CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #7 (11 February/13-14 February)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #7 We had our first big tomato harvest with the field tomatoes really coming on! There are big bags in everyone's box.  There may be caterpillars in the corn.  This is un-sprayed corn and the caterpillars like it as much as we do.  They are usually only in the top of the ear.  You can simply cut that off and enjoy the rest.We have had several members let us know how the box is working for them and send through recipes that they have enjoyed.  We really appreciate the feedback (as we start planning for next season in April) and the tested recipes are a great addition to our newsletter!  Please email or talk to us on the farm. We really do want to know what you are enjoying and what you find more challenging to work with.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING With Autumn, comes weather perfect for fungal diseases.  Our first plantings of zucchini and cucumbers have started succumbing to powdery mildew.  Some seasons you can keep these away but the cold, damp summer we have had has been perfect for spreading these diseases.

We have also seen an increase in pest bugs in the tomatoes and cucumbers.  We are doing what we can to try and curb the population...including hand collecting to make biodynamic insect peppers.

We are back harvesting beans!  There are more plantings coming on too so this is not the last of them!  The sweet corn is also continuing.

The brassicas are looking great in the field with the kale set to be planted this week.  We have also introduced a wasp which lays its eggs into the eggs of the white cabbage moth.  The wasps nymph then eats the baby caterpillar emerging from its egg cell.  Predator bugs that are working with us!  Once out in the world, the wasps feed off of nectar, highlighting again the value of having lots of flowers in the vegetable garden.  We keep trying to provide an ecosystem for all of these creatures to breed and be happy! Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.  Pick up is available at other times by appointment only.  There may be more boxes of cucumbers available for preserving.  If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com. We will be finishing with the first planting soon and the second planting is smaller.  If you are thinking about preserving, now is the time.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 itemsLemon Basil Beans – Green and Purple. Beetroot Carrots Chilies Corn Cucumbers English Spinach

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Extras Capsicum Cherry Tomatoes Chilies –   'Pimiento de Padrons'. Eggplant Lettuce Onions Potatoes Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Szechwan Green Beans - Our kids LOVE these! Herby, Peanutty, Noodley Salad - A River Cottage recipe Pimiento de Padrons- With a big harvest this week, many of you recieved these lovely peppers that make a great tapas style dish.LEMON BASIL DRESSING This is great on a salad, or served over freshly steamed beans.  Add garlic and it makes a wonderful marinade for zucchini, chicken or fish. Ingredients 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar ½ cup flax seed oil, grape seed oil or extra virgin olive oil 1-2 teaspoons Dijon-type mustard 1 shallot finely diced 1 tsp of one or a combination of fresh lemon basil ¼ tsp salt Method 1. Add all ingredients EXCEPT oil to the vinegar and gently whisk. 2. Continue whisking while adding the oil in a stream.

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

Zucchini Fritters - Gluten Free

We made these for crew lunch and served them with a pickled onion and tomato relish.  Delicious!!

Ingredients 1 medium size Zucchini 2 eggs mixed herbs Almonds Sesame Seeds Brown Rice Flour Method 1. Grate a medium sized zucchini, put in sieve and squeeze out juice. 2. Grind almonds into fine meal in a food processor. 3. Add lots of chopped herbs and continue to grind. 4. Add sesame seeds and 2 eggs and blend. 5. Hand combine vegetables and add enough flour to make patties. 6. Form into patties and shallow fry. They firm up as cooking.

CSA Summer Share 2015- Week #6 (11 February/13-14 February)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #6 We are half way through our CSA season!!  We have had several members let us know how the box is working for them and send through recipes that they have enjoyed.  We really appreciate the feedback (as we start planning for next season in April) and the tested recipes are a great addition to our newsletter!  Please email or talk to us on the farm. We really do want to know what you are enjoying and what you find more challenging to work with.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

The heat is back which is great news for the second melon planting, watermelons, red capsicums, eggplants, sweet corn and beans!  I feel like this next bean planting has taken ages and I am really missing these wonderful warm season vegetable.  Peter thought they would be ready today but had a test pick and they still are not.  If we try and pick them too young, we damage the plant.  So we will see what Friday brings.  We do have three more bean plantings after this one...with the last one being seeded this week!The first melon planting is finished now.  We have tried something different with the second which is looking good so far - we used weed mat to try and keep the weeds down.  The melon plants do not like to have their roots disturbed so pulling weeds is not a great option.  We weeded the first crop three times and it was still overrun with large weeds which shaded the plants and fruit.  This did not help seeing it was a cool wet season so far.  The second planting is virtually weed free and full of forming fruit.We are picking from our second corn planting now and planting our third zucchini planting.  The first zucchini planting is slowly sucumbing to powdery mildew.  It did fantastic though seeing it was badly hit by frost in November!

Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.  Pick up is available at other times by appointment only. 

There may be more boxes of cucumbers available for preserving.  If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com. We will be finishing with the first planting soon and the second planting is smaller.  If you are thinking about preserving, now is the time.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 itemsBasil – Big bunches of Italian Green basil, perfect for pesto.  You can make pesto without the cheese and freeze it for use throughout the winter.  You can add the cheese once it has thawed. Carrots – Bunches of heirloom orange carrots 'Little Fingers'. We have cleaned out a planting and will be starting on a new planting on Friday.  Some of the bunches for Wednesday did contain "Ugly" carrots.  These carrots are still very tasty and nutrient dense! Celery –  'Tall Utah'.  There is a great recipe for celery soup (link below) tried by one of our CSA members. Chilies –  'Hungarian Hot Wax' . On the Scoville scale (the measurement of how hot a chili is) these rate at 3500-10,000 (The Thai Hot Chillies rate at 30,000). Corn –  Sweet Corn...best eaten on the day you receive your box. Cucumbers – We are growing three varieties of cucumbers in this first planting.  Two have dark green skin and small warts (some with little bristly hairs).  These are "classic" cucumbers with cool flesh and slightly bitter skin.   The third variety is one we are trialling.  It has a lighter green colour and the skin is very smooth.  This does not have the bitterness of the other two. All three have the wonderfully cooling flesh we all love in this summer vegetable. Lettuce – 'Freckles' or 'Summer Harvest'. Onions – These are 'Cream Gold'.  They are a wonderful onion with a full flavour and store well. Potatoes – 'Exton'.   With freshly dug potatoes, the skin is very tender. We find a light wash is all they need before cooking.

