Helsing Junction Farm Newsletter Archive

Greetings from Helsing Junction Farm!

We are feeling astonished as we do every year that the season has flown by so quickly and the last week of CSA delivery is upon us. It has been a great year! After the trauma of last December’s flooding and fear of possible long-term problems, we were pretty pleased by the way things progressed. We didn’t seem to notice much of an impact from the flood, which actually makes sense because it floods on a pretty regular basis here on the flood plain (go figure!). We did seem to have more of a pest problem then in years past, though that could be due to any number of factors. The pest problem seemed to rear it’s ugly head the most in late summer and fall with explosions in the population of diamond back moths and corn ear worms in numbers we’ve never seen before. Our plan to deal with this next year, is to over plant as we always seem to do and to have bioneem (for the moths) on hand, so that when we notice the beginning of the problem we can quickly get it under control. We apologize for the bugs, and are really grateful to all of you who wrote us nice notes forgiving us. We especially loved the stories abouthow your kids enjoyed getting the bugs in their CSA boxes and took them to school for show and tell!

We love the CSA! We don’t know if you are sick of hearing us say so, but just in case you are not, we love the CSA! It is an amazing concept, when practiced has so many cool and profound ramifications that we can hardly stand it.
For us as farmers, the rewards are many…
-We have direct contact with the people that we are growing food for. We get to share their love of food, hear their stories and recipes and really see and understand first hand their experiences as eaters. (We have a blog in the works for next year, which will hopefully be a good forum for people in the CSA to connect with us and each other as well. We love talking about food almost as much as growing it.)
-We have sold everything on the farm before we grow it, which means no waste. (Selling everything ahead of time can actually also qualify as being a bit terrifying, but over the years we have grown used to the pressure.)
-We can grow a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers, not just what is hugely popular at market or on the wholesale market (think parsnips and Lacinato kale).
-Running a CSA saves time and money because everything is pre-sold and we don’t have to spend extra time selling produce in the height of the season. This in turn allows us to concentrate on growing food at reasonable prices, yet still allows us to pay our employees and ourselves a fair and living wage.
-Also, because we know exactly what we need to harvest ahead of time, we can pick the vegetables the day of/day before delivery, which allows us to provide afresher and more nutritious product.
-We don’t have to borrow money from banks, and can pay back the “interest” on the money we “borrow” from you (when you pay early) in produce.
-Together, we are all doing something about the problem of industrial agriculture and global climate change by buying and selling locally/reducing our carbon footprint. With the added benefit of learning to eat seasonally, which seems to become more interesting and fun as the years pass instead of less.
-And together we are all preserving farmland for future generations with out help from the government or banks.

A lot of you have been asking about how to sign up for next year and secure your spot for the 2009 season. Anyone who was a member this year has first priority. Please try to join early as we expect to fill up quickly for the 2009 season. By joining early, you are helping us to buy seeds and pay winter bills, thank you!

Early membership discounts for 2009 Season
Early membership discounts are only available to current members. This year we are only offering a discount for the first 50 people who pay in full by November 15th, 2008. We expect that this too will fill up quickly, so don’t delay if you want to receive the discount for paying in full. We will be sending out more sign up info for the 2009 season in the next several weeks.

Large shares: Pay in full before November 15th, 2008 and receive a 5% discount (pay $617.50 instead of $650.00).

Small shares: Pay in full by November 15th, 2008 and receive a 5% discount (pay $427.50 instead of $450).

Bulk & Storage Shares:
Will be available again for $50 each next year. You may also order these shares in lieu of flowers for next year as well.

Account Balance for 2008 Season:
Please try to be paid up by the end of this month. If you have questions, please contact us.

Please have all boxes returned to the CSA drop sites by Monday October 27th.
We will be returning the week of October 27th with the truck to pick up all the empty boxes. To save yourself a trip, bring some empty bags and/or we will leave some bags at all of the drops for those of you that forget to bring some. If you do not remember to bring back your box before Monday October 27th, please keep it and recycle it yourself. We don’t want the people who host the drop sites to be stuck with the empty boxes.


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This Week's Shares
Tuesday’s small shares may contain:
1# shallots
yellow onions
2# potatoes
winter squash
1 pie pumpkin
parsnips
treviso radicchio
rutabaga
Lacinato kale
parsley
cilantro
Comice pears

Wednesday’s small shares may contain:
1# shallots
yellow onions
2# potatoes
winter squash
1 pie pumpkin
parsnips
treviso radicchio
rutabaga
Lacinato kale
parsley
cilantro
Comice pears

Thursday’s small shares may contain:
1# shallots
yellow onions
2# potatoes
winter squash
1 pie pumpkin
1 bunch golden beets
treviso radicchio
Lacinato kale
parsley
cilantro
Asian pears

Tuesday’s large shares may contain:
1# shallots
yellow onions
2# potatoes
winter squash
2 pie pumpkins
1 bunch golden beets
treviso radicchio
rutabaga
red Russian kale
parsley
cilantro
Comice pears

Wednesday’s large shares may contain:
1# shallots
yellow onions
2# potatoes
winter squash
2 pie pumpkins
1 bunch golden beets
treviso radicchio
rutabaga
red Russian kale
parsley
cilantro
Comice pears

Thursday’s large shares may contain:
1# shallots
yellow onions
2# potatoes
winter squash
2 pie pumpkins
1 bunch golden beets
treviso radicchio
rutabaga
red Russian kale
parsley
cilantro
Asian pears

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Recipes

Linguine with Prosciutto, Radicchio, Blue Cheese and Figs:
-Cook 1 pound of linguine according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
-Heat 3 TBS olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
-Add 1 thinly slice treviso radicchio, 4 ounces sliced prosciutto, ¾ cup sliced stemmed dried black Mission figs and sauté until radicchio is just wilted, about 2 minutes.
-Add ¾ cup crumbled blue cheese and ¼ cup finely chopped parsley.
-Season pasta lightly with salt and pepper, then toss gently and serve.

Lentils with Winter Squash and Walnuts:
-Preheat your oven to 425.
-Peel, halve and scoop the seeds out of 1 pound of winter squash. Cut the squash into ½ inch pieces.
-In a shallow baking dish, toss the squash with 2 TBS olive oil, 1½ tsp curry powder and salt and pepper to taste.
-Bake 10 minutes, then add 1 large chopped shallot.
-Bake for another 10 minutes and then sprinkle the squash with ½ cup chopped walnuts and return to the oven for another 10 minutes until walnuts are toasted and squash is tender.
-While squash is baking, cook 1/3 cup lentils in some boiling water until just tender, about 20 minutes.
-Drain lentils and transfer to a bowl.
-Add squash mixture to lentils, along with 3 TBS fresh parsley, fresh limejuice to taste.
-Toss until well combined. Top with yogurt and serve with basmati rice.

Roasted Beet Salad with Beet greens and Feta:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut greens off of 1 bunch of beets, reserving greens.
-Whisk together 6 TBS olive oil, 2½ TBS red wine vinegar and 1 TBS minced garlic and some salt and set aside.
-Place beets in a baking dish and add 1 cup of water.
-Cover and bake until beets are tender, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Slip the skins while still warm.
-Cut beets in half and thinly slice. Transfer to a large bow and mix in 2 TBS chopped capers and ¼ cup dressing.
-Cut stems off of beet greens and discard stems. Put in large pot and cook with a little water until just wilted, about 4 minutes. Drain greens and squeeze out excess moisture. Cool and coarsely chop.
-Toss greens with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
-Arrange beets in center of a platter. Surround with greens, then sprinkle with ½ cup crumbled feta.

Kale with Cannellini Beans:
-Chop 1 bunch of kale. Put it into a pan with a little water, drizzle with olive oil and cook for 5-7 min. Set aside.
-In a large skillet, sauté 1 finely chopped onion in some olive oil.
-Add 2 cloves minced garlic, ½ tsp dried rosemary and some red pepper flakes,
-Cook for 3 minutes and add ½ cup dry white wine and cook until the mixture is a syrupy sauce, about 5-10 minutes.
-Add 1 can of well rinsed and drained cannellini beans, the kale and a little water.
-Heat through and add a little salt and pepper. Serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Sweet and Spicy Toasted Squash or Pumpkin Seeds:
-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-Scoop out and then rinse the seeds from a pumpkin or squash or two. Pat the seeds dry.
-Toss together with 1 TBS brown sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1/8 tsp cayenne and 1 TBS melted butter.
-Toast in 1 layer in a shallow non-stick baking pan until golden, about 10 minutes.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie:
You can freeze any remaining pumpkin puree for use in later pies. This recipe is yummy and easier than it sounds.
For the pumpkin: Cut 1 pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and place cut-side down on a rimmed cookie sheet.
-Bake at 350 degrees until pumpkin is very soft, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool and then scoop out the inside.
-Puree in a blender until very smooth, adding the juice from the cookie sheet if necessary to make s smooth paste.
For the piecrust: Put 1 cup of white flour in a medium sized bowl.
-Add ½ stick frozen grated butter and stir to mix.
-Add 1 TBS canola oil and 1/8 cup of water.
-Very gently stir/knead to get the dough to stick together (do not over-mix). Lightly flour a counter top.
-Pat the dough into a circle and then begin rolling out the dough so it is large enough to fit a 9- inch pie pan (keep adding a little more flour and turning the dough over so it doesn’t stick).
-Lay the dough in the pie pan and fold the edges over to make the edge of the crust even.
For the pie: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
-Bring 1½ cups half-and-half to a boil and then remove from heat.
-Combine ¼ cup maple syrup, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ginger, 1½ cups pumpkin puree and 3 whole beaten eggs.
-Add the half-and–half and then pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake for 40 minutes.
Potato Shallot Gratin:
From Fine Cooking’s Dinner with Friends.
-In a small saucepan combine 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 clove chopped garlic and 1 bay leaf.
-Bring to a boil and then remove from heat and set aside to infuse.
-Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
-Slice 2# of potatoes into 1/8 inch thick slices.
-Cut 2-3 shallot or 1-2 onions into thin strips.
-Then chop about 4 oz. (1 cup) thinly sliced ham (optional).
To assemble: In a large 2-qt. gratin dish or heavy baking dish spread about 1/3 of the potato slices.
-Season with salt and pepper and a sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg.
-Then overtop of the potatoes, layer half of the shallots/onions and half of the ham.
-Top with another 1/3 of the potatoes and some more salt, pepper and nutmeg.
-Then spread the other half of the shallots/onions and the other half of the ham.
-Top with the remaining potatoes and more salt, pepper and nutmeg.
-Put the gratin on a baking sheet to catch drips and pour the cream mixture over top, discarding the bay leaf.
-Sprinkle the gratin with 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese, cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
-Remove the foil and baste with the liquid in the dish until the potatoes are very tender and the top is brown, another 30-45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Oatmeal, Almond, Pear and Blueberry Crisp:
-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-In a medium sized bowl, mix ½ cup oats, ½ brown sugar and 3 TBS flour.
-Add 2 TBS vegetable oil and mix with a fork until coarse crumbs form.
-Add 2 TBS slices almonds and mix in.
-Peel and slice up 3 comice pears and add 1½ cups frozen blueberries.
-Sprinkle with 2-3 TBS sugar, 1 pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 TBS fresh lemon juice.
-Grease a 10-inch pie glass plate and add the fruit. Top with the oats.
-Bake until fruit is tender and topping is brown, about 35 minutes.
-Cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

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Helsing Junction Farm
12013 Independence Road, Rochester, WA 98579 | (360)273-2033
helsingfarm@msn.com | www.helsingfarmcsa.com

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