Farm store OPENING Thursday, July 16.  See details →
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Category: 2014

  • Braised Collard Greens with Tomatoes

    You can quickly saute collards like you do kale and chard, but I think collards really shine when they are braised.

    Braising breaks down the collards and makes them silky. I love the taste and texture of braised collards served over rice or corn bread.

    Here is a basic braised collard recipes. You can sub stock instead of tomatoes if you like, and you can braise the collards for 20 minutes, up to two hours or so for very done collards.
    I like them cooked a somewhere in between, like an hour or so. But taste as you go and see how you like your collards.
    The beauty of braising is you don’t lose any of the nutrients, they are all in the braising liquid.

    Braised Collard Greens with Tomatoes
    1 bunch of collard greens, washed, stems removed
    14.5 oz can tomatoes
    1 large onion, diced
    2 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 cup water or cooking stock
    salt + pepper to taste
    a sprinkling of smoked paprika and a glug of cider vinegar are optional but delicious.

    Directions;
    Roll washed and stemmed collard leaves in to a large bundle. Slice into one inch ribbons.

    Chopped Collards
    Chopped Collards

    Heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic over medium heat until onions soften and start to turn translucent. Add tomatoes to the pan, bring to a simmer. Add collard greens and a dash of salt + pepper, in batches, tossing with tongs to wilt. Add water to the pan and simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, until collards are thoroughly cooked.
    Season to taste with salt and pepper.

    This is what it looks like after about 30 minutes. So, take it to here or further and enjoy.

    Saute with Tomatoes

  • Collecting Clothes for Farm Worker Babies/Toddlers

    Farm Worker Baby GirlTwo of our farm workers have young children and we are collecting gently used clothing for them.

    We are collecting clothes for 3 GIRLS–especially winter clothes:

    Scarlett needs clothes that are size 3 months and older.
    Samanta needs clothes size 2T and shoes size 5.
    Jimena needs clothes size 3T and shoes size 8.

    You have several options for donating the clothes/shoes:

    1) You can bring the items to the last Boulder farmers’ market of the season on Sat 11/22 and drop them off at the Red Wagon booth.

    2) You can drop the items off at Red Wagon Organic Farm at 7694 N 63rd Street. Leave the items in a bag outside the gate. It might be a good idea to let us know you are coming so we look out for the items.

    3) We can possibly pick the items up from you if you are in Boulder County.

    Thank you so much for your help! I know our farm workers really appreciate it!

  • “FED UP” Movie Screening in Boulder

    Fed UpJoin us for a screening of FED UP

    Sat, Nov 15 at 7pm
    (doors open 6:30)

    At Unitarian Universalist Church
    5001 Pennsylvania Ave, Boulder

    No Charge (donations accepted), Refreshments
    For information call 303-494-0195 ext 3

    About the Film
    “Narrated by Katie Couric, FED UP blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and exercise, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry aided by the U.S. government to mislead and confuse the American public. Exposing the hidden
    truths contributing to one of the largest health epidemics in history, the film follows a group of families battling to lead healthier lives and reveals why the conventional wisdom of exercise and eat right is not ringing true for millions of people struggling with diabetes, childhood obesity and other serious conditions. Including captivating interviews with the country’s leading experts, this vital information could change the way we eat forever.”

    Sponsored by: Red Wagon Organic Farm, Hazon, Tuv Ha‘Aretz Interfaith CSA, & its partner congregations: Boulder Jewish Community Center, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Congregation Har HaShem, Congregation Nevei Kodesh, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, & Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder.

  • Red Wagon veggies and more for Thursday 11/6

    RomanescoOur CSA season is over and our farm stand is closed. But you can still get veggies and other great food from Red Wagon!

    See the order forms below to order veggies, fruit, eggs, coffee, beef, and pork. Place your orders and pick them up on Thursdays (4-7pm) at Red Wagon (7694 N 63rd St).