Tomatoes –  We are harvesting the following varieties - all heirloom. 'Rouge de Marmande', 'Marglobe', 'Druzba', 'Oxheart', 'Jaune Negib' (a yellow tomato), 'Grosse Lisee' and 'Black Russian' (which is black).   Tomatoes are best left out of direct sunlight and out of the refrigeration.

Zucchini – 'Black Beauty' and 'Costa Romanesco'.

Extras Capsicum – Purple and green capsicums.  The purple taste like the green and turn green when cooked.  The red, yellow and orange sweet capsicums come later in the season. Cherry Tomatoes – We are growing four different cherry tomatoes this year - 'Black Cherry', 'Sungold', 'Little Yellow Bee' and 'Tommy Toe'. Chilies –   'Pimiento de Padrons'.  These are wonderful fried.  We rotate the 'Padrons' through the boxes and the harvest has just started.  We give you a good size bag to make heating the oil worthwhile.  There is a recipe for them here. Eggplant – We have just started harvesting the first of the eggplant.  These are 'Long, Thin Purple' great in stir fries and barbecued.  The plumper eggplants are forming on the plants and we may start harvesting them next week. Melons – We are harvesting 'Eden's Gem' and 'Early Hanover' both a honey dew and 'Hearts of Gold' and 'Hale's Best' cantaloupes. Radishes – 'Cherry Belle' Squash – 'Golden Crookneck' and/or 'Bennings Green Tint'(also known as Patty Pans - We like them baked.  Here is the recipe.)

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Cream of Celery Soup Cold Cucumber Soup Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Quinoa and Feta

Zucchini Fritters - Gluten Free

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Summer Share 2015 - Week #5 (4 February/6-7 February)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #5 Peter spotted a five foot Tiger snake near the pumpkins yesterday.  The good news is that this is a great signal that the pumpkins are ripening...the mice head into the patch to check them out as they start to ripen...looking for ones which may be split or sunburned to feed on...and where there are mice, there are snakes!  The bad news is, we have to head in there too to harvest them!  We are always mindful of the ecosystem we are nurturing and the fauna it attracts.  We also harvest pumpkins wearing gumboots and making lots of noise!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The next planting of beans is still not ready for harvest due to the cooler weather.  It is filled with beans, they are just tiny!  We have started harvesting our nectarines.  Although the trees are not as laden as last year, the fruit is amazing.  We have included a few in each box as a present.

Farming is a guessing game...the predictions we read in November were stating that this would be a hot season.  So we planned our greens plantings based on that information.  This is actually great weather for growing Spinach and lettuce...and I am sure broccoli would love it too. But as most summer weather hurts these crops, and we hate to have broccoli completely filled with the green caterpillars very prevalent during summer, we do not have excess greens and no summer broccoli planted.  There is more Spinach coming along with rocket and 'Perpetual gator' in the coming weeks.

The Autumn crops continue to be planted and seeded.  With the cold we have been having and the days shortening, it almost feels like Autumn...we sure hope that we get some heat though in February.  The field tomatoes are filled with green fruit and although we are harvesting from them, we are not seeing the flush that we normally get at this time.  Luckily the polytunnel tomatoes are still very healthy and producing!

More Sweet Corn!  We harvest this right before the truck leaves to ensure you receive really fresh corn.  EAT IT TONIGHT as it will be the best now!

Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.  Pick up is available at other times by appointment only. 

There may be more boxes of cucumbers available for preserving.  If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 itemsBeetroot Carrots Corn Cucumbers Lettuce Onions Potatoes Radishes

Tomatoes 

Zucchini

Extras Capsicum Celery Cherry Tomatoes Chilies Eggplant Melons Nectarines Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Zucchini Cake Ministrone Soup Corn and Zucchini Fritters Beetroot and Cream Cheese Dip Zucchini Brownies

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Summer Share 2015 - Week #4 (28 January/30-31 January)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #4 We loaded the van this morning with jumpers on!  While we would not complain about the rain we have had this summer, last night felt like Autumn was coming...and we only just started harvesting corn! The cooler weather has slowed the zucchini and the tomatoes a bit.  They are still producing but they do produce quicker when it is warmer.

Speaking of Autumn, the Autumn crop seeding continues as does the planting of crops for Autumn harvest.  The next broccoli crop is in the ground now and the leeks are growing strong!  We are approaching the time when the whole farm is filled with crops. The farm looks like a patchwork with Summer, Autumn, Winter and next seasons Spring crops all planted. That happens about mid April. And it is just a small window of time before crops are tilled in and the winter cover crops planted.  The fields are always changing.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

We have started harvesting the first crop of melons.  We are a bit worried about them.  Although we harvest when the plant slips the fruit from the vine, some of the melons we have tried are a bit over ripe and others are not as intensely flavoured as we like.  The flavouring is due to all the rain we have had and also the cooler weather.  Melon flavour intensifies with the heat of summer and a bit of water stress.  We have started putting them in the boxes as we cannot tell what they will be like without trying every one.  We hope you receive a good one and apologise in advance if it is not quite right.  The second melon crop is looking much healthier than the first and hopefully they will have some hotter days to ripen.

We have also started harvesting the Sweet Corn!  We harvest this right before the truck leaves to ensure you receive really fresh corn.  EAT IT TONIGHT as it will be the best now!

The next bean planting may be ready for Friday harvest but was not ready for Tuesday harvest.

Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.  Pick up is available at other times by appointment only. 

There are boxes of cucumbers available for preserving.  If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Basil Bunches– Large bunches for making pesto. Capsicum Carrots Chilies Corn Cucumbers Garlic Lettuce Potatoes Rocket Silver beet Tomatoes Zucchini

Extras Cherry Tomatoes Chilies –   'Pimiento de Padrons'. Melons Onions Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Simply Perfect Steamed Corn Spanish Truita - Potato Omelette Spinach and Chicken Curry Black Rice, Rocket, Grilled Zucchini, Fresh Tomatoes and Caper Salad - I took this recipe and substituted ingredients to make a great tasting and pretty salad.

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Summer Share 2014 - Week #3 (21 January/23-24 January)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #3 Our Mid Summer Cover crop of Buckwheat was sown in many areas of the farm this week. When turned in, the buckwheat adds organic matter and makes soil nutrients, particularly phosphorus and calcium, more accessible to the Autumn crops that will be planted soon. Buckwheat’s shallow white blossoms attract beneficial insects that attack or parasitize aphids, mites, and other pests. These beneficials include hover flies (Syrphidae), predatory wasps, minute pirate bugs, insidious flower bugs, tachinid flies, and lady beetles. Flowering can start as early as three weeks after planting – so it is a very quick crop.

