The Vagaries of Nature

It's been a wet year so far, and this weekend has been one for the record books, I'm sure. According to Accuweather.com, we received 2.23 inches of rain on Thursday night. Our average monthly rainfall for June is 4.12 inches. So...in one night....one endless evening of wind, pouring rain, hail, and lightning, as one storm cell after another rode roughshod over Clinton, PA, we received more than half of our average monthly amount of rain. Since then, we have received another 1.07 inches of rain. And it's still raining.

Most of the vegetables seem to have survived so far, although I have had to basically replant many of the beans and potatoes, squishing the muddy soil up around their stems to hold them upright again. The sweet corn got flooded and is not looking too good, but I think that may have more to do with a few bad calves and deer than with the weather!

All I know is....I'm lookin' forward to some sunshine:)

Georgia Collards

Although young collards can certainly be eaten raw (and may be better suited for that), collards are generally known as cooking greens. They tend to be interchangeable in recipes with other greens, so can be used in place of spinach, Swiss chard, or kale in your favorite recipe. Some other cooking tips include:

• Be careful not to overcook collards - it makes them mushy and they lose much of their nutritional value.


• Baby greens are excellent for sautéing, and larger greens are best for stir-frying. Cooking for 2-5 minutes is usually adequate for both.


• A few suggestions for serving greens: Toss with red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Toss with a lemon vinaigrette. Sauté in garlic butter and onion. Top with a pat of butter.

I had a pasta dish at Rachel's Roadhouse the other night (still eating the leftovers, actually) that was garnished with cooked greens. I don't have the recipe for it, but I think it can be reproduced pretty easily based on the following menu description: Garlic, onions, diced tomatoes and white wine are sautéed in a light cream sauce and tossed with Penne Pasta. Garnished with fried greens, Parmesan cheese and Hungarian peppers.

Some other recipes you might like to try:

Fresh Greens Pasta Pie
6 ounces vermicelli
2 T butter
1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese
5 eggs
2 t cooking oil
1 small onion
2 C chopped fresh greens
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
2 T butter
1/3 C milk
½ t salt
¼ t freshly ground pepper
1/8 t ground nutmeg
hot pepper sauce to taste (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large pie plate. Cook vermicelli according to package directions; drain. Stir butter and Parmesan cheese into hot vermicelli. Beat 2 of the eggs and stir well into pasta. Spoon mixture into pie plate, and use a spoon to shape vermicelli into a pie shell. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 10 minutes. Set aside. Heat oil in small skillet, add onion and saute until tender. Beat the remaining 3 eggs and combine with greens, mozzarella, milk, seasonings, and sautéed onions. Spoon greens mixture into pasta shell. Cook pie with aluminum foil. Bake 35 minutes; uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Makes 6 servings.
Recipe by Crystal Lake Gardens (MACSAC)

Asian-Style Sauté
2 T sesame oil
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ pound mixed greens, coarsely chopped
1 T vinegar
2 T tamari
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in wok or large skillet on moderate heat. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Remove garlic and set aside. Sauté the greens until just wilted. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar, tamari, pepper, and garlic. Serve immediately. Great as a side dish or with rice. Makes 2-4 servings.
Recipe by Harmony Valley Farm (MASCAC)

Spanish Greens
2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, flattened or smashed with the flat of a knife
1 pound greens, stemmed and well washed
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ C golden raisins
3 T toasted pine nuts

Heat oil over high flame in a large skillet. Add garlic cloves and stir-fry until golden, about 30 seconds. Discard garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cover; wilt greens 2-3 minutes. Add raisins and pine nuts. Check for seasoning and serve. Makes 2-4 servings.
Recipe by MASCAC

Turnips

Nutritional Facts:

• Good source of vitamin C, potassium, and calcium
• Greens are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, B complex, and the minerals potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
• Believed to prevent cancer

Cooking Tips:

• Scrub turnips with a stiff-bristled vegetable brush. No need to peel – simply trim away damaged areas.
• Turnips can be eaten raw – like carrots. Slice or create turnip sticks and add to a veggie tray.
• Grate raw into salads or slaw
• Boil ½-1 inch thick turnip slices or cubes 9-10 minutes; boil small whole turnips 15-10 minutes
• Bake turnips alone for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees, basted with butter or oil, or bake along with other seasonal roots.
• Can be used like potatoes (alongside a roast, mashed, in stews or soups, etc.)
• Greens can be prepared like any other greens.

My friend, Jen Montgomery, of Blackberry Meadows Farm posted this recipe in her last newsletter. It looked so good, I had to steal it. So...here it is. Enjoy!

White Baby Turnips with Maple Sauce
1 bunch white salad turnips
butter for sautéing
salt (to taste)
real Maple Syrup

Remove the greens from the turnips. Wash and cut turnips into bite-size pieces and add to a pot of boiling water. Cook until almost tender. Remove turnips from boiling water, drain and toss directly into a well oiled hot skillet. Saute for a few minutes (until tender), remove from the pan and drizzle with maple syrup and lightly salt. Serve warm.
Recipe by Jen Montgomery, Blackberry Meadows Farm

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is loaded with vitamins and minerals (A, E, C, iron and calcium) and can be used in any recipe calling for spinach (like quiches, lasagna, omelets, etc.)

