CSA Week 21

Hello! Welcome to week 21!

This is the final week for our city members!

We've enjoyed growing for you this season and are looking forward to another bountiful year for 2011. Please check our website soon for 2011 CSA updates.

If you'd like to send any questions or comments about this season we'd love to hear from you!

Harvested just for you................

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Lettuce Mix

Green or Red Cabbage

Red Kale Tops

Cherriette Radish

Celeriac

Bulk Golden Beets

Sweet Hakurei Turnips

Spinach

Our first from the Hoophouse.....Baby Bok Choi

Enjoy!

Special Announcement!

We will be holding an "open to the public" farm stand this Saturday, October 30!

Please come and shop for some fresh produce, eggs, chicken and honey!

The farm stand will be the same location as our On Farm Pick Up,

17970 W. Millburn Road

10-2pm

Produce we'll have available:

Arugula

Beets

Broccoli

Cabbage

Orange Carrots

Celeriac

Chard

Herbs

Kales

Lettuce

Onions

Popcorn!

Radishes

Salad Mix

Spinach

Turnips

As we sat around our house with our farm crew for our harvest lunch today I was impressed and inspired by them all. With all our different backgrounds, families and individual goals, we all got to know each other from the time we seeded in the greenhouse in February to preparing the farm for next season in these last months. Thank you Armando, Joe, Michael, Francisco and Wes (not pictured) for a great season!

As if we were on a cover of our own vinyl record.......

Enjoy the bounty of the farm!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly

Don't forget to check out our 2011 CSA posted on our website soon!

CSA Week 20

Hello! Welcome to Week 20!

At least 3 nights a week our son Edward wants us to read, "The Popcorn Book" published in 1978. It's a great kids book filled with facts and myths about..........popcorn! The book states that "Americans (most popular in the Midwest) use 500,000,000 pounds of popcorn each year. 30% is eaten at movies, circuses, ball games and county fairs. 10% is saved for seed and sold to other countries. But 60% is popped right at home."

Our popcorn, a hybrid, yellow variety called Robust has been growing since June. It takes sometime for the cob to dry out enough for the kernels to be ready to pop. We don't have a moisture test for these kernels so our way was to go out every week and strip some kernels from the cob and heat them up on the stove top. A week or two earlier, the test ended up with most of the kernels 'half' popped and fried in the oil which was, I have to admit delicious and crunchy but not quite what we were looking for.

One night Chris brought in a cob and did his weekly inspection. As the oil heated up in a minute or two the kernels started popping and quickly increased to a very exciting 30 seconds of rapid fire! We both screamed, it's ready it's popping, it's ready! Then all of us, even Charlie, sat down and ate some delicious home grown popcorn.

Now, we share it with all of you, enjoy!
Our Method:

Use the stove top. No Microwave!

We use a 2 Quart Sauce Pan with lid.

Use High Heat.

Pour approximately 2 Tbs of good Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Pour approximately 1/2 cup of kernels.
Once you hear the oil start to bubble then shake the pan a bit.
As you hear the popping, shake it continuously, have fun!
Once the popping slows down then turn the heat off.
Pour the popcorn in a bowl.
Enjoy with a bit of melted butter and salt.



As I walked through the kale field it was nice to see these happy grasshoppers enjoying the fall crisp morning air.


The crew spent Tuesday morning stripping the Brussels Sprouts off the stems for your share this week.

The sprouts are a bit smaller then usual but still full of flavor. These plants have endured the extremely warm summer this season and didn't size up the way we would have hoped.

Harvested just for you.........

Broccoli

Spinach

Purple and Green Scallions

Gold Turnips

Popcorn

Beauty Heart Radish

Brussels Sprouts

Tatsoi

Orange Carrots without Greens

Black Turtle Beans*

(grown by our friend Molly Breslin and her father John, Breslin Farms, located in Ottawa, Illinois. This is their first year of transition from conventional to organic row crops. With a focus on biodiversity and sustainability, they concentrate on small grains and dry beans.)

This will be the last share for our On Farm Members, Thank You all! We have so enjoyed getting to know you through recipes, stories, comments, questions, and pictures! We hope that you'll join us for another season of the farm's bounty in 2011. Until then, enjoy the warmth of Winter.

