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Category: Newsletter

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 9 (July 16th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you beets OR carrots, green kale OR scarlet turnips, cucumbers, zucchini, scallions, spicy salad mix OR mizuna, and basil OR squash blossoms. Large share members will also get beets AND carrots, broccoli, and arugula. Fruit share members will get apricots AND Rainier cherries.

    In this week’s newsletter:


    On the Farm

    Posted by Maddie

    I thought I’d start off this week by sharing a little bit of what’s been happening on the farm. As always, some crops are in full swing while others are just getting started. On Thursday night, we received restaurant orders for 400 squash blossoms. While we all know that the zucchini is booming right now, some of us were doubtful that there were 400 flowers out in the field.

    After 20 or 30 minutes, we had reached our total with some blossoms still left on the plants. Squash blossoms were really fun to harvest. Each person collects a bouquet of 25 flowers before we bag them. Don’t they look gorgeous? They’re also super tasty, but more on that to come from Mo.

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    On Friday afternoon, Eva and I harvested the first of the cherry tomatoes. Lover of tomatoes that I am, I was the first to volunteer to help pick. When we arrived in the rows, it took the two of us about 20 minutes to collect everything that was ready. Needless to say, we won’t have enough to include tomatoes in CSA shares this week, but they will come soon and be around for quite a while.


    Calling All Foodies!

    Posted by Maddie

    When I first started working at Red Wagon back in April, I was surprised to learn how many people got a job on the farm simply because they were really into cooking and eating fresh, yummy food. Of course, this was among my reasons as well. One of my favorite parts of working on the farm and talking with all of our CSA members is sharing ideas about how to cook and eat the food we grow. And I think this blog is one of the best ways to have the conversation.

    So, I would like to put out a request for knowledge. We love to share our recipes and cooking tips with you, but we also know that many of you have been eating locally and in season for years and we want to hear from you. One way that you can share your food knowledge is to send me a link to your own blog. If you have a food blog where you write about your weekly CSA share or even the veggies you grow in your garden, don’t be shy! Let us in on it. Only if you’re comfortable sharing, of course.

    You may have noticed that I have finally gotten around to adding a Resources page to the blog. I realize it’s pretty skimpy at the moment, having only added a few of my own suggestions. But this is another way that you can impart some of your food knowledge. Please send along a short email with some of your favorite food blogs, cookbooks, or any other resources you love and I’ll add them to our list.

    Email any of the above to me at csa@redwagonfarmboulder.com and I’ll be happy to spread the word. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!

    -Maddie

    A Day in the Life of a Zucchini
    Posted by Mo

    At the Farm, every year some things work and some things don’t. You don’t always know why, it’s just the way it is. Last year the zucchini sort of puttered along. We had some, but it just got by. This year the plants are gorgeous and pumping out beautiful fruit. These are the plants in Bell field this morning.

    When a farmer looks at a crop we want to see even growth. We don’t want to see anything ‘different’. No holes in the plantings, no short or tall plants. The above image shows just what we want to see. Good job Wyatt, Eva, Clay…everyone at Teller.
    Look closer and see all the growth at different stages on just one plant.

    Can you see the male and the female blossoms in the above picture?
    The male blossoms don’t have fruit attached. The females do. We only harvest the male blossoms for zucchini blossoms. You will only get males.

    Here is a female blossom getting pollenated by some very happy bees.


    Fried and Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

    You can eat the blossoms raw in a salad or they are really nice in a quesadilla. Just put it in with the cheese and it will soften with the melted cheese. The blossoms have a sort of ‘condensed’ zucchini flavor, but very mild. The stem is very tasty, so make sure you include that in whatever you make. Some recipes say to discard the stem. Don’t do that.
    I made some fried and stuffed blossoms. It really isn’t complicated and it is just delicious. First you will want to remove the stamen before you do anything with your blossoms. The stamens are a little bitter.
    This is a male stamen. I just gently tear the blossom and remove the stamen.

    You can stuff your blossoms with anything, grains, cheese of any kind, herbs, anything.
    I had some goat cheese and basil. So I mixed that up. And stuffed my blossoms.


    Get a couple bowls and put a beaten egg in one and some seasoned flour in the other.
    Pull the flower around the cheese and dip the blossom in the egg then the flour. You don’t have to be that careful with these. They are really forgiving.  Eva stopped by when I was making these and she can’t eat gluten and I just fried some with cheese and without cheese for her and they were really good. Anyway…
    Fry the dipped, stuffed blossom in a hot pan with oil. Make sure you press the stem down in the pan so it cooks.
    Turn it over and fry the other side and there you go.

    Three or four of those with a salad and some bread and wine makes a great summer dinner.
    The blossoms will keep in the refrigerator for several days so don’t feel like you have to make these right away. I kept last week’s blossoms for 6 days in the fridge before I used them and they were fine.


    Kale Salad

    I love this salad. If you try it let us know how you like it. You could use any of the greens you get this week to make this salad. Mizuna, spicy salad mix, or kale.

    • ¼ cup olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
    • 2 tablespoons of shoyu or soy sauce
    • 1 bunch of kale (or any green), chopped with ribs removed
    • ½ to ¾ cup unsweetened large-flaked coconut. If you use small flaked use less coconut
    • Some crushed red pepper (optional)

    Preheat the oven to 350F
    Dump the washed and chopped kale and coconut with the oils and the soy sauce (and crushed red peppers if using) into a bowl.

    Make sure you mix the sauce all over the kale and coconut evenly.

    Spread the contents of the bowl on a baking sheet and bake it for 20 to 25 minutes until the coconut starts to toast. You might need two baking sheets. Stir the kale once or twice while it’s cooking.

    You can eat this as a side dish or I like to add some grains for a meal. I had some leftover jade rice. This is a great make-ahead dish and the leftovers are really good for lunches.

    Have a great week.
    – Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 8 (July 9th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you broccoli OR cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, grilling onions, garlic, spicy salad mix OR kale, and basil OR squash blossoms. Large share members will receive all regular share items PLUS turnips, spinach, and double cucumbers. Fruit share members will get apricots AND cherries.

    In This Week’s Newsletter:


    Gratitude

    Posted by: Maddie

    Working the long and sometimes exhausting hours that we do on the farm, I feel like it is important to step back occasionally and appreciate people and things that make our lives easier. So, I thought I would share with you all a few things I am thankful for this week.

