6-8 servings

 3 green onions, white and green part, coarsely chopped

3/4 lb beets, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 medium onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups water

2 tablespoons cider vinegar, or to taste

¼ teaspoon dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped basil, dill, parsley, or bronze fennel

Cook green onions, beets, onion, and apple in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 10 to 12 minutes. Add water, vinegar, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, uncovered, until vegetables and apple are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs. Purée soup in batches in a blender or food processor and chill. Just before serving, season soup with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Serve cold, drizzled with yogurt and sprinkled chopped herbs.

Adapted form a recipe found at:  http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/diaryofafoodie/2008/02/beetgazpacho, June 2010.

Harland's Creek raises chickens on pasture. All our chickens are:

• grown on a pasture that they can munch, scratch in, and explore;
• fed an all grain diet and vegetables from the farm;
• antibiotic and hormone free,
  
• are processed locally in Siler City NC at a USDA inspected meat processing plant, and;
  
• are air chilled.
  

We sell fresh and frozen whole chicken at $4.25/lb.  We have a meat handler’s license and two industrial grade freezers on the farm.  The chickens are frozen at minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit which is 60 degrees below the freezing point of water and 30 degrees colder than most home freezers.  This protects the quality of the meat.

If you want chicken parts, your best buy is to get a fresh chicken and cut it in pieces.  Here are two sites that show how to cut up a chicken:

You-Tube Video

Cooking for Engineers

We anticipate having fresh chicken available once a month from June through November and frozen continually available—unless it sells out while still fresh. Currently we are planning on having fresh chicken available on during the following periods:

1. June 14 – June 24, 2010
2. July 12 – July 22, 2010
3. August 9 – August 19, 2010
4. September 6 – September 16, 2010
5. October 4 – October 14, 2010
6. November 1 – November 11, 2010

Sales to the Public:  Chicken can be purchased at the farm or at the Durham Famer’s Market on Saturday.  In addition, we can deliver larger orders.

Restaurant sales: We will deliver chickens to restaurants in selected areas in Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh.

Here are some pictures from our chicken opeartionfeaturing grandchildren helping out:

First hours on pasture

Please contact us at lesslerjud@msn.com to order chicken.

 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

Flower CSA: Flowers are delivered to businesses in the Pittsboro area on Mondays and to various business and other drop off sites on Thursdays.  We also have a small flower CSA at the Durham Farmers Market on Wednesdays.  Online registration is complete for 2010; however, if you are intested in receiving flowers either on a regular basis or for a special event, please contact us by e-mail or call us at 919-542-4607.  

Flowers for Weddings and Events: We also prepare flowers for weddings and other special events.  We often combine herbs, wild flowers, and woody plants in our arrangements. With enough notice, we can prepare potted plants or herbs for your event.  Contact us by e-mail or call at 919-542-4607 to discuss availability.  

  December table arrangement

On Farm Activities: If you have a garden club or a group in a neighborhood who would be interested in hearing more about the our flower programs we would be pleased to talk to you and arrange for visits.  We can also provide classes on growing flowers organically.

• Produce and Herbs (a combination of certified organic offerings from Harland's Creek Farm  and Pine Knot Farm and sustainably grown offerings from the other farms[1])
• Pasture Raised Chicken (Harland's Creek Farm) 
• Organic Strawberries (Pine Knot Farm)
• Organic Flowers (Harland's Creek Farm)

Subscribers support sustainable, local food production and get first choice of our offerings. 

Delivery to Rho, Inc will be on Thursdays at 3:00 pm at the 5th floor work room.  RTI flowers will be delivered to the Cox building at by 3:30 on Thursdays and food to the outdoor CSA delivery location from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.                     

Subscribers who enroll in the Produce/Herbs and the Pasture Raised Chicken programs will receive:

• A recipe booklet with recipes and with preparation and storage instructions. The booklet includes recipes that feature vegetables, herbs, fruits, meat, chicken, eggs, and cheese. 
• Weekly meal plans, suggested recipes, and shopping lists for non-share ingredients
• Visits to participating farms by prearrangement to help, learn, or enjoy

Our recipes, meal plans, and shopping lists simplify your efforts to provide healthy food for yourself and your family.  CSA customers are first in line for products from the farms. If you use the meal plans, the shopping list provides you with an easy way to determine what other items you might like to purchase at the market or on your trip home. Note that growing conditions may prohibit provision of planned products or planned volume.[2]  

Organic Produce and Herbs will be provided for 30 weeks. Each week subscribers will receive a box which contains from 5 to 10 vegetables and herbs.  You return your prior week’s box when you pick up the current box.  This program will run from April 29, 2010 through November 18, 2010. 

