CSA News for the Week of May 6th

Reminder: This week we will be distributing only vegetable shares.

This Week's Vegetable Harvest:

• Head Lettuce
• Asparagus  from Mick Klug Farm
• Bok Choy
• Parsnips  from Harmony Valley Farm
• Lettuce Mix
• Ramps (Wild Leeks)  from Harmony Valley Farm
• Radishes
• Dandelion Greens

This week's vegetable share is a real beauty!

 

 

Crop Report

After the excitement of preparing for the first week of deliveries, we have returned to the business of growing plants and caring for animals. At the end of last week, Nadia planted carrots and beets at Grayslake while Matt and Tommy finished planting potatoes at Brodhead.



Nadia and Jeff discuss soil conditions before Nadia heads out on the tractor to plant carrots.
 

Just yesterday we noticed that the peas were beginning to germinate. If all goes according to plan, we will be harvesting snap peas by mid-June.

This afternoon Matt laid down plastic mulch in preparation for planting cucumbers and zucchini later in the week. Once school let out for the day, he was assisted by Avery, our 10-year-old, who loves to help his dad around the farm.

 

 

Vegetable Notes

Bok Choy has a mild, sweet flavor when cooked. Like many members of the Brassica family, its growing season is limited to the cool spring and fall. Nutritionally speaking, bok choy is loaded with vitamins. When cooking with bok choy, use the entire plant, both green leaves and white stems. It's also fantastic eaten raw. The mild, crunchy stalks are a particularly welcome addition to salads dressed with Asian-inspired dressings.

This week's dandelion greens are actually a type of Italian chicory. The chicory family includes frisee, belgian endive, escarole, radicchio, and Italian dandelion. Bitter greens have been prized for centuries in many European cuisines where their pleasantly bitter flavor is appreciated for its ability to pair well with rich cheeses, nuts and meats. Dandelion greens are best eaten cooked or semi-cooked. Try sautéing them, adding them to a quiche, or using them in a wilted salad with a hot vinegar-based dressing. They pair well with flavors such as brie or feta cheese, bacon, and nuts.

 

 

 

We are very excited to bring you ramps this week. Ramps are sort of like a cross between a fancy green onion and a baby leek. I like to chop the whole plant and use them in place of onions. They grow wild in the woods around Harmony Valley Farm in Viroqua, Wisconsin. The farmers at Harmony Valley harvest them judiciously, selecting large bulbs with healthy leaves, leaving behind plenty to replenish the population for future harvests. The season for ramps is quite short--only three to four weeks in late April and early May. Matt and I both worked at Harmony Valley Farm back in 1998. It's where we met and where we fell in love. (You'll have to wait for my autobiography for all the  juicy details!) Anyway, Matt remembers that ramps were one of the first things he learned to harvest, right after he arrived from the city as a fresh-faced farm intern in April of 1998. I asked him about the experience recently, and he said he remembers it as a sort of magical experience, wandering the woods and wondering if he could ever go back to working behind a desk. As it turns out, he never did go back to that desk job, and ramps have always held a special place in his heart!

 

Parsnips are closely related to carrots. In fact, they sort of look like big yellowish-white carrots. Like carrots, they can be harvested in the fall, but they are much sweeter when left in the ground all winter and then dug in the spring. These spring-dug parsnips come from Harmony Valley Farm. Although they can be eaten raw, their fibrous texture makes them better suited for cooking. They are sweet and nutty and are particularly well suited to roasting and mashing. I also use them in place of carrots when making carrot cake.

This Week's Featured Recipes

Risotto with Italian Sausage and Dandelion Greens
from Bon Appétit, May 2009

 

1 bunch dandelion greens, leaves cut into 3/4-inch pieces

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided

1 bunch ramps, stems and leaves chopped

6 ounces mild Italian sausage (about 2 links), casings removed

2 cups arborio rice (13 to 14 ounces)

1 cup dry white wine

5 cups low-salt chicken broth

3/4 cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving

 

Cook dandelions in boiling salted water just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain; cool and set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large saucepan over medium heat; add ramps and sauté 3-4 minutes. Add sausage; sauté until brown, breaking up with spoon, about 3 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until wine is almost absorbed. Add 1 cup broth. Stir until broth is almost absorbed. Add remaining 4 cups broth by 1/2 cupfuls, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more. Mix in dandelion greens after 10 minutes. Cook until rice is tender and mixture is creamy, 25 minutes total. Mix in cheese and remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve risotto, passing additional cheese.

Mashed Parsnips and Potatoes with Ramps

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

1 cup milk, hot

6 tablespoons unsalted butter  
2-3 ramps, stems and greens chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

Place potatoes and parsnips in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, 20 to 25 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender. Drain well, return to pot, add milk and butter and mash until almost smooth (or leave slightly chunky, if you prefer). Stir in ramps. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Spicy Shrimp and Bok Choy Noodle Bowl
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 inches ginger root, peeled and cut into very thin matchsticks or grated
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 medium bok choy, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces, then cut into sticks lengthwise
Salt and pepper
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup seafood stock or 1 cup clam juice
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined1/2 pound vermicelli (thin spaghetti)
3-4 ramps, stems and leaves chopped roughly

 

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, mushrooms and bok choy, then season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and seafood stock or clam juice. Put a lid on the pot and bring soup to a boil. Add shrimp and noodles and cook for three minutes. Add ramps and cook two minutes, then turn off soup and let it sit 2-3 minutes more. Adjust salt to taste and serve.

Announcements

Open House and Plant Sale
You are invited to the Farm Connections Open House at the Prairie Crossing Farm in Grayslake from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 18. Purchase organic plants meet the farmers, visit the chickens and goats, and support the farmer growing local food in Grayslake. A wide variety of organic plants will be available for sale in addition to free-range eggs and other farm products. Purchase handmade goat milk soap from Gretta's goats while visting the baby goast born on the farm this spring. Come connect with the farmers at Prairie Crossing Farm! After you've made your purchases, take a stroll around the Learing Farm and visit the chickens and the tractors. A special children's farm scavenger hunt will also be offered by the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm, and information will be available about the Learning Farm's educational programming including children's farm camps, suburban homesteading workshops, Prairie Farm Corps youth development program, and more.


Coming Up...

Next week we will be distributing vegetables, dairy and eggs. Our best guess for next week's vegetable share is arugula, lettuce heads, chives, popping corn, spinach, lettuce heads and more...