Notice - newsletters are now posted only on our blog. To read them, click here.
Our newsletters are informal and include our suggestions for using your seasonal produce, from storage to recipes. You can also find recipes organized by ingredient on our recipe page, as well as links to popular recipe databases. Enjoy!
Most recent newsletters appear at the top, like a weblog.
If you are looking for a recipe for a specific ingredient, try Googling our website.
Date: January 28, 2007
Subject: good news and bad news
Hi Friends,
Well, you probably knew this was coming. Due to the cold weather I am not delivering boxes this week. The garden needs to catch a few rays of sun and grow a little. I will however deliver eggs to Laura and Fred. By next week you should have a full box of vegetables again. I have been busy planting seeds for spring. I've got new broccoli (4 kinds), cabbages red and green, cauliflower white, green and purple, kohlrabi, and sugar pod peas started. Beets, chard, kale, broccoli rabe and spinach will also be coming along soon. Lettuces are putting on size in the greenhouse.I know you've all been reading about the frost damaged California produce. I've been reading a lot too. I learned that I should have watered the beds when the ground was frozen for those 5 or 6 days in a row that were so very cold. The plants are unable to get water when the ground is frozen and watering brings up the soil temperature and thaws it enough so the plants can get a drink. This is a lesson I won't forget. Every year I grow potatoes through out the winter. I cover them with row cover and they stay warm enough to continue their growth. Not this winter. They froze, causing what is known as hollow heart, a condition that causes the center of the potato to be empty and brown. I will replant with new seed potatoes when the soil reaches at least 45 degrees. No one is more anxious than I for the warm sunny weather to return.
My good news is that I've hired Tana Butler to build a web site for me. I'm sure she will come up with a good one. We will be posting pictures of the farm and all those gorgeous vegetables. The recipes will be archived and in general we'll be able to very stylishly keep you informed.
Linda
Date: January 23, 2007
Subject: fresh eggs from a Lindencroft subscriber
Hi Friends,
One of your fellow subscribers to the Lindencroft CSA has announced that her chickens are now laying enough eggs to offer them to us each week for $4.50 per dozen. As the days get longer and warmer chickens lay more eggs, so at this time she can offer them to us at this great low price. These chickens are fed feed from Mountain Feed and Farm which another subscriber, Jorah owns. These lucky chickens also eat the organic greens and things that come from the Lindencroft farm that we don't eat. Buying eggs from Marge supports us all. Let me know if you want a dozen eggs included in your box next Tuesday.
Linda
Date: January 21, 2007
Subject: What's in the box!
Hi Friends:
This week I'll be harvesting spinach, and some kind of cruciferous vegetable (either romanesco broccoli or broccoflower). You will also get more salad fixins, fire roasted peppers, and butternut squash. I will send along a little kale and chard to add to the spinach to make a braising mix. You will have enough spinach for both of these recipes if you want to try them. I'll see you on Tuesday.
Here's a recipe for the spinach from Deborah Madison's book "Vegetarian Suppers." Deborah Madison has many cookbooks from her days at "Greens," the very famous and nearly impossible to get a reservation at, restaurant on the San Francisco bay. I love all her books. She's all about vegetables.4 large portobello mushrooms
2 pinches of hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 slices of ciabatta (that's 2 cut in half)
2 garlic cloves, chopped with a small handful of parsley leaves
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Two 4-ounce balls of fresh mozzarella or a mozzarella brick, grated or sliced
3/4 pound braising greens, trimmed and washed or spinach, stems removed1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, remove the mushroom stems, wipe the caps, scrape out the gills with a spoon. Drizzle the inside of the caps with half the oil and sprinkle on all but a teaspoon of the chopped garlic and parsley mix, season with salt and pepper, transfer to a shallow baking pan and bake until the mushrooms are hot and starting to sizzle about 8 to10 minutes.
2. Heat remaining oil in a skillet, add the pepper flakes then add the greens and saute with the reserved parsley-garlic mix until the greens are wilted. Season with salt. If the greens need longer cooking to be tender, you can add a little more water to the pan.
3. Toast the bread under the broiler or in a toaster (when toasted rub lightly with a garlic clove and drizzle a little olive oil over the toast, this is my addition). Divide the cheese among the mushroom caps, cover with the greens, and bake until the cheese is soft and warm, about 5 to 7 minutes. Set each mushroom on its waiting toast and serve.
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tortillas, corn or flour
1 small onion finely diced
1/3 cup monterey jack cheese grated
1/2 cup chopped cilantro salsa, avocado slices, and sour cream if desired
fire roasted peppers (cut into medium pieces) pinch of oregano
1/2 pound spinach
pinch of red pepper flakes1. Heat the oil in a large skillet and the onion, pepper flakes, and oregano. Cook about 4 minutes until the onion is soft and add the fire roasted peppers. Then add the spinach with a a little salt. Cook until the spinach is wilted and tender, about 4 minutes. Add the cilantro
2. Brush a little bit of oil on one side of each tortilla. Using two pans heat one tortilla in each pan, flipping them over to heat both sides. When they get hot, scatter the cheese over the hot surface, then cover with the spinach mixture and top with another tortilla. Cook until the bottom of the tortillas are crisp and then flip to get the other side crisp.
