Farm News: We pulled out of the Pacific Grove market. I know it is a bummer, but it was not making enough income to be sustainable for us. Mondays are also a big day delivering our CSA boxes all over the peninsula. It has been a stretch to do it all. So, for the time being we are taking a break. We are hoping once the market moves to the new location it might refresh things a little. It doesn’t help that PG is most often so cold and drizzly that people don’t come out to support it on Monday evenings. We will keep you posted when or if we go back. There are so many farmers markets in the area now it seems like the local markets are not as good as they were. I have heard this from other farmers that sell at the markets we aren’t able to get into as well. This area is so saturated with markets that the farmers are making half as much as they used to. Farmers Markets are businesses that receive profit from the stall fees. Some market organizations start markets all over the place just to turn a profit. Often times they are not thought out for the long term, only the short term.

Everyone’s Harvest the organization that runs the PG and Marina Markets are one of the market organizations with integrity. They have been offered many other markets and turned them down because they want to be sure the ones they have are supported first and they also knew that there are already plenty of markets in the area.  They are also involved in creating community gardens and other amazing sustainable projects.

If anyone wants to purchase case amounts from the farm we can have the order with your CSA boxes on Monday. Currently we are offering 12 pint flat of strawberries to CSA members for only $20 flat. If you are interested in making jam, let me know.

There is a new strawberry jam making method I have discovered. Its great if you don’t have the time to devote to the whole process at once. You take 8 lbs of berries (12 pints) and chop the tops and cut them in half if the berries are large. Put them in a big container and stir in 2 cups of sugar (this is a low sugar recipe). Let the berries sit covered for 12 to 24 hours. This process keeps the color really nice and the sugar breaks down the berries so you don’t have to cook them very long. When you are ready to jar them up, just follow a regular canning process for berries. I had about 20 lbs of berries in a giant jar with a spigot sitting in sugar. Of course I was too busy to jam them up and to my surprise I made strawberry wine!  I accidentally made the perfect mistake. I covered the berries then decided to let them breathe with some cheesecloth for a few days. Then I covered them again. This was a perfect opportunity to allow the natural yeast to develop, but not too long so that other molds could not develop.The spigot was perfect for taking the wine out of the jar without disturbing the top layer of berries that have the molds on top. The berries float to the top and the juice is below, so if you don’t have a spigot on your container you will need to siphon it off.

The strawberry hooch was delicious.  It was great on ice with a little ginger ale and a squeeze of Meyer Lemon. It had a beautiful, natural red color.

If anyone wants more detailed explanation please let me know. There is a great book called Wild Fermenation. Fermented foods are really good for you. You can turn almost any plant or fruit into wine or alcohol. The difference is time the fruit sits. It so fun to experiment.So, if anyone wants to make some organic strawberry wine and needs some berries, let me know!

In the box today: Leeks, Fennel, Broccoli, Green Leaf Lettuce,Strawberries, Fava Beans, and Avocados, and a surprise green (dandelion, red romaine, green butter or green romaine)

Here is a recipe from Christie Marcella. Sounds delicious! Keep them coming Christie.

Roasted Veggie, Fava Bean & Red Quinoa Salad
This is a great salad because it tastes delicious hot or cold. With the warm weather coming around, it is great to eat as a side dish for dinner, and then the next day cold for lunch.

Ingredients (* indicates CSA ingredients):
2 small sweet potatoes, diced
1 leek*, cleaned & sliced into 1/8 inch thick pieces
1 zucchini*, diced
½ head of cauliflower*, cut into small flowerets
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup red quinoa, uncooked (I got mine from Trader Joe’s)
2 cups water or broth
1 stalk oregano*, chopped
1 lemon*, zested and juiced
½ cup marinated fava beans (see recipe below)
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450˚F. While your oven is heating, finish any cutting or prep to make sure all your veggies are approximate the same size (small dice). Place all the veggies in a bowl and generously toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you want to be adventurous, you can also toss in some curry powder.
2. Place the veggies on a flat pan (cookie sheet, roasting pan, etc.) and spread evenly on the pan. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, until veggies are golden brown. (I like my veggies more on the burned side, but roast them to your taste.)
3. While the veggies are roasting, rinse the red quinoa in a small strainer with cold water. Cook according to directions. My box said boil the quinoa with your liquid (water or broth). Once it boils, bring down to a simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the water is absorbed. The quinoa will get a little translucent and shiny. Quinoa is crunchy but fluffy, so taste it once the water is absorbed.
4. Once the quinoa is done, transfer it to a medium non-reactive mixing bowl. Toss in the roasted vegetables when they are done. Toss in the marinated fava beans, oregano, lemon juice and zest. Stir it all together and enjoy!

