Farm Update 11/6/13

Thirty weeks has come and gone quite quickly.  I cannot believe this is the last week of our 2013 CSA program.  This is our second year of doing the program and we learn so much each year about what works and what doesn't that we are hoping that the 2014 program is the best year yet.

The CSA program started back in the winter of 2011.  I had been at the farm for a few months and was looking for a way to bring in some income in the winter months when markets and restaurant sales slow down.  Seth was still finishing school at UGA, but we consulted back and forth and agreed to do a three month winter CSA program.  I made flyers to pass out at the farmer's market and after several weeks of campaigning for the program, we had four families (one of which was my parents) who were crazy enough to trust that they would be guaranteed produce every week during the hardest time of year to grow vegetables.  Looking back I have no idea what we were thinking starting our first ever CSA in winter, but somehow (mostly thanks to a very mild and warm winter) we pulled it off and thus our CSA program was born.  

We went from four to 100 plus members in less than a year and still marvel at the interest and growth in the program.  We've had members be with us for going on three years and even one family who's been with the farm longer than Seth and I have.  We know a CSA is not for everyone, but hope that if a member finds out that the program isn't ideal for their lifestyle, that they can at least enjoy it for the time they are a part of it.  The recipes and newsletter are our attempt to make the program and vegetables be more manageable and familiar- hopefully sparking inspiration for new recipes and family dinners.

As the CSA program breaks for the winter (we will not be doing a winter CSA program this year, but will be at the Grayson Farmer's Market on Wednesdays from 3:30-7:30 pm), we will be brainstorming ideas for next year's program.  When the details are set in stone, we will send out the 2014 program information and application.

Thank you to you all for your support of the farm this 2013 season.  Check back to the blog throughout the winter for updates and we will hopefully see you all in 2014!

Here are some flash back pictures to the "early years":

One thing we learned quickly: paper bags for the CSA were a terrible idea.  They ripped from water and weight so easily.  

This was the content of one of our winter bags in 2011. We had tomatoes in a high tunnel and thanks to the warm weather, the plants survived until December.  The tomatoes were not that tasty though- cold makes them mealy (that's why you don't refrigerate tomatoes).  We decided after that year to keep tomatoes growing to the hot summer months.  

That's me with our old produce scale.  We've upgraded to a table-top digital scale since then that is MUCH easier to deal with.  And the garage has been closed off and is climate controlled now.  No more freezing in winter and burning up in the summer.  

We planted this lettuce on New Year's Eve 2011. We were sweating in the high tunnel it was so warm outside.  

Broccoli Recipes

• Pasta and White Beans with Broccoli Pesto
• Cheesy Quinoa and Broccoli Patties
• Roasted Balsamic Garlic Broccoli
• Roasted Broccoli Grilled Cheese 
• Chicken Broccoli Casserole
• Broccoli and Feta Pasta Salad
• Broccoli Slaw
• Broccoli and Spaghetti Frittata 
• Ginger and Garlic Broccoli
• Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
• Spicy Broccoli Tofu Stir-Fry

Farm Update 10/23/13

Happy October Morning! It's 48 degrees out here this morning which I fortunately do not have to embrace until later this morning after I post on the blog and send out the CSA newsletter :)

This week will most likely be the last that we harvest any summer crops (peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, etc) as we are expecting a frost tonight.  While it's a sad day for the plants of summer, our fall/winter crops will love this cool weather- and taste better for it! When temperatures hit below freezing, cold tolerant crops like hearty greens, salad greens, and root crops turn their starches into sugars to lower their freezing point and thus taste sweeter themselves.

We are crossing are fingers that our broccoli will start to come in next week so it will make it into one of the last CSA bags of the season.  Broccoli is a little more high maintenance than most other fall crops.  The plants need to be spaced 2-3 feet apart and take up a lot more room than spinach, carrots, arugula etc.  They need frequent monitoring to make sure there are no pests (aphids, worms) wreaking havoc on the underside of the leaves.  And then we fertilize them more for a nice, healthy plant in hopes of a nice, healthy broccoli crown.  Last year, we didn't have so much luck with our fall broccoli planting- we got the seedlings in the ground too late and the frosts stunted and slowed their growth significantly.  This year, besides battling with aphids, we seem to have a very good crop.  Little florets starting forming over the weekend and so now we just wait for them to grow a little more and we'll begin the harvest!

Seth and I are very excited about making home made broccoli and cheese soup.  We haven't had broccoli since last spring and have been dreaming for weeks now of all the ways we can cook it when we finally have it.  I think one of the benefits of seasonal eating is that by the time you've eaten a vegetable for several weeks or months in a row and just about ready to ban it from your diet, the vegetable's season is over (thank goodness- one can only eat so much roasted okra)  and a new vegetable comes into your kitchen and livens things up.  Just like okra or squash or arugula, I'm sure after a few weeks, we will have had our fix of broccoli and then it's onto the next vegetable that we eat constantly for a given period of time.

Little Broccoli Floret

Nasty little aphids on the underside of a broccoli leaf. These tiny bugs that can do a lot of damage. Fortunately we caught them early and they didn't do nearly the damage they could have.

Enjoying the beauty of the flowers before it gets too cold.

This variety of sunflower is called "Autumn Beauty"- SO gorgeous

A busy bee hard at work

Farm Update 10/16/13

Cabbage leaves starting to roll into a cabbage

Seth harvesting hakurei turnips

Dino Kale on the left, Rainbow Swiss Chard on the right

One of only a few pomegranates we got off our plants this year

Kale seeds about to be planted in seed trays

Hakurei Turnips just sprouting

This week is a rather busy week.  We have three farmer's markets (Grayson on Wednesday, Tucker on Thursday, and Brookhaven on Saturday), two restaurant delivery days, and our large group of CSA pick-ups on Wednesday and Friday. Our focus has shifted from planting and weeding to spending most of our time harvesting, washing, bunching, packing etc.  

The harvest dinner on Saturday was amazing. We met some great people and of course indulged in delicious food and wine.  There's a chance we might do another in November before it starts getting too cold, so stay tuned.

Well, bunches of collards and baskets of spinach are calling my name- time to get to harvesting! 

Farm Update 10/9/13

Here are some progression shots our Broccoli and Collard Field

August 27th-Just laid out rows and fertilizer for broccoli and collard seedlings

September 2nd- Plastic Mulch is laid and seedlings are planted

October 8th- Seth is checking the broccoli for signs of florets

October 8th- Gorgeous fall day 

Sunshine and cooler temperatures really make for some beautiful days.  This week has been exciting as we are starting to have fall crops come in.  We harvested the first of our carrots, Hakurei turnips, escarole, and have more green beans coming in.  The green beans are some of the prettiest we've ever grown.  They're surprisingly sweet and delicious raw.

We're checking our cabbage and broccoli everyday for signs of heads and florets beginning to form.  The plants are big and beautiful and we're expecting a pretty nice harvest from them. Spinach, chard, beets, and lettuce are due to be coming in in the next couple of weeks, too.

One of the best parts about these first few days of October was using our neighbor farmer's Jang Seeder.  We direct seed crops like carrots, turnips, radishes, beets, baby lettuce, spinach, arugula and other baby greens.  Typically, we've been making beds with the bed-raiser implement behind the tractor and then planting the seeds by hand: digging a small trench with a hoe, dropping in seeds, and then covering them with soil using a rake.  And while it has worked well for us, it is very time consuming and does not have the spacing accuracy we desire.

That's where a seeder comes in.  It's a little machine that as you roll it along a row, it drops seeds the same distance apart and covers them with soil.  There are plates you adjust for the different sizes of seeds (a beet seed is much larger than an arugula seed) and then just fill up the seed compartment and push it along the row.  Seeders are awesome, but also quite expensive.  Luckily our neighbor was gracious enough to let us borrow his and we planted an acre of crops in an hour that would have usually taken at least a day.  Seth and I could kick ourselves for not investing in a seeder a long time ago.  Needless to say, that will be one our first spring purchases next year as we approach another season.

Today we're harvesting and getting ready for the Grayson Farmer's Market and the Atlanta CSA drop-off.  Tomorrow we will be at the Tucker Farmer's Market, Friday will be the farm CSA pick-up and Saturday we have a farm dinner scheduled at 5:30 put on by graft restaurant.  Reservations are still available- check out http://www.graftrestaurant.com/events.html to sign up.

We hope you all are enjoying fall as much as we are- have a great week!

-Haley and Seth

Escarole Recipes

• Curly Endive with Spaghetti
• Wilted Curly Endive
• Nutty Endive Pizza with Two Cheeses
• Escarole and White Bean Soup
• Grilled Chicken and Escarole Sandwich with White Bean Spread
• Trout with Escarole, Orange and Olives
• Escarole, Blood Orange, and Walnut Salad
• Escarole with Persimmons, Pomegranate Seeds, and Lemon-Shallot Vinaigrette 

Collard Recipes

• Spicy Bulgur and Lentil Collard Wraps
• Apple Avocado Wraps with Walnut Pesto
• Collard Greens Coleslaw
• Lemony Collard Greens Pasta
• Sausage, Collards Green and Mushroom Tart
• Creamed Collards Greens
• Tropical Black Bean and Collard Green Soup
• Maple Syrup and Apple Cider Vinegar Collards
• Collard Green Salad
• Vegan Southern Collard Greens
• Coconut Collards and Spiced Chickpeas
• Hoppin' John Risotto with Collard Pesto
• Fried Eggs and Collard Greens over Polenta
• Braised Collard Greens

Sweet Potato Recipes

• Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Dolloped Sweet Potatoes
• Whipped Maple Sweet Potatoes
• Mexican Sweet Potatoes
• Grilled Sweet Potatoes
• Lentil, Mushroom & Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
• Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Milk and Vanilla Bean
• Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Quinoa Chili
• Sweet Potato, Ricotta, and Arugula Flatbread
• Sweet Potato Biscuits with Maple Butter
• Sweet Potatoes with Star Anise, Ginger, Lime

Delicata Squash Recipes

• Roasted Delicata Squash
• Miso-Curry Delicata Squash
• Chipotle Black Bean Stuffed Delicata Squash
• Baked Delicata Squash Fries
• Lentils with Roasted Delicata Squash
• Delicata Squash Chickpea Hummus
• Roasted Delicata Squash, Greens, and Quinoa with an Orange Chile Vinaigrette 

Eggplant Recipes

• Baked Eggplant Chips with Pesto
• Eggplant and Mozzarella Melt
• Spicy Seared Eggplant
• Eggplant-Feta Phyllo Pies
• Rich Beef and Eggplant Lasagna
• Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup
• Eggplant Parmesan Stacks
• Baba Ghanoush
• Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds and Goat Cheese
• Lentils with Broiled Eggplant
• Hot and Sour Eggplants
• Easy French Ratatouille 
• Rigatoni with Eggplant and Pine Nut Crunch
• Mini Eggplant White Pizzas
• Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

Butternut Squash Recipes

• Butternut Squash Baked Risotto
• Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos
• Twice Baked Butternut Squash
• Pasta with Butternut Squash and Pecans
• Butternut Squash Crumble
• Warm Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad
• Butternut Squash and Parmesan Dip
• Sweet Butternut Squash and Coconut Jam
• Butternut Squash and Coconut Curry
• Couscous Salad with Butternut Squash and Cranberries
• Butternut Squash, Apple, and Sage Soup
• Butternut Squash Winter Rolls with Spicy Cranberry Sauce

Jalapeno Recipes

• Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos
• Jalapeno Corn Bread
• Spicy Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeno
• Jalapeno Cilantro Salsa
• Roasted Jalapeno and Lime Hummus
• Smokey Watermelon-Jalapeno Margarita 
• Sweet Honey Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Biscuits
• Chipotle Chicken Fajitas with Creamy Black Bean Spread

Fig Recipes

• Prosciutto-Wrapped Figs
• Honey-Caramelized Figs with Yogurt
• Fresh Figs with Mascarpone and Warm Spiced Honey
• Open Faced Fig Sandwiches with Arugula and Parmesan
• Barley, Chicken and Fig Salad
• Pan-Seared Figs on Baby Greens with Hazelnuts
• Balsamic Chicken with Figs
• Fresh Fig Cake
• Fig, Caramelized Onion, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Pizza
• Grilled Soft Cheese, Thyme Honey and Fresh Figs
• Roasted Figs
• Crostini with Blue Cheese, Honey, Walnuts and Figs
• Honey Grilled Bananas and Figs

Pickling Recipes

• Alton Brown's Bread and Butter Pickles
• Rachael Ray's Quick Pickles
• Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles
• Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles
• Quick and Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
  

Okra Recipes

Photo by Donata Renfrow

• Sauteed Okra and Tomatoes
• Fried Okra
• Spiced Okra
• Grilled Okra with Smoked Paprika-Shallot Dip
• Alton Brown's Pickled Okra
• Seafood Gumbo
• Sambal Lady's Fingers
• Okra Curry
• Skillet Roasted-Indian Spiced Okra
• Roasted Okra

Pepper Recipes

•  Grilled Peppers and Chiles
• Grilled Mixed Peppers and Onions
• Marinated Peppers
• Peppery Pizza
• Pickled Peppers
• Stuffed Banana Peppers
• Banana Pepper Poppers
• Sweet Pickled Banana Peppers
• Kitchen Sink Chili
• Three Cheese Stuffed Banana Peppers
• Hot Pepper Chicken Under a Brick with an Orange and Poppy Seed Dressing
• Chorizo-Stuffed Mini Stuffed Peppers
• Roasted Red Pepper Dip
• Stuffed Baby Bells
• Baked Jalapeno (or baby bell) Bacon Peppers
• Mexican Mini Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp and Queso Fresco
• Blistered Shishito Peppers
• Roasted Shishito Peppers
• Grilled Shishito Peppers on a Stick

• Braised Chicken Thighs with Bell Peppers and Onions
• Potato, Red Pepper, and Feta Frittata 
• Spicy Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce
• White Bean and Roasted Vegetable Salad

Tomato Recipes

• Tomato and Mozzarella Potato Salad with Lemon Buttermilk Dressing
• The Perfect Tomato Salad
• Tomatoes with Ginger, Lemon and Chile
• Tomato and Basil Pasta
• Bacon, Avocado, and Tomato Sandwich
• Rigatoni with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula, and Crisp Bread
• Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
• Tomato Basil Quinoa
• Tomato Basil Pizza
• Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar

First Two Weeks of June- Photos

Purple Cauliflower

First tomato of the season

First week at the Snellville Farmer's Market- June 1st

First harvest of sungold cherry tomatoes on June 10th

Squash, zucchini, cucumber harvest June 10th

Golden Zucchini

Cucumber harvest June 10th

 

 Pictures from the farm to table dinner Saturday evening, June 1st. Special thanks to graft restaurant, Ashley, Penny, Felix, and Joy for all their help.

 Zinnias, zinnias, and more zinnias