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.

With Mother Nature's Cooperation, the Summer Program will be weekly until the

A thousand thanks to whoever got the rain dance right. All the CSA farms received a significant amount of nice soaking rain, most measuring at least 1 to 2 inches, over a 2-day period. Then came the additional grace of another gentle dousing only this morning. The rain's been a ‘god-sent’ great relief for all the growers, giving us more time to work on other aspects of farming rather than the constant watering, not to mention the fact that well water is no match for a good, steady, soaking rain from the heavens, the most welcome life-saving benediction for all things growing and green. Lord knows, we needed it!

The Summer Program is making its transition from plentiful leafy crops to denser ones, such as squash, soon to be followed by cucumbers, potatoes and beans. For all of you asparagus fans, happily, the harvest continues. With the hen's cackling cooperation, free-range eggs will reappear in your shares later this month.

As mentioned in the farm news, the recent rains over the past weekend and the rising temperatures have really gotten the crops growing. Cool weather loving lettuces continue to hold on, at least for the time being. We hope you have been enjoying the garlic scapes. This gourmet treat is only in season for a couple of weeks. Towards the end of June or early July, we start harvesting the main garlic crop and we will be including some fresh green garlic in your shares. Much of the harvest will be cured for approximately 2 weeks (giving it a better shelf life) to be added to your shares later in the season. We hope to host our first-ever members’ garlic roast gathering here on the farm later in the season (roasting the garlic, not our members). We will keep you posted on this.

If you are longing for the start of the tomato season, it ‘normally’ gets underway around mid-July ---about the same time as the first of the sweet corn. Keep your collective fingers crossed! From what we can tell at this juncture, it looks like it's going to be a bountiful harvest for both.

Please note: You have paid for 15 weeks of fruit for the 14 week Summer Program.

INGREDIENTS

4 pattypan squash, stem and blossom removed 4 slices bacon

1/3 cup diced onion 1 cup soft bread crumbs

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bring one inch of water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the stem with little resistance. Drain, and slice off the top stem of the squash. Use a melon baller to carefully scoop out the centers of the squash. Reserve all of the bits of squash.
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon to paper towels, and set aside. Saute onion in bacon drippings. Chop the reserved squash pieces, and saute them with the onion for one minute.
Remove the skillet from heat, and stir in the breadcrumbs. Crumble the bacon, and stir into the stuffing along with the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stuff each squash to overflowing with the mixture, and place them in a baking dish. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil.
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until squash are heated through.

Serves 4

PREP TIME	10 Min
COOK TIME	20 Min
READY IN	30 Min

Cold Russian Borsht

Back before the Punic Wars when I was a university student, I studied Russian for five years with Dr. Catherine Pastuhova, the Countess Uvarov, who fled Russia when it turned Red. I learned to prepare the hot version of authentic Russian Borsht soup from this remarkable lady. Here’s a chilled rendition better suited to this time of year for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

2-3/4 medium beets 2-2/3 cups beef broth

2/3 onion, chopped 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper 2/3 cucumber – peeled, seeded, and diced

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons dried dill weed or, even better, fresh snipped directly into each bowl

1/3 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove stems and leaves from beets, but leave on skins. In a deep pot, cover beets with cold water and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender, about 40 minutes.

2. Drain beets, but reserve two cups of the liquid. Strain the liquid and add to a large saucepan. Remove skin from beets. Grate beets through coarsest blade of grater. Add to beet liquid. Add beef broth, onion, salt, pepper and vinegar. Bring to a boil, and then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, then remove from the heat.

3. Chill in refrigerator for one hour, or until cold before serving. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with cucumber, a sprinkle of dill weed, and a big spoonful of sour cream.

Serves 4

PREP TIME	20 Min
COOK TIME	1 Hr
READY IN	2 Hrs 20 Min

Beetroot Salad

Raw beetroot from most grocery stores can be hard and not sweet. Ours is exceptional, good eaten raw in salads. Reminds me of those scrumptious freshly-grated, raw root vegetable salads I enjoyed living in Heidelberg, Germany. Each was prepared to order in the small cafes with outdoor seating shaded by fragrant Linden trees overlooking the River Neckar. The traditional combination is celeriac, carrots, and beetroot, grated by hand using a French ‘Moulle’ grater, to the consistency of an airy fluff, and then served over a crisp bed of dark green Corn Salad lettuce with a light sunflower oil herb vinaigrette and a squat goblet of fine Rhine wine. Or you may prefer this simple, delicious recipe:

Raw Beetroot & Apple Salad Serves: 4 Prep Time: 10 mins.

Ingredients

1 1/3	beetroots	8	teaspoons plain yogurt
1 1/3	apples (I use granny smiths)	2	teaspoons lemon juice
2/3	spring onion	1/3	cup chopped parsley

Directions

Trim, peel and grate the beetroot.
Grate apples, leaving skin on.
Place grated apple in a sieve and drain.
Trim spring onion and slice thinly.
Mix beetroot, apple and onion together.
Fold through yoghurt and lemon juice.
Mix through parsley.

Beetroot salad is usually made from boiled and pickled beetroot, not raw beetroot. You can then slice the beetroot up and add to a normal salad, or as they do in Morocco, where they serve it sliced with sliced peeled oranges sprinkled with little bits of red onion.

BEETROOT SALAD WITH WALNUTS AND GOAT CHEESE

Serve as a salad over lettuce (and washed beetroot greens), or wilted winter greens (cabbage, chard, kale), or on its own as a side dish to cold meats or quiche. Serves 4.

2 tablespoons walnut oil (or olive oil)
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
3 tablespoons minced shallot (or 1 tbsp red onion)
500 g (1 lb) beetroot, unpeeled and washed well
1 large handful walnuts, toasted in the oven
Salt and pepper to taste
100 g (4 oz) mild goat cheese

Whisk together the oil, vinegar and shallot in a small bowl. Trim beetroot stem and root ends and steam or boil for about 30 minutes, until tender when pierced. Chill completely, then remove the outer peel and cut into thin wedges. Dress the wedges with a small amount of the dressing, and gently stir in half of the walnuts. Serve as a side or on greens, drizzled with remaining dressing and sprinkled with walnuts and goat cheese. Garnish with thin slices of orange and fresh parsley.