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How Members Support Sustainability, the last week of Late Summer Shares

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How Members Support Sustainability, the last week of Late Summer Shares
Reminders & Announcements
  • This is the final delivery to weekly Late Summer Vegetable and Fruit Shares members.
  • Fall Shares begin next week. Fall Share members will receive an informational email later this week.
This Week's Vegetable Harvest:
  • Kale
  • Russet Potatoes - from Igl Farms in Antigo, WI
  • Yellow Onions 
  • Curly Parsley
  • Fresh Ginger
  • Rutabaga
  • Green Cabbage
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Arugula

This Week's Fruit Harvest:

  • Cortland Apples (dark red in color)
  • Jonagold Apples (dark red and green, slightly larger in size)
  • Fuji Apples (light red and green)
  • Apple Cider
Farm Photo Journal
As we wrap up the summer season and we embark on fall, we'd like to take a moment to reflect and thank our members. As a farm share member, you have contributed to improving our three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental.
Our economic sustainability means that with your farm share/CSA membership, you're directly supporting family farmers. Unlike purchasing at grocery stores, every dollar you spend with us goes directly into our work. For produce we're unable to grow, we purchase directly from other local, family farmers who produce the food with integrity. We employ a farm crew each season who aspire to become more active participants within our local food system. Many of our crew members even develop their own farm businesses, helping to continue to build a vibrant local food economy. 
Social sustainability means that with your support, we're working together to build a community that values honest food. Through Pizza Nights, the Spring Plant Sale, the Farm Stroll and other farm events, we strive to connect you with local sustainable agriculture and connect with you others in our local food community that share our passion for preserving the ecosystem that nourishes our food. Even on social media and in farm newsletters, we aim to connect with our community. We will continue to develop a community that shares in food education, cooking knowledge, agricultural connections and friendships through the common language of food.
Environmental sustainability means that your membership allows us to farm "beyond organic." We continue new farming experiments to minimize our tillage and soil disruptions and enable microbial life to thrive beneath the soil's surface. Next season, we're introducing a Permaculture Apprenticeship on the farm to build our permaculture crops and educate others in the process. Every season, we strive to give more to the earth than we take, allowing our soils to rebuild and grow healthier, more nutritious food in the future. Through these projects, we aim to improve the carbon holding capacity of our soil and produce a better environment as we produce food.
Throughout this season's roller coaster of cold, wet, humid, hot weather, your membership allows us to continue farming in a sustainable way. We're in this together: we share in the risks of a changing climate and we reap the rewards of a bountiful growing season. We're grateful for your support, and we pledge to continue to bring you safe, healthy, clean, nourishing food for your family meals.

Tomorrow we will release our 2019 Shares (you will receive an email). Please join us again for the 2019 growing season! 

Enjoy this week's late summer harvest!

Warmly,

The Miller Family (Jeff, Jen, Owen, Gavin) and the farm crew
Notes from the Farm Kitchen
Rutabagas are creamy and starchy with a pale yellow flesh. Rutabagas are rich in vitamin C, dietary fiber, potassium and antioxidant compounds. They work well for mashing, roasting and braising.  We like to use in place of potatoes or combine with potatoes for a mashed rutabaga and potato dish. Rutabagas also store for weeks when wrapped in a plastic bag in your refrigerator.
Curly parsley is a valued ingredient in French, Mediterranean, Iranian and other cuisines where its fresh flavor and nutritional value are highly appreciated. While curly and straight-leafed parsley have a few culinary differences, they can be used interchangeably. Both types of parsley contain the same flavoring ingredients. One is a compound called menthatriene, which gives parsley its unique flavor. Flat parsley is stronger in menthatriene when young, then fades to a more generic woodiness as it ages; in contrast, curly parsley is milder when young but gains in menthatriene as it matures. We use fresh parsley in nearly ever dish we make, from salads to slaws, soups to sauces.
This week's fruit shares includes one half gallon of Mick Klug's apple cider. This year's cider is a unique blend of sweet and tart apples, starting with Honeycrisp, for the perfect, not-too-sweet, can-drink-by-the-gallon sip. Nothing but apples, and UV treated for safety, this cider can be enjoyed fresh, heated, mulled, spritzed or spiked as you like! 
Farm Kitchen Recipes

Cabbage Salad with Apples and Walnuts
1 small green cabbage
1/3 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
2 apples (sweet apples like Fuji)
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Tear off and discard the tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut it in half and cut out its core. Slice the halves crosswise into a fine chiffonade.

Toast the walnuts in the oven for 8 minutes. While they are still warm, first rub them in a clean dishtowel to remove some of the skins, then chop or coarsely crumble them.

To prepare the dressing, mix the vinegar with the lemon juice, some salt, and a generous amount of pepper.

Whisk in the olive oil and then the cream. Taste and adjust the acid and salt as desired.

Quarter, peel, and core the apples. Slice the quarters lengthwise fairly thin and cut these slices lengthwise into a julienne. Toss the cabbage, apples, and walnuts (and blue cheese, if you’re using it) with the dressing and an extra pinch of salt. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes, taste again, adjust the seasoning as needed, and serve.
(slightly adapted from SmittenKitchen.com)

Beef Roast with Fall Root Vegetables
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and pepper
2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 pounds chopped vegetables (rutabaga, potato, carrot, turnip etc)
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, season flour with salt and pepper. Coat beef in flour, shaking off excess. In a large heavy ovenproof pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium. In batches, brown beef on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.

Add remaining tablespoon oil, shallot, garlic, and tomato paste and saute until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Add beef and any accumulated juices, root vegetables, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until meat is fork-tender, 1 hour. Stir in vinegar and serve. Serves 4-6.

Gingery Coconut Stew with Rutabaga
Next Week's Harvest (our best guess)...carrots, acorn squash, scallions, garlic, lettuce and more!

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