Jason Raven

Farm Share 2009 – Week 4

This week’s farm share take:

kale

hakurei turnips, green summer squash, kohlrabi

Swiss chard

bag of salad mix, freckled lettuce, red leaf lettuce

scallions

garlic scapes

Compare to Week 4 of the 2008 Farm Share.

Farm Share 2009 – Week 3

Today’s bounty is a tad disappointing, especially in comparison to last year’s week 3. But the almost constant rain this past month has obviously created problems for our farmer, so we remain patient and understanding. His newsletter indicates that, although the flooded fields have destroyed some seeds that never made it to germination, most of the plants are just fine — they are simply behind schedule due to the lack of sun. So as the skies clear and the sunshine appears, we look forward to more bountiful shares in the coming weeks.

two heads of lettuce

Swiss chard

hakurei turnips, scallions

cauliflower

bag of lettuce, including edible flowers

We ate the Swiss chard and hakurei turnips with our dinner tonight. Angela keeps it very simple. She puts some olive oil in a pan, heats it to medium-low. She adds the thinly sliced hakurei turnips and lets them simmer a few minutes. Then she adds minced garlic (2-3 cloves) and lets it all simmer 1 minute. Then she adds the Swiss chard leaves, salt, and pepper, and covers the pan. Cook until the leaves are wilted. After placing in a serving dish, she dresses it with a bit of fresh lemon juice. It’s delicious!

Over the 4th of July weekend, she used up last week’s kohlrabi and radishes by making a kohlrabi slaw, which we made last year as well.

• 2-4 kohlrabi
• 1 c. radishes
• 1 T. red wine vinegar
• 1 t. sugar
• 2 T. fresh chopped parsley
• 2 T. olive oil

Peel the outer layer of kohlrabi. Shred the kohlrabi and radishes in a food processor.

Mix the vinegar, sugar, and parsley in a bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Add the kohlrabi and radishes and toss it all together. Chill for 30 minutes.

Farm Share 2009 – Week 2

arugula

kohlrabi, radishes

beets with lovely greens

kale

Swiss chard

head of green and red leaf lettuce

Click here to compare to week 2 in 2008.

Farm Share 2009 – Week 1

Today we picked up our first farm share of the season at Deri Farm. We were really happy with our bounty last year, so we signed up again this year.

Here is this week’s share:

1. Swiss chard
2. arugula
3. kale

4. broccoli
5. salad mix

6. hakurei turnips
7. cilantro
8. radishes

It’s very similar to week 1 in 2008, so we’re happy.

Tonight, Angela made herself a salad for dinner. She used the salad mix and radishes from the farm and some vidalia onion, scallions, carrots, cucumbers, feta, and balsamic vinaigrette from Hannaford

We’re working on recipes to use the remaining vegetables.

I Alone

Angela left for Maryland last Thursday, so I've been a single dad for the last few days. The three of us have managed to stay pretty busy! Friday morning, we made our first trip of the year to the Maine Wildlife Park. There was no school on Friday, so I took the day off and met up there with Steve from work and his two boys. The kids ran from animal to animal like it was a race, but they pretty much behaved themselves. Highlights were seeing a coyote out and about in the daylight, which is pretty rare, and having a moose with budding antlers bedded down just 15 or 20 yards from the fence. One of the mountain lions was unusually alert and perched on top of his little hill like a sentry. The deer were a disappointment, though. Just a single doe came up to be fed while the rest laid down on the opposite side of the pen. No little ones tearing around yet, either.

Farm Share Week 18

This was the final week of the farm share. I guess that if you add up the costs for what these organic vegetables would have cost you at the grocery store, it came out to be a good deal. However... I'm disappointed with the way the shares ended. I was really expecting more of a bounty at the end. Being a big squash-eating family, we were especially let-down by the fact that he had a really rough time with his winter squash. Good thing our own pumpkin patch did better to make up for it!

Farm Share Week 17

I had just typed up my longest post in months and it got squashed by my browser. Shame on me for not being more careful...

I'm too tired to go back over it now - maybe later.

Farm Share Week 16

The farm share season is winding down - we may only have another couple of weeks. I need to pull the pumpkins out of my own garden soon, too. I don't know when we'll get the first frost, but better safe than sorry...

On a completely unrelated note: it is time for Al Davis to let go. He's gone too far (and too far gone) for even me to forgive this time. Why fire a 33-year old head coach after just 20 games? It's not like he inherited an even AVERAGE team. The Raiders have been awful for years now.

Farm Share Week 15

I decided to take a quick trip up to camp on Saturday at the last minute, so that ate up the better part of the weekend. The kids and I got up there late in the afternoon and left Sunday morning. I've been getting so little action on my scouting camera that I decided it was time to move it north. I'm planning on either heading up again this weekend to check it or having my dad swap the card out for me.

Farm Share Week 14

This will be even briefer than normal, because we did *nothing* this weekend and I just got home and am feeling tired and soon-to-be ill. The kids and Angela were really sick, so we just stayed around the house. They went to the doctor today and it turns out that both kids had double ear infections and bronchitis.