Week #19 2013 CSA

          Last calf of the year…….born Tuesday October 22nd.  Only 50 minutes old here!

News from the farm…………..

So much to tell this week!   As pictured above, little Bennie was born Tuesday.  His mother, Bessie, needed some help, but as you can see, it resulted in success.  Overall, we had good luck this year with calving – 16 calves total.  The cows are still grazing, although I had to start supplementing with hay last week.

Friday,  October 18th, we had a very interesting visitor to the farm.  Her name was Stephanie Pageot and she is the president of the Federation Nationale d’Agriculture Biologique des regions de France.  More simply put, the president of the largest organic certification organization in France.  She had come to the United States to visit with farmers and gain knowledge about our organic practices and policies.  She had a translator with her.  At first, it was a bit distracting answering her questions, as the translator would talk at the same time I was, but I got the hang of it and we had a lot of fun!   They both had a great sense of humor and enjoyed touring our farm.  I also learned some interesting facts about French organics.  It was a great honor having her come to Eight Mile Creek Farm!

This week also marked the coldest night yet so far this fall.  We went down to 28 degrees.  We had been getting ready and have been harvesting like crazy.  As you can see below, our root cellar is packed with winter squashes and onions.  My son Thomas (who loves onions) said he had never seen so many onions in his life!  It took two days work just  to sort them and to move them all into the root cellar. These onions were started from seed in our greenhouse back in the beginning of March.

We have also been storing cabbages, carrots, daikons and beets.  This weekend we got the root vegetables washed and put into cold storage.  There are still some more cold hardy radishes and carrots and cabbages in the field which will have to be brought in this coming week.  We covered the lettuce, broccoli raab and other greens Wednesday before the temperature dropped.

 

Wednesday night, I went to Albany County Farm Bureau’s annual business meeting.  It was nice to see and talk to so many farmers from the Albany County area.  The New York Farm Bureau is an important organization because they speak up on policies that are important to preserve and strengthen agriculture.  They  are our voice in Albany and Washington.  At the end of the night, we vote on resolutions regarding state and national policies.  There are some very disturbing new policies out there which are  a real potential threat to the safety and integrity of our food.  There were two, in particular, which were especially scary.  On September 6th, The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved the purchase of Smithfield Foods Inc. by a Chinese company.  Smithfield is the largest pork producer in the United States.  This means that China now owns over a quarter of U.S. pork processing and 15 % of hog production.  The CFIUS also , on August 31, lifted its restriction on processed poultry from China being imported into the U.S.  What this means is that chickens and turkeys raised in the U.S. can be shipped to China, cooked or processed into foods in China, then shipped back to the U.S.  Because the chicken was originally raised in the U.S., it will NOT require a country of origin label.  So, chicken noodle soup, chicken nuggets, chicken broth, etc. could contain this chicken from Chinese processing plants without the consumer knowing.  Is it in our country’s best interest to allow such control over our food supply?  We voted NO and took a strong stance against these policies moving forward.  The integrity and safety of our food should not be under the control of foreign countries.   What YOU can do……buy from local  farms as much as possible and consider becoming a member of the Farm Bureau.  The more food you can buy locally, the more our local farms will thrive, and the less reliant we and our future generations will be on foreign food.

We hope you enjoy this week’s fresh produce:

Baby Romaine Lettuce,    Leeks,    Daikon Radishes with Greens,   Roma String Beans,   Tomatillos,   Red Tomatoes,   Komatsuna Greens

Komatsuna Greens with Ginger

Trim bottoms of greens.  Heat sesame oil in a large pot and add rough chopped greens with peeled, minced ginger (about 1 Tbsp).  Saute’ until greens are wilted and stems are tender, about 10 minutes over medium heat.  Serve with rice.

 

Daikon Soup

Grate 2 large daikon radishes or several smaller ones.  Heat a large soup pot with salted water.  Add grated daikons and a chopped onion or 2 chopped leeks.  Bring to a boil then down to a simmer.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours.  Or place on a wood stove in the morning.  Your soup will be ready by dinner time!

 

Leek Quiche

1 bunch leeks

2 Tbsp butter

4 beaten eggs

3/4 cup cream

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 lb Swiss cheese, grated coarsely

salt and pepper to taste

1 pie crust

Trim  1 leek and carefully remove 3-4 leaves for decoration.  Blanch the leaves for a few minutes and set aside to cool.  Cut the remaining leeks just above the spot where it begins to turn from white to green.  Slice each down the center lengthwise, and then cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces.  Wash thoroughly.  Drain and saute’ in the butter until soft.  Combine eggs, cream, and milk and stir in cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Put leeks and then egg mixture into the crust.  Lay reserved blanched leek leaves over the top of the filling in a fan shape.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Cool for 10.  Goes great with beef brisket, cold tomato slices or a salad and a light  white wine.  (adapted from The Frugal Gourmet)

Coming next week…..Broccoli raab,  red leaf lettuce,  spaghetti squash,   kale,   green cabbage