Big Red Farmstand, Wednesday October 30, 1pm to 5pm.

Hello friends --

The sugar maple just keeps getting better...

Last Wednesday night, after we'd closed down the farmstand, we got our first frost of the season, as many of you probably noticed.  Fortunately, since it was a farmstand day, we'd just harvested everything pretty heavily, so we didn't lose too much that was edible.  However, that frost marked the end of the road for eggplants, peppers (though we still have a few hot peppers left from last week), summer squash, chard, and flowers.  Wow, that feels like a lot of stuff, doesn't it?  It does to us; we also feel the increasingly cold weather as we harvest and wash greens for these last few farmstands of the year.

Goodbye till next year!

So, I'd like to take a moment to recognize those summer veggies that stayed with us well into the fall.  Thanks to a wet spring and summer, our zucchini and yellow squash barely got going until September.  Our eggplants recovered from an inauspicious beginning to bear what I think can reasonably be termed a bumper crop.  We picked so many peppers that they became a staple on the salad bar at Irwin for several weeks.  Our sunflowers and zinnias graced the Pop Hall faculty lounge and the Admissions rotunda, as well as tables and mantelpieces all over town.  And as for chard, which has been on the farmstand table every single week since that first (rainy) day back at the beginning of June, those plants don't owe us a thing.  So, thank you plants, and thank you to all our farm helpers and customers!  Now it's time to wrap up warm and eat lots of kale, carrots, beets, and lettuce.


ON THE FARM:

What we hope our rye will
look like in March

We are finally, finally done seeding cover crops for the winter.  Let me be the first to admit that we did this really, really late.  We seeded winter rye, which doesn't have a problem germinating in cold weather, but still.  The other farmers in the area definitely had their cover crops in well before we did.  However, it's done now, and we'll hope for the best.

Hairy vetch in bloom

We seeded hairy vetch along with the rye.  Vetch, a legume, will fix nitrogen in the soil, while the rye will grow tall and send down thickly matted roots, contributing structure and biomass to the soil.  We're hoping the rye can serve as late-winter pasture for our sheep -- its high tolerance for cold temperatures will enable it to be green and nutritious long before the wild pasture grasses start growing again -- before being tilled in to make way for veggies later in the spring.

Firming the soil with the cultipacker

The Big Red farm crew seeded most of the cover crops last week, into extremely dry soil.  We haven't had significant rain in several weeks, and it shows.  We use a heavy, ridged roller called a cultipacker to firm the soil after seeding.  This ensures good seed-to-soil contact, and the ridges help to collect any moisture that does come along, such as dew, but we're crossing our fingers for a good soaking rain very soon.  If we don't get that, our cover crop seeds will have to wait even longer to germinate!


RECIPE:

Wild rice & kale gratin

To continue in kale mode, we recently had this warm, hearty gratin on a chilly evening.  I'd originally planned to use it as a side dish to some sort of main course, but by the time the baby was asleep and the dog walked and the laundry put away, it became clear that the gratin was the main course.  We didn't go to bed hungry!  (Wild Rice and Kale Gratin)


AT THE FARMSTAND:

This week, we hope to have the following available on Wednesday, in front of Edith Chapel, from 1pm to 5pm:

• Beets - $2.50 bunch
• Carrots - $2.50 bunch
• Celery - $2.00 each
• Garlic - $1.50 each (limited quantity)
• Kale - $2.50 bunch
• Tuscan Kale - $2.00 bunch
• Romaine Lettuce - $2.50 head
• Red Leaf Lettuce - $2.00 head
• Hot Peppers - 2 for $1.00
• Potatoes - $4.50 quart (limited quantity)

HOW TO FIND US:

The Big Red Farmstand will be located on the Lawrenceville School campus for the fall, in front of Edith Chapel.  Enter campus by the main gate on Route 206 (opposite the Lawrenceville Post Office and Craven Lane) and bear right into the circle.  The Chapel is about halfway around the circle, and you'll see our sign.  Don't forget your shopping bags!

Wild Rice Gratin with Kale, Caramelized Onions, and Baby Swiss

Since I discovered the joys of the raw kale salad, we've rarely eaten kale any other way.  Sure, we'll slice some up and toss it into a soup now and then, but for the most part, we've been content to let it sit in a vinaigrette until it "cooks" a bit, throw in some nuts and dried fruit, and call it a day.  However, this gratin has reminded me that (actually) cooked kale still deserves a place on the menu.  It is hearty and warming, contains nothing too complex or unhealthy, and is substantial enough for a great vegetarian main dish.  Omit the breadcrumb topping, and it's even gluten-free!

