CSA week 12

 Our Farm Market Stand will be open this Thursday from 4 to 7pm and Saturday from 8 to 2pm!

That's right! We're back on Saturdays for our stand to be open and just in time for tomato season especially heirlooms. We have some amazing mouth watering, summer savoring flavors for you to try out this summer. Pictured below to your left is a Striped German, Ibson's Gold, Black Krim and a Rose. Our hoophouse is still producing some amazing Red Slicers too some come on out and select a few, invite your friends over and have a tomato tasting party!

 Your vegetable harvest for this week..........

Parsnips

Sorrel

Basil

Heirloom Tomatoes

Lettuce Heads

Hakurei Turnips

Carmen Red Sweet Peppers

Golden Beets

Your fruit harvest this week from Mick Klug Farm............

Fall Raspberries

Blueberries (last week!)

Jupiter Grapes

Peaches

 The farm in your kitchen..............

The red carmen sweet peppers have a great flavor all on their own but for 

those of you that like to play with their food try out these recipes...

red pepper relish

roasted pepper sauce

stir fried swiss chard and peppers

Yes! the sweet salad hakurei turnips are back!!

Remember these gems don't need any peeling, just wash them again and slice 'em up

how you'd like, always try one without anything on it and get to know the flavor, then toss with

citrus and some olive oil, a  bit of salt and enjoy!

Ohhh, these beets are one of our favorite here on the farm, golden beets.

I often find Joe eating these for lunch so when you see him at the stand go ahead and

ask him how to prepare these golden root vegetables.

I can't pass up a simple roast of golden beets with goat cheese. I know what you're thinking but don't ask, we can't sell our goat cheese here, not yet anyway! 

golden beet salad

golden beet soup

We'd like to welcome two new members to our crew.............

Devin and Erol!

They came on board late last week and have already been transplanting, weeding,

harvesting, sorting, packing and covering crops with row cover. Much more in store for them,

thanks for joining the team!

Save the date!

Saturday September 15

10am until noon

our 4th annual farm tour

This tour will be open to the public so invite your friends, family and neighbors and let us introduce them to a growing

organic farm!

Also......our Farm Market Stand

will be open once again on Saturdays, 8 to 2pm.

We welcome you to stop by and see the selection we'll have:

swiss chard, yellow onions, garlic, red sweet peppers, heirloom tomatoes, gala apples, golden supreme apples, grapes, melons, cantaloupes, radishes, turnips, herbs, fresh cut flowers, goat milk soap,

popcorn, maple syrup, artichokes, potatoes, lettuce, arugula, eggs and so much more!

Pictures of the farm this week.............

celery, leeks and brussel sprouts

Charlie overseeing the new planting of sunflowers and eucalyptus for the fall

Sorrel  and Mar sharing breakfast

our lower fields

Keegan helping out with the sunflower harvest

it's a jungle! no, it's our tomato field!!

Devin, Keegan, Erol, Tomas and Joe hand weeding the lettuce mix bed

couldn't resist a Striped German Tomato off the vine during harvest time

our late summer friends

our swiss chard and kales are looking really great now

artichokes! with lemon butter sauce.....we'll have these for sale at our stand

amazing colors of gladiolus flowers will be for sale at our stand

along with other bouquets, flowers for the soul!

Eat Well,

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly along with our amazing crew, Keegan, Duncan, Erol, Danny, Devin, Tomas, Pedro, Michelle and Joe!

CSA Week 11

Welcome to week 11!

Your vegetable harvest this week..............

orange carrots

yellow onions

garlic

lettuce heads

green beans

eggplant

fresh parsley or thyme

tomatillos (grown by Mick Klug Farm in Michigan)

We grow a variety of eggplant: dark purple (Nadia), light purple (Dancer) and white (Clara)

Spanish Roja and German White will be your two varieties offered for this week's bounty

Your fruit harvest this week....all grown by Mick Klug Farm

Canadice Grapes- small sweet amazing snacking grapes

"Sugar Baby" watermelon, they are small and full of flavor

Paula Red Apples- a great early harvest apple just in time for school snacks

For those of you that pick up our fruit share at  Lake Forest or Chicago locations be sure to pick out your watermelon that will be stored in a separate bin for you as they do not fit in our share boxes!

The farm in your kitchen............

salsa verde

tomatillo chicken stew

roasted eggplant spread

risotto with eggplant and tomatoes

roasted green beans with fresh garlic

lettuce greens with buttermilk lemon dressing

We'd like to introduce to you...............Duncan!

