CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #8 (25 February/27-28 February)

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CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #8 In addition to a very full harvest day, we did an application of Biodynamic 500 last night and Biodynamic 501 this morning.  Back to back applications of bd500 and bd501 can help invigorate plants at the end of their growing cycle.  We are hoping this helps them to ward off insect attacks.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
I was happy to see that the capsicums are starting to turn red and yellow - sweet capsicums are on the way!  The fruit have been on the plants for a long time waiting to turn.  Some have been sunburned, others eaten by caterpillars.  There are still lots of capsicums there - and some are huge.  Seeing them changing colour is exciting.

Pumpkins - we will start to harvest a few varieties of pumpkin next week.  And the first crop of Autumn broccoli looks only about two to three weeks away from harvest.  The long sunsets are a sign that the seasons are changing and seasonal eating is too.

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

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
Beans Carrots Cherry Tomatoes Chilies Celery Coriander Corn Cucumbers Lettuce Onions Potatoes Tomatoes Zucchini

EXTRAS Basil Capsicum 'Pimiento de Padrons' Eggplant Kale Squash

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 #7 (11 February/13-14 February)

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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

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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)

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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.)

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)

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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

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)

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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)

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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

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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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.

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #9 (3 December/5-6December)

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CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #9 The garlic is in the shed! More news 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 itemsRed Bok Choy – Nice size heads of red bok choy On the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) chart, bok choy rates 865, over 300 points higher then broccoli! Broccoli Carrots – Bunches of mixed heirloom carrots. Garlic – Planted last April and nurtured through the Winter, our garlic has been harvested! Kale Lettuce – Two heads this week. Onions – They are spicy and pungent. Parsley Spinach – Lovely young English spinach. Zucchini– The plants produced a great number for Wednesday's boxes and we are hoping the same for Friday.  The warmer weather speeds them along.Extras Romanesco Broccoli – These are best cooked more like a cauliflower then a broccoli.  They do not have the size of the Autumn heads. Basil - Bunches of the first basil.  Our first planting was killed in the frost Cucumber – YES, the season has begun. Squash

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

Happy Summer!We harvested our garlic crop last week.  The shed smells amazing!  We will start putting the smaller bulbs in the boxes first as these do not store as well as the larger.  The bulbs are still not completely dry and they can bruise.  Enjoy this new season bio-dynamic garlic!  The flavour intensifies as it dries.We also experimented with growing some warmer climate onions.  This week you have ‘Red Creole’ and next week the sweet ‘Texas Early’. ‘Texas Early’ is a sweeter variety quite like the ‘Vidalia’ onions I ate as a child in the Southern United States.  ‘Red Creole’ is spicy and pungent - great for stir fries and cajun cooking.

The hot night on Sunday caused two lettuce plantings to be ready at the same time.  So extra lettuce this week.  The heat also makes the weeds grow faster so we are busy trying to keep crops from getting overrun with weeds.  The last melon crop and the watermelon crop are in the ground, happy with the heat.  There are the beginnings of capsicums on the plants and also tomatoes on the field tomato plants.

The tomatoes in the poly-tunnel are growing well...no sign of colour yet but they are not far off.  The first cucumbers were harvested today with the plants filled with lots of little ones.  It takes a little time for the plants to start producing lots of fruit but they are well on their way.We hope to put some new photos on our internet site so that you can see how the farm is growing.  Next week we should have another crop of fennel ready.  The peas are finished now for awhile we wait for the planting we had to resow to start to flower.  There will be more beetroot next week too.RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Grilled Zucchini - These are delicious on top the Ceasar Salad (recipe below) or mixed with the English Spinach, olives and semi dried tomatoes. Bok Choy and Tofu Stir Fry Ceasar Salad Bok Choy 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 Spring Share 2014 - Week #8 (26 November/28-29 November)

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CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #8 We will begin harvesting the garlic this week!! We are starting to find a few cucumbers and the melons are flowering. More farm news 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 itemsBeetroot Bok Choy Broccoli Carrots Cabbage Coriander Lettuce Spring Onions Purple Tatsoi Rocket Zucchini

Extras Artichokes Romanesco Broccoli Broad Beans Dill Shelling Peas Snow Peas Rhubarb Squash

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

The rain on Sunday was fantastic!  There is no comparison between irrigation and a nice steady rain.We are taking advantage of the wet soil to plant the second melon crop, the watermelons, another crop of lettuce, the Christmas mesclun crop, another crop of corn, another crop of cucumbers, another crop of zucchini and a mass of root and green crops.  Very busy planting days.

The field tomatoes are looking great and their are quite large tomatoes in the poly tunnel.  The basil in the poly tunnel is also growing well.  I had to reseed the field basil as the frost killed it.

There is going to be a gap in our pea plantings.  We used a new seeder to sow the next crop of peas and waited three weeks for the peas to emerge.  We had about 50% of the rows with peas and the rest empty.  So we tilled it in and sowed again by hand.  We sow the beans, corn and peas by hand at present while we try and find a seeder that will work for our size endeavour. There is nothing that can replace peas but the later planting means there should be peas for Christmas.

We are excited to begin harvesting garlic this week.  Some of the heads are the biggest we have ever grown.  The shed should smell great for farm pick-up!

The zucchinis are producing well and we have put extra in the boxes.  We hope to begin harvesting the baby zucchini with flowers and will rotate these tender morsels through the boxes.  These are perfect for tempura and stuffing!!

There are buds on the first bean plants and the carrots are getting bigger.  The melons are flowering and there are many cucumbers growing on the vines.  The warmer weather also means lots of weeds and we are trying to keep up with the weeding, planting, and harvesting.