    First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to two of the many people who have worked selflessly to make your experience as CSA members (and in turn, my job as CSA manager) better. Some of you may know Ru and Bob Wing, who help out with our missed shares on Tuesdays and Thursdays, among other things. Many of you may not know Ru and Bob, but I hope you all get the chance to meet them before the end of the season. Ru and Bob are two of the most kind, caring, and generally wonderful people I have met in my time at Red Wagon. Every week they volunteer their own time, energy, and porch space to ensure that those who can’t make it to their pick-up still have fresh veggies available the next day. And as if that wasn’t enough, they also put in the time to bring any left over veggies to EFAA (the Emergency Family Assistance Association) which provides food and shelter to families in need in our area. Their long-standing presence at Red Wagon has been truly appreciated by me and by countless others. Thank you Ru and Bob!

    The second thing that I’m especially thankful for this week, as many of you are I’m sure, is the RAIN, glorious rain! Although the rain can sometimes make it difficult to get everything done on the farm, the benefits it provides to our crops (not to mention our over-heated farm crew) are welcome to say the least. The rumors of continuous wet weather are good news not only for Red Wagon but for the rest of our fire ridden state. Last week we enjoyed the short-lived afternoon showers out on the farm and I hope everyone reveled at least a little bit in the drenching downpours we were blessed with over the weekend. I know I did.

    Have a great week and I’ll see everyone at pick-up!

    -Maddie


    Using What You Get

    Posted by: Mo

    We are getting into the time of year when it is too hot for salad greens. CSA members start asking, “When will we get lettuce again?” Probably not for a while. Lettuce gets bitter in the heat of summer and trust me, you don’t want it when it’s bitter. Blah. The good news is, you got cabbage last week and again this week. Your cabbage will store for a long, long time in a plastic bag in your fridge; at least a month. Much longer than lettuce.  You can cut off as much cabbage as you need and put it back in the bag for later. When I don’t have lettuce I like to use what is available and in season. Now I would use cabbage and cucumber for anything I would use with lettuce, like tossed salads or on sandwiches. This is one of the best parts of belonging to a CSA, going with the flow and improvising with your food.

    Speaking of cucumbers. You will probably get a choice of slicing cucumbers or pickling cucumbers this week. If you haven’t tried eating a pickling cucumber, try them! They are delicious. We do grow them for people to pickle with, but we mostly grow them for eating raw. I love them sliced on sandwiches. Most of us at the farm prefer eating pickling cukes to the salad cukes. Try them and see what you think.

    In the spirit of using what you get (or have from last week) I want to share a couple of dishes that can use any combination of vegetables you have on hand.
    This is some of what I had left over from last week’s CSA share.


    Vegetable Cake  (liberally adapted from several different recipes online)

    • 2 to 3 cups chopped vegetables of any kind
    • 6 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 teaspoons finely chopped herbs (I used rosemary and sage)
    • 8 eggs
    • 1 handful basil, chopped
    •  1 1/2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat, but you can use gluten free or all purpose, any kind really. There are so many eggs in this that it is a forgiving recipe in regards to flour.)
    • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
    • 1 to 2 cups grated cheese (I used parmesan but any kind of cheese you have would work.)
    • Salt and black pepper to taste, depending on the cheese you use. (Some cheese is pretty salty, so be careful here.)
    • Butter or Pam spray, for greasing pan
    • Sesame seeds, for dusting baking pan

    I sautéed my vegetables but you could cook yours however you like. They just need to be cooked and cool before you mix them into the cake batter.

    Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch pan. I sprinkled sesame seeds in my greased pan for crunch and interest. You don’t have to do that, but it’s nice if you do.
    Mix the wet ingredients and the dry separately, then mix them together like you would a quick bread or muffin batter. Then fold in the cooled vegetables and the cheese. Put the batter into the prepared pan. I like to put a few onions on top of the batter. Again, you don’t have to do that or you could put a different vegetable on top.

    This is what it looks like when it is done. Try this with whatever you have on hand.


    Green Soup

    This is a recipe/formula that has been going around the blogs on the internet. I had never made it before but I have seen several blogs raving about it. Here is the original Basic Greeb Soup
    The recipe calls for chard and spinach but you can substitute any vegetables you have on hand. Broccoli, zucchini, anything you have.
    I had some leftover, kind of droopy, chard and kale in my fridge and I was trying to make room for my CSA this week so I decide to try this soup with them.
    Look familiar?

    The trick to making this soup is to really take your time cooking down the onions. They need to collapse like this. It takes about 30 minutes to get them to this point.

    While the onions are cooking, cook the rice in the 3 cups of water.

    Dump the chopped vegetables into the cooked rice and water. The recipe says to add 4 cups of stock with the vegetables.  I just added more water and didn’t use stock. It worked fine and tasted great.

    I forgot to take a picture of the soup finished, doh. It looked pretty much like this: Anna Thomas Green Soup
    I took this to a friend’s house for dinner last night and served it barely warm. It is a nice silky textured soup. I hope you try this with what you have on hand. This is one of those great base recipes to have in your repertoire. I’ll make it again with different vegetables and take a picture.


    Kale Chips

    Stop me if you have heard this one before.

    • 1 bunch of kale leaves, any kind of kale works. I used curly kale. Rinse, dry, and tear into bite-sized pieces, center ribs and stems removed.
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

    Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss kale with oil in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Give them lots of room or they will steam and not crisp up.

    Bake until crisp, about 20 minutes for flat leaves and up to 30 minutes for wrinkled leaves. Just keep checking. I find that opening the oven a few times during cooking to release the steam really helps to dry the chips.

    You can add a little sesame oil or truffle oil for added flavor with the olive oil, or sprinkle the chips with a little parmesan cheese or brewers yeast about 5 minutes before they are fully done.

    Before and after.

    These need to be fully dried and not soggy or chewy or they are really not tasty. They kind of shatter in your mouth when they are done right. Everyone loves  these, even kale haters. I hope you do too.

    Until next week,

    Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 7 (July 2nd, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you beets, zucchini, broccoli OR cauliflower, bok choy OR broccoli raab OR cabbage, kale OR collard greens OR chard, and grilling onions. Large share members will receive all regular share items PLUS arugula and two extra “choice” items. Fruit share members will get cherries AND apricots.

    In This Week’s Newsletter:


    On the Farm
    Posted by: Maddie

    As we start to make the climb towards the peak of summer, it’s amazing to see how quickly things change on the farm. Some of our heat-loving crops like zucchini and melons are just getting warmed up, so to speak, while others are finished or winding down for the season. Still others, like the bok choy and broccoli raab, are coming back for round two.

    On Wednesday, while doing some weeding in our melon rows, a couple of my co-workers and I noticed a few baby watermelons starting to grow plump on the vines. I remembered with a strange nostalgia the day that I planted some 3,750 melon seeds at our greenhouse, while one of my co-workers planted an innumerable quantity of basil seeds. It’s hard to believe that all those tiny hopeful beginnings have flourished so quickly into the sprawling vines and thriving bushes they are now.

    I have been told that at the peak of the season, the farm produces a fairly ludicrous amount of food. I am starting to see the potential for this, particularly in the zucchini rows, which are already littered with specimens too large for happy consumption. Every new crop sends a wave of excitement through the farm and it just keeps getting better. Whether you’ve been a CSA member for years or this is your first season, I hope you are enjoying all the changes as much as the rest of us. Happy 4th and have a great week everyone!

    – Maddie


    Storing Grilling Onions and Zucchini 

    Posted by: Mo

    This week I wanted to give you some ideas with minimal cooking but also dishes that you can take to potlucks or picnics since Wednesday is the 4th of July. First though, let’s talk about some of the vegetables in your share.

    You are getting grilling onions this week. Grilling onions are fresh onions that are still developing but we picked them young, before the tops bend over. When the tops bend over on onions, that is when you know they are ready to harvest. Storage onions are fully developed when the tops fall over. We then ‘cure’ them by allowing the tops to dry and seal around the bulb of the onion so it stores well.

    The grilling onions you get should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and used within a week to ten days. You can cut off the tops when you store them. Use them as you would any onion but they are really tasty grilled because they are young and mild and very moist. If you use only half an onion use the top half and leave the root half for later. It stores better than the top.

    More zucchini! If you grill your onions maybe grill your zucchini too for a nice side dish.
    Your zucchini should be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge. Make sure your zucchini is dry before you put it in the bag. It will get slimy if it is moist. It should keep in a bag in the fridge for a week. You can shred and freeze your zucchini and use it for baking.  It will be too mushy for anything other than baking if you freeze it.


    Cauliflower
    Posted by: Mo

    Sometimes cauliflower is a little bitter raw. It usually loses that bitter bite when it is cooked but if you want to eat it raw soak the cauliflower in ice cold water for ½ hour to 1 hour and change the water a couple times. I just do this when I make a raw salad with cauliflower as a habit. Here is a fun salad for kids. It’s one of those recipes that you can sub out anything, or add anything.

    Clouds and Trees
    *Adapted from “One United Harvest”

    • 1 head of broccoli
    • 1 head of cauliflower
    • 1 bunch scallions
    • 1 cup total of mix of nuts, dried fruit, olives, granola, really almost anything your kids like to snack on.

    Dressing

    • Scant ½ cup mayonnaise
    • Generous ½ cup sour cream
    • 2 Tbs honey
    • 2 Tbs vinegar
    • Salt and pepper

    Trim stems from broccoli and cauliflower, using only the tender florets for the salad. Mix in scallions and any of the add-ins you like. I used dried blueberries, pistachios, and black olives. Mix the dressing and mix the whole thing together. This can be made a day ahead.

    My kids liked to have salads served in fancy dishes like this.

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    “Baked” (microwaved then broiled) Whole Cauliflower
    This is a great, easy, make-ahead dish for a potluck. It’s good at room temperature and travels well.

    Core and wash your cauliflower, keeping it whole.

    Put the whole cauliflower in a glass pie plate with 2 teaspoons of water, cover with wax paper, and microwave for 7 minutes. How long it will take to cook depends on how big your cauliflower is. Just check it around 5 or 6 minutes. Don’t overcook it or it will fall apart.

    While that is cooking, mix:

    • ½ cup bread crumbs
    • 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
    • Salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you like

    When the cauliflower is done drain off any water out of the pan and spread the crumb mixture on the cauliflower. Broil the cauliflower head until the crumb mixture is brown and crunchy.

    This is a great dish for summer. The microwave doesn’t heat up the house and the broiler is only on for a few minutes so it doesn’t get too hot from that either.

    Serve the cauliflower on a dish with some dressed greens and let people break off as many florets as they like. This is one of those dishes that people who say they don’t like cauliflower will eat.

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    Beet and Watermelon Salad

    Posted by: Mo

    This is one of my favorite summer salads and it travels well. Our watermelon isn’t ready at the farm yet, but I still thought I would share this with you since we do have beets. I have used mangos instead of watermelon and it’s good that way too.

    • 1 bunch beets, cooked (either roasted or boiled) and cut into small bites
    • Equal amount of watermelon cut the same size

    For the dressing, I use:

    • 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
    • ¼ cup neutral oil

    >Mix the dressing and pour it over the beets and melon and let that sit for an hour or so.
    I like to serve the beets and melon over some bitter, spicy greens and top it with either feta or a blue cheese and some roasted nuts.
    Look how shiny the beets get from steeping in the dressing and how the watermelon picks up the red color of the beets.

    ________________________________________________________________

    I had fun with the vegetables in the share this week. I hope you enjoy them too.
    Happy 4th.

    -Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 6 (June 25th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you beets OR carrots, zucchini OR fava beans, cabbage, garlic, scallions, lettuce and basil. Large share members will receive all regular share items plus green curly kale, spinach, and another SURPRISE item! We’ll be taking a break from the fruit share this week.

    In This Week’s Newsletter:


    Farm Tour Fun and Photos
    Posted by: Maddie and Mo

    Thanks to all who braved the heat and haze to come tour our farm on 63rd Street yesterday! We had a great time showing everyone around and we hope you enjoyed yourselves, too.

    Even our woolly friends had a blast despite the heat. The goats and llamas made a lot of new friends as they feasted on carrots from the hands of our visitors. I’m sure the alpacas – thin, trimmed and cool – were thankful for their recent shearing!

    I had a great time taking some of our CSA members on a walking tour. We checked out the vast (and flowering!) potato field, the gorgeous green tomatoes in hoop house, the rows of healthy young eggplants and peppers, and the pumpkin seedlings just starting to emerge. There are so many more exciting veggies on their way!

    To everyone who couldn’t make it out yesterday, we hope you can make it to our second farm tour later in the season on September 9th at the farm on Valmont Road.

    Mo did some impressive photo-journalism while giving tours on the hay wagon. Check out some of the photos she took yesterday!

    -Maddie

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    It was great to show you folks around the 63rd Street Farm yesterday.
    We had hayride tours.

    ________________________________________________________________

    Some people opted to take a walking tour. Here Wyatt is showing people around.

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    And one of our favorite CSA families enjoying the day.

    ________________________________________________________________

    After the tour, some of the little ones got to ‘play farmer’ on the tractor.

    We are looking forward to the next tour on the other end of summer!

    ________________________________________________________________


    Zucchini Fritters *includes gluten-free option
    Posted by: Mo
    Yield: About six 3- or 4-inch fritters

    • 2 medium zucchini
    • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
    • 2 scallions, split lengthwise and sliced thin
    • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour *or sub any gluten free flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying

    Trim ends off zucchini and grate them either on the large holes of a box grater or, if you have one, using the shredding blade of a food processor.

    In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Wring out the zucchini in one of the following ways: pressing it against the holes of a colander with a wooden spoon to extract the water OR squeezing out small handfuls at a time. You want to get all the water out that you can.

    Return deflated mass of zucchini shreds to bowl. Taste it and see if you think it could benefit from more salt (most rinses down the drain). Stir in scallions, egg and some freshly ground black pepper. In a tiny dish, stir together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter.

    In a large heavy skillet  (cast iron is good) heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don’t become crowded and lightly nudge them flatter with the back of your spatula. Cook the fritters over moderately high heat until they start to turn brown. The trickiest part of making these is to get them done all the way through. I just keep flipping them and touching the middle until I can feel the middle of the fritter is set.  Until you get the hang of it you might just want to try one and make sure it is set all the way to the middle. Once you know what it feels like you won’t have to do that again.

    You can add endless ingredients to these fritters, cheese, hot peppers, herbs, spices. Pretty much anything you like. I topped mine with Greek yogurt.

    These fritters keep well chilled in the fridge for a week or so. You can warm them up in the microwave or just eat them cold.

    ________________________________________________________________


    Chocolate Beet Cake *includes gluten free option
    Posted by: Maddie
    (Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz’ food blog at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/)

    • 8 ounces beets, unpeeled, rinsed and scrubbed free of dirt
    • 7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
    • 1/4 cup hot espresso (or water)
    • 7 ounces butter, at room temperature, cubed
    • 1 cup flour
 *substitute rice/tapioca flour for gluten free option
    • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (the darkest you can find, natural or Dutch-process)
    • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
    • 
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
    • pinch of salt
    • 1 cup superfine sugar

    Cream Cheese Frosting (optional but scrumptious)

    • 16 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
    • 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
    • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into 8 pieces
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
    • pinch of table salt

    For the Frosting: 

    With stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
    Add cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
    Beat in vanilla and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

    Baking the Cake: 
    Butter an 8- or 8 1/2 inch (20 cm) springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. (Note: I didn’t have a springform pan so I used two 8-inch cake pans instead. Layer cake, anyone?)

    Boil the beets in salted water until they’re very tender, about 45 minutes.

    Drain and rinse the beets under cold water. When cool enough to handle, you can peel the cooked beets easily by rubbing them on all sides with a dry paper towel.

    Cut the beets into chunks and grind them in a food processor until you have a coarse, yet cohesive, puree. (If you don’t have a food processor, use a cheese grater.)
    Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
    In a large bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring as little as possible. Once it’s nearly all melted, turn off the heat (but leave the bowl over the warm water) and stir in the hot espresso. Then add the butter. Press the butter pieces into the chocolate and allow them to soften without stirring.

    Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a separate bowl.

    Remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter is melted. Let sit for a few minutes to cool, then stir the egg yolks together and briskly stir them into the melted chocolate mixture. Fold in the beets.

    In a stand mixer, or by hand, whip the egg whites until stiff. Gradually fold the sugar into the whipped egg whites with a spatula, then fold them into the melted chocolate mixture. Do not overmix.

    Fold in the flour and cocoa powder.

    Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, reduce the heat of the oven to 325ºF, and bake the cake for 30-40 minutes. The cake is finished when the sides are just set but the center is still is just a bit wobbly. Do not overbake.

    Let cake cool completely, then remove it from the pan and frost if you dare!

    I promise there are vegetables in there somewhere…. Enjoy!

    -Maddie

    ________________________________________________________________


    “Red Wagon Special” Noodle Salad 

    I often make a salad for dinner when it’s hot like it is now. I use whatever vegetables I have on hand.

    ________________________________________________________________

    I wash them, chop them up and put them in a colander.

    I like noodle and pasta salad because it makes a lot, I can use any pasta and any vegetables. And I will have leftovers for lunches. I used some soba noodles today. You can substitute any noodle you like. I made a peanut sauce for this salad. While the noodles were cooking I made this sauce. I am giving the approximate amounts I used of the vegetables for this salad.

    Recipe:

    • 1 -12-oz package soba noodles
    • 1/4 peanut butter
    • 1/4 c rice wine vinegar
    • 1/4 c soy sauce
    • 2 Tbsp honey
    • 1 Tbsp minced ginger
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/2 medium onion, minced
    • 1/2 head cabbage, shredded
    • 3 medium carrots, cut in match sticks
    • green onions, basil, and/or cilantro as garnish (optional)

    While the noodles cook, combine peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, and onion with a 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium to low heat until all ingredients are well combined and sauce is thick and bubbly.

    When noodles are ready to drain, place cabbage and carrots in the colander.  Pour hot water and noodles over vegetables to drain when the vegetables just start to cook rinse the whole thing with cold water to stop everything from cooking any more.

    You can kind of see how the vegetables just barely cooked.

    Toss vegetable-noodle mixture with sauce.  Either serve now or chill in the refrigerator to serve later.

    I hope you try one of the recipes this week. Until next time.

    -Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 5 (June 18th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you beets OR carrots, fava beans OR shelling peas OR easter egg radishes, snow peas, chard OR spicy salad mix, baby tuscan kale, and garlic. Large share members will get all regular share items plus beets AND carrots, double garlic, and one SURPRISE item. All fruit share members will get cherries again this week!

    In This Week’s Newsletter:


    Farm Tour this Sunday, June 24th

    Another wonderful part of being a CSA member is the opportunity to visit the place where your food is grown. Farm tours are a great way to get further connected to your farm and understand what it takes to grow all of the veggies you receive each week.

    We are excited to host our first farm tour of the season for CSA members this coming Sunday, June 24th! The tour will take place at our farm on North 63rd Street from 11am to 2pm.

    Stop by anytime between 11 and 2 to take a hay ride around the farm, visit with our goats, llamas and alpacas, and go on a walking tour of the farm and hoop houses. We hope you all can make it!

