with a roar and winter is close on its heels. We usually get our first killing frost at the end of October beginning of November but it may come tomorrow night! When the weather dips into the 30s many of our precious favorite crops like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant sign out. We raced around last night and harvested what we could, we will do the same today but time is not unlimited. We have a huge winter squash harvest to mobilize from the field to the storage room. We have to get garlic planted and cover crop seeded and we are racing mother nature and the shortening days.
Oh, and the harvest festival is next weekend!! October 6th from 2-6 p.m.
This is our signature event on the farm and we hope you will all join us for the festivities, rain or shine. Thanks to the Portland Area Coalition of CSA farmers benefit dinner last weekend, our barn is in tip top shape and so is the outdoor canning kitchen. Ready for us to use next weekend should the rain push us under cover. Please do see the flyer below that tells you what to bring, potluck item, favorite pizza topping, dishes and cups for your family to use and come ready to have fun. There are surprise performers and cider pressing and pepper roasting if we have hands willing to help out.
Harvest Festival
Sunday October 6, 2019 from 2- 6 p.m.
At the farm; 7960 NW Dick Road, Hillsboro 97124
Lots of fun for the whole family:
Swiss alp horns, Traditional Mexican dancing, Music, cider pressing, wood fired pizza oven, potluck, farm tours and festive fall wreaths and bird feeders for sale and much more
Please bring: your favorite pizza topping, a dish to pass, a mason jar for cider, plates, cups and silverware for your family, a check book or cash to purchase items and contribute to the performers
Contact Lyn Jacobs (503-568-5760) or Juvencio Argueta (503-830-0342) for more information
We are taking sign-up for the Thanksgiving share. This is a super sized share available the Sunday and Monday prior to Thanksgiving. It can be sent to NoPo too and possibly through the ABC share site. The cost is $40 and is well worth the investment even if you are not hosting the Thanksgiving feast yourself. It will include goodies like : pie pumpkins, winter squash, cipollini onions, celery, salad fixings, peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts and more. Sign up in the barn and prepay please.
We have a few spots left in the “ever growing in popularity” winter share. We will harvest 12 times on the back side of the farming calendar (from November to March). Weather influences a bit as do our vacation times (not many but we will not harvest christmas week). There will be a NoPo pick up and the harvest pick up will be Sunday/Monday only. The cost is $330, sign-up quickly as space is limited. There are usually 8-10 items per week, with some sort of salad, alium, brassica (hopefully brussels sprouts and cabbage and kale(but that is a story unto itself).
We have honey and chanterelles, thanks again to Kris. If you did not purchase a bag of these delicious mushrooms last week, you are still in luck, they are delicious, nutty and easy to add to your meal full of veggies. The cost is $10/#. He has some very special white chanterelles, rare and different in flavor, they are $15/#.
We have beef!! Juvencio is sending several animals to the butcher. We have quarters and half for sale. The heaviest of animals weighs about 600# hanging weight and therefore would be just 150# in a quarter. This takes about 1 freezer shelf. This should be ready in October or early November.
Here it is again! The best Raddichio salad recipe:
Toro Bravo’s Radicchio Salad
- 2 to 3 heads radicchio
- 1/4 cup good-quality balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup good-quality sherry vinegar
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 + 1/2 cups Manchego, grated and divided
In a large bowl, add the balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar, and chopped red onion (I used 1/2 of a large red onion). Let it sit for 1 hour and then strain out the onions. (you can keep the pickled onions for another dish if you like)
Remove core from the radicchio and chop into 1-inch pieces. Place the chopped radicchio in a large bowl, fill with cold water and some ice cubes. Let it sit for 15 minutes to remove some of its bitterness, strain and then spin in a salad spinner until dry.
Add the honey and olive oil to the strained vinegars and whisk well, I use this stick blender which works great. Depending on the size of your radicchio you may not need all the dressing.
Toss the radicchio with the dressing until evenly coated. Add 1 cup of finely grated Manchego, salt, and toss again.
To serve, top the salad in a serving bowl with the remaining 1/2 cup grated Manchego. Serves 4-8.
Adapted from Food52’s Toro Bravo recipe
Lyn’s Salad Dressing
1 cup olive oil
¼ – 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar (this is the key ingredient)
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic pressed
Add all ingredients to a Mason jar and cover with lid. Shake until creamy and well blended.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020441-eggplant-and-zucchini-pasta-with-feta-and-dill