Zenger Farm Shares Registration Is Open

Killdeer eggs.

Snapshots of Spring settling in at Zenger Farm:

School groups explore the wetland and nibble on kale raab.

Killdeer birds nest in the fields.

Baby chicks move unbelievably fast and then fall asleep instantly, in their food dish, under the heat lamp.

 

A share of the harvest…coming soon!

Tender green garlic shoots lead in the growth charts, but sugar snap peas and fava beans are close behind.

In the greenhouse, kale, lettuce, onions, leeks, and tomatoes get a jump-start on the season.

We invite you to eat your share of the harvest this season by becoming a member of Zenger Farm Shares.

Find out more.

November 9th, 2012: The Final Share

This Week’s Share: Brussels Sprout Tops Winterbor Kale Parsley Rosemary Onions Celeriac Baby Beets Potatoes Cayenne Peppers Mixed Sweet Peppers Acorn Squash Spaghetti Squash Pie Pumpkins Choose-your-own Bob’s!
Announcements: Brussels Sprout Tops: The tops of the brussels sprout plants can be removed to allow more energy to go into developing stalks and their sprouts. These tops – stems and leaves both – are delicious and can be used like collard greens. Zenger Farm Shares 2013: Returning members will have early sign-up priority for next year’s share of the harvest. We will be in touch this Winter, so stay tuned…
Field Notes from Farmer Sara: Lil’ Celeriac Can it be? The last farm share pick-up of the season already?! It’s true, we’re here. And I want to thank you all for eating your vegetables. You, our members, together, ate 385 lbs of beans, 484 bunches of kale, 726 lbs of summer squash, 1,430 lbs of tomatoes, and 1,600 lbs of winter squash, to name just a few! The cold morning today felt like Fall should, crisp, cloudy, with passing showers here and there. With our final farm share harvest of the season, the fields have given almost all they have to give. Bawk Choi Rooster But like Bryan said, the garlic reminds us that it will all start again – planted three weeks ago, the garlic sprouts are about 4 inches high today. And just before lunch, we moved the chickens to the eggplant field to clean up and deliver nutrients for next year’s crop of…carrots. From your Zenger Farmers, we wish you a warm and cozy Winter, and hope to see you back at the farm for more veggies in 2013!
In the Kitchen with Farmer Sara: Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie: (From http://www.simplyrecipes.com)  2 cups of pumpkin pulp purée 1 1/2 cup heavy cream or 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/3 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest 1 good crust Make Pumpkin Puree: Cut pumpkin in half, scrape out seeds (rinse seeds, roast, and snack on while baking!), lay cut side of pumpkin down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until fork tender, about an hour to an hour and a half. Remove from oven, let cool, scoop out the pulp. If you want the pulp to be extra smooth, put it through a food mill. Make Pie: Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix sugars, salt, and spices, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the bowl. Stir in the pumpkin purée. Stir in cream. Whisk all together until well incorporated. Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. Top with whipped cream of course. And enjoy!

