Red Wagon Farm

Early Morning Harvest

Posted on June 2, 2014 by lnmayer

Hello and Welcome!

This is my official first weekly blog entry of the 2014 season. My name is Lauren Mayer. Many of you know me as the CSA Manager, who checks you in at your share pick ups. Through this blog, I hope to invite you into the fields of Red Wagon Organic Farm and share with you some of the things that arise from working on a farm that produces food as a worker and as someone who thinks about and loves food.

Thanks for reading, Lauren.

One of the things I have grown to love about the farm season is the early mornings. Though sometimes the early 5 am wake up call isn’t welcome, the early daybreak drive to the farm is always something to anticipate. The traffic is sparse and, even in the summer when the temperature often reaches 100 degrees, the mornings are crisp. When the sky is clear, sometimes the higher elevations of the Front Range are blushed pink with the first day’s light, while the lower foothills are still in the shadows with fog hovering around bodies of water and in the trees. I always try to stop thinking about the day ahead of me and pause.

Once in the fields, there is a different kind of solitude and quietness. Though usually working with a crew of 2 or 3, the 6 am start-up leaves me to my thoughts while my body works. Greens like arugula, lettuce and kales usually come first on harvest days. The crispness of the air helps them from wilting too quickly before they arrive at the wash station. Work fast, but carefully as to not bruise any leaves. Remove as many weeds as possible, fill a harvest bin with the crop, weigh it if needed for a restaurant order, and empty into a cooler. Repeat.

A couple Fridays ago while harvesting wild amaranth in the garlic and mustard greens for the Saturday market in Boulder, the fields were shrouded in a fine mist. It had rained the day before, so the fields were slick with mud that caked on my boots., making each foot feel like 10 pounds. The fine damp blanket of water attenuated the sounds of the farm truck and intermittent voices, so the squeak of my rain pants and the squish of mud became loud as I made it down the row. As the sun broke through, the soft light soon gave way to a clear blue sky. Fill a bin, empty into a cooler, and repeat.

Posted in 2014, Farm, Newsletter | Comments Off

Sorrel and Garlic Scapes Pesto

Posted on June 2, 2014 by mo

This week, and probably next, you will be getting either garlic scapes or green garlic. See my previous post on both here on how they grow. Scroll down a bit past the recipe.

Sorrel is probably the one item on the Farm, at CSA pick-up and at the Farmer’s Market we get most questions about.

Sorrel

It looks a lot like spinach but is related to rhubarb and buckwheat. If you ever see buckwheat or rhubarb going to seed you will see the similarities. Sorrel is tart like rhubarb too.

I think of sorrel as somewhere in-between a green and an herb. It’s tart pungent flavor isn’t great alone, or I don’t think it is. But sorrel is great as an accompaniment with other pungent flavors like kale, garlic, or arugula. I tell people to use it in dishes you would use basil, parsley or cilantro. You will get an unexpected tart, bright ‘bang’ in your dish.

I don’t know why but sorrel leaves always have some wear and tear and holes. Very few leaves are ever perfect, and that is just fine. You almost always shred, process, or cook the sorrel so it doesn’t matter if the leaves aren’t perfect. This is my bunch of sorrel leaves washed and ready to cook with. This is actually a really nice looking bunch of sorrel. Very few leaves are beat up. I would be fine with much worse.

Washed Sorrel

Wyatt suggested I make a sorrel pesto. I had never made sorrel pesto, so why not? I used my ‘go-to’ pesto recipe. You can sub any ingredients for like ingredients in any pesto recipe. So, please, play with this through the season with what you have. Sub kale, or spinach, or cilantro for the sorrel. Use any allium or nuts you like. Try walnut or pumpkin seed oil.
I got green garlic this week, but if you got garlic scapes you can use those in the same amount. You could also just use a few cloves of garlic if you want to make this later in the season when scapes and green garlic are gone.

