Week 21

Last share of 2011!

Week 20

This is week 20 share.  Due to my wedding festivities, I failed to photograph 2 weeks of shares.

Week 17

Week 17
7oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 Bunch Beets
1 Bunch Swiss Chard
1 Bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
9 Pepperoncini Peppers
2 Serrano Peppers
1 Anaheim Pepper
1 Bag Basil
4 Sweet Peppers
2 Summer Squash
11 Tomatoes

Tonight I made pesto with the basil we had stored up and grown from our garden. I made it a tad strong on the garlic side. I also splurged on a loaf of the Red Bicycle's Sea Salt Bread from the Tuesday Downtown Market. So good!

Week 16

Week 16

7oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 bunch Carrots
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
5 Pepperoncini Peppers
1 bag Genovese Basil
4 Onions
2 Eggplant
1 Summer Squash
5 Teeny Tiny Tomatoes
3 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Plum Tomato
1 Big Tomato

This week we got a special treat. Look at this guy:


A wrestling carrot!

Week 15

Week 15
9oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 bunch Fat Carrots
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
1 bag Basil
5 Pepperoncini Peppers
1 Serrano Pepper
2 Unidentified Peppers
3 Pattipan Squash
3 Small Tomatoes
4 Red Candy Onions

Week 14

Week 14
5oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 bunch Beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
3 Pepperoncini Peppers
1 Serrano Pepper
1 Anaheim Pepper
1 bag Thai Basil
3 Sweet Peppers
2 Zucchini
1 Pattipan Squash
1 Huge Tomato

Week 13

Week 13 Share

5oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 bunch Beets (Golden OR Chioggia OR Early Wonder OR Bull's Blood)
1 bunch Red Russian Kale
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
1 bunch Mixed Rainbow Carrots
5 Peppers (Serrano and Pepperoncini)
1 bag Basil
String beans
2 Pattypan Squash
Several Eggplant
2 Yellow Tomatoes
3 Red Cherry Tomatoes

Week 12 Share

Week 12

8oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 bunch Bulls Blood Beets
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
1 bunch Mixed Rainbow Carrots
2 Green Serrano Peppers
1 bag Thai and Purple Ruffles Basil
Purple String Beans
1 Yellow Tomato
3 small Cherry Tomatoes
3 small Walla Walla Onions

A peak into this weeks share.

A sample of this week's share in the form of deliciousness (We also made hummus and baba ganoush):

Open-faced fried eggs and toast with Swiss chard, tomato, and Parmesan cheese.


The makings of marinated beets from Alice Waters "The Art of Simple Food."

Purple string beans turn green when cooked: Sauteed purple string beans and peanuts with soy sauce.

Lessons learned:
1) I really don't like beets. I tried. Hard.
2) I sort of miss fresh salads already. This was our first week without salad greens.
3) Freezing veggies is exciting. This was also the first week we first starting freezing a few veggies. Putting the little baggies of sauteed green onions, serrano peppers, and Swiss chard gave me something to look forward to when summer harvest is long gone.
4) Despite being adamant (well aware of the fact that this is not "cool") about prefering canned green beans over fresh, I LOVED the sauteed string bean snack I cooked up. And I thought I didn't know how to season.

Veggie Burgers

My sister, Jess, and I attempted veggie burgers, and it was a success! Not only did we throw in tons of our week's veggie share, but we also thoroughly enjoyed eating them! After a lot of chopping and a bit of mashing, we had burgers. Not a pretty start, but so good.

They turned out very nutty and a little bit sweet. I'll definitely be making these again.

Here is the recipe, adapted from Sharon Leopardi, owner of BUG Farms:

Baked Beet-and-Carrot Burgers with Brown Rice, Sunflower Seeds, and Cheddar Cheese

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 cups peeled, grated beets (4-5 small beets)
• 2 cups grated carrots
  
• 1 cup minced onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1/8–1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with butter.

2. Place a small, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and stir them on the dry skillet just until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning them. Immediately remove from heat and transfer the toasted seeds to a dish to cool.

3. Return the skillet to the heat. Add the sunflower seeds and stir them on the dry skillet just until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning them. Immediately transfer them to the dish with the sesame seeds.

4. Combine the beets, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. Stir in the toasted sunflower and sesame seeds, eggs, rice, Cheddar cheese, oil, flour, parsley, soy sauce or tamari, and garlic (your hands work best here). Add cayenne (use 1/4 teaspoon for spicier burgers) and mix until thoroughly combined.

5. Using your hands, shape the mixture into 12 patties and arrange them in rows on the baking sheet.

6. Bake the patties until brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Unless they are very large and thick, it should not be necessary to turn them. Serve alone or on buns.

Week 11

Week 11
10oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
1 bunch Beets (Bull's Blood)
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Red Russian Kale
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
1 bunch Parisienne Carrots
7 Green Serrano Peppers
1 bag Thai Basil
2 Purple Eggplants
2 Brazilian Oval Orange Eggplants
Pile of Purple String Beans

Week 10

Week 10

2.5 oz Red Arrow Radish Microgreens
6.5 oz Mustard Mix (Mizuna, Red Mustard, Giant Curled, Bok Choi)
1 bunch early Wonder Beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Kale
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
1 bunch Parisienne Carrots
1 8 oz bag Royal Burgundy and Roma Green Beans
4 Green Serrano Peppers

Week 9: Beet Risotto!

Week 9
6 oz. China Rose Radish Microgreens
6 oz. Lettuce Mix
1 bunch Bull Blood Beets
1 bunch Lady Slipper Radish
1 bunch Red Russian Kale
1 bunch Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
1 bunch Parisienne Carrots
1 small bag Green Beans (Roma AND Royal Burgundy)

This week we received two new veggie varieties--beets and green beans! We are also still receiving a large bag of radish microgreens. Instead of telling myself I'll fit them in, I gave up and just gave them away this week (Good luck, Jess =)).

This week I tried two of the recipes included in the weekly BUG Farms update. The first was beet risotto. Now, in the back of my mind I knew risotto was timing consuming and included some sort of drudgery. Somehow, I forgot this as I was skimming the recipe and deciding it would be a good idea to start this for a late dinner. Once I got through the chopping, this fact was quickly jumped to the front of my mind--constant stirring! Adding the water a half a cup at a time! Only having brown rice on hand did not help my outlook. 20 minutes in, I stole away from the "constant stirring" and googled "Why do I need to stir risotto?" Apparently, the stirring gives the dish a creamy texture with each rice grain "perfectly cooked." Failing to stir constantly will give the dish a more of a pilaf character. So I did my best at stirring constantly, with only a few breaks. It was a long night, but it turned out quite well.

Lessons learned this week:
1) Beets are beautiful!
2) Risotto requires constant stirring (almost).
3) Quality photography is difficult and sort of important for a quality/aesthetically pleasing blog. I will keep trying (sort of).
4) I use a lot of knives.
5) Long carrots are nice.
6) Radish microgreens are a lost cause.A bad picture of the final product. Its actually quite purple and less "shiny."=)

Beet Risotto

1 small onion, diced
3 medium beets with greens
4 C boiling water
4 T butter
1 C long-grain brown rice
1/2 C freshly grated Parmesan
1 T horseradish

1. Trim beet leaves and wash in cool water. Cut greens and stems into 1/2-inch wide slices. Peel and dice beets.
2. In saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in butter until clear colored.
3. Add beets and stems. Cook while stirring for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in rice and cook while stirring for 1 minute. Stir in 1 C water and simmer until absorbed.
5. Stir in beet greens. Continue to cook adding 1/2 C water at a time while constantly stirring until all water is absorbed. It is ready when rice is tender and creamy-looking but still al dente. This will take ~45-60 minutes.
6. Remove from pan and stir in cheese and horseradish.

Week 8

Week 8
10 oz. Radish Microgreens
5 oz. Mustard Greens
7 oz. Lettuce Mesclun
1 bunch Carrots
1 bunch Kale/Collards
1 bunch Green Onions
1 bunch Radishes (Lady Slipper)

We had a busy week, so ate a lot of fresh salads and threw a lot of greens in various pots. I also managed to buy some portabella mushroom slices to make "burgers." While sauteing the mushrooms with some green onions, I threw in a bunch (the entire bunch) of chopped kale which we piled on high and sprinkled on feta cheese. (We ate them before I remembered to take a picture).
Kale--check. Green onions--check.
And composted Radish microgreens--check.

Welcome to my blog! Its new. I'm late.
My fiance and I are 7 weeks into a CSA share with BUG (Backyard Urban Garden) Farm in Salt Lake City. I'll probably get into the details and eccentricities of BUG Farm and CSAs later--for now here's an overview.

CSA stands for community supported agriculture. How it works is individuals pay a farmer up front at the beginning of the season in exchange for a portion of his or her harvest every week. In this way, the economic risk of the farmer is shared and us non-farmers enjoy a stronger connection with our food. For example, a cold, wet spring like we had this year means our share starts a few weeks late and the quantity is wanting for a couple more, but the farmer can still pay the mortgage.

As for BUG Farm, its on its second year. Farmer Sharon is a recent graduate of the University of Utah. Landless, she and two employees are gardening backyards of various supportive Salt Lake residents.

Like I said, I'm late, but with this blog in mind, I have been taking photos of our share each week. Here is an overview of the last seven. I plan on improving the photography and including more details on the adventure of our first CSA season! Look forward to recipes, stories, and photos!

Week 1
Radish microgreens
Lady slipper radishes
BUG Farm salad mix
Chard
Spinach

Week 2
Radish microgreens
Sorrel
Kale
Lady slipper radishes
BUG Farms salad mix

Week 3

8 oz. china rose
Lots of radish microgreens
6 oz. BUG farms lettuce mix (8 heirloom varieties of lettuce)
6 oz. tasty greens mix (baby rainbow chard, spinach, pac choi)
4 oz. baby mustard mix (mizuna, ruby streaks, and red mustard)
1 bunch french breakfast radishes
2 bunches cilantro
1 bunch dill

Week 4
5 oz. red arrow radish microgreens
6 oz. BUG farms lettuce mix (8 heirloom varieties of lettuce)
4.5 oz. baby mustard mix (mizuna, ruby streaks, and vitamin greens)
1 bunch lady slipper radishes
1 bunch mint
1 bunch ragged jack kale

Week 5 (Photo MIA)
13 oz. china rose radish microgreens
8 oz. lettuce mix
2 oz. mustard mix
1 bunch lady slipper radish
1 bunch dinosaur kale

Week 6
8 oz. lettuce mix
4 oz. mustard mix
4 oz. arugula
1 bunch chard
1 bunch kale
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch carrots

Week 7
10 oz. lettuce mix
9 oz. radish microgreens
8 oz. mustard mix
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch kale