Author: bloomingglenfarm

27 Jul

Posted at 14:38h in Recipes by
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Now that the worst of that torrential heat wave from last week is waning, I find myself finally able to make my way back into the kitchen and near a stove for the first time in weeks. I’ve been eating mostly cold salads and ice cream lately, so the idea of a baked-cheesy-crispy-veggie-something sounded perfect. This is a variation of a classic French dish that simply involves layering vegetables and topping them with cheesy, herby breadcrumbs. Before you get started, I recommend making your own breadcrumbs. You can buy them at the store pre-made, but I find a very noticeable difference in them from the ones you make from scratch. One of my favorite bloggers, Smitten Kitchen, gives these valuable tips on the ease of making your own:

May I implore you, nay, beg you to forgo store-bought breadcrumbs and make your own? It is too simple not to. Take any bread at all — I mean your favorite kind, rolls the pizza place sent you with your salad, the crusts off your kid’s sandwich — leave it out overnight and pulse it in the food processor the next morning: instant breadcrumbs that will put that sawdust in a can to shame! In a rush? Fresh bread grinds up well, too, whether or not you toast it first. Planning ahead? Make a lot and keep it in the freezer. Breadcrumbs, at the ready!

Once you have the breadcrumbs ready, this impressive summer gratin layered with new potatoes, tomatoes and summer squash will be ready for quick assembly.

Provencal Summer Gratin

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees and oil a large cast iron or baking dish with equivalent volume.

-Thinly slice about 1 pound of new potatoes and assemble them at the bottom of the pan, slightly overlapping the layers. Salt and pepper generously.

-Slice about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of red tomatoes (slice up an heirloom to throw in for variation if you have it). Arrange layer of tomatoes on top of potatoes. Salt and pepper.

-Thinly slice 2 gloves of garlic and arrange atop the tomatoes. Sprinkle some dried oregano and thyme.

-Cut 2 summer squash into 1/4 inch slices and layer on top of tomatoes and garlic. Salt and pepper.

-Pour 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over layers (for cooking moisture)

-Take 1 cup of homemade breadcrumbs and mix in a small bowl with 1/2 cup of parmigiano reggiano or pecorino cheese and a dash of dried oregano and thyme. Sprinkle over veggie layers.

-Bake gratin for 40-45 minutes. Cool slightly. ENJOY!!

Recipe and photos by Jana Smart- Blooming Glen Farm employee and frequent creator of creative recipes using farm fresh seasonal ingredients. Check out more of her recipes on her food blog http://www.agrarianeats.blogspot.com/

27 Jul

Posted at 04:25h in On The Farm by
1 Like

Thanks to a wonderful crew of volunteers a few weeks ago, all of our garlic is harvested and hanging to dry. Two huge crews of CSA members spent the morning tugging the bulbs out of the ground and then tying them in bundles. Over 10,ooo bulbs were harvested over two weeks.

Volunteers harvest garlic.

Moving the garlic back to the barn to be bundled.

After about 6 weeks the garlic will be dry and ready to be cut down, and the stems and roots trimmed off. The larger bulbs will be sorted out and saved for seed for planting this fall, where it will begin it’s 9 month journey to next year’s harvest. We’ve been saving our own garlic seed for the past 5 seasons. The thought is that the seed eventually becomes adapted to your farm, and its specific growing conditions, and with the average cost of garlic seed about $13 a pound, it makes sense to save our own. We started out with a number of different varieties of garlic, but have found our stand-out favorite to be Music. Music is a Porcelain hardneck variety named after its developer, Al Music, a farmer in Ontario who switched from tobacco farming to growing garlic in the early 1980’s and developed the strain from garlic he acquired in Italy. It has a wonderful robust flavor, large easy to peel cloves, and grows consistently well year after year. If you missed the garlic harvest, don’t worry, we plan on pulling all our storage onions pretty soon, another fun harvest experience. Keep an eye out for details. We certainly do love to grow alliums here at Blooming Glen Farm!