    Directions to Red Wagon’s 63rd St. Farm:

    • From the Diagonal Highway (Hwy 119) turn North on 63rd Street (towards IBM)
    • Go straight through the stop sign at Niwot Rd.
    • Go 0.75 miles past the stop sign and our farm is on the right at 7694 N 63rd St., Longmont.
    • (You will pass Modena Lane then you will see our big hoop houses on the right side of the road. There is a 50mph sign then a “school bus stop ahead” sign. The driveway is right at the mailbox on the right side. Our house is the only house on the right. Sunrise Ranch Drive is just past our house on the other side of the road. If you get to Oxford Rd. on the right, you’ve gone too far.)


    Farm Updates

    Last Friday marked a momentous occasion for members of Red Wagon’s farm crew, including myself. On Friday afternoon, following one final harvest for restaurants, we celebrated the end of the sugar snap peas. Celebrated, you ask? It does seem strange that anyone would take joy in the passing of such a beloved sweet and crunchy treat. However, for we harvesters and weeders, sugar snap peas can be a daunting and arduous crop. While wading through the rows of unweeded tendrils, we have often compared ourselves to indigenous hunter-gatherers, stealthily searching through the jungle for the elusive sugar snap pod. I have been told that the tilling under of the sugar snaps is traditionally met with singing, dancing and gleeful yips from the farm crew. I’m sure that this year will be no different.

    The end of the sugar snaps brings on the start of the less burdensome snow peas, shelling peas and fava beans, which can more-or-less be picked by the handful and do not require special vision enhancement to be spotted.

    Harvesting Snow Peas

    The first fuzzy glimpses of summer that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago are coming into focus more and more each day. On Friday, our harvest manager Eva bravely unleashed the newest farm crew members into the rows of basil, teaching us how to “tip” the plants (meaning to pluck just the first four leaves from the top). Basil is a crop that reminds me to appreciate the sensory joys of farming. I oooh’ed and aaah’ed through two rows of glorious odors as we plucked leaves from Genovese, lemon, and opal basil.

    On my way to the basil rows, I noticed some bright yellow-orange satellites glaring at me from the rows of zucchini that we planted several weeks ago. Summer is truly on its way!

    I hope everyone is enjoying their veggies so far and looking forward to what’s to come. I know I am. See you all at pick-up!

    -Maddie

    Fava Beans 101

    Posted by: Mo

    Nutty, slightly bitter and rich. Yum. Fava’s take a little effort to prepare but the reward is well worth it.

    From the pound of fava’s you get in your share you will get about 1/3 of a cup of beans after you shell them and remove the skin from the bean. First you remove the bean from the pod. To remove the bean from the skin you will need to par-boil or steam them for just a minute or until they turn bright green. Then you just slip the bean from its skin by pinching it gently. Here is a picture of the bean in the four steps described.

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    Now you can use the favas for any one of a number of recipes. I like to keep it very simple and just enjoy the favas. Here is a very basic recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/gabriel-s-sauteed-fava-beans-117520


    If all this seems a bit too fiddly for you, you might like to grill your favas.

    Toss the fava bean pods with olive oil and salt and some herbs if you have some on hand. Arrange them in a single layer on a grill over medium-high heat. Grill until blistered on one side – 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and grill for a few minutes more on the other side. You want the fava beans to be smooth and creamy when you pop them out of their skins – not undercooked. They will keep steaming in their pods for a few minutes after they come off the grill. Season the grilled favas with a bit more salt. To eat: tear open the green pods, take a fava bean, pinch the skin and slide the bright green fava from its skin into your mouth. All the char, oil, herbs and fava juices stick to your fingers…so lick them. The whole experience is really tasty.  I hope you try it.

    See the bright green beans that have been removed from the pod and then the skin? That’s what you eat.

    Spicy Salad Mix

    Eva, our harvest manager, wanted me to make a salad with the spicy salad mix. The spicy salad mix has some strong flavors going on so I decided to add more strong flavors to stand up to it. I added raw beets and raw snow peas from my CSA share to the salad mix, along with some nuts, feta and this vinaigrette.


    • 1/3 cup plus olive oil
    • 3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon mild honey
    • 1 teaspoon grainy mustard


    Snow Peas

    Raise your hand if you associate snow peas with bad stir fry? Me too.
    I have been staring at the snow peas wondering what I am going to do with them. I liked them in the above salad raw.
    Then, I was thinking how wonderful those favas were grilled, and I thought, “Why not grill the snow peas?” So I did. It took about a minute, maybe two. You do not want to overcook a snow pea. I salted them and put a little lemon zest on them and boy, were they tasty. Really, really good.

    I hope you are enjoying your CSA shares and are trying some new vegetables.

    Until next week,
    -Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 4 (June 11th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you beets OR carrots, hakurei turnips OR scarlet turnips, peas, kale OR collard greens OR chard, arugula and garlic. Large share members will get all of the above items as well as both beets AND carrots, lettuce and basil. We are also very excited to have cherries from First Fruits Organic Farm for the fruit share this week!

    In This Week’s Newsletter:

    First Week for Fruit 

    Posted by: Maddie

    You may have received our email announcement that the fruit share will be getting cherries this week. We have been very happy to hear that the Western Slope is having a great year for fruit so far. Let’s all cross our fingers that this continues! If you don’t currently have a fruit share and you would like to sign up for one, you can do so by logging in to your account at: http://csa.farmigo.com/account/redwagonorganicfarm and adding a fruit share to your subscription.

    Click here to read all about the fruit share including the weekly vs. biweekly options, pricing, and what the fruit share received last year.

    The CSA Experience
    Posted by: Maddie

    As returning CSA members will recall (and new members are learning), being part of a CSA comes with many unique delights and challenges. As members of Red Wagon’s CSA, you receive produce at the peak of its freshness, flavor and nutrition. Your veggies are harvested the same day that you receive them, and most often the people who deliver them had a hand in growing and harvesting them as well! By being part of a CSA, you are supporting your local farmer and getting the very best of what we have to offer in exchange.

    Some CSA boons and battles are one in the same. This week, for example, you may choose to take home scarlet turnips in your share. Maybe you’ve been eating scarlet turnips for years, or maybe you’ve never even heard of them. Trying new things can be daunting at first, but I hope you’ll find that the rewards outweigh the challenges. You might just learn that your kids LOVE curly green kale chips, or that Mo’s turnip slaw is your new favorite dish to bring to summer potlucks.

