Wolfeboro Farmer's Market

Market season has begun around the lake!

This was week three of the Wolfeboro Area Farmer's Market, and it was a great success!

Here are some photos from week one:

And here is the WAFM Facebook page!

Garlic Scape Pesto

I will be away at a funeral for Tuesday's pickup, so I am posting the recipe for the week of June 28/July 1 early!

This week's feature veggie is garlic scapes. The season of these guys is fleeting - only lasting about 1 week - and really only being picked once. Scapes are the flowering part of the garlic plant, and if they are not plucked off, the garlic head that we all know and love will not fully develop. Plus, they are beautiful!

Scapes provide a delicate tasty preview to the true garlic that is harvested late July/Early August. They can be sauteed pr eaten raw, just as you might garlic. But my favorite way to enjoy them is in pesto. 

I am in a bit of a rush off to the airport, so here is a quick cut-and-paste recipe for scape pesto... enjoy and feel free to expirement!

GARLIC SCAPE AND ALMOND PESTO

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)

1/3 cup slivered almonds (you could toast them lightly, if you'd like)

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt

Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle).  

Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese.  

If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil.  

Season with salt.

If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for months.

it's CSA time!

Our first CSA pick-up is tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21st.
It is also, by chance, the first official day of summer.
This week the share is on the green side of things (the peonies are starting to end their stay here at the farm, otherwise it would be a pink and green share).

I think the show-stopper in this week's share is the first-picked Swiss Chard. Related to beets, this mighty green is chock full of vitamins and phytonutrients. Not to mention how beautiful it is: deep green with highlights of reds and yellows.
One of the major phytonutrients found in chard is syringic acid which has been shown to regulate blood sugar. In a similar vein (sorry!) chard has also been found to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties

Okay, okay, enough raving and on to the recipes!

Wash the greens in a big bowl (or sink) full of clean water, rinsing and swishing to rinse away any stubborn grit and dirt. Drain, and rinse again.

Like beets, chard has a very distinct flavor - a bit on the bitter side of the pallet. My favorite way to eat this leafy green is to wilt, or braise, it in coconut milk. The sweetness of the coconut balances the bitterness of the greens (our American pallets love sweetness and do not love bitterness). If you happen to have coconut milk in the cupboard, dig it out! If not, I've got another way for you to enjoy chard this week.

Coconut Swiss Chard

1 bunch Swiss Chard, stemmed,
1 can coconut milk
2 cloves galic
1 small handful raisins (optional, for the real sweet tooth)
salt to taste

pour just enough coconut milk into a sautee pan to cover the bottom
dice up garlic cloves, toss in to milk
meanwhile, tear up chard leaves into bite-sized pieces
now that the milk is hot and the garlic has had a tiny head start, toss in the chard and pour in most of the remaining coconut milk
**add raisins if you are aiming for sweet, they will plump up nicely while the greens cook**
stir, stir, stir until the chard is bright green,  2-4 minutes depending on the heat

use tongs or a big fork to fish out the greens from the thick-ish milk
Salt (if you want) and serve - hot!

 
 Garlic greens (from 101cookbooks.com)

1 bunch Swiss chard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
5 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (opt)
crushed red pepper flakes

In a large skillet heat the olive oil
Add a couple big pinches of salt and the greens
Stir continuously until their color gets bright green, 2-4 minutes
Just before you pull the skillet from the heat, stir in the garlic
Saute a bit, remove the pan from the heat
Stir in the Parmesan if you are using any
Add a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Salt, if needed, and serve-immediately!


happy solstice, all!

Housing update

Walls are up, electric wiring has been run, even insulation is in!
Hopefully this coming week will bring sheetrock on the walls and ceiling.
Pat and I have been sketching and discussing new furniture layouts and kitchen appliances (we need a full-size fridge, two dorm fridges stacked on each other is cutting it, but it's awkward!)

 More excitement and photos to come. 

How does the garden grow?

With the perfect combination of sunshine and rain - which we are finally getting this week - and, of course, with the help of many!

Today was the last day of school here at The Community School. Everyone came out this morning and put in some time in the flower garden - weeding, planting, and seeding - and in the onions, weeding, wedding, and weeding!

It feels great to be able to look out across the field and see food!

Let the weed battling begin

Pat and I spent a good part of Monday weeding the carrots (anyone who has weeded carrots just let out a sympathetic 'ohh', I am sure). Believe it or not, I found that I missed weeding! It is kind of meditative - you don't have to think much, you get into a rhythm, and at the end you can really see and take pride in what you have accomplished!

 Pat also spent a couple of hours yesterday continuing the trend with the beets.

more planting

Kim Grace came over yesterday to continue what Jessica started on Saturday while I was at market: planting tomatoes in the high tunnel! Thanks to a generous donation from one of our CSA members, we were able to build true no-till beds with compost and a thin layer of newspaper to suppress weeds.

While Kim was planting 'inside', Jessica and I were diligently doing the same 'outside'. Rows and rows of kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and collards greens went in yesterday. A rainbow of yummy brassicas!   

expansion!

Work started today on our new living space. We couldn't be more excited. After a long day of fieldwork, Pat and I stood in the new space and dreamed about how to arrange furniture.

 

 So much fun!

market, market

Boy-o-boy has June been busy, busy! 

The Tamworth Farmer's Market started up with a bang Memorial Day weekend - ringing in our first official harvest. This past Saturday, Madeline Moneypenny came with me and we shared a baguette and cheese! Despite the weather (we are finally getting some much-needed rain) there was a great market turn-out this week.

Last Thursday I went up to Center Conway to get a feel for a mid-week market. It was a bit slow, but it is still pretty early in the season up here. I am sure things will pick up soon.

CSA pick-up starts next week, June 21st. I can't believe it is already mid-June!

NPR, CSA, YUM!

The past few days have been HOT. I mean, Pat + I just got back from Texas and we feel like we haven't actually come home yet! We did fly back north, right!?!?

Anyway, we have been working (and wilting) hard in the fields - prepping for CSA distribution to start in a couple of weeks. And low-and-behold NPR wrote this morning about CSAs! Here is the article, with delicious recipes and photographs, too. Enoy!

potato planting

A couple of weeks ago Jessica and I spent a day planting potatoes. I borrowed a furrow maker from a friend and we set to work... No-till potatoes aren't really possible! We added a potash material to help boost the alkalinity of the soil, along with some potassium (the black stuff in the picture). 

I drove the tractor while Jessica shoveled the potash from the bucket into the furrow.

 

 

Somehow I managed to get the stuff all over my face!