Broccoli and Zucchini in Miso Glaze

1 Head Broccoli, cut into florets. Stem, peeled then sliced thin

½ White onion

1 zucchini, cut into thin half moons

2 Tbsp miso

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp honey

1 teaspoon sesame oil

½ tsp soy sauce

½ tsp rice vinegar

½ tsp ground black pepper

2 Tbsp canola or other frying oil

3 Tbsp water

Whisk miso, ginger, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and pepper in a small bowl. Place near the stove.

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add broccoli florets, stems and zucchini to the pan. Stir occasionally, until the veggies start to brown, about 2 minutes. Add onions and water then cover. Cook until the broccoli is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the miso mixture and toss to coat the broccoli.

Serve with rice.

Broccoli and Sweet Corn Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 head of Broccoli cut into small florets

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. Parsley Chopped

3 Cloves Garlic

2 ears of Corn, shucked and separated from cob

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper to Taste

Cut the broccoli into bite sized pieces and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, then add the garlic. Cook the garlic for about 1 minute or until soft.

Stir in the broccoli and cook for about 2 minutes, or until broccoli is bright green. Stir in the corn, parsley and chili powder. Continue cooking for 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, and then remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients.

After the broccoli and corn have cooled, toss with the vinaigrette and taste for seasoning. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired and serve.

Broccoli and Red Cabbage Stir Fry

½-1 head of Red Cabbage, Chopped

1 Head Broccoli, Chopped

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Teaspoon mustard seeds

1 Teaspoon turmeric Powder

2 Teaspoon Ground pepper 

4 Cloves Garlic

1 tsp Curry Powder

1/2 Onion chopped

To Taste salt

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and wait for it to crackle. Now add crushed garlic and chopped onions along with curry powder. When the onions become soft, add turmeric powder, salt and pepper.

Now add broccoli and keep the pan covered for 5 mins. When the broccoli is cooked, add cabbage and stir fry it. Try to avoid over cooking the cabbage.

Serve hot with rice.

Broccoli and Kohlrabi Slaw with Sesame

Kohlrabi is one of my favorite vegetables to work with. It has a great crispness to it and provides good crunch with a sweet broccoli-like flavor.

1 Kohlrabi - peeled and grated using a box grater or grater attachment on a food processor

½ cup broccoli florets (optional) - rough chopped small

1 Broccoli Stem- peeled and grated

Prize Choi sliced thin across the ridges

½ Cup plus 1Tbsp Rice wine vinegar

¼ cup Sesame Oil

¼ cup sugar

2 tsp Tamari or Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame seeds

Combine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and tamari (Soy sauce) into a bowl and whisk thoroughly until sugar is dissolved.

Once dressing is made add all the sliced and grated vegetable items into a bowl and slowly fold in the dressing until the ingredients are coated. Make sure you don’t add too much dressing you don’t want the vegetables swimming in the excess dressing. Extra dressing can be used for salad! 

Top with toasted sesame seeds.

Braised Turnip Greens and Delicata Squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ small shallot, chopped

Kosher salt

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 tablespoon grated ginger

Freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch Turnip Greens, cleaned and chopped into bite size pieces (the skin is edible on these)

1 Delicata Squash, seeds removed and largely diced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Fresh lemon juice or hot sauce, optional

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the shallots are soft, about 3 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, ginger and a few grinds of pepper; stir until combined.

Add the collard greens, 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the collards wilt, about 5 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until the collards are tender, about 5-8 minutes. Add the squash, cover and cook until tender, about 7 minutes.

Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Add the butter and toss to coat. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Braised Greens with Turnips, Kohlrabi, and Bacon

1 bunch of Chard or other quick cooking green, rough chopped

1 kohlrabi peeled and then medium diced

Turnips cut into half and then sliced into half moons

Turnip greens, Rough chopped

½lb bacon, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Tapatio hot sauce (aka agua de vida)

Place diced bacon into pan and turn to medium heat. Slowly cook until bacon is starting to crisp then pull out and set aside. Add the diced kohlrabi to the pan and cook until it starts to brown a bit. Then add the sliced turnips. Continue cooking for about 3 minutes then add the turnip greens and swiss chard and cover. Cook until the greens are wilted and the moisture from the pan is almost evaporated then turn the heat off, Season with salt and pepper to taste then fold in the cooked bacon and serve. 

This dish will be best if you hit it with a couple of dashes of hot sauce. Ideally you want something that is more acidic than hot which is why we recommend Tapatio (optional).

