Week 12: Hi folks 🙂 Ok the month of August flew by faster than July. Dang. Here we are the beginning of September. In the middle of a pandemic. Deep breathe. We can all do hard things. Whether figuring out how to school and take care of our children, Figuring out how to do fall and the upcoming holidays, figure out how to not miss friends and family that we haven’t see in months, figuring out all the things in this new reality. this is not just adulting – this is pandemic adulting and I think we all just need do the next right thing with extra kindness and grace and patience. We can do this together. We are not alone. We are not in the same boat but we are in the same storm. These things I remind myself daily. Today I had to make some calls to some state agencies for health care and missing documentation. The documentation I couldn’t produce because it doesn’t exist but needs to exist because state workers are working remotely. But the other state agency needed it and they knew the other agency couldn’t produce it. I shared a few chuckles with the economic services person on the phone – yes, this doesn’t make sense. Our systems don’t talk to each other. At this point I could have gotten really agitated – but I used my self advocating skills and worked every angle to try to get economic services the document they needed from department of labor. I used lots of grace, patience and kindness. I’m still waiting for one more email from DOL and the worker from economic services has called me twice now to check in – also using kindness, grace, and patience to fuel our work together to get everything in order. Kindness, Grace, and Patience go a long way as fuel for us as humans living in community during this storm.
New on the farm this week – Zoe (they/them) who hails from New Jersey and childhood friend of Norma is here for the rest of the season – til halloween. Zoe comes from another farm that most of their work was weeding and transplanting – so the last two days they have been here – have been all harvesting and farmers market and now CSA. We can not wait for you to meet Zoe. Claire has returned to Virginia and we are thankful for her help on the farm during this wild season.
Fall Carrots, Kale, Chard, potatoes, garlic, onions, leeks, winter squash, greens will all be making their appearances again this month and into October. We need to do a bit of weeding in the fall carrots if anyone wants to come and help. Oh and the ground cherries should be here anyday. We have another round of cukes, summer squash, and zucchini on their wayJ WOoot!
You may have noticed that the bags might be a little lighter these last couple of weeks – just in weight but not in value. These are higher value crops so it doesn’t take much to get up to the $10/$25/$40 worth per share. bags will be getting heavier again in the fall. We also don’t want to give you 5 lbs of this or that – we want to provide all the things that are available on the farm this week – that you might eat in a week’s time.
We are still looking for volunteers on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings from 9-12, Monday and thursday nights 4-630. also the farmers market on Saturday in Grand Isle is looking for volunteers for help with parking and welcoming.
One last thing – If you would like to order coffee starting next week to pick up with your share – on farm or delivery Thursday – we have partnered with Perky Planet in Burlington. Our crew has been drinking it the last few weeks and oh my word! It is so yummy. Christine Vaughan and her family are CSA members and deliver fresh, still warm coffee to us when they pick up their share on Mondays J Coffee and Veggies!
So here are the details: Perky Planet is a Vermont owned Coffee roaster with a mission of employing individuals with disabilities. We proudly deliver mountain grown, 100% arabica bean coffee, sustainably sourced and fresh small-batch roasted to extract delicious coffee in every cup. On any given week, you might receive:
Ethiopian- Yirgacheffe Natural Processed, hints of Dark Chocolate, Caramel, Berry, Roasted Almond, Rose
Brazil – Salmo Plus Natural Processed, hints of Milk Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Raisin, Graham Cracker
Colombia USDA Organic hints of Caramel, Cherry, Herb-like, Orange
Guatemala Culbuco, hints of Chocolate, Almond, Apple, Orange
Coffee can be ordered whole bean or ground (drip grind), available at $12/per pound. Please contact Christine at
cvaughn@gisu.org.
Ok, well we better go. See you all soon. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for being part of our farm. We look forward to farming with you this season.
Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie, Delia, Norma, and Zoe!
PS Sorry for any run on sentences, misspellings, or sentence fragments… I try to re-read these and catch them – it’s September;)
What’s in the share this week:
This list is what is in a full share this week. Things may change between Monday and Thursday and Individual and Salad share will get differing amounts and may not get everything on the list., cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, dill, peppers, tomatilloes, onions, spaghetti squash (we are trying out the smaller size this year), mesculan mix, green beansJ
RAW Jersey Milk for Sale: 1/2 gal jars available of Sandy and Skye’s Milk – cream is so creamy and they love all this spring grass. $5 a jar and if you don’t have a half gal jar to swap $3 deposit. Available at on farm pickup on Mondays and Thursdays.
RECIPES:
Chicken soup with tomatillos adapted from from Splendid Soups.
1 chicken cut into 8 pieces
1 lb tomatillos coarsely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 jalapeños seeded and chopped
3 c chicken broth
2 T chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
Brown the chicken in a pan 8-10 minutes a side. Adjust the fat and lightly saute the onions and garlic. Add broth, tomatillos, jalapenos and chicken to pan. When chicken is done (~15 minutes) remove to cool. Skim any fat (I use a stick blender) and puree what is in the pan. The recipe calls for straining it, but I prefer it more ‘peasant’ and don’t. Shred the chicken meat and return to the pan with the cilantro. Adjust salt/pepper (add cayenne if you need it) to taste and you have a great soup (I’ll sometimes add a little lime juice to taste as well). Serve with sour cream and/or shredded cheese.
Roasted Tomatillo Sauce with Greens
adapted from a recipe in the newest Joy of Cooking
this sauce would be great on grains, meats, as an enchilada sauce, or thinned with stock into a soup…
Roast in an oven that’s preheated to 400 degrees in a single layer on an oiled baking pan for 15-30 minutes, until nicely browned:
husked and rinsed tomatillos
halved tomatoes
1-3 spicy peppers such as anaheims, hungarians, or other, seeded
1-2 leeks, white parts only, or an onion or two, quartered
6-12 cloves of garlic
place the vegetables, including the juices, in a blender or food processor along with:
Several leaves of chard or spinach (optional)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 cup stock (vegetable or chicken) or more as needed
S & P to taste
Pulse until smooth, adding more stock of necessary to make a medium bodied sauce. Reheat gently in a small saucepan and serve immediately or store, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Preparing Tomatillos
Before using, peel off the husks and rinse to remove the sticky residue. Other than peeling off the husk, do not peel the green skin.
Tomatillos are traditionally used in three ways — raw, boiled/blanched, or roasted/grilled:
Raw – Uncooked tomatillos add a fresh, tangy citrus-like flavor and are often used raw in Mexican table sauces. Finely dice or puree them.
Blanching – Mellows the flavor. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the whole tomatillos (husks removed and rinsed) and boil for about 5 minutes, until soft. Drain and crush or puree as directed in a sauce recipe.
Fire roasting – Leaving slightly blackened skins on enriches a sauce with a smoky, woodsy flavor. Can roast under the broiler, with a propane torch, or over an open flame such as a grill or a gas burner. Make sure the heat is quite hot, otherwise the tomatillos will turn mushy before being charred.
Dry roasting – Produces an earthy, nutty flavor. Place the tomatillos in a heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron). Turn heat to low. Roast for about 20 to 30 minutes, turning occasionally, letting each side take on a rich, burnished golden color before turning.
Finally, tomatillos can be quite inconsistent in flavor, with some being intensely sour and others tasting mild and sweet. Some cooks use a pinch of sugar to balance the taste of very tart tomatillos. The recipes below are typical Mexican tomatillo recipes, but the lively flavors of this perky little fruit lend themselves well to rounds of experimentation, from stir-fries to soups to salad dressings. (from Kate’s Global Kitchen)
All about Tomatillos
from Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider
Basic use of tomatillos:
Tomatillo is traditionally cooked, but the raw fruit, chopped or diced and used in moderation, adds freshness to vegetable salad, guacamole, and sandwich fillings.
Storage: They should keep at least a week or three in the fridge.
Spaghetti Squash:
Mix cooked spaghetti squash with a little egg and flour. Add fresh minced ginger, white pepper and sliced green onions (but no salt). Fry like a potato pancake and serve with soy sauce. Yum!
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Cook Spaghetti Squash by cutting in half and cooking like a pumpkin or butternut squash in the oven until it can be easily pierced by a fork. Gently scoop out sqush ‘noodles’ and serve hot with red sauce or cooled like a noodle salad with your favorite dressing.
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Saute garlic and butter until the garlic is soft. Cut the squash in half and steam the squash until tender. Then separate from the shell by running a fork along the length of the squash to get spaghetti-like strands. Add to the pan and toss to coat with butter and garlic. Add fresh diced tomatoes and torn fresh basil, cook for a minute or two and add salt and pepper to taste.