photo credit: Alison Holland
Baby Peas and baby chicks as big as your hand.

The month of love and…babies

Something about that just does make sense, even if the timing is a bit off 😉

We are at the tipping point. Calves are being born. Momma pigs are swelling up. Baby chicks are growing. Plant babies are poking up and growing strong. And it is just the beginning. February really kicks off the start of our summer growing season. (She says as it is just over 35F and has been snowing on and off and the sun is barely peaking through.) But it is true. Just a couple days ago we got our first baby chicks and over the past weeks we have started rounds and rounds of alliums, lettuce, asian greens, kale, and flowers. These new babies are sure signs that the season is changing and they pair well with the slow, creeping increase in daylight we have going on right now.

For the next month we will continue to shepherd our starts from the germination chamber, into the 4 season greenhouse, through to the halfway house to harden off, and all the way into hoop houses. Then they are at the mercy of the soil, the sun, the hoop houses, and time. We can’t wait! In the next week alone we will start the whole summer’s worth of tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, tomatillos, and celeriac. We will transplant into the hoops the first successions (planted at the end of January) of Asian Greens, green onions, rainbow kale, lettuce heads, and peas. And we will direct seed the first successions of carrots, salad turnips, and radish. By the end of the week you will receive your 5th Winter CSA (only 2 more after this one!) and the vegetables for our Summer CSA and Full Diet will definitively be started.

The past month has been the calm before the wave begins to build. We always talk about the tsunami of vegetables that comes in the summer. Right now, this instant, the wave is starting to pull back and swell and grow. Each week, the wave will grow incrementally with more seeds started in trays and directly into beds and more beds prepped for future successions of everything. Each month the growth will be apparent in the number of piglets born, the new adult feathers poking out of the chicks still fuzzy bodies, how many peas are on the vine, plants are planted in the hoops, and peas are on the vine. The tsunami feels so far in the future, yet it is only a few short months away.

Be well and we can’t wait to see you this week!

~ Alison and the Farm crew

photo credit: Alison Holland
A greenhouse full of starts! Most of these will get planted within the next two weeks.

Veggie CSA

Potatoes (French Fingerling, Adirondack Red, Adirondack Blue)
Robin’s Koginut Squash
Carrots

Onions
Garlic
Kale
Daikon Radish

Veggie IDs: two new potatoes and Robin’s Koginut Squash

French Fingerling Potatoes: smooth red skin, yellow flesh with dappled red core; sweet and nutty flavor; dense texture; great boiled, roasted, or in soups

Red Adirondack Potatoes: red skin & flesh, oblong, waxy potatoes; turn a light shade of pink when cooking; good to roast and for salads

Robin’s Kogninut Squash: yellow flesh, yellow skin. This is the closest thing we have to a butternut squash, so use it anywhere a butternut squash is called for! The Koginut is a cross between a butternut and a kabocha, so it will be sweet, orange, and the flesh will feel slightly velvety on the tongue.

Meat CSA

It’s a meat trifecta today for the our Large Share members. Small shares get another tour de beef!

Large Meat CSA

Small Meat CSA
1 whole roasting chicken
1 beef roast
1 pork chop
+/- 3 ground beef		 1 beef roast
1 stew meat
+/- 1 ground beef

Here are some ideas for you to cook with your share this month!

Baked Noodles with Winter Squash
(adapted from Martha Stewart, Great Food Fast)

Don’t be deceived by this title! This casserole is pretty easy (once you’ve made your squash purrée) and is so sweet and good. Especially the next day!

Ingredients
butter or lard for baking dish
4 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
salt and pepper
2 tsp rosemary
1 lb pasta
roughly 3 cups squash purée (see recipe below)
1 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup bread crumbs
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Butter/lard a large casserole dish. Heat 2 Tbs of oil in a large skillet. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the onions are soft and release their liquid, about 15 minutes. Uncover and raise heat to medium. Cook stirring until the onions are browned, 20-25 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp of rosemary.
  2. Cook the pasta until just before al dente, about 2 minutes less than the cooking instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. Return pasta to the pot.
  3. Stir squash into cooked onions and let cook a bit so the wine from the purée cooks out. Add the pasta water and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Toss the squash mixture and 1/2 cup of the parmesan with the pasta. Transfer pasta to the prepared dish.
  4. Combine the bread crumbs with remaining parmesan (don’t ever be afraid to add more cheese), rosemary, and olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Spread bread crumb mixture over the pasta and bake until golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Winter Squash Purée
Your squash will make more purée than what you need for the above recipe. Freeze it by the 1 1/2 cup amount and use it in any savory dish that calls for 1 can of pumpkin purée.

Ingredients
1 Robin’s Koginut squash
lard
white wine
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Cut squash in half and deseed. Rub with lard and put a teaspoon or so of lard in the cup of the squash. Place the squash in a baking dish and cook for about 45 minutes-1 hour. Brushing melted lard over the flesh of the squash every 15-20 minutes. When squash cooked through and soft, let cool in the fridge until you can handle it and peel.
  3. Place the flesh of the squash in your food processor, turn on and add white wine until the squash purées and is smooth.
  4. Serve in any savory dish that calls for pump

Some more links for your inspiration and delight

Parting out a Whole Chicken: Our chickens are so great to eat roasted whole *OR* parted out and cooked as their parts. Follow the instructions on this video, and eat a Rainshadow chicken instead of some sketchy chicken thighs from a bag.

Pot Roast: the roasts in this month’s CSA are perfect for a classic pot roast. Here is a tried and true Sunday dinner classic. Don’t be afraid to substitute halved or quartered potatoes for baby potatoes or move the whole operation to your instant pot or crock pot.

Carrot and Daikon Radish Salad: Refreshing and easy, here is a recipe using 2 of your CSA options this month! Don’t have a spiralizer, just use your box grater and enjoy this salad shredded like a slaw instead of spiralized.

A bit of inspiration

We are a blank canvas with all of our starts growing strong in the greenhouse. Join our Summer CSA today and enjoy the art and beauty that is eating seasonally and locally. More information can be found HERE. First summer CSA pick up will be Wednesday, May 29.