Circle S Farms

“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”
― Herbert Stein, What I Think: Essays on Economics, Politics, & Life

It is the end of the summer CSA session.  And all good things must come to an end.  It’s why I love the seasons – each brings an end and a beginning.  And tomatoes escort us out of the summer season.  So you will be getting loads of tomatoes – like last week, to help your feelings.

Farm News:  It is the end of the season!  And I will not be offering a fall CSA this year (remember how traumatic last year was when the cows got in the garden.  I am still waking up in the middle of the night over that!) I will, however,  be at Main Street Farmer’s market this fall, so drop by and say hello.

What’s in THE LAST BUCKET?  Well it will be a bag!  A paper bag full of tomatoes, onion, winter squash, cucumbers, maybe a melon, edamame, cherry tomatoes and basil.

OK – I thought I had seen every tomato pie.  But this one caught my eye.  It is pretty much how I make tomato pie but I never put the slices of tomato and basil on the top after it comes out of the oven.  Brilliant!  Because the tomatoes are gorgeous and a shame to hide them.  Also – I love the little cherry tomatoes mixed in.  I put a few in my pie and they added a sweet note.  A great way to end the season, thanks to Paula Deen:)

“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”
― Moliere

Let’s hope this is the case for tomatoes.  The trees are loaded with fruit that will not turn red.  So much so that I have started eating them green.  Patience.

Farm News:  The tomatoes will not turn red!  I will be sending you red and green ones this week!  And – the horses broke into the garden.  Well, I say broke in.  There was a crack in the gate.  This happened last fall except it was 80 cows instead of 2 horses.   Perhaps I get negligent at the end of my season?   Luckily, horses don’t like cucumbers or tomatoes.  They do like sweet corn – but the racoons, japanese beetles and crows beat them to most of that!

I am getting peaches from Roy at Jones Farm tomorrow to go in the CSA shares.  They have been so delicious.  Something to look forward to!

What’s in the bucket? Tomatoes, green tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, giant patty pan squash (perfect for stuffing!), pickling cucumbers, edamame soy beans (steam and shell) or field peas (shell),  okra or hot peppers, Jones farm peaches.

What have I been doing with the green tomatoes? you ask.  Making enchiladas of course….my favorite.  But fried green tomatoes are always good.  Look back in the blog for the fantastic Texas pickled green tomato recipe from last year.

I found the following recipe online for green tomato enchilada sauce and it is divine.  Great on eggs – huevos rancheros, or chicken or cheese enchiladas.  I’m going to freeze some.  I think it would also be delicious swirled into some potato soup, or grits.

Recipe follows:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 7-ounce can whole green chiles, drained and chopped
• 1 pound green tomatoes or tomatillos, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup vegetable broth (or 1 vegetarian bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup hot water)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

“The only time you start at the top is when you are digging a hole”.
-Sam Chard

As farmer’s it seems we are always digging a hole. Always starting at the top.  Holes for plants, holes to dig potatoes, post holes for fence, and sadly, holes to bury an animal.

Lately, Diamond and I have been digging potatoes.  She would have been a great search and rescue dog because she loves to search, and she loves to dig, and her nose knows.  But she has been saddled with the task of digging potatoes instead of greater things (I guess I could argue that for myself too.)

Farm News:  I have been bushhogging our fields today and trying to dodge the baby deer.  They are amazing.  Their Mom’s bed them down in the tall brush.  I can see the grass moving first and then out they come – on the run.  Spots a blur.  I jumped up 6 and then had to stop.  Much too stressful.

Still missing Otis.  Curtis and I parked the flatbed where all our four dogs are buried, and at sunset we sit.  Diamond too.  And miss our friends.

What’s in the bucket:  Purple potatoes are back (thanks to Diamond!), Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, cucumbers or summer squash or okra, maybe Silver Queen corn for halfshares that didn’t get any corn last week…  hopefully edamame or field peas.  They are so close….if not – then next week.

As we all know, the internet is a fantastic source for recipes.  I still use my cookbooks now and then, but often I just search what I want to make – so that’s the problem.  What’s for dinner?  Purple potato gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce?  Tomato pie?  Lately Curtis and I have been having cucumber and corn salad with red onions and oil and vinegar dressing.

Here’s how:  cut corn off several ears.  slice cucumbers.  slice a red onion very thin.  drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar.  sprinkle with salt and pepper.

It is better if it sits for an hour or so – but delicious either way.  You could add feta cheese – but why?

At some point this summer you should try my Mother’s gazpacho: (you could add sweet corn to it also:)

Happy Eating, Happy Potato digging and thanks for buying local food from our farm!

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
― Will Rogers

He came to us one stormy night in April.  Curtis was getting ready for a trip.  Curtis and his horse were going to help work cattle in Missouri.  Curtis tried to run him off.  Tried again.

He was tired and lame.  He had been traveling.  He was looking for a safe place to layover and wait out the storm.    I said, just put him in the utility room.  I’ll let him out tomorrow.

But he piled up on a pasteboard box and slept for 3 days.  He didn’t want to eat or drink or go out, he just wanted to rest.  When he woke up, our journey began.

He was a ramblin’ man.  But he always came back to us.  And eventually, he quit leaving.  We named him Otis after the man who sold us the farm, who passed away shortly after selling it.

Otis loved to run, and dig, and pluck feathers from the chickens… which we discouraged him greatly from doing.  He loved to be held.  He loved to jump in your lap.  He and our cat Lucy had coffee with Curtis every morning, both in his lap.  He made friends.  He made us laugh.  And he brought so many years of comfort and happiness in his presence.

Towards the end, he wasn’t able to do the things he used to.  He loved to eat.  He loved to nap.  But every day he would leap into the air at least once as if to say, I am still here and the world is a beautiful place.   I kept hoping he would sprout wings and fly up to heaven instead of having to suffer.  I imagine that is what happened…he just needed a little help from us.

He has friends on the other side of the rainbow.   He was the last of a generation.  He stayed on to help raise Diamond.  I hope she realizes…I know she misses him too.Farm news:  Hard weekend, saying farewell to one of our pack.  Lots of tears, but joy too in remembering.

What’s in the Bucket:  Sweet corn from Jones Farm, red cabbage, October beans (you must shell these – they look like cannelini beans with a little color when shelled) carrots and/or beets, basil, bay leaves from my friend Daisy’s tree, a few cherry tomatoes, maybe a cucumber or pepper.  A wayward summer squash.  Some summer things just getting started!

I crave salads when it gets so humid and hot – but lettuce is out of season.  Following a great vegan recipe.  Very colorful and delicious.  Use October beans instead of canned beans – cook until tender first and cool.  I think you could make some other substitutions or omissions if need be and this will still be good.

Sweet Corn and Cabbage Salad

Source: 21-Day Vegan Kickstart The colors and textures will seduce you even before you taste this salad’s sweet, cooling flavors. Because the flavor gets even better with time, it’s perfectly portable.

About the Recipe 170 Calories · 8.6 g Protein · 8 g Fiber Dinner Gluten-free · Nut-free

Ingredients Makes 4 Servings

red onion, diced (1) Mexican gray squash or zucchini, diced (2) cucumbers, peeled and diced (2) small tomatoes, diced (4) medium red cabbage (1/4) stalks celery, sliced (4) kernels from 4 ears corn (about 3 cups) sea salt (pinch) fresh lime juice (2 tbsp.) tomatillos, diced, optional (4) fresh cilantro, chopped, optional (4 tbsp.) red beans, rinsed cooked or canned, optional; or sauteed tempeh, optional (2 cups) Swiss chard leaves, sliced, optional (2 cups)

Directions 1. Prep ingredients by dicing the onion, zucchini (try Mexican gray squash as a substitute for the zucchini), peeled cucumbers, and tomatoes. Slice the cabbage and celery, and remove kernels for the corn cobs. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and allow the salad to marinate for at least 30 minutes but preferably 2 hours. You can forgo this step and eat the salad right away, though the flavors won’t be melded quite as much. 2. Options: If you use the tomatillos, peel away the papery part and make sure to wash them before cutting; this removes their sticky outer film and makes them much easier to handle. You can also use frozen corn in this recipe, though it will lack the crispness and sweetness of fresh corn. Want to make this a meal in itself instead of an accompaniment? Add cooked beans or sauteed tempeh and you’ll have a delicious dinner in minutes. Nutrition Facts Per serving Calories: 170 Protein: 8.6 g Carbohydrate: 35 g Sugar: 10 g Total Fat: 1.8 g      Calories from Fat: 8.8% Fiber: 8 g Sodium: 132 mg

Happy Eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm

Definition of freedom
1: the quality or state of being free: such as
a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b: liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : INDEPENDENCE

Happy Independence Day everyone.   I have had a very Independent food week.  It started with these cabbage rolls, then some red, white and blue potatoes – all equally delicious, and onward to blackberry pie.  Oh the choices we have…..

Farm News:  Rain showers and weeds.  Thankful for the rain but not the weeds.  Big tall thorny stalks that bite when you walk through to harvest cabbage or potatoes.  Trying to keep things under control but….

We weaned 20 steers, so a noisy start to the holiday weekend.  The good news, we could not hear the fireworks.  Neither did the horses or dogs!

What’s in the Bucket:   Something old:  onions, fennel, green beans, red, white and blue potatoes…..something new: savoy cabbage, carrots.  I try to keep things changing – but I tend to over plant some things.  Things I love….Onions.   Things Jennifer loves….potatoes.  I can’t explain the cabbage:)  I guess I just want one of every kind – Napa, green, savoy, purple….

So in wondering what to do with all the cabbage I had to revisit the cabbage roll.  I had a customer at the market who bought savoy cabbage every week we had it.  She loved cabbage rolls.  She gave me her recipe but I found it to be kind of bland.  Ground meat wrapped in a cabbage leaf and smothered in tomato sauce.  It was not something I wanted to revisit.

So, in rethinking it, I wanted to get excited about it.  Add a little spice…..so, how about cabbage roll enchiladas.  I came up with a plan.  It turned out delicious (even Curtis said so…although he covered his in BBQ he brought home so I’m unsure his opinion really counts unless you have BBQ).    But, this recipe is all about FREEDOM!  So put BBQ and/or whatever else you please in them and enjoy….here’s how!

1.Remove 8 leaves from your savoy cabbage.  Clean them and steam them or lightly boil.  I cut the thick part of the center rib out first to make them easier to eat and to roll.

2. Make a filling.  I used leftover brown rice, sauteed yellow squash, some broccoli I still had in the fridge, onions (of course).  Stirred it all together and added some sour cream and ground cumin.  Cilantro would be great but I didn’t have any….seeds didn’t come up this year.  I had the thought that leftover mashed potatoes would be quite sinful….next time.  And of course, if you are Curtis, maybe pork BBQ or ground pork or ground meat…if you want extra protein.  Or add beans (does rice and green beans count as a protein? I’m unsure)  maybe black beans.

3. Roll the filling in your cabbage leaves.  Like a burrito, make it like an envelope and roll it up.  If your cabbage leaf busts a hole, you can take a piece off another leaf and patch it.

Cover and smother in your favorite sauce.  I made some enchilada sauce, but store bought would work well too.  Or BBQ sauce.  Or marinara sauce.  I am a big fan of a little kick – so make it spicy if you are game.  Then I topped with grated cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until it is bubbling and the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes but don’t burn the cheese on top.

This dish can go so many ways – and it is gluten free.  You could stuff leaves with ricotta and high end mozzarella for a mock cannelloni.  So, let me know what you come up with and how it turns out!

A CSA member also shared this delicious recipe for fennel salad with me.  I will pass it along.  It would go well with mock cannelloni if you go that road….  This will be the last week of fennel, so I wanted to make sure you had the chance.

Fennel Salad with Citrus Dressing

Happy Independence Day!  Celebrate Freedom of Eating!  And thanks for buying local food from our Farm.

“Birds of a feather flock together”  English Proverb

Flock…definition

noun:  1. a number of birds of one kind feeding, resting, or traveling together.

Meet Jessie…

She and her flock are helping us and our flock provide eggs to you this summer.  Michael at Broadfork meadows sold me his chickens and we are still coming up short.  My CSA loves their eggs!

At any rate, I am thankful for Jessie and her flock.  She vends at Main Street Farmer’s market with me (and is President of our Board.)  She has been a farmer friend for a while.  So seems fitting we should be including her happy flock’s eggs in our buckets!  And I wanted all of you to get to meet her via computer if not in person.

Farm News:  BOUNTY OF PRODUCE.  I will overload the buckets this week….

What’s in the Bucket?  Fennel, Daikon, Broccoli ….again?….yeah!  green cabbage, Texas sweet onions, green beans, purple and white potatoes, Turnip root and beets.

Intimidated by roots? Shred those roots and saute them up like hash browns.  Though fennel is not technically a root, it can act like one!  Kraut…you have all you need.  Cabbage plus fennel, daikon, onion, broccoli, you choose.  Fermenting can be lots of fun.  Google that:)

As for me, I will be making all of the above plus the following fennel and broccoli salad….easy and delicious.

Happy Eating.  Happy Roots and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.

Food & Wine

Shaved Broccoli and Fennel Salad with Goat Cheese

The combination of creamy goat cheese, fresh herbs, thin and crunchy vegetables with rich olive oil, lemon, and a little salt is addictive. If you have a mandoline, it’s great to use it here.

Total:

20 mins

Yield:

4 to 6

 © Sarah Bolla

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 
• 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound broccoli (about 2 heads), stems very thinly sliced lengthwise, florets thinly sliced crosswise
• 2 bulbs fennel (about 2 1/2 cups), halved lengthwise, cored and very thinly sliced 
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
• Fronds from 1/2 fennel bulb (about 3 tablespoons), coarsely chopped 
• 6 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1

  In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper and slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking constantly until incorporated.

• Step 2

  In a large bowl, toss the broccoli and fennel shavings with the parsley and fennel fronds. Pour over the dressing, and toss to coat. Season the salad with salt and pepper, garnish with crumbled goat cheese and serve right away.

”The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature”   -Prevost Abbe, Manson Lescaut

Father’s Day cheers from Jennifer and Josh holding the fort down at the farm

Happy Father’s day to you!  We have been at the beach this weekend with MY father.  It was his birthday Friday and Father’s Day today.  So lots of celebrating and wonderful family time.

Farm News:  We are heading back to the farm today.  Honestly, I looked at the weather at home and I think I’d rather stay at the beach.  The heat is hard to manage with vegetables and animals.  The animals do much better in the cold weather.  And they have the added stress of flies right now.   So they stomp and run to get away.  Turn hot and sweaty.  The cows pack up and move in this giant close herd to keep the flies off each other.  Birds fly above them enjoying the fabulous feast of insects.  The only thing I know to give the horses some relief is a cool shower.  So we rinse them off late afternoon just to cool their body temp.
And the cool season vegetables will bolt.  We usually can harvest broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and greens into July on the mountain, but probably not this year:(  And to add to that everything is thirsty when it is this hot, including me!

What’s in the bucket:  This is a guess since I am not there but….similar to last week….Broccoli, green cabbage, red and white potatoes, leeks, summer squash for sure.  The rest may be a surprise….A few green beans?  Some lettuce if it has not bolted, turnips with greens or Daikon radishes with greens or a beet or 2?  A sprig of Rosemary, oregano or parsley.  It is very 🥵 hot, so if you find your veggies are wilting in the bucket before you can get to them, feel free to leave a cooler with ice packs out.  I will transfer your veggies into it.  In a week or 2 it will be tomatoes and squash and peppers which aren’t so unhappy with heat.

I’m always up for an easy summer supper.  Here is an idea I got from browsing cabbage recipes.  Make an herbed butter to keep in the fridge to dress up any steamed or roasted or grilled veggies or greens.  One of the recipes I saw had anchovy, which I actually love on grilled cabbage.  This recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, but you could half the amount.  Don’t like anchovies? Substitute capers or other herbs.  Really anything works!  And you can make it and roll it up, store in wax paper up to a month.

Herb Butter

1T fresh rosemary or parsley or oregano

1tsp red pepper

7 anchovy filets, drained or similar amount of capers or another herb

2 cloves garlic pressed and/or 1 T cleaned leeks

2 sticks salted butter, the real thing!

purée herbs and anchovy in food processor.  Cut butter into chunks and let it soften.  Use a fork and blend herbs and anchovy with butter.  Roll in wax paper and store in fridge until needed- or store in a Tupperware.

Top roasted, steamed or grilled  veggies with herbed anchovy butter and enjoy!

Happy eating, Happy Father’s Day and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.

“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

The heat and humidity are not fun but they do bring fantastic sunsets!  And future tomatoes….

But for this week we will still be harvesting greens and lettuce.  A nice change though, some red potatoes and leeks.

Farm News:  Curtis and I are leaving Wednesday to go to the beach with family.  This is becoming a yearly break for us – thanks to Jennifer and Josh who hold down the fort.

And thanks to those of you who are changing your delivery day to let us go….It is a rare thing for us to be able to leave animals, vegetables and work!

What’s in the bucket?  Red potatoes, leeks, Napa cabbage or green cabbage, broccoli, summer squash, bibb lettuce, mixed kale.

I don’t know what the difference is between a latke and a fritter.  I would call these fritters but… anyway.  Here is a NY times recipe – an easy solution for your share this week.  Serve with a bibb lettuce salad and roasted squash….for a fantastic summer meal.

“To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist – the problem is entirely the same in both cases.  To know how much oil one must mix with one’s vinegar.”

-Oscar Wilde

Farm News:  Yes, more on the crows.

Well, they pull up my sweet corn every year.  Scare Crow – doesn’t scare.  They ate the whole row except at her feet.  Last year we planted it three times and finally, …success!  Under the cover of a row cover the corn sprouted and got big enough.  Big enough to outgrow the corn seed which is what the crow searches out.

So this year, we planted it first time under the row cover.  A no-brainer right?  Wrong.  Those old crows outsmarted me again.  They poked holes in the row cover and pulled it all up.  I tried again and planted corn under the cover of my broccoli plants.  It may be too shady for it to germinate….but I’m hoping they will not discover it until too late.   Will we outsmart old crow?….to be continued.

What’s in the bucket:  OK, more of the same for this week, but big changes will be in order for next week.

A salad mix of young kale, arugula and beet greens (you won’t find one like this at the super market!) kohlrabi (last kohlrabi I promise), young onions, romaine lettuce, red and green leaf lettuce, collard and/or kale or turnip greens, Daikon radish (these are good for the greens too!) and Rosemary.

Lots of salad in order for this week.  Good week to invite some friends over, make a big salad.  Add a some protein of your choice and call it dinner.

Here is a salad dressing recipe (Oil and vinegar if your a diplomat)

(From Cookie and Kate)

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons vinegar of choice (balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Happy Salad eating!  Thanks for buying local food from Circle S farm.

“Oh, we take you into slaughter without a moment’s thought. And yes, some of you come to enjoy it, to lust for that cacophony, that violence, the reek of blood.

And so we share with you, dear horse, our peculiar madness. But who judges us for this crime against you and your kind?

No one.

Unless you horses have a god.”
― Steven Erikson, Reaper’s Gale

I was at a Memorial day celebration yesterday and there was a cannon.  And there was a horse.  The horse did not flinch when the cannon was fired.  It made my heart jump a mile.  And I started thinking about war.  And horses.  And what it would be like to ride a horse into the front lines.   These beautiful kind creatures that bend to our will.   What would a cavalry charge feel like…thundering hooves….adrenaline…fear…courage.

Our horses live a quiet life.  My big girls could pull an a wagon full of ammunition.  I’m glad they don’t have to!   I’m pretty sure none of our horses  would have stood quietly when that cannon went off.

And thus starts another Memorial Day delivery.  I believe this is the 19th year I have delivered on Memorial Day.  But this is the first year Memorial Day begins the season.  And thus we start off with a bang…

Farm News:  I am thankful for last weeks rain.  The land was getting parched and thirsty.  Jennifer and I have been working hard to get the garden growing – and as usual the crows are pulling up the sweet corn…..more on that next week. This is always a busy time.  Curtis is trying to cut hay so our cows will have feed next winter.  Fertilizer of any kind is extremely expensive this year, and diesel fuel too.  Maybe I need to put my girls to work behind the hay rake!  Oh – if I could only get out of the garden for a moment….

What’s in the CSA bucket this week:  Kohlrabi, arugula, radish, greens (collard or kale), young onions and red and green lettuce.

OK – I’m always looking for a new way to use Kohlrabi.  It is delicious raw, for sure.  But it tends to come in in droves.  So…

Kohlrabi noodles?  Why not.  You will need a spiralizer.  But – if you have one, give it a try.  They are delicious.  Just spiralize them and then saute lightly in butter.  Add garlic.  Top with arugula torn into pieces, and parmesan.

Recipe:

2 Kohlrabi spiralized

2 radishes, sliced thinly

1 T butter (add more to taste if needed, or EVOO once liquid has cooked out of kohlrabi)

1/2 t salt

1 clove garlic pressed

arugula cut into ribbons and grated parmesan cheese, cracked pepper to top it off

Spiralize kohlrabi into linguine sized noodles.  Toss with salt.  Let them sit 10 minutes or so if you have time – pour off liquid.

Saute noodles and garlic in butter until noodles are tender.  Divide onto plates and top with pepper, parmesan and finally…arugula cut into ribbons.  Garnish with sliced radishes.