Summer colors are arriving!
We welcomed quite a few new members this week! Juan, Michael, Made, Jacqueline, Dianne, Karen, Janice, Dariusz, Lisa, Jennifer, Sondra, and Kathie are joining us! For anyone who is not yet in our 2020 Subscription Members Facebook group, be sure to request access by finding the group through the "Community" tab on the Laurel Glen Farm page. We're sharing lots of positivity there and would love to hear from as many members as possible! About 2 thirds of our members are currently in the group, though we know many of you do not have a Facebook account. Feel free to email me any recipes that I can share in the newsletter if you aren't on Facebook.
We also welcomed 19 friends with Surplus Subscriptions this past Monday. It's been so amazing to have pickups on 4 different days of the week to keep a steady stream of members visiting us. I hope that many of you can benefit from this newsletter, too!
If you haven't signed up to picnic or hang out at the farm on July 11th or July 18th, here's the link. We are hoping to welcome many of you on those days. If you are unable to attend on those dates but were hoping to come later this season, please let us know so that we can offer the opportunity again.
Don't forget to bring your bags starting this week as the CT Bag Tax has gone back into effect.
Who's feeling lucky this week?! 8 of you on each pickup day will find a special note and an extra pound of zucchini in your share. This idea was inspired when Peter dropped his rubber ducky into one of the bags last week, so thank you Peter for encouraging some extra fun! This variety of zucchini is actually called Goldmine, so it's perfect for the occasion. Yellow zucchini is my favorite of all of the zucchini varieties because it is sweet and slightly nutty, and it's also tender and retains its beautiful color after cooking. We'd love to do lots of giveaways like this throughout the season, so hopefully everyone will be a winner at some point! If you find it in your share, please let us know!
We've got a rock garden outside the farm store, and we love how so many of you keep adding to it. Our family painted these at a socially distanced picnic over the weekend. Would you bring a rock to share?
A few more pictures from the week include a coyote pup up on our Booth Hill property, another rainbow over the greenhouse, and crew members Ethan and Brenny hard at work!
Some of our farming accomplishments this week were: planting beans, planting Swiss chard, planting leeks, and weeding the carrots. Randy seeds a new planting of corn every week, too, to keep it coming.
I also made another video montage to show you more about our farming practices.
We're planning a Facebook Live video in our private Facebook group on Thursday, July 16th at 8:30 p.m. to do a Q&A. We would love to answer your questions and tell you more about who we are and what we do. I posted an announcement in our group for you to comment with your questions. For those of you who don't have Facebook, I can email out the video after it takes place, so email me any questions you might have in advance.
A Message from Randy:
The Uncrating:
Contents (In approximate order from shortest shelf life to longest):
Small:
1 head of Napa cabbage
1 head of radicchio
1 bunch of collard greens
1 bunch of scallions
1 lb. of summer squash
1 lb. of cucumbers
1 lb. of zucchini
Large:
1 head of Napa cabbage
1 head of radicchio
1 bunch of collard greens
1 bunch of carrots
1 bunch of beet greens
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of scallions
1 lb. of summer squash
1 lb. of cucumbers
1 lb. of zucchini
Caring For Your Share:
Store the scallions and carrots in Ziploc bags. Remove the greens from the carrots ASAP to keep them from getting soft, and store them in a Ziploc (yes, you can use them!)
Store the zucchini, squash, and cucumbers in the fridge crisper as is. Wash when ready to use.
Use a plastic bag to store the heads of lettuce, Napa cabbage, collard greens, and beet greens in the fridge, shaking out any excess water and removing any bad leaves first.
Store the head of radicchio in the fridge (leave the outer leaves on to prevent the inner leaves from wilting). Remove outer leaves from the head when ready to wash and use.
LGF Cooking Club:
Victoria's Squash & Zucchini Pancakes
INGREDIENTS:
3 medium squash and/or zucchini
1⁄2 cup flour 1⁄2 cup bread crumbs 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese 1 egg 1 small onion, chopped 2 tbsp. oil Salt DIRECTIONS: Using a potato peeler or food processor, grate squash and zucchini into a bowl. Salt generously and refrigerate for 1 hour. Squeeze excess moisture out of squash and zucchini using hands or a towel. Mix in onion, egg, flour, bread crumbs, and cheese. Mixture should be moist. Add oil to pan and fry large, flattened spoonfuls of squash mixture, flipping, until golden brown. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top!
Thank you, Mary S., for the suggestion about how we can use up our scallions this week by making Sticky Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp (P.S. Mary served it in a PINEAPPLE!): https://therecipecritic.com/sticky-honey-garlic-butter-shrimp/
Dawn's Favorite Napa Cabbage Slaw (substitute cucumbers for peas): https://dinnersdishesanddesserts.com/asian-napa-cabbage-slaw/
Or, Napa Cabbage Stir Fry: https://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/recipes/253/napa-cabbage-stir-fry
This Quick Collard Greens side dish recipe is similar to the one I discuss in the Uncrating video: https://cookieandkate.com/quick-collard-greens-recipe/
Grilled Radicchio and Grilled Scallions (Are you sensing a pattern for my favorite simple summer recipes?!):
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/grilled-radicchio-with-olive-oil-and-sea-salt.html
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/grilled-scallions-recipe-1928187
Don't let the word "Fall" in this blog post scare you; this Radicchio Salad with Green Olives and Parmesan is perfect for summer: https://www.thekitchn.com/fall-salad-recipe-radicchio-salad-with-green-olives-amp-parmesan-178017
Cooking Tip(s) of the Week:
How to Clean Radicchio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrbiSfiLbq8 How to Grate Zucchini Without a Food Processor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyr4zp0-IIM Using Collard Greens for Wraps (I like how she discards the stem better than I explained it in my Uncrating video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3-dsKXmfYM