Stone Soup
The Newsletter of Stearns Farm CSA
August 14, 2010 Volume 11, Number 11
In This Issue:
| ON THE STAND THIS WEEK: Head lettuce, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, slicing, heirloom and plum tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, pattypans, cucumbers, carrots, red potatoes, shallots, sweet onions. PYO: Culinary and tea herbs, cherry tomatoes, braising greens of collards, kale and chard, wax beans, edible flowers, a bouquet of flowers. COMING UP: superior potatoes, celery. |
From the Field: A Dry Week in August/Casey Wiggins
Susan set up a sprinkler to water newly-planted beds
The onions are ready to come out, and we will be harvesting them all this Saturday. It should be a fun and easy harvest. We have also begun harvesting potatoes this week. We are using the chisel plow to work up the beds to make harvesting/digging easier. It seems to be working great at loosening the soil without harming the potatoes. So, expect to see many potatoes in your future. The melons have also come in in full force. The watermelon are especially delicious! We have been "forced" to eat a few at lunch that have split in the field, and there is nothing better than fresh watermelon after a long day of working in the sun.
Weeding continues, especially in our winter carrot beds. Our beets and strawberries have also needed our attention lately, and everyone is stepping in to help give these guys a chance to grow. The flower garden has undergone an amazing transformation in the last couple of weeks too. Everyone has done an amazing job weeding, mulching and laying wood chips to make it easier to navigate through and find the beautiful flowers. We actually laid the last of the wood chips yesterday and it looks terrific! And I do not want to leave out the herb gardens, because they have also received their share of attention lately and are looking lovely. Nadine has done a beautiful job keeping Penelope's garden clean and inviting.
A few other projects at the farm this week are cutting garlic in the greenhouse for the winter, giving the cucumbers a little fish and kelp emulsion to help them along, and getting our spinach planted for the fall. We also removed the blueberry netting. The blueberries are done, and we must now weed and fertilize them. And as Kathy always says, make sure to thank them when you are back there for all they have given us this season. We are also continuing to tie the tomatoes, which are doing fabulously this season. They are healthy, vibrant and tasty. I hope everyone is enjoying them!
Fall is around the corner, so we have begun to discuss which beds are done for the season and where to plant cover crops. But for now August is delivering wonderful bounties even with the lack of precipitation, and we are so thankful to our plants and to all the people who help make this possible. Thank you!
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Vegetable Showcase: Cherry Tomatoes/Donna Savastio
Juliet plum tomatoes in the field
Tomato plants are classified as determinate and indeterminate. Determinate, or bush types, bear a full crop all at once. Indeterminate types develop vines that continue producing until they are killed by frost. All of our cherry tomatoes are the indeterminate type and are vigorous producers. They are super nutritious: an excellent source of vitamins C, A and K. They also contain Lycopene, a carotenoid shown to help protect against different types of cancers and reduce your risk of a heart attack. Remember, the deeper the color, the more lycopene in the tomato.
Tomatoes are used extensively in many cuisines. They have an acidic property that is used to bring out other flavors in the dish being prepared. This acidity often needs to be balanced with a small amount of sugar, but it is this acidity that makes tomatoes especially easy to preserve. They are best kept and eaten at room temperature. Everyone knows how versatile they are, and aside from the obvious snacking and adding them to salads they have a multitude of other uses: added to soups, sautéed with vegetables, poultry, meats and seafood, grilled for a nice smoky taste, slow roasted to intensify their flavor, dried and stored or canned for winter use and, of course, made into spaghetti and other sauces. It is important when cooking tomatoes that you not use aluminum cookware, since their high acid content will interact with the metal. This is not good for your taste buds or your health. Store your tomatoes out of the refrigerator, and don’t wash them until you are ready to use them. Let’s hope our hot weather continues so that we can have a nice long cherry tomato harvest!
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Flower Garden Spotlight: Celosia/Kathy Powers
Celosia are the regal plants with the soft feathery plumes. There is a whole row of Celosia in the first section of the Flower Garden next to the Ageratum, on the side near the parking lot. Celosia is a genus of around fifty annual and perennial species from Asia, Africa and the Americas, and is a member of the Amaranth family (Amaranthaceae). They love the hot weather and are fairly drought tolerant—no wonder they are growing so well this summer. We grow several varieties with very descriptive names: Pampas Plume (in various colors), Flamingo Feather (light to dark pink plumes) and Cramer's Amazon (bright magenta). Take a moment to stroke those soft plumes as you admire this amazing plant. It works well both as a filler at the back of a bouquet and also as a dried flower.Drying flowers
We grow many flowers that air dry very well, so that you can have bouquets all through the winter, reminding you of this wonderful season at Stearns. Keep these flowers cool, but do not put in water (or if you do to get them home, dry them off well). Take off the bottom few leaves, tie a small group with string or an elastic, and hang upside down in a dark, dry place for about a month. Flowers in the garden that are good for drying include Ageratum, Celosia, Gomphrena, Statice, Straw flowers, Yarrow, Aster, and the seed heads from Scabiosa and Gaillardia.
