CSA pickup at Dupont last week. Photo by Carrie Vaughn.
│ Announcements │ This Week’s Share │ U-Pick │ Recipe │ Coming Soon │
Announcements:
If you’d like to purchase oysters for pickup in Annapolis on Thursday, the deadline is NOON TOMORROW, May 26. Order here. Be sure to select Local Delivery for your shipment method and write “CBF EVENT” in the notes. Otherwise your oysters will be waiting for you three hours away in Salisbury, MD.
Our next opportunity to purchase oysters will be at Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro on June 19. Stay tuned for details on how to order.
Please continue to wear a mask while you are picking up your CSA share. Some of our members (such as young children) cannot be vaccinated, and some need to take extra health precautions. Outside of the pickup area or other spots where we are closely congregated, you do not need to wear a mask. Thank you for your patience!
Don’t forget to bring back your empty seedling pots! We’ll reuse them for next year’s seedlings.
We’ve sold out of CSA shares for 2021! Thank you—we’re grateful for all of you!
This Week’s Share:
Greens Still Going Strong
Strawberries (1 pint)
Chinese cabbage (aka Napa cabbage, 1 head)
Other greens (kale, collards, chard, bok choi, yukina savoy, possibly spicy mix or arugula — choices and amounts TBD)
Green garlic (a half dozen or so)
Green beans (this week or next)
Hakurei turnips
U-Pick:
Strawberries, Herbs, Mulberries, Flowers
We will open strawberries for U-Pick at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25. You must sign up for a slot. U-Pick is open to all CSA members. Strawberry U-Pick is limited to Wednesday 3:00 p.m.–Thursday 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 1:00 p.m.–Monday 8:00 p.m. This gives a few days for berries to ripen before we harvest for your CSA shares.
In our herb garden behind the washing station:
Anise hyssop (licorice flavor, makes a nice tea)
Cutting celery (adds celery flavor to stews and salads)
Cilantro
Garlic chives
Onion chives
Lemon balm
Mint
Oregano
Sage (with edible flowers)
Sorrel
Thyme
CSA members are always welcome to pick any flowers on the farm. We have a few beginning to bloom in the flower garden behind the washing station.
Growing wild on the farm:
Mulberries (Most of our mulberries are ripe when they are black and fall easily from the tree. The most efficient harvesting technique with tall trees is to lay a sheet on the ground and shake the branches so the ripe berries drop. There are mulberries growing all around the farm. Look for the ripe berries on the ground and you’ll see the tree above you.)
Serviceberry (This is a native shrub. In addition to the one growing in front of the washing station, you might see them in your neighborhood. Fruit are ripe when they are dark purple.)
All CSA members may U-Pick any week, as often as you’d like, as long as you sign up first. CSA members include anyone in the household of the person who paid for the share and any household that split the payment of the share with you.
Recipes:
Chinese Cabbage
Many people find Chinese cabbage (also known as Napa cabbage) intimidating because it’s large and unfamiliar. To beat this hesitation, try chopping it into bite-sized pieces right away and storing it in a big salad clamshell or ziploc bag. Then you’ll be more likely to toss it into your salad when you’re hungry and in a rush.
DUMPLINGS:
If you’ve never tried making dumplings, it’s easier than you think. It’s also a fun project with kids. Wonton wrappers are easy to find in most grocery stores in the same refrigerated area where you would find tofu. The filling cooks up quickly, and they can be pan fried or boiled. These filling recipes come from Peter Chang. The first is for vegetarians, the second for meat-eaters.
Vegetarian Filling
1000 grams of Chinese cabbage
150 grams of fresh mushrooms
15 grams of salt
8 grams of ginger (finely minced)
30 grams of green onions (finely minced)
40 grams of sesame oil
Cut fresh mushrooms into fine pieces, mince the ginger, and mince the green onions. Wash the Shanghai cabbage, and quickly blanch it in hot water for two minutes. Remove it and rinse with cold water to dry. Then chop it into fine granules, wrap it in gauze, and press out the water by adding weight on the top of the wrapped gauze. Take it out after two hours, pour it into a plate, add the mushrooms, salt, minced ginger, and minced green onion, mix well, and then add sesame oil.
Meat Filling:
450 grams ground pork (or any meat)
450 grams Chinese cabbage (finely chopped soybean size)
20 grams soy sauce
5 grams salt
15 grams ginger (finely minced)
30 grams green onion (finely minced)
5 grams white pepper
30 grams sesame oil
Cut the Chinese cabbage into small, bite-sized pieces and set aside. Mince ginger and mince green onions. Add salt, soy sauce, and minced ginger to the ground pork, stirring constantly, then add the diced cabbage several times and stir while adding it. When the diced cabbage is added, add white pepper, sesame oil, and chopped green onion and mix well.
To make dumplings:
Moisten the edges of a dumpling wrapper, set a small spoonful of filling in the center, then fold the wrapper and crimp the edges. To boil them, drop them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. If you prefer to pan-fry them, set them in a hot pan and fill the pan with water and a tablespoon or two of oil to about half-way up the dumplings. Boil away the water and allow the dumplings to brown.
Dipping sauce:
2/3 Black vinegar (available at Chinese grocery stores; if you haven’t tried it, you should—it’s a lovely vinegar. You can substitute with balsamic if needed.)
1/3 soy sauce
Sugar, green onion, ginger to taste
CHINESE NOODLE SOUP WITH CABBAGE:
From Serving Up the Harvest, by Andrea Chesman
Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth (or substitute vegetable broth)
1/4 cup soy sauce (or less if your broth is salted)
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine or sherry
6-12 dried wood ear mushrooms, chopped if large
2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger
3 green garlics, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound Chinese egg noodles
1 Tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 cups chopped cooked chicken or 1 pound firm tofu, cubed
4-6 cups chopped Chinese cabbage (or a mix with other greens such as bok choi)
1 carrot, julienned
Chinese chili paste with garlic (optional)
Instructions:
Combine the broth, soy sauce, rice wine, mushrooms, ginger and garlic in a large saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and sesame oil and cook until the noodles are just barely tender. Drain well and return the noodles to the pot to keep warm.
Add the chicken or tofu, cabbage, and carrots to the broth and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
To serve, place a nest of noodles in each bowl. Ladle the broth, vegetables and chicken/tofu over the noodles and serve hot, passing the chili paste at the table for those who like a little spice.
Coming Soon:
Squash, Beans, more Greens
We got a little rain yesterday, but we’re still quite dry. Last week’s dry weather slowed down a few crops. We’re glad to see some significant rain in the forecast.
Summer squash (mostly zucchini) begins in week 4 or 5
Green beans from our greenhouse begin week 4 (Some plants are fruiting much sooner than others, so it’s been hard to gauge when you’ll see them. This is the first time we’ve grown beans in the greenhouse.)
Garlic scapes, weeks 4 and 5
French breakfast radishes, weeks 4 and 5
Kohlrabi, weeks 4 to 6
Purple-top turnips, weeks 4 and 5
Continuing for several more weeks: strawberries, kale, collards, bok choi, and chard
One more week of Chinese cabbage
Thank you for being our members!
CLAGETT FARM
Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.
DUPONT CIRCLE DC
Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.
ANNAPOLIS
Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.