June 6th 2010 Newsletter:

Dear friends,

Opening day is here! As you hopefully all know by now, our first share day is Wednesday June 2nd. We are thrilled to have plenty of salad greens, kale, chard, scallions, sweet hakurei turnips and radishes to share with you.

Thank you to all who were able to come out last Saturday and make our farm potluck a very lovely event. The afternoon showers were brief (to the dismay of our crops but to the relief of our party plans). We had an evening full of great conversation, delicious food, a walk down to the lower field, sweet music by our friends’ old-timey trio, and arugula party favors. For those of you who couldn’t make it, we missed you, but we look forward to seeing you next time.

We had an exciting surprise visit today. Over the course of the day we came across four different snapping turtles laying eggs in various fields. One laid her eggs in amongst the basil at the home field. Although it requires some arranging, trying to figure out how not to disturb the nests when we cultivate, we consider it a blessing and a good omen.

Things have been a beehive of activity over here in our mad dash towards opening day. There were only a couple of snags in the rush of preparations earlier last week. Primarily, a battle with a poison ivy patch to win over the rights to the new parking lot. We spent the morning ripping out roots and cutting down vines, unsuccessfully avoiding the shiny leaves sweetly slapping us in the face. In the end, I think the parking lot is ours, though we did spend the next few nights with clay masks on to relieve very itchy faces. Do not fear, we fully cleared the area and you wont have any problems parking your car. Be warned however, if you wander close to the edges, keep an eye out for those deceptively lovely leaves.

 

A couple of announcements for the first pick-up week...

• The lot right next to the barn is incredibly small and full of activity and people. We have therefore created a legitimate parking lot about 50 yards past the barn (on the southern side of the u-pick field). Please park in this lot and then take the lovely (short) stroll over to the barn using either the path on the eastern edge of the field by the road, or the path through the u-pick field (for those of you who have not yet been to the farm, this will all be much more clear when you see it in person). There is a parking sign pointing you in the right direction. There are a few spaces available in the lot right next to the barn for handicap parking and for those who may have trouble walking. Please don’t hesitate to use this if you need it. There will be orange cones up discouraging cars from using this entrance, but we will make sure there is plenty of room to pull in around the cones if you need to park here. Please be careful of children, dogs, tractors, and any other creatures when you pull in!
  
  
• Adjacent to the barn is our u-pick field. In addition to the crops that we pick, you will have the opportunity to pick-your-own peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, herbs, and flowers. We will keep you informed about what is ready for u-pick harvest throughout the season. The rest of our crops are spread out over twenty acres throughout Hadley that we rent from our neighbors. So if you are wondering where on earth all the greens are coming from, don’t be surprised. We aren’t shipping them in from California, only bringing them over from a different field.
  
  
• What a crazy storm last week! We were very lucky to not have any substantial damage. We did have one field of greens that got battered and some of the Bok Choi, Chinese cabbage, and kale are now looking slightly ragged. You may see a little of this damage reflected in those crops, but it will not greatly reduce the quantity (nor the taste!)
  
  
• We are including a couple of ideas at the end of this newsletter to inspire your creativity for eating all the spring greens we will have available over the first few weeks (and the rest of the season). Also, our website now has recipe ideas categorized by each crop. If you have a recipe that you would like to share with other members please feel free to email it to us, or bring it in with you to post on the bulletin board. Our website is now also featuring up to date news and photos from the farm.

We are thrilled to be starting the harvest season with you, looking forward to seeing some old friends, and making many new ones.

On behalf of the Next Barn Over crew,
Ray Young and Tory Field

 

Arugula pesto

(This recipe adapted from Michael Chiarello’s recipe.)

4 cups packed fresh arugula
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and ground pepper
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoon pine nuts or walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

This blanching step is optional – to make the strong arugula flavor more mild: Plunge the arugula into boiling water. Blanch for about 15 seconds. Remove from hot water and then plunge the arugula into cold water. Drain well. Squeeze the water out of the arugula with your hands until very dry.

Roughly chop the arugula and put in a blender. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, and nuts. Blend for at least 30 seconds. Add the cheese and pulse to combine. The pesto will keep several days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

We also like to experiment with different pesto concoctions. Our favorite so far this spring comes from Jasper on the farm crew who threw one together with arugula, walnuts, olive oil, goat cheese, salt and pepper. Here's a great blog post I found from someone who has done much serious arugula pesto research.

 

A delicious salad combination to play around with...

Salad greens of any sort: arugula, spinach, mixed greens
Sliced sweet hakurei turnips
Fresh strawberries
Blue cheese

With strawberry vinaigrette dressing:

2 cups strawberries
1/4 cup apple cider or balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 tbs maple syrup
1 large clove garlic
1/3 tsp salt
1/4 cup water (enough to thin as needed)
1 cup of canola or olive oil

Combine all ingredients except the oil and water into food processor. Add oil slowly while processing and add water at end to achieve a good consistency. Add salt and syrup to taste.

Yum!