For Love of the Field

You've heard of speed dating, but have you heard of Weed Dating? Farmers get their fields weeded and singles have the opportunity to meet new people in three minute summits. Perhaps, not quite a summit, but a brief meeting while weeding. Quite literally a way to weed out the field and weed out Mr. or Mrs. Wrong!

Several farms around the nation have hosted Weed Dating events over the last couple of years. Much like traditional speed dating (whoever thought “traditional” and “speed dating,” would be in the same phrase?) females are assigned a specific spot and the males rotate through meeting, greeting, and quickly conversing. Only instead of chatting over beverages, couples chat while weeding the vegetable beds.

It is an interesting idea and has a lot of potential in this day of rushing everywhere. What do you think? Should Kindred Ground Farm move into the match making business in a few years?

If you, like we did initially, doubt the authenticity of Weed Dating, visit MSNBC to read more about it!

Monday Greeting from KGF

When you wake up to this, you know the day is going to be a good one! Wishing you a beautiful day and week!
See you soon for your pick up!

Check Your In-Box

Your weekly Kindred Ground Farm Newsletter will be popping into your in-box shortly! Let us know what you think of this week's recipes, what you might plan to cook this week, if you "make the switch," and if you plan to buy eggs!

New Vegetables

Expect green beans in this coming weeks or next weeks share! They started budding this week! The rain should help them along!

Farm Fresh Pasta Sauce

Do you want to change up your pasta? Is it always the same thing? Red sauce and spaghetti, red sauce and penne, red sauce and spaghetti…

This week after you steam or boil your snap peas or snow peas, place them in the blender with about ¼- ½  cup of the cooking water (depending on how many peas you used) and puree until smooth. Add garlic scapes, chives, basil, onions or any other veggies you like. Add 1 tablespoon margarine or olive oil and puree again to desired consistency.

Pour over cooked pasta. Suddenly pasta has a whole new look and taste! This is a great way to eat extra vegetables! You can do a mix of half jarred or homemade red sauce and half green sauce over the pasta too if you really want to pizzazz the colors on your plate!

Adding tomato to the green sauce mixture adds delicious flavor, but the color tends to turn to shades of brown, which some people may not like. It does taste great though!

Let us know if you make this fast, easy, and delicious green sauce!

Sunny Sunflower!

 

Check Your In-Box!

The Kindred Ground Farm weekly newsletter is hitting in-boxes momentarily! Check out News from the Farm for lots of updates, reader recipes (Yum!), and more!

See you soon!

Lettuce Ideas

Lettuce goes great with salad. But we all know that already, right? But what about lettuce wraps? Using lettuce instead of pita, taco shells, rolls, or bread brings a fresh, low carb twist to any meal.

For great lettuce wrap ideas visit How to Make Lettuce Wraps and let us know what you try. And more importantly, take photos and send us the recipe you use please!

Pop Quiz!

What’s green on the outside, red on the outside, has black seeds, and tastes juicy, sweet, and just like summer?

Watermelon!

The watermelons are growing folks!

Recipes Sought

Dear Shareholders,

Thank you for being a part of our 2012 Season! It is so exciting to have met all our new shareholders these last two weeks and to reconnect with returning shareholders! Your enthusiasm and excitement brings me much joy!

I hope you are having fun with your vegetables and herbs! Many of you have shared that some of these veggies and herbs are new to you and your families! I know it can be overwhelming and daunting to leave with a bag of never seen before green things! However, so many of you are telling me about your delicious creations! You are being bold, creative, and making excellent, healthy food!

Will you please take a few minutes and share your recipes with us? We have recipe cards and pens at each pick up or you can email us at kindredgroundfarm@gmail,com (with photos too if you have them!). We will use the recipes in upcoming newsletters or post them here. (Hint, hint: we have a yummy recipe from Meg in the next newsletter for Quiche using three ingredients from the share!).

Thank you for being part of our community! See you soon! Happy Independence Day! Have a wonderful day celebrating and be safe!

Fondly,

Tammy 

Lemon Balm Ice Cubes

For extra zeal and zest place one washed lemon balm in each square of an ice cube tray, then fill with water. Freeze as normal. Serve these pretty and tasty ice cubes in lemonade, ice tea, water, or any specialty drink where a zip of lemony flavor would be delicious!

Enjoy!

Minty Monday, Anyone?

 

Sandwich Time!

Summer is one of the best times of the year! But who wants to figure out lunch when there is fun stuff to be doing? We have a quick and delicious suggestion!

Spread a very small amount of olive oil on a slice of a bread, sprinkle diced basil, oregano, cilantro (or whatever faves you enjoy), add slow bolt lettuce, sliced spring onions, and perhaps a tomato slice. Add another slice of bread. And voila! An instant and deliciously fresh Kindred Ground Farm summer sandwich!

If you try this, please comment with your additions, suggestions, and of course, your taste buds reactions!

Members Test Kitchen: Chocolate Mint Leaves

 

Our Swiss chard cooker from yesterday, also let us know about one of her family’s favorite summer desserts! Her husband is the treat maker and created this “sounds outrageously delicious” recipe last summer.

Simply wash your Kindred Ground Farm chocolate mint leaves and pull from the stems. Then dice them into very tiny pieces. Mash them so they are crushed quite small. Mix into your favorite brownie mix and cook as usual. For a pan of 8x8 brownies, he uses about ½ cup diced mint leaves.

These sound incredible and we will have to test them ourselves soon!

What are you making this weekend with your share? Please tell us!

Members Test Kitchen: Swiss Chard

 

We are excited that one of our members cooked the Sautéed Swiss Chard Ribs with Cream and Pasta this week! She reports that the raves from her kitchen were loud and enthusiastic! Her three year old described the Swiss chard as “spicy and a little sweet, and creamy too!” (The “spicy” may have been because he added hot sauce to his!)

She had a few suggestions to share with us as well. She made the gluten and dairy free version and said it was delicious. She said she will make it again, but this time will add sliced garlic scapes, a lot more Swiss chard, and probably one more veggie (might we suggest Kindred Ground Farm’s fresh green peas?). Additionally, it thickened as it sat on the stove, so she said to budget an extra 10 minutes into your prep time to let it thicken after you mix the pasta and cream.

And she shared a secret with us…she used the entire Swiss Chard leaf and ribs! Yummy!

What have you made with your share this week? Please send photos and stories to kgfmarketingteam@gmail.com so we can tell everyone!

Storage

For many new (and returning) CSA members a big question is, "How do I store all these delicious vegetables?" We would like to recommend a handy book, "A Guide to Your Produce Aisle," ISBN: 978-1-56383-332-8.  It offers basic information on many vegetables, as well as suggestions on how to select, store, and even serve them. For the novice and expert alike, it may be a useful addition to your kitchen bookshelf.

Are you wondering what to do with all the yummy Kindred Ground Farm green peas you received this week? Simply store the whole pods  unwashed, in a perforated plastic bag (a knife perforates a ziploc bag quite well), in the refrigerator for up to three days. Before use, rinse and shell.

What about the delightfully spicy radishes you will soon be bringing home? You simply trim the green tops off and refrigerate unwashed in a plastic bag for up to a week. But what if you want to be able to reach right into the fridge for a tasty radish and pop a little bit of Kindred Ground Farm in your mouth anytime? We have found you can trim off the green top, place the washed radishes in a bowl of water in the fridge and they will last 2-3 days.

Do you have a prep or storage question? Leave a comment and if we don't know, we will find out!

Swiss Chard Ribs - Eat Them!!

 

Opening Day

It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! Welcome to the 2012 Season of Kindred Ground Farm’s Community Supported Agriculture! We are so happy to share our farm and harvests with you! While we are working in the fields we have plenty of time to reflect on our community. We are honored you have chosen to invest your hard earned dollars in Kindred Ground Farm. We are honored that as you prepare meals this summer and autumn much of your food will come from our hands and fields. We are honored to be in this community with you. There is much we cannot control in life, especially on a farm. We don’t have any say in how much sun, rain, or bugs there are in any season. We don’t have any power to control the temperature, humidity, or barometric pressures. We do however, have the power to control how much effort we put into planting, weeding, learning, and harvesting. Each day we work hard for you. We spend time learning new ways to be sustainable, new ways to grow crops with less interference from pests without using chemicals, new ways to harvest for maximum yields. We carefully select locations for each crop to take advantage of soil depth, sunlight, drainage, and nutrients of the soil. We learn from our mistakes and take pride in growing a bountiful harvest. We are excited to begin our weekly shares with you! As you pick up your vegetables and fruits this season, please ask questions. Please share your recipes. Please make suggestions. Please be a part of our community. Together we are growing our meals!

How Do We Eat Garlic Scapes?

 

Have you eaten garlic scapes before? They are a seasonal delicacy, only available for a short time, but worth the wait from year to year.

According to Wise Geek, “The garlic scape serves as the stem from which the seed head of the garlic bulb is formed. As the bulb begins to grow and mature, garlic stalks also begin to lengthen. During the growth period, the garlic scape begins to curve. Contained within the garlic scape is a great deal of flavor, although the stalk never does reach the level of the pungent garlic bulb itself. Initially, the garlic scape is relatively tender, making it ideal for use as an ingredient in several dishes. As the plant continues to mature, the garlic scape gradually begins to straighten, creating more support for the bulb. At this juncture, the garlic scape is much tougher and ceases to be usable for most recipes.”

We will have garlic scapes in our shares this week and possibly next week as well. Use these early in the week to get the best flavor in your dishes. If you need some ideas for these delicious treats keep reading!

 o Slice garlic scapes and add to tossed salad.
 o Slice garlic scapes, sauté them in olive oil, and mix with cooked vegetables.
 o Slice garlic scapes, sauté them in olive oil, add some white wine and cream, stirring and heating through.  
Toss over cooked pasta or chicken with fresh green peas.
 o Slice garlic scapes, dice tomatoes and onions, mix together. Toast your favorite hearty bread and spread with olive oil. Place spoonfuls of the vegetable mix on top for quick and easy Bruschetta.
o Substitute garlic scapes in any recipe that calls for fresh garlic for a lighter, milder, yet delicious flavor! 

Enjoy!

Volunteer at the Farm

Kindred Ground Farm is proud to welcome people of all ages, abilities, and walks of life to visit and learn about organic farming, fresh produce, and to dig in the dirt!  We are especially eager to have our youngest CSA Members visit us. We strongly believe that children who learn where their food comes from will often grow up to be healthier eaters!

When our youngest farmers visit we are happy to show them around, put them to work, let them play in our dirt pile, and of course sample some of the freshest produce they may have ever tasted by letting them pick a few foods themselves!

If your child is interested in learning more about Kindred Ground Farm and where his or her food comes from, please let us know. We will be glad to show you around. If you and your young children are interested in planting or weeding for a morning or afternoon, we can always use extra hands. For older children we can create a weekly volunteer opportunity. Older children who are able to follow directions, work semi-independently, and who are eager to learn about food growth are welcome to discuss filling a weekly (or more frequent) volunteer slot. This is a great opportunity for homeschoolers that can extend all the way to the end of the season. Children in public and private schools are equally welcome and can end their volunteering when school resumes in the fall or work in the afternoons if they desire.

In the past we have had young adults with developmental challenges work with us as well. We would welcome the opportunity to do this again. If you know of a young adult who is eager to learn and work with us on the farm, please let us know. We will be eager to coordinate with his/her parents or job coach to find the right fit for all of us!

Remember when you join a Community Supported Agriculture farm, you become a member in more than name! We hope to see you soon!