Bok Choy and Daikon Stir-fry

1 medium head bok choy

1 daikon radish, cut into bite sized slices

1 medium onion sliced thin

2 tsp cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (1 Tbs.)

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice

2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp tamari (soy sauce)

1 tsp honey

Whisk together orange juice, rice vinegar, cornstarch, soy sauce, and honey in small bowl; set aside.

Cut greens from bok choy and keep separate from stems. Cut stems into ½-inch slices.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add radishes and cook, without stirring, 3 minutes. Add bok choy stems and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sliced onion, and sauté 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger, and sauté 1 minute. Add bok choy greens and salt, and sauté 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir orange juice sauce again to ensure it remains thoroughly mixed. Add sauce to pan and stir well to coat.

Black Bean and Tomato Salsa

2 ears of sweet corn kernels removed from cob

15oz can black beans drained then rinsed

4-5 tomatoes small diced

½ bunch cilantro chopped

½ onion small diced

1 sweet pepper small diced

1 tbsp. garlic minced

Juice from one lime

1 avocado diced

1 tbsp. olive oil, or to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Stir together sweet corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, and pepper.

Once mixed gently fold in lime juice avocado, cilantro, and olive oil.

Salt and pepper to taste

Beets, Beans, and Greens

1 bunch of collard greens (3 leaves), stems removed and chopped

1 bunch beets, washed well and tops removed and chopped (and wrap in foil) 

1 entire bulb of garlic, minced

1-2 cups cooked white beans 

olive oil

sea salt to taste

black pepper to taste

Wrap the beets in foil, place them on a cookie sheet and put them into a preheated 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour or so (or until they are tender).  If you are in a hurry, you can boil the beets until fork tender and then run cold water until able to handle and peel skin.

In the meantime, coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and gently heat.  Over a low heat, toss in minced garlic and stir.  Next, add in chopped collard greens and beet greens and sauté until tender.  Once the beets are cooked, remove from oven and let cool for about 30 minutes or so. Open the beets and remove the skin with your fingers (it should come off easily).  Cut the roasted beets into bite sized chunks and add to the collard green sauté mixture and stir.  Lastly, add cooked beans and warm sauté mixture and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Asian-Style Grilled Cucumber and Scallion Salad

1-2 Cucumbers

½ bunch Scallions

3 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp. pickled Ginger sliced very thin

1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil

1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds

½ tsp Sugar

1/4tsp dried Chili Flakes

1 Tbsp. Canola Oil

Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Cut Cucumbers in half lengthwise and toss with scallions in canola oil. Add a pinch of salt and grill over medium-high heat until you start to see some charring to occur. Then pull from the grill and slice thin crosswise. 

Mix 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly then toss in sliced cucumber and scallions, 2 tablespoons sliced pickled ginger, ¼ tsp Chili flakes and 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Mix well and serve. You may want to chop up some of the crispy head lettuce to bulk up the salad and add a little more crunch.

Asian Style Cabbage Salad

⅓ cup white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

¼ teaspoon salt

1 head Bok Choy or Cabbage, thinly sliced

2-3 carrots peeled and grated

4 scallions, thinly sliced

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

Bring white wine vinegar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until reduced to 2 tablespoons, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool completely, about 10 minutes. Whisk in sesame oil, vegetable oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and salt.

Add choy/cabbage and carrots to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat. Let stand 5 minutes. Add sesame seeds and scallions.

Asian Greens Mix and Green Garlic Stir Fry

1 bunch Komatsuna or Kale

1 Bunch Radishes with tops, cut into wedges and rough chop the greens

1 stalk Green Garlic, sliced into thin strips

¼ cup tamari (soy sauce)

1 tbsp. canola oil

2 tbsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. corn starch (optional)

1 tbsp. minced ginger

Serve with rice

Mix sesame oil, tamari (soy sauce) ginger, half of the green garlic and corn starch together with and whisk until corn starch starts to dissolve (don’t worry if it clumps when you add it to the heat it will begin to separate)

Heat wok or sauté pan to medium high heat. Add the remaining green garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic take care not to burn the garlic (it can get a little bitter) 

Add the radish wedges and cook for one minute then add the greens. Sauté until greens begin to wilt.

Push the greens and other veggies to the side of the pan and add the tamari mixture. Wisk to make sure the corn starch is completely dissolved. Once the sauce is uniform and starts to thicken, turn the heat off and then toss the greens and veggies with the sauce that you’ve just made.

