Kretschmann Farm Sept. 26, 2006
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
Luckily, we
missed the bulk of the predicted rainfall last weekend. It’s allowed us to keep
up the torrid apple picking schedule and get most of the winter squash into the
shelter of our greenhouse so it can cure.
The late seeded fields are beginning to look a lot more normal.
Nightmare scenarios no longer loom in the imagination. (After all, it could just not dry out until frost
and freezing temps arrive.) As we watch
the first few maple trees starting to change color, we’ve begin putting the
farm into winter order. Drip hoses will
be rolled up for storage. Winter cover
crops will start replacing spent vegetable plants and begin sprouting between
the rows of the late season crops. By
Thanksgiving a carpet of green will blanket the farm.
The bouquet
of the cider should be reaching it’s peak about
now. Many of the apples in the mix are
just about at their juiciest, sweetest, and most flavorful. We try to mix as many types as possible to
add to the interest. Cider is different than apple juice in that it has not
been heated. It’s made simply by
grinding up apples and squeezing the juice through cloths. Hot or cold it’s a great natural drink. Before citrus came on the scene, it was the most
popular American drink. (measured in the barrels per
capita in colonial
Maybe I’m
outrageous, but we never peel an apples when baking.
It’s amazing how often people will be totally surprised that one can
make an apple pie without peeling the apples!
One wouldn’t think of peeling cherries, plums, or blueberries, so why
apples, pears, and peaches? Even in this
age when most people are aware that most of the vitamins are contained in or
near the skin of fruits and vegetables, many “fine” baking recipes call for
peeling the fruit. Perhaps it’s because
the outer perimeter would also contain most of the pesticide residues? Ours don’t have that problem, so just scrub
them a little and off you go. An added
bonus is that leaving the skin of the red apples gives a rosy color to a baked
apple dish or applesauce.
Speaking of
outrageous, the beans have been wonderful.
We are just starting into our last planting of beans. It’s perfect timing because as it cools they
mature slowly and we have time to pick them. It’s hard to imagine a better way
to have tender beans like these than simply steaming or boiling for about 2
min., a little salt, and serve.
The “winter”
squashes—acorn, butternut, spaghetti, and golden nugget—will store very well
even unrefrigerated in a cool dry location.
Just make sure the stem or any nicks are cured dry and not mushy on the
surface.
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
Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash—Halve acorn squash and
scoop out seeds. Saute ½ onion diced in
3 tbs butter until tender then stir in ½ tsp. curry. Add 1 c. diced apples, ¼ c. raisins, and 1/3
c. cider; continue to cook until cider is nearly evaporated. In oiled baking dish arrange squash and brush
with melted butter, salt and pepper to taste.
Place filling in squash and bake covered @350 about 40 min. or until
tender. (One can also slice squash in 1”
thick rings and stuff these)
Apple
pie--Quarter,
remove the core and cut up about 8-10 apples into chunks the size of a sugar
cube. (You needn't peel them.) Option: add a handful of raisins. Mix with
about 1/2 c. sugar or honey, 2 tbs flour, cinnamon to taste. Make dough and line piepan with crust. Fill with apples, pressing them to get in as
many as possible. Cover with the
topcrust and pinch the top and bottom together with your fingers. Cut off excess with knife. Poke a few holes in the top to let the stream
out. Bake @ 375 deg until inserting a
sharp knife reveals the apples are cooked.
Try to let it cool to lukewarm.
Pie
crust-sift
2c. flour(any kind)+ 1/2t. baking
powder+ 1t.salt. Blend 1/3c. boiling
water+2/3c. oil.
Pour hot oil/water over dry ingredients and mix. Roll out for crust immediately. Between sheets of 6mil plastic makes it easy
and clean. Just peel back the plastic
after rolling. We find this crust is easier to make with wholewheat flour.
Special Order Items: Green Cabbage—bu. box $15. Hot Wax
Peppers—1/2bu. $18 Jalapenos—1/2
bu $20.
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