Nitty Gritty News August 27th

From the Farmers

The pictures above were too good to resist even though it was last weeks rainy harvest. The interns kept their spirits up by singing camp songs and discussing the differences in lyrics from one region to the next, (Nebraska, Indiana or Minnesota) and from one organization to the next (Girl Scouts, Campfire Kids, Y camp and 4H).
The shareholders too, didn't seem to mind the rain as they sorted through their boxes.

This week the rain fell early and by Wednesday, had stopped so that we were finally able to harvest the rest of the green beans. Because we were unable to pick them in last weeks rain, and while we have sorted as carefully as time would allow, you may need to sort out some that may be overly mature or have some rust damage on them. We thought that you would rather have the beans with a little extra work, than no beans at all.

The first seven lambs were shipped to the meat processor in Braham Minnesota. With some help from a neighbor, they were delivered last Sunday night. The rest of the lambs have a little more room and a little less competition for their food. They ended up with some feathered friends to help make up the difference.

Robin, Cara and Gigi were catching the ducks to move them into the pen with the lambs. Four of the ducks were already wandering in the field, having escaped earlier that morning. The next four were carried to their new home. The lambs seemed intrigued and walked slowly toward the newcomers, but the ducks clearly did not appreciate the greeting. By the time we got back with the next group, the first four ducks had escaped through the fence and were wandering up and down the tomato rows. We put the four we were carrying in with the lambs, and then retraced our path to get behind the rest of them. We walked slowly toward them so they would head toward their new home, jogging occasionally to the left or right when they tried a new direction. Gigi's daughter Katy Anne joined the parade and we managed to get the whole group back together in with the lambs. They are safer closer to the barn and other livestock but we might not be able to convince them of that.

Gigi and Robin enjoyed a church retreat outside of Alexandria Minnesota over the weekend and Dale watched the farm. He stayed busy with all the chores, and put up some sauerkraut with purple cabbage. It probably will change color slightly when he processes it in the canner but he's looking forward to serving the pink food to his friends. Cara will care for the farm over Labor Day weekend so we can get away for a few days of paddling in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We haven't done a canoe trip since we started the CSA and are looking forward to it.

We have some new help arriving to help us out this fall. One of Gigi's former music students is joining us after her camp job is done, and a very nice young man who found us online wants to volunteer some help while he is between jobs. It will be wonderful to have incoming help at a time when we have to lose some of our farm family who are returning to school or to other opportunities.

Until next week...


In Your Share This Week

Onions - Red Candy Apple, 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) or Orient Charm (skinny pink)
Carrots - Forto
Basil - Ararat, Lime
Green Beans - Landmark
Sweet Peppers - Islander (purple bell), Snapper (green bell), Gypsy (yellow) Jimmy Nardello (1" X 6" green)
Hot Peppers - Conchos (jalapeno),
Tomatoes - Taxi (yellow), Orange Blossom (orange), and New Girl (red)
Collards - Vates
Acorn Squash - Cream of the Crop