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.

27 Jul

Posted at 03:38h in Weekly Share by
3 Likes

It’s been a hot few weeks here at the farm…not that we need to tell any of you that! The hot weather has some of the crops struggling- like the lettuce, and others thriving- like the watermelons. This week’s share saw the parking lot full of gigantic watermelons- a wonderfully productive and sweet variety we discovered last year. The only problem- finding harvest bins large enough to hold them!

Watermelon Bounty!

CSA Share- Week 9.

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.

20 Jul

Posted at 00:18h in Recipes by
6 Likes

Here is a great recipe for those of you looking for something new to show off those beautiful carrots from this week’s share. Though it can stand solo or as an addition to your salad plate, we think it might also be delicious along side a lamb dish or atop a pulled pork sandwich.

Moroccan Ginger-Carrot Salad

Grate 1 bunch of carrots (3 cups equivalent, grated) into a large bowl

In a small bowl, whisk together:

1 inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 clove of fresh garlic
juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
dash of cinnamon
salt to taste

-Pour mixture over carrots and toss

-Add in 1/4 cup of shredded coconut, 1/2 cup of walnuts and a handful of chopped parsley

-Toss again and ENJOY!

Recipe and photos by Jana Smart- Blooming Glen Farm employee and frequent creator of creative recipes using farm fresh seasonal ingredients. Check out more of her recipes on her food blog http://www.agrarianeats.blogspot.com/

 

19 Jul

Posted at 18:17h in Weekly Share by
3 Likes

This week a few heirloom varieties of vegetables make their way into the share. In the pick-your-own field you’ll find the beautiful purple streaked Dragon’s Tongue Beans. This tasty attractive 19th century heirloom hails from the Netherlands. It is considered a “romano” type bean, because pods are flat rather than round. Crisp, stringless and amazingly juicy when eaten raw, it does lose it’s purple coloration when cooked. You’ll also find the gorgeous elongated red torpedo onions, or Tropea onion, an Italian heirloom variety. The red onion from Tropea, Italy (Italian: “Cipolla Rossa di Tropea”) is a particular variety of red onion which grows in a small area of Calabria in southern Italy named “Capo Vaticano” near the city of Tropea. (You can also find it on the rolling hills of a small organic farm in the tiny hamlet of Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania!)

CSA Share, week 8.

 

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.

15 Jul

Posted at 13:59h in Crew profiles by
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David Koschak, 36, joins us for his second season of farming, having spent last season pasturing chickens, pigs, and cows with Forks Farm near Bloomsburg, PA. David is an architectural designer by training, having first studied English and Environmental Science at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA and then receiving a Masters degree in Architecture from the University of Oregon.  He has spent the last six years working in architectural firms in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  David’s hometown is Dushore, Pennsylvania, a small town in the Northern Tier.  He currently resides in Wilkes-Barre.

“I grew up in a very rural and poor area.  I was very affected by the physical and cultural changes I saw occurring during my childhood.  I wanted to better understand why these small northern Pennsylvanian towns were shrinking, why beautiful old buildings were neglected or torn down, why farms continued to disappear, why everyone young moved away, why so many people were extremely poor, and why my own family’s farm, now owned by my uncle, may no longer be ours after 150 years.

The story was always that it was no longer possible to make a living milking, there was no longer a market for small-scale egg production, or there was no longer money in lumber. To me, it seemed crazy that we were creating a world where only large-scale commercial production existed. Why didn’t we buy eggs and meat and veggies from each other? For me personally, the large-scale alternative meant that the world I loved was being phased out.

I studied Architecture to be a part of the physical changes that occur in our communities.  I wanted to be more involved in the decisions about what kind of buildings we built and what part of our history we chose to tear down.  I moved to Oregon to study Architecture and ended up also learning about local sustainable agriculture and local economies.  It was the first time I saw a community that overwhelmingly valued local organic food (and may even have bought some veggies from Tom and Tricia at the Saturday Market in Eugene, Oregon).  I was inspired and excited to see this as a possible way for us to move forward and I wondered how this may become true back home in Pennsylvania.

Since coming back to the east coast I have been interested in not only working to create better buildings, but also richer communities through a stronger more vibrant local food system.  A highlight of the last few years was to have worked on the adaptive reuse of a historic silk mill.  This project included the design of a café featuring local produce and local pastured chicken from Forks Farm where I also worked.  I am with Blooming Glen this season to continue to better understand what role I can play in the growing network of people and food.  I hope one day that I’ll be able to combine my architectural and agricultural experience and possibly help tend my family’s farm for another generation. 

I remember, as a kid, believing there was a garden behind our town’s grocery store.  And I remember being very confused when I didn’t see one there.  I wish I hadn’t been wrong.  But for now, I am happy to be currently living on a farm where there is some truth to that idea.”

David Koschak

Posted by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.

14 Jul

Posted at 20:30h in Recipes by
2 Likes

Chef Rich of Dinner’s Done Personal Chef Service joined us on Tuesday for a demonstration and tasting. Chef Rich has been a regular here at the farm over the years, doing demos during CSA pick-ups, as well as at our festivals. It’s always a pleasure to chat with him, as I seem to learn something new each time. This Tuesday morning he popped over to the farm and picked up some fresh picked veggies and herbs, then after a little prep, returned in the afternoon. As he fired up the grill and hot pad, a steady flow of people were drawn over, enticed by the wonderful aromas coming from his table. He happily shared his take on grilled veggies, which I immediately fell in love with for its surprising hint of tarragon. Of course, with the addition of any combination of fresh herbs, the recipe can be adapted to suit your taste. Or, you can always call Chef Rich, and he’ll turn your CSA share into meals for you!

Grilled Vegetable Salad (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated)

Chef Rich's Grilled Vegetable Salad

Begin by whisking the following ingredients together in a large bowl:

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Slowly whisk in 6 tablespoons olive oil until thoroughly incorporated.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the dressing. 

Next, add your prepped veggies to the marinade:

3 small to medium zucchini or yellow squash, cut in thick slices lengthwise
1 onion, any variety, sliced into 1/2 inch thich rounds. Be sure to keep the onion rounds together in the marinade for ease of grilling later
1-2 tomatoes, cored and cut in half
1/4 pound green beans, blanched and cut into bite-sized pieces (beans can also be grilled on a grill pan, if you have one)

Marinate veggies in the dressing for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Meanwhile, get your grill ready.

For a gas grill: turn all the burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes.  Then lower the burners to medium-high.

Clean and oil cooking grate, then place the marinated veggies on the grill. Grill the squash and onion (covered if using gas) until charred and tender, 4-6 minutes per side.  Grill the tomatoes, cut side-down, on the coolest part of the grill until they start to soften, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove veggies (the skin will slip right off the tomatoes) and chop into 1” pieces and toss with reserved dressing, and beans. 

Add in your fresh herbs: 2 tablespoons minced basil, 1 tablespoon minced parsley, 1 tablespoon minced tarragon.

Cool for 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

To contact Chef Rich Baringer of Dinner’s Done Personal Chef Service, call 215-804-6438, email: dinnersdonepa@comcast.net
or check out his website: www.MyChefSite.com/DinnersDonePA

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.

13 Jul

Posted at 12:42h in Recipes by
4 Likes

With an abundance of summer squash rolling in from the fields every week, we figured you might need a few more creative recipe ideas to keep things interesting with this versatile veggie.

This first recipe is a roasted zucchini dish that was inspired by my time spent on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The combination of lightly cooked veggies, yogurt, raw garlic and fresh herbs is a staple “mezze” (small tapas style) dish that can be found on any Turkish dinner table. Since the Turks rarely cook their garlic, this dish normally packs a bit of garlicky heat. The fresh green garlic you are getting from the share will have a more mild and subtle raw garlic flavor so don’t shy away from it. You can eat this as a simple side dish or put it in the food processor to use as a dip with cucumber and pita (which is what I did here).

