yummy recipe

Check out this recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Italian-Green-Beans-and-Potatoes-350902 which uses the green beans and potatoes from our CSA. I'm also going to throw in the thyme when I cook it.

Can anyone volunteer at the truck this Saturday?

Hi all,

One of the people that had signed up for this Saturday (11-1 shift) just informed us that he's not available after all. Anyone feel like doing a 2 hour shift at the truck? Or even one hour, from 11-12, and I could take over then?

Thanks,
Randy

Farm Message for Saturday, August 22, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Hi folks,
(Don't know why, but the blogger dropped all my formatting this week. I didn't do anything different, that I know of.)
How y'all doin'? We had a big storm yesterday afternoon; huge ominous black clouds, swirling winds and intense downpours for about 10 minutes. It was the first drop of rain in over two weeks – our two hottest weeks of the summer – and we needed it badly. We got half an inch in that short period of time. There is an old-timers' “rule of thumb” that the perfect rainfall for vegetable growing is an inch of rain per week, slow and gentle. It happens that way once in awhile.
This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items underlined. Note that, just like at the outdoor farmer's market, the fact that we open the market with a bunch of items doesn't mean that they'll all be available throughout the entire market. Some sell out fast. As always, it's first-come, first-served.
Greens: bibb and red leaf lettuce, arugula, braising greens, cabbage, rainbow and red chard, kale (Lacinato and green), pea shoots
Veggies: beans (green, Lima, Romano), beets, carrots (orange and purple), sweet corn, pickling cucumbers, eggplant (oriental), garlic, onions (cippolini and yellow), peppers (bell, mini-orange and assorted chiles), potatoes (Desiree pink, red, gold, purple, La Ratte fingerling and rainbow mixed), scallions, shallots, tomatoes (standard red, yellow, assorted heirlooms, Roma/plums, cherries), yellow squash, zucchini
Herbs: basil (Italian and mixed), cilantro, dill, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white
Berries, melons, fruit: blackberries, blueberries, ever-bearing strawberries, cantaloupe, Ginger Gold apples, nectarines, peaches, Bartlett pears.
Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses, plus jalapeno cheese, plus garlic / dill goat chevre, demi-sec and ash log goat cheeses. Also preserves and such, plus Mrs. Brechbill's strawberry / rhubarb jam.
On the farm: We started our main-season potato harvest this week, and I don't think I've ever been so happy to dig potatoes. We were worried that we were going to lose the whole crop with all they were saying about the late blight. We have potatoes planted in 14 different patches covering two-and-a-half acres, but the first one we dug looked just about normal, for tuber size and yield. Whew! At least we got some. (See the picture in the email, which shows three of the six rows we harvested: Purple Majesty, LaRatte, and Desiree Pink.) Of course, with yesterday's rain I should now be spraying again, at least those later-planted potatoes that still have some green tops, but seeing as I hate spraying – and I know I'm getting some potatoes – I'll probably let it go.
Even though it's still mid-August, it really feels like our season has changed. Help, help, our help is leaving! Jack, our oldest son, moved to Harrisburg last week and started a new job in town there. Russell, our ag college helper this summer, starts school in a week and finished up on Monday. Scott, our volunteer from the city, finished up last Saturday. Thanks to all of you guys for your help; it was great. Anna has just one week to go and then she's back to school also. Pretty soon it's just gonna be Sam, Chris and me again. And lots of potatoes.
We did get the cooler project all-but-done and used it last Friday. I finished the lighting yesterday. It's fantastic to actually have room to move in there as we pack on Fridays and to be able to roll two pallets and half a dozen hand truck loads onto the truck at 2:30 AM Saturday morning instead of 43 hand truck loads! (Until two years ago, we had to roll those loads all the way across the packing shed and lift the boxes one by one up into the back of the truck. That was before we built a dock that allows us to roll things on.)
Recipes: One of our CSA members posted a link to a recipe search engine on the blog. I haven't used it yet myself, but it sounds great. You type in a list of foods, such as what's left in your 'frig on Thursday or what you receive in your CSA box and it will search for a recipe that uses all or most of those ingredients. Pretty neat idea. If you're interested, (http://www.supercook.com/). Thanks Sheela.
Star Hollow Farm blog: (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for mixed mini peppers, mixed potatoes, mixed cherry toms, green beans, sweet corn, an onion, sample of thyme, a cantaloupe, and tree fruit medley... ginger gold apple, Bartlett pear, peach and nectarine.
Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Matt and Terry for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
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Cool website for finding relevant recipes

My colleague told me about this website http://www.supercook.com/ where you can find a recipe based on whatever food you have in your kitchen (and your CSA box!). Seems better than epicurious.com (which I used to use) which only searches on one ingredient.

Farm Message for Saturday, August 15, 2009

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, August 15th, 2009

General news & info

Hi folks,

Summertime, summertime, sum- sum- summertime! (the refrain from an old song...). Yes, it's finally here, those glorious 90 degree, 90% humidity days that make working outside such a joy. And boy, did I pick the right project for the week—working on our new cooler! It's really very pleasant working inside my former shop with the fan on, whilst my peons (what, is that pejorative?) here on the farm do the outside work. I'll be running out to pick up some produce this afternoon, but between this morning and tomorrow I think I have a good shot at having the cooler functional for Friday's orders and packing. It will more than double our cooler capacity, and make both Friday's and our 3 AM Saturday morning truck loading oh-so-much better.

This week's produce: (New items underlined)

• Greens: bibb lettuce, arugula, braising greens, cabbage, chard, dandelion, kale (Russian and green), pea shoots

• Veggies: beans (green, Lima, yellow wax), beets with tops, carrots, sweet corn, slicing cucumbers, eggplant (oriental), garlic, onions (cippolini and sweet), peppers (bell and some chiles), potatoes (red, gold, purple, La Ratte fingerling and rainbow mixed), shallots, tomatoes (standard red, yellow, Cherokee purple, Roma/plums, cherries), yellow squash, zucchini

• Herbs: basil (Italian and mixed), oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, thyme

• Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white

• Berries, melons, fruit: blackberries, cantaloupe, Ginger Gold apples, nectarines, peaches

• Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses, preserves and such, plus Mrs. Brechbill's own homemade garlic/dill pickles in a beautiful ½ pint jar.

On the farm: Surprisingly we had another large pick of cherry tomatoes again yesterday—and they're going into your CSA boxes again this week—but I sure think they're gonna be done soon, from the looks of them. There was an interesting blog post that Constance found about the blight and forwarded to us. If you haven't read much about it yet, it's pretty interesting (even for non-farmers) I think. http://civileats.com/2009/07/28/battling-late-blight-in-the-north-east/. The part where the farmer says that spraying (even the organically approved material) “feels like a sin” is pretty much how I feel when I've sprayed the copper several times now, but weighing that against losing everything keeps me at it. (The fact that we've had no rain now for 10 days means I've gotten out of spraying this week, as dry conditions are not conducive to the disease's spreading.)

ORGANIC—To be or not to be ... the ongoing question: A dozen or so of you responded via email after I first put this topic on the board several weeks ago. For those who are keeping score, we're running 50:1 right now with “do what you think is right.”

More than a few have remarked “Well, you'd drop certification, but you'd still be organic anyway, right?” to which I want to answer “NO.” The expense and the hassle is not the only reason we're talking about this. It's also the “one size fits all” approach to materials allowed, management of nutrient resources (specifically manure), seed sourcing, using effective controls – if needed, and more. Please talk to me if you're interested or this is important to you. I like openness, and don't want to feel like I haven't given all our customer a chance to be heard on this important issue.

Have you checked out our blog? I personally have no experience with blogs (being over 30—way over—and all), but seeing how this one has developed over the month or so it's been in existence, I sense that there's a critical mass needed using it until it sort of “gets going” and has enough happening to be worth checking out. Each week a few more people check it out, comment or post, and I think maybe it's getting there! Have you? (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)

CSA-Specific News & Info

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a head of bibb lettuce, bunch of rainbow chard, Lima beans, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, items of purple food (carrots, potatoes, garlic), and some nectarines. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Eric, Sarah and Steph for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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More photos...

I'd like to echo Constance's comments, and add my photos into the mix. Enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phijo/sets/72157621975411422/

Many thanks to the Treichler's for being such generous hosts (and phenomenal farmers)!

~Phil

Farm photos and an interesting op-ed

Hi Everyone,

It was great meeting many of you at the Open Farm, which was such a delightful trip. I heartily recommend it to anyone thinking of going on Labor Day weekend.

Here are some photos from our trip to the farm:
http://tiny.cc/aazn9

And here's a really interesting NYT opinion piece on late blight. Thought others might like:
http://tinyurl.com/nkuamk

Constance Newman
(and yes, it's amazing, but there appears to be two Constance's on this blog!)

New day & time for Food Inc

I updated my earlier post, but it didn't pop up to the top, so I'm posting again. We've decided to see Food Inc Sunday (tomorrow) afternoon at 3:30 instead of tonight. You're all still invited; it would be great if you let me know that you're coming: gretchen dot lehman at gmail dot com

We're meeting in the E Street lobby at 3:15. It's supposed to be a scorcher tomorrow, why not escape the heat in a cool theatre?

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, August 8th, 2009

General news & info

Hi folks,

In addition to finally being hot outside, the produce that we have for you this week finally looks like a mid-summer list also, with beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in good supply. I'm trying a new format below where you can see an overview of everything – but not a lot of detail. Of course, the fact that it's listed here doesn't mean that it will necessarily be around all day!

This week's produce:

• Greens: bibb lettuce, arugula, braising greens, cabbage, chard, dandelion, kale (Russian and lacinato)

• Veggies: beans (edamame, green, Lima, yellow wax), beets, broccoli florettes, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers (hothouse and field), eggplant (oriental), garlic, okra, onions (several kinds), peppers (bell and some chiles), potatoes (red, gold, and rainbow mixed), tomatoes (standard red, specialties, Roma/plums, cherries), zucchini

• Herbs: basil (Italian and mixed), cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, thyme

• Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white

• Fruit and melons: cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches

• Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses, preserves and such.

Hey, wanna go to the movies? CSA members Gretchen and Jen were talking about the new food movie “Food, Inc.” while up here at the open farm this weekend, and decided to go see it in DC this Saturday (8/8). They posted on the blog the time and place. If you'd like to join them, and then possibly discuss it afterwards, their contact info is on the blog post. (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)

On the farm: We had our biggest pick of cherry tomatoes yesterday—they're going into your CSA boxes this week—but it looks like the plants will be done soon as the blight blackens about half of the remaining leaves each day. With the tomatoes there in the high tunnel, I don't want to spray anything at all since there are so many different kinds of crops all within close proximity.

Out in the fields, the potatoes haven't all collapsed yet so that means every day the tubers are getting bigger underground (YEAH!). We'll be digging some every week from here on out, into September probably, and with luck we'll achieve our plan of having our own potatoes for you all through the winter.

Jack and the others have gotten all of the walls and the rafters of our second cooler in place, and the insulation will be going up around it starting today. Hopefully we'll have it ready to use in a week or two.

We have a young man here volunteering on the farm for two weeks, learning what is involved in running a small vegetable farm after interning at the Family Farm Coalition headquarters in DC for the first half of the summer. Thanks for your help Scott!

Open-farm gatherings: We had a nice get-together here last Saturday evening and Sunday morning with three carloads of CSA members and friends up from DC to see the farm and socialize. The third and final open-farm this season is on September 5/6. Three families with young children have already RSVP'd, so it's looking to be a family affair this time. (And we don't think we'll make it to midnight and beyond around the campfire on this final version, but it was fun last time!)

ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that was our question: And there continues to be lots of discussion on the topic, which is good as it is helping us formulate our plans. We also had our first “may choose not to continue supporting you as we have” comment, which we knew would come, and is good as we realize not all will agree with our decision to change, if and when it happens.

CSA-Specific News & Info

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for green beans, a couple of ears of sweet corn, a healthy pile of mixed summer squashes, some green bell peppers, and ingredients for a tomato/fruit salad (mixed cherry and specialty tomatoes, some French sorrel leaves for a lemony bite, a peach and a nectarine). Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to LeighAnne and Karin for their help handing out orders last weekend!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Cantaloupe Salsa

I saw this post on cantaloupe salsa from Smitten Kitchen, and it's like she had some inside knowledge of what our CSA boxes had in store for us this week... cantaloupe, sweet Walla Walla onion, jalapeno.

This was great: you could eat it like a salad or more like a salsa with chips, etc.

I bet you could add some mint to this, too, if you have any leftover from a couple weeks ago.

UPDATED: Wanna see Food, Inc.?

Update: We've decided to go on Sunday at 3:30 instead of tonight. Meet in the E Street lobby at 3:15.

At last weekend's open farm, Jenny & I discovered a mutual interest in seeing Food, Inc., and we thought other SHF customers might also enjoy going as a group. If you'd like to see this documentary about the food industry with us and possibly discuss it afterward, we're going to catch it at E Street this Saturday evening (August 8), most likely the 5:40 showing unless a different time is better for others.

Email me (gretchen dot lehman at gmail dot com) if you're interested. If you've already seen it, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

If you haven't heard of Food, Inc., here's what Ann Hornaday at the Washington Post wrote about it:
In the muckraking tradition of Upton Sinclair and the slick documentary stylings of "An Inconvenient Truth," Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc." seeks to lift the curtain on the cynical and often sickening workings of the modern industrial food system. This absorbing film looks terrific and does a superb job of making its case that our current food ways are drastically out of whack. The trick will be getting "Food, Inc.'s" message beyond its natural constituency of the already-converted to the millions of shoppers whose choices in the marketplace represent a tsunami of untapped power.

Starting with the chicken and beef industries, the filmmakers trace how fast-food culture created the corporate concentration of agricultural production and the disappearance of the traditional family farm. With damning hidden-camera footage and interviews with such pioneering journalists as Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan, "Food, Inc." deftly demonstrates how issues such as illegal immigration, public health and intellectual property law intersect at the largely hidden nexus of Big Meat. Most heartbreaking are personal stories of loss, including a mother's crusade for tighter food regulation after her toddler son died of E. coli poisoning and Midwestern farmers being sued by Monsanto for engaging in the time-honored practice of saving and cleaning seeds. See "Food, Inc." after dinner, but see it.

Also, some links:
Official site
Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes