Blessing Falls Family Farm

This is the last week of our Spring season, followed immediately by our 10-week Summer season starting next week.  Several shares remain available for the Summer season if your friends or neighbors are interested.

Expected harvest this week:

Full Share: Fennel, Blackberries, Peppers, Kale, Tomatoes or okra or Eggplant, 2 Squash, Cucumber, Onion, Rosemary, Chard, Beans, Beets (double portion), Carrots (double portion), Green garlic, 2 Cabbage, Amaranth leaves or Radishes

Half Share: Squash, Cucumber, Onion, Rosemary, Chard, Beets, Carrots (double portion), Green garlic, Cabbage

Blessing Falls Spring Week 10 Full Share (clockwise from top left) Carrots, chard, beets, beans, blackberries, tomatoes, onion, squash, fennel, amaranth, peppers, kale, Rosemary, cabbage, green garlic, cucumber

Flowers

Farm Grown Fresh Flowers

There’s still time to sign up for our flower shares! We design unique, fresh arrangements and deliver them along with your veggies. Make someone’s day with a gift of our bright flowers or simply enjoy their summer beauty in your own home! Four weeks of stunning flowers for just $36!

Recipe

Try this yummy carrot cake recipe with your farm fresh carrots!

Blessing Falls Farm – Minibel heirloom tomato

We’re nearing the end of our Spring season with Summer starting in just two weeks!  Cucumbers and squash are ripening now and it won’t be much longer on the tomatoes.  We’re still harvesting cool season crops cabbage, kale, and carrots.  Blackberries have peaked but are still strong.

Here’s the expected harvest in this week’s farm shares:

Full share: Green garlic, Onion, 2 Squash, Cucumber, Beans, Chard, 2 Cabbage, Cilantro flowers, Carrots (double portion), Beets(double portion), Cauliflower or fennel, Blackberries, Kale, Amaranth leaves, Dill, Turnips

Half share: Green garlic, Onion, Squash, Cucumber, Beans or kale, Chard, Chinese Cabbage, Cilantro flowers, Carrots (double portion), Beets

Blessing Falls Spring CSA/Farm-Share Week 9 Full Share: (clockwise from top left) Kale, amaranth leaves, squash, Chinese cabbage, onion, beans, chard, beets, carrots, turnips, cucumber, blackberries, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, green garlic, dill, cilantro flowers.

Recipe

Green garlic is a specialty item that you can’t find in most stores! It’s harvested at an early stage before the cloves begin to form and is a favorite of chefs. It can be used in the same way as mature garlic, but doesn’t have such a strong flavor. You can use the tender parts of the stalk and leaves to add spring flavor to your best garlic dishes. Try this Beet and Green Garlic Tart this week!

We’re picking blackberries every evening and hope to have enough for everyone this week, all full and half shares.  Those who came out for our open farm day last week saw the first cucumbers of the season that will be ready for harvest this week.  Also a lots of green tomatoes as well as blooms on the cantaloupe vines.  Eggplant, peppers , watermelon are growing well and will follow those a bit, with the okra and other summer favorites.

Here’s our expected harvest this week:

Full Share:  Chard, Kale (double portion), Turnips, Carrots (double portion), Thyme, Squash, Beans, Dill, Cucumber, Flowers, Cabbage (2), Blackberries, Amaranth Leaves, Beets (double portion), Onion, Radishes

Half Share: Chard, Kale, Turnips, Carrots, Thyme, Squash, Beans or Blackberries, Onion, Flowers, Cabbage

Blessing Falls Spring CSA – Week 8 Full Share. (clockwise from top left) Onion, thyme, amaranth leaves, blackberries, cabbage, squash, flowers, kale, beans, radishes, carrots, dill, chard, turnips, beets, Chinese cabbage, Portuguese kale

Recipe

If you want to preserve some of the cabbage in this week’s shares, try this simple sauerkraut recipe.  We’ve been enjoying the greens and carrots in chopped salads like the one mentioned last week.  But remember it’s easy to preserve the cabbage as sauerkraut – it works for all types of cabbage.

Here’s another favorite the kids might even love….

Creamy Squash with Bacon

Ingredients
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 cups squash, sliced
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 ounce cream cheese
Salt and pepper

Directions
Brown bacon with onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft. Add sliced squash, cream and cream cheese. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until squash is soft and cream cheese is melted. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Here’s what’s expected in our Spring week 7 shares:
(Shares may vary slightly depending on field/garden conditions)

Full Share: Carrots (double portion), Swiss chard, Rosemary, Cabbage (double portion), Broccoli or cauliflower, Radishes, Onion, Kale, Mizuna, Turnips, Beet greens, Squash, Amaranth leaves, Bok choy or Fennel, Edible flowers, Beans or Blackberries

Half Share: Carrots, Swiss chard, Rosemary, Cabbage, Broccoli or Cauliflower, Radishes, Edible flowers, Onion, Kale, Squash or Turnips

Blessing Falls Spring CSA – Week 7 Full Share. (clockwise from top left) Carrots, turnips, cabbage, Bok choy, amaranth leaves, chard, onion, blackberries, Portuguese kale, cauliflower, beets, squash, Rosemary, kale, Chinese cabbage, radishes

Recipes

This week you will receive some edible flowers in your share! We hope you enjoy adding them to your dishes. You may receive cosmos, zinnias and/or cilantro flowers.

Here’s a great blog post by another farm that we really enjoyed reading! They have posted 10 unique recipes that include zinnias!

Another recipe you’ll love is Chopped Salad using many of the varieties we’re harvesting recently.  Here’s a salad we made for Mother’s Day last Sunday.  Simply chop, dice, and mince the following into a large bowl and enjoy.  Optionally serve with ranch dressing.

Blessing Falls Spring Garden Chopped Salad

1 cup Cabbage – chopped
1 cup Beet Greens – chopped
1/2 cup Broccoli – chopped
1/2 cup Cauliflower – chopped
1/2 cup Carrots – diced
1/2 cup Cucumber – diced
1/2 cup Avocado – diced
1/4 cup Dill – minced
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

try adding other varieties from this week’s share: squash, radish, chard, etc.

We continue to receive beneficial rains and so far the farm has been spared from severe weather.  A few more calves are expected, the blackberries are beginning to ripen, and our new pigs are settling in well.

Here’s what’s expected in our Spring week 6 shares:
(Shares may vary slightly depending on field/garden conditions)

Full Share: Chard (double portion), Radishes (double portion), Dill, Carrots, Beet greens (double portion), Cabbages (double portion), Broccoli or cauliflower, Kale (double portion), Mizuna, Onion, Lettuce or squash, Edible flowers or microgreens, Turnips

Half Share:  Chard, Radishes, Dill, Carrots, Beets, Cabbage, Broccoli or Cauliflower, Kale, Mizuna, Onion

Blessing Falls Spring CSA – Week 6 Full Share. (clockwise from top left) Carrots, Swiss chard, broccoli, edible flowers (cosmos), dill, kale, radishes, red cabbage, green cabbage, beets, squash, Portuguese kale, onion, mizuna, turnips

Recipe: Try these beautiful baked beet chips!

Ingredients
3 medium-large beets, rinsed and scrubbed
Olive or canola oil
Sea Salt + Black Pepper
2-3 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place oven rack in the center of the oven.
Thinly slice beets with a mandolin (or a sharp knife), getting them as consistently thin as possible. They should curl a little when cut. This will ensure even baking and crispiness.
Divide between two baking sheets and spray or very lightly drizzle with olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and the rosemary. Toss to coat, then arrange in a single layer, making sure the slices aren’t touching.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and slightly brown. Be sure to watch closely past the 15 minute mark as they can burn quickly.
Remove from oven, let cool. Then serve.

We also made Radish Greens Soup last week.  We simplified it by not using the food mill or straining it – instead we used our stick blender right in the pot.  Even our picky 8 year old loved it!

Find lots of other great recipes for this week’s veggies on our Pinterest page

Here’s what’s expected in our Spring week 5 shares:
(Shares may vary slightly depending on field/garden conditions)

Full Share: Chard (double portion), Lettuce mix, Mizuna, Radishes (double portion), Broccoli or cauliflower (double portion), Onion, Cilantro, Dill, Cabbage, Beet greens (double portion), Turnips or peas, Carrots, Kale, Spinach

Half Share: Chard, Lettuce mix, Mizuna, Radishes, Broccoli, Onion, Cilantro, Dill, Cabbage, Beet greens

Blessing Falls Spring Week 5 Full Share. (clockwise from top left) Radishes, Swiss chard, turnips, beet greens, broccoli, spinach, lettuce mix, cauliflower, cilantro, dill, onion, Chinese cabbage, kale, mizuna, carrots

Here’s a good recipe for your greens and onion

One Pot Pasta

Ingredients
4 cups of water
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 sausage links, sliced into bite size pieces
3 sprigs of basil, washed and chopped
1 16 oz. box of pasta (we like penne)
1-2 cups of any combination of veggies you’d like to use (kale, chard, spinach, beet greens, mizuna)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large pot except for cheeses. Cook on high heat, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender and water has cooked away, – about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in cheeses and serve!