Stranger’s Hill Organics

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2013 Newsletter

Week 4

What to expect in this week’s share:

• carrots
• kale
• swiss chard
• lettuce
• broccoli
• collards

Notes from the farm:

    After years of hard work and love of the land we notice many supportive communities at the farm.  The village that raises the child can translate to the ecology that nurtures the seed.  It is not only the careful planting of the seed, but nurturing the family that sustains it. This will create an ecosystem of support and enlightenment.  Our friend the Garter Snake enjoys the fine dining atmosphere of the watermelon fields, while devouring slugs with a sly grin.   The cute tadpoles find their way back again, as they do every year to assist with cultivation of the lily pads, while the Snapping Turtles give a shell full of pond maintenance, and the Goldfinches………………….. anticipate.  These feathery friends wait patiently for the sunflower seeds they so desire.  They’ll be waiting for a while as these seeds are far from ready yet.

Crops:

We’ve planted an annual flower beds,  including sunflowers, calendula, nasturtium, zinnia, borage, snapdragon and sweet alyssum.  We look forward to sharing some of these beautiful flowers with you later in the season.

************Beautiful Nutritious Foods Photo Contest*************

Studies show that if your food looks better, it also tastes better.  We have the freshest, most flavorful, and beautiful vegetables around, just look inside your weekly distribution box.   Please share your beautiful plates with us.  We want to see what kinds of creations you come up with.  Please send your plate creation photo to csa@strangershillorganics.com by June 25th and we will announce the winner of 2 yoga passes in the July 1st newsletter.

Week 3

Starbor Kale: Picture taken June 7th, 2013 by Crystal Olry

What to expect in this week’s share:

• collards
• kohlrabi
• lettuce
• swiss chard
• kale
• broccoli

GREAT JOB CSA MEMBERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost everyone brought back their boxes from last week.  Thanks for being part of a sustainability team!  Keep up the good work!

Special thanks to Carole Nowicke!  Thanks for sharing recipes, especially the one listed below.

Click here:  Learn how to MASSSAGE your Kale

Recently I had an absolutely delicious massaged kale salad at Bloomingfoods!  I couldn’t believe how good it tasted, yet then I hadn’t quite heard about the kale massaging technique.  As I ate the salad, I wondered how the kale leaves were able to maintain their form while boasting all the flavors raw kale has to offer.  Carole was so kind to bring light to this simple secret I ran across at Bloomingfoods.  As we share ideas and offer new solutions on how to incorporate raw foods in the diet,  we might find the secret ingredients behind these uncooking recipes.   For example, add one cup of love, a dash of appreciation, and many thoughtful chews, and discover your palate through simplicity.

Nutrient Information:

Click Here: Kale Nutrient, Recipe, and other information

*****************SPECIAL NOTE******************

Next week we will announce information about “Beautiful Nutritious Foods” photo contest.  So, start snapping shots of your meal creations.

Week 2

What to expect in this week’s share:

• collards
• kohlrabi
• spinach
• lettuce
• radishes
• swiss chard
• kale

Nutrient Information:

Click Here: Swiss Chard Nutrient, Recipe, and other information

Recipe Sharing:

Kale Chips Recipe Clip : video on how to make kale chips.  One of my favorite and easy to make snacks.

If you have any dynamite recipes you’d like to share, please send them to csa@strangershillorganics.com

Notes from the farm:

What’s a killdeer anyway? These brown and black feathered, white bellied, squawking plovers are at the very least entertaining with their “broken-wing-routine”.  Their willingness to nest next to people, makes them our field friends when planting hundreds of seeds by hand.   Never a lonely afternoon in the kale fields with killdeer friends by our sides.  Soon we may get to see the babies arrive!

Killdeer Charadrius vociferous

Volunteering, YES YOU! This is such a great year to volunteer!  Why? The soft and gentle spring is bringing forth abundance and beauty.  You might notice the extravagant intricacy of the rainbow swiss chard in the picture above.  It reminds me of the veins of life that our bodies soak up from the fresh and raw earth harvests.

In addition, why not get out of the gym and instead give yourself an hour or two farm workout and learn a thing or two that will inspire your gardening ambitions or give you a deeper appreciation of what organic food means.

Lastly, lets talk about RAW.  Raw diets are what everyone is talking about these days.  Would you like to take raw a step further?  How about trying a fresh kolrabi right out of the ground and into your mouth.  Now I have a deeper appreciation for raw after trying a couple vegetables right from the field.  Keep and eye open for further RAW recipes and discussion.  Your CSA shares are a great way to add more raw foods in your diet.  Why not?  Raw foods are some of the most pure and delicious forms of cuisine. Bon Appetite!

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See what’s going in the boxes every week, read updates about the farm, browse links to recipes and helpful resources, and check out our photos.

