2017 Preseason Welcome

Stoney Acres Farm Community Supported Agriculture

Preseason Welcome 2017

Stoney Acres Farm                                                                                             715-432-6285

7002 Rangeline Rd.                                                                       info@stoneyacresfarm.net

Athens, WI 54411                                            https://www.facebook.com/stoneyacresfarmandpizza

All the Dates and Details for the 2017 Season

 

Communication

Weekly email  –We will remind you the day of the pick-up.

 

Weekly newsletters – There are paper copies of our newsletter at all pick-up sites and posted on our website each week. We send newsletter links with email reminders. Newsletters are the #1 way we communicate with you. You are responsible for reading these each week. This is where we communicate everything important. They let you know what is in your box, how to use it, news from the farm, and event info.

 

Website - Are you wondering when the big farm events are, need directions, need a recipe or are thinking about ordering meat, you need to find a pickup site? We have lots of info here. You can always download a weekly newsletter at this site as well. www.stoneyacresfarm.net. Facebook – We have a page which is a glimpse into farm life and will have pictures of veggies, general information, and more https://www.facebook.com/stoneyacresfarmandpizza.

 

Coming to visit – If you would like to tour the farm, to help out one day, to see where and see how your food is produced you are always welcome. Friday night we are always open for visitors. Please call in advance to set up another time. Kids are welcome at visits but we ask that you leave pets at home unless they are working.

 

How to contact us – Email us at info@stoneyacresfarm.net, call/ text 715-432-6285, or use mail Stoney Acres Farm 7002 Rangeline Rd. Athens WI. The best way to reach us is text/phone, followed by email/facebook.

                                                             

Getting Your Weekly CSA Box

 

1) CSA boxes will be available for pick up Thursdays between 1-6pm; on-farm pick-ups only are Wednesdays after 4pm & Thursdays all day. We can save boxes for Friday pickup at the farm if you let us know. The season runs for 20 weeks, from June 1st until October 12th.  

 

2) Your CSA pick up site based on the box you checked on the application. If you would like to pick up at a different address please call or email us to let us know as soon as possible.

 

3) When you arrive at your pick-up sites (see address below) you will be expected to select your box. Small shares (white) and Full-shares (Black) will be separated and to check off your name from the member list. PLEASE CHECK NAME OFF – we use this information to call people who forget boxes and our records.

 

4) Weekly newsletters are available each week at the drop sites and online. Please read them.

 

 

If you’re out of town or will not be able to pick up your box…   You have options!

1) Have someone pick up your box for you. Please make sure that they know your pick-up site and box size.

2) Notify us at least 1 day in advance and we will not pack you a box for that week.

3) If you are in Wausau, you can have a box donated to Neighbors’ Place. Let us know if you plan this.

If you forget to pick up your box or have an emergency call or text us as soon as you can. In some cases we can help you get your box late (Thursday night) or have it set aside until Friday morning.

 

 

Dropsite locations

  • At the farm: 7002 Rangeline Rd. 5 min due north of Athens
  • Athens: contact us for delivery
  • Marshfield: Sue Kaup 112 N Purdy Ave  
  • Merrill:  Apprill Family Chiropractic 3207 E. Main St. Just off Hwy. 64
  • Wausau East Side: The garage of Heather and Kent Busig, 2201 Elmwood Blvd Wausau, WI
  • Wausau Highway 51: 5 Koshas Yoga and Wellness, 2220 Sherman St, Wausau, WI

 

This Year’s Events - mark your calendar

All farm events are included in the cost of your share.

Note- for full details see the website under CSA Events

 

vRegular Volunteer Days- Monday-Wednesday between 8am-12pm or 1-5pm June-Oct. no experience needed. We can always find fun tasks. Contact us before you come. To volunteer at farm events or other times just call, text or email.

 

vPizza Nights at Stoney Acres Farm Fridays May 5th – November 3rd    

Weekly pizza nights at the farm serving food on Friday from 4:30pm-8pm. Pizza Night is not included in the cost of the CSA but is a nice excuse to visit. CSA members can participate in u-pick events or gleaning during Friday nights when seasonally applicable. Wear a Stoney Acres T-Shirt and get $1 off your pizza!

 

Pizza on the Farm Ticketed Saturday Nights – This year I will be having several Saturday Pizza nights where you purchase your pizza online and reserve your time spot so there is no waiting. The Saturday dates are as follows: May 6th, May 27th, June 17th, July 1st, July 29th, August 19th, September 2nd, September 16th. To Purchase your tickets and reserve your spot for Saturday Pizza on the Farm go to: www.stoneyacresfarm.net select your date and reserve your pizzas and time.

 

vStoney Acres CSA Only Pizza Night. Saturday May 20th pizzas made 5-7pm. This is like a regular pizza night (you buy your pizzas) but without crowds and is on a Saturday night. Includes time to mingle with fellow CSA members, farm tour, a preview of the first CSA box with tips on storage. Come hang out with your farmer! Bring Friends!

 

v1st CSA DELIVERY -Thursday, June 1st

 

vGleaning & U-pick – This season we will regularly update the website, facebook and newsletters for gleaning (picking vegetables after we are done harvesting for the CSA and market).  We hope to have lots of options for those who like to preserve and pick. You will be able to glean for personal use or donation to local food banks. DATES TBA throughout the season.

 

vHarvest Hootenanny Barn Dance- Saturday August 5th 7 - 11:59pm  -There will be no potluck this year. The dance will be at Tony’s Aunt and Uncles place at 7pm. Shake your tailfeathers with us to the awesome music of the Hometown Harmony Club. Enjoy great organic food from the farm and beer from local microbrews.  The best event of the season!

 

vTomato U-pick - Late August- September: We will announce times in the newsletter

 

vPumpkin Pick, Pie, and Pizza – Sunday, October 1st 2pm - 5pm.  Rain or shine come for picking, pizza, Apple Cider pressing, pie and farm tours. Everyone gets 2 pumpkins or squash. More details online.

 

vLAST CSA DELIVERY- Thursday October 12th

 

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 12

In Your Box

 

Cucumbers:

 

Zucchini and Summer Squash-

 

 

Rainbow Carrots

 

Tomatoes- heirloom, beefsteak, and/or cherry tomatoes.

 

Garlic –

 

Sweet Onions – these should be stored in the fridge for longer term storage. Cured onions will start in several weeks.

 Melons (small shares only)- muskmelons, baby watermelons, or sun jewl (yellow)

 Snap Beans

 Fennel – holy moly it is perfect and big and beautiful

 Cilantro

Green Peppers (full shares only)

 

Next Week’s Best Guess:  salsa packs (tomatillos, onions, hot peppers), broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, kale, basil, peppers, sweet corn

 

Important Reminders

 The Athens fair is this weekend. We will have our annual float on Sunday at 1pm. If you want to be on the float call or text us!

Upick snap beans continue. You can come pick this week (today through early next week). Call or text to set up a time

 

News from the Farm

              Only 2 months of CSA left – how did summer get away! Sorry to everyone about last week’s newsletter and lack on online newsletter/reminder- we are back online and have a working computer.  We had another great productive week. We finished a lot of tasks and continued big harvests and see the end (in 2 weeks) of weeding. In crop news sweet corn is coming next week (as long as the Schultz-Becker children can be kept from eating 100 times their body weight in corn this weekend). Melons are here this week for small shares and next week for fulls. The crop looks fine but the continued very wet weather has not been ideal and left us with a lot of rotting L Fall cabbages, brussels sprouts, winter squash, sweet potatoes, storage carrots, beets… all look amazing. The warm summer has put us almost 3 weeks ahead with some crops but we are expecting an earlier frost. And this week our fennel is amazing!  Enjoy these huge bulbs in the great recipe! It is also Athens Fair Weekend. You can come visit Friday for pizza and then head to the fair, can join us at the 5K on Saturday or see us in our fair float Sunday (or dance with us on it) at 1pm. If you are enthusiastic and want to wear a costume call/text us for a spot on the float. Last but not least we plan to start upick tomatoes in a week. We will update you in the newsletter and online.

        Have a delicious week – Kat, Tony, Ted, Riley and Maple

 

Recipes from Kim Casey and Heather Busig’s Kitchens

 

Grilled vegetable sandwiches: Serves 4-6. INGREDIENTS: 1 cup balsamic vinegar, 1-2 TBSP honey, ciabatta buns, sliced fresh tomato, sliced fresh mozzarella (provolone and/or goat cheese would also work well), basil leaves, an assortment of grillable veggies including: summer squash, sweet peppers, eggplant, carrots, beets, onions etc., 1 TBSP olive oil (plus extra for the buns), salt and pepper. PREPARATION: Make the balsamic glaze by combining balsamic and honey in a small sauce pan. Heat on low and simmer until the combination becomes a thin syrup. Remove from heat and set aside. Cut the softer grilling veggies into slices about half an inch thick, or into wider slices, firmer veggies should be cut into thinner slabs of about 1/4 inch. Toss the grilling vegetables in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat grill to medium and grill the vegetables for approximately 10 minutes, stirring every 4-5 minutes, until vegetables are beginning to soften. A grill basket works great for this. Remove from heat. Brush the buns with a bit of olive oil and grill for 3-5 minutes per side. Assemble the sandwiches on the grilled ciabatta buns with a slice of cheese, fresh basil, fresh tomato slice, a drizzle of the balsamic glaze and a pile of grilled vegetables.

 

Fennel Cream Sauce: 2 tbs olive oil, 2-3 garlic cloves chopped, 1 cup fennel bulb trimmed, cored and finely chopped (fronds set aside), 1 Tbs butter, 1 Tbs Flour, 1 cup veggie, seafood, or chicken stock, 1 cup cream, ¼ cup fresh parsley (or basil/fennel fronds), salt and pepper. Heat Olive oil over medium heat, cook until soft about 5 minutes. Add butter and let melt. Stir in the flour (this will form a roux). Allow roux to cook out a bit (about 3 minutes) then stir in the broth releasing the bit from the bottom. Bring to a gentile boil and reduce by half. Add cream, again bring to a gentile boil, reduce by half and add chopped fronds or parsley. Add salt and pepper. Serve over pasta, seafood, chicken or roasted/steamed veggies.

 

 

 

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 8

In Your Box

 Broccoli- big/giant broccoli heads or bunches

Kale: curly red or green, red Russian or dino kale.

Cucumbers:

Zucchini and Summer Squash-

Mint or sage– use sage fried with summer squash,

Fresh Sweet Onions with tops-

Carrots with their greens – remember to separate greens!