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Farm News: Recipe Wiki, Fruit Shares,
Recipe Wiki: We are pleased to announce the debut of the Stearns Farm recipe wiki. So far we have posted all the recipes from this year's newsletters, and each week more recipes will be added. The recipe wiki will make it easy to find all the wonderful recipes Donna and others have shared with us over the years. The recipe wiki is organized, naturally, by vegetable. Check it out here
http://stearnsfarmcsa.org/Public/Recipes/ Going forward we would like to add all the recipes from previous years' newsletters. If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Nomi Sofer nzsofer
comcast.net or Tom Yelton webmasterstearnsfarmcsa.org. Sharers are also welcome to add their own recipes to the wiki. For information on how to post to the wiki see http://stearnsfarmcsa.org/GettingStarted/ or contact our webmaster, Tom Yelton. Fruit Shares: We will be offering Fruit Shares from Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton, MA, again this year. An 8-week share is $70 for FULL sharers; a 4 week share is $35 for ALTERNATE sharers. Sign-up forms/envelopes are available at the Farm pick-up stand now. Just fill out the label on the envelope, insert your check and put the envelop in the wooden “Communications” box at the stand. The deadline for signing up is Tuesday Aug 24, 2010. For more information or to print out and mail the signup form see
http://stearnsfarmcsa.org/Public/FruitShares/back to top
Upcoming Events
| August 13-15 | NOFA Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference |
| August 14 | Children's Garden Work Day |
| August 24 | Date by which Fruit Shares must be paid for |
| August 31 | First Fruit Share pickup for Tuesday sharers |
| September 3 | First Fruit Share pickup for Friday sharers |
| September 25 | Harvest Festival and Annual Meeting/Potluck lunch at 12:00 noon |
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Our Mission
To preserve the historic Stearns farm as a sustainable all-natural garden, providing locally grown food in partnership between the land, the farmer, and the community
- by using the CSA model
- by providing fair compensation, adequate working conditions, and support to the farmer
- by practicing good stewardship
- by donating excess food to the needy
- by encouraging the community to actively participate in the farming process
- by providing learning opportunities
- by fostering relationships between the CSA and the wider community and
- by providing a beautiful place that is nourishing to body and soul.
Contact Us
Stearns Farm CSA862 Edmands Road
Framingham, MA 01701
(508) 371-4310
| Name | Position | Contact Information | |
| Stearns Farm | Main phone | contactstearnsfarmcsa.org | 508-371-4310 |
| Trish Stefanko | Farm Manager | t8588hotmail.com | 508-887-5649 |
| Sonya Ciavola | Assistant Farm Manager | saciavolagmail.com | |
| Cathy Briasco | Administration | stearnsfarmbriasco.org | 508-358-4167 |
| Sara Abramovitz | Volunteer Coord. | saralarryverizon.net | 978-443-9747 |
| Lauren Rota | Children's Garden | laurenlaurenrota.com | 617-999-6932 |
| Nomi Sofer | Newsletter Editor | nzsofercomcast.net | 508-875-2080 |
| Leslea Linebarger | Newsletter Editor | leslea2verizon.net | 508-624-0802 |
| Tom Yelton | Webmaster | webmasterstearnsfarmcsa.org | 978-443-5138 |
See Also Public/Staff and Public/Volunteers to contact a specific person.
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Recipes: Cherry Tomatoes
Summer lends itself to simplicity. Entertaining is casual and breezy. We have mountains of the freshest possible produce that needs little or no adornment. Since everything is so beautiful, fresh and tasty there is no need to complicate summer cooking unless, of course, you want to! Here are some very simple recipe ideas to help you use those stunning little tomatoes.
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Cherry Tomato Couscous
Adapted from 101cookbooks.com by Heidi Swanson
Serves 4 to 6
The author, Heidi Swanson, says to keep your eyes peeled for whole wheat or barley couscous; either would work great here. You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the feta—maybe do some sort of harissa drizzle instead? Directions for couscous are included below.
3 cups cooked couscous
About one pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 lemon, cut in half
1 lime, cut in half
about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup fresh basil or cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Combine the couscous, tomatoes, cucumber, and chickpeas in a large bowl. Start by giving a good squeeze of lemon and lime juice into the bowl, then add the olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Toss well, taste, and adjust with more of the above until it tastes just right. One note—this really needs a generous amount of salt, and the lemon and lime juices might need to be adjusted depending on how juicy the fruit is. Add the basil (or other fresh herbs noted above) and feta and toss gently until it is evenly dispersed.
To cook the couscous: Either follow the package instructions or bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil, stir in a scant 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt and 2 cups of couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Steam for 5 to 10 minutes and then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.
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Summer Sandwich with White Beans and Cherry Tomatoes w/Avocado Wasabi Butter
Adapted from luculliandelights.comServes 2
I just could not resist this recipe! It sounds so good. Wasabi is spicy so if you don’t want to use it, leave it out and use more avocado. A nice gutsy, crusty bread would be great for this vegetarian sandwich.
