Posts in Corn
Week 12; September 3, 2015

What's in the box? 

medium share

medium share

  • Sweet corn
  • tomatoes
  • arugula
  • onions
  • Potatoes
  • bell peppers
  • broccoli
  • brussel sprout tops
  • pac choi (large and medium)
  • carrots  
  • beets (large)

Notes on the box.

This is the last of the sweet corn!  It was harvested in the pouring rain, so the silks may be limp and wet.  You may want to pull them off before they go in your fridge to avoid spoilage.  Get the last of your favorite sweet corn recipes made.  Until next year...

We've had quite a lot of rain in the last few weeks.  Our tomatoes have succumbed to disease (they don't like all that moisture).  We might have another week with them, but they are dropping off, for sure. 

Brussel sprout tops?  These are the bunch of greens that look like smallish collards.  They are very nice and tender and cook down quite a lot.  They taste like brussel sprouts and you can use them as you would kale or swiss chard.  We take the tops off the plants to encourage the sprouts to form on the stalks.  In the past we just dropped them on the ground, but then saw the tops being sold at the farmers market and decided to try them out.  We were skeptical, but they are really nice greens and we enjoyed them.  Hope you like them, too! 

Pac Choi (aka bok choy) may be new to our peak season members.  Enjoy it in a stir fry.  You can use it as a substitute for cabbage in cooked dishes.  It's so delicious! 

Take the tops off the carrots before you put them in your fridge for storage!

Cheese shares.

This week is a washed curd cheese (different than a washed rind) that is similar to a Gouda type of cheese.  Not sure if this will be one that we make regularly in the future, but it's tasty!  A nice cheese for cooking or snacking.  Cheese soufflé?  Yum.  

Dutch Baby Pancake with Gouda, Crispy Bacon, and a Fried Egg

Recipes.

Corn Chowder Salad from Smitten Kitchen

Sesame Salmon Fillets with Bok Choy

  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds
  • 1/2 Tbsp. garted fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pound salmon fillets
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 4 cups or more thinly sliced bok choy
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 tsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

In a shallow dish combine the sesame seeds, ginger, black pepper, and salt stirring together until the mixture resembles wet sand.  In another dish, lightly beat the egg.  Dip each salmon fillet into the egg, letting the excess drip off.  Gently press the fillets into the sesame mixture, turning to coat both sides (if the fillet has skin, only coat the skinless side). 

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Cook the salmon, turning once, for 4-8 minutes, or until cooked to your preferred doneness.  Transfer to a plate. 

increase the heat to high.  Add the bok choy, bell pepper, vinegar, soy saice, and sesame oil to the skillet.  Cook stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until the bok choy is wilted.  Arrange the bok choy on plates and top with the salmon.  Serve with wasabi mashed potatoes or rice. 

On the farm.

More variety in the box this week.  Greens again.  Color on the bell peppers.  Picking tomatoes green.  It means Summer is just about over.  Sigh.  It's been a good one.  This week looks like it will stay fairly warm, but next weeks forecast is looking down right chilly.  We are keeping fingers crossed the the cantaloupe and musk melon can ripen before the frost hits. 
 

Week 11; August 27, 2015

Heads up!  We are switching our delivery route around this week and next to try to get ahead of the State Fair traffic.  Look for your delivery email to know when your box has arrived at your drop site. 

What's in the box? 

medium share

medium share

 

  • red or gold green top beets (medium and large shares)
  • heirloom and slicer tomatoes
  • bell peppers
  • sweet onions
  • sweet corn
  • water melon
  • new potatoes

Notes on the box.

Everything in the box will look familiar to you this week. 

Large and Medium Shares got Golden or Red Green top beets.  Remove tops for the beets so that the roots don't get soft.  The greens are edible and you can use them in any recipe calling for chard or cooked spinach. 

We had our first taste of fall!  The cool weather slowed some things ripening.  The summer squash, zukes, and cukes have petered out with not enough out there to harvest for CSA members.  This may be a relief for many of you!   I know it's a relief for the backs of the workers who have been picking these crops 3-4 times per week for almost 2 months to stay ahead of them! 

I know I know I know... Wow.  That's a lot of Watermelon.  Watermelon stores best at cool room temperature (or 55 degrees, ideally).  It can be stored for around 10 days before you cut it.  Store cut watermelon in the fridge for up to 4 days.  You can cube it and keep it in a lidded container or cover the flesh with plastic wrap if you have left the rind on. Sorbet, popsicles, and fruit leather are all great ways to preserve watermelon if you can't eat it all fresh.  

Good weather for corn and potato chowder or vegetable soup.  Warmer weather again next week!

Don't worry, everyone.  Next week will bring more variety.  Expect Arugula, broccoli, maybe bok choi or another green, red bell peppers??  plus one more round of sweet corn (there was supposed to be a week off, but the successions ran together). 

Cheese Share.

This week we have yummy feta and some more of the Circle of the Sun from larger wheels.  It's aged a bit longer and has some really nice flavors coming out.  I'm tasting brown butter, mushrooms, wood, and hay.  Great with some red wine after the kids have gone to bed since this is a smallish slice that you might not be willing to share.  Don't worry!  A larger chunck will be delivered before the season is over.  Waiting waiting waiting for more to ripen...

The feta is great in a salad with watermelon or tomatoes or roasted beets. 

Recipes.

Esquites (Mexican Corn Salad) very popular here!  We could eat this everyday. 

Watermelon Lemonade

Watermelon Sorbet (no icecream maker needed)

Watermelon, Rosemary, Feta Salad

Sweet and Savory Watermelon Salad

  • juice of a lime
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1/2 Tbsp. honey
  • salt to taste
  • 8 cups diced seeded watermelon
  • 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped mint
  • 2 Tbsp. minced sweet onion

In a large non-metallic bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.   Toss in the other ingredients and fold gently to combine.  Refrigerate for 2 hours to allow flavors to develop. 

On the Farm.

Morning milking with Ben.  Thanks so much, Dana, for the beautiful photos!  And thanks Ben and the cows for the beautiful milk for our cheese!  And thanks cows for the manure that becomes the compost that fertilizes the vegetable fields! 

and on the rest of the farm...

Week 10; August 20, 2015

What's in the box? 

these boxes were too expertly and carefully packed for me to do our usual "grab a packed box at random, take everything out, take a picture, and repack it" 

  • watermelon yellow and or red
  • sweet corn
  • bell peppers
  • zucchini / summer squash
  • cucumbers or broccoli
  • New red potatoes
  • heirloom and field tomatoes
  • walla walla sweet onions
  • garlic

Notes on the box. 

We are approaching what can be a difficult time in the garden.  A large rain event, followed by cooler temps means slow growth and petering out on the summer crops.  Summer squash and cucumbers days are numbered. A few more weeks on tomatoes at most and same for melons. Peppers until frost, which can be in 3 weeks. Sweet corn 1 or maybe 2 more weeks. Then we head back into the cool weather type crops again (radishes, cabbage, greens, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.), but with some nice additions like Winter Squash, potatoes, more carrots, etc...  

The good news is, there is nothing too challenging in this box. It's most all the favorites of Summer in their prime.

The long, blockish lime green peppers are sweet frying peppers.  They are a new one that we tried out this season. 

The smaller long lime green (or orange or red) peppers that taper to a point are the hungarian hot wax.  If you cut out the seeds and ribs, they are pretty mildly spicy.  But if you leave them in, they have a good strong kick.  

For some reason some of the watermelons this season have way more than average seeds.  There's no way for us to know which ones they will be, so if you got an extra seedy one, we are sorry! Seed spitting contest time! 

Cheese Shares.

Cheese curds!  It's been a while since we had some.  If you like the squeak, let them warm up to room temperature.  If the squeak isn't your thing, eat them right out of the fridge. 

Also this week is Antares again, which I gave a few weeks ago, but we have a totally different cheese this week!  Why?  Well, the first batch was made earlier in the cows lactation when not much pasture had grown, so the cows were still getting a lot of hay.  The milk was quite a bit fattier and the cheese was a lot softer and more mild.  This batch was made a month later when the cows were further into their lactation and were grazing on some overwintered Rye cover crop on one of our vegetable fields that was out of rotation.  I sampled these two batches next to each other at the farmers market and had a great time showing people an example of how much a cheese can change based on the milk.  The cows were on the same rye grass when I made the cheese that I gave last week, and even though the cheese making process is very different between the two cheeses, I think they are more similar than the Antares made from the same recipe at a different point in the season. 

We are very excited that The Wedge & Wheel in Stillwater has 2 wheels of this cheese in their case right now!  Wedge & Wheel is a really fun cheese shop with a beautifully curated case.  If you are in Stillwater and want to taste some truly unique cheeses that you won't find many other places, you should check it out!  Local cheeses, obscure cheeses, famous cheeses, handcrafted, all kinds, and all so great!  It's so wonderful to have our cheese next to some of my favorites...  Oh, and right now Wedge & Wheel has a French cheese in the style of Morbier made out of goats milk that tastes like spring water!  It's astounding!  Worth the trip for sure. 

Recipes.

Freezing Sweet Corn Instructions - this is the "right way" to do it.  We cut it off the cob raw and freeze it just like that.  Works fine for us, but most everyone suggests blanching first.  Or you can make a big pot of corn chowder and freeze some for later. 

13 recipes that make the most of fresh tomatoes from the kitchn

Corn and Wild Rice Fritters

  • 1 cup cooked wild rice
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • oil for frying

Mix all ingredients except oil and salsa.  Add oil to a heavy skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch.  Heat over medium flame until oil looks shimmery and bubbles immediately when you drop a tiny amount of batter into it.  Drop small amounts (between 2 Tbsp and 1/3 cup) of the batter into the oil.  Cook a few fritters at a time to avoid crowding them.  Cook each batch until brown and cooked through.  Drain on paper towels and serve with salsa. 

 

On the Farm.

This Saturday is our Summer's End party.  it's an informal gathering of CSA members and their guests.  We will start around 4, have burgers on the grill around 6pm. Bring a side dish or desert to share, BYOB.  Self guided tours of the farm anytime.  If you want a more formal guided tour we are happy to do that as we are able to, just ask one of the farmers, we all have insight on farm happenings. There is a lot to see on our 80 acre farm, everything from grazing dairy cattle, and mobile chicken coops to fat pigs and tall weeds! 

We'll see how the weather shakes out but they are calling for rain Saturday night around 8, if it doesn't look too bad we'll light a bon fire, but who knows maybe we'll get to see the rainbow again either way.  Anyone is welcome to camp. We are looking forward to meeting anyone who decides they can make it. It is 60 miles from Minneapolis (hour and 20 min) You can search Turnip Rock farm on google maps and there we are. If you are planning on driving through Stillwater, check the traffic report first.  Stillwater traffic can be brutal on a Saturday!  Please let us know if you are planning on coming and how many you will bring.  Hope you can make it! 

We will be having another get together in September for those who can't make it this time. 

Oh, and if you'd like to order canning tomatoes or freezer corn to take home with you Saturday let us know by Friday Noon

20# box of tomatoes = 30$

1 1/9 bu. box of corn (about 4 dozen)= 25$

 

Next Week:

peppers, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, broccoli, melons...