3. Slide them onto a cutting board and cut them into quarters. Plate them and garnish with a dollop of salsa, sliced avocado, and a little sour cream.
Date: January 14, 2007
Subject: This week's box
Hi Friends,
In spite of the frigid weather, we are able to bring to you for your dining pleasure more kale, either beets or turnips, fennel, and salad greens and reds. If the boxes seem a little meager, stay with us and I promise the bounty of spring will soon be here.
Has everybody seen Jorah and Andi's photo on the Cabrillo College Extension Spring class schudule? Jorah and Andi are our fourth subscribers and they own and operate the Mountain Feed and Farm store on Highway 9, in Ben Lomond. They carry all the organic soil amendments I use, but they are pictured on the cover because Jorah is teaching a class on Bio diesel which he supplies at his feed store. Stop in and meet them. They have everything you need in pet and livestock feed as well.I'll see you all on Tuesday,
Linda
Date: January 7, 2007
Subject: the blue bin and the fractal form
Hi Friends,
Finally we have the fractal form of the broccoli romanesco. It's the strange looking spiky spiral that's comes from the brassica family. It's related to cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi. It is said to be most like a cauliflower but has a nuttier flavor. This is my first time growing it and eating it. Unfortunately the plant takes up a lot of real estate and once the main head is harvested, it's time to pull the whole plant out. It takes about 3 1/2 months to grow it so I'm hoping that it tastes really good. Most recipes say to treat it like cauliflower, steaming it, sauce or no, it's up to you. You can carefully break it up to steam it and then use it for dipping. I rarely use sauces on vegetables, preferring the pure and simple taste of a well grown vegetable. Let me know how you cooked it and what you thought of it.You will also have carrots, tatsoi, and chard.
See you on Tuesday,
Linda from Lindencroft
Date: December 31, 2006
Subject: No box this week
Happy New Year All,
I'm taking a week off, giving the garden a little time to catch up with us. When the temperatures have been as low as they have for the past several weeks, the vegetables just don't grow. We will have chard, kale, spinach, fennel, broccoli rabe, and carrots ahead of us. The lettuces in the greenhouse will be ready soon. For those of you who have paid in advance, your shares will be extended by a week. I'll see you again on Jan 9th. Have a wonderful and safe New Years, and we thank all of you for supporting the farm.Linda
Date: December 25, 2006
Subject: what's in the box
Hi everyone,
I know I'm late with this newsletter. The family doings are all over and everyone has gone home with big bags of leftovers. I'm going to get out there early and harvest spinach, beets (but not for Laura), radishes, broccoli and broccoli rabe. There's supposed to be a big storm front on it's way with lots of rain. My satellite dish sometimes flakes out in the rain. If you need to contact me regarding pickup and it's raining cats and dogs, better use the phone to reach me. My number is 206-7126. See you all tomorrow.
Linda
Date: December 17, 2006
Subject: what's in the blue bin for Tuesday December 19th
Hi Friends,
Speaking of blue bins, you need to round up the ones you've received so I can refill them. For those who always remember, thanks a bunch.It's supposed to get down to 26 degrees tonight, usually a few degrees lower at my place. If everything makes it nicely through the freeze you can look forward to fennel, baby turnips, a mix of spinach and tatsoi and red russian kale. Also a butternut winter squash.
The fennel bulb should be used within a couple of days. You should cut off the root end and cut off the stems. The stems can be chopped and added to soups like potato leek or fish chowders. The bulb can be halved, then quartered, then sliced thinly and used just as you would celery. You can add it to tuna salad or chicken salad, tossed with green salad, or cut it in to dipping slices and use as crudites. Eaten raw they taste of mild licorice but cooked they become very mellow and sweet, a lot like onion. They are really good added to scalloped potatoes. I would quarter the fennel bulb, slice it as thin as you can, slice up a yellow onion and saute them together in a little butter and olive oil. Let them cool while you slice up some potatoes, add the fennel and onion mixture to the potatoes with some grated Jarlsberg or Gruyere cheese and a little salt and pepper. Put it in a buttered baking dish and add enough half-and-half or whole milk to come just to the top of the potatoes and bake it at 350 degrees for around 30 minutes or until the milk is absorbed and the potatoes are tender. Good cold weather food.
This time the kale is red russian. Red russian kale is a little more assertive than some of the other kales. The books say that it grows sweeter with a little frost. We'll see about that. I usually add it to soups. It goes well with bean soups and tomato based soups.
Here is a recipe for red russian kale with dried cranberries and red onions (very festive and seasonal)
1-1/2 pounds of kale
2 quarts of water
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium red onions, chopped
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Cut away the leaves from the center stem. Rinse the leaf pieces. Boil the water in a large pan, add the salt and the kale, pushing it down into the water. Cover and boil for 5 minutes. Add the cranberries and simmer for a few minutes more. Drain away the water and hold the kale in a bowl. Wipe out the pan and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Saute the onions until they are lightly browned, about 4 or 5 minutes. Transfer to another bowl. Put the last tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and add the drained kale and cranberries. Reheat a few minutes and add the onions. Mix in the onions and you're ready to serve.The white baby turnips can be steamed until tender and then briefly glazed in a little butter. Or they can be eaten raw, sliced or grated and added to salads. Cut off the greens and without washing you can store them for a few days in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. You can saute the turnip greens just like chard, kale, and spinach greens.
