2015 week 20 // Final Pick Up

Wow! It really is hard to believe that 20 weeks have passed.  Thank you so much to our precious CSA members for your support this season.  Your smiles and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.

New this week:

Spaghetti squash:  I love this stuff! Here is a link to a tutorial for cooking one.  And here is my favorite spaghetti squash recipe: Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole.

KiwiBerries: Kiwi Berries are a small variety of the kiwi fruit with an edible skin. They are best eaten when the skin is wrinkled and they yield to pressure.   Really, the softer the better. As they soften they get more  and more sweet. Leave at room temperature to ripen.

Potatoes: We are so glad to have these beautiful potatoes from Rabbit Hill Farm in Shiloh, NJ.  Many potato growers in the area suffered a poor season due to a disease that came in the seed from Maine. Somehow Abe Baker and his daughter Hillary managed to pull off this beautiful crop.  

Yum, yum corn and potatoes means its time for Sausage Corn Chowder!

2015 week 19

And just like that the 90 degree temps of last week are but a fading memory and it feels like FALL! The CSA share is representing fall with squash!

New this week:

Red October Pumpkin- A winter squash with thick skin and delicious flesh good for purees and pies. Have you ever cooked a pumpkin before, it really is not that difficult and the results are so delicious!

4 Easy steps to cooking a pumpkin:

1. 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F .
   2. Cut pumpkin into small manageable pieces and scoop out seeds.
   3. Place cut pumpkin skin side up or down (I have done it both ways) in a large roasting pan. Cook until very tender 40-50 minutes depending on size.
   4. When cooled, peel away skin and mash with a fork or puree in food processor. You can use it right away or put it in freezer bags for the future.  
2. 
   

Butternut squash- is a winter squash very similar to pumpkins. Butternut squash is wonderful roasted, pureed in soup, or mashed to mix into casseroles, bread, or muffins.  Here is a link to my favorite butternut squash soup, Oh So Good! I tailor the recipe to suit me by -- only using butternut (no acorn squash, I like butternut flavor better) and I don't normally make the fancy toast to go with, crackers work in this house.

2015 week 18

New this week:

Apples! from Schober Farm in Monroeville. They have a retail farm stand, I highly suggest visiting them for all your apple needs this fall!  They have gorgeous apples.

Delicata Squash-  This is a new winter squash for us this year.  Like other winter squash Delicata can be stored for long periods of time, unlike other winter squash you can eat the skin.  Fantastically rich and sweet.
Here is a link to a simple recipe of Roasted Delicata Squash.
Here is a link to a recipe for Stuffed Delicata Squash, I would swap out the spinach for kale!

2015 week 17

Cantaloupe are back after a painful hiatus.

New this week:

Plums from Circle M Farms in Mannington Twp.

2015 week 16

2015 week 15!

Watermelon is here, and kale is back!

2015 week 14 -

New this week:

Cilantro!  Store in refrigerator with cut ends in a jar of water and leaves loosely covered with a plastic bag for several days.  Delicious in salsa!

Summer Crisp Lettuce - Lettuce in August is a new thing for us at Buzby Farm, we hope you enjoy these beautiful heads, much smaller than the spring heads, but so delicious!

Red Long Hots - We gave out long hots a couple weeks ago, these are from the same plant, the peppers just turned red from staying on the plant longer and having more time to ripen.  These would taste great in salsa!

2015 week 13

New this week poblano peppers, a hot pepper, that is great for roasting or stuffing!

2015 week 12

New this week:

Sicilian Eggplant!  Can be used just as you would a regular eggplant.

Returning from previous weeks:

Peaches
String Beans
Tomatoes
Collard Greens
Grape Tomatoes
Carrots
Sweet Corn
Onion

2015 week 11

Returning from previous weeks!

Onion
String Beans
Grape Tomatoes
Carrots
Bell Peppers
Tomatoes
Sweet Corn!!!

New this week:
Peaches from Larchmont Farms on Rt 77 in Deerfield.

2015 Week 10 // Half Way

Returning from previous weeks:
Tomatoes!
Onion
Carrots
Grape Tomatoes

New this week!

