The Produce List 9/25/09 and we're going to a wedding next week (so, sadly, no stand)

Hi all! Today I went with Ben to Double-T farm to help him tie tomatoes and pick some of our produce for this afternoon. I'm currently working on a couple papers on farming, I thought it would be nice to actually get out on the farm for some inspiration. While I was there, I took a few pictures to share with ya'll.

But, before we get to those, I did want to let you know that Ben and I will not be setting up the produce stand next week. We're going to Massachusetts to see Ben's family as well as to go to his cousin's wedding. We're super pumped about the trip, but we're also sad to miss out on one of our Fridays. Music on the Porch is such a fabulous routine, I know it will feel strange to miss it...but we'll be back the following weeks for sure :0).

Okay, here's the list of produce we'll be offering this evening at Music on the Porch:

Bok choi*
Tatsoi*
Swiss chard*
Red Russian kale*
Basil
Eggplant (Asian and Italian)
Okra
Cubanelle peppers (sweet)
Bell peppers (sweet - multi-colored)
Anaheim Chiles (spicy)
Poblanos (spicy)
Watermelon (sugar babies)
Sun jewel melons (Asian melons)

Okay - now, for the pictures:

lettuce on the farm

the veggie cart full of the stuff we picked this morning - getting ready to be washed

ben, through the tomatoes (the one's we tied up today)
these are black cherry tomatoes - they taste kind of like cherry versions of cherokee purples (yum!)

i love okra flowers!

more gorgeous lettuce on the farm

this was first thing this morning - headed to the field to pick produce for this evening

eggplant flowers are pretty beautiful too!

ben making the supports for tying tomatoes

washing the veggies

tatsoi and bok choi

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon :0).

Yummy Ideas

A couple of you shared some ideas and recipes for our produce. I figured I'd find those recipes online and share with everyone else. Thanks for the good ideas!

Wondering what to do with your acorn squash?
Here's one recipe from Cooking Light (http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/vegetablesandvegetarian/r/acornsquashring.htm):

These acorn squash rings make a great side dish for your Thanksgiving table or for any fall or winter dinner. They're attractive to look at and delicious to eat.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 acorn squash
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 1/4 cup orange marmalade
* 1 tsp ground ginger

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice top and bottom from each squash and discard ends. Carefully slice each acorn squash into four rings, making eight rings in all.

Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Lay rings on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Combine maple syrup, marmalade and ginger in a small bowl.

Remove squash rings from oven and brush with maple syrup mixture. Return to oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with glaze once again. Bake for 10 minutes, or until tender.

Serves 4

Per Serving: Calories 211, Calories from Fat 2, Total Fat 0.2g (sat 0g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 20mg, Carbohydrate 50.4g, Fiber 3.5g, Protein 1.9g

--> If you don't have maple syrup on hand, or just want to play with this recipe, I strongly suggest honey and cayenne pepper. The buttery goodness of the acorn squash combined with sweet local honey and the extra kick of cayenne is a taste explosion.

Grilled Okra!!!! I've never done this before, but will be making this tonight. Thanks for the idea (we don't have any sesame oil on hand, so we'll be using olive...):

Grilled Okra
Recipe by: Steven Raichlen, Cookbook Author
This recipe serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Ingredients

* 1 pound fresh okra
* 1 tablespoon dark (Asian style) sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper,to taste

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the grill to high.

2. Trim the tips off the stems of the okra, but do not cut into the pods. Lay 5 pieces of okra side by side in a neat row at the edge of a cutting board. Skewer crosswise with 2 bamboo skewers, one at the top, one at the bottom. Lightly brush the skewered okra with sesame oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Grill the okra until tender and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side, turning once with a flat spatula. Serve the okra at once, letting each guest remove the skewers.
Nutrition Facts

* Serving Size:about 5 okra
* Amount Per Serving

* Calories69
* Protein2 g
* Total Carbohydrate9 g
* Dietary Fiber4 g
* Sugar3 g
* Total Fat3 g
* Saturated Fat0 g
* Monounsaturated Fat1 g
* Polyunsaturated Fat1 g
* Percent Calories from Fat42 %
* Percent Calories from Protein12 %
* Percent Calories from Carbohydrate46 %

WWW.FOODFIT.COM

The Produce List 9/18/09

Hi ya'll!

I hope everyone has had a great week so far. Is it just us, or does it seem like Fridays keep getting here faster and faster? Tomorrow will mark our 6th week at Music on the Porch. The season is slowly changing - you can almost feel fall in the air. It seems like things are a little more magical when the seasons are in transition. More magical and more hectic. Ben's been busy on the farm; I've been busy with school. We all have our busy lives to attend to. That's why I'm so glad we have Friday evenings to just take a breath and slow it down and soak it all in just a little more than we're able to during the week.

So, since things have been so busy, we don't have any photos to share with you from this week on the farm. This week, it's just the produce list (and a little wistful rambling from yours truly).

Produce Available Tomorrow:

Cubanelle peppers (sweet)

Various colors of bell peppers (sweet)

Anaheim chiles (spicy)

Pablano peppers (spicy)

Okra

Eggplant (Italian and Asian)

Acorn squash (winter squash)

Watermelon

Sun Jewel Melons

We're sad to say that there will not be any cucumbers, summer squash, or onions this week - but hopefully the okra, acorn squash, and melons will make up for that :0).

Oh, we may have tomatoes and basil...

Thanks for stopping by!

See you tomorrow.

Labor Day brings end of summer!

Thank you all for a fabulous Friday last week at Music on the Porch! Thanks to Guy, Will and Peace China for their continued support and especially you! It was quite the surprise to be called up on stage by Guy last Friday! Guess I'll have to turn up the microphone next time! We were glad to hear shouts of support...

Labor Day was this past Monday, heralding the end of summer and ushering in the fall season at Ben's Produce and Double-T Farm. We have been quite busy on the farm. We've transplanted thousands of plants for fall harvest, such as green onions, Asian greens, lots of lettuce and beets. We've also planted the first round of carrots, radishes and turnips, which we'll start to harvest in early October. We've also started to pot new strawberry plants for next spring, about 7000 plants!

This week we will offer Italian and Asian eggplant, cucumbers, the last of the summer squash, okra, sweet and hot peppers, yellow cherry tomatoes, onions and basil. We may possibly have tomatoes depending on availability.

Here are some photos from the farm this week:

Eggplant in it's natural environment!





















Okra flower and fruit...





















Newly transplanted Chinese Cabbage...





















Young Fall cucumber plants in a high tunnel...





















Fall tomato crop in a high tunnel...

Ben's Produce Stand Goodies 9/04/09 at Music on the Porch

Wowie! Thanks again for an awesome Friday. The band was great and the spirit of the crowd was great - all of this in spite of the rainy evening. A kind thanks to Wei of Peace China for providing us with a table and tent! Otherwise, I'm not really sure what we'd do! We look forward to seeing your faces again tomorrow. Please stop by the stand to say hello - even if you don't need any produce, we'd love to talk with you :0).

Here's the list of the produce that will be available at our stand tomorrow:

Summer squash (including butterpans, yellow crook neck, eightballs, and zucchini)

Eggplant (including Asain and Italian varieties)

Cubanelles (sweet peppers - they are yummy!)

Pablanos (hot peppers - also extremely tasty)

Chiles (hot peppers - I like to use these in pasta sauces and cooked in burgers)

Cucumbers

Basil

Possibly Okra, Tomatoes and Sun Jewel Melons

Mother Nature is slowly but surely toning down the heat and we have some previews of the produce that will soon be on it's way


lettuce


bok choi


tat soi


green onion


cabbage


Angel preparing the ground for turnips (the three main laborers on the farm include, Tom (of Double-T Farm), Ben, and Angel


Tom sowing carrot seeds


...and for the grand finale! Here's my cartoon version of Ben (since he couldn't take a picture of himself today at the farm sowing turnip seeds). Hahahaha! ;0)

We'll be seeing ya'll tomorrow!

WELL - it seems I spoke/wrote too soon. As soon as I finished writing this blog and posting it (the first time), Ben did send me a picture of him working on the farm (I'm keeping the other one up too though, it takes a lot of hard work and effort to make Ben look so darn goofy) :0)