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Category: 2019

  • End of the Season

    I just got back from working at our Wednesday evening CSA pickup with Kai, Lauren, and Kylie. By about 6:30 it was dark and there was swirling snow. We made it to the end of pickup without freezing, but it’s a reminder that the season really is changing. Every spring I think that surely we can push our CSA pickups until the last week of October or the beginning of November. And of course tonight I am very thankful that I didn’t convince myself to make that change! Farming is all about not having control over the weather, but I manage to forget that so often.

    This is the 12th season of our CSA. And for you Tuv Ha’Aretz members, this is year 10! We still have a good number of members who have been with us that whole time. I really enjoy seeing all of you as our pickups come to an end.

    I can’t say enough how grateful we are for all of our CSA members. You are the reason we are able to have a farm and I feel honored that you let us feed your families year after year. We hope to see you again in the spring!

    Amy

  • Wash Station

    I took my camera to work yesterday. Working at a farm isn’t all field work. Processing the food for distribution and storage for later distribution is a big part of it too.

    I wanted to try to show a little of what we do with the food after it comes in from the field.

    Yesterday we had to fill one CSA pick up for about 70 people. We also had restaurant orders. We do restaurants on Tuesday and Friday. We have 5 CSA pick ups on 4 days, Monday-Thursday.

    This is the wash station (WS) where we wash, bunch, bag, label, date, inventory and prep all the food we grow. All the food is harvested into either coolers or bins and brought to the WS in trucks from the fields.

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    At the east side of the WS we line up coolers and bins for CSA that day. Everything in this line has been processed and inventoried and is ready to load into the truck for CSA distribution. This is early in the day, there will be lots more added.

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    The west side is where we line up restaurant orders for that day. Every cooler is labeled for each restaurant. The boxes in back are restaurant orders too, they are squash and pumpkins.

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    Some of today’s harvest coming in.

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    All the root vegetables, beets, potatoes, carrots, parsnips get soaked to hydrate them and get most of the soil off.

    Then they go into a barrel washer. Root vegetables go in one end, it is slightly angled and it slowly rolls the vegetables to the other end as it sprays and agitates them to get them clean.

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    This is Meg with the leaf crops, she is soaking chard to hydrate and revive it.

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    Kai is weighing the revived chard then she will bunch it for CSA, some of the chard will be bagged for restaurants.

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    I sorted, sized and weighed these onions for restaurants.

    Here is Savanna with some beets for restaurants.

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    Some crops don’t get washed, they just get processed and inventoried until needed. This cauliflower came in from the field looking a little droopy and sad.

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    I cut off the outer leaves and put them in lined bins to go into the cooler for later this week.

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    So pretty now.

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    All those coolers and bins need to be washed. Cody will rinse them then wash them with soap and water.

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    Sometimes we stop and take pictures of snakes.

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    We eat lunch.

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    We laugh.

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    We load the trucks.

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    And we do it all over again tomorrow.

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    Thank you all for a fantastic season. Thank you for supporting local organic food and  allowing us to do what we love.

    Hope to see you all next year, a couple more pick ups this week then 2019 CSA season is a wrap.

    With love and gratitude.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • CSA Week 23

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 23 of our CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    CHOICE: Carrots OR Acorn Squash
    CHOICE: Onions OR Garlic
    Parsnips
    Potatoes
    CHOICE: Turnips OR Chard
    Winter Squash
    Arugula

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Leeks
    Beets
    Winter Radishes
    Potatoes

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples
    Plums

  • Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

    This is pretty straightforward to make but tastes like a lot of effort went into it. If you have pumpkin or squash cooked it goes together really quickly. Leave off the crunchy topping if it doesn’t appeal to you.

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    I barely adapted this recipe. My recipe notes, things I would change or try will be * at the bottom of the page

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup of cooked pumpkin/squash. If you don’t have any cooked pumpkin or squash here is a ‘how to’ post from a few years ago.
    • salt and pepper
    • 16 ounces pasta, your choice gluten free is fine
    • 4 tablespoons butter
    • 2 tablespoons sage, thinly sliced
    • 4 tablespoons flour, again, gluten free is fine
    • 2 cups milk
    • 1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded – I used a combo of smoked Gruyere and mozzarella
    • 4 amaretti cookies, crumbled, weird sounding but delicious, you could use ginger snap crumbs or just bread crumbs.-optional but really tasty.

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    Directions

    1. Cook the pasta as directed.
    2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat add the sage and cook until the butter is bubbling and it has turned golden brown.
    3. Mix in the flour and let simmer until it returns to a light golden brown.
    4. Add the milk, nutmeg, mustard and cheese and simmer until it thickens and the cheese has melted.
    5. Mix the pumpkin, pasta and cheese sauce and pour into a baking dish topping it with the amaretti cookie crumbs.
    6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown on the top and bubbling on the sides, about 30-40 minutes.

    I handed this to my husband to try and he said he doesn’t really like macaroni and cheese. I said, me either, try it. He ate the whole bowl.

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    *Things I would do different, or try.