A couple of post-execution thoughts: the recipe calls for a wild rice blend of some kind -- the author is unspecific.  I used a mixture of long-grain brown rice and wild rice, both of which I had lying around, and that worked fine (see note).  I also had an ear of sweet corn lying around, so I sliced the kernels off the cob and threw them in too, which I think was a good idea, though certainly not essential.  Finally, though I'm absolutely willing to trust Deb when it comes to ingredients, we're not big Swiss cheese fans in my family, so I dialed back the quantity somewhat.  I wish I hadn't.  The dish didn't taste Swiss cheese-y to me at all, and it would have been more luxuriant with the full amount of cheese.  If one really doesn't like Swiss, I imagine some other melty cheese would work too.

WILD RICE GRATIN WITH KALE, CARAMELIZED ONIONS, AND BABY SWISS
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

serves 10-12 as a side, or makes a couple of meals for a smaller group


5 cups cooked wild rice (from 1 2/3 cups uncooked)*

1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 large sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon table salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 cups stemmed, ribboned kale leaves

2 cups coarsely grated Emmentaler or other Swiss cheese
1 ear sweet corn, kernels sliced off (about 3/4 cup)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
table salt
freshly ground black pepper


Cook the rice according to package directions.*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Meanwhile, caramelize the onions: Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat.  Add onions, sprinkle with salt and a little pepper, and cook until they're tender and sweet, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.  Add the kale ribbons, and cook until they wilt a bit, about 5 minutes.  Stir together the onion-kale mixture, wild rice, corn, and 1 cup grated cheese in a large bowl.  Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Assemble the gratin:  Use 1 Tablespoon butter to generously coat a 2-quart baking dish.  Spread the wild-rice mixture into prepared pan and pour broth over it.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over gratin.  Toss breadcrumbs with 1 Tablespoon melted butter and salt and pepper to taste; sprinkle over cheese.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a little bubbly and beginning to brown on top.


*Note: I used 1 cup long-grain brown rice and 2/3 cup wild rice (as in, the long, narrow black grains).  There were no "package directions," so I cooked the rice like pasta: in lots of salted water, and drained through a colander once it was al dente.  It took between 20 and 30 minutes to cook; easy to get done while the onions are caramelizing.

Big Red Farmstand, Wednesday October 23, 1pm to 5pm

Hello, friends --

The glorious sugar maple
opposite our barn

As we move further into cool weather, I'm amazed every time I go out to the field and find a summer crop that's hanging in there, doggedly ripening a few last fruits before the frost comes.  This week finds us still harvesting summer squash, eggplants and peppers (though the eggplants are truly done now), and I even found 4 tomatoes which I am selfishly hoarding and not sharing with any of you!  Sorry.  I hope you'll accept the return of head lettuce as a consolation prize -- we're very excited about it!  A few rainy days in the past couple of weeks gave the lettuces the push they needed to size up, and we're harvesting Romaine and red leaf lettuce this week.  We'll still have our baby lettuce mix, too; and plenty of kale, which, as many of you know, makes the best salads of all!  See below for some recipe ideas.

Farm crew coming in from hoeing

Big Red Produce around campus:  Last Friday, Mr. Jordan's Religion & Ecology class distributed bouquets of Big Red Farm flowers at the School Meeting -- thanks to the class for their support, and especially to Aurelio Ayala for organizing the gifts.  Also, I bet you didn't know that this Thursday, October 24th, is World Food Day!  Food Day is "a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food," as well as being another cool organization that uses the silhouette of a chicken as their logo (read more about Food Day here).  Lawrenceville is getting in on the action, with Gary Giberson and Sustainable Fare featuring some Big Red Farm veggies in the dining halls that day, including kale and celery.  Make sure to taste everything and tell them how good it is!  As always, we are grateful to Gary and his staff for their support of the farm.


ON THE FARM:

Kirby girls planting
garlic

On Sunday, a delegation from Kirby House came to the farm to plant garlic.  In the space of two hours, they cheerfully cleaned and separated the cloves of three varieties of garlic (two Rocamboles and a German Extra-Hardy), raked and prepared a 350-foot bed in the field, and finally planted about 700 cloves of garlic.  We'll be harvesting scapes from those plants in June, and the bulbs themselves in July.  We and the girls had a great time and got a lot done, and we hope they'll be back often.  Thanks, Kirby House!

Earthworm tunnels

Lately, Jake has been engaged in the activity of plowing up some of the sections of the field that we'll be using to grow vegetables in 2014, in preparation for getting some cover crops in to protect the soil during the winter.  When we first started working on the Big Red Farm, we knew the soil was very depleted and compacted because A) we couldn't get a spade farther than about 3 inches into the ground, and B) when we did turn the ground over, we couldn't find a single earthworm.  Now, a year and a half later, we're seeing some very preliminary, but very encouraging, changes in the soil quality and structure.  The holes you see in the picture at left are the tunnels left by earthworms going about their wormy business: eating organic matter in the soil, which they convert to available nutrients in their castings, and aerating the soil with these channels.  They are doing this important work more quickly and quietly and efficiently than we can; we just try to create an environment they want to return to after their long absence!