The melon plantings are starting to ripen and we hope that with the warm weather this week the sweet corn will be ready to get into the boxes next week. The Capsicum, Eggplant and Chilli plantings are all looking very healthy and while they are just starting to fruit they will be rotated through the boxes until there is enough for all.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

Photos this week...

Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am - Outside of these times, by appointment only. 

There are boxes of cucumbers and zucchini available for preserving.  If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Mixed Basil Bunches Mixed Beans Beetroot Carrots Chilies Cucumbers Lettuce Onions Potatoes

Tomatoes

Zucchini

EXTRAS Capsicum Cherry Tomatoes Chilies Kale Silverbeet Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Ceasar Salad Cucumber and Tomato Salad Creamy Pasta with Roasted Zucchini, Goats Cheese and Basil Zucchini, Cherry Tomato and Chicken Kebabs Szechwan Green Beans

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Summer Share 2014 - Week #2 (14 January/16-17 January)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #2We would really like to hear how the box is working for you, what produce you like, what is harder to know what to do with and what meals were a highlight in your house.  If you are picking your box up, please do share with us.  If your box is delivered and you are home, please chat a bit with Belinda or Peter.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Another 40 degree day this week has caused our lettuce planting for this week to bolt - go to seed.  There is no lettuce in the boxes this week.  There is another planting for next week which looks fine.  It also sun scalded capsicums and apples, burned half of a new celery planting, burned parsnip babies and caused much of the fennel to bolt.  We have harvested what fennel did not bolt and it is in the boxes this week.  We try not to put things like fennel in the box two weeks in a row but if we did not harvest it now, we would have lost the planting.  We have included a great recipe for a warm dip that is really good.  

Heavy rain was forecasted for much of last week and while we received some rain, we did not receive what we thought.  We spent time pruning the field tomatoes to try and give them good airflow to make it through the wet and the humidity.  The field tomatoes are starting to ripen and the plants look good.  The rain came today, Tuesday and as I write this, it is pouring.  We tried to get most of the harvesting done early and then spent the afternoon weeding the pumpkin crop.  There are many small pumpkins forming and the plants look healthy!

We welcomed a new work share volunteer this week, Paul.  Paul is from this area and has spent the past months wwoofing on interesting farms up north.   We really enjoy the diversity the work share volunteers and interns bring to our farm and are also very thankful for their help.  

There are boxes of cucumbers and zucchini available for preserving.  If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Basil – Big enough bunches to make pesto. Beans – Green French beans. Celery – This biodynamic celery is packed full of minerals.  The natural salts celery is known for are really tasted!  We enjoy it with this beetroot dip if you have any extra beetroot from last week. Cucumbers – We are growing three varieties of cucumbers in this first planting.  Two have dark green skin and small warts (some with little bristly hairs).  These are "classic" cucumbers with cool flesh and slightly bitter skin.  The fruit and leaves of wild cucurbits have been used in Indian and Chinese medicine for thousands of years, as emetics and purgatives and to treat liver disease. More recently, researchers have shown that cucurbitacins can kill or suppress growth of cancer cells. Luckily, the cucumbers we eat have been "tweaked" a bit to make them not so bitter.  If you peel these, the bitterness is removed.  The third variety is one we are trialling.  It has a lighter green colour and the skin is very smooth.  This does not have the bitterness of the other two. All three have the wonderfully cooling flesh we all love in this summer vegetable. There are extra cucumbers this week.  We have cucumbers with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper for snacks.  We also love bread and butter pickles throughout the year.  There is more information in this preserving post. Fennel – You can use this as a main salad ingredient or carmelise it with butter and use it to stuff zucchini or as a base for risotto.  Great roasted too! Garlic – 'Australian White'. We put the smaller bulbs in the boxes first as the larger ones store better. Perpetual Gator Silver Beet – This is a wonderfully versatile silver beet - great raw and cooked.  It has a lemony taste that adds a lot of flavour to a variety of dishes. English Spinach – Eat raw or cooked, with eggs or wrapped in fillo. Tomatoes –  There are five varieties in the polytunnel - all heirloom. 'Rouge de Marmande', 'Marglobe', 'Druzba', 'Oxheart' and 'Black Russian' (which is black).   Tomatoes are best left out of direct sunlight and out of the refrigeration. Zucchini– 'Black Beauty' and 'Costa Romanesco'.

Extras Beans – Purple French beans. Carrots – Bunches of heirloom orange carrots. Capsicum – There have been a few green capsicums ready for harvest with many more smaller ones growing.  The coloured sweet capsicums come later in the season. Chilies – There have been a few 'Hungarian Hot Wax' and we have started picking the 'Pimiento de Padrons'.  These are wonderful fried.  We rotate the 'Padrons' through the boxes and the harvest has just started.  We give you a good size bag to make heating the oil worthwhile.  There is a recipe for them here. Potatoes – 'Cranberry Red'.  Wonderful boiled, roasted and mashed.  With freshly dug potatoes, the skin is very tender. Radishes – Bunches of 'Purple Plum' radishes - great raw in salads or roasted! Squash – 'Golden Crookneck' and/or 'Bennings Green Tint'(also known as Patty Pans - We like them baked.  Here is the recipe.)

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Spinach and Feta Triangles Fennel and White Bean Warm Dip Pesto! Celery Gratin Spinach Pie - Quite like the triangles above but a different presentation

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Summer Share 2014 - Week #1 (7 January/9-10 January)

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #1 I apologise for the late arriving What's in the Box.  With the 40C day looming and rain fore casted for the next five days, we started early in the field to try and prepare the crops for the weather.  And then we lost power until after 9pm.

We would really like to hear how the box is working for you, what produce you like, what is harder to know what to do with and what meals were a highlight in your house.  If you are picking your box up, please do share with us.  If your box is delivered and you are home, please chat a bit with Belinda or Peter.

With the days heating up, please do leave a large esky out and we will pack your veggies into to help them cope until you get home.  Belinda and Peter do try and find a shady spot for the box but even in the shade, the greens wilt very quickly!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Heat above 36C does really effect crops.  The tomatoes, capsicum and eggplants can drop all their flowers, the cucumbers can just give up, the pumpkins which are starting to grow can get sun scalded as can the capsicums, tomatoes and fruit.  The melons, corn and zucchini seem to thrive.  The cloud cover in the late afternoon, the cool change and the rain falling now helps!There are melons growing well, with some about the diameter of a dessert plate, and the field tomatoes are ripening.  We have welcomed a new intern, Tahlia, who will be working with us through March.  The Autumn brassica plantings continue to be seeded as do more plantings of lettuce, basil, beans, corn, coriander, perpetual gator, rocket, spring onions and zucchini.

