Pete's Musings
Welcome to our spring share! In this winter in which we have not yet plowed snow, anticipation of spring is strong. Bare ground is starting to show in the fields yet the skiing is great at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Greenhouses are coming to life with strong sun and we are putting the finishing touches on equipment tuneups for the coming season. Last week I traveled to NY and met with Bejo seeds. They are a Dutch seed producer who supplies companies such as High Mowing Seeds and Johnnys Selected Seeds. Bejo is known for being the best around and we rely on many of their varieties. I toured their vegetable storage facility and learned alot as we cut open crops such as kohlrabi and napa cabbage, discussing the storage variables between different varieties. Claytonia is growing back strong with the longer days and warmer temps and we are cutting it again for the the greens mix this week after giving it a couple weeks break to grow earlier this month. Shoots are loving the sun in the greenhouse, we think you will especially like this weeks salad mix. ~Pete |
Our Weekly Good Eats Newsletter
Hey Everyone, this is the first edition of the 2012 Good Eats Spring Share weekly newsletter that you will receive every Tuesday evening letting you know what to expect in this week's share. We also include storage and use tips, localvore information, recipes and anything else we think you might find interesting or useful. Pete and Amy will often chime in with farm updates, thoughts and pleas for feedback.
The picking for the weekly share begins on Monday and the packing of shares is finished late Tuesday afternoon in order to give you extremely fresh produce. Although we try to get the newsletter out just as early as we can, we do like to wait until the share is packed up and finalized. Sometimes there are last minute changes to the contents and we want to make sure that you have the right information to accompany your pick-up.
If there are changes to the share that occur after the newsletter has been sent (which happens occasionally), you may receive a follow-up email Tuesday night or Wednesday.
If you have any feedback on the newsletter, recipe contributions or just general questions about the CSA, feel free to email me.
We also post each newsletter on our blog and on ourwebsite. It generally gets posted to the web sometime on Wednesday or Thursday. You can also search our archive of recipes, farm stories and share contents at these sites.
Please add GoodEats@petesgreens.com to your address book to limit the possibility of having newsletters filtered as spam.
Feel free to contact me anytime with questions or comments about Good Eats. ~ Heather
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Picking Up Your Share
Please visit our Delivery Site page for pick up times and locations of pick up sites. If you have any questions about your pick-up please email us. The quickest way to reach me is really by email, but you may leave a message on voice mail at 802.586.2882 x6.
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Share Pick-Up Instructions! Please review. Whether you are a seasoned CSA share member or new to Good Eats, it's important to review the pick-up instructions before you head out to pick up your share!
• Clipboard #1, Names List - Find your name on the pick-up list and check it off. The first clipboard contains a list of all share members at your site. Note that only one name is listed for each share. If you can't find your name on the list, look for your share partner's name (only one of you is listed). Checking off your name lets us know who has picked up and is extremely helpful in solving any mysteries at the end of the day. If you can't find your name or your share partner's name, please don't take a share! Call or email us and we'll figure it out.
• Check your share type on the list. Share types are Localvore, Localvore Vegetarian, Pete's Pantry or Meat Share. If you are listed incorrectly or have questions, let us know.
• Clipboard #2, Pick-Up Instructions - Select your items by following the Pick-Up Instructions. These are posted on the second clipboard. Follow the specific item list/instructions to assemble your share. The top section of the pick up list describes what to select for the vegetable portion of the Localvore share. The bottom section of the Pick-Up Instructions list the localvore (non-vegetable) items that Localvore and Pete's Pantry members should select.
If you are sharing a share with someone - coordinate with your share-mate to make sure that you DON'T take double the amount of any items. All shares are packed and delivered to the sites are whole shares.
Please note that the first Meat Share pick up is not this week, it is the first Wednesday of every month starting March 7th.
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What To Do If You Have a Problem at Pick Up
Although we do our best to make sure that every delivery and pick-up goes smoothly, there are the occasional shortages and disappointments. Should you arrive at your pick-up site to find that your name (or share partner's name) is not on the list, one or more of your items are missing or that some of your produce is in unsatisfactory condition, please let us knowright away!
Our goal is 100% satisfaction. If you email us (or call if you can not email) as soon as you discover the problem, we may be able to resolve it the same day or the following day. If you would like to receive an item that you missed at pick-up, you must contact us by Thursday morning.
If we have not heard from anyone, by Thursday afternoon our site hosts are instructed to donate leftover food, ensuring that they do not end up with bad food on their hands.
If we can not resolve your issue right away, email us to arrange a replacement or substitution the following week. |
Changes to Your Delivery? If you will be away some upcoming week, and need to make changes to your share delivery,let us know at least 1 week before the change. You can have your share donated to the Food Pantry, or you can skip your share delivery and you will retain a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share.
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Left: The head-house filled with seedlings. Right: Radish shoots just before we harvest for greens.
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Left: Seedlings of greenhouse cucumbers that we will be eating in 2 months time. Right: Onion seedlings.
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June 20th - October 10th, 2012
Our summer share is filled with all kind of interesting varieties with unique flavors, colors and shapes as well as all the summer staples you are familiar with. In June we will start out with tender salad greens, fresh basil, European cucumers, tomatoes, fresh picked zucchini, spring salad turnips, Napa Cabbage, Asian greens, chard and lots more spring vegetables. And then come all your summer favorites like peas, beans, carrots, sweet peppers, heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, sweet corn and much more!
Last summer, members received 70+ different kinds of vegetables...
and that was just the Veggie Only Share. The Localvore Share brings you the same fresh vegetables and also wonderful local staples and artisan products to fill your pantry. Meat Shares are available too!
Join now and be rewarded with a healthy, local and delicious season of Good Eats!
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Storage and Use Tips
 This weeks Greens are a mix of sunflower and radish shoots with a good portion of claytonia mixed in. Claytonia is a cold-hardy salad green, that is also known by the name of "miner's lettuce." During the gold rush, miners foraged for the wild-growing green. It provided a rare source of fresh vitamin C during the winter, thus staving off scurvy for the hungry miners. Claytonia has a mild, but lush flavor. We love it for its ability to grow through many weeks of a Vermont winter in an unheated greenhouse. Store in a sealed bag in your fridge for up to 5-7 days. The Purple Viking Potato is a strikingly beautiful potato, with deep purple skins dappled with pink splashes and stripes. Bright white and creamy-good, the flesh bakes or mashes perfectly but can be considered an all purpose potato too. It has a slightly sweet flavor and a buttery finish. I like to chop into 1/2" pieces with the skins on, drench in a little olive oil, salt and pepper throw in some leeks and dill if you like, roast in the oven at 375F or until soft and crusted on the outside and there you have it. The potatoes get their purple tint from the anthocyanins they contain, the same antioxidant found in blueberries. At this time of year organic potatoes (not treated with an anti-sprouting agent) do not store for very long periods of time as they are ready to start their next life cycle. I suggest storing in a plastic bag in the fridge if you are not going to use right away.
The Sweet Corn that we grew on the farm last summer was so far and away better than any corn we had eaten we decided to put away as much as we could for the winter and spring shares. We harvested, blanched and cut off the kernels ear by ear, bagged and then into the freezer to preserve its sweet, buttery deliciousness for the long winter ahead. Tested against other frozen corns available in the grocery store we were pleased by the freshness, quality and flavor of our own. You will receive corn 2 to 3 more times over the course of the share. Corn has already been blanched and only really needs a quick reheat, just bring some water to a boil in a pot and throw in a handful of corn, heat for 2-4 minutes and then drain and serve. If you have kids they will be especially pleased!
This week you will have your choice of Frozen Green Beans (they are actually green, yellow and purple) or Frozen Sweet Red Peppers, first come first serve (but only take ONE package), Our beans have been picked, washed, blanched, bagged and frozen all in a few hours. The peppers have been washed, sliced, bagged and then right to the freezer. Beans and peppers simply need to be heated up. Remove from plastic bag and heat in water or mix into a dish as you would fresh produce. Although the peppers are not blanched they tend to lose some rigidity during the freezing process, but retain all the sweet flavors or a freshly picked pepper and are best used cooked in a dish as opposed to fresh on salads.
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Localvore Lore
Made from their own high quality Holstein raw cow's milk, Landaff Creamery Landaff Cheese is a mild, semi-firm cheese with a delicious combination of flavors. Its complexity balances a bright buttermilk tang and savory brown butter notes. The buttery texture comes with a natural, cave-aged rind. It melts beautifully for cooking, and makes a wonderful addition to any cheese plate. Remove cheese from the refrigerator about an hour before you plan to eat it. This will allow the full flavors to be enjoyed. Keep your cheese surfaces protected so they won't dry out. If mold does develop, just trim it off. The natural cave-aged rind is safe to eat. Doug and Deb Erb craft Landaff on their second-generation dairy farm in the White Mountains. Declining milk prices drove the Erbs’ determined pursuit of cheesemaking as a way to revitalize their farm. Doug developed Landaff after studying with the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese and time spent making Caerphilly with the Duckett family of Somerset, England.
From Red Hen Baking Company we have an assortment of bread loaves being delivered to each site. Pain-au-Levain is made with unbleached turkey heirloom wheat flour and Ben Gleason's VT-grown whole wheat flour, 100% whole wheat with 20% of this wheat is from Gleason Grains. Mad River Grain loaves feature heirloom cornmeal from Nitty Gritty Grains and whole wheat from Gleason Grains. Cyrus Pringle loaves made entirely with VT-grown wheat (a combination of Nitty Gritty and Gleasons). First come first serve.
Our Farm Fresh Eggs are laid each day by "the girls" at Pa Pa Doodles Farm in Albany, VT. Deb Rosewolf is one of our year round employees at Pete's Greens. A couple of years ago Pete talked her into keeping a flock of hens to supply our CSA (actually he talked her into taking the farm's small flock over to her house). Deb now has 400 hens and exclusively supplies us with eggs. Pa Pa Doodles eggs have rich orange yolks and firm whites. Seven Days Eva Sollberger visited Deb and the hens for a Stuck in Vermont episode. Check it out!
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Recipes
Rainbow Root Pie I was really surprised by this dish when I first saw the bright orange and red layered pie. It is not only easy on the eyes but an incredibly delicious way to eat your carrots and beets. Feel free to add other layers as desired or substitute cheddar cheese on top. 1 pie crust of your liking 3-4 medium sized beets 5 medium sized carrots 1 tsp allspice, separated 1 tsp cinnamon, separated 2 tsp ginger, grated and separated 1 Tbs maple sugar (sub honey) couple pinches of salt and pepper 3/4 c Landaff cheese, grated for topping as desired (sub cheddar) Steam or boil beets and carrots in big pieces or whole if they are on the small side until tender. Let them cool and then grate carrots coarsely, slip off the skins of the beets and grate them second keeping them separate from carrots so that colors do not mix. Toss each with 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 Tbs maple sugar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pack layers of veggies firmly into pie crust alternating red and orange. Top with grated Landaff cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and slightly golden.
Kicked Up Cajun Corn Maque Choux
Pronounced "mock shoe", this is a traditional dish from southern Louisiana. It is thought to be a mix of Cajun and American Indian cultural influence, and the name is likely derived from the French interpretation of the Native American name. It is usually served as an accompaniment but it can also act as a base for a main meal by adding rice, chicken, shrimp etc.
2 Tbs unsalted butter or bacon drippings 2 c corn 1/2 c yellow onions, chopped 1/2 c red or green bell peppers, chopped 1 Tbs jalapeno pepper, minced (optional) 1/2 c heavy cream dash of the following spices: salt pepper garlic powder onion powder dried oregano dried thyme paprika Melt the butter in a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the corn, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, spices, and cook, stirring, until soft, for 10 minutes. Add the cream and cook for 2 minutes. Dijon Green Beans Almondine A twist on the traditional almondine recipes of the past. The Dijon mustard adds a whole new layer of flavor and makes for a great side dish. 1 package of Pete's frozen green beans 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1 tsp garlic, minced 1/4 c onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tbs Dijon mustard 1 tsp thyme, dried 1/3 c slivered almonds, lightly toasted Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Saute minced onion in butter for 2 minutes. Whisk in thyme, the Dijon mustard and garlic salt into the butter. Add the beans to the skillet and toss until heated through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. |
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