Look for our 2011 CSA information on our website posted soon!

Ideas for the cook in the kitchen.............

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Shallots

Tips for Preparing Black Beans

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

Simply liven up your mashed potatoes with Gold Turnips! Also a great intro to your 8-10 month old.

The Beauty Heart Radish may not look beautiful on the outside but we all know that it's the inside that matters. This radish has a crisp texture and a mild to sweet peppery flavor. This radish can be cooked like a turnip, sauteed with any other vegetable or added to a stir fry. With any method you'll want to remove the skin before cooking.

A perfect Fall meal: Keller's Roast Chicken

A wonderful Asian cooking green, Tatsoi. Peanut Asian Noodle with Tatsoi.

Stir Fried Chicken with Ginger and Scallions

We would like to thank the Tempel Farm Family, our CSA members and our crew for growing with us this season and enjoying the bounty and expansion of the farm. We look forward to 2011!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly

2011 CSA- looking for host site

Hello Members,

As our 2010 CSA comes to an end we are already putting together our CSA for 2011.

There will be a few changes to our CSA. One change is that we will be moving our pick up day for ALL members to Thursday, 4pm-7pm. This includes our city members. We will remain selling at the Logan Square Farmer's Market on Sundays but will no longer be bringing shares to this market.

We are looking for anyone interested in being a Host Site for our CSA pick up in Logan Square, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Libertyville and Vernon Hills area.

Responsibilities of a Host Site:

1. For you to have a covered area with lighting (when needed) for members to pick up their boxes: a clean garage or porch would be ideal.

2. The Host Site should expect anywhere from 10 to 30 members at pick up.

3. An adult must be home most Thursdays between 4 and 7pm. You do not have to meet/greet members as they pick up, except for the first 2 and last 2 Thursdays.

4. We will provide a table, paper, pen, chalk board easel and anything else needed.

5. The host will receive a Full Share Vegetable Box.

6. Any shares not picked up will be available for your use.

7. We will be including your address as the Host Site in our CSA brochure and website.

Please email us with any questions, asap. We would like to make a decision before the end of the month.

Thank you for participating!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly

CSA Week 18

Hello! Welcome to Week 18!

I mentioned last week that we were putting on the plastic on our hoophouses. Hoophouse 1 is complete! The carrots have germinated and the spinach has it's first true leaves. Hoophouse 2 should be completed by the end of the week. Just in time to plant in our bok choy, scallions, kohlrabi, more spinach and carrots.

Below is a picture of all the farm hands available to hold the plastic in place as we secure it on.

Here goes the second layer of plastic. As it's being rolled off on this end people on the other side are pulling onto the rope that is attached to the plastic. Within an hour the plastic is secured and the house is ready!

Meanwhile in the greenhouse I have already started to hang flowers and start saving their seeds. As I was taking these pictures I noticed a few too many birds coming in and out of the sides of the greenhouse and going right to the sunflower seeds. Tomorrow I'll be rolling down these sides so that we could have more seeds to put in our mix for our acres of wildflowers for next year.

Here I am drying out flamingo feather flower. You can see the small dark seeds among the dried petals.

After the petals have dried I then sift to separate the seeds. The seeds are then stored in a brown bag in a secure cabinet where they will be waiting until next Spring.

Hanging in the greenhouse are a variety of sunflowers, celosia, ornamental grasses, sorghum, verbena and butterfly weed.

Harvested just for you........

Lettuce Heads

Arugula

Hakurei Sweet Salad Turnips

French Breakfast or Easter Egg Radishes

Baby Spinach

Celeriac

Bulk Golden Beets

Yellow Storage Onions

Asian Pears*

Extended Fruit Share: (last week for on farm members!)

Grimmes Golden Apple

Mutsu Apple

Ida Red Apple

Honeycrisp or Red Cortand or Empire

*Asian Pears are grown by Gail Cox who has a small orchard in Pleasant Prairie. They do not spray their fruit. The fruit is round in shape and has a crisp texture and sweet juicy flavor. Enjoy!

Romaine Lettuce Head!

Romaine and Red Leaf Head Lettuce growing under fabric.

