Meet the Farm Production Team

At Henry Got Crops Chris O’Brien, Matt Steuer and Nancy Anderson have joined me on the farm production team. Chris is a Biology and Environmental Science major from Temple University. He is from western Massachusetts. He has spent two seasons working on Community Cooperative Farm in Great Barrington, MA. Here he gained experience working at a vegetable CSA as well as working with grass-fed, pasture raised cows for dairy and meat production.

Matt is a Liberal Studies major from Portland State University. Matt has volunteered and studied at various farms throughout Oregon, both urban and rural. He has also toured multiple farms between Vancouver and California on an agricultural themed bike trip. Most recently he was volunteering at the well known City Slickers Farms in Oakland, CA. Nancy is a long time co-op member and resident of Philadelphia who joins us with a strong background in cartography and horticulture. She is a partner in a cartography and information design company called NaZa Designs. She manages the gardens at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church and was the market grower/farmer at Overbrook Herb Farm for six years.

I have been managing Henry Got Crops, in some shape or form, for four years now. I learned how to farm because I wanted to be more self sufficient. After only a few months of living on a farm in British Columbia, I fell in love with it and decided I wanted to be able to answer, “I farm”  when anyone asked the question, “what do you do?” Then I moved to Philadelphia to learn about what it was like to farm in a city. I thought I would stay for 8 months and leave. Then I fell in love with it and decided to stay for another, and another and another season. There seems to be a trend here- a previously undetermined path has unfolded into a passion and a lifestyle for me, one that I could not be happier about. I grew up in Vermont and have happily found a way to recreate a small town, country feeling in a big city.

Indian Saag with Collard Greens

Ingredients:

½ c butter

2 tsp cumin seed

1 green chile pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp tumeric

1 pound chopped fresh collard greens

1 pound chopped fresh spinach (or other green)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

Instructions:

In a large skillet or wok, melt butter over medium heat and cook and stir the cumin seed, chile pepper, garlic and turmeric until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Stir together the chopped greens a little bit at a time, adding the tougher parts first (the stems and thicker leaves). Continue to add greens and cook until all greens have been added and are thoroughly wilted. Stir in the cumin, coriander and salt. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until greens are tender, about 10 minutes, adding water as needed to keep the greens moist.

Serve with rice.

Source:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/indian-saag/

Gingery Sauteed Tat Soi with Tofu Steaks

4 Servings, Prep/Cook Time: 20 min.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp soy sauce

¼ tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp lime juice

2 tsp minced fresh ginger

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

6 oz fresh firm tofu cut into “steaks”

1 tbsp sesame oil, divided

2 small bunches tat soi (can also include flowers)

1-2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Instructions:

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients from soy sauce to cayenne pepper In a large skillet over medium heat, add 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Add tofu steaks and cook for 5-7 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove from skillet. Add remaining 1 tsp sesame oil to skillet; add tat soi; once wilted add sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook just until sauce slightly thickens. Divide greens on plates. Top with half of the tofu. Drizzle with remaining sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Source:

http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2009

/05/what-is-tat-soi.html

 

Sauteed Hakurei Turnips with Greens

4 Servings, Prep/Cook Time: 10 min.

Ingredients:

2 bunches Hakurei Turnips with greens

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Instructions:

Trim the stems and root ends from the turnips. Rinse and cut into ½ inch cubes. Set aside. Trim most of the stems from the greens; compost. Wash the leafy greens, drain, and cut into 2-3 inch pieces. Set aside.

In a sauté pan over high heat, melt the butter with the oil. Add the turnips and season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook without stirring for 2 minutes, until lightly browned on 1 side. Turn and cook on another side for 2 more minutes, without stirring until lightly browned. Turn again and cook 1 more minute. Add the greens and cook, stirring, until wilted and bright green, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Source:

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/southernrecipes/sides/Story.aspx?id=1313318

Edible Flowering Greens

This week’s share will include some edible flowering greens that you might not see at your local farmers market or grocery store. Bok choi, tat soi and hon stai tai are all Asian greens that like cool weather and are grown in the spring and fall. In Asia, these are purposefully grown until they flower and are prized for their delicate, sweet flowers and buds. Typically in the US they are harvested before they flower. With the strangely hot and dry spring, many of our Asian greens are ahead of schedule and are already flowering. Typically this doesn’t happen until the temperature really climbs in June. Rather than selling them to the public a few weeks ago before they flowered and having a smaller share this week for the CSA, I decided to hold on to them and keep them for you. I hope everyone enjoys an old favorite in a new, beautiful form! I recommend eating the leaves cooked or raw, and using the flowers as an addition to a salad or garnish a stir fry with chicken or fish.

Other New Additions at the Farm

Henry Got Crops is just one part of the larger Saul High School farm. Spring is a busy time in all the fields, not just the vegetable field. In addition to welcoming new shareholders to the farm, we are happy to welcome a few dozen baby calves and lambs to the farm!

Welcome New and Returning Shareholders!

Welcome to the Henry Got Crops! CSA. This is our fourth season and every spring brings a new sense of excitement, curiosity, nervousness and ambition. I’m excited to meet new members and introduce you to Saul High School and our little farming world on Henry Ave. I’m curious about new varieties and systems I’m trying for the first time. I’m nervous about the weather and people’s reactions to new vegetables. Was the warm spring an indication of a record setting hot summer to come? Will shareholders like the okra? Did I plant enough, or too much? I’m also always ambitious when it comes to new projects and expectations-  but this is what keeps us reaching for the sky! I will plant an orchard! I will keep the grass mowed in my pathways when the students aren’t around to help! I will outsmart the groundhogs! I will raise money for our equipment and grant-funded education programs!

         As always, I have a fantastic team that has been working hard since April to make sure everything is precisely ready for this first week.  Clare and I both have our largest team of interns this year, which has already made a huge difference. Perhaps it’s just all the sunny weather we have had, but I really think this is the best the farm has ever looked in May! Over the next few weeks I’ll be sure to introduce you to this invaluable crew that is working closely with Clare and I this year.

         One aspect of this spring that feels different is its anticlimactic arrival, a result of the strange winter we had. It really wasn’t a winter at all (especially by my standards, having grown up in Vermont!) and I spent more time on the farm during the winter than ever before. My coworker from the other Weavers Way Farm, Rick, and I harvest biweekly from our hoophouses (greenhouse-like plastic structures) and sold more winter produce to the Weavers Way stores than ever before. The flip side of a warm, productive winter is the potential for increased pest and disease pressure during the summer. Many of these pests likely did not die over the winter like usual.  Cabbage moths and harlequin beetles have unfortunately been spotted on the farm much earlier than usual this year!

         The most energizing part of this week is thinking about how our farming community is always growing and strengthening with new and returning members and Saul students. Growing this much food in the city is a unique accomplishment. Growing at a public high school is a unique accomplishment. Having over 100 members from the immediate community take a short commute to visit the land from which they are eating is a unique accomplishment.  Although challenging, I cannot think of a better job for me and I thank all of you for supporting this educational farm and making it possible!