November 2nd, 2012: Farewell Farm Crew 2012

This Week’s Share: Leeks Collard Greens Chard Parsley Baby Carrots Parsnips Sweet Pepper Mix Green Peppers Hot Peppers Delicata Winter Squash Butternut Winter Squash Bulgar Wheat (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Last Pick-up of the Season: Next week Friday, November 9th, is the last Farm Share pick-up of 2012. Please note, pick-up will be in the Farmhouse, from 4-6pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
Field Notes from Farmer Robert: Harvest tools all cleaned up. The rains have returned to Portland. Tuesday’s harvest was sopping wet, and even though most of the farm crew was dressed in plastics all day, we all ended up wet by the end. Thinking about how lucky we’ve been through September and even most of October, it seems that we deserve a bit of rain at this point. But it’s so hard to say goodbye to the sunshine of yesterday. Caylor has been wearing a red, baseball cap that reads, “Finish Strong,” and I must admit, that is how I feel about it. With such a great season behind us, and a good start for next season already in the ground and in the barn, I feel the only way to finish is to finish strong. Clean all the bins. Roll all the hoses. Fold all the sheets. And even though the rains have come, I’ll take with me my memories to be my sunshine after the rain: Farm Crew 2012 The warmth of the fields and the dry air. The resistance of the soil and even the rocks underfoot. The baby Narragansett turkeys with tiger stripes on their heads, just learning to fly. Tag-team constructing the new chicken coop. Renovation and innovation. And that’s the thing about this kind of work, when you do it mindfully, you can get better every year. The lessons we farmers learned this year was the fruition of the groundwork set by the discoveries of the farmers of the past. In turn, our discoveries will hope to feed the creativity of the future and whatever improvements we’ve made, will perhaps in turn be improved upon next year, and the next. This is it for Farm Crew 2012. The close of our final week. Nothing left to do but tip our hats and bid farewell. Don’t worry though, you’ll still have a final farm share on November 9th, but Serena, Caylor, and I will leave the harvest to Bryan and Sara. I like to think, however, that even if we’re not in the fields, we’ll always be your farmers.
In the Kitchen…will be back next week.

October 26, 2012: Keeping your food safe to eat

Don’t fret, Andrea! There’s instructions on celeriac in the announcements and a recipe at the bottom! This Week’s Share: Lettuce Lacinato Kale Onions Pumpkin (Happy Halloween!) Acorn Squash Baby Beets and their greens Baby Celeriac Hot Peppers Sweet Peppers Fennel Sage Pinto Beans (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Pumpkins: The pumpkins are a cooking/pie variety, but some of them grew  larger than the traditional pie pumpkin. We’re offering the larger ones this week in case you want to use yours for Halloween. Celeriac: Celeriac is a vegetable related to celery. The bulb is the part usually eaten; however, this year, the bulbs just aren’t growing very much so we’re giving you the whole plant. Probably the best thing to do with it is to chop the whole thing up (bulb, roots and leaves) and make a soup stock. I’ve included a simple soup stock recipe at the end of this message.
Field Notes from Farmer Caylor: Caylor works to keep the bins clean, and your food safe. Aaaachooo! Cold season is here, and boy do I have one. Today is Tuesday, and I’m writing my last blog post to you, in jammies with a steaming cup of peppermint tea. The radio is on, and the program I’m listening to just happens to be focused on farms, food safety and the Food and Drug Administration’s outsourcing of inspections to private firms. Small farmers and large wholesale operators both get in on the discussion. You can listen here http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5&prgDate=10-23-2012 . I bring all this up to let you know that Zenger has its own food safety plan, and my not harvesting vegetables while sick is just one part of it. We want our food to be safe as well as healthy so that means we continuously was our hands when handling produce (your food!), keep our harvest tools and containers clean, strive to keep geese out of our fields, and inspect our vegetables in the field and in the wash station for contamination. No system is foolproof, but we care about our members and food we grow, and work to make sure that the food we offer you is safe – and delicious. We planted some winter forage for our chickens in the tomato house. It’ll be like a tropical vacation for them in December! We interns have one week to go, and we’re putting things away for the season. The irrigation lines are rolled up and waiting at the bottom of the barn. We’ve scraped off the mud from our weeding tools, and composted the last of summer’s tomatoes. But farming is a circle, and when one part of the work comes to an end, something else is beginning. Cover crops are sprouting in the fields to protect the soil from the rain and add nutrients for healthier crops. We planted nine beds of garlic last week, and under the floating row covers, you’ll find beets and carrots that could provide one of our first harvests for members in 2013. So even as we wrap up our 2012 season, Zenger is already looking toward a new growing season.
In the Kitchen with Farmer Caylor: Vegetable Stock: adapted from The Joy of Cooking.  1 tablespoon of vegetable oil or butter 1/2 cup finely chopped onions with skin 1 cup diced celeriac 1/4 cup chopped carrots 1/4 cup chopped turnips 1/4 cup chopped parsnips 1/2 teaspoon salt 3-4 sprigs of parsley herbs of your choice like bay, thyme, rosemary red, black or white pepper Heat the oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the remainder of the ingredients, stirring until softened. Add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, partially cover, and simmer about 1 1/2 hours or until the vegetables are very tender. Strain, pressing down on the vegetables, and cool uncovered. Refrigerate covered, and skim off the fat before using.

