Spoutwood Farm CSA

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It is week twenty-one and I still get to introduce a new vegetable to your share; rutabaga is making it's long awaited debut today. It is another vegetable that we are happy to see full grown and ready for harvest. It was nearly eaten by flea beetles when it was first transplanted. It is amazing what a little extra attention can mean for a crop.
Along with rutabage you should receive: sweet potatoes, arugula, lettuce, beets, garlic, peppers, and onions. There is also a chance you may take home cauliflower and eggplant.
Below is a chart describing rutabaga and it's general uses. Please remember you can flip through old harvest guides to find charts about other vegetables that you have previously received.

The rutabaga is thought to be a cross between the cabbage and turnip. It is a root vegetable that looks similar to a turnip. It has a yellowish flesh with a sweet flavor.
The rutabaga can be stored for up to a month in the fridge. Wrap it tight in plastic before storing. Wash and peel as you would a potato.
To eat raw: peel them with a vegetable peeler. Slice and enjoy as a snack. Chop, dice, or grate them and add to salads. Create a unique salad with diced rutabagas and other vegetables of your choice. Grate them and add to cole slaw. Grate and combine with carrot salad. They can be braised, mashed, roasted, steamed, and stir-fried (to name a few).

It is always refreshing to hear a member say 'The harvest looks great!'. It is even more rewarding to hear it on the nineteenth harvest of the season. We are pleased that are members are still happy with their shares as things wind down here at the farm.
We hope that you are as excited about the debut of sweet potatoes as we are (especially since they'll be in your bag for the remainder of the season). Aside from the much anticipated potatoes, you should have received: turnips, swiss chard, leeks, peppers, tomatoes, and parsley. One location also received cauliflower. If you happen to be a member who took home cauliflower today, please don't be alarmed if it is orange! It is a variety, aptly named Cheddar, that produces heads orange in color.
Also, everyone should have a few tomatoes in their share. We intentionally harvested and distributed green tomatoes this week. It is the last week for tomatoes; we couldn't let them go without one last harvest. Below the chart you'll find a unique recipe that calls for green tomatoes in a curry dish.

The sweet potato has yellow or orange flesh, and its thin skin may either be white, yellow, orange, red or purple. Sometimes this root vegetable will be shaped like a potato, being short and blocky with rounded ends, while other times it will be longer with tapered ends.
Although sweet poatoes like to be stored in cool, dark places, they should not be stored in the refrigerator. A root cellar is the ideal location. However, not many people have access to a root cellar. The best bet for keeping them fresh would be to store them in a well ventilated container away from light and excess heat (try a dark cupboard away from the stove).
They can be used in the same ways one would utilize a regular potato (mashed, baked, roasted, etc). However, their sweet taste makes them a great ingredient for many desserts. Try baking a sweet potato pie.

4 garlic cloves, chopped
8 ounces russet potatoes, peeled, and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
8 ounces green tomatoes, cores removed, sliced into 1-inch segments
2 teaspoons curry powder

Pour the oil into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until it is reddish brown, about a minute or so. Stir often. Make sure it doesn't burn. If it does, then start over.
Add the potatoes, tomatoes, curry powder, salt and turmeric. Turn heat down to medium. Stir occasionally, and cook for about 10 minutes.
Pour in a cup of water. Scrap the pan with a wooden spoon, dislodging any browned bits. When the mixture comes to a boil, cover the skillet, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes and tomatoes are tender. Stir every few minutes or so.
You want the final sauce to be kind of thick, so mash up a few of the potatoes and tomatoes with the wooden spoon. Turn off the heat, stir in the cilantro, and serve.

Also, at the request of a member, here is how we enjoyed our sweet potatoes last night: peel, rinse, cube, roll in olive oil, toss in salt, add desired amount of curry powder, and roast in the oven at 400 degrees until easily pierced with a fork. Delicious! (Dear Chris Parrot, Thank you for having us over for dinner last night! - Erin).

Week 19 presented us with another rainy harvest. Again, we'd like to thank the dedicated members that braved the rain, and cold, to help us out. We'd also like to say 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' to Stephanie O'Brien. Thank you Stephanie for your commitment to the CSA, Spoutwood festivals, and for bringing your bday cookies. Your help is appreciated by all of us here at the farm. Have a fun birthday!
Brett and I would also like to thank the Potter family and Speedoo, for their help digging the sweet potatoes. Together we dug around 948 pounds of potatoes! They are curing in the greenhouse and will be in your share for the next 3 weeks, so get ready!

