Category: Note from the Farmer

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Week# 19 — Note from Farmer, Mizuna, Mustard Green, Arugula Salad Recipe, Celeriac Recipes, Kale Recipes, Seed Oils

Dear CSA Member,

The weather has been unpredictable these past few weeks. It has gone from 80 degrees one week to frost the next. We are now heading back into another warm trend! The fall leaves are at a standstill and are still mostly green. This week was the first harvest of Sweet Potatoes! They look beautiful but haven’t been washed to help keep for members. (read below) We also harvested Pop Corn this week! The PopCorn is harvested and is put in the greenhouse to dry. It takes a few weeks before the popcorn is ready to POP! It will be ready for your share in a few weeks!

Sweet Potatoes: The sweet potatoes WILL need to be washed. They were harvested right from the fields and packed for your share. The sweet potatoes will keep a little longer if they do not get wet.
The Sweet Potatoes have a very thin skin that you are able to eat when cooked (you do not have to peel them). Whipped Sweet Potatoes taste great with a drizzle of Butternut Squash or Roasted Pumpkin seed oil on top.

Celeriac: Celeriac will be in your shares this week. A CSA member from the New Rochelle CSA shared on Instagram Celeriac Mash. (Looked Delicious! Thank you for posting!) Check out this link for TEN (YES, 10) THINGS TO DO WITH CELERY ROOT Click Here

Curly Kale and Beets: Curly Kale aka. Winter Bor / Starbor Kale will be in your share this week as well. Our favorite kale recipe here on the farm is Roasted Beet and Kale Salad With Maple Candied Walnuts This is a beautiful and tasty salad. This salad calls for Maple Syrup and Honey that are available through the online marketplace.
For more Kale recipes Click Here

Greens: Arugula, Mizuna and Mustard
SALAD OF FIELD GREENS, GORGONZOLA, PEAR & TOASTED WALNUT

5 ounces pre-washed salad greens
1 ripe pear, cored and thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup toasted walnut halves
4 ounces gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled or shaved

Vinaigrette (makes 1/2 cup)
3 Tbsp pumpkin seed oil
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp + 2 Teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

Make the vinaigrette: with fork or small whisk combine oils and mustard in small bowl. Gradually add lemon juice until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine greens, walnuts, sliced pear. Immediately before serving, toss greens with vinaigrette until lightly coated. Toss in crumbled blue cheese.
https://www.wholeheartedfoods.com/squash-oil-recipes.htm

Check out our Online Marketplace! The Stoneledge Farm online Marketplace offers honey, maple syrup, coffee, seed oils, mushrooms, fruit, and vegetables in bulk. Click Here to login to your account to place your order.

Enjoy!
-Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #18–Note from the Farmer — How to prepare Turnip & Radish Greens, Turnip Recipes, Mizuna and Mustard Green Recipe

Dear CSA Member,

We finally broke the heat wave this week. It went from 90 degrees all week and now a seasonable 70 degrees. It officially feels like fall! You will start to notice your CSA shares are getting heavier as we continue to harvest the fall root crops such as turnips, fall radishes, and carrots. The greens on the turnips and radishes are beautiful, loaded with vitamins and should be eaten! They are delicious! Below are a few ways to prepare your radish and turnip greens.

Bella Luna Turnips & Greens: These turnips can be eaten raw or cooked. (Don’t forget to use the greens) They taste delicious raw sliced up on a salad, roasted, boiled or added to a soup. Check out these great links below to help you prepare your turnips including the Greens!
4 Quick Turnip Recipes- Click Here
Turnip and Potato Patties- Click Here

Radish Greens: Radish Greens have a peppery taste and can be eaten raw or cooked. You can add them to your Mustard and Mizuna salad or you can make pesto, roast them and more. More ways to prepare these nutritious greens below.
Don’t Toss Those Radish Greens- Click Here

Mizuna and Mustard Greens – Fall Mizuna and Mustard Greens Salad recipe below. Made with a honey vinaigrette salad dressing.
Mizuna and Mustard Green Salad- Click Here

This week is an Optional Coffee Share and Dry Bean Share Week. If you have either of these optional shares please do not forget to pick them up with your CSA delivery.

Check out our Online Marketplace! The Stoneledge Farm online Marketplace offers honey, maple syrup, coffee, seed oils, mushrooms, fruit, and vegetables in bulk. Click Here to login to your account to place your order.

Enjoy!
-Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #17 Note from Farmer– About Sage, Kale, Speciality Radishes, Chioggia Beets, Concord Grapes and Seckel Pears

Dear CSA Member,

Happy Fall! It is the first day of fall and it is 85 degrees! The weather has been hot and dry these past few days and will be 87 on Sunday! We have been preparing for the fall season’s harvests along with cleaning out the fields from summer. Below are some tips on some of the items you will be receiving in your CSA share this week.

Sage: A Southern Europe and Mediterranean herb. Pairs well with poultry.

Kale: It is that time of year again. All the Kale is growing beautifully. This week in your share you will be getting Lacinato Kale also know as “dinosaur kale”. Check out this great link for Kale that was sent in from one of our CSA members. Keep this link handy for the remainder of the season! Click Here

Specialty Radishes: This week you will be getting some specialty radishes. It is the first picking of the fall radishes. The radishes have beautiful greens you can make a small salad with. It tastes great with a sweet dressing.

Chioggia Beets: Italian Heirloom variety beet. When sliced open you will notice beautiful stripes of red and light pink.

FRUIT SHARE MEMBERS: This week you will be getting Concord Grapes, Seckel Pears, and Cortland Apples.
*Concord Grapes– Grown by Tousey Farm Delicious sweet grape. Concords are a slip skin grape. You squeeze the grape and the pulp will slip out. All parts of the grapes are good for you. You can eat the skin, pulp, and the seed if you choose. Try this Concord Grape Muffin Recipe.
*Seckel Pears – Grown by Fix Brothers Farm(small sweet pear.) Let them sit out for a couple days to soften slightly.

Enjoy!
-Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #16 Note from the Farmer — How to Use Celeriac, Celery Root Recipe, Butternut Squash Recipe, and Prune Plum Recipe

Dear CSA Member,

The weather has been cooperating nicely for us. It almost feels like another round of summer! This week we have been busy transplanting crops for the late fall season such as lettuces, kohlrabi, bok choi and more. We also have harvested our winter squash. With the warm sunny days, we have been having it made for a great week to harvest the winter squash. Check out our winter squash harvest on Facebook or Instagram.

Butternut Winter Squash will be in your share this week. Along with Celeriac and Potatoes. Try these great recipes below.

Butternut Squash: Peel your butternut squash with a vegetable peeler and slice in half, and scoop out the seed.
Try this Maple Pecan Butternut Squash recipe.
This tastes even better with a drizzle or Pumpkin Seed Oil, or Butternut Squash Seed oil. Maple Syrup, Pumpkin, and Butternut Squash seed oil are all available through the online marketplace.

 

Celeriac: Celeriac is a root crop that is used a lot in soups or stocks. Very strong celery flavor but, it is not the root of celery. This crop is grown specifically for its root.
You can also try this delicious Potato and Celery Root (Celeriac) Gratin Recipe.
To Peel Celeriac…

Cut off the top just under the stalks creating a wide flat surface to stand the Celeriac upright on a cutting board.
Slide your chef’s knife down the side of the root until all the skin has been removed.
You can slice or dice the celeriac according to your recipe.

 

Prune Plum Recipe: Italian Plum Torte

Enjoy!

Best,
Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

 

**UPDATE**

Due to the rainy spring we have had the butternut squash will not hold as long as usual.  Please use as soon as possible. 
Fruit Share Members – This week you will be getting prune plums.  They are a cooking plum and are tart to eat fresh.  Below are a few links with recipes on how to use the cooking plums this week.  Enjoy!
Plum Conserve – Click Here (Great to spread on toast)
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Week #15 Note from the Farmer — How to Use Cranberry Beans

Dear CSA Member,

We are getting closer and closer to the official start of the fall season but, the tomatoes and peppers aren’t ready to end just yet! We are slowly transitioning from the summer harvest to more fall hearty crops such as beets, carrots, kale, and potatoes. As these field crops are changing so are the leaves on the trees. They are changing from the bright green of summer to a tinted yellow of fall.

We have had many requests for dry beans to be grown here on the farm. We have planted some this season and the beans are now ready to be harvested. Here are some interesting facts about dried beans.
-The United Nations has declared 2016 “The Year of the Pulse” to celebrate and promote the consumption of beans, lentils and peas around the globe and their website has some wonderful recipe ideas to try.
-They are low in fat and high in fibre and protein. Just half a cup of lentils will give you the same protein as 2 cups of rice.
-Beans make you feel full for longer, releasing energy slowly as your body breaks down the complex carbs rather than the quick energy hit you get from simple carbs in sugars.
-Soaking dried beans reduces cooking time. Discarding the soaking liquid and cooking in fresh water may reduce flatulence, but some say this is a load of hot air and loses flavor in the bean. I tried both and didn’t notice an appreciable difference!
These facts came from “Top 10 Things to Know About Growing and Cooking Shell-out Beans”

Try this great bean Fagiloi Recipe: Click Here

Enjoy!

-Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

UPDATE

Tips for using your Cranberry Beans-
  1. Remove the rubber band from the bunch of dry beans.
  2. Pick off all the pods
  3. Open pod and take out the bean : )
All you need to know for Cranberry Beans (cooking, storing and preparing):  Click Here
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Week#14- Note from Farmer — Creamy Potato Leek Soup with Collard Greens Recipe

Dear CSA Member,

The Farm Visit was a great turn out! We had such beautiful weather and an all around good day! We would like to thank all of our CSA members that made the trip to come visit farm yesterday. And, special thanks to the vendors that joined us yesterday. The Bees Knees Cafe at Heather Ridge Farm, James Mikmanus and his niece with local honey and the observation hive, Kim from Paridis to Go for making all the delicious pork and chili. It was a really great day and we’re so thankful you could join us! * If you have any pictures from the farm visit please share them with us info@stoneledge.farm we would love to use them on Facebook and our website.

This week in your share you will be getting potatoes, onions and collard greens. Try this Rich and Creamy Potato Leek Soup with Collard Greens. This Recipe is by Andrea Beaman from the Yorkville CSA. Thank you Andrea! It is delicious! You can replace the leeks with the current onions you have in your share. It is great for this time of year!

Marketplace: Check Daily for Vegetable and Fruit Updates.

This week is an optional coffee & dry bean share week. If you have ordered these optional shares please do not forget to pick them up with your vegetable share. Thank You!

 

Best,
Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #13 Farmer’s Note — Farm Visit Next Weekend: come by a sponsored bus — Edamame recipe

Dear CSA Member,

New this week… Edamame Beans! When preparing the edamame for eating separate the pod from the stalk and rinse. The Edamame can be steamed or boiled. When cooked you pop the bean out of the shell and eat only the bean. The shell is not edible. Below is a simple and tasty recipe link you can use. What is Edamame, and How Do I Eat It? Click Here

If you are traveling from NYC you might be interested in the bus that Chelsea CSA in sponsoring. $5 per person, if you are interested click HERE and sign up ASAP. Space is limited.

We hope that you will mark your calendar with the upcoming Fall Farm Festival. The Fall Farm Festival will be held on the farm September 2nd from 11:30-3:00. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. There are directions on the farm website Contact Us tab or using your GPS. It is a great day to come to the farm and see how your vegetables are grown, meet your farmers and walk the fields. We have the grill hot and will have pork as well as grilled Sweet Corn and Portobello Mushrooms and vegetarian chili. There will be fresh fruit, Stoneledge Farm Coffee, and water. We ask that members bring a dish to share so that lunch is a giant pot luck get together. If possible, please bring your own place settings, utensils, and cup. No pets, please.

We will have several other farms at the festival. Please, bring a freezer bag if you are interested in purchasing some items.

In addition we will have:
Local Bee Keeper- With an observation hive and Local Honey for Sale.
Stoneledge Farm Marketplace Farm Stand- Fix Brother Farm Apples, Some Stoneledge Farm Vegetables, Stoneledge Farm Coffee, Bearkill Road Maple Syrup, NY Produced Organic Seed Oils.

There are flowers to pick and take home from the flower garden. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick. There will be an “I Spy” game for kids of all ages as well as scarecrow making!

It is a great day on the farm and we look forward to seeing you there!

Enjoy the Harvest,
Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week#12 Farmer’s Note — Travel by Bus to Stoneledge Farm Visit for just $5, FIESTA WEEK Recipes

Dear CSA Member,

This week is one of our favorite weeks. FIESTA WEEK!
This week you will be getting tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeño peppers and tomatillos! All the perfect ingredients! Click the recipe below to try out these great recipes.
Salsa Verde– along with other Tomatillo recipes
Mexican Succotash
Pico De Gillo

The Chelsea CSA is sponsoring a bus to come to the farm visit. It will be $5 per person. If you are interested click HERE and sign up ASAP. Space is limited.

We hope that you will mark your calendar with the upcoming Fall Farm Festival. The Fall Farm Festival will be held on the farm September 2nd from 11:30-3:00. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. There are directions on the farm website Contact Us tab or using your GPS. It is a great day to come to the farm and see how your vegetables are grown, meet your farmers and walk the fields. We have the grill hot and will have pork as well as grilled Sweet Corn and Portobello Mushrooms and vegetarian chili.  There will be fresh fruit, Stoneledge Farm Coffee, and water. We ask that members bring a dish to share so that lunch is a giant pot luck get together. If possible, please bring your own place settings, utensils, and cup. No pets, please.

Additional local farm products will be available for purchase. *Please, bring a freezer bag if you are interested in purchasing any items. Includes Stoneledge Farm Marketplace Farm Stand- Fix Brother Farm Apples, Some Stoneledge Farm Vegetables, Stoneledge Farm Coffee, Bearkill Road Maple Syrup, NY Produced Organic Seed Oils and Honey and more.

There are flowers to pick and take home from the flower garden. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick. There will be an “I Spy” game for kids of all ages as well as scarecrow making!

It is a great day on the farm and we look forward to seeing you there!

Enjoy the Harvest,
Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #11 — What’s in the Bag

Dear CSA member,

This week you will be getting a share full of color — summer mixed in with some early fall crops, bright tomatoes and peppers along with rainbow carrots. You will also be getting potatoes and leeks this week. Try this delicious potato leek soup.

***Reminder: This is the last week for Story’s farm sweet corn. All final corn orders need to be placed by 12 pm Friday, August 18 for delivery.

We hope that you will mark your calendar with the upcoming Fall Farm Festival. The festival will be held on the farm Sept. 2 from 11:30 am – 3 pm. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. There are directions on the farm website “Contact Us” tab or you can use GPS. It is a great day to come to the farm and see how your vegetables are grown, meet your farmers and walk the fields. We will have the grill fired up and will serve pork as well as grilled sweet corn and portobello mushrooms and vegetarian chili. There will be fresh fruit, Stoneledge Farm coffee, and water. We ask that members bring a dish to share so that the lunch will be a giant pot luck/get-together. If possible, please bring your own place settings, utensils, and cups. No pets, please.

 

There are flowers to pick and take home from our garden. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers moist until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick. There will be an “I Spy” game for kids of all ages as well as scarecrow making!

Enjoy the harvest,
Candice for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Bulk items are added when they become available. Check the website Marketplace daily for any new added bulk items.

Additional Marketplace Items:
Organic sunflower seed oil, organic flax seed oil, roasted pumpkin seed oil, butternut squash seed oil, organic coffee, organic chocolate, organic dry beans, maple syrup and honey

Click Here to login and place your order.

This week’s full share:

2 Sunkist tomatoes
1 basket cherry tomatoes
1 bunch celery
1 bunch parsley
2 sweet peppers
1 bunch leeks
2 lbs. potatoes
1 bunch rainbow carrots
1 head broccoli
1 bunch green basil
2 red slicing tomatoes
2 summer squash

Optional shares this week:

Mushroom Share
Crimini

Fruit Share:
1 bag donut peaches
1 bag yellow peaches

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Week #10 — Note from the Farmer –What to do with Fennel? Corn Available, Farm Festival –Activities for Kids

Dear CSA Member,

The weather has been cooperating for us these past few days and the tomatoes have been ripening nicely. It is so important for the tomatoes to have hot and dry days. Also, this week you will be getting another round of Fennel. Fennel has done really well this season. Not sure what to do with Fennel? Click Here for great ways to prepare and eat fresh fennel. If you have a fennel recipe you would like to share please email it to the farm. info@stoneledge.farm

We hope that you will mark your calendar with the upcoming Fall Farm Festival. The Fall Farm Festival will be held on the farm September 2nd from 11:30-3:00. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. There are directions on the farm website Contact Us tab or using your GPS. It is a great day to come to the farm and see how your vegetables are grown, meet your farmers and walk the fields. We have the grill hot and will have pork as well as grilled Sweet Corn and Portobello Mushrooms and vegetarian chili.  There will be fresh fruit, Stoneledge Farm Coffee, and water. We ask that members bring a dish to share so that lunch is a giant pot luck get together. If possible, please bring your own place settings, utensils, and cup. No pets, please.

There are flowers to pick and take home from the flower garden. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick. There will be an “I Spy” game for kids of all ages as well as scarecrow making!

 

Reminder** Corn and Mushroom orders need to be placed by 12pm the Friday before your delivery. All orders placed after 12pm will be delivered not that week but the following week after. ***

Enjoy the Harvest,
Candice for Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Bulk Items are added when they become available. Check the website Marketplace for any new added Bulk Items Daily.

Additional Marketplace Items: Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Flax Seed Oil, Roasted Pumpkin Seed Oil, Butternut Squash Seed Oil, Organic Coffee, Organic Chocolate, Organic Dry Beans, Maple Syrup and Honey
Click Here to login and place your order.