Week 9, August 3, 2010

What delicious organic veggies are available this week at Valley Dream Farm?

In Your CSA Bag this week:
Potatoes
Beets w/ greens
Sweet Corn
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Broccoli
Cucumber
Cabbage ~ Arrowhead, Green or Nappa
Gold Chard
Lettuce
Tomato
Herb ~ Basil

Also at the Farm Stand
produced locally...*
Boyden Farm ~ beef
Maple Shade Farm ~ maple syrup
Twiss Hill Farm ~ whole chicken
Free range eggs
* These items are brought into our farm stand to give you a larger selection.

Recipes of the Week

Anne's Quick Cheese Sauce

News from the Field

Are you wishing you had a few more vegetables each week?

If a single share is not enough give us a call and we will be happy to upgrade you (on a pro-rated basis) to a regular size share. Additional items are always available for purchase in the farm store or you can pre-order and receiver with your regular delivery.

Organic means that we do not use any synthetic chemicals or insecticides on your vegetables. So the cute little white butterflies that you see in the fields are actually pests looking to lay their eggs on their favorite crops. We do our best to remove any pests but as a precautionary measure we recommend you use a pre-soak or wash for all vegetables. See instructions for broccoli below. Some years we have more pressure than others, and this year there are almost none.
When you buy broccoli at the market it has been treated for tiny inch worms. For organic farm fresh broccoli you should soak it in a large pan or sink of cool water with a 1/2 cup of salt and a weighted plate on top. Leave for 15 minutes. Any worms will fall to the bottom of the sink. Remove broccoli and rinse. Then store in a plastic bag in the coldest pat of the fridge.

Broccoli is very high in vitamin C and is always popular at our house. When sitting down to a family dinner one of the children would hold up a piece of broccoli on their fork and ask Farmer Joe, "Dad, what kind of tree is this?" He would only pause for a second and say, "Oh, that's a Peach tree", soon to be followed by another child questioning "Well, what about this one?" "Oh yes, that's an apple tree", he would say and so it would continue until all their plates were clean and all the broccoli was gone. Now the kids are in their 20's and every once in a while when broccoli is served one of them will ask him again what type of tree they are about to eat. As we all chuckle, he continues with a straight face and says, "Well, that looks like a pear tree to me."

A new movement called "Slow Food" has started. You and your family can join in by spending meal times together. Make some of your own silly memories. Your kids are guaranteed to never let you forget.

Enjoy your fresh organic vegetables.

Anne Tisbert