String Beans -fresh string beans are so good! I like to blanche them for a couple minutes then put them on a sheet pan and drizzle olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, minced garlic and parmesan cheese.  Bake just long enough to melt the cheese! Yum!

Canary Melon- A delicious melon // kinda like a honeydew, kinda like a cantaloupe

Eggplant-  While everyone in this household loves fried eggplant, this mama only has the patience to make it on rare occasions.  But this eggplant recipe comes together quickly for a great week night meal.

Basil-  Ohh! The aroma of summer.  Tomato Pie or Basil Pesto anyone?

Long Hots- !!!HOT!!! Pepper, but so good.  Here is a recipe that looked good,

2015 week 9 // Summer Explosion!

Returning produce from previous weeks:
Spring onion
Collard Greens
Carrots
Bell Peppers

New this week!
Parsley - A lovely herb that really brightens flavor.  Here is a link to a chimichurri sauce which delicious served on steak or other meats.  Chimichurri is kind of like pesto, but made with parsley.
Cantaloupe- One of my favorite summer crops! Here is a link to my recipe for grilled cantaloupe. It is one of my most popular blogposts.
Grape Tomatoes- Yum! Sweet, pop 'em in your mouth snack.
Heirloom Tomatoes- It is the beginning of tomato season! Yippy! I hope you really get to know and love all the different varieties we grew this year.
Cauliflower- Many varieties of cauliflower are white only because, farmers bunch the leaves over top of the head blocking the sun. This variety is called Bishop and is a "self-blanching" variety, meaning the leaves naturally tend to cover the head. You may notice these heads are a bit yellow in color. This is because the "self-blanching" isn't quite as sun-proof as bunching the leaves and these cauliflowers have seen the sun a bit.
Red Cabbage-  The flavor for this "Super Red" superior for red cabbage: tender, crisp, and pleasantly peppery. I can't wait to make some fish tacos with red cabbage slaw!

2015 week 8!

Tuesday's storm was a whopper! Crazy fierce wind. Electricity was out for 2 days and there are many trees down. One tree fell on a greenhouse. One whole row of kiwi trellis collapsed! That looked scary, but we were able to reconstruct the trellis the next day and get them all standing. Looks like no kiwi were killed, only beat up a bit. Saturday we got another 2 inches of rain. Ugh!  And there are more thunderstorms in the forecast.  But at least the irrigation guys are getting a break.  Come on sunny summer days! 

Returning from previous weeks:
Blueberries
Kale
Carrots
Onion

New this week:

Sweet Corn- So glad to have sweet corn in your share for this week leading up to the 4th of July.  My words of wisdom about our sweet corn is eat it as soon as you can, it will taste the best this way. If you can't eat it right away, leave it in the husk and put in the refrigerator.  I've had many people tell me the have kept their corn for a whole week in the fridge and it still tastes delicious!  
Green Bell Peppers- Come on! Stir fried peppers and onion. . . heavenly! :-)
Beets- Our beet crop is a little underwhelming. Year after year we struggle to have a stellar beet harvest.  But we will keep trying to grow this elusive root crop.  I love roasted beets on a salad with goat cheese!

2015 week 7

I don't know about you but for us the big news of the week is SCHOOLS OUT for summer!!!  Congratulations to the graduating class of 2015!  Let's celebrate with blueberries!

Returning from previous weeks:
Swiss Chard
Yellow Squash -lots of it! perfect time to make squash casserole!
Spring Onion

New this week!
Blueberries - we don't grow blueberries, but we get these direct from the grower J&J in Hammonton, NJ , "The Blueberry Capitol of the World"
Cabbage - This is a great variety that has tender leaves that are very sweet and crisp -  perfect form coleslaw or stir-fries.
Carrots! - Have you ever heard it said that carrots improve your vision? Well, that may not be entirely accurate. During World War II, the British government credited carrots with improving night vision which led to a sudden increase in Nazi bombers being successfully shot down at night. The real reason for the success was a secret new radar system. The carrot story offered the Nazis a plausible explanation and helped distract attention from the radar system. Thankfully, it is true that carrots are high in beta-carotene which may help reduce the risk of cataract and macular degeneration. Not bad! The photo shows rainbow carrots, but this week will actually be regular orange carrots and rainbow carrots will be coming next week.