Duncan Simonson is a young aspiring farmer hailing from Nashua, NH.  Last year he finished a two year apprenticeship at a 325-member CSA at Fernbrook Farms in Chesterfield, NJ.  He is currently Tempel Farms Organics' Assistant Fields' Manager.  He is also a Gemini.  In his spare time he dabbles in growing varieties of winter squash for kicks.

At our Thursday Farm Market Stand Duncan's harvest of Delicata Squash will be available for purchase! Don't miss out!

 Please try Dunk's Delicata:  Delicata Squash is a distinctively colored yellow or cream fruit with green stripes.  The flesh is a orange-yellow and sweet. 

We asked Duncan for one of his favorite recipes and he gladly expressed, "you've gotta try my famous DUNK'S DELICATA DOGS!"

Here is his recipe:

1 squash would definately feed 1 to 2 people.

 

Dunk's Delicata Dogs...

remove the stem

cut the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds 

bake in the oven @ 350 degrees on a cookie sheet cut side down until flesh is tender about 30-45 minutes

meanwhile take a moment to lightly toast some walnuts or pecans...you won't regret it!

when the flesh of the Delicata is fork tender,  turn off the oven and flip the squash cut side up

Put a small pad of butter in each half, fill generously with nuts and drizzle a little pure maple syrup. 

you can eat this Delicata Dog skin and all, as it is thin-skinned, but you can also scoop the meat out with a fork.  

This is my idea of a great fall dessert! Enjoy!

SAVE THE DATE!

Saturday, September 15th

Tempel Farms Organics' 4th annual farm tour!

10am until noon

Open for our CSA members and  

to anyone who's curious about our farm.

farm tour 2011 meeting at our wash pack facility

 farm tour 2011 teaching children about our egg laying hens

It will be our pleasure  to show you where your food is grown and how we grow it!
You'll meet myself and Chris and our crew!
We will walk you through our fields of vegetables, fruit, visit our goats and talk about our egg laying chickens. There will be plenty of time to ask us all sorts of questions and explore the greenhouse and our hoophouses.
We'll talk about "organic" food vs. "conventional" food, pasture raised vs. cage free, compost,
pest control, the triumphs and struggles of farming, what our future holds, weeds.....and more!
Come on out and get to know your farmers and we can get to know you!
Thanks again for supporting your local farmer!

Eat well!

Your farmers,
Tania and Chris Cubberly along with our awesome crew, Joe, Danny, Tomas, Duncan, Ricky,  Michelle and Keegan!

CSA week 10

Your vegetable harvest this week.........

arugula

fresh rosemary

bulk carrots

romano beans

fennel

field tomatoes

sungold cherry tomatoes

lettuce heads

french fingerling potatoes

Your fruit harvest this week.........

fall red raspberries
 (yes, Fall! Mick says they are two weeks early but still have a great flavor)

paula red apples

cantaloupe

plums

All fruit is grown in Michigan by Mick Klug Farm!



The farm in your kitchen............

Italian Romano Beans are broad and flat in shape. They do require more cooking time than your traditional green bean but will sure promise a sweet crisp flavor. Chris's favorite and simple way of enjoying these beans is by blanching them for 1 to 2 minutes in salted boiling water, then toss them right into ice water to stop the cooking. They make a great snack especially for kids that hover in the kitchen wailing for dinner to be ready. Add them to a salad of tomatoes, those juicy white onions of ours and a handful of parsley, toss with olive oil and lemon juice!

Another way of cooking them would be to slow braise them. They really soak up any flavor you cook with them. Try them with garlic or fresh tomatoes!
Try this recipe and enjoy!
braised romano beans

romano bean harvest tuesday morning

Wow! French fingerling potatoes, one of my favorite potato varieties. It's versatile and are perfect no matter how you prepare them. It's rosy pink skin and creamy white flesh (don't peel the skin!) will please you with it's buttery rich and robust flavor.

 Because of the drought and heat we had this summer the yeild on our potatoes is half of what we should have harvested. We're happy to say that we did manage to dig up enough to give you 2 pounds, enjoy!

roasted rosemary fingerling potatoes

Duncan running the tractor with the potato digger

Here you can see the potatoes (not many) being dug and rolled from the ground.



Pictures of the farm this week......

feeding chickens over ripe tomatoes!

 Joe harvesting tomatoes: do you see the resemblance?

 Charles checking out how much the asparagus has grown!

Chris checking out the organic feed corn.

 Broom corn!

 Child labor, we've got to get rid of the weeds!

 Organic pest control. Here Duncan drops sand bags to hold the row cover down.

Sunset last Thursday evening.

 Onion harvest or nap time? Has anyone seen Joe?

Chris seeding for the fall: arugula, hakurei turnips, spinach and lettuce mix.

 Sunset on Monday evening.

 Here we go.....cultivating brasicas.

 A new variety of sunflowers!

Tania having fun with flowers.


Farm Market Stand Hours:
At this time we are still open on Thursdays between 4 and 7pm.
We don't mind if you come early but please wait patiently until we are all set up.
We have only a few farmers on our crew and we're working hard
to get everything set up so that you can enjoy our harvest, thank you!

We will be closed on Saturdays until further notice.

Eat Well!

Your farmers,
Tania and Chris Cubberly along with our crew, Duncan, Joe, Keegan, Danny, Tomas and Michelle.

CSA Week 9

Taking a rest in the shade of a tree listening to crickets, August is here!
Time to roll up our sleeves and clean the garlic that has cured in the green house,
seed late fall crops, harvest onions, potatoes and finally green beans!
We'll be saying good bye to some of our farm crew as they go back to school in a few weeks. Many thanks to Colin, Pedro and his brother Ricki!

A million thanks to Doctor Mike Loor who volunteered with us for 3 years at our farm stand in Logan Square. He took a tenure job in Florida State College in Jacksonville.

 Good luck Doctor Mike!

Your vegetable harvest..........

green swiss chard

yellow storage onions

adirondack blue potatoes

garlic

green beans

chives

golden beets

hoophouse and field red slicing tomatoes

Yum! Green Beans!

Your fruit harvest...............

burbank plums

red beauty heart plums

golden rod grapes

peaches and/or nectarines

The farm in your kitchen...........

Your versatile green swiss chard is a nutritional powerhouse with a delicate flavor. The best way to store your "greens" is to place them in a plastic bag, unwashed. It should last about 5 days but who can wait that long! Enjoy your "greens" fresh!

stir fried swiss chard and red peppers
pasta with swiss chard

Your adirondack blue potatoes have a  blue skin and blue flesh that lightens up when it cooks. These are great in a potato salad and are fantastic roasted and mashed.

Fork Crushed Potato (smittenkitchen.com)

1 pound Purple Majesty or other purple potatoes, washed
4 small shallots, minced
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
6 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil (we used half, and it was plenty for us)
Fleur de sel to taste
White pepper to taste
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

In a large pot, cook potatoes with skins on in heavily salted boiling water until tender, approximately 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from pot, and peel them while still warm. Place potatoes in a large bowl and, using a fork, gently smash them, maintaining a fairly chunky consistency. Fold in minced shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, fleur de sel, and white pepper. Finish with parsley.

onion harvest!

Storage onions!Full flavor and versatile in many methods of cooking.

who's in the mood for onion rings?

aah, french onion soup

Easy Swiss Chard:

• 1 lb Swiss chard, chopped
• 1 medium clove Chopped Garlic
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 
  

Directions:

1. Chop garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out its health-promoting properties.
2. Use a large pot (3 quart) with lots of water. Make sure water is at a rapid boil before adding Swiss chard.
3. Cut off tough, bottom part of Swiss chard stems.
4. Add the chopped leaves to the boiling water. Do not cover. Cook for 3 minutes; begin timing as soon as you drop the Swiss chard into the boiling water.
5. Place in colander and press out excess water.
6. Transfer to serving dish and toss with rest of ingredients while it is still hot.

Pictures of the farm.............

Chris seeding fall crops

Pedro cutting pea shoots

irrigation in our lower fields 

Danny harvesting potatoes

Duncan harvesting green beans

shallot harvest

late summer flowers of zinnias, cosmos, celosia and queen anne's lace

sweet summer sungold tomatoes

in the company of butterflies as we harvest flowers



Farm Market Stand
is open on Thursdays from 4-7pm.
You'll find an assortment of vegetables, eggs, popcorn, goat milk soap, wisconsin maple syrup,
michigan grown fruit and flowers for sale.

Come and join us!

even our flowers travel safely to the Logan Square Farmer's Market

Eat Well!

Your farmers,
Tania and Chris Cubberly along with our crew, Danny, Michelle, Duncan, Tomas, Joe, Pedro, Ricki,  Keegan and Colin!