By Sarah
The amount we have planted in this last 3 weeks is impressive! After the potatoes are in the ground this week, our spring planting frenzy will be done. We will still plant every week but it will only be one part of the routine, rather than the focus. We will add weeding to the chore list, and hopefully the harvesting will pick up very soon!
We had an explosion of tarnished plant bugs, as well as slugs, in the tunnels, which is wreaking havoc on some of the crops. We were hoping to have offer the last planting of mei qing choi this week but it is too infested. Instead, we will clear the tunnel of all plants, carrying a lot of the bugs and eggs with them, and start over. It is hard to lose crops at this time when we have so little to offer. The tarnished plant bugs live in the pasture; you can see evidence of their feasting on the clover leaves in the heavily infested areas. With the abundance of water this year, it is encouraging to see the insects flourishing again even if they cause us trouble as well.
Upcoming Farm Events: All Member Meeting: 6 pm on Thursday June 1st
Farm Potluck Friday June 9th at 5:30 pm
CSA barn hours:
Summer hours: 2:30-6:30 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Winter: 2:30-6 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in November)
Pick List:
It will be a couple of months until the pick list starts increasing, usually around July 1st. We will do our best to keep a steady supply of spinach and lettuce from the tunnels. We will have fennel and bok choi again next week, and hopefully radishes, cilantro, dill, and basil in about a month.
Eggs
Cortland Yellow Onions
Joan Rutabaga
Fresh garlic
Parade Scallions
Finale Fennel
Regiment Spinach
Lettuce Mix
Spaghetti Winter Squash
Sonora wheat flour and wheat berries
Herbal Tea Blends and Whole Dried Chile peppers (Please bring your own jars!)
Pick your own flowers and herbs
Saltonstall Olive Oil (Please bring your own jars!)
Revolution Bread: Fresh bread on Friday (Frozen bread available.)
Open Field Farm 2023 | The "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" guide for members
The selection in the barn is slim right now, but the herb garden is beautiful!! The mint is lush and thriving, as well as the thyme and rosemary. I know that we can struggle to create meals when the selection is limited so I included 3 recipes for inspiration this week.
Wheatberry Salad with Fennel and Mint, adapted from food52.com
For the Salad
1 cup cooked wheatberries (or other cooked grain such as quinoa or couscous)
1 cup finely chopped mint
1 small bulb fennel, minced (about 1/2 cup of minced fennel)
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, minced
Zest of one orange
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped olives (optional)
For the Salad Dressing
1/3 cup fruity olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Toss salad ingredients together. Whisk together olive oil, orange juice and vinegar. Taste and adjust as desired. Add dressing to the salad a little at a time, tossing until just coated. Taste, and add salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Mint Chutney, from food52.com
1 cup mint leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 green chile (If you you still have farm ground chile you could substitute it, but it will change the color!)
4 tablespoons yogurt
1 splash lime juice
Salt, to taste
To make the chutney, grind the mint leaves, garlic and chiles to a fine paste. Stir in the yogurt, lime juice, and salt.
Blueberry-Thyme Yogurt Cake from Dorie Greenspan, on food52.com
Softened butter or baker’s spray, for the pan
1 1/2 cups (204g) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 or 2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme
1 lemon
1/2 cup (120ml) plain yogurt, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (120ml) butter
1 cup (150g) blueberries
Lightly sweetened crème fraîche, for serving (optional)
Get prepped: Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with a rack in the center. Generously butter the inside of an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch (21 by 11cm) loaf pan (or coat it with baker’s spray). If your pan is 1/2 inch/1.3cm bigger all around, that’s okay—check the cake a little earlier as it might bake faster.
Mix dry, mix wet: In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. To a medium bowl, add the sugar and thyme and finely grate the zest of the lemon over it with a Microplane (save the naked lemon in the fridge for salads and use within a few days, before it dries out). Working with your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Whisk in the yogurt until it’s thoroughly incorporated, and then add the eggs one at a time, blending each egg into the batter before you add the next. When all the eggs are in, give the mixture a few energetic beats to bring it all together.
Mix dry into wet: Switch to a silicone spatula and stir in half of the flour mixture. When it’s well incorporated, add the remaining flour and stir until blended. Add the butter to the bowl gradually, stirring and scraping the bottom and sides until you have a thick, smooth batter with a light sheen. Drop the berries into the batter and stir to mix them in evenly. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan, smoothing the top.
Bake the cake: Bake the cake in the center of the oven until the cake is golden brown and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick or long, dry noodle inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging, 55 to 60 minutes. With oven mitts, take the cake out of the oven and set on a wire rack or cool stove burner. Wait 5 minutes, then run a table knife between the cake and the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Carefully invert the pan onto the rack, then flip the cake so it’s right-side up and finish cooling to room temperature. Serve with lightly sweetened crème fraîche, or nothing at all.
Make ahead and store: The cake keeps best well-sealed at room temperature; it will be good for at least 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month—defrost, still sealed, at room temperature.