Kretschmann Farm July 17, 2007
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com --note
our new e-mail address—
Greetings from the
Kretschmanns,
We plan and plan, but one is never sure
exactly how the season will turn out.
Hedging our bets, we launch into the year hopefully ready for whatever
comes our way. One can compare farming
to surfing where nothing is certain, other than that there will be waves, one
takes the ride for as long as it lasts, and then waits for the next one. Well, the way the zucchini and cucumbers
looked three weeks ago, one would have thought nothing could possibly come of
them—a complete wipeout. Yet within two
weeks we were skimming under the curl of a wave of zucs which looked like it
would bury us alive. Thanks for helping us out by siphoning off the excess—the
ocean is a big place. We’re still
enjoying that ride and watching another develop—cucumbers. When we took the row covers off the vine
crops in early June, about ¾ of the cucumbers were gone. We’re still not sure what killed them—likely
the winds which whipped the covers and abraded the plants—but we quickly
reseeded them. Thus right now we have
the few older plants in height of production and a slew of younger ones to come
after them. This might have been all for
the best since the dill was late and is only now coming on.
Apologies for the holey
basil. It’s somewhat normal to
look like that in July because the earliest basil planting is nearly always
nibbled by leafhoppers. If we pick it,
the second leaves which develop are nice. But the damaged leaves are perfectly
OK for making pesto and other things.
The later plantings are a favorite of the Japanese beetles. And if
you’ve looked around lately these beetles are out there now. For these we use traps.
We’ve enjoyed sliced cucumbers with a little
salt, vinegar and dill. Beats the heat.
Enjoy the
blueberries! They are precious this year because of lack of rainfall—smaller
but sweeter.
--- Don, Becky, & The
Kretschmann Crew
Country Special Beets: Stir together -1/2 cup
sour cream, 2 Tbs vinegar, 1 Tbs minced green onion, 1 Tbs sugar, 1 tsp salt,
1/8 tsp pepper and 4 cups sliced cooked beets in saucepan. Heat slowly,
stirring occasionally. Do not boil.
Linguine
with Fennel and Tuna: Quarter, core, and thinly slice fennel bulb crosswise; cook in 1/2
tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until golden, stirring
occasionally, 10 minutes. Meanwhile cook 1/2 pound linguine. Drain and return
to pot; reserve 1/4 cup pasta water. Add
fennel to pasta along with 1/8 c.fronds, 1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1
tablespoon each capers and olive oil, and reserved pasta water. Season w/ salt/pepper. Flake in can solid light tuna. Toss/serve.
Pesto: 2 c. fresh basil leaves, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp
pepper, 1-2 tsp finely chopped garlic, 2-4 T pine nuts (or walnuts), 1/2 c.
olive oil, 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese.
Combine in blender or food processor until texture is slightly
grainy. Mix well with your favorite
pasta. Pesto can be frozen in ice cube trays then removed to a plastic bag for
storage, or spread on a slightly oiled pan and cut into cubes when frozen. Frozen
pesto makes for a gourmet quick-meal year round; it’s hard to have too much
stashed.
Zucchini
Stuffed with Feta and Dill: Halve lengthwise, and scoop out the flesh of 2 med.
zucchini, reserving it and leaving 1/4-inch-thick shells. Arrange the shells,
cut sides up, on a steamer rack set over simmering water, covered, for 3 to 5
minutes, or until they are just tender. Invert and drain. Cut another 2
zucchini crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Saute 2 chopped onions in 2 tbs olive oil
until they are softened, add the reserved flesh, chopped, and the zucchini
slices, and sauté the mixture until it is golden. In a food processor chop the
mixture with ¼ # Feta
until the zucchini slices are chopped coarse and stir in 3 tbs. fresh dill.
Divide the filling among the 4 zucchini shells, arrange the stuffed zucchini in
an oiled baking dish, and broil about 4 inches from the heat for 3 minutes, or
until the filling is bubbling and deep golden.
You’ve seen adds for a supplement for the antioxidant lutein, touting
how it protects the eyes. Leafy greens are high in lutein, as you can see in a USDA
chart. The chart leaves out zucchini and summer squash—also quite rich
in the appropriate colors.
First of the Special Order
Items: Blueberries: 12 pint flat--$43 (one of our most
popular items—easy to freeze and a pint is great to sneak into a movie theatre
to munch—good for you to boot!) This is one of the few things we don’t grow
ourselves. They are likely the best
you’ll ever taste, year in and year out. Price has gone up considerably from Rich Hunter our
berry guy because of a very light crop.
We are very lucky to get them—others are being turned away.
