The summer is Matt’s busiest time.  He can’t take off a week pack it up and take a vacation at the beach because he is in the middle of full grown growing season.  I don’t want our son to miss out on this tradition, so I take him to the Chesapeake Bay for a couple of weeks since we can’t vacation when he is in school.  This trip has been magnificent.  We were witness to this beautiful sunset and we all truly felt touched by the blessings which has been bestowed upon us.

Our son is thankful for crabs!  Him and his grandmother have been making crab night lights from the leftover crabs shells.  He began selling his creations last week and was so excited that people actually bought them.  So while we are at the beach, he has made more to bring to market.

He is proud of his business venture is thankful to the folks at market for encouraging his thoughtful creativity and his business.  We will see how this week goes.

Our garlic has gone from spring garlic to cured garlic.  We wait until the garlic bulbs up in the ground and then hang them in our barn to cure.

They quickly change from the green garlic you see on the right to full sized garlic bulbs!  We plant our garlic in October and they are in the ground until mid-June.  It is important to know that Matt only uses certified organic products on our produce so this garlic is safe and healthy!

Our CSA members will be receiving carrots, turnips, bok choy, kohlrabi, kale, squash, cured garlic, and arugula!  Our arugula goes to Mama Zu’s, Edo Squid, and Dinamo, so you know it is awesome!

Here is my meal plan for the week:

Monday:  Pan Seared Shrimp with Warm White Bean Arugula Salad

This salad is inspired by a meal I got from Edo Squid.  I loved it so much, I worked hard to recreate it.  It is so easy!  First, I put about a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and get it hot. While the oil is heating I mince a garlic.   I then add a can of cannelloni beans (or any white bean) and the minced garlic to the pan and let them get warm.  At the very end, I toss on some more olive oil, remove the pan from the heat and toss on about 4 handfuls of arugula and let it wilt down for just a minute and plate them.  I then add some more olive oil to the same pan and throw on the shrimp.  They cook real fast!  Once they are cooked, I toss them on top of the plates and dinner is done in a flash!  This is one of my very favorite recipes and tastes so good with Matt’s cured garlic and arugula.

Tuesday:  Skirt Steak, Baby Bok Choy and Squash Stir-Fry

Next we need to use some of your carrots, bok choy, and garlic!  This recipe is from SkinnyTaste, and she is hands down my favorite recipe blogger.  I love it because it is quick and easy for the week night and still healthy!

I serve this over brown rice.  Brown rice takes about 40 minutes to cook, so I start it right away.  My secret is to put a can of chicken broth in a pot, let it boil and then put in a a cup of the brown rice.  The chicken broth gives the rice such nice flavor.

Wednesday: Spiralzied Summer Roll Bowls with Hoisin Peanut Sauce

I like to eat light in the summer, and honestly, when it is hot, you really don’t want to eat heavy!  I grabbed this recipe from my favorite blogger SkinnyTaste and adapt it to fit what I have in season.

I change her recipe a bit and add some spiralized summer squash and turnips along with the cucumber.  This recipe is done in 30 minutes.  My secret is I buy the pre-cooked frozen shrimp and thaw them in the refrigerator the night before I make this.  Our son loves this recipe because he loves to help make it and prefers his vegetables raw.  If you have little ones in your home, encourage them to help you prepare the food.  They will learn so much from it and will carry on a healthy eating lifestyle when they grow up.

Thursday:  Mushroom Kale Lasagna Rolls

I bet you have never thought of using kale in lasagna!  This recipe is one of my family favorites!  What I love most about it is that it allows me to control my portions, I only eat one roll!

So I cheat on this recipe as well, I use Prego spaghetti sauce.  I don’t put the kale in a food processor like the recipe says, I just tear it up small and then sauté it.  I also use Ricotta Cheese from Goats-R-Us who is across from us at market.  Her cheese is so fresh, you can’t go wrong.  This is so healthy and the mushrooms provide you enough protein to help keep you energized.  We always get ours from market!

Friday:  Pan Seared Center Cut Pork Chops and Apple Kohlrabi Slaw

Kohlrabi is a great vegitable.  It is sometimes called a German Turnip as it is predominant in German cooking!  Whenever I think of pork chops, I think of apples!  So I found this great Apple Kohlrabi Slaw Recipe!  It is so good, clean, and healthy and served alongside the pork chop, it is fabulous!  If you are wondering how to cut up a kohlrabi, check out this video:

I cut the kohlrabi in to match thin matchsticks to make the slaw.  It is so good!  Our son loves these served raw.  I cut them up and put them in the refrigerator so that it is nice and cold when he eats them.

So what is coming to market?  We look forward to seeing you at the South of the James Farmer’s Market from 8-12 this Saturday!

• Garlic
• Tatsoi
• Kale
• Lettuces
• Radishes
• Japanese Turnips
• Chard
• Baby Arugula
• Field Greens
• Kale Salad
• Spicy Microgreens
• Basil Microgreens
• Squash
• Fennel
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Carrots
• Tomatoes

We will see you at market from 8-12 each Saturday!

I am late getting this blog out because we celebrated Father’s Day by giving Matt a much deserved day off!  He usually works 7 days a week from dawn to dusk so I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to sneak out to the bay and enjoy some beach time with him even if it was just for a day!

I would like to introduce you to our new market helper Katie!  She is a busy mom who prides herself in healthy eating.  She brings me a lot of great ideas and awesome recipes.  I love listening to her tell me how she is cooking our food!  She gets a farm share from us each week.

I love the magic of summer and watching crops come in to season!  I am very excited to see our tomatoes finally coming in!  We don’t have many, but we are sure to give our CSA members the very first tomatoes!

Our CSA members will also find Tokyo Bekana in their bags.  This is a big lime green leafy Asian green that tastes like a romaine lettuce and the stems taste like a bok choy! They can be chopped up to make salads, they can be sauteed in stir fries, or they can be used as lettuce wraps, my personal favorite!  CSA members will also receive chadori beets, they are red and white striped on the inside.  We grow these for many of our local chefs.  They prefer them because they don’t bleed as much as the traditional purple ones.  Chefs love to have a pretty plate!

One of our CSA members bought some beets from us last week and made this beautiful dish above. It is salt roasted beet carpaccio with goat cheese and chive oil garnished with our field green leaves.  It is beautiful!

Our CSA members are also receiving kale, tomatoes, field greens, potatoes squash and turnips!  It will be a great week for our CSA members and market visitors.

Each week, I put together a menu to help our CSA members and our customers eat what is in their bag or on our stand.  I find out that so many folks appreciate this, so I am so happy to share what we are eating at the farm with you.

Monday:  Spicy Shrimp Avocado Wraps with Shredded Turnips 
I love a great wrap! I am taking my own liberties to adapt this recipe to what is in your bag.  First of all, I am using the Tokyo Bekana leaves for the wrap and rather than using cabbage, I am shredding a raw turnip!  This can be made in under 30 minutes and is so healthy!

Tuesday:  Grilled Chicken and Roasted Beet and Kale Salad with Maple Candied Walnuts

In the summer time, I love a great salad!  I also love the loft that our curly kale has!   It is so easy to whip this salad together!  First prepare your beets and roast them.  While they are roasting, put your chicken out on your grill.  While all of that is cooking, you will whip together the kale salad and the the dressing.  I have to say, I never ever buy dressing any more!  It is so much easier, and cheaper to make it.  It also tastes so much better!  This recipe has my favorite dressing!

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• minced garlic clove
• salt and pepper

It is so good!  The recipe calls for goat cheese.  If you come to market, be sure to stop by Goats R Us to get the fresh goat cheese.  Just like with your vegetables, fresh cheese is always so good!  You will use this same dressing on Thursday!

Wednesday:  Roasted Squash and Potatoes with Breaded Pork Chops
I just love breaded pork chops! You can never go wrong with them served beside melt in your mouth squash and roasted potatoes!  While everything is roasting, I cook the chops and dinner is done in 30 minutes.  We get our pork products from Black Boar Farm at market.  I can’t tell you how awesome fresh meat tastes and knowing where your food comes from and how the animals are kept is so important.

Thursday:  Field Green Salad, Raw Shaved Turnips served with Grilled Chicken.
This is an easy salad to make!  If I have any leftover goat cheese or nuts, I use it.  I also use the same dressing I made for the kale salad.  When I make this salad, I look in the fridge for any other leftover and throw them in raw.  Fennel is one of my favorites to put in this salad.

 

Friday:  Burgers on the Grill with French Fries and Grilled Squash
This is another easy meal.  I made this meal last week. The secret to a crisp french fry is to soak them in water for 30 mintues.  While they are soaking, put your burgers together and preheat the oven to 425.

Here is the recipe for the burgers:  In a big bowl, I drop in about 3 pounds of hamburger meat (I make extras for leftovers the next night).  I take two pieces of sandwich bread and remove the crust and cut it in to 1/4 inch pieces and toss it in the bowl along with a splash of low fat milk, salt and pepper to taste, minced garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, and I chop up one of the onions in your bag and add it.  I form them in to patties.  Put them on the grill while the fries are cooking.

After 30 minutes, take the fries out of the water and dry them off.  Toss them on a bowl of olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic to taste.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and cooking spray.  Cook for 30 minutes and start the cheese burgers.

The last 15 minutes, cut your squash long ways and brush them with olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper on them and grill them along side the burgers,  Put cheese on the burger and serve with a tokyo bekana leaf and a tomato.  Yummm!

So what is coming to market?  We look forward to seeing you at the South of the James Farmer’s Market from 8-12 this Saturday!

• Garlic
• Tatsoi
• Kale
• Lettuces
• Radishes
• Japanese Turnips
• Chard
• Baby Arugula
• Field Greens
• Kale Salad
• Spicy Microgreens
• Kale Microgreens
• Squash
• Fennel
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Carrots

We will see you at market from 8-12 each Saturday!

 

I can’t believe this is our 5th CSA pick-up!  I hope you have all enjoyed your food!  I have certainly enjoyed planning my family menu around what will be in your bag!  Providing my family with clean, healthy, unprocessed food is so important to mine and Matt’s health values.  It is so important to us that once we had our child, Matt decided to devote himself to growing full time to ensure our son gets the highest quality ingredients.

Matt works from dawn to dusk during the growing season.  Most nights, I make him a plate that he heats up and eats when it is dark.  I work full-time as a principal at a local elementary school.  Our son is in to soccer and piano so I am the one that runs him to all he enjoys.  On Saturdays, I am up at 4:00 in the morning helping Matt at market.  It is about a 10 hour day by the time we are done.  We are a busy family, but as busy as we are, I still cook clean, healthy dinners at home every night because it is what my family values.  I know many of you are working the hours that I work and I am hoping that this blog will help you make some home cooked dinners for your families that are easy to manage.

Our garlic is now at the curing stage.  We will cure it in our barn for a few weeks and then bring them back out to market and give to our CSA customers.

Meet Stephen, he is our farm intern who is learning from Matt.  He is farming on his own and is helping Matt on the farm, learning from him.  In the above picture, he is helping pull our garlic to take to the barn to cure.  He is a great help and Matt is enjoying working with someone who is eager to learn sustainable farming practices.

CSA members will find these things in their bags this week:  Kennebec Potatoes, Kale, Field Greens, Squash, Fennel, Onions, Bok Choy.

Here is my menu for the week.  It will help you eat EVERYTHING in your bag!

Monday:  Cheese Burgers on the Grill and French Fries.  Start the fries first.  Preheat the oven to 425.  Here is my secret, cut them up in to sticks by chopping off the top and bottom and slice in to fries.  Here is the secret, let them soak in water for 30 minutes, this step removes excess starch from the potatoes and allows them to crisp up in the oven.  After 30 minutes, pull them out of the water and dry them off.  Toss them on a bowl of olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic to taste.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and cooking spray.  Cook for 30 minutes and start the cheese burgers.

I do my cheese burgers a little different.  In a big bowl, I drop in about 3 pounds of hamburger meat (I make extras for leftovers the next night).  I take two pieces of sandwich bread and remove the crust and cut it in to 1/4 inch pieces and toss it in the bowl along with a splash of low fat milk, salt and pepper to taste, minced garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, and I chop up one of the onions in your bag and add it.  I form them in to patties.  Put them on the grill while the fries are cooking.

Pull it all together by putting the burgers on a bun, use your field greens and cut another onion up to put on top of your burgers.  It is total YUM and one of our son’s favorites. The boy loves a great burger.  Take the leftover burgers (without the bun) and store them in your fridge for tomorrow night.

Tuesday:  Leftover Burgers and Kale Chips.  Sometimes, you need to make life easy! The burgers are done, so you just need to heat them up for tonight!  Instead of fries, kale chips are a must!  Here is a quick YouTube recipe.  The trick is to make sure they are dry. Our kale is nice and clean, so you don’t have to clean it when you get home.

If you want a recipe for this click here.  Kale chips are a real treat and they taste like chips!  They will go great with your burgers!

Wednesday:  Spring Salad with Fennel and Orange with Grilled Chicken.  This salad recipe is one of my very favorites!  This dinner will take 30 minutes from start to finish. Make your salad while the grill is preheating.   Serve the salad aside grilled chicken and you are done!

Thursday:  Garlicky Shrimp Stir-Fry with Shitakes and Bok Choy.  My favorite food blogger is Gina from Skinnytaste.  I have all of her cookbooks and everything I make from her blog is outstanding.

 

This recipe is a healthy 30 minute wonder that your family will love!  I serve it on top of brown rice.  Here is my secret to great rice.  Heat a can of chicken broth to a boil and add a cup of uncooked brown rice.  Let simmer for about 40 minutes while you are prepping your stir fry and it is amazing!  If your pick-up is at market, I highly suggest you get your mushrooms from Steve Haas of HaaShrooms.  He is at market and forages the freshest mushrooms each week to bring to the South of the James Farmer’s Market.  He is just a few booths down from us.

Friday:  Pork Chops with Mushrooms and Shallats and Squash.  As you know, Matt and I are very in to food that is grown sustainably and in humane ways.  Dennis from Black Boar Farm does just this.  We get our pork from him at market each week.  My favorite pork chop recipe is from SkinnyTaste.

I love pork chops served alongside squash.  In a pan, I heat up about a tablespoon of olive oil and take 2 medium squash and slice them in circles about 1/4 inch thick.  I sauté it until soft (10 to 15 minutes).  I then put it on plates and dress them with fresh chopped parsley, mint, and thyme.  I add salt and pepper to taste.  This easy recipe is healthy and tastes like a million bucks!

So what is coming to market?  We look forward to seeing you at the South of the James Farmer’s Market from 8-12 this Saturday!

• Green Garlic
• Tatsoi
• Kale
• Lettuces
• Radishes
• Japanese Turnips
• Chard
• Baby Arugula
• Field Greens
• Kale Salad
• Spicy Microgreens
• Kale Microgreens
• Squash
• Fennel
• Onions
• Potatoes

We will see you at market from 8-12 each Saturday!

Yesterday our son and I took our nightly walk before bed time and checked things out around the field.  As he walked by the kale he grabbed a kale leaf and I shot a picture.  I felt a little deja vu.  This morning, I woke up and checked my Time Hop app and found a picture of our son doing the same thing at 4 years old!

It then hit me like a ton of bricks, he was raised this way!  Ever since he could walk, he would go through our field and Matt would kindly show him how to select food at it’s peek perfection.  He used to have so much fun as a small child going to the field and eating whatever he wanted.  At 8 years old he still does.  I can’t tell you the pride that I have in knowing that our child has been raised watching food grow, understanding the importance of taking care of our soil and earth, and enjoying the fruits of Matt’s hard work.  Our son understands high quality food, and most importantly, he EATS HIS VEGETABLES (preferably raw because that is how it was introduced to him)!

This week, our CSA members got real creative!  This first dish was something that I thought with a little effort on Sunday morning, I could make breakfast so easy for a week!  Tatsoi, red bell pepper, & feta egg cups.

You can make them ahead, keep them in the fridge and pop them in the microwave or toaster oven for a healthy breakfast!  Here is a simple recipe I found.   For those of you doing the 21 Day Fix, this is a must!

Another member made the very creative fennel and couscous salad!

He took shaved fennel, sliced some oranges, and radishes and served it over couscous.  He garnished it with feta cheese and the fronds from the fennel.  I haven’t tried it, but it is on my list!  When you have great food, simplicity is always best!

If you are a CSA member, I know you want to know what will be in your bag.  You will have:  red skin potatoes, kohlrabi, turnips, bok choy, field greens, chard, fennel, kale, and squash.

