Roots and Shoots Farm - 15th Week of CSA Food 2011

As half share participants in Roots and Shoots Farm's CSA program, this is our last food basket of the 2011 season. It has been a wonderful summer of produce for us and we have been very pleased to be associated with a certified organic farm. Particularly this farm. Their constant care and attention over 'my food' in the fields amplifies why I am feeling melancholy about this milestone of lasts.

What has resonated loudly with me is the strength of the farm team. Steely determination and unwavering resolve appears to be the motto at Roots and Shoots Farm. I lived in a rural farm setting for 15 years. I get how much work it can be and how sometimes Mother Nature will hijack your agenda, despite your best efforts.

Thankfully, Roots and Shoots Farm will be participating in the indoor market at Lansdowne on Nov 20, 27 and Dec 4, 18.

We have been CSA members with them for the two seasons they have been in business and we plan to continue with them again next summer.

OBSERVATIONS FROM THIS SEASON:

• I love kale. Last year I didn't know much about kale. Kale intimidated me. I now pine for kale. And when I get it, whether it is Russian Red or Tuscan or some other variety, I have lots of ideas for my kale.
• The farm made improvements in the weekly communication. It was great to hear what had happened over the week. Their challenges, their strategies, their future plans. It helps to get the list of basket contents ahead of time. That extra day allows for planning and complementary shopping to round out the food supply.
• There were many wonderful recipes shared with the weekly newsletter. Some we tried and some we used as inspiration. Even though I am a happy kitchen person and now a CSA sophomore, I still appreciated this direction. Freshmen would have been even more delighted, I am sure.
  
• I would love to get more specific information about the varieties for plants and produce. As an easy example, all potatoes aren't equal. Some are better for baking. Some better for boiling. Etc. The same can be said about radishes and beets and lettuces, etc. Even garlic. Some garlics are stronger than others. Knowing the varieties allows me to use the produce to best show off its great taste. I hesitate to suggest things that involve extra work by the farm team since I prefer them in the field vs. on the computer, but maybe there could be a static page on the website that shows a picture of the plant and its name. I am happy to help with that too.
• This year I am more relaxed about not knowing what was coming in my food basket until the day is almost upon us. I have become a better planner around this 'black box competition' challenge. I have learned to embrace the uncertainty. No one is more surprised by that breakthrough than me. We Type A people do have our issues.
• I felt that the produce was consistently better this year.
• I found the size of the basket suited me and our family well.
• I did a better job of prepping the food once I picked it up. Cleaning produce well before putting it away and wrapping well what needed to have its moisture preserved. I was surprised at how long some things lasted. But who knows how old things are already when you buy them in the grocery store. My CSA food is picked same day or sometimes the day before.
  
• I liked that the farm had a stand at my drop-off to allow me to make extra purchases or to go there on my off week to shop for their produce.
• I liked getting extra news and pictures on the Roots and Shoots Farm Facebook page.
• I liked the Swap Box. I only used it once. I traded bok choy for a red cabbage. I am greedy about red cabbage. I did try to stick with my basket and not do trades. I accepted that this was likely the best way I would learn about something I had not tried before.
• I wished I had done more freezing. I did not really get much further than my usual of freezing soups. This is my challenge for next year. Unrelated to this farm's produce, I did freeze big batches of pesto in tiny jars and also many tiny jars of minced garlic in olive oil.
• I wished I had done more preserves this year. Unrelated to this farm's produce, I did peach and red pepper relish and also tomato sauce and tomato juice.
• I was most successful with using my produce when I figured out its destination dish as soon as the basket came home. "Hey Mr. Napa Cabbage! You are going to become coleslaw with Bobby Flay's famous dressing." Done.
• I have found a few CSA members that are blogging a bit about their food and I also have a few friends that have joined Roots and Shoots Farm this season. I would love to be a part of a more active network of those using the same CSA basket. There were times when I wanted to shout out to someone, "What are you planning to do with those Hakurei Turnips this week?"

Did you participate in a CSA program this summer? How did you enjoy it? What did you learn? About the produce? About yourself and how you engage with food?

What a beautiful Thanksgiving CSA basket to close out my season. Enjoy the pictures.