    We plan to offer weekly veggies until the weather gets cold enough to kill our crops. Then we will switch to a biweekly or monthly schedule for the other items (eggs, mushrooms, coffee, beef, pork).

    You must place your order by 6pm on Wednesday 11/5 for pickup Thursday this week. Sorry for the short notice this week! We will send the order forms out earlier for next week.

    The details for each item are in the order forms. Please email us at redwagon@redwagonfarmboulder.com if you have questions.

    Veggies, etc for pickup on Thursday 11/6:

    Veggie Order Form submit order by 6 pm on Wednesday 11/5
    We are offering over 50 items on our veggie order form!

    Apple, Egg, and Coffee Order Form submit order by 6 pm on Wednesday 11/5
    *We plan to offer mushrooms for the next pickup.

    Beef and Pork for pickup on Thursday 11/13:

    Beef Order Form submit order by 6 pm on Monday 11/10

    Pork Order Form submit order by 6 pm on Monday 11/10

  • Deborah Madison’s Cabbage Panade

    Deborah Madison has been a great inspiration to me for years. I have several of her books, including her latest “Vegetable Literacy”. I just finished reading Vegetable Literacy (I am kind of weird in that I read cookbooks cover to cover) and I think it is one of her best books to date.

    One of the first dishes that caught my eye in the book was a cabbage panade. The culinary term ‘panade’ generally means that a vegetable soup type dish is thickened with bread or bread crumbs. I think of a panade as an easy way to clean out the refrigerator, and use up odds and ends of vegetables and such. A panade is very forgiving and very hard to screw up. It’s kind of an old school peasant type dish. This turns out to be sort of like french onion soup/stuffing dish, with cabbage.

    Here is the original recipe.

    I made the cabbage panade with just a couple changes. I took some pictures and I noted the changes I made.

    The original recipe calls for onions. I had some leeks from my garden and since leeks and onions are both from the allium family, I know I can interchange them. I used about twice the amount of alliums called for in the original recipe because I like leeks and onions, a lot!

    Saute aromatics

    Cook the alliums and add the cabbage. Ms Madison has you make a garlic stock for this recipe, that seemed really fiddley. I didn’t do that. I had some homemade chicken stock, so I used that and added some garlic. I am sure you can use a good quality store bought stock and add some garlic and be just fine.

    Add shredded cabbage

    Cook all that for about 20 minutes, very ‘done’. These are about 1/2 ‘done’, keep cooking them.

    Cook to soften

    When the cabbage and alliums are done layer 1/2 the vegetable mixture into a casserole dish, then add some stale bread and cheese, then top with the rest of the vegetable mixture.

    Add rye bread

    I used 4 pieces of bread and more cheese. I just wanted to show you how it was layered.

    add cheese

    Pour the remaining stock over the whole thing and into the oven it goes for about 45 minutes to an hour.

    keep layering

    When it is all brown and gooey it’s done.

    bake till golden

    Yum. This reheats beautifully and will travel well if you need to take a dish to a potluck, this would be a great choice.

    Creamy bite

    Thanks for reading the blog. Happy winter, I hope to see you in 2015.
    Mo

  • Mini Fall CSA week 2

    Sunchoke Flowers
    Sunchoke Flowers

    It is the second and last week of our Mini Fall CSA! Here is what we are hoping to give members:

    Regular Share
    Heirloom Carrots
    Choice: Winter Squash OR Cabbage
    Choice: Potatoes OR Sunchokes
    Choice: Cauliflower OR Romanesco
    Choice: Spinach OR Lettuce OR Arugula OR Braising Mix

    Large Share Additions
    Winter Squash AND Cabbage
    2 Choices: Spinach OR Lettuce OR Arugula OR Braising Mix
    Winter Radish

  • GMO Labeling (Prop 105)

    Wyatt and I are both voting YES on Proposition 105 regarding GMO labeling of food. We both avoid knowingly eating GMO foods, but I am certain that we unknowingly eat GMO foods because they are everywhere. I can almost guarantee that any box of crackers, chips, cereal, or any other packaged food that is not Certified Organic has some ingredients that are genetically modified.

