Category: Note from the Farmer

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Week #9 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

August and the tomatoes are ripe. You will have a very nice share of tomatoes this week. The wet and cold weather are not the favorite growing conditions of tomatoes but so far the tomatoes are looking good. We have tied the plants up in a “basket weave” of twine to keep the tomatoes off the ground. Stakes are pounded into the row every other plant and then twine is wound down the row around one stake and then to the back of the next. Twine is then reversed on the row so that the tomato plant is held between the strands. The tomatoes have better air circulation and the leaves and fruit are off of the ground.

If you are interested in canning or freezing tomatoes there are a limited number of 25# boxes of tomatoes available for order from the online CSA Marketplace. Just log into your member account, select Marketplace and place the order. The tomatoes will be delivered in a box with your name on the outside.

New this week is also Gold Beets with their Greens. Like two vegetables in one. Take the greens from the beets and use separately. They cook quickly and should be used like any other cooking green. The Gold Beets are beautiful.

Not to be out done by Sweet Corn. This was a trial year for Sweet Corn. We have not grown Sweet Corn in many, many years. It is a bit tricky and there may be a worm at the end of the ear. Just snap the end of the ear off and enjoy. Organic Sweet Corn is a challenge but I think you will really enjoy the flavor of freshly picked corn.

This is a Coffee Share week.

Enjoy the Vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #8 — A Note From the Farmer

Week #8

Dear CSA member:

This week will be the first of the peppers and tomatoes. We have been waiting since last summer for these favorites. What a wonderful harvest! This may be the year of the eggplant though.  We will not send as much this week but there will be eggplant.

CSA member The Chocolate Lady, https://inmolaraan.blogspot.com has shared a few of her favorite eggplant recipes. They are listed below. If you have a favorite blog or web site that you would like to share, please pass the information on.

Georgian eggplants with cilantro, especially for the Orient Express eggplants:

https://inmolaraan.blogspot.com/2006/08/eggplants-with-cilantro.html

For the larger eggplants the walnut sauce is perfect:

https://inmolaraan.blogspot.com/2008/07/eggplant-with-herbed-walnut-sauce-in.html

And this for any summer afternoon:

https://inmolaraan.blogspot.com/2007/07/cold-fried-eggplant.html

Any type of eggplant loves to be stuffed:

https://inmolaraan.blogspot.com/2005/11/what-i-did-with-eggplants.html

I made this recipe for a rare variety of red eggplants (get a load of the pictures!) but it is great for any kind.

And since we also have lots of squash, don’t forget ratatouille:

https://inmolaraan.blogspot.com/2005/08/chocolatatouille-ladys-shabes-dvorim.html

If you are feeling adventurous, a member also shared a link for eggplant pizza crust: https://lexiscleankitchen.com/2013/09/06/paleo-pizza/

Good things to eat in your share and also from the online CSA Marketplace. Richard Sandhaus, Better CheaperSlower.com has also shared a link to a delicious morning treat, https://www.BetterCheaperSlower.com/chocolatemoussebreakfast — chocolate mousse for breakfast.  The health benefits of chocolate are well documented and the Grenada Chocolate Company Organic Dark Chocolate is some of the best.  To place orders for any of the Marketplace items, log into your CSA member account, select Marketplace and then order.

Take care,
Deborah

 

Stoneledge Farm LLC
359 Ross Ruland Road
South Cairo, NY  12482

 

 

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Week #7 — A Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

Each year our farm is inspected and completes the rigorous certification process to continue our Organic Certification. The process starts in March completing the paperwork that the National Standards require. After an in depth review of our records an on farm inspection is completed. The complete package of records, reports and inspection reports are once again reviewed by the certifying agency. We are happy to report that our Organic Certification is once again complete. It is not always easy to be organic, but it is best to be organic.

This week the Summer Squash continues. If you have not tried the Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe on the farm website Recipe section, you are missing a treat. I have heard from members that they have made the recipe many times. The Golden Glory, the long yellow Summer Squash, is a Zucchini. It is good grated along with a green Zucchini in a traditional Zucchini bread recipe. All of the squash is delicious grilled or steamed with a pat of butter.

Cucumbers, abundant Eggplant, Scallions, Basil and small Summer Red Onions. Bright Lights Swiss Chard and Summer Spinach make a return to the share. New this week are the Red Currants. Really a fruit, we grow the currants and they are a treat to add to the Vegetable Share. They are a slightly tart fruit that can be added to a salad or used in muffins. I like to cook them and add sugar to taste to serve alongside chicken.