Nitty Gritty News August 20th

From the farmers….
Extreme farming! Bagging potatoes, sorting cukes and zukes and harvesting cabbage as winds blew, rain fell in torrents and finally, ran for the house as tornado sirens went off in North Branch. Everyone got dried off – a huge pile of soaking wet clothes piled in the shower – and almost everyone dressed in our
t-shirts and jeans and sweats. We all warmed up with hot chocolate and tea and zucchini bread provided by Sue. This evening as we celebrated Jacq’s last week here at Nitty Gritty down at our local Sunrise Bar, we heard stories of how serious the storm we had harvested through really was - tornado? damage in North Branch with the roof collapsed? on one of the schools.
In spite of the downpour all day, we got most of the harvest accomplished. Soaked to the skin even through raincoats, muddy and feeling just a bit invincible, we harvested and prepared most of the vegetables for your weekly share. Pulling carrots through mud with rain water filling the holes as fast as we removed carrots was a challenge. We were not able to harvest the green beans in the rain and will try to get them picked tomorrow –hopefully it will be dry long enough for that – or we’ll have to figure out how to get beans to you because the plants are loaded.
We picked our first ripe tomatoes last week – and peppers – and eggplant – and melons. Some of you will find a melon in your box this week. And depending on the weather, we may pick some tomatoes if it doesn’t rain tomorrow. Otherwise, you can count on fresh tomatoes for sure next week.
On the livestock front: our baby bunnies are getting ready to hop out of their next box soon. After the rain, all of the critters have new swimming holes in their pens. The only ones who seem to really enjoy it are the pigs who seem to be having a pool party. We’ll be taking our first group of seven lambs to the meat locker on Monday morning with the other two groups going later. Some critter got at our ducks a couple of nights ago. All we found was one less duck and a lot of feathers outside their pen. From the paw print, it looks as though it was probably a coyote. There are a lot of coyotes that live in the state part just east of our farm. We hear them often in early evening through the night. And so far, we haven’t had much predation from them. But perhaps because the steers are gone from the far back part of the farm, the coyotes are feeling braver about getting at the ducks. So we’ve moved the ducks closer to the other livestock and we’ll move them even closer in later this week.
As I said, earlier, this week is Jacq’s last week. On Monday, she begins classes as she continues her education. Sara finished two weeks ago. It is sad to see interns who have become part of our farm family go – and yet – the farm goes on.
Until next week………

In your share this week
Potatoes – Norland Red
Onions – Red Candy Apple, Walla Walla, Candy
Cucumber – Raider, Sweet Slice, Lucky Strike
Zucchini – Cavelli, Slick Pick, Zephyr, Sunburst Pattypan, Bennings Green Tint Pattypan, Lita, Raven, Elite, Horn of Plenty
Honeydew melons (maybe) Diplomat, Passport
Cantaloupe (maybe) Goddess
Carrots – Chantenay (short stumpy) and/or Nantes (longer)
Kohlrabi – Winner
Swiss Chard – Northern Lights
Basil – Lime, Amethyst Improved, Genovese
Dill – Dukat, Bouquet
Green Beans – Landmark

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES
From Cyndie Leary at Community UCC in St. Paul Park

6 cups sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onions
1 cup green pepper (optional)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 to 2 cups sugar depending on taste
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Place in jar. Refrigerate. The pickles will be ready in 24 hours and will keep up to 1 year.

Nitty Gritty News August 13th

From the farmers….
It has been a HOT week here at Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm! Today with temperatures soaring into the 90’s as we picked green and yellow beans, we are hoping your beans won’t taste salty – what with all of our sweating under the searing sun. Yesterday we loaded and spread two fairly large compost piles onto the re-worked areas of our fields as well as side-dressing for the summer squash and cuke rows. Our neighbor, Chick stopped by on his way to baling straw on our back field to ask if we wanted to use his manure spreader. We replied that with the skinny strips to be fertilized, his large spreader – though a lot easier than the shovels and wheelbarrows we were using – would not work, but thanks anyway. Earlier this week, Chick combined (harvested) the oats he had planted for us on our back 5? acres. This morning, Dale picked up the gravity box with the approximately 2000 pounds of harvested oats and drove it to the mill where it was cleaned and banked for us to use in mixing some of our livestock feeds this winter.
On Tuesday evening, our kitchen was full of interns, helpers and harvested veggies as we spent the evening (after the big compost move) making jars and jars of pickles. We made over a dozen quarts of sandwich stacker dill pickles, another dozen or so of short-brine brown sugar dills, and mixed Jardinière pickles with carrots, onions, beans, broccoli, basil, garlic and hot peppers. We also canned a dozen quarts of sauerkraut we made three weeks ago and another dozen or so pints of bread and butter pickles. Our kitchen (which is pretty small) was a choreography of canning kettles, huge bowls of prepped veggies and a little music from Gigi, Emilie and Ellie to keep us all going. We have a great assortment to divide and send home with everyone. And if that were not enough, as Dale continued to load the canning kettles with jars, Cara and Jacq bottled the first batch and mixed up another batch of kombucha (fermented tea). We now have three jars going with new kombucha mothers in each. We are grateful to Cara for introducing this new treat to our household and hope to offer a farm workshop on getting you started with your own kombucha for shareholders and friends this fall. It is so easy – and so refreshing, especially on a hot day. We have plans to try some different flavors soon – how about lime basil and honey? Or maple syrup and chokecherry?