    • More pumpkin, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of roasted pumpkin
    • Maybe cube some pumpkin and leave it in large chucks
    • Use cauliflower and or broccoli instead of pasta

    I am going to make this as a side for Thanksgiving. I will make it ahead and finish it while I make gravy and slice the turkey.

    This would be a great pot-luck dish too.

    Only two more weeks of CSA. See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

  • CSA Week 22

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 22 of our CSA:

    Watermelon Radish

    REGULAR SHARE
    Winter Radishes
    CHOICE: Carrots OR Roasted Chiles
    Topped Beets
    Turnips
    CHOICE: Celery OR Parsley OR Cabbage
    CHOICE: Leeks OR Onions
    Winter Squash
    CHOICE: Collard Greens OR Chard OR Kale OR Baby Red Russian Kale

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Broccoli OR Romanesco
    Parsnips
    Roasted Chiles
    Sunshine Kabocha

    FRUIT SHARE
    Pears
    Plums

  • Cabbage and Carrot Slaw

    This is a super simple side dish salad you can make ahead and it will keep for days in your refrigerator.

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    I made a simple vinaigrette not a mayonnaise based dressing. I think it keeps nicer. Mayonnaise gets watery after a few hours. I can re-toss the vegetables to freshen this slaw up and redistribute the vinaigrette and it will be nice and crunchy and evenly dressed.

    You could add or substitute any crunchy vegetables you have like celery or turnips. Sometimes I make this with only grated carrots.

    Gather the vegetables you are using. Wash them, core the cabbage and trim the carrots. I never peel farm carrots. If you have some herbs, throw them in. After I took this picture I went to the garden and got some chives.

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    Shred the vegetables either in a food processor or with a mandolin or just with a knife if you  like.

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    I had about 6 cups of shredded vegetables, for that amount of vegetables I made a vinaigrette with these amounts. You can easily adjust for the amount of vegetables you have.

    The juice of one small lemon
    2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
    Salt and pepper
    2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
    4-6 tablespoons olive oil

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    I mixed it all up in a bowl and tasted it and then decided to add about a teaspoon of honey, not pictured, last minute add-in, that’s why you taste! Toss everything together and enjoy.

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    You can add nuts or seeds or grated or crumbled cheese to bulk it up for a more substantial salad. Crumbled blue cheese is great. I like this type of salad in wraps for lunch.

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    It was great to see so many of you Sunday at the CSA party enjoying our community and the lovely Colorado Fall weather.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

     

     

  • CSA Week 21

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 21 of our CSA:

    Arugula
    fall arugula comin’ to CSA!

    REGULAR SHARE
    CHOICE: Potatoes OR Bell Peppers
    Carrots
    Topped Beets
    CHOICE: Beans OR Roasted Chiles
    CHOICE: Celery OR Parsley OR Onions
    CHOICE: Arugula OR Baby Kale
    Winter Squash
    CHOICE: Collard Greens OR Chard OR Kale

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Leeks
    Winter Radish
    Sweet Peppers
    Garlic

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples
    Plums

  • CSA Week 20

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 20 of our CSA:

    You can use your pie pumpkin as a decoration until you’re ready to use it.

    REGULAR SHARE
    Zucchini
    Cucumber
    Carrots
    CHOICE: Topped Beets OR Roasted Chiles
    Pie Punkin’
    Tomatoes
    CHOICE: Celery OR Parsley
    CHOICE: Collard Greens OR Chard OR Kale

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    DOUBLE Roasted Chiles
    Onions
    Cabbage
    Potatoes

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples
    Pears

  • Freezing Sweet Peppers and Roasted Chili Peppers

    A couple of years ago I did a post on Freezing Summers Bounty. This is pretty much a repost/reminder  to you that you don’t have to eat all your CSA share in one week. You can easily freeze some and enjoy it in the winter when you are wishing for Summer vegetables.

    To freeze roasted peppers you can just chuck them in the freezer in the bags we give them to you in. Sometimes I like to clean them and chop them so they are ready to throw in a pot of beans or stews. Either way it’s always nice to have a little stash of roasted peppers in the freezer to pull out in the winter.

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    You know those HUGE bell peppers we have been getting. You can freeze those too. Just seed them and cut them up.

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    Then spread them on a tray so they’re not touching each other and freeze until firm. You don’t want to just throw them in a bag or other container and freeze or you will have a huge pepper ice ball that won’t break apart.

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    When they are frozen hard transfer the them to a freezer-safe zip-lock bag or container with as much air pressed out as you can to prevent freezer burn. They take up a lot less room chopped up in a bag.

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    I love having these peppers stashed away for later. You can freeze celery and onions the same way. It just takes a few minutes and it is so handy to have.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

     

     

  • CSA Week 19

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 19 of our CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE

    Winter SquashCHOICE: Cucumber OR Zucchini
    Winter Squash
    CHOICE: Corn OR Beans
    CHOICE: Carrots OR Beets
    CHOICE: Potatoes OR Cabbage
    CHOICE: Carmen OR Poblano OR Bell Peppers
    Red Tomatoes
    CHOICE: Collard Greens OR Chard OR Kale

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Arugula
    Celery
    Parsley
    And one other item!

    FRUIT SHARE
    Peaches
    Apples