Picket Fence Farm Newsletter #6

Picket Fence Farm Happenings
Season 2 Issue #6

What’s Happening on the Farm?

We have been trying to take advantage of this nice, DRY weather to work in the garden. Lots of weeding, harvesting, and fertilizing with fish emulsion fertilizer. Things are shaping up in the garden, but we still have a lot of work to do. All this rain has really stunted things, so bear with us as we try to get more planted and wait for what is already planted to ripen. The boxes are a little lighter than we would like, but all of this rain has really effected how things are growing...just one of the reasons why we are so excited for the new high tunnels for the farm. We hope this dry weather continues next week (sounds like maybe some rain over the weekend though). The work continues on Saturday with more planting (more tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, basil, cucumbers, and green beans).

What’s in the Box?
Green Beans (may have some yellow wax beans mixed in)
Onions--small yellow
Carrots--mixed varieties (Mokum, Red Cored Chantenay, Parisian)
Baby Beets--**Friday pick-ups only**
Zucchini--May have green, yellow, or round**only for the Saturday deliveries this week**
Herb Bundles--Garlic Chives, German Thyme, Rosemary

Recipe Ideas
This recipe is from Gooseberry Patch Farmers’ Market Favorites:

Summer Herb Butter
1/2c. butter softened (1 stick)
1/4 c. fresh herbs, chopped (such as basil, thyme, sage, parsley, dill, chives, tarragon, oregano, marjoram, or rosemary)
1 tsp. sea salt
1 t. pepper

Blend all ingredients together. Spoon onto a sheet of wax paper and shape into a log. Twist ends of wax paper to seal. Refrigerate one hour to allow flavors to blend. Use within 2 weeks. Makes 1/2 cup.

More Herb Ideas: Add chives to dips, dressings, and salads. Rosemary is great in bread (like Focaccia--look on allrecipes.com for some good recipes ) in Italian dishes, and potato dishes. I am going to make Herb Roasted Potatoes by cutting potatoes into pieces, tossing with olive oil and the rosemary and thyme, along with some garlic, salt and pepper and baking in the oven. You could probably grill these in foil packets as well if cooking out for the holiday weekend).

A note on the herbs: --Put these in a glass of water (like you would cut flowers) to keep fresh longer. Also, to use the rosemary and thyme in recipes, strip the leaves off the stems and use the leaves only.