and the cabbage goes on...

I thought for a moment that this was the last week when I saw that there was a different sign-in sheet this week. It turns out we have about another month of veggies to go yet.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cabbage
• Daikon
• Kale
• Radicchio
• Rutabaga
• Spinach
• Turnips

Corned beef borscht

A few years ago I made a borscht recipe with corned beef that we really liked, but I combined a couple recipes and never remembered what I had done. That was one of the promptings to start this blog, to try not to lose things like that again. I originally got the idea for using corned beef from the "Wintry Ukrainian Borscht" recipe in Molly O'Neill's The New York Cookbook. I'm pretty sure this was at least half of the basis of my previous attempt. Mark Bittman's borscht was fine, but not as interesting.

Tonight I made an attempt to find something similar to that original. I started with the Burp! corned beef recipe, and used the broth to make borscht, loosely based on Barbara Kafka's recipe for "Red Russian Soup - The Meat Version". I liked roasting the finished corned beef for half an hour, and I added halved potatoes for the last hour of simmering to put in the oven as well. It was still tender, but not as soggy as straight boiled corned beef.

It was good, though the beet to cabbage ratio was a bit low (we had four beets left).

This was also good for using up vegetables we had: the only thing we had to buy was fresh dill. The leftovers seem to take up as much room as the vegetables we took out, though.

Corned beef borscht

While the corned beef is simmering, cover 4 whole beets, trimmed and scrubbed, with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 45 minutes until tender, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Reserve the cooking liquid and remove the skin from the beets (it will slip off easily). Cut the beet into matchsticks, or grate.

Add to the corned beef broth (which already includes garlic, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, sugar, beer and spices) about 2/3 of a cabbage, coarsely shredded. Simmer for 20 minutes and add the reserved beets. Simmer for 20 minutes more, add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, pepper (the broth is already salty from the corned beef, so don't add salt before tasting it), dill, and the strained beet liquid. Stir and remove from heat. Serve with the corned beef and potatoes.

Daikon & cabbage

More greens, no squash this week. The cabbage is getting overwhelming, and what to do with the daikon? Come to think of it, isn't just about all of this some form of brassica?

• Arugula
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Collards
• Daikon
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Radishes
• Spinach

Summer & winter crops together

We're still getting eggplant & peppers, along with the greens and winter squash.he carrots look great. The farm newsletter says that the sweet potato crop is good this year, but we haven't seen any yet.

• Arugula
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Daikon
• Eggplant
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Spinach
• Radishes
• Butternut squash

Fall greens and winter squash

The greens are good this week, and so is the winter squash. I may have to make kim chee with the cabbage.

• Carrots
• Chard
• Chinese cabbage
• Collards
• Eggplant
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Winter squash (one acorn and two small ??)
• Hakurei turnips

Pumpkin & squash

It's truly fall with our first pumpkin. Last year we got the last pumpkin and it was pretty small, so made sure to get there early enough to get a good one.

• Beets
• Bok Choy
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Pumpkin (4 lb. 14 oz.)
• Summer squash
• Winter squash (acorn & butternut)

Missing the tomatoes already

It's looking pretty green this week. No tomatoes (which is too bad), and not watermelon (which is OK). The peppers are taking over our fridge, time to use them in bulk.

• Green beans
• Bok Choy
• Celery
• Chard
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Butternut Squash

There's always watermelon...

This week is a rare instance that we can make a standard salad with both lettce and tomatoes from the farm share. The tomatoes are on the way out, I wonder if this is our last week. The watermelons sure keep coming, though! We've been keeping up with most of the rest, except for bell peppers.

• Green Beans
• Eggplant
• Lettuce
• Bell Peppers
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Grape Tomatoes
• Butternut Squash
• Watermelon

Winter squash

First winter squash of the year (a spaghetti squash), and the second watermelon.

• Green Beans
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Hot Peppers
• Peppers
• Scallions
• Spaghetti Squash
• Grape Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Watermelon

Dill + beans = dilly beans

This week we must make dilly beans. Also, I picked a small watermelon, to save space in the fridge and to have some hope of finishing it. Maybe there will be watermelon granita.

• Green Beans
• Basil
• Beets
• Dill
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Leeks
• Peppers
• Tomatoes - Cherry, Grape and Heirloom
• Watermelon

More cabbage!

Tomato crop looks good this week. We got beans for the first time, and no potatoes, which is OK since we've still got a backlog. The garlic is still very small.

• Basil
• String beans
• Cabbage
• Chard
• Cilantro
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Hot Peppers
• Peppers
• Tomatoes (heirloom, cherry, grape)

Losing some tomatoes

We only had a few slicing tomatoes this week, as they have found late blight at the farm:
"we have discovered late blight and are working to preserve as much of the remaining crop as possible. We did have to rip out an acre, or 1/3 of the slicing tomatoes crop to contain the disease." We're still getting more tomatoes than we can eat fresh, and have been drying all the small ones.

• Basil
• Cabbage
• Chard
• Cilantro
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Hot Peppers
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Summer Squash
• Tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes

More tomatoes

More corn, and tons of tomatoes:

• Cabbage
• Sweet corn
• Bell peppers
• Jalapeno peppers
• Potatoes
• Grape Tomatoes
• Tomatoes
• Shallots

Sweet Corn!

We got sweet corn for the first time ever in our box this week (they didn't grow it at the farm in previous years). The onions are piling up faster than we can eat them now, and the shallots look good, too. A total of 4 lbs. of tomatoes this week. I'll dry the small ones, since I'm home alone for most of the week.

• Basil
• Cabbage
• Garlic
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Cherry and grape tomatoes
• Shallots
• Summer squash
• 5 ears sweet corn

Easy Garlic Dill Pickles

Making pickles with our surplus of cucumbers. I decided to try a lightly fermented half-sour recipe. I used about 2 lbs. of cucumbers, and salted them for an hour or so first to crisp up. They ended up a little salty, I should have reduced the salt in the brine slightly. Otherwise very good, though.

For pickling spice, I used a recipe from Quick Pickles: 1 tbl. coriander seed, 1 tbl. mustard seed, 2 tsp. celery seed, 2 tsp. peppercorns. 2 whole cloves, and 4 crumbled bay leaves.

Easy Garlic Dill Pickles
Large glass jar (½ gallon with screw lid)
Cucumbers to fill above jar – ideally as close to the same size as possible
1 tsp pickling spice
¼ cup kosher salt
3-5 garlic cloves
Bunch of dill
1 slice rye bread with seeds

Wash jar well. Pack cucumbers in bottom of jar as tightly as possible. Pour in salt; shove in garlic cloves and some of the dill. Fill rest of jar with cucumbers. Squeeze rest of dill around cucumbers.

Pour boiling water into jar, almost to top. Cover jar and shake to dissolve salt. Open lid and put slice of rye bread inside top of jar. Move jar to sink. Pour boiling water into jar until it spills over. Screw top on tightly.

Put jar in stainless steel bowl to allow for seepage. Set it in a sunny window for 3-4 days. You will have half-sour dills by that time.

Refrigerate – they will continue to pickle in the refrigerator. Enjoy through the winter, if they last that long in your house.

Printed in the Honey Brook Organic Farm weekly member's email, from a member who said, "This recipe comes from my father’s second wife, Florence, who made them a new family tradition (after I was long out of the house). I asked her how she made them the last time we had a bumper crop of cucumbers."

Time to make pickles!

No lettuce this week, for the first time of the year I think. We've been keeping up with the zucchini, but the cucumbers are starting to pile up. I will be making pickles shortly. Also good to know that late blight shouldn't be a problem for us:

Everyone is talking about tomato blight, a potentially devastating tomato disease that is getting a lot of press (Sherry even appeared on a segment of NJN news last Tuesday to talk about it). This disease is a fungus, and is spread when its spores hitch a ride on air currents to neighboring farms or gardens. On our farms in Hopewell and Chesterfield Townships we are pleased to report we have absolutely no sign of tomato blight. Since we direct seed our tomato plants and do not purchase transplants, we are more likely to not experience the disease, since reports indicate that transplants purchased at retail centers have helped spread it. In addition, our tomato fields are surrounded by many acres of preserved land in both Chesterfield and Hopewell, and the tomato fields of other growers are relatively far away. There are a few home gardens bordering the Chesterfield farm, but our plants are quite a far distance from them.

David Camacho, our field manager, reports that our tomato plants look amazingly healthy, despite the overabundance of rain and our cool nights. And while those cool nights are inhibiting ripening, he thinks that warmer August days and nights will give us some of our best heirlooms ever! (from the weekly newsletter)

This week:

• Cucumbers
• Garlic
• Onions
• Parsley
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Scallions
• Summer Squash
• Flower Bunch

101 summer salads

This Mark Bittman column looks good for salad inspirations. We sometimes need them.

Tomatoes!

The first tomatoes of the year are always exciting. We are a little worried about the crop this year though, the whole northeast is having trouble, especially organic farms. It's been a wet summer, and late blight is coming early this year (NY Times article).

• Basil
• Red cabbage
• Cucumbers
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Potatoes
• 3 tomatoes
• Scallions
• Summer Squash

Growing lemongrass

Inspired by the pineapple top we've started in a pot, I decided to try sprouting some lemongrass. I started a stalk in water in April, potting it after it sprouted some roots, and now it has several stalks and seems to be doing well. I'm not sure how soon full stalks will be harvestable, but it looks & smells great. I'm starting a second stalk. They'll live outside with the other herbs until there is a danger of freezing.

Food of substance

I've often wondered what fraction of our nutrition we really get from our weekly vegetable box. Lots of vitamins and minerals, obviously, and some fiber, and it gets us eating less meat in general, which is good. It's surely a long way off enough for us to eat from, though, and the early season vegetables don't have many calories. Most meals are augmented with rice, bread, or pasta at least. Now, for the first time this season, we get some real starch: potatoes. And they look nice.

• Beets
• Cucumbers
• Dandelion
• Garlic
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Parsley
• Potatoes
• 3 zucchinis
• 2 yellow squash