September 28th, 2012: Still Learning, Still Growing

This Week’s Share: Heirloom Tomato Mix Diva Cucumbers Eggplant Mix Jalapeno Peppers Jimmy Nardello Peppers Sweet Corn Fingerling Potatoes Carrots Winterbor Kale Lil’ Gem Lettuce Garlic Mini Red Onions Thyme Plums Black Beans (Bob’s Red Mill)
Field Notes from Farmer Caylor: Different from other farms that have similar farm share programs (sometimes referred to as CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture), a central mission of Zenger Farm is education. Whether it’s teaching enthusiastic fifth graders about farming (sixty a day, almost every day this week!) or educating all of us how to cook foods that may be less familiar (hello, fennel!), a lot of teaching and learning happens around here and your farm interns are no exception. Our newest challenge is stepping into Sara’s shoes for two weeks and learning to be farm manager – a little like a final farm exam. Serena wraps up her two weeks as manager today. She’s had a busy week organizing work for the farm crew, deciding what to harvest and more. She might be a little tired. I know I will be as I take on the task next week. As for the growing part, a little bit of summer is lingering in the fields even though fall is officially here. Corn is still growing in our field across the wetland, and the Diva variety of cucumbers are hanging in there even though the mornings are chilly. We still have tomatoes, but a peek into the field will tell you that they are on their way out. As Sara mentioned in her last post, with fall comes kale and collards, along with celery root and more! The pumpkins and other winter squash are curing in the fields, nearly ready for harvest, and this week we dug the last of the potatoes. We will be closely rationing the potatoes through the rest of the season because underground voles ate about half of the potato harvest from their cozy tunnels underground. Just so you know, the fingerling potatoes seem to be a favorite of these burrowing omnivores. I’ll close with another farm critter, but one that brings delight, not frustration – the pacific chorus frog. I know Robert included a picture of one in his last post, but this little chorus frog looked so regal this morning sitting on a sprinkler head, I had to share the picture with you. So here it is, your frog-of-the-week photo. Enjoy your veggies!
In the Kitchen Tomato-Basil Tart: (From Caprial Cooks for Friends, by Caprial Pence) Contributed by Guest Chef: Peggy Acott, Farm Share Member & Zenger Farm Board Member   Roasted Garlic 1 head garlic 2 T extra-virgin olive oil   Peggy’s Tomato Tart To roast the garlic: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Slice about ¼ inch off the top of the garlic head to expose the cloves, and discard. Drizzle the garlic with the olive oil and wrap tightly in foil. Roast until soft, 40-50 minutes. Squeeze each clove to remove the roasted garlic from the papery outer layer. Roasted garlic will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. Roasted Garlic Crust 2 cups flour 1 head roasted garlic Pinch salt 1 cup unsalted butter, diced To prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the flour, roasted garlic, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, add the butter, a few pieces at a time, through the feed tube, and process until a dough forms on top of the blades. (this can also simply be done by mashing with the back of a fork and then form with your hands. Food processor is just quicker). Press the dough into a well-greased 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake just until the crust is set, 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely. Tomato-Basil Filling ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 cup chopped fresh basil 11-12 oz soft, mild goat cheese 1 tsp chopped fresh Italian parsley 4 eggs Salt & pepper Tomatoes (1-2 large heirloom, or up to 8 smaller varieties), thinly sliced.   To prepare the filling: Sprinkle about ½-cup of the Parmesan cheese over the bottom of the crust, and then sprinkle the basil over it. In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, parsley and eggs, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the goat cheese mixture over the basil. Arrange the tomato slices on top, overlapping slightly, then top with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake about 30-35 minutes, the cheese will be melted and maybe slightly golden, the tomatoes soft. Let cool 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature. Early Fall Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Stew From Regular Chef Contributor: Andrew Harmon “Sometimes I cook with recipes, but more often than not I’m simply reaching into the fridge and seeing what I can make.  Here’s a simple fall stew that will work well with whatever your fall farm share has to offer.” – Andrew Black Beans: To begin, cook your Bob’s Red Mill black beans according to the directions on the package.  If you’re planning well in advance, an overnight soak of the beans is highly recommended. Once your beans are within an hour of being done, begin the other steps of the recipe, as follows: Roasted Veggies: Preheat your over to 425°F. Begin by chopping your heartier vegetables into 1” pieces for roasting.  These may include carrots, potatoes, eggplant and onion.  Most vegetables are best roasted by halving them down the middle first, then chopping them into the 1” pieces (the onion may be simply cut in half for roasting and then further cut once it’s done; I find this helps contain the flavors a little better).   Place all veggies in a bowl and toss lightly in 1-2 tbsp. olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Spread evenly on a cookie sheet or glass roasting pan and place in oven.  Set a timer for 30 minutes. Now gather any remaining (lighter) veggies you’d like to use, such as your jalapeños, sweet Jimmy Nardello peppers, garlic and tomatoes.  Cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and stem.  Peel the garlic and crush lightly.  Place peppers and garlic in a bowl and lightly toss in olive oil. Cut tomatoes in half and use a spoon to lightly de-seed them so mainly the meat of the tomato remains.  Spread evenly on a cookie sheet or roasting dish and lightly season with salt and pepper.  Place in oven when 15 minutes remains on the timer.  Remove the other veggies and move them around a little, then put them back in the oven for the remainder of the 30 minutes. Once your timer goes off, check your veggies to make sure they’re done. Your eggplant should be soft and mushy, carrots and potatoes should be tender and easily poked with a fork, peppers should be soft and beginning to char around the edges and tomatoes should be steaming happily. Quickly chop the tomatoes, peppers and garlic into smaller pieces (but don’t worry about going too small, it is a stew!).  Combine all veggies in a soup pot and top with an equivalent amount of cooked black beans, as well as their broth.  Hold at med-low heat, if necessary. Season your stew as you like with fresh thyme and dried Mexican oregano or with spices such as cumin, coriander, chili powder and paprika.  Garnish with sour cream, cooked chicken or any vegetarian or vegan alternatives, and even some corn tortillas or tortilla chips.  Happy Fall!