Peter is also busy making more compost.  We have a few people who bring their kitchen waste to the farm to add to our piles.  We welcome any waste that is garbage and meat free. Compost is the best recycling...from waste to nutrient dense gold for the soil! We will sow our summer green manures in the next fortnight.  These also feed the soil and help add to the hummus layer which the plants tap into and feed from.

One of our Spring interns left last week.  We wish her well on her farming journey.  Our other intern will be with us until Christmas.  We really enjoy welcoming aspiring farmers and growers to learn on the farm and also very much  appreciate all of their hard work!

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Grilled Zucchini Beet and Cabbage Kraut - Ferments contain so many beneficial probiotics and aid in digestion as well! This recipe from the internet caught my eye... Classic Russian Borscht Minestrone Soup

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 #7 (19 November/21-22 November)

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CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #7 We have started harvesting shelling peas!! There was a late frost which knocked a few things and sweetened Spring carrots...what a treat! More news 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

Cabbage Carrots Broccoli Lettuce Peas Silverbeet English Spinach Spring Onions Zucchini

Extras Artichokes Beetroot Romanesco Broccoli Dill Fennel Green Garlic Summer Squash

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We had a late frost last week...This really took us by surprise as in the past six years, our latest frost date has been the 31 October with the other years all falling in late September and the first two weeks of October.  The following are some of the crops that are frost sensitive - basil, beans, capsicum, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, melons, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, zucchini.We use plastic cloches to protect the frost sensitive crops.  But just last week we had removed the cloches from the zucchini (which had gotten to big to fit under them) and cucumbers (which had begun to flower...the flowers need to be pollinated by the bees).  Our potato crop we plan to emerge in the first week of November.

The eggplants, capsicums and melons were protected by the cloches and were not damaged.  The pumpkins were set to be planted the day before the frost but luckily the job was put off.  They were all protected as were the watermelons!  We were able to use irrigation to save the tomato crop.  Luckily the beans and corn were not affected.

The frost burned the beautiful zucchini crop but luckily the large leaves protected the growing centers and the flowers and fruit and the zucchini have continued to grow and produce.  The cucumber plants have been frost burned but are growing through it.  Parts of the potato crop were burned.  The first field planted basil was killed.  You may also notice frost damage on the sugar snap peas.  While pea plants are not damaged by frost, the peas are.  The damage shows up as clear spots on the pods.  They are still edible.

Nature is unpredictable and we are trying our best to work with her.

We applied biodynamic 500 tonight and will apply 501 tomorrow.  500 helps to enliven the soil, helping plants root access the hummus layers in the soil and to support soil microbes.  501 helps plants feed from sunlight efficiently and helps the plants to assimilate minerals they are taking in.  It helps tighten the pores of plants helping them to ward off fungal infections and insect attacks. It also helps crops to store...this should help the garlic which is almost ready to be harvested.

Next week we will seed the Autumn parsnips.  The leek crop was seeded months back in the glass house and the seedlings look fantastic.  These will be planted in the next few weeks too.  We now have two corn plantings up and growing with the third to go in next week.  The celery is looking great and growing well as is the early Summer broccoli.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Feat and Semi-Dried Tomatoes Ottolenghi's Silverbeet Fritters Cabbage Stir Fry Jamie Oliver's Spinach and Feta Pie 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 #6 (12 November/14-15 November)

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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)

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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.

Spinach and Feta Pie

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Another Jamie Oliver recipe...but truthfully there are so many variations of this exact pie...so be adventurous...change the seasoning...add sundried tomatoes, broadbeans or olives,...try it with silverbeet or nettles...just as is IS wonderful though!  It is written to make a large family pie.  I have halved the recipe before though and even made it in small ramekins.  So this will work well for the half share portion of spinach too. Ingredients 100g pinenuts 5 eggs 300g feta cheese 50 g cheddar cheese dried oregano 1 lemon a knob of butter 400g spinach 1 * 270g pack of filo pastry cayenne pepper 1 whole nutmeg for grating

Method 1. Toast pine nuts in the oven or cast iron fry pan on the stove.  Toss frequently and watch carefully.  Set aside. 2. Wash and clean spinach. 3.  Crack eggs into mixing bowl and crumble in 300g feta.  Grate 50 g Cheddar.  Add a pinch of pepper, a couple of pinches of dried oregano, zest of a lemon, and a lug of olive oil.  Add the nuts and mix well. 4. Put the empty frying pan back on the heat.  Add a bit of olive oil and butter and half the spinach.  Keep pushing it down and stirring it around, as there is room, add more. 5. Meanwhile, take the pastry out of the fridge.  Lay a large sheet of greaseproof paper approx. 50cm long on the workbench, rub a little olive oil all over it, then scrunch it up and lay it out flat again.  Arrange 4 filo sheets in a large rectangle, overlapping at the edges, so they almost cover the paper.  Rub olive oil over them.  Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and pepper and a bit of cayenne.  Repeat until you have three layers.  Keep Stirring Spinach! 6. Once the spinach is nice and dense, take the pan off the heat.  Add spinach to the egg mixture and grate 1/2 nutmeg.  Mix well. carefully move the greaseproof paper and filo stack into the empty frying pan so the edges stick over.  Push it down into the sides of the pan, then pour in the egg mixture and spread it out. 7.  Fold the filo sheets over the top and let them fall where they will. (I have also added extra sheets on top and then rolled all the edges into a crust) 8.  Put the pan back on medium heat for a couple of minutes to get the bottom cooking and then put the pan into a 200 degree oven on the top shelf and bake for 18-20 minutes until crispy and golden.