Month: July 2016

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Farm Share week 9: July 27-30, 2016

Sorry this is a day late-life with toddlers always keeps me on my toes although my brain seems to only remember things at certain moments in the day.  This week we have delayed our share until the following week since we will be out of town-Jenny was great at accommodating once again.  This week I made a couple of things to share with you (but only one picture).  I still had my black currants in my fridge from a couple of boxes ago and they were on their way out.  A few years ago I had saved a few of them to make a red/black currant jam that turned out amazing but alas-I didn’t have enough to make a batch of jam.  However I did have some Ontario cherries and added that to the mix and made a wonderful black currant and black cherry syrup for my pancakes and egg in the middle.  It’s was quick and very tasty! I did add maple syrup to the mixture after it was done-just to give it a mix more of a mellow taste but it was good without.  Here is the recipe in case you have any fresh fruit you care to turn into a yummy syrup too!  They also use them for snow cones-drinks and other fun things.  Here is the recipe simple fruit syrup recipe.
I also made a WONDERFUL dinner (seriously impressed myself and my husband and even my picky todder ate his whole taco) and for the side I just peeled and cut up a sweet potato, beets from the share and an onion.  I used leftover bacon grease but you can use any oil (we love bacon what can I say?) and put them all cubed into a glass roasting pan with some salt and pepper and a bit of garlic and baked at 425 for about an hour stirring at random intervals to coat with the seasoning and oil.
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And FINALLY-someone has SHARED A RECIPE! YAY! I’m so happy to see some feedback and easy recipes for staples in our boxes.  a huge shout out goes to Chris-and I will for sure be making this with the next batch of endive I get! Thank you Chris for your contribution we always appreciate the recipes that you share so feel free to email Jenny with a suggestion to add to our blog.

As an aside, I make a soup with endive that is super easy and great if one has a cold.

A take on chicken noodle soup:

  1 head endive cut up2 medium onions diced (use your leek whites instead and save the green parts for later)

6 cups chicken bone broth or homemade stock ( don’t bother with the commercial stuff- yecch) The real stuff is worth the time. Have slow cooker- can make stock!6T olive oil

garlic if desired

1/2 c noodles- I use rice noodles because I am gluten intolerant.

Salt and pepper to taste

 Sautée leaves gently coating them with oil in pan. Add onions then garlic- throw in stock and boil for 5 minutes or so- Add noodles

Here is a note from the farm:
This is the week that I see how wonderful our farm share team of harvesters and packers (and the farm staff too!) really are! I have been seriously out of commission for almost a week I’ve been so ill. Thankfully, I’m on the mend now and their are some wonderful people working extra hard to bring you the best from our farm this week. Enjoy!

Week 9
-green beans
-leeks
-cucumbers
-zucchini
-carrots
-green leaf lettuce
-radish
-endive
-baby bokchoy
-garlic chives
Whole
-beets
-pickling cukes
-cauliflower/ broccoli
-spinach
-romaine lettuce
-swiss chard
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Farm Share Week 8

Hello from the farm! It’s been a nice, hot July so far and many different plants are coming along nicely. Those carrots I have been stalking for weeks now are finally ready! Nothing like the taste of fresh carrots when you have been eating carrots from last fall’s crop (not so flavourful after a while). Speaking of things that sure taste better fresh, we have some fingerling potatoes! We mixed some of the different varieties together just for fun. They are very small because the plants were attacked by potato bugs and stopped growing while the potatoes were small. Sad indeed, but the wee potatoes we are left with are looking great, just small. We had to dig these tubers by hand and I got a whole education on. How a potato plant grows. (see picture). A potato, cut in half is used as seed. In spring, it sprouts and sends out roots that grow more little potatoes deep in the ground.
Those of you who didn’t get potatoes are lucky enough to get cauliflower‎…and it didn’t even cost you $8 (remember when the price of cauliflower spiked to an unbelievable high?!). The lucky whole share members will also get this or chinese broccoli (like regular broccoli but the heads are not as dense). I use them just like regular broccoli.
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Some of you are getting black raspberries from a generous neighbour of ours (also organic) with a surplus of fruit. The red raspberries come from our farm. For either one, they are super perishable, so do me a favour and eat them quickly! We did our best to get them to you as fast as we could. Some will receive sugar snap or snow peas, so there is something sweet for all. 🙂
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I am also stoked for the gorgeous Thai basil (see picture). It’s purplish and so flavourful with notes of mint and licorice. I am dying to make tea out of this stuff. ‎One of my staff makes “sun tea”, where she puts herbs and/or ginger in a tea diffuser in the sun and simply let’s it heat up and steep during the day. After a while she has tea! I think Thai basil would be amazing with some ginger root. Does anyone have experience making tea from fresh leaves?
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Week 8
-carrots
-zucchini
-raspberries, blackcurrants or peas
-potatoes or cauliflower
-black kale
-rainbow or green swiss chard
-lettuce (boston or romaine)
-lettuce (red leaf or sangria)
-cucumbers
-cilantro
Whole
-sugar snap or snow peas
-Thai basil
-pickling cukes
-Chinese broccoli or cauliflower
-dandelion greens
-green kale
I shared a collard green recipe last week-here was my attempt last night.  I couldn’t find the right type of flour…and I don’t recommend just using regular.  They didn’t steam properly and it wasn’t very good.  The rest of it was amazing-I was super sad that my hard work didn’t pan out but that’s how it goes.  Next time I’ll buy the proper corn flour the recipe calls for!   This week I’m sharing a page that has 10 ways to use dandelion leaves.  Hopefully one of those will spark your interest.  As always don’t forget to check out this page for more recipes http://pinteret.com/zephyrorganics
Please share anything you find great success with.  Share recipes on the FB page or in the comments on the blog.  Please remember to put out your boxes the day you get your next share too.
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Farm Share Week 7: July 13-15, 2016

Week 7 of your farm share boxes are here! With the rain we got this past week as well as last night will no doubt be welcomed by all the plants (and us!) with the intense heat we’ve had this week.  Here is what you can expect to see in this weeks box.  Next week you will see beans and carrots in your boxes too.

 

Week 7
Half (5 cases tues, 3 cases thurs)
-zucchini
-cucumber
-romaine
-baby bokchoy
-blackcurrants or black raspberries
-green onions
-collard greens
-red leaf or sangria lettuce (pretty red)
-extra zucchini
-green kale

Whole

(1 case tues, 1 case thurs)
-red beets
-parsley
-mint
-chinese broccoli or endive
-peas
-radish

Last week Jennifer was kind enough to do the blog for me while we went on a canoe/backpacking camping trip in Algonquin park.  We took our 11 month old and our 3.5 year old out and did 2 portages and while it was intense (insane?) we had a wonderful time connecting with nature and each other.  We did miss our week to get our box delivered but I just send Jenny a message requesting to have it delayed one week and voila! Yesterday my box showed up without even a reminder! So if you are going on vacation or will be away for whatever reason please don’t hesitate to contact us and have your share delayed until your return.  The new recipe I am going to try with the collard greens is Collard wrapped roasted veggie tamales.
I haven’t ever made anything like this before-and I’m excited to try it when time permits.  If you have any recipes that you care to share please don’t hesitate to link them in the comments below or share on our page on facebook.  Check out the pinterest page for more recipes that Jenny has pinned over the years too!
https://www.pinterest.com/zephyrfarmshare/

 

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Farm Share Week 6

Greetings from the farm!

After a challenging week where we ran short of many items, it`s been smoother sailing this week. The zucchini crop I have been staring down is now ready, and of course, much more is to come. Zucchini is a beautifully versatile vegetable. The carrots are the size of my fingers now, and shouldn`t be too much longer. The strawberries are sadly, slowing down, but it looks like there will be a lot of black currants next week.

After some positive feedback where I heard that these little charts are helpful, I thought I`d help you identify, prepare and store your veggies. Please enjoy the chart below. I will try to update the blog with some pictures and a recipe over the next couple days. Thanks for helping us do what we love to do. We hope you are on a veggie adventure with our farm share boxes!

Week 6 Veggie Profile

What is It? Describe It How Do I Prepare It? How Do I Store It?
Half Shares      
Romaine Lettuce Dark green lettuce with crunchy heart Salads, on sandwiches In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in a Ziploc with airflow
Green Swiss Chard Large-leafed leafy green with stalks of white Use in Pastas, stir fries, as pizza topping or even in salad In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in a Ziploc with airflow
Red Leaf Lettuce Deep red, soft lettuce Salads, on sandwiches In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in a Ziploc with airflow
Sugar Snap Peas Pint of round pods o peas Eat the whole pod in stir fries, salads or with veggies and dip In the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, cut off tops, wash and bag to keep moist
Snow Peas (or extra sugar snaps) Pint of flat pods of peas Eat the whole pod in stir fries, salads In the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, cut off tops, wash and bag to keep moist
Flat-leaf Parsley Dark green herb bunch Add flavour to salads like tabbouleh, make parsley pesto, use as garnish In the crisper drawer of the refrigerator
Chinese Cabbage Oval-shaped cabbage with white stalks and green, frilly leaves Perfect in noodle soups or in stir fries or salads. Very tasty sautéed with bacon In the crisper drawer of the refrigerator
Cucumber Dark green long, round fruit with small ridges on skin Best raw in veggies and dip, excellent in salads In the crisper drawer of the refrigerator
Red Beets (bunched) Purple round root vegetable with green and red leafy tops Best roasted on its own or in salads. Great with feta or goat cheese or made as chips. Use leaves in salad or with other cooked greens Remove roots from leaves, store roots In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in bag, and store leaves in a bag with airflow
Zucchini Dark green long, round veggie with smooth skin and thicker stem Very versatile in stir fries, pastas, raw as zucchini noodles, stuffed zucchini, great in zucchini breads and in taco meat mix In the crisper drawer of the refrigerator
Whole Shares      
Black currants Purplish black tart berry in clamshell Cook with sugar for a jam or sauce, use in muffins or add to salads or smoothies In your refrigerator
Strawberries Red berry with seeds on the outside in pint Eat as they are, dip in chocolate, add to cereal, smoothies, or salads In your refrigerator. Eat quickly as they spoil rapidly.
Endive

 

or

 

Chinese Broccoli

 Green, lettuce-like head with jagged edges

 

Flowery broccoli

 Try in Caesar salad or as a spicy raw green or try cooking

 

Great in stir fries, steamed or sautéed as a side

 In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in a Ziploc with airflow

 

In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator
Baby Bok choy Leafy green with crisp, white stalks Perfect for stir fries and salads, and great in soups In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in a Ziploc with airflow
Green Onions Green topped bunched onions Sautee with other veggies, chop and add to any savory dish As is in the crisper drawer
Green Kale Leafy green with bluish frilly leaves in a bunch Enjoy raw in salad, add to smoothies or chop and wilt In the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, in a Ziploc with airflow