peacefrog's lilypad

Week 18 (That is to say, the 19th and second to last(!!) week.)

• 2 bunches Carrots
• 2 bunches Beets
• 2 bunches Radishes
• 2 bunches Parsnips
• 2 bunches Chard
• 2 bunches Mizuna
• 2 lbs assorted Peppers
• 2 Delicata Squash
• 2 Butternut Squash
  =50#

Luckily, I only had to lug 25 pounds of that myself, and a fair bit of that was a monster 12-pound butternut. I'm getting a little concerned that my winter squash display is going to collapse the table it's on.

We're totally into soup weather now and I have plenty of options for it. I could do a squash soup, of course, or roasted vegetables, or saute-stuff-then-add-broth-and-stuff, which encompasses countless options. But I haven't actually *made* any soup yet because I've been remarkably indolent. Well, that's not really true, of course; I've just been consumed with other things. And the weather this week has been such a downer, but I had a fun time last night at a spontaneous celebration of a friend's birthday which was pretty fab. Still just feeling way more alone than I like these days.

[Catching up on posting these (they are backdated), so minimal commentary.]

Week 15

• 12 ears Corn
• 2 lbs Tomatoes (yellow)
• 2 lbs Banana Peppers
• 2 lbs Zucchini
• 4 Eggplant
• 2 bunches Beets
• 2 bunches Chard
• 2 Butternut Squash of Unusual Size*
• =(I couldn't even carry it all at once)

* Mine weighed in at 8# and according to my sharebuddy (who picked up for me because I was working the polls) it was one of the small ones. He wasn't strong enough to carry large ones, alas.

Week 16

• 8 ears Corn
• 2 lbs Green Beans
• 2 lbs Zucchini
• 2 lbs Cubanelle Peppers
• 2 lbs Shells Beans (Kidney)
• 2 lbs Tomatoes (yellow)
• 2 bunches Arugula
• 2 bunches Radishes
• 2 bunches Broccoli
• 2 Delicata Squash
  =(see above)

[Catching up on posting these (they are backdated), so minimal commentary. Oh, except I made 1.5 gallons of kick-ass roasted tomato sauce. :) Also, we sold off the Red Fire share, so this is just Parker.]

Week 11

• 2 bunches Carrots (yellow)
• 2 bunches Raab
• 2 lbs Sweet Banana Peppers
• 2 lbs Zucchini
• 4 Eggplant
• 4 lbs Red Potatoes
• 10 lbs Tomatoes (!!)
• =(forgot to weigh it, but clearly a LOT)

Week 12

• 6 lbs Tomatoes
• 4 Zucchini (giant!)
• 4 Eggplants
• 2 lbs Peppers
• 4 lbs Potatoes
• 4 Cucumbers (also giant!)
• 2 bunches Red Russian Kale
• 2 Yellow Doll Watermelons (yay!!)
  =40#

Back to a huge differential this week. Granted, there was the corn (and omg, such good corn! More on that shortly), but even assuming the corn weighed 20 lbs, not counting it would still leave a factor of three. And besides, I *like* corn. Yesterday I used much of it in my Chipotle Corn Soup, which I recommend highly. Of course, this time I had the advantage of using my magical machine (aka the VitaMix), so I was able to make it silky smooth *without* pushing it through a sieve. I also added a couple of boiled new potatoes after realizing I had dropped in way too much adobo. (Then I ate the other few potatoes I'd cooked plain. Damn, those are good potatoes!)

The soup was heavenly. I had one big bowl with a few tortilla chips crumbled in and froze the rest. Hopefully there will be more corn and I can make more.

• 2 bunches Beets (red)
• 2 bunches Chard
• 2 bunches Spring Onions
• 4 lbs Potatoes (red gold)
• 2 pints Tomatillos
• 24 ears Corn
• 2 lbs Tomatoes!
• 2 heads Cabbage (red)
  =45#
  --
• 1 head Lettuce
• 1 Eggplant
• 1 Cabbage (red)
• 1 bunch Edamame
• 1 Bell Pepper (green)
• 1.5 lb Onions
• 1 lb Zucchini
• 1/4 lb Basil
• 1 quart Tomatoes
  =8.4#

And speaking of tomatoes, I amused myself by commenting here and I suspect some of you will be amused as well. Special props to ayelle, whose response made me lol. And run screaming.

So many veggies! The garden is coming along as well, though due to my late start, isn't quite fruiting yet. Which is fine -- there's still plenty of time. (Speaking of, who wants a hot pepper seedling?) Meanwhile, I've been cooking/prepping up a storm and have many meals in my fridge, including roasted roots, greens and peanut stew, cauliflower carrot puree, roasted string beans, shredded beets, carrots, and kohlrabi, marinated kale+, and non-harvest-related accessories such as rice and sauce.

What does this mean? It means I need people to come over and eat! Ess, ess, you're wasting away! (Dominion is not even required. ;) Also, given sufficient notice, if you tell me you're coming over with fresh tomatoes, I will bake focaccia to go with the bruschetta we shall make.

• 2 bunches Beets (w/ greens)
• 2 bunches Carrots (orange)
• 4 lbs Potatoes (by volume)
• 2 bunches Basil
• 2 bunches Red Russian Kale
• 2 bunches Spring Onions
• 3 lbs Summer Squash
• 2 bunches Celery
• 4 Cucumbers
• 10 ears Corn
  Total weight: 34 lbs
  --
• 1/3 lb Beet Greens
• 2 Onions
• 6 ears Corn
• 3 Cucumbers (1 lb)
• 2 Tomatoes
• 1 head Garlic
• 1 head Lettuce
• 1 lb Summer Squash
• 1.5 lb Potatoes
• 1/4 lb Basil
• 1 bunch Chard
  Total weight: 13 lbs

Progress! Down to from a factor of just under four to a little under three. Still don't know what to do with all that darn squash, though. It's just not one of my favorite veggies.

