Kretschmann Farm June 15, 2004

257 Ziegler Rd. kmann2@earthlink.net website: www.home.earthlink.net/~kmann2

Rochester, PA 15074 724-452-7189

Greetings from the Kretschmanns,

As birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts know, there’s some special delight of the soul in sighting rare and reclusive animals. About a month ago as I was plowing the tomato field back over the hill, coming up toward the woods, I spotted a fox skittering along the fenceline. They are gorgeous animals and it’s always a thrill to see one and confirm foxes are still in the neighborhood. This was a particularly novel sighting because I got so close and this fox was a beautiful red with blackish markings. (I think this effect is a change of coats from winter to summer) We don’t often see foxes, maybe one every year or two. Within a few days, we saw a fox which had been hit by a car near our spinach field. (a first) I thought perhaps this was the same fox. Very curiously, the next week, twice we saw a fox in a field below the barn and between the two orchards. It was acting not at all like foxes we had ever seen. It didn’t seem to be hiding itself, but walking in broad daylight through the middle of the field! It would stop, turn and look at you as if it were confused or looking for instruction. My take was that it was a juvenile and perhaps the dead fox was the mother. Since that time we have seen foxes nearly daily and even seeing two at the same time on several occasions. We even got an excited note from one veggie subscriber last week that she had seen a large fox just beyond the barn—“a big boy”! We’re trying to stalk them with a camera and will publish a picture when we succeed. So far, no luck, but I did run into a skunk while looking. Tried to get a shot of that reclusive animal but decided stalking was out of the question.

It was nice to get rain on Saturday; we had begun to irrigate. It always takes awhile to get the system up and running and all the bugs worked out. There was the one hydrant to fix, which I had accidentally run over with the brushog a week ago. After I started the pump, I noticed a leaking hydrant which looked like a fountain in the town square! A seam had rusted away. This too got a quick patch before things were running smoothly. Now, we are getting a little tired of the daily downpours!

We are on to the second patch of mesclun greens. The mix contains a red mustard, arugula, Mizuna (a Japanese mustard), Red Russian kale, and radicchio. There’s a picture on our website with the recipe files. Fennel is coming quickly, and cabbage not far away either. We should be into the zucchini patch next week as well.

We hope that if you had requested coffee, you got it on your first delivery. If for some reason you didn’t, let us know so we can remedy the situation. Half shares should have gotten coffee last week.

Hope you enjoy the veggies-- Don, Becky and the Crew at the Farm

Spanakopita- Greek spinach pie: If using frozen filo dough defrost two hours ahead until it is at room temperature. (keep wrapped until ready to use) In 2 tbs. olive oil sauté 1/2 c. minced onion, 5 cloves minced garlic until onion softens and add 1# chopped spinach and sauté until spinach wilts. Stir in 1 tbs flour and 1/4 tsp salt, cover tightly and cook 2 more min. Add 1/2# crumbled feta cheese (or 1/2# cottage cheese+1/2 tsp salt or blend the two cheeses), 1 tsp oregano and black pepper to taste. 3 beaten eggs can be mixed in here or omitted, Greeks say yes, Californians-no (adjust for no eggs by adding a little more flour though). Unwrap and straighten filo dough, then cover so it doesn't dry out. Brush 9x13 cake pan with olive oil then lay first several sheets of filo. Brush with oil, then add several more layers, brush, etc. until 1/3 filo is used. Spread 1/2 the spinach mixture evenly over the filo. Cover with more layers of filo, using up another 1/3 of the filo, oiling every few sheets as before. Spread the rest of the spinach mixture on top as before and then cover with the remainder of the filo, brushing with olive oil as before. Brush the top with butter or place several small dobs of butter on the top and bake @ 350deg. 45 min. until the spinach has set and the top is golden. Have you discovered those little filo shells? Just make the spinach mixture as above and spoon into the shells and bake. These can be frozen easily and pulled out at a moment’s notice for a real added treat to any meal or for company.

Warm "Greens" Salad: Stir-fry in large wok or skillet several bunches chopped mixed leafy greens (mustard, chard, beet greens, cabbage leaves, kale, escarole...) Add greens a little at a time, and when wilted down, add more. When greens are wilted and tender, stir in 2 cloves minced garlic and cook a minute or two more. Set aside. Stir fry chopped green onions, sliced mushrooms, carrots cut in thin sliverlike slices, chopped cauliflower, sliced peppers, (or whatever you have)...about 5 min. Add previously cooked greens, and mix adding 3 tsp vinegar, 6 tbs. parmesan cheese, black pepper and salt or soy sauce to taste. Serve with fresh bread on hand to sop up the juices.

Special Orders: We had some seven grain bread and some coffee left after our deliveries. They are in the freezer, so they stay in top quality. If you’d like either on a one time basis, let us know. Bread—$3.50, Coffee--$9.00/lb.

Box TagNotes: In general, we’d like to make corrections to box tags because we need to make sure we can read them. But some corrections make sense for you to do. If you change pickup locations and you have a box at home, you can neatly change the pickup letter designation. If you have changed from ground to whole bean coffee, your tag should have 1-BC on it. ( 1-C means 1# ground coffee/mo. )