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Tag: Farm Tour

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 16 (September 3rd, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you garlic, potatoes OR green beans, eggplant, cucumbers, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes OR red tomatoes OR 5 pounds red tomato seconds, and arugula. Large share members will also be getting beets, zucchini OR tromboncino squash, and spicy salad mix. Fruit share members will be getting peaches and (we think, we hope!) pears.

    In this week’s newsletter:


    Farm Tour THIS SUNDAY

    Posted by Maddie

    Let me just start by telling you how strange it was to write “September 3rd” in the heading of this week’s newsletter. It seems as if the entire farm season so far has been a rehearsal for the month of August…and now it’s over!? August and September are generally the busiest and most productive months on the farm. Wyatt says that when people think of “The Harvest,” now is the time of year they are imagining. As Mo explains in her posts this week, every year some crops grow and produce beautifully and others just sort of poke along. Despite this, I have to say that we have been growing an incredible amount of food on the farm and for the most part things are looking great.

    A lot of people have been asking how many weeks are left in the CSA season. This is week 16 out of 22, meaning that after this week, there will be 6 weeks remaining. The last week of the CSA season is the week of October 14th. And speaking of October 14th, be sure to mark your calendars for our end-of-season CSA party which will take place that Sunday! More details to come.

    For now, I want to remind you all that our second farm tour of the season is coming up THIS SUNDAY, September 9th. This time the tour will take place at the Teller Farm on Valmont Road. Take a look at last week’s newsletter for directions. We will have hay rides (super fun for the kids) and walking tours of the farm. There are no goats, llamas or alpacas at the Teller Farm, but you may get a chance to meet Eva’s pigs! Be sure to bring a hat and sunscreen and dress for the weather. We will have a couple of tents set up but otherwise there is not a whole lot of shade on the farm.

    I hope to see everyone there!


    Fruit Share Update

    Posted by Maddie

    I’ll start with the sad news. This week will be the 12th week for the fruit share this season, meaning it will be the final “regular season” week for members to receive fruit. The great news is this: western slope farmers are continuing to have an incredible fruit season and we will be re-opening the fruit share for 6 more weeks!

    The fall fruit share will start next week and will primarily include apples and pears. You can log in to your account to sign up for the fall fruit share.

    Happy September and I’ll see everyone at pick-up!

    -Maddie


    Tomato Seconds

    Posted by Mo

    Every year some crops do really well and some struggle or fail completely. That is just the nature of farming. This year our tomatoes started out like gangbusters. A few weeks ago we started to see some signs of disease and alas: we, like most of the farms on the Front Range have been hit with either a tomato blight or virus.  We have some nice tomatoes, but most of the plants have some sort of problem. They are producing some tomatoes, but not lots of perfect ones we usually have. The ‘not perfect’ tomatoes we pick for ‘seconds’.
    The good news is the seconds tomatoes taste fine. You can eat them raw, cook with them or freeze them.

    You have a choice this week of 5 pounds of tomato seconds. I thought I would show you how I make one of my favorite tomato sauces.


    Roasted Tomato Sauce

    Posted by Mo

    Here are 5 pounds of tomato seconds.

    I think I’ll use the garlic and pepper from this week’s share in my sauce. You can do that too or just use tomatoes. I added an onion from last week’s share in my sauce too.

    Core and roughly cut everything up and put it on a baking sheet that will hold it all. You might use 2 9X13 baking pans.

    Now pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the whole thing.

    And mix it all up with salt and pepper and any herbs you have in your garden and put that in the a 350°F oven to roast for a half an hour or so.

    It should look something like this when it is done roasting. There is a lot of liquid so be careful removing it from you oven.

    Roasting caramelizes sugars and condenses flavors, you can almost see that here.

    I dump everything into a bowl and fish out the woody and too charred herbs and throw them away. Then I hit the roasted tomato mixture with an immersion blender.

    I got just over two quarts of sauce out of my 5 pounds of ‘seconds’ tomatoes.

    When life gives you seconds, make something second to none.

    Have a great week.

    -Mo

  • CSA Newsletter: Week 15 (August 27th, 2012)

    Hello CSA members!

    This week we hope to bring you potatoes, onions, carrots, bell peppers, eggplant OR beets, chilies OR basil, and cherry tomatoes OR zebra tomatoes OR slicing tomatoes. Large share members will get chilies AND basil, green beans, and garlic. Fruit share members will be getting peaches and plums.

    In this week’s newsletter:


    Fun on the Farm

    I really love working with everybody at Red Wagon. This is our busiest time of the year and everyone is working really hard, but we have a ton of fun too. I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite photos from the last few weeks.

    Smiley Chayo and Silvestre harvesting beets.

