It might be Spring, soon.

Have we made it through the winter yet?  I keep thinking surely we are past winter, and then more snow.  As I read appropriately on the Grow Appalachia blog:

“We have plants that want to go in the ground but no unfrozen ground to place them in! It is snowing, then raining, then freezing, then snowing, then raining, and when we get a dry day it proceeds to rain all night, or all the next day. Even on days when it is sunny, with these temperatures in the 30s and 20s, the soil isn’t going to be very warm anyways, and I don’t really want to be outside!”

But, Spring will come and I’m sure more intensely than we would expect or wish.  We are almost a month behind in overall thermal-mass as compared to last year’s weather and the cover crops in the field are just one reminder of this fact.  They are still small, meaning less organic matter to turn back into the fields, but we will add plenty of compost to compensate as our soil tests dictate.  In the meantime, the CSA crew has been tending the vegetable starts in the greenhouse and trying to get our hands dirty as much as possible.  It feels like you’re a kid in a sandbox the first time you mix potting media after a long winter.  Oh the simply joys!

So what have we been doing besides playing in bins of potting media?  Spreading compost on the fields, weeding strawberries, giving onions hair-cuts, thinning seedlings, cleaning-up, planning, and dreaming of warmer days (and juicy strawberries!).

We still have space available for our Full Share-spread the word to coworkers and friends!

2013 Full CSA Share Registration Open

2013 UK Full CSA Share Registration is now open!!! 

Everything you need to know is on our website (http://www2.ca.uky.edu/sustainableag/csa).  Please go there, download and read the 2013 UK Full CSA Share Terms to begin (including instructions for student discounts.)  After you read the terms, you can then follow the link provided on our website to register.  Registration will be managed entirely through our online system, Farmigo, but as we all know computer systems have their glitches, so at any point if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact us for assistance at uk.csa@uky.edu

Thanks and we look forward to harvesting for you!

Holiday vegetables

We’ve been fairly absent on this blog as the time for rest and relaxation is upon most of the farm staff.  However, some vegetables don’t take a break (with the help of some hard-working staff in the cold temperatures), and we’ve got some to offer you for the holidays.  Visit our Flex Share webstore to order but you must do it BEFORE midnight on Tuesday, December 18th for Thursday, Dec. 20th delivery.  Questions? Contact us at csaflex@uky.edu

http://csa.farmigo.com/store/ukcsa

Thanksgiving Boxes are now available!

Thanksgiving boxes are now available on the Flex Share webstore.  Check out all this great food still in the fields, ready to harvest for you!  Don’t worry, the frost only helps the vegetables sparkle and become sweeter!

To learn how you can order a box today, read the following link:

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ffbdfffc48e238930e3476392&id=e90a9702c2us2.campaign-archive1.com

Sweet Potato Biscuits

These biscuits appeared in the November-December 2011 issue of Edible Louisville & The Bluegrass Region.  Author, Tomese Buthod.

Prepare the sweet potato purée a day or so in advance.
1 or 2 sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces) to make 3/4 cup purée
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling out
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoon unsalted butter, very cold, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan and brushing on biscuits
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind (optional)

1.  Peel the sweet potato and cut into chunks.  In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with water; bring to a boil.  Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain very well.  Purée the chunks in a food processor or blender.  Measure out 3/4 cup for biscuit recipe and chill thoroughly.  Any leftover purée can be frozen for a later use.

2.  Preheat oven to 425°F., with rack in bottom third of the oven.  Butter a baking sheet.  Using a food processor, mix together the dry ingredients.  Add the butter and pulse in quickly, until the mixture looks like coarse corn meal.  Separately, stir together the sweet potato, buttermilk and orange rind if using.  Add buttermilk to dry ingredients, and then quickly pulse that mixture into the flour mixture.  Do not over mix.

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently until dough holds together.  It will be slightly lumpy.  You are only going to knead it about 5 times to get it to hold together; again, do not overwork it and add only the tiniest bit of flour-the dough will be sticky.

4.  Pat the dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.  Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into 2-inch biscuits.  Gather scraps and re-pat.  Alternatively, you can use a sharp knife to cut the dough into small squares and then you won’t have to fool with scraps.  If you want bigger biscuits, roll the dough thicker.  The larger the biscuits, the thicker you should roll the dough.

5.  Place the cut biscuits on the buttered sheet, and brush with a little melted butter.  Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve as quickly as you can!  Makes about 18 2-inch biscuits.

We made it! 22 weeks

We made it to the end of a great season and are grateful, despite the year’s difficulties (heat/drought), of the bountiful food we were able to offer.  I wanted to thank you, the “community” in CSA, for your continued support and words of encouragement.  Also critically important in the work, is our staff—to whom we are all grateful.  The sentiment at the farm is one of relief and satisfaction to have crossed the finish line of 22 weeks of harvest for our Full Share.  Although the farm crew always changes throughout the year, we made sure to take a couple of pictures for who was responsible in harvesting the last share for you last week.

THANKS to:

Wednesday’s Harvest Crew: Neil, Zach, Mims, Kristi, Tiffany

Thursday’s Harvest Crew (L-R clockwise): Nic, Ethan, Zach, Jay, Neil, Eliza, Tiffany

Distribution Crew: Tiffany, Nic, Eliza

We aren’t done yet, though!  Many of the items in the last share will be available on the Flex Share this Fall.

squash and sage pizza

A great recipe for your butternut squash and sage!

http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/10/21/butternut-squash-and-crispy-sage-pizza-five-minutes-a-day-style/