Red Wagon Farm

Collard Greens in Coconut Milk

Posted on June 11, 2016 by mo

A lot of the ‘recipes’ I post are photo methods of preparation, not recipes to be followed to the letter. This is a really basic and versatile preparation method for any greens. You can use collards, kale, spinach, chard, or a mix of any greens.

This is a rich and satisfying side-dish as is. Or, you can add beans, like garbanzos and serve it over rice for a main dish. Tonight we are having curry a so this will be a side dish for us.

You will need greens, garlic, and coconut milk for this basic method. I had collards and I used two bunches.

Collards

Wash your greens and cut out the tough stems, and compost or discard them.

De-stemmed

Chop or shred your greens. You want to be able to easily move them around in the pan you will be cooking them in. I like to roll my greens like a cigar and shred them.

Chopped

Heat up a pan big enough to fit all your greens and saute some garlic in some oil and a little salt. I used the green garlic we got this week, but any garlic will do. Scapes would be great if you have them.

Saute

Add your greens a handful at a time. They will cook down very quickly, so, if your pan gets crowded, use tongs to turn them over and they will cook down and make room for more.

Add shreds Cook down

The picture below is two bunches of collards in a 10 inch skillet, these are going to cook down a lot more.

Salt and stir

Use unsweetened coconut milk.

Add coconut milk

I added about 3/4 of a can of coconut milk. It cooks away and thickens so use more if you want more of a gravy or sauce and less if you want a more structured dish.

Simmer

Add some salt and pepper and leave it to simmer, with a lid on the pan for at least 15 or 20 minutes. The greens will break down and soak up the coconut milk and become really delicious.

This is after about 15 minutes on a low simmer.

Cook way down

This is about 35 minutes of cooking on a low simmer.

Season to taste

This is packed with flavor and just how I like it.

We will be getting kale or collards or chard, probably every week for much of the summer and probably into the fall so I hope you try this method at least once and let me know how you like it.

Have a great week.

Posted in 2016, Collards, Recipes | Comments Off

Green Garlic

Posted on June 1, 2016 by mo

What do I do with Green Garlic?

Green Garlic

Being in a CSA opens you up to vegetables you sometimes have never encountered. For new CSA members green garlic is often one of those vegetables.

Green garlic is young garlic that has been harvested before it is allowed to mature into separate cloves. It looks a lot like the walking onions we got in this weeks CSA share, and is a little bigger and more bulbous that scallions.

Green garlic has a mild garlic flavor and is much more tender than fully mature garlic that will be harvested later. You can use the whole green garlic plant. Unlike mature garlic, where you can use only the cloves.

I like to chop up my whole bunch of green garlic so it is easy to grab for any dishes I make needing onions, scallions or garlic. Here my bunch is cleaned…. Cleaned Garlic

…then chopped and ready to use.

Chopped Garlic

These will keep it in a sealed container the refrigerator for about a week chopped up like this. Throw them in everything! Their spring fresh flavor will make you happy and elevate any dishes you make.

Fried Eggs

Even simple dishes.

Have a great week. Leave a comment and let me know what you did with your green garlic, or any of your CSA bounty you got this week.

Posted in 2016, Garlic, Recipes | 1 Comment

Hello 2016 CSA Memebers

Posted on May 26, 2016 by mo

Hi! I am Mo McKenna. I have worked at Red Wagon Farm for years. In those 6 or more years I have done just about every job there is to do on the Farm; planting, weeding, wash station, greenhouse work, working Market and now I’m blogging for Red Wagon. I’ll also be working at the Google CSA pickup on Monday’s.

Our first pickup went very smoothly. We are off to a great start.

Cute little CSA memeber: Check!

Fantastic CSA Manager, Lauren: Check!

I have blogged previously for the Farm, mostly featuring recipes and ideas for use of the weekly CSA share vegetables. We have built a pretty strong archive of recipes you can see them here .

This year I will add to that archive using our weekly share of vegetables. I will also expand with posts using seasonal vegetables we don’t necessarily grow at our Farm. Vegetables grown at other local farms and easily found at the Market or other Farm Stands, like corn, asparagus, orkra, and much more.

I know lots of you like to preserve the summers harvest, I get lots of questions on food preservation, so I will do some posts on canning, pickling and drying some of our local food.

If you have any questions, comments or want to share any of your own recipes let me know. I want to do anything I can to help with a successful CSA experience for all of you.

Remember, we will have our regular pickup this coming Monday (Memorial Day) at Google.

See you there!

Posted in 2016 | Comments Off

Thank you CSA members!

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Amy

This is our 10th season of having a CSA at Red Wagon Farm! Thank you so much to all the members who have supported us over the years–as well as new members who are with us for the first time this year!

We have come such a long way from our humble beginnings. Wyatt and I started our farm in 2004. We had a few brutal years and a very steep learning curve to get things going. We did almost everything wrong at least once!

Amy laying plastic mulch

Wyatt washing radishes

Here are a few photos from 2004: I am laying plastic mulch and Wyatt is in our primitive wash area: a slab of concrete, a few tubs, and a garden hose.

Wyatt and I did most of the work ourselves. I actually worked in the field (instead of in front of my computer!) We both worked to plant, weed, water, and harvest everything. I did most of the tractor driving–not because I had any experience. But because it was Wyatt’s job to follow behind me moving all the very heavy implements behind the tractor. I can remember getting home from the farm around midnight and getting up the next morning around 4 am. I have no idea how we did that!

Farming is still very hard for us (although not quite so brutal). And every season we worry about making enough money to get us through to the next season. We have tried many ways of selling our veggies. Wyatt (when he was younger and more insane!) signed us up for 6 farmers’ markets in 2004. Thankfully we quickly cut back on the number of markets we do and now we just go to the Saturday market in Boulder. We’ve also experimented with selling veggies to lots of restaurants and having several farm stands.

We’ve learned over the years that the most stable source of support and income comes from our CSA members–you! You commit to buying a whole season’s worth of veggies and taking whatever we have in abundance in our fields. In return, we try hard to grow the best veggies we can and give you a variety of deliciousness over about 5 months. I cannot express how much our CSA members mean to us. Red Wagon Farm would not exist without the support of our CSA. We are grateful to every single one of you! Thank you and we are looking forward to a great season with you!

Posted in 2016, Farm, Newsletter | 3 Comments

CSA week 1

Posted on May 20, 2016 by leonieredwagon

Hello! Welcome to the first week of CSA!

Farm Crew tending to onions

This week we hope to bring you:

Regular Share
-Egyptian Walking Onions
-Hakurei Turnips
-CHOICE: Herb OR Pea shoots
-CHOICE: Braising Mix OR Arugula OR Lettuce
-Easter Egg Radishes

Large Share Additions
-BOTH: Herb AND Pea shoots
-ONE OF EACH: Braising mix, Arugula, Lettuce
-Rhubarb