Two long weekends in a row of camping makes a frog slackful about posting updates. Even moreso than usual, that is.

Week 4

• 2 bunches Broccoli Rabe
• 2 heads Cauliflower
• 2 bunches Kohlrabi (w/ greens)
• 2 bunches Red Russian Kale
• 2 bunches Fennel
• 2 bunches Chiogga Beets (w/ greens)
• 2 bunches Basil
• 2 bunches Yellow Carrots
• 2 lbs Summer Squash
  ==
• 1 head Lettuce
• 1 bunch Carrots
• 4 Zucchini/Summer Squash
• 1 bunch herbs (Dill or Cilantro)
• 1 bunch Kale or Collards
• 1 bunch Pearl Onions
• 1/3 lb Spinach
• 5 Cucumbers
• 1 bunch Beets

Week 5

• 2 bunches Red Beets (w/ greens)
• 2 lbs Fava Beans
• 2 bunches Cilantro (who in the world needs this much cilantro?)
• 2 bunches Mizuna
• 2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (new potatoes!)
• 3 lbs Cousa Squash (ooh, pretty green!)
• 2 (big giant) heads Cauliflower
• 2 heads Cabbage
• 4 (sizable) Cucumbers
• 2 bunches Biera Kale (ooh, new type of kale!)
• 2 buches Carrots (orange)
  ==
• 1 head (slightly sunburnt) Lettuce
• 1 stalk Garlic
• 2 oz Basil
• 1.5 lb Green Beans
• 1 (sizable) Zucchini
• 2 Kohlrabi (w/ greens)
• 1 Cucumber
• 1 bunch Scallions
• 1 (small) head Cabbage (sharebuddy called it an extra-large brussels sprout)

I wasn't around for the second part of Week 4, but for Week 5, the entire RF share fit into a bag that held 1/4 of Parker. It's a little frustrating and we're thinking about selling off the remainder of the season, since half of one large Parker is thusfar providing each of us with plenty. The only veg I *really* want that Parker doesn't grow is garlic, but RF doesn't provide enough of that to meet all my garlic needs, and getting it at the markets would be a lot cheaper than the share, anyway. (DD's farm out in Easthampton grows and gives garlic like crazy, too, so I plan to mooch off him later in the season. The stuff I got from him last year was the best garlic ever.)

SO MANY VEGGIES! Last week's kimchi turned out great, and very spicy. I love eating it, but it sets my mouth on fire. Luckily, it's not a lingering heat, so if I pause between bites, I'm okay. This week there must be more kimchi because the farms delivered up all the ingredients as if giving an order.

• 2 heads Escarole
• 2 heads Romaine Lettuce
• 2 heads Red Leaf Lettuce
• 2 bunches Scallions
• 2 bunches Beets (with greens)
• 2 bunches Radishes (with greens?)
• 2 bunches Red Chard
• 2 bunches Kale
• 2 bunches Baby (aww) Carrots (also with greens but having tried, I've given up on eating 'em)
• 2 heads Cabbage
  ==
• 1 bunch Scallions
• 1/3 lb Spinach
• 2 heads Lettuce (green)
• 1 bunch Beets (with greens)
• 1 bunch Oregano
• 1/4 lb Garlic Scapes
• 1 bunch Kale (dinosaur)
• 2 Kohlrabi (purple, with greens (purples?))
• 2 Carrots

My current favorite thing to do with kale (and I'm sure it would work with other greens as well), is to eat it raw and marinated. I wouldn't have believed raw kale could be that good until I had a similar dish at a friend's house, so if you're doubting, I suggest trying it. Here's my basic technique:

Raw Marinated Kale

1. Shred or chop the kale into a bowl.
2. Add 1/2-1 tsp sea salt (depending on how much kale there is and how much salt you like).
3. I massage the salt into the kale to speed things up, but you can skip this.
4. Whisk acid (3T) with olive oil (1T) along with a clove or two of fresh minced garlic and pour over kale. The acid can be any nice vinegar (I've been mostly using balsamic, but white balsamic worked, red wine, etc) or lemon juice, etc.
5. Toss it all together and let it sit a few hours or overnight, or however long you can stand to wait. I pack it into a quart-sized take-out container for ease of fridging.
6. Eat! Nomnom so good! Works well with lots of other stuff, too, so have fun.

Could I be any more excited about the start of farm share season? YAY!!!

Once again, I am splitting two full shares, but this year, Parker has started a week before Red Fire, so in the interest of syncing up the tags, I'm calling this Week 0. It was great to see Steve and chat with my fellow shareholders. As usual, some of these bunches are bigger than my head. To illustrate, the bunch of red leaf lettuce I bought at the farmer's market yielded one big salad, but last night I had two big salads off the red leaf and still have at least 2/3 of it left.

• 2 bunches Red Leaf Lettuce
• 2 bunches Bibb Lettuce
• 2 bunches Pea Tendrils
• 2 bunches Mizuna
• 2 bunches Chicory
• 2 bunches Bok Choi
• 2 bunches Spinach
• 2 bunches Red Russian Kale

[ETA: Last year I started out showing just my take, but that was very confusing and I shifted to listing the total shares each week, which is what I'll do this year as well.]