Chicken Ceasar Salad Wraps

This is a favorite of Farmer Eric. He loves creamy Caesar dressing and the ease of having his salad hand held. None of this messing with forks stuff.

Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps

3 boneless chicken breast
half of a small onion, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
half of a red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 head of romaine
Caesar dressing about 1/2 cup ( I squirt some in mix and then add more until it looks good)
A pack of your favorite wraps

Pound chicken to flatten so it will grill more evenly. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper or kick it up a notch and sprinkle with Montreal seasoning. Grill chicken until it has nice grill marks and is cooked all the way through. After the chicken has cooled a little slice into thin strips.

In a very large bowl add romaine lettuce chopped, onion, olives, red pepper, and parmesan cheese.
Sometimes we put croutons in too, yum! Add the chicken and squirt in the Caesar dressing right before ready to serve. Toss, toss, toss, until everything is well coated.  Pile the filling in the center of the wrap and roll up burrito style.

Happy Cooking!

2015 week 6

This week A.T. Buzby Farm was honored at the local FFA banquet for our support of FFA, its mission, and members.  FFA does a great job growing leaders for the agricultural industry and our communities.  We currently employ four current/past FFA state officers.  They are enthusiastic workers.  The future looks bright for New Jersey Agriculture.

Returning from previous weeks:
Romaine is back and looking so good!
Purple top turnips just the root.
Kirby pickles, probably their last week.

New this week:
Zucchini- such a versatile vegetable!  Our family's all time favorite recipe is Stuffed Zucchini, check it out here, it is THE best!
Yellow Squash- Saute it up with the onion in your share!
Spring Onion- The variety of onion we grew is called " CANDY". The perfect sweet onion.
Fennel-With the flavor of sweet anise, fennel is a great addition in soups, pasta, salads, and more.  To be honest fennel is completely new to me!  If you know and love fennel please reach out to me on Facebook or email and let me know your favorite way to prepare it.  I am planning to try this recipe later this week.

2015 week 5

Returning from previous weeks:
Kohlrabi
Kirby Pickles
Bok Choy -- It's back!

New this week:
Swiss Chard - Another delicious green! It is so versatile, put it in soups, eggs, or sautée it.  Here is a link to a Coconut curry with Swiss Chard.  Here is a link to a simple sautéed swiss chard recipe.
Snap peas- so delicious eaten raw. Sweet! Or add to a stir fry.
Dill -  perfect combination with our kirby pickles!
Purple top turnips and greens.  Here is a link to a previous post all about turnips and turnips greens.  the recipe all the way at the bottom, turnip souffle -- soooo good!


Saturday was our annual Spring Open House! Good times, good food, good people.  Thank you for coming out, we really enjoyed sharing the farm with you.

2015 week 4

It's June! Boo-yah!

Returning from previous weeks:
Romaine! Let's enjoy this, since it will be the last lettuce we see for awhile.
Kale
Hakurei Turnips
Strawberries in pints, not quarts. Just barely squeaking these out for you. We hope......

New this week:
Kirby pickles//you can use these just like cucumbers, but they are especially great for pickling. Here is a link to a great refrigerator pickle.

Garlic Scapes// We are so excited to have garlic scapes in the share this week from our friends and neighbors Obis One.   Garlic scapes are the tender stem found on a garlic plant. Use your garlic scapes raw in salads and they will have a hot peppery flavor. Cooked garlic scapes will have a mellow, sweeter flavor.  Here is a link to a garlic scape salad dressing

Kohlrabi// I know this is a weird one.  But trust me, it is good and easy to use. 
--Here is a link to make the famous Kohlrabi Ham Bake
--Here is a link to a post I wrote on Kohlrabi

***Special Announcement*** The Spring Open House is this Saturday June 6th 2pm-7pm 
-Enjoy a wagon ride farm tour with our farmers, Andy and Eric, where you will get to know them, here a little of our farm history, and learn all about how your food is grown!