The Mushroom Share is White Button. The Fruit Share is Sugar Plums and Blueberries.

What a great share. Summer is here.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #6 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

Summer time and the crops are starting to move from the leafy greens of Spring time to the sun loving vegetables of Summer. This week Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Eggplant. There will be a fine share of Summer Squash and Cucumbers and the beginning of the Eggplant. Napa Cabbage and Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbages, Scallions and Dill. One more head of lettuce but this is about the end of the lettuce until the fall.

A reminder that the optional Shares: Mushrooms and Fruit are only to be picked up by those that have ordered them. We want to make sure that everyone can pick up the shares that they have ordered.

Enjoy the Vegetables and this wonderful Summer weather.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #5 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

Summer Squash in abundance. We have not had such a bountiful harvest in a couple of years. So happy to be able to send such a great share of Summer Squash. There are great Summer Squash Recipes in the Recipe section of the farm website. I just made the Chocolate Zucchini Bread. Just delicious, it is almost a cake. Larger squash of any variety and especially the Patty Pan, sliced, marinated in a bit of Italian Salad Dressing and then on the grill. Or even just brushed with a little Olive Oil and then grilled. Grate some of the larger squash, measure 2 cups and freeze in a zip lock bag and you will have squash to make bread into the winter.

This week is also the first Fruit Share. Please pick up the Fruit Share only if you have ordered the optional share. Fruit will be delivered every week from now on. Mushroom Shares are delivered each week. Please check to make sure you take all of your shares home depending on what you have ordered.

Enjoy the Vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #4 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

Welcome Summer. What a glorious first week. Blue sky, breezy but warm. As soon as we were finished transplanting Kale and Collards for this fall, rain. From plant to animal we are all loving the weather.  

The lettuces are still coming on strong and it will be another week of greens. Romaine, Red Leaf and a Red Oak Leaf and are the lettuces this week. The lettuces come in abundance and then they are suddenly gone until fall. They do not grow well in the hot weather of July and August. Fill your salad bowls and enjoy while they last.

The first of the Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage and Summer Squash. Early Jersey Wakefield is an Heirloom cabbage. Small with a pointed top. Very sweet tasting.

The first picking of Summer Squash is abundant. The following weeks will probably not be such a heavy load but we are sending a generous share with the first picking. There are five different varieties of Summer Squash that we grow and you will receive a mix of what has been picked over the season. You should look for: Sunburst is a flat, patty pan, a couple of different green Zucchini varieties but we will call them all Zucchini. Golden Glory which is a gold Zucchini, Romanesco, a striped Zucchini looking squash and finally Zephyr which is a bi-colored summer squash.  Yellow on the top, green on the bottom. They are all delicious.  

To top off the week, Sugar Snap Peas. These are edible pod peas so snap the stem, pull off the string and eat the entire pod. A treat that only comes once a year.

Marketplace orders of Organic Fair trade Coffee, Organic Dark Chocolate, local Honey and Maple Syrup will be delivered weekly. To order just log into your CSA Member account and select Marketplace.  You can also order Mushrooms in bulk from the Marketplace. Mushroom orders must be received by Friday at 6.
 
Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #3 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member,

This is the busiest time of year on the farm. The harvest is now well underway, transplanting seedlings for fall, tending the small plants in the greenhouses, weeds and insects loving the cool, wet weather we have been having and then once newly transplanted seedlings are planted there is irrigating. It is hard to keep up with all that needs to be done day to day. It is also a wonderful time of year when months of work is ready for harvest.

This is salad season. It comes and goes quickly so enjoy the greens of spring. The Romaine can be grilled, Lettuce Soup recipe is on the farm website and if you are invited to dinner or a party, volunteer to bring the salad! This week the lettuces are beautiful. The lettuce is mature but still sweet and tender. There are four different varieties: Romaine, Red Tide, Red Sails and Buttercrunch. New this season is a Frisee Endive that is also a great addition to the fresh salad. Red Tide is a smaller, redder lettuce. Red Sails larger and very tender so handle carefully.

Try slicing the Kohlrabi and adding it raw to the salad. It is crispy and sweet when raw.  It also makes a delicious slaw.  

For the first time this season Bright Lights Swiss Chard. Beautiful multicolored stems of yellow, reds, oranges adorn the Bright Lights Swiss Chard.  

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

Marketplace items Honey, Maple, Coffee, Organic Dark Chocolate can be ordered any time during the season and will be delivered with your CSA shares. The Organic Dark Chocolate is delicious. 

Enjoy the Vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #2 — Farmer’s Note

Dear CSA Member,

 Refrigerators will be full of greens this week. A salad spinner and wok will be useful.

Lettuces of three varieties: Romaine, Red Tide Red Leaf and Tropicana Green Leaf lettuce. Bright red Cherriette Radishes, thinly sliced Mizuna added to the lettuces make a beautiful salad.  Mizuna is also a great addition to the Boc Choi for a stir fry.

There is nothing that can beat a salad spinner this time of year. I have found it easiest to wash greens by cutting the stem portion off, giving the leaves a good dunk, drain and dunk again, spin dry.  The lettuces will keep for at least a week in the salad spinner if you have enough room or in a plastic bag or container.

Boc Choi is delicious and plentiful. More stir fry for a quick and easy dinner.  

Natacha Escarole is a slightly bitter green. White Beans and Escarole are a classic. There are very good recipes for Escarole on the farm website “Recipes” section that members have contributed them over time.  Doesn’t Warm French Lentil Salad sound great? 

The CSA Marketplace is open and you can order Honey, Maple, Coffee and Organic Dark Chocolate to be delivered with your CSA shares. Members are raving about the Organic Dark Chocolate. Who would think that something so absolutely delicious could also be so good for you?

Fruit Shares can still be added to your Vegetable Share but we will be closing the Fruit Shares on June 21.  If you would like to order Fruit, log into your CSA Member Account*, select 2014 CSA Shares and add the Fruit Share.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

*This is the Stoneledge Farm website https://www.stoneledgefarmny.org not csasprouts.org

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Week #1 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member,

Beautiful sunny weather has ushered in this first week of picking and delivery for CSA shares. The first week is always full of activity.  Picking, packing, counting and re-counting to make sure all of the shares are delivered correctly.

Greens are plentiful and stir fry is a perfect fit. Mustard Greens are a spicy green that will cook quickly. Boc Choi and Chinese Cabbage, chopped thinly can be added to a salad or quickly cooked in a wok. White Russian Kale will make delicious Kale Chips or because it is still very tender, a great raw Kale Salad. Red Kohlrabi are just beautiful. Quite a few recipes can be found at https://www.yummly.com/recipes/red-kohlrabi. I have not tried them but they look good.

Rhubarb, a springtime favorite. The bunches are not large enough to make a pie, but just right for the Spring Rhubarb Cake featured on the farm website, Recipes section. It really is a delicious recipe.

CSA Marketplace is open and you can log into your CSA Member Account to order Organic Dark Chocolate, Honey, Maple Syrup, and Coffee. Mushrooms are also available in a bulk offering but orders need to be placed by Friday morning so we can give the Mushroom farm enough notice.

Optional Shares: Mushrooms this week are White Button.
Coffee Share delivery will be made this week.

Please remember to pick up your Optional Shares if you have ordered either Mushroom or Coffee Shares. Marketplace orders will also be delivered with the CSA shares.

Members will ask, where is the Fruit Share? Fruit Shares will start the 5th CSA delivery when local fruit is available.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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A Note From the Farmer

May 2014
Dear CSA Member

We are nearing the end of the sign up period for CSA shares. If you have already purchased a Vegetable Share and would like to add an optional Fruit, Mushroom or Coffee Share, please do so by May 31. That will be the last day for ordering.  We need a bit of time to get our picking and packing schedules set and the Mushroom farm, Bulich Mushroom Farm, needs notice of the amount of mushrooms we will need each week.  If you know of someone that would like to join this season, they have until May 31 as well.

Information about the upcoming Farm Visit and also the dates of the first CSA distribution follow. We are looking forward to a wonderful CSA season.

For everyone at Stoneledge Farm
Deborah

SPRING FARM OPEN HOUSE  Come and visit the farm during the upcoming CSA Spring Farm Visit, May 31 from 11-3.  Please bring a picnic lunch and drinks.  Walk the fields, enjoy lunch together, visit with the farmers and crew at Stoneledge Farm that grow your produce.  There should also be an opportunity to help with a bit of transplanting.
We will have local mushrooms on the grill and Chili from Heather Ridge Farm along with our coffee to round out the lunch.  Heather Ridge Farm  https://heather-ridge-farm.com/ and Blue Banana Bakery https://www.facebook.com/BananaMoonBakingCompany will also be in attendance with their products for sale. We will have Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee and new this season, Grenada Chocolate Factory Chocolate for sale as well.

Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address.  We will be by the big grey barns. Hope to see you on the 31st.  If you have any questions please send the farm an e-mail at info@stoneledge.farm

FIRST CSA DELIVERY
Tuesday: June 10, 2014