Ps11farmmkt’s Weblog

This week’s delivery from Stoneledge Farms heralds the beginning of the summer harvest – bright, leafy Swiss Chard (my favorite) & Summer Spinach, crinkly Napa Cabbage, huge heads of  Red Leaf Lettuce and the beginning of the Summer Squash. Escarole is the one veggie that I haven’t used very often so I’ve included a recipe below for Escarole Soup that sounds delicious and easy to make.

This is the last week of school, but the Farm Market will continue to run every Wednesday through the summer from 8:00-11:00.  Shop early though – we sold out last week by 9:30 a.m.

See you at the market.

Deborah Osborne

LETTER FROM STONELEDGE FARMS
We are feeling a bit cold and soggy but the greens are in their glory.  This week there is a rainbow of colors and textures: Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Summer Spinach, Escarole, Red Leaf Lettuce and Napa Cabbage.

We are always working a season or two ahead and this time of year is so busy with many jobs that need to be accomplished all at once.  The early greens are hitting their peak and need to be picked.  The summer vegetables are growing by the day and so are the weeds. We are still planting transplants in the field trying to finally empty the hoop houses.  Fall cauliflowers, broccoli, kale and collards are all little seedlings that are the last of our transplants.  I have been tending for baby plants since February and will be glad when they are finally all in the fields.  Days go by so quickly.

Enjoy the Vegetables-

Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

•  Bright Lights Swiss Chard
•  Summer Spinach
•  Napa Cabbage   lighter, crinkly cabbage.
•  Red Leaf Lettuce
•  Escarole
•  Garlic Scapes
•  Oregano
•  Chives

Recipes

Swiss Chard with garlic & oregano

Ingredients:

• 10 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 10 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Dash of black pepper
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Rinse Swiss chard with cold water; drain chard well.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and saute 1 minute or until slightly golden.
3. Add chard. Cover and cook 1 minute or until chard begins to wilt.
4. Stir in oregano, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar.

Escarole Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 head of escarole
• 4 tbsp. minced onion
• 1/4 cup butter
• salt
• 3-1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup raw rice*
• 4 tbsp. grated
• parmigiano cheese

Directions:

1. Wash escarole leaves thoroughly several times and cut into 1? strips.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter and saute the onion until lightly browned. Add the escarole and salt, sauteing the escarole slightly.
3. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and cook the escarole until tender, about 35 minutes. Add the rest of the broth and bring to a boil.
4. Add the rice and cover the pot. Cook for about 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add the cheese.
6. Correct the seasoning, adding more salt if necessary. Serve hot.

Credits: Francis Tesser

Notes:
Arborio rice is preferable. If you want to make the soup in advance, cook up to step #3. Add and cook rice only when you plan to serve.

One of the best things about our Farm Market is the opportunity to see our students and families learning about the benefits of eating and cooking with local, organic produce.  Many of the items that come from the farm are unfamiliar – Mizuna, Garlic Scapes, Mustard Greens and Bok Choi are not items that many families prepare and eat on a regular basis.

One of my favorite items in the Farm Bag this week is Garlic Scapes.  The scapes are the first shoots of the garlic bulb that emerge in the spring.  They are cut off so that more energy goes to developing the head of garlic in the ground.   They have a milder flavor than garlic but can be used in the same way – chopped up in sautes or made into a delicious pesto (see recipe below.)

Epicurious.com says about Mizuna:  “Hailing from Japan, this feathery, delicate salad green can be found in farmer’s markets and specialty produce markets from spring through summer. It’s often found in mesclun a special salad-green mix. Choose mizuna by its crisp, green leaves, avoiding any wilted or browning specimens. Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 5 days. Wash and thoroughly dry just before using.”

PS 11’s very own Robin Zachary – Jacob Resnick’s mom – will show us this wek how some of the greens can be used to create a tasty, kid-friendly, healthy dish.

The market will operate every Wednesday from 8 am to 11 am in front of PS 11, 320 West 21st Street.  We strive to keep the prices of the fruit and vegetables at or below market price to make these delicious, healthy products affordable for all our families.

Please feel free to share your recipes, cooking ideas, feedback and insight about our Farm Market by email at ps11programs@aol.com or on our blog at http://ps11farmmkt.wordpress.com.  We look forward to seeing  you at the market.

Deborah Osborne

LETTER FROM STONE LEDGE FARM

Among the top favorite vegetables that members look forward to receiving each year are Garlic Scapes.  They are the long, curly tailed seed head that emerges from the garlic plant early in the season.

The scape will develop seed if left but the seeds are small and take years of planting and re-planting to deliver any sizable garlic bulbs.  The preferred method of propagating garlic is each year to save the best bulbs which are broken apart into individual cloves and planted in October.  Each clove will yield a garlic bulb the next July.  The scapes are removed when they start to curl and the energy that would go into producing seed goes to the garlic bulb.

The scapes have a delicious garlic flavor.  Garlic scape pesto is a favorite.  Remove the very end of the scape and the rest of the scape can be used. Look to some of the CSA websites that are listed on the farm website under a previous blog for recipe ideas. There are also more photos of the garlic plants in the Photos section of the farm website.

Enjoy the vegetables-Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

•  Garlic Scapes
•  Red Leaf Lettuce
•  Buttercrunch Green Leaf Lettuce
•  Bok Choi
•  Mizuna
•  Summer Spinach      This spinach is a little more resilient than the spinach you may be familiar with.  Most varieties of spinach will bolt or send out a seed head early in the season.  Summer Spinach will last
right into the summer.  It has a larger leaf, spinach flavor.
•  Mustard Greens
•  Lemon Balm, Lemony mint flavor.  Good in tea.

Recipes

Garlic Scape Pesto (courtesy of eggsonsunday.wordpress.com)

Ingredients
1 cup chopped garlic scapes
1/3 cup walnuts
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Blend everything but the olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. Slowly drizzle in the oil with the motor running, and blend until emulsified and smooth. Add a little more oil if you like yours a little looser, but I found this amount to be just right for me. Taste and add coarse salt and pepper as needed.

June 10, 2009

We are so excited to begin our 2nd year of the PS 11 Farm Market. As members of the Chelsea CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), we receive our produce from Stoneledge Farm, a 90 acre, certified organic farm located in South Cairo, Greene County, New York in the foothills of the Northern Catskills.

The market is run by 3rd grade students (Ms. Levenbaum & Ms. Tallarico’s 2nd graders will begin running the market this spring and these students will continue to run it with the rest of the 3rd grade classes in the Fall). The students will have the opportunity to learn about healthy eating, good nutrition and local foods & produce, as well as learn how to make change, weigh & sort produce and interact with the community.

The market will operate every Wednesday from 8 am to 11 am in front of PS 11, 320 West 21st Street. We strive to keep the prices of the fruit and vegetables at or below market price to make these delicious, healthy products affordable for all our families.

Please feel free to share your recipes, cooking ideas, feedback and insight about our Farm Market by email at ps11programs@aol.com or on our blog at http://ps11farmmkt.wordpress.com. We look forward to seeing you at the market. Deborah Osborne

LETTER FROM STONE LEDGE FARM

Welcome to the first delivery of the 2009 CSA season. The early season brings the first healthy greens in abundance. Many of the early greens are in the Brassica family: Mizuna, Bok Choi, Chinese Cabbage. This group of vegetables grow best in the cool conditions of spring. They are a welcome taste of what is local and fresh. There is one insect pest, the Flea Beetle, that thrives on the plants. We do what we can to keep the leaves whole, but the little pests will leave holes no matter what our efforts. Our farm uses “Floating Row Cover” to protect the plants. It is a light weight fabric cover that creates a physical barrier between the plants and the insects. We can roll up the cover and use it over and over. Even with our best efforts, some of the insects do maneuver their way to the plants and you will see small, round holes in the leaves. The holes are cosmetic and Joni Mitchell runs through my mind as we pick and wash the arugula. A few variations in the lyrics and, “I don’t care about spots on my Mizuna, Leave me the birds and the bees – please” . All of the vegetables are rinsed to get off the field heat and clean them a bit. They will need a good washing again when you get them home. The leafy greens will keep best if washed, rinsed and dried well and stored in a plastic container or bag in the refrigerator. Enjoy the vegetables-Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

• RHUBARB very tart perennial that is only available for a short time in the spring

• RED LEAF LETTUCE (Red Tide)

• MIZUNA green with serrated leaves. Good in salads or lightly cooked

• ARUGULA

• BOK CHOI white, crunchy stems, dark green leaves

• CHINESE CABBAGE (Rubicon)-described in the seed catalog as “sweet, tangy, juicy and delicious”. This makes a great fresh slaw or used in stir fry.

• RADISHES

• SAGE with Flowers The flowers are beautiful on the sage which grows as a perennial. Strip the leaves and use with any poultry dish. Enjoy the flowers as a bonus.

Recipes

Oriental Greens Slaw
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced cabbage (or mix of Oriental Greens) (8-10 cups)
Chopped fresh cilantro (it must be fresh) (1 cup)
Minced chopped jalapeno (1) or put that on the side for the grown-ups
Chopped fresh garlic scapes (1/2 cup)
Garlic salt (1/2 tsp or 1 tsp)
Vegannaise (vegan mayonaise) 1/2 cup, more or less
Fresh squeezed lime juice from 2-3 limes

Mix all together. Serve it as a side dish to rice and beans, or serve it as a topping for any kind of taco you like. I traditionally use this as a topping for fish tacos. Ali Smith, PS 11 Chelsea CSA

Rhubard Compote

* 6 cups 1-inch pieces fresh rhubarb (from about 2 pounds)
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 1/3 cup water

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until rhubarb is very soft and begins to fall apart, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
3. Transfer compote to medium bowl. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, about 3 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.) Serve cold.

Serves: makes about 3 cups

Join us on Wednesday, June 10th to celebrate the opening of the PS 11 Farm Market, 320 West 21st Street from 8 am-11am.  Ms. Levenbaum & Ms. Tallarico’s 2nd graders  (soon to be 3rd graders) will be running the market during the month of June.  The PS 11 Farm Market is a member of the Chelsea CSA and the produce available at the market is from Stoneledge Farm in South Cairo, NY.

Stoneledge Farms fields in spring