CSA Week 6

Waking up to the sounds of whirling fans and window air conditioners you know it's going to be a hot one and at 99 degrees and sunny we're in for a quite a day on the farm. We decided to start our day on Tuesday at 6am instead of 7 to cut down some of time working in the afternoon heat. The early morning chores of chicken and goat duties already led us to changing our wet t-shirts to dry ones for some morning harvest that needed to be done. Now I know that this was not very organic or nutritious for us but a supply of Popsicles were on hand all day to relieve us on such a day!

This week's CSA is for members who purchased a Full Vegetable Share and/or Seasonal Fruit Share.

Your vegetable share this week:

Arugula

Russet Potatoes from our hoop house

Zucchini/and or Yellow Crookneck

Red Beets without Greens

Radicchio

Tomatoes from our hoop house

Basil

White Italian Eggplant

Parsley

Collard Greens

Your Seasonal Fruit Share this week:

Blueberries

Sweet Cherries

Apricots

 

This week's potato harvest was planted in our hoop houses in the early Spring. This is definitely a nice treat for all of us since our field potatoes won't be harvested until at least another 2 weeks.
Pictured on the left is Elliott, Sherman, Joe and Armando digging potatoes in the heat of Tuesday morning. Pictured on the right is Joe, getting dirty and not letting a single potato remain in the soil.

Small and beautiful, your eggplant variety this week is a white Italian called Clara. It ranges slightly in taste and texture then your dark purple skinned eggplant but over all you'll find that it has a pleasantly bitter taste with a spongy texture.

This leaf chicory called Radicchio is a wonderful leaf vegetable that is spicy and bitter. Radicchio is very popular in Italy served grilled and drizzled with olive oil, try this recipe and bring a bit of Italy to your home, Grilled Radicchio Salad.

More recipes to try:

Roasted Beet Salad

Beet Gazpacho

Zucchini Salad with Shaved Parmesan

Easy Stir-Fried Eggplant

Apricot and walnut vareniki

Please don't forget!

For members that are picking up at the farm please remember that Hunt Club and Millburn Road is closed. I was told that a few people crossed this intersection and were not given a ticket last week. Please use the detour going Stearns School Road to Route 45 and north to Millburn Road. Thanks for your patience!

Our farm stand is open on Thursdays between 4 and 7pm and Saturdays between 8 and 2pm. If you're not a CSA member and are curious about what we're growing here on the farm come on out and visit us on these days and see what varieties we have for sale. Each week there will be a few new items and each week we'll have our staples of Red Russian, Green Curly and Lacinato Kales, Collard Greens, Green and Rainbow Chard. We also offer a selection of herbs such as oregano, chives, parsley, thyme and summer savory. Don't forget our pasture raise chicken and eggs are available!

News News News!

Our first farm tour of the season will be held on August 6th, 10 am until noon. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early and wear some good walking shoes. Dress for the weather and bring your camera!

The tour will  begin at our Wash/Pack Facility located at 18080 W. Millburn Road. There is plenty of parking there but I'll still need an RSVP to let me know how many people we could expect. Please send an email to me at tempelfarmsorganics@yahoo.com. We look forward to showing you how and where your food comes from!

Enjoy your bounty!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly and our crew: Michael, Mario, Francisco, Joe, Elliott, Sherman, Armando and Charlie!

CSA Week 5

As I step out early Monday morning to milk the goats I see in the distance the dark sky. I race with Edward to the milking area and think that I could milk both goats before it starts to rain. Just as I'm half way through milking Ofelia the wind started to pick up quickly and then the rain began. I lead Ofelia back to her barn space as Edward follows beside us and  latch on the hook to their fence. Before I knew it Edward and I ran into the barn and took cover from the storm that quickly took down trees, roofs and power lines.

Most chickens survived although their 20 by 10 foot pens were destroyed. Electric fencing lay under old broken trees that allowed the chickens to scatter about the farm. The worst of the storm didn't damage our vegetable crops but did change our landscape of mature trees. As they once stood proud with branches to tie a swing on or shade for our picnics, their simplicity of just being there in our view is now being sawed and put into piles for wood chips.

Clean up continues on the farm and memories will soon come to new trees that we plant every year and watch them grow.

This week's vegetable share is for members who ordered a Full or Half Vegetable Share and/or a Seasonal Fruit Share.

