Week #18 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member,

We hope everyone has been enjoying the cool fall weather so far. It is already, hard to remember the hot and humid days as we enjoy the refreshing fall air. This week you will be getting some fall lettuce in your shares. There is always an abundance of lettuces in the spring, and then it suddenly comes to a quick halt. It should be a treat to have a fresh salad once again. This week you will also be getting more winter squash. There are plenty of ways to cook and use up your winter squash. You can also freeze the winter squash very easily. Use this link for helpful tips. You can also use the winter squash in recipes that call for pumpkin. We hope you enjoy!

This week we are delivering October’s optional Coffee, and Dry Bean Share week. (Can you believe it’s October already?!) Please do not forget your optional shares if you ordered them.


This Week is a Maple Marketplace Special-
Purchase any size maple syrup and receive 10% off using coupon code MAPLE
This Maple Syrup is naturally and locally produced by Bearkill Maple in Gilboa, NY.
Login to your member account to place your order.


There are also lost of other great items available on the marketplace that make great gifts for the coming holiday season!
Order before 1pm the day before your delivery to receive your order this coming week.


Fruit Share Recipe: Apple Cake
Mushroom Share Recipe: Mushroom Marsala Recipe

Winter Squash: It is that time of year! I have added a few delicious recipes that are universal with acorn and butternut squash.
How to freeze winter squash?

Acorn Squash with Greens
Pumpkin or Winter Squash Pie
Winter Squash Soup
Maple Pecan Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash and Maple Glazed Coffee Cake
(Don’t forget about the Maple Syrup Marketplace Special!)

Romaine Lettuce: Many ways to use, but there is nothing like a fresh Caesar Salad!
Caesar salad with Romaine Lettuce

Frisee Endive: You may remember this from the spring months. It is great in a salad or you can sauté. Try this delicious Peanut Sauce over sautéed frisee endive.
Spicy Peanut Sauce over Asian Greens

Potatoes: Italian Roast Potatoes
Spanish Potato Crusted Frittata
Potato and Celeriac Gratin

Storage:
Winter Squash- Out in a cool dry area, or in the refrigerator.
Carrots- In the refrigerator crisper draw.
Potatoes, Onion- In crisper Drawer
Boc Choy, Lettuce, Collard Greens- Damp paper towel, or salad spinner in refrigerator.
Herb, Hot Peppers- Hang to dry, freeze, or in a damp paper towel in refrigerator.

Eat Me UP!- Potatoes, Lettuce, Onions
Zero Waste!
Freeze: Winter Squash, Carrots, Parsley, Collard Greens, Hot Peppers
Dry: Herb, Celeriac
Email the farm info@stoneledge.farm
Blanching Steps

Enjoy the Harvest,
Candice for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

JUDI’S RECIPES WEEK 1 – JUNE 5, 2018

June 5, 2018

Greetings All!

To those of you who are returning members, welcome back! And for those of you who are new, welcome! We’re so happy to have you with us.

My husband Artie and I have been trying to stick to using nothing but organic fruits and vegetables, so this winter shopping was trying (and expensive) for us. We are so happy to be back and look forward to a season of fresh, local, healthy and reasonably priced food!

As always, the first few weeks of the season will bring us a lot of greens.  We are always looking for something to do with all those lettuces and other greens – salads are wonderful, but everyone needs a change once in a while, no?

So, this week, I have a great recipe you can use with any greens. It whips up really fast and is certainly a change from a salad.  So, give Sauteed Greens With Olives a try. You can vary the greens, and the olives too.

SAUTEED GREENS WITH OLIVES

3 TBS olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes plus more

10 cups torn mixed greens (such as kale, turnip greens, and lettuce)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup black olives, pitted, halved (or any olives you like)

2 TBS (or more) fresh lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add greens a handful at a time, tossing until wilted between additions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until all the greens are wilted and softened, about 3 minutes longer. Add the olives and lemon juice and toss to combine; season with red pepper flakes and more lemon juice, if desired.

And so, the season begins!

HELPFUL HINT: Watch the garlic closely. If you let it brown, it will be bitter.

ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT: This recipe lends itself to plenty of variations. You can vary the greens you use and the olives too. You can add other vegetables, like bok choy, mushrooms, radishes (yes, radishes!) summer squash, zucchini, peas, sugar snap peas, onions, scallions – anything that strikes your fancy.

 

Welcome to CSA and have a delicious week!