>>Click here for the weekly CSA newsletter

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Half share from week 1

Crop Update:

The deer recently made a meal of our lettuce beds, and as a result, we’re going to be a little pressed to get lettuce for this week’s share; of course, we’re going to do what we can with the heads that went untouched, and we’ll work hard to make sure everyone gets a great share. Unfortunately, once a deer knows where they can find food, they typically return. As a result, we’ve resorted to using a heavy row cover as protection, but it has some downsides: they can move it or chew through it if they really want to,  and it signals to the plants that it’s time to flower, meaning the lettuce will bolt and become unusable sooner than it otherwise would. There are other deer repellent solutions out there, but most are just not feasible at this scale.

Volunteer Opportunities: Though it isn’t mandatory, we feel that volunteering provides a good chance for people to more completely see how their food is produced and to have a hand in the process. You can choose in what area you’d like to assist (planting, harvesting, etc.) depending on your interest. If you have free time and you’d like to take us up on this offer, send us an email (csa@strangershillorganics.com) at least a day or two ahead of time and we’ll be sure to have things ready for you. Otherwise, we’re going to organize some dates for large group volunteering that we’ll be keeping you updated about. Thanks for the helping hand!

Here’s what you can expect in this week’s share:

• Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Carrots
• Kale

Recipes

Kohrabi and Carrots

Roasted Kohlrabi

Braised Kohlrabi

Quick Kohlrabi Pickles

Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw

Spicy Kohlrabi Sukke

Masala Chili with Kale & Kohlrabi

Toscana Soup (w/ Kale)

Kale Carrot and Avocado Salad

Kale Tacos

Stir-Fried Kale and Carrots

Chorizo and Kale Pasta Bowl

Bulgur and Kale Casserole with Yogurt Topping

What you can do with a whole lot of kale.

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It’s true, our CSA member group has reached it’s capacity. If you still want to join us this season, let us know at csa@strangershillorganics.com and we’ll happily update you if we decide to increase the size of our member group. Or, if you want to wait until next year to join the program, we can add you to the list of people who we contact first when we open up registration for the 2013 season. We’re very grateful for your interest and support, and we hope to welcome you as a member of our CSA program in the future. Thank you!

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We are still accepting members for the 2012 season! Sign up now for a pro-rated share.

What to expect in this week’s share:

• Lettuce
• Kale
• Beets
• Radishes
• Assorted Herb Bundles

Recipes:

15 Kale Recipes from seriouseats.com

Healthy Bean Soup with Kale

Rosy Rice Risotto with Beets and Kale

Couscous with Chick Peas, Beets, and Kale

Radiant Beet and Kale Penne Pasta

Kale Chips (Bunch not required, use any amount of kale)

Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Greens

New York Times’ Recipes for Health: Best Beet Recipes

Romaine and Radish Salad with Buttermilk Lemon Dressing

Note: Remember, you can eat your beet and radish greens, and if you want to eat your kale raw, just massage it with salt and a little oil to soften it up. Delicious!

One of our members sent us this photo of a salad he made using the vegetables from last week's share.

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Welcome to the Stranger’s Hill Organics CSA!

Right now, the cold weather crops take the center stage. Here are the items to expect this week:

1. Lettuce

2. Radishes

3. Beets

4. Carrots

5. Assorted Herb Bundles

In a few weeks we’ll have kale, kohlrabi, broccoli, peas, beans, rainbow chard, and other cooler weather vegetables, and then as the season moves along, we will eventually shift into the summer crops like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, watermelons, zucchini and various summer squashes, etc.

Recipes

Citrus-Ginger Roasted Beets and Carrots

Honey-Balsamic Glazed Roasted Beets and Carrots

Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad

Carrot Radish Salad

Grated Beet and Carrot Salad with Radish-Miso Dressing

Three-Day Pickled Beets

Cold Carrot Soup

Maple Dill Carrots

Raw Beet Salad

Beet Rosti with Rosemary

And:

Radish Dressing
from Bon Appetit 1995

5 radishes, trimmed, coarsely chopped
½ C olive oil
2 tbsp. sherry wine vinegar
1 tbsp. honey mustard (or make your own with 1/2 tbsp. honey, ½ tbsp. mustard)
½ tsp. minced garlic

*Check back for new recipes throughout the week. We’ll periodically update as we find more.

Farm Photos

A view of the interior of one of our production houses. You can see rows of beets (right) and carrots (left).

These production houses allow us to plant earlier than we otherwise could because of their ability to trap sunlight and maintain soil temperature. This is where most of the food for the first shares is being grown.

Vibrant red and green leaf lettuces.

Between the production houses, beds of radishes receive a refreshing spray. Most of these photos were taken on 4/20 of this year, and the vegetables have grown considerably since then. And of course, you'll find these radishes in your first share!