We were lucky to have the rain after the heat on Saturday.  Some of the apples and capsicums were scalded by the sun but most things recovered well with the cool change and rain.

We were excited to spy lots of native Australian bees today.  These blue banded bees are great pollinators and wonderful proof that the diversity within our ecosystem is growing!

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 itemsThai Basil – Wonderful on salads, vegetable dishes and meats.  Great mixed into a summer curry with lemon grass, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and soy. Beans – Green and purple French beans. Beet Root – Large bunches of tender beets. Carrots – Bunches of heirloom orange carrots. Green Coriander Seed –The fresh coriander seeds lend so many savory preparations a huge jolt of flavor and crunch.  They taste like a cross between fresh coriander leaves and dried coriander seed - bright and verdant but not as intense as the leaves.  They are citrusy and slightly nutty, and they pair very well with beans, lentils, rice, and roasted or grilled vegetables.Fresh coriander seed makes a great garnish on rice, in salads, on meats, in sauces. Mix it into marinades and dressings. Try it roughly cracked and with black pepper on any grilled meat or fish. Or sprinkle them on a salad of ripe tomatoes with salt and extra virgin olive oil.  You can infuse them in vodka for a wonderful cocktail.Crush them lightly and mix them with ripe peaches for a great salsa.  You can replace the dried coriander seeds in a curry but put them in near the end to retain their freshness. Cucumbers Fennel – You can use this as a main salad ingredient or carmelise it with butter and use it to stuff zucchini or as a base for risotto.  Great roasted too! Garlic – 'Australian White'. We put the smaller bulbs in the boxes first as the larger ones store better. Lettuce Potatoes – Wonderful boiled, roasted and mashed.  With freshly dug potatoes, the skin is very tender. English Spinach – Eat raw or cooked, with eggs or wrapped in fillo.

Tomatoes 

Zucchini

Extras Broccoli – The last of our Summer broccoli.  The crop will be back again in March. Capsicum – There have been a few green capsicums ready for harvest with many more smaller ones growing.  The coloured sweet capsicums come later in the season. Chilies – There have been a few 'Hungarian Hot Wax' and we have started picking the 'Pimiento de Padrons'.  These are wonderful fried.  We rotate the 'Padrons' through the boxes and the harvest has just started.  We give you a good size bag to make heating the oil worthwhile.  There is a recipe for them here. Peas – Sugar snap peas or snow peas. Wonderful in a salad or a stir fry! Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Green Beans and Potato Salad Spinach and Chicken CurryWARM ROASTED BEETROOT, CARROT AND FENNEL SALAD Ingredients 1 bunch beetroots, peeled and quartered 12 baby carrots, trimmed and peeled 1 brown onion, peeled and cut into wedges 1 fennel bulb, trimmed & cut into wedges 2 whole garlic bulbs, halved across salt and pepper 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar extra virgin olive oil 150g soft goats cheese, cut into thick slices crusty bread to serveMethod 1.  Preheat oven 200°C 2. Combine vegetables in a large baking dish and toss through sugar, vinegars and oil. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Roast covered for 35-40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 4. Carefully remove foil and place goats cheese over the top. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until cheese becomes soft and bubbly. 5. Remove and serve immediately, with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the addition of padrons.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #13 (30 December/ 2-3 January)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #13 Wishing you and your families all the best in the New Year!  We thank you for your support of our farm thus far this season.  This is the last box of the Spring Share.  With the beans and tomatoes starting to appear in the boxes, summer produce is truly here!  We look forward to continuing filling boxes in this next season!!

Please remember, next week's delivery returns to a Wednesday.  Farm pick up returns this week to FRIDAY 2 January 2-5pm and SATURDAY 3 January 8-11am.  

With several families being away over Christmas and several un-collected boxes, the farm donated quite a bit of food to families around the peninsula.  It is wonderful to be able to offer extra produce to the community.  We are lucky to have contact with Lorraine whom works with 'Second Bite', the local Brotherhood centre, and 'Connections', an organisation training disabled people to work in commercial kitchens.  We will continue to have some surplus produce that we can pass on to these organisations.  We will be hosting a "gleaning" harvest day.  With the summer push of growth upon us, we do not have the time to do extra harvesting.  With your help, we could harvest surplus produce for these organisations. Please let us know if you are interested.

There are extra zucchini and cucumbers this week as well as extra items that were ready for harvest.  The half share boxes have 13 items and the full share 17.  We hope that you can take advantage of the extra produce.  We have included ideas below as well as preserving ideas.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

The growth in the patch is incredible!  The corn has begun tasseling and ears are forming.  Soon the pollen will fall, hopefully pollinating each kernel so that they fill out forming succulent ears of sweet corn.  There are baby pumpkins and the vines have started running.  The first sunflower is blooming.  There are baby eggplant and capsicums.  All of the plants are taking full advantage of the daylight hours with growth in almost double the time of early Spring.

We are harvesting the last of the Summer broccoli. Some of the heads are enormous!!  The population of white cabbage moths has increased.  This is unsprayed broccoli - do check it for green caterpillars.

We still have plantings of English Spinach coming on for next week but the peas will falter as the weather heats up.  This is the last of the Sugar snap peas.  We hope the snow peas will avoid the powdery mildew which plagues late pea plantings.

The beans have started.  The first crop was stunted by the late frost-there are still beans but it is not a huge harvest.  The second planting looks much fuller and healthier.  We have seeded planting five of the beans and the sweet corn...we hope to be harvesting these in March!  We have also begun the seeding in the greenhouse of Autumn crops.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Basil Beans – Green and yellow French beans. Broccoli Carrots – Bunches of heirloom multi-coloured carrots. Cucumbers Garlic – 'Australian White'. We put the smaller bulbs in the boxes first as the larger ones store better. Lettuce Peas – sugar snap peas or snow peas. Wonderful in a salad or a stir fry! Radishes Rocket – Great for salads and pizzas Spring Onions

Tomatoes

Zucchini –

Extras Romanesco Broccoli – These are best cooked more like a cauliflower then a broccoli.  They do not have the size of the Autumn heads. Cauliflower Celery Squash – 'Golden Crookneck' and/or 'Bennings Green Tint'(also known as Patty Pans - We like them baked.  Here is the recipe.)