Makes 8 side servings or 4 full meal servings

Fennel can be delicious if done right. I love fennel chopped and roasted with an organic chicken. When the fennel gets caramelized the strong licorice flavor mellows. Be sure to cut out the hard core with a knife first. I found this recipe online at the Mayo Clinic wesbite. That means its low calorie too.

Fennel and Leeks with Roasted Onion Vinaigrette 

3 leeks, green tops trimmed to about 7 inches, bottom trimmed but intact
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
5 peppercorns
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut in half vertically; green tops reserved for garnish
1/2 yellow onion, cut into 4 wedges
6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons pitted, chopped kalamata olives
1 tablespoon chopped fennel tops or fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

Directions

Split the leeks in half lengthwise to within 1 1/2 inches of the root end, leaving the root intact. Discard the outer leaves and rinse the leeks well.

In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, combine the stock, vinegar, water, oregano and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the fennel and leeks; the liquid may not cover. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool in the pot, uncovered, for 1 hour. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reserve the poaching liquid.

While the vegetables are cooling, preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat the onion wedges with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and place them on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes. Turn the onion wedges over and bake until browned and caramelized, about 15 minutes longer. Set aside to cool.

Strain the reserved poaching liquid and pour 1 cup into a small saucepan. (The remaining liquid may be reserved for soup or another use.) Bring to a boil and cook uncovered over medium-high heat until reduced by half, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a blender or food processor, combine the roasted onion with the reduced poaching liquid and mustard. Process until smooth. (Add 1 tablespoon water if the mixture is too thick to process.) With the motor running, add the remaining 5 teaspoons olive oil in a thin stream until emulsified.

Cut each leek and fennel half crosswise into 8 slices (or cut thinner if desired). Divide the vegetables evenly among individual plates. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette on each salad. Garnish with the chopped olive and fennel leaves.

Nutritional Analysis

(per serving)

In your box this week: Red butter lettuce, fava beans, carrots, zucchini, chard, celery, cauliflower ( you might have received an extra of something else if you didn’t receive a cauliflower because we were short a few..it happens), shallots and strawberries.

Have a great week. Recipes to follow…

Jamie Collins

We will be delivering on Tuesday, June 1st instead of Monday the holiday.

Boxes can be picked up the same time, just a day later.

I hope everyone has a great 3 day weekend!

Jamie Collins

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 30 cabbage leaves (or chard, kale, collards)
• 2 cups of rice (preferably long grain)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 ripe medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 rounded tablespoon of finely chopped fresh mint
• 2/3 cup of finely chopped zucchini or Italian squash
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 2 tablepoons of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 cup of water (approximately)
• juice of 1 lemon (about 4 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoonsof flour

Preparation:

Make the stuffing: Combine onion, rice, tomatoes, dill, parsley, salt, pepper, cumin, and olive oil in a bowl.

Prepare cabbage leaves: Remove the core of the cabbage, and stick a large fork into the center. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and immerse the cabbage, leaving the fork in. When the outer leaves turn bright green, remove using the fork and remove softened leaves. Return to pot and repeat until all cabbage leaves have been removed.

If using other leaves: Blanch leaves in hot water until they soften and turn darker green. Remove thick stems if necessary. To use very large chard leaves, cut in half and fill each half.

Prepare rolls: If making large cabbage rolls, use the whole leaf (or half of very large leaves). If making small rolls, tear leaves into 4 parts (for smaller leaves, tear into fewer pieces).

For large rolls, place a heaping tablespoon of filling 1 inch from the thick end of the cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom over the filling, fold the sides in, and roll up.

