"In this food I see clearly the presence of the entire universe supporting my existence.".
- Thich Nhat Hanh

What’s in the box this week:

... and if you have an extra-fruit share:
Strawberries, Gala apples and pears

CALENDAR




Sat. Sep 21 - Fall Equinox Celebration,
3pm - 9pm

Sat. Oct 26 - Halloween Pumpkin U-Pick,
all day

Nov. 20/23 (Weds/Sat) ***Last box !***

Have we forgotten our natural sense of time? One aspect of a relaxing vacation is not to have to stress out about deadlines or schedules or feel constantly under the "time gun." A few weeks ago my watch ran out of batteries and I have not replaced them since. At first, without my watch I felt disoriented, being under the impression of constantly running late or missing something. Curiously enough, after a while my urge to constantly check the time diminished and I noticed I felt more comfortable trying to approximate the time of day or the time it takes to accomplish a certain task. In farming we seem to work with two measures of time, the more linear and chronological one, set by society, and nature’s time, which is more cyclical and seasonal. Plants and animals have what we call an internal clock which is tuned in with the seasons, the change in day length, temperature, moisture, and local growing conditions. At some level we (humans) also have this internal clock, which I believe is unique for each one of us. One way to tune in to this natural clock is to recognize and honor how we are affected with the changes in the season. Being part of a CSA you receive seasonal and locally grown foods, and this represents a small but very concrete way to tune in to nature’s time. With this in mind I want to remind you to mark your calendars to join us for our Fall Equinox Celebration on September 21, as a way to honor and recognize the change in season both within and all around us. - Tom

What's Up on the Farm
Growing Heirlooms is not old-fashioned. In recent years heirloom vegetables have increased in popularity as more and more people have discovered their interesting flavors, shapes, and colors. The heirloom tomatoes in your box this week are a tangible connection with the past. A little bit like fine old furniture and antique china, these plants of earlier generations draw us closer to those who have grown them before us. Thanks to a special breed of heirloom gardeners, who every fall gather seeds of plant cultivars grown in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, little bits of history stay alive with us from one season to the next. Heirlooms are not suited for large-scale production. They are interesting to backyard gardeners or small-scale farmers who cherish rich and unusual flavors, tenderness, beautiful colors and shapes, longer harvest periods and higher nutritional qualities. Some varieties may be less productive than today’s hybrids but may offer greater disease and insect resistance. Another and maybe more important reason to grow heirlooms is that they represent a vast and diverse pool of genetic characteristics. Growing more heirlooms means increasing the biodiversity on the farm and since they are open-pollinated, the seeds of these varieties can be saved. With the new organic laws it will become more important for farmers to grow crops from certified organically-grown seed, which currently are in very limited supply or non-existent commercially for many of the crops we grow. By growing open-pollinated plants we have the capability of saving many of our own organic seeds, and can avoid shortages and high costs of organic seed from commercial seed suppliers. In fact, saving our own seeds in the future not only gives us more independence, but we may also be able to improve the variety for better adaptability to our specific climate and growing conditions.


Crop of the Week
Baby turnips are the new item in our shares this week, so I thought people might like to know a little about them. I have excerpted a variety of useful info for you from the "Rolling Prairie Cookbook," and "From Asparagus and Zucchini." Both are CSA cookbooks. – Debbie
Turnips are a good source of vitamin C (particularly raw) and the minerals potassium and calcium. Turnip greens top the nutritional charts as an excellent source of vitamins A, C and B complex, and minerals potassium magnesium and calcium. Turnips are also one of the cruciferous vegetables believed to prevent cancer. Tender young turnips are delicious raw. When they are fresh and small they don't even need to be peeled. If your turnips come with tops attached (ours will!), separate them before storage. Treat the tops as you would any other perishable leafy vegetable – store loosely in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, don't wash them until you're ready to use them (actually I like to wash greens like this before storing, however I spin dry them well then store rolled in paper towels [then in a plastic bag] to wick away the water, which is, I'm sure, their concern. – Debbie). Consume the greens within a few days. The roots will keep in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator for about a week. Since they have a high water content, the roots will begin to lose water and shrivel if they are stored too long.

Notes from Debbie’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . Have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact the newsletter editor.

This is the first time Live Earth Farm has had turnips in its shares, so natu-rally I'll give you some turnip recipes! Also, a salsa recipe submitted by a CSA member. And more! - Debbie

Honey-Peppered Turnips
from Greene on Greens
Serves 4 to 6
(I have made this recipe before and really enjoyed it. – Debbie)

1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. honey
1 lb. turnips, peeled*, cut into 1/4" cubes
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Chopped fresh parsley

*remember if they're small, you probably don't need to do this! – Debbie

Melt the butter with the honey in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the turnips and pepper. Cook, covered, until tender, about 12 minutes. Add salt to taste and sprinkle with parsley.

Miscellaneous turnip preparation ideas
<> Many cookbooks suggest they are good mashed like potatoes, or with potatoes. So pull out your favorite mashed potatoes recipe and make it with half turnips, half potatoes (such as Tom's fingerlings).

<> As mentioned in Crop of the Week, try them raw! Slice or sliver them in salads or vegetable platters. Serve with a favorite dip.

<> Add turnips to stir-frys for a nice crunch and a perky flavor.

<> Bake 'em! Scrub and remove tops/tails from baby turnips and put in a baking pan with chunks of carrots, onions and potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees Funtil tender, about 45 minutes.

<> [from "The New Joy of Cooking"] Turnip greens are especially good cooked with other greens, like collards, in water flavored with salt pork or a ham bone. They are traditionally seasoned with sprinklings of oil, vinegar, hot sauce or ground red pepper, and sugar.

John Maschino's Muy Sabroso Salsa Fresca
12 of Tom's red tomatoes (2-3 inch dia.)
1 good-sized yellow onion
2 jalapeño peppers
2-3 cloves garlic (see note)
I bunch cilantro (leaves)
2 limes (juice)

Chop ingredients to suit. Add the lime juice and hand mix in a big bowl. For mild salsa - no pepper seeds (save them for next year's planting). For medium to hot salsa - carefully add pepper seeds. Tomatoes have their own salt, condiments are unnecessary. Cover bowl and let it sit in a cool place for about a hour. Serve with white corn chips.

Note from Debbie: In my experience it doesn't taste right to put garlic in salsa (this is an odd confession from a garlic-aholic!). But everyone's tastes are different, so I leave it to you cooks out there to make it both ways and see which you like best (John says he likes it either way, with or without garlic).

John's Ceviche variation: add more lime juice, some bay shrimp, chopped calamari, octopus, scallops and you've got a good ceviche! John's wife Wendy says that when she fished for lobsters off the Yucatan coast, lunch was a fresh caught lobster à là salsa fresca. (If you make this ceviche option, remember that you need to let the seafood 'cook' for several hours in the lime juice. Don't just stir it in and eat it right away. I don't mean that you cook it with heat – the acid of the citrus literally 'cooks' the seafood. Upon looking at other ceviche recipes of mine, I see marination times of 6 hours or overnight. - Debbie)

...and another recipe submitted by member Sue Burnham. She says she even made this with the purple potatoes!:

Potato Pancakes
from The Potato Cookbook
Serves 4 to 6

1 lb. potatoes, peeled
1/4 C very hot milk
1/2 C all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. dried mixed herbs
1/4 C heavy cream
corn oil, for cooking
salt and freshly ground black pepper
parsley sprig, for garnish

Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water until tender. Drain well, then mash until very smooth. Beat in the boiling milk and leave to cool completely. Using a wooden spoon, beat in the flour and eggs. Stir in the herbs and cream, and season with salt and pepper. Beat until very smooth – the mixture should resemble a thick batter. Heat oil in a large skillet and swirl it around. When it begins to give off a slight haze, drop in tablespoons of the batter, a little apart, and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Place pancakes in layers in a clean dry dish towel and keep warm in a preheated oven, 275 degrees F. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve pancakes very hot, garnished with parsley.
Sue says she served them with roasted red pepper salsa once, and another time with Thai roasted green salsa and yogurt..

*Click Here* for a link to a comprehensive listing of recipes from Live Earth Farm's newsletters going back as far as our 1998 season! You can search for recipes by harvest week OR by key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly.