top left to right: kale, dandelion greens, and collards
middle left to right: slicing cucumber, bag of pickling cucumber with dill and garlic, beets, and radish
bottom left to right: yellow patty pan squash, round and straight zucchini, and dried onions
Hi Folks and welcome to week 7 of your CSA. We hope everyone got to enjoy the holiday weekend and remember those that weren't able to spend it with you. We had a good bit of family in town this weekend. We actually got to take the day off on Sunday and spend time with everyone. It was very relaxing! Hazel got to go swimming in a big pool. She loved it! I say big pool because we actually have her a kiddie pool that we fill up when at the farm! She loves the water so much.
The farm has been very hot! I can't believe that this is just the beginning and it will be getting hotter. The tomato plants are loving the heat and have grown a foot since last week! The peppers and eggplant are also starting to get bigger. Tomatoes should definitely make an appearance in next week's box. The rain has unfortunately been dodging Flora. We got a good rain last night at our house near Gluckstadt and thought for sure it would be raining at the farm, but it missed Flora. Hoping for rain later this week! The heat also ensures the arrival of insects. We have had to harvest the radishes in your box this week without the greens, since the beetles have found them. It has also been really hot for the beets and we harvested them without the greens as well because they were starting to wilt. We are also pulling onions out of the field and letting them dry and cure. We have pulled 2 rows so far and have about 5 more to go! Our cucumber and squash plants are really producing some vegetables. With the rate they are going we were nervous how quickly they will be done producing so yesterday we seeded some more rows of cucumbers, zucchini and squash.
We are definitely staying busy on the farm with the arrival of summer. A big thank you to our CSA member Nell Floyd for doing a great write up on the farm in the Clarion Ledger. If you haven't read it yet, check it out here: http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2016/05/29/mississippi-veggie-growers-make-possible-eat-local/85039904/
We have been getting a lot of pictures and recipes from members. We really appreciate the input! Thanks for sharing! SEE BELOW! I'm excited to see what y'all do with this week's bounty. Here are the contents of your box:
1. A 2lb. bag of pickling cucumbers accompanied with a sprig of dill and garlic clove. Try the easy refrigerated pickles recipe in the link below!
2. Radish- the variety shown in the pic above are watermelon radishes. These are a beautiful pink color on the inside.
3. Red Beets- delicious roasted or peeled and sautéed. I also enjoy pickling my beets as well! `
4. Dandelion Greens- these are a very bitter green. Wonderful when braised.
5. Kale- the variety shown above is the Siberian Kale.
6. Collards
7. Squash- the variety shown in picture is a Patty Pan called Sunburst.
8. Zucchini- the varieties shown in picture are round 8 Ball and traditional straight.
10) Dried Onions
Refrigerated Garlicky Dill Pickles- http://www.thekitchn.com/small-batch-recipe-cucumber-pickles-urban-preserving-with-marisa-mcclellan-173303 Substitute the Dill seed for fresh Dill!
10 Ways to Use Dandelion Greens- http://www.thekitchn.com/10-ways-to-use-those-dandelions-recipes-from-the-kitchn-188774
Beet, Radish, and Cucumber Salad- http://tonispilsbury.com/beet-cucumber-radish-salad/ You could try roasting the Beets and Radishes for this salad also! And add on top of the Kale instead of lettuce!
OR try this Recipe our CSA member Ben sent us!
Roasted Squash Casserole
★★★★
Side, Vegetable
Makes 6-8 ∙ Source Tea-Time at the Masters
Ingredients
- 2 pounds yellow squash, sliced into coins
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 onion, sliced and quartered
- 4 T butter
- 3 c cheddar cheese, sharp, finely shredded
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 16 saltine crackers, crushed
- salt, to taste
- white pepper, to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 450F. Roast squash, green pepper, and onion for 20-25 minutes, until the squash is fork tender. You may want to take the pepper and onion out of the oven ~5 minutes earlier than the squash since they will carmelize faster.
Turn down oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mash squash, pepper, and onion. Mix in butter and 2 c cheese. Mix in eggs, milk, and cracker crumbs. Season to taste.
Pour mixture into greased 2 quart casserole. Top with remaining 1 c of cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
Notes
Original recipe calls for the veg to be boiled and drained, instead of roasting, before mashing, but I prefer to roast. The original recipe also calls for margarine, not butter. Also, be conservative with the salt and white pepper. I like salty food and I forgot to add the seasonings the first time I made this casserole, but to my surprise I did not miss them at all.
And another recipe our member Chris sent to us!
Made this with broccoli beets and Onion. Used Cajun seasoning and made glaze with apricot jam and Worcestershire sauce. Baked it in oven for 30 min then put glaze on it back in oven for 15 min. It was wonderful.
And a picture from a dish Fran made last week!