For small rolls, place 1 teaspoon of filling at one side of the leaf part, fold the leaf up over the filling, fold in sides, and roll up.

Note: Don’t roll too tightly. The rice will need some room to expand during cooking.

Line the bottom of a large pot with any torn or unused leaves (and trimmed thick stems) and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Place rolls closely together, seam side down in the pot in 2-3 layers, as needed. Cover with a plate that fits over the rolls, turned upside down. Bring to a full boil over medium heat (it will boil with its own liquid). Add 1 cup of water (or enough to cover the rolls) and when it resumes full boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook at a slow boil for 20 minutes, long enough for the rice to cook. Test to make sure rice is fully cooked. Remove the plate.

In a small bowl, stir the flour into the lemon juice until dissolved. Add several tablespoons of liquid from the pot and stir. Pour into the pot and shake the pot gently to distribute. Let sit 10 to 20 minutes before serving.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Jamie:  We used this recipe tonight and loved it

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 bunch red Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, or to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, juiced

Directions

1. In a cast iron skillet, cook onions in olive oil over medium-high heat until they begin to brown. Stir in brown sugar, and continue cooking for a few minutes.
2. When onions are brown and tender, stir in chard and olives. Cook until chard is slightly wilted. Stir in capers and salt, and continue cooking until chard is completely wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with black pepper and squeeze lemon over the top.

–
Jennifer Anne Calmus

We have been busy planting our winter squash, more roots and our dry farmed Early Girl tomatoes. We have been spending our time trying to get ahead of the weeds and make time for other things like planting. This late rain has created the perfect combination for super weeds! It has been very time consuming to say the least. This coupled with insane gophers in our tomato patch has keep me going.

In your box this week:

Avocadoes, green chard, fennel, green or napa cabbage (or strawberries) , carrots, German Butterball potatoes (or snap peas) , snow peas, meyer lemons, lots of fava beans

I realize that sometimes my post comes on tuesday instead of monday, and today its already wednesday evening. I’m going to blame it on the gophers I’ve been at war with.

I am in the process of learning how to delgate some of my office responsibilities - not an easy task for someone like me! Soon Jessica will be helping with writing some recipes and preparations tips, along with good ways to store the produce you get each week and more explanation on when something is ready to eat…

Some things come natural for people but until you know about different varieties and how they are best eaten and when, it might be a little confusing. For instance: Bacon Avocadoes are not going to turn black to let you know that they are ready. They stay green but turn soft. I would eat them when they are soft to the touch, but before they turn black. You are going to have to touch your avocado to figure it out. Maybe that is why the commercial Hass variety is so popular - its obvious when it is ripe, has a tough outer skin that can tolerate more handling (and shipping long distances). It is amazing to me that people haven’t seen other avocado varieties besides Hass. I always get the questions - ” do they TASTE like Bacon??” Oh man, if they did they sure wouldn’t be the avocado no one knew about!

This week you might have received a big, shiny black avocado. That one is a mystery even to me but I will update you as I learn more about it. Most of the avocados are coming from my home ranch, but I have also made a connection with a neighbor that has several varieties of avocados growing in San Juan Bautista. He is not certified organic, but practices organic standards. He has about 3 acres of avocados on a south facing hill. I am helping him out and he is helping me to keep supplying the CSA box with local, organic avocados.

Greens storage (Chard, dandelion, lettuce, etc): Anytime you receive a leafy green it is a good idea to run it under water, shake it off and place inside a plastic bag. Always refrigerate your greens, but never loose in the frig. Even the freshest greens will wither away in no time without protection and moisture.

Fennel: Unless you use the top part with the frilly leaves, go ahead and chop that part off. You can save it for a veggie stock though.

Cabbage: You can put the whole head in the frig without protection or wetting it down.

Carrots: Rinse them off and chop off the tops. I wouldn’t do anything else with the tops except give them to your bunny or horse if you have one. Keeping the tops on dries the carrots out quicker. If you are going to use them soon, I would put them in water in the frig. Otherwise put in a plastic bag inside the frig without the tops.

