Category Archives: chard

In the Share – Week 2

LETTUCE (2): One of our favorite French heirloom butterheads and one red looseleaf.

SPINACH: A smaller portion than last week’s big bag from last fall’s planting. The February planting isn’t nearly as lush.

GREEN ONIONS: These are out of the field from an over-wintered patch.

ENDIVE: Also called frisee, it is lovely in mixed salads or lightly sauteed

SWISS CHARD: The plants are enormous and hogging the sunlight, so they gotta go!

SPRING TURNIPS: More Japanese delicacies. We should have planted more of these (next year!).

STIR-FRY GREENS: Many of our brassica family, including the bok choy and Napa cabbage have started bolting. They are still tasty and you get a little pretty flower too!

RADISHES: Wish we had lots more of these babies, everyone will get a few.

HERBS: From the perennial herb beds, tarragon and chives.

NEXT WEEK: More lettuce, spinach, herbs and green onions. Finally Hopefully asparagus!

 FARM REPORT: My goodness, have you all looked at the forecast? Freezing temperatures are on the way, maybe even some snow. This is coming after 2 days in the 80s. We are as prepared as we possibly can be since all the row cover we put out last week is still out there, but row cover only helps so much. We are happy that we have not put out any of the warm weather crops yet. The tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cukes and squashes are safely stored for a hopefully soon transplanting. But even the cool-loving crops don’t like freezing and this see-saw of weather can lead to premature bolting. We are currently experiencing the results of this in the high tunnel with the flowering bok choys and napas.

On a related note, at this point we feel that we will delay the start of the 24-week season by one week. That would make the first week May 22/25. Our plan is to add a week at the end of October to make it up. It is funny because last year we started a week early, which was unusual, and ended earlier in the fall. Anyway, the asparagus is really slow to start and the lettuces and other greens and roots are also slow and won’t be big enough to hand out. We’ll look at it again next week and give you all an update but that’s what we are thinking at the moment.

What to Do With Your Share— Extended Season Week 1

Welcome to the start of the 2013 Fair Share Farm CSA Season. We welcome a host of new and “seasoned” members and look forward to a tasty year. We will try not to complain about the weather this Spring and will only say that the status of the harvest is a function of it. And while we had hoped that the crops would be farther along by now, they are nonetheless ready for harvest.

One vegetable the high tunnel is well matched for is spinach, as it will grow well February through April. So we are happy to be able to have fresh spinach for you. We will be working to learn more and more about the idiosyncracies of growing this lucious green. Good fresh or cooked, these leaves are quite savory and full-bodied.

Their relative, chard, is the recipe for the week. We had to pick the plants two weeks ago as they were shading out everything around them. A regular meal for us became Chicken and Chard Cacciatore. The chard is also good simply as a tomato sauce ingredient, helping to fill the pot with the greens we all need. Tomatoes and peppers frozen from the previous summer are always a good addition and a perfect use for them.

Chicken and Chard Cacciatore over Spinach

1 whole chicken, cut into parts
1 qt tomato sauce
One bunch chard
2 cups or one can peeled tomatoes
2 cups chopped sweet or green peppers
One onion/green garlic bunch or 2 medium onions
Salt and pepper to taste

To easily cut the stem from chard fold the leaf, lay it on its side, and trim off the stem

Cut white parts of onion/garlic into 1/2 inch rounds
Cut stems from chard and chop into large dice
Fry the chicken parts until browned (10 to 15 minutes), remove from pan and keep warm
Add 1 tsp olive oil to pan and saute onions, garlic and chard stems
Return chicken to the pan
Add peppers, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chopped chard leaves
Stir so sauce coats everything in the pot and cover
Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer covered for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is tender
Serve over chopped fresh spinach, pasta, rice, or by itself