Your Vegetable Share this week:

Arugula

Mustard Mix

Cauliflower

Cucumbers

Garlic

Red Russian Kale

Red or Green Scallions

Savoy Cabbage

Your Seasonal Fruit Share this week:

Red Raspberries

Black Raspberries

Blueberries

Sour Cherries



Sour Cherry Clafoutis

Ingredients:

For the Crusts:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

Coarse salt

For the Filling:

2 large eggs

2/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Table salt

6 ounces sour cherries (about 1 1/4 cups), halved and pitted

Method:

1.Make the crusts: Beat butter and confectioners' sugar with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add yolk, and mix until combined. Add flour and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt; mix until just combined. Press dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

2.Set six 4-inch tart rings on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out six 5 1/2-inch circles, re rolling scraps as needed. Press dough into bottoms and up sides of tart rings, patching any holes or tears. Trim excess dough flush with edges of rings using a knife. Prick bottoms of tart shells all over with a fork, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees.


3.Bake until pale gold, pressing down dough if puffing, about 20 minutes. Let cool.


4.Make the filling: Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees. Gently whisk together eggs, creme fraiche, granulated sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of table salt. Divide mixture evenly among tart shells, and carefully drop cherry halves, cut sides down, into each. Transfer to oven, and bake until just set, 17 to 19 minutes. Let cool.

Recipes! Recipes!

Garlicky Kale
Tequila Lime Chicken and Green Onion Slaw

Creamy Chopped Cauliflower Salad

Portuguese Kale Soup

Aurgula Garlic Sauce

Our Mustard Mix is our custom blend that is frilly and spicy! Enjoy this in a salad with a citrus vinaigrette, liven up any sandwich or slightly saute these greens and it makes for a nice side with roasted chicken or scrambled egg breakfast, enjoy!

 

Our hoop house cucumbers are crisp and flavorful!



 Tuesday morning was filled with steel t-posts pounded in the ground that led to the afternoon of twisting and tying up tomato plants so they don't hang on the ground. With nearly 1500 tomato plants  planted this season in the field t-post pounding and twine tying the tomatoes will take days to complete but well worth the time to enjoy the true flavor of our summer tomatoes.



Despite the road being closed at Millburn and Hunt Club Road our farm stand will still be open! Please come and see our selection and savor this week's harvest. Although we don't have enough tomatoes for our CSA members this week we do have some that will be for sale this Thursday 4-7pm and Saturday 8-2! We'll also have a small quantity of Armenian Cucumbers that are truly delicious! If we haven't seen you yet this summer come on by soon and meet your local farmers!

Tania and Chris Cubberly along with their crew: Armando, Joe, Francisco, Michael, Charlie, Elliott, Sherman and Mario.

 

CSA Week 4

On June 30th the skies east of Old Mill Creek turned from a Summery blue to a threatening shade that made you think twice about going out on a picnic. We were lucky to miss the storm that hit Chicago with it's golf ball size hail and vicious winds that tore down plenty of trees and branches. As farmers you start thinking about anyone you know that's growing fields of food, flowers or even livestock that could have been damaged by this kind of storm. One in particular that got hit was the Garfield Park Conservatory. The Conservatory is constructed of 6 multi faceted glass greenhouses, 3 of these houses had catastrophic damage. The hailstorm shattered the ceiling planes of these houses leaving shattered glass all over the Fern Room, Show and Desert Houses and all 9 of the production greenhouses where horticulturists keep and grow the Conservatory's extra plants. To read further or to see how you could help please visit this link and let's see how we can rebuild this Chicago landmark, Garfield Park Conservatory.

This week's CSA is for members that ordered a Full Vegetable Share and/or a Seasonal Fruit Share

  

Your vegetable bounty this week:

Fresh Dug White Onions

Fresh Cut Dill

Dark Red Norland Potatoes

Broccoli

Romaine Lettuce (for members that pick up at the farm)

Curly Green Leaf Lettuce

Iceberg Crispino Lettuce  (for members not picking up at the farm)

Green Scallions

Cucumbers

Zucchini and/or Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash

Your Fruit bounty this week:

Blueberries

Red Raspberries

Sweet Cherries

Freshly dug onions are such a treat as you rarely find this in the grocery store. They have a subtle flavor and a wonderful crunchy texture. These should be stored in your refrigerator wrapped in a plastic bag if you're not going to use them right away. In a few weeks we'll be pulling thousands of bulbs of onions out of the ground and will cure them in the shaded greenhouse so they will serve as a  great storage onion. Pictured above is Armando holding a beautiful bouquet of freshly dug onions. Enjoy!

Recipes! Recipes! Recipes!

Rosanne Cash's Americana Potato Salad

Asian noodles with Chicken and Scallions

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

Broccoli with Toasted Cashews

Japanese Cucumber Salad

Quick Sauté of Zucchini with Toasted Almonds

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons thinly sliced almonds

1 to 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/8-inch matchsticks with a knife or julienne blade on a mandoline

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Few ounces pecorino Romano or Parmesan, in thin slices — a peeler works great for this

Heat the oil on high in a large skillet. When it is hot but not smoking, add the almonds to the pan. Cook them, while stirring, until the almonds are golden-brown, approximately a minute or two.