RECIPES:

Sunlit kale

Two kale salads this week, each with its own distinct personality.  The colorful, Asian-inspired Kale-Peanut Slaw makes use of the season's last bell peppers and our incredibly sweet fall carrots.  Kale-Parmesan Salad features a creamy dressing made unforgettable with the addition of fresh, local garlic.  Also, a word to the wise: I can't promise that we won't keep throwing more kale salads at you as the season wears on -- they're all delicious and so healthy!  Collect the set!  (Kale-Peanut Slaw)  (Kale-Parmesan Salad)


AT THE FARMSTAND:

This week, we hope to have the following available on Wednesday, in front of Edith Chapel, from 1pm to 5pm:

• Baby Lettuce Mix - $2.50 bag
• Beets - $2.50 bunch
• Carrots - $2.50 bunch
• Celery - $2.00 each
• Chard - $2.50 bunch
• Eggplant (last week for this) - $3.00 lb
• Flowers - $2.50 bouquet
• Garlic - $1.50 each (limited quantity)
• Kale - $2.50 bunch
• Lettuce - $2.50 head
• Assorted Onions - $2.00 lb (limited quantity)
• Colored Peppers - $4.00 lb
• Hot Peppers - 2 for $1.00
• Potatoes - $4.50 quart
• Summer Squash - $2.00 lb

HOW TO FIND US:

The Big Red Farmstand will be located on the Lawrenceville School campus for the fall, in front of Edith Chapel.  Enter campus by the main gate on Route 206 (opposite the Lawrenceville Post Office and Craven Lane) and bear right into the circle.  The Chapel is about halfway around the circle, and you'll see our sign.  Don't forget your shopping bags!

Kale-Peanut Slaw

Our friend Katie, who runs the Wyck Home Farm in Philadelphia, and is the source for lots of our vegetarian and vegetable-centered recipes, is a devoted fan of raw kale salad in its many forms.  Here is an Asian-inspired kale salad that she shared last spring, to join the ranks of our favorite kale-vinaigrette combinations.  We still have a few peppers, which along with carrots will add delightful color to this slaw.  I think a teaspoon or so of mustard, to emulsify and thicken the dressing, would not be out of place here, but that's just me.  I'm a sucker for a good emulsified vinaigrette.

KALE-PEANUT SLAW

adapted from Katie Brownell, farm manager at the Wyck Home Farm

serves 4 people who like kale

1-2 bunches kale
1 yellow, orange, or red bell pepper
2 good-sized carrots
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar OR apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped, divided
2 tablespoons packed brown or white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut center ribs out of kale and discard.  Slice kale leaves into thin strips.
Remove seeds and stem from bell pepper, and thinly slice lengthwise.
Slice the carrots into thin rounds. Toss in a large bowl with kale and bell pepper.
Mix together vegetable oil, cider vinegar, 1/4 cup salted peanuts, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Pour dressing over vegetable mixture and let stand for 10-15 minutes, tossing often.
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped, as garnish.

Kale-Parmesan Salad

Here's another terrific kale salad (and it won't be the last!).  A dear friend, whose taste in food is impeccable, recommended this salad when I told her we had started to harvest our kale.  It's from a blog I wasn't familiar with, Tea & Cookies, but I'll definitely be back to check out the other recipes on this site.  Tara, who writes the blog, has lots of helpful suggestions for (and lovely photos of) this dish, which you can check out here.  She points out that this salad is very lemony and very garlicky, which I love, but doesn't suit everyone; increasing the cheese and olive oil quantities a bit will mellow those flavors.  She also suggests massaging the thin ribbons of kale with the salt a little bit before assembling the salad, to get that raw-but-not-leathery kale texture that we love.

KALE-PARMESAN SALAD

from Tara at Tea & Cookies

serves 2 as a side-dish, or 1 kale enthusiast

1 tbs olive oil (plus additional for drizzling, if you like)
1 tbs lemon juice (plus additional for drizzling, if you like)
½ tsp garlic, pressed or grated on a fine-grade microplane
¼ tsp salt
2 tbs pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated
1 half-inch slice of French or sourdough bread, toasted until dry and crunchy
2 cups of kale (Tuscan or dino kale is best), washed and cut in thin ribbons
ground pepper or crushed red pepper flakes to taste


In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil and lemon juice with the garlic until smooth. Add the salt and a few grinds of black pepper (or some crushed red pepper if you’d prefer). Add half of the cheese and mix until smooth.
Crumble the slice of toasted bread (this is a great use for stale bread) into small pieces and toss with the dressing. Add the kale and toss until the bread is evenly distributed. Taste and add a little more oil or lemon juice, if desired.

Big Red Farmstand, Wednesday October 16, 1pm to 5pm

Hello friends,

21st century small farm: veggies, sheep, solar panels.

Well, I think it's really fall now.  This will probably be the last week for eggplants and peppers, and the summer squash is finally slowing down too (though not stopping yet!).  Our recipes this week feature several of these late summer/early fall ingredients, helping us to savor this transitional time of warm, sunny days and chilly nights.

As we close in on the end of pepper season, I've finally found a recipe for stuffed Poblano chiles that I think is worth sharing with you all (see below).  We've grown Poblanos on every farm where we've worked, and have experienced a real range of spiciness, from green-pepper-mild to Jalapeno-hot.  I always thought that was odd, and a couple of years ago someone (who seemed like a reliable source) told me that a field's (or garden plot's) soil composition and chemistry is largely responsible for the level of heat in the peppers grown there.  So, in practical terms, what that means is we have even less control over this than we thought... oh well!  Isn't farming interesting?

Another reason to believe autumn has arrived: we harvested our first celery this week!  Our celery won't look exactly like what you find in the store -- it has skinny stalks and lots of leaves, and is much darker green in color -- but it has a flavor that will knock your socks off.  It's looking great, and we hope to have it available for the remainder of the season, right up until Thanksgiving for all your soup and stuffing needs!  Our kale supply also continues to improve, as I know many of you will be glad to hear.


ON THE FARM:

The corn picker takes in
cornstalks in the front...

 This week, Howard Myers, who grows corn and soybeans on much of the rest of Lawrenceville School's farmland, has been harvesting his corn.  The equipment Howard uses, and the scale on which he uses it, are so different from the scale of the Big Red Farm that it hardly seems like we belong to the same industry!

...and spits chopped stubble
out the back.

 Howard told us that his grandfather picked his corn by hand, and he'd be lucky to pick eighty bushels in a day.  Howard's corn picker, by contrast, picks 500 bushels in an hour.  The corn then makes its way down south to become Indian Head cornmeal.  The Big Red Farm Crew took a walk back to the cornfield on Tuesday to watch the corn picker in action; a great opportunity to discuss the extremes present in farming, just within Mercer County!

Andy and his lady friends

We also had a visit earlier this week from the girls' cross country team, who stopped by to check out the farm, ask questions, and say hello to the sheep.  We're glad to have been a stop along their running route!


RECIPES:

Full disclosure: this year's Big Red Farm poblanos are pretty hot.  I'm not sure what that says about our soil chemistry, but there it is.  Though we like spicy food, and use hot peppers (sparingly) in lots of our home cooking, we're not too adventurous in this house when it comes to heat, so what I think is hot may be pleasantly mild to someone else.  Either way, this is your official hot pepper heads-up!  I still highly recommend this recipe; the creamy risotto and cool crema help to offset the peppers' heat; and don't forget, Walt at Village Farm still has lots of sweet corn!  (Corn Risotto-Stuffed Poblanos)

Also, as we get into crisp fall days and chilly nights, doesn't your whole being cry out for soup?  This minestrone is infinitely adaptable; use whatever veggies you have lying around (or can find at the farmstand!).  Right now, as summer squash and potatoes overlap with kale, carrots and celery, is the perfect moment for minestrone.  (Early Autumn Minestrone)

AT THE FARMSTAND:

This week, we hope to have the following available on Wednesday in front of Edith Chapel, from 1pm to 5pm:

• Baby Lettuce Mix - $2.50 bag
• Beets - $2.50 bunch
• Carrots - $2.00 bunch
• Celery - $2.00 each
• Chard - $2.50 bunch
• Eggplant - $3.00 lb
• Flowers - $2.50 bouquet
• Garlic - $1.50 bulb (limited quantity)
• Kale -- $2.50 bunch
• Assorted Onions - $2.00 lb (limited quantity)
• Colored Peppers - $4.00 lb
• Hot Peppers - 2 for $1.00
• Potatoes - $4.50 quart
• Summer Squash - $2.00 lb

HOW TO FIND US:

The Big Red Farmstand will be on the Lawrenceville Campus for the fall.  Right now we're located in front of Edith Chapel.  Enter campus by the main gate on Route 206 (opposite the Lawrenceville Post Office and Craven Lane), and bear right into the circle.  The Chapel is about halfway around the circle, and you'll see our sign.  Don't forget your shopping bags!