October 19th, 2012: Planting Garlic

Jimmy Nardello sweet pepper This Week’s Share: Collard Greens Turnip Greens Lettuce Parsley Chives Carrots Parsnips “Ugly” Eggplant Sweet Pepper Mix Jalapeno Peppers Cayenne Peppers Kabocha Winter Squash Spaghetti Squash Spelt Berries (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: “Ugly” Eggplant: Don’t be confused, this is not an unusual variety of specialty squash, it is the Orient Express eggplant at the end of its season, and it is decidedly UGLY. But the marring is mostly superficial, and this eggplant will cook up very tasty. Storing Eggplant for Winter: Eggplant is one of the easiest summer veggies to store for the Winter months. Simply cut up into pieces – whatever size you’d like to use eventually – and place in a plastic bag in the freezer. No cooking or other prepping required. Eggplant thaws well and is a great reminder of summer in your curry or stir fry as the Winter rains come down.
Field Notes from Farmer Bryan: Short days and rain can get me down thinking about the end of our main growing season at the farm. But then we plant garlic and I’m reminded that it’s only temporary. I love the taste of garlic and it’s an interesting plant to grow. I could really ramble on about garlic, but I just want to share with you our garlic experience at Zenger. We take a break from the rain, go inside, and break apart heads of garlic (about 75 pounds) into cloves. And during a sunny fall day, we carefully mark our field with measuring tape so that we end up with straight, easy-to-weed rows of plants. Then, we poke holes in the ground, 6,300 to be exact! And in each hole we drop a clove of garlic, right-side up so that the root growing tip points down and the leaf growing tip points up. And they’ll stay tucked into the soil for nine months before each clove grows into a new head of garlic, dry and ready for harvest in July when the days will be long and sunny. Thanks for the reminder, garlic!
In the Kitchen with Farmer Sara: Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash: (From Smitten Kitchen) 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) spaghetti squash 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1/8 teaspoon cayenne 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley Roasting Squash: Two methods: If you’d like to roast the squash whole, pierce it all over with a small sharp knife to prevent bursting and bake at 375°F for one hour. Remove from oven,  carefully halve it lengthwise (it will give off a lot of steam), and remove the seeds. Alternately, if you are good with a big, sharp knife, you can save some time by cutting the squash in half, lengthwise, before baking, scooping out the seeds, and roasting the halves face-down in an oiled baking pan for about 40 minutes at 375°F. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is barely golden. Stir in spices and salt and remove from heat. Working over a bowl, scrape squash flesh with a fork, loosening and separating strands as you remove it from skin. Toss with the spiced butter and cilantro. Oven Roasted Kabocha Squash: (From Tiny Urban Kitchen) 1 kabocha squash 1/4 tsp salt pepper (to taste) 2 T vegetable oil Carefully cut up one kabocha squash into 1-cm thick slices. Optional: You can remove the skin, but there is really no need to remove it.  It’s totally edible and is quite soft and tasty once roasted. Lay the pieces in one layer on a pan.  Drizzle with vegetable oil (enough to lightly cover – about 2 tablespoons) and toss until all sides of the squash are covered with some oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss, and then roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Pureed Oven Roasted Kabocha Squash…if interested, continue below to puree your roasted squash Mash up roasted squash (prepared above) with a fork. Not necessary to remove skin for puree either, but is an optional step.

