Farm NewsLetter 12/03/07

Week of Dec. 3rd, 2007

Winter Pickup Dates:
SE Portland Pickup: 12/4, 12/18, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/19, 3/4, 3/18, 4/1, 4/15
Luscher Farm Pickup: 12/6, 12/20, 1/10, 1/24, 2/7, 2/21, 3/6, 3/20, 4/3, 4/17

Great News this week! At long last we have signed a contract with the City of Lake Oswego to continue farming at Luscher Farm for another 3 years. Many of you worked tirelessly for months to make this happen and we will all continue to enjoy bountiful baskets of beautiful veggies thanks to your efforts! In pursuit of this goal the Friends of Farming group was formed and in addition to helping secure the lease, they have several other initiatives in the works. The group has actively engaged the other partners at the farm and is working increase the number and scope of educational opportunities available at Luscher. It would be great to see more kids there! They have also started work on a Sustainability Plan for the farm. If you are interested in helping with either of these projects feel free to contact me.

Our newly formed Farm Sustainability Team went to the The Natural Step (www.ortns.org) breakfast with Josh Hinerfeld, CEO of Organically Grown Company (OGC) this week and it was a very interesting and informative event. Should be an interesting conversation about how organic farms and distributors are working towards true sustainability.

Last week we were able to finish seeding the last of the cover crops for the winter. I bought a disc this fall and used that to prep the soil. The action of the discs is less invasive than the rorotiller, but still stirs up the soil enough to uproot most of the weeds and incorporate some of crop residue. It worked great on crops that were already starting to break down and didn’t have much residue. It did NOT work as well on the winter squash field and I spent quite a bit of time trying to pull partially disked unripe pumpkins, hubbard, and other very hard skinned squash out of the equipment. Live and learn.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and we’ll see you in 2 weeks!

Quote for the Week: “There is no bad weather only bad gear.” Emmet, farm apprentice
Weather: Cold but sunny
Thanks to everyone for all your help!

Your share this week may include:

Marathon Broccoli

    Looks good, but not sure how long it’ll keep just because of the EXTREME weather we’ve had so eat your broccoli first thing this week.

Brussel Sprouts

    These were overwhelmed by aphids earlier in the season, but seem to have made a pretty good recovery. They’re still not perfect looking, but they are such tasty & sweet little sprouts I just couldn’t bear to leave them in the field.

Cabbage

    We picked 2 varieties — Melissa and Tundra — both of which have nicely savoyed leaves that are great sautéed or as slaw.

Napoli Carrots

    YUM!

Utah Celery

    This is a crop we hope to have more of in the future. The stems are thick succulent, crunchy and sweet! And the leaves are tasty too. Great in soup.

Toscano Kale

    aka Lacianato, Black, or Dinosaur kale this one has more names than almost any other vegetable we grow. It’s also very popular — maybe because of its Italian heritage.

Yellow Onions

    They didn’t store very well so this is the last of the onions for this year. Don’t worry though because we will have LOTS of LEEKS to get us through the winter.

Canella Potatoes

    This is the first time we’ve grow this particular variety of russet potato so let us know what you think. It should make great baked potatoes!

Turnips

    These are gigantic!! They’re great grated into slaw, au gratin with potatoes and/or squash, roasted in chunks with misc roots…

Sweet Dumpling Squash

    This squash is very similar to the Delicata but has a squat acorn type shape. The dark orange stripe, however small, tells you it has reached full maturity and therefore will have that characteristic sweet rich flavor

Spaghetti Squash

    An interesting variation on the winter squash theme this one peels out in long strings like it’s namesake pasta. Can be steamed, but I usually roast them and add any traditional pasta topping. A bit of brown sugar and butter turns them into dessert!

SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH BLUE CHEESE AND TURNIPS
From shareholder Amy Spring
Serves 8

    1-1/2 cups milk
    1-1/2 cups of chicken broth
    1-1/2 4 teaspoons minced garlic
    1-1/2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
    1 cup crumbled blue cheese
    2-1/4 lbs potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced
    1-1/4 pounds turnips, peeled & thinly sliced
    salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F. Simmer milk, chicken broth, garlic and sage in heavy medium saucepan until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add blue cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Combine potatoes and turnips in large bowl*. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange half of potato mixture in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour half of cream mixture over. Repeat layering with remaining potato mixture and cheese mixture. Bake until vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
* some thinly sliced winter squash in there would be really good too!