Friday, February 10, 2012

Welcome to Our New Henry Got Crops! E-newsletter!

Welcome to Our New Henry Got Crops! E-newsletter!
Henry Got Crops! is changing the way we send out our e-newsletter. Look for our new format in your e-mail inbox!

Welcome to Our New Henry Got Crops! E-newsletter!

Henry Got Crops! is changing the way we send out our e-newsletter. Look for our new format in your e-mail inbox!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Spicy Carrot Soup

8 carrots, roughly chopped.
5 celery sticks, cut into pieces.
2 cloves of garlic, chopped.
1 large onion, chopped.
4 cups of water.
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of curry powder.
Salt.
Heat up the olive oil in a frying pan; then fry the chopped garlic and chopped onion for 4-5 minutes.

Add a teaspoon of curry powder, then stir.

Add all of the remaining ingredients except the salt and cook until the vegetables are tender.

Mix in a blender until the soup is smooth.

Radishes with Flavored Salts and Butter

• 3 tablespoons whole fennel seeds
• 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds
• 2 cups coarse salt
• 2 teaspoons ground paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 24 medium radishes, trimmed
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1. Toast fennel seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking pan continuously, until aromatic, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder; grind until seeds are no longer coarse. Repeat with cumin seeds.
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir ground fennel seeds into 1/2 cup coarse salt; transfer to a small serving bowl. Wipe out mixing bowl, then mix ground cumin seeds into 1/2 cup coarse salt; transfer to another small serving bowl. Wipe out mixing bowl, then stir paprika and cayenne pepper into 1/2 cup coarse salt; transfer to a third serving bowl.
3. Arrange radishes on a serving platter. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup salt into another serving bowl. Transfer softened butter to a slightly larger bowl. Serve.
Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/355413/fresh-radishes-flavored-salts-and-butter?czone=food/produce-guide-cnt/spring-produce-recipes

Brown Butter Pasta with Tatsoi

Serves 2
Your pasta of choice, preferably curved or with ridges
1/2 stick unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
Leaves of 2 to 3 bunches of tatsoi, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped sage
Freshly grated parmesan
Lemon wedges, optional
Cook pasta to al dente in salted water.
When pasta almost done done, melt butter in a skillet. Swirl the butter in the pan as it foams. (At this point, remove pasta from the heat and drain well in a colander.) When butter begins to brown, toss in pasta and mix to coat with butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Add tatsoi and sage and cook until slightly wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Plate and serve immediately with grated parmesan and lemon wedges on the side.
Source: http://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/2008/06/marisas-csa-week-2.html

Weather Update

As if hurricanes, heat waves and nonstop rain weren’t enough, let’s add snow in October! I’m not quite sure what else Mother Nature could throw our way all in one season! A frost is typical around Halloween, but three inches of snow is unheard of. We were expecting cold temperatures Saturday night, so Friday afternoon Molly (with the help of her dad), harvested what was left of the eggplant and summer squash and covered everything else in white row cover. We did all that we could, shy of pulling an all-nighter harvesting everything in the field! The weather report called for chance of snow Saturday night. On Saturday morning I was eating my breakfast and watched the rain turn to snow at 10am. Suddenly nervous about our preparations, I went to the farm, in full raingear, long johns and winter hat to clothespin holes in our row cover and put the one remaining piece of fabric on our most precious bed- the lettuce heads! Some crops will fare just fine in fact a few will even improve with the cold temperatures. Kale and carrots for instance become sweeter with a frost. Others, I am more worried about. For example the bok choi, tat soi, baby greens and lettuce are less hardy. It’s now Sunday afternoon and I’ve been watching the thermometer like a hawk all weekend. I’m hoping that because it didn’t dip below 32, we might be in luck and the air temperature wasn’t quite cold enough to burst the cell walls of the plants. I’m fearing that because the snow was so heavy it may have pulled the row cover, which was propped up by hoops, low onto the plants, letting the cold snow rest on (and maybe crush) the leaves of the plants. On Monday morning we will see!

New Pick Up Routine

Every CSA has a slightly different way of distributing their vegetables. Some CSAs box them for you and you have no choice in what you receive. Others let you pick some of your vegetables but require that you take others. Some CSAs apply no restrictions and offer a first come, first serve distribution.
In previous years we had a system of some choice, but not all choice, which proved to be much too complicated and resulted in certain items running out earlier than they were supposed to. This year we tried to simplify things, by only allowing choice and trades through a more diversified swap box. For week 25 (not this week, but next), we will be trying a trial run of a new system in a continued effort to find a system that works for both the farmers and the members.
The new idea is to put more diversity on the table, with item sizes for each vegetable written on the chalk board (for example, eggplant: 1lb). Smalls shares can pick any 6 items, and larges can pick any 12 items. In an effort to maintain diversity throughout the 5 hour pick up, smalls may not choose more than one item of any one vegetable, and larges can take one or two items of any one vegetable. For example, you won’t be able to take 6 (or 12) bunches of carrots (but larges can take two). My hope is that diversity in people’s preferences will be better met while maintaining a diverse pick-up table. If this sounds complicated, don’t fret, our trusty staff will be on hand to help you through it! Feedback can be offered in our end of the year survey, soon to come!