Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2002: Week 6
In this box:Carrots, Leeks, Collards, Desiree potatoes, Daikon (Rojo’s), Keeper onions (Persephone Farm), Parsley (Springhill), Kubocha Squash  (Persephone Farm), Gold Rush Apples  (LaMancha Ranch)

Gold Rush Apples
      This week you get a taste of another variety of apple from David and Anita’s orchard. This is one of my favorite apples—it is a very sweet fruit, and one of the primary ingredients in their cider (available at the First Alternative in Corvallis, and at the Corvallis Indoor Winter Market—details below). Gold Rush is a very late-season apple, ripening in mid-November, and it keeps well into the winter.

Daikon
     Daikon is also known by its more descriptive name, Japanese white radish. We like Daikon as a stir-fry vegetable. However, I wanted to give you a little bit more information about this versitile vegetable, so I called my friend Intaba (owner and chef of Intaba’s Restaurant in Corvallis—specializing in “Organic World Cuisine”). She tells me that Daikon is considered a good fat emuslifier— it helps the body break down fat. As such, it is frequently served grated and sprinkled with a little soy sauce as a side dish along with tempura or oily fish in Japanese cooking. She also recommends it grated raw in salads, used as you would potatoes in stews, or cooked with other vegetables “Nishimi-style.”
    Nishime refers to a style of cooking, also known as “waterless cooking”. It is a lovely way to prepare vegetables without adding oil or allowing nutrients to escape into boiling or steaming water. Vegetables cooked in this way taste sweet and rich. Many of the vegetables in this week’s box are wonderful cooked together Nishimi-style. Here’s how. Soak 2 or 3 strips of Kombu (a type of seaweed) in warm water for 15 minutes, then cut in 1” squares. Place in the bottom of a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid (we use a cast iron Dutch oven). Add enough water to just barely cover the kombu. Add layers of chunked vegetables. For example: carrots, turnips, daikon, potatoes, winter squash, cabbage, leeks, and parsley. Place those needing more cooking at the bottom. Add a pinch of salt, cover the pot, and place over a high heat just until the water boils. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season with a small amount of tamari soy sauce and continue to cook about 10 minutes longer or until almost all the liquid is gone. Mix everything together and serve.

Kubocha Squash
     Kubocha is a hearty winter squash. Tom likes kubocha best sliced into thin smile-shaped pieces, steamed until tender, and served with a sprinkle of tamari. You can eat the skins, too. It can also be baked. I like to mash it with butter, and a little milk if it seems dry. Kubocha also makes a great addition to soups and stews. If you first cut it in chunks, then add to your soup, it will make a sweet, orange-colored broth. Though kubocha squash can be eaten right away, it is also a good keeper squash. Store it in a dry, cool (55 degrees) spot for best keeping quality.

Winter Farmers’ Market
     Corvallis will have an indoor winter market this year, starting January 11. The winter market is at the Benton County Fairgrounds, 1st and 3rd Saturdays from 10-2 during January, February, and March. We’ll be there, and hope to see you there as well.
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2002: Week 5
In this box: Carrots, Celery (Springhill), Kale, Fingerling potatoes, Turnips (Rojo’s), Persimmons, Garlic (Sweet Leaf), Onion (Persephone), Tat soi

We’re on Vacation
     Well, we’ve just worked nearly every day since last March, and now it’s time for a vacation. Our competent crew will cover for us while we get off the farm for a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation. We’re trying some place new this year; a little cottage, off the grid, near the end of the road in the Southwest corner of the Big Island of Hawaii. We plan to spend most of our time exploring local farmers’ markets and searching for the best kid-friendly snorkeling beaches.

Carrot Soup (have the carrots been piling up in your fridge?)
     A market customer inspired me to try Carrot soup when she bought nearly 5 pounds of carrots one day. Carrot soup is a wonderful way to use up carrots if you’re not keeping up with the weekly supply. I checked a variety of carrot soup recipes –there seems to be one in practically every one of my cookbooks, and I found this one the most interesting. The addition of chopped nuts adds a wonderful touch, and the recipe gives suggestions for a number of variations. It comes from the original Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.
Carrot Soup     45 minutes to prepare : 4-5 servings
2 lbs. carrots, peeled or scrubbed, and chopped
4 cups water or stock
11/2 tsp. salt
optional: 1 potato, chopped (for heartier soup)
Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 12-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 small cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup chopped cashews or almonds
Sauté in 3-4 Tbs. butter with a little salt, until onions are clear.
Puree everything together in a blender until smooth. Return the purée to a kettle
or double-boiler and whisk in one of the following:
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk plus a little honey
1/2 pint heavy cream
3/4  cup sour cream
Heat very slowly.
Seasoning combinations to choose from:
1. 2 pinches of nutmeg, ½ tsp. dried mint, dash of cinnamon;
2. ½-1 tsp each thyme, marjoram, basil; or
3. 1 tsp. fresh-grated ginger root, sauteed in butter plus a dash of sherry (add sherry just before serving) this one is my favorite.
Garnish with grated apple or toasted nuts or yogurt or sour cream.

Winter Farmers’ Market
     Corvallis will have an indoor winter market this year, starting January 11. The winter market is at the Benton County Fairgrounds, 1st and 3rd Saturdays from 10-2 during January, February, and March. We’ll be there, and hope to see you there as well.
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2002: Week 4
In this box: Salad mix, Chard (Springhill or Rojo’s), Bintje potatoes, Carrots, Liberty apples  (LaMancha Ranch), Radishes, Red onions (Persephone), Cilantro (Springhill), Acorn squash  (Persephone), persimmons

Tom’s thoughts on Thanksgiving
     Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. For one thing, thanksgiving generally arrives after the bulk of harvest and fall work is over, so it’s a good time for us to celebrate. Also thanksgiving is traditionally associated with food, and celebrating the harvest. And it’s also good for me to be reminded to count my blessings once in a while, because I sometimes get so focused on the day to day details, that I forget how much I have to be thankful for.
    In just the last week a number of my friends and associates have pointed out to me that I am a “successful organic farmer.” While that may seem obvious to you, in my mind I don’t feel that different than when I was 22 years old and trying to grow and sell food on 1/2 acre of rented land. It’s good for me to remember that although farming is still challenging, we no longer a struggle to prove that a family can make a living growing food organically and selling it locally.  We’ve done that, and others are doing it as well.
    I’m thankful for the help and encouragement from family and friends.  I’m thankful for the advice and example from the older farmers when I was getting started, and the advice and example of my contemporaries who are farming now.  Also the hundreds of great people who, over the years have helped us on the farm and behind the scenes…the mechanics, bookkeepers, accountants, consultants, plant breeders, researchers, professors, and extension agents who are all helping to make organic farming a viable occupation in the Willamette Valley. I am thrilled to see younger people becoming “successful organic farmers”, some of whom are regular contributors to your harvest box.
    Last and most importantly, I’m thankful for the people who have supported our farm through their purchases. The wholesalers, produce managers, chef’s, caterers, farmers market shoppers, and you, our harvest box members. Thank you!

White Bean & Winter Greens Soup  (adapted from Dean Ornish’s Everyday Cooking)
1 bunch fresh kale or chard
3 cups vegetable broth
1 potato, diced in 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic (or more)
4 cups cannellini beans with 1 1/2 cups liquid (or two 15 oz. cans)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp lemon zest
salt & pepper to taste
     Boil large pot of salted water. Add greens and boil 2 minutes. Drain. Refresh under cold water and drain again well. Chop coarsely. In medium pot, combine broth, potatoes, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook about 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add beans and their liquid. Cook covered over low heat until potatoes are soft, about
15 minutes. Add chopped kale or chard and simmer 1 minute, uncovered. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf. Stir in lemon zest and serve. Serves 4-6.

Bintje potatoes: Their texture is a lot like a Yukon gold, but we think the flavor is much nicer.
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2002: Week 3
In this box: Spinach (Rojo’s), Carrots, Broccoli, Leeks, Desirée potatoes, Garlic , Beets,
Persimmons

Rojo’s Farm
     This week’s spinach was grown by our friends Gabe and Sophie of Rojo’s Organic Farm. Gabe worked on our farm for 5 years until last year when he and Sophie bought their own 30-acre farm between Eugene and Junction City. We collaborate with Rojo’s Farm frequently in the planning of your weekly box through the summer as well as the Early Winter season. Although we have some spinach on our farm, it has been growing slowly this month, and we didn’t have enough for everyone’s box, so we called up Gabe and asked if he had enough for everyone. (He did). You will probably see chard, daikon, turnips, and cabbage from Gabe and Sophie in the coming weeks.

Persimmons
      At one time persimmons were more widely planted in the world than apples. This is because dried persimmons were a major sweetener in Asia before sugar cane and sugar beets were cultivated there. They are still quite popular in Asia, and their production and popularity is increasing in the U.S.
    There are many different varieties of persimmons, but they can be divided into two major groups: Astringent persimmons must be very soft before they are eaten, or else water soluble tannins in the flesh will make your mouth pucker. Non-astringent persimmons (primarily Jiro and Izu varieties) may be eaten while still firm. We grow mostly the non-astringent varieties, and that is what is in your box this week.
    In our climate, persimmons need to finish ripening off the tree. Those in your box may be a few days away peak ripeness. Leave them in a warm place (on the counter) for a few days until the greenish tint is all gone from around the top shoulder. When ripe, they are fully orange, but still firm to the touch. Once they become soft, their flavor is still yummy and sweet, but the texture may be less pleasing than while firm.
    In Japan Jiro and Izu persimmons are mainly consumed as a desert fruit after dinner. The fruit is peeled, cut in four to six wedges, and eaten.  We don’t peel ours, but we do cut them in pieces (like orange slices) and remove a little bit of the center core at the stem and blossom ends where some astringency can linger.