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Beans, Rocket, Black Rice and Semi Dried Tomatoes Tzatziki Dip - Uses cucumbers and is perfect for snacks and entertaining Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic - serve as a bruschetta for finger food or with a fork! Rocket, Blue Cheese, Prosciutto Bruschetta Crunchy Salad - A Jamie Oliver recipe using many of the veggies in the box this week Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon Basil Sauce Zucchini, Prosciutto and Basil Pinwheels - an internet find that is easy, tasty and great for entertaining.

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #12 (23 December)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #12 - The Holiday BoxWishing you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday filled with peace, joy and great food!  We have included extra herbs for roasting vegetables or making stuffing.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Basil Beetroot Broccoli Carrots Cucumbers Fennel Garlic Lettuce Rosemary Salad Onions Baby Silver Beet – Great in salads or cooked. Thyme Zucchini

Extras Romanesco Broccoli Cabbage Cauliflower Radishes Squash Tomatoes

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING This week we said goodbye to our Spring Intern Emily. She has been a fantastic help and we wish her all the best in her growing future!

There should be lots of beans in next weeks box. They were not ready for picking yesterday. The peas have returned though and if the weather stays cooler, we should get another harvest of sugar snaps. We also have a whole planting of snow peas that is just starting to flower.

There are lots of flowers and herbs to pick during the farm collection times of Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.

Please remember, next week the boxes will be delivered on TUESDAY 30 DECEMBER.  Farm pick up returns to FRIDAY 2 January 2-5pm and SATURDAY 3 January 8-11am.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Grilled Zucchini and Summer Squash - I plan to make some black rice and use a mixture of these two recipes to make a festive Christmas Salad. Fennel and Radish Salad Ottolenghi's Perfect Salad Carrot and Radish Salad with a Moroccan Inspired Dressing Roasted Carrots and Beetroot

HERBED STUFFING WITH QUINOA AND NUTS This is a traditional flavoured stuffing.  You can also substitute the celery with fennel fried lightly in butter with garlic, remove the rosemary and use salad onions and their tops to create a very different flavour. Ingredients 8 large slices of  whole grain bread 1 cup cooked quinoa ½ cup almonds, ground 3 sticks celery cut up 1 whole onion chopped finely 3 sage leaves 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves bunch of fresh thyme ½ bunch of parsley salt and pepper melted butter stock Method 1.  Lay the whole loaf of bread out in the oven and toast the slices for about 20-25 minutes.  Put into a food processor with the fresh herbs and almonds and grind until a medium texture. 2.  Mix in about 1/4 cup melted butter, the quinoa,  celery and onion, salt and pepper and enough stock to make the stuffing just hold together. DO NOT OVER MIX.

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #11 (17 December/19-20 Dec)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #11 We harvested the first tomatoes this morning!

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Broccoli Carrots Celery Chilies Garlic Lettuce Mesclun Spring Onions English Spinach Zucchini

Extras Basil Tops Romanesco Broccoli Cauliflower Cucumber Onions Squash Tomatoes

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We have harvested the first tomatoes from the poly tunnel with the cherry tomatoes in the field looking close. We have continued harvesting cucumbers but still not a huge production on the 200 feet of plants...we have only harvested just over 100 cucumbers thus far!

With these few weeks of rain and humidity at times, we made a fermented herbal tea to try and help the plants ward off fungal diseases.  We also applied biodynamic 501 to help the plants use light better and to help them assimilate minerals.  This also helps the plant pores to tighten.

There is lovely broccoli heads in all of the boxes this week.  These were grown in one of the mandala circles which has more protection from wind and insects.  They are beautiful!! The next pea planting is finally podding up!  We hope to harvest sugar snaps for the Christmas boxes. I spied the first capsicum in the field.  Our capsicum are a bit later this year as the whole first seeding died in the glasshouse. We make our own soil mix for the seedlings and the mix we used for the crop was too heavy.  Such a disappointment watching them all die over a two week period.  But we reseeded the crop and had a healthy batch to plant in the field.  The plants look great and are filled with flowers.  We are still protecting them almost every night from cold, wind and the possibility of hail.

We planted our second crop of sweet potatoes this week, our fourth planting of beans and corn, and our leek crop for Autumn.  The pumpkins are starting to vine out and they look healthy.  Early sunflowers are also about six feet high now all over the fields.

There are lots of flowers and herbs to pick during the farm collection times of Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.

Please remember, next week the boxes will be delivered on TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER.  Farm pick up is also on TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER from 9-5.  The farm will then be closed for Christmas until Monday 29 December.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Celery Gratin Thai salad Dressing - Great with the mesclun, spring onions and coriander. Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon Basil sauce Quinoa, Roasted Vegetables, Chickpeas and Feta Salad Spinach and Feta Triangles

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #10 (10 December/12-13 Dec)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #10 We spied melons the size of golf balls today while weeding!! The first corn planting is hip high.  There are orange tomatoes in the poly-tunnel. We harvested basil for the boxes this week. The zucchini are going bonkers...must be summer.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Basil Tops Beetroot Broccoli Carrots Garlic Lettuce Onions Perpetual Spinach Zucchini

Extras Romanesco Broccoli Red Cabbage Savoy Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Cucumber English Spinach Summer Squash

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We sent a newsletter out with lots of pictures of what's growing.  If you are not on our mailing list, you can view it here.

The Spring push continues as we try to keep up with the weeding and continue to seed crops.  We will begin our Autumn brassica seeding this week.

There are cut flowers and edible flowers available for U-pick. Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.  We do have diverse (and not always friendly) fauna so please wear appropriate shoes.

To include edible flowers in the Christmas box, we need help harvesting them.  If you can help on Monday 22 December,  please let us know.

We are finalizing our list for the Summer Share which begins in January.  If you would like to continue receiving veggies, please email to let us know.  We will also send an email about this.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Roasted Fennel and White Bean Dip - A great warm dip for holiday parties. Beetroot Dip Broccoli Fritters Zucchini Brownies - This is a great recipe on Kate - The Lunch Lady's site.  Our children and the farm crew love it! Beet and Carrot Salad

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

Summer - December 2014

Spring is a crazy time of year for a market gardener.  The glasshouse is filled with crops.  In the case of capsicums, eggplants, leeks, tomatoes and pumpkins, these are our whole crop of the year.  We also have successive plantings of broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, Asian greens, melons and sweet potatoes all vying for the limited space and perfect conditions to grow strong seedlings.  In the field, we have the polytunnel, which we need to monitor throughout the day to ensure the correct temperature for growing early tomatoes, small plastic cloches which protect crops in the field from frost, wind, hail and colder temperatures.  These need to be opened in the morning and closed at night and sometimes in between.

