Week 7 Farm Newsletter (August 6-13,2023)

Farm Newsletter Week 7

August 6-13, 2023    |    “A” Week

What’s in the Box this Week?

HEAD LETTUCE (CRISP HEAD) ~ To store: Store unwashed lettuce in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce that you have already washed and dried with a spinner, place back in a plastic bag with a dry paper towel in the bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Use within 4 days. To prep: Slice the head at its base with a knife and  let the leaves fall open. Discard any damaged or leathery outer leaves and tear large leaves into bite-size pieces. Wash leaves in a basin of cold water. Dry in a salad spinner.

SWEET CORN (6 ears) ~ (not organic, non-GMO, from David Bench Farms) ~ To store: Refrigerate sweet corn as soon as possible with husks on. The longer you wait to eat it, the more sugar will turn into starch, and the corn will lose its \ sweetness. To prep: You can eat corn raw or cook it in the husks. Shuck the cob by pulling the husks down the ear and snapping off the stem. The silks will fall off as you cook the corn. Rinse under cold water. If you see a green worm, just cut out the damaged section — the rest of the cob is still edible! To cut the kernels off the cob, stand the cob upright on its base and run a sharp knife from the tip of the ear down to the base. To cook: Steam corn in 1-2 inches of water for 6-10 minutes, or drop ears into boiling water for 3-6 minutes. Season with butter or salt. You can also grill corn in the husk — place the corn in its husk in water for 10 minutes — then place on grill for 15 minutes. To freeze: Blanch on the cob for 3-5 minutes, rinse under cold water, and drain. Cut off the kernels with a knife, and then pack it into airtight freezer containers.

CUCUMBERS (2) ~ To store: Place cucumbers in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator for up to a week. To prep: Slicing cucumbers are often peeled. Pickling cukes are not. If the seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out. Scoring the skin of a cucumber with a fork or zester gives it attractive stripes. Slice, dice or cut into chunks according to recipe. To freeze: You can freeze cucumbers in a vinegar brine, but they will be mushy when you eat them later. Not recommended.

Halibut tacos from Brian Hammer with pickled beets.

RED GLOBE TOMATOES (2) ~ To store: Do not refrigerate tomatoes. Store them at room temperature out of the sun stem side down. Putting them in a paper bag will accelerate the ripening process. To prep: If you’ll be cooking tomatoes, consider removing the skins so they don’t float around in your dish. To do so, score the  end of the tomato with an “X,” dunk whole tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds, lift out with slotted spoon, plunge into ice water, and the skins will slide off. To freeze: Tomatoes can be frozen whole with the skin on. The skins will slide right off when they thaw. Simply pop the washed tomatoes whole into a Ziplock bag. Thawed tomatoes are appropriate only for cooking sauces, salsas, or purees.

GREEN TOMATOES (2) ~ Store your green tomatoes on the counter — watch out though! They’ll eventually ripen and turn red! If you want to eat them green, make sure you do so in the next few days! To get some ideas for how to use green tomatoes in cooking check out this blog post from Food Network.

BASIL ~ To store: Basil is very sensitive to cold. Do not refrigerate fresh basil; it will turn black. Instead, strip the lower leaves off the stems and place stems in a glass of water on the kitchen counter like a flower. To prep: Mince well. Add to butter, cream cheese, or your favorite pasta sauce. Make a batch of pesto with pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil, salt, and garlic. To dehydrate: Remove leaves from stem and place on a piece of paper towel on a glass plate. Cover with another piece of paper towel. Microwave plate on high for 1 minute. Leaves will be dry. Crinkle them with your finger and place them in a dry container, such as a Mason jar with a lid. To freeze: Basil does not freeze well. Instead, make a batch of pesto and freeze it flat in Ziplock bags.

Karla Lewis made this gorgeous barley/lentil stuffed cabbage roll

SUMMER SQUASH (3) ~ You will get some mix of summer squashes — could be green or yellow zucchini, yellow Zephyr crookneck, or patty pans. To store: Store squash unwashed in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable bin. In the refrigerator they keep for about a week. To prep: Rinse under water to remove the dirt or prickles, and slice off the stem and blossom ends. Then slice or chop. Scrape out seeds from baseball bat sized zucchinis before using them to bake. To use: Slice tender, young summer squash raw into salads. Try them in stir-fry or with pasta. Lightly steam (4-5 minutes) and dress them with fresh herbs or pesto. Or coat squash lightly in oil and roast at 350 degrees whole or sliced in half for 15-45 minutes. Stuff whole squash with your favorite stuffings. Bread them and make zuke fries. To freeze: You can freeze grated zucchini for use in breads and muffins. Squeeze as much liquid out as possible before adding to the freezer bag.

