Plant Sale This Weekend

The farm staff is busy planting, planting and more planting. . .

. . . and you can take advantage of the overflow by purchasing their extra plants.

Rushton Farm Spring Plant Sale this weekend, May 5 and 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Organically started vegetables, herbs, and flowers.  For those nights in between your weekly pick-up when you still need to fill your dinner plates.

Simple Green Goddess Dressing

Adapted from www.epicurious.com

1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1 small garlic clove, roughly chopped or smashed with side of knife

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or watercress

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tinned anchovy fillet, chopped

Whizz ingredients together in a blender until smooth.  Taste and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Make ahead; keeps for 1 day in the fridge.  

Delicious over grilled fish, on raw or roasted veggies, or as a festive substitute for cocktail sauce, as a condiment for poached shrimp.

It's Starting. . .

Veggie season is almost here, and these days, the green house is truly a nursery, overflowing with young plants waiting to be transferred to the fields.

CSA members, we look forward to seeing you tonight in your raincoats and boots for a Meet-and-Greet with the farmers.  Find out what Noah is buzzing about.  Come see which farmer is growing something other than plants these days.  Check out Fred's new office.  Learn why the farm staff has been busy buying kiddie pools (no, we won't be seeing family swim at the farm any time soon).  And see who's been using the weed wacker this month.

We'll be posting some exciting information about the farm over the next few weeks, as well as some recipes to make use of the spring harvest, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, mark your calendars for all of the exciting upcoming events:

May 5-6 - Plant sale
May 11-12 - Pretty Big Bird Day
May 29 - First pick-up for CSA Members
June 2 - Fancy Farm Feast

A Touch O' the Green

Waiting for the first crop sure is hungry work.  We decided to make use of some of the lovely hydroponically grown vegetables we've seen in markets around town.  This watercress and blue cheese butter tastes like a bite of spring, with a touch of the British Isles thrown in for a seasonally appropriate indulgence.

This would be divine on homemade Irish soda bread (or Clay's has a delicious version for those short on time), beer bread, or just a Digestive Biscuit (Mrs. McVitties, of course!).  Serve it on thinly sliced white sandwich bread without crusts for an elegant little tea sandwich.

Watercress and Bluecheese Butter
Adapted from The Canal House, Vol. No. 3 (Hamilton, Melissa and Hirsheimer, Christopher)

In a food processor fitted with a knife blade, chop 1 bunch of watercress and 1 bunch of chives.  Add in 4 tablespoons VERY soft unsalted butter (I used Kerrygold, in keeping with St. Patrick's Day) and pulse until just combined.  Add in 6 ounces crumbled blue cheese and 1 generous splash of dry sherry.  Pulse until just combined, about 4-5 pulses.  Taste and season with salt and pepper, although you may not need much salt, depending on the saltiness of the blue cheese.

Turn butter into a bowl and refrigerate to chill.

Makes about 1 cup, but, as the authors suggest, you really ought to double it.  You'll no doubt find plenty of uses.

Spring Has Sprung!

I know, I know: I've cursed us all.  As soon as you write a sentence like that, it is bound to snow the very next day.  And even in Pennsylvania, the odds are good that it's likely to be a real, actual blizzard.  But after the mildest winter we can remember, we are tired of pretending that our snowboots will protect us from anything but mud or that this will be the year for terrific cross-country skiing at Okehocking.  Plus, we just used up the last of our oven-dried plum tomatoes from the freezer.  We say, bring on the spring.

Rumor has it, the spring planting at Rushton Farm is already well underway.  To whet your appetites, in addition to the photo, above, from the Rushton Farm herb garden last spring, here are some important dates to mark in your calendars.


May 5-6, Plant Sale at Rushton Farm
May 29, First CSA Pick Up at Rushton Farm
June 2, Celebrating Rushton, a Fancy Farm Dinner

Stay tuned for an update from Farmer Fred and some recipes incorporating the gorgeous spring ingredients starting to crop up all over town, plus a few things stowed away from last autumn.  Get ready for a new season at Rushton Farm!

Just Add Salt

Every so often, there is a vegetable in the weekly share that you either don't know or don't want. At the end of the season, I've been wowed by tomatoes, tickled by jalepenos, charmed by melon and persuaded by kale (which I now purchase regularly, even when it's not in our share). Call it harvest fatigue, but who wants to learn about a new vegetable right when we are supposed to be turning to our pantries, preparing soups and comfort foods, making use of bought legumes and anything we froze or canned in August?

