Greetings Country Valley Farm Members,
This is week 10 of the season. For 20 week members this is the half way point and for 30 week members we are one third of the way into the season. We appreciate your membership and participation in our farm share community. Thank you for choosing to support our small organic family farm, it makes a big difference in our world.
A bit about what is going on the farm:
We harvested all of the garlic this week. It is our best garlic crop ever! Fresh garlic bulbs will be in the boxes this week.
We are working to finish the onion harvest now.
As soon as we finish the onion harvest, we will prepare the garlic and onion beds for direct seeding of fall crops. We will start with beans first, as time is of the essence for sowing those seeds and getting the plants moving so we can have a nice bean set before the cooler temps begin. After the beans are sowed, we will then plant root crops, fall brassicas like mustard greens, another succession of herbs like dill and cilantro etc.
The basil plants are loving the warm weather and sunshine, Genovese basil is in the shares this week and then we will rotate through other basil varietals in weeks to come (lemon basil, thai basil. Purple opal basil, tulsi/holy basil).
Fresh coriander seed is in the shares this week. Our second succession of cilantro didn’t germinate well and aren’t looking like they will produce much. We will do a large athird succession planting soon so we have it with fall tomatoes and peppers.
The mini sweet peppers are not changing colors yet – we decided not to include them in the shares this week to allow them a bit more time to sweeten up. They will be in the shares next week for sure. The red amaranth greens (callaloo) grew super-fast this week and was ready for cutting, so we have that in this week’s boxes.
Our tomatoes are looking fabulous and the plants are getting huge, sprawling, and setting lots of blossoms and fruit. But we haven’t seen any ripe tomatoes yet.
The potato plants are looking healthy and vibrant, we are waiting to harvest as there is no rush and the longer they grow should mean more yummy potatoes overall.
This week’s small shares contain the following items:
- Genovese basil – an extra big bunch from our farm
- Cilantro (Coriander) seed – 1 bag from our farm
- Red Amaranth greens (callaloo) – 1 bunch from our farm
- Fresh garlic bulbs– 3 large bulbs from our farm
- Pattypan summer squash – about 2 pounds from Cinzori Farm
- Baby cucumbers – about 2 pounds from Cinzori Farm
- Medium shares will receive extra baby cucumbers, extra cousa and zucchini squash, and extra garlic
- Large shares will packed as 2 small shares.
Some preparation and cooking tips:
- Genovese basil – this is the traditional basil. It goes great in pesto or tomato sauce, also nice in a salad. We made pesto pasta this evening – it is so easy to make and is so satisfying. There are tons of pesto recipes – we are including the recipe we followed below.
- Cilantro (coriander) seed – did you know that cilantro and coriander are the same plant and both names apply to the leaves and seeds? Oftentimes, the leaves are called cilantro and the seed is called coriander. Cooking with the fresh seed is a special and rate treat. It has a flavor much like the leaves but is even more pronounced and has a remarkable aroma. We made homemade ramen soup this week and added the fresh seeds when serving – it was delicious. You can also use the seeds in a curry dish or other soups. It also makes an amazing tea and tastes even better when sweetened and chilled. Coriander seed has natural deodorant properties and is very refreshing during this sweaty time of year
. - Red amaranth greens (Callaloo) – also another plant that goes by many names. The taste and texture are similar to beet greens, chards, or spinach. There is a callaloo recipe on our website that we have received very favorable feedback on, it is our old standby.
- Fresh garlic bulbs – garlic takes a few weeks to dry and then is cured and stored to be eaten throughout the year. This garlic was just harvested this week and the skins are still fresh and easy to peel. The flavor is a bit less strong when the garlic is fresh, but the garlic also has a nice juiciness to it that can only be found in really fresh garlic.
- Pattypan summer squash – our favorite among the summer squashes. Another vegetable that just isn’t available most of the year at the supermarket. You can use these anyway you would use green zucchini. The shape and color adds excitement to most any dish. They can be eaten raw, steamed, breaded and fried, oven roasted, grilled etc. A curry coconut sauce with the fresh coriander seed would go great with these and pairs well with rice and tofu/chicken etc.
- Baby cucumbers – while these may be famous for pickle making, they are exceptional on their own raw or chopped into a salad. This time of year we begin to make salads with no lettuce even, with cucumbers as the base. We will rotate these with full size slicer cucumbers each week for a good while to make the most of the time we have with fresh local cucumbers.
Today’s Pesto Recipe:
- 1 big bunch of basil
- 2 cups walnuts
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- 1-3 bulbs of garlic (depending how much garlic you usually like to eat raw)
- Just a touch of salt (we used Himalayan pink salt this time) and ground black pepper
Peel and wash the garlic. Wash the basil. Put all of the contents into a blender/food processor, include the liquid from the beans. Blend for about 30 seconds. If it is too thick, then add a bit of water a little at a time and blend for a few seconds more until it is mixed well. Let sit for about 30 minutes and blend again for 30 seconds. Serve immediately or pack into a good container and put in the refrigerator. Pesto will often get a dark color on top after just a short time in storage, this is just from oxidation and isn’t an issue. You can add more olive oil on top or a bit of lemon juice if you like to help minimize this color change. Either way, it should be good to eat for about 5-7 days if kept closed and in the refrigerator. We like to make too much and have it as snack dip or easy recipe starter for mid-week meals.
Check out our website and peruse old newsletters for additional cooking tips and recipe ideas: https://countryvalleyfarm.com/newsletter/
That’s all for now. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
Adam Mitchel
Country Valley Farm