Weekly Weeder


Olin-Fox Farms Volume No. 8 Issue No. 2 January 24, 2007

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.


Please note next Winter Program deliveries - Wednesday February 7th for local shares;

Thursday February 8th for Lottsburg and Alexandria.

 

This Week's News From The Farms

The spring-like weather in early January has many growers and home gardeners concerned about their plants and trees being exposed to the fluctuating temperatures.  Reports are coming about daffodils coming up, buds on trees opening, and some fruit trees even blooming.  The weather has even gotten the Canadian geese mixed up, flying North one day only to fly South the next.  A large variety of insects have also come out.  In fact, just as a summer preview alert, a mosquito bit John on January 15th! 

 

Sure, the concerns are there but we cannot control the weather.  We can only take protective measures and adapt to our ever-changing environment, working in harmony with Mother Nature instead of against her. 

 

Eight years ago, John noticed how the difference in weather can make a dramatic impact in only a short distance.  Just nine miles up the road is Brian Jones' Grateful House farm, the first farm to join the family of fine farms.  There John noticed that one year the blossoms on Brian's pear tree were not hit with a late spring frost, yet the pear trees at Olin-Fox Farms were.  For the next few years, we watched the late spring frost alternate between our two farms.  At this point, John started talking with more farmers in and around the Northern Neck and formed Olin-Fox Farms Fine Family of Farms.  This has been a win-win collaboration for the farming community and our supporters alike.  Another reason for forming the farming family was to offer more variety and give each grower the opportunity to try and specialize as well as growing a wider selection of crops. 

 

Working together, instead of competing against each other, lessens our dependency on imports and poor quality of the big box stores.  As Miles Hasting from Canning Farm put it, "the big boys cannot compete with what we are doing."  Granted, being a member of a CSA, you do not receive produce that is out of season, but learn, more naturally,  to eat what each season offers us, thus promoting a healthier lifestyle.

 

In today's society, so many people have become dependent on quick and easily prepared, processed foods that are full of additives and have lost much of their nutritional value.  Sure, preparing produce can take a little more time; but taste-wise and health-wise, it is surely well worth it.  The enjoyment we receive in raising, cooking, and eating the crops is only matched by hearing how much you have enjoyed them as well. 


Crop Report

The first winter mix of snow and sleet arrived Sunday afternoon, a perfect day for a nice steaming bowl of hot soup and a good book.  Monday's melting temperatures gave us the opportunity to check on some of the crops, many of which are protected by floating row covers, heavy mulch or the extra protection inside our greenhouse.  All the crops seem to be doing well, just growing a bit slower than in warmer weather

for harvest in 21-30 days.  Planted in late fall or winter, they can take up to 60 days or more.  Many of the winter greens, such as kale and collards, usually do not need extra protection and actually become sweeter after a frost or snow.  During the course of the winter season, these greens are a welcome staple

of the Winter Program.  Kale and collards can be used in many ways and are a great source for energy and vitamins, especially when you are feeling run down.  We will be adding many recipes for these greens, as well as nutritional information for them, in upcoming newsletters.  Other crops projected for upcoming deliveries are:  cabbage, turnips, salad mixes, sweet potatoes, honey, free-range eggs and microgreens, with more to be announced later.

 

No garden is complete without Turnips

    1.  Turnips for meetings.

    2.  Turnips for service.

    3.  Turnips to help one another, in community, together.

 

In Your Produce Basket This Week

Free-Range Eggs, Rosemary, Kale, Cabbage, Turnips, Sweet Potatoes.



Recipe


Troskinti Raudoni Kapustai (Braised Cabbage with Sour Cream)

 This delicious recipe was given to me in the 1970s by my sister*, since I was immersed in studying Russian at the time.

 

Ingredients

1 3lb. cabbage, quartered, cored, then coarsely shredded

1/2 cup chopped onions (I always use more)        1 tsp. minced garlic

8 tbsp. tomato paste        1 cup cold water       

1 tsp. Salt 6 tbsp. butter (cut into small lumps)       

3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp. sour cream ( a lot more is even tastier, I find!)

 

Method

In a 4-quart enameled or stainless steel casserole, combine the cabbage, onions, and garlic.  Mix tomato paste in the water and stir into cabbage mixture.  Add 1 tsp. salt, all butter, and stirring constantly, bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 45 mins.  Stir in lemon juice and other tsp. salt and remove from heat.  Just before serving, stir in sour cream and taste for seasoning.  Serves 6-8.  Garnish with more sour cream.

 

* In loving memory of Ruth Ann Brent Small, "Candy", 1945-1990


 

Newsletter and Recipes by Ethan Brent, Official Newsletter Focalizer

Bon Appetit!