Ohmygato Farm Newsletter (#4)
Hello Everyone!
Happy fourth of July week! We hope that you are having a fabulous week. I’m posting this early because I’m leaving tomorrow for North Carolina and won’t be here for this weeks harvest. Anthony will be on his own or maybe not. We have a couple of volunteers who may help pack the boxes on Thursday afternoon. If any of you are interested in lending a hand, please contact us by tomorrow night to let us know if you can get here by 1pm.
Another week is rolling by and we’re on our fourth delivery of our CSA season. It’s all going so fast. Speaking of things going quickly, the other day Anthony and I planted more arugula and salad greens and they sprouted in just two days! The soil is just the right temp to help the little seedlings do their busy work. Now it’s our job to make sure those beds stay wet this week as the temperatures rise into the 90’s. Ohmygato! It’s going to be a hot week for sure.
On another note, I would like to post a huge THANK YOU to Dale Stutzman who lovingly made our boxes for this season’s harvest. You all must know that he harvested the wood from his property, milled the wood himself and hand built each box. This is AMAZING! We really appreciate you Dale and can’t say enough about what you did for the dynamics of our farm and CSA by building these boxes for us. Not to mention how much time it saves us.. Last year Anthony and I were scavenging tomato boxes from Subway each week, trying to make it on time before the boxes got recycled! Also, the new boxes definitely have a much better aesthetic.
These little beauties are truly local treasures. I would like to remind everyone who reads this that we can and should support the folks in our community who put everything they have, literally, into what they do. Order something from a local maker! It’s like supporting your favorite public broadcasting station.
If any of you are interested or know anyone who may be interested in having some boxes built please contact us and we’ll get you in touch with Dale. The boxes can be used for putting together a care package or for holding yarn or magazines. They can be used outdoors for carrying or holding garden tools, harvesting and for display purposes. The boxes can also be painted/finished and repurposed many times over.
I don’t know about you, but I love things that are handmade. The evidence and markers of the human hand, the flaws and irregularities are exactly what I think is beautiful about hand made objects.
That said, the following is a quote that I found from one of my favorite writers, Jeanette Winterson from her book Art Objects:
“Naked I came into the world, but brush strokes cover me, language raises me, music rhythms me. Art is my rod and staff, my resting place and shield, and not mine only, for art leaves nobody out. Even those from whom art has been stolen away by tyranny, by poverty, begin to make it again. If the arts did not exist, at every moment, someone would begin to create them, in song, out of dust and mud, and although the artifacts might be destroyed, the energy that creates them is not destroyed. If in the comfortable West, we have chosen to treat such energies with scepticism and contempt, then so much the worse for us. Art is not a little bit of evolution that late-twentieth-century city dwellers can safely do without. Strictly, art does not belong to our evolutionary pattern at all. It has no biological necessity. Time taken up with it was time lost to hunting, gathering, mating, exploring, building, surviving, thriving. Odd then, that when routine physical threats to ourselves and our kind are no longer a reality, we say we have no time for art. If we say that art, all art is no longer relevant to our lives, then we might at least risk the question ‘What has happened to our lives?’ The usual quesion, ‘What has happened to art?’ is too easy an escape route.
I did not escape. At an Amsterdam gallery I sat down and wept. When I sold a book I bought a Massimo Rao. Since that day I have been filling my walls with new light.”
Things that are coming up: squash, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, beans and hopefully corn. We’re seeing lots of progress despite the cool weather up to now, so no promises yet until we see red, purple, green and yellow. All we see is green at the moment.
today’s harvest: (I’m writing this on Tuesday, so please make note that this list is subject to change. The list may be added to as the week goes on.)
mixed salad greens
arugula
cauliflower or brocolli
radishes
rainbow chard
kale
cilantro
italian parsley
some recipes for you…
seared broccoli rabe with garlic
grelos salteados
The New Portuguese table by David Leite
serves 6-8
1/4 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, cut lengthwise in half
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 lbs broccoli rabe
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. fit a large pot with a steamer insert and fill with half inch of water. bring to a boil over high heat.
2. meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium low heat until it shimmers. add the garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, and let sizzle, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 3-5 minutes.
3. as soon as the water boils, drop the broccoli rabe into the steamer, cover tightly, and steam for 2 minutes. using tongs, transfer the broccoli rabe to a tea towel and roll it up to absorb excess moisture.
4. add the broccoli rabe to the skillet and cook, turning frequently with the tongs, until just tender, 3-5 minutes. season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Indian Cauliflower
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Submitted By: Hetal
Photo By: Priscilla
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1 large head cauliflower
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 small onion, minced
2 tomatoes, pureed
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1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 teaspoons garam masala (optional)
salt to taste
1/2 head lettuce
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| 1. | Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cut off most of the cauliflower’s stem and place the whole head in a baking dish. |
| 2. | Heat two tablespoons of oil and turmeric together in a small frying pan. Brush the cauliflower head with the oil and turmeric mixture. |
| 3. | Bake the cauliflower for 30 minutes. |
| 4. | While the cauliflower is cooking heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, mix in the minced onions and saute until the are a medium brown color. Add the pureed tomatoes, garlic powder, garam masala and salt. Let this mixture simmer for 10 minutes. |
| 5. | Arrange lettuce leaves on a serving plate. Place the cauliflower on top of the lettuce. Pour the tomato curry over the cauliflower. Serve hot. |
| ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com |
“An easy Italian-style preparation of kale. The simple additions of balsamic vinegar and minced garlic show off kale’s natural sweetness and rich texture.”
Ingredients:
Directions:
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