Spring weather is very changeable.  This year we had an unseasonably late frost on the 12 November which coincided with a water supply issue.  We were not expecting this frost (as our latest frost in the six years we have been here has been 31 October with other years occurring between the last week in September - second week in October).  We had removed the covers from the zucchini and cucumbers, our field tomatoes were in the ground and our potato crop was already up.  There was field basil germinating and more delicate lettuce varieties.  All of these are frost sensitive.  We had to choose which to try and save with the limited irrigation we had and hope for the best.

In Spring the whole farm gets set up for the coming season.  Green manure crops are plowed in, beds are formed, seedlings are planted, watered, weeded, fed seaweed sprays.  We apply biodynamic preps 500 and 501 throughout the season to try and encourage healthy soil and help plants use photosynthesis, assimilate the minerals they are taking in through their roots and tighten their pores to resist insect attacks and fungal diseases. Very busy times!  I often think of Spring as a high speed freight train streaming past.  You have to jump on and hope you can hold on for the ride and arrive in Summer with enough energy to make it through the rest of the season.

So here it is, the first week of Summer (in Australia) on the farm...in photos

We have also continued to work with with aspiring farmers and home gardeners through our 3 month Farm Internship programs and with our one day a week Workshare farm volunteers.  We have written an extensive internship which shares our farming practices from building soil, biodynamics, seeding with the moon, pest and disease management, market garden tools and tricks, irrigation, harvest and storing crops, crop rotation and more. We have also written a few past posts you can read here.

Our Workshare volunteers commit to one day a week for a minimum period of 3 months and go home after a days work with a box of farm produce. It is wonderful to see the growing desire of people to be farmers and also wonderful to see the support of the community for locally produced food. Anyone interested in either the Farm Internships or the Workshare volunteering can contact us via email : petercarlyon@gmail.com

Our Summer CSA Share starts in January so we ask our current CSA members and others interested if they could please let us know if they would like to be a part of our Summer Share so we can finalise our list for the Summer boxes before we get into the craziness of Christmas.  May the peace and light of the season fill your homes and gardens!

For more farm updates, join us on facebook and instagram.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #6 (12 November/14-15 November)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #6

We have started harvesting zucchini!! The days are getting longer, the nights a bit warmer...Summer must be coming!

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly.

1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Baby Carrots Beetroot Broccoli Coriander Fennel Lettuce Radishes English Spinach Turnips

Extras Artichokes Broad Beans Cabbage Green Garlic Radishes Spring Onions Sugar Snap Peas Snow Peas Summer Squash Zucchini

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We have started harvesting Zucchini!  We are growing four varieties of Zucchini and Summer Squash and will rotate these through the boxes.  The harvest for the first few weeks is light and then the plants really get going.  We have written down who received Zucchini this week and will ensure what we have gets rotated.  We originally planted 200 feet of zucchini but when it started to get attached by the red legged earth mite, we added another 100 feet.  We are thankful we did as that late added row is the strongest in this planting!

We have also started harvesting our second broccoli planting.  Spring is a hard time of year to grow the Brassica family as there are two different moths which both lay their eggs on the brassicas.  Do keep a look out for caterpillars.  We have also had quite a dry Spring and the broccoli heads are not as big as they were last year because of this.

The boxes have been very full these past weeks with surplus greens and extras. We are thrilled that so many of the crops we have sown are doing well and producing in abundance.  The quarter share has 5-7 items, the half 8-10 and the full 10-12.  This week the full share boxes have 17 items!  We hope that you are enjoying the extra produce.  If it is too much, please enjoy gifting it to friends.  The surplus may reduce over the next few weeks.

The broad bean crop is coming to an end as are the artichokes.  The basil is growing strong though and before we know it, there will be a glut of zucchini.  The eggplants and capsicums are in the ground protected from wind and cool nights with row covers.  The cucumber plants are flowering, the root crops bulking up and next week there may be shelling peas!  We have just started harvesting our first cabbage crop and the cauliflower and Romanesco broccoli are growing strong.

For those whom pay monthly, we are going to try and set up an automated reminder that is sent on the 25th.  This was a suggestion from one of our interns as we are always telling them how time poor we are.  It would save us alot of time if the monthly payments were paid by the first.  Hopefully the reminder will help in this regard.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Fennel and Radish Salad Spring Lentil, Quinoa, Baby Carrot, Spring Peas and Feta Salad Beetroot, Feta and Almond Salad Cabbage Stir Fry Beetroot and Cream Cheese Dip You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #5 (5 November/7-8 November)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #5 The baby carrots are here and we are harvesting Spring broccoli. There are peas and mung bean sprouts to help make the bok choy meals more exciting!There are also loads of surplus greens on the farm being shared among our CSA members. This is the advantage of being a member of a CSA. You share in the bounty and in the inherent risks of farming-unpredictable weather, pests, crop diseases. Read on for ideas of what to do with so many greens.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly.

1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Baby Carrots Bok Choy Broccoli Coriander Kale Lettuce Mung Bean Sprouts English Spinach Tatsoi Turnips

Extras Artichokes Green Garlic Radishes Rocket Silver Beet Sugar Snap Peas Snow Peas

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING Our bok choy planting was spurred along by the warm weather.  If we did not harvest it this week, it would have bolted (gone to seed). The fennel we planned to harvest this week has been saved for next week’s box.  There is one more bok choy planting in the ground but it should not be ready for another three weeks!

We also have a surplus of Perpetual Gator and Spinach on the farm. Last year our English spinach plantings did not perform well.  This year we are able to harvest from each planting twice. We based the amount of spinach we sowed on last years data...so we have double what we need. We could have left these out of the box but have harvested them and put them in.

If you are receiving more greens then you know what to do with, please, gift some to friends or preserve it for another day.   Spinach is so versatile.  It is very easy to freeze in ziplock bags for a quick addition to a quiche or curry when there is no spinach.  The rocket can be made into pesto which will keep for weeks in the fridge (and takes up much less room this way!) We hope you are enjoying the surplus!