Carrots


Brussel sprouts


Celery


Lettuce greens


Hakurei turnips


Tuscan kale


Beets


Red onions


Potatoes


Butternut squash


Garlic



If you want to learn more about the farm, the contact information for Roots and Shoots Farm is:
ROBIN TURNER
robin@rootsandshootsfarm.com
www.rootsandshootsfarm.com
613.897.8975

Roots and Shoots Farm - 11th Week of CSA Food 2011

The contents of this week's CSA basket from Roots and Shoots Farm is quite mainstream by most people's veggie shopping standards.

The focus this time is to get the more delicate and well-ripened produce used up in the early days - the cut lettuce, cherry tomatoes. Plus the melon.

The Napa cabbage is heading to a coleslaw for our contribution to this weekend's street party. I hope coleslaw sells on this street because that head will make a very big batch.

Roots and Shoots Farm provided a wonderful recipe called Easy Garden Curry. If I go for it, then there is the home for the jalapeño, cherry tomatoes, some potatoes, some onions, some garlic, a pepper, some beet greens and some carrots.

The mister is a radish fiend but will they all go snack bound? It is a VERY big batch. We have not ventured past the raw nibble on these. It is time to get more creative.

Thankfully onions, garlic, beets, carrots and potatoes store well.

I am getting the feeling that the recipes this time around need to take a slant towards going to the freezer. We love, love, love soups and these are great ingredients to end up in the pot.

How are things going with your local foods? Are you enjoying the harvest? I would love to hear about your cooking adventures and also your challenges.

Now check out this week's basket. Local, seasonal, organic, full of flavour. Did I mention beautiful?


Cut lettuce


Napa Cabbage


Cherry Tomatoes and ground cherries


Onions


Potatoes


Carrots


Beets


Garlic


Celery


Radishes


Cucumber


Green Pepper


Red Pepper


Jalapeño


Watermelon

Someone asked me once if I get paid to write posts for the farm. I don't. I am a happy CSA member in our second year with this program. I write about Roots and Shoots Farm out of love. The love of sharing the good news of using a CSA basket as a food source. The love of sharing the visuals of great certified organic food. The love of sharing new and different recipes using our new and different food.

We have developed a great respect for Robin Turner and his team. We have grown to trust them to keep our dining room table healthy and full.

If you want to learn more about the farm, the contact information for Roots and Shoots Farm is:
ROBIN TURNER
robin@rootsandshootsfarm.com
www.rootsandshootsfarm.com
613.897.8975

Wheely Slow Cooking Tour Concert and Potluck at Roots and Shoots Farm

Tuesday evening Roots and Shoots Farm and Waratah Downs Organic Farm jointly hosted a potluck and provided a concert venue for the cross-Canada Wheely Slow Cooking Tour.

Singer songwriters Shera Kelly and Julia Spitale are from Vancouver. They have rounded out the trio with Jessica Gates, a freelance video producer who is documenting the tour.

How do they describe the Wheely Slow Cooking Tour?

"Two crazy musical gypsies from the city are touring Canada July 25 - Sept 17, 2011 in support of sustainable farming by performing, cooking and volunteering on farms. On the blog you can watch their interviews with the farmers and footage of the adventure!"

It was no surprise that Roots and Shoots Farm of Manotick Station co-hosted with Waratah Downs of Iroquois. They are both very committed to organic farming. Roots and Shoots was recently certified but Waratah Downs has been certified since 2000.





Colleen shared her remarkable organic corn. Waratah Downs is the only farm now growing organic corn in the area.





We were one of the early arrivals but eventually the tables were groaning with delicious dishes from the participating guests.



Once the crowd settled with their first helping, I managed a shot of my Greek Salad with Mini New Potatoes. This 2006 LCBO recipe by Marilyn Bentz-Crowley was shared with me by a special foodie friend, BS, who has been tearing it up in the kitchen Ramsay style lately. No fear. He just goes for it.



For my dish I used produce from my latest CSA basket. The peppers. The red potatoes. The cucumbers. Some of the garlic.

Although the bowls were just about licked clean, no one went away hungry. The mint Nanaimo bars were a particular hit with Julia Spitale.



Thanks to our great hosts for this special event.