My favorite way to cook butternut squash is to cut away the peel and cut the squash into cubes about 3/4 to one inch. Toss them with a few quatered shallots, a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. There are many other ways to use it though. Added to risotto, made into soup, the roasted cubes can be added to green salads. For hundreds more ideas go to www.epicurious.com Do a search on butternut squash.
That's it for this week, Thank you all for supporting Lindencroft.
Linda
Date: December 10, 2006
Subject: what's in the bin for Tuesday December 12
Hello Everyone,
This is 'eat your broccoli and peppers week' at the farm. I'm urging you to eat peppers because surprisingly we still have good looking peppers to harvest. I thought they would have long ago succumbed to the freezing temperatures and the soggy weather. The end is near, but until that time I will keep putting them in your bins. I've been adding them to the broccoli for stir-fries over brown rice. I've been making frittatas with the broccoli and peppers. I've been having roasted pepper and goat cheese sandwiches. Have you tried grilled chicken breast, fired roasted peppers, and Jarelsburg in ciabatta sandwiches. You brush a little olive oil over both sides of the bread and grill the sandwich. They are so good. I've made a sauce of peppers, tomatoes, and onions to pour over turkey meat loaf. There are so many ways to use peppers.Besides broccoli and peppers, you'll find Purple Haze Carrots with a few Kurota carrots mixed in. Also you'll find a mix of Silver chard, Ruby chard, and Golden Chard. We will fire roast some peppers for you on Tuesday morning. Take the tops off the carrots before refrigerating them. The broccoli, peppers, and chard should be refrigerated. The fire roasted peppers can be refrigerated for 3 or 4 days, or you can put the package in the freezer and keep them for months.
I was hoping to have salad mix for everyone. The cool weather has slowed the growth, but by next week we should have beautiful greens. I'm growing some in the greenhouse and some in the outside lettuce bed. We'll see if there's a difference in the taste when their ready.
See you all on Tuesday.
Linda
Date: December 3, 2006
Subject: What's in the BoxHello to Everyone,
I'm harvesting broccoli rabe or "rapini" as the Italians call it. Also tat soi, mizuna, beets, and Delacata winter squash.Here is a simple and quick (20 minutes or so) vegetarian way to cook rapini. Wash it under running water. Gather it all in a bunch and cut it into roughly into 2 inch pieces. Discard the woody ends, but do use all the upper leaves and stems. Put on some water for whole wheat spaghetti to cook in. Grate some Pecorino Romano, this is a cheese you can buy from Costco that I like a lot more that Parmesan. It's a little richer and a little saltier than Parmesan. About 1 cup grated is enough for 2 people. Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, add some red pepper flakes, chopped garlic, and just as the garlic turns golden, add the chopped broccoli rabe to the pan. Saute until the broccoli rabe is tender. Add a few spoonfuls of pasta water if it needs to cook a little longer. Toss it with the cooked pasta and the grated cheese. I like to drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta at this time. You probably won't need to add salt, but taste it and see. Just the greens with a little cheese over pasta is a very typical Italian family dinner.
About whole wheat pasta. The first few times I tried it, I didn't like it. I found that there is a lot of variation in the texture among the different brands. The one I like a lot is Bionaturae available from New Leaf. It's not gummy.
Tat soi is an asian green that is used like spinach. It's sweet like spinach and just as tender. You can tear the leaves and add them to salads for added nutrition. You can shred the leaves and add them to soup. If you do that, add them towards the end of the cooking time of the soup because they don't need much cooking. Mizuna is a Japanese mustard green, but it's mild, not hot like some mustards. I use tat soi and mizuna together to make a very pretty salad.
Make a dressing of the following ingredients:
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 tablespoons finely grated shallot
salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
Mix together with a fork to form an emulsion and drizzle over the greens.Delicata winter squash is sometimes called sweet potato squash because the taste is similar. It is a good source of potassium, iron, and vitamins A and C. You can roast it and have it over greens for another vegetarian dinner. To prepare the squash, cut it in half the long way and then cut the halves into 1-inch thick slices. Scrape away the seeds. Add a few tablespoons of butter to a pan and brown the squash on both sides. Browning takes about 2 minutes for each side. When all the squash pieces have been browned, put them in a baking pan, sprinkle on salt, pepper, herbs if you like and bake at 450degrees until tender, about 20 minutes. At this point you can let the squash cool and serve it at room temperature over salad greens with a dressing of your choice.
The winter squash will be fine for several weeks in a cool, dark place. There is no need to refrigerate it. The greens and beets should be refrigerated.
See you all on Tuesday.
LindaLast Updated: February 6, 2012
Lindencroft Farm
Linda and Steven Butler
Ben Lomond, CA 95005
831-206-7126
email – info@lindencroft.com