-You-pick strawberries.  Once a year we open the strawberry patch for CSA members only.

-Light refreshments will be available. Strawberry shortcake and lemonade.

2015 week 3

We are so thankful for the rain showers we got early last week.  We ended up getting about an inch of rain between several showers.  Many local farms didn't get that rain and are still struggling with dry conditions.  

Returning from previous weeks--

Collard Greens

Strawberries

Asparagus

and Romaine

New this week!

Hakurei Turnips- are sweet and mild.  Sometimes called salad turnips these are delicious raw, and take on a whole new flavor and texture when cooked.  Turnip leaves are also edible and taste similar to mustard greens, and make delicious stir-fries and sautés.  Turnip root is high in Vitamin C, and the leaves are high in good source of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K and calcium.

To store turnips remove greens and store separately in a plastic bag.  The roots will last several weeks stored in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.

Hakurei turnips are delicious eaten raw and roasted.  Here is a link to a Turnip Kale frittata.

Lacinato Kale also known as Dinosaur Kale is extremely nutritious.  I enjoy kale in my morning green smoothie.  Click here for a link to a salad recipe that is in my menu plan for the week.

Collard Greens and Orzo

Need an easy any day of the week recipe? This one is perfect and so delicious. Like really delicious.

Collard Greens and Orzo

1lb Italian sausage links, casings removed (mild or hot)
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch collard greens, thinly sliced into ribbons
6-7 sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/3 cup chicken stock
juice from half a lemon
Tbs. butter
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 cup orzo pasta
pinch of salt

Pinch little pieces of the sausage and roll them into 1-inch balls. Brown them in a skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through. Take sausage meatballs out of skillet and set aside.

To the skillet, add the oil, garlic, collard ribbons and sundried tomato slivers. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the stock and let it bubble for just a second. Add the sausage and lemon juice. Toss until well combined.

In the meantime, boil the orzo in a pot of salted water until al dente.  Transfer the drained pasta into the skillet. Off the heat, add the butter and cheese. Toss it all together until melted and coated and AMAZING.

Bok Choy Lettuce Wraps

A delightful recipe from a childhood friend of mine and faithful CSA member, Erica McMullen.  Thank you!

This excellent recipe uses bok choy, romaine, AND radishes! SCORE!

Bok Choy Lettuce Wraps
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 lb. ground chicken breast
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 whole share of bok choy, chopped
1" piece of fresh ginger, grated  (you can use ground ginger if you don't have fresh on hand)
1/4 c soy sauce
2-3 T brown sugar
Romaine leaves

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground chicken and start to brown. When chicken is nearly done, add pepper, onion and garlic. When chicken is fully cooked and veggies start to soften add bok choy. Once nearly wilted add soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger. Let flavors combine and adjust to your liking with soy sauce, sugar and ginger. Serve on lettuce leaves like tacos and with a side of pickled radishes. I also served brown rice along side for my rice loving kiddos.  

Pickled Radish

1 bunch radish, thinly sliced
1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
few peppercorns
garlic

Pack the radishes into a pint sized jar.  In a saucepan bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil.  Just long enough to dissolve the salt and sugar.  Remove from the heat and add in the peppercorns and garlic.  Pour into the jar with radishes.   And seal with tight fitting lid. Let it cool to room temperature.  You can store in the fridge for up to one month.

2015 Week 2

Thank you for all your warm greetings and happy smiles at pick up last week.  Ya'll are such an encouragement to me.  Also, a big-five to anyone who shared with me what they cooked with their produce!  You rock! I so love hearing how you enjoy your veggies.  

News from the farm

1- It is dry. Really dry.  So thankful for our irrigation system, but we are getting tired of moving sprinkler pipe around everyday.  It takes hours! But we will do it as long as we have to. 

2- College is letting out for summer and that means a big part of our work force is returning to the farm and providing some much needed reinforcements.  About half of our staff in the summer are high school and college-aged kids.

3- The honey bees arrived this week.  The kirby pickles and early cantaloupes are flowering and the bees are ready and willing to do some pollination. We rent 32 hives from Harvey's Honey near Woodstown.

