Kretschmann Farm Sept. 1, 2009
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
Ah, the last
weekend of “summer”! But to the
observant, the signs of transition to fall have been apparent for some
weeks. Groups of barn swallows swooping
over fields and in and out of the barn have dwindled to an occasional solitary
sighting over the pond. Their trek to
And that’s not any
exaggeration! On our Sunday walk-around
to see how everything is doing in the many out-of-the-way fields, we discovered
what all that rain has accomplished.
Stuff is growing to beat the band.
Winter squash looks particularly good and we’ve got a variety of really
tasty varieties—Honey Bear acorn, Kabocha, Sweet
Dumpling, Spaghetti, and Butternut. Expect lots of these in the coming
months. As you can see, peppers are
hitting their stride. We’re now picking
two fields and beginning to see the first ones turning red. We hadn’t planned at all on giving you kale
this week, but with the rain, it’s completely regrown
so it looks like springtime. I can’t
ever remember it looking so nice in the late summer, and it would be just
shameful to watch it deteriorate uneaten.
Cauliflower is getting to be waist high.
Soon we’ll be seeing the first signs of heading--the little white
buttons in the center. Broccoli will
follow…
We’re digging beets, carrots, and potatoes
and filling the barn, bin upon bin accumulating. Get ready for roots.
The later apples are
sizing up quite nicely and we’re looking forward to a good crop. The variety this week is Prima. They’re a lot like Summer Rambos--a
little tart—good baking, very juicy. The
one curious thing about apples in this time window is that they are much more
beset by insects than both later and earlier ones. But they are generally very prolific. Next are the Liberties and Golden
Supremes.
The one
disappointment with selling our produce via subscription is that we don’t get
to meet you and vice versa. We have
occasional events at the farm, but it’s always hard to plan and doesn’t always
work out for everyone. Becky and I will
attend a fund raising dinner at our church in Cranberry Twp in October. Featured will be foods we and other area
farmers raise, prepared by a fine team of three chefs. It should be a lot of fun. We’d love to meet you there. You could put a face to your foods, and we
could see you. How to purchase tickets is
below. We’ll post a few other dinners
and events in the ‘burgh we’ll be attending in the fall, if you are
interested.
Enjoying the cooler
weather, we are, sincerely,
Don, Becky, & The Kretschmann Crew
Latest on Tomatoes: Unbelievable! Lots of
tomatoes still coming out of the blighted fields! Plants appear to be producing a
crop-regardless. We’re not sure why, but
it appears with little vigor because of the blight, the tomatoes are almost
immune from the usual cracking because of heavy rain. Not sure what the mechanism is, but here they
are. Revel while they last. It’s a long winter with the fakes.
Italian
Sauteed Vegetables: Heat 2 Tbs.
olive oil and saute 1 minced garlic
(6-9 cloves) in wok or heavy skillet.
Add sliced vegetables, toughest first, the tenderest and leafy last.
Saute about 5-7 min. Then add 1-2 tomatoes sliced into chunks,
stir, turn down heat, and cover tightly. Simmer for another 5 min., add salt to taste, and sprinkle chopped basil over top
just before serving. Serve over pasta
adding grated Parmesan cheese to taste.
Kathleen’s
Roasted Tomato Pizza: Brush a cookie sheet
with oil. Lay tomatoes sliced 3/8-1/2"
thick on the cookie sheet. Brush with
olive oil and dust with garlic powder and bake about 1/2 hr at 350 deg. until
they start to dry out a little. When the
pizza crusts are ready, carefully move the tomato slices with a pancake flipper
and arrange to nearly cover the pizza.
Sprinkle a small amount of grated mozzarella on top and then top with
vegetables sauteed slightly in olive oil with garlic (suggestions:
peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions).
One can also add a little blue or gorgonzola cheese to the veggies.
Apple Crumble: Cut up about 6 apples into 1/2-to 3/4-inch pieces. Mix
with 2 tbs
sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp lemon juice.
Spread in slightly oiled deep 9” baking dish. Mix ¾ c. flour, ½ c. sugar, ½ tsp salt, and ½
c. softened butter with pastry blender or work with fingers until coarse crumbs
form, there is no loose flour, and the mixture looks pale yellow. Spread the crumbs evenly over the apple
mixture and bake @400 deg. until the apples are tender and the topping is golden
and browned in spots. Cool slightly
before serving warm with ice cream!
Special
Orders: Beets--$12/half bushel
Events: Local Foods
Dinner at St. Ferdinand,