Robin Turner, Proprietor and Farm Manager at Roots and Shoots. (Loving the organic corn!)


Jess Weatherhead, Farm Manager at Roots and Shoots. (Talking to Jessica Gates, freelance video producer from the Wheely Slow Cooking Tour team.)


Danny B, Expert Veggie Farmer at Roots and Shoots.


Colleen Ross, Owner of Waratah Downs Organic Farm. (A farm she works with her husband, John Weatherhead.)

Thanks to the wonder of science and many extension cords, Julia and Shera gave a full post supper show, sharing their own brand of music that had us thinking Lilith Fair. Some heartache. Some country. Some personal insights. Some cheeky, clapping and toe-tappin'.









The skies threatened.



And did 'sweat' for a moment.



But we managed to stay dry enough for the show to go on.



Shera Kelly's 'Cowboy Vagabond', is a song she wrote at the request of her father, is still humming away in my brain. Take a listen.



And here is a taste of Julia Spitale with her song, 'Simple Life'.



There were no organic marshmallows for the post concert bonfire, but we gathered anyway to dry out, enjoy the warmth of its glow and share a poke at the branches.



One strong impression for me from the evening was realizing how glad I am to be hitched to a CSA farm that is organically certified. There are many local farms selling local produce. But few are organic. Many still use the pesticides we are trying to get away from. Last summer when we began CSAing, I was originally just looking to shop 'local'. Our choice to go with Roots and Shoots Farm was random. We saw their ad at Bridgehead and they had shares available. I realized on Tuesday, that I now know I want more than local. I want organic too.

And so ended another great night on the farm. Food. Music. Community.

Best of luck to Julia, Shera and Jessica on their trek back West.

It's Hard to Eat Out With This Kind of Eating In

Lunch today was yet another version of our favourite warm summer pasta dish.

Our wonderful produce from Roots and Shoots Farm makes it easy to pull it all together. This time, we used the following items from our last CSA food basket - garlic, red scallions and red Russian kale.

As well, our Yellow Perfection tomato plant from Vicki's Veggies Farm near Picton is full of bounty and added bursts of bright, sweet, sunny tomato flavour.

It's hard to eat out with this kind of eating in.



Heirloom Tomatoes, Red Russian Kale, Scallion, Garlic, Pesto Penne Pasta
Serves 3

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 red scallions, diced (include healthy parts of the greens)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili flakes
2 red heirloom tomatoes
5 yellow heirloom tomatoes
10 leaves of red Russian kale
salt to season
150 grams penne pasta (my favourite dry pasta brand is Barilla)
1/4 cup pesto
3/4 cup of parmigiano-reggiano, grated
shavings of parmigiano-reggiano
toasted pine nuts

Prepare the ingredients. Dice the scallions. Mince the garlic. I used my preserve from the fridge that is sitting in olive oil. Chop the tomatoes. Remove the stems from the kale. Rough chop the kale leaves. Grate and shave the cheese.

Prepare the penne pasta until el dante. When it is drained, return to the pot and keep the lid on to keep it warm until the sauce is done.

Heat oil in a fry pan. Sauté the scallions until soft. Add the minced garlic and chili flakes. Continue to sauté for another 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes have warmed, add the chopped kale. Sprinkle with salt. Add a bit of water to the pan to help steam the kale if there does not appear to be much liquid from the tomatoes.

When the kale has just wilted and cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Make sure you do not over cook the kale. The kale should be limp but still be a bright green.

Put the pesto on the pasta and stir to cover. Add the vegetable sauce to the pasta and stir. Add 1/2 cup or more of the parmigiano-reggiano to the pot and stir.

Serve in warmed pasta bowls. Sprinkle with parmigiano-reggiano and toasted pine nuts.



Roots and Shoots Farm
1004 Manotick Station Road
Manotick, Ontario
robin@rootsandshootsfarm.com
Website: www.rootsandshootsfarm.com
Facebook: Roots and Shoots Farm
Twitter: RootsShootsFarm

Vicki's Veggies
81 Morrison Pt Rd
Milford, Ontario
613-476-7241
Website: www.VickisVeggies.com
Facebook: Vicki's Veggies Farm
Twitter: VickisVeggies