Returning from last week:

Easter Egg Radish

Bok Choy

Romaine

New this week:

Escarole -  I normally think of it as a soup green . . . My absolute favorite soup with escarole. Escarole Meatball Soup

Collard Greens- your body will love you for eating these healthy greens.  I really enjoy using collards as a wrap--stuff it with sandwich fixins and roll it up. Yum!  Here is a link for a more traditional way to eat your collards.

And last but certainly not least ---- the long awaited strawberries!

Strawberries are very perishable.   This is not a problem in my home,  they disappear very quickly.   If you want to keep them more than a couple of days they should be kept in the refrigerator. 

2015 Week 1

It's Opening Week of the 2015 CSA season and we are rockin' and rollin'. Woohoo! The weather is warm and things are growing! After a long, cold winter, greens are looking so good. While we were all hoping the strawberries would be ready for week 1, alas they are not. Soooo close! We are hoping for a good 2-3 weeks of harvest coming up.

***The most important thing when bringing fresh greens home from the farm is to take time to clean and store them well.  Here is a link to specific instructions on how to prep your greens (romaine, bok choy, spinach)
_________________________________________________________________________________

So each week here on the blog I try to introduce the new veggies and some of my favorite ways to prepare them.  Since it is week 1 and every thing is new, its a long blog post.

Romaine- I am so excited for some fresh romaine.  Salads-BLTs-Lettuce Wraps!

Baby Bok Choy -  This is still my absolute favorite way to serve Bok Choy.  But I also pinned some new recipes to try. Check them out here.

Hot House Tomato- Aren't they beauties! While we have grown these gems for a few years now, we've never given them out as part of the CSA. This is because one of the joys of CSA is eating what's in season and becoming more in-tune with the real seasons of produce. May is simply not tomato season. July, August and September are the tomato months and, believe me, we will have plenty of tomatoes to share when the time comes. So why are they in your share this week? Consider it a consolation prize for not getting strawberries! (we know, not a direct replacement for berries)

Easter Egg Radish - Click here for some ideas of what to do with radishes.

Broccoli Rabe is a bitter green, very similar to mustard greens.  I love broccoli rabe cooked with lots of garlic!  I recommend blanching the rabe in boiling water to take the edge off the bitterness first then sautéing with olive oil and garlic.  Here is a recipe "Broccoli Rabe with Pasta and Sun Dried Tomatoes"

Asparagus - If you are not going to use it that day, you should store asparagus in your refrigerator in a bowl or mug with some water in the bottom.  The asparagus will slowly drink up the water and you may need to replenish.  Asparagus is delicious roasted or grilled! This asparagus was grown by John Catalano, just down the road from us!

Spinach- This spinach was grown by Michael Catalano in Mannington Township. They always have the most beautiful spinach fields. Most of their crop is harvested by machines and sent off to be packed and frozen. We were able to hand harvest this from the edges of the field where the harvesters won't be able to get. Throw it in your morning smoothie, or eggs, saute it for dinner or add it to your soup. 

Happy New Year Friend!

We hope the winter season is treating you well.   We’ve been keeping busy with many projects around the farm to get ready for the coming season.

2014 was a great year.  We enjoyed great weather and some amazing crops!  After the major watermelon disaster of 2013, this year was watermelon redemption year! We enjoyed a bountiful, beautiful crop of melons and harvested over 175,000 pounds of melons!

Tomatoes love it when the temperatures are in the 80s so they were REALLY happy this summer. We had 4 successive planting of tomatoes from June to September that produced 437,425 pounds of tomatoes. Peppers were great too with 352,066 pounds of peppers were harvested this summer. Gosh, its fun to look back and be proud and happy of the success of last year!

Spring is just around the corner (so glad the days are getting longer!) Plans are already under way for next year. Our seed orders are in, the crop plan is being hashed out, and we are prepping to start the seeding process.

We are so excited to continue on this farming journey and to share it with you. We love what we do and couldn’t be more appreciative of the community around us. We anticipate 2015 being our greatest year yet!

2015 CSA Registration opens February 1st.  More information coming soon!