CANDY STRIPE BEETS (no tops) ~ Store the beet roots, with the rootlets (or “tails”) attached, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the crisper bin of your refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks. To prep: Just before cooking, scrub beets well and remove any scraggly leaves and rootlets. If your recipe calls for raw beets, peel them with a knife or a veggie peeler, then grate or cut them according to the recipe. To remove the skins, you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will slip right off. To freeze: Boil or bake beets until done. Cool them in ice water or let them come to room temperature. Remove peels. Trim the beets into 1/4 inch slices or keep them whole (if they are small). Place in Ziplock freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze

GREEN CABBAGE ~ for up to 3 months! To prep: Rinse the cabbage under cold water before use. Cut cabbage head first into quarters, then diagonally across the wedge. Be sure to remove the stem end and triangular core near the base. To use: Eat raw in salads, steamed, braised or fried. Turn raw cabbage into coleslaw or sauerkraut. Roast cabbage steaks/slices at 400 F drizzled with olive oil and salt. Or try stir-frying shredded cabbage in olive oil until wilted with a little bit of minced garlic. To freeze: Choose how to cut your heads based on your end use. Cook in boiling pot of water for 90 seconds. Douse in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the cabbage and dry as much as possible. Place in Ziplock freezer bags based on your portions you plan to use, and remove as much air as possible. Put in freezer.

CUSTOMER PHOTO OF THE WEEK!

This week’s photo goes to Kendra Davis of Elmore for sharing her “freezing cabbage” hack! Kendra shared a picture of one of her favorite summer meals-cabbage rolls, sour cream mashed potatoes and fresh corn! But in the post, she dropped a value bomb for how she gets the cabbage leaves to be so pliable…

“I like to throw the whole head of cabbage in the freezer a couple days before I want to make the rolls. The night before I take it out of the freezer and put it in the sink to thaw. The next morning, I cut the core out and the pliable leaves just fall off. No boiling or trying not to tear the fragile leaves! My grandma shared this hack with me over 25 yrs ago.”

Thanks for sharing this tip, Kendra! Lots of CSA members didn’t know this (including me!) and you just made this meal a whole lot easier to make!

Kendra Davis shared a tip for how to get the cabbage leaves nice and pliable when making cabbage rolls!… freeze the head of cabbage the night before and thaw it! They peel right off.

WEEK 7 ADD-ON SHARES: We are Week “A” 

Odd-numbered weeks of our CSA season (week 1,3,5) are called “A” weeks. And even-numbered weeks (week 2,4,6) are called “B” weeks. If you have any kind of non-veggie, bi-weekly share, you have been assigned to either “A” or “B” week for the season. If you get a cheese share, it always comes on Week “A.”

WEEK 7 FRUIT SHARE (not organic):

YELLOW PEACHES ~ (via Quarry Hill Orchard) – if these are hard as a rock, you’ll want to store them on the counter until they ripen. THEN put them in the fridge.

PLUMS (Eshleman Orchard) ~ Store on the counter until they ripen, then move to the fridge, and place in a plastic bag. Remove pit before eating.

CANTALOUPE  (Bench Farms) ~ Wash the outer rind, and cut the fruit in half. Remove the seeds. Then cut into slices and eat out of hand. OR remove the rind and chunk up the fruit for your next fruit salad or dessert!

It’s cantaloupe season!

Cheese Week:

Red Bandit Cheddar (mild, red cheddar, aged 6-8 months, raw cow’s milk) (from Black Radish Creamery)
Fool’s Gold cave-aged Tomme style (raw cow’s milk) (from Black Radish Creamery)
Herbes de Provence Chevre (Goat Cheese) (MacKenzie Creamery)

Ice Cream Flavor of the Week:

ROCKY ROAD  from Knueven Creamery. Note: be sure to stop and pick up your ice cream from the Knueven milk truck at your pickup site! They will be located either right before or after your veggie pickup. Your farmers will not be passing this out in their delivery line.

Coffee Flavor of the Week:

Peru San Ignacio : Maddie & Bella Coffee Company  ~(balanced, medium body, low acidity)

14-DAY MAKE-AHEAD FREEZER SOUP BAG CHALLENGE!
(Runs August 5-19, 2023)

Have you ever made a Freezer Soup Starter bag? These are a GREAT way to “get rid of” extra produce that is starting to stockpile in the kitchen. With a little guidance, you can just throw your raw veggies into a gallon-size freezer bag, and toss them in the freezer. I like to write a few instructions onto the bag to remind me what else to add later (like meat, water, juice, herbs, etc). Then, 3 months later, when it’s winter time, you can pull out a quick starter meal bag, and throw it in your soup pot or crockpot.

BRILLIANT.

To encourage you to try this exit strategy, and get some freezer bags stored up for the winter, I’ve decided to run a contest for the next two weeks! It’s the Freezer Soup Bag Challenge.

To enter, all you have to do is make ONE freezer soup starter bag before August 19.

1. Take a picture of it, and share the “recipe” in our CSA’s private Facebook group (or via email with your farmers).
2. Be sure to tell us what you put into the bag, so we can build out the recipe. (Or link to it if you got it somewhere else)
3. Give your soup a name, and tag it #freezersoupbagchallenge.

Note: you must be a CSA member to be eligible to win the prize.

You can enter as many times as you like in the 14 day period! Every different soup bag “style” counts as one entry, so the more entries you make, the greater your odds of winning. I will choose ONE person at random from the entries submitted on August 20 to win the prize!

THE PRIZE: Super-Soup Gift Basket — (I wish I could tell you exactly what’s in here, but I haven’t made it yet! I can’t wait to build this fun prize!) Value: $100

I’ll compile the collection of ideas from our community and put together a little Freezer Soup Recipe Book to share with you in a few weeks! So get creative! Show us what’s possible!

Please note: although you are always welcome to make soup this week and freeze the finished product, that’s not what this challenge is about. THIS challenge is about freezing the make-ahead ingredients/”starter kit” — we’re trying to make it as EASY as possible for you, so that LATER, you can pull this bag out and have a quick meal. So I want you to think of recipes that are “ingredient dump into a Ziplock” and freeze.

Watch this video above where CSA Coach Cadie shows you how to make one version of a veggie soup starter bag. I love how she also adds in the frozen meat right into the bag as well! To see more ideas for freezer soup bag starter recipes, go here.

Here’s an example of a Freezer Soup Bag recipe idea you might throw together:

Recipe: “Cornucopia Chowder”

Ingredients (for one freezer soup bag):

• 2 cups sweet corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup diced bell peppers (a mix of colors)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (for a touch of warmth)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for a hint of spice)
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth (for cooking)
• 1 cup heavy cream (add later, before serving)

Instructions:

1. Prep the Vegetables: If using fresh corn, remove the kernels from the cobs. Peel and dice the potatoes, chop the carrots, celery, onions, bell peppers, and chives. Mince the garlic and set aside. Also, prepare the fresh thyme leaves for later use.
2. Combine the Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, add the sweet corn kernels, diced potatoes, chopped carrots, celery, onions, bell peppers, and minced garlic.
3. Add the Flavor Enhancers: Sprinkle the fresh thyme leaves, chopped chives, smoked paprika, ground nutmeg, and cayenne pepper (if using) over the vegetable mix. Toss everything together to ensure the flavors are evenly distributed.
4. Pack the Freezer Soup Bag: Label a gallon-sized Ziplock freezer bag with the name “Cornucopia Chowder” and the date. Carefully transfer the vegetable mix into the bag, ensuring it’s well-sealed and airtight to preserve the flavors.
5. Freeze and Store: Lay the packed freezer soup bag flat in the freezer for easy storage. The soup bag can stay frozen for up to three months.

Cooking Instructions: Remove the freezer soup bag from the freezer and let it thaw slightly. Empty the contents into a large pot and add 4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth.

Simmer the soup on medium heat for 25-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and infused with the aromatic herbs and spices.

Final Touch: Stir in 1 cup of heavy cream to create a lusciously creamy chowder just before serving.