An easy and yummy way to prepare Swiss Chard is to saute the leaves in garlic butter or with onion. You can also steam it and toss it with some olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Some other recipes to try:

Green Surprise Dip
1C steamed Swiss Chard
1 C plain yogurt
1 C cooked chickpeas
1/4 C mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

Puree in blender or food processor. Yileds about 2 1/2 cups
Recipe by Teresa Dutchersmith, Goshen. Indiana


Chard Soup with Cream Cheese "Croutons"
3 C chopped chard leaves
4 C chicken broth
salt and pepper
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed and at room temperature

Combine chard and chicken broth in a pot. Bring to simmer and cook until chard is wilted and tender (about 6 minutes). You may leave it as is or purree it with and immersion blender or in a food processer or blender. Reheat if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the cubed cream cheese into 3 or 4 soup plates. Pour the hot soup over the cream cheese and serve immediately. Makes 3-4 servings.
Recipe developed by Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition

Rhubarb and Green Onions/Cilantro

Each week I will try to post recipes for some of the produce in season that week. Most of my recipes come from Simply in Season and From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, 3rd. ed. The first is a cookbook commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee "to promote the understanding of how the food choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those who produce the food." The second is a cookbook that was put together by the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC) as an educational and outreach tool. Authors of individual recipes are noted after the recipe. Both cookbooks are loaded with wonderful recipes, and are "must-haves" for anyone who likes to cook or anyone trying to eat more seasonably.

Rhubarb Muffins
1 ½ C flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt.
Combine thoroughly.

1 C buttermilk, sour milk, or plain yogurt
¾ C brown sugar
½ C oil
1 egg (beaten)
2 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl, mix well. Stir in dry ingredients until just moistened.

1 ½ C rhubarb (diced)
½ C nuts (toasted and chopped; optional)
Stir in. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full.

¼ C sugar
1 T butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp flour
Combine and sprinkle on top of batter. Bake in preheated oven at 375 until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.
Recipe by Marily Swartzentruber, Goshen, IN and Catherine Klassen, Landmark, Manitoba


Rhubarb Sauce
4 C rhubarb (chopped)
½ C honey or 1 C sugar
1 T tapioca
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
Combine. Let stand for 10 minutes or until some juice forms. Heat slowly to boiling. Cool and serve over ice cream. Or try stirring in sliced strawberries or raisins and serve for breakfast or as a side dish, in place of applesauce.
Recipe by Laurie Longenecker, Lancaster, PA; Helen Glick, Millersburg, OH, and Ida Huebert, Galva, KS


Savory Green Onion Noodle Cake
4 eggs
1/2 C chopped green onions
2 tsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp grated ginger
8 ounces spaghettini (thin spaghetti), cooked, rinsed, drained well and tossed with 2-3 tsp sesame oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 T peanut oil, divided
sprigs of cilantro
Beat eggs; stir in green onions, cilantro, and ginger. Add spaghetti and salt and pepper to taste; mix very well with your hands. Heat half the peanut oil in an 8-10 inch non-stick skillet over medium-high flame. Spread pasta mixture into pan, press it down, and even the edges with a spatula. Cook until bottom is golden and cake is "set," 6-10 minutes. Wearing oven mitts, place a platter over skillet and flip noodle cake onto platter. Heat remaing oil in skillet, slide cake bakc in, and cook until second side is golden. Slide noodle cake back onto the platter and garnich with cilantro sprigs. Makes 4-6 servings.
Recipe developed by MACSAC

Plow to the End of the Row

Wake up in the morning in the moonlight gray
We got dirt to break,
We got a note to pay
Gonna plow, plow to the end of the row
Wake up in the morning and plow to the end of the row
Adrienne Young, "Plow to the End of the Row"


With the sunshine and warm temps this weekend, I finally got the field plowed (or, rather, disked) again. I was trying to till it with my tiny little Craftsman rototiller, when John (my brother-in-law) came to my rescue and brought over his tractor. Thank goodness for family! It wasn't long before Mr. Seibel (the neighbor who farms our field crops) was out with his tractor disking up the fields to plant corn. I wish I would have had my camera with me, because what a picture that would have been - me with my tiny little tiller, John on his bigger, but old and beat-up Ford 660, and Mr. Seibel on his huge International Harvester (twice the size of the Ford), all within a hundred feet of each other. Meanwhile, my mom was also mowing the lawn, using the lawn "tractor" (smaller than the Ford, but bigger than the tiller). All we needed was one of those gigantic mid-western diskers to make the varying-scales-of-farming picture complete.

Can't say the farm was too "peaceful" or "serene" with all of those tractors going. Lots of fossil fuels being burned, too, I'm afraid. I have romantic notions of using a horse to plow up the fields some day, but if that ever happens, it won't be in the near future. Got to at least get a barn built first.

I got rocks in my shoes, dirt in my eyes. Working like a dog until the day I die. You got to plow, plow to the end of the row.

I spent most of yesterday and this morning raking and planting, tilling only when necessary. That was much more peaceful, but just as hard on my back. I keep waiting for my body to adjust to the hard work, hoping that one morning I might not wake up with "a aching in my back and a tremblin' in my knees," but I have a feeling that might just be part of springtime for me for awhile. 'Cause I "gotta plow, plow to the end of the row."

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Come again another day.

It's not that I don't like rain...I do. I just don't like it so frequently and in combination with such cool weather in May! I think we've had about 6 days of non-rain so far this month. That stinks.

This lousy weather has been especially hard on my "farming" plans. I have not had a chance to till the field and get anything planted in it yet. Of course, that may actually be a good thing in the long run. I really hurt my back the other day - trying to get enough of the field tilled to get some potatoes and beans in before the rain - and the rainy weather is giving my back a chance to heal. It's really too cool to plant a lot anyway. I've already had some beans rot in the ground and the tomatoes I got in the ground earlier have just stopped growing. The ground is just too cold. A friend told me that he saw an interview of farmers on the news and they are having just as hard a time with the weather as I am. As he said, "You just picked a bad year to start farming." Great!:)

In the meantime, the weeds are growing really well. Guess it's time to get out my edible weeds cookbook and start trying out some recipes. Anyone interested in some stinging nettle casserole??

Hope we get some sunshine soon!