2019. Week 6! Carrots

New this week:

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 had a secret new radar system that was dramatically increasing the percentage of Nazi bombers being shot down at night. Not wanting the enemy to find out, the British credited carrots with improving night vision of the defense gunners. 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!
To store, cut the tops off and store in a plastic bag.  Use them anyway you would your normal carrots.  

Red Cabbage: This cabbage has a slightly sweet and peppery flavor. I can't wait to make some fish tacos with red cabbage slaw! Here is a recipe for red cabbage and carrot slaw.

Pick Your Own Shelling peas are the types of peas that need to be removed from their pods prior to eating. The easiest ways to cook freshly shelled peas are 
(1) to boil or steam them; 
(2) to put them in a pan with butter, salt and very little water, cover the pan and cook until done: they steam in that bit of liquid plus their own juices -- which combine with the butter to form a light sauce.

Golden Zucchini: is a beautiful variety of zucchini that can be used the same as regular zucchini, it just adds a brilliant color to your stir fry.

2018. Week 7.

Welcome summer!

New this week:

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 had a secret new radar system that was dramatically increasing the percentage of Nazi bombers being shot down at night. Not wanting the enemy to find out, the British credited carrots with improving night vision of the defense gunners. 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!

Red Cabbage: This cabbage has a slightly sweet and peppery flavor. I can't wait to make some fish tacos with red cabbage slaw! Here is a recipe for red cabbage and carrot slaw

Golden Zucchini: is a beautiful variety of zucchini, I'm going to try my best to get 1 of each color in the share, but we will have to see how the plants produce this week.  Golden zucchini can be used the same as regular zucchini, it just adds a brilliant color to your stir fry.

2016 week 7

Returning from previous weeks:
Red Romaine
Carrots
Swiss Chard
Zucchini
Kirby pickles

New this week:
Spring Onion- This variety is called "candy". A nice sweet onion.
Cabbage - This varieties fitting name "Tender Sweet" lends itself to delicious slaw and stir fry.
Dill- Now is the time to make those refrigerator pickles!
Blueberries- I missed putting them in the picture.  But we are so excited to include blueberries from J&J Farms in Hammonton, NJ (the blueberry capitol of the world).  

2016 week 6

New this week!
Cauliflower- always good roasted, but my new favorite way to eat cauliflower is riced.  Pulse the cauliflower in your food processor or grate with a box grater. Here is a recipe for "10 Minute Cauliflower Rice"
Carrots- Beautiful root crop enjoy raw or cooked
Basil- The smell of summer.

Here is a perfect recipe to make this week.  Carrot Top Pesto!

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.

2013 week 6

We are up to almost 9 inches of rain for the month of June.

The legendary Case 730 Comfort King. When the going gets tough the tough get the 730.  When other tractors get stuck in the mud, everyone around here know to go get the 730.  In the mud this tractor is a BEAST.  Rated at 56 horsepower and weighing in at 7000lbs the 730 can out-work larger tractors.

Once, our John Deere 2840 (80hp, 9000lbs) got stuck while pulling a fertilizer spreader.  The 730 came to the rescue.  Greg hooked up the chain and started pulling before Pop-pop had a chance to put the John Deere in gear. The 730 pulled out the John Deere AND the spreader while the John Deere was in neutral!

Love this tractor!

We still have to keep going through all this rain.  The turnips and pickles still need to be harvested and packed every single day.  We gear up and get the work done.

Other jobs around the farm just don't get done when it is raining: pruning, staking, tying.

But we are still able to stay busy.  The tunnel tomatoes are pruned and clipped whilst the rain.  The  packing line has been thoroughly scrubbed and is in the process of getting pre-season maintenance.  Shop projects like the trash belts are coming along. There is always work to be done on a farm.

Romaine- I know it has been in the share for 6 weeks.  This weather has been good for the lettuce not too hot.

Rainbow Carrots- Aren't they just so pretty! Just use them like regular carrots.  Yum!

Beets- I love roasted beets. Here is my favorite recipe.

Broccoli/Cauliflower-  I was hoping to have enough of both so everyone got 2 heads of both, but remember back in early spring we had a spell of nice warm weather and then it snowed.  Well, we had planted the broccoli and cauliflower right before the snow.  The harsh weather killed about half the crop. :(  Anyway we are happy we have some to harvest.

CSA Share 2012: week 7

 Starting at top right and continuing clockwise.  Sweet Corn, beets, yellow squash, zucchini, string beans, carrots. 

I wish you all could have been there when Gail, Angie and I were pulling carrots this morning.  Pulling these beautiful carrots up from the earth could only be followed by great squeals of delight.  We were like giddy school girls, so excited with our harvest.

Beets!  I love them roasted.  Check out this recipe for Roasted Beets with Balsamic Glaze. It's my favorite beet recipe...... the orange, with the balsamic, and the beet. Ummmm, yeah, amazing.  And don't throw away the tops, you can cook the the beet greens just like you would, collards or kale. 

I would like to proudly announce the arrival of SWEET CORN to the CSA share this week.  Nothing tastes like summer like some corn!

We grow about 90 acres of corn every year.  It is all hand picked by an elite crew of specially trained guys.   Here at A.T. Buzby Farm, we are sweet corn snobs.  The lengths that we've gone to for this corn are remarkable. The corn that you are getting this week was started in the greenhouse and transplanted to the field, then covered with a mini-greenhouse. check it out here. It has been cultivated, irrigated and cared for. We harvest it at just the right time, when the flavor is at it's best and we harvest first thing in the morning, when the corn is the most turgid (crisp) and cool.  So I have some specific directions for you so that this extra special corn is cared for properly.

For the best flavor eat your corn as soon as possible.  I mean the same day you pick up.  If you can.

Although, if you can't eat your corn that night leave the husk on and store it in your refrigerator.  Refrigeration really helps to slow down the loss of the corns sweetness.  We have had many customers tell us that they leave their unshucked corn in the fridge for up to 7 days and it still tastes great!

To prepare your corn, husk and wash the corn.  Bring a big pot of water to boil.  Toss the ears in, cook for about 5 minutes.

What I normally end up doing is tossing the ears in the boiling water, bring it back to a boil, and then shutting the burner off.  Then I just let the corn sit in the water until we are ready to eat.  This works well for me because, I don't always know when Eric will come in for dinner.  This way the corn stays warm until I need it.

Corn is going to be a regular in the share for july and august.  If you ever have a week when you can't eat all the corn or it just isn't fitting into your meal plan. Freeze it!  It is so easy. Just cut the corn off the cob, stick it in a freezer bag, and toss it in the freezer. Done! If you're feeling extra ambitious, you can date the bag. Once you get used to eating this frozen corn, you will be ruined for all other frozen corn.