Risotto-Stuffed Poblanos

Baked stuffed poblanos

Our Poblano peppers have been gorgeous and prolific all summer and fall, but not exactly flying off the shelves, so I've been searching for a good recipe to feature them.  These relatively mild* peppers are the ones traditionally used for Chiles Rellenos in Mexican cuisine, but most recipes for that delicious dish are so involved -- stuffing, battering, deep-frying -- that I've been disinclined to try them at home.  Then, as ever, Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen Cookbook came to my rescue, with a reasonably simple, (nearly) vegetarian, non-deep-fried version.  I know we've published a number of stuffed-pepper recipes and ideas this season, but now peppers are almost done and I promise this will be the last one!  This is hardly a traditional Chiles Rellenos filling (though Deb nods to Mexican cooking with her cheese choices and the use of cerveza in the risotto instead of the traditional white wine), but here at the end of both pepper and sweet corn seasons it's too good to pass up.


CORN RISOTTO-STUFFED POBLANOS
from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

serves 4 generously

8 large fresh poblano peppers
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups short-grained rice, such as arborio or carnaroli
1/2 cup beer, preferably light or medium in color
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 cobs)
3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon table salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco, ricotta salata, or another crumbly cheese
3 Tablespoons sour cream mixed with 1 Tablespoon milk and a pinch of salt, for serving
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves or flat-leaf parsley

Prepare peppers:
Lay several chiles at a time on their sides on the racks atop a gas burner, and turn the flame to high.  Using tongs, rotate the chiles frequently until their skins are blistered, about 4 to 6 minutes each.  Transfer the peppers to a bowl, and cover them with foil or plastic wrap.  Repeat with the remaining chiles.  Should you not have a gas burner, you can do this under a broiler.  Or you can skip this step altogether if the pepper skins don't bother you.

Make risotto:
In a medium saucepan, heat the stock to a low simmer.  On a separate burner, heat a larger saucepan over medium heat.  Once the saucepan is hot, add the oil and heat through; then add the onion, and sauté until it is softened and translucent, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute more. Add the rice to the pot, and stir it for a minute or two, until it becomes slightly toasty.  Pour in the beer, scraping up any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan.  Let beer simmer for roughly a minute -- it will mostly disappear.

Ladle 1 cup of warm stock into rice mixture, and simmer until it has been absorbed, stirring frequently.  Add the remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing stock to absorb before adding more, and stirring often.  Along with the final addition of stock, add the corn.  The total cooking time for the rice is about 30 minutes, after which it should be creamy and tender.  Though risotto is traditionally supposed to be on the loose side, you can leave this one ever-so-slightly thicker, so it can be easily stuffed into peppers.  Once the stock is added and the risotto is tender, stir in the Monterey Jack cheese, the salt, and many grinds of black pepper.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Remove risotto from the heat.

Assemble and cook poblanos:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Remove chiles from bowl, and gently rub off the skins, which should now remove easily.  Cut a slit lengthwise in each chile, and remove the seeds and membranes as best you can.  Leave the stems on -- they're cute.  Fill each chile with risotto through the slit.  Arrange the chiles tightly in a baking dish, and sprinkle with crumbled cheese.  Bake the chiles for 10 to 15 minutes, until bronzed a bit on top.

To serve:
In a small dish, whisk together the sour cream mixed with milk and salt.  Drizzle the mixture over hot chiles.  Garnish with cilantro.  Eat them while they're hot.


*A note on spiciness: I ate some of these the other day and they were pretty hot.  Now, I don't have a super-high tolerance for spiciness, and I was able to eat and enjoy them (the crema cools things down a bit, and I drank lots of water), but consider yourselves warned.  I found that removing the seeds and membranes, which is where the heat hangs out, was difficult to do thoroughly through the slit in the chile without destroying the pepper's structural integrity, and next time I think I'll cut each chile in half, so I can more easily remove all seeds and membranes, and heap the risotto into the halves to bake.  One could also stuff sweet peppers, eliminating any spice, and it should be said that the corn risotto is quite delicious on its own, too.

Early Autumn Minestrone

We make this soup throughout the fall and winter, and it's always a little different, depending on what ingredients are available.  This week, you can, if you choose, get the following ingredients from your favorite local school farm: onions, garlic, summer squash, celery, carrots, potatoes, and kale.  Not a bad haul!  Also, if you canned any Big Red Farm tomatoes this summer, they'd be great in here too.  If not, a can of diced tomatoes will do nicely.

Winterbor kale

EARLY AUTUMN MINESTRONE
heavily adapted from the staff of Moosewood Restaurant, via epicurious.com

makes 12 cups (serves 6-8)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions (1 large or two smaller)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 1/2 cups summer squash, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
2 1/2 cups potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5-6 cups water or stock 
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups chopped kale
1 1/2 cups cooked or canned white beans, such as canellini (15-oz can, drained)
grated parmesan and chopped parsley, to serve

Curing garlic

Heat oil in a large soup pot on medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots and celery and saute until softened, about 10-15 minutes.  Add garlic and saute another minute or so.