Sorrel and green garlic pesto

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups (1 3/4 ounces) loosely packed washed sorrel leaves (or any leafy green), trimmed if there are tough stems.
3 or 4 garlic scapes or green garlic bulbs or cloves of garlic washed and trimmed.
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (any cheese will do) (about a 1-ounce piece)
1/4 cup nuts, any kind you like. I used almonds today.
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (I thought I would skip the lemon because the sorrel is so tart, but the tartness was diminished from the fat in the oil and cheese and the lemon was very nice here. Taste before you add it though)
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS

Process sorrel, Parmesan, pine nuts, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until coarsely ground. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream until mixture is emulsified. Pesto can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Put a light film of oil on top of the pesto if you are storing more than a day so it doesn’t turn brown. If it does turn brown it is ok to eat, it just looks unappetizing.

This recipe makes about a cup of pesto. I really like it made with sorrel, good suggestion Wyatt!
If I’m being honest I am not a classic basil pesto fan. I don’t like the clove undertones of sweet basil and I really don’t like pine nuts in anything. This sorrel pesto has a nice, clean balanced flavor. I hope you try it.

Finished Pesto

Posted in 2014, Garlic, Herbs, Recipes | 5 Comments

CSA week 3

Posted on May 30, 2014 by leonieredwagon

Garlic Scapes

This week we hope to bring you some really yum options, such as the garlic scapes seen in this picture – thanks to Sarah our harvest manager/hand model!

Regular Share
-Lettuce
-Hakurei Turnips
-Choice: Green Garlic OR Garlic Scapes
-Choice: Red Russian Kale OR Bok Choi OR Broccoli Raab OR Mustard Greens
-Choice of herbs: Sorrel OR Mint OR Thyme OR Sage OR Cilantro OR Garlic Chives OR Oregeno

Large Share
-Grilling onions
-Lettuce EXTRA
-Hakurei Turnips
-Choice: Green Garlic OR Garlic Scapes
-Two Choices: Red Russian Kale OR Bok Choi OR Broccoli Raab OR Mustard Greens
-Choice of herbs: Sorrel OR Mint OR Thyme OR Sage OR Cilantro OR Garlic Chives OR Oregeno

Question to the masses: Is it a selfie if it’s just of one’s hand?

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Storing Herbs and Creamy Herb Salad Dressing

Posted on May 26, 2014 by mo

I LOVE that herbs are being added to our CSA share. I thought I might post on how to store your herbs and a really basic recipe for a salad dressing that you can adapt to any herb you might have on hand.

Clockwise, top to center we have; chives, oregano, garlic chives, cilantro and thyme.

Various Herbs

Tender herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley should be treated like fresh flowers on your counter. Just put them in a container with water and make sure the stems are touching the water. Change the water every day or two until you use all the herbs.

Parsley

Woody herbs like oregano, thyme, tarragon, and grassy herbs like chives need to be stored in the warmest part of your refrigerator; in the door, or where you store your butter. You can wrap them loosely in plastic wrap, Ziplock bag, or in a small Tupperware like container with the lid slightly ajar. Don’t seal them tightly or they will mold. Oh, and don’t rinse any of your herbs before you use them. They don’t store well wet or even damp. I put a little piece of papertowel in a Ziploc with my herbs to keep them dry and really fresh.

Herb Bags

I also put them in front of everything on the shelf so I can see them. That way I don’t forget about them and I use them.

Here is a basic recipe salad dressing. It makes at least enough for 12 or 15 single salads and keeps for two weeks. I keep this on hand and put it on any greens I have, lettuce, arugula, kale, chard. Keeping greens washed and ready to eat and having a nice fresh dressing on hand makes me really happy.

Creamy Herb Salad Dressing
1 cup (about) loosely packed dill, parsley, basil, cilantro, or chives washed and most of the stems removed. Any combination of these works.
2 or 3 tablespoons loosely packed leaves of woody herbs like thyme, oregano or tarragon.
3/4 cup mayonnaise, low-fat, or not, or even yogurt works here.
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbs. vinegar, any type.
1/2 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. hot sauce _optional.
In a food processor, combine everything and process for a minute or two. Pour into a bottle or jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Jarred Dressing

Dressing Ready to Use

Posted in 2014, Herbs, Recipes, Storage and Preparation | Comments Off

Radish and Arugula Salad with Honey, Almonds and Mint

Posted on May 26, 2014 by mo

It is so great to hear from CSA members. Keep those comments and emails coming. I am here for you. Let me know what you like and don’t like, and what you want to know more about.