Strawberries: I hate to refrigerate berries. I think it changes the flavor and texture. I would keep them out on the counter in a cool place - if you are going to eat them within two days. Otherwise you are going to need to out them in the frig or they are going to go bad. All of the berries you get from us are picked and put directly in the boxes - never refrigerated!

Snap and Snow Peas: keep them in either a brown or plastic bag in the frig

Potatoes: Keep away from moisture. Store in a brown bag in the pantry. Eat before they sprout. If they do sprout, rub off the sprouts when you wash them. Don’t wash them until you are ready to eat them.

Lemons: Out on the counter if you are going to eat them soon, otherwise in the frig. I love to look at them on the table so I usually leave them out.

Recipes to follow..Stay tuned.

Thanks for supporting Serendipity!
Jamie Collins

Thanks Christie for sharing what sounds like a delicious and simple fava recipe!

Fava Bean Salad

Fava Beans

Ricotta Salata (available at Whole Foods or Specialty stores)

Lemon Zest

Lemon Juice

Olive Oil

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Take the fava beans out of the pods. I used the two bags of fava beans from the past two weeks. Boil a large pot of water. Once the water is boiling, place two hefty handfuls of salt in the water. Blanche the beans for about five minutes.

2. While the fava beans are in the pot, prepare an ice bath by placing ice cubes and cold water in a large mixing bowl.  Once the beans are done, transfer them into the icebath (either drain the beans in a collander or use a spider to get them out of the pot).

3. Allow the beans to cool so that you can take them out of the membrane. Once you remove the beans from the membrane, place them into a separate mixing bowl. Once you have all the fava beans, crumble the ricotta salata (I probably used 1-2 oz. for two weeks worth of beans) into the mixing bowl. Add about 1 tsp. lemon zest (I used the lemon from this week’s bag) and squeeze 1-2 tsp. lemon juice.

4. Add olive oil, the pinch of cayenne pepper and toss the mixture together. Add salt and pepper to taste (the ricotta is salty on its own).

5. Enjoy!

Best,

Christie

You should have received two avocados - one on the ripe side - the Bacon variety - and one that still needs about a week to ripen - the Haas variety. The avocados are grown at our home ranch. If you are not familiar with the Bacon avocado variety you will be now. They are a more frost tolerant type of avocado that can be grown in warm micro climates on the Central Coast.They are a creamy,nutty, thin skinned variety that is equally delicious as the Haas variety and are green when ripe. Haas are the standard commercial variety that is mainly grown in southern California. They can also be grown here but more risky because they are very susceptible to frost.

I would make a red leaf salad with avocados and sauteed shallots, adding the meyer lemon juice and some nice sea salt…

Be sure to eat your beet greens too - they are in the same family as chard and more tender. I like to eat the greens with the beets together.

Enjoy this weeks harvest!

Jamie Collins

Gold Beets can be boiled or baked

Baked Beets Unlike other cooking methods, there is no need to scrub the beets with water, because the water would cause the beets to steam. So simply clean off any dirt with a paper towel, if desired. Trim the roots and stems to 1/2″, but there’s no need to cut the beets farther than that. You can also add the carrots to your roast if desired.

Place the beets in an oven-proof baking dish and cover (foil works fine). Bake at 400 degrees for one hour, or until tender. (Depending on the size of the beets, you may have to cook them a little longer.)

Remove from oven and let cool. Then simply slip the skins and root off with your fingers. You can leave the tail on if you’re eating the beets whole, or take it off.

Beets can be chopped, sliced or diced and dressed with a vinegar of your choice, added to a salad with goat cheese or feta cheese. Add the shredded carrots to the red leaf lettuce and top with the beets and cheese for a fabulous salad.

Braised Artichokes with Carrots, Peas, and Fava Beans

taken from www.saveur.com

SERVES 4
This vibrant dish combines the best vegetables of spring.

9 raw artichoke hearts, diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. sugar
Salt
2 lbs. fresh fava beans, shelled
1 1⁄2 cups fresh shelled or frozen peas
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Place artichokes, carrots, garlic, oil, lemon juice, sugar, and 1 cup water in a large skillet. Season to taste with salt, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until artichokes are tender, about 45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add favas and blanch until skins can be easily removed, about 2 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, then slip off and discard skins.

