What’s up on the farm?

Well it was an interesting Christmas here on the farm. We managed to both come down with the 24 hour flu in the days before Christmas, so it was rather a subdued holiday for us, but we are well recovered and back on track now. That’s one sure way to not gain weight over the holidays!

I was hoping to be able to introduce you all to the newest member of our farm family for today’s letter, but our schedules were postponed last week so it will probably be tomorrow before we go and pick up our new puppy. It will be a Blue Heeler mix and will come from the family of our farm helper Kristi. We have visited them once already and think we have it narrowed down between two of them, now its just making the final decision. Given the breed and our farm name, can we name it anything other than Blue? Not sure yet, but you all are welcome to weigh in on the name. We’ll let you know and will post some pictures for next month’s newsletter.

Speaking of that, from now until the start of the 2007 membership season, we will be sending our monthly email newsletters just to keep everyone up to speed on what’s happening on the farm. If you have a different email address than we are currently using where you would like to receive those emails, just let us know. The newsletters will also be posted on the website.

Looking forward, we anticipate the 2007 Summer Membership season to begin late May or Early June (depending on the weather) and run into October. You can send your registration and deposit in at any time between now and May 1 to reserve your place. The form is available on the CSA page of the website www.bluegatefarmfresh.com. If your contact information has not changed since the last time you filled out a form, you can leave that info blank, just fill in your name and your season choices and we will do the rest. We are opening up another 12 memberships for next season so if you know anyone that might be interested in joining us, please let them know.

Finally, you will notice a couple of unusual pieces of produce in your “boxes” this week. The homemade noodles and peach butter are both made by us here on the farm and are our holiday gifts to you. We thank you all for joining us for this culinary adventure, our first Winter Share season, and hope that you have a marvelous new year and will join us again in 2007.

All our best from the farm,

Jill & Sean

Blue Gate Farm Winter Soup

2 tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbs. garlic, chopped

6 c. chicken stock (any good stock will do)

6 oz. herbed-wheat noodles (any homemade/home-style dried noodle will do)

1 ½ c. sweet potatoes, cut into ½” cubes (store in cold water until ready to use)

2 c. cooked chicken, shredded

Dried tomatoes (not in oil), chopped, optional

Dried mushrooms, chopped, optional

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Place olive oil in a stock pot and place on stove over medium heat. Sauté onion until not quite transparent, then add garlic and cook until just barely golden. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium-high hear. Add noodles and leeks and cook for 15 minutes at a rolling boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes just begin to soften. Add chicken, dried tomatoes and/or dried mushrooms (if using) and heat through.

We like this soup served with a good salad and crusty garlic bread.

Makes 4-6 servings