Snap Beans – green, yellow and/or purple. All are super tender now.

Tomatoes- full shares only. We harvest ripe or nearly ripe. Eat within several days.

Cauliflower- Full shares only

Basil or Garlic scapes- small shares only

Next Week’s Best Guess:  beets, carrots, lettuce heads, snap beans, zucchini, cucumbers, basil, garlic, tomatoes, new potatoes. 

News from the Farm

Our 10th anniversary CSA season marches on. We are endlessly appreciative of all the help we have received to make this a great farm season and to improve the farm. Thank you to our family (for meals, childcare, building projects, cleaning and much more), our employees (Logan came to scrape shingles this weekend and stayed late all week and everyone else gave 110%), our friends (who helped celebrate Ted’s birthday, helped with roofing and donated pigs to the farm), our CSA members (who help weed, give us lots of love and give us the chance to farm). We started work on a third pizza oven this week and our big animal/mushroom/hay barn is getting a new roof. Things are looking great in the field. We finished weeding the fall brassica (cabbage family) crops and starting cultivation on root crops. In very happy news we finally figured out and have overhead irrigation working! Hopefully we continue to have great rain but we feel so much more secure knowing we can water through a drought. Note that tomatoes are coming for everyone next week! We also expect other fruiting crops like tomatillos too. This is the earliest we have had them. See the basil announcement above. We will have pesto kits in the box as well in the next few weeks.

            Have a delicious week – Kat, Tony, Ted, Riley and Maple 

ROASTED GREEN BEANS WITH CREAMY DIPPING SAUCE SAUCE YIELD: SERVES 4 TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES INGREDIENTS: 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed, 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, 1 TBSP olive oil, 2 TBSP mayonnaise, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste. DIRECTIONS: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the green beans, oil, and Parmesan cheese together to coat. Spread onto a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cook longer, as needed, to reach your desired level of doneness. While the green beans are cooking, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Set aside until ready to serve. Salt and pepper the green beans and serve with the dipping sauce

 

HOMEMADE VEGETABLE STOCK, adapted from Beverly Mills and Alecia Ross. Makes approximately 10-12 cups of veggie stock. This is the best way to get something for absolutely nothing. Keep a gallon size ziplock bag in the freezer. Put in it any veggie odds and ends including: peels from carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tops of peppers (but not the seeds), mushroom stems, tomato cores, onion peels and greens, limp carrots, celery. Please don't add anything from the brassica family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower or brussels sprouts don't make great stock). When your bag is full, dump it in a 5 quart slow cooker and fill it with water, add 1 tsp of salt, or more to taste. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-12 hours. (If you don't have a slow cooker, you can cook it on the stove top. bring it to a boil and simmer on low for 4-5 hours). Strain out the solids and freeze in 2 cup increments. Use anywhere you would use chicken or vegetable stock. Keeps up to 2 months in the freezer.

 

 

See the backide of the newsletter for info on fresh herbs (like mint, basil and sage)

Preserving and using fresh herbs (basic info from kitchn.com)

 

• Air Drying: Drying works well for herbs like oregano, thyme, marjoram, and sage. Before drying, shake to remove dirt and discard any withered leaves. (You can gently wash the herbs, but be sure to dry them thoroughly to prevent mildew.) Secure the stems together using twine or a rubber band and hang upside down in a warm, dry, well-ventilated place away from sunlight. If you don't have a dark spot, or if dust is a concern, you can cover the bundle with a paper bag; just ensure that there is enough space for air to circulate. Leave to dry until the leaves crumble, anywhere from 1-4 weeks. Store in an airtight container for up to a year.

• Oven Drying: Although we prefer the above method because it doesn't use any energy (and there's something romantic about hanging herbs to dry!), oven drying is faster than air drying and a good option for those living in humid environments. To oven dry, spread herbs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (metal can affect the flavor) and place in a 150° F oven with the door slightly ajar. Check herbs frequently and remove when crumbly; it may take between 1-4 hours. Store in an airtight container for up to a year.

• Freezing: Freezing is the best option for leafy herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, and tarragon. One method consists of chopping the herbs, packing them into an ice cube tray, and topping off with broth or water. Another method is to blend the herbs into a paste with a little oil or water before freezing. Store frozen cubes in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Kat’s Favorite methods for using and storing herbs

 

Basil – Fresh: in pesto, on top of roasted veggies or fresh salads. Basil is best added and used fresh (not cooking for a long time). To preserve: Basil can be dried by if you want basil flavor freezing after pureeing with oil is the best method. You can add salt, and garlic to the mixture as well. We leave our other pesto ingredients like cheese and nuts so we can use this as a fresh tasting base to anything we want to cook in winter.

 

Cilantro – Fresh: in salsa, cooked with beans, meat or in fresh cucumber salad. Goes well with both creamy and vinegar bases. To preserve: the same as basil in our opinion. Drying works well but yield not the best results.

 

Fennel – Fresh: wonderful to use like dill in salads (egg salad, potato salad). To preserve: the tops of fennel are easy to dry and get milder. Remove the feather ends from the larger stems and oven dry on a low setting. You can also use the oil or broth methods for freezing for a more fennely experience.

 

Dill- eat fresh or toss with oil for roasted veggies like potatoes. Parsley- mix with several herbs and oil preserve or dry. You can easily air dry on the stem.

 

Sage- Fresh: Wonderful fried atop meat like pork chops or grilled burgers. Sage is best when the aroma is brought out by cooking. We love sage with roasted potatoes and garlic, or with caramelized carrots. To Preserve: easy to air and oven dry and the stronger flavor of sage make this method ideal.

 

Mints – we have both peppermint and spearmint on the farm. Spearmint and common mint are both a bit fuzzy so are best chopped finely or food processed mixed with oil or creamy bases in dressings. We love carrots with mint, cucumber and mint salad with yogurt dressing, and mint with fresh tomatoes. To Preserve: both the oil method and drying work well.  

 

Oregano- strongly flavored dried oregano is a favorite for many. To use fresh use in smaller amounts and gather in abunch with other herbs to steep in a sauce or use in fresh tomato sauces.

 

Thyme – like oregano easy to dry and to use fresh. Remove from woody stem. Great in dressings, added to vinegar, and made into a mixed herb packet for poultry or veggies.

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 7

In Your Box

 

Broccoli- big/giant broccoli heads or bunches

Fennel- a white bulb with feather green fronds. Remove the fronds for best storage. Use finely chopped in ground pork on pizza, caramelized or raw on salads.

Cucumbers:

Zucchini and Summer Squash- lots this week perfect time for grilling or pickling or topping pizza!

 Garlic scapes –

 Basil –

Fresh Sweet Onions with tops- store these in the fridge and use the tops like scallions.

Beets- remember to use your greens (like cooked spinach). These babies are sweet.

Arrowhead cabbage- fulls only  

Next Week’s Best Guess:  garlic scapes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, mint or other herbs, snap beans, cauliflower/cabbage, kale.  

Important Reminders

Please make sure to return and DO NOT TAKE HOME CSA boxes. We were several short last week at Wausau and Merrill sites.

If you are a zucchini enthusiastic you can pick up 8 free zucchini or summer squash at the farm, Wausau or Marshfield Saturday farmers markets

News from the Farm

It has been a great growing week on the farm – while many people may not love the humidity we can almost hear the plants grow. We were able to get in timely weeding, hay making and planting between the storms and only had minor wind damage to 2 hoophouses. A big thank you to Logan who continues to stay late for weeding, to close the greenhouses after dark (when we have forgotten) and the wonderful workershares and workers who got all our weeding and harvesting checklist done early this week! We have had a great week as a farm crew.

This week is Ted’s 6th birthday (Friday) 6 years ago, early Thursday morning before the CSA pack (we used to pack the morning of delivery) Ted was born after a thunderstorm and after Kat picked a couple of bushels of beans and just in time for breakfast! Time has flown by.

In veggie news we are battling a little bit of disease in our hoophouse cucumbers but are trying heavy pruning and more airflow as preventative measures. We are hoping for cherry tomatoes within 2 weeks, and summer crops are starting to boom in. Our broccoli is magnificent and we are excited for cabbages, beans, and new potatoes on the horizon. Stop by the farmers market this week for free extra zucchini J

            Have a delicious week – Kat, Tony, Ted, Riley and Maple 

Recipes from Heather Busigs Kitchens

 

Garlic scape pesto: Adapted from Vanilla and Bean. Makes 1+ cups of pestp. Ingredients: 10 Garlic Scapes, 1/3 C Pecorino Cheese (or Parmesan, Asiago mix), shredded, 1/3 C of Pine Nuts (or almonds), 1/3 C of Olive Oil, juice and zest from half a lemon, Pinch of Salt, A few grinds of Pepper. It is okay to omit the nuts or the cheese. If you have fresh herbs, such as dill, basil or parsley around, you can add 1/2 cup. And you can also add up to 1 cup of chopped greens. Prep: 1. Trim garlic scapes cutting just below the bulb. Discard / bulb and roughly chop. In a food processor, add the nuts, cheese, lemon zest and juice, optional herbs/greens and scapes. Process by pulsing until the mixture begins to break down. Add the salt and pepper. With the processor running, slowly add all the olive oil. Continue to process until all the ingredients are incorporated and broken down, about one minute. Store in a covered container in the fridge and enjoy within a week. Also, you can freeze the pesto in a jar or in an ice-cube tray. Once frozen, tray, remove and place in a ziplock bag in the freezer.

 

Jim Lahey's no knead pizza dough. Makes enough dough for about 4 pizzas. Ingredients: 500 grams (17 ½ ounces or about 3 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping the dough, 1 gram (1/4 teaspoon) active dry yeast, 16 grams (2 teaspoons) fine sea salt, 350 grams (1 ½ cups) water. Directions: In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and, with a wooden spoon or your hands, mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow it to rise at room temperature (about 72°F) for 18 hours or until it has more than doubled. It will take longer in a chilly room and less time in a very warm one. Flour a work surface and scrape out the dough. Divide it into 4 equal parts and shape them: For each portion, start with the right side of the dough and pull it toward the center; then do the same with the left, then the top, then the bottom. (The order doesn’t actually matter; what you want is four folds.) Shape each portion into a round and turn seam side down. Mold the dough into a neat circular mound. The mounds should not be sticky; if they are, dust with more flour.If you don’t intend to use the dough right away, wrap the balls individually in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature by leaving them out on the counter, covered in a damp cloth, for 2 to 3 hours before needed. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Assemble your pizzas. We love pesto as a base, top with cheese, left over meat, and slices of fresh veggies. Bake for 10-12 minutes and check pizzas. If you have a thick layer of toppings, it may take up to 25-30 minutes. Enjoy your pizza!

