Savoring Summer with Salsa

It is not a great year for tomatoes for us. I won't show you what the tomato plants look like now - they have almost no foliage remaining and they definitely gave out on their production weeks ago. But the few we did get went into salsa this week.  This recipe is from the Ball Canning Book. I made the careless mistake of not wearing gloves when I seeded the jalapenos. I won't do that again.

Salsa - makes 5 pint jars
7 cups chopped tomatoes (3.5 lbs.)
2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped green pepper
8 jalapeno peppers (or to taste)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (5.5 oz.) tomato paste
3/4 c. white vinegar
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. cumin
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust two-piece lids and process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

I had 18 lbs. of tomatoes, adjusted the amounts of the other ingredients accordingly, and made 19 pint jars.

This week at the market we will have carrots, beets, red and green lettuce, kale, chard, gladiolas, flowers and jams.  See you there!

In Full Swing

It's hard to believe that we have been at the market for 16 weeks. The flowers are growing well, although because of so much rain, we have had to stake most of them.  When the ground gets saturated, they become top-heavy and fall over, causing their stems to curl upward.  That alone would not be a problem, but curved stems do not work in flower arrangements!

Our garlic is sold out for this year. 

We have shipped it as far as west as Hawaii and as far east as Cape Cod!

This week we will have cut flowers (cut arrangements and gladiolas by the stem), kale, swiss chard, red and green lettuce, beets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, strawberry and black currant jams.  See you there!

Something New!

This year we are growing gladiolas for the first time.  We will have them at the market this week, selling them by the stem.  The color choices will be yellow, green and pink. We have fond memories of vacations in Chautauqua where gladiolas could be seen on most porches in the summer.

Chautauqua, NY

Gladiolas at Chautauqua

Endeavor Farm gladiolas

The tomatoes are coming along but would prefer more heat and less rain.  When Elizabeth worked on an organic farm on Cape Cod a few summers ago she introduced us to the plastic clips that we now use to support the vines.  The clips allow the vines to continue to grow without restriction. The pickling cucumbers, Brandywines, Super Sweet 100's and Sungolds are coming along.

This week we will have: Flowers (mixed bouquets and gladiolas), beets, green beans, beets, swiss chard, lettuce, basil, kale, fresh garlic and jams.

See you at the market!

Cooler Temps

This week's cooler temperatures were a relief for us weeders, but the flowers decided to slow down. Fortunately, the green beans seemed to love the weather and are beginning to produce well.

The tomatoes are huge with lots of flowers.  We are harvesting the Sun Golds which are a small orange cherry tomato with lots of flavor.

How do we  know when it is time to harvest the garlic? We look for the foliage to start turning brown.

The basil would love warmer temperatures - maybe next week?

This week we will have kale, Swiss chard, basil, green beans, beets, fresh garlic, carrots, grape jelly, black currant jam, and strawberry jam.

See you at the market!

New This Week - Fresh Garlic, Carrots & Black Currant Jam

This Saturday will be our eleventh week. We are into our Friday night rhythm of picking, washing, bunching and flower arranging.  New this week is fresh garlic. It will not store well because it has not been dried so don't keep it around too long. We will harvest all of it soon and hang it from the rafters in the garage. Once it is dried it will store for several months.

I picked black currants last week and the jam is now available. 

I have missed having it and will be sure to set aside more jars in my personal stash this winter. 

We enjoy seeing all of you at the market, especially those of you who 

travel across town from Lakewood to support Endeavor Farm!

New this week: carrots, fresh garlic, and black currant jam.

We will also have: fresh flower arrangements, red and green lettuce, kale, chard, 

salad mix, arugula, basil, red beets, golden beets, strawberry jam and grape jelly.

Summer bouquets soon!

Terry spread some of the leaf compost between the rows to help keep down the weeds (we hope). He also made the spaces between the rows wider this year to easily maneuver the rototiller down them to cut down on hand-weeding.

Flowers are beginning to bloom!  We will have bouquets for sale a week from this Saturday.

Globe Amaranth

Zinnias

Carrots are poking up above the soil and the green beans are flowering.

The rain has been lovely this week, although now it is too soft to plant any more seeds.   There is always something to complain about!

This week at the market we will have:

Golden beets

Red beets

Lettuce

Chard

Kale

Salad mix

Arugula

Strawberry jam

See you soon!

Eat more kale

Why should you include kale in your diet? Kale is a source of vitamins A, C and K as well as copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. One cup contains only 40 calories but packs almost 3 grams of protein.  One cup of cooked kale has over 1000% more vitamin C than a cup of cooked spinach. I won't bore you with more nutritional information here, but if you are diabetic or are concerned about heart disease, you might want to research more benefits of this veggie on your own.

For reasons unknown to us, our kale is looking better than ever this year....... oh the wonders and surprises when you garden. If you haven't already tried making kale chips, you should start with that recipe. If you are ready to move on, I will tell you about a kale salad and fried rice with pork and kale.

Kale Chips
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Wash and dry kale. Cut out center stem, then chop kale into 2" squares.  In a bowl, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread on a baking sheet being careful not to overlap any of the pieces. 

Bake for about 7 min, then turn kale.  Bake for about 4-5 more min watching carefully that the kale does not burn. Cool briefly and enjoy!

      

     Kale Salad (from Larissa Bailey, Geauga Farm Market Manager)

     6 cups chopped kale (remove center stem)

     1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

     1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

     
Dressing:

     4 T olive oil

     Juice of 1 lemon

     Salt and pepper

     Pinch of sugar

     
Note:  I think this is even the better the next day.

     
Fried Rice with Pork and Kale  (Courtesy of Molly Wizenberg from her new book, Delancey)
1 bunch kale                                            
3 T peanut or grapeseed oil  

      4 cups cold cooked rice            
4 oz. smoked pulled pork (or any other leftover cooked meat
Fine sea salt to taste     
1 T fish sauce (or more to taste)                            
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice           

Wash and dry the kale leaves. Trim away the woody stems and then chop or tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. Heat a wok or large 12" heavy skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a drop of water to instantly evaporate, add 1 T of the oil. Add the kale and stir to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is wilted and beginning to char at the edges, 1-3 minutes. Add a good pinch of salt. Scrape the kale into a bowl, add 1 tsp. of the lemon juice and toss to mix.

      With the wok still over high heat, add the rice, and then immediately add the remaining 2 T. oil. Stir to coat the rice with oil. Then spread the rice all around the wok so that as much of it touches the hot surface as possible, and let it cook, untouched, for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the rice on the bottom is browned and can be scraped away from the walls of the wok without resistance. Stir well, and then spread it out and let it sit again, untouched, for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Continue to cook until the rice is evenly hot and browned to your liking. Then add the pork and 1 T. fish sauce, stirring well.  Cook until the meat is heated through and then stir in the kale. Add the remaining 1 tsp. lemon juice and toss well. Transfer rice to a serving dish, taking care to scrape up any tasty browned bits that stick to the pan!  Add some chopped, fresh herbs at the end such as cilantro, basil or a little dill.  Yield:  2 hearty servings.

     I hope you are inspired to try one of these recipes!

In addition to kale this week, we will also have:

    Red and golden beets

    Swiss chard

    Red and green lettuce
   Mixed salad greens

    Basil 

    Cilantro

    Strawberry jam

    Grape jelly