"Every aspect of our lives is, in a sense, a vote for the kind of world we want to live in."
- Frances Moore Lappe

What’s in the standard share:

... and if you have an extra-fruit option:
more strawberries

CALENDAR

Sat. June 19
Summer Solstice Celebration, with Kuzanga Marimba!

July 30, 31, Aug. 1
Children's Mini-camp, Friday eve. to noon Sun.

Sat. Sept. 25
Fall Equinox Celebration, with the Banana Slug String Band!

Sat. Oct 23rd
Halloween Pumpkin Pallooza

At times I wish we weren't so dependent on technology; this morning [Monday] my "almost" always reliable iMac computer decided to freeze on me before I saved this week's draft newsletter and sent it off to Debbie... oh well, back to the drawing [key]board. Here's what I remember of what I wrote:

Saturday's Open Farm Day was blessed by beautiful weather and everyone had something to enjoy or celebrate. I spent most of my time giving farm tours, talking about the history of the land and how we got started. I especially enjoyed meeting CSA members and responding to their inquiries about our farming practices and cropping patterns. Kuzanga's marimba music filled the air with a spirit of celebration as people danced, and ate wonderful handmade tortillas topped with grilled veggies and Morris Grassfed beef. Billy Bob's cold apple juice got rave reviews by skids and adults alike as they quenched their thirst. Constance and Phoenix kept everyone informed about upcoming events and our CSA program. As usual there seemed to be more children than adults in attendance. Many activities kept them engaged as they explored the new hay bale structure, picked strawberries, petted "Luna," our newborn baby goat, or played with our newly adopted baby chicks.

Although it may not seem like much, breaking out of the regular farming routine to set up the farm to receive large groups of people requires an extra effort from all of us. A warm thanks goes out to both the farm crew and volunteers who helped us keep things running smoothly. Needless to say, if you are interested in giving us a hand during our seasonal events, please don't hesitate to call!

With Open Farm Day come and gone, the focus quickly turns back to the many tasks at hand in the field. This week, besides our regular tasks of harvesting, packing, delivering, or selling at farmer's markets, the priority is to stake tomatoes, weed a block of peppers and eggplants, and plant out the melon seedlings. Peaches are sizing up fast, and together with the apricots and yellow raspberries, it shouldn't be too long before they show up in the extra fruit share. During Saturday's event many kids were finding enough berries in the lower parts of the canes to fill many eager hands and mouths. I hope everyone will have a chance to participate in upcoming farm events. It is by celebrating together as a community that we share in the miracles the earth has in store for us. – Tom


Crop of the Week
For all chicory lovers: A couple of weeks ago you got escarole – this week it's radicchio, another relative of the chicory family. Members from last year will remember it as the year of "Too Much Radicchio." This year we are planting much less, so you will only get it occasionally and the varieties are different as well. This week you won't find the common round marbled burgundy type we grew last year, but one that is more upright with green-reddish leaves. The variety is called "Sugarloaf," and has a wonderful zesty-flavor. To add color and flavor to a salad, I like to slice radicchio into fine strips. If the bitter taste is too much, you can grill or roast it. First I brush a little olive oil on the leaves and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then I put it under a broiler for 4-6 minutes, until crisp and tender. You can wrap the radicchio in pancetta and grill until crisp too, which is delicious, or without pancetta you can sprinkle it with gorgonzola cheese. Sprinkle the grilled radicchio with balsamic vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Adding radicchio to pasta is another option. Sauté some sliced onion or green garlic in olive oil, then stir in some finely chopped radicchio. Optionally you can add some anchovies, lemon zest, or white wine. Pour everything over cooked pasta. – Tom

Notes from Debbie’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . Have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact Debbie.

I’m bummed I missed Open Farm Day!! (Had a long-scheduled prior commitment.) Sounds like it was fabulous. Anyway, a few more recipes from members this week, plus maybe one or two from my own files. Don’t think I’ll include any radicchio recipes though, as Tom did a great job of suggesting several treatments above! – Debbie

Green Garlic Bisque
created by member P.K. O'Meagher
makes 2 bowls or 4 small cup servings

2 large stalks of green garlic, trimmed and washed (use the bulbs and as much of the tender stalk as possible)
3 cups of water
1/2 cup (more or less) of cream cheese (or some of that wonderful goat milk ricotta from Summer Meadows Farm)
pat of butter (optional)
garlic chives for garnish (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the green garlic into 2-inch lengths. Simmer the garlic in water until tender. Add cream cheese or ricotta, and using a mini hand blender, blend the green garlic and garlic stock water with the cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste, and float the pat of butter on top. Sprinkle chopped garlic chives for garnish. Serve with rustic toast points.
If needed, bisque can be thickened with a slice of rustic bread when blending.
P.K. says, "I think that just about any of the spring veggies could be used this way!"

Member Heddi Craft contributed the next two:

Kohlrabi ‘bamboo shoots’
Heddi says, "I simply took the kohlrabi from last week's share and sliced it thin with my mandoline, then took the slices and cut them into half-inch strips. I used the strips in a stir-fry in place of bamboo shoots. I thought it made a great substitute."

Black eyed peas and greens
from "Still Life with Menu" by Molly Katzen

Heddi says, "It makes a lot – 6 to 8 generous servings. I’ll halve the recpe next time."

3 C dried black-eyed peas
6 C water
6 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 to 8 C packed chopped mixed greens (Molly Katzen suggests collard, mustard, and dandelion, but I use all mustard greens and it was great!) [the stir-fry mix would be comparable. – Debbie]
2 medium-sized leeks, cleaned and chopped
black pepper to taste

Place peas in water in very large soup pot. Bring to boil, lower heat to simmer and cover part way (leave lid tilted to vent). Cook gently until tender. If water gets low, add about 1/2 C at a time. About 15 minutes into cooking, add garlic. When peas are just about tender (about 30 minutes), stir in salt, greens, and leeks. Simmer a few more minutes, add pepper and serve hot.

Heddi continues, "Molly suggests serving this with cornbread and yams. We did have cornbread and it made a great meal!"

And here is another recipe recommended by member Sue Burnham:

Winter Greens, Fennel & Mushroom Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison
serves 4

4 good bunches mixed greens: radicchio torn into small pieces, slivered endive, tender frisee sprigs, dandelion, butter lettuce [I’m sure you could use the stir-fry mix, the radicchio and the lettuce from this week’s box. – Debbie]
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and very thinly sliced
6 firm mushrooms, thinly sliced
salt and freshly milled pepper
shallot vinaigrette (see below)
a piece of parmesan or dry jack, at room temperature

Carefully sort through greens, trim, wash, and dry well. Toss greens, fennel and mushrooms in a salad bowl with a few pinches of salt. Toss with enough vinai-grette to coat well. Season with pepper, divide among plates and shave the cheese into long shards over each serving.

Shallot Vinaigrette
2 tbsp. white or red vinegar, or fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 peeled, finely diced shallot
salt and freshly milled pepper

Put shallot in a bowl with vinegar and salt. Let stand at least 15 minutes or longer to sweeten shallots. Stir in mustard and any other flavorings, then whisk in olive oil.

And I think it’s high time for more strawberry recipes! – Debbie

Strawberry Sorbet
makes 4 servings
1/3 C water
2/3 C sugar
2 pints ripe strawberries, rinsed & hulled
Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool. (This makes 1 cup; it may be refrigerated up to 2 weeks.) Puree the strawberries in a food processor. Stir in the syrup. Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote with Ginger and Lime
from an undated Bon Appetit clipping
makes about 5 cups

2 lbs. strawberries, halved if large
1 lb. rhubarb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
3/4 C sugar
3 tbsp. minced crystallized ginger
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp. grated lime peel

Place 1 1/2 lbs. strawberries and rhubarb in medium pot. Mix in sugar, ginger, lime juice and peel. Cook over high heat until sugar dissolves, stirring often. Boil 4 minutes, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium; simmer just until rhubarb is beginning to fall apart, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining strawberries. Cool. Chill until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Serve over a nice buttery pound cake or vanilla ice cream for dessert, or over plain yogurt with a side of toast for breakfast!

*Click Here* for a link to a comprehensive listing of recipes from Live Earth Farm's newsletters going back as far as our 1998 season! You can search for recipes by key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly during the season.