Thursday, October 14, 2010

week 21

thanks to all who came and helped us to plant garlic, we have never gotten so much planted on the same day before! julie, garrett, evie and dorothy deserve a medal for most garlic plantings under their belt!, thanks and different color medals to jane, david, mary and our mini crop mob of two, too! Today we spent some time spreading mulch to keep it from being heaved out of the ground by frost over the winter. Anytime it is above freezing this winter, the garlic will grow roots, anytime it is above 40, the leaves will grow, generally they don't poke through the mulch until next spring, about the same time as the daffodils come up~! nice to see food growing at that time of year!

the leaves have been just lovely at the farm lately and all around, too. we have a huge list of chores for the fall and are eagerly awaiting getting them started, october is when going to four markets a week gets in the way, there are just not as many hours in the day as there were a few weeks ago and lots of what we have on the docket takes two.

the next two weeks will involve some harvesting, going to markets and seeing all of your lovely faces another one or two times (depending which day you pick up and when you are reading this), mulching the rest of the garlic, hopefully planting two more beds (too wet to till before), moving our caterpillar tunnel (should have been done a week or so ago, but we are tired by this time of year, what can we say?), reviewing the season and starting to run our numbers on what crops are profitable and which are not.

we have done some talking already about next year and are thinking it would be nice to start a low income share fund of some kind. we have long been bothered that healthy food is considered "too elite" for low income people and wonder if we all chipped in $10-20 dollars, how many people could we feed? do you think you could spare a bill or two next year when you buy your share? more about that over the winter, i'm sure.


lots of warm filling recipes this week!

Garlicky Samosas from Jane:
Samosa dough:
2 cups flour
2 T butter
2 T yogurt/butter milk
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water

Filling:
1 carnival squash baked until very soft
3 cloves garlic (or less, this is really garlicky! baked with the squash)
1 can giany white beans

bake squash and garlic if you haven't done it already. combine it with the beans and puree.

divide dough into 6 balls and roll out into circles. spoon squash mixture into dough and fold over to form a pocket (like perogies). bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.



red lentil soup: this soup and the following bread are our always good meal that we make in the winter for guests, if you get a dinner invite, this is almost surely what will be on the menu, its always good!)



2 cups of red lentils
4 cups of cold water
1 T salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup butter
2 tomatoes
1 large onion
1 T dill
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves

you can saute the onions and garlic first, or not, i usually just throw it all in the pot and let it simmer, i often replace the water and tomatoes with a quart of home-canned tomatoes.

Cheese-herb bread


1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram (i usually omit, since i don't "stock" this)
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
2 eggs
2 T honey
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (or more!)

mix dry ingredients, mix moist ingredients then mix them together until blended add cheese and mix thouroughly. bake in greased 9"x5" pan at 350 for 50 minutes.


this recipe will be good only if you still have ginger left:
we've been enjoying healthy smoothies made with this customer recipe:
concord grapes (seeds included)
fresh ginger
maple syrup
cinnamon

blend together, sit on the porch and enjoy as you spit all those seeds, very tasty!


apple ginger cobbler:
chunk up one or two apples per person
cut ginger finely to taste

top with a simple crumb topping:
local flour
walnut oil or butter
maple syrup (or sugar)
cinnamon (opt)
bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until done, great dessert!

i can't believe i haven't put this recipe up here yet!

Baked Kale Chips!
from smitten kitchen.com

1 bunch (about 6 ounces) kale (I used Lacinato or “Dinosaur” Kale but I understand that the curlier stuff works, too, possibly even better)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet (I needed two because mine are tiny; I also lined mine with parchment for easy clean-up but there’s no reason that you must). Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.

these are fantastic! Really, try them!



have a stupendous and delicious week!
liz and matthew

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Garlic Planting Is Still On

We have been getting worried we would not be able to till the soil to prepare the beds for garlic planting this weekend (or anytime before there's a foot of snow on the ground for that matter). With all the rain we've been receiving and more in the forecast for Thursday and Friday we knew if we were going to get ready for the garlic it had to be today before the rain moves in. So we rushed through our harvesting today and threw compost on the beds and tilled them. They were a little too wet in some spots, but I figured it was probably now or never (well, maybe next spring).
So, anyway, the beds are prepared and garlic planting is still on for Saturday 2pm with dinner to follow. Please RSVP if you can. Its gonna be muddy and chilly but we hope you'll still be up for it!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

week 20

hello all, hope the week is great for you! we had a great turnout and a great time at our perogie making day! Thanks to all who made the trip for the event, the fillings were varied but all were delecious! I hope to post at least one of them in the upcoming days.


