Nitty Gritty News October 1st

END OF THE HARVEST FESTIVAL.
This Sunday, October 4th, from 2:30 PM until 5:00 PM. Join in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm Annual Farm Games – Good Food, Friendly Farmers and Cheerful Interns, Homemade Soups and Fresh Baked Breads – RSVP to nittygrittyfarm@aol.com and let us know that you are coming so we can plan for you.

From the Farmers….

I’m gonna say it – the F word …………….FROST! That word that veggie farmers either dread if there is a lot of great looking produce still in the fields, or look forward to if it has been a hard year. We would have like to have at least one more week before frost so that all those beautiful unripe tomatoes could have had time to ripen. As did many of you, we had a hard killing frost – the temperature registered at 28 degrees on the indoor/outdoor thermometer so we are guessing that it was at least a couple of degrees colder in the low spots of the fields. On Wednesday morning everything was covered with frost – the trees, the lawn, the windshields of our vehicles. Even the water buckets for all the livestock had a thin layer of ice over them and all the hoses were frozen until midday. But we were prepared – or at least as prepared as we could be.

On Monday after we squeezed up and loaded the second group of lambs to go the butcher and Gigi left with them, Cara, Gretchen and Robin harvested every single squash, pumpkin and gourd still in the field. It was a blustery, cold day of work. We carried two haywagon loads of tubs from the field into the hoop house for protection. Then on Tuesday morning, we harvested all the peppers and eggplant right down to the tiny ones. We will chop and freeze and use many of the peppers in tomato sauce. And then, Tuesday afternoon, we picked tomatoes – once again filling every bucket we own – 80 in all. With that done – and so many beautiful tomatoes left in the field – we pulled out the huge tarps and covered an area about 60 feet by 40 feet – about 1/3 the length of the field and over 4 rows. We covered the Paragons and Pink Beauty’s because they have the most green tomatoes left. We also covered a small area of Orange Blossoms just because we couldn’t bear to lose all of them. And then we put tarps and rugs and blankets over all the produce in the hoop houses and over the wheelbarrows of tomatoes (that Robin picked because she just couldn’t bear to leave them to the frost, and basil (that Cara said we must harvest for pesto).

Wednesday morning was slow – hard to get started in the cold. And Gretchen and Cara are still sleeping in unheated quarters (and while the house is unheated too it is a lot warmer) so soon they showed up to work in multiple layers of long underwear, gloves and hats. [We are a bit short-handed this week as Dale is not here. We were very sad to hear that Dale’s mom who had been ill with cancer died last Thursday and Dale traveled to the Chicago area to be with his family this week.] As we surveyed the extent of the frost damage, we decided to try to glean some of the frozen tomatoes to make tomato sauce – so we picked about 4 bushels and began chopping them and peppers and onions for sauce – as well as prepping the last of the spotty basil we saved from the frost for freezer pesto.

We are sad to see the season ending. It had been a great year in so many ways. This Sunday will be our END OF THE HARVEST FESTIVAL. Plan now to come to the farm – play in our Annual Farm Games – and enjoy a variety of homemade soups and fresh baked breads – and see the farm at the close of the season. RSVP to NGDF and let us know that you are coming so we can plan for you.

Oh by the way – what to do with all those tomatoes and peppers????? You can chop the peppers and freeze them in ziplock freezer bags if there are too many to use fresh. While they won’t maintain their texture after being frozen they are great to use in cooking or on pizza. I think that one could use up a good amount of tomatoes making tomato juice, hot sauce and Cara’s Bloody Mary’s. And make more fresh salsa!

Until next week …. WE HOPE WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE FARM FESTIVAL ON SUNDAY ……………

What’s in your SHARE this week:

Pumpkin – New England Sugar Pie, Baby Pam, Snackjack (all small orange edible and look about the same – Snackjack has naked seeds)
Pumpkin – Jack Be Little (tiny orange pumpkin edible), Baby Boo (tiny white pumpkin edible) Sweet Lightning (orange and green stripes on beige pumpkin shape edible)
Squash – Delicata (green and orange stripes on beige long), Buttercup (dark green )
Gourds – Small assorted mix, Koshare, Small spoon mix, Medium mix, Autumn Wings mix (not edible!)
Onions – Walla Walla or Candy (sweet yellow), Candy Apple Red
Sweet Peppers – Carmen (long green or red bull horn, Jimmy Nardello (approximately 1/2 x 6” green curled sweet), Lipstick or Apple (3” x 3” green or red thick wall with a pointed end), Islander (purple), Gypsy (yellow)
Hot Peppers – Conchos (approximately 1” x 3” jalapeno mildly hot), Serrano del Sol (approximately 1” x 3”very hot), Numex Joe Parker (approximately 1 ½ “ x 6” horn shaped – smaller than Carmen but very similar – mild), Chervena Chuska (2” x 5” mildly hot also looks like Numex and Carmen), Tiburon (very dark green almost black contorted looking Poblano)
Eggplant – Thai Green, Orient Express, Orient Charm, Galine, Dancer
Turnips – Just Right
Tomatoes – Paragon (large red), Pink Beauty (large pink), Orange Blossom (med orange), Taxi (yellow), Green Zebra (green striped), New Girl (small red)


Next week will be your last share for this season. You can expect: lots of potatoes, more squash, onions, kohlrabi, turnips, carrots, bok choi, maybe a few tomatoes


This week’s recipes:

Cara’s Bloody Mary’s
Serves 2

2 shots vodka
1 ½ cups homemade tomato juice (from NGDF tomatoes of course! – recipe follows)
Juice of 1/4 lemon
6 shakes of worchestershire sauce
6 shakes of homemade hot sauce (from NGDF peppers and tomatoes – recipe follows)
fresh ground black pepper

Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or 1 quart canning jar.
Serve with a homemade dill pickle (NGDF Wild Child dill pickles) or celery or olive

NGDF Tomato Juice

Cut up any assortment of tomatoes (cut up stem end, peels and all)
For every 4 cups of chopped tomatoes add one onion and one pepper (any kind)
You can add a bit of basil or parsley if you want.
Cook – start heating slowly to avoid burning) until all vegetables are soft.
Process through a food mill or Sauce Master Squeezo strainer.
Pour into jars and cool to use immediately or pour into jars and hot water bath can for 40 minutes.

Cara’s Red Hot Sauce (that isn’t so very hot)
2 quarts tomatoes chopped, peeled, cored
1 12 cups chopped hot red (or green) pepper
1 quart vinegar, divided
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons mixed pickling spices

Combine tomatoes, peppers, and 2 cups vinegar in a large saucepot. Cook until tomatoes are soft. Press through a sieve or food mill. Add sugar and salt. Tie spices in a spice bag and add to tomato mixture. Cook about 30 minutes or until thick. Stir frequently to prevent burning on bottom of pan. Add remaining 2 cups of vinegar. Cook until as thick as desired – about 30 minutes more. Ladle into jars and hot water bath process for 15 minutes for ½ pints or pints. Yield – about 4 half pints.

Nitty Gritty News September 24th

From the Farmers….

If ever you were to store away tomatoes for the long… cold… no fresh food … winter ---- this would be the year! We have an absolute bumper crop of tomatoes this year. After waiting weeks and weeks thinking that possibly it might freeze before the tomatoes turned ripe, we are swimming in tomatoes. And you get to share in that abundance! We are including a recipe for a quick tomato sauce – a good way to use a lot of tomatoes – and a sauce that you can freeze or use in a variety of ways. We also suggest making a beautiful colorful confetti salsa using all the colors of tomatoes, peppers and onions.

On Tuesday at the farm we canned a couple bushels of the Orange Blossom tomatoes and then made a batch of salsa to eat fresh with hot off the griddle homemade tortillas and the rest to put in jars and process. Using the many colors of produce makes food that is as much art as delicious.

On Tuesday, we also pulled the first frames of honey from the bee hives. We just purchased a simple three frame honey extractor and were excited to begin removing honey from our bees. We extracted a little over three gallons of honey from the first super (10 frames).

Sara Remington, the photographer for the cookbook we will be in, has been here this week to take a million photos for the cookbook. It has been fun having her here – reminding us in many ways why we are farmers – why we grow food that goes directly to families like you - why we believe that creating community is so important – why we think CSA farming is one of the best ways to farm – why we believe in SLOW food – why we have such a diversified farm – why we do all the peripheral things like raising bees, making cheese, making beer, canning and freezing and drying food… that go along with that farming.

Until next week …..



WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE

Cantaloupe - Superstar, Pulsar, Eclipse or Classic,
Watermelons - Sunshine(round striped – yellow) or New Orchid (round striped – orange) or Starlight (round striped – red) or Blacktail Mountain (round dark green – red) or Sweet Siberian (oval striped – orange) or Mickey Lee (round pale green – red)
Onions - Walla Walla or Candy, Red Candy Apple
Squash - Pasta Hybrid Spaghetti, Small Wonder Spaghetti
Eggplant - Dancer (pink oval) Galine (purple oval) Thai Green (green long) Orient Charm (pink long) Orient Express (purple long)
Sweet Peppers - Islander (purple bell) Carmen (green bull horn) Gypsy (yellow)
Snapper (green bell), Lipstick or Apple (2” by 4”green to red)
Hot Peppers - Serrano del Sol (1/2” x 3” green), Conchos (green jalapeno 2” x 2”)
Tomatoes - Taxi (yellow) Orange Blossom (orange) New Girl (small red) Paragon (large red) Pink Beauty (dark pink) Green Zebra
Bok Choi - Mei Quing Choi
Zucchini - Zephyr, Cavelle, Sunburst, Raven, Elite or Bennings Green Tint
Carrots – Cosmic Purple
Cabbage – Red Express
Kale – Red Russian
Swiss Chard – Northern Lights
Turnips – Just Right (not sure it these will be in the box this week)
Basil
Sage


Basic Quick-Cooked Tomato Sauce
From the Gardners Community Cookbook by Victoria Wise

5 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, juices reserved
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 tablespoon dried basil
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ cup tomato paste

Place all ingredients in a large nonreactive pot and stir to mix. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring once or twice, for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Use the right away or cool and refrigerate for up to one week. Note: For longer storage, the sauce may also be packed into sterilized jars and processed in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, or after cooling can be frozen. Makes 7 cups

Tomato Sauce as an Ingredient
When a recipe calls for tomato sauce to mix into the dish rather than star as a topping, you can easily turn either of the basics tomato sauces into that ingredient. To do so, puree the sauce as fine as possible in a food processor for a chunky version. Put through a food mill for a smooth sauce.

Nitty Gritty News September 17th

From the Farmers….
We are getting ready for winter here at Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm. On Friday, Gigi and I stacked 140 bales of hay into the barn and today we added another 140 with all our interns. This is enough hay to feed all our sheep and goats for the winter. On Saturday we picked up a load of firewood and slab wood which we then stacked on the front porch to be ready for the first fire in our wood stove. And we have been canning and putting up food for the winter. So with a barn full or hay, a porch full of firewood and a basement full of canned goods we are ready for the big snow.

And at the same time – with all the hot weather – the warm season crops have been ripening like crazy. We are on tomato overload. We picked over 30 bushels of tomatoes for your shares this week. And then we picked several more for interns to take home and for us to can over the weekend. Tonight – right now – as I am writing this column, the last two canner kettles of tomatoes are processing. 28 quarts of tomatoes are a good start.

The first group of five pigs went to the butcher on Sunday. It was the annual adventure getting the pigs into the trailer. We were so thankful for the help of intern Gretchen and her friend Stephanie who was visiting over the weekend. Now the smaller five pigs have taken over the larger pen previously inhabited by their larger relatives.

The intern shower house is finally almost done. Now that we are close to frost and the end of the season, we have the composting toilet ready to be used. The shower with an on demand water heater has been usable for a couple of week already. And the middle section with a sink for washing dishes and brushing teeth, etc, is all ready for the water to be hooked up. We plan to get it all ready this weekend so that our interns can get some use of it before we need to shut it down before it freezes.

And one of our ducks laid an egg. Cara found a small duck egg on the ground in the duck pen this morning. We plan to build a duck nest soon so that as the other young hens begin to lay, they will all lay in the same place. We are also checking regularly for eggs in our Black Star coop. We are expecting them to begin laying any day now. They are almost five months old and that is about the time they begin to lay. We plan to retire the last of the Red Stars when the young hens start to lay.

Until next week….


WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE

Cantaloupe: Superstar, Pulsar, Eclipse or Classic,
Watermelons: Sunshine(round striped – yellow) or New Orchid (round striped – orange) or Starlight (round striped – red) or Blacktail Mountain (round dark green – red) or Sweet Siberian (oval striped – orange) or Mickey Lee (round pale green – red)
Onions: Candy, Red Candy Apple
Potatoes: Norland
Squash: Cream of the Crop (white Acorn), Sunshine (orange Kabocha)
Eggplant: Dancer (pink oval) Galine (purple oval) Thai Green (green long) Orient Charm (pink long) Orient Express (purple long)
Sweet Peppers: Islander (purple bell) Carmen (green bull horn) Gypsy (yellow)
Snapper (green bell), Jimmy Nardello (3/4 inch by 6 inch green)
Hot Pepper: Serrano del Sol
Tomatoes: Taxi (yellow) Orange Blossom (orange) New Girl (small red) Paragon (large red) Pink Beauty (dark pink) Green Zebra
Turnips: Just Right
Bok Choi: Mei Quin Choi
Zucchini: Zephyr, Cavelle, Sunburst, Raven, Elite or Bennings Green Tint
Basil

Nitty Gritty News September 10th

From the Farmers….
It is definitely fall here at Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm. With the days getting shorter and shorter and the mornings and evenings cooler and cooler, we are listening to the weather band radio regularly for frost warnings. So far nothing – but…. And tonight we finished harvesting and picking up melons and zukes in the dark with only the truck headlights to find our way through the fields – and it was only 8:30!

Gigi and I had a wonderful trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It was our first BWCA canoe trip since we started the CSA the five years ago. The weather was perfect. The water was like glass and our dogs behaved very well. It was Birch’s first time in a canoe and he was quickly a pro – stepping very gently and carefully in and out at every portage – and laying down while we paddled. We cooked our own potatoes, carrots, zukes, onions and cabbage – and thoroughly enjoyed our farm food away from home!
When we arrived home on Tuesday, it was to a farm crew busy at work. Cara all weekend along with Dale and Gretchen on Tuesday, were hard at work keeping the farm going while we were away. Once again, we reaffirmed what we already know – we have a great farm crew this season!

Every season brings its own challenges – and we have certainly had our share of weather challenges this year. With the early spring cold and drought, followed by mid-season drought and then getting way too much rain all at once dumped on us at the wrong time and now again too dry – it is easy to understand why farmers always complain about the weather. We remind ourselves that this is partly why we are a CSA – because we can be so diversified. Then no matter what the season brings – at least some of the crops are sure to do well even if all of them don’t. This year, the warm season crops like tomatoes, peppers, melons and squash are far less than what we would like to see in production, earliness and quality. But the cool season veggies like broccoli, cabbage, bok choi, collard, and Chinese cabbage have been phenomenal. And while the pastures on which we like to rotationally graze our livestock have been almost non-existent in this dry, dry season, our livestock had thrived anyway even if a bit more confined than we would ordinarily like. And - we have an amazing farm crew this season which makes all the difference in the world. WE welcomed Tim to our crew this week. He’ll be with us for a few days working at the farm in between times for him. We are delighted to have a fresh surge of energy.
We also want to take time in the middle of our season to thank all of you shareholders for being a part of our farm this season. Without you we would not be able to farm. We hope that you have enjoyed your boxes each week and found the challenge of using your veggies – whatever they are - enjoyable and have learned new ways to prepare them – even when there is too much or not quite enough – or it is something you think you don’t like. Thank you for your intentionality about connecting your food with the land and the farmers who grow it. We know it isn’t easy being this intentional and committed. It is and would be easier to just buy what you want, when you want it, at the grocery or the farmer’s market, instead of taking what we are growing and harvesting on any given week. We applaud you for taking this step toward a more sane and sustainable food system.

Though it is several weeks away, please mark the first Sunday of October on your calendar as our END OF THE SEASON FARM FESTIVAL. The festival begins at 2:30 p.m rain or shine. If you haven’t yet made it out to visit the farm, we encourage you to take this opportunity to do so. Come and see the place where your food is grown and meet the crew who makes it all happen.
Until next week….


WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE

Watermelons: Sunshine(round striped – yellow) or New Orchid (round striped – orange) or Starlight (round striped – red) or Blacktail Mountain (round dark green – red) or Sweet Siberian (oval striped – orange) or Mickey Lee (round pale green – red)
Cantaloupe: Superstar, Pulsar, Eclipse
Honeydew: Diplomat, Passport
Onions: Walla Walla, Red Candy Apple
Eggplant: Dancer (pink oval) Galine (purple oval) Thai Green (green long) Orient Charm (pink long) Orient Express (purple long)
Sweet Peppers: Islander (purple bell) Jimmy Nardello (green Italian frying) Carmen (green bull horn)
Hot Pepper: Conchos (large jalapeno)
Tomatoes: Taxi (yellow) Orange Blossom (orange) New Girl (small red) Paragon (large red) Pink Beauty (dark pink)
Shelling Beans: Landmark (see recipe for using shelling beans)
Radish: Shunkyo semi-long (long red cooking radish)
Bok Choi: Mei Quin Choi
Zucchini
Basil: Ararat (purple/green Thai)


SHELLLING BEANS
“Shelly, shell, or shelling beans are the tender stage of what will become dried beans. At this point their pods are tough, twisted and dry, far past the stage for eating. But the beans within are still moist. Any bean (including green beans) can be a shelling bean if grown to the right stage. Shelling beans cook more quickly than dry beans but they do not cook quickly. “ from Deborah Madison in ‘Local Flavors’.

Here’s our recipe suggestions for using your shelling beans.
Shell the beans. Put in saucepan and cover with water. Add spices (try garlic, thyme, marjoram) and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 30-45 until tender.
Use the beans either in: a crock pot or casserole dish with potato chunks, carrots, onions and tomatoes. You can also add meat if you like. You might also add a big spoonful of pesto at the end of the cooking time.
Or add the cooked beans to a pilaf made of rice, beans, or lentils. Just use any pilaf recipe and add the beans. You might want to add dried cranberries and pecans and use the pilaf to stuff in a scraped cooking pumpkin. Bake until the pumpkin is tender.


Simple Salsa
5 -6 Tomatoes
1-2 hot peppers (depending on how hot you like)
2 sweet peppers
1-2 onions
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice or apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Coarsely chop tomatoes, peppers and onions – or chop in food processor. Add salt and lemon or lime juice and cilantro. Chill for an hour or longer to allow flavors to mingle.

Nitty Gritty News September 3rd

From The Farmers

This week the cool days have felt wonderful for the farmers to work in but the plants could use warmer sun. Our lowest overnight temperature was 41 and the days have hovered around 68 to 73. In comparison to 20 degrees in northern Minnesota, we're still doing well. We processed another group of broilers (chickens) on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was great to have many hands to do the work, including our new intern, Gretchen, who is quite enthusiastic.

As you may recall, we had a cookbook author and her publisher visit us last July. Janet Fletcher who is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, has been hired to right a cookbook centered around different CSA farms across the country and Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm is one of them. In addition, she has now been hired by a magazine called Saveur to write an article about Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm. Her photographer will be with us for the rest of the harvest and delivery tomorrow morning, and then come up again at a later date. It should be interesting to have her working around us while we work around her. The article will come out next spring.

The ducks who were relocated into the lamb pen last week have decided to settle in now. The older sheep were moved today to a back pasture that has been seeded and grown well, and they're quite happy to be there. Two of the bigger pigs managed to push through a lower part of the fence separating them from the smaller ones. During chores, we noticed more of a crowd on one side of their area, and a few missing on the other side. Luckily, while the fence panel was being held open, the two bigger ones rejoined their own side. The two groups would probably get along fine, but when it is time to ship them, they are going in two separate groups at two different times, and trying to re-sort them into their own sizes would make an already difficult task, even more so.

Now that everyone has been shuffled around, Robin and Gigi are going to head to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and leave Cara in charge of the farm for the holiday weekend. It may be cold, but we won't care, and the farm will be in good hands. Have a relaxing and wonderful Labor Day Weekend everyone.
Until next week.....


In Your Share This Week

Onions - Walla Walla
Zucchini - Cavelli, Slick Pick, Zephyr, Sunburst Pattypan, Bennings Green Tint Pattypan, Lita, Raven, Elite and Horn of Plenty
Melons (possibly) Honeydew-Diplomat, Passport, Cantaloupe-Goddess or Asian Sun Jewel
Egg Plants (possibly) Dancer (pink), Dusky (purple) Orient Express (skinny purple) Orient Charm (skinny pink), Thai Green and Galine
Carrots - Chantenay
Basil - Ararat, Purple or Lime
Sweet Peppers - Islander (purple), Snapper (green bell), Gypsy (yellow)
Hot Peppers - Conchos (jalapeno), Serreno del Sol
Tomatoes - Taxi (yellow), Orange Blossom (orange), and New Girl (red)
Turnip Greens - Just Right
Potatoes - Yukon Gold