Weekly Weeder

Olin-Fox Farms Volume No. 12 Issue No. 2 February 17, 2010

www.olinfoxfarms.com Winter 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.


This is the Second Week of the Winter 2010 Program.

Please Mark Your Calendars - The Winter Schedule is:

March 3-6; and March 17-20.

Schedules and Sign-Up can be found on our website, www.olinfoxfarms.com.


This Week's News From The Farms


Welcome to Week 2, a week delayed. We hope the recent snowstorms have not inconvenienced anyone too much and hope that everyone is well.

The excessive amounts of snow and cold temperatures has really thrown a monkey wrench into the Winter Program. The crops in the field, many of which are still under a foot or more of snow, can't be harvested until the snow recedes and the plants have some time to recover.

The snow actually saved many of the field crops by insulating the crops from an icy freeze. Snow is also very good for the ground by adding slow-soaking water and nutrients. Some have called snow a 'poor man's fertilizer.'

This year's storms have also frozen out the citrus crop at Eagles' Nest Grove in Florida. Our hearts go out to our friend, Mary Mitchell, and her company, and wish them a better season next year.

We will be contacting other growers further South in Florida to see if they can provide fruit for us this year.

The good news is, the greenhouse lettuces and green onions have done really well and are included in this week's shares. Egg production is also doing very well, so we've added an extra dozen in your share.

Due to the lack of the field crops, we are including dried sungold tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms which we dehydrated last summer for a rainy day – or in this case, several very snowy ones. Both can be added to soups, stews or rehydrated by soaking in water for a short time, drained and sauteed and added to stirfries etc. The sungold are also great, straight up, as a snack.

Please rest assured that we are doing the very best we can under the current conditions and are making arrangements to increase the share sizes for the remainder of the Winter Program.

Also, some of you have asked 'How long are your eggs good for?' The eggs are normally good for up to 3 months, unlike the grocery store varieties that are generally up to a month old by the time they get stocked on the store shelves.

Thank you, and enjoy.


In Your Produce Basket This Week

Sweet Potatoes, Salad Mix, Green Onions, Dried Sungold Tomatoes, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms,

Sage, and Free-Range Eggs


Recipes and Information

Sweet Potatoes

In this week's share members are receiving the orange, yellow or white sweet potato. The white sweet potatoes are very large and can be cut into pieces and roasted or baked to shorten the cooking time. Try the sweet potato pound cake recipe below to enjoy this nutritious vegetable in a new way!


http://www.foodreference.com/html/sweet-pot-nutrition.html

The Center for Science in the Public Interest ranks the sweet potato number one in nutrition of all vegetables. With a score of 184, the sweet potato outscores the next highest vegetable by more than 100 points. Points are given for content of dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Points were deducted for fat content (especially saturated fat), sodium, cholesterol, added refined sugars and caffeine. The higher the score, the more nutritious the food. The reasons the sweet potato took first place? Dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.

The numbers for the nutritional sweet potato speak for themselves: almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories in one medium sized sweet potato!





Sweet Potato Pound Cake
http://scrambledhenfruit.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html


1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
4 eggs from happy hens
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. lemon extract

  • Cream butter and sugar.

  • Add potatoes and beat until light and fluffy.

  • Add eggs, one at a time: beat well after adding each egg.

  • Add dry ingredients, then vanilla and lemon.

  • Beat well and pour into greased and floured tube pan.

  • Bake at 325 degrees or 1 hr. 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

  • Glaze with a mixture of 1 cup confectioners sugar and 2-3 tblsp. orange juice.


Newsletter written by John and Alice Cooper.

Bon Appetit!