Bill Dow, Esta Cohen, Laurie Heise, and Judy Lessler with packed boxes.  Farm dogs jumped into picture to be petted.

Pasture Raised Chicken that is antibiotic and hormone free and fed an all-grain diet will be provided seven times during the season.  All our chicken is processed locally at the Siler City small scale chicken processing plant.  We will provide fresh whole chickens, and you can purchase several and freeze them for later use.  Our website contains links to videos that show how you can cut up a chicken in about 5 minutes.

Organic Strawberries will be provided for seven weeks, April 29 – June 10, 2010.  You can purchase one or two quarts under in this program. These will be provided by Stanley Hughes of Pine Knot Farm who is pictured on the right.

Organic Flowers will be provided for 25 weeks during the year.  These closely follow the growing season beginning when the narcissus are in bloom and including tulips, lilies, irises, sunflowers,gomphrena, zinnias, gladiolas,lisianthus, celosia, amaranth, and many more.  Options in this program include receiving arrangements in vases or grower’s bouquets in flower sleeves.  Vases are returned each week.  Flowers vary by season of the year.  Summer flowers and winter flowers are shown below.

Payment is due at enrollment.  You can pay with a single check or with two checks with one of them post-dated a month later than the first. There is a $10 discount for enrolling in both the produce and the chicken program.

Sign-up online or download and mail the 2010 Thursday CSA enrollment form.

[1] Wiseacre Farm, Ayrshire Farm, and the other local growers use sustainable organic methods but are not certified. 

[2] There are no refunds due to unavoidable weather, pests, or disease problems.  Such a risk is slight. In eight years of CSA operation, HCF has never failed to provide full value.

Mid-Chatham Farmers Alliance is a collaboration among Harland's Creek Farm [Judy Lessler], Wiseacre Farm [Laurie Heise], Clayton Orchard [Andy Clayton], Ayrshire Farm [Bill Dow], Pine Knot Farm [Stanley Hughes], Cohen Farm [ Esta Cohen], Celebrity Dairy,  and other local growers.  Shares can be picked up at one of four locations

• Harland’s Creek Farm in Chatham County

  

• Chatham Marketplace in Pittsboro, NC
• Bickett Market in Raleigh NC

  Stanley Hughes will provide strawberries

• Chatham County Offices

Our offerings vary by location as shown below:  REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

• Produce and Herbs: 30 weeks. Available at  all locations
• Meat and chicken: 30 weeks. Harland’s Creek Farm only
• Eggs and Cheese: 30 weeks. Available at Harland’s Creek Farm and Bickett Market in Raleigh
• Fruit: 18 weeks. Available at all locations

CONTACT US BY E-MAIL OR TELEPHONE FOR QUESTTIONS

All members will receive:

• A recipe booklet with recipes and with preparation and storage instructions. The booklet includes recipes that feature vegetables, herbs, fruits, meat, chicken, eggs, and cheese. 
• Weekly meal plans with suggested recipes and shopping lists for non-share ingredients
• Visits to participating farms by prearrangement to help, learn, or enjoy

Our recipes, meal plans, and shopping lists simplify your efforts to provide healthy food for yourself and your family.  CSA customers are first in line for products from the farms. If you use the meal plans, the shopping list provides you with an easy way to determine what other items you need to purchase to provide meals for your family.  Note that growing conditions may prohibit provision of planned products or planned volume.[1]  

Produce and Herbs will be provided for 30 weeks and will consist of a combination of certified organic offerings from Harland's Creek Farm and Pine Knot Farm and sustainably grown offerings from the other farms.[2]  Each week subscribers will receive a box which contains from 5 to 10 vegetables and herbs.  You return your prior week’s box when you pick up the current box.  This program will run from April 27, 2010 through November 16, 2010. 

Meat or Chicken will be provided on alternate weeks for 30 weeks.  We will include fresh and frozen chicken, ground beef, pork sausages, and larger cuts of beef, such as, roasts and steaks.  These will be provided weekly on a rotating basis.  The chicken will come from Harland's Creek Farm and is pasture raised and antibiotic and hormone free.  The beef comes from Cohen farms, is raised on pasture, and is then grain finished using a combination of certified organic grain from the Cohen Farm and  additional commercial grain.  

Eggs or Cheese will be provided on alternate weeks for 30 weeks. One week you will receive a dozen eggs from Cohen Farm’s free range chickens ; the next week a piece of goat cheese from Chatham County’s renowned Celebrity Dairy.

Fruit will be provided for 18 weeks.  We will begin the season with seven weeks of organic strawberries from Pine Knot farms.  Then in late June, Clayton Orchard will provide peaches, grapes, plums, and melons for eleven weeks.[3]. Two sizes are offered:[4]

• Large: Two quarts of strawberries in the spring and for the summer fruits either a) large bag of peaches [18 to 20 peaches] or b) a medium bag of peaches plus either a watermelon, a cantaloupe, pint of plums, or quart of Muscadine grapes.
• Small: One quart of strawberries in spring, and for summer, (a) medium bag of peaches or (b) a small bag of peaches plus either a watermelon, a cantaloupe, pint of plums, or quart of Muscadine grapes.

Bill Dow, Esta Cohen, Laurie Heise, and Judy Lessler with packd boxes. 

Farm dogs jumped in picture to be petted.

Payment is due at enrollment.  You can pay with a single check or with two checks with one of them post-dated a month later than the first. There is a $10 discount for enrolling in both Produce and Herbs and another program.  We will have pick-ups at Harland's Creek Farm, Chatham Marketplace and any other place nearby were at least 7 people enroll.  There is a $50 discount for picking up at Harland's Creek Farm.

The online registration is now open; if you wish, you can download and print the 2010 Chatham CSAs enrollment form.

[1] There are no refunds due to unavoidable weather, pests, or disease problems.  Such a risk is slight. In eight years of CSA operation, HCF has never failed to provide full value.

[2] Wiseacre Farm, Ayrshire Farm, and the other local growers use sustainable organic methods but are not certified. 

[3] The late Dr. Carlyle Clayton and his wife, Adelaide started this orchard.   Dr. Clayton was a nationally renowned plant pathologist at N.C. State University, who specialized in fruit diseases.  His family continues to maintain the orchard, which is located in the sand hills region. His son Andy Clayton and Judy Lessler worked together as statisticians at RTI for many years.

[4]  Contents will vary with availability and growing conditions

Durham Collaborative CSA

Wednesdays: May 5 – September 29, 2010

Harland's Creek Farm is joining with  Fickle Creek Farm, Pine Knot Farm, and Chapel Hill Creamery to offer four CSA options in 2010. CSA is short for Community Supported Agriculture. Participants may choose one or more of the following options in any combination:   Registration is now complete.  See us at the Wednesday Durham Farmers' Market for questions concerning openings for these options.

• Organic Produce and Herbs (Harland's Creek Farm with Pine Knot Farm) .
  
• Meat and Chicken (Fickle Creek Farm)
  
• Eggs and Cheese (Fickle Creek Farm and Chapel Hill Creamery)
• Organic Flowers (Harland's Creek Farm)

Subscribers support sustainable, local food production and get first choice of our offerings.  All deliveries will be at the Wednesday Durham Farmers Market between 3:30 and 6:30 pm.

Subscribers who enroll in the Produce/Herbs, Meat/Chicken, or Eggs/Cheese CSA will receive:

• A recipe booklet with recipes and with preparation and storage instructions. The booklet includes recipes that feature vegetables, herbs, fruits, meat, chicken, eggs, and cheese. 
• Weekly meal plans, suggested recipes, and shopping lists for non-share ingredients
• Visits to participating farms by prearrangement to help, learn, or enjoy

Our recipes, meal plans, and shopping lists simplify your efforts to provide healthy food for yourself and your family.  CSA customers are first in line for products from the farms. If you use the meal plans, the shopping list provides you with an easy way to determine what other items you might like to purchase at the market or on your trip home. Note that growing conditions may prohibit provision of planned products or planned volume.[1]  

Organic Produce and Herbs will be provided for 22 weeks. Each week subscribers will receive a box which contains from 5 to 10 vegetables and herbs.  You return your prior week’s box when you pick up the current box.

Meat and Chicken will be provided for 22 weeks.  Each week subscribers will receive one of several kinds of meat or chicken such as whole chicken, chicken breast, cuts of grass-fed beef and lamb, and  pasture-raised pork. 

Eggs and Cheese will be provided for 22 weeks--1 dozen eggs every other week with one of several types of artisan cheese on alternate weeks.

Organic Flowers will be provided for 15 weeks beginning on June 9, 2010 and continuing through September 15, 2010.

Payment is due at enrollment.  You can pay with a single check or with two checks with one of them post-dated a month later than the first. There is a $10 discount for enrolling in two food programs and a $20 discount for enrolling in all three food programs.

To enroll, please fill out the 2010 web form or you can down load the 2010 form and mail it in.  More information on the recipes, share contents, and the meal plans can be found at the overall CSA tab.

[1] There are no refunds due to unavoidable weather, pests, or disease problems.  Such a risk is slight. In eight years of CSA operation, HCF has never failed to provide full value.

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