Kretschmann Farm June 3, 2008
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
We’re
off and running and have rolled the dice for another round of farming. Chance always has it that no one event is
entirely predictable, but as long as one hedges, the overall pattern is rewarding. It has been an exceptionally good spring for
the cool season crops. The salad greens
are good, the mesclun greens were as perfect as one
could ever expect, the cabbage, kale, broccoli are
beautiful to behold. The warm season
crops have been another story altogether.
Other than one chancey field of early
tomatoes, only last week did we plant our main crop of tomatoes and peppers.
This is about two weeks later than average.
Not two days later, we covered them all because of predictions of 34
deg. and widespread frost!
Hope
you enjoy the small samples of goat cheeses this week made by a local Amish
farmer. Next week you can order either
of the goat cheeses (feta or chevre) @$6.00/half
pound, and you can order 1/2# of any of the raw cow's milk cheeses @$6.00/half
pound made by Adam Dean. The Camebert comes in Aug., if ordered now, @$10/half pound
wheel. Starting in July and every second week of the month, we'd like to
develop a regular cheese order. So basically
we realize that you need to know what the cheeses are--hence the first two
weeks to get to taste them; then we'd like to have a manageable way to get them
to you regularly--once a month, same order.
Thanks in advance for your patience while we try to refine the system,.
Next
week we should be into local strawberry season—a real treat. It looks to be one of the best ever. We don’t grow these ourselves and the berries
are not organically grown. If you don’t want these berries, let us know and
we’ll substitute something else. In
addition to lots more salad fixings and spinach, you can expect as well some
beautiful kale and parsley for a tabouli salad. We’ll be rotating the lettuces as best we
can—romaine, red, green leaf, and bibb.
Hoping
you are enjoying the fresh eats as we progress through the season, we are,
sincerely,
Don, Becky, & The Kretschmann Crew
Note: If you’re at
one of the stops where you can take the box home (generally in the city of
Pittsburgh or just east on Tuesdays or Wednesdays), but plan to transfer your
veggies into bags regularly, please let us know so we can take the other crate
out of circulation and save ourselves handling it. (We mark the box :”Uno”) Again at these same stops,
if we ever forget your box, give us a call right away that evening because when
we return the following day for the empties, we can bring another box for
you.
Becky’s Rhubarb
Crisp: Blend 1/2 c. sugar + 1/2 c. butter + 2 eggs +
1/2 t. vanilla. Mix in 2 c. toast cubes
(stale bread etc. works too) + 4 c. cereal flakes. Spread 1/2 this mixture in oiled baking pan, arrange 4 c. diced fresh rhubarb sprinkle
w/1/2c.sugar, add remaining mixture on top.
Bake 375 deg. for 40 min. until rhubarb is tender.
Experimented and came up with this
last week. Filo
dough is so hard to work with…use tortillas instead!
Easy Spanakopita-Greek
spinach pie a la Donaldo: In 1 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 and cook 2 more min. Add 1# crumbled feta cheese (or 1# cottage
cheese+1/2 tsp salt or blend the two cheeses), 1 tsp oregano and black pepper
to taste. Mix in 4 beaten eggs. Cut 6 regular size corn tortillas in
half. Brush 9x9 baking dish with olive
oil. Lay 4 half tortillas in bottom of
dish flat side facing outward. Brush top
of tortillas with olive oil. Spread half of the
spinach mixture evenly over the tortillas.
Cover with another layer of tortillas brushed with olive oil. Repeat
with spinach mixture, then another layer of oiled tortillas. Bake
@ 350deg. 45 min.
Spinach Salad Dressing: 1 med. onion (or chives) minced,
1/4 c. honey or 1/3 c. sugar, 1 tsp. celery seed, 3 Tbs. mustard, 1/2 c. cider
vinegar, 1/2 c. oil. Blend.
Spinach pies, Spinach pizza: Simple and versatile, just saute
chopped spinach in oil with onions and garlic, add crumbled feta cheese and
salt. This can then be put atop a pizza
crust and baked slightly (black olives add pizzaz). Or add a little lemon juice and stuff the
same mix into pita bread for "spinach pies".
Vinegrettes: combine and shake well-1/2 c. olive oil, 2-3
Tbs. red wine vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 med. clove
garlic minced. For variety, add finely
minced herbs or fruit juices or fruit vinegars.
Washing
of the greens: We usually wash our greens to knock the bulk
of rain-splashed soil off the produce.
We don’t claim to have them “table ready”. Rewash to your pleasure.
--Veggie
ID note: Oregano, thyme,
and sage are the herbs in the bag. If
you don’t use them fresh they dry without a lot of ado. Place on a paper or
wicker plate in an airy place. Crumble the dried leaves between your hands to
use. When it’s dry, oregano should be put in a glass jar to keep it’s pungency. Hot tip: You can make your own herb mixes for
use as a rub or in salad dressings by putting the dried leaves in a small
coffee grinder!