Market + Recipe (New!)

To make these Thursday posts a little more interesting, especially for those out of towners who can't make it to market, my goal is to add a recipe every week. I'm not promising every week but I will do my best. But first, this week at market on Saturday, July 30, 2011, we will have:

-green beens

-beets

-red lettuce

-green lettuce

-parsley

-kale

-basil

-savoy cabbage

-flowers

-carrots

-garlic (next week!)

Anne and I LOVE making pizza. It is delicious, we use ingredients that are in season, and leftovers are a huge bonus. We like to make pizzas that have different toppings than your typical pizzas. We've done potato, leek, scape, kale, and more. This week we did 3 pizzas (though I only have pictures of 2). We made a cauliflower, bechamel, and cheese pizza, and our favorite, pattypan squash, caramelized onion, bacon, and cheese. Be creative with your toppings! Below is the recipe for our pizza dough because making it yourself is easy and beats any store bought dough. But, if you're looking to save time, store bought is not a bad option.

Dough:

Yield: dough for 2 pizzas on cookie sheet pans or round pans

1 tbsp yeast

pinch of sugar

3 tbsp lukewarm water

2 1/3 cups lukewarm water

6 cups flour

1 tsp salt

vegetable oil (for coating bowl)

Let yeast, sugar, and 3 tbsp of water sit for 5 minutes until yeast is bubbling. Mix with other ingredients and let rise, covered, in an oiled bowl for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and divide into 2 parts. Spread on sheet and cover with a towel and let rise for about 20 minutes. Put toppings on pizza and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees or until done.

This dough is also awesome for grilled pizzas which is a summertime favorite of mine. You just make smaller rounds and place the dough on the grill (preferably on a griddle if you have one so the dough doesn't fall through). Grill dough on one side, flip, add toppings, then close the lid until the cheese is melted!

Happy pizza making!

Color

The bright colors of our produce this week blew me away. The green of the basil and green beans, the bright orange and yellow of the carrots, the reds in the beets and of course all of the colors of the flowers are so exciting to see. You know the food will taste great when it looks that good!

Green Beans

Carrots

Beets

Mexican Sunflower

With more produce there is more work to do on Friday night and Saturday morning. After a huge storm on Friday we got some relief from the rain and cooler temperatures.

Liz bunching carrots and Anne making flower arrangements.

Basil is one crop that has loved the hot July weather and we can't seem to sell enough of it. Now is a great time to stock your freezer with homemade pesto so that you can enjoy a taste of summer during the long winter months. Basil goes with just about any vegetable of the season or adds a great fresh flavor to summer drinks. Please contact us if you'd like to pick some up for you or your friends!

From the New York Times dining section, this is a great summer cocktail with basil.

Live Basil Gimlet

5 large basil leaves

1 1/2 ounces of gin

3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

Put 4 basil leaves in a cocktail shaker and press them gently with a muddler or a wooden spoon. Add the gin, lime juice and simple syrup. Fill with ice, shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe or other small glass. Garnish with the remaining basil leaf.

Market

This Saturday, July 23rd, 2011, we will have the following:

-Carrots

-Beets

-Cilantro

-Savoy Cabbage

-Kale

-Flowers

-Green Lettuce

-Basil

-Parsley
-Green Beans

Progress

I think all farmers feel that it has been a slow start to the growing season this year because of the weather, but this week I feel like we are finally making progress in the garden! We are seeing our tomato plants grow fast and our green bean plants thriving. The flowers continue to bloom and we are tilling up greens that bolted and planting new crops.

Grandma helps to make flower bunches while Juniper watches carefully!

I love the cyclical nature of farming and the idea that if you maximize the use of your space, you can really get a lot out of the land. It is important to strategize your planting to use different nutrients in the soil. For example, where a root crop like potatoes was planted, sow something like lettuce that doesn't require the same balance of nutrients.

Last weekend we were excited to harvest our garlic. We were so happy that we got 100% of our seed germinated and are looking forward to tasting all 4 of our varieties in order to help you pick the right garlic. You can expect delicious garlic in 3-4 weeks after it cures hanging in the shade of the garage so that it lasts through the winter.

In these dry spells, Terry has been regimented about the watering and it is best to water in the morning or evenings when it is cooler so that the water doesn't evaporate during the heat of the day.

Market

This week on Saturday, July 16, 2011, we will have:

-Carrots
-Beets
-Kale
-Salad mix
-Green lettuce
-Flowers
-Cilantro
-Parsley
-Savoy Cabbage
-Basil

Can't wait to see you there!!!

Market Tips

The past two weeks we have been selling out of our produce by 10:30am which is great for us but not great for the late-comers! We want to remind you that you can stop by the farm to pick up produce any day of the week, just give a call to Bev (440.785.1759) before you come by to make sure someone is home. Bev and Terry are usually home in the evenings and most of the weekend. You may also email us at endeavortofarm@gmail.com. Thanks for the support!

Market

At market this week on Saturday, July 9, 2011, we will have:

-Salad mix

-Red and Green head lettuce

-Savoy Cabbage

-Rhubarb

-Kale

-Basil

-Parsley

-Cilantro

-Beets

-Carrots

-Flower arrangements

Behind the Scenes

This week I'd like to give you an idea of what we do to prep for market because we are very busy Friday nights and Saturday mornings. We try to pick most of what we will sell at market on Friday night and get it ready to make Saturday a bit less hectic.

Anne and Liz usually come over to Endeavor Farm on Friday evenings to help get ready for market and last week we picked cabbage, salad mix, beets, and flowers. Saturday mornings are reserved for the more delicate things like kale, herbs, and head lettuce. We like to pick that right before we go to market to make sure it is good and fresh. Last year Bev and Terry bought an extra fridge so that we would be able to store the picked produce until it is time to sell it at market.

Cut flowers

Terry harvesting Savoy Cabbage on Friday night

After we pick the produce we get it ready to sell by bunching it or bagging it, depending on what it is.

Baby beets bunched and ready to sell!

Anne arranging flowers on Friday

Friday market prep is always a good excuse to have a nice family meal and Saturday morning breakfast is something we always make time for, no matter how busy we are!

Sand Farm bacon in an iron pan made by Seth