Farm Update

Down on the Farm A lot to talk about, so here we go. There has always been a lot of us who wish we could find some help in cooking some of the fresh veggies from our fields.  Our wishes have come true!  Chef Colleen Palumbo, The Savory Chef, has agreed to hold a cooking seminar, under the old shade tree, on the farm Friday evening June 26 at 6:30.  Chef's cooking demonstrations, with tastings, will include preparing quick and simple veggie creations featuring: Zucchini, Summer Squash, Kale and Spinach.  Get a taste of summer and take the recipes home with you.  RSVP today as space is limited. Stop by the farm market or email Steve at steve@rousedalefarm.com by Tuesday June 23 to register.  The cost is $25 per person.  Payable at the screen door.  Make sure you bring your own chair for the lawn.  Should be a fun evening! The other note of interest is The Flour!  There was a lot of interest in the fresh ground whole wheat flour I mentioned last week and now we have it. Our friend Pat grinds hard and soft wheat from organic, non-GMO seed.  The hard wheat is good for yeasted products like bread, rolls, pastries, pizza,etc.  The soft wheat is more for non-yeasted products like cakes, muffins, pancakes, etc.  It is purchased as whole wheatberrries from a few different regional sources and some she grows herself.  It is all freshly hand-ground within the past 7 days.  There are no preservatives at all and Pat recommends that you keep it refrigerated, where it will last for several months.  I'm not sure you can find a fresher, more pure flour product. The two pound bags sell for $8.  Ask for it when you come in. This week in the market: Zucchini Yellow Squash Cabbage Cauliflower Garlic Scapes Arugula Salad Mix Spinach Swiss Chard Kale Spring Onions Mustard Greens Leafy Head Lettuce-Boston Red&Baltimore Green Turnips Duck Eggs Eggs Honey Flour Zesty Greens Collards See you soon!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Food Seminar

ROUSEDALE FARM presents
Vegetables are not just for sautéing!
So says Colleen Palumbo, The Savory Chef!
Are you looking for new and delicious ways to prepare your ROUSEDALE FARM veggies?
Join us for an evening down on the farm, under the old shade tree, for cooking demonstrations and tastings!
Friday, June 26th at 6:30pm
Chef Colleen will prepare quick and simple veggie creations featuring:
Zucchini, Summer Squash, Kale and Spinach
Get a taste of summer and take the recipes home with you!
$25.00 Payable at the Screen Door
Bring your own chairSpace is limited so RSVP Today!
Stop by the Farm Market or email Steve at steve@rousedalefarm.com by Tuesday, June 23rd to register. 

Farm Update

Down on the Farm

We were hoping for rain and we have been getting some beautiful rains.  Last night I thought the whole farm may wash away with the black sky I saw coming, but it ended up to be a pretty nice 2 inch rain.

The chicken run where the massacre took place last week has been fortified mightily and has now been named "Fort Chix".  The whole horrible scenario ended on a bit of a humorous note.  I placed the "Have a Heart" trap near the run, in hopes of enticing thee varmint or at least a varmint in, so it could be moved to a far away location. The trap was set a couple of mornings ago and later that day, as I walked into the area, I could see from a distance that the trap's door was shut.  "Aha," I yelled, and quickly walked towards the trap.  As I got closer I slowed my pace, cautiously approached the trap, came from behind and peaked in.  There was definitely something in the trap.  Maybe our troubles were over!  I looked closer and I had trapped.......a chicken.  One of the ranging chickens from another area of the back barn lot had wandered over and stumbled into the trap.

This week in the market we have:

Garlic Scapes - yummy recipes available at the market
Cabbage
Zesty Greens Mix
Spinach
Spring Onions
Mild Salad Mix
Swiss Chard
Red Russian Kale
Heads of leaf lettuce
Collards

See you down on the farm.


Vicky and Steve

CSA Week 2

Hi CSA'ers,

I hope you all enjoyed the week one bounty.  I know some of the greens were pretty dirty due to the heavy rains.  If nothing else, you had a crash course on washing fresh produce from the fields.  Things should be quite a bit better this week.  Even though we received the deluge yesterday evening, I outsmarted mother nature and ran out to harvest the salad mix before it poured.  So that should be better this week.  You will still have to wash everything and should every week.  Some of the other items that were harvested this morning will show signs of the heavy rain last night with some splash back.  The cabbages are beautiful.  The cauliflower is very nice as well.  If you notice a little purple cast to some areas of your cauliflower, it's only from the sun that broke through the tightly wrapped leaves around the heads.  It's fine and tastes surprisingly like cauliflower.

This week in your share:

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Garlic Scapes

Mild Salad Mix

Mustard Greens (a little fiery)

Spinach

Kale

Daikon Radishes

Spring Onions

Head Lettuce

Collards

The garlic scape is a shoot the garlic plant springs forth this time each year.  It can be used like a green onion only it has a mild garlic taste.  Also Chef Colleen will include a couple of recipes this week that include the garlic scapes and cauliflower.    We may include a recipe for the Daikons as well.

See you tomorrow 10a-8p

Steve and Rousedale Crew

Farm Update

Down on the Farm Okay, let me get this straight, we were living in a tropical jungle full of hot, extremely humid, pollen filled air.  Now, suddenly, we have found ourselves in the Pacific Northwest full of cool, damp, often rainy weather that won't seem to end.  A thirty degree turnaround the beginning of the week!  What's up? Farming is so full of delights and challenges. Even though it was "tough going" harvesting in the rain and mud for the first week of our vegetable CSA, we are under way for another year.  We love seeing the folks we haven't talked to in a while along with all the new faces.   However, there was a major devastation this week as well.  A fox, we believe, dug under a fence in our broiler chicken area Monday night and killed all one hundred chickens.  It's hard to have sympathy for a hungry animal that kills 100 other animals and leaves most of them behind.  I can take the occasional loss.  I mean, every thing has to eat and feed their young, but just killing everything in sight makes me crazy. Enough of that.  When's the sun coming back? In our market this week: Arugula Mild Salad Mix Mustard Greens Spinach Bok Choi Spring Onions Kale Lettuce Collard Greens Spicy Greens Mix Duck Eggs Eggs Honey Swiss Chard Turnips Herb Plants We also have a variety of mints available, including: Mojito Chocolate Peppermint Spearmint Mint Julep Lemon Our thanks to Chef Colleen, the Savory Chef, for sharing some recipes with our CSA members.  Soon we will be posting her delicious recipes on our web site. Also, we want to give a huge thanks to our organic growing partners Peggy and Joe Ardolino.  They have started helping us  during one of the most trying Spring growing seasons we have had. Also Also...we have been presented with an opportunity to carry organic, non-GMO, fresh ground, whole wheat flour.  We have tasted some waffles made with this flour and they were delicious.  No taste of bitterness you find sometimes with whole wheat.  The difference....freshness.  Let us know if this might interest you.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve