Farm NewsLetter 06/25/07

June 25th, 2007

Work Party coming up on Saturday July 7th, 1-5pm at Zenger Farm

We’re gearing up for our next work party! We’ll spend the afternoon in the field and then afterward relax and have a potluck BBQ. On the to do list is harvesting garlic, repairing the chicken coop, washing the greenhouse, and lots of weeding. The garlic is already starting to dry down, and should be perfect for the picking that weekend. Each leaf of the garlic plant represents a single layer of skin around the head. At harvest we want to have 4-6 skins remaining on the garlic head, which means that it is time to pick the plants when they have 4-6 green leaves remaining. We’ll hang the garlic to dry for a few weeks in the barn, then we’ll take it down and sort, size and clean it. In the cleaning process we often end up loosing a few skins, but in the end, we just need to make sure that there are at least a few skins left to hold the bulbs together.
We have chickens at Zenger Farm! Thank you to shareholders Patrick and Holly who created the Eastside Chicken Cooperative, and to all the members who make it happen. With some help and funding from Friends of Zenger Farm and Heifer International, our new laying hens should help the soil, the kids, and the community at the farm. Right now, all the eggs go to co-op members, but we hope at some point to have some for sale. We also plan on having lots of workshops at the farm teaching new members of the co-op and other folks who want to learn how to have chickens at home. If you come to the work party you can help us put the finishing touches on our mobile coop and you’ll get to see “the girls” in action!

Note: there is a very rare disease called favism, which is a serious reaction to eating raw fava beans or breathing their pollen. The risk of eating cooked fava beans is small. More info at www.g6pd.org

Weather: Days are long and hot and sunny!

Beetle Bank
Potato Project

Note: there is a very rare disease called favism, which is a serious reaction to eating raw fava beans or breathing their pollen. The risk of eating cooked fava beans is small. More info at www.g6pd.org

Your share this week may include:
Arugula Nice little bunches of tender, slightly spicy greens make a great salad.
Fava Beans It takes a bit of work to prep these, but we think they’re worth it! More ideas for shelling are included below. Once the second shell is off they can be used like any fresh shell bean.
Carrots Baby bunches are so sweet!
Spring Onions These white onions are just starting to bulb. They will eventually be full size dry onions, but we see no reason not to start eating them now. Use the small bulb as you would regular onions, and the green tops as you would scallions.
Shallot & Onion Scapes These are the stem and flower bud of our shallots and onions. The thick fleshy stalk is the tastiest part, and sometimes the smaller buds are eaten too. I coat them lightly with olive oil and roast them until slightly caramelized. They make a very fun finger food! Also chop & sauté them to add a mild onion flavor to any dish.
Sugar Snap Peas These are mostly Cascadia with a few Sugar Snap mixed in. Can’t believe they’ve lasted so long. The coming heat wave may do them in but wow are they good while they last.
Rapini These traditional Italian greens have a crinkly mustard-like leaf and baby broccoli-like buds
Turnips These Hakuri salad turnips are incredibly sweet and tender. Even if you think you don’t like turnips, give these a try. They are not your grandparents turnips!

Coming Soon… Baby Summer Squash & Fresh Garlic!!

Tips for shelling Fava Beans
Shareholder Elizabeth Groff
I have tried both methods and talked with others and several people have mentioned to me that they just gave up shelling favas because it was so time consuming and difficult. So, I suggest that they be boiled in the pods. Doing so requires a very large cooking pot, as for corn on the cob, and this time I did it in two batches. I boil them for 10 mins. And let them sit for another ten. Then after taking them out of the water (and reusing the hot water for another batch if necessary) and letting them cool, they pop out of the pods very easily and are really good to eat warm, on the spot. The whole bean is
very tender and can be eaten in its entirety.

Fava Felafel
Mara Baldwin

4 cups boiled & shelled fava beans
1/2 cup onion or shallot scapes finely chopped
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 beaten eggs
3 tbs tahini
3 tbs flour, matzah or bread crumbs

salt & pepper to taste
Mash favas and combine with other ingredients. Chill well. With floured hands make the batter into 1” balls. Dust lightly with flour. Heat a 2” pool of oil in a heavy skillet to 365*. Deep fry until golden brown and serve immediately.