Hakurei Sweet Salad Turnips, no need to peel just slice and enjoy them raw.

A healthy bounty of Arugula!

The rounder radishes on the left are the Easter Egg Radish and the longer red with white tips are French Breakfast Radish.

Ideas for the cook in the kitchen............


Celeriac! A great root vegetable and is a member of the celery family. It can be used in any recipe that calls for celery and is especially good in soups and stews and partners great with potato.

Celeriac Mash

Creamed Spinach

Golden Beet Carpaccio

French Onion Soup

Apple Crisp

Enjoy the bounty of the farm!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly

CSA Week

Hello! Welcome to week 17!

Farming in the Midwest gives us 6 to 7 months of food production. One way to extend the season is to grow in a controlled atmosphere. Introducing our two new hoophouses! Each house is 30' by 96'. These will allow us to grow even earlier in the Spring and much later in the Fall. They will make possible very early tomatoes and sweet peppers as well as sweet hearty spinach and carrots grown through out the winter.

Here is a delivery of compost since ours is not ready yet. In the background you could see furthest away our greenhouse and then closer up one of our two hoophouses that doesn't have the plastic on yet.

The piles of compost are then spread in the two hoophouses and tilled in with the soil.

We then measured out the widths for our beds and our walk ways between the beds. A 12" walkway was hand shoveled out to make 8- 30" raised beds in each house.

Last week we seeded spinach and carrots, here Chris is checking out the germination. Now that the winds have calmed down over here we'll be able to put on two layers of plastic on these houses on Wednesday morning. A small inflation fan will then keep an insulating layer of air between the two layers of plastic. With this type of structure we'll rarely need to use our heaters, even when the temperatures are hovering around 0*. We're ready for Winter!



Harvested just for you..........


Broccoli

Yellowstone and Bollero Orange Carrots

Scarlet Turnips

Lettuce Mix

Red Onion

Parsnips*

Italian Green Peppers

Fresh Sage

*Parsnips are grown by Harmony Valley Farm.

Extended Fruit Share for On Farm Members............

Honeycrisp (This ever popular apple is a descendant of the Keepsake Apple and another unknown variety, from Minnesota 1991. This apple stores well and is best eaten fresh.)

Senshu (A variety from Japan, a crisp and sweet apple, best eaten fresh)

Northern Spy (this apple originated about 1800 in East Bloomfield, NY. This makes a great cooking apple and stores well.)

Golden Russet (this apple originated in the 1700's in Burlington County, New Jersey. Excellent for eating and drying and is best known for making hard cider.)

Fruit Share for City Members (last week! extended fruit share begins Oct. 10)......

Honeycrisp

Golden Delicious

Empire

A reminder of the heirloom apples: clockwise, Northern Spy (2), Grimmes Golden, Jonathan (2), Golden Russet (3) and Mutsu in the center.

Your wonderful Fall Broccoli.


A few recipes for the cook..........

Braised Turnip Greens with Turnips and Apples

Southern Comfort Caramel Apple Pie

Broccoli Slaw

Roasted Chicken with Carrots - add parsnips alongside the carrots!

Pureed Roasted Parsnips

Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Enjoy the bounty!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly

CSA Week 16

Hello! Welcome to week 16!

I would like to start off by clarifying that we are on week 16 for our On Farm Members, week 15 for our City Members and week 14 for our Fruit Members. Somewhere along the way the heat got to me and I named my newsletters the same week number twice! That would have made for even a longer harvest for us this season.......

The last vegetable box for our On Farm Members will be on Wednesday October 20, for our City members it will be on Sunday October 31.

The last fruit box for our On Farm Members will be today, September 22. For our City Members it will be on October 3.

Happy first day of Fall!

Apples are still growing strong with our farmer friends in Michigan and so we'd like to extend the Seasonal Fruit Share for 2 more weeks. If anyone is interested all you have to do is either send me an email or let me know at your pick up. For the additional two weeks the cost will be $36.00 tax included. We hope everyone could join us in tasting these special apples.

The next two weeks we would like to focus on Heirloom variety apples and a bounty of Honey Crisp Apples, pictured below.

These are some of the Heirloom Apples we'll include in the share.

