Rising River Farm
13208 201st Ave SW Rochester, WA 98579 360-273-5368
info@risingriverfarm.com www.risingriverfarm.com

July 2 *** Box 3

Hello,

It looks as though we may actually get a summer after all. Any personal discomfort felt by this heat, I will choose to ignore. Instead I will focus my attention on the happy, growing, thriving plants. Such a difference a bit of heat makes.
The fields are nearly full now, though we will still do weekly and bi-weekly succession plantings of lettuce, herbs, carrots, beets, and green beans through July. We’ll also put in crops for fall like spinach, cabbage, etc. It is funny to think that now is the time to plan for your fall and winter garden. It seems like summer just started. I hate to even think about the fall and winter! For those of you who gave up on gardening this year, it is not too late. Black Lake Organic nursery across from Black Lake sells lovely veggie starts for fall and winter harvest. You can still direct seed lettuce, dill, cilantro, radishes (wait until August). With food prices going up, up, up it makes so much sense to try growing some of your own. Besides, the taste of home grown is unbeatable and the pride in the fruits of your labor is, as they say, priceless. Seed cataloguescan be a great resource to find varieties that do well around here and have loads of tips on when and how to plant, how to fertilize, etc. Gary, the owner at Black Lake is a wealth of knowledge, as well. They are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-6.

This Week’s Box

Thanks to the heat there are several new crops ready, but first a note about rotation. For many reasons you may not see every crop that I mention in your box every week. Sometimes the harvest quantity is limited, especially in the first picking. Also customer surveys over the years have indicated that, on the whole, most of you would like to see things like beets and chard every 2 or 3 weeks, so we rotate them around. We keep careful record of who gets what when so in the end it all evens out. That said, you may see:

Shell or snow peas: We picked a small amount of each yesterday. The shell peas are so sweet. We hardly ever cook them. We’ll just put a bowlful on the table at dinner and let everyone shell their own. Shell peas are a great snack to give kids while you are cooking dinner. It keeps them busy and won’t fill them up. The snow peas add a sweet crunch to salads and would also go well in a stir-fry (perhaps with your garlic tops?!?!?)
Purple kohlrabi: It is in the brassica family (think broccoli, cabbage, etc.) After admiring its striking purple color and unusual shape, you’ll want to peel it before eating. The flavor and texture is a lot like tender, peeled broccoli stalks. You can cut it in matchsticks for salads or veggie trays, add to a stir fry, or do as one of our CSA members does and eat it like an apple!
Garlic tops (scapes): This is the last of them. A CSA member sent along a recipe:

Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 3 Tbsp.fresh lime or lemon juice
1/4 lb.scapes 1/2 cup olive oil
salt to taste

Puree scapes and olive oil in a food processor (or blender) until smooth. Stir in Parmesan and lime or lemon juice and season to taste.

Parsley: We grow both curly and flat leaf (Italian). Parsley goes well in cold grain salads like tabouli, or in spreads like hummus. Munching on a few sprigs after a meal aids digestion and helps freshen breath. It’s not just for garnish anymore!
Beets: I say this every year and I’ll say it again. If you think you hate beets, especially if your experience involves canned beets, push those horrid memories aside and TRY THEM AGAIN. Fresh beets right out of the ground are so sweet and wonderful. Slice them in ¼ inch rings and steam until fork-tender. Enjoy as a side dish to your meal. The farm cookbook has several other suggestions, including a chocolate beet cake, which has become the staple birthday cake here on the farm. The leaves are also edible, full of iron and similar to Swiss chard.
Swiss Chard: A cousin to beets, one being bred for big roots, the other for big leaves. Chard is wonderful lightly steamed, put in stir-fry, or used like spinach. I find it goes well with feta cheese. I usually sauté it with onion and garlic, mix it with rice, and serve with grilled bratwurst. If you aren’t a meat eater, salty, toasted nuts or a savory tofu would be a great substitute. My neighbor, Betsie, loves it with a spicy peanut sauce.

Note: Carrots and potatoes are taking an agonizingly long time…maybe next week for carrots?????

RECIPES: I welcome any and all recipe suggestions. Cookbooks are fun to look through, but it is better to know what real people actually do in their kitchens.

Attention meat eaters and those considering it:.

You have a great source for local veggies, but what about meat? There are quite a few options for local organic and naturally raised meats of all kinds. With these local sources you can often meet the farmer, see where and how the animals are raised, and have a little connection with that part of your diet. Organic meat is sometimes more expensive, but as with other areas of organic farming it is not just your personal health and safety you are looking out for and supporting. The way farmers farm affects the air, water, soil, and wildlife around them. And since it is a living being we are talking about, organic farming helps create healthier and more humane living conditions for the animal. It may be worth eating slightly less to keep within your food budget. I will mention a few sources here, but refer to the farm map that we left at the pick-up sites for other options. These are folks I know personally.

· Bone Dry Ridge: Selma and Markthor, owners. 273-1045. They are good friends of ours out here in Rochester. They raise grass-fed Icelandic sheep and Scottish Highland cows (which take a longer time to mature and have a very lean meat), pigs and chickens. They do a great job. They sell meat by the ¼, ½, or whole animal. Go in on it with a friend or two if that quantity is too much. Call soon to reserve part of an animal or to get on next year’s mailing list.
· Oyster Bay Farm. Pat Labine, owner. 866-9424. They are located out on Oyster Bay and raise chickens, cows, and pigs. You must pre-reserve chickens or a fraction of a cow or pig. Call soon to place an order.

Jennifer