REMINDER: There will be NO CSA pickup or delivery the week of September 21. Week 15 will be the week of September 28. The 18th & final pickup will be on October 19. If you need veggies that week, please let us know and we will stash a bag for you in the farmstand or you can pick some veggies up from us at the Saturday Grand Isle Farmers Market. We don’t want folks to go hungry
Week 14: Hi folks 🙂 The mornings are getting chillier and the nights are getting longer. July seems like months away now. Honestly mid June to Mid august was a whirlwind blur. I like the weather of September – the plants are not stressed, the soil is still warm and they take their time to grow to develop a root system that will support themselves until frost comes. The sheep and cows are less stressed with this sweeter grass that is finally growing back. The wool and ewes are looking great. Fingers crossed that Skye, one of our cows is pregnant – she is Ocean’s mother who we had last fall and Sandy our other milking cow’s daughter. The ram will be coming back in late October for a visit with the sheep. All of our wool festivals – 5 of them have been cancelled and some are trying a virtual show so I am slowly getting ready for that the beginning of October. I think I will be throwing a bunch of tomatoes in the freezer so I can can them when we get back at the end of the month. I need to work on preserving some of this crop for the winter months through freezing, drying, and canning.
In the peak of July, we are picking squash and zukes every other day. This time of year it takes 4-5 days for zukes to come to maturity instead of 1 day. The grass is growing back finally after these little bits of rain – which we are thankful for for our sheep and cows who are actively grazing around our veggie fields. Our second crop of these are doing well and we are looking forward to having cucumbers in another week or two. We harvested the first of the fall potatoes today – red potatoes – “Sangre” from Maine Potato Lady. Red skin, White flesh – yummy for boiling, roasting, mashing, yumminess. We still have Kennebec and a golden potato variety too and I think one more but the name is escaping me. Also new this week are baby leeks that we have bunched and you may need to clean them a little more. The whole thing is edible. The leek is in the Alliums family like onions. You can eat the whole stalk and the thin leaves you can chop up and stir fry or freeze and throw into a soup stock. I like to grill these and sautee them.
The heirloom tomatoes are still going strong and the cherry tomatoes maybe on their way out. The hot peppers are starting to ripen and we are starting to get more eggplant and sweet peppers. The green basil maybe down for the year due to powdery mildew. Zinnias are still going strong. Arugula, lettuce, spinach, baby kale and baby chard is up and growing. Broccoli is covered and growing. All the onions and winter squash are being harvested and cured.
Threaded through all the harvesting, weeding, preserving, moving fence – we are working on a few grants for the farm. My farmer friend Amanda said – what’s the worse that they can say – No. So here goes. We applied for the Vt Farmer of the month grant, we will be applying hopefully if I can squeeze out some hours of the day – the Eric Rozendahl VLT grant that’s due gulp Friday and the Vt Dept of Agriculture Working Lands Grant for Covid relief. No idea if we will get any but you can’t get anything if you don’t apply. In my previous life – say 20- 25 years ago I had to write grants for various non profits and the health dept I worked for and I did pretty well. We did receive a Covid utilization grant from the Vermont Land Trust (so thankful) and small grant from American Farmland trust (to help with cash flow and bill paying this late winter) – all for pivoting and working through this pandemic and growing more food. I just need that quiet time to write – the girls had socially distant homeschool history class at the Vermont Historical Museum in Montpelier last Wednesday. Oh. My. Word. From 1:20 pm to 3:00pm my laptop and I in the quietest corner of the musuem by the window – cranked out a grant application. I have not had that kind of quiet un iunterrupted since February when the girls would ski and take lessons and I would be hot chocolate mom – cranking out all the paperwork with my ear bids in and a laptop or my phone. I am thankful for that time I had. Now to find a little more of that quiet time in the next two days… Did I mention it was smack dab in the middle of the day?! Heaven. Pure Heaven.
Adam, the girls and I leave for Maine on Wednesday and Norma and Zoe will be in charge of the farm while we are gone. They will make the deliveries on Thursday and do market on Wednesday and Saturday. If you have any questions or need to change anything for CSA – please text or call Zoe 973-665-4938. If you would like to volunteer during this time, please get in touch with Zoe. I will not have the greatest internet or phone connection at our camp ground. Sadie and Delia are down to counting down the hours until we leave hopefully Wednesday morning. I have never seen them look forward to something so much! It takes a village to have farmers go away on vacation and we are forever thankful for this village especially during this crazy 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.
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!
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 or parsley, eggplant/peppers or tomatilloes, onions, kale, zuchinni, summer squash, Baby Leeks, New Red PotatoesJ
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.
Coffee and Veggies!
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 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.
RECIPES:
Fresh leek storage: They can spread their special fresh oniony smell around, so keep in plastic bag in the fridge. Don’t trim or wash before storing, it makes them break down faster. BUT if space is at a premium, you can chop off the dark green stem part before storing them, I often do this to save space in the fridge!
Pat’s Baby Leeks
Lightly braise them in a skillet in a little water. Then, while they are hot, I put them on a platter, dress them in a good vinaigrette and crumble some feta or goat cheese on top with cracked pepper.
Leek Frittata
Adapted from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
4 medium to large leeks, well rinsed, dried, sliced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
6 eggs
1/3 cup crème fraiche or yogurt or Mexican ‘crema’ or milk
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon rind
Pinch dried oregano
½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
S & P to taste
1 cup grated Monterey Jack or other nicely melting cheese
In a cast iron or other oven-proof skillet, sauté the leeks in 1 T of each butter and olive oil until soft and beginning to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon. Beat eggs with cream (or milk) and seasonings. Stir in the leeks. Melt the remaining butter with the remaining olive oil in the pan and pour in the egg mixture. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes until underside is golden. Sprinkle cheese on top and place under the broiler for a few minutes until the frittata puffs and browns. Cut into wedges and serve.
Leek and Sorrel Pancakes with Smoked Salmon
adapted from Big Oven.com
1/4 c Unsalted butter; (1/2 stick)
Salt; optional
4 c Chopped leeks; (cleaned and chopped)
Vegetable oil
2 c Sorrel or spinach; washed
4 oz Smoked salmon; (4 to 8)
2 Eggs
Sour cream; for garnish
1/4 c All-purpose flour
Chopped chives; for garnish
Heat saute pan over medium-high heat. Add butter when pan is hot. After butter melts, add leeks and saute until tender but not brown. Add sorrel; cook briefly to wilt sorrel. Remove from heat; let cool. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Add flour; whisk until smooth. Add cooled leek mixture. Heat griddle over medium-high heat. Film with oil. When oil is hot, drop about 2 tablespoons batter for each pancake on griddle. Cook until brown. Turn and continue to cook until brown on other side. Remove from griddle and top with salmon, sour cream and chives. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 to 10 appetizer servings.
Aromatic Leek and Potato Soup
from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw
4 large boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 large leeks, cut in half, cleaned, and sliced into long, thin strips
4 cups (1 quart) water
1 cup buttermilk, or 1 cup low fat or nonfat plain yogurt, whisked until light and thin
Garnish:
S & P to taste
1 cup minced fresh herbs: parsley, chives, cilantro, chervil, dill, or a mixture
In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, leeks, and water. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, cover, and turn the heat down to med-low. Simmer until the potatoes are tender enough to cut with a spoon, and the leeks are equally soft. This should take about 40 minutes. In a blender or food processor (or an immersion blender!), puree the vegetables in the cooking water, doing this in batches if necessary, then return to the saucepan if you’re not using an immersion blender. Add the buttermilk or yogurt, and heat the soup slowly over low heat, uncovered, until just warmed through. Season with S & P, and serve warm, sprinkled with the fresh herbs. Or, chill the soup, covered, and serve it cold. Serves 4.
Lemony Risotto
adapted from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw serves 4-6
1 lemon (or 2 small)
3 cups broth: vegetable or chicken
1 large leek, white & green part, cleaned and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 T butter, unsalted
2 shallots, minced (or one small onion)
1 T chopped parsley
1 cup arborio rice
2 T white wine
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Halve and juice the lemon and remove the zest with a vegetable peeler. Leave half the zest in strips and mince the rest. Set aside the juice and the minced zest.
Place the strips of zest in a saucepan with the broth, leek, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, then cover and simmer gently over low heat for 30 minutes.
Stain the broth through a sieve, discard the leek and bay leaf, and pour it back into the saucepan. Cover and bring it back to a gentle simmer over low heat.
Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan melt the butter. Saute the shallots, parsley, and minced lemon zest over med-low heat until the shallots are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir until it’s just about evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine and lemon juice, turn up the heat, and stir until it’s just about evaporated, about 2 minutes. Lower the heat.
Using a ladle, add about 1 C hot broth. Stir constantly over med heat until the broth has been absorbed. Add another ladleful of broth and keep stirring until it’s been absorbed.
Continue the process, adding broth a half cupful at a time and stirring in this way, until the kernels are plump and no longer chalk white in the center. This should take 25 to 30 minutes altogether. The rice is almost done when the kernels are still separate but starting to bind and there are pools of broth on the surface. It’s done when the liquid has been absorbed, and the kernels are bound in what looks like very ricey, yet somewhat creamy, rice pudding.
When the risotto is nearly done, stir in 2 T more broth, along with the Parmesan cheese, and stir well until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 3-4 minutes.