Last week I got an email from Dorothy saying her family wasn’t crazy about radishes.
Dorothy wrote; “THEN I saw this recipe and thought it had possibilities. I have tried the process on arugula (whose peppery bite sometimes also is a problem) and found that the marinade of lemon juice really improves the flavor. I’m assuming that the marinade for the radishes will work as well!” She found the recipe in the Daily Camera.

I made it with a few changes. I used braising mix since that is what we got in our CSA share this week. I tore the braising mix up with the mint into smaller pieces and rubbed the lemon and oil into the mix. I also added a hakurei turnip to the radishes. I had cashews, not almonds. and I used about 3 times more mint than the recipe calls for. Oh, I forgot the cheese too, and didn’t realize it until I proofread this. Clearly it wasn’t missed, but I bet it would be good in it though.

This is a great basic recipe to play with and change with ingredients you like and have.
Delicious! Thanks Dorothy.

Radish greens salad

Radish and Arugula Salad with Honey, Almonds and Mint
Source: Fresh from the Farm, Taunton Press, 2014, by Susie Middleton
Makes 4 servings

6 or 7 large fresh radishes-and or hakurei radishes (4 oz) thinly sliced
2 t fresh lemon juice plus 1/4 lemon, seeded, or more as needed
1/4 t sugar (I used honey)
3/4 t salt (divided use), or more as needed
4 cups loosely packed baby arugula or braising mix, leaves (about 2 1/2 oz)
4 t small fresh mint leaves (I used a LOT more) or large leaves torn into smaller pieces
1 t Olive oil or more as needed
1/4 c sliced almonds, toasted and coarsely crushed (see note)
2 oz wedge Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (preferably a few inches long, for easier shaving)
1 T honey, for drizzling
4 small edible flowers, such as violets, chive blossoms or short mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Combine the sliced radishes in a small, nonreactive bowl with the 2 t lemon juice, sugar, and 1/2 t salt. Let sit for 5 minutes, tossing occasionally.
Combine the arugula and mint in a medium bowl. Squeeze the juice from the remaining 1/4 lemon over the greens, then drizzle on the oil. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 t salt and toss to incorporate. Taste, and season with more lemon juice, oil, and/or salt as needed.
Divide the arugula-mint mixture among 4 individual plates, mounding each portion. Sprinkle some of the crushed almonds on top.
Drain the liquid from the radishes and arrange them in the center and around each mound of greens.
Use a vegetable peeler to shave 5 or 6 thin curls or shards of cheese over each portion. Sprinkle each portion with the remaining almonds; then drizzle with the honey. Garnish with the edible flowers or mint sprigs, if using.
Serve right away.
NOTE: Toast the almonds in a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat, shaking the pan to avoid scorching, until the nuts are fragrant and lightly browned. Cool completely before using.

Posted in 2014, Arugula, Radish, Recipes, Salads-Spring-Summer | Comments Off

Grilled Walking Onions

Posted on May 19, 2014 by mo

Amy asked me to show you one of her favorite ways to eat walking onions, grilled.
Grilling onions makes them meltingly sweet and mild.

First you want to heat up your grill good and hot, and wash your bunch of walking onions.

Cut off the root end and the tough tops and toss the onions in a bowl with some olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Trimmed Onions

Put the onions on your hot grill, and keep turning them every 2 or 3 minutes. You want a good even char on the outside of the onions and the inside to be cooked through, not raw. It will probably take 12 to 15 minutes total to grill the onions.

Grilled Onions

Blackened Onions

See how the inside of the onion is translucent and the outside is charred? That’s what you want.

You can serve them right off the grill like this. I made a mushroom risotto with the fabulous mushrooms from Hazel Del so I added my grilled onions to that dish.

Chopped Onions