    One of my favorite quotes is as follows: “Blessed are the flexible, for they do not get bent out of shape.” One requirement for being part of a CSA is flexibility. As an example, last week we tried very hard to bring you Easter Egg radishes. This was a challenge for several reasons and we were able to harvest only a small amount for pick-up on Monday and Tuesday. Because of the warm spring weather, one planting of radishes began to bolt (or flower) sooner than expected. At the same time, most of the radishes in the later planting were still too small to harvest. I realize that many of you who may have wanted them did not get a choice of radishes, and Thursday’s pick-up did not include radishes at all, but baby carrots instead. We try hard to predict what we will have to offer each week. However, a large part of the CSA experience is eating what is available when it is available and understanding that those of us on the farm often can’t know how things will work out.

    That said, we at Red Wagon appreciate the support of our CSA members immensely. We hope you know that the quality of your experience is our top priority and we could not do it without you! Thank you again for being a part of our CSA and I will see everyone at pick-up!

    -Maddie

    Harvest Photos
    Posted by: Mo

    Here are some photos of our June 11th crops and harvest.

    Clay, Chayo, Martha and Madi harvesting arugula.

    <

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    Beets. Eat those greens!

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    Garlic.

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    Scarlet Turnips

    Posted by: Mo

    They are gorgeous if nothing else. Remember ‘magenta’ in your Crayola box?

    I made a couple of dishes with scarlet turnips to give you some ideas about how to use them. Scarlet turnips taste like a hakurei turnip inside; white, sweet and succulent. The scarlet outside has more of a mild bite like a radish. When you cook them they become all sweet and lose the mild spicy bite.

    I made one cooked dish and one dish using the turnip raw. If you decide to cook your turnips you can use them anyway you would cook a potato or a large turnip: baked, scalloped, mashed, or braised. I braised mine.


    I used this recipe but omitted the soy sauce because I wanted the white and pink color and not a brown (other than the caramelizing from the braising).

    • 1 Tbsp butter
    • 2-3 scarlet turnips, sliced thinly
    • 1 tsp soy sauce, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

    Melt your butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turnip slices and sauté for a few minutes until they start to brown. Add a splash of water or broth, stir, and cover with a lid to braise the turnips until tender, about 8 minutes. Check and stir them periodically. They should be golden-brown in places, almost caramelizing, when they are done, and tender all the way through. Add your soy sauce directly to the pan. Eat!

    It looked like this:

    Add turnips and sauté.

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    Add a splash of water. That is water boiling. It looks like oil, huh?

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    After the turnips have been covered with a lid and braised.

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    This was dinner. Turnips, snap peas, the last of last week’s lettuce mix and an egg.

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    I also made a scarlet turnip slaw with raw turnips.

    Turnip Slaw 

    • 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions or just any onion
    • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
    • 2 tablespoon vinegar
    • 1 or 2 tablespoons honey taste it before you add the second tablespoon
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
    • 4 cups shredded peeled turnips
    • 1-2 tablespoons poppy seeds

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 3 (June 4th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members! We are excited to bring you several new items this week including sugar snap peas, radishes and a choice of some of our favorite culinary herbs. (Remember to check out the “In Your Share” section on the right side of the page for a full listing.)

    In This Week’s Newsletter:

    Blog Updates

    As you know, we at the farm are fairly new to the blogging thing (and maybe some of you are too) but we hope you find it as fun to read as it is for us to write! We will continue to post your weekly newsletter every Monday with farm updates and cooking suggestions throughout the CSA season. Mo and I will also try to post once or twice each week as we try new things in our own kitchens and get our hands dirty on the farm.

    I want to point out that we have added a couple of new pages to the blog that we hope will be helpful to everyone. Make sure to check out our new “Storage and Cooking Guide” and “Resources” (COMING SOON) pages. These will both be found on the main menu bar at the top of the blog.

    In the Storage and Cooking Guide, Mo will provide tips on keeping your veggies fresh as well as basic cooking instructions for each crop. This week, we will be adding tutorials on broccoli raab and sugar snap peas.

    On our Resources page, folks from the farm will be sharing some of our go-to cookbooks, websites and blogs. Have a favorite cooking blog or cookbook that goes great with your CSA veggies? If you’d like to share you can email your ideas to me at csa@redwagonfarmboulder.com.

    Both of these pages will be updated periodically, so make sure to check back as we add to them!

    Familiar Faces

    Now that it is the third week of CSA and my eighth week on the farm, I’m really enjoying seeing all of the familiar faces both at CSA pick-ups and out in the fields. At CSA, I’m just starting to get a handle on some names (only 320 to go!) and I hope to be able to match a name to every face eventually. In the meantime, bear with me everyone.

    On the farm, it is really fun and satisfying to look back on crops I planted in April and weeded throughout May. Our baby onions and shallots, which we planted in the fields every day for my first few weeks, are looking strong and healthy at last. The rows of beets where we have spent hours weeding and thinning are almost big enough to harvest. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for beets!

    Have a great week.
    -Maddie

    FROM THE FARM AND KITCHEN with Mo 

    Peas, Glorious Peas

    Happy Week #3 CSA’ers. There are a few crops I really look forward and snap peas are one of them! I took a few pictures this morning of the Teller Farm Crew harvesting for you today.

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    Here is Anna picking peas for Monday CSA

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     Pretty peas

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    Here are Eva, the new Madi, Javier and Mario harvesting Easter Egg radishes (aka huevo Pascua).

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    More on Garlic Scape Pesto

    Did you make the garlic scape pesto that was posted here last week?

    I did.

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    I made some deviled eggs using a basic recipe like this (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/deviled_eggs/) then I added a few tablespoons of the garlic scape pesto and topped the stuffed egg with a little more pesto.

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    I wanted to make pasta for dinner but I didn’t want it hot. I made a cold pasta salad with my pesto.

    I find pesto often times to be too heavy. I took 3 tablespoons of pesto and added the juice of 2 limes and 2 tablespoons of olive oil together and made a dressing.

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    I added that to 1/2 a box of cooked orzo pasta and some pea shoots and lettuce leftover from last weeks CSA share and the mint from this week’s CSA share.

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    I mixed the dressing with the salad components and added a little goat cheese and pepper. I liked the lime juice with the pesto.

    Have a great week. Let us know what you are cooking with your shares and if you try any of our ideas.

    Until next time.
    -Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 2 (May 28th, 2012)

    Hello again CSA members, and welcome to week two. Check out the “In Your Share” list on the right side of the page to find out what scrumptious veggies we’re planning to bring you this week!

    I’m beginning to catch the first tiny glimpses of summer on the farm through the forests of spring greens. Over the last couple of weeks we planted rows of summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, and melons at the Teller Farm. With names like “Sugar Baby” and “Midnight Lightning,” I have high hopes for our little sun-lovers! We’ve also been transplanting other true summer crops like basil, eggplant and peppers from the greenhouse to the ground. As veteran CSA members will recall, spring is always heavy on the greens, but not to fear! There are reds, oranges, purples and yes…new and exciting greens on the horizon.

    A few reminders:

    While I realize that today is Memorial Day and many people may have been traveling over the weekend, it is still very important that you come to your scheduled pick-up. It creates a lot of extra work for our staff (and our INCREDIBLE volunteers, Ru and Bob Wing) to transport and store your share if you miss your pick-up. That said, please read your pick-up reminder email carefully for instructions on where to pick up your share if you absolutely cannot make it.

    Secondly, please please PLEASE don’t hesitate to ask questions or give feedback at pick-up! Myself and the rest of the Red Wagon staff have been taking home lots of green goodies as well and we likely all have some helpful storage and cooking tips up our sleeves. We know that it takes some practice to use up your share each week and we are here to help!

    Finally, thank you to those who left comments on last week’s newsletter. I LOVE to hear from members about how you’ve been using and enjoying your shares! I hope you will use the blog to ask questions, share cooking tips or anything else that comes to mind each week. (Just click the “Leave a Comment” link at the very bottom of the post.)

    Thank you all again for your wonderful support and enthusiasm. See you at pick-up!

    -Maddie

    FROM THE FARM AND KITCHEN with Mo 

    Happy week #2 CSA’ers. I was at the 63rd Street Farm CSA pick-up last week with Sally and met some of you. We are so gosh darned excited to have a CSA pick-up at our farm this season. We lease private land at the Teller Farm so we have never been able to have a pick-up site on the farm before. To provide food to our close neighbors at the farm where we are producing food feels great! Many of you mentioned that you had been with Pachamama’s CSA and how happy you are to have a local CSA again. Others told me that they are neighbors and have been walking or driving by, watching us ‘grow’ and joined when they saw the sign on the fence. For whatever reason you joined, thank you so much neighbors!

    Sally at the 63rd St. Pick-Up

    Speaking of being excited… How about the strawberries you got last week?!(Monday pick-up will get some today.)  Surprise!!! We grew the strawberries at the 63rd St Farm. We planted them last May and weren’t really sure what to expect with yields or timing. This is our first stab at growing perennial fruit for the CSA or Market other than rhubarb. We have been really happy with what we are getting. Hope you are too!

    In your shares this week you will get hakurei turnips. I like them best raw with a little salt (and beer). Some people go crazy for them pan roasted. Here is a recipe I like if you want to try them cooked.


    (Slightly adapted from bon appetit)

    • 1 bunch Hakurei turnips, greens reserved
    • Olive oil or unsalted butter
    • 2 Tablespoons sugar or honey
    • Kosher salt

    Preparation

    Place turnips in a large skillet; add water to cover turnips halfway. Add butter, sugar and a large pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is syrupy and turnips are tender, about 15 minutes. (If turnips are tender before liquid has reduced, use a slotted spoon to transfer turnips to a plate and reduce liquid until syrupy. Return turnips to pan and stir to coat well.) **This can be done up to 4 hours ahead of time. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm before continuing.

    Add turnip greens to skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until just wilted, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt.

    You will have a choice this week of baby kale or spinach. If you haven’t tried kale salad yet you need to try it at least once this season. You can use baby kale or any bunched kale you get in your share this year. If you Google ‘massaged kale salad’ you will get a million recipes, but basically you put your washed kale in a bowl and put 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 tablespoons of either vinegar or lemon or lime juice, a smashed clove of garlic (leave garlic out of you want) and a good sprinkling of salt. Then you massage all of the ingredients together with your hands. Really work it in. It turns a beautiful bright green.  You can make this early in the morning or even the day before you want to eat it. Massaging takes the bitterness out of the kale, takes off the raw edge and changes the texture to be more like cooked kale. I made some to take to a party last night along with an Asian noodle salad I made with pea shoots.

    Asian Noodles and Kale Salad

    I wasn’t thinking of the newsletter at the time, and on the way out the door snapped a quick (not very good) picture when it dawned on me I might talk about kale salad today. The kale salad is on the right. I just wanted to show how pretty the kale is. I used the pea shoots like sprouts in the Asian salad.

    One tip with the pea shoots. I wash them with my lettuce, spin them and just store them in the fridge together. I like to run some scissors through the pea shoots to make them easier to eat raw. If you sauté them I would leave them whole.

    Last week Amy gave you a recipe for broccoli raab. My husband isn’t a big fan of raab, or kale for that matter. He doesn’t like the bitterness. I hear that feedback from some CSA’ers, too. If you like the bitter bite of brassica’s just sautéing works for you. If you want to remove the bitterness and bring out the nutty taste, try blanching the greens. I took some pictures of me preparing the greens and using the scapes you will get in your share this week.

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    Here are the scapes chopped with the raab washed and ready to blanch in the background.

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    Blanching the raab and sautéing the scapes while the raab blanches. See how green it gets?

    For two of us about ½ a bunch of raab and ½ the scapes is enough. I add half of the scapes to the pan and put half in a container for later.

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    Use the rest in an omelet or add to pasta or grains for a quick dinner.

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    I hope you try some of these ideas. Leave a comment or question if you like, and have a great week.
    Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 1 (May 21st, 2012)

    Posted by: Maddie

    Happy first week of CSA! For your first share of the season, we hope to bring you Hakurei turnips, green garlic, walking onions, bok choi OR broccoli raab, braising mix OR baby kale, and spinach OR arugula. NOTE: Your share items will be posted each week in the “In Your Share” box on the upper right hand side of this page. Don’t forget to bring your own bags to CSA!

    Maddie, CSA Manager

    I’d like to start our newsletter this week with a short personal introduction. My name is Maddie Monty and I am Red Wagon’s new CSA Manager this season. Because I’m new to Red Wagon, and fairly new to farming, I’ve been thinking a lot about all of the amazing learning opportunities that our CSA provides – both for me and for all of you. Although you may not have used some of the vegetables included in your share each week, I invite you to seize the opportunity to add some new ingredients to your kitchen repertoire and begin to understand what grows when in our part of the world. I hope to provide all of you with some helpful tips and know that I will be learning a great deal right along with you.

    New farm crew members learning to bunch turnips

    I’ve been working on the farm for a little over a month now, and already I’ve learned an incredible amount. On my first day I learned that trimming the roots of spindly baby onions won’t, in fact, kill them. Over the last few weeks I’ve found that although I feel as wilted as our young beets after 8 hours of weeding or thinning, I too come back strong the next morning. Finally, I have learned (and been reminded repeatedly by Wyatt) how different farming is from gardening, and that plants are a lot tougher than I would have thought.

    So, please don’t hesitate to email, call, or find me at pick-up with any questions, concerns or praise for our wonderful veggies throughout the season. I look forward to meeting and getting to know you all. See you at pick-up!

    -Maddie

    And now a short note from Amy, co-owner of Red Wagon:

    I am always filled with gratitude when we start our CSA season. I feel honored that you have chosen us to feed you and your family for the season. It is a responsibility that we do not take lightly! It is a challenge to make sure we have a good mix of veggies for you each week and Wyatt is always thinking weeks and months ahead to make sure we have food for you. We also try to have the best quality and best tasting vegetables for you.

    Our CSA members are the foundation of our farm. Your payment early in the year allows us to pay for things like seeds and labor to get the season rolling. You are also a “guaranteed customer” and we know we can count on that income because we have already sold what we are growing to you. Not so with markets–they can be fickle!!

    So thank you, honored CSA members. Thank you for helping our farm thrive. We could not do it without you. We are looking forward to a season of good eating with you!

    -Amy

    A Recipe from Amy:


    Sauteed Broccoli Raab

    • Cut broccoli raab into large chunks, including stems.
    • In a cold pan, start with a lot of olive oil and some sliced garlic.
    • Turn on medium-high heat until garlic starts to brown.
    • Add broccoli raab until it starts to spit and pop.
    • Add salt and chile flakes and stir around to wilt the greens.
    • Finish with lemon juice.
    • Serve as a side dish of wilted greens or add pasta and Parmesan.

    FROM THE FARM AND KITCHEN with Mo

    Welcome and welcome back Red Wagon CSA’ers. I am Mo McKenna, third year farm employee at Red Wagon. This year, in addition to farm work, I’ll be writing about goings on at the Farm and about the vegetables you are getting in your CSA share. I’ll share recipes and suggestions on basic preparations, and ideas for some of the vegetables you receive each week.

    We have changed our format to an active blog rather than a static weekly newsletter. We hope you will leave questions or comments so we can all share and learn what each other are doing in the kitchen with our weekly offerings.

    Here we go. Week #1

    Farming is always a challenge. Year to year we never know what Mother Nature will throw at us. This year we already have been handed a double whammy. 1. A really warm spring. 2. Drought.

    The warm spring weather means that the cool weather crops will be ending much sooner than what is ‘normal’. Cut greens will be ending sooner than we would like, garlic is already starting to scape (more on what that means later). Peas, beets, and carrots look like they will be earlier than most years. Just when we think we have crop timing figured out, we humbly learn we don’t. We do have lots of food in the ground and our fingers crossed.

    Let’s talk a little about the drought. I won’t go into huge detail here. You can Google ‘water drought situation in Colorado’ if you want to know more. I’ll just say that because of the low snow pack in the mountains the water available to farmers on the front range is minimal or nonexistent, depending on the ditch you draw from, for late season this year. Wyatt is VERY worried about this. You may have seen the note on the website. Wyatt was on the phone for days, literally, and up nights worrying about this. He has found and bought some shares of late season water for the 63rd Street farm, so that is good news, and is still working on finding late season water for the Teller farm. This means he is changing the crop plans, moving equipment and reassigning employees to different farms. I have worked for several different farmers in Boulder County and I can tell you with confidence; you are in the best hands possible as CSA members with Wyatt as your farmer. If there is any way for him to secure water to provide food for the CSA, he will do it. We’ll keep you posted on what is going on.

    Probably the most frequently asked question we get at CSA and at the Farmer’s Market is, “Do I need to wash the vegetables”?

    Yes.

    Any food you get from any farm or market, you need to wash before eating it. We take very good care of all the food we harvest to keep it at its best possible freshness. We use water to do this, we don’t wash it for consumption. You need to wash it before eating it.
    I like to wash and spin my lettuce, spinach, or arugula and leave it in the salad spinner in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for at least a week this way and ready to use. Most everything else I wash before eating it or cooking it.

    This week you are getting lots of greens. The basic preparation for any of them is the same. Heat some olive oil in a pan, add some garlic or onions if you like, then chuck some washed greens in the hot pan and toss it until it is just wilted and bright green and eat. We’ll talk more in the weeks to come in more detail and variations on this. Until then, just get to know your sautéing skills with your braising mix, bok choi, broccoli raab or baby kale.

    We get lots of questions too about green garlic vs. garlic heads vs. garlic scapes. I took some pictures Saturday at the farm to try to show you what is what. I am new to this blogging thing and camera work so bear with me.

    Green garlic planted in the ground…and lamb’s quarter

    We plant single cloves of garlic very close, even touching. We plant some in the fall and harvest that fall planting first. We plant more garlic (all single cloves) in the very early spring. That later spring  planting is what we are harvesting now that the fall planting is all harvested. Green garlic is nice and mild and very fast-growing. That’s why it doesn’t need much room.

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    Fall planted garlic

    This is garlic we planted last fall that will become the large heads of garlic you are used to using. It is planted much farther apart to give it room to grow nice big heads. Both green garlic and garlic heads are planted with a single clove, we just distance it and harvest it at different times.

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    Garlic scapes forming

    See the plant tops that are curling? Those are called scapes. The plant is trying to procreate and go to seed but we won’t let it. We will remove the scape for two reasons. It is delicious, and if we remove it the garlic head will grow bigger.

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    Green garlic and walking onions

    The photo to the left shows both clean green garlic (in the foreground) and chopped walking onions (in the background). I wanted to show how much of the plant I use. I use about the same amount of each, but I forgot to take a picture before I chopped up the onions. Oops!

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    Can you smell me yet? Mmmm

    You can use either the green garlic or walking onions raw. They are pretty strong raw, but will still taste good. You can also use them just like you would garlic or onions in cooking.

    Hope you enjoy your first CSA offerings. We are excited for the new season. Thanks for your support, we couldn’t do this without it!

    Until next week,
    Mo

  • Greetings CSA Members!

    Welcome to Red Wagon’s new blog site! This is where we will be posting our weekly CSA Newsletters this year including photos and updates from the farm, recipes and more.

    Mark your calendars! CSA pick-ups will begin on Monday, May 21st. (Remember you can always check the “In Your Share” box in the upper right hand corner or visit our Facebook page to see what we’re planning to offer each week.) In the meantime we have been keeping very busy on the farm transplanting our heat-loving crops and harvesting a wonderful variety of early-season goodies for the Farmers’ Market.

    See everyone at pick-up!
    -Maddie