Blue Gate Farm News – Volume V, Number 4 – December
18 , 2007
In this week’s box:
Carrots: Bolero & Napoli
Kale: Red Russian
Onions: Copra
Potatoes: German Butterball
Sage (not a lot, just enough
to flavor your chevre ravoli or other holiday dishes)
Sweet Potatoes: Laceleaf & Violet (Don’t be alarmed, they are supposed
to be that color!)
Tapestry Salad Mix
Turnips: Purple Top, Hakurei & Golden Ball
For those with the Cheese option: Fresh Chevre Ravioli
Featured Recipes (on
back): Honey Roasted Root Vegetables
Warming
Winter Kale & Potatoes
Precipitation so far this month: lots
and in every form!
What’s up on the farm?
Well here it is
the final delivery of the year…and holy cow, what a year it’s been. Heck, just in the last week we’ve had quite
the adventure. Last Mon/Tues we got a
full inch of ice, the creaking and crashing of trees was just about heartbreaking.
It would have been a perfect day to curl
up inside except that we lost power on Tues. morning and didn’t get it back
until Friday morning. With the loss of
power, we had to shut off our water, so it was just like camping indoors. We were able to keep the plants in the sunroom
warm by connecting the boiler pump to our car battery, but it did require
hourly maintenance. Those middle of the night runs out
to the car were chilly! We were thrilled
when the power came back on just in time to prep for the Farmers Market on
Saturday, though we couldn’t harvest anything from the garden as it was all
buried under that 1” of ice. What an
adventure! Then Saturday we got 6” of
snow on top of the ice, it was a dreamlike sight, but made for some treacherous
walking and driving. The fun continued
as we thought about this final harvest…we knew there were lots of quality
vegetables out in the garden that we wanted to bring to you, but they were
seriously buried (and insulated from the cold). So Sunday we went out when the snow was still
powdery and swept off all the tunnels that we wanted to harvest. This exposed the ice, which we hoped would
start to melt from the enclosed heat of the soil. Monday was ice clearing day as we carefully
cracked and cleared the fragile tunnel fabric. Then Tuesday we were able to finally
get the covers off and harvest the crops. In the midst of all the outdoor fun, it was a
relief to get to harvest the salad from the high tunnel - it was warmer in
there than it was in our house! Well,
adding up all the excitement of the past year plus the fun of the past week…it
has been a doozy of an educational year. I can hardly wait for next spring
so I can put into practice all of the lessons I’ve learned!
Speaking of next
season, from now until the start of the 2008 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, let us know. The newsletters will also be posted on the
website.
Looking forward,
we anticipate the 2008 Summer CSA season to begin late May or early June
(depending on the weather) and run into October. As veteran members we will hold a place for
you until February 25th. If
we don’t receive a deposit from you by then we will fill your spot from our
waiting list. The updated registration
form will be available after the first of the year on the CSA page of our
website, www.bluegatefarmfresh.com.
You can send your registration and
deposit in at any time between January 1st and February 25th to reserve your
place. 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 thank you all
for joining us this season and for all your continued support of locally grown
foods and Blue Gate Farm. We are so proud to be your farmers. We wish you
all the best of the New Year and look forward to seeing you all next spring.
Best from the
farm,
Jill & Sean (and Blue, of course)
Honey Roasted Root
Vegetables
2
c. coarsely chopped peeled sweet potatoes (about 1 large)
1 ½
c. coarsely chopped peeled turnip (about 2)
1 ½
c. coarsely chopped parsnip (about 2)
1 ½
c. coarsely chopped carrot (about 2)
¼ c.
honey
2
tbs. olive oil
½ tsp
salt
3
shallots, halved
Cooking
spray
Preheat
oven to 450°
Combine
all ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl; toss to coat.
Place
vegetable mixture on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.
Bake
at 450° for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and begin to brown,
stirring every 15 minutes.
Yield:
8 servings (1/2 cup)
Recipe Source: Cooking
Light, December 2007
Warming Winter Kale & Potatoes
Serves: 4
1lb potatoes
8oz kale
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onions, chopped
salt to taste
1. Boil the potatoes until tender, cool in cold water and cut into thick
slices.
2. Wash the kale, drain and remove the stems and midribs. Stack the leaves up
and shred quite finely.
3. Saute the onion in the hot oil in a large skillet
until it just begins to brown. Add the kale and toss it until it just begins to
wilt.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to stir fry for 5 more minutes.
5. Add the potatoes and cook until they are heated through. Season to taste and
serve.
Recipe Source: Riverford
Organic Vegetables Website <www.riverford.co.uk>