 

In the heat of summer – an essay about falling in love with farming

 

Tony announced that I was a real farmer this week after I confessed to stopping at a tractor dealership, unprompted, on the way home from the farmers market, by myself. The past three years since I left my teaching job I have actually become more of a farmer. It is not because I do more farm work than I used to or because more people recognize me as “the farmer” in our family. People still consistently laugh at Tony’s statement that I am the farmer and he just lifts heavy things, partially because they see me as second in command and Tony looks the part. I am more of a farmer now because I have literally allowed myself to fall deeply in love with farming. As ridiculous as it sounds realizing I am literally in love with the experience of being a farmer, farming and being of a farm has been a transformative personal experience this season.  My employees, friends and family have had to endure the last three months of my insane ramblings about falling in love with seasons, with farm land, with the sensual nature of work. I chalk some of this up to the fact that I have barely slept in the past 8 years due to babies and breastfeeding, and now I have the energy to enjoy that work fully. But, honestly, during the day, at the end of the day, there is no place I would rather be and nothing I would rather do. I want to be in the farm, of the farm, next to and engrossed in the work.

 

My love of farming is a love of place and earth – when people say salt of the earth this is what they mean. I am painfully and blissfully aware this season of how the rhythm of farming, the smells, the feel of the humidity, cold and heat, wind, weed emergence, crop growth are part of who I am. When people fall in love with each other they often explain the feeling of want to be in or of the other person to share most intimately everything that person feels. Falling in love with the farm, especially this June, has been an equally sensual and amazing experience. Never wanting the harvest to end, wanting more hours in the light, wanting to give the experience to someone else. I could write a 2000 word essay on dragon flies – that’s how I know I am in love.

 

My love of farming is a love of culture, friendship and community – Our neighbors Stacey and Tenzin have given us so much because they are here with us to share in the farm season, the extreme emotions and stresses and celebration of farming and the promise of 50-60 more years of learning, growing and becoming better. Our farm friend community,  our rural neighbor moving back to start a creamery, and last but not the least the young aspiring farmers who are working for us this season allow me to love farming as a shared experience. I am constantly in awe and touched by the depth and strength of work other people do for our farm. Part of that is a shared love of the lettuce, literally, and of the experience. This season more than ever we have been surrounded by other people who are just as in love with the farm as us – who strive for a seamless trellising session or an efficient harvest. I love that the future is beautiful, bright and filled with friends to cooperate with. Also, sneaking away to drink wine and talk broccoli with a best female farmer friend is a weekly routine that can’t be beat.

 

My love of farming is farm work – I have known this for a long time and when I look at Riley I can see it in him, I love physical work, competition, and constant challenge. The love of the work is the rhythmic familiar pace of hand weeding and hoeing, the feeling of sitting on a transplanter next to someone who you can laugh with while toiling with, the stacking of hay. It is also the historic and constant challenge to care for 80 different crops, complicated by a space, time, and seasonal arrangement and addressing the needs of those crops, and the soil, to best feed you, our CSA members. When I look out at the carrots for next week I see the promise of a great harvest, the weeds left despite our new cultivator, the history of weeding this year, the weeds of past years, and 2-3 things I must change for the future. Holding that and 1000 moments like that each day is harder than anything I have ever done and also far more rewarding. The work, the prized harvest is also a work of art. You might not have sensed this 2 weeks ago but we grew some of the best lettuce I have ever seen on any farm ever this season, my plans for enough but not too much boy choy worked out, and my broccoli this week literally is the broccoli of 10 years of learning experiences.

 

My love of farming is family – the love of a family farm is deep, complicated, painful and celebratory. Each of the five members of our nuclear family have a district relationship with the farm which is not the same as the others. It is extremely hard to understand each other’s feelings, frustrations, and happiness when our experiences with the same day are not the same. Despite the differences I cannot explain how deeply I love the farm for what it gives us. Quite literally we lay in the blueberry patch outside our house in July and eat berries after long farm days, my kids bike by themselves to grandparents houses for treats and trout fishing, and tony and I get to look out on rare occasions when we can reflect under a double rainbow and see all we have built over the past 10 years. My kids climb a ladder to play basketball in the hay mow that their father, great aunts, grandparents and great grandparents climbed before them. That is not just romanticism – you can feel it in the finger oiled and warn ladder rungs. One of the most rewarding parts of being a CSA farm is getting to share this experience with others and also having the privilege of growing food for your families. It is also having support to do what I love. And when I say love I mean it. 

CSA Newsletter Week 6 - July 7th 2016

In Your Box

Lettuce Heads- Romaine

Peas or Broccoli- snow peas or big broccoli heads/bunches

 Spring Turnips- Last week for real without tops

Cucumbers: See the backside of the newsletter for info and ideas.

 Zucchini and Summer Squash – try the amazing pancake recipe.

 Garlic scapes – looking like a pigtailed curly cue. These can be used (the whole green part) like garlic.

Kohlrabi with its leaves – use leaves like kale or collards.

Basil-

Kale- red Russian or curly type.  

Next Week’s Best Guess:  garlic scapes, broccoli, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, dill, carrots or beets, celery (fulls)

  • Remember that August 6th is the barn dance. Formal invite and details will come in 2 weeks.
  • Please remember to give clear directions to any friends or family picking up boxes for you. 

News from the Farm

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Logan and Kat attended the Marshfield Saturday Farmers Market for the first time last week and Logan will be there for the rest of the year (with Monthly visits by Kat and Maple). If you are in Marshfield stop by!

Over the past three weeks we are realizing the amazing potential of our new weeding equipment in our second bean planting and fall cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli. We have been spending a few hours a week on mechanical cultivation and we are confident we will be on top of the weeds in 2 weeks! A big thank you to our farm crew as well as Travis, Autumn, and our worker shares for helping with some huge weeding projects. This is a tiring and physically demanding part of the season.

            Cherry tomatoes and other exciting crops just around the corner. We are hoping to have cherry tomatoes in the box by the end of the month. We are still planting for fall, plowing in spring crops and planting cover crops. Summer is just flying by. We have been so fortunate with the rain. The kids are harvesting and pickling cucumbers from their own garden these days and helped diligently with the pea picking project. We are hoping these are nearly as exciting about snap beans!

Have a delicious week – Kat, Tony, Ted, Riley and Maple

Recipes from Heather Busigs Kitchens

 

Broccoli salad with garlic and sesame from the NYTimes recipes: serves 6 as a side. INGREDIENTS: 1 ½ tsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp kosher salt, more to taste, 8-10 cups broccoli cut into small florets. Can also add cubed kohlrabi, summer squash, carrots, etc., ¾ c extra virgin olive oil, 4 fat garlic cloves, minced, 2 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp roasted (Asian) sesame oil, Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes. PREPARATION: In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar and salt. Add broccoli and toss to combine. In a large skillet, heat olive oil until hot, but not smoking. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in sesame oil and pepper flakes. Pour mixture over broccoli and toss well. Let sit for at least 1 hour at room temperature, and up to 48 (chill it if you want to keep it for more than 2 hours).

 

Zucchini bread pancakes, by smitten kitchen. Makes 10pancakes. If you’re someone who doesn’t like maple syrup or anything sticky or sweet on top of your pancakes (gasp!), you might want another spoonful of sugar inside your pancakes. INGREDIENTS: 2 large eggs, 3 TBSP olive oil, 2 TBSP light brown, dark brown or granulated sugar, 1/4 cup buttermilk or 2 tablespoons each of milk and plain yogurt, whisked until smooth, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 cups shredded zucchini (from about 9 ounces whole, or 1 1/2 medium zucchini), heaping cups are fine, 1 cup all-purpose flour (half can seamlessly be swapped with a whole wheat flour), 1/4 tsp table salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg, Butter or oil, for coating skillet. PREPARATION: In a large bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in zucchini shreds. In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into zucchini batter, mixing until just combined. Preheat oven to 200°F and place a tray — foil-lined if you’re into doing fewer dishes later — on a middle rack. Heat a large, heavy skillet  over medium heat. Once hot, melt a pat of butter in pan and swirl it around until it sizzles. Scoop scant 1/4-cup dollops of batter (mine were about 3 tablespoons each) in pan so the puddles do not touch. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook another minute or two, until golden underneath. Transfer pancakes to prepared pan to keep warm as well as ensure that they’re all cooked through when they’re served. Repeat with remaining batter.

 

Cucumbers – another great veggie guide for the summer bounty

The varieties

Tasty Jade- long (12+ inches), green and smooth skinned. These have a small seed cavity and are sweet. No need to ever peel just rinse and use. These are considered a burpless type.

Classic Slicer (Corinto)- These are the iconic American cucumber and have a darker green and slightly thicker skin. We still don’t peel these but the skin is thicker if you plan to pickle and may be nice to peel for certain recipes.

Silver Slicer- A smaller yellow slicing cucumber. Great in salads together with green cucumbers. The skin is very thin and not very strong in flavor.

Suya Long- A wrinkled skin on long and spiky cucumbers. Scrub to remove spikes. These are burpless and very sweet.

 Experimental types – working with UW Madison we are trialing a set of three similar large semi ribbed cucumbers. These are long like silver sliver but slightly thicker with thinner skin. All taste great so far!

Cucumber preparation, storage and a master pickling recipe!

All of the cucumbers we provide you with are slicing types but can be used easily in refrigerator or sandwich pickles (sliced). As mentioned above these is very a reason you should have to peel a cucumber other than preference and we recommend trying a slice with the skin on since most of the nutrients are in the skin and aside from the classic slicers the other varieties have been bred to have sweet thinner skin.

To store place in a loose plastic bag in the crisper. If you cannot use within a week making pickles in a great option. Store in the fridge and use as salad or a topping over the next few weeks.

Easy refrigerator dills- Because you are not actually pickling these for preservation you can easy add and subtract ingredients (think garlic scapes, sliced carrots, zucchini with seeds removed, onions or turnips). You can add pickling spice and leave out the dill; add turmeric and 2 Tbs Honey or sugar to make them a little sweeter. The joy of refrigerator pickled is that you can start eating them like a salad 4 hours after you make them and can enjoy them as pickles in several days or for weeks to come. Cucumbers can be sliced into rounds or spears (which ever you prefer).

Dill Refrigerator Pickles (Rodale Institute)
Yield: 1 quart

3-5 large slicing cucumbers plus additional vegetables if desired.
1 tablespoon pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt (but not iodized table salt)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water 1 head dill or small bunch dill leaves
1 clove garlic (optional)
3 black peppercorns (optional)

 

1. For the crunchiest pickles, select firm, dark-green cucumbers. To increase the crunchiness, you can sprinkle the cut cucumbers with a couple of tablespoons of salt, let them sit for 2 hours, and then rinse and drain before proceeding, but this step isn't necessary. 2. Place the dill in the bottom of a clean quart jar or container (we use an ice cream pail for larger batches), peel and crush the garlic clove (if using), and drop that in along with the peppercorns (if using), then put in the cut cucumber. Mix the salt, vinegar, and water in a separate container, stirring until the salt is dissolved, then pour it over the cucumbers, filling the jar right to the top. Pop on the lid and put the jar in the fridge.

 

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 5, June 30th 2016

In Your Box

Lettuce Heads- Romaine and/or Red & Green Summer Crisp

Peas- Snap and/or snow peas – all to be eaten in the pod not shelled

Spring Turnips- Last week until fall

Carrots- from the hoophouse.

Cucumbers: Long smooth skinned, yellow slicers or green slicers.

Zucchini and Summer Squash – see the backside of the newsletter for our annual guide.

Garlic scapes – looking like a pigtailed curly cue. These can be used (the whole green part) like garlic. They are amazing pureed with olive oil and used as a base for stirfry.

Napa Cabbage or Kohlrabi

Broccoli – not perfect but our broccoli planting came around.

Next Week’s Best Guess:  garlic scapes, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale or chard, peas, cucumbers, basil, lettuce, summer squash.

 

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

 Gleaning for Peas is this coming week. See below for times

Please remember to give clear directions to any friends or family picking up boxes for you – box size/color, how to bag veggies and leave box and your pick up site. We have had several members left with the wrong sized box due to guest pick ups. 

 

News from the Farm

Like so much of the season we are so thankful for the bounty coming out of the fields. Beans, cabbage, more broccoli, fennel are all 2 weeks off. The fruiting crops like tomatoes and peppers look wonderful (although we still have another month until they arrive) and we did a huge planting of fall broccoli and cauliflower along with carrots for fall and winter and the last crop of late summer beans.

Thank you to everyone who came out for the pancake breakfast. It was beautiful and we were happy to have a berry picking crew since they would not have made it until this week. We hope to offer gleaning for broccoli and beans in the next month. We are opening up snap peas to picking (gleaning) for CSA members this coming week –Friday 9am-7pm, Sunday 7-9am, Monday and Tuesday 8am-7pm. Please call, text or email so we can make sure there is enough. This is not an extra cost but we ask that you pick only what you will eat or be able to personally preserve. Have a happy 4th of July weekend. We can’t believe the CSA is ¼ over. The summer goes so fast.

Have a delicious week – Kat, Tony, Ted, Riley and Maple

Recipes from Heather Busigs Kitchens

Pasta with turnip green pesto and parmesan roasted turnips. serves 6. Total time 35 minutes (by Heather Busig)

Ingredients: 1 bunch of turnips, greens included, 1 TBSP olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1 lb any shape pasta, 2 garlic scapes, 1/4 cup pine nuts (or walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds), 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, juice of one lemon, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Quarter the turnips and slice into approx. 1/4 inch slices. Spread on roasting sheet, lined with foil or parchment paper and toss with oil, salt, pepper and parmesan. Roast for 15-25 minutes, until starting to brown. While the turnips are roasting, put a pot of water on to boil and cook pasta according to directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. While the pasta cooks, make the pesto. Roughly chop the turnip greens (can substitute with kale or arugula, or add other greens in), garlic scapes, nuts, parmesan, lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Puree and slowly add the olive oil until you have a green paste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain the pasta and add the pesto. Add some of the reserved pasta water to help thin the pesto so that it evenly coats the pasta. Stir in the roasted turnips. Serve with extra parmesan cheese at the table.

 

Pickled carrot and hummus sandwich:

Pickled carrots: 1/2 lb carrots, cut into matchsticks, peel from half a lemon, ½ cup sliced sweet pepper, 1/4 cup sliced red onion, 1 TBSP red pepper flakes (or to taste), 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup white or apple vinegar, 2 TBSP sugar, 3/4 TBSP coarse salt, 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds, 1 tsp crushed cumin seeds. Instructions: At least 12 hours, up to 1 week before making the sandwiches, place the carrots, pepper, onion, lemon peel and pepper flakes in a quart-sized jar. Combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt, coriander and cumin in a small pot and heat over medium heatuntil the mixture boils and the sugar/salt dissolve. Pour over the veggies, cool, and place lid on jar. Store in the refrigerator. To assemble the sandwiches, spread 1 TBSP hummus on each of two slices of bread, add micro greens, a layer of pickled carrot mixture and (optional) feta cheese. Repeat as wished. I found that 1 quart of veggies made 8-10 sandwiches.

 

 

 

 

Summer Squash and Zucchini 101

Every year, and this year is likely no different, we have lots of summer squash. Summer squash are not only the butt of many jokes like “how do you know you are living in the midwest?” A: “The only reason you lock your car doors is to keep your neighbors from filling it with free zucchini”; but it is a versatile vegetable that can make into sweet muffins for breakfast, cake, does well on the grill, can be stuffed, roasted, eaten raw and much more. Below is our annual zucchini/summer squash guide with information on different types and uses.

The varieties

There is a large range of color (and to a smaller extent flavor) in summer squash.

Zucchini are one type of summer squash characterized by being long and fairly uniform in size throughout the plant. On our farm we grow both green zucchini and several varieties of stripped and yellow zucchini. We also grow a type of light green zucchini called Alexandria which are shorter and more squat and have a great flavor. All can be eaten in the same manner.

Yellow Summer Squash- Many people ask for summer squash for specific recipes usually referring to straight neck or crock neck squash with a paler yellow skin and a more bulbous bottom or seed cavity. Some people may these are nuttier. Honestly for most recipes you can use all summer squash interchangeably.

Patty Pans and Eight Ball Squash – These space ship or gourd looking squash and round zucchini look unusual! They do actually have nuttier flavor and a crisp texture. We never give you gourds in the box, so know that if you have a brightly colored squash (or a round one) they are meant for eating.

Recipes

Summer squash and zucchini ribbons – for pasta substitute or just fun! You can use a veggie peeler to slice squash into long ribbons of desired thickness after washing and removing the ends. You can lightly steam or sauté these and treat them like pasta (or use them like lasagna noodles) or cook with garlic (or garlic scapes) and olive oil and serve as a side. We also find these great raw in marinated salads (with Italian or sesame based dressings).

Zucchini mock apple pie- I know it sounds strange but one of the best pies I have ever had was not a real apple pie but a midsummer 4th of July mock apple pie!  1 recipe for a double 9 inch pie crust (we use the Joy of Cooking recipe but with whole wheat flour), 2 large or equivalent or zucchini halved with larger seeds removed (not need to deseed small ones),  2 Tbs lemon juice (or 1 Tbs cider vinegar), 1 cup pack brown sugar or equivalent maple syrup (if using maple syrup add 1 tsp corn starch), 1.5 tsp cinnamon, 1 pinch nutmeg, 1 tsp cream of tartar. Sauté zucchini in lemon juice and salt for 3-4 minutes until tender. Combine other ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add zucchini, toss well, fill pie crust, top with other pie crust making sure to punch small hole in top. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes until golden brown.  

Zucchini Pickles- 1 pound zucchini ,1 small yellow onion or green onions/garlic scapes, 2 tablespoons salt, a little more if using kosher, 2 cups cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar or honey, 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard, 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed yellow and/or brown mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric. Wash and trim the zucchini, then slice them lengthwise into 1/16-inch-thick slices on a mandoline. (You could slice them crosswise, too, but Zuni's are lengthwise.) Slice the onion very thinly as well. Combine the zucchini and onions in a large but shallow non-reactive bowl or casserole dish, add the salt, and toss to distribute. Add a few ice cubes and cold water to cover, then stir to dissolve the salt. After about 1 hour, taste and feel a piece of zucchini—it should be slightly softened. Drain and pat dry. Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, mustard seeds, and turmeric in a small saucepan and simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside until just warm to the touch. If the brine is too hot, it will cook the vegetables and make the pickles soft instead of crisp. Transfer the zucchini and onion pieces to three two-cup canning vessels (or the equivalent) and pour over the cooled brine. Seal tightly and refrigerate for at least a day before serving to allow the flavors to mellow and permeate the zucchini. They'll last for a week in the fridge.­­

CSA Newsletter Week 4, June 23rd 2016

In Your Box

 

Lettuce Heads- butter head and/or romaine! Great with the creamy dressing.

 

Scallions– last week for these onions in late July.

 

Peas- Snap and/or snow peas – all to be eaten in the pod not shelled

 

Spring Turnips- great in the pancake recipe below.

 

Napa (Chinese) Cabbage- stir fry, slaw and spring rolls

 

Carrots- from the hoophouse and wonderful!

 

Cucumbers: Small Shares Only

 

Zucchini: Full Shares Only

 

Fresh Dill

 

Spinach: Full Shares Only

 

Strawberries! yippy

 

Next Week’s Best Guess:  Spring Turnips, peas, lettuce heads, garlic scapes, cucumbers, zucchini, kale, fresh herbs (sage, basil, cilantro), carrots

 

Important Reminders

ü  This Sunday is the pancake breakfast! Make sure to park in the yard (not on the road!) for this event as well as pizza nights.

ü  Remember to separate carrots and turnips from their greens and to use the greens. Pesto is a great option for extra greens include carrot tops (see back for recipes)!

 

News from the Farm

This Sunday is the pancake breakfast! We are excited to see everyone. If possible (not required) bring a mug, a plate and a fork to minimize disposables. We are planning on letting CSA members pick and eat strawberries since they have arrived but… this is not an official upick event. We will not have significantly large amounts of berries to take home.

Almost every crop in the field is looking great. June is just incredible in Wisconsin. Our early broccoli crop was hurt by the late frost so we will not have broccoli for several weeks but other than that everything is growing according to plan! We are still in the thick of weeding and mowing season but are also getting fields ready for the big fall planting of storage crops and we continue to plant cabbage family crops for fall. We have some big infrastructural projects going on – we are closing our manure pit which has been un-used and building it into an irrigation pond; we are getting ready to re-roof our giant dairy barn, and we are taking a needed plunge into the world of parking and will have a gravel lot in place in a week or so (to deal with pizza night and CSA event parking.

