CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #13 (25 May - 31 May)

LAST WEEK OF THE AUTUMN SHARE AND OUR 2012-2013 CSA! WOW!  This is week #13 of the Autumn Share and week #26 of our CSA.  We thank you for your support, for enjoying local food, for sharing your food inspirations and thoughts on this service and for eating so many different types of turnips!

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.  We envisage that many of the vegetables you are receiving this week will last for two weeks with careful attention to storing upon arrival.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Beet Root – Harvesting bunches of 'Bulls Blood' and 'Ruby Queen'. Broccoli – Harvesting heads from a new planting 'Marathon'.  There will not be the surplus of last week but there should be a head in every box. 'Romanesco' Broccoli - This is more like a cauliflower then a broccoli.  The lovely lime green spirals are tender with a slightly nutty flavor.  Delicious raw. Use as you would cauliflower or broccoli. The planting teases us with a few heads every week.  If you have something in your box that looks like an "Escher" painting with spirals inside spirals, its 'Romanesco'. Green Cabbage - 'Green Acre' Cauliflower - The plantings of 'Green Macerata' and 'Sicily Purple' cauliflower are continuing to produce heads ready for harvest.  There is also a planting of white cauliflower 'Early Snowball' heading up. Kale – Harvesting bunches of 'Nero di Toscana', 'Red Russian' and 'Dwarf Blue Curled'. Leeks – We have cleared out all the leeks and will be dividing them between all the boxes. Lettuce – Harvesting lovely small heads of 'Brown Mignonette', 'Brown Cos' and 'Green Mignonette'. Mesclun – Harvesting a lovely mix of baby "greens". Parsnips – ‘Guernsey’. We have cleared out the planting and hope to include some parsnips in every box. Peas – Harvesting 'Oregon Giant' Snow Peas. Pumpkin – 'Queensland Blue' and 'Hercules Butternut'. Silver Beet – Harvesting bunches of 'Red Ruby'. Swedes – A Vermont favourite, known as a 'Rutabega' in those parts, are a wonderful addition to stews. While these may look a bit like a turnip, they are frost resistant and have a sweet, mild flavour when roasted. Tat Soi – Harvest bunches of this Asian green great raw or lightly braised.

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING With this being the last box of this CSA season, we ask that you let us know what you have thought of this service.  Were the boxes too big, too small, too diverse, not enough of each item, perfect every week?  Were there items you would have liked more often, items you would have liked less often or ones you would have prefered not to have?  The difference between being part of a CSA and buying food from markets, growers shops, and grocery stores is that we are your farmers.  We are growing the food for YOU.  So please tell us what you think now while we have the time to change our program for next year.  Emailing us at petercarlyon@gmail.com .

Our harvesting will begin again in the Spring.  We will be contacting you over the winter to see if you would like to be a part of our CSA then.  Thank you for your support!!  We are enjoying the direct relationship we have had growing your food.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #12 (18 May - 24 May)

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Broccoli – Harvesting heads from a new planting 'Marathon' and side shoots from previous plantings of 'Marathon' and 'De Cicco'. 'Romanesco' Broccoli - This is more like a cauliflower then a broccoli.  The lovely lime green spirals are tender with a slightly nutty flavor.  Delicious raw. Use as you would cauliflower or broccoli. The planting teases us with a few heads every week.  If you have something in your box that looks like an "Escher" painting with spirals inside spirals, its 'Romanesco'. Red Cabbage - 'Red Rock' Carrots – Harvesting 'Scarlett Nantes' orange carrots this week....have you noticed how the cold is sweetening the carrots? Cauliflower - The plantings of 'Green Macerata' and 'Sicily Purple' cauliflower are continuing to produce heads ready for harvest.  These plantings are not coming on uniformly so we are uncertain how many heads will be ready each week.  There is also a planting of white cauliflower heading up. Chillies - We will include 'Birdseye' chillies in your box if you request them.  Please email us if you would like them. Coriander – Bunch in every box. Kohlrabi – We are harvesting the 'Purple Vienna' Kohlrabi's this week.  The heat in April turned many of the swollen stems woody, a far cry from the succulent sweetness the ones we are putting in the boxes have after the first frost.  The full shares will receive them this week and then we can see how many remain.  Kohlrabi, eaten raw, has a huge amount of Vitamin C as well as trace minerals.  We will be planting more for the Spring share. Leeks – Harvesting the last of the ‘American Flag’ leeks. Lettuce – Harvesting lovely small heads of 'Brown Mignonette'. Mizuna – This is a Japanese mustard green. They can be mixed into salads, stir fried or added to soups. Expect a bunch of this or a bunch of 'Osaka Purple'. Mustard – Harvesting bunches of young 'Osaka Purple' mustard greens.  Expect a bunch of this or a bunch of 'Mizuna'. Parsnips – ‘Guernsey’. Clearing out the last of this planting. Peas – Harvesting 'Sugar Ann' Sugar Snaps. Rocket – The cold has added flavour to the rocket! 'Perpetual Gator' Silver Beet – Bunches of the young, tender green silver beet. Turnips – ‘Purple Top’ or 'Scarlett Queen'.

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING We loved looking at the colour in the boxes as we filled them on Wednesday- not sure if the grayness of the day made them glow more.  And in the field, the grayness really does make all the colour of the crops glow more!  And having had two light frosts before the clouds moved in, the Autumn crops are much sweeter! With two weeks left of the CSA, we are surprised with how much food is still growing.  If you are unsure how to get through what's in the box this week, pickle some of the cabbage and use it in the middle of winter.  Save some carrots for next week as this is their last week.  Make a stew with parsnips and turnips.  Roast your cauliflower and leeks with coconut oil and salt and savour their delicious flavour. Put the sugar snaps on the table and eat them all!!! Make a salad with the lettuce, rocket, mustard and red cabbage. Make a soup with everything that remains in your veggie drawer from last week. The perpetual gator will wait a week if you wrap it in paper towels...but with its lemony flavour, enjoy it with leeks in a tart.

With most the weeding finished for now, we are tilling, sowing cover crops, planting cauliflower for the spring and finalising what we will grow next year.  Have your say by emailing us at petercarlyon@gmail.com.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  As we really shift away from the light hungry, heat loving plants, I feel grateful to have had a summer harvest which blessed us with pumpkins, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn - Which made the soil warm enough to grow our root crops for harvesting through the winter - and compost still rotting with the warmth.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families. So, please, delight us with your silver beet stews, cauliflower curries, broccoli soups and pumpkin, spinach and ricotta lasagnas!

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Kohlrabi and Apple Salad We liked this recipe that I found on the internet.  Kohlrabi Avocado Salad Nikki Fisher of Whole food Mama included a Lamb Shanks and Barley Soup on her blog this week.  The recipe includes parsnips and turnips! Red Cabbage and Apple Salad

You can find more recipes by searching key ingredients on our website recipe page.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #11 (11 May - 17 May)

WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Beetroot – Harvesting ‘Detroit Red’, ‘Bulls Blood’ and some ‘Golden Detroit’. Broccoli – We are hoping the next planting of broccoli will be ready for harvest on Tuesday for Wednesday's boxes.  Saturday's boxes rare receiving bunches of side shoots. The new planting appears to be aphid and caterpillar free! 'Romanesco' Broccoli - This almost looks more like a cauliflower then a broccoli.  The lovely lime green spirals are tender with a slightly nutty flavor.  Delicious raw. Use as you would cauliflower or broccoli. There are only a few plants heading up at this time but we hope the whole planting will in the next fortnight. Green Cabbage - 'Green Acre' Carrots – Harvesting 'Scarlett Nantes' orange carrots this week. Cauliflower - The plantings of 'Green Macerata' and 'Sicily Purple' cauliflower are continuing to produce heads ready for harvest.  These plantings are not coming on uniformly so we are uncertain how many heads will be ready each week.  We hope those that did not receive it last week, will this week.  There is also a planting of white cauliflower starting to head up...I am going to give up saying when cauliflower might be ready for harvest as these still are not...but maybe we will begin to harvest them soon. Celery – ‘Tall Utah’.  We have left all the side shoots on the celery this week as it is perfect in stocks.  If you do not make stock, you can pull them off to reveal the longer, plumper stalks of the celery. Chillies - We will include 'Birdseye' chillies in your box if you request them.  Please email us if you would like them. Leeks – Harvesting the ‘American Flag’ leeks. Peas – Harvesting ‘Oregon Giant’ Snow Peas and 'Sugar Ann' Sugar Snaps.  Expect a bag of one or the other.  Both can be eaten pod and all- raw and cooked!  The sugar snaps are smaller and plumper and the Snow Peas are longer, wider and flatter. Potatoes -  Harvesting 'Nicola', 'Desiree' and 'Dutch Creams'. Pumpkin – All of the pumpkins were harvested before the frost.  This week ‘Hercules Butternut’ will be in the boxes. Silverbeet – Bunch of ‘Red Ruby’

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING With these strangely warm days, we are very eager to sow most of the growing fields with cover crops before the weather becomes too cold for them to germinate.  About half the farm has been sown so far...with the recently sown oats about an inch high!  The garlic for next year has sprouted as have the broad beans for the Spring Share.

Including this week, there are three more weeks of the Autumn Share and there is still so much food growing.  There will be lettuce for next week...might even make it into Wednesday's boxes depending on these warm days.  And you may find a few surprises in your boxes over the next weeks as we continue to clean out plantings.  If you are unsure of anything your receive, please send us an email or ring.

Growing for the Autumn Share has been a bit tricky as far as the timing of planting and the timing of harvesting.  Things came on really quickly in the early Autumn and now everything has slowed right down.  A CSA is different then harvesting for a market.  Our planting is planned on having 10-12 items each week ready for harvest.  Our notes from previous seasons really did not help us with such a warm April.  Many of the crops we thought would hold for several weeks were going by.  And so we planted more crops to compensate and their growth has slowed down.  There will always be something unexpected when you work with nature!   A farmer in America told us, "Farming is different from most other professions.  In any profession, you try and find better ways to do tasks.  But for us, as farmers, we have to wait until next season to implement that "better way".  I have been farming for 25 years, I have grown tomatoes 25 times.  It doesn't seem like that many times to improve a system!"

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  As we really shift away from the light hungry, heat loving plants, I feel grateful to have had a summer harvest which blessed us with pumpkins, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn - Which made the soil warm enough to grow our root crops for harvesting through the winter - and compost still rotting with the warmth.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families. So, please, delight us with your silver beet stews, cauliflower curries, broccoli soups and pumpkin, spinach and ricotta lasagnas!

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, Coriander and Almonds Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables Beetroot, Feta and Almond Salad Carrot and Leek Soup

You can find more recipes by searching key ingredients on our website recipe page.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #10 (4 May - 10 May)

WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Beans – 'Strike' green beans and 'Cherokee Wax' yellow ones. Baby Red Pak Choi – Making bunches of these lovely baby Asian greens.  These are lovely stir fried whole. Broccoli – We continue checking for side shoots on the plants and while we wait for the next planting to head up.   We hope to get a bunch of some side shoots in all the boxes.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars...although we have only seen a few while harvesting. We have seen aphids, though and are trying to not harvest those heads.  If you do spy them, you can submerse the head in a salty water (cover the heads with a plate to keep them under.)  The aphids usually float up. If the aphids do take over the plantings, we will be tilling them in. 'Romanesco' Broccoli - This almost looks more like a cauliflower then a broccoli.  It is tender and mild with a slightly nutty flavor and its lovely lime green spirals.  Delicious raw. Use as you would cauliflower or broccoli. There are only a few plants heading up at this time but we hope the whole planting will in the next four weeks. Red Cabbage - 'Red Rock' Carrots – 'Scarlett Nantes'  Bigger orange carrots this week. Cauliflower - The plantings of 'Green Macerata' and 'Sicily Purple' cauliflower are continuing to produce heads ready for harvest.  These plantings are not coming on uniformly so we are uncertain how many heads will be ready each week.  We are keeping a list of who has received one and who has not.  There is also a planting of white cauliflower starting to head up.  Not sure if it will make it for this week but we should be harvesting them in a week. Chillies - We will include chillies in your box if you request them.  Please email us if you would like them. Coriander - Bunch in every box. Garlic – As we come to the end of this seasons shares, we are cleaning out the garlic we have.  Two to three bulbs in every box. Red Onions - 'California Red'... again we do not want to store onions over the winter.  So your share will include some extras. Parsley – Harvesting ‘Italian flat leaf’ and ‘Curly leaf’. Potatoes -  Harvesting 'Nicola' and 'Desiree'. Sweet Corn - We have two rows of a sweet corn experiment that is ready for harvest.  Some boxes received it last week.  We are hoping there is enough to put in the boxes that did not receive it yet. Baby Tatsoi – A green Asian green.  Again, we are harvesting them while they are tender and young.  They only need a very light wilting. Turnips - 'Purple Top'.

We are cleaning up several plantings.  Expect one of the following: Rocket Baby Silver Beet - 'Red Ruby'.  This is a lovely alternative to lettuce as a green under roasted vegetable, a great addition to soups or just lightly steamed. English Spinach - 'Long Standing Bloomsdale' ‘Perpetual Gator’ Spinach – This is more a silver beet then a spinach and it is tender and slightly lemony.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING This weeks harvest is a bit unpredictable.  We know that the root crops, the Asian greens and the cabbage are ready and ample.  But we are unsure of what the broccoli, cauliflower, bean and sweet corn harvest will be.  In the fields, there are four varieties of lettuce (including raddichio, a mesclun planting, two 'Perpetual Gator' silverbeet plantings, another huge bok choy planting, Japanese turnips, rocket, english spinach, mustard greens, 'Mibuna' (another Asian Green), green cabbage, purple savoy cabbage, two white cauliflower plantings, sprouting broccoli planting, two more broccoli plantings, 200 feet of sugar snap peas in flower, our last sweet corn planting of 200 feet.  We are hoping that all of these will finish growing/ripening and be ready for harvest in the next few weeks.

There was a light frost this week which touched the leaves of the pumpkin plants, the last zucchini planting and the tops of the bean plantings leaves.  Luckily the beans were left untouched.  Any basil left on the farm is showing the signs of the cold with black spots all through it.  Most of the crops we are harvesting now are frost hardy.  The cold just slows down the growth.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  As we really shift away from the light hungry, heat loving plants, I feel grateful to have had a summer harvest which blessed us with pumpkins, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn - Which made the soil warm enough to grow our root crops for harvesting through the winter - and compost still rotting with the warmth.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families. So, please, delight us with your fig delicacies, your kale chips, your silver beet stews and your pumpkin, spinach and ricotta lasagnas!

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Individual Turnip Gratins with Toast Fingers Tatsoi and Cabbage Stir Fry Bok Choy, Broccolini and Chicken in a Spiced Sauce and I found this recipe on the internet which would work well with 'Romanesco' and cauliflower, Quick Pickled Romanesco Broccoli

You can find more recipes by searching key ingredients on our website recipe page.

What's growing Mid-late April...just making it in there!

I started taking photos for this post 10 days ago...and then farming and life kept me from sharing them...so before these photos are out of date, here is what is growing in mid April...now that we have fully entered Autumn!

We have been running our CSA for 21 weeks now...21 weeks of providing local families with boxes filled with seasonal produce grown here-by us.  The boxes have ranged from 10-20 items over these 21 weeks and in addition to vegetables, we have been able to include seasonal fruit - our first nectarines from three and four year old trees, cantaloupe, honey dew and watermelons grown from seed.

I feel like everything we are doing as farmers is an experiment...from trialling different varieties of crops, growing crops we have never grown before, trialling intensive market garden techniques, pushing seasonal boundaries with early and late season plantings, growing a variety of cover crops...the list could go on.  Peter and I are not 'third generation market gardeners' and while we are trying to not re-invent the wheel, we have been told by many growers, "Farming is trial and error." And so we are not maximising the number of "boxes" we produce and instead building the soil and using the space to trial crops and growing techniques in order to fine tune sustainable, seasonal growing.

Our CSA has five more weeks of the Autumn Share.  Both the Summer and the Autumn shares have given us so much to learn and many opportunities for growing as growers.  We have taken lots of notes and have already begun the planning and planting for next season.  Peter and I are enjoying the wind down of Autumn.  We will not have a Winter share this year, taking the time to build the farm.  The garlic, broad beans and overwintered cauliflower are already planted - ready for Spring harvest. And the spring planting will begin in the greenhouse in July.  This winter will be spent constructing moveable polytunnels, and hopefully building some mobile egg laying houses so that we incorporate chickens into our farm rotation.

And the Winter will also include some rest.  Working with nature, working in nature, is wonderful and it is also constant.  We always hear about dairy farmers and their milking routines.  We rarely hear about the broccoli that would not wait to be harvested, the weeds that are choking plants, the right moon for applying seaweed sprays...  And yet, that is the case with growing vegetables biodynamically - crops are ready when they are ready and the moon keeps changing...even if you have other plans, other tasks, sick children.  Winter offers time...growth slows down.  So in addition to working on the infrastructure of the farm, we are looking forward to a bit of rest.

As we move into May, we still have new crops coming on that we have not yet put into a box...the variety that we are able to grow and provide is truly amazing.  We feel so grateful to the soil, the rain, the sun and the seed - and to our CSA members for supporting us!

Cavolo Nero and Chilli Chips

Ingredients1 long red chilli 1 bunch Cavolo Nero (or another flat variety of kale such as red Russian), well washed extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Method 1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Toast chilli in a frying pan over medium heat for 2 minutes or until quite dry and just starting to colour. Using a mortar and pestle, pound until quite fine, adding a little sea salt if necessary to help grind it. You want the chilli mixed with 1 tbsp salt (or to taste) by the time it’s made, so you’ll have plenty of this chilli salt for other uses, too. 2. Remove the central spine from cavolo nero, then tear or cut into pieces roughly 5cm wide and 10cm long. Place in a bowl, add a few drops of oil and, using your fingertips, very lightly toss each leaf until lightly coated. Sprinkle with a little chilli salt – not too much – and lay leaves out on oven trays lined with baking paper. 3. Bake cavolo nero for 5 minutes or until it starts to change texture and become crisp. If it goes brown, it is scorched and probably won’t taste so flash, so it is best to check it often. Remove from the oven, cool for a minute, then very gently transfer to a platter. Serve immediately as it won’t keep.

Recipe credit -  SBS website

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #9 (27 April - 1 May)

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Beetroot - Harvesting 'Detroit Red', 'Bulls Blood' and some 'Golden Detroit'. Broccoli – Another of our broccoli plantings became ready for harvest last week...hence the surplus in last weeks boxes.  This week we will be checking for side shoots and waiting for the next planting to head up which may be in two weeks.   We hope to get some side shoots in all the boxes.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars...although we have only seen a few while harvesting. We have seen aphids, though and are trying to not harvest those heads.  If you do spy them, you can submerse the head in a salty water (cover the heads with a plate to keep them under.)  The aphids usually float up. If the aphids do take over the plantings, we will be tilling them in. Capsicum – We are continuing to find a few red capsicums.  We have been putting these into boxes and will continue as they start to turn red.  Just leave them out on the counter and they will turn completely red in a matter of days. Carrots – Big bunches of mixed baby carrots.  You can roast or steam these whole. Varieties include 'Atomic Red', 'Deep Purple' and 'Solar Yellow'. Cauliflower - The plantings of 'Green Macerata' and 'Sicily Purple' cauliflower are beginning to produce heads ready for harvest.  These plantings are not coming on uniformly so we are uncertain how many heads will be ready each week.  We are keeping a list of who has received one and who has not.  Expect a head over the next three to four weeks. Celery – 'Tall Utah' Chillies - We will include chillies in your box if you request them.  Please email us if you would like them. Garlic – As we come to the end of this seasons shares, we are cleaning out the garlic we have.  Three of four bulbs in every box. Kale - 'Nero di Toscana' and 'Dwarf Blue Curled' - Bunch in every box Parsnips - 'Hollow Crown'. Peas - We have started harvesting 'Oregon Giant' Snow Peas.  We are uncertain of what the first harvest will be.  If you do not receive some this week, expect some over the next three weeks. Pumpkin – 'Hercules Butternut' or 'Queensland Blue'. Red Onions - 'California Red'... again we do not want to store onions over the winter.  So your share will include some extras. Baby Silver beet - 'Red Ruby'.  This is a lovely alternative to lettuce as a green under roasted vegetable, a great addition to soups or just lightly steamed. Sweet Corn - There is a small amount of sweet corn ready for harvest.  There is a final planting that Peter thinks will ripen.  So if you do not receive some this week, we hope you will i the next few weeks. Watermelon - We have found a few watermelon hiding in the grass...enough for the full shares.  Truly the end of the season now!!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Crops are greatly effected by daylight. Our daylight hours have reduced to 11.5 from 16 during the summer. We see this as growth slowing down...and then just stopping.  It is not only the cold, that slows them.  It is the daylight.  As growers, we try and time the seeding of the crops, taking this into account.  Sometimes we have a crop, ready to harvest, which will just slow down.  Sometimes we have that crop ready, and then the days heat up and the crop pushes on.  Sometimes, the crop is just lagging behind.  We are currently waiting and watching all we have planted.  As the day length approaches 10 hours, nothing will grow anymore.  And so we wait and watch and hope that all that is planted will either hold on or finish ripening.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  As we really shift away from the light hungry, heat loving plants, I feel grateful to have had a summer harvest which blessed us with pumpkins, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn - Which made the soil warm enough to grow our root crops for harvesting through the winter - and compost still rotting with the warmth.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families. So, please, delight us with your fig delicacies, your kale chips, your silver beet stews and your pumpkin, spinach and ricotta lasagnas!

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Pumpkin and Autumn Green Cannelloni Delicious Hearty Pumpkin Soup Kale Chips Lentils, Monastery style Green Bean Salad - Try substituting broccoli for green beans and from Martha Stewart this delicious Celery, Fig and Gorganzola Salad

You can find more recipes by searching key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Leek and Nettle/Spinach/Silverbeet Tartlets

I adapted this recipe from Linda Woodrow's Leek Tartlets with Olive Oil Pastry  (I used to use a short crust pastry but tried her yogurt, olive oil pastry and much preferred it.)

http://witcheskitchen.com.au/leek-tartlets-with-olive-oil-pastry/

You can use spinach or 'Perpetual Gator' silverbeet as a replacement for the nettles.

Makes 6 large muffin sized tarts. Recipe doubles fine.

The Pastry:

Into a food processor or a bowl, put 1 cup of wholemeal plain flour and a good pinch of salt.

Put a couple of good dessertspoons of low fat Greek yoghurt in a cup, then top it up to half full with olive oil. You want it about half and half – ¼ cup of each. You don’t need to mix them.

Tip the cup all at once into the processor or bowl and blitz them together.  In a food processor it’s just a couple of seconds, but you can do it just by stirring.  Knead just enough to combine into a dough.  It needs to be quite moist so don’t add any more flour than necessary, and don’t overwork the dough or it will get tough.  Put the dough in a plastic container in the freezer to cool while you make the filling.

The Filling:

Sauté 2 cups of chopped leeks (white and pale green part) in a little butter or olive oil.  Do this over low heat for about twenty minutes which caramelises the leek.  When they are almost done, add 1 cup chopped nettles.

Beat together:

• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup white wine or 1/4 cup milk or 1/4 cup cream or 1/4 water with a squeeze of lemon
• a dessertspoon of lemon thyme
• a good grating of black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Assembling and Baking:The pastry is quite fragile.  The easiest way to roll it out is to put a sheet of greaseproof paper on your bench top, put the ball of dough on it, and cover with another sheet.  Roll the pastry out between the two sheets, turning once or twice to un-wrinkle the paper. You can then peel the top sheet of paper off, cut the dough to fit your muffin tins, flip the lot and peel the other sheet off. Roll the scraps out between the greaseproof paper again.

If you have a round bowl the right size to fit the muffin tins, use it to cut your rounds.  I do not so I cut the dough into squares which then stick up out of the tins.

Grease the baking tins lightly, line with pastry.  You can pre-bake empty for five minutes or just put a few dessert spoons of the leek and nettle mixture into each cup, pour the egg mixture, dividing between the cups and top with parmesan cheese.

Bake in a medium oven for around 20 minutes till the pastry is golden.

Read an article Robin wrote about nettles.

Quinoa, Roasted Veggies, Marinated Chickpeas and Feta Salad

Ingredients1 cup raw chickpeas 1 medium whole Butternut squash or 1/4 to 1/3 of a Queensland Blue squash 3 carrots 2 beetroot 1 cup red quinoa balsamic vinegar extra virgin olive oil 100g feta lemon thyme salt and pepper

Method 1. Night Before: Soak 1 cup of chick peas over night. 2. 1 1/2 hours before serving: Drain the chick peas and refill with water.  Add a 3 cm piece of Kombu.  Boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 1 hour or until tender. 3. Vegetables: While the chick peas are boiling, peel 1 medium whole Butternut squash or 1/4 to 1/3 of a Queensland Blue squash and cut into 1 1/2cm cubes.  (I prefer these squashes because they remain whole even when roasted.) Peel carrots and cut into match sticks. Peel beetroot and cut into 1cm cubes. Place all on a roasting tray. Lightly sprinkle with olive oil, salt and fresh thyme. 4. Roast in a 180 oven for about an hour, turning occasionally so that all sides brown. 5. Quinoa: Rinse and drain 1 cup red quinoa.  Place in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock.  Cover.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the quinoa seed has split, a little white "tail" comes away from the kernel. This is the sign that the quinoa is soft.  Place in a bowl to cool. 6. Marinade: 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Dessert Spoon fresh lemon thyme 1/2tsp salt and generous grind of cracked pepper 7. Greens: Use seasonal greens.  Mixed lettuce, spinach, rocket, beetroot greens, mizuna.  Rinse and spin dry.  This salad is delicious with as few or as many as you have. 8. Remove vegetables from the oven and allow to cool. 9. Assembling: Once chickpeas are tender, drain and mix immediately with the marinade.  As they cool, they soak up the marinade.  If there is no marinade left in the bowl with them, make a bit more.

Once cool, add about 100grams of feta cheese cut into 1 cm cubes. Stir to coat with marinade and let sit for ten minutes.

Place greens in bowl.  Top with quinoa, then roasted vegetables then chickpeas and feta.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #8 (20 April to 26 April)

WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Basil - A bunch of tops in every box.  There are some leaves showing signs of colder weather...black spots. Bok Choy - Harvesting bunches of tender baby bok choy. Beans - This is our last bean planting for the season - and as it is getting cooler, we are unsure of the amount of beans that will be ready for harvest. We hope to get some in every box. The varieties are the yellow 'Cherokee Wax' and green 'Strike'. Broccoli – We have three varieties being harvested - 'DeCiccio', small, sweet side shoots which can be used stem to floret, 'Belfast' very tight medium size heads and 'Marathon' which have large heads.  Expect a few heads in every box.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars...although we have only seen a few while harvesting. Carrots – Big bunches of mixed baby carrots.  You can roast or steam these whole. Varieties include 'Atomic Red', 'Deep Purple' and 'Solar Yellow'. Cauliflower - The plantings of 'Green Macerata' and 'Sicily Purple' cauliflower are beginning to produce heads ready for harvest.  Expect a head over the next three to four weeks. Chillies - We will include chillies in your box if you request them.  Please email us if you would like them. Garlic – Bulb or two in every box. Leeks - 'American Flag' Parsley - Harvesting curly and Italian flat leaf Potatoes - 'Pontiac' or Nicola' Pumpkin – Harvesting 'Anna Swartz' and 'Queensland Blue'.  'Anna Swartz' is a buttercup variety which is drier and more flavourful.  This is delicious in soups and curries. Baby Rocket - Tender and young Silverbeet - 'Red Ruby' Spinach – 'Long Standing Bloomsdale'

ROTATING As the farm transitions into Autumn, the warm weather crops are finishing.  While they are still producing, we will harvest them and rotate them through the boxes.  If you have received these in the past two weeks, you may not see them again until next season. Patty Pan Squash – 'Jaune Et Verte' - scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried. Pimiento de Padrons – These sometimes hot, sometimes not chillies are a wonderful entree...enjoyed by child and adult! Zucchini– 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'.  We are also harvesting 'Golden Crookneck', a summer squash.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING With many areas of the farm tilled now and awaiting the germination of cover crops, cold weather crops are dominating the landscape.  The next planting of broccoli is heading up and we are harvesting the first of the cauliflower.  We are trialing three varieties of cauliflower - green, purple and white.   Many "greens" are glowing against the cloudy skies - Silverbeet, Spinach, Bok choys, Mustards, Rocket, Raddichio, Lettuce, Tatsoi, Kale and Fennel (not a green but the feathery tops look great!).  There are different varieties of turnips growing, more parsnips, radishes, carrots and beet root.  And the Kol Rabi's are beginning to plump up.  And there are also many small pea pods on the planting of snow peas.  They may be ready for harvest next week.  The last remaining warm weather crop will be our final planting of sweet corn which has tasseled and is full of ears.  We are hoping that they do finish their developing.  While the remainder of the warm weather crops are succumbing to powdery mildew, the cold weather crops are thriving.

We have taken a photo essay of what's growing and will be posting that on the website in the next few days.  If you receive the newsletter, it will come to you directly.

FARM TOURS The farm is open from 8am-11am on Saturdays for members to walk around and see your food growing.  Each week the landscape changes as crops grow, are harvested and then tilled in.  Please email us if you need directions. If you are not a member and would like to tour the farm, please join our mailing list (box in the right hand margin) to be informed of the next farm open day.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Spinach and Chicken Curry Blue Cheese, Proscuitto and Rocket Bruschetta Bok Choy, Broccoli and Chicken in a Spiced Sauce We will be adding two soup recipes at the beginning of the week. One with spinach or silver beet and the other with pumpkin.  You can find those on the home page of the website  or search by key ingredient on our website recipe page.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #7 (13 April - 19 April)

WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the harvest.  Please read the  Notes on the Share(below) to know which items we "rotate" through the boxes.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE HARVESTING Beetroot – The golden beetroot can be eaten raw or roasted. The colour stays brighter when they are raw. Broccoli – We have three varieties being harvested - 'DeCiccio', small, sweet side shoots which can be used stem to floret, 'Belfast' very tight medium size heads and 'Marathon' which have large heads.  Expect a few heads in every box.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars, as this is organic broccoli. Red Cabbage – 'Red Rock' Carrots – Big bunches of very baby carrots.  You can roast or steam these whole. Celery – Harvesting 'Tall Utah'.  This next celery planting is much more succulent then the ones in the summer.  Lovely raw. Chillies - ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ and/or ‘Long Thin Cayennes’ . Please look at the pepper post to identify. Coriander – Bunch in every box. Garlic – Bulb or two in every box. Lettuce– Harvesting 'Brown Mignonette', a boston lettuce, and 'Red Romaine', a cos.  The heat of the past weeks have caused two lettuce plantings to be ready at the same time.  We will harvest them this week before we lose them and there may be no lettuce next week. Red Onions – 'California Red'. Parsley – Harvesting 'Italian flat leaf' and 'Curly leaf'. 'Perpetual Gator' Spinach – This is more a silverbeet then a spinach and it is tender and slightly lemony. Pumpkin – Harvesting 'Anna Swartz' and 'Queensland Blue'.  'Anna Swartz' is a buttercup variety which is drier and more flavourful.  This is delicious in soups and curries. Japanese Turnips – Also known as 'Hakurai' turnips, these lovely white 'salad' turnips are mild and sweet, even when raw.  Their greens are also very edible with their mustardy flavour.  You do not need to peel these turnips - just a light scrub will do. Turnips are a cousin to cabbage, and boasts two phytochemicals, indoles and sulforaphane, that may help fight or prevent cancer. They are also a good source of vitamin C and insoluble fiber. We are growing these for the first time and the first seeding was a double what we needed for a week.  So you get them for a second week while they are still young and tender. ROTATING As the farm transitions into Autumn, the warm weather crops are finishing.  While they are still producing, we will harvest them and rotate them through the boxes.  If you have received these in the past two weeks, you may not see them again until next season. Capsicum – There are capsicums on the bushes....we have only harvested 7 in the past two weeks.  Not sure when they will start breaking!  They will turn red if you leave them on your counter. Patty Pan Squash – 'Jaune Et Verte' - scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried. Pimiento de Padrons – These sometimes hot, sometimes not chillies are a wonderful entree...enjoyed by child and adult! Zucchini– 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'.  We are also harvesting 'Golden Crookneck', a summer squash.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

FARM TOURS The farm is open from 8am-11am on Saturdays for members to walk around and see your food growing.  Each week the landscape changes as crops grow, are harvested and then tilled in.  Please email us if you need directions. If you are not a member and would like to tour the farm, please join our mailing list (box in the right hand margin) to be informed of the next farm open day.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS We enjoyed the following recipes that I found on the internet. Red Cabbage, Fennel and Apple Slaw Roasted Japanese Turnips and their Balsamic Greens Braised Red Cabbage with Fennel and Apple Pumpkin and Spinach or Curry

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #6 (6 April - 12 April)

WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the harvest.  Please read the  Notes on the Share (below) to know which items we "rotate" through the boxes.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE IN EVERY BOX Basil – Basil plantings are being pulled up before they are tilled in.  Big pesto bunches in every box. Beetroot – Bunch in every box.  The golden beetroot can be eaten raw or roasted. The colour stays brighter when they are raw. Broccoli – We have three varieties being harvested - 'DeCiccio', small, sweet side shoots which can be used stem to floret, 'Belfast' very tight medium size heads and 'Marathon' which have large heads.  Expect a few heads in every box.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars, as this is organic broccoli. Green Cabbage – 'Golden Acre' - a head in every box.  This week will be the last harvest of green cabbage for at least 5 weeks. Carrots – Big bunches of very baby carrots.  You can roast or steam these whole. Chillies - ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ and/or ‘Long Thin Cayennes’ . Please look at the pepper post to identify. Fennel – Harvesting 'Zefo Fino'. Leeks – Harvesting American Flag. Lettuce – Harvesting 'Brown Mignonette', a boston lettuce, and 'Crisp Mint' or 'Freckles', a cos, for the full shares. Parsley – Harvesting 'Italian flat leaf'. Potatoes – Bit larger portion in every box. Pumpkin – Harvesting 'Australian Butter'. Thyme – Bunch in every box. Japanese Turnips – Also known as 'Hakurai' turnips, these lovely white 'salad' turnips are mild and sweet, even when raw.  Their greens are also very edible with their mustardy flavour.  You do not need to peel these turnips - just a light scrub will do. Turnips are a cousin to cabbage, and boasts two phytochemicals, indoles and sulforaphane, that may help fight or prevent cancer. They are also a good source of vitamin C and insoluble fiber. ROTATING As the farm transitions into Autumn, the warm weather crops are finishing.  While they are still producing, we will harvest them and rotate them through the boxes.  If you have received these in the past two weeks, you may not see them again until next season. Lemon Basil and Purple Basil – We have both.  If you would like a bunch, please email us.  The lemon basil is lovely in salad dressings, marinades and vegetable pastas...to mention a few dishes.  The purple basil has a subtle basil flavour and adds a great colour to many dishes. Capsicum – There are capsicums on the bushes.  We harvest them when they are 'breaking' - not completely red.  They will turn red if you leave them on your counter. Cucumbers – Small, round 'Lemon' cucumbers, medium size cucumbers 'Marketmore' and 'Straight Eight' and large Chinese climbing cucumbers 'Suyo'. Eggplant –  Please look at the eggplant post to identify. Patty Pan Squash – 'Jaune Et Verte' - scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried. Pimiento de Padrons Zucchini – 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'.  We are also harvesting 'Golden Crookneck', a summer squash. CLEANING OUT The following are plantings that we are finishing in order to prepare the soil and sow a cover crop. Expect at least one of the following in your box this week. Red Cabbage – 'Red Rock' Corn –  'Ruby Queen' Radish - 'French Breakfast' Rocket Spinach Baby Silverbeet

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING This week saw whole sections of the new land being cleaned out.  In the next few days, Peter will till in compost and in a few weeks, sow cover crops.  Cover crops protect the soil from winter erosion, put a variety of nutrients back into the soil and add humus to the soil when they are tilled in in the Spring.

The Autumn harvest snow and sugar snap peas are all flowering.  We have several varieties of cauliflower growing well with the green and the white all starting to head up, more plantings of broccoli are coming on, a variety of greens such as Bok Choys, Mustards and Mibuna are all growing well and plenty of root crops to add variety to the boxes.

The garlic that will be ready for harvest in late November has been planted as have the Spring share broad beans and over wintered cauliflower.  These may all be ready for harvest in October...7 months later!  We will be adding information about the Spring Share on our website in the next fortnight.

We have also begun working out our crop rotation for the next three years.  We take the information we have about the harvest of crops, the feedback about which crops members would like more of and which crops they did not enjoy, plan what we will be planting next year and then work out where it will be planted.  Crop rotation "means variety and variety gives stability to biological systems." (Coleman, The New Organic Grower).  We thank the members who filled out the surveys during the summer share.  We will be sending another out in the next week.  The survey takes 5 minutes and really helps us to know what you would like to be eating.

ESKY'S Please keep putting out your esky's.  Peter is happy to put your vegetables in one to preserve the freshness of the food until you return home.  Leave them in the shade and leave a note if you think he would not spot it.  We have also been told that water frozen in juice bottles with card board on top in an esky is an excellent way to protect the tender greens and keep everything cold and crisp.  Thanks for the advice!

FARM TOURS The farm is open from 8am-11am on Saturdays for members to walk around and see your food growing.  Each week the landscape changes as crops grow, are harvested and then tilled in.  Please email us if you need directions.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS We enjoyed the following recipes that I found on the internet. Red Cabbage, Fennel and Apple Slaw Roasted Japanese Turnips and their Balsamic Greens Braised Red Cabbage with Fennel and Apple Pumpkin and Spinach Curry Beetroot, Rocket and Feta Salad

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.

Show Day!!

The Red Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Society Show or as we like to call it "The Show" is hosted once a year to showcase "this most acclaimed agricultural and horticultural area". Farmers and growers from around the Mornington Peninsula attend with their sheep, alpacas, cattle, poultry, flowers, fruits and vegetables.  Displays include farm equipment,  working dog training tips, wine judging, cheese judging, wood chop competition, dog high jump,  horse show jumping and recently motor bike trick riding.  Pavilions are filled with fleece, craft, preserves, cakes, cookies, fruit, flowers... and vegetables.  After a day spent at the show, there is a great buzz around our table tonight.

Most of the time, our kitchen gets the rejects from the packing shed - the food that is a bit too ugly, too ripe, a little nibbled and consequently deemed not worthy of a CSA box.  But tonight we ate blue ribbon food!

I had never heard of a show before I moved here.  Peter's family indoctrinated me and the lively competition is so much fun, the whole family gets into it.  The children mark their pumpkins as they are growing in the field, putting ribbons on the stems.  They "call" the biggest sunflower and then cover it so the birds can't pick all the seeds out of it, ask us to leave a zucchini growing on the plant so that it grows huge as they want to make a zucchini car to enter into the novelty fruit and vegetable section.   The week before the show, as I am staying up late to finish a relish or a sauce, I receive phone calls from the family with much chitter chatter about entries...How the storm has knock the petals off the special rose, who's beans are ready,  "oh, and what will you be entering?"

This year I started really thinking about the show and how it is a great place to showcase the quality and variety of locally grown produce.  Thousands of people come to the show and the thought of them seeing a huge heirloom variety watermelon that has been grown here, as opposed to a supermarket watermelon from Queensland, got me very excited.  Not to mention the opportunity to showcase the quality of organic/biodynamic produce.  It is one thing to try and tell people how organic food is nutrient dense, how paying attention to soil health and supporting ecosystems results in not only better food but also a healthier earth, how growing food this way may be more labour intensive than growing with pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers but it will taste better and be better for you and the environment.  This is sustainable agriculture.  It is another to offer all of this and food that is high quality.  I entered 14 different classes in the vegetable section to let our produce speak for itself.

And the results are...bragging a little bit... 1 bunch of Carrots - 1st 3 Brown Onions - 1st 1 Lettuce - any variety - 1st 12 French Beans - 1st 1 Musquee Pumpkin - 1st 1 Butter Pumpkin - 1st 1 Butternut Pumpkin - 1st 3 Tomatoes- table, with stalks, same variety - 1st Vegetable - Any Other - 1st (the 'Moon and Stars' watermelon) 3 Zucchini - 2nd

And these next two are really a delight as we were able to include special varieties/blends and heirloom varieties...food not seen in the grocery store... and truly seasonal displays of locally grown food...

Best Collection of Salad Vegetables - 1st Best Collection of Vegetables - no more then 15 distinct varieties- 1st

The total of these prizes  gave us the highest points obtained in Classes 1-49...and we were awarded The Aggregate Award in the Vegetable Section and a prize for Heirloom Vegetables!!

And all I can think is Hip Hip Hooray for Organic/Biodynamic food and heirloom seeds...imagine if the judges had done a blind taste test...Hip Hip Hooray for small scale, diverse vegetable production...Hip Hip Hooray for sustainable agricultural...and Hip Hip Hooray for the celebration of local produce!!!

So get out there and plant your Autumn cover crops, make compost during this highly digestive time in nature, support the life in your soil and grow award winning, nutrient dense vegetables!!!  You can do it!

Post Note-  The Red Hill Show is our local show...the Mornington Peninsula community gathering together... It is not as big nor as acclaimed as the Melbourne Show.  Other local growers and home gardeners are all included and celebrated in the vegetable pavilion...Not trying to be to big for my britches!  We have a long way to go as market gardeners!

CSA members expect some blue ribbon 'Australian Butter' Pumpkin this week!!

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #5 (30 March - 4 April)

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the harvest.  Please read the  Notes on the Share (below) to know which items we "rotate" through the boxes.  If the harvest of a crop is not enough for every member, we keep track of whom has received it and whom has not so as to keep the shares even.

The picture represents a full share box and is not exactly what every box will contain this week.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Basil – We are preparing whole areas of the farm for cover crops.  Basil plantings are being pulled up before they are tilled in.  Big pesto bunches in every box. Lemon Basil and Purple Basil – We have both.  If you would like a bunch, please email us.  The lemon basil is lovely in salad dressings, marinades and vegetable pastas...to mention a few dishes.  The purple basil has a subtle basil flavour and adds a great colour to many dishes. Broccoli – We have two varieties which are heading - 'DeCiccio' which have smaller heads and 'Marathon' which have large heads.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars, as this is organic broccoli. Green Cabbage – Still harvesting 'Golden Acre'.  If you would not like any, please let us know. Red Cabbage – Harvesting 'Red Rock'. Carrots – This next planting of carrots are some of the ugliest carrots we have grown.  The varieties are 'Scarlett Nantes', 'Deep Purple' and 'Cosmic Purple'.  They are still great to eat and juice but the soil in which they were planted must have been too rich and/or trying to keep them cool during the heat waves of the summer has caused them to branch out....as opposed to sending down a single tap root searching for water.  So everyone will receive a bunch of WILD carrots - bagged to try and contain them!  Our next planting of carrots which are lovely and straight, will not be ready for two to three weeks.  If you would prefer no ugly carrots for the next few weeks, please email us. Chillies - The harvest of ‘Padron’ chillies will continue to appear in some boxes. There are ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’,  ‘Long Thin Cayennes’ and ‘Thai Hot’ or ‘Bird’s Eye’ being harvested.  Please look at the pepper post to identify. Coriander – Bunch in every box. Cucumbers – We are harvesting the third planting. There are small, round 'Lemon' cucumbers, small pickling cucumbers 'Sumter', medium size cucumbers 'Marketmore' and 'Straight Eight' and large Chinese climbing cucumbers 'Suyo'. Eggplant –  Please look at the eggplant post to identify.  We rotate the harvest. Garlic – Bulb in every box. Lettuce – Harvesting 'Crisp Mint' a Romaine lettuce and 'Perella Rougette' for the full shares. Mesclun – Harvesting another mesclun planting. Onions – 'California Red' onion(s) in every box. Parsley – Harvesting curly leaf. Parsnips – We have started harvesting big parsnips 'Hollow Crown'. Patty Pan Squash – The variety is 'Jaune Et Verte'.  They are scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried.  We are rotating the harvest of these each week. Silverbeet – Bunches of 'Ruby Red' or 'Perpetual Gator' in every box. Tomatoes – Romas and 'Marglobes', 'Principe Borghese' and 'Sun Gold'.  The tomato harvest is dwindling...even with a second planting.  Their season is almost done. Pumpkin – Harvesting 'Australian Butter' and 'Butternut' pumpkins. 'Tiny Tim' Pumpkins – We planted a few of these tiny little pumpkins just as an Autumn treat.  They are apparently edible but we just like them as a seasonal display.  Happy Autumn!! Zucchini – Harvesting 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'. The zucchinis are slowing down and we are rotating the harvest.  We are also harvesting 'Golden Crookneck', a summer squash.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The melon and watermelon have finished.  There are many huge melons on the plants but we are not sure if they will ripen as the nights have really cooled down and melons like balmy nights!  It has been a wonderful season for both melons and watermelons!

We have planted a variety of broccoli which is all heading up now...every single plant at the same time!  I have never seen anything like it...so uniform and perfect.  With that and our other two varieties which are producing, we are about to have a great amount of broccoli.  Not sure if the 'Belstar' will be ready this week or next but get your broccoli recipes ready!

We have finished with one bean planting and we have one more which we are hoping will produce.  The cold nights keep the warm weather plants from producing flowers.  Without flowers, there are no fruits...or beans in this case. We are not sure if this last planting will produce or not...

We have two more corn plantings which we hope will keep growing.  One has already tasseled and pollinated but the ears are not ready.  The other has not tasseled yet.

There is a planting of cauliflower just beginning to head up and a planting of 'Romanesco' broccoli which may start heading up.  'Romanesco' is that lovely Esher-esc plant that has whirls of lime green spirals.  It is classified a broccoli but grows like a cauliflower and can be used as you would either.

The kale plantings are growing as are the silverbeet.  And the re-plantings of Asian greens have sprouted and have true leaves. Baby bok choy in three weeks!!

ESKY'S Please keep putting out your esky's.  Peter is happy to put your vegetables in one to preserve the freshness of the food until you return home.  Leave them in the shade and leave a note if you think he would not spot it.  We have also been told that water frozen in juice bottles with card board on top in an esky is an excellent way to protect the tender greens and keep everything cold and crisp.  Thanks for the advice!

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon Thai Salad Dresssing Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon Basil Sauce Pickled Red Cabbage Roasted Parsnips, Beetroot and Carrots

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #4 (23-29 March)

WHAT’S IN THE BOXThe following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the harvest.  Please read the  Notes on the Share (below) to know which items we "rotate" through the boxes.  If the harvest of a crop is not enough for every member, we keep track of whom has received it and whom has not so as to keep the shares even.

The picture represents a full share box and is not exactly what every box will contain this week.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Basil – We have a big planting that we are cutting from.  If you do not know what to do with the basil, you can make pesto and freeze it to add to pasta sauces and soups through the winter.  Field basil dies with the first frost and will return late November/Early December. Lemon Basil and Purple Basil – We have both.  If you would like a bunch, please email us.  The lemon basil is lovely in salad dressings, marinades and vegetable pastas...to mention a few dishes.  The purple basil has a subtle basil flavour and adds a great colour to many dishes. Beans – We are in between plantings...and unsure if our last planting of beans will produce.  It depends on how warm it stays.  We will divide the harvest of whatever is left in the planting we have been picking and hope that the last planting comes on.  This may be it until December though for beans. Beat Root – We are harvesting 'Ruby Queen', 'Golden Detroit' and 'Bulls Blood'. Broccoli – We have two varieties which are heading - 'DeCiccio' which have smaller heads and 'Marathon' which have large heads.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars, as this is organic broccoli. Cabbage – The heat two weeks ago brought on the next cabbage crop early.  All of the green cabbage 'Golden Acre' is ready for harvest! Capsicum – We are harvesting "breaking" capsicums. These are green or purple capsicums that have started to turn to red.  Leave these capsicums on your kitchen counter or in a bag with a banana to allow them to mature and turn to beautiful red peppers.  I have attached two photos to the end of this of one I did.  We are harvesting them "breaking" to keep the plant producing as they should produce for another three weeks depending on the weather. Please look at the capsicum post to identify varieties you are unsure of. Chillies - The harvest of ‘Padron’ chillies will continue to appear in some boxes. There are ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’,  ‘Long Thin Cayennes’ and ‘Thai Hot’ or ‘Bird’s Eye’ being harvested.  Please look at the pepper post to identify. Corn – We are harvesting the sixth planting of corn, a butter and sugar variety 'Polaris'. Corn is best the day it is picked and we pick it Saturday morning for farm pick up and right before the truck leaves for deliveries on Wednesday.  Try and eat it that day as the sugars begin to turn to starch instantly after picking...no matter how cold it is kept. The harvest may be less then last week.  We also have a planting of 'Ruby Queen', the red sweet corn which may be ready in a week, weather depending. Cucumbers – We are harvesting the third planting. There are small, round 'Lemon' cucumbers, small pickling cucumbers 'Sumter', medium size cucumbers 'Marketmore' and 'Straight Eight' and large Chinese climbing cucumbers 'Suyo'. Eggplant –  Please look at the eggplant post to identify.  We rotate the harvest. Garlic – Bulb in every box. Leeks – Harvesting 'American Flag'. We are cleaning out the first planting of leeks.  If you do not receive one, you will receive a 'California Red'  onion. Lettuce – Harvesting beautiful 'Perella Rougette' for everyone and a head of 'Freckles' for the full shares. Melons – The harvest in the third planting has slowed right down, with the coolness of the weather.  There are some huge French melons which we hope will ripen but it may just stay too cold to finish them off .  We are unsure of what the harvest this week will be. Parsley – Harvesting 'Italian Flat Leaf'. Parsnips – We have started harvesting big parsnips 'Hollow Crown'. If you receive parsnips, you will not receive turnips this week. Patty Pan Squash – The variety is 'Jaune Et Verte'.  They are scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried.  We are rotating the harvest of these each week. Potatoes – Harvesting 'Desiree' and 'Nicola'. Radishes – We are finishing our harvest of 'French Breakfast' Radishes. Tomatoes – Romas and 'Marglobes', 'Principe Borghese' and 'Sun Gold'. We have finished the first planting of tomatoes and will be pulling the plants out in the next week.  There are still cherries, if you would like to come and U-Pick them to jar or have extra for Easter.  Available this Saturday, 23 March between 8-11am or email and make an appointment. They will be gone by next Saturday. Turnips – We have started harvesting our first planting of turnips, 'Scarlett Queen'.  The turnip tops are also very nutritious and tasty.  If you receive turnips, you will not receive parsnips this week. Watermelon – There are still a few watermelon in the field which we hope have ripened. Zucchini – Harvesting 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'. The zucchinis are slowing down and we are rotating the harvest.  We are also harvesting 'Golden Crookneck', a summer squash.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The further effects of the hot dry summer are showing up.  Our next planting of carrots had just germinated when we had the heat wave in January. In order to get them through, we watered them frequently through that week.  Consequently, the carrots did not stretch down for water and they are all short and stubby.  The next planting has lovely long straight baby carrots.  As we search more through planting three, we will let you know what we are finding.

The heat wave in March caused our Autumn bok choys to all bolt (go to seed) before they were even baby bok choy.  We have seeded more which will be another few weeks.  That heat wave also caused very poor germination in our next spinach planting.  We have weeded the baby spinach that are there and have planted more.

The seasons are changing though with the cooling down of the nights and the loss of daylight.  The lettuces are loving it as are the brassicas!  And slowly the summer crops are fading out of the harvest.

ESKY'S Please keep putting out your esky's.  Peter is happy to put your vegetables in one to preserve the freshness of the food until you return home.  Leave them in the shade and leave a note if you think he would not spot it.  We have also been told that water frozen in juice bottles with card board on top in an esky is an excellent way to protect the tender greens and keep everything cold and crisp.  Thanks for the advice!

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Tatsoi and Cabbage Stirfry (which works great with Broccoli, Zucchini, Capsicum, Summer Squash and/or Cabbage) Mashed Turnips and Potatoes Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables Ottolenghi’s Perfect Lettuce Salad with Radishes, Semi-dried Tomatoes, and Capers Roasted Parsnips, Beetroot and Carrots

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.

Tomato Sauce and The Red Hill Show...

It is count down in this house...only 7 days to go before the craft, cooking and preserve entries are due...only 9 days to go for vegetable and flower entries...It's the Red Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show!! I was thinking about the show tonight...it is already 12:30 and I am waiting for my winning tomato sauce...not trying to brag but it really did win the blue ribbon in the savory sauce category last year...to finish simmering so I can go to bed. Tomorrow is a harvest day...but the tomatoes would not, could not wait...slowly over-ripening in the basket on the floor.

I reckon that tomato sauce used to be a luxury. It is simmered with exotic spices...island spices and sugar...all commodities that were traded...not necessarily grown in every home garden. Not only that, it takes alot of tomatoes to make a little bit of thick, lightly spiced, slightly tangy,  sauce. The mother of the house, being the manager of the home garden, the head cook and chief nutrition expert of her ever growing family, might have first jarred tomatoes for stews, then dried them for flavouring and lastly, if there were still more...and time...made condiments. And it would have had to have been a good farming year to have been able to afford imported, island spices.

Our society does not think about that now...as they line up for their chips with sauce and pies with sauce. Where did those tomatoes come from and how many did it take to make that small plastic container of sauce. And so they consume it, without appreciating what a true treat and treasure a jar of tomato sauce would have been in the larder.

We make Christmas chocolates in this house. These are lovely truffles...maybe not as fine as Chocolatiers but we do use pure ingredients and rich chocolate. My children love making the chocolates, love making the packaging and love giving them away...but they also love the few extras saved in the deep freezer. They know that when a special guest comes over, the desert may include "Christmas Chocolates" ...even if it is a March Sunday Lunch...and they delight in taking out all of the containers...one for each sort of truffle...and preparing a party plate to offer first to the guest before diving in themselves.

Tomato Sauce would have been the same! It would have been a preserved treasure, brought forth from the cellar, only for special guests and/or occasions. It would have been served with a silver spoon, savoured even after the meal was cleared...the jar would have been scraped clean with a finger.

But our current society uses it and most food without thought or consequence. I am left wondering about the aspirations of the poor to be like the rich...the promises offered by assembly line work...You, too, can eat tomato sauce with every meal!...a slogan pinned under the wood cut of a worker doing a menial job but persisting to "better" the family...with tomato sauce at every meal...yes these must be late night ponderings!

Where has our callous...maybe even ignorant... attitude about our food gotten us, as a society? High rates of childhood diabetes, population obesity and a complete disconnection from our food, where it comes from, why it is special...why it should be treasured, savoured.

And so I sit, smelling the lovely fragrance of these island spices...all spice berries from the Greater Antilles, Southern Mexico and Central America, cloves from Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka and ginger from southeast Asia. Mixed with white wine vinegar , sugar and our organic tomatoes...the ones too ripe to give to our members. My son especially will be so excited tomorrow when he wakes to the smell filling the house as he sleeps. The very special, very treasured five jars of tomato sauce...from 5 kilos...yes 5 kilos yeild only 5 500ml jars... of over ripe Romas

And this is what makes the Red Hill Show so special. As a mother, as the manager of the house garden, head chef and chief nutritionist, if I have the produce to make such an exquisite delight as tomato sauce, what a beautiful thing to enter in to the show, where it will be appreciated, marveled at, and honoured. "Wow, they had enough tomatoes to make tomato sauce this year!" The show is not just a place for family entertainment, it is where, at this time of year, when I am staying up until 1am waiting for my preserves to finish, I can join with the other mothers, garden managers, head chefs and chief nutritionists and appreciate the fruits of their labour too!

Vegetable Entry Forms are due by Wednesday, 27 march.  Delight in the community celebrating the growing of food and flowers, rearing class animals, riding horses, making crafts and cooking, preserving and fermenting.

Post Note:  I just have to add how wonderful these passed on recipes are...scribbled, doctored, worn, stained and faded family favourites.  This tomato sauce recipe came to me in my children's grandmother's handwriting, entitled "Stephanie Tomato Sauce - given to me by Minetta 22/2/12".  I wonder where this recipe originated, where it has been, how it has changed.  My thoughts and changes are added to the patina...and then passed on again.

What's growing in March

With the rain falling...sideways....YEAH!!!...this is a great time to share what's growing in mid March.

We have now stretched right up to the corners of the new land.  The area that had summer crops is being prepared for Autumn sowed cover crops.  We rotate through a variety of cover crops such as oats, peas and vetch depending on the crop that will be planted in that area next year.  The crop rotation plan is coming together for next few years.  As Eliot Coleman says, "Crop rotation means variety. and variety gives stability to biological systems."

There are Spring crops being planted now-Broad Beans, Green Cauliflower, Big White Cauliflower, over wintered Broccoli, Silverbeet and Kale.  And garlic is being planted now for Early December harvest too.

Baxter from Palate Earth organized a sunrise weeding group, who arrived before the sun and stayed for a few hours. A Big Thank You to Sarah, Amy, Jane, Jenny, Jo and a budding young grower, Archie, who asked his mum if he could have the morning off school to come and weed on our farm.  How fantastic that Jo said YES! If there are other young growers out there who would like to learn more, we are always happy to discuss opportunities.  We have had three teenager come at different times in this growing season.

We have changed our delivery day to one day a week to try and have more time on the farm to design and implement a bit more of our whole farm plan.  We will be incorporating chicken tractors into our farm fertility and need to make some mobile chicken houses.  With the hot, dry summer we just had making it hard to keep compost moist, we are going to construct some shade for the compost piles. We are building a warmer greenhouse to use in Winter for starting the warm weather plants like Capsicum, Eggplant and Melons.  We got by last year with several make do inventions but having come into a houseful of windows, we thought we would recycle them and make Spring a bit easier.  And we need to prepare native corridors on the new land for late autumn planting.

We are thrilled to be welcoming a whole primary school prep-Grade 6 to the farm in May to see food growing and learn about plants as living things.  Last year, we saw one prep class and heard about several others going on excursions to their local super markets.  As they marched through the aisles, they recited, "Single file, through the aisle.  This is where our food comes from."  I sent a letter that day to the principle from one school, opening the farm and offering to work with the teachers to tailor make a curriculum based tour.  I hope this is the first of many such school visits.  We may buy food at the grocery store but that is NOT where food comes from!

The Red Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show is quickly approaching at the end of this month.  As the RHA&H Society state,

"When the Show began in 1922, local people exhibited apples, flowers and vegetables along with the best butter, cooking and preserves from home and farm kitchens. Show Day was declared a local holiday by the Shire of Flinders and a special train ran from Melbourne to bring spectators down to Red Hill, the journey taking over three hours.

Over the years, horses, sheep, cattle and alpacas were included in the Show – each new introduction indicating the changing face of farming on the Mornington Peninsula. More recently we have added wine, avocados, olives, berries and cheese to the list of produce coming from this most acclaimed agricultural and horticultural area, and some of the very best local produce will be available at the Show for tasting and buying."

If you grow your own food, this is a great chance to come together as a community, exhibit the fruits of your labour and raise the bar on the quality and diversity of produce that is being grown in our local area. We are so lucky to have so many delicious offerings within a relatively small radius.  There are many areas for children to exhibit as well.  There is still time to get your entry forms for flowers and vegetables in. Hope your gardens are loving this rain like ours is!!

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #3 (16-22 March)

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the harvest.  Please read the  Notes on the Share (below) to know which items we "rotate" through the boxes.  If the harvest of a crop is not enough for every member, we keep track of whom has received it and whom has not so as to keep the shares even.

The picture represents a full share box and is not exactly what every box will contain this week.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Basil – We are continuing to thin a new planting. Bunches are young basil with roots. Lemon Basil and Purple Basil – Thinning both. Beans – We are harvesting 'Cherokee Wax' , yellow, string less, bush beans and 'Strike', green, string less, bush beans. Broccoli – We have two varieties which are heading - 'DeCiccio' which have smaller heads and 'Marathon' which have large heads.  There may be green cabbage moth caterpillars, as this is organic broccoli. Capsicum – We are harvesting "breaking" capsicums. These are green or purple capsicums that have started to turn to red.  There are many posts online which talk about how to continue to turn the capsicum red...on your kitchen counter or in a bag with a banana.  We are harvesting them "breaking" to keep the plant producing as they should produce for another four-six weeks depending on the weather. Red capsicums contain high levels of vitamin C but come only when the plant has matured.  Please look at the pepper post to identify. Celery – Our celery has been greatly effected this year by the lack of rain.  The flavour has been concentrated and it may be stringy.  We are still putting it into the boxes though as celery is filled with so many minerals and the stock we have been making from it is fabulous...so full of flavour.  We also had one member write to us and tell us that all celery used to be stringy and an evening chore for young children, much like shucking corn and topping and tailing beans was taking the strings off the celery. Chillies - The harvest of ‘Padron’ chillies will continue to appear in some boxes. There are ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’,  ‘Long Thin Cayennes’ and ‘Thai Hot’ or ‘Bird’s Eye’ being harvested.  Please look at the pepper post to identify. Corn – It missed the photo but YES, we are still harvesting corn! The fifth planting of corn is a butter and sugar variety 'Max'. Cucumbers – We are harvesting the third planting. There are small, round 'Lemon' cucumbers, small pickling cucumbers 'Sumter', medium size cucumbers 'Marketmore' and 'Straight Eight' and large Chinese climbing cucumbers 'Suyo'. Eggplant – The eggplants were another crop effected by the extreme heat.  We are continuing to harvest what is there.  Please look at the eggplant post to identify.  We rotate the harvest. Fennel – Harvesting lovely small and medium, tender heads of 'Zefo Fino'. Leeks – Harvesting 'American Flag'. Melons – We are still harvesting from the second planting, although the harvest is scanty.  The harvest of the third planting has begun with the green flesh 'Eden's Gem' .  We are unsure of what the harvest this week will be. Patty Pan Squash – The variety is 'Jaune Et Verte'.  They are scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried.  We are rotating the harvest of these each week. Potatoes – Harvesting 'Desiree'. Rocket – There is some baby rocket ready for harvesting.. English Spinach – Harvesting young 'Bloomsdale'. Thyme – Bunch in every box. Tomatoes – Romas and 'Marglobes'. Watermelon – We found that the heat of last week left some of the watermelons cooked inside.  Some still had lovely sweet flesh, so we did put it into the boxes as the taste was so good.  But some was literally cooked.  There are still watermelons in the field.  We are unsure of what they will be like though. Zucchini – Harvesting 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'. The zucchinis are slowing down and we may need to start rotating the harvest.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The tomato plants were really struck down by the last heat wave.  The lack of rain and the heat left them open to an attack from green shield beetles.  We will be abandoning the first tomato planting.  There is a second planting which we are harvesting and hope it will continue.

The watermelons, which have been amazing, really fell to the heat last week - Nine days straight of 32-35 degree days.  Before Tuesday, when we harvested the watermelons, the outsides were really hot.  But when we cut them open, straight from the field, the insides were cool!  It was amazing proof that plants are alive...they regulate their own temperature.  But on Tuesday, we found watermelons with very warm, mealy centers.  They just could not last any longer with the lack of a deep water and the intense heat.

The lettuce also rotted in the heat so no lettuce this week and maybe even next.

The Brassica plantings are looking great with more cabbage coming (not intentional trying to overload you with cabbage - the heat has hastened along the next planting) and two broccoli plantings heading up.

Next week we may have Turnips, our first planting of the season looks almost ready, and carrots will return.

ESKY'S Please keep putting out your esky's.  Peter is happy to put your vegetables in one to preserve the freshness of the food until you return home.  Leave them in the shade and leave a note if you think he would not spot it.  We have also been told that water frozen in juice bottles with card board on top in an esky is an excellent way to protect the tender greens and keep everything cold and crisp.  Thanks for the advice!

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Fennel Salad with a Lime Vinaigrette Pesto - Have on pasta, bread, stir into soup or freeze for winter Mineral Rich Chicken Stock Szechwan Green Beans

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.

What is our CSA all about?

CSA's are quite a rarity in Australia (we hope this will change!).  If you are thinking about joining a CSA, one of the first things  to understand (and the most important) is the reasoning behind the concept of a CSA.  Here is our interpretation of what a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is, and how it applies to our farming practices and the produce that our members receive. When you sign up for our CSA you are agreeing to a commitment between the farmer (us) and the member (you). In this case your membership fee pays for seeds, soil amendments, irrigation supplies, farm equipment and allows us to pay our expenses. In return, we will provide you with veggies for the seasonal share that you have signed up for.

What a CSA is NOT

A Cheap Source of Food Cheap food may be inexpensive, but it is hard on the environment and may be transported over thousands of kilometres to your local store Cheap food may be treated with harmful chemicals Cheap food may have compromised nutritional qualities and a lack of freshness

And most importantly - a CSA is NOT designed to replace the supermarket.

