Week 6: Full Moon Dessert Potluck and Anna Banana's Chocolates!

The dog days of summer are truly here, so why not come and join us on Tuesday night to watch the summer Hay Moon rise over the farm? The farm crew and I will be there with a campfire and the makings for s'mores along with Maple Bacon ice cream from Maple Valley Creamery. Bring your favorite dessert to share with us! The fire will be lit at 630p right after we clean up from CSA and goes until 8pmish. 

Also during CSA and Farmstand this week, we will have Anna Banana's Homemade Goodness joining us to sell her confectionary delights! Her home-made marshmallows are practically a divine experience and there is nothing quite like the caramel pecan turtles. She makes a full range of gorgeous, delicious chocolates such as almond butter, dark chocolate cups, chocolate orange peel, peppermint chocolates and more. I have even seen such delicacies as lemon meringue marshmallows and strawberry marshmallows. oh my.

Almond crusted chocolate covered marshmallows

The farm crew and I got off the farm last week to attend a workshop at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. It was about farming with beneficial insects and put on by the Xerces Society. It was great!

Mantis wasp. HOW COOL IS THIS?!?

Here at Chestnut Hill, we are more than aware of the insect universe living in and around us, especially as we don't use the harsh chemical sprays that many farms use to control the 'pests'. Instead we are trying to learn to live more harmoniously with our insect enemies by making the world a little more hospitable for our insect friends. To this end, we learned more about planting beneficial insect habitats (our flower gardens are already a haven, and we leave many species of 'weed' in the fields to help encourage the beneficial insects to prosper) and can plan for more permanent habitats in the future. We walked around Garden in the Woods looking for insects (pests and predators) and we encourage you all to visit when you get the chance. It is a mile long trail winding through a landscaped botanical garden that is predominantly wild and native plants. And it is beautiful! We also encourage you to check out some of the alternatives they offer for your home landscaping- our native plants are gorgeous and yet, are often overlooked for their showier relatives. Our native plants provide a more wholesome refuge and food source for our insect friends- some of which you can see, but most which you can not.

Holly Hobbie picking blueberries

Speaking of insects: I also went blueberry picking this past weekend with my two youngest and discovered Indian Head Farm in Berlin. They are an IPM farm, which means that they still spray, but they only do so after careful monitoring of the crops and then spraying only when there is a definitive need. Since organic fruit is actually really difficult to do in our area (i have yet to find any and I am not even looking for certified organic), I highly recommend finding a good IPM farm near you and supporting them. Indian Head had a great layout, easy parking, friendly staff and a portapotty within the 'i need to go now' distance. They were kid friendly too, which I always really appreciate (some operations aren't- not usually because they don't like kids, but because they really feel like they can't guarantee a safe environment for kids- hey, at least they are honest). I am always compiling lists of great PYO farms for fruits I don't have available, so if you have a favorite, let us know and we will add it to our list. I also use Farmfresh.org to search for new farms (since I'm not from Eastern Mass and don't know my way around the farm scene here.

The Chickens have a new home!!!!Scott Navaroli (our esteemed beekeeper from Southside Apiaries) spent his days off last week building a new mobile chicken house for the ladies. It is gorgeous!!!!!and they

Scott with the new Chicken Casa-mobile

totally love it. They are still getting used to the idea of sitting on roosts to sleep at night, and we keep having to 'convince' them that it is a safe and wonderful thing (by which I mean, go out after dark and haul them bodily into their house and put them on the roosts- in the dark so that they don't fully wake up and freak out). But more and more of them are going in of their own free will AND they are starting to use the nest boxes more and more. We MIGHT have some of the first eggs- which are bitty but still uberdelicious- for sale in the next week. I am still celebrating the fact that they are no longer in my shed (which is completely saturated with chicken dust- a slippery fine material consisting mostly of feathers and poo= yuck).

