Helsing Junction Farm Newsletter Archive

Greetings from Helsing Junction Farm!

And so begins the harvest…the alarm clock went off rudely at 5:00 this morning as though winter the season of rest had never occurred at all. We all met outside the lunchroom to discuss quality standards and how full to make the strawberry flats when picking. Then with a wave all 15 of us disappeared to various parts of the field to commence harvesting. This spring is unusual in that we have had a lot of sun and the produce we are harvesting is quite large. There are carrots in these first boxes, something that has seldom happened in the 20 years that we’ve been delivering CSA boxes! We will also have snow peas for this Thursday’s boxes and then for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s boxes next week, another small miracle! Truth be told we never quite know what is going to be in the first boxes; variable spring weather conditions cause us to squeeze plantings in whenever possible and then the weather also affects how quickly plants grow. Most plants grow more in 1 sunny day than they do in a week of rain, so there is really no way of calculating what size things will be for the first deliveries and to further confuse the issue, some plants grow in tandem with day length not sunlight or warmth. Mostly, we wait until the strawberries are ripe before we decide when to deliver. We guess this is just a long winded way of saying that some of the lettuces are a bit larger than normal (though still very tasty) and the arugula and radishes are a bit large as well. Once we have harvested these first plantings we will have more normally sized vegetables, though that said everything in your boxes looks great. If you see some white fluff on your strawberries or other vegetables it is most likely cottonwood seed. The cottonwoods have also taken advantage of this dry warm spring and snowed seed upon us like mad. Please wash and dry your strawberries before eating them, they seem a little muddy. (We run them under cold water then blot them dry with a clean kitchen towel.)
So just what will be in this week’s box you may be wondering? Please see the column below titled “This Weeks Shares.” We will be providing a weekly list of what is in the boxes here. Since we write the newsletter on Monday, the list of what is in the Tuesday’s boxes will almost always be accurate. The list of what will be in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s boxes can change a little, due to production factors such as weather and bug damage. We will try our best to forecast accurately, but please be patient with us if there are discrepancies. We will include a list of contents in Wednesdays and Thursdays boxes (though not Tuesday’s boxes as we did last year). Spring CSA delivery always starts out with lots of greens, so please bear with us if you are thinking, ‘wow that’s a lot of greens.’ As mentioned above, the lettuces are getting so large that we had to cut them. Normally small shares will only receive 1 lettuce per week. They sure are tasty! Wash them, cut them up, pour on a yummy dressing, find yourself amazed at how much you just ate and then revel in the glow that only super fresh vitamin rich food can give you.
So sorry to harp and then harp some more, but please please please remember to bring back and flatten your CSA boxes. May we once again suggest bringing 2-3 tote bags with you to the drop site, then emptying the box into the bags and leaving the box there at the drop site so you don’t have to worry about returning it.
Directions on how to pick up your first CSA box (that were included in your June 1 newsletter) will also be posted at the drop sites. If you have any trouble picking up your box at the drop site, please call the farm at (360) 273-2033 and listen to the message to receive the cell phone number of the farmer on call that day. We are sending 2 extra boxes to each drop site, a small and a large, so even if your name is not on the list we will still have a box for you. Please call the farm and let us know before you take one of the extra boxes. All of our drop sites are unsupervised and self service. Please don’t leave anything for us (such as a payment) at the drop site. Please act respectfully at the drop sites as they are all run by volunteers, do not leave any garbage or recycling and make sure to flatten and stack your empty boxes neatly. Please follow the instructions on the bottom of the box if you are unsure how to flatten it.
Swap boxes will be available at all of the drop sites. A swap box is a big brown cardboard box at your drop site that has a sign taped to it that says “swap box.” The way swap boxes work are, you put in something you don’t want and (hopefully) take out something you do want. Anything left in the box at the end of the day will be donated to the food bank along with any left over CSA boxes.
If you are receiving Provisions Mushrooms share:
Look for the box marked Mushrooms. Your share will be in a bag in that box with your name on it. If you are unsure whether or not you signed up to receive mushrooms, or you wish to begin receiving them, please contact Provisions directly at promushrooms.com or (360) 359-6673.