Potatoes

Add the squash, potatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, diced tomaotes, and water or stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are almost done.  Add the kale and beans and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the kale is tender.  Serve immediately, garnished with grated parmesan and chopped parsley.

Big Red Farmstand, Wednesday October 9, 1-5PM

Hello, friends --

This week finds me (Jake) writing your farm updates instead of Emma.  She and the loyal members of the Big Red Farm Crew are out harvesting all the fresh produce for tomorrow's farmstand, while I am confined to my sickbed.  Latin students get Spanish teachers as substitutes today, and Big Red Farm readers get me -- I hope I won't disappoint.

"The world and our life in it are conditional gifts.
We have the world to live in and the use of it to live
from on the condition that we will take good care of it."
-Wendell Berry 

I have spent some of my time in bed re-reading the essays of Mr. Wendell Berry of Henry County, KY, whose books never stay on the shelf for the very long at our house.  In his writing (which includes poetry, novels, short stories, and pieces of non-fiction), Mr. Berry carefully describes the decline of rural life in our country and the agricultural crisis that we now face.  And he was featured this past Sunday on Bill Moyers' program on public television.  If you have a spare moment, the interview is well worth a watch.

Particular thanks this week go to all the good folks at Carter House (especially the Hanewald family) who featured lots of Big Red Farm Produce at the annual dinner celebrating Carter's founding.

And thanks to Tom Collins, Kevin Mattingly, and everybody else involved with the "Journey of the Universe" conference for including the farm in this weekend's conversations.    

Finally, one more reminder that we're only open on Wednesdays for the rest of the fall.  Thanks again to everyone who came out to support the Saturday farmstand throughout the summer. 

RECIPES

Winterbor Kale

For those of you who have been waiting all summer for kale, we are happy to announce that we picked our first bunches of this cool-weather crop this week.  We're growing three varieties of kale at the Big Red Farm this year (Lacinato or Tuscan, Red Russian, and Winterbor). Kale has shot to superstardom in last few years.  A farmer friend of ours says, "We used to get complaints that there was too much kale in the CSA share.  Now all we hear is that they want more kale."  There are lots of good ways to incorporate kale into your fall meals and we'll feature more of them in the coming weeks.  For this week, Emma -- and you'll be relieved to know that Emma is still providing the recipes here -- recommends these crunchy kale chips.  

And while there is still eggplant to be picked, why not make some baba ghanouj?  Making it has to be easier than spelling it.  And it's delicious. 

ON THE FARM  

Tim, Rudi, and Big Red Farm hives.

Last Wednesday we had an exciting visit at the farm from the NJ State Apiarist, Tim Schuler.  Just when you might begin to wonder about the functionality of government (on, say, Capitol Hill), the taxpayers' own beekeeper comes to inspect your hives and give you advice on maintaining your colonies.  I love it.   

We have had two to three colonies going strong all summer here, but the big question now is whether they have laid up enough reserves to survive the winter.  If all goes well, we'll harvest honey next summer.  That is, however, a big "if," since honey bee populations worldwide are in serious peril right now.  This past winter, one third of American honey bee colonies died from Colony Collapse Disorder.  Scientists and beekeepers are struggling to find the cause of this mysterious die-off.  More and more, the research points to a particularly toxic mix of pesticides and fungicides used in industrial agriculture.  "But why," you ask, "would that affect the bees on the Big Red Farm, since you don't use those chemical sprays?" Well, honey bees will forage in a large area (something like a circle with a diameter of 3-5 miles), so honey bee health becomes an indicator of the overall ecological health of a particular area.   Fingers crossed for our hives this winter. 

And in case we needed a reminder of the importance of honey bees in our lives, there was a nice segment called "Dance of the Honey Bee" this past Sunday on Bill Moyers' program on public television.  There's a theme developing here...

The second welcome visit on the farm this week came in the form of a steady downpour on Monday.  This summer was, as you'll remember, very wet in our area, but the fall has been relatively dry so far, and some of our fall crops were beginning to suffer.  So we did a little dance of glee and gratitude when the sky opened up on Monday.      