Zucchini Salad with Yogurt (Yogurtlu Kabak Salatasi)


-Preheat oven to 400 degrees

-Chop 2-3 medium sized summer squash (zucchini or yellow squash) into cubes and toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of salt.

-Spread on baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes or so until squash is tender and slightly caramelized. Let cool slightly.

-Put squash into food processor with:

1-2 cloves of green garlic
1/2 cup of greek style yogurt
a handful of herbs (dill, parsley, and mint all work nicely)
the juice from half a lemon

-Salt to taste and sprinkle with feta cheese.  Serve with a dipper like cucumbers or pita bread.

**If you want it a bit chunkier to serve as a side dish, just pulse the above ingredients in the food processor and fold it into the roasted squash cubes.

Baked Summer Squash Frittata

This “frittata” is remarkably simple and makes a delicious light lunch alongside a salad. It also keeps great in the fridge and can be reheated for breakfast the next day. Since it is made with yogurt, flour and baking powder it isn’t a classic frittata. However, I find this recipe to be much lighter than other varieties made with only eggs. As the season progresses, you can add in other ingredients (like cherry tomatoes!) for a different variation on this brunch favorite.

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-Lightly oil a cast-iron pan or pie dish

-In a large bowl, mix:

3 cups of grated summer squash
1 sweet onion
2 gloves of green garlic, minced
4 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
a handful of herbs (parsley, dill, chives, etc)
salt and pepper to taste

-Pour into greased pan and bake for 35-45 minutes (or until golden brown on the top). Let cool and serve along size a big dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

ENJOY!

Recipe and photos by Jana Smart- Blooming Glen Farm employee and frequent creator of creative recipes using farm fresh seasonal ingredients. Check out more of her recipes on her food blog http://www.agrarianeats.blogspot.com/

13 Jul

Posted at 12:38h in Weekly Share by
1 Like

This week’s share, and the weather outside, has us really feeling like summer. The first of our greenhouse tomatoes, sweet fragrant cantaloupe and bright orange carrots complement the summer staples of cucumber and squash. Don’t worry, Jana’s weekly recipe gives some ideas for that three pounds of summer squash you got this week. And I opened up this month’s Martha Stewart Living to see a four page spread with recipes all featuring zucchini…get creative with zucchini bundt cake, or simply toss in oil and salt and grill. Whatever you do, its summer fresh eating!

Week 7 CSA Share

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.

08 Jul

Posted at 22:55h in Crew profiles by
4 Likes

Jess Sinkhorn joined us as an intern at Blooming Glen Farm in early April, bringing an easy smile and a strong work ethic with him. He has a daily respect for the farm and for the effort required to make it all happen, an eager willingness to do any task put before him, and a refreshing gratitude for the opportunity to learn and to be a part of this community. Read on to hear his thoughts on the experience so far, and what brought him here.

“The decision to pursue an internship with Bloming Glen Farm stemmed from wanting to learn more about the process and life that a farmer commits to day in and day out.  This decision was then fueled by my family and close friends to make it happen.  The idea of having a relationship with the soil as well as the community has become a valuable lesson for me personally.

For 24 years I have lived in the New Jersey town of Brielle where a majority of the time I spent at the beach and playing sports.  I have the pleasure of having a top drawer family that consists of two parents, one brother and sister-in-law with their two kids, and one sister.  I also have a wonderful girlfriend, Carly, that supports my ventures.

I hope to gain knowledge.  I hope to absorb and gather the information necessary to provide within a community by way of the organic farming process.  To this point Blooming Glen Farm has shown a productive work environment where the learning never stops and the experiences never sleep.  Organic farming, CSA practices, farmers markets, as well as wholesale marketing, intrigue my mind as ways to create a farm to table experience that I want to make a reality sometime in my life.  I look forward to each day that I step onto the fields and interact with my fellow interns and farmers because those are the times that I learn the most.”

Jess Sinkhorn

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.