Box #3

Half Shares: Leaf Lettuce, Spinach, Salad Turnips, Green Onions, Mint or Parsley, Garlic Scapes.

Full Shares: Leaf Lettuce X 2, Green Onions X 2, Garlic Scapes, Collards, Baby Yellow Beets, Oregano, Eggs and/or Other Hip Treats.


Here are some Garlic Scape Recipes:

Garlic scape parsley basil pesto
1/2-1 c. basil
1/2-1 c. parsley
1-2 c. garlic scapes
2-3 T. pine nuts
1 tsp. salt (or more to taste)
pepper to taste
extra-virgin olive oil, at least 1/2 c.
1/3-1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated
Amounts are approximate, because we used a ratio: 1 handful basil, 1 handful parsley, 2 handfuls scapes. We went light on the pine nuts and parmesan. Put the scapes, herbs, pine nuts, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Process, adding the oil a bit at a time, until desired consistency. Stir in parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. Makes about 1 1/2 c. pesto.
Naturally, we quadrupled the recipe. Should keep in the freezer up to 6-8 months. No worries that it will last that long.
Garlic Scape Carbonara

This pasta is fantastic as a meal served with a big garden salad and some crusty bread. If desired, add a half-cup of fresh, lightly cooked peas to the mix for a little added nutrition (and sweetness).
1/2 lb campanella pasta, or shape of your choosing
4 slices bacon (about 3 1/4 ounces), chopped
1/4 cup garlic scapes, cut into 1/4 inch coins
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
Set a pot of water to boiling on the stove and cook the campanella pasta (or desired shape).
While it’s cooking, cook the bacon over medium heat until browned. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and add the garlic scapes. Cook until soft (2-3 minutes). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. (Drain both the bacon and the garlic scapes on a paper towel).
Whisk together the eggs, salt and red pepper flakes.
When the pasta is done, quickly remove it from the stove and set a different burner to low heat. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot, on the burner set to low. Stir in the garlic scapes and bacon. Add the egg mixture and stir feverishly for 3-4 minutes until sauce is thick and creamy. Don’t let it overcook or it will be gloppy. Sprinkle the romano cheese in, a little at a time, and stir to combine. Don’t add it all at once or it won’t mix through out the pasta as well (since it will clump).
Serve immediately.

The Second Box

So, my family is out gallivanting around in celebration of Father’s Day and they took the camera with them. Who knows when they will be back! So please excuse this non-photo post.

Anyway, here is what I came up with for the second box:

Half Shares: a big bag of leaf lettuce, a smaller bag of spinach, a bunch of green onions, a bunch of garlic scapes, a bunch of radishes and a bundle of either mint or parsley.

Full Shares: You’ll be getting all the same things as the half shares with double portions of green onions and garlic scapes plus salad turnips, beet tops and eggs/other hip treats.

The First Box

Every Sunday evening I'm going to try and post a picture of a half share box. I stole this idea from another CSA and I think it’s a really great one. It should give you all an idea of what you’re going to get each week…and maybe help with your grocery shopping. Full share folks, your boxes will have the same things but with bigger quantities and/or extra things too (think eggs for one). But the posts should give you some idea of what will be happening with your boxes too.



In this week's box: Fancy Mustard Mix, Rhubarb, Green Onions and Easter Egg Radishes.

Deliveries Start Next Week

The CSA starts next week! I’m excited to be doing deliveries again. Here is when and where it is all happening:

Monday, June 13 is the first delivery for:
River Market Co-op in Stillwater: 12:30 p.m.
Fresh and Natural Foods in Hudson: 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 15 is the first delivery for:
Hampden Park Co-op in St. Paul: 1:30 p.m.
Aveda Employees in Blaine: 2:30 p.m.

The times posted above are when I expect your boxes to be fully delivered and ready for you to pick up. River Market Co-op, Fresh and Natural Foods and Hampden Park Co-op are all open until 9 p.m.

More New Arrivals!

Baby Chickens
Our chick order arrived a week ago Saturday. All 27 of the babies are doing well. This is a mixed batch of several different breeds all of which are laying hens. I built a high-security brooder coop last year for baby chicks but since it’s been pretty chilly the last week with frosts at night we’ve kept the crew in our living room. Later this week they will be moved to the brooder.



Baby Plants
Even though it’s been a rather chilly spring I’ve managed to get quite a few crops in out in the field. So far I’ve got: peas, lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes, turnips, mustard greens, collards, kale, beets, kohlrabi, broccoli and some carrots.

Here are the radishes, mustard greens and salad turnips. In past years I’ve had problems with flea beetles. These little black bugs eat the foliage of certain crops and then lay eggs in certain other crops. I’m trying to keep them off the plants with row covers which are a thin white fabric that lets in light and water but traps out the beetles. So far it seems to be working.



Here’s a shot of the peas. I’ve already run through them with my ultra-hip tractor.



The New Tractor
I’ve really been enjoying the tractor we bought this spring. It’s a Farmall Super A. This tractor debuted in the 1950’s and was specifically designed for market gardeners. The tractor is off-set which means the drivers’ seat is not in the center but off to the side. Being off to the side allows the driver to see exactly what is happening with the belly-mounted cultivator. This feature is called ‘culta-vision’.



The cultivator has pointed shoes attached to gangs. The gangs run on hydraulics and can be raised and lowered with a lever. Right now I have shields on which protect the very tiny plants from being sprayed or buried by flying soil. The cultivator does one row at a time and pulls all the weeds out except for a very narrow strip. It’s been working really well and I think it’s going to save me tons of time in the weed management department.



The New Roof
After doing quite a lot of structural repairs on one of the barns we had a new roof put on it. We are very excited to have this new roof! This barn is the oldest building on our property. No one is certain exactly when it was built but it was here when my great grandparents bought the farm in 1927. The roofer guys guessed it was about 100 years old. Anyway….it works great!



Other Garden News
The hoop house is full of plants. Since it stays warm in there I’ve already got the tomatoes in. This year I decided to plant the eggplant in there too. I also squeezed in a few okra plants, about 80 broccoli plants and as an experiment some pole beans and luffa plants. The hoop house is a really fun place to garden! It’s always fun to see what one can do in there.

Also this year I’ve been working on building the farm’s perennial inventory. I split a bunch of rhubarb plants, put in some more asparagus crowns, planted a new bed of strawberries and put in some more perennial herbs. We won’t see many rewards (maybe a few…cross your fingers!) from all this work in this year’s CSA boxes but hopefully in 2012.

CSA Update
We are on track to start deliveries in a few weeks. Some reminders:

Stillwater and Hudson folks’ first delivery will take place on Monday, June 13

St. Paul and Aveda folks’ first delivery will be on Wednesday, June 15

I’ll be sending out a reminder e-mail which will include specific delivery times to everyone as we get closer

One half of your share amount is due by June 1 the other half by Oct. 1, checks can be made out to Eener’s Farm and sent to Eener’s Farm N12449 220th St. Boyceville WI 54725

I try to be timely about cashing checks and sending out receipts, but sometimes I get behind…thanks for your patience.

Eener’s Farm Maternity Ward – Take #1

There have been some new arrivals on the farm, with more to come. So far we’ve got a new tractor and three baby goats!




Check out these cuties:


Todd, one of the baby goat twin dudes born on April 19


Rod the other twin. These boys like to hang out in Forest's old play house (it's really funny when they go down the slide).


Momma goat Shirley and her baby girl Layla born the day before yesterday.

Other Babies Coming Up
We've got one more goat slated to give birth any day now. Next month our six ewes (sheep mammas-to-be) will lamb. It appears as though we have two hens sitting on eggs. If it all pans out we’ll have farm-grown baby chicks in about three weeks. On May 16 we will be getting 25 baby chicks from a hatchery (they will show up in the mail, weird huh?).

If you are interested in coming to see baby animals just give us a call (715-643-2803) or e-mail me (eenermachine@gmail.com) and we can coordinate a time.

The baby goats are pet-able. Lambs here at our place are generally not pet-able, they are more wild…something to admire from afar. Farm-grown baby chicks are not pet-able either…the momma hens will attack! But hatchery chicks are totally pet-able. So for maximum baby exposure the end of May would be a good time to take a baby animal tour. By the way, the Farmall Super A is definitely pet-able!

Garden News
The rhubarb is up and so is the garlic. Rhubarb will be a first box item. Garlic scapes (the flower of the garlic plant) will show up by the end of June or so. Actual garlic heads will be happening in July.

It’s been pretty wet but I’ve managed to plant the early potatoes and also the peas. For spuds this year we will have the super-popular ultra delicious all red potatoes known as Mountain Rose; Rio Grand Russets, a standard russet tator; Purple Vikings a purple/blue potatoes and new this year, Banana Fingerlings an heirloom variety that is long and skinny and yellow.

In the past I’ve been able to start putting spuds in CSA boxes in the last week in June. Peas generally show up around that time too. For peas we are going to have Oregon Giant snow peas, Sugar Anne snap peas and Green Arrow shelling peas.

As soon as it dries up a bit I’ll be putting in red, yellow and white onions. Green onions will show up in your first box. Lettuce is another thing to plant soon. I’m going to do a big mix this year so you’ll find all sorts of green lettuces as well as some red kinds in your first box. Spinach will also go in soon. Since I ran short on this last year I’m going to go big on it this year. I’ve selected three different varieties so hopefully the harvest window will be longer and you all will get it for several weeks.

I’m trying a different variety of radishes this year too. They’re called Easter Egg and come in several shades of red, pink and purple. They seem cool…hope they work out. I also bought a new kind of kohlrabi called Gigantic. They are supposed to get really big…we’ll see…I’m also going to plant the standard kind too, just in case.

Current Share Availability

Here's an update on CSA share availability:

St. Paul: SOLD OUT
Hudson: SOLD OUT
Stillwater: SOLD OUT
Aveda: three shares left

If you are still shopping for a CSA check out the Land Stewardship Web site CSA listing: http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html

Coming soon: pictures of our new tractor! She's a 1950 Farmall Super A...a very hip ride indeed.