Desirée Potatoes
     Desirée is a great all-purpose potato with red skin and yellow flesh. It has what potato growers call “intermediate” texture—not really waxy like a red potato, and not really dry like a russet potato. They are especially good boiled whole and then quartered and buttered, in potato salad, oven-roasted, or as hashed browns. If you have been accumulating potatoes over the past few weeks, it works well to cut up and roast several different varieties together (along with a few peeled shallots or chunks of leek, and maybe beets….).
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2002: Week 2
In this box: Salad mix, Carrots, Butterball potatoes, Shallots, Salad turnips, Celery (Springhill), Kale, Delicata squash (Persephone Farm), Braeburn apples (LaMancha Ranch)

Collaboration
    Although we grow the majority of what’s in your box each week, in order to provide you with a more diverse box and to build community among local organic farmers, we often provide you with some of the fruits of our friends’ labors.
    The unusually severe weather during Halloween week really brings into focus for us the survival value of cooperation among farms. When it went down to 14o on our farm last Saturday, we lost a number of crops we had anticipated putting in the winter Harvest Boxes. So Tom has spent a bit of time in this last week talking with our friends who are organic growers to see who has crops that complement ours to keep your box interesting for the rest of the season.
    This week, we have delicata squash from Jeff and Elanor at Persephone Farm. Their farm is right along the Santiam River between Lebanon and Sweet Home. It is one of the most beautiful farm settings around (not to mention the bonus of a great swimming hole). Jeff and Elanor have a diverse farm, growing lots of squash, onions, broccoli, and potatoes. You will likely see some of their onions and other squashes later this month.
Our favorite way to cook these squash is to cut them in half and scoop out the seeds, then cut the halves into “smiles” and steam them until done. They are also great stuffed with your favorite stuffing mixture (rice, nuts, chopped onions, and herbs?), then baked. The skin is tender, and does not need to be removed.
    The celery is from Springhill Farm in North Albany. Tom and Jamie met about 15 years ago when Jamie worked on our farm for a season before starting his own farm. Many of you know Springhill Farm from their booths at the Beaverton and Corvallis Saturday Markets. We think they grow great tomatoes, herbs, and greens.
    LaMancha Ranch and Orchards is another incredibly beautiful farm, located on a hillside overlooking the Santiam Valley above Sweet Home. Our friends, David Landis and Anita Azarenko grow several varieties of apples, hazlenuts, cherries, and beef cattle on their organic ranch. Our summer season Harvest Box members are familiar with their earlier apples. This week’s variety, Braeburn never ripens in time for our main season Box.

Stir-fry of the week
     My favorite stir-fry vegetable last week was radish. (Does anyone still have some radishes left from last week?). I’m not really a fan of raw radishes, but when they are sautéed, they become wonderfully sweet. Even our 5-year old was willing to eat sautéed radishes.
     This week’s “stir-fry of the week” will definitely include celery and turnips. In fact Tom is cooking some up right now. For extra nutrition, I add the turnip greens after the roots have sautéed for about 5 minutes, then continue stir-frying until the greens are cooked.
Quick kale ideas-- Try steamed kale: chop coarsely and steam in salted water until tender. Green potatoes: chop and steam kale, mash with potatoes, milk, and butter, bake at 350 degrees until crusty. Add cheese if you like.
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2002: Week 1
In this box: Spinach, Tomatoes, Radishes, Carrots, Red ruby potatoes, Sweet onion, Collards, Sweet potatoes

    Welcome to the first Early Winter Box. Did anyone else notice that it got cold last week? We had a low of 14 degrees on Saturday morning! At least we had a bit of warning, so we covered what we could, but it’s still hard to protect tender plants when it gets that cold.
     We planned to put lettuce in this week’s box, but the lettuce took the frost a little hard. Since we suspected (correctly) that our tomatoes wouldn’t survive the freeze even in their protective cold frames, we picked them last week. These will probably be the last truly vine-ripened tomatoes you will taste until next May.
     Incidentally, the lettuce isn’t dead—just stunned—and since the weather is supposed to be mild for a while, it may recover and be ready for a box before the end of this Early Winter season.
     The cold weather does help sweeten some of the roots and leafy greens. I find fall radishes much milder than radishes grown in the heat of the summer. And the collards are sweeter after some cool fall weather. Check our Web site for a collard recipe from Week 3 of this year’s summer season (Hot and Sour Greens).

Sweet Potatoes
     Our sweet potato crop was harvested in mid-October, and has been “curing” (sweetening up) in the greenhouse for a few weeks. Sweet potatoes are not typically grown in Oregon—it’s just not hot enough in the summer for them to be really happy. But we coaxed them along with the help of a cold frame, keeping them as hot and humid as possible through the summer.

Recipes: Those of you who have been getting our Summer Harvest Box probably have realized that the recipes I print in the newsletters are generally quick and simple—a necessity in the midst of our busy lives on the farm. Here are some of our favorite easy ways to prepare sweet potatoes.
1. Mashed sweet potatoes: scrub and peel sweet potatoes. Steam or boil until tender (save the sweet cooking water for soup, or drink it warm or cold). Add butter and salt to taste and mash. This is my son’s favorite.
2. Baked sweet potatoes: scrub but don’t peel sweet potatoes.
    Option 1: (If you’re in a hurry) Place whole in a roasting pan. Bake at 350 degrees until very soft. Cool enough to touch, scoop out the insides and eat.
    Option 2: (If you want a rich treat) Cut potatoes into 1” thick discs. Place in a generously oiled cast iron skillet and bake at 350 degrees until very soft inside and slightly browned on the outside. Turn after 30 minutes to brown on both sides.

The Early Winter Box
    This is our third season for the Early Winter box. In previous years, this extended membership has been available only in Corvallis. This year, we welcome our Early Winter members in Albany, Salem and Beaverton as well. We are grateful for the hospitality of our drop-site hosts, and particularly the Gjestvang’s for offering to transport boxes to Beaverton. Please call or email us at the farm if you have any questions. Thanks!
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 24
In this box: Lettuce, Arugula, Carrots, Cauliflower, Green tomatoes, Salad turnips (Turnip greens are good to eat and good for you!), Beets, Butterball potatoes, Liberty apples (La Mancha Ranch)

End of the season
     This is the final box of our summer season. Tom and I really want you to know how much we appreciate your choosing our Harvest Box this year. We hope you have enjoyed your experience. The Harvest Box is a very important part of keeping our family farm viable in these challenging times, and it’s fun for us as we get to know many of you during the summer. We will send next year’s brochure in the mail in January. We hope to see you again next summer. Thank you.

More news about the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables:
    In a recent publication from Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Science (my alma mater), the headline reads “Pills Can’t Mimic Nature’s Mix of Nutrients”. A Cornell alum has the research data to support my long-held belief that naturally-occurring phytochemicals (antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables) in whole fruits and vegetables are much more effective at protecting the body from chronic diseases than isolated individual antioxidants taken in large doses by pills. His list of fruits and vegetables that contain the highest antioxidants activity:  (fruits) blueberries, red grapes, cranberries, apples, white grapes; (vegetables) garlic, broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, carrots, onions, green peppers. Eat up!

Green tomatoes
     One of our Corvallis members requested green tomatoes in the box. I had never cooked with them before, but spurred by Sarah’s request and some recipes she supplied, we decided to include them this week.
Fried Green Tomatoes
3 large firm green tomatoes
½ cup yellow corn meal
¼ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 egg (optional)
vegetable oil for frying
    Heat enough oil in a frying pan to reach about ½” deep (bacon drippings are the Southern tradition). Slice the tomatoes ¼ to ½” thick. Blot with paper towels. Stir cornmeal, flour and salt together in a shallow bowl. Dip the tomato slices in the egg and then dredge in the cornmeal mixture. Fry about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown (turn gently with a large spatula so the crust doesn’t fall off). Drain on paper towels. These are very nice served with
roasted red pepper or remoulade sauce.

And from my old, tattered classic Joy of Cooking comes the following inspiration for Stewed Green Tomatoes. Sauté until lightly brown: 2 Tbs minced onion in 2 Tbs butter. Add 2 cups sliced green tomatoes. Stir and cook the tomatoes slowly until tender. Season with ¾ tsp salt, ¼ tsp paprika, ½ tsp curry powder. After the tomatoes are tender, add sliced cauliflower, then cover and steam for 5 minutes.

Carrots:  One recipe that I’m anxious to try when I have the time is Carrot Soup. Several of my cookbooks have similar recipes: usually puréed carrots (add a few beets for a wonderful color), with milk, cream, or yogurt added for creaminess. Try adding grated fresh ginger for a belly-warming carrot ginger soup.

Liberty Apples
     This is a good year for apple production. David and Anita have harvested all their Liberty apples, and they have a cooler full! They would be happy to sell a box (that would be 38 lbs.) to anyone who is interested. You can call them directly at (541) 367-6262.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 23
In this box: Salad mix (Sweetleaf), Lettuce, Sweet onions, Tomatoes, Celery (Springhill Farm), Corn, Leeks, Eggplant, Butternut Squash (Persephone Farm), Desiree Potatoes (Saturday), Sweet peppers, Broccoli (Tuesday)

Fall vegetables with recipes
    For those of you who want another idea for leeks (besides using them for potato leek soup), here is one of my favorite (and I mean favorite) fool-proof ways to use leeks. Very rich and elegant, and really easy to make. The original recipe came from one of our Corvallis market customers. I think she got it from a French cookbook. I have also included my own dairy-free version.

Leek Pie
2-3 large leeks, cleaned and sliced into thin rings (use white and green parts)
2 Tbs. butter
½ lb. crumbled Roquefort or grated Gruyere cheese
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup plain yogurt or heavy cream
pie dough for a single or double crust pie
    Sauté leek rings in butter on medium heat for 30 minutes. (Yes, 30 minutes. Cover if it seems to be getting too dry). Add cheese, egg, and yogurt or cream. Pour into pie crust. Cover with top crust. (The top crust is optional). Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Elizabeth’s Indonesian Leek Pie
     I created this one when we were looking for some satisfying dairy-free ideas for our family. We served it when some friends from Indonesia were over and they said it reminded them very much of a recipe from their homeland.
2-3 large leeks, cleaned and sliced into thin rings
2 Tbs. vegetable shortening
½ tsp salt
1 large or 2 small eggs, beaten
½ can coconut milk
grated rind and juice of 1 large lemon or 2 limes
pie crust (I use a single crust, it’s easier)
    Sauté leek rings in butter with salt on medium heat for 30 minutes.  Add coconut milk, eggs, lemon or lime juice, and grated lemon/lime rind. Pour into pie crust. Cover with top crust (optional). Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Butternut Bevy
6 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
5 cups water
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbs fresh thyme)
4 Tbs butter
1/3 cup unbleached flour
¾ cups cream
1 tsp salt
½ tsp tamari
black pepper
    Cook squash in water for 25 minutes. Sauté onion and thyme. Add to squash. Puree. Melt butter, add flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add cream and pureed squash. Add spices. Simmer 15 minutes.  Garnish with ½ cup sliced and toasted almonds.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 22
In this box: Lettuce, Spinach, Carrots, Red Gold Potatoes, Corn, Watermelon Daikon (Rojo’s), Shallots, Cilantro (Rojo’s), Liberty Apples (LaMancha Ranch), Grapes (Reynolds Farm)

Snapshot of an American Diet
    Last spring, we began supplying organic salad mix to Market Place West, the largest food service facility on the OSU campus. Now that the students are back in town, the Market Place West manager sponsored a vendor fair at the facility to remind the students that there is organic local salad mix at the salad bar. Tom spent two hours last Wednesday standing at a table, handing out samples of our salad mix and showing people pictures of our farm. That part sounds pretty normal, but here’s the rest of the picture. From where Tom stood, he was across the aisle from the Coca cola table and the Campbell’s soup representative. And wandering amongst the students was a woman in a Twinkie costume, complete with a giant foam rubber cowboy hat and boots, handing out Twinkie samples. Students wandered by with their hands full of samples of ice cream, frozen pizza, and Twinkies, their pockets bulging with sample bottles of coke’s new “energy drink” (with ginseng). How can we compete with all that? Actually, many students were delighted to have an organic salad option, but sometimes we feel like we’re swimming against the tide.

Corn
    It was a gamble to plant corn as late in the summer as we did, but our farm was so full with early season crops, that there wasn’t room to plant any earlier. Last night we had a 28-degree frost (corn doesn’t like that), so we’re not sure if our second variety will pull through and ripen in a week or two, but here’s at least one hit of corn before the end of the season.
    Corn is also a favorite food for the larvae of the corn earworm. The adult moth lays her eggs on the corn silk. When the eggs hatch, the larvae crawl down the silk to the ear and have a really great time eating their fill of corn, all the while protected from predators by the corn husk. We have a lot of insect-eating birds on the farm, and they will eat as many larvae as they can find while they are still exposed on the silks. As you may discover, the birds don’t do a perfect job (they miss a few). We suggest husking the corn before you cook it. Then it’s fairly easy to cut off the top of the ear if it’s been munched, and cook the rest.

Watermelon Daikon
     I first tasted Watermelon Daikon 3 years ago, and have been a fan of this vegetable ever since. It is a type of a radish. The taste is a combination of sweet and hot (like a radish), the texture is juicy and crunchy, and the look is somewhat like a seedless watermelon (once you cut it in half). They can be eaten either raw (my favorite), or cooked. If you’re eating it raw, you should be warned that most of the hotness is right under the skin. When I prepare it, I cut off the outer white skin, and then I’m left with the sweet red inside flesh. Raw, it makes a nice grated garnish for a green salad, or is nice cut in rounds or sticks as finger-food.  Watermelon Daikon also makes a nice cooked vegetable for a soup, stew, or stir-fry. Cooking will mellow any hotness if you prefer it that way.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 21
In this box: Salad mix, Radishes (Rojo’s), Carrots, Broccoli, Red onions, Delicata squash (from Persephone Farm), Garlic, Zucchini (Rojo’s), Kale, Italian Sweet Peppers, Strawberries

Zucchini
    I couldn’t pass up one last opportunity to put zucchini in the box, partly because Lynn Kelly (Corvallis member and North Corvallis drop-site host) just gave me a new, super-simple zucchini recipe. It comes from The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home by the Moosewood Collective. The recipe calls for 1 lb of zucchini, but we have only enough for ½ pound per box, so cut the other ingredients in half.
Marinated Zucchini
     1 lb. zucchini
    2 Tbs olive oil
     4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
     1 Tbs chopped fresh mint, basil, or thyme
    1 Tbs red wine vinegar/balsamic vinegar
Wash and dry zucchini. Cut in 1/3” thick long ovals. Quick-fry zucchini in a little oil. Lower heat and sauté garlic. Arrange zucchini on a platter or bowl, sprinkle with mint, vinegar, salt, and garlic. Chill.

Tender Fall Kale
     Our late summer planting of kale is ready this week. We grow kale for the spring and fall seasons, because it tastes sweetest when the weather is a little cool. Kale is a nice addition to a vegetable soup, or stir-fried by itself (or with a little garlic or sweet onion).

Delicata Squash
     We love winter squash, but don’t have the room to grow any on our farm. Fortunately, our friends at Persephone Farm grow lots of squash, and every fall we get a box of their squash to keep us through the winter. Delicata is one of my favorite varieties, as it is so easy to prepare. It is Carson’s favorite because it is so sweet. The skin of the delicata is tender, so don’t worry about peeling it. To prepare delicata: slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds (First I cut off a sliver at the ends, or my knife won’t cut through the stem and the hard part at the tip). Then cut each half into “smiles”. My favorite quick-and-easy way to prepare it is to steam the delicata smiles until tender. They hardly need any adornment, just eat when cool. Delicata also makes a lovely stuffed squash, though I rarely have the time to make it that way.

Sweet Italian Peppers
     These long, sweet peppers are one of my favorite things about fall. I find them sweeter and more flavorful than bell peppers. Tom first tasted sweet Italian peppers during the mid-70’s when he was farming in New York State. He tells of seeing old farmers of Italian descent at the farmers’ markets slicing these peppers in rings then frying them in olive oil with garlic until they are soft and slightly scorched. Then they are very sweet and richly flavored. Traditionally they are served in sandwiches made of crusty Italian bread and cheese or Italian sausage. We like them as a side dish to accompany almost any meal. They also make a lovely roasted pepper, or stuff them for chiles rellenos.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 20
In this box:Lettuce, Tomatoes, Bunch of carrots, Sweet onions, Fennel, Lemongrass, Desiree Potatoes, Pimento peppers, Canadice Grapes (Reynolds Farm), Gala Apples   (LaMancha Ranch)

Your harvest box will continue until the end of October  (through week 24). Check out our Early Winter box.

Fall on the farm: The melon field has been cleared. Only a few lonely melons are left, soon to be rototilled into the soil before planting next year’s garlic crop. Our winter greens (mizuna, tat soi, watercress, bok choy, and lettuces) have been transplanted and are growing well during these warm early fall days. In the greenhouse, onion seedlings for our spring onions are about 3 inches tall and as thick as a green thread. They will need to get a little bigger before they are ready to be transplanted into the field in late October. And the persimmon crop is just starting to show a bit of orange on the earliest varieties.

Gala apples: Those of you who have had our box in previous years are familiar with the organic apples we get from our friends, David and Anita, of La Mancha Ranch and Orchard in Sweet Home. They grow a number of varieties of disease-resistant apples that are also delicious. David and Anita are innovative growers. It seems like every time we talk with them they are trying some new, environmentally -friendly method for controlling fruit tree diseases so that they can produce beautiful organic apples. We are proud to offer their apples in our box.

Pimento peppers are great oven-roasted. I cut them in quarters, take out the seeds, and put them in a roasting pan at 350 degrees until soft. You can add any other roasting vegetables (onions, potatoes, shallots, carrots, fennel, and/or skinned tomatoes), drizzle with olive oil, and bake about 45 minutes for a sweet medley of roasted vegetables. Chop all vegetables, toss with cooked pasta, and dinner’s ready.

Fennel is wonderful in soup or stews, where it becomes mild and tender. We love it that way. As the weather turns cooler, soup becomes more appealing to our family. Last week, I made a chicken soup (with a chicken from members Jim and Cindy, thanks!) using only chicken, fennel, and carrots. It was delicious! Here’s another idea for fennel in soup.
Fennel and coconut milk soup
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 small sweet onion
1 large or 2 small sweet peppers, sliced thinly (and roasted if you wish)
Olive or peanut oil to sauté
1 can coconut milk
1 coconut milk can full of water
3 stalks lemongrass, bottom third of the stalks, cut in 2" lengths
(use the top leaves for tea—you can let them dry then store in a sealed jar)
1/2 tsp. each turmeric, cumin, salt
    Sauté fennel, onion, and sweet peppers in vegetable oil until slightly browned. Simmer the lemongrass in coconut milk and water. Chop vegetables in a food processor and add to soup. Season with spices and salt. This soup is especially good the next day after the flavors have had a chance to mingle.

Desiree potatoes are great all-purpose potatoes. They are especially good boiled whole and then quartered and buttered, in potato salad, oven-roasted, or as hashed browns.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 19
In this box: Tomatoes, Salad mix, Carrots, Chard, Leek, Red gold potatoes, Sweet peppers,
Satsuma or French petite plums, Interlaken grapes (Reynolds Farm)

A good fruit year
    This has been a great year for fruit. Not only on our farm, but all up and down the Willamette Valley (and perhaps even in your back yard), fruit trees are producing record crops. This fine fall weather helps keep the quality of the fruit high until it reaches peak ripeness.
    French Petite is a very old variety of prune-plum, still popular because of its fine flavor. We have three trees in our plum orchard. I like them because they are really sweet.
    The grapes this week are Interlaken, a seedless table grape. They might not win any beauty contests, but their incredible sweet and tangy flavor really impresses us. Interlaken is a cross between Ontario (an American native) and Thompson seedless.
    Those of you who have gotten our box in previous years have tasted Ken and Heidi Reyonlds grapes before. Ken and Heidi own the farm just north of us. The Reynolds family has farmed their land for over 100 years. Ken and Heidi have been diversifying the family farm since they took over managing it about 10 years ago. It used to be primarily a grass seed farm. Recently, they have put about 20 acres into hybrid poplar trees, some more acreage into nursery stock, and some of their wettest fields have been returned to wetlands. You are tasting some of the fruits of their 5-acre organic table grape project. Since this fall weather continues to be nearly perfect for ripening grapes, you may get a chance to taste more of their varieties in the coming weeks. Reynolds grapes are also available for u-pick (on Highway 20, 4 miles north of Corvallis) if you need to get a few more before next week’s box.

Peppers,peppers, peppers
    This is the one time during the year when such an extreme abundance of any one item appears in your boxes. We don’t expect anyone to be able to eat an entire bag of peppers in one week, but this is a good week to put up some for the winter when you want a touch of sweetness and bold color in your meals.
    Freezing peppers: Peppers are really easy to freeze. Just rinse them off, cut in large chunks, remove seeds, and put in a zip-lock bag in the freezer. The flavor keeps wonderfully this way. When you want to use them, just thaw, chop (or chop before they are fully thawed for an easier task), and add to soups, stir-fry’s, omelets, and sauces all winter. They are great in a tomato sauce for pasta or lasagne.
     Dried peppers: For anyone lucky enough to have a food dehydrator, sweet peppers make really nice dried peppers. They are good as a snack (popular with kids), or for adding to soups, stews, sauces, and stir-fry’s. The Benton County Extension Service rents food dehydrators for $1/day.
     Roasted peppers: Roasted peppers are really popular these days, and are not nearly as difficult to prepare as you might think. In last week’s newsletter I included directions for roasting peppers. Our favorite peppers for roasting are the long, thin sweet Italian peppers. Once roasted, they freeze well.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 18
In this box: Romaine lettuce, Basil, Garlic, Green beans (Rojos), Eggplant, Salad turnips, Sweet onions, German butterball Potatoes, Lipstick peppers, Tangerine dream Watermelon (Rojo’s)

Eggplant
    One of my favorite things about eggplant is its color. Another thing I like about eggplant is you can make “Baba Ganouj”—which is not only a wonderful eggplant dip, but also (in my opinion) a really fun word to say.
Baba Ganouj
1 large or 2 medium eggplants
1 clove garlic
juice of ½ lemon
1/4 cup light sesame oil (or ¼ cup olive oil and a few drops toasted sesame oil)
dash of salt
    Poke a few holes around eggplants with a fork, then bake eggplant in oven, whole, at 350 degrees for about an hour or until it’s very soft. Cool, cut in half and scoop out insides. Mash eggplant pulp, then add other ingredients to taste. Dip with whole wheat pita bread and enjoy.

Lipstick peppers
     Lipstick is another variety of sweet peppers that we grow.  I don’t know where the name comes from, unless it’s a reference to the red color, like a classic deep red lipstick? They are a nice sweet pepper for a variety of uses. Their straight and regular shape makes them great for roasting. After they are roasted, they have a delightfully different flavor, and they are oh, so sweet.
To roast peppers: rinse peppers, place on a baking sheet with edges to catch the juices. If you have a gas oven with broiler at the bottom, line the oven bottom with aluminum foil and place peppers directly above the broiler. If your broiler is at the top of the oven, place 2” from broiler. Broil until the skin bubbles up and starts to char. Turn peppers to broil all sides. Turn off the oven and close the door for 5 minutes to finish cooking, or until the peppers are soft. Some recipes recommend placing peppers in a paper bag to cool, which keeps the humidity up and helps the skin to loosen. In my kitchen, I decided this step was too messy, and leaving peppers in the oven for that last 5 minutes works almost as well. When cool, peel and take out the seeds.
Roasted Red Pepper Butter from Kokanee Café
½ pound butter at room temperature
1 Tbs. minced shallots
2 red peppers, roasted, seeded, peeled, and minced
1 tsp. minced garlic
black pepper
    Heat about 2 Tbs. butter in a small skillet over medium heat and sauté the shallots and garlic until the shallots are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the roasted peppers and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Let mixture cool, then blend it into the remaining softened butter using a wooden spoon. Try it on corn on the cob or other vegetables, as a topping for grilled fish, or on toast. (Recipe from Jan Roberts-Domingez’s column in the Corvallis Gazette Times, 1999)

Early Winter Box
    This year’s early winter box will run for 8 weeks, November 5-December 17. Look for full details and a registration form in next week’s newsletter.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 17
In this box: Salad mix, Lettuce, Carrots, Gold bell peppers, Red onions, Red gold potatoes, Cauliflower, Shallots (roasting is my favorite way to use shallots. See week 14 for roasted shallot recipes. For another idea, try finely minced shallots in a vinaigrette salad dressing.), Strawberries, and (maybe) tomatoes

On the farm
      Are we having a beautiful fall, or what? I know the firefighters would love to have some rain to help their work, but we really do like having a dry fall. The sweet peppers and strawberries have been at their peak with sunny days and cool nights. Also, this dry weather is perfect for getting the last of the summer pruning finished.
    Tom likes to prune in the summer because there’s less chance of infection getting in the pruning cuts if the weather is dry (and that usually means summer around here). Nothing puts Tom in a good mood quicker than a couple of hours pruning in the cherry orchard on a beautiful day. “It’s wonderful”, Tom says. “You see something you don’t want. You cut it out. And it’s gone. If only the rest of life were so simple.”  Besides, out in the orchard, he’s away from the telephone and the office, and he’s accompanied by the music of insect hum, birdsong, and fresh breezes.
    I hope those of you who measure time according to the school calendar made a smooth transition into a new school year. This year for the first time, our family has joined the ranks of the “school bus brigade”. It seems like just a short while ago that Carson was a baby and we started our Harvest Box. Now our Harvest Box is in it’s 5th year, our lives are enriched by not one but two children, and our oldest has started school.

Sweet peppers
      September is here, and so are the sweet peppers! Peppers are one of our major crops. We grow about an acre of peppers. In addition to putting them in your boxes and selling them at the Farmers’ Markets, we also ship thousands of pounds of sweet peppers through our wholesaler (Organically Grown Company, based in Eugene) to stores all over the Northwest. Sweet peppers are green peppers that have ripened. When they ripen they change from green to red, yellow or orange.  They also become sweeter, more flavorful, and greatly increase in vitamins A&C. (Incidentally, purple peppers are not ripe, when they ripen they turn red).
    It takes patience to grow sweet peppers. We start seeds in the greenhouse in February and March, transplant them to the field in May, and June, and harvest them in September and October.  We love having them at our market stand and in our kitchen because they are so colorful, delicious, and versatile.  We eat them raw in salads, or for snacks, sautéed over pasta or in sauces, and baked, roasted, or barbecued.  You will be seeing a lot of them over the next several weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 16
In this box: (Lots of) Tomatoes, Carrots, Garlic, Dill, Beets, Beans, Butterball potatoes,  melon, Strawberries

On the farm
    It’s over 90 degrees again on the day I’m writing the newsletter. Although the afternoons are still hot, there’s a chill in the morning air that tells us fall is coming. And those of us who get up early to set up at our Farmers’ Markets can tell you that it’s not light as early as it used to be. We arrive at the market before sunrise and use flashlights to unload our trucks these days.
     On the farm, we’re struggling to keep up with our crops so that we can have a bountiful and continuing harvest through the fall and into winter. (Lettuce should be back next week). It’s a bit of a challenge to think ahead while we’re full-on with our harvest of peaches, melons, and tomatoes; but at the same time we’re planting lettuce, watercress, kale, collards, and other winter crops that will fill our early winter Harvest Box (more information on that in a few weeks).
    This is also the time of year when Tom scours the seed catalogs to order the best varieties of garlic, potatoes, and shallots for next year’s harvest. In the past few years, we’ve been having a harder and harder time finding some of our favorite varieties because many seed companies tend to cater to the larger (hundreds of acres) farms which grow for the shipping market. When we look for seeds, we want varieties that taste great and will grow well on our farm. The larger farms which grow primarily for a shipping market prefer varieties that produce uniform-looking produce that holds well after harvest so that it can be shipped hundreds of miles without looking damaged.

Tomatoes
    This week we have a plentiful supply of tomatoes for your boxes. If you’re looking for something a little different for your tomatoes this week, maybe it’s time to try Roasted Summer Tomatoes, a recipe sent to me by Corvallis member Elizabeth Nielsen. She originally got it from Jan Roberts-Dominguez’s column in the Oregonian. Roasting tomatoes until they’re soft on the inside and beautifully browned on the outside concentrates their flavor. They’re wonderful pulled from the freezer in the winter for sauces and stocks.
     Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle about 2 Tbs. of olive oil into a baking pan with sides. Core tomatoes and halve if larger than 3 inches in diameter. Place tomatoes cut-side down in the prepared pan. You can crowd the tomatoes, but don’t go beyond a single layer.
     Roast until the tomatoes are well-browned, which may take 1-2 hours, depending on the size and character of the tomatoes. When done, they will be collapsed and look quite wrinkled.
     Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the tomatoes cool. With a spatula, stir and scrape the cooled tomatoes to release all of the cooked-on bits. Scrape the tomatoes with their juices and the olive oil into the work bowl of a food processor and process just until nearly smooth (with just a few chunks remaining).
     To freeze: ladle the sauce into freezer containers, lieaving about 1-inch head space. Let cool completely, then attach lids and freeze.
     Another option is to toss in some peeled cloves of garlic and a couple of halved shallots before roasting for even more flavor.

Dill is especially good in sauces or soups. Three of my favorite dill recipes are included here.
Creamy mustard sauce
from Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven
(an easy, low-fat cream dill sauce for vegetables, grilled fish, or roasted potatoes)
 1 ½ cups plain yogurt
 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
 2 Tbs. maple syrup or honey (or 2 pinches stevia)
 ¼ tsp. salt
1 Tbs. minced fresh dill
Freshly ground black pepper
Whisk ingredients together. Cover and let warm to room temperature. Serve on steamed vegetables, or as a dip.

Tomato Dill Soup
From The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julie Russo & Sheila Lukins
Given to me by Corvallis member Mary Alice Stander—it uses a whole bunch of dill! The recipe calls for plum tomatoes (which we don’t grow) but I tried it with our Big Beef tomatoes, and it was great.
8 Tbs. (1 stick) sweet butter
3 cups yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 bunch fresh dill, finely chopped, plus sprigs for garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 quarts chicken stock
3 lbs Italian plum tomatoes, drained and seeded
1 tsp. ground allspice
pinch of sugar
grated zest of 1 small orange
1 cup dairy sour cream (garnish)
- Melt butter in a soup pot. Add onions and cook over low heat, covered, until tender, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add half the dill, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook, uncovered for another 15 minutes.
- Add chicken stock, tomatoes, allspice, and pinch of sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add orange zest, remove from heat, and cool slightly.
-Transfer soup in batches to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, or use a food mill fitted with the medium disc. Puree the soup.
- Return the soup to the pot, add remaining dill, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately; or cool and refrigerate, covered, overnight.
- Taste and correct seasoning. Garnish soup, hot of cold, with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of dill.
8-10 portions

Glazed Carrots with Mustard and Honey
Deborah Madison Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
My son (who doesn’t eat cooked carrots) kept stealing them from my plate when I wasn’t looking. Thanks to Kevin Oder for this recipe.
1 ½ lbs carrots, scrubbed or peeled
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs honey or light brown sugar
2 tsp. Stone Ground or Dijon mustard
Salt & freshly milled pepper
Chopped parsley
    Cut carrots into 3-inch lengths; halve or quarter the thicker ends so that they’ll cook evenly. Steam or boil until tender.In a medium skillet, melt the butter with the honey, then stir  in the mustard and carrots and season with salt and plenty of  pepper. Cook over medium heat for several minutes, until well coated and bubbling, then toss with chopped parsley and serve.      (I bet it would be great with dill instead of parsley)
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 15
In this box: Salad mix, Tomatoes, Sweet onions, Cilantro, Basil, Zucchini (Rojo’s), Eggplant, Honey orange melon, Gravenstein apples, Peaches

Pesto
    There are so many variations on a basic pesto recipe, here are a few of my favorites. The first was given to me by a Beaverton Harvest Box member, and was originally published in Canadian Living Magazine, Sept. 1994. The parmesan and chicken are optional, but with either one, you have a complete meal. If you don’t have sundried tomatoes, you can leave them out as well, and you still have a great basic pesto recipe, but it’s really special with the sundried tomatoes.
Hannah’s Kitchen Pesto Pasta Salad
16 (or so) sundried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cups basil leaves, coarsely chopped
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
16 oz. pasta (spiral, penne, or bow tie)
2 Tbs. pine nuts, toasted
½ cup freshly grated parmesan (optional)
3 boneless chicken breasts, poached and cut in bite-sized pieces (optional)
     Soak tomatoes in boiling water 5 minutes. Drain and cut in thin strips. (If using tomatoes packed in oil, do not soak). In food processor, mince garlic, add basil, then slowly add oil. Purée pesto, and add salt and pepper. Cook pasta. Combine pasta, pesto mixture, and sundried tomatoes (and parmesan and/or chicken if desired). Garnish with pine nuts and serve.

Cilantro-jalapeno pesto
    One of my favorite restaurants (Café Navarro in Eugene, unfortunately they’re no longer in business) used to serve a delicious cilantro-jalapeno pesto. I did some experimenting in my kitchen and came up with a close replica of their dish.
     Coarsely chop 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 small jalapeno pepper. Mince in food processor. Then slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil and the juice of ½ lemon.  Add ½ tsp. salt. Purée until smooth. Mix gently with freshly cooked pasta.

Quick-Fried Zucchini with Toasted Garlic and Lime
From Kitchen Gardening magazine, #14, p. 28.
1 lb. zucchini cut in ½ inch pieces
1 scant tsp. salt
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Tbs. lime juice
Generous ½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. dried oregano
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
    In a colander, toss the cut zucchini with salt; let stand over a plate or in the sink for half an hour. Rinse and dry zucchini. About 15 minutes before serving, heat the butter and oil over low heat in a skillet large enough to hold the zucchini in a single layer. Add the garlic, stir until light brown, about 3 minutes. Do not burn garlic. Scoop the garlic into a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl, then scrape the strained butter mixture back into the pan; set garlic aside. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add zucchini to the pan and fry, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes, until browned and tender but still a little crunchy. Remove from the heat. Add lime juice and toasted garlic and toss thoroughly. Sprinkle with pepper, oregano, and parsley, then mix. Taste for salt, and season if necessary. Serve in a warm dish.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 14
In this box:Tomatoes, Carrots, Cucumbers (Rojo’s), Broccoli, Butterball potatoes, Leeks, Shallots, Margarita melons, Sun Crest Peaches

Sun Crest is one of the last remaining truly juicy peaches. When you wash that treasure under a stream of cooling water, your fingertips instinctively search for the gushy side of the fruit. Your mouth waters in anticipation. You lean over the sink to make sure you don’t drip on your self. Then you sink your teeth into the flesh, and the juice trickles down your cheeks, and dangles on your chin. This is a real bite, a primal act, a magical sensory celebration announcing that summer has arrived.
                                            --David Mas Masumoto from Epitaph for a Peach
Shallots
    As promised, here are a couple of shallot recipes. A few weeks ago, I turned on the TV in time to catch Cooking with Caprial and John (PBS, Saturday afternoon), and they were talking about roasted shallots. I checked their web site and found two excellent recipes using roasted shallots. With permission from Caprial, I am including them here. There are ½ lb. of shallots in this box, enough for either one of the recipes. Save these recipes for the next time shallots appear in your box.
     To roast shallots: peel and place in an ovenproof sauté pan. Drizzle with 1 Tbs. olive oil and roast until tender. (Try 325 or 350o for 45 minutes or longer until they are very soft and a little caramelized)
Tomato Salad with Roasted Shallots (serves 4)
5 large, vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
12 oven-roasted shallots
2 Tbs. sherry vinegar
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
Salt to taste
    Place tomato wedges in a bowl. Coarsely chop the roasted shallots and toss with the tomatoes. Place vinegar and garlic in a small bowl and whisk in olive oil to emulsify. Add thyme, oregano, and black pepper and mix well. Season with salt to taste. Pour over tomato and shallot mixture and allow to sit for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. This dish is best served at room temperature. (I thought it was a little heavy on the garlic--perhaps because our garlic is so potent and large--next time I would use only 1 clove garlic)

Quinoa Salad with Fennel & Roasted Shallots
1 Cup quinoa
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
6 shallots, halved
1 bulb fennel, julienned
1 Tbs plus ½ cup olive oil
3 Tbs. sherry vinegar
3 cloves garlic (again, I would use only 1)
1 Tbs. chopped fresh fennel greens
½ tsp. dry mustard powder
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse quinoa under cold running water until the water runs clear. Heat the stock in a 3-quart saucepan over high heat until boiling. Add the quinoa and cook until tender and translucent, about 15 min. Remove the pan from heat and let quinoa sit for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
    Put the shallots and fennel in a medium sauté pan and drizzle with 1 Tbs. olive oil. Place pan in the oven and roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool. When vegetables are cool, remove them from the pan and reserve the oil they roasted in. Coarsely chop the shallots and fennel and add them to the bowl with the quinoa. Toss well to combine.
    Combine the vinegar, garlic, fennel greens, and mustard in a small bowl and mix well. Slowly whisk in the remaining ½ cup olive oil until the dressing is emulsified and thickened. Stir in the reserved roasting oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the quinoa and mix well. Place the salad on a platter and serve at room temperature. Serves 4.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 13
In this box: Salad mix, Green lettuce (Saturday) or Carrots (Mid-week), Tomatoes, Fennel, Chard, Red onion, Morning gold Potatoes (one member reports these make the greatest hashed browns), Melon, Peaches or Nectarines

    As Carson and I were wandering out to the far north corner of the farm to check the blueberry crop a few days ago, we noticed a buzzing convention of bumblebees around some leek flowers that are blooming in a corner of our lettuce field. We left a short row of last winter’s leeks unharvested so we could save our own seeds (as our favorite variety will no longer be available from the seed company). It’s an extra bonus that the bumblebees are happy, too. Around the farm we intentionally let some of our crops go to flower so that our farm offers a diverse habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife. We try to mow the crops after they have flowered but before they set seed, or we have to spend a lot of hours hoeing weeds the next year.
    The native bumblebees seem to be particularly abundant on our farm this year. Honeybees (which are not native) have been on the decline in this area due to a mite that infects their hives. Our beekeeping friends have a hard time keeping their hives mite-free and healthy. We enjoy seeing increasing numbers of bumblebees because they are actually better pollinators for some of the crops we grow.
    Another creature that seems to be having a great year on our farm is the Pacific Chorus Frog. These are little (3/4”) green tree frogs, also known as the “spring peepers” that you hear singing in the wetlands on warm nights in the spring. When Tom went out to check the cauliflower for your box a few ago, he saw five frogs sitting on cauliflower leaves within an arm’s length of each other. We like the frogs, as they eat tiny slugs, small insects, and other pests we would rather not have on our produce. The frogs have also been abundant in the lettuce fields, the greenhouse, and other moist and green areas on the farm. Yesterday, the kids on the farm kept busy searching for frogs and trying to catch them (as kids will do). I am happy to report that all frogs were returned to their homes before dark to live “free and in the wild” as they say on Zaboomafoo (for those of you without small children, that’s a popular show on PBS Kids TV).

Fruit
     I need to be a bit vague when it comes to the exact fruit that will be in your box this week, and probably for the next few weeks. With the tree fruits, it’s hard to predict how many will be ripe until we actually pick them the day we pack your box. It looks like we will have just enough nectarines or peaches for this week. If we don’t have enough, we might have to fill in with blackberries. There will probably be another peach week later in August when our 20 trees of Suncrest are ripe.
    With the melons, we plant about 10 different varieties because we never know from one year to the next which varieties will produce the best quality fruits in sufficient quantity for our needs. The Willamette Valley has a marginal climate for melons. Our summers are just too short, with too much rain inMay and June, for melons to be at their happiest. In their dreams, I think our melons fantasize about growing in Palm Sorings. But this is Corvallis. Right now, it looks like the Honey Orange melons are coming in from the field in sufficient quantity for this box.

Fennel
     If you don’t get around to using you fennel, save it for next week when your box will have shallots—and I have a fantastic recipe for roasted shallot and fennel salad
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 12
In this box: Romaine lettuce, Red lettuce, Carrots, Basil, Garlic, Rojo’s Lemon     cucumbers, Tomatoes, Methly plums, Little Sweetie melon

     We are half way through the summer Harvest Box season. Regardless of what the calendar says about June 21st, this is when it feels like midsummer here on the farm. The days are now noticeably shorter; the melons are ripe; wild blackberries are ripe; our neighbor’s grass seed field has been harvested; and the hills around Corvallis are a patchwork of dry golden meadows and green forests.
     Since writing the last newsletter, I have been to and returned from a quick visit to Vermont to see my parents. They summer in the house where my mother grew up, and where I spent lots of time as a youngster visiting my grandparents. I find a great deal of comfort in the familiar feel of my grandmother’s house (as I will always call it), and in the sense of history that is present in a place where my mother’s family has lived for generations. I took my two small boys with me—it was the first time Carson had seen Vermont and the first time any of my relatives had met Paul. I really liked having more time to enjoy playing with my boys, and reconnecting with relatives I now seldom see.
    Although it was a wonderful visit, I forgot to plan an extra day or two to allow time to settle in back on the farm. Therefore, I’m feeling a bit frantic today as I try to get all my Friday tasks done, adjust my body to a 3-hour time change, and help ease the boys back into a routine where their mother has other things to do besides playing all day.

Plums
     Tom planted a row of 30 plum trees the year that we met (1995). We have pictures of them as young trees—spindly-looking and sparsely covered with leaves. Now I can’t even walk between the trees without stooping as they have filled in all the spaces in the row and become mature trees. Plums are a bit of an “iffy” crop in Corvallis because they bloom so early that an entire crop of plums to a late frost. But when they do set fruit, they can set enough fruit that we have to thin the young fruits or the limbs will break from the weight of the plums. The plums in last week’s box were a variety called Beauty. This week’s variety is called Methly. The Methly’s tend to be a little smaller and less juicy than the Beauty’s.

Little Sweetie Melon
     We’ve been growing this variety for a few years. The fruits tend to ripen early, and provide a plentiful supply of small, sweet melons. The flesh inside is a swirl of green and orange—don’t be surprised, it’s supposed to be that way. These melons are fragrant, and the flavor is reminiscent of butterscotch.
     We pick all our melons when they are ripe and ready to eat. Some melons may be firmer than what you might be used to finding at a grocery store. After a melon is picked, it won’t get any sweeter, but it will get softer (as it travels to a store for example). We prefer to leave ours on the vine until they have reached peak sweetness and then get it to you as quickly as possible.
     If you are ever dissatisfied with a melon (or anything else in your box), please let us know and we’ll replace it. We try to put only top-quality produce in your box each week.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 11
In this box: Salad mix, Tomatoes, Red lettuce, Cauliflower, Celery, Red onion, Leek, Red gold potatoes, Plums

Late July on the farm
    I am writing this newsletter a few days early this week (on Tuesday instead of my usual Friday) because by the time you get your boxes this week, I will be in Vermont with our two boys visiting my parents and several aunts and uncles for a week. It’s a tough time of the year for me to be off the farm (I’m leaving a long list of things for Tom to do in my absence), but it also feels very important to visit my parents who have been unable to visit us for the past few years due to my father’s ailing health.
     Since the newsletter is being written so early in the week (a full week before the Tuesday boxes), there’s a slight chance that there may be some last-minute changes to the list of what’s in the box. The plums seem to be ripening quickly, so there will no doubt be plenty of them. However, we’re not sure if the cauliflower will be ready in time. If not, we’ll have it for next week’s box.
    Even as we harvest the fruits of mid-summer, we continue to plant seeds so that we will have plentiful harvest throughout the fall and into the winter. Tom just finished planting carrot and turnip seeds for September’s harvest in soil freshly rototilled after the early potato crop was harvested. Our corn seedlings are poking up in the greenhouses. Corn will probably show up in your box in late September this year. In previous years we have had early corn, but we had no space in the greenhouse nor open ground on the farm until now, so corn will be a fall crop this year. Our winter leek seedlings that have been growing slowly in the greenhouse since April are ready to be planted outside as soon as the crew has a moment free from the weekly harvest for your boxes and our markets. The seeds for the leeks in your box this week were planted in December of last year. Leeks will never take the prize for rapid growth. The speedy growth prize would probably go to the radish—planted only 4 weeks ago, our radishes will be ready for harvest for next week’s box.

Leeks
    Many people think of leek-and-potato soup when the see a leek. However, in the heat of the summer, we prefer our leeks sliced thinly and sautéed with a little olive oil and salt. Leeks take a bit longer to cook than their cousins, onions and shallots. If you’re cooking leeks with other vegetables in a stir-fry, sauté the leeks over moderate heat for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients. (By the way, celery makes a wonderful stir-fry vegetable, too.)
    While many recipes suggest only using the white part of a leek, we think the greens are tender (if they’re thoroughly cooked) and delicious. In our kitchen, we use the white stalk and the green leaves.

Red gold potatoes
    One of our main potato varieties, red gold’s are especially good for potato salad.

Produce storage tip:
For best flavor, store tomatoes on your kitchen counter until ready to eat. Refrigerators are generally too cold for tomatoes.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 10
In this box: Red romaine, Green lettuce, Tomatoes, Broccoli, Garlic, Carrots, Kale, Morning Gold Potatoes, Blueberries (Nature’s Fountain)

Morning Gold potatoes
    Our seed catalog says “Like most yellow’s, morning gold has enough starch to be bakeable, but is firm enough for salads, steaming, and boiling. “ We think this potato is a lot like it’s cousin, Yukon Gold (though we like the flavor of Morning Gold better). It’s a good all-around potato.

Kale
    We grow a couple of different kale varieties on the farm. Your box might contain “black kale” or “wild red” kale. The black kale has long, spatula-shaped leaves with a blistered-looking surface. Wild red kale has a more frilly-edged leaf, and has a slight reddish tint under the green of the leaf. I don’t think we have enough of either one for all the boxes. Either variety is nice in cut in thin strips and added to potato soup, or in the following recipe:
Colcannon
    From the name, I think this is originally an Irish recipe, but this version is from Laurel’s Kitchen. It’s a great way to combine potatoes and kale.
1 bunch kale, chopped
4 medium potatoes
6 green onions or 1 small sweet onion, chopped
1/3 cup milk
2 tbs. butter
sprig of parsley
1 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper
Cube potatoes and boil until tender. (Reserve water for baking). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir kale and onions in a heavy pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. (The water that clings to the kale from washing is sufficient moisture for cooking). Mash potatoes with milk and butter. Combine with kale, onions, parsley, salt, and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Blueberries from Nature’s Fountain
    We do have a small blueberry patch, and we might have been able to squeeze enough blueberries out of it for all our boxes, but we didn’t want to fall short, so we asked Yvonne and Rich Frost and their son Scott of Nature’s Fountain (in Jefferson) if they could supply blueberries for this week’s box. They have more than 5 acres of organic blueberries, and we think their quality is excellent. In fact, we always order a few extras for our freezer.

    Is anyone still wondering how to use the parsley in last week’s box? I was surprised by the generous size of the bunches, so I thought I might add a few recipe ideas in this week’s letter. Mince finely and add ½ cup to a fresh tomato sauce for pasta; add ½ cup finely minced parsley to fettuccini Alfredo sauce; make tabouli; purée and sauté with garlic to garnish tomato soup…..
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 9
In this box: Green lettuce, Tomatoes, Carrots, Salad mix, Sweet onions, Fennel, Caribe potatoes, Italian parsley (Rojo’s), Raspberries

Fennel
We discovered fennel as a vegetable when Carson was a baby and I was avoiding all brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and related greens). I really like fennel’s crunchy texture and the faint anise flavor. Now, since I’m a nursing another baby, fennel and carrots have become some of our primary vegetables. Fennel makes a nice vegetable either raw or cooked, and I’m including two recipes this week, so you can cook or not depending on how hot it is in your kitchen. The first, for baked fennel, comes from Debbie (our Corvallis Market staffer and friendly face at the Salem pick-up). I tried it last night (in a 90 degree kitchen) and thought it well-worth the extra heat.
Baked Fennel
1 large fennel bulb, cut in ½ inch slices
2-3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
    (or use sliced shallots or the sliced sweet onions in this week’s box)
Gorgonzola cheese to taste
    (the cheese is entirely optional—I left it out and didn’t miss it at all)
Butter or olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste
Lay sliced fennel flat in a baking dish (a cast iron skillet is nice as it will caramelize the bottom layer). Spread garlic/shallots/onions on top and stuff down into fennel layers. Crumble Gorgonzola cheese on top. Dot with butter and lightly coat with olive oil. Cover and bake at 350-375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the fennel is quite tender.

This recipe for fennel salad comes from Beaverton members Celeste and Rich Crimi. It is one of the nicest fennel salad recipes I have seen. 10 minutes to prepare, serves 3-4.
Marinated fennel and mushrooms
½ lb. mushrooms
1 large fennel bulb
¼ cup minced fresh dill
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 generous Tbs. lemon juice
1 clove garlic
ground pepper (optional)
Remove coarse outer stalks, root end, and leaves from fennel. Slice the mushrooms and fennel bulb into 1/8-inch slices. Combine in a bowl and add dill. Whip oil, lemon juice, and garlic until thick and yellow. Pour over salad, toss well, and season. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving, stirring occasionally. Variation: add ¼ - ½ tsp. Dijon mustard to the dressing.

Raspberries: We’re quite excited that our friend, Charles Duryea, has a plentiful supply of organic raspberries! Charles worked for Tom 15 years ago, then started his own farm, called Grateful Harvest, in Junction City. His specialties are organic cherries and raspberries. Yum.

Caribe is perhaps my favorite potato variety (there are so many to choose from…). I love their silky smooth texture, and delicate flavor. My recommended recipe is what I call my “simple potato salad”. Finely chop ½ of a sweet onion. Place in large bowl and generously cover with olive oil and rice vinegar (about twice as much oil as vinegar). Crush and add 1 umeboshi plum (optional, but it adds a nice touch). Cut 2 lbs. caribe potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Cover with water, add 1 tsp. salt. Boil for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain potatoes and add to the marinating onions. Stir gently. Cool 10 minutes and serve.
Caribe’s also make wonderful mashed potatoes.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002: Week 8
In this box: Romaine lettuce, Tomatoes, Carrots, Zucchini (Rojo’s), Shallots, Fava beans, Candystripe beets, Russian Banana fingerling potatoes, Cherries

    Fava Beans are a staple of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. They are not the simplest bean to prepare, but I think they are worth the effort. First, you must shell the bean out of the pod. This is done most easily by scoring the length of the bean with a sharp knife. (You can also snap the pod at each bean and squeeze the beans out—this is particularly fun if a youngster is helping you. The only drawback is that the beans are easier to slip out of their skins after blanching if they’ve been scored with a knife). The bean inside has an outer skin, and many recipes suggest blanching the beans (boil or steam 2 minutes, then plunge into ice water) and removing the skin. Removing the skin will also remove the slightly bitter component, leaving the mild, sweet inner bean. Frankly, I usually leave the skins on to save preparation time, but then the beans are a little tough. If you don’t mind a little extra roughage in your diet, it’s fine to leave the skins on.
    Recipes for fava beans: My son’s favorite way to eat favas is to steam them for 3-5 minutes in salted water, then pop the beans out of their skins directly into his mouth. I’ve been told this is how they are eaten in Argentina where steamed favas are offered instead of peanuts as a beer parlor snack.
    With the favas that my son didn’t eat by the above method, I popped the cooled beans out of their skins and into a bowl of quinoa (couscous or other cooked grain would also work great). Then I added a finely minced shallot, a little salt, olive oil and lemon juice for a complete lunch.
    Favas go particularly well with the flavors of garlic or shallots, lemon juice, tomato, and/or olive oil. Try simmering chopped fresh tomatoes with a little garlic and olive oil until you have a thick sauce, then toss in some blanched fava beans at the end. Serve over basamati rice. Favas are also nice in soups.

Beets
    My favorite summertime recipe for beets is a cold marinated beet salad. I checked three different cookbooks, and came up with some general guidelines for marinated beets. If you want to follow a specific recipe, check the Silver Palate Cookbook, Still Life With Menu (by Mollie Katzen), or the original Moosewood Cookbook (also by Mollie Katzen).
1. Boil or bake whole beets until tender (20-40 minutes boiling time or 60 minutes baking time for medium-sized beets—I think baking gives a slightly sweeter, richer flavor.)
2. Slip beets out of their skins and slice into attractive pieces (matchsticks or half-moons).
3. Toss beets with oil (olive oil or walnut oil) and vinegar (red wine vinegar, raspberry vinegar, cider vinegar, or vinegar and lemon juice). Start with 2 Tbs. of oil and 1 Tbs. of vinegar, then taste and adjust quantities.
4. Add 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1 crushed garlic clove (optional), or 1 tsp. finely minced mint leaves (optional).
5. Chill for at least 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve cold, topped with ½ cup toasted walnuts or a handful of mint sprigs and/or ½ cup crumbled feta or Roquefort cheese (cheese is optional, of course).
 

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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 7
In this box:
Salad mix
Red butter lettuce
Tomatoes
Broccoli (Rojo’s)
Cucumbers (Rojo’s)
Red onion
Green chard
Butterball potatoes
 

     The slow drip, drip, drip of the rain outside makes today (Friday) feel like a quiet day. It’s true, we’re not bustling around moving irrigation pipes as we would be doing on a hot, dry Friday. But there’s plenty of activity in the fields today. In addition to picking for our Saturday boxes and Saturday Farmers’ markets, our half acre of garlic is ready for harvesting. That involves digging, cleaning, and piling freshly cleaned garlic bulbs in huge piles to dry. Of course, garlic dries better when there’s low humidity in the air (rather than rain), but the garlic must be dug when it is ready or it won’t keep well, so we dig it, cover it, and hope this rain doesn’t last long.
    As I was putting this week’s box list together, I was imagining a Greek salad with cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese dressed with olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Add some fresh Italian bread broken in chunks to dip in the juices of the salad, and there’s a complete meal.
    You’ve already seen Butterball potatoes, but for those of you who can’t put your hands on the newsletter from week 4, I will repeat here, Butterballs are best roasted, mashed, or baked. They have a flaky texture, and buttery flavor. We love them.

Green Chard
    We are fond of green chard simply sliced into thin strips and sautéed with olive oil and a little salt. The stems are quite sweet and juicy this way. If you want to try a mixed vegetable sauté, the following flavors combine really well. Sauté a couple of thinly sliced carrots in olive oil (or butter) over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add a quarter of a thinly sliced onion and the chard stems. After 3 more minutes, add thinly sliced chard leaves. Cover and steam for 3-5 minutes. Season at the table with tamari.
    If you want to be even more creative and elegant, try the following recipe, inspired by Martha Stewart (she used spinach). The raisins enhance the natural sweetness of the chard—even kids like this recipe!
Chard with Golden Raisins and Pine nuts
½ cup golden raisins
1 bunch Chard
1Tbs. Olive oil
¼ cup pine nuts
salt and pepper

1. Cover raisins with warm water and set aside.
2. Wash chard, separate stalks from leaf and chop in 2” sections.
3. Heat olive oil over medium heat in your largest frypan or wok.
4. Add pine nuts and sauté 1 minute.
5. Drain raisins, reserving liquid. Add raisins and chard stems to wok. Cover and sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add chard leaves and liquid from raisins. Cover. Turn heat to high and steam until leaves are wilted, stirring occasionally.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 6
In this box: Spinach, Tomatoes, Romaine, Butter lettuce, Carrots, Basil, Garlic, Russian Banana fingerling potatoes, Garlic tops, Strawberries or Cherries

“My dad works on the farm. The cherries are ripe
so he climbs trees and eats them all day.”
    (Carson, nearly 5 years old)

Recipe ideas for the week:
Potato Caesar Salad (clipped from some unidentified newspaper article several years ago)
2 lbs. potatoes, cut into chunks
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. anchovy paste or 2 anchovies
1 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic, crushed
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. chopped parsley (or basil)
Romaine lettuce leaves
    Cover potatoes with water and boil 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Using a food processor or blender, blend lemon juice, anchovies, cheese, mustard, garlic, and pepper. Gradually add olive oil until mixture is smooth. Toss potatoes with dressing and parsley/basil. Arrange dressed potatoes on Romaine leaves. Serves 6.

Darci’s Basil Dressing
    (given to us by Richard and Lindy Burgess, Corvallis Market customers)
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
5 Tbs. fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1 Tbs. sugar
2 chopped garlic cloves
½ cup canola oil
½ tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper.
    Place vinegars, basil, sugar, garlic, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Mix in short bursts to combine without chopping the basil too finely. Serve with butter lettuce, garnished with shredded Parmesan cheese, tender asparagus spears (or steamed garlic buds), marinated mushrooms, and small juicy tomatoes.

Russian Banana Potatoes are wonderful roasted (coat with olive oil and salt, roast in a cast iron pan for 35 minutes at 350 degrees), or on the grill (boil whole for about 5 minutes before grilling so they will cook faster).
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 5

In this box: Salad mix, Oak leaf lettuce, Cauliflower (Rojo’s), Salad turnips, Celery, Shallot tops, Tomatoes, Carrots, Cherries

This week on the farm
     Again this week, the weather tops our list of what’s up on the farm. Only a week ago, we were concerned that we might have a late-season frost, as night-time temperatures hit record lows. Then it rained on our Saturday Farmers’ Markets and on our cherries (it always seems to rain on our cherries). And now, three days later, temperatures are over 90o, and we’re rushing around trying to keep up with watering crops and ventilating our cold frames. The cold frames that we use to warm our early-season crops can reach over 120o when it’s sunny and 90o outside. So, every year about this time, we fill a  huge tub with cool mud and, using recycled Nancy’s yogurt containers, throw mud on all our cold-frames. It’s cheaper (and way more fun) than buying shade cloth!

Shallot tops
      We were inspired to try shallot tops by former employee Kimberly Moore, now with Deep Roots Farm. They have a surprisingly sweet, rich flavor when cooked, and we have tried them three different ways in our kitchen this week.
    1. Slice shallot tops into rings. Sauté in butter (or your favorite vegetable oil). When cool, place between 2 slices of your favorite toasted bread. The shallots are a sweet, crunchy sandwich filling. If you have any cream cheese or chevre, mix with the sautéed shallots for an extra rich spread.
    2. Slice shallot tops into rings and sauté as above. Add other vegetables if you have them. When tender, add a generous quantity of cooked rice (and extra oil if needed). Continue stir-frying until rice is warmed. Remove from heat and cover for 3 minutes before serving.
    3. The following recipe (originally intended for asparagus) was given to us by Corvallis member, Bonnie Lorenz. Lacking any asparagus on the farm, we tried it with shallot tops, and (I’m a bit embarrassed to admit) Tom and I stood at the kitchen stove and ate an entire bunch of roasted shallot tops as fast as they were cool enough to pick up. Roasted shallot tops: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange shallot tops in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Roll shallot tops to distribute oil evenly. Roast in 450 degree oven until tender (5-10 minutes). I think this method would also be great on a barbecue.

Thanks!
    Most of your tubs are coming back to the farm really clean. We noticed! And we appreciate the time you take to rinse your tub each week. With 170 members, it saves us a tremendous amount of time if the tubs are clean and ready to be filled. Thanks, and keep up the good work!

Farm tour and potluck Sunday June 23rd
    Our 2002 farm member potluck will be on Sunday afternoon, June 23rd from 3-7 pm. As in past years, Tom’s famous farm tour will begin at 3:30 with a potluck following at 5:00.
    We’ll provide tableware, a couple of seasonal main dishes featuring our produce, and herb tea. Please bring your own lawn chair, a dish to share, and walking shoes and sunhats (or umbrella) for the tour.
    Please let us know if you’re coming. Call 541-752-4156 or email denisont @ peak.org  by Saturday, June 22.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 4

In this box: Butter lettuce, Green lettuce, Radishes, Zucchini (Rojo’s), Garlic whistles, Red onion, Tomatoes, Baby bok choy, Butterball potatoes, Strawberries

On the Farm 6/7
We just heard that last night’s temperature hit a record low for this date. I knew it felt cold today, and we’re imagining that our young pepper and melon transplants are wishing they had a warm blanket!

German butterball potatoes
     As you can see from the past three boxes, we grow a variety of potatoes on our farm. I will try to identify the “potato of the week” in each box, and tell what recipes might be especially suitable. This week’s choice is the German Butterball—one of our favorite potatoes. Excellent for mashed potatoes, Butterballs have a flaky texture and practically mash themselves when boiled. I also highly recommend oven-roasting or baking this variety. We had some wonderful garlic mashed potatoes (see recipe below) for Sunday breakfast.

Garlic whistles
    Garlic whistles (or garlic “buds”) are the flower stalk and flower bud of garlic. They are one of our most seasonal products, available only in early June. I treat my garlic buds like asparagus, steaming whole in salted water until tender (pierce with a knife to test doneness). Then eat the entire stalk, dressed with a touch of butter, tamari, or salt if you wish. Another great idea is garlic mashed potatoes: mince the stalks of garlic buds and boil with 2 lbs of butterball potatoes (cut in large chunks). When potatoes are cooked, mash everything together, adding the usual complement of milk, butter, salt, and pepper. Garlic whistles are much more mild-flavored than garlic bulbs, imparting a hint of garlic to your meal.

Farm tour and potluck     Sunday June 23rd
    Our 2002 farm member potluck will be on Sunday afternoon, June 23rd from 3-7 pm. As in past years, Tom’s famous farm tour will begin at 3:30 with a potluck following at 5:00. I remember with fondness last year’s tour of the strawberry patch—a yummy time was had by all. Who knows what we will find to graze upon this year?
    We always have a good time, rain or shine, and we hope lots of you can come. It’s a great way to see what’s happening on the farm meet and to meet other Harvest Box members. Come see where your food is grown.
    We’ll provide tableware, a couple of seasonal main dishes featuring our produce, and herb tea. Please bring your own lawn chair, a dish to share, and walking shoes and sunhats (or umbrella) for the tour.
    Please let us know if you’re coming. Call 541-752-4156 or email denisont @ peak.org  by Saturday, June 22.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 3
In this box:
Salad mix (from Sweetleaf Farm)
Red romaine
Tomatoes
Carrots
Green garlic
‘Tokyo’ greens
Red potatoes
Sweet onion

This week on the farm
    In an unsuccessful attempt to get my youngest son to take a nap, Paul and I just took a quick tour of the farm. This time of year, things are growing so fast that it’s hard to keep up with all the crops. I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of our earliest cherries are starting to turn red. We will try to put up our bird netting this week so that the birds don’t eat everything. There are lots of tiny nectarines and peaches the size of ping pong balls. They should be full-sized and juicy by late July. The earliest melons are flowering, and everywhere weeds are threatening to overgrow the crops if we aren’t diligently mowing, hoeing, and cultivating (when we’re not picking, planting, or packing boxes). Our tomato plants, which were growing slowly for much of this month due to cool weather, have seemingly doubled in size overnight! We’re happy to offer you some of their first fruits this week.

What to do with your greens?
    Tokyo greens are a nutritious, mild-flavored green in the mustard family. In flavor and texture, they remind me a lot of Chinese cabbage. Here’s my all-time favorite recipe for greens. You can use any green or combination of greens, and the other ingredients can be increased or decreased or left out to suit your taste.
Hot and Sour Greens (from Andrew Weil, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health)
1 bunch greens (chard, kale, turnip, frisee, bok choy, or other greens)
2 tsp. canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash of red pepper flakes
¼ tsp. dry mustard
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 tsp. tamari/soy sauce
1 tsp. brown sugar
    Rinse and slice greens in ½ inch shreds.
    Heat oil, stir-fry garlic and pepper flakes 1 minute.
    Add greens and mustard powder. Stir to coat greens with garlic and oil.
    Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. Add to skillet.
    Cook, covered, over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Salad mix from Sweetleaf Organic Farm
    This is the third year we have offered Sweetleaf’s salad mix in our box. Although we are growing some salad mix of our own this year, we weren’t sure we could consistently provide enough of our own mix for your boxes every other week. Sweetleaf Farm was founded 4 years ago by, Dave, a neighbor and good friend of Gabe (Rojo Organics), and both are fine examples of the new generation of organic farmers. We expect to have Dave’s salad mix every other week throughout the season.

Green Garlic
    Green garlic is a very seasonal treat, available only in the late spring before the more familiar garlic bulbs have formed. It has a milder, sweeter flavor than the bulb that will form at the base of the plants if they are left in the ground. Try this quick and simple family-pleaser: Sauté 1 bunch of green garlic (chopped) and a pinch of salt in a generous (be really generous) amount of olive oil until tender (use medium heat so it doesn’t brown). This takes about 10 minutes. Then toss with a bowl of your favorite cooked pasta (or boiled new red potatoes). Add salt to taste.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 2In this box:Red lettuce
Oak leaf lettuce
Spinach
Carrots
Celery
Cucumber (from Rojo’s  Farm)
New "red gold" potatoes
Fresh shallots
Strawberries

Keeping up with Greens
     In past years, I have shared with you several of my favorite recipes for greens, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about how to “manage” greens en route to the sauté pan….I find that the best way to deal with vegetables in my kitchen is to rinse them as soon as I get in the house, then store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until I’m ready to cook them. If they’re all rinsed and ready to cook, it seems much easier to get them on the menu.
    To rinse: get out your largest bowl or a clean dishpan (we have a large metal bowl that just barely fits in the sink) and fill it with cold water. Take off the twist-tie if you have a bunched green and completely submerge the leaves in the water. If there are any “critters” (beneficial or otherwise) that have hitchhiked home with you, they will float off the leaves, and any dirt will settle to the bottom. After a thorough dunking, shake off excess water (a salad spinner is great for salad mix and spinach), and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Although we rinse all our lettuce and greens before they leave the farm, it’s always a good idea to give things a final rinse at home (even the salad mix).
(next week: What to do with your greens? )

Web site updates (www.peak.org/~denisont)
     As in years past, I will continue to post the weekly newsletter on our web site. I will try to post the newsletter on Friday afternoon, so you can get a preview of the box before you pick it up. But with a new baby in the house, there may be some weeks when it doesn’t get posted immediately.
    And speaking of the new baby, with help from members Richard and Cynthia (our original web page designers), I have now updated our web site with a new family photo. I figured now that Paul is 3 ½ months old (born at home 2/9/02, a substantial 9 lbs. at birth), he should be included in our family photo on the web.
    In addition, I have added links to an eclectic mix of web sites that are in some way connected with our farm.  Please visit our site and check out our links.

Cucumbers from Rojo’s Farm
     In your box this week, we have included a cucumber from our friend and fellow organic farmer, Gabe Cox (his farm is Rojo’s Farm). You may remember that Gabe worked on our farm for 4 years, then purchased his own 30-acre farm along River Road north of Eugene two years ago. As in previous years, we will continue to cooperate with Gabe to help expand the variety of organic produce in your box, and to offer him additional opportunities to market his products. We expect to have Rojo’s zucchini, summer squash, and beans in your box later in the season.

Strawberries
    We feel fortunate to have strawberries for you this week. Gabe also grows strawberries, and we heard the sad news that his farm received a short, but brutal hailstorm last week. In a matter of 15 minutes, about 50 flats-worth of strawberries (both ripe and soon-to-be ripe) were damaged by hail. We are reminded that the powerful forces of nature sometimes change our plans for us, and we are grateful for sunny days and gentle rains.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2002:Week 1
In this box:
Salad mix
Red leaf lettuce
Carrots
Baby turnips
Spring onions
Red chard
Basil
Garlic
    A warm welcome to all our returning and new members! We hope you enjoy this box. In case you’re not familiar with the routine, take this box home with you, enjoy everything that’s in it, and bring it back (rinsed and dry) when you pick up next week’s box.
     We had hoped to have strawberries, and/or tomatoes for this first box, but the spring has been cool. And while we’re getting a few tomatoes and a few strawberries, there are not enough of either one to share among 150 members. If it stays sunny and mild between now and next week, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the strawberries will be ripe by next week.
     We do have an abundance of spring onions right now, so you will notice two bunches in your box this week. For members who have not cooked spring onions before, they are great cooked on the barbecue (split in half lengthwise and lay on the grill until cooked, or shish kebob with other vegetables). We also use a lot of onions in our kitchen sliced and sautéed with olive oil and a touch of salt—with or without any other available vegetables as a side dish. The greens are edible too (similar to, but not quite as mild as the more familiar green onion). If you want to get more involved, here is a recipe for Hot and Sour soup that also uses the turnips in this week’s box.
Hot and Sour Soup with baby turnips and spring onions
7 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½ cup rice vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 bunch chopped spring onions
10 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced into strips
1 piece crumbled kombu, soaked with mushrooms
1 bunch baby turnips, sliced
½ bunch turnip greens, chopped
¼ tsp. chili paste (more or less to taste)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
- In large pot, combine broth, vinegar, soy sauce, spring onions, soaked mushrooms and kombu. Bring to boil, and simmer gently, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- Add turnips, greens, and chili paste. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Just before serving, bring soup back to a slow boil. While stirring, slowly drizzle in beaten eggs. Serve immediately. Serves 8.

Baby Turnips
 The bunch of greens with little, round, white roots are baby turnips (also known as “salad” turnips. They are a particular variety of turnip that is bred to be sweet, juicy, and good in a salad. My son prefers them raw, as you would a radish (he likes them peeled--I’m not that particular). I like to sauté the turnips and greens in oil (adding a touch of tamari at the end for seasoning). The roots will take a few minutes longer to cook than the greens, so cut them in half and stir-fry them for about 3 minutes before adding the greens. The stems are delicious, too, so cook them along with the leafy part.
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