October 12th, 2012: First Rain

This Week’s Share: Hakurei Turnip Hakurei Turnips Lettuce Winterbor Kale Green Tomatoes Sweet Red Peppers Cayenne Peppers Jalapeno Peppers Delicata Winter Squash Yukon Gold Potatoes Onions Rosemary Brown Rice (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Hakurei Turnips: These Japanese “spring” turnips are refreshingly different from their cousins, the traditional purple-top-type storage turnips. Hakurei turnips are delicious raw – sweet and juicy, crisp and tender. The turnip greens are very flavorful too, raw or lightly cooked with the roots. Delicata Winter Squash: Delicata is an heirloom variety squash with thin skin that can be eaten right along with the sweet, golden meat of the squash. A simple, tasty way to prepare delicata is to half, scoop out the seeds, slice into 1/2 inch half-moons, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and bake…more winter squash roasting tips below, “In the Kitchen.” Green Tomatoes: If green tomatoes are new to you, check out a few simple recipe ideas, below.
Field Notes from Farmer Serena: October has arrived, and with it the fall we have all been anticipating. Mornings on the farm have been foggy and cool. Winter squash harvest is in and irrigation lines keep coming out. With the chilly nights, and now rain, the tomato plants have done all that they can do – at left, we are taking tomatoes down and out of the greenhouse to make way for a cover crop of crimson clover, which will feed the soil, and then feed chickens, which will feed the soil; almost as many fields are tilled and seeded with cover crop as are still in production. The season is coming to a close. But not to worry, there are still many yummy fall crops waiting to go home with you on Fridays throughout this month and into the next. For us interns the season ends on November 2nd. Inevitably, I find myself looking back at the season. The slow and steady beginning on those chilly April mornings – seeding trays, direct seeding fields, learning how to plant a straight row of crops, and to do so efficiently. We love frogs! With the arrival of warmth and sunnier days, we picked up the pace – transplanting, seeding and weeding, endlessly weeding. Days and weeks flew by and the rhythm of the farm and the daily tasks felt comfortable, and though it may have felt like we never quite caught up, it all felt do-able. Even the 100-degree days of “hell week”, our 50-hour work week, it didn’t always feel hellish. There were moments I enjoyed, dipping my feet in the spring down by the wetlands, for one. Does that count as work? I guess I can’t deny that I really enjoy this work. Perhaps it got under my skin. It definitely got under my nails. This being my last post of the season I’d like to thank all of you for making it possible for me to be here, and for contributing to this amazing experience I’ve had. This farm wouldn’t be possible without each of you being a part of it. Thank you! I look forward to seeing you at pick up over the next few weeks.
In the Kitchen with Farmer Sara: Fried Green Tomatoes: (From Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) 4 medium green (unripe) tomatoes 3/4 cup fine cornmeal 3-4 Tbs vegetable oil salt and pepper Slice tomatoes 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. Press each piece into a plate of cornmeal to coat well on both sides. Heat oil in a wide skillet over high heat until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. Add the tomatoes, reduce heat to medium, and fry on both sides until golden. Remove and place on a plate, season with salt and pepper to taste. Flash-Pickled Green Tomatoes: (From http://www.foodandwine.com) 3/4 cup water 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar 4 teaspoons kosher salt 1 tablespoon sugar Freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon minced rosemary 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 pound green tomatoes, cored and sliced crosswise 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick In a small saucepan, combine water, vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let the pickling liquid cool to room temperature, then add pepper, rosemary, and garlic. Layer the sliced tomatoes in a 1-quart glass jar and cover with the pickling liquid. Let stand at room temperature for 3 hours, then store in the refrigerator. Step 3 Baked Winter Squash: (From Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)A practical approach to preparing winter squash for any number of uses. Cut squash in half, then scoop out the seeds and fibers (save seeds for roasting if desired, instructions below). Brush the cut surfaces of the squash with a thin film of oil and set the squash, cut side down, on a sheet pan. Bake at 375 degrees until flesh is easy to pierce through with a fork, about 30-45 minutes. Place upright, season with salt and pepper, a tad of butter and serve. Or, scoop out the flesh, mash it with butter and return to shell. Or, scoop out the flesh, and use it to make a puree, soup, or pie filling. Roasted Winter Squash Seeds: Just like roasted pumpkin seeds on Halloween! Rinse seeds and drain. Toss with a little oil, sprinkle with salt, spread thinly on a cookie sheet and roast until toasted-looking at 375 degrees.