Adirondack Red Potato Hash with Bok Choy

1-pound Adirondack Red potatoes cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, divided

½ red onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 bok choy, rinsed, dried, trimmed, and roughly chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 eggs

Fill a pot with just enough water to cover the potatoes and boil until just fork tender then strain and run cold water over the potatoes until the heat is removed. Set aside on a paper towel

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch cast iron or non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add potatoes and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, until well browned on about half of all surfaces, about 4 minutes.

Add sliced onion and bok choy. Continue to cook, tossing and stirring occasionally, until vegetables are all well browned and charred in spots, about 4 minutes longer. Add red pepper flakes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer hash to a warm serving platter and keep warm

Wipe out skillet and add remaining teaspoon oil. Heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add eggs and cook until desired level of doneness is reached. Season with salt and pepper. Place eggs on top of hash and serve immediately with hot sauce, Sambal Oelek, or hot pepper relish. If you like spicy.

Adirondack Red Potato and Kale Curry

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium Red onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

2-inch fresh ginger root, minced

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper

¼ tsp ground black pepper

4-6 paste tomatoes

1 Can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1# Red Prairie potatoes, chopped into 1½-inch chunks

1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped into small pieces

1 can coconut milk

Salt, to taste

In a small bowl, combine the spices (minus the salt) and set aside. In a blender, puree the whole tomatoes and set aside. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add onions with a small pinch of salt. Stir occasionally until onions are browned, 5-6 minutes.

Arugula Pesto

½ lb Arugula (Chopped) (most recipes call for you to remove the stem, but the stem tastes good too and your just blending it, so I say keep the stems, it will give you more finished product.)

½ cup raw unsalted cashews (The cashew bits are cheaper at the store than whole cashews so look for those, because you are blending it up anyway)

½ cup parmesan cheese (grated)

½ cup Olive Oil

1 Green Garlic stalk (Chopped)

1/2tsp salt 

Roast the cashews over medium heat until you can start to see the oils in the nut starting to come to its surface. Remove from pan and set in fridge to cool. Be careful not to burn the cashews because it will become bitter.

Add all of the ingredients except for the Olive Oil to a Cuisinart with the chopper attachment.

Start to blend and slowly add the Olive Oil. Take your time with this because you want to make sure the finished texture is right. It is a lot easier to add more oil to get the right consistency then it is to take the oil back. Once the oil is added, taste it. Your pesto may need more salt depending on your taste buds. Add more oil if necessary, but make sure the texture is that of a paste, not runny because I am pretty sure pesto is Italian for paste.

Once your pesto is complete, add it to pasta dishes or toss it with roasted potatoes. Or, If you got the cheese share, you can make a quesadilla with Arugula Pesto and Organic Goat Bucheron!! How delicious is that?!

Seed Sourcing in '21

Seeds! Oh, my goodness. We’ve spent a lot more time – months thinking about this year’s seeds! This year, farms of all types are dealing with a different type of supply problem: Seeds. Specifically, vegetable and flower seeds are at an all-time, never seen before demand.

Many of you know how much time we normally spend pouring over seed catalogues referencing notes from the season and talking to other farmers about varieties that have performed well for them. Our goal is always to start the season with the best varieties of vegetables so that they can handle the variables of the growing season.

For example, the red onion called “Monestrell” doesn’t look very different from another red onion called “Cabernet.” But, we found previously that Cabernet doesn’t store well for us, but the Monestrell is a work horse, size, storage, and taste are terrific. Varieties matter, even if it’s not easily perceptible when you’re eating them.

Well this year, the pandemic continued to throw a curve ball. Interest in growing your own food has peaked at levels most seed companies didn’t or couldn’t prepare for. The seed companies that we’ve been working with for years are being over whelmed. Covid-19 precautions make shipping more complicated and slower, all while receiving huge volume of orders. We suddenly found ourselves not just having to make financial decisions about when we could afford to buy, but also competing with home gardeners for seed stock.

 So, we continue to have to pivot and adjust. Smaller seed companies that we’ve worked with in the past have become primary suppliers because they were able to supply what we needed. Seed varieties that we had been planning on doing small trials of, are now being grown as the main type because of shortages in other types. It’s both stressful and exciting – we’re still waiting on back ordered lettuces and melons to arrive, but I’m excited to see the fruits of new bell peppers.

New & returning members, we appreciate your support – navigating this early spring seed drama has been made easier knowing we have your backing!

Looking towards 2021

Hoping that the winter is finding you all healthy and in good spirits. Wanted to update you all on what's been going on at the farm and goals for the season ahead. I know this hasn't been an easy year, the stresses of a pandemic are great and everyone has had to deal with different decisions about safety and livelihood. We are trying as much as possible to take all the silver-linings of 2020 and wrestle them into a determined goal for 2021.

Steven and I have been working on the prep for construction for the new hoop house. The ground posts will be hammered into the ground, and weather willing this winter we'll work on the hoops so that in the early spring we can get the plastic on it. We have the parts for two more, and depending on how quickly the first goes up we'll just keep the construction ball rolling. Infrastructure on this farm will continue to be a big focus for us. This farm was very much a blank slate when we bought it, so we've had to very quickly build what we need. I keep mentioning the hoop houses because for you, the folks we grow for, they are also a big deal. They are a way for us to stabilize and control the growing environment for the vegetables you eat. So we can experience less boom / bust when the weather throws crazy at us.

So it is safe to say we're in the midst of a mixture of analyzing spreadsheets, playing with power tools and building block towers for our nearly 11 month old to knock over.

Looking at 2021 - memberships are live on the website! We're excited to get the ball rolling for the new year. We also added a Gift Card so you can give the gift of a CSA share. That can also be found in the CSA sign up store.

We also added a new pick up site option, Hop Haus Brewing opened a new location in Fitchburg that is a great space, easy parking. With the changes this year brought we have two locations that we have to sort out first (Manna Cafe & Dodgeville). The list of locations is below. The sign up deadline is April 22nd, though this is a fairly artificial deadline as we usually sell our before that.

August 2020

Migration

One of the joys of living in the Midwest, is the bird watching. Being located where we are we have a variety of rivers, creeks, ponds and marches near by that attract more than just the classic bird feeder birds like chickadees or goldfinches. Most notably, the Sandhill Cranes make their presence known spring through late fall. They are loud, and big and so much fun to watch fly over the farm. While not all birds thrive in the midst of agricultural fields, our local cranes seem to have adapted and just down the road we can see them start to flock together and take advantage of the left behind chaff from big harvests. It’s certainly a perk of the job being outside to witness the migrations and seasonal changes through the lens of a bird watcher.  One of these years I’ll have a camera that can capture these moments! :)

September Thoughts

Greetings Folks,

Mid September into early October is really a favorite time for us on the farm. The oppressive heat and humidity of the summer is largely past. It feels like we can finally take a breath. All summer we have our single minded eye on getting through without heat stroke and taking care of the fields. We can't really spare mental energy for much outside of our farm bubble. September is the slow progression into fall clean up, and projects that didn't make the cut during the frantic hustle of the summer. Its also great eating time, fall greens, smattering of summer tomatoes, the beginning of roots & winter squash. 

It's also been really hard to watch the fires happening in California, Oregon, and Colorado. Seeing what farmers are dealing with when making decisions about evacuation is heart wrenching. Much of what we do is weather dependent, and we all try to make plans as we farm that will mitigate bad weather. But you can't plan your way out of with fire. I mention all this because it weighs heavily on our minds. We're building our family and farm business in the midst of all of this. It feels like weather and natural disasters are moving at a pace that we can't out maneuver forever. Farmers in New York had their earliest frost in years this week, others in WI have dealt with devastating hail, and lets not forget the incredible inland hurricane (derecho) that flattened parts of Iowa. Its a lot to take in. But its also that time of year when we have the mental space to try to figure out what it all means for our farm. What can we do at our scale, to keep moving forward. Much to ponder this winter.

Cheers,
Elisabeth & Steven

End of June

Greetings Folks,

Last delivery for June this Thursday, we hope you have been enjoying the early summer greens. While some of the greens like lettuce keep going for a while longer before it gets too hot, July its the big transition month where we see summery veggies start to show up. So when in doubt make a salad or toss in some greens to your mac & cheese all of sudden greens season will be over. This winter we spent a lot of time reviewing different varieties of vegetables. Part of farming smarter means growing vegetables that are vigorous, taste good, and grow well on our farm. Just because we liked to grow a vegetable doesn't always mean it likes us.  Because while a radish is a radish no matter how you slice it, how it grows on our farm and tastes affects how you enjoy it. It might look like any regular red radish you get in the spring, but we spent a lot of time trying to find varieties that are reliable. This week we harvested a new to us broccoli variety that we're excited about. Early broccoli can be hit or miss and this variety, "Covina" is definitely a hit. We're excited to see that there is a broader interest from seed suppliers and breeders to fine tune vegetable varieties specifically for diversified vegetable farmers. What we do is so specialized, it requires special attention from seed to harvest.

Happy Eating!

Elisabeth & Steven