2 slices of bread
One large and mature avocado
1 tablespoon wasabi paste
1 stick of celery
4-5 tablespoons cooked white beans
Approx 10 cherry tomatoes
Several sprigs of parsley
Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
To make the avocado wasabi butter:
Run the avocado, celery stick and wasabi paste in a blender with some olive oil until it is smooth and has the right consistency for spreading. Check if salt is needed.
To make the sandwiches:
Spread the prepared butter on the slices of bread, then cut the tomatoes in two and put these on top of the spread. Top with the white beans and garnish with some parsley before eating. Enjoy!
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Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from SimpleBites.net , recipe by Aimee Wimbush-BourqueAlso known as oven-roasted tomatoes, these are dynamic, flavor-packed little morsels. For a easy appetizer, serve a bowl of them alongside a wedge of soft cheese and a plate of crackers. Let everyone create their own canapés that are easy, delicious and, best of all, seasonal! You can substitute these in other recipes that call for sun-dried tomatoes. Some favorite uses for these would be to mound some onto a wedge of crusty bread, top with mozzarella and broil to melted sandwich perfection, toss them with crumbled feta and serve over fresh greens for a light lunch, add to pizzas toppings (feel free to skip the tomato sauce and drizzle pizza with olive oil instead) or toss with hot pasta and chopped fresh herbs for a simple, yet elegant meal.
There is no exact quantity given for the tomatoes in this recipe- I would say use a cookie sheet full in a single layer.
Cut the tomatoes in half end-to-end, and place cut side up on a pan. Slice 4-5 cloves of garlic, and sprinkle over the tomatoes. Strip several sprigs of fresh thyme, and sprinkle the leaves over the tomatoes. Season with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil liberally over all of the tomatoes. Place in the oven at 200°F for 6-8 hours. The tomatoes will collapse, but not completely dry out. (Since they’ll be in there a while, preheating is not necessary.)
You also could preserve these if you like. Here are two ways to keep them.
Freezing: Pack tomatoes into a freezable container, and pour the oil from the pan over the top. Cover with more olive oil if needed, label and freeze for up to 6 months.
Fridge: Transfer tomatoes to a jar and cover with olive oil. Cover jar with lid and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
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Dried Tomato Pesto
Adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara KingsolverIf you haven’t read Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle you should—it is certain to inspire you on several fronts! This dish would make a fabulous appetizer on bread as below, tossed with pasta or added to rice and grain dishes. You could use the tomatoes from the recipe for Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes that is posted under Tomatoes if you don’t have dried tomatoes. Another option would be to dry cherry tomatoes yourself in a low oven (about 150 to 200 degrees) if you don’t have a dehydrator. I have included instructions for this below. The Juliet Plum cherry tomatoes are a great choice for both drying and roasting.
2 cups dried tomatoes
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup dried basil
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons balsamic or other good vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add a little water if it seems too sticky, but it should remain thick enough to spread on a slice of bread.
Oven Dried Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from About.com
These cherry tomato halves will shrink to about three-fourths their original size, become a deep red color and will have an intense tomato taste. You will find them to be much better than the sun-dried tomatoes you can buy at the store.
35 cherry tomatoes (about), 2 to 3 pints
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally and arrange them cut side up on the baking sheet, touching each other. They will shrink to about three-quarters of their original size. Sprinkle well with salt. Bake in the center of the oven for 2 to 3 hours.
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Morning Glory Zucchini Bread
From Morning Glory Farm by Tom DunlapThis recipe was submitted by sharer, Christine Faucher. She says it is great for using up those very large zucchini. Thanks Christine!
Prep time: 25 min
Cooking time: 1 hour
Servings: makes 2 loaves
2 to 2 ½ cups shredded zucchini
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour (Christine has substituting whole wheat pastry flour with great success)
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Christine toasts 1 cup of chopped walnuts and adds them to the batter
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 9” x 5” bread pans with non-stick spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Beat in sugar until thoroughly creamed. Once liquids and sugar are well mixed, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix until batter is well blended and even in texture. The batter should be smooth, outside of the zucchini shreds. If it’s not, add a little juice from the zucchini.
Pour batter evenly into pans.
Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the bread is brown and springs back when gently pressed in the middle.
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The purpose of this recipe page is to share ideas for enjoying Stearns Farm produce. This year we are going to focus on combinations that use as much as possible of the current week’s ingredients. The arrival of each vegetable, fruit or herb adds to our options for fresh, truly seasonal meals. One of the pleasures of this kind of eating is the chance to flex our creativity and combine our discoveries to keep things interesting and have fun as we prepare and preserve the harvest.
What do you do with your Stearns Farm produce? Please share your recipes, vegetarian and vegan options, family favorites and seasonal menu ideas. Send recipes, questions, tips on storage and food preservation, and other suggestions to dsavastio
verizon.net. Thanks!back to top
Revision 2. Last edited Fri 13 Aug 2010 10:21pm by NaomiSofer