September 21st, 2012: Fall Begins

Collard greens and celery root, on the menu soon. This Week’s Share: Leeks Corn on the Cob Dragon Tongue Beans Beets Heirloom Tomato Mix Slicing Cukes Lemon Cukes Eggplant Rainbow Chard Green Peppers Green Cayenne Peppers Garlic Parsley Italian Prune Plums Split Peas (Bob’s Red Mill)
Field Notes from Farmer Sara: Happy chicken in a Lacinato Kale forest. Well, it’s official, Fall begins tomorrow, September 22nd. The Autumnal Equinox. Days becoming shorter than nights. Days and nights both becoming colder. School started weeks ago now, but this week really felt like the turning point, each day cooler than the one before it. To mark this time of transition, leeks have made their way into your Farm Share. And leeks will lead into kale, and into collards, and into winter squash. Winterbor Kale ready for harvest. But speaking of kale, do you remember the “Lacinato” and “Red Russian” kales that took turns in your Summer shares? This week, a group of visiting 5th graders helped the farm crew herd the chickens onto this field. We are done harvesting this kale, and now the chickens will take a turn, enjoying the greens and adding nutrients to the soil, revitalizing it for next Spring’s planting. In the meantime, a new member of the kale clan will be making an appearance in your shares very soon. “Winterbor” kale is a hardy variety that becomes tastiest after the first frost and produces over Winter and well into Spring. I don’t know about you, but I think I’m ready for Fall. For slowing down, for hats and scarves, for rain that will make things green again. But mostly, for Fall food. Foods for hunkering down, for oven-roasting, for soup-making.
In the Kitchen with Andrew: Roaster Pepper and Beet Breakfast Hash Start your weekend off with a great farm share breakfast! Ingredients: 1 lb. beets, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes 2 green roaster peppers, cut in half from top to bottom, seeds removed 1 cup dragon tongue beans, ends removed and chopped into 1-inch pieces 1 Leek, cut into quarters lengthwise and then chopped 5 leaves chard, stems removed and chopped, leaves cut into strips 4 tablespoons olive oil Salt & Pepper, to taste Instructions: Pre-heat oven to 425°. Lightly toss the cubed beets in 2 TBS olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spread evenly on a cookie sheet or baking dish, bake at 425°for 15 minutes. Once timer has gone off, remove beets from oven and stir for even baking. Lightly toss peppers in oil and add to beets. Bake for 15 more minutes. Warm a sauté pan or skillet over medium heat.  Once warm, put in two TBS olive oil and dragon tongue beans and stir to coat.  Saute for 3-5 minutes, then add chopped leeks and chard stems and sauté for another three minutes.  Add chard leaves and stir continually to mix well.  Remove from heat. By this time your beets and peppers should be just about done.  Remove them from the oven and stick the beets with a fork to make sure they’re soft (but not mushy).  Slice up the roasted peppers and add beets and peppers to skillet with the rest of the veggies.  Mix and enjoy!*This dish can be topped with any great breakfast protein, such as eggs, meat or vegetarian alternative.  Leftovers will keep for at least three days in a sealed container and will reheat easily in a pan over medium heat.  For added spice, use a few chopped cayenne peppers from your farm share as well, added with the roaster peppers and beans.

