Alton Brown's Tapenade, posted by Melinda

Tapenade is a French spread made largely of olives, though other things can be added to vary the flavor and texture. I'll provide links to other recipes. But this one would be good w/ Pan Bagnat.

Tapenade (source)

Alton Brown's Tapenade

• 8 oz pitted, mixed olives [or just use pitted Kalamatas]
• 2 anchovy fillets [if you don't eat anchovies, leave them out and definitely use Kalamatas or other salty olives]
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp capers
• 2 or 3 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Rinse the olives in cool water. Put all ingredients into a food processor and process, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl, until it becomes a coarse paste, ~1-2 min. That's it!

For a tapenade with no anchovies, click here.

For Roasted Eggplant Tapenade, click here.

For a roasted tomato and olive tapenade, click here.

Vegetable Pan Bagnat, reposted by Melinda

We have almost all the ingredients for this at the Farm.  And it's SOOO good--and easy! The sandwich is "bathed" (bagnat) in a vinagrette dressing (never mayo) and is a specialty of Nice, France. You can use a baguette, one of Jerry Sheehan's country loaves, or kaiser-type rolls; traditionally the sandwich has anchovies and tuna added. You can add that, or do it as here, with hard-boiled eggs, or even stay vegan!

Pan Bagnat (source)

Vegetarian Pan Bagnat

• 1 medium or two smaller eggplants, sliced 1/4-in. thick
• 1/2 lb string beans, ends trimmed
• 1/2 cup roasted sweet peppers, cut in 1/2-in. strips (for how to roast your own peppers, see http://localfoods.about.com/od/peppers/r/Roasted-Red-Peppers.htm)
• 3 hard-boiled eggs,sliced
• 2 & 1/2 tbsp tapenade olive spread/dip (buy or make your own; see recipe above)
• 1 baguette or one of Jerry Sheehan's French country loaves or several smaller rolls, halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar [or more to taste]
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 & 1/2 tsp finely chopped onions [or more to taste]
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp sugar or honey

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a baking sheet. Put eggplant slices on sheet in single layer & coat w/ oil. Season w/ salt/pepper. Bake 10 min. Turn & bake 10 min. more, till tender & browned. Cook string beans 5-7 min., or till tender. Drain, rinse in cold water, & dry w/ towels. Make vinaigrette: blend olive oil, vinegar, parsley, onions, mustard, & sugar in blender till smooth. Pull out most of the soft bready center from the baguette [save to make bread crumbs or to thicken a sauce or as a treat for the birds!]. Spread tapenade on the bottom half of bread. Brush w/ vinaigrette, add green beans atop that, pressing down firmly. Lay sweet pepper slices on top, then sliced eggs, then eggplant. Brush inside of baguette top w/ a goodly amount of vinaigrette & set bread atop eggplant slices. Press sandwich together & chill 1-4 hours. Cut into 4 servings & serve w/ vinaigrette.  (Vegetarian Times, July/Aug 2006)

Red Hill Farm, Week #15, by Angela

This is a Full Share and Bi-Weekly Tuesday Pickup week.

Josh will be in the share room this week to assist you. If you have a stash of plastic bags at home, we'd greatly appreciate your help refilling the plastic-bag bin in the share room--thanks.

2nd ANNUAL TOMATO GLEANING--THIS YEAR DURING PICK-UP HOURS  :)
The tomato rows in the field will be open for gleaning during pick-up times. These are the rows that are on your left as you enter the farm, so you will have to walk back up there after you've parked your car. Please do not park your car even temporarily on the driveway to pick or load your tomatoes--it's a violation of fire safety codes. Please also note that this gleaning does not include the tomatoes in the U-pick area. 

Much like our gleaning event last year, you may take as many as you'd like, to help us clean off the plants before pulling up the stakes. So bring your bags, buckets, boxes, and brawn to lug off as much as you'd like. Remember that green tomatoes will ripen on the counter. The rows will remain open for gleaning during pickup hours this week and possibly next week. (The neighboring eggplant and pepper rows will be marked off; please DO NOT go down those aisles as we are still harvesting from those plants for parts of the share).

Samuel Palmer, Ruth Returning from Gleaning, ca 1828,
Victoria & Albert Museum, London (source) According to Palmer scholars,
"the powerful figure of Ruth the Gleaner [symbolizes] the fecundity of
the land."

For your menu planning this week, you may anticipate:

• Salad greens
• Elba potatoes
• Garlic
• Sweet White Onions
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Heirloom Tomatoes

Cheers from Angela!

Tomato Panzanella with Ricotta, reposted by Melinda

This is an Italian bread salad--oh, those thrifty Italians!  You can substitute sliced mozzarella for ricotta, or tofu/vegan cheese if you're vegan. It's a great way to use leftover bread and to make a tomato salad substantial enough for a meal! And so easy!

Panzanella (photo source)

Tomato Panzanella with Ricotta

• 1/2 lb day-old, crusty bread, cut or torn into 1-in. pieces
• 2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-in. pieces
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp red-wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• coarse salt & ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn if large
• 1 container (15 oz) of ricotta

Preheat oven to 375. On a rimmed baking sheet, spread bread in a single layer and bake until dry and light golden brown, ~20 min. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, vinegar, and oil and season w/ salt/pepper. Add toasted bread & basil & toss to combine. Let sit 20-30 min. to allow bread to soak up liquid. Divide salad evenly among 4 bowls & top each with some ricotta, a drizzle of oil, & season to taste with salt & pepper.  (recipe source) 

Welcome to Week #14, by Angela

Hello, Red Hill Farm members.  This is a Full Share and Bi-Weekly Friday Share Pickup week.

Harvesting beans, Tacuinum Santitatis, Paris, 15th c.

Brendan will be in the share room to greet and assist you this week. Please ask if you need help finding anything. U-Pick continues to boom; make sure you save yourself oodles of time to harvest all the goodies, including green beans again! (Please return the green quart containers to the share room & transfer your picked items to a bag or your own containers--this way we can share and reuse the quart containers with everyone.)

Our tractor is still out of service. The starter was successfully replaced only to discover that the water pump & fan belt need additional attention before the tractor is operable. With much gratitude to our merciful and generous neighbor, we will be borrowing Hillside Farm's tractor this coming Thursday to turn the soil and, God willing, finally transplant our fall crops.

I also wanted to fill you in on the state of our berries (both blackberries and raspberries). First, if you have noticed any small white worms (most obvious when the berries are placed in a clear container), I believe they are the larvae of the spotted-wing Drosophila (much like a fruit fly). Below are two sources of further information about this pest, including information about how to improve the quality of your U-picked fruit at home.

Organically, the only method strongly endorsed for treating the Drosophilae is the use of OMRI-approved insecticides containing spinosad. According to Jack DeAngelis, the OSU Extension Entomologist, the active ingredients in spinosad are complex organic compounds made by soil microbes. Spinosad is a broad-spectrum pesticide but is only active if ingested or contacted while in liquid form; thus it has little residual effect on most beneficial species. Dow no longer has this product available (under the name "Entrust Naturalyte") and is by most accounts less effective after the raspberries have bloomed. We will not be using any insecticides in the berries this season.

I encourage you to harvest under-ripe fruit and help us knock off the overripe fruit to reduce populations within the canes.

The second raspberry note is that the two rows closest to the barn have rust. This is a fungus that occurs with humid, damp conditions (such as this entire season). We've been removing and aerating the canes to prevent further infestation. Berries that may be affected will show an orange spore spot. They are fine to eat, but their storage life is very short.

Hopefully this has not scared all of you out of the raspberry patch! I just wanted you to be informed and to make your choices from this knowledge. I am doing the best I can to ensure the finest crops for you, but some things are beyond my control.

[Editorial note from Melinda: most of the years I've belonged to the Farm, the raspberries have developed rust toward the end of the summer. It's just a fact that we live in a humid summer-climate area. I love raspberries so much that I've picked, washed, and frozen them with little rust spots every year, then pureed them later with some sugar and used them in smoothies or jams--they were FINE and delicious! Ditto this year with the Drosophila raspberries.]

FOR YOUR MENU PLANNING, this week you may anticipate:

• tomatoes
• sweet white onions
• German Butterball potatoes
• Garlic
• Red Bok Choi
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Zephyr summer squash

Some further information here on Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), Biology and Life Cycle (click here for the full essay)

"SWD looks like the typical vinegar fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, of genetics fame. Female vinegar fruit flies lay eggs in damaged or overripe fruit and, hence, are mainly a nuisance. In contrast, female SWD can lay their eggs in ripe, marketable fruit, leading to direct damage of fruit by the larvae...."

How to deal with SWD fruit:  Cool berries immediately. Chilling berries immediately after picking to 32 or 33 degrees F will slow or stop the development of larvae & eggs in the fruit. U-pick customers should be encouraged to follow this strategy to improve fruit quality at home.

There are some important cultural controls that growers can adopt to minimize the buildup of populations. These include removing overripe fruit, as well as wild host plants such as wild grape, raspberry, blackberry, etc.  from nearby fields, and ensuring a timely crop harvest.  (See attached fact sheet from Michigan State University by clicking here.)

***GREAT TIP FROM FARM MEMBER CARRIE RHODES!!!!***

"I notice that the worms appear regardless of how fast you refrigerate the fruit. If they appear you can get rid of most of them by soaking them in a bowl with water and a substantial amount of apple cider vinegar. It seems to kill most of the worms. Just a thought."

Thanks, Carrie!

Here's to What Is Good, by Angela

"Biodynamics can be summed up as:  Putting one's energy into supporting the good, rather than fighting the bad."  ~Wolf D. Storl, Culture and Horticulture:  a Philosophy of Gardening

Zephyr Summer Squash

The Zephyr summer squashes (see above) went into the ground two weeks late and were leggy, brittle plants. They got blasted by a heat wave then waves of rain. To my great surprise and delight, they grew strong and came timely in the decline of the Patty Pan squashes.

Digging Potatoes

Monday's routine has included the digging of a row of potatoes for the week's share (see above). The crew and work-shares have become quite keen on how to harvest the hidden treasures. The red potatoes were initially another variety that were meant to be only small, golf-ball size. I had forgotten that the varieties were substituted, so now I smile from ear to ear to see a larger baking-size potato from the reds (see below).

Brendan with the Red Maria Potatoes

The asparagus patch is a long-term vision, as it will be another two seasons before a real harvest, but the vigor and health of the plants is excellent, as seen in the photo below of Josh next to the plants at the height of their frond season.

Josh & the asparagus fronds

The hoop houses were in dire need of some rest and relaxation.The first hoop house you see on your left when you come into the farm was sown in nitrogen-fixing cover crops this spring. It has now been straw mulched to maintain a good thick environment for healing and to allow plant materials to decay, thus enriching the topsoil for a great spring early crop to grow inside this great, season-extending invention.

Josh & Molly Spreading Straw in the Hoophouse