This morning, we moved the pigs – big and smaller – into new bigger – much bigger pens. Both groups seem very happy with a lot more room to run and whirl about, as well as dig and root up. Just before the big pigs got their waterer moved to its new location, a couple of them decided to lay alongside of it – without the stock panel fence helping to hold it in position. They were a bit surprised when the waterer with nearly 50 gallons of water tipped over and made a wonderful slough for them to slide in.
Tonight – after it cools down a bit – we will be hauling the two beef steers to the meat locker. It is always a bit sad to say goodbye and thank you to animals we’ve been taking care of since babyhood – but we try to take good care of them, so they can take good care of us. It is part of that great cycle of life.
Until next week……….

What’s in your share this week…

Sweet Corn - Ambrosia
Beans – Derby, Provider, Eureka
Collards - Vates
Zucchini – Raven, Elite, Lila, Sephyr, Click Pick, Horn of Plenty and Caveli
Cucumbers – Raider, Sweet Slice
Onions – Walla Walla
Dill Bouquet
Basil - Genovese

From Je Mange la Ville

Jacq found this recipe online and treated us with it at lunch yesterday. She substituted maple syrup for the orange juice and cilantro for the parsley. The site is jemangelaville.com and the specific reference page is http://www.jemangelaville.com/2007/07/01/its-hot-out-time-for-zucchini-gazpacho-and-a-dinner-out/

Zucchini Gazpacho
1 big zucchini
2 yellow tomatoes
1/2 green bell pepper
1 small sweet onion, chopped into quarters
2 cloves garlic
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Tabasco
salt
pepper
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
juice of 1/2 an orange
extra olive oil for drizzling
Blend the zucchini, tomatoes, onion quarters, bell pepper, olive oil and garlic in a food processor. Get it a bit combined and then add the bread, a bit of Tabasco, parsley and orange juice. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve into individual bowls and drizzle with the olive oil. You’re done. Go eat.

Nitty Gritty News August 6th

From the Farmers……

It has been a week full of people at Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm. Our Summer Abundance Festival on Sunday was delightful. Thank you to everyone who attended, ate stirfried just-picked veggies, slaw, fresh breads, pesto, home brew and sun tea - with us. And even though we got a few sprinkles of rain, our new big hoop house for packing boxes – though a bit dark – provided plenty of room for eating and listening to music and drumming. We are always so delighted when shareholders come to visit the farm because we think it gives you a sense of exactly where and how your food is produced. We also believe that you gain a sense of – and put faces to - what we do to grow, weed, harvest and pack your food each week. If you haven’t been to the farm yet, we encourage you to do so.
On Monday, we welcomed back Olivia, intern two years ago who caught us up on her life since interning at NGDF, while seeding and pulling weeds. Tuesday brought Robin’s niece Emilie along with four friends who brought enormous energy for pulling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow load of huge weeds from between the plastic mulch rows of tomatoes and then seeding and raking rye between the rows – as well as Gigi’s parents who came for some grandkid time as well as a farm lunch. And – Gigi’s kids Katy and Seth (only until Tuesday) are at the farm all week.
Our animals are thriving. After we filled the big pig feeder on Monday with 600 more pounds of feed, we managed to slip a weigh tape around the pigs as they were eating. The smallest of the big group is (according to the tape) 165 pounds and the biggest about 225 pounds. And the turkeys seem to take leaps in growth every week. Everyone is eating like crazy – it seems we are always getting a load of one kind of feed or another. The lambs are eating over 80 pounds of feed at day right now – in addition to pasture. Very soon the first group of them will be off to the butcher.
Today, we moved the older ewes to another pasture. Now that we have been getting some regular rain, the pastures are finally beginning to grow a little new grass. The small area the sheep are in now will keep them happy for a few days and then we will move them to what is left of the harvested cabbage and Chinese cabbage field where they’ll be fenced in the electro-net fencing set up by the interns this morning.

In your share this week, you will find some rather large zucchini. We know….. but since we don’t have a good walk-in cooler (yet????) we don’t have a good way to harvest them several times a week and hold them for you at the perfect size. We hope you will see our abundance of these big zukes as an opportunity to make zucchini cake and bread. We made a chocolate zucchini cake this week – one in a 9 x 13 pan and the other divided into three loaf pans. Delicious. It also freezes well. We are also including a recipe for Dilly Beans. We make a lot of these bean pickles every year and can them to enjoy all winter. You can just make a jar and put them in your fridge for a few days to a few weeks and enjoy them from the fridge instead of hot water bath canning if you prefer. There will be a lot more beans coming – so if you still haven’t had enough fresh beans – just save the recipe for later. You can also dry the dill to use later as dill weed and dill seed heads.

Until next week…..

What's in your Share:

Potatoes - Yukon Gold
Beans - Derby, Provider (green) Eureka (yellow)
Onions - Candy
Carrots - Scarlet Nantes
Kohlrabi - Winner
Collards - Vates
Swiss Chard - Northern Lights
Summer Squash - Raven, Elite (green) Slick Pick, Zephyr, Horn of Plenty (yellow)
Lita (roundish grayish green) Cavelle (grey)
Basil - Genovese
Cilantro - Santo
Dill - Bouquet


Recipes

From the Gardeners’ Community Cookbook
Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Butter for the pan
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
½ cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk or sour cream or yogurt
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups finely chopped zucchini
¼ cup chocolate chips
1 cup sour cream whisked with
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
(optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Cream the butter, oil and sugar in a
large bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and
milk and beat well.
Combine the flour, baking powder,
baking soda, salt, cocoa, cinnamon and
Cloves. Stir into the batter, then add the
Zucchini, mixing well each time. Pour
Into the baking pan and sprinkle the
chocolate chips over the top. Bake for
40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted
in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, cool slightly, then
slice and serve. If using the sour cream, place
a dollop on each plate. Will keep, covered, for
up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Robin included chopped nuts in the chocolate
chip layer on the top. It was a delicious addition.

From Putting Food By
Dilly Beans

For each quart jar
One dill seed head and a couple of sprigs of the ferny leaves.
1/4 tsp red pepper or one hot pepper cut in half
1 - 2 cloves garlic cut in half
green and/or yellow beans

Mix 2 1/2 cups water and 2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar with 1/4 cup salt (enough for one or two quart jars)


Wash beans thoroughly, remove stems and tips. Wash jars. Have lids in scalding water. In each jar, place the dill, the red pepper and the cloves of garlic. Pack beans upright in jars leaving one inch of head room. Heat together the water, vinegar and salt; when mixture boils, pour it over the beans, filling each jar to 1/2inch from the top. Wipe the tops of the jars with a clean cloth, adjust the hot lids on the jars and firmly tighten the screw caps. Process in a boiling water bath
for 20 minutes for quarts, 15 minutes for pints. Set the timer once the water is boiling. Remove jars and place on towel. Lids will "pop" when they seal. If they do not "pop", process them again or just put them in the fridge and eat within a few weeks.


Contributed by our 2008 intern, Erina
Roasted Zucchini with Thyme

1. Preheat oven to 450. Quarter and cut zucchini (about 1 and 1/2 pounds) into 1-2 inch chunks. Thinly slice 1 onion.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the zucchini and onion with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
3. Roast 30 minutes, tossing halfway through. Note: this also works well on the grill.
Lemony Zucchini and Bean Salad
Ingredients: 1 cup blanched green or yellow bean, cut into bite-sized pieces1 medium or several small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 oz. Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup) grated or broken into small chunks (optional; feta cheese would also work)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil1 tablespoon plus
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste
1. Combine beans, zucchini, onion, cheese, and basil in serving bowl.
2. Whisk remaining ingredients together in small bowl.
3. Add dressing to vegetables and cheese; mix well and garnish with additional basil if desired.
Note: To make this salad into a heartier vegetarian meal, you can substitute 1/2 to 1 cup chickpeas for some of the green beans and/or zucchini.