What IS a CSA?

A Source of Quality Food We grow our food with a focus on protecting and enhancing the environment We grow our food with ZERO pesticides, herbicides and/or fungicides We grow in a way that maximizes the soil health and builds up the life within it We provide our food fresh, from the farm to you

What is in my Share (weekly box)? We focus mainly on foods that grow in our specific seasonal climate An effort is made to estimate quantities and items available in your share each week, but it is only that, an estimate What you will receive each week is determined overwhelmingly by the season - temperature and weather

Why join our CSA? You have the opportunity to get the know the people who are growing your food You can learn about how your food is grown and the methods we use You can learn about our integrated farm and how we are trying to maintain a healthy ecosystem You may try new foods You will get to experiment with new recipes - there are plenty of Recipes on our website You will eat nutrient dense, fresh and varied produce You have the opportunity to visit the farm to see your produce growing You will be eating seasonally You will be eating locally and reducing the energy required to transport food long distances You are supporting sustainable agriculture You are helping to keep small farms viable You are helping to keep rural communities vibrant You are helping to support your local economy You are helping to maintain small, mixed farms You are reducing your reliance on agricultural chemicals You are supporting organic/biodynamic growing methods

What do YOU have to do? Pay your membership fees - on time. We are committed to getting our members their produce each week and expect them to attend to their invoices with a similar commitment.

Ensure your empty veggie boxes are left out for pick up or returned each week.

Ask questions. Lots of them!!  If you are curious about what we are growing, how we are growing it and why we are growing it in that way.

Communicate with us if there are new crops or varieties you would like. We are growing for YOU!

What do we the FARMERS do? Planning, planning, planning, researching and more planning, ordering seed and supplies, seeding, preparing soil, making compost, making compost, making compost, planting, nurturing plants, weeding, feeding, watering, observing insects and plant health, making special brews to support plant health, sow cover crops for soil health. Recording how things grew, where they grew and how much they yielded Devise integrated farm systems where intensive market gardening, cover crops, animal husbandry and native corridors are all interconnected to support farm health. Administrative work Organizational work Harvesting, Washing, Weighing, Packing Delivery/Pickup

Managing Expectations If you are not used to eating seasonally, do some research If you are not accustomed to eating seasonally, you may find that it takes a while to make a transition from eating whatever is at your local supermarket (pretty much everything) to whatever is in your weekly CSA box (what’s in season). It may surprise you to find that capsicum do not turn red until late February in our area, there may be no carrots in the month of October and its a bonus if you have tomatoes for Christmas.

You should expect the boxes to vary from week to week.  We harvest when things are ripe and perfect for eating.  Sometimes that means a box is fuller. Other times the box may be light.  We have tried, through planning, to provide an even harvest but sometimes, with weather, plantings ripen at the same time...or go by quicker then we thought.  We provide lists of what types of produce you might expect for each season on our website under each respective season, eg. Autumn Share.

Quantity varies – good to ask up front When filling the weekly CSA baskets, we try and provide a variety of items, in a reasonable quantity. We don’t want to be skimpy, and we don’t want to overwhelm our members. Too much of even a good thing, and it ends up going to waste, which makes everyone feel bad. Of course, the weather and other mitigating circumstances can get in the way of our ability to provide the ideal amount, as discussed above. We will try to provide you with an accurate description of how much of what items you may expect in your box each week in our Whats in the Box newsletters.

Make sure you understand these concepts - they are at the core of how we are running our farm CSA for our members. If you have any questions ..... please always ask!!

We have written more about What is CSA on our website if you are interested to read more about the background and ideology behind why we are farming this way.

CSA Autumn Share 2013 - Week #2 (9-15 March)

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items being harvested this coming week.  Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the harvest.  Please read the  Notes on the Share (below) to know which items we "rotate" through the boxes.  If the harvest of a crop is not enough for every member, we keep track of whom has received it and whom has not so as to keep the shares even.

The picture represents a full share box and is not exactly what every box will contain this week.  The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is.  We endeavour to divide the harvest fairly.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Basil – We are thinning a new planting this week so your bunch is young basil with roots. Lemon Basil and Purple Basil – Harvesting bunches.  If you would prefer a bunch of lemon and purple basil instead of coriander, please email us. Beans – We are harvesting 'Cherokee Wax' , yellow, string less, bush beans and 'Strike', green, string less, bush beans. Beat Root – Harvesting 'Bulls Blood', 'Ruby Queen' and 'Golden Detroit'. The 'Golden Detroit' steam well.  They turn a brown colour when grated.  Better cut into thin matchsticks raw in a salad. Cabbage – We are continuing to harvest our first Autumn planting of green 'Golden Acre' cabbage.  Harvesting a few heads of 'Red Rock', red cabbage. Capsicum – We are harvesting "breaking" capsicums. These are green or purple capsicums that have started to turn to red.  There are many posts online which talk about how to continue to turn the capsicum red...on your kitchen counter or in a bag with a banana.  We are harvesting them "breaking" to keep the plant producing as they should produce for another four-six weeks depending on the weather. Red capsicums contain high levels of vitamin C but come only when the plant has matured.  Please look at the pepper post to identify. Carrots – Bunches of 'Scarlet Nantes' or 'Red Core Chantenay'. Chillies - The harvest of ‘Padron’ chillies will continue to appear in some boxes. There are ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’,  ‘Long Thin Cayennes’ and ‘Thai Hot’ or ‘Bird’s Eye’ being harvested.  Please look at the pepper post to identify. Coriander – Harvesting small bunches. If you would prefer a bunch of coriander instead of lemon and purple basil, please email us. Corn – The fifth planting of corn, a butter and sugar variety 'Max', is coming on.  Lovely big ears full of flavour! We found ears today for the photo and expect to find more for Saturday pick-ups.  We will continue harvesting on Wednesday and divide the harvest. Cucumbers – We are harvesting the third planting. There are small, round 'Lemon' cucumbers, small pickling cucumbers 'Sumter', medium size cucumbers 'Marketmore' and 'Straight Eight' and large Chinese climbing cucumbers 'Suyo'. Eggplant – The eggplants were another crop effected by the extreme heat.  We are continuing to harvest what is there.  Please look at the eggplant post to identify.  We rotate the harvest. Lettuce –  Harvesting 'Freckles' and 'Green Oak Leaf'. The lettuce has not liked the hot humid weather. If we leave it in the ground, it will rot.  So we will harvest the whole planting, giving you extra lettuce this week.  There will be none next.  If you wash it and wrap it in kitchen paper, or wash it, spin it and store it in a plastic container, it should last for ten days. Melons – We are still harvesting from the second planting, although the harvest is scanty.  We keep checking the third planting as there are some big melons growing.  We are unsure of what the harvest this week will be.  We are also awaiting two more watermelon varieties which are not quite ready yet. Onions – We are harvesting 'California Red'.  We harvested these storing onions in the earth sign according to the biodynamic calender.  These onions should contain all of the flavour and nutrients you would expect from a biodynamic onion and they should store well too. Parsley – Harvesting 'Flat leaf' Italian and 'Curly Leaf'. Patty Pan Squash – The variety is 'Jaune Et Verte'.  They are scallop, small, round summer squash.  Delicious baked, grilled or stir fried.  We are rotating the harvest of these each week. Radishes –  Harvesting 'Purple Plum'. Hoping to get them into all the half share boxes this week. Tomatoes – There is a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes.  The Romas are coming on and there are a few 'Marglobes' too.  Expect extra this week as the cherries are so prolific! Zucchini – Harvesting 'Nero de Milano' and 'Romanesco'. The zucchinis are slowing down and we may need to start rotating the harvest.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING We are still in the thick of tomato season with the bigger varieties ripening now.  The first planting is beginning to slow down.  We have put a second planting in though and we are just beginning to harvest those tomatoes.  We are unsure how prolific this planting will be, being so late in the season, but wanted to experiment.  There are teeny tiny heads of broccoli-  unsure when we will be harvesting.  The English spinach planting still does not look ready for harvesting for this week.  Hopefully next.  There is also fennel and celery which will be ready for next week. And maybe baby rocket too!  The potato harvest this year has been reduced by the lack of rain...potatoes require large amounts of water.  So there are no potatoes this week but they will be back next week.

ESKY'S Please keep putting out your esky's.  Peter is happy to put your vegetables in one to preserve the freshness of the food until you return home.  Leave them in the shade and leave a note if you think he would not spot it.  We have also been told that water frozen in juice bottles with card board on top in an esky is an excellent way to protect the tender greens and keep everything cold and crisp.  Thanks for the advice!

U-PICK FLOWERS We have cosmos, zinneas, scabiosa, fever few, snap dragons, calendula, nasturtiums, statice, helichrysums and many other flowers growing.  Every member is welcome to come and U-pick some edible flowers and a bouquet each week on Saturdays from 8am-11am.  If you have not been to the farm yet, this is a great chance to walk around, see your food growing and leave with a wonderful posy.

SEASONAL EATING - SHARING INSPIRATION Please keep sharing your inspirations.  True seasonal eating has lost its definition, due partly to the fact that the grocery stores and fruit and vegetable shops seem to have everything, all the time.  It is great to be a part of the re-awakening of eating with the season and I am enjoying compiling what that looks like for so many different families.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Beet Root, Feta and Almond Salad Carrot and Radish Salad with a Glorious Moroccan Inspired Dressing Perfect Lettuce Salad with Radishes, Semi Dried Tomatoes and Capers Zucchini, Cherry Tomatoes and Chicken Kebabs

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.