So I'll admit that it was with a twinge of annoyance that I read, in this week's Wild Carrot: watermelon radishes. Come on! I'm not even that fond of watermelon, as melons go, and then radishes are nice, but . . . well, they are nice. But what is this thing called watermelon radish? Dessert or salad ingredient? Could I throw it in a soup? A stir fry? Would it take to the slow cooker? Plop it on pasta? Fearing I was condemning it to a slow and withering death in the back of the fridge, I chucked a bunch in our bag at pick up.

And then I peeled one. Wow! Look at these beauties! With slightly less bite than a tiny, red, summer radish, and a hint of sweetness that salt brings out nicely.

Peel, slice, and pass with a bowl of kosher salt for dipping. So delicious!

Tuesday's Child

I don't know what Tuesdays are like in your house, but in our house, they are nuts. This distinguishes them not one bit from the other days of the week (also insane) but for the fact that Tuesdays are our pick-up day at Rushton Farm. So, on top of that other "To Do" list -- you know, the one you never fully get through before adding additional items -- Tuesdays find us adding "Clean and prep vegetables from Rushton Farm." And then, because there is always that one amazing looking item from the weekly pick-up that you just have to eat that very night, we must add "Prepare dinner on the fly, incorporating whatever to-die-for veggie you happen to bring home."

This step has dissuaded many a family from joining a CSA: Who can keep up with all the vegetables? At the height of the growing season, there is no doubt that eight pounds of tomatoes slung at you on a given weeknight can feel daunting. And then there is that runaway sweet pepper, forgotten and crammed at the back of the crisper, that you find weeks later and must mourn its having passed, unused, into a liquid form that will now have to be mopped up. Keeping up with the bounty can feel like a part-time job, even if you are putting no labor into the farm itself. Families with small children, in particular, seem to be intimidated by the volume of produce they anticipate receiving from a CSA, worrying not only about the time involved in food prep but also the fact that there is no guarantee that your kids will even try what you bring home.

I would argue, however, that far from being a deterrent, our Tuesday ritual injects an element of calm and an aspect of thanksgiving into our weekly family chaos. We have no choice but to take Tuesday evenings off, and dinner will not be chucked straight from the microwave onto the table, eaten standing up, or thawed from a cardboard box. On Tuesdays, we drive to the farm, no matter how tired or crabby, no matter the weather, no matter what sort of junk we consumed the previous day. We go.

We arrive in shambles; sometimes, there are tears. But soon, they dry, as the children take off at a sprint and seek out their favorite things. Charlie heads for the sugar snap peas or the raspberry patch, depending on the month, and Margaret looks for Ashley, each child towing oversize bags behind them. We collect our produce, making sure it is carefully counted, weighed and distributed evenly among the bags. We name the vegetables and talk about how we will cook them and eat them. There is sniffing, some tasting, some jockeying over who puts what in which bag. And there is an awareness that you will not get at any store in the country. The potatoes are dirty because they just came out of the ground, right over there. Swiss chard looks like both rainbows and the feathers from the birds in the movie Rio. Bell peppers really do look like bells, but quieter. Chives are spicy; mint is sweet; don't even touch the little peppers because they will sting you.

On Tuesdays, in addition to our weekly share, we find small moments of grace, like the pinkish-orange butterfly who seems to have a distinct taste only for pink flowers. As the sun moves west, we follow the butterfly east, tracing the row of flowers and noting her preferences. We pick small bouquets and take only a few, so other families can enjoy the flowers, too. We share raspberries with the bees and then purchase honey to drizzle on tomorrow morning's toast. "Will the honey taste like raspberries?" wonders Charlie, learning at five the unique joy that comes from posing a question to which you can find an answer only through your own, subjective discovery process.

And it is not just the land but the people that cast a spell over my children, causing them to try foods they would never otherwise seek out. Our daughter worships "Farmer Ashley", and she has only to be told that Ashley planted or picked a certain vegetable to taste it eagerly. She has named a doll "Ashley" in her honor, and she now serves carrots and leeks at her tea parties. ("Organic Farmer Barbie" is surely in the works by some enterprising and foresighted toy company!) In the Spring, Charlie was persuaded by "Farmer Fred" to try Tat Soi, and by the time we got home, he had chomped up the whole bunch of it, raw, like a rabbit. This from a child who used to think pizza was a food group.

The Harvest Celebration at Rushton Farm is our favorite family event of the year, and the children have been anticipating this coming Saturday with an eagerness usually reserved for holidays that revolve around sugary foods (Easter, Halloween). Charlie has assured Margaret that if the scary ghosts are there again this year, he will protect her, and he informs her that this year, she will be big enough to carve her own pumpkin. I am quite certain that not a vegetable will pass their lips on Saturday night, and they will drink only cider, eat only marshmallows and other people's desserts. (Sorry in advance; that was my kid who stole your cookies.)



So be it. Guess what they ate last night? Leeks sauteed with garlic and Swiss Chard. And mashed celeriac. And to my great delight, there were no leftovers.

