Farm Blog

This week you have Garlic Scapes. These are produced by the plant as it begins to make heads. Your garlic has been growing since last November and will have full sized heads in a couple of weeks. Garlic scapes can be chopped and used like garlic.  The little arrow shaped piece at the top is where a flower would appear if we let it do this.  We do not because it detracts from the production of the head.

 This week's recommended recipes contain some of my sentimental favorites.  Ida Galinisky's Beets is a recipe handed down to me by my friend David Galinsky.  His mother got this recipe during WWII from a radio program on how to use the vegetables that people were growing in Victory Gardens.  If you do not make that, try the Beet and Potato Salad. The Beet and Potato Salad also uses a dressing recipe that came from WWII via my mother-in-law Cele Projan.  She called it WWII Salad Dressing in the cooking notes I got from her—coaching me on how to cook for her son.  These two recipes have turned beet haters into beet eaters.

Harland's Creek Farm was the site of a wedding this past weekend.  We prepared the flowers for the wedding, and it was held in our parterre which is near the chicken pasture. A key feature of the event was our rooster.  As the groom's father and cousin were singing to the couple, the rooster decided to join in and crowed every time they paused.

Best regards to all,

Judy for all the farmers

Harland's Creek Farm will be at the Durham Farmer's Market will feature several recipes this week that can be used for easy meals: 

• Chad Pie
• Collard Slaw, and
• Pasta with Collards. 

 Serve the Pasta with Collards or the Chard Pie with a green salad, and you have a quick dinner.  The Collard Slaw is good side dish with grilled meats or barbeque--Carolina barbeque, pork chops, hamburgers, and so on.  

 We will also be offering herbs, salad mixes, and spinach.  For flowers we will have fragrant Narcissus, Snowball Vibirnum, and Lilac Flowers.

• Braising mix--Kale, spinach, cabbage, and beet top mix
  
• Chard
• Collards
• Kale
• Cabbage
• Salad mix--plain lettuces and gourmet blend
  
• Spinach
• Narcissus
• Tulips
• Mixed bouquets

McCayne Miller is the 2010 manager at Harland's Creek Farm.  She comes to us after gigs on farms on Latin America and Colorado.  She is very dedicated to sustainable agriculture and organic farms.  In addition to her farming knowledge and management skills, she is active in community affairs.  She is serving on the board of the Abundance Foundation.  To take advantage of the brief period between rain, we planted some 1500 bed-feet of vegetables today, and McCayne was whirling around keeping everything going at a rapid pace.

We have identified a downtown Raleigh site for CSA pick-ups. It is at the new Bickett Market operated by Jason Stegall of Southport Seafood Company and is located near 5-points at 219 Bickett Blvd., Raleigh, NC 27608. Boxes will be available from 3pm on Tuesday until 5 pm on Wednesday. We are very grateful to Jason for permitting this long time period. Boxes will not be will not be available outside of this time period.  To read about this CSA or sign-up, please see our Chatham County and Raleigh NC CSA page.

We have prepared a list of the produce that we will be providing in our CSAs for 2010--or what we hope to provide.  Check it out with this link: Produce for CSAs. We are excited about some of the new vegetables and new varieties planned for 2010.  We have added celery and sweet onions to our plan. Some of you who are in the Chatham CSAs has received sweet onions in the past; however, we are adding the to our farm so that we can provide them to those who pick up at the Durham Farmers' Market.     

We will continue to provide herbs in our CSAs featuring basil, cilantro, dill, lovage, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  We are going to try stevia which is can be used to sweeten drinks without adding calories.  

And we are thinking of stocking the lower field with bass to really pump up the variety in our rotations.  Of course this is not true, but it does indicate that we are tired of the rain and cheer each sunny day.  Luckily much of the work is greenhouse work at this time, and we are thrilled at the beets, lettuce, chard, and spinach plants that are emerging.

Please check out the details of our CSA pages to learn more about our CSAs and the yummy products coming from Harland's Creek Farm and the great meat, cheese, eggs, and fruit coming from our collaborators.

Roasted greens make an excellent addition to the Thanksgiving meal and are also welcome on a cold evening.  Refrigerate leftovers and heat and serve with fried eggs and sause. 

Roasted Greens

Coarsely chop dry greens  using Pak Choy, Tatsoi, and other greens if desired.  Sprinkle with chopped garlic and slivered almonds.  Drizzle olive oil over mixture.  Cover and roast in a hot oven—350 ^○F until greens are done.  Remove cover and toast garlic and almonds.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

8 oz of greens should serve 3 people.

Roasted Greens with Eggs and Sausage

1 serving

Melt 0.5 tablespoon of butter in a small cast iron skillet.  Place the greens in a semi-circle on one side of slillet and cooked sausage in a semi-circle on the other side of the skillet.  Break a fresh egg in the middle. Cover and cook over low heat until the egg is done to your liking.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve. 

Increase by using a larger skillet and one egg for each serving.

Harland's Creek Farm www.harlands-creek-farm.com

Harland's Creek Farm will be featuring recipes for greens at market on Saturday October 31, 2009.  Below is a picture of  Collards with Pasta and Sesame.  We will be handing out this recipe as well as one for Collard Slaw.  Also, come by an get our recipe for Chard Pie, a savory, cheesy recipe that will be perfect for up coming cool days.

 You can use dark brown sugar instead of the molasses.

Collards with Pasta and Sesame

2 main course servings

8 oz collards

0.5 cup water

1 teaspoon molasses

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1-3 cloves garlic minced

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

4 oz whole wheat spaghetti pasta

0.25 teaspoon pepper or hot pepper flakes (optional)

Salt to taste

Wash greens and cut into ribbons 1 inch wide.  Add greens, water molasses, and oils to a skillet or wok.  Bring to boil, cover and cook until greens are tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the pasta and toast the sesame seeds by putting them in a small pan over high heat and shaking until they start to brown. Remove lid from greens and cook liquid down.  Mix in pasta.  Stir in raw garlic, pepper, and salt to taste.

Adapted from Schneider, Elizabeth (2001) Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini. New York: William