We apologize to those of you who have had difficulty paying with their credit cards via PayPal. Our IT guys assure us that our new payment center will be up and running by Thursday at the latest. (Where have we heard that before?!) We will now be able to take credit cards directly on our web site, so there will be no more hassles with PayPal. Please follow the dates on your payment schedule when making payments; payments will not be automatically deducted. You have to go to our web site and use our payment center to make a payment.
The half flat of strawberries that come with your Bulk Share will be delivered Wednesday June 24th for people who have a Wednesday pick up, Thursday June 25th for people who have a Thursday pick up and Tuesday June 30th for people who have Tuesday pick up. Your Bulk Share/half-flat of strawberries will be delivered to your regular drop site and marked with your name. Bulk shares are separate from your regular small or large CSA share. To determine whether or not you have a Bulk Share, please look on the sign- in sheet at the drop site under the category “Bulk Share.” If there is a “yes” next to your name you are slated to receive a Bulk Share. If we have made a mistake and you are supposed to receive a Bulk Share but have not, please contact us and we will make sure you get one. The 2nd half of the bulk share (2# of basil and 10# potatoes) will be delivered in August and September respectively; we will provide you with the exact date via the newsletter.
The flowers included in today’s boxes are either Peonies or Asiatic Lilies. We cut and deliver both in bud because they sustain much less damage in transport that way. Simply place them in a vase and watch the show begin. Please make sure to take only one bunch of flowers per share. If you are unsure whether or not your share includes flowers or not, you can refer to the sign in sheet at the drop site. If it says “yes” under the heading flowers, you are slated to receive them.

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This Week's Shares

This week’s small shares contain:
3 pints of strawberries
1 bunch baby carrots
2 fresh Walla Walla sweet onions
2 bunches arugula
1 bunch pink beauty radishes
1 red oak leaf lettuce
1 winter density lettuce (a butter head and romaine cross0
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch chives
1 bunch garlic scapes*
1 bunch flowers (only if your share contains flowers)

This week’s large shares contain:
6 pints of strawberries
1 bunch baby carrots
1 bunch baby golden beets
2 fresh Walla Walla sweet onions
2 bunches arugula
1 bunch pink beauty radishes
1 red oak leaf lettuce
1 winter density lettuce (a butter head and romaine cross)
1 green butter head lettuce
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch chives
1 bunch garlic scapes*
1 bunch flowers (only if your share contains flowers)

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Recipes

About Garlic Scapes:
Also called garlic flowers, garlic whistles and garlic tops, they are showing up in gourmet restaurants at long last! They are the flower that a garlic plant sends up. You have to snap them off in order to convince the plant to send its energy down to the bulb instead. They taste like a delicious combo between asparagus and garlic. The whole thing is edible, from curly stalk to flower, though we generally discard the last 3 inches of the flower because it can be a bit fibrous. They are great in stir-fries or any way you would normally use asparagus or green beans. We like to cut them into 4 inch sections and then chop the sections into ½ inch pieces. Cook garlic flowers until tender, they are kind of tough and too pungent raw, though once they are cooked they have a melt in your mouth texture and an indescribably addictive taste. They will keep for 2-3 weeks stored in your fridge in a plastic bag.

About Fresh Onions: Store fresh onions in a plastic bag in the fridge. You can use them the same way you would a cured onion, though they are much more sweet and tender.

How to Store Your Greens: Make sure to store all greens in plastic bags in your fridge. If you like to pre-prep lettuce, you can wash and spin dry whole leaves. Wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and store in a plastic bag. May we suggest investing in a salad spinner if you don’t already own one.

How to freeze strawberries: Wash, hull and pat dry strawberries. Fill and seal freezer bags with strawberries. Frozen strawberries will keep for a year; they are delicious in smoothies, pies and as ice cream topping.

Arugula Salad with Pecorino Romano and Toasted Walnuts:
For the dressing: Combine 1½ TBS sherry or tarragon vinegar, 1 garlic scape finely diced and ¼ tsp. salt.
-Whisk together and let stand for 15 minutes.
-Stir in 1 tsp Dijon mustard and 6 TBS of walnut/and or extra-virgin olive oil.
For the greens: Without undoing the rubber band, gently swish 2 bunches of arugula in some cold water, and then shake dry.
-Chop the top two-thirds off each bunch of arugula and then discard the bottom third. Spin the leaves dry in a salad spinner.
-Put a tsp of butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add ½ cup walnut halves and toast until golden brown, 2-4 minutes.
-Coarsely grate ½ cup Pecorino Romano.
To assemble salad: Toss the greens with enough dressing to coat and a little salt.
-Heap the greens on individual serving plates and top with a generous sprinkle of cheese and some walnuts.

Cilantro Salsa:
This is nice over fish, grilled meat or vegetables, eggs, rice, on sandwiches, etc. etc. It is so good!
-Put 1-2 raw garlic scapes to the work bowl of a food processor and process until well chopped.
-Leaving the rubber band on, thoroughly wash and shake dry 1 bunch cilantro.
-Chop the whole bunch of cilantro into half-inch sections stems and all, right until you get to the end held together by the rubber band.
-Add to the food processor along with the zest and juice of 1 lime, 2 TBS canola oil and 2-3 TBS cold water (optional).
-Process until very well blended and then season with ½ tsp sea salt.

Garlic Scape Pesto:
-Puree 6 scapes with ½ cup extra virgin olive oil in a blender until smooth.
-Remove to a bowl and stir in 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and 3 TBS fresh lemon juice.
-Season to taste with salt. Serve on bread, crackers, or pasta.

Wilted Radishes: (A delicious way to eat radishes; salting them makes them a lot less spicy.)
-Slice 1 bunch radishes into thin rounds. Place in a glass bowl and add a big pinch of salt or 2.
-Set aside for 15-30 minutes, rinse if too salty, drain and serve.

Balsamic Maple Vinaigrette:
-Very finely chop 1 garlic scape into small pieces.
-Add to a jar with a tightly fitting lid along with ¼ cup olive oil, 1/8th cup Balsamic vinegar, 2 TBS maple syrup, 2-3 TBS red wine or lemon juice, a TBS of Dijon mustard and a big pinch of salt. Shake well.

The Way we Ate Almost Our Entire CSA Box in One Sitting…
-Chop up 4-7 garlic scapes into ½ inch pieces as described above.
-Chop up 1 bunch of carrots into thin rounds. Chop up 1 onion into small pieces.
-Put all of the above in a frying pan with some olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt and sauté until lightly browned and just tender.
-Wash and dry 1 lettuce. Tear into large pieces.
-Wash and dry 1 bunch of arugula (optional) and cut into ½ inch long pieces.
-Mix the greens together and then put a handful on a plate.
-Top with a large spoonful of the vegetable mixture, then add the cheese of your choice. We like chevre, feta or blue here.
-Sprinkle on a few TBS of the maple vinaigrette below and top with some finely chopped chives.

Roasted Beet and Butter Lettuce Salad with Chives, Blue Cheese and Walnut Oil Dressing:
-Remove the greens from a bunch of beets.
-Scrub the beets and then steam them until tender, about 20-25 minutes.
-Rinse the beets under cold water and slip the skins. Cool and slice the beets into wedges or rounds.
-Wash and dry 1 head of butter lettuce. Tear the leaves into bite size pieces and place in a salad bowl.
-In a small pan, brown a handful of walnut halves.
-Toss the lettuce with a good amount of the Walnut Oil Vinaigrette below.
-Crumble a few ounces of blue cheese on top of the salad and top with the toasted walnuts and some chopped chives.

Walnut Oil Vinaigrette:
-Press 1 clove of fresh garlic into a jar with a tightly fitting glass lid.
-Add ¼ cup walnut oil and a splash of canola oil or extra virgin olive oil.
-Add a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir together with a fork.
-Add 3 TBS Balsamic vinegar and shake well.

Strawberry Shortcake:
For the biscuits, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
-In a large bowl whisk 2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 TBS baking powder and ½ tsp salt.
-Grate 6 TBS cold or frozen unsalted butter, and then stir it into the flour mixture.
-Whisk together 1 large egg and ½ cup cream and then add all at once to the flour/butter mixture.
-Mix with a rubber spatula until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
-Transfer to a lightly floured surface and lightly pat into a ¾ inch thick circle.
- Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or an inverted glass.
-Brush the tops with cream or milk and sprinkle with sugar.
-Bake 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.
For the strawberry sauce, wash and hull 2 pints of strawberries.
-Crush ¼ of the berries, and slice the remaining.
-Combine the berries then add ¼ cup sugar, and set aside.
Whip up; 1-cup organic heavy cream adding a few tsp powdered sugar or a little maple syrup and ½ tsp vanilla.
To assemble, cut open a biscuit, add a scoop of strawberries, shut the biscuit and top with a big dollop of whipped cream and more strawberries.

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Helsing Junction Farm
12013 Independence Road, Rochester, WA 98579 | (360)273-2033
helsingfarm@msn.com | www.helsingfarmcsa.com

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