Two Spruce Farm 

CSA Pick Up: Week Two

6/18/13

Pick Up Site 1: Cobblestone Valley Farm
 6609 New York State Bicycle Route 11, Homer • Friday 4-6pm
Pick Up Site 2: Northland Sheep Dairy
 3501 Hoxie Gorge Freetown Rd, Marathon • Thursday 4-6pm

Welcome to week 2 of the Two Spruce Farm CSA! Veggies available this week are spinach, scallions, bok choy, kholrabi, swiss chard, rhubarb, rosemary, dill, cilantro, culinary bay, kale, and garlic scapes.

Garlic is one of my favorite crops to grow, and to eat. Unlike most of the quick annuals we're growing in the field here, it is planted as one of the last things we do each fall, and it is the first greenery that greets us each spring. One of the earliest spring tasks is uncovering the garlic, which is typically buried in straw mulch for the winter. The garlic bulbs themselves won't be ready until at least July but the scapes are a perfect sign of the coming summer harvest. You can roast them until they're crisp, mince and cook with them as you would bulb garlic, turn them into a unique pesto, or you can simply saute them in butter or olive oil.

This week's recipe was shared with me by one of our CSA members--take a gander at this Pak Choi Parcel recipe from in vegetables we trust. You could also cook this in a covered baking dish if you'd rather not use baking parchment.

Photo (and recipe!) credit: Avery McGuire

If anyone's interested in meat or cheese from the Northland Sheep Dairy, they're also available to you on a limited basis. We have most standard cuts of 100% grass-fed lamb and some mutton available. Cheeses are available on a limited basis as well. We also offer yarn and sheep skins. Please email me if you're interested and I can give you more details.

As you may have seen from our facebook and blog, we spent our time this past winter logging with horses. We now have firewood for sale from the farm. It's cut, stacked, but not split and is all hardwood--oak, maple, and ash. $50/pickup load, email or call me if interested.

Is anyone interested in a fresh, local, organic apple CSA this autumn? Cobblestone Valley is planning to host a pickup at their farm and they would like to find enough customers to enable them to use their refrigerator truck to pick them up. The CSA is offered by H emlock Grove Farm in Ithaca. More information is available on their website. Please let me know if you're interested!

One final item is to remind you to please return your CSA box each week from here on out. I hope you enjoy this week's share! Thank you!

Pak Choi Parcel -- invegetableswetrust.com

Ingredients:

2 small pak choi, sliced length ways down the centre

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp tamari/ soy sauce

1/2 tbsp mirin

1 tsp agave

1/2 tbsp grated ginger

pinch of chili flakes

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190c/ 370f, roll out some baking parchment and lay the pak choi in the center cut the parchment so it is long enough to fold over the pak choi on both sides, whisk together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour evenly over the pak choi. Now fold over the tops and the bottoms, tie the package up with string and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until tender. Serve with baked tofu or stir fried veggies and sprinkled with linseed/ sesame seeds.