Turtle Times
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Vol. 14, No. 3, May 26, ‘09 7260 NW 58th St., Johnston 50131 278-4522 (577-9208)
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Rain: Trace
In the Box . . .
Lettuce ‘Freckles’, ‘Deer Tongue’
Endive ‘Tres Fines’
Turnips ‘Hakurei’
Broccoli Rabe
Spinach ‘Hector’, ‘Whale’, ‘Tyee’
Radish ‘Pink Beauty’, ‘Cherry Belle’
Green garlic
Asparagus (for some)
Pansies, edible flowers
Ala carte options: Herbs ($1 ea.) rosemary, lovage; flower bouquet , false indigo & peony ($10). Email me if you want any of these this week.
Farm Update
One of Turtle Farm’s new customers this year is Lisa Vetterlein and her husband, Jeremy Sievers. I’m singling her out because I had never met her until the orientation meeting. She looks and sounds just like her twin sister, Kristin Vetterlein, who was my only full time employee in 1999, the first year at Turtle Farm’s current location. Thank goodness Kristin was a very hard worker, because, as you can imagine, there was a lot of work to do on the new farm. That was the year we hand dug 500 row feet of trench for the first asparagus planted at the farm. Those two rows are still the most productive of all the asparagus planted later. We planted thousands of strawberries by hand and dug every potato by hand. That year we could count on one hand the number of earthworms on the farm that we saw doing all that digging because it was the first year of conversion from conventionally farmed ground to organic. Now we count handfuls in every spade full that we dig. So it was good to meet and see Lisa and to refresh memories of early Turtle Farm adventures with Kristin.
Work has gotten a little easier on the farm with the addition of equipment over the years. This year we have added a new transplanter—a Holland Rotary-One with a water tank to water in transplants as they are being planted. This last week we planted about 1250 peppers, 325 eggplant and 160 more tomatoes (in addition to the 750 planted previously) in less than one day. The biggest reaction from the farm crew, other than the fact that their bodies felt much better afterward than they would have if done by hand, was how nice and straight the rows were. Had we gotten it earlier, we could also have planted onions, broccoli, cabbages, etc. with it. (Picture is attached for those with online newsletters. Hard copy newsletter customers will have to go to the website to check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/turtle-farm )
This week’s lettuces are old favorites. Deer Tongue lettuce is so fragile you would never find it in a grocery store. It’s hard for us to get it to you without damaging the leaves, but it tastes so good. Freckles has several additional names—Forellenscluss, and Flashy Trout Back (you can see why we use Freckles). I often repeat for the benefit of newcomers that it is supposed to be spotted like that—it does not have a disease. Also for newcomers, I don’t grow white radishes—those are the early spring turnips. The broccoli rabe is the first cooking green of the season for you, although the turnip greens are good, too. I even had radish greens wilted over a quinoa dish with broccoli and onions this weekend. Reminder: All produce has a quick rinse at the farm, but you should always wash it before eating.
2009 Farm Crew, Part 2
Hi, I'm Betsy Wenz. I am originally from Nevada, IA and am currently a grad student at Iowa State studying nutritional sciences. This summer I will work part time until I finish up my thesis (so I can graduate in August - yay!!!) and full time through the end of the summer. Pretty much all aspects of food interest me - eating it, preparing it, learning about the history and science behind it, eating it, smelling it and eating it. I'm thankful for the opportunity to work at Turtle Farm and gain a better understanding of where my food comes from and all that goes into it. I am also looking forward to getting some hands-on local agriculture experience and learning as much as I can about organic vegetable production with hopes to someday be part of a community garden and integrating it with nutrition and food preparation/preservation education.
Recipe
This recipe sounds interesting, although many of us never get beyond roasting or making Mark’s asparagus from the website. I think the Oriental sesame oil must not be roasted sesame oil as I would think it might be too strong in the amount called for, so play around with those carefully.
Chilled Asparagus with Sesame Vinaigrette (from Bon Appétit)
2 lb asparagus, trimmed
2 T. plus 2 tsp. Oriental sesame oil
1 T. plus 1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 T. plus 1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
Sesame seeds, toasted
Cook asparagus in a large skillet of boiling salted water until just crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Pat dry with paper towels. Arrange on platter. Mix sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar in small bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon dressing over asparagus. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve. (Asparagus and dressing can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)