don't forget there is one last CSA event coming up! we are planning to plant garlic on saturday oct 16th at 2 pm, (though we may have to reschedule as our soil is quite wet right now and we may not be able to work it with out damaging it before saturday, we will keep you posted via email if the event is to be rescheduled.)

also upcoming the local foods fest, it is targeted at schuyler, chemung, and steuben county residents, this is where you can learn where to get local meat, eggs, cheese and more! friday oct 22 5-8 at the corning museum of glass, see last weeks post for more details. or call 607-664-2300 for more info.

and the last announcement, on thursday october 21st, we will be packing up from market 15 minutes early or so, an email reminder will be sent, but please be aware, we will be leaving market a tad early on thursday the 21st to attend a meeting.




the leaves are just lovely this fall! We're glad that many people got to take a tour of the farm in all of its fall glory, and were really impressed at how eagle eyed you all are! People had great questions and obervations when they got back to the kitchen, several people noticed what a pretty color the hazelnut bushes we planted this spring are turning, the blueberries are also very nice right now!




try this great chard recipe from trisha via mary martin, simple and easy!
wash chard and slice the stems,
cook five minutes in lightly salted water
add leaves and cook until wilted,
pour off water, pour swiss chard into oven proof casserol
and sliced onion, garlic, and soy sauce, top with parmesan cheese.
bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

have a super week!
liz and matthew

Monday, October 4, 2010

First week of October

Sorry, we have no pictures this week.
Today is another rainy day - the first time the temperature has not topped the 50 degree mark this fall. This time, I am the lucky one to stay inside and get indoor work done while Liz stands at market in the rain. We appreciate this rain (though it would have been nice to have more during the summer) as it will help our irrigation pond slowly recharge. But we are getting a little worried the soil will not dry out for us to till our beds for garlic planting. In the summer, the soil dries quickly as the moisture evaporates in the heat, but with cooler days the soil dries much more slowly, so we will need several sunny, breezy days. We also hope to get a good layer of compost spread on the beds before tilling.
Well things with Knox (our new dog) had been going very well (probably too well!) until this past weekend. When our attention was drawn away from him momentarily, he dashed over to our neighbor's property and fatally wounded one of their chickens. Arghh! Well for now we are keeping him restrained when we are up by the house - this means either in the house, in the farm truck or on a leash. But we may need to figure out a better way of keeping him out of the road and away from the chickens in the future!

Announcements:

Locally-Grown Harvest Festival

Friday, October 22, 2010

5:00-8:00 PM

Corning Museum of Glass

1 Museum Way, Corning, NY


If you missed this exciting event in February, here is your chance to attend a unique tasting experience. Sample a wide variety of meats, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, artisan breads, baked goods, wines, microbrews and other farm products! Meet dozens of Finger Lakes farmers! Learn how and where to buy fresh, healthy, local foods. This event will feature even more local vendors, with plenty of autumn vegetables and fruits for sale!


Meet farmers Purchase local products

Taste samples Recipes and Demonstrations


The event features:

Tastings of meats, vegetables, cheese, fruits,

breads, preserves, wines, and microbrews!




Everything you need to create healthy, delicious holiday meals!


$5.00 per person or $10.00 per family

Contact

607-664-2300

for more information

No registration required



Cornell University

Cooperative Extension




Muddy Fingers Farm CSA annual pierogie making day will be Saturday October 9 at 10:00 am - bring your favorite pierogie filling and we'll all work together making the dough and filling, folding and boiling! Dough provided. RSVP required (for knowing how much dough to make).

Our garlic planting CSA day is scheduled for Saturday October 16 at 2 pm with dinner to follow. Please bring your garlic cracking hands and be prepared to get muddy planting the cloves. A "crop mob" from Ithaca may also be in attendance. This will be our final CSA event of the season, so come on up to the farm and enjoy the crisp temps and beautiful foliage and get your fingers muddy one last time for the year. RSVP preferred.

New vegetables this week:
Broccoli
Pumpkins
Brussels sprouts
Celeriac

Cabbage recipe:

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in saucepan. Add 4 cups thinly sliced red cabbage (try with green). 3/4 tsp. caraway seed, and 1 tsp salt. Cook, covered, until tender (8-10 min) Remove from heat; add 1 crisp, sweet apple, cut into matchsticks, 1 minced shallot, 1 Tbs, red wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard and 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper.
Thanks Rusti for the recipe!