    I can only think of 3 ways to currently avoid eating GMO foods:

    1. Eat only Certified Organic foods. (GMOs are not allowed under the National Organic Program).
    2. Buy your food directly from the farmer/rancher so you can ask them if they use any GMOs.
    3. Grow and raise your own food.

    Our farm is Certified Organic and this year we were required to provide proof that we did not use GMO seed for the following crops: corn, alfalfa, yellow squash, zucchini, or soybeans. More and more vegetable crops are being genetically modified. If we stay on our current path, GMO foods will continue to rapidly enter our food system.

    Wyatt and I want to know if food products contain GMO ingredients so we can make our own decisions about potential consequences to our health and the environment. So join us, your farmers, in voting YES on Proposition 105 for GMO labeling!

  • Why do some vegetables taste sweeter in the winter?

    Fall is here.

    IMG_2433

    The nighttime temperatures at the Farm are regularly dipping into the mid, to low 30’s. That is bad news for the Summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, and basil. We won’t be seeing those again until next year.
    The cooler night temperatures are good news for cooler weather crops.

    The colder temperatures bring on a phenomenon to some vegetables called “cold sweetening’. Cooler weather triggers carbohydrates in the plants convert to ‘sugars’, glucose and fructose.
    These converted ‘sugars’ make the plant cells less prone to freezing AND, as a happy side effect, make our vegetables taste delicious! Carrots, all the brassicas, and greens, all benefit from the cooler temperatures.

    IMG_2436

    IMG_2439

    IMG_2434

    IMG_2440

    Enjoy your mini winter CSA. This is a great time of year.

  • Romanesco and Cauliflower with Béchamel

    Romanesco and CauliflowerRomanesco is such a fantastic vegetable! I think it tastes like cauliflower, but a little sweeter. Plus I am always fascinated by the fractal form of it. You could easily make this recipe with just romanesco or cauliflower, but I had both so I went for it!

     

     

    Florettes

     

    Start by cutting the romanesco and cauliflower into florettes of roughly even size. That way they will cook at a similar rate.

     

    Recipe

    1-2 heads romanesco and/or cauliflower
    2 Tbsp butter
    1/4 cup flour or corn flour (fine grind)
    1 1/2 cups milk
    1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more to sprinkle on top
    White pepper
    Salt

    Steam the romanesco and cauliflower until almost tender. They will cook more in the oven, so you want to leave them a little bit firm. I steamed two separate batches and the romanesco took 12 minutes to steam and the cauliflower only took 10 minutes.

    Make the Béchamel sauce. Melt the butter over medium-low heat then whisk in the flour to make a roux. Add 1/2 cup milk, whisking constantly. Whisk until the lumps dissolve and you have a smooth, thick paste. Add the remaining milk, 1/2 cup at a time. Each time you should whisk until the sauce thickens.

    When the sauce has thickened (roughly the consistency of gravy), stir in the Parmesan, white pepper, and salt to taste. Remove sauce from heat.

    Place half of the florettes on the bottom of your baking dish, sprinkle with Parmesan, and follow with half of the Béchamel sauce.

    Put the remaining half of the florettes on top of the first layer and cover with the remaining Béchamel sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan.

    Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

    Romanesco and Cauliflower with Béchamel Sauce

  • Mini Fall CSA – Week 1

    Romenesco
    Stunning Romenesco

    Here’s what we hope to bring you on the 22nd:

    -Winter Squash
    -Onion
    -Choice: Cauliflower OR Romanesco
    -Choice: Hakurei Turnips OR Beets
    -Choice: Kale OR Collards OR Broccoli Raab OR Bok Choi
    -Choice: Spinach OR Lettuce OR Arugula OR Braising Mix

    There’s still time to sign up, pick up is Wednesday at Google in Boulder. It is a great way to try out our CSA without committing to our entire regular season.