Weekly Weeder

Olin-Fox Farms Volume No. 10 Issue No. 30 December 3, 2008

www.olinfoxfarms.com Fall Season Week 9

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 Ninth week of the Fall Program.

Next week (December 10-13) is the final week of the Fall and All Season Program.

Schedules can also be found on our website, www.olinfoxfarms.com

This Week's News From The Farms

We hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately Mother Nature's timing was a little off for the sweet potatoes before Thanksgiving, but we hope to include some nice white sweet potatoes next week. The late harvest continues to be a bountiful one with more Arugula, beets, water cress, carrots, free range eggs, spinach, Stamen apples, and yes more tomatoes.

The broccoli crops are running a bit late this year and may not be ready for harvest until the start of the 2009 Winter Program, but we plan to finish off the season next week with a rather large share as many of the current crops must be gleaned before the upcoming winter holiday break.

In other news, we hope you had a chance to view our Windows to the Farms slideshow and the short wildlife videos on Youtube. We plan to update the videos regularly, so check for updates or you can subscribe to the Olin Fox farms Channel on the Youtube Web site.

Also coming in early 2009 is the release of our first DVDs - Food for thought, and the 10-year retrospective not yet named. For those of you that are wondering about the Olin Fox Farms Four Season cookbook, it is still in early development and we hope to have out by the spring of 2009.

Watch for the Winter preview in next week's Weekly Weeder.

In Your Produce Basket This Week

Arugula, Beets, Water Cress, Carrots, Free-Range Eggs, Spinach, Stamen Apples and Slicing Tomatoes.

See your produce list for more details.

Please Note: With elements beyond our control such as the start or the end of a harvest, or extreme weather conditions that may limit the quantity of produce coming in, we systematically address each delivery and pick up group each week and do our very best to see that everyone receives some of everything.

Recipes/Information

Carrots

In addition to the deliciously sweet orange carrot that we all know and love, did you know that you can eat the carrot tops? The green leaves are wonderfully healthful, in fact a recommended food in Macrobiotics.

1 Bunch Carrots

1 Tsp. Sesame Oil

1 Tsp. Soy Sauce or to taste

Water for simmering

Wash the carrots well, and cut the tops off the root. Chop up the leaves (do not use the stems, they are tough unless cooked a very long time – or save for soup stock), and slice the carrots into circles. Gently heat a medium sized skillet with sesame oil. Put the chopped carrot greens in the skillet, and add the sliced carrots on top. Add about ¼ cup of water, and simmer for about 30 minutes, adding water if the skillet gets dry. Once the sliced carrots are tender, remove from heat and mix in the soy sauce.

Water Cress

Taken from: http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Lepi_sat.html and http://www.thecarolinaweigh.com/nutrition/detail/CRESS-GARDEN-RAW.html.

Garden Cress and Water Cress are both from the Brassicaceae or Cabbage Family. Cress has a spicy aromy and a refreshing, peppery-pungent taste that lasts only a few seconds.

Like many other members of the cabbage family such as black and white mustard, horseradish, wasabi, and rocket, cresses owe their scent to isothiocyanates, which are formed as a reaction to injuries. Isiothiocyantes in cress are very susceptible to heat and moisture, so this green vegetable is always used fresh and never dried, and should not be boiled, baked or heated in any way.

The flavor of water cress is sometimes described as superior to other cress species, and it was one of the herbs that Charlegmagne ordered to be grown in Imperial gardens.

One cup of water cress has 16 calories and has a little protein (1.3 grams), and is a source of Vitamins A and C, Calcium and Iron.

Recipe ideas:

Be sure to clean well as Water Cress, as its name denotes, is grown in a very wet situation.

Cress is popular in Europe and Northern America and is used for spreads (especially based on cottage cheese) and salads.

Bread with butter and fresh cress leaves is delicious.

Cress can also be chopped up and used to top warm dishes such as vegetable soups or scrambled eggs.

Used it whenever you want an exquisite delicacy!

Bon Appetit!