Kretschmann Farm Oct 3, 2006
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
October—a
glorious month on the farm! We see the maple tree in
the ravine below the orchard turning brilliant red—it’s always the first to
turn. More colors are to come. These will contrast with cover crops which
are getting that lush mellow green color which reminds one of spring as well. This year there’s an added attraction—we’ve
tilled in the alfalfa field which will be seeded to carrots and beets in March
‘07. To “tame” the soil for the small
seeded crops, we
planted buckwheat
in August which will winter kill. Just
now it is in full flower giving off a wonderful perfume everywhere downwind and
is buzzing with busy honeybees.
This week
we’ve doubled up on the apples, giving you two different varieties—
We’re getting
a little jammed up with things right now because there are a number of
vegetables all coming in at once. We’d
ideally like to change what we give you because we know you have been getting a
lot of the same things now for more than a month. The broccoli and cauliflower are here but we
dare not neglect tomatoes and peppers because frost will come soon and those
crops would be gone. So for now, just
keep eating!
We are still
waiting for some of the “second-half-of-the-season” payments. We’d appreciate your attention. In the
correspondence, a positive due amount is what you owe, a negative amount is a
credit we owe you.
Hope you enjoy
everything. Sincerely, ---Becky, Don, & The Kretschmann Crew
Beets
with Gorgonzola/Walnut Dressing and Arugula: Boil 1# beets in skins
until tender. Cool under running water
and slip off the skins and slice. Toss with the 1 tbs
olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Saute ¼
c. chopped walnuts in 2 tbs. olive oil until browned. Cool and add ¼ c.minced
onion, 1 tbs. balsamic vinegar, ¼ tsp salt. Blend 3 oz. Gorgonzola and ¼ c. cream or
milk, add to walnut mix. Serve beets
atop small portion of arugula greens and dollop of
gorgonzola/walnut dressing.
If you aren’t in the mood to fool with pie dough, try
using shortbread for a crust. Press it with a rubber spatula or your oiled
fingers into shape in the pan.
Apples
on Shortcake:
Cut up apples as you would for apple pie, adding honey or sugar and raisins if
desired, plus a little cider if apples aren't too juicy. Shortbread: Sift 2c. flour,
3 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2 tbs. sugar. Mix in 1/2 c. oil well, until evenly absorbed. Then mix in 5/8 c. milk and one beaten
egg. Spread this shortcake dough into
the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan. Spread layer of apples on top and bake @
350 deg. about 45 min. or until apples are cooked. For a special treat, try using butter for
half the oil. If using a smaller pan,
adjust the amounts.
Special Order Items: Green Cabbage—bu.
box $15. Hot Wax Peppers—1/2bu. $18 Jalapenos—1/2 bu
$20. Cider from Sally’s Cider Press (the custom
cider mill where we get ours pressed) It’s not organic, but it is fresh pressed
and UV pasteurized the same as ours. 4 Gal.--$20 We’d like to
support Tom and Sally as much as we can.
It’s the last custom cider press this side of
One may heat it and “can” cider in mason jars.(We have also re-used glass fruit juice containers with
sealing lids.)
Grass based raw milk cheese. We’ve long tried to encourage local dairy
farmers to make quality cheeses. We see
this as a good and natural maturation of the dairy farm and one by which
smaller dairies can remain in business.
Dave and Terry Rice of Clover Creek Cheese Cellar, Somerset Co.
recently contact us about selling their cheeses. They are an “ all
natural, grass-based, seasonal dairy”.
They sent us a sample box and we were impressed! These were excellent raw milk cheeses aged at
least 60 days as required by law and inspected and certified by PDA. They might
not quite be of the caliber of the finest European types (of which we are big
fans), but this young couple is well on the way. Our favorites were the Bruschetta
and