October 5th, 2012: Evolving Chores

This Week’s Share: A Bee’s “Farm Share”: Honey. Butternut Squash Parsnips Beets Garlic Leeks Heirloom Tomato Mix Sweet Peppers Green Pepper Mix Cayenne Peppers Chard Sage Parsley Apples and Asian Pears Red Lentils (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Truckloads O’ Winter Squash: The Butternut Squash in your share this week is just a hint of what’s to come. On Thursday we harvested 5 truckloads of Butternut, Delicata, Acorn, Kabocha, Spaghetti Squash, and pumpkins! The weather was perfect, sunny and dry, as we descended with clippers to remove the squash fruits from squash stems and leaves, now withered and dry. After the clipping came the tossing of squash, and gentle catching, and stacking into the truck, and then unstacking at the greenhouse onto long tables for drying and curing. In a week or two, these squash will be stacked again into boxes and into the barn for storage over the Winter. Butternut squash soup anyone? See recipe below…
Field Notes from Farmer Robert: Evolving chores. One thing I wanted to happen at the beginning of this growing season was that I would become more aware of how the work changes with time – enriching what I already knew from what the fields would show me. Spring is for planting, but so is late Summer. Summer is for harvest, but so is early Fall. With all the planting and harvesting, moving sprinkler lines and chickens, the day-to-day operations of the farm really take up all day. Last week, for what seemed like the first time in ages, we had time to weed a field of carrots which desperately needed it. That project has continued into this week and while the number of fields in production is slowly shrinking as we prepare more fields for the plow and Winter cover-crop, the list of fields that need weeding is still hefty, but not discouraging. Thanks to the bees…Pears. So early Fall is for Harvest, and weeding. And Winter is for chores. I always like to think that Winter is the time a farmer gets to sit next to the fire-place and sharpen tools or make permanent changes to the physical space (adding shelves and hooks; removing trash and useless things) that will make the next year more efficient, or even more fun. As a forester, before being a farmer, every season was for weeding. Some seasons were better for certain weeds than others, but it was all-year weeding. Maybe my romantic image of the pastoral life is a bit hopeful – shaggy dog gnawing on a bone on a rug next to a crackling fire while the file in my hand sings a sharper note to the hoe than any other loving Winter lullaby. Or maybe it’s just a dream ripe for being born into life-like a peach tree’s delicate sprout, springing forth from a stone, warmed by the earth turning its face just that much closer to the sun. This week, I have taken shotgun next to Sara to practice-up for taking the reigns as manager next week. So far, it feels good to broaden my scope and learn to look at the farm and the projects as a cohesive whole, rather than just putting my nose to the grind stone and taking things one assignment at a time. Adding to our list of un-sung heroes – here’s to the bosses.
In the Kitchen with Smitten Kitchen: Winter Squash Soup: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1 large onion (or 5 tiny onions or 3 leeks) finely chopped 4 garlic cloves (or 8 tiny cloves), chopped 6 cups broth (veggie, chicken, other…) 1 butternut squash (approx 4 lbs) 1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme 1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh sage 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 cup whipping cream Halve squash and scoop out seeds. Lightly coat squash with oil, and roast on a baking sheet at 425 degrees until soft. When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop flesh out of skin, and set aside. Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, roasted squash and herbs; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Return soup to same pot. Stir in cream and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.