September 14th, 2012: Tomatoes!!!

 

 

This Week’s Share: Cosmonaut Volkov Tomatoes Green Pepper Mix Jalapenos Cute Lil’ Onions Garlic Slicing Cukes Lemon Cukes Dragon Tongue Beans Carrots Parsnips Chard Italian Prune Plums Winter Savory Basil Whole Wheat Flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements Farm to Table: At our annual Farm to Table event, Saturday, October 20th, we celebrate the year’s successes and raise funds vital to our work educating youth and adults about where good food comes from. Want to get involved as a volunteer, or attend the event? Find out more about Farm to Table 2012.
Field Notes from Farmer Serena: Howdy Farm Share members! As the final days of our Farm Internship inch closer, and the growing season settles into Fall harvest, the pace on the farm has eased up just a bit, giving us time for farm projects and continued educational opportunities. On Thursday we visited two farms, both quite different from each other, and different from Zenger Farm. Greens at Gathering Together Our first stop took us to Gathering Together Farm located in Philomath, OR, just outside of Corvallis. Gathering Together is a certified organic farm producing vegetables for every type of market you can think of: CSA (like our Farm Share), farmers’ markets, restaurants, and wholesale. Mosaic Farms’ happy pigs Also operating on site are an adorably cute and delicious restaurant, an organic seed production company (Wild Garden Seed), and a budding pig operation (Mosaic Farms). They have around 50 acres in production today, but started with just 5 acres 25 years ago. Visiting a farm that has grown exponentially since its beginning, and that has done so successfully was amazing to witness and almost beyond words. As we drove from one part of the farm to another, looking out over all the acreage in production for just one farm, I could only just begin to comprehend the logistics, management and organization it must take to run that type of operation. It is a labor of love and dedication, for sure. The second farm we visited, Sweetwell Farm, is located just outside of Scio, OR, and is powered by draft horses! On 40 acres, the owners of Sweetwell Farm have played with the balance of raising pigs, dairy cows, and hens for eggs, as well as growing vegetables for market and pasture for the animals, and driving a team of six beautiful, sturdy draft horses – in various combinations – in the work of plowing, tilling, hay-making, and even hay rides for visitors! This farm, too, is a labor of love. Which, I’m learning, is a pretty essential aspect of farming. Sweetwell Farm Horsepower Driving back to Portland, somehow exhausted in spite of not working on the farm all day, I thought about the delicate balance of so many things that farming demands and how the two farms we visited have each met the challenges they’ve encountered in different ways. Growing vegetables is hard enough, but growing a farm into something sustainable, productive and fulfilling is a challenge that must also be met. Visiting Gathering Together and Sweetwell broadened my perspective, and made me appreciate my time here at Zenger Farm. Enjoy your veggies!

September 7th, 2012: Doe in the Wetland

This Week’s Share: Dragon Tongue Beans Gypsy Green Peppers Heirloom Tomatoes Lemon Cucumber Diva Cucumber Asian Eggplant Fingerling Potatoes Red Beets Red Onions Garlic Parsley Italian Prune Plums Pinto Beans (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Ullie’s Italian Plums: The Italian Prune Plums in your share this week were planted by the Zenger Family long ago as a “living fence.” They strung wire from tree to tree, creating a boundary for the pasture where they grazed a small herd of dairy cows. In addition to being a superb fence, the “fence” also provided shade, insect and wildlife habitat, oxygen, root structure to hold soil in place, and each Fall, a crop of delicious plums. And though no longer a fence, the line of sturdy plum trees still provides all of these things. Enjoy those plums – there are more to come!
Field Notes from Farmer Robert: Doe in the wetland Boughs bend heavy with plum in Ol’ Ullie’s Hedge. Storage onions curing in the greenhouse. It was only a week or so ago when Summer Camp, here at Zenger Farm, ended, and the excited sounds of rambunctious youth faded to the low hum of traffic on Foster Road. Even after the excitement of the campers settled like so much morning mist in the tall grasses, Elizabeth – who volunteered with the Farm Crew for the month of August – and her son Christopher maintained an excited charge into every day. This week they are gone, back home to New York. With them gone and with Caylor on vacation with her family for the week, the farm seems so much quieter than I have ever felt it. Tuesday, of course, was harvest day and full of things needing to be picked. But today, Wednesday, we started with weeding and kept on it for most of our working hours. It was so quiet that we even had a doe visit us from afar. Timid and curious at first, like most visitors to Zenger Farm, she soon seemed to be strutting along the plum trees with great aplomb. And then, she was gone. She, like many of us, may have been inspecting the fruit to see if it is yet ready. We farmers have been waiting for the plums as well. Walking among them; feeling their firmness; sensing their ripeness. It is something of a delight, in the waning days of summer, to wait for the fruit, now a deeply churned purple, to grow soft and delicious. Maybe a harkening in of the Autumn; I prefer to see it as a final celebration of Summer. One last juicy morsel to celebrate a job well done. Tiny frog on a water line. As we Farm Interns near the end of our growing season, we are beginning to look to the future and what the Autumn means for each of us, individually. Before I forget, I’d like to take this moment of reflection on what has been and what will soon be, and thank all of you wonderful Farm Share members for making possible every day I have in the fields. Thanks for making the trek to the farm each week for your veggies and brightening our Fridays with your smiles. I hope you all will join me in thanking Zenger Farm for giving fresh-eyed farmers like myself a chance to live the grit of the soil under our nails and ground into our skin. And, thanks of course, to our namesake, Ulrich Zenger, for his foresight in planting those plum trees whose tenderness we so fawningly await. As well as Ulrich Zenger Jr. for his insistence that this land be kept as a working farm and open space. He may not have known that it would one day become a hub for innumerable kids and adults who want to learn about growing things. He certainly did not know that I, Robert Ericksen, would come here, looking for knowledge, and in so doing, find a sense of community and belonging in people who love things that grow.
In the Kitchen with Farmer Robert: Roasted Eggplant:Making Eggplant taste good has been my quest this year, and thanks to a friend of mine, I’ve completed that quest.Ingredients: Eggplant Olive oil Salt Instructions: Remove the top of the eggplant. Then cut it in half along the length. Now chop the halves of the eggplant into chunks. Place eggplant chunks in a baking pan with a dollop of olive oil (not a lot, just enough to provide a thin coat all over). Sprinkle salt on the chunks and mix the them around to get a taste of salt on every bit. Bake for an hour at 425 degrees. Note: You can add other summer veggies to this recipe for a delicious medley of colors and flavors (garlic, onion, summer squash, peppers, potatoes, beets…)

August 31st, 2012: Transitions

This Week’s Share: Caylor and Robert are flaming weed seedlings and giving our slow-to-germinate carrots a fighting chance. Sweet Corn Yellow Onions Heirloom Tomatoes Jalepeños Green Peppers Apples: Akane and Honeycrisp Summer Squash Cucumbers Basil Garlic Brown Rice (Bob’s Red Mill)

Announcements: Late Pick-Up Reminder: Due to some confusion around the late pick-up protocol, we are hoping to clarify the procedure and expectations. Farm Share pick-up is from 4-6pm on Fridays. If you are not able to make it during these hours, we will do our best, but do not gaurantee that your share will be available after these hours. We do know that things come up and we will do our best to help out, but here is what you can do to help us: Contact us by Thursday at 5pm by email sara@zengerfarm.org, or Sara’s cell phone (503)367-8149, to request a late pick-up. On Friday, call Sara’s cell phone (503)367-8149. For Friday calls, we will do our best, but again, do not gauruntee a late pick-up. If we get your message in time, we will pack your share and leave it out for you, under cover, in front of the barn with your name on it. For weekly paying members, we ask that you pay for your share the following week in person. Thanks for your understanding! – Your Zenger Farmers Tiny Onions: This week you’ll be getting a whole heap of tiny onions. It was our first year growing alliums (onions and garlic) at our Furey Field location and our best guess is that a soil deficiency is inhibiting their full growth. But, they are still tasty and you can’t make salsa without an onion!

Field Notes from Farmer Caylor: Can you feel fall in the air? Three weeks after Portland’s record highs, the dry, clear morning chill is telling me that summer won’t be with us much longer. But even though the summer squash is winding down, we still have a few more summer veggies to take us into fall. The sweet and spicy pepper plants in the fields and greenhouse are full of fruit. The eggplant is blooming, and the tomato plants just keep right on producing. Thinking about the end of summer, saying good-bye to the yellow crook neck squash and cucumbers, makes me a little sad, but with a new season comes new, different and delicious foods – think pumpkin pie! The farm crew has been busy getting our fall veggies into the ground. In the past few weeks, we’ve planted Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, lettuce, carrots, beets, and, yes, more fennel. The winter squash, including bright orange pie pumpkins, will be ready to harvest soon. And the fruit! Apples, pears, figs, and plums will be ripe any day now. I ate my first Italian plum today, so delicious. Thank you for all your hard work, Elizabeth! When life gives you tiny onions, make salsa! Another transition – this week we’re saying good bye to Elizabeth. Elizabeth came all the way from Manhattan to volunteer as a part of the Zenger farm crew for three weeks. She’s  worked with us every day, starting with our hottest week of the summer. She crawled around  in the dirt with us as we transplanted fennel, got lost with us in a maze of winter squash and weeds, shoveled turkey poop, chipped through rock-hard soil looking for carrots, and hacked bunch grass out of the cucumbers. We’ve all enjoyed her company in the fields, and we’ll miss her and her son Chris. Thank you, Elizabeth and Chris! OK, one last transition – this is my last week staffing the Farm Share pick up. I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of our members a little bit better, and I’m even starting to remember some of your names. I won’t be going far, though, just up the hill to run the farm stand. Please stop by and say hi.

In the Kitchen with Farmer Bryan: Salsa 2 cups tomatoes, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 jalepeños, seeded and chopped 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp olive oil Chili powder, cumin, salt or pepper to taste. Mix together in a bowl. Let sit in the refrigerator for up 12 hours for flavors to infuse. Consider roasting one of the jalepeños for a smoky flavor. Farm Fresh Spaghetti Sauce 1 cup summer squash, thinly sliced 1/4 cup onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup green pepper, seeded and chopped 2-4 large tomatoes, chopped Basil, oregano, fennel, salt or pepper to taste. 2 tbsp olive oil Saute squash, onion and pepper in olive oil until they turn translucent. Set aside. Saute garlic in olive oil for 30 seconds. Set aside. Bring tomatoes to a simmer in a 12″ pan, stirring occasionally, until the volume reduces to half, about 20 minutes. Return vegetables to the pan and let simmer for 10 more minutes. Add dry seasonings now and fresh when removing the pan from heat. Pour over your favorite pasta and serve!

August 24th, 2012

This Week’s Share: Sweet Corn Tomato Orient Express Eggplant Potatoes Carrots Romano Green Beans Onions Summer Squash Beets Parsley Red Lentils (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Baby Corn: Wow, those ears sure are tiny! Earli Vee is an early variety and typically the plants and cobs are on the small size. But this year, the Earli Vee is especially short (shoulder-high at most), and the cobs, are about half-size. But the good news is that they still taste great, and the next varieties – coming soon – will seem huge by comparison.
Field Notes from Farmer Serena: Howdy Farm Share members! Well, we all survived “Hell Week” and the heat wave that came along with it.  As I re-adjust to a “normal” work week, I can’t help but recognize that a 32-hour week on a farm is luxurious. I’ve left each day this week thinking about how much we could get done if we worked longer hours (don’t get any crazy ideas, Sara and Bryan). Hell Week put farming in perspective a bit more clearly for me, and the bottom line is there’s always more to do. We were pretty jazzed to have the time to prune the orchard and, of course, weed those darn cucumbers (and everything else we could get our hands on), yet the phrase “catching up” can’t really be applied to farming – at least during the growing season. There is always more that needs to be done. I know that may sound overwhelming, and at times it is, but there are three words I’ve found that help me manage it all – patience, perspective, and perseverance. I won’t say Hell Week was great, but it was a really good experience to have, and I even enjoyed my self from time to time. Speaking of things I enjoy, this month I’ve had the opportunity to run our on-site Farm Stand. You may have noticed it each Friday as you arrive to pick up your Farm Share veggies. We hope that you are getting all the veggies that you need in your share, but if you’re interested in a bulk amount of squash, tomatoes, or something else, for a recipe or for preserving, feel free to check out the Stand! And this time of year there always seems to be something new and exciting popping up that we just don’t have quite enough of yet to put in your share – like Padron peppers last week – as well as specialty items like farm eggs and honey. See you all on the farm!
In the Kitchen: Check back next week for more great recipes!

August 17th, 2012:

Basil, peppers, and the chicken coop. This Week’s Share: Red Chard Italian Parsley Heirloom Tomatoes Beets Carrots Fingerling Potatoes Romano Beans Basil Orient Express Eggplant Summer Squash Cucumbers Black Beans (Bob’s Red Mill)
Announcements: Ugly Carrots: This extra-long variety has encountered quite a challenge growing in our rocky soil. We hope you get a kick out of the crazy ones as much as Bryan does (see photo). Spicy Basil: The heat has brought out a bit of extra spice in the basil. This week, it may be better cooked into a dish or processed into pesto, recipe below. Drink a Beer for SNAP: You may have all the veggies you need, but if you feel like a cold beer on Sunday afternoon, stop by the Lents International Farmers Market for a pint. All proceeds go towards the market’s SNAP matching program.
Field Notes from Farmer Robert: HELL-O Farmshare! It’s been one devil of a week here on the farm. We’ve all pitched-in and weeded, seeded, transplanted, weeded, tended animals, amended fields, mowed, weeded, tilled, harvested, delivered, and yes, took some breaks along the way. As a Farm Intern, my week has been capped at about thirty-two hours, which works out to eight hours a day, four days a week. Yeah, it’s a pretty sweet gig. In fact, when I run for ruler of the world, it’s going to be one of the main tenets of my platform. I hope I can count on your vote. First of the season! This week, however, we interns are getting a taste of the real slice of pie portioned to our world’s farmers. We are working five, ten-hour days. We also managed to pick those days for what seems to be the most consistently hot-as-blazes week of the year. Go big, or go home, I guess. This “Reality Week,” also lovingly referred to as “Hell Week,” has been a big eye-opener. I think it serves to bring home the reality that production farming isn’t just a walk in the fields. These hills are alive with the sound of eye-hoes clanging against centuries-old river rock, weeds that overtake cucumber vines and beet tops, moans and groans from hard work under an oppressive blanket of summer heat and sun. The longer the day goes on, the more important it is to pace yourself. Fact of the matter is, I’m no stranger to long days. When I was only eighteen, I found myself working twenty-hour days for about a week, maybe longer. At that rate, time starts to lose its meaning. Just last week, I busted my buns with a friend of mine in Maine for eighty-five hours, schlepping garbage, wood scrap, metal scrap, pallets of food,  pallets of boxes, pallets of pallets and wearing a layer of sweat I haven’t known since growing up in the D.C. and Virginia summers. Here in Portland, Oregon though, the sun seems sharper. The humidity of the East coast was what made you sweat, but the sun here can wear you down just as much. And working in a hot warehouse is very different from working in the sun on an exposed slope. Either way, I love it. Some say that makes me New York crazy, but I say, this Hell Week is a moment of truth about what it really takes to provide a community with good, healthy food. I say, as John Keats does, that beauty is truth, and truth beauty. So what is the truth of Zenger’s Hell Week? That working the land is a pleasure and a curse; that having a good team can mean the difference between feast and famine; and that when the purple carrots come out of the ground and form a perfect bunch, it suddenly all seems beautiful and worth the sweat. Life is, indeed, “easy as a hard day’s work.” This week, we’ve got a fresh set of hands in the fields that come with a laughter-loving enthusiasm. Elizabeth came to us from New York, on loan from the Patagonia company, to volunteer for a couple of weeks. She’s been getting dirty, sweaty, dusty, and dry with the rest of us and keeps coming back for more! Órele buricua! Elizabeth makes a great contribution to our team and I am looking forward to her seeing the end result, the exhale of the week, farm share pick-up, knowing that she helped put vegetables in those bags you all will be carrying home.
In the Kitchen with TaMara & Andrew: TaMara’s German Squash & Potato Saladserves 6 – 8 3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled or chopped in small pieces 1 lbs fingerling potatoes 4 cups summer squash, chopped into dime-sized squares 1 tablespoons Dijon 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 3 tablespoons sugar 1/2 onion, diced into small pieces 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 2 teaspoons dried, or 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme 1/8 cup vegetable oil (or save the bacon fat from cooking) plus 1/4 cup for baking potatoes and squash Wash potatoes and put into a 9×11 inch baking dish Toss with 1/8 cup oil and 1 cup water. Spring thyme, salt, and black pepper on top. Cover with tin foil or a lid and bake at 400 degrees for one hour Toss chopped summer squash with 1/8 cup oil and bake in the same oven on a cookie sheet for about 30 minutes, until lightly golden in color. Check potatoes by poking with a fork, when done a fork should poke through potato with just a small amount of resistance. Let cool and cut into chunks approximately the size of dimes. Combine the vinegar, sugar, onion, mustard and 1/8 cup vegetable oil (or bacon fat) in a large mixing bowl. Add potatoes, squash, parsley, and bacon. Toss well. This potato salad tastes best after sitting for a few hours or overnight. Pesto 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves 2 cloves garlic 1/4 cup pine nuts (sunflower seeds, walnuts or almonds also work very well and aren’t nearly as expensive!) 1/2 cup plus three tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1/2 cup freshly grated Italian cheese such as parmesan, pecorino romano or asiago (or a combination thereof) Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese. If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese Notes:If you have leftover pesto that you don’t want to freeze, you can transfer the pesto to a storage container, drizzle the additional olive oil over the top, press plastic wrap onto leftovers to remove excess air, cover with a lid and put it in the fridge.  This will keep well for up to a week.  (Note: the additional olive oil and the plastic wrap over the top will help keep the pesto from oxidizing and turning brown.  If this does happen simply skim off the top layer of brown pesto and reveal the bright green pesto below!)Recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com, additional notes by Andrew Harmon