The End Of the Season

Hi Friends,
The end of the season has arrived. We have had such a great time this year getting to know all of our great CSA members and growing good food for such good people. We want to thank you for your support. We weren't really sure how this would go but it has been better than we imagined. We are really excited about next year too. We will be giving up our 25 acre farm and expanding our urban garden. We will also have a new farm site that will be bigger than our home site but small enough to be manageable. There are many exciting changes coming and we will keep you updated.
This Sunday Oct 26th from 1-5 we will be picking our final harvest. We invite you all to come out and help and take some veggies home. Please bring the kids out to the smallest pumpkin patch in Santa Maria. They may be small pumpkins but they make the best pumpkin pie!
Thanks again for a great season.
Jerry, Alejandra, Gerald, Kate, Tim and Lita

Hi Friends

It's been a while and there's a lot going on on the farm.
First we'd like to welcome all of our new CSA members. Thank you to all of you who have recommended our CSA to your friends and family. We are now at maximum capacity for this season so if someone you know would like to join please let them know that we will start up again next year and we can take their information and put them on the list now to assure them a spot in March.

On the farm... We will continue to have spring mix, squash and green beans. Fingerling potatoes will be ready next week and the tomatoes are stubbornly appearing. I'm sure they will be worth the wait. The flowers are adding some great color to the garden and the herbs are finally growing. If you need basil or mint let us know and we'll put some in your bag. The cukes are going crazy so we'll have them for awhile. Fennel is coming and our good friend Kohlrabi.

Our friend's farm...
Our friends at A&A have been providing us with some great organic produce. The strawberries, blackberries, brocccoli, and cauliflower have come from their farm in Santa Maria. The corn this week also came from their farm. It was not organic. We will rarely put non organic fruits or vegetables in your bag and when we do we will always let you know.

Our community...
All of our members have become a very special community. We have shared times on the farm and in the garden. We have shared recipes, stories and food. We continue to be so grateful for this experience. If you have anything to share with other CSA members please email the info and I'll add it to our blog.
Have a great week.
Alejandra

Where potatoes come from

Our first flowers

Veggies are yummy

CSA Farm Camp

I have had so much fun this week with our farm campers. They helped us to harvest your produce on Monday. They have replanted cabbage, transplanted herbs and have done a lot of weeding and watering. They are also going to tell us what kind of soil we have in three different parts of our garden. They've tried out the tire swing and they all agree--IT'S FUN. We've eaten straight from the garden and I think they like it because the first question is always "when's snack?" If some of you weren't able to make it to farm camp this week, you can stop by any time and enjoy the garden. This is your garden.

I wanted to remind everyone that we will be gone this coming Monday July 14th so we won't have produce until the 21st. Thanks for understanding.

If you want to share your recipes on this blog email them to me alejandramahoney@aol.com and I can post them for you. If you'd like to post other information let me know and I can put you on as an author to this site. Currently we have 4 additional authors and I'm looking forward to their posts.


Have a great week and see you on the 21st.

Harvesting spring mix

For Monday.....

This week in our harvest share:
Cauliflower--yes it really is supposed to be green.
Spring Mix
Spinach
Baby Bok Choy-- there will be 4 not just one lonely one. Check back for recipes
Carrots
Onions
Broccoli--from our friends @ A&A
Summer Squash
Snap Peas
Green Beans
Cabbage
and maybe strawberries--we won't know until tomorrow morning

Next week we'll be on vacation so the next harvest share will be 7/21.
We're hoping to have our first heirloom tomatoes, flowers and potatoes by then.

Looking forward to seeing all the kids and parents tomorrow at Farm Camp.

More compost

What's that?

The Children's House Montesorri School comes by for a visit

Twenty five students and four teachers from the Children's House joined us in the garden. The children helped us plant our first melons and took weeds to the compost pile. They were awesome. They also harvested carrots, spring mix and onions for our delicious lunch. I think they probably had a good nap when they went back to school. Thanks for all your help kids. Come by again.

Let's go dig

Fun on the farm

Recipes

Tasty steamed beet recipe drizzled in a fresh basil and garlic oil - great hot .

Beet and Basil Recipe
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
4 tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup fresh opal basil leaves, shredded
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1lb. steamed beet cubes
8 steamed beet leaves

In a pan add butter, shredded opal basil. Add olive oil, garlic, salt and black pepper. Simmer gently.
Arrange beet leaves on a serving platter. Spoon steamed beet cubes onto leaves. Drizzle beets with the basil butter oil. Serve hot as a side dish to beef or turkey, or chill for a side salad for a barbecue.

Beet Recipe #2
Try a milder domestic Gorgonzola (rather than the equally delicious but more pungent Italian version). Using an assortment of different colored beets makes the salad more vibrant.
Prep: 30 minutes; Total: 1 hour 45 minutes (includes cooling time)
Servings: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 4 ounces)

2 cups roughly torn bite-size pieces French bread

1/4 cup assorted chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, basil, and rosemary)

1 garlic clove minced

24 baby beets, trimmed, scrubbed

8 ounces baby arugula (about 12 cups)

PREPARATION:
Place lemon juice and vinegar in small bowl. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup oil. Stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper. (Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat remaining 1/3 cup oil in medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add bread pieces; toss to coat. Add herbs and garlic; toss to coat. Sauté until bread is crisp, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer croutons to plate in single layer. Cool.Add beets to same skillet, tossing to coat with any remaining herbs and oil. Cover skillet with foil and transfer to oven. Roast until beets are tender, about 45 minutes. Cool beets. Peel, if desired; cut in half.Toss arugula with 1/2 cup dressing in large wide bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with beets and croutons and serve.

Test-kitchen tip:After being roasted, baby beets peel easily, but the skins are perfectly edible if you choose to leave them on.

Beet Recipe #3
Fresh beets are delicious cooked with a mixture of brown sugar, butter, and balsamic vinegar.

INGREDIENTS:
7 to 9 beets, peeled, quartered
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons butter

PREPARATION:
Combine beets with water, brown sugar , vinegar, and butter. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue simmering, uncovered, for about 1 hour, or until beets are tender and most of the liquid has boiled away.Serves 4 to 6.
More Recipes Using http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Category:Beet_Recipes

Carrot patrol

Having fun on the farm

Mr. B and the little farmers

Coming this week.....

Another great day @ Farm Camp. The kids watered the pumpkin patch, pulled a ton of weeds, and continued to sift our homemade compost. If you're a CSA member remember to sign up for Farm Camp by the 3oth. Camp for our CSA members is July 7th-11th. There are 2 sessions 10am-12 and 12-2. Let us know which session you prefer.

In this weeks harvest share:

Carrots
Onions
Cilantro
Cabbage
Spring Mix
Spinach
Chioga Beets-- beautiful and delicious from our friends @ Growing Grounds
Basil--from Growing Grounds too
Green Beans--last week was our first harvest
Snap Peas--these are so sweet that I can't stop eating them. We'll give you plenty so there will be enough for everyone in the family.
Summer Squash--variety

Eating straight from the garden

Farm Camp

This has been a very exciting and fun day for us at Blosser Urban Garden. We had our first session of Farm Camp. 28 students and 4 parents from Los Adobes de Maria came to visit us and learned all about organic farming. What was amazing to us was how excited the children were about the day to day things we do on the farm. They helped pull carrots for our CSA, they planted a pumpkin patch and they took home some fresh produce for their families. And.. at the end of the 2 hours they were asking, "What are we going to do tomorrow?" Check out the pics The date on my camera keeps resetting but these really were taken yesterday.