AT THE FARMSTAND:

This week, we hope to have the following available ON WEDNESDAY ONLY in front of Edith Chapel, from 1pm to 5pm:

·              Baby Lettuce Mix - $2.50 bag

·              Beets - $2.50 bunch

·              Carrots - $2.00 bunch

·              Chard - $2.50 bunch

·              Eggplant - $3.00 lb

·              Flowers - $2.50 bouquet

·              Garlic - $1.50 bulb 

·              Kale -- $2.50 bunch

·              Assorted Onions - $2.00 lb (limited quantity)

·              Colored Peppers - $4.00 lb

·              Hot Peppers - 2 for $1.00

·              Potatoes - $4.50 quart

·              Summer Squash - $2.00 lb

HOW TO FIND US:

The Big Red Farmstand will be on the Lawrenceville Campus for the fall.  Right now we're located in front of Edith Chapel.  Enter campus by the main gate on Route 206 (opposite the Lawrenceville Post Office and Craven Lane), and bear right into the circle.  The Chapel is about halfway around the circle, and you'll see our sign.  Don't forget your shopping bags!

Baba Ghanouj

Asian Eggplant

Here's another useful eggplant recipe to have in your arsenal (or, less militantly, your repertoire).  This is a good one, too, if you belong to the ranks of the eggplant-uncertain; Baba Ghanouj (or Gannouj, or Ghanoush, or any one of half a dozen ways I've seen it spelled) does a great job of showcasing roasted eggplant's creamy texture.  Serve as a dip with a variety of raw veggies and toasted pita, or spread on sandwiches, or drizzle with olive oil and eat with a spoon -- we don't judge!


BABA GHANOUJ
from Bon Appetit via epicurious.com

yield: about 1 3/4 cups 

2 1-pound eggplants, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, chopped


Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously oil rimmed baking sheet. Place eggplant halves, cut side down, on sheet. Roast until eggplant is very soft, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Using spoon, scoop out pulp from eggplant into strainer set over bowl. Let stand 30 minutes, allowing excess liquid to drain from eggplant.

Transfer eggplant pulp to processor. Add 1/4 cup oil, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic; process until almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Baked Kale Chips

Making chips out of kale seemed to take the nation by storm around the time I had my first farm job, as an apprentice on a 200-family CSA in Bucks County, PA.  This was several years ago, so maybe you're all stifling yawns and saying, "Wow, Emma, kale chips?  So 2007."  On the off-chance that you haven't already, though, I recommend giving these a try!  Baking kale takes away something of its density and bitterness, and I've even known kale-averse children to get excited about these chips.

BAKED KALE CHIPS
from smittenkitchen.com (though there are lots of other sources out there)

1 bunch (about 6 ounces) kale -- any kind will work, though "Dinosaur" and curly kale have both been recommended
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet (lining it with parchment paper will make the clean-up easier, but isn't necessary). Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.

Big Red Farmstand, WEDNESDAY ONLY, October 2, 1pm to 5pm

Hello friends,

Where to put the baby
while washing carrots?

Happy October!  For those of you who, like me, can't believe that it's already October, I'm happy to say that summer favorites squash, eggplants and peppers are still available.  For those of you who, like me, are excited that it's October because fall veggies are so wonderful, I'm delighted to announce the return of carrots, beets and potatoes!  Something for everyone.

A reminder that there will be no Big Red Farmstand on Saturdays from now on.  A few of the things we're going to be spending that time on:

• Assembling a second hoop house for chicken housing, seed starting, and cold-weather production.
• Building a shed where the sheep can shelter on windy, rainy or sleety days this winter.
• Continuing the process of fixing up and fine-tuning our 1953 Farmall Cub cultivating tractor.
• Plowing, disking and planting cover crops in our fallow vegetable fields.
• Seeding the last few fall and winter veggies -- spinach, lettuce, arugula, carrots, scallions
• Weed control in our fall crops.

So, we'll stay busy.  Hope to see you all under the oak tree on Wednesday afternoons until Thanksgiving.

ON THE FARM:

Farm baby digs potatoes

On Tuesday, farmers and student farm crew pitched in to harvest the remainder of our, let's face it, pretty disappointing potato crop.  Potatoes don't love wet, poorly-drained soil, which is exactly what we had, and they don't respond well to intense weed pressure, either.  Our disappointment, though, is all with the quantity, and not the quality; these spuds have been mouth-wateringly delicious since the first new potatoes we harvested in the summer.

Potatoes plants are also susceptible to their own raft of fungal diseases, including late blight, which is the thing that finally finished off our tomato crop.  Late blight was also responsible for the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century.  In that situation, a large portion of Ireland's population was dependent on potatoes, and in particular one variety of potatoes which was grown on almost every farm, for the bulk of their nutrition.  Thus, when blight appeared, the potato monoculture succumbed in its entirety, leading to the deaths of about a million people, and the immigration of a million more.

Aside from being a tragedy of epic proportions, Ireland's Great Famine is a striking object lesson in the importance of crop diversity.  In other parts of the world where potatoes are an important crop, notably South America, care is taken to grow a wide range of varieties.  In the Andes of Peru, farmers cultivate hundreds of different kinds of potatoes, each adapted to a specific niche, in order to insure adequate nutrition for their communities regardless of weather, disease pressures, and other circumstances.  A bad year for this variety means a good year for that one, and hopefully everyone still has enough to eat.

Kathy found a vole!

On the Big Red Farm, we tried to practice potato diversity on a smaller scale, only growing eight varieties.  Though they all had a rough season, due to weather and our imperfect weed management (and the odd rodent gnawing on them...), we certainly found that some did better than others.  We will definitely be growing Kennebec again!


RECIPE:

The heart of eating locally, I think, is taking good, fresh ingredients and preparing them simply and well.  If you start with a vegetable that hasn't traveled thousands of miles to get to you, it will have flavor and substance and won't need lots of fussy dressing-up to be palatable.  This is never more true than with potatoes.  It can be hard to reconcile the dirt-caked tubers we dug out of the field with the ubiquitous fast-food french fry (America's most popular "vegetable"), though they are, at least nominally, the same thing.  I would argue, however, that if you took the potato that made the french fry and put it up against one of ours, it wouldn't taste like the same thing at all.

Pretty potatoes

Here is a simple, relatively quick, and very tasty way to do fried potatoes, which we adapted from the potatoes Jake ate on summer picnics in his youth.  You can use any kind of potatoes, and peeling is not required.  The texture of the finished product is outstanding, and this is definitely a dinner-time side dish; let me be clear that the Big Red Farm in no way endorses drinking beer at breakfast time!  (Fried Potatoes, Iron City Style)

Gary with some Big Red Farm produce

BIG RED FARM IN THE NEWS:

Lawrenceville's own Gary Giberson, of Sustainable Fare, was featured in a story in the Princeton Packet Magazine last week, and he very graciously talked about the farm!  The Packet folks didn't get all the facts quite right, but it's still a nice article.  They even came out and did a photo shoot for the article at the farm, though those pictures don't show up in the online version.  You can read the whole thing at pmfineliving.com.  Thanks to Gary and Sustainable Fare for their ongoing support of the farm!  (Colored peppers on the salad bar, anyone?)

AT THE FARMSTAND:

This week, we hope to have the following available ON WEDNESDAY ONLY in front of Edith Chapel, from 1pm to 5pm:

• Baby Lettuce Mix - $2.50 bag
• Beets - $2.50 bunch
• Carrots - $2.00 bunch
• Chard - $2.50 bunch
• Sweet Corn from Village Farms - $0.50 ear
• Eggplant - $3.00 lb
• Flowers - $2.50 bouquet
• Garlic - $1.50 bulb (limited quantity)
• Okra - $2.50 pint (limited quantity)
• Assorted Onions - $2.50 lb
• Colored Peppers - $4.00 lb
• Hot Peppers - 2 for $1.00
• Potatoes - $4.50 quart
• Summer Squash - $2.00 lb

HOW TO FIND US:

The Big Red Farmstand will be on the Lawrenceville Campus for the fall.  Right now we're located in front of Edith Chapel.  Enter campus by the main gate on Route 206 (opposite the Lawrenceville Post Office and Craven Lane), and bear right into the circle.  The Chapel is about halfway around the circle, and you'll see our sign.  Don't forget your shopping bags!

Potatoes, Iron City Style

Mixed potatoes

Since time immemorial (actually, since about 1882), Jake's family has been going to a remote fishing camp in northern Ontario called the Iron City Fishing Club for their summer vacations.  When people at Iron City aren't fishing, picnicking is popular, complete with potatoes cooked in a cast-iron skillet over an open fire on a rocky island (and accompanied by a water-chilled beer).  This is our at-home version of those picnic fried potatoes.  Covering the pan helps the potatoes cook faster, as the lid prevents the evaporation of moisture.  Thus, the potatoes are being steamed and fried at the same time.


FRIED POTATOES, IRON CITY STYLE
adapted from island picnics on the Georgian Bay, Ontario

serves 3-4 as a side dish

2 Tablespoons butter
1 small onion or shallot (optional), sliced very thin
1 lb potatoes, unpeeled and sliced very thin
1 bottle of your favorite beer (you'll use about 3-4 Tablespoons for the potatoes; the rest is for drinking)
salt and pepper

Heat butter in a cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foaming subsides.  Add onion or shallot, if using, and saute until translucent (about 5 minutes).  

Farm baby helps
with the digging

Add thinly sliced potatoes and stir to coat with melted butter.  Cover pan and cook, stirring every few minutes, until potatoes are well browned.  When they start to stick to the pan, pour in a good glug of beer (3-4 Tablespoons).  Lower heat and continue to cook, covered, until potatoes are tender.  If there is still liquid in the bottom of the skillet, cook uncovered for a few minutes until it evaporates.  Serve hot with plenty of salt and pepper.