I am most excited about the red skin potatoes!  The potatoes was the first thing we put in the ground in the newly cleared property.  When they popped up they were beautiful!
They are finally ready to harvest.  Fresh dug potatoes are the very best!  I serve them boiled, roasted, smashed, anyway I make them they are GREAT!

I can’t wait to eat them, so they are the first thing on my weekly menu, so here it goes!

Monday:  Broiled Black Pepper Steak with Smashed Potatoes and Sautéed Squash.  Here is what you do:  First, make the potatoes, boil them in salted water until you can put a for, through them.  Drizzle a cookie sheet with olive oil and place the boiled potatoes on the sheet.  Using a potato masher, slightly mash each potato.  Brush each potato with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chopped rosemary.  Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.  While the potatoes are baking, heat up some olive oil in a pan and chop the squash with some garlic and sauté them.  Push them over to the side of the cookie sheet, and add the top sirloin steak to the pan.  Brush olive oil on the steak and season both sides with salt and pepper.  Switch to broil and broil and broil each side of the steak for 5 minutes along with the potatoes.  This is an easy dinner that everyone will love.

Tuesday:  Tonight I will make my famous Bok Choy Salad.  We aren’t going to cook this bok choi, so if it is wimpy, cut off the bottom and put them in a glass of water for about 30-45 minutes.  They will freshen up nicely and get crisp.  While Matt is grilling the chicken, I will chop up the bok choy, stems and all.  I will then take good ole ramen noodles break them up and toast them.  I will add them to the bok choy and toss them around.  I will open a few fresh mandarin oranges and chop them up (I often will use cuties) and toss them around.  Lastly, make the dressing, it’s easy!  In a mason jar add 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced or grated, 3 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tbsp honey, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp sesame oil , and
3/4 cup olive oil and give it a shake.  As the chicken breasts are resting toss the salads with the dressing and plate them.  Slice up the chicken breasts and place them on the salad.  I swear it is my favorite salad!  I got this recipe from one of our South of the James customers and it is my summer time favorite!  I can’t eat enough of it!

Wednesday:  Kale Salad with Roasted Turnips and Grilled Chicken.  Yes, we eat a lot of chicken, but it is different in each recipe.  Make this salad a day ahead so the dressing marinates in the kale.  The day you are going to make this, put the kale in water to crisp it up.  When you get home, simply rip the kale in to bite sized pieces removing the stem. Toss in grated parmesan cheese and slivered almonds.  Make the dressing by adding 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon garlic, grated, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon pepper to a mason jar and shaking it up.  Toss half of the dressing in the kale salad and let sit over night.  When you go to serve it, you may want the rest of the dressing.  It is so good!  For the turnips, I toss them in olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste and roast them at 400 for about 25 minutes.    This dinner is delicious!

Thursday:  I am going to make a Shrimp, Shaved Fennel, and Field Green Salad.  It is easy.  I shell the shrimp and cook them in olive oil with a little salt and pepper once they are pink, I put them aside.  I assemble the field greens (I always give them  a nice chop so they fit on the fork nicely) and I use a mandolin slice to slice the fennel.  I make a quick and easy apricot dressing in a mason jar.   I use 1/4 cup apricot preserves, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and give it a shake.  It makes for an easy delicious salad for the end of the week1

Friday:   Salmon with Roasted Kohlrabi and Sautéed Chard.  This is so easy.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice the kohlrabi in to bite sized pieces and toss in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and coat it with cooking spray.  Slice the salmon in 3 inch wide pieces.  Combine a 1/4 cup of honey, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and a tablespoon of dijon mustard and brush on to the salmon.  Bake for about 25 minutes until you can put a fork through the kohlrabi and the salmon is cooked. While the salmon is cooking, heat some olive oil in a pan and chop up the chard. Saute the stems first and then add the leaves.  Remove from heat when the leaves wilt.

I want to thank our CSA members and South of the James customers for inspiring me!  I hope this helps you eat clean and healthy all week with what is in your bag!

So what is coming to market?  We look forward to seeing you at the South of the James Farmer’s Market from 8-12 this Saturday!

• Green Garlic
• Tatsoi
• Kale
• Lettuces
• Radishes
• Japanese Turnips
• Chard
• Baby Arugula
• Field Greens
• Kale Salad
• Spicy Microgreens
• Kale Microgreens
• Squash
• Fennel
• Onions
• Potatoes