Add the zucchini to the pan, tossing it with the oil and almonds until it just begins to glisten, about one minute. The idea is not to cook the zucchini so much as warm it.

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately, with or without cheese on top.

Chores on the farm.........

Our layer hens give us delicious eggs and in return we take great care in making sure that they are healthy and happy. Every month we clear out the barn that houses their nesting boxes, feeders, waterers and perches to sleep on at night. The chore is not the most prettiest as you can see but fresh straw needs to be put in to keep up their good health. We collect their straw which is mixed with their manure and put in a spreader that is then pulled by our tractor and is taken to a new parcel of 50ish acres that we are currently transitioning for the future. The manure adds excellent nutrients to the soil and is one of our ways of building good organic matter in the soil that grows our wonderful food.

 

Our eggs that we sell to you have been layed that week, never the previous weeks back, so that you may enjoy a truly fresh, rich and nutrious egg. If you haven't tried them, please do! We have them available for sale on the farm on Thursdays between 4-7pm, on the farm on Saturdays 8-2pm and Sundays at our Logan Square Farmer's Market. Enjoy!

We hope you enjoy this week's bounty!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly and our crew, Armando, Francisco, Elliot, Joe, Charlie, Sherman , Michael and Mario!

CSA Week 3

Special Announcement!

The work on the first roundabout on Wadsworth Road and Hunt Club is near completion! However, they will begin the second roundabout on Millburn Road and Hunt Club Road and are scheduled to close that intersection on July 9th. This will cause a major detour for many of you that travel from the East to arrive at the farm. The detour for those that travel from the Highway will be to go Grand Avenue West Exit then North onto Hunt Club Road and West onto Stearns School Road to Route 45, travel North to Millburn Road and then East to the farm. For those that are traveling from Wadsworth area the detour will lead you to travel the same route through Stearns School Road.

I expect this closing to cause delays on Route 45. Please be patient, listen to some good music in your car and know that once you arrive on the farm you'll be greeted with healthy and vibrant selection of vegetables, eggs, flowers and chicken waiting for you!

This week is for all CSA members, Full and Half Shares of Vegetables as well as our Seasonal Fruit Shares.

Your Vegetable Share this week will include:

Kohlrabi

2 types of lettuce, Red Curly and Red Butterhead

Fresh Cut Parsley

Fennel

Broccoli

Red Beets with Greens

Shelling Peas

Sorrel

Fresh Cut Summer Savory

Zucchini and/or Yellow Crookneck Squash

Your Seasonal Fruit Share will include:

2 pints of Raspberries

1 pint of Sweet Cherries

As we start up our Fruit fields this year on the farm and watch last year's plantings grow I await in anticipation for our production to go into full bloom. In some cases it will be a few years until we see enough fruit to fulfill our Fruit Shares. We were able to harvest a good amount of strawberries this season and were happy to share them with you.

In the meantime, I order our fruit from a few chosen fruit farmers that we know and trust their growing practices.  My recent conversation that I had with Mick from Klug Farm was one that shows that even fruit farmers have had a rough start with the cool Spring and with the amount of rainfall that Michigan has had this early Summer has put some of his crops in jeopardy. One crop being his Early Sweet Cherries. It seems you can never have just the right amount of rainfall for your crops, though I always say that you can always irrigate if there isn't enough but too much can cause not only flooding in your fields but can also cause the fruit to split. This is what happened with most of Mick's Early Sweet Cherries. He was able to get into the trees and harvest enough to fill pints for our members for this week's shares.

Summer seasons always leave us with great memories and lasting taste of sweet fruit that we desire for all Winter long. Let's enjoy it while it lasts!

Recipes, Ideas and more!

Fennel is closely related to parsley and dill and is a favorite around Italy. To enjoy its slightly sweet and crunchy texture you can eat this raw by slicing the white bulb in slivers and dressing it with olive oil and a bit salt. The tops of the bulb is called fronds which can be removed for better storage space. The fronds make a lovely bouquet on your table or feel free to use some of it's feather greens with your roasting chicken.

The fresh shelling peas are a perfect snack that may not make it to the plate for dinner. These can be easily pealed by pulling back the strip in the middle and breaking apart the shell with your thumb. The glorious peas don't stand a chance as it takes not even a second to eat them. Enjoy!


Summer Savory, a fresh herb rarely seen at grocery stores. This versatile herb is related to rosemary and thyme that could be added to your poultry dishes, soups, oils, egg dishes and veggies. If you have a spare glass jar around you could create your own oil by putting in a few sprigs of Summer Savory and add a high quality oil to it. This will make a great tasting dressing for any salad. You can also try adding this to your zucchini either roasted or sauteed adding some Parmesan on top.

Roasted Fennel

Sauteed Spinach with Fennel and Onions

Shredded Beets with Greens and Sliced Oranges

Broccoli Slaw

Sorrel Soup   





Joe harvesting beautiful bunches of parsley



First harvest of broccoli this season!







Once our broiler chickens are fully feathered they are transferred from our brooder to the vast pasture fields.




Michael taking great care as he transports the broilers out to pasture.



Our hoophouse tomatoes are growing strong and should ripen in a few weeks!



Chris harvesting a bounty of Yellow Crookneck Squash.

  

A close up of Yellow Crookneck Squash.



We hope that all of you are enjoying the bounty of the farm! Remember to stop by and visit us on Saturdays from 8 until 2pm. Our farm stand will be open offering a variety of vegetables, fresh cut flowers, pasture raise eggs and chicken! We are all working hard to offer local, organically grown healthy food so please help us spread the word and tell those you know that we'll be open rain or shine and even during the road closing! Thank you!



Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly and our crew: Charlie, Mario, Joe, Fransisco, Elliot, Sherman, Armando and Michael!





CSA Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of your CSA!

Please remember that this week is for customers who ordered a Full Vegetable Share and/or Seasonal Fruit Share. If anyone has any questions please email me at tempelfarmsorganics@yahoo.com.

Your Vegetable Share will include:

Green Scallions

Romaine Head Lettuce

Crispino Iceberg Lettuce

Asparagus*

Fresh Cut Dill

Dandelion Greens

Zucchini

Chinese Cabbage

Purple Kohlrabi

Garlic Scapes

Your Seasonal Fruit Share:

As fruit slowly recovers from too much rain and much needed sunshine

let's all enjoy another week of Strawberries!

                                   Many of you have been asking when our broiler chicken will be ready so I'm pleased to let you know that on Tuesday night we'll be leaving once again 4 hours south to Arthur located in Central Illinois. It is the only USDA inspected and also Certified Organic facility located in the entire Illinois State.

We'll be arriving back home on Thursday afternoon which will allow us to offer our "On Farm" members to purchase broilers! We will also have our broilers available for sale at our farm stand on Saturdays between 8 and 3pm and at our farm stand at the Logan Square Farmer's Market on Sundays between 10 and 3pm.

Recipes to enjoy!

There are so many good reasons why we choose to to belong to a CSA. I think that one of the reasons why I joined one years ago when I wasn't farming was to be introduced to food that I wasn't so familiar with. I remember one of the items being Dandelion Greens! A traditional Greek recipe, Horta Vrasta, is the best way to try this type of bitter green, enjoy!

As warmer weather comes around our pak choi doesn't fair too well in the heat so I hope that all of you enjoyed it. What comes next in line to pak choi is our Chinese Cabbage, Bilko. This cabbage is great in stir fries and makes for great wraps.

A Method for a classic Chinese Cabbage stir fry:

As the oil heats up in your pan, toss in a nice handful of thinly sliced ginger and chopped up Garlic Scapes.

Let this cook down for about a minute, constantly stirring. Then add your chopped up cabbage and let this cook down until you see it wilt. Add a bit of salt to enliven the flavor. This is a very simple dish that can be a side and makes for a wonderful pairing with chicken.

Purple Kohlrabi, a member of the brassica family, that mimics the flavor of a broccoli stem and cucumber.

This can be enjoyed raw or roasted/steamed/sauteed with a drizzle of fresh squeezed lemon juice. As you peel away the purple skin you'll discover it's greenish flesh. Simply cut, slice, dice as you wish and enjoy it's crisp texture. A fun treat for adults and kids: Roasted Kohlrabi!

Each week we would like for you to enjoy a fresh herb to accompany any meal. This week our dill is ready for harvest! How about Lemon and Dill Chicken with a side of Asparagus for dinner tonight?

Here is what happened on the farm since last week!

As Armando was taking care of his bees I spied in on him to see when the honey would be ready. Looks like the end the July!

  

Michael moving the electric netting so our layer chickens have more pasture to run on.

Mario working the wheel hoe down the onion bed.

Charlie, Elliott and Sherman hand weeding once again!

Tomato plants growing well!

Our farm stand will be open Saturday 8-3pm
17970 W. Millburn Road

Also on Sundays, 10-3pm at the
Logan Square Farmer's Market

Enjoy your bounty! If you have any questions or comments please send us an email,

we'd love to hear from you!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly and our crew: Armando, Joe, Michael, Fransciso, Mario, Charlie, Sherman and Elliott!