Moulin Rhubarb!
Periodically throughout the season we'll feature our Veggies & a Movie.
This week the feature is Moulin Rhubarb!
The only delivery of Rhubarb for the season will be this week's harvest. Rhubarb is one of the earliest spring crops and many either love it or hate it. For those who haven't been introduced to rhubarb we suggest "try it, you'll like it" and look through the recipes for one that will suit your tastes. There is an annual Rhubarb Festival in Minnesota (sorry we missed it on the 5th), but is sure sounds like that have a great time. Go to this link for some great recipes (and more recipes will be posted too) http://www.rhubarbfestival.org/recipes.php
We can get into the fruit or vegetable controversy for Rhubarb and if we do then we have to include tomatoes too. Rhubarb is traditionally classified as a vegetable; however, in the United States a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be called a fruit. The outcome of this decision was a reduction in taxes paid. The Supreme Court got involved in the classification of the tomato; "Botanically, a tomato is a fruit. However, it is typically served as part of a salad or main course of a meal, rather than at dessert, therefore it is considered a vegetable for most culinary purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court settled the controversy on May 10, 1893 by declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert (Nix v. Hedden (149 U.S. 304))." So we have Rhubarb which is a vegetable, now used as a fruit and tomatoes which are a fruit used as a vegetable! Wow - and everybody thinks farming is so straight forward!
Don't forget to check out the Harvest Identifier each week. Many members wrote notes that they didn't know what was what in the delivery, but we post the link to the Harvest Identifier within the weekly newsletter that you receive as well as post it on the blog & website. In addition you can download a PDF copy of this newsletter and the Harvest Identifier if you prefer the more traditional "paper" copy. The Harvest Identifier includes photos, tips & additional recipes. Just more resources that we hope you will find helpful. Also, if you have a recipe you want to share, please send me an e-mail and I will include it for other members.
Crop Report - we like to keep you posted on the variety of crops that are either already growing or have been planted or seeded.
Planted, transplanted or seeded this week:
| Basil
Cherry Tomatoes Hot Peppers |
Beets Brussels Sprouts
Tomatoes Lettuce |
Herbs (basil, par-cel, cutting celery, parsley) |
What's Up & Growing:
| Zucchini
Carrots Oriental Greens Radishes |
Cauliflower
Kohlrabi Tomatoes Fava Beans New Zealand Spinach |
Dill
Fennel Cabbage Spinach Peppers Eggplant |
Broccoli
Peas Beets Squash |
So far we have some minor crop losses. The peas in the back field needed to be replanted, so an early crop of peas is not on the horizon.
Weather Report: To date, the season has been on the dry side, but we finally received some much needed rain this past week. About 1" fell during the week over a few days, which was much better than getting it all at once. The temperatures have been hot but not unbearable. The harvests begin very early in the morning before the heat increases so that we can get the lettuces and greens into the cooler.
Animal report: We had a bear on the farm watching Lisa & Hannah planting in the back field. We guess it was taking inventory of what they were planting to see if it wants to break in later in the season for some treats! All in all, there have been minimal problems with the animals so far. The fences are doing their job, except for the family of rabbits which are inside the fence. So far they didn't find the carrots!
Interesting Notes for the week: We are on a farming e-mail list for Sussex County Farmers and this week received a link to an interesting video for an idea in helping to clean up the Gulf's Oil Spill. The header was "never underestimate a farmer's ingenuity" A simple, "green" way to get the oil out of the water - probably way too simple for BP or the government to figure out. Anyway, if you want to view it, click here: http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/. Sure makes sense!
Rhubarb
Not everyone's favorite, as some people love it and some just don't want to even try it due to its tartness or as I like to say "zippiness". Make a sauce for meats or
fish, combine with fruits for pies, even make pancakes! See recipes on the blog or page 2 of the PDF copy of the newsletter.
Week of June 14th - Pick of the Week: click on the links below or to the right to bring you to the delivery specific to your pick-up location. Deliveries will be of similar variety & poundage, but may contain different items at anytime during the season. Occasionally, some crops are ready to harvest but not enough to deliver to all our drop-off locations. What we do is start to filter them in each week to a different drop-off until there is enough to delivery to everyone.
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