The first melon crop is in the ground and the capsicum and eggplant crops will be planted this week.  The first bean planting is growing well as are the zucchini plants.  The beginning harvest of the cucurbit family (zucchini, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins) is slow as we await a balance between male and female flowers so that the fruit can be pollinated.  The farm bees are very healthy though and there are many fruits forming.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Black Rice, Rocket and Semi Dried Tomato Salad Thai Curry Baste and Thai Baked Tofu Spinach and Feta Pie Bok Choy and Mung Bean Salad Silverbeet Fritters Quinoa Patties - This is a recipe from Georgia Harding from Well Nourished.  We are trying it for lunch today with home made pickles!

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #4 (29 October/31 Oct- 1 Nov)

FOURTH WEEK OF THE SPRING SHARE The Spring beet root harvest began this week!  We also had an explore in the first planting of carrots and got enough bunches for the full shares.  This is just the beginning of both these crops! With a bit of heat, all of our successive "greens" plantings are stacking up on top of each other.  We weren't expecting bok choy so many weeks in a row but if this week is hot, it will go to seed.  So more bok choy, silverbeet and english spinach!  There are ideas for each crop in the description and recipes below.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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Beet Root Bok Choy Broad Beans Green Garlic Lettuce Parsley Rocket Silver Beet English Spinach Tatsoi

Extras Artichokes Baby Carrots Broccoli Purple Sprouting Broccoli Peas Turnips

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING The first small zucchinis are on the bushes and the corn has germinated.  The wind has snapped a few of the field tomato plants but we have extras to fill the holes. This week we will be planting the first melon crop and getting ready to plant the capsicums and eggplant.  Peter has prepared a new area for the pumpkin crop and we are putting lots of sunflower seeds in the ground.

Spring is the busiest time of year as we try to ensure many of the crops for Summer and Autumn are in the ground with time to grow strong roots before the heat of summer comes.  We are also preparing areas of the farm for Summer green manure crops which protect the soil and then feed the soil before the planting of the Autumn and Winter crops.  Meanwhile the weeds love the warmth and we are trying to keep on top of them. We are also sowing successive crops of roots, greens, peas, beans and corn.

The bees on the farm have been very busy this Spring with about seven swarms utilizing the bait boxes John, our bee man, has put around the farm.  A few swarms have also just started making hives in trees!  John has set up new hives with these swarms.  The hives are so busy he is adding more floors so that they have the room to make comb, store honey and raise brood.  The hives look really healthy and the bees must be very well nourished to have the numbers to send out so many swarms!  There will be honey for sale at farm pick up hopefully by this week.

U-PICK AND EXTRAS AT FARM PICK UP CSA members are welcome to come to the farm during the farm pick up times for U-picks. This week there are U-pick edible flowers.  There will be someone at the shed to give you scissors, show you what is edible and instruct you on where to find the flowers.

At farm pick up we have eggs from our chicken tractors ($7/dozen).  These chickens are rotated through crops and pasture around the farm. There will be honey from the bees on the farm!  And we also have Mountain View Dairy yogurt and halloumi cheese.  This link contains information about Mountain View farm and a price list.  The halloumi is a new item and we will know the price by Friday. If you are interested in their milk, you need to order by Wednesdays. You can email Robin.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Spinach and Chickpeas - A recipe from Smitten Kitchen Spinach Pie - from Jamie Oliver Roasted Japanese Turnips and their Balsamic Greens Broad Bean Pasta Rocket Pesto Beet Root, Feta and Almond Salad - Great served over rocket! Asian Green Stir Fry Steamed Artichokes

There are many more recipes on our  recipe page. Search under the key ingredients listed in the side bar on the right.

Please note - Photo is of a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #3 (22 October/24-25 October)

THIRD WEEK OF THE SPRING SHARE The beans we seeded last week have already germinated. The zucchini have buds. The cucumbers have transplanted well. The first Sweet Corn is planted and this week, the field tomatoes will go in the ground. The tomatoes in the polytunnel are flowering and the broad beans are getting fat. Must be Spring!

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Bok Choy Braising Mix Coriander Kale Pea Shoots Pumpkin Radishes Silver Beet English Spinach Turnips

Extras Artichokes Broad Beans Broccoli Lettuce

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING The first Spring planting of Broccoli is heading up and the Spring cabbages are also starting to form.  The broccoli will be ready for harvest in the coming weeks- the cabbage will take at least a month to full form a head.

We hope to begin harvesting the Spring planted beetroot next week. We also will begin harvesting the first pea planting. The plants were seriously damaged by the red legged earth mite which infested the farm in early Spring. We are unsure of how many peas we will find in the first planting.  The second planting looks great!

OPEN DAY, U-PICK AND EXTRAS AT FARM PICK UP We had a wonderful open day on Saturday with 60 adults and many children touring the farm.  The tour emphasized our biodynamic practices, crop rotation, green manure crops and SOIL...our favourite muse!  We will try and have another open day in Summer.  All CSA members are always welcome to come to the farm during the farm pick up times for U-picks. This week their are U-pick edible flowers.  There will be someone at the shed to give you scissors, show you what is edible and instruct you on where to find the flowers.

Also at farm pick up we have eggs from our chicken tractors ($7/dozen).  These chickens are rotated through crops and pasture around the farm. We also have Mountain View Dairy grass fed herd, organic yogurt and halloumi cheese.

For farm crew lunch we made a warm french lentil salad served over Spinach with friend halloumi croutons - Delicious! I will try and write a recipe for this.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Swiss Chard Fritters - from Ottolenghi Spinach Pie - from Jamie Oliver Roasted Japanese Turnips and their Balsamic Greens Bok Choy, Broccolini and Chicken in a Spiced Sauce Pea Shoot and Bok Choy Salad Steamed Artichokes Simple Broad Beans Broad Bean and Quinoa Salad

There are many more recipes on our  recipe page. Search under the key ingredients listed in the side bar on the right.

Please note - Photo is of a randomly selected full share box.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #2 (15 October/17-18 October)

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #2 ***TAKE CARE*** There are stinging nettles in your box.  Once the nettles are heated, the lose the formic acid which brings the sting.  Read more about nettles.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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly.