FARMER KURT’S FIELD NOTES

The day after we got home from vacation, we hosted our first Field to Table dinner. Did you see the pictures? I’ll be sure to put one in this newsletter somewhere. I love working with Chef Joseph and Katie from Cork and Knife Provisions. They take my produce and make it taste so good. I want to thank them for their eagerness to serve our customers at our farm with these farm dinners. All I have to do is grow the food, and then show up about 20 minutes before my guests, slightly dressed-up, and eat an amazing meal with friends. This first dinner was purposely designed to be a bit smaller in guest-list-size. I like being able to talk with all of you. It fills my cup. So thank you for coming!

My crew is getting used to the new cooler and pack shed space. By taking down the old cooler, it’s allowing us to rethink where we could put everything. I don’t think Corinna likes how it’s set up yet. I basically stuffed a bunch of black crates right where the old cooler used to be — LOL. And the “new” cooler is already packed to capacity. I love that I can pallet jack things in and out easily. However, it always seems like the very bulk bin we need is the one in the back corner — so we have to pallet jack everything out of the way first. We’ll figure it out, and keep experimenting with different setups until we find the best way. I think I need to buy some more shelves.

Pole beans are put on a trellis this year.

We started to string up our pole beans in the high tunnel. I’m trellising those this year to see what happens. Cucumbers are really coming on now outside on our trellised system. Corinna wants to do a couple batches of pickles this week. Tomatoes are starting to turn now too. I feel like we are now safely transitioning into the mid-season summer crops.

We hosted a group from Nourish Early Learning Center last week. They came out for back-to-back farm tours for their summer program. That really energized me! We took them on a wagon ride to different areas of the farm. They got to meet the chickens, pick the very first cherry tomatoes, eat some raspberries from our vines, visit the well, and walk the field corn and sweet corn fields. They are so amazed by the simple pieces of  knowledge I take for granted – like the fact that roosters don’t lay eggs! This kind of farm education is so important for us to make time for. Corinna is really good at teaching them.

Daisy is almost full grown now!

Did you like the sweet corn? We’ll be freezing it this week ourselves. Normally we wait until later, but the ears are so darn big this year. I’m not exactly sure why that is! On Wednesday morning, we pulled 7 bins of corn! I’ve never done that much at once.

I’m expecting a full day of rain on Sunday. So Saturday is very full day — trying to squeeze in as much production and pre-harvest stuff as I can get away with. I use the weekends for weeding the fields. With the rain coming, I need to stay on top of that, or they’ll get out of control.

Onions are curing on the greenhouse tables right now. I could have given you some this week, but I’m just not going to be able to get to cleaning them up and processing them for you. So you’re getting a week off from onions. Garlic should be ready now too to process. My neighbor Josh was here this week, baling the rye straw into giant round bales for his cattle next door. He and I barter manure for cover crop forage. And he mows it for me. (I get some free driveway snowplowing in the winter too). It’s a great thing to have neighbors you like, isn’t it?

We had a big wholesale cabbage order go out this week again as part of the  Ohio CAN program. This program was established with the USDA AMS Local Food Purchase Assistance Program grant funds. The mission is to provide food to those in need, from historically underrepresented regional producers. Through this program, producers like us are are able to sell food to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks at fair market price and the products will be distributed to Ohioans in need through food banks and charities across all 88 counties.  I love this partnership. It feels like a win-win. We have a few contracts set up with the Oberlin Food Bank. We’ll be growing a bunch of peppers for the food bank in a few weeks too. It’s one of the reasons you’ll see so many pepper plants out here at the farm. This wholesale enterprise is one of the ways we diversify the income on our farm, and as we get “older,” it will probably take up a greater percentage of our yield.

We packed our truck to the GILLS last Thursday!

I’m experiencing a little bit of stress around my farm vehicles. My Gator broke down, which means I am now down a working farm vehicle again. I’ve talked to Corinna about getting a small pickup truck, or even a golf cart to zip around the farm and move crates, produce or equipment. I’m also feeling the pinch when it comes to packing our farm truck for the Perrysburg site. Last week, I barely fit everything. By the time I stacked 180 CSA bins, fruit crates, 2 egg coolers, 1 tent, 3 crates of flowers, 15 store order bins, 15 red crates of sweet corn, and 8 bulk bags of sweet corn – I had very little space left to spare. I’ve never stacked quite like that! Corinna said, “Well, you can always use the cab?…” Next year, I’ve definitely got to upgrade to a bigger box truck. These size of trucks (in my price range) are not easy to find these days. Keep your eye out!

Thanks to everyone at Sylvania and Perrysburg for adjusting your arrival times to the pickup sites. The last two weeks have been great with traffic workflow, and seem to have solved the problem. So keep doing what you’re doing! This weekend, my nieces and nephews are coming over to sleep in our camping tent!! Corinna’s got a fun weekend planned out for them. WHo knew tent camping could be so fun?

~Your Farmer, Kurt

Pesto Fest is back!

RSVP FOR PESTO FEST

Make a ton of pesto on our farm to take home and freeze

Date: August 20, 2:30-5:30 PM.
Price: $10/person
Dinner begins around 4:30 PM

Here’s how it works: You bring a food processor, olive oil, nuts, cutting board, lemon juice, salt, Ziplock baggies, and chef’s knife. We provide the basil, “B-grade” garlic, tables, power strips and electric. We take you out to the basil patch to harvest your own basil. Take as much as you need, and come back to the packing shed area, where we set up tables (and electric outlets) for you to make your pesto until 4:30 PM. It’s a loud, garlicky fragrant time!

Meanwhile, I’m heating up a bunch of pasta for a light dinner!! Around 4:30 PM, we set up tables outside the pack shed, bring out the pasta, and taste a sample of each other’s creations. We ask you to bring a small portion of one of your pestos to the table to share. I make a nice tomato-basil salad with some garlic bread. And we enjoy some fellowship together.

This event is limited to 30 people. Cost is $10/person. Please order your tickets in the online store here. No refunds for cancellations or no-shows.

We’re growing a LOT of peppers this year.

WEEK 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. BULK CORN can be ordered in our online store. We’ll have this for the next 6 weeks. The best time to buy bulk corn is in August, when the ears are largest. A bushel bag goes for $35 and includes 64 ears. We only have a limited amount of space on our trucks, so if we sell out, just hang on tight and be ready to order next week. If you want to learn how to freeze sweet corn, watch our video tutorial here. I recommend the Corn Cutter from Pampered Chef (affiliate link) to make it a whole lot easier, as well as an angel food cake pan or bundt pan.
2. You can order additional items from the Shared Legacy Farms online store. Our store link is super easy to remember: www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/store. Just be sure to select the right pickup site that coincides with your pickup location. If the pickup option is greyed out or not available, it means you missed the window to order. You need to place your order 36 hours before your site. We harvest the product on Monday and Wednesday mornings — early. This week, the store will have: sweet corn, bulk sweet corn, carrots (limited), red globe tomatoes, tomatillos, sweet banana peppers by the quart, striped eggplant, purple eggplant, kohlrabi, green cucumber, basil, golden beets, red beets, cantaloupe, green cabbage, white and yellow peaches, donut peaches (limited), plums (purple), along with my brother Arik’s honey, local maple syrup, SLF sticker swag, and a few extra eggs.
3. PESTO Fest is back, and includes a light dinner (where we sample each other’s creations)! Save the date for Sunday, August 20th. Join us from 2:30-5:30 PM in our packing shed. Order your tickets today in the online store for $10 each. Limit: 30 tickets.
4. Can you volunteer to pack corn for us on a Monday or Wednesday evening for 2 hours this August or September? I’m currently looking for 5 more slots to fill. This involves bagging about 200 bags of corn (6 ears each) and placing them into a bin. It’s a good workout towards the end, and does involve reaching down into a bin repeatedly. Please let me know if you can help! This shaves about an hour of time off our packing crew’s job and gets them out on time!

Danielle Kuhl made this greens and beans dish last week.

WEEK 7 CSA RECIPES

Members: You can download these recipes as a PDF here.   These recipes are designed to inspire you to use your box this week! Please check inside our private Facebook group to find your fellow members sharing ideas for what to make with their box! Share a photo and you might be featured in next week’s newsletter!

20 Minute Skillet Sausage and Zucchini
Almond Flour Zucchini Bread
Grilled Summer Squash with Lemon Scallion Dressing
Summer Beet and Corn Salad
Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil
Grilled Cabbage with Bacon
Tomato, Cucumber and Red Onion Salad
Raw Beet and Cucumber Salad
Savory Cabbage Pancakes
Simple Cabbage Salad
Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Corn on the Cob
Spicy Green Tomato Salsa
Grilled Green Tomatoes
Peach Crostata
Cantaloupe and Black Pepper Granita
Iced Melon Mint Tea