Best,

Judi

 

 

Week #6 — What’s in the Bag

FULL VEGETABLE SHARE
Summer Squash-8
Green Cucumbers-2
Orient Express Eggplant-2
Oak Leaf Lettuce-1 head
Spinach-1 bunch
White Scallions-1 bunch
Cabbage-1
Boothby Cucumbers- 2
Thyme-1 bunch

MUSHROOM SHARE
Oyster

FRUIT SHARE
Local Sweet Cherries-1 basket
Blueberries-1 basket

Week #2 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

Refrigerators will be full of greens this week. Each season there is a week when all of the lettuces are ready. This week the lettuces are beautiful and we are sending four different varieties: Romaine, Red Sails Red Leaf, Tropicana Green Leaf and Buttercrunch. There is nothing that can beat a salad spinner this time of year. All of the greens are given a rinse right after we pick them but they will need a wash at home. We have had very heavy rains over the last week and the soil splashes between the leaves. I have found it works well to wash greens by cutting the stem portion off, giving the leaves a good rinse in a bowl or sink full of water, drain and rinse again, spin dry. The lettuces will keep for at least a week in the salad spinner if you have enough room in your refrigerator or in a plastic bag or container. Some members re-use the rinse water to water their plants. If it gets toward the end of the week and your refrigerator is still full of lettuce, try Melissa Clough’s Lettuce Soup. The Recipe section can be found under The Farm tab on the farm web site home page.

For the first time this season Bright Lights Swiss Chard. Beautiful multicolored stems of yellow, reds, oranges adorn the Bright Lights Swiss Chard. Oriental Greens and Red Mustard Greens are delicious served with Locust Point CSA’s Spicy Peanut Sauce. The recipe for Spicy Peanut Sauce can be found on the farm Recipe section under Sauces and also on the farm Face Book page.

Garlic Scapes are the green pig tail looking stem. The scape is the immature seed head of the garlic plant that we remove to send more growing energy to the bulb below the soil. The scape grows from the center of the above ground portion of the garlic plant. Garlic Scapes have the same flavor and use as the garlic bulb. Delicious Garlic Scape Pesto is easy to make found on the farm Recipe section under Garlic heading or use your favorite pesto recipe substituting the scape for basil.

Marketplace items Honey, Maple, Organic Fair Trade Kosher Coffee in ground or whole bean, Organic Tree to Bar Dark Chocolate bars and Cocoa Powder can be ordered any time during the season and will be delivered with your CSA shares. The Organic Dark Chocolate is delicious. To place an order from the online CSA Marketplace log into your CSA Member Account from the farm website home page. Place your order and it will be delivered with your CSA shares. All of the products we offer on the Marketplace are produced by small family farms locally, in Central America and Grenada.

Enjoy the Harvest
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

 

What’s in the Bag — Week 4

Dear CSA Member

Salad, salad and more salads this week. We do seeding and transplanting weeks apart to help with the timing of the lettuce harvest, but even with our best efforts, the lettuce seems to take on a life of its’ own. Many heads of beautiful lettuce are ready to be harvested. Lettuce is not a plant that can wait and so your share will be full of leafy greens. Salad is an easy one but you can also grill the heavier leaved varieties of lettuce. There is also a Lettuce Soup Recipe on the farm website, Recipe link from a CSA member. The softer leaved varieties make great lettuce wraps. There are wrap ideas on online at https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/15-ways-to-make-lettuce-wraps/. I also found https://www.thekitchn.com/help-ways-to-use-lettuce-besid-57101 to have a number of different ideas and recipes to use lettuce. If you have a Mushroom Share it is delicious to sauté the mushrooms adding a bit of Balsamic Vinegar. Prepare a bed of lettuce leaves and pour the warm mushrooms over the lettuce. The heat wilts the leaves slightly and the mushrooms and Balsamic are a delicious dressing. I am sure there are many more lettuce recipes and ideas. If you have some you would like to share, please send them to me and I will add them to the Recipe section of the farm website.

Everyone is cheering the arrival of Summer Squash. It is just beautiful. The last of the Garlic Scapes and Kohlrabi. I have received e-mails asking what to do with the Kohlrabi. Two favorites that other members have passed along are Kohlrabi puree or Kohlrabi sliced thinly and added fresh to a salad.

Escarole is the leafy green in the share that some may think is a lettuce. It is not. Escarole is part of the Endive family and has a heartier leaf with a somewhat bitter taste. Escarole and White Beans are a traditional favorite.

Marketplace orders can be placed by logging into your account and then selecting Marketplace on the upper menu bar. Honey, Coffee by the pound, Maple Syrup and Mushrooms in larger quantities are all available for order. The Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms are from a smaller mushroom farm, The Hill Farm, Wiltbank family. They are just beautiful. You might like to try them from the Marketplace.

This is the last call for Fruit Share additions. The Fruit Shares must be added by Wednesday July 3. To add the Fruit Share, log into your account from the farm website home page, select CSA Shares on the top menu bar and add the Fruit Share.

COFFEE SHARES DELIVERY-PICK UP YOUR COFFEE IF YOU HAVE ORDERED A COFFEE SHARE.

Enjoy the Vegetables,
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm