Thank You! Volunteer Day and Potluck

What an amazing turn out for the volunteer day and potluck on Saturday! This was definitely our most well attended volunteer day ever! And thank goodness, because we had a Herculean task of weeding the parsnips! Imagine a sea of green, now imagine you have to find a needle in a hay stack, and now imagine the CSA parsnip harvest depended on it- that was the task that everyone was up to on Saturday. And we succeeded; the parsnips are now looking better than ever! Thank you to everyone who squatted, crouched, and knelt alongside those parsnips for hours! And also a big thank you to Blaise who is a long standing shareholder, and showed up with his own weed wacker to tackle a multi-year project of clearing the fenceline. To celebrate a successful day of work, we all shared a feast at the picnic tables and enjoyed a beautiful summer evening on the farm.

Be sure to mark your calendars now for our next volunteer day,Saturday July 12th from 9:30 to 3:30 at our beautiful farm in theAwbury Arboretum. If you haven’t been to this farm, this is a great opportunity to come and check it out.

Italian White Bean and Mustard Green Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound dried giant white beans, such as gigante, Corona, or lima
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 onion, finely chopped (1 1/4 cups)
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds mustard greens, washed well and stems removed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick strips
5 thyme sprigs
5 flat-leaf parsley sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 Parmesan cheese rind (about 1 by 4 inches; optional), plus freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling
2 quarts water
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup farroeces, then shredded lengthwise into thin sticks

Directions:
STEP 1:

Place beans in a large bowl, cover with 2 inches cold water; let soak overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse beans. (Or quick-soak them: Boil beans 1 minute, then let them sit off heat, covered, 1 hour.)

STEP 2:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are golden brown in places, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and greens to pot, and cook, stirring frequently, until greens wilt, about 2 minutes.

STEP 3:
Tie together thyme, parsley, and bay leaves with kitchen twine, and add to pot along with beans, Parmesan rind, and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, transfer to oven, and braise 1 hour.

STEP 4:
Remove from oven, and stir in 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cover, return to oven, and braise until beans are tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

STEP 5:
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add farro, and cook until grains are tender and begin to split, about 25 minutes. Drain.

STEP 6:
Divide farro among 6 bowls, and ladle soup over farro. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and drizzle with oil. Soup and farro can be refrigerated in separate containers 2 days; let cool completely before refrigerating. Gently reheat together in a covered pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

http://www.marthastewart.com/953648/italian-white-bean-and-mustard-greens-soup

Braised Leeks with Mustard Greens

Ingredients:
4 leeks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups washed, dried and chopped mustard greens
2 tablespoons chicken broth, or as needed
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Trim leeks so that about 1 1/2 inches of green leaves remain, and slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Separate leaves and pull the leeks apart to rinse away any dirt and sand in the layers, then chop leeks into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the leeks until they begin to separate and soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in mustard greens, and pour in enough chicken broth to just cover the bottom of the pan and prevent leeks from browning. Cook the leeks and mustard greens until the greens turn bright green and start to soften, another 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/braised-leeks-and-mustard-greens/

Curried Mustard Greens with Chick Peas

Many people see Mustard Greens in their share and have no idea where to start cooking. This week's newsletter recipes are dedicated to the delicious green!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. melted butter, ghee, coconut, or olive oil (Always use the highest quality butter, coconut oil, and olive oil you can find)
2 medium onions, chopped
½ tsp. ground cumin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bunch mustard greens (about 0.65 to 0.75 lbs)
1 Tbsp. mild curry powder
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. (or to taste) ground red pepper or red pepper flakes
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ to 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock or water or a combination.
About 15 oz. cooked chickpeas
About 14 oz. diced tomatoes, with juice
½ tsp. (or to taste) sea salt

Directions:

Heat in a large skillet:  2 Tbsp. melted butter, ghee, coconut, or olive oil.

Next add: 2 medium onions, chopped, ½ tsp. ground cumin, 4 cloves garlic, minced 

Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the onions are softened, about 5 min.

Stir in:

1 large bunch mustard greens (about 0.65 to 0.75 lbs), washed, trimmed the largest part of the stem end, and chopped.  It’s not necessary to remove all the stems.
Cook until wilted, about 5 min.

Stir in:

1 Tbsp. mild curry powder
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. (or to taste) ground red pepper or red pepper flakes
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ to 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock or water or a combination.

Bring just to a boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer and add:

About 15 oz. cooked chickpeas
About 14 oz. diced tomatoes, with juice
½ tsp. (or to taste) sea salt
Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring often, until the greens are tender, about 12 minutes.  This dish becomes even tastier if it sits in the refrigerator overnight and the flavors have time to meld and blend.  Reheat gently on the stove top, never in a microwave oven.

http://www.lickrun.org/mustard/

Raffled Shares

Every week one lucky Weavers Way staff member and one lucky Saul student or teacher are the recipients of our raffled shares. This is a way we can introduce members of our immediate communities to the CSA and say thank you for their involvement. Last week Saul English teacher Julie Steiner picked up her share on Friday and even bought extra transplants from the farm stand for her home garden. One of our regular shareholders couldn’t pick up their share on Friday so Farm Education Coordinator Tara Campbell selected a Saul student who had shown exceptional motivation on the farm that week to take home this donated share. Ian, who is in the 10th grade was staying late after school to help plant tomatoes in the raised beds when Tara asked who liked to cook in his house and if he wanted to take the vegetables home. He proudly responded that he was the cook in the house and was thrilled to have fresh ingredients from school to bring home.

Working Share Members

One of the exciting parts of having the CSA start is that the Working Shareholders also start! We have some people who work on a weekly basis, and others who do a few hours here and there throughout the season. This year we have over 30 people helping out on a weekly basis, which is over 60 hours of happy helping hands! On our farms we rely heavily on volunteers, both out of necessity and by design. We are educational farms and that encompasses the involvement of community members like you. This concept will sound familiar if you made it to one of our orientation meetings and heard field manager Hannah explain that we take “Community Supported Agriculture” literally, as opposed to “community financed agriculture.” Your fellow shareholders are helping harvest the lettuce that goes in your share, weed-whack the grass in the pathways, restock the bins at the CSA pick-up, and even format this newsletter. Having this alternative tier of labor is imperative to getting the job done, and we could never do it without you! Plus, it also keeps our jobs interesting! We get to know the people eating the vegetables we are growing, and that builds a stronger community. In truth, Hannah and Emma are full time farmers as well as part time volunteer coordinators!  We look forward to working with you as the season unfolds.

Driveway Safety!

As I am sure everyone has noticed pulling out of our driveway and trying to turn left is precarious. Please consider only turning right out of our driveway. This creates an extra step if you are trying to go south on Henry Ave. (you can turn around at the next break in the Henry Ave median, where there is a turning lane to enter the school's driveway), but it is much safer!