Have a delicious week – Kat, Tony, Ted, Riley and Maple

 

Recipes from Heather Busigs and Kat’s Kitchens

 

Kat’s creamy herb dressing: Use the basic base recipe here and add fresh herbs, green garlic, scallions to change the flavor.

Basic proportions: 1.5 Tbs Mayo (optional but good if you use a less thick yogurt), 1 cup plain yogurt, 2 Tbs lemon juice (mild vinegar like rice wine or apple cider can be used instead), 1-2 Tbs fresh herbs or garlic. This is a great dressing for napa slaw, and grilled romaine or regular greens salads.

 

Japanese vegetable pancakes (adapted from smitten kitchen) makes 12-14 small pancakes, serving 5-6: Pancakes: 7-8 cups of finely shredded vegetables, including (but not limited to): cabbage, carrots, turnips, kale and zucchini, 4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (could use a gluten free substitute), 6 large eggs, beaten, neutral oil for frying. prepare: Toss shredded veggies, scallions, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss mixture with flour so it coats all of the vegetables. Stir in the eggs. Heat a large heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of the skillet with oil and heat that too. To make the pancakes, pick up a small pile of the mixture with your fingers and drop it into the skillet. You can probably fit 3-4 piles of veggies in the skillet. Flatten the piles slightly with the back of a spatula. Cook for 3 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Flip the pancakes and cook them again until well browned on each side. You can keep them warm on a tray in the oven until you finish frying the rest of the mixture. Serve plain or with any of the sauces below. Extra pancakes will keep in the fridge for a couple of days or can be spread on a tray in the freezer until frozen and put in a freezer bag to be stored. Reheat on a baking sheet in a hot oven until crisp. Tangy sauce: 1/4 cup ketchup, 1.5 TBSP Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 tsp dijon mustard, 1 TBSP sake or white wine, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1-2 TBSP honey, 1/8 tsp ground ginger. Make sauce: Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and let simmer for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and thick. Alternate sauce: Combine 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 TBSP soy sauce and 2 tsp sriracha. Mix well and serve. Also great with sweet chili sauce.

REMINDER! 10th Annual CSA Local Food Pancake Brunch

Sunday June 26th 9:00am - 1:00pm

 

Join us for food from 9-12 and including Stoney Acres whole wheat pancakes, maple syrup, maple herb sausage, egg veggie frittatas, local coffee, local cream line milk and yogurt and more all sourced from our farm and local farm and food businesses. Sausage and eggs are gluten free. Call or email with food questions or concerns.

 

We will have regular farm tours from 10-12:30 and visits to pigs and chickens. On-going berry picking.

 

11am we will have a planting party (Aimed at kids but open to anyone)– plant your own herb seedlings or bean seeds to bring home and tend!

 

12pm we will collect eggs with the chickens.

 

This is a free CSA event. Visiting friends or family from out of town, grandchildren etc. are all welcome to join you. We will have a small farmer’s market table, t-shirts & seasonal cook books available for sale.

 ________________________________________________________________________________________

Using Carrot Tops

Every year we send out the reminder (many times) that carrot tops are actually used in cooking all over the world and they are good. When we refer to the tops we are talking about the leaves (not the thicker stems) that can be taken off and fine chopped and used as a mild substitute for parsley in most dishes. They are wonderful fresh in salads (using a handful), as a base for pesto (see below) or in lightly cooked dishes like baby turnips sautéed with their greens, bacon and topped with carrot leaves.  Last but not least they can be used in smoothies by those who like to add greens and are milder than many other greens like kale and spinach. When you receive your carrots separate the greens from the carrots. Remove the long thicker stems and store greens in a loose plastic bag. This helps preserve the life of the carrot bottoms too.

Simple pesto for carrot tops, herbs and/or greens (kale, chard, beet tops and more).

3 cups packed torn kale leaves (carrot tops, basil etc can be added instead or used with these together), 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup toasted walnuts (almonds, pine nuts etc also work), 4 cloves garlic (or green garlic, scapes etc), 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Pulse greens in food processor with nuts and garlic adding olive oil until desired consistency. Add salt and cheese and mix well. Add to pasta, serve on toasted bread, use as salad dressing based or stir into roasted vegetable.

Pesto can be frozen in ice cube trays and then put into ziplock bags and used throughout winter!

Using greens every day and storing them for winter

It might seem early to consider this but if you get behind on greens here are some tips. We will soon be into fruiting season but you can expect to eat lots of salads and greens for several more weeks.

-          Steam or sauté a large batch of extra greens that you have chopped and rinsed. Store in the fridge and add to eggs, pasta dishes, or atop sandwiches each day.

-          To preserve greens blanch in hot water, massage with olive oil or sauté or steam. Cool and throw into serving size ziplock bags (label) for winter soups, stews, lasagna and more.  

CSA Newsletter Week 3 - June 16 2016

In Your Box

 

Baby lettuce mix-

Broccoli Raab-

Scallions–Wonderful fresh or cooked in place of onion

Green Garlic: use just like garlic but the whole stem. These are the “scallions” of garlic.

Spring Turnips- white bottoms that look like a radish but have a sweeter flavor. Use greens cooked and eat bottoms sauted, roasted or raw

Napa (Chinese) Cabbage- stir fry, slaw and spring roll specials

Oyster Mushrooms: pink, grey, brown and white. All are great cooked with meat, in stir fry or fried in butter.

Kohlrabi Fulls only

Cucumbers: Fulls Only

 

Important Reminders

ü  Make sure wash salad greens well. It was a muddy week!

ü  See the announcements for the pancake breakfast and Midwest Renewable Energy Fair on the back!

ü  Please DO NOT BRING BOXES HOME. We are missing about 30.

 

Next Week’s Best Guess:  Spring Turnips, peas, lettuce heads, napa cabbage, carrots, scallions, cucumbers, kale.

Recipes From Heather Busigs Kitchen

 

Pasta with garlicky broccoli raab (from Smitten Kitchen), serves 4-6, time: 30 minutes. Ingredients: 1 lb pasta, any chunky shape, 1 lb broccoli raab (heavy stems removed, remaining stems and leaves cut into 1-2 inch sections, matching the pasta length), 1/2 cup olive oil, 5 garlic cloves peeled and minced (or 5-6 tsp minced green garlic), 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more/less to taste), about 1 heaping tsp kosher salt (or more/less to taste), grated parmesan or roman cheese for serving. Directions: Bring a huge pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta an 5 minutes before it’s cooking time is up, add the broccoli raab. It will seem like too much for the water, but with a stir or two, the raab should wilt and cook alongside the pasta. Drain the rabe and pasta together and pour into a serving bowl. In the same pot or a tiny one, heat the oil with the garlic, pepper flakes and salt over moderate heat, stirring frequently for 3-4 minutes, until the garlic is lightly golden. Pour mixture over pasta and toss to evenly coat. Shower with freshly grated cheese and eat promptly.

 

Spicy No-Mayo Coleslaw (from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything, vegetarian): serves 8, time: 30 minutes. Ingredients: 2 TBSP Dijon mustard, 2 TBSP sherry or red wine vinegar, 1 small clove garlic, minced (or 2 tsp minced green garlic), 1 TPSP minced fresh chile (jalapeño, Thai, serrano or habanero), or to taste (optional), 1/4 cup peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil, 6 cups cored and shredded Napa, Savoy, green and/or red cabbage, 1 large red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced, 1/3 cup diced scallion, 1/4 cup minced parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Directions: Whisk the mustard, vinegar, garlic and chile together in a small bowl. Add the oil a little at a time while continuing to whisk. 2. Combine the cabbage, pepper and scallion and toss with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve. (best if it rests for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours, just drain the slaw before continuing). Toss with parsley before serving.

 

 

Join Us for Our

10th Annual CSA Local Food Pancake Brunch

Sunday

June 26th 9:00am - 1:00pm

 

Join us for food from 9-12 including Stoney Acres whole wheat pancakes, maple syrup, maple herb sausage, egg veggie fritatas, local coffee, local cream line milk and yogurt and more all sourced from our farm and local farm and food businesses. Sausage and eggs are gluten free. Call or email with food questions or concerns.

 

We will have regular farm tours and visits to pigs and chickens.

 

11am we will have a planting party (Aimed at kids but open to anyone)– plant your own herb seedlings or bean seeds to bring home and tend!

 

12pm we will collect eggs with the chickens.

 

This is a free CSA event. We will have a small farmer’s market table, t-shirts and seasonal cook books available for sale.

 

The Energy Fair    June 17-19, 2016   7558 Deer Road, Custer, WI

We love the fair and every year we take our whole family but this year is extra exciting since Tony is a keynote speaker in the morning Saturday talking about family farm and democracy of energy in the countryside.

The Energy Fair, brings over 15,000 attendees together to learn about clean energy and sustainability, connect with others, and take action towards a more sustainable future. The Fair features over 250 workshops and over 200 exhibitors, with live music, inspiring keynotes, and activities for the whole family. Hosted by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association in Central Wisconsin, The Energy Fair is the longest-running event of its kind in the nation. Learn more and purchase advance tickets at TheEnergyFair.org. 

CSA Newsletter Week 2 - June 9th 2016

Click here for the full PDF

In Your Box

Baby lettuce

Bok Choy –You can eat all parts of these

Scallions–Wonderful fresh or cooked in place of onion

 Lettuce head (fulls only)- romaine.

Mixed baby brazing greens or mizuna- spicy and mild baby greens for salad or cooking.

Pea Shoots- All the flavor of spring peas but in the greens. Great in a pea shoot pesto, lightly steamed or sauted or added to stir fry. Remove the tougher lower stem.

Radishes/daikon radish (Fulls only)

Green Garlic (small shares only): use just like garlic but the whole stem. These are the “scallions” of garlic.

Spring Turnips- white bottoms that look like a radish but have a sweeter flavor. Use greens cooked and eat bottoms sauted, roasted or raw

Next Week’s Best Guess:  lettuce, scallions, Chinese cabbage, baby turnips, oyster mushrooms, kohlrabi, broccoli raab, kale

Important Reminders

- Remember to leave the boxes at dropsites and to bring bags.

- Mark your calendars for the first big CSA event of 2016, the All Local Pancake Breakfast Sunday June 26th

-Most of the CSA kinks are coming out. Please contact us if you need to change pick up sites. 

 

CSA Newsletter Storage Share #1 - October 23rd 2015

In Your Box

Brussels Sprouts- Break these off the stalks to store. To prepare clean off any dried leaves, rinse and cook.

