How much comes in a share?

Signing up for the season must feel like a leap of faith for people new to CSA.  What will I get each week?  Is it a bunch of crazy stuff I don't eat?  Is it too much?  Too little?  

At Lida Farm we deliver a bushel box of produce each week to both with full shares and every-other-week shares.  A full share should supply a family of 4 veggies for the season   

The picture below is an example from early July last year and the mix of things changes throughout the season.  In early July we were still delivering early season stuff last year with salad mix, greens like chard, kohlrabi, radishes, braising mix, spinach, garlic scapes, and strawberries.  

CSA box, early July 2011

We focus on growing all the staples, but also make sure there is a little surprise each week too.  Many of our members tell me they like the CSA experience because they end up trying new things.  That being said, I know people don't want a box of only weird stuff, so the majority of what we grow are staples like lettuce, sweet corn, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and radishes.

More details about the 2012 CSA season are found on the "Join our CSA" webpage.

Lida Farm on TV

I spent a good portion of today getting pretty wet and cold.  I was bedding down young chickens in a leaky coop in the pasture, securing a greenhouse in some high winds, and seeding in our greenhouse kept cool so as not to burn too much propane in a spring storm.  To warm everybody up a bit, I thought I'd share this video Lakes Country Living TV program did on us last summer.  It was hot out and produce was peak season.  Try not to pay too close attention to that sea of foxtail in the onion patch!

Hanging out with other Foodies at the MOSES Conference

Maree, Graham, and I finally made our way down to the mecca of organic growers in the US, the Midwest Organic Conference (http://www.mosesorganic.org/conference.html).  About 3,200 organic growers, wanna-be farmers, and organic foodie types descended on LaCrosse, WI last Thursday-Saturday to take in workshops about soils and raising livestock as well as a poetry slam and a lot of organic foods and snacks.

I presented a poster as Ryan Pesch, Extension Educator, about a food survey I did in Renville County-it was not  the headliner of the event-but the ideas we got for our own farm were the highlights.  Since we raised three hogs last year, we appreciated the session on raising hogs on pasture and also the session on integrating CSA with other enterprises like farmers market and livestock.  The presenters were doing some cool things around farm to table like making pizzas made with all-farm ingredients for on-farm dinners, but we didn't think it was something we'd pull off for this year.  Still, at the very least, we're much more fired up about the farm season.  Inspiration is great fuel!

Looking for a Few Good CSA Members

Well, even though I try to hibernate as much of winter as possible, the stirrings of spring have begun to pull my mind towards the 2012 CSA season.  For those of you who were members of Lida Farm CSA last year, you should have received a brochure and order form to join for this year by mail.  For those of you just perusing the web for a CSA, we serve the lakes district between Pelican Rapids and Detroit Lakes and would welcome your membership in the 2012 season.  Please check out our 2012 CSA Brochure for details.

If you know of others who may be interested in joining a CSA in the area, please feel free to forward the link and materials to them.  We will be adding a few more shares this year, so are looking for new recruits.

Happy New Year from Lida Farm

 

End of the CSA Season

Wow, quite a season!  After just coming  back from the last CSA delivery, I'm always reflective.  This season was probably the hottest since I've been farming in Otter Tail.  It was also one of the driest.

Kids on Way to Farmers Market

This made for great crops which love the heat like melons, tomatoes, and anything in the cucurbit family like cucumbers and summer and winter squash.  The way the season ran allowed these plants to get established well with heat and moisture and then ripen under dry conditions.  It's a good recipe for good looking produce.  Some other things, however, didn't like this weather.  For example I always plan for  a planting of brassicas like broccoli and kohlrabi in the fall as well as the spring, but the fall set didn't go anywhere with little fall rain.   Any which way, each season is it's own beast and I thank each of you sharing the ride with us.  

In the box: 

Komatsuna bunch: a green with a stalk kind of like boc choy.   This is an Asian green which is good in a stir fry.  You simply chop up and add at the end until wilted a bit.  Here's a link to a Komatsuna recipe which looks simple and quick since it's one of those odd "crazy" greens:
http://woodwart.blogspot.com/2005/10/komatsuna-saute.html

Spinach: the one with dark green and round leaves.  You could use for either a salad or cooked. 

Butternut squash: big tan squash 

Celeriac: The strange-looking bulb on the end of a small stalk of celery.  You can use it in replace of celery in recipes  It has the same flavor and also keeps well in the crisper in your fridge.    

Delicata squash: yellow and green-striped squash.  This one should be baked without a water bath because the outside shell is pretty thin. 

Buttercup squash: the dark green squash with the little button the bottom

Russet potatoes

Carrot bunch 

A couple onions 

A head of garlic

A few small turnips

"Better than Nothing" beets

Hot but Still Fall

This past week felt like summer even though the tasks were fall in nature.  Typically when I think of work at the end of september/early october, I think of dunking my hands in freezing water trying to hold a brush to clean squash, but not this year.  Today we were cleaning squash outside with a slight breeze in the air and a warm sun in the sky.  It was nice.  Also I was out pulling in the turnips this morning and it didn't seem right that I was harvesting this crop in a t-shirt.  However, it's undoubt-ably fall because everything in the fields just doesn't grow.  Even with warm days, the loss of sunlight and shorter days really slows things down.  I keep having high hopes that the carrots in the last bed will bulk up, but they just seem to sit there.  There's no issue with greens bolting too soon, however, so let's be thankful.

On Monday we had the Pelican Rapids Early Childhood classes out and it was a real blast to have that many people here.  Our quarter-mile driveway was lined with cars and I had to do three groups for the haywagon ride.  The kids got a kick out of throwing old tomatoes to the pigs, seeing the sheep and our one donkey, and finding a pumpkin to take home.  I made sure to do a little ag education when taking people on the tour, pointing out how we graze our sheep in rotation and giving the lowdown on what's alfalfa and hay vs. straw.

In the box:
Braising mix: this is a mix of greens you can use at the end of a stir fry or as a cooked side green.  Simply start with some garlic and oil in a skillet, chop the greens, and saute until wilted a bit.
A turnip or two
An onion or two
Celery
Brussels sprouts: the big ugly stick in the box.  You don't eat the stick, just the sprouts
Acorn Squash
Spaghetti Squash: See video below to see how to prepare as a pasta.
Long Island Cheese Squash or Kakai Pumpkin: The Long Island Cheese looks like a cheese wheel and is the color of a Butternut.  Mar and I really dig the flavor of this squash and Maree makes these pumpkin-cream cheese bars with them.  A Kakai pumpkin is dark green and orange and is supposed to be super for pumpkin seeds.
Carrots

Vegetable Garden Spaghetti Squash: