First Week for Summer Vegetables and Fruit!

This Week's Vegetable Harvest:

• Broccoli
• Zucchini/Summer Squash
• Radishes
• Cilantro
• Head Lettuce
• Swiss Chard
• Green Onions
• Beets

This Week's Fruit Harvest:

• Red Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Red Currants or Extra Red Raspberries*

*The red currant crop is smaller than normal this year, so those members who don't receive currants this week will receive extra red raspberries.

The recent heat brought on a bumper crop of raspberries!

Pickup Site Reminders

• Plastic Boxes: Each vegetable share will be packed in a white plastic box. Boxes are not labeled with individual names. Please bring a couple of bags or a box with you to your pickup site each week. You'll need to take a moment to transfer your vegetables into your own bags/box before leaving the pickup site. Plastic boxes, once emptied, can then be stacked neatly at the pickup site. Please do not take the plastic boxes home with you.
• Cardboard Boxes: There will be a separate cardboard box of mixed fruit for each member who has signed up for a fruit share. Cardboard boxes may be taken home and returned to the pickup site the following week.
• Egg Cartons: Please recycle egg cartons at home as state regulations do not allow us to reuse them.

Early Summer Farm Update

Our crops continue to look very, very good this season despite the dry conditions. We've been on a tight irrigation schedule that will continue until it rains. The continuous rotation requires us to move the irrigation pipes to a different vegetable field every four hours. We have so many fields to keep watered that we are even watering at night. I can't tell you how much I love setting the alarm for 1 a.m. so I can go out with a flashlight and spend 20 minutes getting soaking wet in my pajamas. Ok, so maybe I'm being just a tiny bit sarcastic. Despite what you might think, it's really not as fun as it sounds!
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This morning Matt went up to our Wisconsin farm where the potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and half of our tomatoes are growing. This afternoon he called me to report that everything looks great. We decided to move these particular crops to the Wisconsin farm because the soil there is much sandier than the soil at the Grayslake farm. These crops really seem to prefer a lighter soil, and we're anticipating large harvests this year. Meanwhile, Jeff Miller, our farm manager at the Grayslake farm, is keeping things in tip-top shape south of the border. This week's highlights include a huge broccoli harvest and an extra-early zucchini harvest. I'm looking forward to getting all of you out to both farms to see for yourselves how beautiful your vegetables look in the fields. Stay tuned for details regarding upcoming farm events. I should have some dates finalized by next week.    -Peg

This week's share contains a small amount of zucchini, but from the looks of things there will be lots more to come!

Notes from the Farm Kitchen

Red currants are members of the gooseberry family and are native to Western Europe. They are most often associated with the making of currant jelly, but they are excellent prepared in other ways as well. I find the sweet-sour taste of raw currants unique and refreshing on their own, but I also like to use them in desserts, savory dishes and salads. I particularly like them in Matt's world-famous clafoutis recipe because the sweet, eggy richness of the clafoutis provides the perfect complement to the tartness of the currants. All of your fruit this week, including the currants, should be stored in the refrigerator.

Swiss Chard is flavorful yet mild, and can be substituted for spinach in many dishes including quiches, omelets, lasagna, pasta sauce, etc. I like to use braised chard as a pizza topping and as a filling for vegetarian pita pockets. Chard is high in vitamins A, E and C and the minerals calcium and iron. You can use the entire leaf as well as the tender stem.

Please note: Many of your vegetables will need to be refrigerated in a plastic bag. Some items (such as leaf lettuce and spinach) will be bagged by us at the farm. You will need to supply plastic bags for other items such as chard and head lettuce. Keeping these items in plastic helps prevent wilting. If you’ve got lettuce or some other tender vegetable that appears droopy, soak it in cold water for a few minutes, shake off the excess water, and refrigerate in a plastic bag until it perks up. On another note, we rinse all the vegetables here at the farm, but you should always wash them thoroughly prior to eating.

This Week's Featured Recipes
Roasted Beets with Cumin and Cilantro
adapted from Quiches, Kugels and Couscous by Joan Nathan

4-5 medium red beets

2 cups beet greens, sliced into ribbons 

2 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lemon

juice of 1/2 an orange

1 1/2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

dash freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with foil.
2. Clean the beets, cut them in half, and place face-down on the baking sheet. Roast beets until almost tender when pricked with a fork. Cool, peel, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
3. Meanwhile, put a small amount of water in a pan and wilt the beet greens over medium heat. Set aside.
4. To make the vinaigrette, puree one of the cooked beets with the lemon and orange juice, balsamic vinegar, the garlic, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil. This can be done a day in advance.
5. Before serving, toss the beets with the greens and then with vinaigrette. Adjust seasonings to taste and garnish with cilantro. 

Bruschetta with Braised Greens

adapted from Recipes from America's Small Farms by Joanne Lamb Hayes and Lori Stein

8 tablespoons olive oil

8 garlic cloves
1 lb mixed greens (a combination of spinach, beet greens, chard, etc), coarsely chopped
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1 loaf French or Italian bread, cut into 12 1/4-inch slices
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

 

1. Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Finely chop 2 of the garlic cloves and saute until they begin to color. Add the chopped greens and saute until they begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. (You may have to add the leaves in two batches if your skillet is not large enough, but the leaves will quickly decrease in volume.)
3. Add the stock and bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. If you're using wine, add it during the last 5 minutes of the cooking time and keep stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed or evaporated. Add the red pepper flakes and salt to taste.
4. Meanwhile, toast the bread on both sides, brush with the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil. While the bread is toasting, cut the remaining 6 garlic cloves in half, then rub each slice with a half clove while it's still hot.
5. When the greens are ready, transfer them to a sieve and let them drain for a minute or two. Place about 3 tablespoons of the braised greens on each slice of bread. Top with the Parmesan and serve immediately or broil for a minute or two to melt the cheese before serving.

Next Week's Harvest (our best guess)... carrots, zucchini, strawberries, kale, lettuce, garlic scapes, scarlet turnips, raspberries, baby leeks and more!