In Your Share (maybe):

Cucumbers
Summer Squash and Zucchini (it is time for zucchini bread people!!!!)
Fresh onions
Swiss Chard
Cabbage....yeah, i know. Saute it with bacon and new potatoes, you will never not love it again.
New Potatoes
Celery

Pick Your Own

Flowers are divine right now- take a bunch of 10 stems. If you like the everlastings, let me know, we are going to be harvesting some for drying soon and so can you.
Basil is ready for pinching...the lack of rain means they aren't as robust as I usually like, so please be gentle and take a handful of pinched tops. DON'T pinch just the leaves- but actually pinch the tops- this will encourage them to bush out, not bloom. All varieties are ready for this so experiment with the Thai and Lemon basil....(the first is AMAZING in coconut curry sauces-use the cabbage!!!-and the lemon is amazing as part of a tomato cream sauce- think fish or mussels.)
The green beans are starting to flower, but no real beans yet, maybe by the end of the week or next week. I have no idea what is taking the favas so long, but I can only assume it is the heat and lack of rain.

Recipes and Vegtastic of the Week

So, it is summer squash. yep. again. I'm telling you, this is the time of year to eat as much as you can. It is just so good. I've been told that everyone needs a spiralizer to make the zucchini noodles...That sounds wonderful....especially with hollandaise sauce.
Anyway, I'm going to give you my daughter's winning 4-H recipe for zucchini bread. She won a grand prize for it, it is delicious, not too sweet and because it is zucchini bread you don't even have to feel guilty about eating it. Also going to give up my Zucchini Crusted Pizza recipe- which may be in one of the Moosewood cookbooks, but I've been making it for so long that I barely need the recipe. It is kind of like a combo of quiche and pizza and just short of amazing depending on what you dress it with. I like it because it is so easy to make gluten-free, which means it is perfect for dinners/potlucks with friends who aren't eating gluten.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon or espresso powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a large bread pan. Cream sugar, honey, oil. Add in eggs, vanilla and milk and beat well. Mix dry ingredients separately and add to sugar mixture, mixing until just mixed and then add in the zucchini. Pour into the prepared pan(s). Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and bake 60-70 mins until a toothpick poked into center comes out clean (might need a little longer with bread pan. Doubles and freezes easily!

Zucchini Crusted Pizza
3 1/2 cups grated zucchini (add a little salt and then let sit for 15 mins, then squeeze out extra moisture before using in recipe)
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup flour (or use GF baking mix)
1/2 cup grated parm or mozzarella or both
1 Tbsp minced fresh basil
Black pepper to taste
Favorite pizza toppings

Oil a cookie sheet (with sides). Combine all ingredients and then spread in a thinnish layer across the pan to the edges. Bake until surface is firm- about 20-25 mins. Brush the surface with more olive oil and then top with your favorite toppings. Bake another 20 mins and then serve. This is not a crispy crust kind of pizza- more of one that you eat with a fork and is mind-numbingly delicious. Enjoy!

Oh. And Hollandaise. Since I seem to be the only one I know besides my momma who makes it from scratch. If raw eggs give you the heebs then my saying 'the hot butter cooks them' may or may not do it for you. I make my own mayo too. Trust me- it is also so good that it is a wonder that they call the stuff they sell in jars at the store by the same name. Use eggs you trust. I prefer local ones from healthy chickens running around outside eating bugs.

Anyway. You need a blender.
Juice one-two lemons into the blender
Separate two eggs and drop the yolks into the blender.
Pinch of salt, maybe a little pinch of cayenne and/or black pepper
Pulse the blender.
Melt a stick (yes a whole stick) on the stove or in the microwave. It should be fully melted and bubbling, but not browning.
Turn on the blender and then gently, gently, pour the hot butter into the blender while it is running.
Turn off the blender as soon as you've finished with the butter.
Voila. Hollandaise. Feel free to adjust proportions for more or less lemony, but basically you need two yolks and a stick of butter for the proper consistency. We will do mayo another day. :)

of