Leeks Sauteed with Swiss Chard
The recipe is both imprecise and can't-fail, making it perfect for a Tuesday. Or any other day, for that matter. Have more chard than leeks? Just change the name of the recipe: "Swiss Chard Sauteed with Leeks"

Ingredients

4-8 medium Leeks, washed carefully, halved lengthwise and then sliced into half-moons
1 large and colorful bunch Swiss Chard, stems finely chopped and greens cut into chiffonade (finely sliced)
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chicken stock

Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan with a lid. Add leek and chopped Swiss Chard stems and saute, 5 minutes, until color deepens. Add garlic and saute an additional 3 minutes, until quite fragrant.



Add the Swiss Chard greens, stir to combine, and then add chicken stock. Cover and simmer, about 5 minutes, until vegetables soften but retain a slight bite. Salt and pepper to taste.



As an option, you can add some freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest or some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese off the heat. Leftovers would make a nice filling for a quiche or frittata.

Food Comes Alive!

A day-in-the-life of Rushton Farm volunteer, contributed by Sarah:

Volunteer day begins before dawn. It is dark and the moon is a little less than full. I have been looking forward to an honest day’s work during my entire 40 hour week at the office I feed the animals and my husband, get my hat, gloves, and thermos of cold tea, and head out through the quiet streets, onto the winding country roads toward Willistown, West Chester County. Dawn breaks as I drive into the parking lot at Rushton Farm.

Ashley, the field manager, is talking with Joanna and Lisa, her hardworking assistants, about the harvest plans for the day. She greets me with a (somewhat predatory?) smile, and I think to myself- OK- what torture does she have in mind today, thinking back to the time I picked 50 lbs of peas on a hot day a few weeks ago.

But, there is no torture in store for me today. I head out toward the lower field to harvest cilantro and dill. There is mist on the fields, and the row of dill sparkles in the morning light. Ashley shows me how to create bunches of dill with rubber bands and I start harvesting, my hands getting muddy and wet. A powerful aroma of fresh dill pervades my consciousness, adding to the magical effect of the call of a bobwhite in the distance and the light dancing around on the water drops from last night’s rain. This has to be some kind of heaven.

That day I harvested 20 bunches of dill, 20 bunches of cilantro, 20 lbs of Lipstick peppers, 10 pounds of Carmen peppers, 8 lbs of Poblano peppers - the kind you make chile rellenos with. Then there were the 6 lbs of Rosa Bianca eggplant, 10 lbs of the Orient Charm eggplants, and a few of the tiny fairy tale variety. The beautiful okra plants with their large white blossoms, similar to Rose of Sharon blooms, yielded a few lbs of okra, with patient searching through the understory of the leaves from a squatting position.

Trellising the peppers was much more physically taxing, as the task involved pounding wooden stakes into the ground every 4 feet for 100 ft with a 8 lb pole driver. Running string between the poles was even more challenging as the string under the pepper plants, heavy with fruit, has to be tight enough to keep the peppers off the ground. At the same time, I had to avoid breaking off the fragile branches of the plants which had been lying on the ground for a month. Sweat starting pouring from my face, my glasses fogged up, but I persisted. This was my first solo trellising job. At completion, Joanna checked my work and it passed her meticulous standards.

Feeling quite pleased with myself, I took a break for lunch at noon. After 5 hours of constant activity I was ready for a rest. A glass of water tasted like ambrosia. Then I headed up to the cherry tomato row for my favorite summer treat, Sungold tomatoes. I picked two pounds of the ripe fruits that had cracked overnight in the heavy rain, added them to some sliced cucumbers, beans and carrots I found in the cooler, and added some coleslaw I brought from home. You can imagine how delicious my noon meal wa s- a far cry from the office fare I endure 4 days a week. A nap in the shade of a hedgerow, with my farm hat shading my face, completed my lunch routine.

At the end of the day, Ashley invited me to pick some vegetables for a dinner I had planned for guests the next day. I picked fresh tomatoes, harvested fresh basil, and found some garlic in the farm shed. I baked bread, and with mozzarella cheese and olive oil, these ingredients made me a splendid bruschetta. Fresh picked dill, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, purple string beans and peppers, plus a few carrots from the farm cooler became a salad dressed with a yogurt-dill vinagrette concoction.

Our dessert, just picked watermelons and cantaloupe, stunned my guests, who were already heady from the fresh flavors of the meal, straight from the Farm. After the meal, we went into my backyard and I proudly gave my guests a tour of my own vegetable garden of 8 raised beds, trellised beans and tomatoes, and medicinal herbs, all of which I learned to grow during my summer volunteer internship at Rushton Farm.