While the red and green leaf, romaine, and butter head lettuces are growing out in the fields, a second batch of lettuce starts are in the greenhouse waiting to be planted. No shortage of lettuce here.

Farm manager and partner Dave Rollo lays drip tape, a plastic hose punched with tiny holes to allow the slow release of water directly onto the beds.

Large heads of romaine lettuce growing beneath long sheets of thin row cover, a cloth material called reemay. In this case, the reemay is being used mostly to protect the lettuce from deer, who of course love feasting on organic veggies.

Playing an important role in the biodiversity of any ecosystem are pollinators, like the bees that we house on our farm. As an added benefit, if all goes well they produce a batch honey that will then find it's way into at least one of your CSA boxes.

…and many more photos to come!

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We are very excited about the coming season and we hope to see you back in 2012! Stranger’s Hill Organics Partner Dave Rollo will be our Farm Manager this year, and partners and original founders Dale and Lee Jones will be very involved in crop production, sharing their 30+ years of experience as organic growers. Registration is officially open and we encourage you to enroll early, as shares are limited. Fill out the CSA-Membership-Agreement-2012 and send it in with your deposit or full membership fee to reserve your spot!

Questions?  Contact Farm Manager Dave Rollo until May, when CSA Coordinator Ben Smith begins.

Dave: 812-272-2207 or dave@strangershillorganics.com

Ben (starting May 1): 317-625-2901 or csa@strangershillorganics.com

Check out our 2012 crop list on the CSA webpage.

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Here’s a recipe for the winter months. This recipe requires a 5 quart or greater sized slow cooker.

• 1 lb meat or meat substitute (venison, beef, chicken, textured soy, etc., chopped or cubed
• 1 medium size butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 bunch of kale, tear leaves from stems/ribs into approximately 2in x 2in pieces
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and cubed
• 1 turnip cubed
• 1 large potato cubed
• 1 large onion chopped
• 4 cloves diced or pressed through clove press
• 2 Jalapeño peppers sliced or Tabasco sauce to taste
• 1 cup rice
• 1 quart Tomato juice
• 2 cups water
• 1 12oz bottle Porter (dark beer)
• 1 cup of dry-medium mead or dry white wine
• 1 tsp crushed rosemary
• 1 Tbs salt to taste
• 1 tsp pepper to taste
• 2 Tbs olive oil

Instructions

• Put everything in slow cooker on high until thoroughly cooked and all liquid is absorbed (about 2 hours). Stir occasionally. Leave in slow cooker on lowest setting. See instructions for your slow cooker.
• Optional: If meat is ground, cook it separately and break it into small pieces first.
• Optional: marinate and/or cook meat separately before starting slow cook
• Optional: Replace beer and wine with equivalent amount of water or leave top off during boil to evaporate out the alcohol.
• Optional: brown/fry potato cubes in oil before starting slow cook
• Optional: Saute onions and/or garlic before starting slow cook
• Serve on its own with side dishes or on top of rice or pasta

This recipe was submitted by Rick Dietz

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Crust:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup water (filtered and room temp) + 2 T of honey + 1 package of yeast or 2 ¼ tsp of bread machine yeast

Mix the water and honey, and then add yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. Combine the flour and salt in large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until it comes together as dough. Work the dough for 5 minutes or so and let it rise after.

The pizza crust can be made ahead of time or as soon as you are ready to use it. If you want a thin crust, you can make it right before use. For a chewier, more complex crust, make up to 12 hours ahead and let rise an hour on the counter and the remaining time in the refrigerator. Remove 30 minutes before use.

Topping:

• 10-12 small zucchini
• Salt
• 2 T butter
• ½ – 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup (4 oz) crumbled feta
• ½ cup ricotta
• 2 T chopped basil or 1 tsp dry
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Cornmeal or olive oil for pizza pan

1. Grate ¾ of the zucchini, add ½ -1 tsp salt, toss well, and let weep in colander for 20-30 minutes.
2. Put a pan of water on to boil.
3. Make the dough.
4. Slice the remaining zucchini ¼ in. thick. Working in batches, blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain in a colander.
5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
6. Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Chop onions and add to butter. Cook until soft. Add the grated zucchini. Stir often. Cook until just beginning to brown. Transfer to a large bowl.
7. Sprinkle cornmeal on or lightly oil pizza pan. Toss crust or roll with a rolling pin. Place on pan and prebake for 3-4 minutes.
8. Add to the zucchini mixture half of the feta cheese, ricotta, basil, and pepper to taste.
9. Spread the zucchini mixture on the crust to about 1/2 in. from the edge. Top with the sliced zucchini. Sprinkle on the remaining feta.
10. Bake for about 15- 20 minutes or longer if desired.

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