CSA week #13

Farm cooperative: Working together just like your momma taught you

Through this year, we have realized that we may not be able to do everything on our own, despite how much we would like to. So, we are working on putting together some type of cooperative so that a gathering of farms could provide for a CSA. This year our flower business has expanded so much, that we are just running out of space to grow produce.

We have been in conversation with other growers to see who wants to be involved, and to gather a large variety of things to be provided to the CSA. Then, we could be responsible for spring and fall cool weather crops, soap, and pork; and find another farmer to grow the summer crops so we can focus on our flowers during the busy season. Until we figure this out, I don’t think there is anyway that we would be able to expand the CSA beyond what it is right now.

We will keep you updated on the progress as we have just begun to spread the idea around through our farmer friends in hopes to collect a large array of different types of products that our customers would be interested in. Since we already have a support system built up of interested CSA members, that has been a plus in our conversations with the other farmers since they wouldn’t be starting from scratch. And at this point, working together just seems like the best thing to do rather than abandoning the whole idea of the CSA when we have worked so hard to build it to what it is now.

We will let you know before the end of the season what the plan is for next year, so you can start saving up for the winter payment for the CSA. Being a returning customer, or being early will result in a discount on the price. Once we get established too, we would like to figure out some way to take food stamps or honor senior coupons to ensure more equal access to our produce. That may be a project for next year though, once the cooperative is established. But in the meantime, thanks for your support and continued interest in our farm!

What’s included this week?
1. Bell peppers
2. Soap
3. Onions
4. Tatsoi- an Asian spinach, eat it raw or braised
5. Beans
6. Sweet Corn

Recipe of the Week
Stuffed Peppers
(I love this recipe because you can do lots of variations from whatever is in your fridge)
4 red, green or yellow bell peppers, tops sliced off and chopped up
2 cups leftover rice or couscous
1 cup leftover meat, either ground or chopped up
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 scallions, chopped (or ½ of an onion, diced)

Slice off tops of bell peppers, remove seeds and discard. Chop up the bell pepper tops and place into a large bowl. Add rice or couscous, chopped meat, dried basil, parsley, chopped pepper tops, chicken stock and scallions. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Stuff each pepper with filling and place in a square baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. I also like to melt my favorite cheese on top too, so in the last 10 minutes of baking, just add it on top and let it get all gooey on top…yum!
Thank you for your support,
Gretel and Steve

CSA week #11

Press Release

As our business has continued to build on our reputation, we have had some very fortunate encounters. Having a business, we have learned that you are always on in public, even if just going out to dinner. Last year we were given the opportunity to be in Columbus Monthly and the editor liked the picture so much, we even made the cover!

After it came out on newsstands, we went out to dinner to celebrate at Black Creek Bistro, the owner (Kent Peters) recognized us from the cover, and that began our relationship with them. We sold them greens all winter and have continued to sell produce to them since. We were approached by Kent about a month ago to be involved in a tour that was being held for some food writers here in Columbus. He wanted to show them our urban farm too since they would be spending a few days here.

So, a couple weeks ago, we held a tour at our farm for these food writers. They were brought in by an organization called Experience Columbus to give a little more exposure to the scene around town. After the tour, we got to eat at Black Creek Bistro with the group and get to know some of the writers a little better. Kent also purchased a bar of soap for every writer that was at dinner.

It was a great experience and have just been contacted by Country Living magazine as they are going to place my soap in the gift edition of their magazine for the holidays. How exciting! We now are being shown on Ohio magazine’s website too: http://ohiomagazine.com/Main/WishYouWereHere/8.aspx

And to think, it all began with just going out to dinner wanting to support a local business. Now Black Creek has been carrying my soap at the restaurant, I am in the process of building up the shopping cart on my website, and Village Flower Basket in Granville is going to carry my soap too! I may not be substitute teaching until after the holiday soap escapades have ended. Until then, I will just have to be making more soap then I ever could have imagined!

What’s included this week?

Apples- Galas that have not been sprayed, good for snacking

Peppers

Tomatoes

Okra

Squash

Sweet Corn

Recipe of the Week

Bubba’s Shrimp Gumbo (don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it’s worth trying)

1 cup butter (2 sticks), plus 1 tablespoon

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup sliced fresh okra

3 cups shrimp stock

2 cups bottled clam juice

(can use any stock for above two ingredients if it’s already in the pantry)

1 cup chopped tomatoes w/ juice

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 cups cooked smoked sausage, sliced diagonally

2 lbs shrimp, cleaned and deveined

Serving suggestion: Over cooked white rice.

In a large heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt 1 cup of the butter. Add the flour, and cook on low heat until the roux is dark brown; about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring constantly. *Cook's Note: Brown does not mean burnt; if you burn the roux you have to throw it out and start over again.

Add the onions, celery, peppers and garlic and saute until translucent.

Mix in the okra and the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, and simmer over medium-low heat until thick, about 1 hour. Before serving, remove the bay leaves. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve over white rice, if desired.

Thank you for your support,

Gretel and Steve

Public exposure of the decent kind...

Another write-up from the food writers that paid us a visit. Check out Columbus!

http://heavytable.com/should-you-find-yourself-in-columbus-ohio/

Anyone up for dancing?

Just received this from my friend that instructs my dance class. It's an all adult class, so it's tons of fun, and you get exercise at the same time... Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Hello!

I hope you all enjoyed your summer break! I can't wait to catch up with you all! I am emailing some new dancers as well so I am putting all kinds of information in this email!

I will start off my introducing myself. My name is Katie Irwin-Henry. I began Irish Step dancing when I was five years old. I competed for fifteen years. I went to the world championships held in Ireland seven times, placed fifth in the mid-west championships and eleventh in the nation. After competition I went to the show Lord of the Dance and danced all over the world professionally. I moved to Chicago when I was twenty one to dance professionally with Trinity Dance Company. In January 2010 I completed my certification to teach Irish step dance(T.C.R.G.). I have been teaching with Regan Academy for over a year now.

My class is a fun and vibrant way to workout and meet new people. It is a breeze to get the basics needed for Irish dance in the first class then have a new "jig" by the end of class! I am very excited for the new dance year! Last year we only danced in soft shoes. This year my goal is to have everyone dancing a hornpipe! Which is hard shoe only!! I still have some kinks to work out on class details but wanted everyone to be in the loop. My goal is to start classes the second week of October. Classes will still run the same amount which is $40 per month paid on the first of every month. We have class once a week for an hour. Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions.

Slainte!

Katie Henry

mailto:Henrykatiehenry2009@hotmail.com

http://www.reganacademy.com/

CSA week #11

Press Release
As our business has continued to build on our reputation, we have had some very fortunate encounters. Having a business, we have learned that you are always on in public, even if just going out to dinner. Last year we were given the opportunity to be in Columbus Monthly and the editor liked the picture so much, we even made the cover!
After it came out on newsstands, we went out to dinner to celebrate at Black Creek Bistro, the owner (Kent Peters) recognized us from the cover, and that began our relationship with them. We sold them greens all winter and have continued to sell produce to them since. We were approached by Kent about a month ago to be involved in a tour that was being held for some food writers here in Columbus. He wanted to show them our urban farm too since they would be spending a few days here.
So, a couple weeks ago, we held a tour at our farm for these food writers. They were brought in by an organization called Experience Columbus to give a little more exposure to the scene around town. After the tour, we got to eat at Black Creek Bistro with the group and get to know some of the writers a little better. Kent also purchased a bar of soap for every writer that was at dinner.
It was a great experience and have just been contacted by Country Living magazine as they are going to place my soap in the gift edition of their magazine for the holidays. How exciting! We now are being shown on Ohio magazine’s website too: http://ohiomagazine.com/Main/WishYouWereHere/8.aspx
And to think, it all began with just going out to dinner wanting to support a local business. Now Black Creek has been carrying my soap at the restaurant, I am in the process of building up the shopping cart on my website, and Village Flower Basket in Granville is going to carry my soap too! I may not be substitute teaching until after the holiday soap escapades have ended. Until then, I will just have to be making more soap then I ever could have imagined!

What’s included this week?
1. Apples- Galas that have not been sprayed, good for snacking
2. Peppers
3. Tomatoes
4. Okra
5. Squash
6. Sweet Corn

Recipe of the Week
Bubba’s Shrimp Gumbo (don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it’s worth trying)
1 cup butter (2 sticks), plus 1 tablespoon
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced fresh okra
3 cups shrimp stock
2 cups bottled clam juice
(can use any stock for above two ingredients if it’s already in the pantry)
1 cup chopped tomatoes w/ juice
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked smoked sausage, sliced diagonally
2 lbs shrimp, cleaned and deveined
Serving suggestion: Over cooked white rice.
In a large heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt 1 cup of the butter. Add the flour, and cook on low heat until the roux is dark brown; about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring constantly. *Cook's Note: Brown does not mean burnt; if you burn the roux you have to throw it out and start over again.
Add the onions, celery, peppers and garlic and saute until translucent.
Mix in the okra and the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, and simmer over medium-low heat until thick, about 1 hour. Before serving, remove the bay leaves. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve over white rice, if desired.

Thank you for your support,
Gretel and Steve

Press Release

Check out our new write-up.
http://ohiomagazine.com/Main/WishYouWereHere/8.aspx

CSA week #10

Our biggest wedding yet!!

Composting
Although not many households compost, it really cuts down on your output of waste. Instead of having a trash can full of food scraps, you can turn those foods scraps into black gold as the gardener’s call it. As the food breaks down, the food becomes less distinguishable and eventually is a black loose dirt that is spreadable on your garden.
Now you can not compost meat or dairy, but any veggie scraps, or even grass clippings you have can go in. These are considered the “green” part of the composting cycle. Then, you have the “browns” which need to be added to give the pile some body, so you don’t just have one big sloppy mess. This would be fallen leaves, cardboard, paper, or anything that is a little bit more woody (like for us, some of our flower stems count). If you are really good you will have a ratio of about 3 brown: 1 green, but no one’s perfect and neither is composting.
Basically, everything from inside that gets composted goes into a separate trash can with a lid. We eat a lot of veggies and drink a lot of coffee, so it adds up quickly and then is taken outside to the pile. We compost all of our napkins and paper towels (unless they were used to clean up grease or for soap making) and every once in a while I throw a cardboard box in there to make up for the browns I need. We let the pile accumulate until winter when it gets covered with a tarp and we move onto the next year’s pile. In the spring, we will turn the old pile to get it working again and then should be ready to use by fall.
So it takes a while, but it is worth it. You can also get a compost tumbler that hurries the process and contains the compost, although it doesn’t stink like you think it would. Another option is worm composting where you buy some worms that can digest all of these scraps and turn them into worm castings, which are also just as valuable for the garden.
On a more massive scale, Smith Farm Market drops off all of their unsold produce which they dump on our property. We turn it with the front end loader, still cover it in the winter time, and then use the tractor to move piles of it for hand spreading. This stuff is much better than fertilizer because you are increasing soil life and the healthiness of your plants. For more information check out Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Composting or check online. Or if you have any questions, feel free to ask. We are all about trying to get more people to compost and it makes sense even if you just have a flower bed and no garden!

What’s included this week?
1. Cherry Tomatoes
2. Focaccia bread from Lucky Cat Farm- great sandwich bread or to dip in eggs overeasy!
3. Eggs from Roshon Farms- same as last time, we just don’t have enough chickens to get everyone eggs. They are all natural chickens just like ours!
4. Bell peppers
5. Potatoes
6. Garlic

Recipe of the Week
Potatoes Au Gratin
4 potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic, smashed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 1 quart casserole dish. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add smashed garlic, then mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

Thank you for your support,
Gretel and Steve