    Robert says, “It’s too early, but this basil sure is lovely…”

    Farm Tour Coming Up!

    We will be having our second farm tour of the season on Sunday, September 9th. (Not this coming Sunday, but the following Sunday.) This time the tour will be hosted at the Teller Farm on Valmont Road. The tour will go from 10am-2pm.

    If you didn’t make it to our first farm tour back in June, this is a really fun opportunity to see how we grow a lot of our crops including melons, tomatoes, basil, beets and more. If you did attend the tour back in April, I recommend coming to this one too if you can. The Teller Farm is where we have historically grown the majority of our crops. We will have tractor rides and walking tours around the farm so you can watch your veggies growing!

    Directions to Teller Farm:

    From downtown Boulder, go east on Pearl Street. At 55th, Pearl Street will turn into Valmont Road. Continue east on Valmont for about 3.5 miles. (You will go straight at the lights at 61st St. and 75th St.)

    About 0.9 miles east of 75th, turn right onto Melissa Lane. Continue going straight. The road will turn to dirt. Turn left at the green gate.

    We will be setting up the reception/greeting tents just through the next green gate. Please park here, off the main road.

    I hope to see you all there! Have a great week.

    -Maddie


    Moussaka

    This week I thought I would share some of my favorite go-to recipes with you. First is moussaka, or my take on a moussaka-like dish using what I have on hand.

    • 2 globe/Italian eggplants, unpeeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
    • Olive oil
    • 3 cups total of any vegetables you have available to you (onion, carrots, celery, fennel, rutabaga, kohlrabi, mushrooms…any combo of these works here)
    • 4 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • About 2 cups of tomatoes, cut up (fresh or canned, whatever you have)
    • 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
    • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    • 6 tablespoons butter
    • 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • 3 1/2 cups milk
    • 4 egg yolks

    Sprinkle both sides of eggplant rounds with salt and brush with oil. Either bake or grill the eggplant until it is tender.

    Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the 3 cups of vegetables and saute until the vegetables are very tender. Mix in garlic. Saute until juices evaporate, about 10 minutes. Mix in oregano and cinnamon. Add tomatoes and parsley. Cook until mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

    Lightly oil 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange half of eggplant rounds in single layer in dish. Spoon half of tomato mixture evenly over eggplant. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese. Repeat layering with remaining eggplant, tomato mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese.

    Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Stir 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk. Simmer until sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk yolks in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot sauce. Pour sauce over vegetables in dish. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese over sauce. (Can be made 1 day ahead. If you’re making this ahead, cover and refrigerate here.)

    Bake moussaka at 350°F until heated through and sauce is golden brown on top, about 45 minutes (or about 55 minutes for refrigerated moussaka). Cool 15 minutes.


    Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Pasta

    This is one of my favorite summer meals. The melons are such a short season we try to have this at least two or three times in the summer. I often make this without prosciutto as I did this time in the photo. You can substitute bacon, turkey or vegetarian bacon if you like. The key is to have something salty to stand up to the melon. If you leave out prosciutto (or prosciutto substitute), use a little more Parmesan cheese.

    • 1/4 cup fruity olive oil
    • 1 1/2 cups cantaloupe, diced
    • 1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, very coarsely diced
    • grated zest of 1 med. lemon
    • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
    • freshly ground black pepper
    • 3 T. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for serving
    • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
    • RECOMMENDED PASTA: 8 oz. medium shells (conchiglie rigate).

    Combine olive oil, cantaloupe, prosciutto, lemon zest, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and  Parmesan cheese in pasta serving bowl.

    Set aside to warm to room temperature, or just till flavors mingle.

    Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water till al dente. Drain pasta well & immediately add to sauce in bowl. Sprinkle with basil & toss. Serve at once with extra Parmesan cheese. Pass the pepper mill.


    Potato Leek Soup

    This is a super forgiving recipe that always works and can use up anything lurking in the back of the fridge, or veggie drawer.

    • 3 medium leeks (white part), rinsed and chopped
    • 3 or 4 potatoes, chopped
    • Butter or olive oil to saute the vegetables
    • One quart of vegetable or chicken stock, or water
    • Milk or cream
    • Salt, pepper and any herbs you like

    Saute leeks and potatoes in oil until the leeks get soft. Add broth or water and cook until the potatoes are done, about 20 minutes. When the potatoes are done you can add some milk or cream to thin the soup to the consistency you like. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or in batches in the blender. I like to leave my soup a little chunky. I added some roasted chilies and some cheese to my soup this time. With the leftovers I might add some more diced vegetables like carrot and I think I have a kohlrabi leftover from last week that might find its way into the soup.

    Summer is flying by. I hope you are enjoying your CSA shares.

    Until next week.

    -Mo