June 7, 2005

Communities Supporting Agriculture Harvest Farm Updates Add-ons CSA Member Special! Recipes

Welcome CSA Members!

CSA - Communities Supporting Agriculture

“We’re so excited!” is a phrase I’ve heard a lot in the past couple of weeks, from both CSA members and Arcana employees alike. There is something very satisfying to both parties about the community coming together in support and celebration of local food. Our former CSA coordinators, Cindy and Greg, who worked tirelessly to get our CSA started, spoke of the excitement of community coming alive in the spirit of CSA.

Cindy said it best: “The CSA project allows community members and farmers to cultivate community like our seeds and plants in the field. What we invest in each other, like what we invest in the soil, will manifest in health in vigor. The rewards of a rich and abundant community life, like the rewards of the harvest, are a result of commitment, cooperation, and care.. We thank you for giving further reason, purpose and meaning to the land, plants, and our community staying alive!”

Part of building community through CSA includes taking CSA into the next generation. Marty Strange (co-founder of the Center for Rural Affairs in Walthill, Nebraska, and author of Family Farming) says that market pressures and the current convenience mentality will drive CSA towards cheap food and convenience or towards CSA becoming an expensive and elitist system. To avoid these alternatives, we have to think through what sharing the risk means, and figure out how we can nurture this sharing. Elizabeth Henderson, author of “Sharing the Harvest” believes this gives us the opportunity to begin transforming our local areas into nuclei of sustainable living.

We hope that your excitement about joining our CSA is not only for the immediate reward of a beautiful and nutritious dinner on the table, or by the friendly faces who greet you in the farm stand each week, but also by the powerful sustainability movement of which the CSA model is a part.

Chelsea Clark — CSA Outreach

This Weeks Harvest:

head lettuce, spinach, radishes, basil, lavender sprigs

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Farm Updates:

-Much-needed sun has given our field crops a boost
-Lots of irrigation happening in the fields this week (we could actually use some rain at this point!)
-Greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes are starting to ripen, while field crops are still running behind -but catching up.
-Here’s to more sunshine!

Add-Ons

Cut flowers
There is a possibility that we will be offering cut-flowers as a CSA add-on. Please let us know if you would be interested in taking home cut flowers with your pick-up.

Baguettes
Please let Pat know if you would like to continue receiving a delicious Red Hen baguette with your pick up by pre-ordering. We have had a few available on a cash-box basis, and would like to continue offering them. Please understand that by pre-ordering, you are helping us to know how many baguettes to order per week, as well as helping us to reduce waste.

CSA Member Special!

CSA members may each take: one peat pot, or one 4-pak with their pick-up today!

The Recipes:

Radish Butter for Radish Sandwiches

6 radishes
4 TBS unsalted butter
1 tsp. Finely grated lemon zest
Sea salt

Wash and trim the radishes. If the leaves are tender and fresh, set a dozen or so aside, stems removed. Slice the radishes into thin rounds, then crosswise into narrow strips. Each should be tipped with color. Shop the leaves. You should have about 1/2 cup.
Mix the butter with the lemon zest until it’s soft, then stir in the chopped radishes, radish leaves, and a pinch of salt. Spread on slices of crusty baguette and serve.

From Local Harvest by Deborah Madison.

Spinach Quiche

Pie shell:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup lard, butter, shortening or your preferred mix
4 TBS cold water

Stir together flour and salt. Cut in lard until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon ater over part of mixture; gently toss with fork. Continue until all is moistened.

Form dough into a ball. On lighly floured surface, flatten dough. Roll from center to edge, forming a circle about 12 inches. Place into pie plate. Flute edge. Line pastry with foil and bake a t 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until golden brown (approximately 5 minutes).

Quiche:

1/2 lb. Bacon, cooked and crumbled, optional
1.2 lb. Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 bag fresh spinach, cooked and drained
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 c. milk
1 TBS flour

Mix ingredients together and pour into warm pie shell. Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Yield 6 servings.

The Boiled Egg

Place the eggs in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let stand for 6 minutes. Pour off the water. If you’re not planning to eat them hot, dump the eggs into a bowl of cold water (having some ice in it is fine) and run cold water over them to cool. Give them a few knocks against the side of the bowl to break the shells, which cools them down more quickly and makes the eggs easier to peel.

From Local Harvest by Deborah Madison.

Lavender Glaze for Fowl

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
2 sprigs lavender

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until reduced to a syrup. Let cool; strain.

From The Greenmarket Cookbook

~As always, if you have a recipe you’d like to share with other CSA members, send it our way and we’ll pass it on!

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