Weekly Weeder

Olin-Fox Farms Volume No. 7 Issue No. 36 November 16, 2006

www.olinfoxfarms.com Fall Season Week 2

STANDARD REMINDER

Please be sure to wash your weekly share thoroughly before serving. To preserve freshness, it is NOT ‘table ready’ (i.e., pre-washed). We deliver your Olin-Fox Farms’ produce right from the fields to ensure highest quality.

Notice: Next week is an off week for Thanksgiving, so there will be no distribution of shares.  The Fall Program will resume November 29 - December 2.  Happy Thanksgiving!

This Week's News From the Farms

A word about the produce you will be receiving in your shares:  as we strive to bring you the highest quality produce, we really enjoy the process of getting them ready and have a lot of fun with the presentation of your veggies.  But, please keep in mind that there will be some instances (such as after a rainstorm) where some of your produce will have some extra soil stuck to it and/or splashed up some of your leafy greens.   To provide you with the freshest possible produce, we do not normally field rinse most of our crops,  which explains why we remind you each week to inspect and wash it thoroughly before using. 

Also, throughout the Fall Program, you will be receiving many baby and specialty items in your shares.  While the portions may not always seem to be all that large, their potent benefits for your health more than compensate for any dearth in mere bulk, and their superior quality is highly prized by chefs, whenever they can get them.  So we urge our members to relish these exceptional treats as they appear in your CSA shares. Take the time to savor each delectable morsel for its textural subtleties, its rich olfactory complexity and its agreeable piquancy as you appreciate (and even ruminate upon) the nutritional cornucopia bursting on your palate with each and every bite.  Consider the beneficial bounty you accrue eating such fine produce, lovingly grown and delivered directly from the farmer to you versus consuming the watery, tasteless, barely edible supermarket pulp turned out by ‘agro industry’ and shipped from God knows where. 

Two days of beautiful weather were followed by another nor'easter on Sunday.  Although it has been barely a month since our last nor'easter weekend, all in all, the crops and everyone involved in growing them weathered this most recent storm with surprising grace.  In fact, we were able to get much of the garlic planted and mulched Sunday morning, just ahead of the 2-plus inches of rain and 40 mph winds.  Grateful we are for such small blessings, whenever they happen to occur.

After that, it was off to a warm and cozier place to wish our good friends and helping members Amy, Alex, India and Rain a fond ‘bon voyage’, as the whole family prepares to embark on a year-long adventure living in Chile.  We will really miss them and look forward to their return.  We can't wait to hear all about it.

Speaking of helping members, our CSA is growing! We are adding a number of positions to the Helping Hands program, even as it is temporarily cut back, due to the loss of one team member to Chile.

The Helping Hands Membership Program category is a form of barter exchange, an option for people who can contribute a little time during the week in exchange for a share of produce.  This helps CSA operations run a bit more smoothly by dividing the workload among more people.  In the Helping Hands Membership Program, there is something for everyone, from planting, picking and packing to deliveries and office work. Days and times are flexible and we work with everyone on an individual basis.  Won’t you give us a hand or two?

Weekly Weeder, November 16, 2006 Page 2

Immediate help is needed in packing produce on Wednesday and Friday mornings, Wednesday afternoons, and early (6-8 am) on Thursdays.  A local delivery person is needed on Wednesday mornings. We also need a delivery person for Northern Virginia on Thursdays.  We need help harvesting produce on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  We need help in the office with filing, printing brochures, answering the phone, and responding to email in addition to other tasks.  Office help could be used especially on Tuesday and Friday mornings, as well as other times.  We also welcome trades and people with professional skills.

If you are, or you know of someone available to participate in the Helping Hands program, please contact us, John Cooper or Alice Hershiser, by phone at 804-453-4125 or by email (info@olinfoxfarms.com).  Thanks for spreading the word! 

Website Glitch:  We are running into some delays in getting the website updated and weekly information posted.  Kindly bear with us.  We are still on a dial-up connection that does slow things down. Rumor has it that lickety-split DSL is supposed to be available in our area soon.

Crop Report

Planning, preparation and planting continue as we enter Week 2 of our Fall CSA Program.  With Mother Nature's cooperation, starting this week, we hope to be harvesting radishes, turnips, greens and some extra sweet potatoes for the coming off-week of Thanksgiving.  Also, in the weeks ahead, we are eagerly awaiting a hard frost so we can all try our first harvest of horseradish.

 In Your Produce Basket This Week

Cheriette Radishes, D'Avignon French Breakfast Radishes, Sweet Potatoes, Free Range Eggs, Selection of Fall Produce (see your Produce List at your Distribution Point).

Recipe

French Breakfast Radishes with Rosemary Garlic Butter

French Breakfast Radishes are not eaten in the morning with coffee and a croissant, as the name implies; but rather as a second breakfast, around 10 am with butter, a crusty baguette and a glass of red wine... What a civilized way to live!

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (either salted or unsalted), softened 1 8oz pkg Cream Cheese, softened
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary - approx. 4 stems 3 teaspoons chopped fresh Thyme
1 clove minced fresh Garlic Salt to taste
2 bunches French Breakfast Radishes, washed and tasty tops trimmed

Preparation:  Mix all ingredients together except radishes. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour or up to three days. Bring Rosemary Garlic Butter to room temperature before serving with radishes.

Cook’s Notes:
The Garlic, Rosemary, Thyme and a little salt can be smashed together with a mortar and pestle. The herb leaves will come off the stems and create a lovely chunky green paste to mix with the cream cheese and butter.

The radishes can also be cut in half the long way and the Rosemary Garlic Butter can be piped on each half and finished with a sprig of Rosemary or Thyme.

Recipe can be cut in half.

The substitution of fresh herbs and dried herbs follows the general rule:  3 teaspoons fresh = 1 teaspoon dried.

Newsletter and Recipes by Ethan Brent, Official Newsletter Focalizer

Bon Appetit!