Carrots –

Winter Squash – Red Kuri, Delicata and/or carnival. The red kuri are tear drop shaped, great for soup or mashing. Delicata and carnival are acorn types and nice in slices, rings or cut in half and roasted.  

Yellow onions

Swiss chard or braising greens

Winter Turnips- a white with bright purple (purple topped) or yellow with light green tops (golden) varieties.

Rutabaga – Great in stews, roasted or mashed. These have yellow skin with a pale dull purple top.

Sweet potatoes

Kale

Potatoes

 

News from the Farm

Storage Share #1 – Mark your calenders. The other storage share delivery/pickup dates are November 5th(or 7th at the market) and Novermber 19th (21st at the Market). Market pick ups are at 212 River Drive at the Winter Farmers Market.

Expect mushrooms in deliver #2 and Maple Syrup in #3. You will have greens in all three boxes this year and a similar mix of vegetables as this week with slightly different varieties and amounts. Also, please note that due to a huge amount of root crops from the late fall, storage shares also have the option of an additional free box or rutabagas, turnips, daikon radishes (or a mix or your choice) during the last delivery. You can also just take a few extras as well if that is too much.

In farm news we are almost done with the harvest – we expect to have carrots out of the ground late next week or early the following week, and are on pace to finish our out season. This is Jenny’s last week on the farm and Michelle will be here for another 2 weeks.

This Sunday we will be harvesting carrots for the neighbors’ place in Wausau from 1-5pm. They will be donated on Monday! Feel free to join us or to tell any friends who might want to come.

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

 

Kat’s Kitchen

 

Root Vegetable “fries” – we make these with sweet potatoes and rutabaga but they work equally well with potatoes, slices of delicate squash (skin left on), turnips and daikons. Cut into rough fries peeing rutabaga, radishes or turnips. Coat with olive or sunflower oil (about 2 Tbs for 5 cups of veggies) and roast at 400 stirring every 15-20 minutes. Sook until they start to brown and squash are tender. Serve with honey mustard, aioli or ketchup.

 

Rutabagas (or turnips) 1 recipe 3 ways – cube 4 cups rutabaga or turnips and put into a large skillet with 2 cups broth and 1 tsp oil or butter. Add 1 tsp fresh or dried thyme or sage. Cook stirring to cook all sides of rutabaga until tender 5-7 minutes. When they are tender you can 1) pour off broth and salt and pepper to taste to serve as a side dish 2) puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender and serve as a side 3) Add additional broth and mash slightly with a potato masher and serve as a soup. Note you can add additional vegetables like parsnips, carrots and celeriac with similar results.

 

Stuffed Sweet potatoes- Using large sweet potatoes bake whole in the oven at 350 covering with a thin coating of oil and piercing with a fork. Check periodically for tenderness – they should take 30+ minutes. Remove from oven and cut down the middle. While they are cooking place ½ lb pork sausage or ground pork in a skillet. Add ½ tsp fennel seed, 1 tbs maple syrup, 1 tsp black pepper, 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced celeriac and 1 chopped onion. Cook until aromatic and the sausage is browning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 20, October 15th 2015

Click here for the full PDF

 

In Your Box

Brussels Sprouts- Break these off the stalks to store. To prepare clean off any dried leaves, rinse and cook.

Carrots –

Winter Squash – Butternut (light brown) or buttercups (ook like dark green buttons). These are our two favorite squash. Both are sweet and wonderful in pie, soup, mashed or in soup.

Leeks or onions

Baby brassica/brasing mix- for salad and/or cooking. We have been making great salads topped with grated carrots and turnips!

Sweet Peppers

Winter Turnips- a white with bright purple (purple topped) or yellow with light green tops (golden) varieties.

Rutabaga – Great in stews, roasted or mashed. These have yellow skin with a pale dull purple top.

Sweet potatoes

Kale

 

 

News from the Farm

It is week 20. This is the last CSA delivery for the regular CSA season and we cannot thank you all enough for letting us live out our dream as your farmers at Stoney Acres. This has been our best farming season (of 10!) and as eaters you have allowed us to grow in so many ways.

We are still quite busy for the next three weeks even as the main season CSA wraps up – we finished planting 2400 bed feet of garlic yesterday and harvested 70 bushels (about 3400lbs) of beets on Tuesday, and will continue to harvest root crops for the next two weeks. We are estimating that we will have over 500 bushels of root crops for extended season CSA shares, the winter farmers market, local schools and some rural grocery store over the course of the next 6 months.

Wonder what we do in winter? We are also planning a family trip to NYC and New England, lots of family time and some much needed rest. We have conferences to attend, lots of reading and paperwork awaiting us.

We also want to thank our amazing worker shares for 2015 and of course our farm crew. Hannah is at college once again, Jenny has graciously helped for the past 6 weeks, and Michelle is literally the backbone of the farm. If you see Michelle let her know that you appreciate her work, because she does not get to hear it enough (we do). She has worked so hard for your food and our family this season and hopefully will be back full-time and year round in 2016! If you want to visit us we have 3 more pizza nights, and will be at the farmers market all fall and winter.

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

Kat’s Kitchen  Squash Sauce – Rinse squash, cut in half and remove seeds (you can bake them). bake squash cut side down at 350 degrees until very soft and aromatic, scoop our flesh, combine with 1-2 cups milk or broth to make aa thick sauce, add salt and pepper. This can be used in lasagna in place of sauce, on noodles or on pizzas. You can also freeze any that is left over easily.   
Squash and Roasted Root Veggie Stew – Bake squash as above. While baking cut up 4-5 cups of root vegetables such as turnips, rutabaga, carrots, plus 2-3 leeks or 1 onion. Coat with oil and bake on bottom rack until starting to brown. Remove squash from oven, scoop out flesh, add 2 cups broth and 1 can coconut milk and blend. Add root vegetables and 1 cup cooked ham or chicken if desired. Salt to taste. Add 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice and 1 tsp smoked paprika or chili powder. Cook for 20-30 minutes (or in a slow cooker) for at least 30 minutes. Serve with crust bread or wild rice.   
Roasted Brussels sprouts with toasted almonds (you can add carrots or beets) – break brussels sprouts off of stem, remove any brown leaves, coat lightly with olive oil. Roast at 400 until slightly soft with edges browning. If you have very a large sprouts you can cut them in half before roasting. While roasting chop almonds roughly and toast in a dry pan on the stove top for several minutes making sure to stir and not burn. In a small bowl mix juice of 1 lemon, 1 tbs mustard, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, and 1 Tbs mayo (optional). Upon removing sprouts from oven, coat with dressing and toss with nuts. Serve or cool for a salad later   

 

What We’ve Learned and What We Plan

Every year for both our own reflection and for the benefit of CSA members understanding of our farm we look back at the season, as it is drawing to an end. This year has been spectacular for us in many ways – our farm crew, our knowledge, media attention, community support, farm techology and weather have come together to put us in a place where we cannot be thankful enough for what we have.

 

We finally learned how to compost! That might sound funny but our attention to fertility, espcieally in compost production has been a game changer for our soil and crops. We have also learned more about soil fertility and ammendments that have allowed us to finally grow great broccoli, great beets, big cabbages and things that we have struggled with historically.

 

Farm technology- we made some big leaps in mechanization in the past year and it has been wonderful both in terms of reducing our toil (the measure we use to evaluate technology) and in allowing us to be better farmers – planting more salad mix, getting plant spacing perfect, direct seeding and experimenting with new fall crops. We are planning on another couple of mechanization leaps next year to aid in weeding – as we spend at least a third of our summers on our hand and knees.

 

A reckoning- this winter we are trying to plan out our next 10 years. We are looking at what makes us most happy, what best supports our family, how we can create the best jobs and retain the best workers, and how we can make our farm better (not bigger). We have already started this process but are trying to improve many of our systems, schedules, and investments to align with our broader values.

 

Community- One big step for this coming season is that we are trying to figure out how to deepen the sense of community around the CSA. We will be planning a meeting of “core” CSA members where we will bring together about 10-15 volunteer members who are interested in helping us figure out how we can better build community and meet the support needs for our CSA members. We are already planning a new CSA member mentor program (so new overwhelmed CSA members have an experienced person to call, email etc with questions) and pesto parties in which we will provide pesto ingredients (basil and garlic) to groups of 5-10 CSA members to make pesto together in their own homes. If you are interested in being in the core group please email or call us. We will plan an event in Athens or Wausau in Decemeber.

 

Weather is still the most important variable in our lives – sounds silly we know but our stress, our marriage, our happpiness, our crops, our pizza nights all rest on weather. This year’s weather has been phenomenal.

 

We value and love our neighbors and farm compadres. We are so happy the Red Door Family Farm is in the neighorhood and that we have grown amazing friendships with local like-minded farmers that allow us a peer group in farming. Farming can be lonely at times, difficult and difficult to talk about with non-farmers. Having great neighbors and friends to share with, to depend on, to have a beer with, and to learn with is a transformative process. This is hard to commicate effectly but this has made a huge difference and also creates a larger community which can attract more young, new, and excited farming folk.

 

We have some specific farmstead plans in the work including a mudroom (starting in a few weeks), a small packshed expansion, and some small things like better tool racks, wall mounted whiteboards (all over the farm), and in the future a truck we can pack boxes into while standing up! We are expanding our solar power to cover 106% of our farm energy needs in the early summer of 2016. We have a new great strawberry patch started for next year and will be replanting raspberries to try to get more fruit in shares in the future.

 

We will be expanding our Abbotsford/Colby Area dropsite for 2016 thanks to Brianna Hultman who will be transporting boxes from the farm (yippy!). The Local food as a movement is growing – we have been thrilled to work increasingly with The Red Eye, Sconnies, and DownTown Grocery this year and are so hapy that food businesses like Navieve Formagerie (a new cheese shop in Wausau) are opening – and you can get almost all your groveries at farmers markets and local shops. We are so hopeful for the future of food and agriculture in the region and our CSA members are the backbone of this!

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 19, October 8th 2015

Click here for the full PDF

 

In Your Box

Beets-

Carrots –

Pie Pumpkins – either a netted winter luxury or a smoothed skin New England Pie.

Leeks-

Red Radishes or Purple Daikon Radishes-

Brasing mix or Bok Choy –

Sweet Peppers

Turnips no tops- full shares only

Garlic

Rutabaga – Great in stews, roasted or mashed.

Sweet potatoes! A range of sizes. All are fully cured (sweet). Some are a purple with white (light green when cooked) center and others are the classic orange skin. To store move these into a brown paper bag and store in a dry dark place around 50 degrees. 

News from the Farm

Welcome to Week 19. The End of the season is upon us. Next Week 10/15 is the final delivery. Reminders- Please bring bags to your last CSA drop if possible so you can leave your box and take your veggies. We will still accept boxes after the season is complete but out of respect for our great sight hosts we would like have boxes back as soon as possible. We are also very short of brown full share boxes so if you have several at home please bring them back or to the farmers market this week J

            We have a super-duper Friday planned as the fall leaves peak and the weather is still warm. Kim Casey will be offering a cooking class using seasonal root and fall veggies at 5:45pm, we have a cool scarecrow made by our kids perfect for fall photos and we will have great fall themed pizza to boot. Join us for any or all parts of the fun.

            We are working on cleaning out the fields – harvesting, picking up irrigation and plastic mulch, and planting our last cover crops. We have about 4 more weeks of serious farm work as we expect to harvest tons (literally) of rutabaga, turnips, winter radishes, carrots and beets. We start on long term storage root crop harvest next week as we wrap up the CSA.

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

 

 

Note:  We have a great storage resource http://stoneyacresfarm.net/member-resources/. If you find that you have extras of anything most veggies (other than greens) that we are delivering will store for weeks or months if stored properly.

 

Pumpkin or Squash Pie Filling – Use pumpkin and squash interchangeably because pumpkins are just a type of squash.

Either make or buy a pie crust to use with this filling – makes 2 pies. 1 cup milk, 3-4 cups roasted pumpkin or squash, 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice, ¾ cup maple syrup, 3 eggs, 1 pinch of salt. Puree in a food processor, bake in crust until set in center about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.                                                                                                 

 

Squash/Pumpkin Soup – Use pumpkin and squash interchangeably because pumpkins are just a type of squash.

This is a basic recipe but can be adapted by changing the spices used, using coconut milk in place of dairy, adding curry and making more or less sweet. 3 to 3 1/2 pounds squash, approximately seeded and quartered, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus 1 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon, 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth, 1/4 cup honey, 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roast  Squash for 30 to 35 minutes or until the flesh is soft and tender cut side down. Scoop the flesh from the skin into a pot. Add the broth, honey and ginger. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Using a stick blender puree the mixture until smooth if putting into blender or food processor allow it to cool. Stir in the cream and return to a low simmer. Season with the salt, pepper, nutmeg. Adapted from Alton Brown.

 

Sweet Potato and Leek Hash

3 tablespoons olive or coconut oil, divided, 2 medium sweet potatoes diced, 1 sweet pepper diced, Sea salt, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, 2 medium or 4 small leeks, diced, 2 garlic cloves, minced, 4 eggs (optional), Black pepper to taste. Instructions Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes along with a generous pinch of salt, cumin, and paprika. Cover the skillet with a tight-fitting lid and cook for about 5 minutes, tossing and flipping occasionally to ensure that all sides of the potatoes are browning and getting crisp. Add the leeks, peppers and garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes, covered, tossing and flipping occasionally. The hash is done when the potatoes are cooked and crisp and leeks are soft. Top with sunny-side or over-easy eggs if desired or serve as a side dish for lunch or dinner.   

 

CSA Newsletter Week 18, October 1st 2015

Click here for the full PDF

In Your Box

 

Hakuri “spring” turnips with greens- remember to use the great greens!

Potatoes- red, yellow and/or whites. All great for roasting and boiling.

Carrots –

Winter Squash – delicata or carnival (see recipes)

Leeks-

Red Radishes- even better than in spring. Mild.

Baby brassica greens – wonderful in salads or stirfry.

Kale – sweet, beautiful and tender.

Kohlrabi- these are big ugly storage kohlrabi but they are wonderful under their skin.

Hot peppers

News from the Farm

Welcome to Week 18. Happy Autumn . First a big thank you to everyone who came out to the pumpkin pick, pizza and pie event. It was spectacular weather and we were so excited to feed you, see you and to collect eggs with kids. If you were not able to make it and still want a jack-o-lantern pumpkin you can pick one up at the farm for the next week or 2. Just call or let us know if you are coming for pizza.

It finally frosted Wednesday and we are perfectly happy with it. We had time this week to finish to pumpkin and winter squash harvest, to get 2/3rds of the sweet potatoes harvested and all other frost sensitive crops other than peppers were done producing. We have all the peppers and hot peppers picked for the next few weeks and all of the fall greens like kale, baby brassica greens, cabbage and brussels sprouts will be sweeter and more tender!

In family news, Happy 10th Anniversary to us J We had a small ceremony in a community garden in Madison on October 2nd 2005. Can’t believe that our walk in life and farming started 10 years ago.

NOTE: STORAGE SHARES start on Oct 23rd for those signed up.

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

Kat’s Kitchen

Winter squash Delicata, Sweet Dumpling, Acorn and Carnival- we grow many winter squash and everything we deliver to you is an eating (NOT GOURD) type of squash. This week you have Delicata &/or Carnival squash. Both are “acorn” types with a thinner skin and sweeter than acorn squash flesh which is best roasted. To prepare you can cut into slices, rings or just halve and roast at 350. Slices and rings should be oiled or cooked in a pan with added water or cider. Halved squash can be cooked cut side down. No need to sweeten these but if you want to a drizzle of melted butter and maple syrup or honey is fantastic. Some great CSA members recommended a chili-lime butter to top them as well.

 

Roasted Roots – on of the joys of fall, in our opinion is roasted root vegetable. You can prepare them, use them as a side or base of a meal and then can refrigerate and use them added to soups and stews, warmed up and topped with eggs for breakfast, mashed and refried into pancakes and much more. Combine 1 onion or several leeks, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, and 2-4 lbs of cubed root vegetables including turnips, potatoes, carrots, beets, rutabaga and hot or sweet peppers if desired. Toss with 2-3 Tbs olive or sunflower oil, salt and pepper and if flavoring is desired smoked paprika, chili powder, rosemary and thyme or mixed seasoning blends. Roasted at 400 until roots start to brown stirring once if desired.

 

Great Fall Slaw -  ½-1 giant kohlrabi, 2-3 carrots, 3 radishes, 1 sweet pepper, celery or celery leaves if desired, 1 apple finely sliced. Grate Kohlrabi, radishes and Carrots, finely slice 2-3 celery stalks and pepper and apple – combine. In a jar or blender mix together 2 Tbs Mayo, 1 Tbs honey, 1 Tbs olive oil, 3 Tbs lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Toss and serve with sunflower seeds. You can make this with beets grated in for a pink salad, with greens added for texture.

 

Turnips, their greens and bacon – cook 3-4 slices of bacon cut into chunks adding turnip bottoms sliced into rounds. While they are cooking roughly chop greens. Add once turnips begin to soften and bacon to brown further. Cook until greens are wilted and add fresh ground pepper

CSA Newsletter Week 17, September 24th 2015

Click Here for the full PDF

In Your Box

 

Hakuri “spring” turnips with greens- remember to use the great greens!

Beefsteak and/or Heirloom Tomatoes

Potatoes- red, yellow and/or whites. All great for roasting and boiling.

Carrots –

Beets

Onions- red and/or yellow. The range of sizes all store well.

Daikon radishes- a sample white, green topped white and purple varieties.

Bok Choy- back for this week only. Great in stirfrys and braised.

Celery—these are smaller and are best used in cooked dishes. See the mirepoix recipe

Sweet peppers- an assortment of many colors and shapes.

 

News from the Farm

Welcome to Week 17. The beautiful fall continues. We have a huge potato harvest this week – almost 80 bushels half of which will go into the CSA boxes and storage shares, the other half which will go into storage for the winter market. We started harvesting some other roots without tops like carrots, beets and daikon radishes for the box, and harvested squash at the end of yesterday which will be in the next 3 CSA boxes – including butternuts, butter cups, acorns are more!

Remember the pumpkin pick, pizza and pie event is this Saturday from 1-5pm. You will get to take home a pumpkin or two, snack on pizza and pie as well as fresh pressed apple cider. We will have a hayride to the pumpkins, will have several farm tours, will collect eggs from the chickens and can visit the piglets too! If you would like to get your pumpkin at an alternate time please call/text/message us.

As the CSA season comes to end (3 weeks left – Oct 14th is the last delivery) remember to return any boxes you might have forgotten in past weeks. We do have space for CSA members in our storage shares. Remember these are farmers market or farm pick up only – we have to say it is going to be a wonderful fall for storage shares because of the greens and warm temperatures.

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

 

Kat’s Kitchen

Mirepoix, soffritto, German Suppengrün and the holy trinity. These are all variations on a theme, aromatic vegetables used as a based for soups, roasts, stews and sauces. Mirepoix is a 2:1:1 ratio of onions, carrots and celery (you can use the leaves); the holy trinity uses peppers in place of carrots and is the base for gumbos and many classic Louisiana style soups; soffritto adds garlic and/or tomatoes and suppengrun uses leeks, celery root and carrot. In all cases vegetables should be diced very very finely and cooked in oil or butter until aromatic about 5 minutes. You can then add broth or just water with salt and make rich stews. All versions can be used to improve your favorite chili, in place of store bough broth and will make dishes rich and flavorful. Last but not least using these to flavor starches like rice or to pan fry potatoes make regular dishes even better. Mirepoix soup: 1 lbs of onions, 1 lbs carrots, 1 lb celery finely chopped. Saute in a mixture of 2 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs butter until fragrant, add 5-6 cups vegetable or chicken stock, fresh or dried thyme, salt and pepper to taste and puree. You can use ½ cup cream or coconut cream for a creamy version too.

 

Simple turnip, daikon and carrot kim chi-style salad – there are lots of recipes for real kim chi using these ingredients on the web. If you want to explore it further we have used this recipe with some added fish sauce and hot peppers works great http://www.foodwithlegs.com/wild-pickled-turnips/. We actually like making a milder unfermented version as a salad/side dish/condiment. Thinly slice 1 daikon radish, 2-3 small turnips, ½ onion, and shred a carrot. Combine in a non reactive bowl with 1 tsp salt and stir with hands. Let stand 15-30 minutes, rinse with clean water, add 1 tsp fish or soy sauce (for vegetarians), thinly sliced hot or sweet peppers, 1 clove garlic and fresh ginger. A great burger topping or served alongside rice dishes too. 

CSA Newsletter Week 16, September 17th 2015

Click Here for the Full PDF

In Your Box

Hakuri “spring” turnips with greens- they are back and they are sweet and tender!

Beefsteak and/or Heirloom Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes/saladettes

Red Swan and/or Dragons Tongue Snap Beans-use like other snap beans.

Broccoli or Cauliflower (fulls only)- The newest planting is wonderful

Potatoes- red, yellow and/or whites. All great for roasting and boiling.

Carrots – back for the rest of the season.

Eggplant

Edamame- the last week for these.

Garlic-

Salad mix – baby greens are back

 

News from the Farm

Welcome to Week 16. We cannot believe how fast the weeks are speeding by. Our large harvest projects are lining up – all the onions are harvested and curing. Next week we are digging potatoes, harvesting and curing squash followed soon by sweet potatoes. Due to the warm weather, you can expect tomatoes and peppers in the box for at least two weeks more and we are trying to stock the box with greens too. Fall root crops, squash, and special fall crops like Brussels sprouts will be appearing as the weeks continue.  We are enjoying frost-free farming time but many of our favorite roots and brassica crops taste best when a frost has taken place so we will celebrate summer but wish for an early October frost too.

            The newsletter’s backside features the pumpkin pick, pie and pizza event which is next week. Keep an eye out for several important newsletters over the next few weeks including our annual survey and our early sign-up form for 2016.

            If you have a chance to make it to pizza night or the Wausau farmers market this weekend UW-Madison horticulture department will be here doing tasting of new trial varieties and we of course would love your feedback for the coming seasons. U-pick tomatoes will likely end next week, please call to sign up.

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

 

Kat’s Kitchen

Eggplant with beans and cherry tomatoes – epicurious.com   1.5 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (or soy sauce), 4 teaspoons sugar or honey, 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, 1/2 eggplants (about 2 small or 1 large), 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil, 1/2 green beans, 10 cherry tomatoes, 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves (optional), 1 tablespoon roasted peanuts or sunflower seeds.

In a large bowl stir together fish/soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice and let stand, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Preheat broiler/oven. Cut eggplants crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lightly brush a small baking pan with some oil and arrange eggplant slices in pan. Brush eggplant with remaining oil and broil 3 to 4 inches from heat, turning it once, until tender and browned, about 8 minutes total. Add eggplant to fish-sauce mixture and toss. Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. Cut beans into 1 1/2-inch lengths and in a saucepan cook in boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain beans and transfer to ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans well and add to eggplant mixture. Halve tomatoes and coarsely chop cilantro. Finely chop peanuts. Add tomatoes, cilantro, and nuts to eggplant mixture, tossing to combine. Vegetables may be prepared 2 hours ahead. Serve vegetables at room temperature sprinkled with remaining nuts.

Edamame and carrot salad (we made this with tomatoes added too) - 1 1/2 cups shelled cooked edamame beans, 4 medium carrots (about 12 ounces), peeled, coarsely grated, 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions/onion, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar,2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice,1 tablespoon vegetable oil,1 garlic clove, minced. Mix together the garlic with oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Toss other ingredients together and dress. Serve cold

 

 

Pumpkin Pick, Pizza and Pie

 

Join us Saturday Afternoon, September 26th from 1-5pm

 Celebrating the 2015 Harvest

 

Food – we will have seasonally themed pizzas to snack on, an assortment of pumpkin and squash pies, fresh pressed apple cider and a water cooler. Please bring your own mugs, cutlery and plates if possible

 

Pumpkins – we have tons of huge jack-o-lanterns, baby pumpkins, pie pumpkins and a few assorted colored pumpkins. Every CSA family can take one home as part of your share. We will have a hayride out to the pumpkin patch too.

 

What to Bring– Wear clothing appropriate for the weather and that can get muddy or wet. The pumpkin patch has weeds and uneven ground so plan accordingly. Visiting family or out of town visitors welcome. Have a friend interested in joining the CSA? Feel free to bring them too.

 

What to Leave at Home- Please leave pets at home.

 

Other Details- This is a CSA Event with no charge. We will have Maple Syrup, Additional Pumpkins, Cookbooks and Sign Up Forms for the 2016 Season available at the event as well. 

CSA Newsletter Week 15, Sept. 9th 2015

Click here and here for the front and backsides of the newsletter

In Your Box

Sweet peppers

Beefsteak, Heirloom Tomatoes

Rainbow Cherry tomatoes/saladettes

Red Swan or Dragons Tongue Snap Beans-use like other snap beans.

Broccoli or Cauliflower - The newest planting is wonderful

Beets with their greens-

Sweet Corn- Finally out new open pollinated corn is ready! A mix of yellow and bicolor cobs.

Spaghetti or Delicata squash – see recipes for details.

Muskmelons (cantaloupe) or Watermelon!

Basil

Cucumbers (fulls only)

 

News from the Farm

Welcome to Week 15. Wow we are ¾ through the season and the bounty of September is upon us. We literally had problems closing boxes and had to take out edamame from the boxes. They are also heavy – the full shares we weighed ranged from 27-31 lbs thanks to melons, beets, and squash. We were unable to harvest potatoes because of the wet weather but hope to have them for at least 4 of the next 5 weeks. In the next 2 weeks we will bring in a huge amount of vegetables for curing – squash, onions and potatoes followed by sweet potatoes and the roots lie carrots after the frost comes. Speaking of frost what a wonderful warm fall we are having. We are starting to feel the pressure of the cold weather even though it is not too cold – since we have about 10 weeks to harvest 50,000 lbs of vegetables (or more!).

If you want a chance to get your hands dirty we welcome help with the harvest – also we will announce a family harvest afternoon once we have a grasp on the fall weather, when you can come out to harvest carrots for donate to the Neighbors Place in Wausau.

Remember that the pumpkin pick, pie and pizza event is coming up on the 26th from 1-5pm. The large carving and pie pumpkins are outstanding. As we harvested squash yesterday Tony exclaimed about 30 times how impressed he was. If you are interested in harvesting your own edamame or hot peppers to preserve we have a ton. Just call to set up a time.  

 Have a delicious week- Kat, Tony, Riley, Ted and Maple

 

Spaghetti and Delicata squash- roasting is the best way to cook all squash. Delicata are wonderful roasted in rings lightly covered in olive oil (maple syrup, chili powder, and salt optional). Spaghetti squash are best cut in half, roasted cut side down until tender and scraped out. You are use as pasta with sauce or top with butter, salt and pepper for a side dish.

 

Amazing roasted or grilled veggie for topping squash OR for stuffing tacos. We have made variations on this all week and our kids love them. You can roast on the grill or in the oven at 350-400 degrees. Combine a mixture of sliced peppers, onions, diced garlic, cauliflower and beans with olive or other mild oil. Roast until tender. For taco topping combine with black beans or browned meat, smoked paprika or chili power and serve topped with cheese. To top pasta or squash just toss together, add salt and pepper and parmesan cheese.

 

Sweet corn ideas- contrary to many beliefs corn does not need to be cooked. It benefits from less steaming, boiling or grilling rather than more. You can shave it into salads fresh, roasted and top with herbs like fresh basil. Or set up a corn “bar” with salted spreads or flavored butters. We mostly eat it fresh or lightly boiled with butter as a side dish J

 

 

CSA Newsletter Week 15, Sept. 3rd 2015

It is actually week 14! 

click here to access the full PDF

News from the Farm

Welcome to Week 14. We have reached another transitional time in the season as we shift from fruiting crops to more fall crops. While this will start next week as beets, potatoes and the first winter squash appear in the box we will hopefully have several more frost free weeks to provide more beans, tomatoes, peppers etc. Our late fall greens are all germinated and we are planting the final hoophouse crops later this week. We are also in the midst of assembling our new hoophouse. It will be the biggest thus far and should provide some great additional space for next year’s early crops and even more importantly space to allow for a good crop rotation. There are several farm events coming up this month – Friday September 18th we will be doing a tasting panel for vegetable varieties with some researchers at UW Madison during pizza night (and the next day at the farmers market). We hope to get good feedback on many vegetable varieties so we will know what to plant and trial for next season. The 19th we are also cohosting a yoga retreat on the farm - http://5koshasyoga.com/special-events/yoga-seasonal-harvest-preparation-with-community-meal-at-stoney-acres-family-farm/. There will be a full page feature next week. Also, mark your calender for the pumpkin pick, pizza and pie event which is for CSA folks only and will feature pumpkin (pie and large carving) picking, all you can eat fall themed pizzas and an array of pies, fresh cider and general fall fun. 

In Your Box

Red Onions

Tomatillos

Sweet peppers

Hot peppers

Celery

Kale

Beefsteak, Heirloom Tomatoes

Rainbow Cherry tomatoes– Note many of these are so ripe they split after we pick them. Refrigerate/ use right away.

Red Snap Beans (smalls only)-use like other snap beans.

Winecap Mushrooms (smalls only)-

Edamame (fulls only) – see last week’s recipes for description and ideas

Broccoli or Cauliflower (fulls only)- The newest planting is wonderful

Eggplant (fulls only)

 

Winecap mushrooms: Great for any dish with a soft mushroom including curry, creamed soups, wine braised meats or veggies. We love these cooked fast (3 minutes max) with caramelized onions and a tablespoon of redwine or sweet vinegar. Use to top any starch or meat!

 

·         Celery, tomato and onion salad- 4-5 plum tomatoes, 2 slicers or the equivalent in halved cherry tomatoes, ½ medium onion, thinly sliced into ribbons, 2 stalks farm celery thinly sliced with 1/8 cup leaves included. Dressing ¼ cup olive oil, 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar or sweet vinegar), 2 tbs heavy cream. Wisk dressing, put on salt adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Great with crust bread and cheese!

·          

Roasted summer veggie casserole – we had this 3 times this week and no one was upset J The key is the preroasting which makes it a bit more labor intensive but also better. In a large bowl toss 4 cups of mixed vegetables including onion, minced garlic, thinly sliced eggplant and/or peppers, summer squash and/or plum/cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Add 3 Tbs olive oil and roast in the oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes on 2 sheets. Remove from oven and transfer to deeper roasting/cake pan, add 2 tbs fresh herbs (cilantro or basil) or 1 tbs dried herbs (Italian seasoning, basil, oregano all work well), an 1 tsp mixed salt and pepper, add ½ cup crumbled feta cheese, toss and bake for 40 minutes until cheese starts to brown. You can use mozz or probably many other cheeses, add seasoned ground pork, beef or lamb, or make without cheese or meat with chickpeas added. All our versions tasted great!

 

Another kale salad! Both the curly and lacinato (dino) kale this week are perfect for salads. Enjoy with Kalamata or black olives and tomatoes topped with lemon juice, olive oil, pepper and parmesan cheese.