Turtle Times
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Vol. 15, No. 10, July 13, ‘10 7260 NW 58th St., Johnston 50131 278-4522 (577-9208)
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Rain: 7/4, 0.9; 7/8, 0.2”
In the Box . . .
Potatoes ‘Caribe’
Carrots ‘Nelson’ (from Growing Harmony Farm)
Cabbage ‘Farao’
Onion ‘Ailsa Craig’
Cucumbers ‘Marketmore’, ‘Armenian’
Summer Squash ‘Dark Green’, ‘Costata’, ‘Zuchetta’ (some sites)
Green beans ‘Maxibel’, ‘EZ pick’ (some sites)
Raspberries ‘Autumn Bliss’ (some sites)
Ala carte options: Lemon, lime, thai, and cinnamon basil, rosemary, dill, parsley, tarragon, mint, choc. mint ($1 ea.), a few Swiss chard ($3/bag), fennel ($4)
Free: Sage
(Please email angela@turtle-farm.com or call 278-4522 to request ala carte or free items.)
Farm Update
The rafters of the barn are filling with garlic, and it smells heavenly. We had a nice turnout of helpers young and older on Saturday. We got about ¼ of one variety harvested. At some point in the morning as we pulled out such nice large garlic bulbs, we surmised that when a recipe asks for several cloves of garlic, it is probably sufficient to only use one ‘German Extra Hardy’ clove, although if you really like garlic you could still use several and be happy. Many thanks go to Tracy and Joe Boyles, Terri Schreiber, Naomi, Isabelle, and Lydia Thomasee, Rachel Loose, Dave Porter, and Debbie Julien and her friends Eunyang Kim, Heeeun, Youngchan, and Jihyn Kang, all who spent hours working on that beautiful day. We hope to have pictures for you soon. Thank you also to Roslea Johnson, who came out again last week to help weed. This time she worked in the golden beets, our next succession of beets, for all you beet lovers out there.
Now is a good time to tell you the two crops we are providing this year that are not considered organic. Those would be Gary Guthrie’s carrots (Growing Harmony Farm) and most of our own sweet potatoes. Gary uses organic practices that I am comfortable with, but he is not certified organic. We purchase those from him several times during the season. The organic sweet potato slips that we purchased and planted this spring did not survive well--only about ¼ made it. We then supplemented from our previous source (not organic) of Harvey’s in Adel.
Recipes
The potato salad recipe from last week came from Lori Schirmer. (I had attributed it to the wrong person.) This week, an unusual but tasty recipe with carrots is one I got from Ellen Taylor. Although it is a dip recipe, I also like it wrapped in a tortilla with some cheese and browned in a touch of oil kind of like a quesadilla. It has accompanied John and me in our lunches on many occasions.
Carrot Dip with Curry and Cumin
2 c. sliced carrots 1 tsp ground cumin
½ c. chopped onion ½ can of white beans drain and rinse
2 cloves minced garlic ½ tsp salt, as needed
8 T olive oil ½ c. chopped cilantro
2 tsp curry
Boil carrots until tender—10 – 15 minutes. Sauté onions in half of olive oil—add garlic, cumin, curry at end. Puree the carrots with remaining olive oil—might need a little of the cooking water—add the beans. Put carrot/bean mixture in a bowl; add onion, garlic and spices. Add salt to taste; stir in cilantro.
The following recipe was sent by our oldest daughter, Amy. May I reassure all of you with young children who may not totally appreciate the healthier food you are trying to provide for them, that they are absorbing the idea of it all if not the actual food. At some point in their later lives they really do exhibit knowledge and appreciation for it. It is a joy when both our daughters share food ideas with us now.
Garlic Green Beans (source unknown)
Toast 4 sliced garlic cloves and a pinch of cayenne pepper in a skillet with butter. Add 1- ¼ pounds green beans, season with salt, and a pinch of sugar and cook 2 minutes. Add ¼ c. water, cover and cook 6 minutes, then uncover and boil until the water evaporates. Season with salt and pepper and toss with chopped pecans.