1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Bok Choy Broad Bean Tops Chillies Chives Lettuce Mung Bean Sprouts Nettles Onions Pumpkin Radishes Perpetual Gator Silver Beet English Spinach Thyme

EXTRAS Artichokes Beet Root Red Bok Choy Purple Sprouting Broccoli Leeks NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We usually try and hold our Winter green manure crops until right before we plant an area.  This year though, they were infested with the red legged earth mite.  This is a mite from South Africa which has become a real problem in Australian pastures.  The Department of Primary Industries suggests several insecticides to try and break the life cycle of the mite.  The biodynamic treatment is to use preparation 500 and 501 together to support the roots of the plants and to tighten the plants pores and help it photosynthesize better to outgrow the damage done by the sucking mite.  We have been using this method in conjunction with tilling in our green manure crops early as these are the major food source of the mite.  Consequently, unless an Early Spring seeded pea crop grows more, we will not have pea shoots this Spring. The mite has also affected our first pea crop.  It is now growing through the damage but the crop is only about half of what it was.  The second crop looks great though.The Spring surge of the sucking insects (like aphids) is happening and many of the leafy greens show the signs of their attack.  Our attitude towards “pests” is wait and see.  We believe in the ecosystem we are cultivating and have seen nature working with the arrival of “beneficials” to feed on the “pests”.  What we see on plants is aphids being fed upon by lacewings with wasps laying their eggs into the aphid eggs.  What you see is bugs.  We get that! And we are working to have high quality, bug free produce.  We also need to balance the whole ecosystem of the farm.  We do not want to spray organic insecticides as they are not selective – killing pests and beneficials. This could lead to a bigger problem later in the season.  So while we watch the ecosystem in action, we have also tried to help it along by purchasing eggs for beneficial bug predators.  We are releasing these around the farm in hopes of increasing our beneficial population.

The early broccoli is heading up well.  We are unsure if they will be ready for harvest next week or the week after.

Theses are very busy weeks on the farm as we get back into the rhythm of harvesting and we rush to get the Summer heat loving plants in the ground.  This week the night time temperatures are still below 10 degrees here.  We have cloches protecting the zucchini and cucumbers.   The potatoes, first plantings of beans, more carrots and beetroot and greens are all in the ground too.  In the next few weeks we will seed our pumpkin and watermelon crop, our second melon planting and our first planting of sweet corn.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Broad Bean Tops Sesame Salmon with Honey Bok Choy Spinach Pie - a Jamie Oliver recipe which is a real hit for farm crew lunches! Bok Choy Salad Nettle Tartlets Here are some internet nettle recipes which look good. Nettle Spanikopita Quinoa and Nettle Pilaf Nettle and Goats Cheese Pie Nettle Pesto

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

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the addition of a whole pumpkin (the boxes received 1/2 a pumpkin).

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #1 (8 October/10-11 October)

FIRST WEEK OF THE SPRING SHARE AND OUR 2014-2015 CSA! Here we go...your first box of farm fresh vegetables!  If you have any questions about the CSA or about What's in your box, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com or ring us on 5988-5287.

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. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption.  We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days.  While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this 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 endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items   1/2 share: 8-10 items   Full Share: 10-12 items

Broad Bean Tops Broccoli Fennel Kale Bouquet Lettuce Parsley Pumpkin Radishes Rocket Baby Silver Beet

Extras Artichokes Broad Beans Cauliflower Lettuce Rhubarb

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING So much to share about what's growing...Spring!  Even while many of the Summer and Autumn harvested crops are being planted this month, the food ready for harvest now are those crops that do not mind growing during cold nights and in cold soil...GREENS!.  You will notice lots of greens in the boxes for the first three weeks.

We do have carrots and beet root up and growing.  The last of our overwintered root crops were dug last week.  The carrots go to seed at this time of year, making their root very woody.  Our Spring sown carrots are still 3-4 weeks away from harvest.  We just sowed our third planting though.  Root crops that like cool soil and nights are radishes and turnips.  We have Japanese Turnips coming on and a few plantings of radishes. The beet root are the size of a twenty cent piece so expect bunches of baby beetroot in the next few weeks.

We planted peas in mid July, hoping to have them by the first week in October.  They are flowering now and forming pods but still maybe three weeks away from harvesting. Our late winter planted broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are continuing to grow well with the first signs of broccoli heads visible.  We hope to begin harvesting it in three-four weeks. Our Autumn kale planting is beginning to go to seed, signaling the end of its producing.  We have planted another crop for Spring.

Two years in a row, we have over wintered cauliflower, harvesting heads the second week in October.  This year, the majority of the heads were ready for harvest the third week in September.  The crop has now finished with the last few heads making it into a few of the full share boxes.  Until the Spring planted cauliflower is ready, there will be no more cauliflower.

We have been trying to build our asparagus patch and our rhubarb plantings so that we can include these items in the Spring boxes.  The asparagus crop is three years old this season.  I thought there would be heaps of asparagus, as we have planted 200 plants.  While there is some, there is not enough to harvest for the boxes.  We will have to wait until next year for this wonderful Spring crop.

Rhubarb is another long lived perennial which we planted two years ago.  The plants are growing really well.  There was enough this week for the full share boxes.  We have more plants to add to the field in hopes to have enough for all the boxes in a few years time.

We have had an infestation this year of a mite called red legged earth mite.  This mite has changed the way we manage our green manure crops and impacted our first pea crop.  I would like to write a post about it and share photos.  If you are not already on our mailing list, you can join on our website.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Fennel and Radish Salad Steamed Artichokes Simple Broad Beans Broad Bean Tops White Bean and Roasted Fennel Warm Dip Broad Bean and Quinoa Salad Kale Chips Rhubarb Cake

There are many more recipes on our  recipe page. Search under the key ingredients listed in the side bar on the right.

Please note - Photo is of a full share box with the addition of a whole pumpkin instead of the 1/3 of a pumpkin which is in the box. The whole pumpkin looked pretty!   It also includes two of the rotated items. The randomly selected box only included one.

Spring Farm Open Day

Our next Farm Open Day will be held on Saturday 18th October 2014. The Open Day is a great opportunity to see small scale, sustainable, market gardening, to learn more about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and to meet the farmers growing the food – us!  Find out about our biodynamic growing practices,  what it takes to grow nutrient dense food, what we think about sustainable agriculture and how our CSA supports the community.

The farm tour will include: The growing mandalas with over 100 fruit trees, micro nutrient herb and flower borders, and annual food crops; The “new land” – 2 acres of “market garden”; and Our recycled glass propagation house. The permaculture design weaves its way throughout the property providing native corridors.

All are welcome.  The cost for the tour is $5/person.  CSA members are free - the tour cost does apply to guests of members. There will be two tours: A Morning Tour from 11.00am to 12:30pm and An Afternoon Tour from 2:00pm to 3:30pm.

Bookings are essential – We ask that you please let us know if you are intending to come.  Email us with your preference for the morning or afternoon tour to receive more information.

****The afternoon tour is full.  You can add your name to a waiting list in case of last minute changes.****

We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Peter and Robin.