Life on the Farm (Week 25)

It’s a broken record out here at Farm WLIG; deer, deer, deer. Someone snuck in and decimated 100 head of lettuce the night before last. What a sad sight; they eat the heart of the head and leave a “bowl” of outside leaves as evidence.

On the bright side, the high tunnel tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are doing wonderfully. We spent yesterday “indoors”, with the rain pounding the plastic roof, installing the twine/spool trellis system for the tomatoes and cucumbers. We train them up the twine and as they reach the 10ft limit, lower the spool of twine down and lean the plant to the side. Ya’ll better be tomato fans! In the high tunnel, we have 4 cherry varieties, 2 heirloom varieties, a standard red slicer and a meaty paste variety. Get your taste buds limbered up for the taste testing.

In the Market, you will find more leafy items— lettuce, braising greens, mints, herbs. Get your vitamins while they last! The hanging flower baskets are blooming and looking beautiful as they attract pollinators to the not-yet-ready tomatoes/cucumbers/peppers.

Ordering will be open from Sunday morning until Monday 8pm. Get your orders in now so harvesting can begin specific to your requests.

Deliveries will be made Wednesday per usual to your chosen Dropsite Location .

Recipes for your consideration

Green Cheeze and Mac
Another “hide them in plain sight” recipe for getting your greens! An elegant compromise for kids and adults alike. This creamy sauce is great if you just want to make creamed spinach too, sans pasta. Raw cashews are great to have around the house for just such rich recipes (high-ish fat content, but no cholesterol!)

10 oz noodles (elbow mac, fusilli, small shells, other small noodle)
4 cups greens, rough chopped (spinach, mustard, arugula, dandelion, etc.)
3/4 cup raw cashews (find in the “bulk” section of Co-op type stores; keep in the fridge for quick creamy recipes)
2 ½ cup water
5 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (again, find in bulk section)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp garlic granules/powder (make it yourself in the Fall)
1 ½ tsp onion granules/powder (another make-it-yourself in the Fall)
1 ¼ tsp smoked paprika (if you don’t like the smoky taste, use all sweet/regular paprika)
1 ¼ sea salt
½ tsp sweet paprika (another make-it-yourself, in the Summer; THE best)
1 Tbsp margarine (Earth Balance is best)
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Bring a large pot of water to boil. While that is starting, rough chop your greens; rinse and spin in a salad spinner. Add pasta to boiling water and set timer for time according to directions minus 1 minute. Add greens for that last minute of cook-time.

When time’s up, drain well and return to large pot; cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, put cashews and water in blender. Start slow and wean up to high speed. Blend until it is pure cream, no pieces of nut. (Time depends on blender power.)

While that is blending, measure out remaining dry ingredients (5 Tbsp nutritional yeast, cornstarch, flour, garlic, onion, salt, paprika x2). Once cashew cream is well on its way, add to blender and mix well.

Transfer to sauce pan and heat over medium heat, whisking continuously. Once simmering, reduce to low heat and whisk 3-5min until thickened.

Pour over greens and pasta and fold in to cover/distribute well. Add margarine and last Tbsp nutritional yeast and stir well. Salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot/immediately.
(Adapted from Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body and Soul)

Garlic Dill Bread
Quite easy to make and bake, and oh, the flavor. Dill is my favorite herb; this bread does it justice.

3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (or 2c whole wheat + 1c AP flour)
2 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
¾ tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or 2 tsp dried dill)
12 oz beer, room temp (use a microbrew with rich flavor)
2 garlic cloves, minced/pressed

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9×5? baking pan.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, dill. Slowly add beer and stir to a sticky mass. Stir in garlic.

Spread dough into pan. Bake 45-50 min or until golden brown and tester in center comes out clean.

Remove and cool for 10-15min. Turn bread out from pan and cool 10-15min. Serve warm with a good olive oil for drizzling/dipping.
(From Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body and Soul)

Did You Know…

you can eat the flowers too! Salad presentation (and flavor) can be enhanced with a splash of color. Get the dinner party talking and exclaiming with the following additions to your salads.

1) Nasturtium: most often in the orange/red family, these flowers will add a dash of pepper-flavor to your salads and a bright bold color contrast. The plants are easy to grow in containers (such as these FarmWLIG baskets) and in your landscape or garden. The seeds (after the flowers are gone) can also be pickled like capers, if you are a fan.

2) Viola: a huge variety of colors, these flowers offer a hint of wintergreen or mint. Their pretty little flower faces dress up any salad beautifully. They are easy to grow and will self-seed to come back year after year.

3) Borage: one of the bees absolute favorites! This entire plant smells of cucumbers; the flowers are either blue or white and the leaves are pale, fuzzy green. Plants can get quite large and make a wonderful landscape addition to feed the bees and scent the night air.

4) And of course, the herb flowers: you have been introduced to the chive flowers, but thyme, basil, dill, arugula all put up tiny flower petals that give a hint of flavor and a sprinkling of color to your salads. So when that herb plant “bolts”, don’t give up on it. Use it!

Produce Subscription Highlights

Anticipated this week for the CSA subscription boxes:

Radish
Salad turnips
Head lettuce
Spinach
Baby braising greens
Boc choi
Broccoli sampling
Oregano
Dill
Pea shoots

Start your meal planning now!

We hope to feed you soon!

Roger and Lara

**If you’d like to stop receiving emails, just jump into your account on the website (farmwlig.locallygrown.net, My Account) and scroll to bottom; check appropriate box.