3. Add favas and peas to artichokes, increase heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until most of cooking liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add parsley, season with salt, and serve.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #17

You can also saute shallots and add steamed fava beans for a delicious simple side dish.

Meyer Lemons are a very sweet, low acid lemon great for a salad dressing or for just about anything.

This week we will be spending our time removing the runners from our strawberry plants. With all of this rain, not only have the weeds grown out of control, the berries have been sending out ‘runners’ - long vegetative growth that sprouts out of the main berry plant. The runners have a ‘baby’ berry plant on the end and if they get too long they will root into the soil between the beds. While this may sound great - more berry plants = more berries - this is not the case. The main berry plant will actually slow down fruit production and concentrate on vegetative growth which we do not want.

Weeds are always a huge problem for organic farmers - this year is an especially problematic year due to lots of rain with sun in between. The perfect combination for growth. We are needing to catch up on our weeding this week as well as planting our summer squash, green beans, pumpkins and winter squash.

Some of our tomatoes already have flowers! We planted a 1/4 acre of large plants in order to get an early harvest for the CSA boxes and for the farmers markets.  Look for 20 varieties of tomatoes this season including cherry tomatoes, heirlooms, early girl and red slicing tomatoes.

The first planting of English Shelling Peas are almost finished. Coming soon snap peas, snow peas, cilantro, raspberries, red romaine, red and green butter lettuces, and baby heirloom broccoli.

In the Box Today: Celery, Red Leaf Lettuce, Carrots, Leeks or Shallots, Gold Bunched Beets, Avocados, Strawberries and Meyer Lemons, baby artichokes, Fava Beans and a basket of snow peas and/or snap peas

Hopefully we will see you at the Cooking for Solutions event at the Monterey Aquarium on Friday evening.

Have a great week!

Recipes to follow

Jamie Collins

Sorry to have missed the last two newsletters. The password I created stopped working for no reason but today it started working before my IT guy could help me with it. This past week seemed off - if you follow astrology Mercury was in retrograde. Something was definitely causing mix ups and unnecessary stress this past week - especially with office stuff. Anyway, I’m glad to be back in communication.

I bought some 20 new chicks and 9 turkeys to raise this past week. They are under warming lamps in a big horse trough in my garage. We have about 28 hens currently laying eggs - about 12 dozen per week. We take what we don’t consume to our favorite market - Temescal in Oakland. Since there are only a limited amount of eggs people have learned to get up early and get to our stand before they are gone. Within 20 minutes of set up the eggs disappear. I wish we had more but we are not set up for too many more chickens to run free. Too many more and they would ruin our newly planted  citrus trees and our early tomato planting by scratching at the root zone.

We planted 37 citrus trees at the Serendipity Ranch - mostly meyer lemons, but a few mandarins, limes, and oranges. We also planted 2 fig trees. It is a lot warmer at the ranch so we planted 3/4 acre of tomatoes here to see if we can come in with them earlier than our mid Carmel Valley ranch. I am anticipating tomatoes as early as July, which is a month earlier than usual. I will keep you posted.

We are going to be participating in the Cooking for Solutions event next week. David Anderson, the chef from the Aquarium will be using our fava greens in a fava green pesto dish. Fish Wife will be using our cilantro in another dish.We are excited to be a bigger part of the event this year, especially when sustainable seafood and sustainable produce go hand in hand.

Restaurants on the peninsula that use our produce are: Fish Hopper at Cannery Row, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Mundaka, Carmel Belle, Quail Lodge, and soon Fish Wife. I find that the peninsula is slow to recognize the benefits of local, organic produce. Santa Cruz and San Francisco have been doing that for a long time. The more the consumer requests it, the more the restaurants will try to bring in more locally grown produce. Do you part and let it be known you would like fresh produce that supports local farmers like Serendipity.

Coming soon: snap peas, spinach, raspberries, red romaine, chard, dino and green kale, baby beets, Romanesco cauliflower.

Thanks again for being a part of Serendipity!

Jamie Collins