Starting clockwise: Northern Spy (green with Red striped), Grimmes Golden (pure green), Jonathan (deep red), Golden Russet (Green with Brown, very Potato russet like skin) and the one large one in the center is Mutsu.

Harvested just for you......

Lettuce Mix

Rainbow Swiss Chard

Orange Carrots with Greens

Russet Potatoes

Chives

Sorrel

Parsley Root*

Harvested for our fruit shares............

Bartlet Pears

Honey Crisp Apples

Red Cortland Apples

Pictured below, the bed closest to you is lettuce mix, followed by scallions, head lettuce, sorrel, sage and our strawberry plants. The distant tomato plants have come to the end of their season.

Sorrel is a long tender leaf with a slightly lemony flavor that add a wonderful zest to any salad. However, it is most know by Europeans to make great soup with it. My mother makes the best "Schavell" (pronounced in her thick Ukrainian accent). I don't have her recipe written down but promise to make it with her in the next week so I can hold onto the recipe. Here is the next best, a recipe I found from a strong advocate for organic food, Terra Brockman, Sorrel Soup.

Welcoming Fall with Parsley Root. This root vegetable comes to us from Harmony Valley in Viroqua Wisconsin. Richard de Wilde has been growing vegetables organically since 1973! His growing practices have been duplicated by many organic farmers (including us) and is known as one of the leaders in the organic movement. Parsley Root is a wonderful addition to your chicken soup, or roasted with carrots, or mashed with potatoes. Enjoy!

Cortland Apples are a great cooking apple. How about apple fritters!

Please excuse the appearance of our Russet Potatoes. We did have a small insect problem with this variety this year, however, minus the holes and blemishes this is a great baking, mashing and oh those french fries!

Other recipes for the cook in the kitchen.....

Swiss Chard with Italian Sausage and Potatoes

How to Roast a Whole Chicken

The best Brined Fried Chicken recipe EVER!

Although this calls for a BAG of carrots, we all know how to peel and cut our own carrots without a machine doing it for us - say NO to packaged vegetables and fruit! Carrot Soup with Orange and Tarragon.

What's in store for next week? Let's talk about Hoophouses!


Enjoy the bounty and please join us for 2 more weeks of apples! Sign up today!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly

CSA Week 14

Hello! Welcome to week 14!

Chris and I are leaving once again for our final run to Arthur, Illinois. Just this week we sold out of our broiler chickens so it's great timing that our second batch is ready. We'll be back on Wednesday just in time for our on farm pick with some fresh/frozen chicken for you!

I'm sure most of you have already put on a jacket or sweatshirt this past week, fall is here! The crops are really loving the cool weather. Here is a picture of our Brussels Sprouts that are tired of growing in the heat. This crop stays in the ground the longest here on the farm. They were seeded in the greenhouse around April and transplanted in the ground by early June. It takes a long time for these to mature and now that the cool air is here for them they should be ready by the end of Sept/early October!

On Friday evening rain fell about 1/3" which lead to a muddy Saturday harvest. I caught Joe just after he rinsed off most of mud from him after harvesting beets with his crew.





Chris brings in the arugula for Sunday's market.

Arugula (also known as Rocket) is an aromatic, spicy green leaf that can be eaten raw or cooked.

Below is a recipe for Arugula Pesto that is great tossed with some cavatappi pasta.

Beets......roast, juice, raw, shaved, circles or sticks, steamed, boiled, grilled, pickled!

Harvested just for you........

Poblano Peppers

Red Beets with Greens

Arugula

Walla Walla Onions

Acorn and Butternut Squash

Yellow Carrots

Lacinato Kale for our on farm members

Green Curly Kale for our city members

Leeks

Fruit harvested just for you......

Honey Crisp Apples

Empire Apples

White Seedless Grapes, Neptune

A few recipes for the cook in the kitchen!

Here is a great recipe to toss with your pasta, Arugula Pesto.

Stacked enchiladas with salsa verde and cheese.

Here is a great recipe that works with both Kales, Baked Kale Chips.

Using everything below the dark leafy greens of the leek, Curried squash soup with Frizzled Leeks.

Enjoy the bounty!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly