Flood at Terripin Farm on July 24th

Written July 25th, 8:56 a.m.: Last night at 11:00 p.m. I got a text message from Brad that Mill Creek came over its banks and their farm was 5 feet under water. They may have lost everything.

It has been a bit of a struggle this year with all the water. Many of the early greens bolted, the deer ate the edamme (a new treat Brad was trying), the heat and water literally cooked the cabbage in the field, the weeds have thrived in this heat and moisture, and bugs have had a hay day. They have been limping along; Brad with a positive attitude and Jessica with some concern. True to their promise, they provided the CSA with nice baskets, taking less to the farmer's market and building for the future years.

I am headed out to the farm to take some pictures and try to assess where we are. I am very concerned for Brad, Jessica and their young family. I will report back as soon as I can.

Written July 25th 11:39 p.m.: Thanks for your many notes of concern for Brad and Jessica. Right now, I think they are pretty much in shock. Last night, while it was raining, they went to move some of the farm equipment: the water wheel transplanter, the tractor, the irrigation pump, etc. While they were there, the water rose out of the banks of Mill Creek within 40 minutes to near the top of their 6 foot hoop house. The whole farm was at least 5 feet under water. When it receded, it left behind a lot of mud.

I went out there this AM. As I came in on 90th St., I could see where the city has plowed the mud off the road. I met with Brad's dad, Dick. He took me through some if it. While many of the plants are still standing, the whole story has yet to be understood. There was a newly planted patch of pumpkins (I think) where about 1/4 of the plants were knocked down. The remaining plants have mud on the leaves. Most of the 2800 tomato plants are still standing as well; they were staked up. Some of the fruit was knocked off. The mud at their feet isn't too serious as tomato plants can grow roots from their stalk, be the fields have to dry out. The eggplant were just coming on and I saw lots of its fruit on the ground. There was a lot a mud around the base of the plants and on the leaves. I didn't even get to the back field as the mud was thick and the fields very wet.

Though the water was in and out quickly, because of the constant rain this season, all the plants are very stressed and may not be able to endure this event. Dick said we may need another rain (!) to rinse the leaves off as the mud will interfere with absorption of sun. But, the field is quite soggy and needs to dry out somewhat so the roots can absorb some nutrients. We don't know yet which of the remaining plants will survive.

It's not just the plants. Getting equipment into the wet field remains an issue, as it has been all season. The weeds were getting substantial and difficult to control. We will know more as a few days pass.

I've passed your notes on to Brad and Jess. I spoke to Jess this afternoon. They cleaned up some in the morning and Brad was sleeping this afternoon, he is worn out. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday. If I learn anything before then, I will let you know.

Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice

Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice

4 cups cooked rice 3 tablespoons oyster sauce

6 cloves of garlic 1 teaspoon sugar

2 Thai Chili peppers 2 tablespoons of fish sauce

¼ cup vegetable oil 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 ½ pounds chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces 2 cups Thai basil

Garnish with: fresh sliced cucumber, fresh slices lime, and fresh cilantro

Smash garlic and peppers together in a mortar and pestle, or with the flat part of your knife. Heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic and chili peppers quickly, about 60 seconds. Add chicken, cook until about half cooked. Add as you stir oyster sauce, then sugar, and then fish sauce. Cook until chicken is fully cooked. Add the cooked rice and stir. Add bell pepper sauté. Then add basil and turn off heat.

Serves 4-6.

July 14th Newsletter

Preserving Local Flavors: Freezing

By Brenda Derrick, University of Illinois – Extension Adam/Brown Unit

Are you having trouble eating all of that summer squash, green beans, and sweet corn? Would you like to be able to enjoy the wonderful flavors of the season all year round? If so, then try freezing your favorite summer vegetables.

Vegetables that are properly blanched, frozen quickly, and stored correctly have a nutrient value equal or greater than any other food preservation method.

Blanching

Enzymes present in vegetables can cause undesirable changes in the food while frozen. To stop the enzymatic action that will affect changes in color, flavor and texture, vegetables are blanched prior to freezing. Hot water blanching is the most common type of blanching. Vegetables are immersed in hot water for a specified period of time, and then quickly immersed in cold water. The amount of blanching time varies with the type and size of vegetable. For more specific information on blanching and a listing of blanching times, go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/blanching.html.

Frozen Quickly

Enzymatic changes to your vegetables continue even after harvest. The best recommendation is to freeze your produce quickly once harvested. If this is not possible, you may refrigerate the vegetables for a short period of time. Information on what vegetables are suitable for freezing and how to freeze a variety of vegetables may be found at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze.html.

Stored Correctly

Freezing food does not kill microorganisms, but it temporarily stops their growth. To ensure the quality of your produce and to minimize spoilage proper storage techniques and equipment need to be used. These include storage containers, a working freezer, adequate freezer space, and monitoring of freezer temperatures. Check out http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/gen_freeze.html for information and tips on all of these storage topics and more. Thanks, Brenda!!

Reducing Waste

Here’s a good suggestion: fix it instead of pitch it! I love to cook and use my Chicago Cutlery knives often. Even using the honing stick before every use, my blades still get dull. I used to have someone who could sharpen my blade. Last year, CSA member Jennifer said she found someone in town who sharpens knives

: Boyer’s Boots on 36^th. They not only repairs boots and shoes, they also sharpen knives!

I usually buy good shoes. They are more expensive, but I have had them for more than 10 years. They are broken in, comfortable. When I get a hole in the bottom, even though it makes me look like a hard worker, I get them repaired instead of pitching them. They also shine shoes so they look just like new and are mostly worn in.

We have a local business where we can get our shoes repaired and knives sharpened instead of throwing them away.

Another Basket?

If anyone would like to purchase an extra share of vegetables on the last Wednesday of July (July 28th), I have one available. They can e-mail:catherine.m.tracy@gmail.com to arrange and confirm. Thanks, Catherine Tracy.

–Farmer Kate

Storage Tips:

Tomatoes

· Handle gently to avoid bruising.

· If tomatoes need to ripen, place them in a loosely closed paper bag at room temperature. Check daily.

· If a tomato develops any mold, throw it away.

· When tomatoes are ripe, they can be served immediately, or stored in the refrigerator. Ripe tomatoes will usually keep 2-3 days under refrigeration. For best flavor, bring tomatoes to room temperature before serving.

Tomatoes are …

· a good source of vitamins A & C

· low in calories and sodium.

Special thanks to the University of Illinois Extension office for this information

Garden Notes:

Feiner Gardens: Oh is it HOT, HOT, HOT! Some of my plants like it better than others, but me, I’m a cold house flower… Anyway, I got the plastic in for the greenhouse and hope to get it put up in the next few weeks. This means, well I’m not sure yet what it means, but there are lots of possibilities. I’m up for some suggestions!

Terripin Farms: Looks like the tomatoes and corn are in. This week’s basket includes them BOTH, some hot peppers and no summer squash! Yay!!

Grassy Hill Farm: We have the turkey orders. I sent an e-mail to those who ordered turkeys. If you didn’t get an e-mail confirming your order, please contact me. If someone wants one, please have them contact us, the Hochstetlers may have extra turkeys.

If you have any suggestions, questions, please let us know:

Great River CSA
6426 Church Hills Rd

Quincy, IL 62305-0450

www.greatrivercsa.org

(217) 440-7608

Farmer Kate

kate@greatrivercsa.org

(217) 440-4678

Jess Dyer or Brad Whiston

terripin_jess@yahoo.com

Mashed-Potato Cakes with Onions and Kale

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 patties)

12 cups water

1 bunch kale, trimmed (about 4 ounces)

2 2/3 cups (1-inch) cubed Yukon gold or red potato (about 1 pound)

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine

3 cups diced onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

Sage sprigs (optional)

Bring water to a boil in a Dutch oven; add kale. Cover and cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until tender. Remove kale with a slotted spoon, reserving cooking liquid. Chop kale and set aside.

Add potato to reserved cooking liquid in pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain; partially mash potatoes. Stir in kale and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, diced onion, and chopped sage. Cook 13 minutes or until browned. Combine potato mixture, onion mixture, green onions, and pepper. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Divide potato mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Place patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Preheat broiler.

Broil patties for 5 minutes or until browned. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.

June 30th Newsletter

Preserving Local Flavors Workshops:

Jams & Jellies and Salsa

If you are interested in finding out more specific information on how to safely can jams & jellies, salsa, or both, the University of Illinois – Extension Adams/Brown Unit is presenting a series of in-depth, hands-on workshops. Earlier this year they presented a Preserving Local Flavors 101. That workshop focused on the basics of canning, freezing, or drying food. In the upcoming workshops, the Participants will learn by doing and the focus is Jams & Jellies and Salsa.

Participants will receive the latest food preservation information, hand-outs, and recipes. Dates of the workshops (with pre-registration dates) are as follows:

· Thursday July 8, 2010-Jams & Jellies, Vermont Street United Methodist Church, 818 Vermont St, Quincy, IL – pre-registration by Tuesday July 6, 2010

· Monday July 26, 2010-Salsa, Cornerstone Church, Hwy. 24 East, Mt. Sterling IL – pre-registration by Thursday July 22, 2010

· Tuesday August 3, 2010-Salsa, Vermont Street United Methodist Church, 818 Vermont St, Quincy, IL – pre-registration by Friday July 30, 2010

The cost of the workshop is $25 per person per workshop. Click here to register online or mail your check and the date of the workshop you plan to attend to the Adam/Brown office at the address below. Registration is limited for these sessions so get your registration in soon.

Cooking Tips

One of my favorite food writers has to be Mark Bittman. His “thing” is good food, simply cooked and he is big into local, fresh food. He is known as The Minimalist. It may have been this past New Years, but he did an OUT/IN list. The gist of the list was processed food that we use and can easily (and with more flavor) make at home. Here are a few tips:

OUT Aerosol oil. At about $12 a pint, twice as expensive as halfway decent extra virgin olive oil, which spray oil most decidedly is not; and it contains additives.

IN Get some good olive oil and a hand-pumped sprayer or even simpler, a brush. Simplest: your fingers.

OUT Bottled salad dressing and marinades. The biggest rip-offs imaginable.

IN Take good oil and vinegar or lemon juice, and combine them with salt, pepper, maybe a little Dijon, in a proportion of about three parts oil to one of vinegar. Customize from there, because you may like more vinegar or less, and you undoubtedly will want a little shallot, or balsamic vinegar, or honey, or garlic, or tarragon, or soy sauce.

Chicken Recipes

Crockpot: I posted a great crockpot recipe from the Pahlmans on the website: www.greatrivercsa.org. It’s easy, versatile, and tasty!! It is easy because you just thaw it and put it in the crockpot for the day. It is versatile because you can put in any herbs you would like to get a different flavor. It is tasty because it is chicken!!

Roasting: My favorite way to prepare chicken is whole roasted. Thaw the chicken and remove any insides. Tuck the wings under and tie the legs so that it cooks evenly. Then, select the herbs you want. I usually use sage, but also rosemary or thyme with salt and pepper. Often, I will squeeze a lemon over the skin and put the rind in the cavity or smear the skin with butter. I add a rough cut of mirepoix (quartered carrot, celery, and onion) to the roasting pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 60 -90 minutes.

Gizzard gravy is the best with this meal. My mom would mince the heart, gizzard and liver. When the chicken was done, she would sauté heart, gizzard, and liver in some of the drippings until cooked. Add the remaining drippings. She would mix flour and water in a jar, about 1:2 (1 part flour to 2 parts water) and shake. Add the flour mix and simmer. Continue to add water to get a good gravy consistency, remember it will set up as it cools.

Some baked potatoes and steamed green beans (grim bims, as my grandma would say). It is a great Sunday dinner.

Garden Notes

Thank goodness the rains have subsided somewhat. The beds have dried out a bit here and the Basil is taking off.

Feiner Gardens: This week the garlic is out and I am curing it. Although you can eat it right from the ground, I thought we could braid some garlic at the picnic table. So, if you want to spend some time, you can try your hand at it as well.

Terripin Farms: Brad was picking Friday for the Farmer’s Market in O’Fallon. He picked a few cherry tomatoes and said that the tomatoes will be ready soon. He planted over 2000 plants!! They are looking good. The corn will be ready in a couple of weeks, but the rain hampered his ability plant. He usually has about 6 plantings in by now and he had only 3. Beans are coming, too (green, Dragon’s tongue, yellow)!

Grassy Hill Farm: This is a chicken and egg week! Also the last day to order your Thanksgiving Turkey.

Storage Tips: Herbs

There is actually a YouTube video for preserving (drying) herbs by Alton Brown that is actually pretty good. He does get pretty involved with it. I haven’t tried it myself, but his other techniques are pretty good.

This is what I have found:

You can keep most fresh herbs about a week. Treat fresh herbs like you would fresh flowers, cut the stems off and put in fresh water and store in the refrigerator. Change the water when it gets too stale. This works well for tarragon and cilantro.

You can also dampen a paper towel, put it in a plastic, put in the herbs and store in the refrigerator. This works well for most other herbs

Basil dislikes cold so much that the refrigerator is not good for it. You can keep it on your counter as you would fresh flowers and it won’t turn brown as quickly, but it does deteriorate and after about 3-4 days tends to smell unpleasant. It also does well with the paper towel/plastic bag technique.

Margherita Pizza Serves 2-4

1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 and 1/2 cups whole peeled tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion 1/3 cup packed fresh Basil leaves, chopped or whole

1 sprig parsley 3 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

1 large clove garlic, minced 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon over medium-high heat; sauté onion and parsley to a golden brown. Stir in garlic and marjoram for a few seconds. Add tomatoes, crushing them in the pan. Boil until thick, stirring all along.

Spread sauce over crust, sprinkle with basil, mozzarella, and finally drizzle with oil. Pepper and salt, to taste. Bake about 10 minutes at 500 degrees