Deer and insect pressure has been constant throughout the season. However, week 19 is the first week where it has made a noticeable impact on the harvest. The collards that were untouched by the deer, along with the kale that hasn't been targeted by the harlequin beetle, were harvested for today's share. So, in your bag you'll receive a bundle of collards or a bunch of kale.
Aside from combating pests, we also face the challenges of having some plants nearing the end of their season, and some just beginning to produce. The last of the ripe tomatoes were given out today, but only to select locations. Also, the cauliflower is just starting to come in; we were able to harvest a handful of it. We will be giving out the cauliflower incrementally to all the locations.
With those exceptions in mind you should be receiving: lettuce, collards (or kale), carrots (select locations), peppers, broccoli (or cauliflower), tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, lettuce, eggplant, and rosemary. We hope that you are as pleased with your bag as we are. We are working hard to provide you with a good variety of vegetables as the season dwindles down; only 3 weeks left!
*Please don't be alarmed by the phrase 'select locations'. We keep records of the veggies distributed to each location each week. As more of that particular vegetable comes in, we'll rotate so each location receives the same share over time.

Collards are leafy green vegetables that belong to the same family as kale and broccoli. They have smooth blue-green leaves. They do not have frilled edges like kale. Collards are mild in taste compared to kale and mustard. Their flavor is sometimes described as 'smokey'.
A used shopping bag would be a great home for your collards. Place them in the bag, squeeze out the excess air, tie tightly, and store them in your refrigerator. Wash the collards thoroughly under cool water before use.
To retain the most nutritional value try steaming your collards. Quick boiling is another method that would keep the nutritional value intact.

IMPORTANT: We still need plastic bags. If you have any stored up please drop them by the farm.

Spoutwood Farm Hosts Workshop Friday, July 2
Spoutwood Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is pleased to annouince a collaborative day on the farm with the DC Community College Success Foundation Friday, July 2, 8:30am 4pm.

240 soon-to-be high school seniors will travel from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. To visit and learn from Spoutwood and its vegetable operations. There will be workshops giving an overview of organic farming and the CSA garden and of the CSA movement in general, achance to learn about individual vegetables and harvest some for cooking demonstrations by Spoutwoods Teen Iron Chef program. Finally Spoutwoods own Greenman will lead the visitors on a romp around the woods, streamside and fields of Spoutwood, learning about key native plants and wildlife.

The DC Community College Success Foundation is a summer college preparatory program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During this inaugural four week summer program students learn about key cultural issues such as food and obesity, increasing world interdependence and interconnectedness, the environmental crisis and nature deficit disorder. They will also be taught special math and jounaling skills

Spoutwood Farm is an educational non-profit farm in Glen Rock, PA. The farm sells naturally raised vegetables by subscription and is home to The May Day Fairie Festival and the Mother Earth Harvest Fair.

The first trailer from the upcoming documentary Glen Rock Fae is now up!
http://glenrockfae.com/Video/Pages/The_First_Trailer.html

Teen Iron Chef is a six session program that teaches middle and high school teens how to cook using fresh, healthful ingredients. Each session two teams of teens learn culinary skills, nutrition, team work and leadership as they make (and taste) delicious multicultural recipes and present their finished products in the daily "food battles." The teen chefs learn about the county of origin of the recipes and experience new foods and flavors. Ultimately each team researches and creates a recipe to prepare for their final presentation. Family and special guests are invited to celebrate with the teams at their final session.
Spoutwoods Teen Iron Chefs will go on to lead food demonstrations at community events and create garden to table cooking demonstrations during the Spoutwood Farm growing season. We are also cooking up opportunities for Spoutwood Teen Iron Chefs to host other TIC teams in an invitational cook off at the Mother Earth Harvest Fair on October 3, 2010
Reserve your space NOW!

Apply online or Contact Liz Leinwand 443 695 0015 lizleinwand@comcast.net

FREE Admission to the 6th Annual Mother Earth Harvest Fair!
Bring your furry, feathered or scaled pet* to be blessed at the Blessing of the Animals (4PM in the Chicken Barn) and get free admission to the Fair!
*All pets must be properly leashed, behaved and picked up after.

1. Fred Ruof, septuagenarian father and benefactor of the Spoutwood Astronomy Observatory program, TODAY is undergoing surgery to remedy a life-threatening major infection in his hip area. Please join us in holding Fred in your thoughts and prayers today. Thank you.

2. We have replaced the old disintegrating Sky Tent, home of our major refractor telescope, with a handsome new Observatory -- a red cylindar, constructed by Homestead Structures (an Amish Builder) capped by a metal and fiberglass dome from Technical Innovations of Gaithersburg, MD.

3. Because we were in the middle of deconstruction of the old and construction of the new, we suspended our monthly Evenings of Wonder Under the Stars. Now we are reinstating these remarkable events. Come see the new Observatory and equipment. And of course see the Planets and Stars. These two events will be on a FREE donations-accepted basis. Apologies for the short notice on the first one.