• 1 chicken leg and thigh                        $2.25
• 1/4lb radish slaw                                 $ . 50
• 1 cup roasted veg mix                          $1.00

Grand total for a meal with a healthy protein – $3.75 – less than a kid’s meal at any of the fast food joints.  And if I’d been thinking, I’d have deboned the thigh, accumulating chicken bones for stock later.  A nice 2 cup side spinach salad would have added about $1, still totaling less than $5, cheaper than a latte at your favorite coffee shop.

Winter Thaw

When Farmer Paul was growing up on the family’s dairy farm, his Dad would always be ready for the January thaw.  The one or two days during the cold month when temperatures would hit between 35 and 40 degrees. Those were the days when everyone worked outside to get frozen driveways, barnyards and gutters cleaned out.  The scraping, chopping and loading happened with the warm weather while the hauling to fields with the tractors occurred once the ground was again frozen solid.

Yesterday, Farmer Paul had his winter thaw experience.  Instead of cleaning barnyards, he was out frost seeding pastures with clover.  The concept is that by getting the seed on the ground when it’s frozen, it will lay their waiting for the wet warm spring when it will germinate, bury it’s root into the field and start growing.  Never before have we been able to frost seed this early, usually it’s later in March.  It was perfect day to get the chicken pastures seeded.  Next week, we start seeding the tomatoes for the hoophouses.  In the meantime, the spinach continues to be sweet with the below freezing nights.

• Kitchen Express by Mark Bittman – This is the guy from the New York Times Food Section with a number of really good cookbooks and ideas for meals (his most recent bestseller is How to Cook Everything).  The cookbook is arranged by season and presented in a very non-traditional style.
• The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift.  Rossetto Kasper does a weekly food radioshow on Public Radio.  The pictures are a nice addition, but the easy to read recipes with commonly found ingredients make suppers delicious and satisfying.   I can’t wait to see her new cookbook – How to Eat Weekends.
• Brownies from Good Housekeeping – because every 15-year-old teenager should spend vacation trying out different brownie recipes, allowing the rest of the family to be the taste testing guinea pigs J.

Everyone on the farm has been preparing and planning for this year-end share, from last January when Farmer Paul put the farm’s seed order and planting schedule, to the harvest and packshed crew as together they went over lists of items for the share, scheduling harvest dates and procedures followed by meticulous washing and packing plans.  The folks who staff the pick-up locations for your share pulled out their notes from last year, tweaking procedures and setups so that picking up your share is as pleasant and uncomplicated as possible.  It might be one big day for you in retrieving your share, but it is a culmination of many hours of planning and hard work by everyone on the farm to get to this point.

And congratulations to the family, friends and loved ones who will surround your table as you join together sharing in meals prepared from your fall storage share.  I can see the surprised faces of small faces as they delight in the oddly shaped carrots or snap the brussel sprouts off the stalk.  The savoring joy of parents and grandparents as they bite into roasted beets or sample the creamy mashed potatoes made with the German Butterball potatoes.  And your own satisfaction as you heat up the kitchen, whether it’s making a soup and salad for lunch, a fresh vegetable platter for an upcoming football game or that full-out holiday feast for the holidays.

Besides all the good eating and knowing that your fall storage share is delicious and nutritious, congratulations on making an economic choice that matters.  We know that it’s so much easier to go to the grocery store to do your shopping.  The hours are more flexible and can be more convenient and the range of produce is much more extensive (we have no bananasJ).  But when you make your eating choices local and organic, you are also sending a message about what you believe is important.  You are saying that you prefer the best flavor and nutrition over convenience, that you’d rather use your dollars to support local farmers who not only take better care of the land, but employ local people to run the farm.  You are saying that you want to see the face of those who grow your food, ask questions and get real answers, That you want a relationship with the local food economy, not simply bring a bag of highly packaged food items home.

Thank you for that confidence. Thank you for putting your money where your beliefs are.  And thank you for eating locally grown organic produce.  It makes a difference in the world, one meal at a time.

JenEhr CSA Share fall share newsletter 2011

Quick note on the German Butterball Potato- a round to oblong tuber with lightly netted golden skin that wraps around deep yellow flesh. Slightly mealy, this beauty is superb for everything – frying, baking, mashing, soups – you name it. Resistant to scab and viruses; some field resistance to late blight, but susceptible to rhizoctonia. Large upright vigorous plant with white blossoms.

You should not be surprised by two upcoming emails:

• JenEhr Season-End Survey – look for it in your email box within the next 7 days.  Please take the ten minutes required to fill it out.  We really appreciate your input, what we did well and how we can improve.
• 2012 Season Sign Up Form – I’m putting the final touches on the enrollment form for the 2012 season.  We’ll be offering a few bonus incentives for early sign up, including the popular oopsie pass and a discounted price.  Signing up by January 1^st would greatly benefit the financial stability of the farm as we order seeds and potting mix, make needed year-end equipment repairs and restock the box and supplies inventories.

And finally, Farmer Paul and I would like to extend two big thank you’s: First to you our members.  During the season you have been our comfort and motivation each day.  Every decision made on the farm, from what to plant and when to harvest is with you in mind.  We thank you for allowing us to be a part of your daily meals and for trusting us to feed your families.

And to the year end staff – Thank you.  It’s been a tough year at the farm, with many a hot hard day.  Your generous spirits and hard work allowed us all to eat well.  From farm crew and farm chef to farmers’ market staff and CSA pick up help, we say thank you for a job well done.  We look forward to having you back for another season in 2012, after you’ve had a much deserved rest.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Arugula
• Celery
• Leeks
• Hakuri Turnips
• Celeriac
• Beets
• Butterball Potatoes
• Winter Squash
• Brussel Sprouts
• Garlic

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 22

One would think that with just a couple weeks of harvests remaining, we’d start to coast downhill, taking things a little easier, maybe even sleeping a little longer in the morning.  But alas, that is not the case here at JenEhr.  While the days shorten, the work of getting in the rest of the winter storage vegetables is hot and heavy.  At the twice-weekly meeting this morning we laid out plans for not only harvesting the weekly items, but harvesting potatoes, beets, celeriac, leeks and brussel sprouts.  Fitting in between those big harvests are the planting of garlic, rolling up the plastic on the 2.1 acres of three-season Haygrove houses, continued fall tillage and planning for the mulching of strawberries.  See, you’re tired just reading the list from the meeting J.

And there is the preparation for the winter jobs, such as getting equipment undercover, but in the right order so each piece can be pulled out for maintenance and repairs.  Continued watering and TLC for the hoophouse radishes, greens, fennel and spinach vies for Farmer Paul’s attention as well.

In the office, I’m starting the work for the Fall Storage Share (still about 10 shares still available, but you need to bring the check for the fall share – $120 – to your next CSA pick up).  Also putting the finishing touches on the turkey orders, matching turkey weights with each person’s request (yep, still have some turkey’s remaining, please bring your turkey order form along with deposit to your next CSA share pick up, drop at the farmers markets or mail in today).

At the same time we’d like to encourage you think about signing up for the 2012 CSA season as early as possible.  The 2011 season was a tough one for the farm because of weather and fewer CSA shares than in years past.  Many of our CSA members didn’t sign up this year amid the turmoil over the budget bills and unease about what their paychecks would look like later in the year.  The 2012 prices will remain the same, but early sign up helps us better plan for the 2012 season along with helping the cash flow of the farm during the leaner winter months when we’re still writing large checks for seed orders, potting mix, winter macherinery repairs and staff working through the winter.  The 2012 enrollment form will be up on the website December 1^st and you’ll receive an email remainder with .pdf enrollment attachment about the same time.

Until then, it’s back to work, a stack of things in front of me and several boxes of garlic needs to be sorted and separated so we can plant it next week.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Mizuna
• Spinach
• Celery
• Carrots – 5lb
• Leeks
• Hakuri Turnips
• Sweet Potatoes
• Red Potatoes
• Blue Ballet Squash
• Brussel Sprouts

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 21

The warmer October days, with cold cold nights continue to make the arugula and spinach sweeter and sweeter.  The two are great together in a salad or sautéed atop eggs for breakfast.  Make a big pot of cooked greens with them along with the turnip greens. Alton Brown offers up a quick and easy greens recipe.  Keep this on hand, substituting any of the greens in your two remaining shares and from the fall share to make this delicious side dish: 1 quart water, 1 1/2 pounds smoked turkey legs, 2 pounds stemmed collard or turnip greens, 1 teaspoon salt, plus extra if desired, 1 teaspoon sugar

Place the water and turkey legs in an 8-quart pot over medium-high heat. Cover, bring to a boil, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, remove any large stems from the greens and wash them thoroughly; do so in a sink with at least 5 inches of water. Moving the leaves around in the water and allowing them to sit for a few minutes to allow the sand or dirt to fall to the bottom of the sink. Once clean, chop pieces in half. You should have 2 pounds of greens once they are stemmed. (Weigh the greens after stemming, but before washing.)

Once the turkey legs have simmered for 10 minutes, add the greens, salt and sugar, reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer gently for 45 minutes or until the greens are tender. Move the greens around every 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt, if desired. Serve immediately.

There are two more CSA shares in the regular season.  It has been such a delight feeding you this season.  As we come to the end, you’ll hear more information about signing up for the 2012 season.  We ask you to consider signing up early this year to ease the financial difficulties of the year.  Prices will remain the same for 2012, with an oopsie pass for those who sign up by January 1^st.  I’ll have the 2012 sign up form on the website by the end of the week and will include it with the next two CSA emailed newsletters.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Arugula
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Carrots – 5lb
• Fennel
• Hakuri Turnips
• Sweet Potatoes
• Buttercup Squash

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 20

Now, don’t freak out!  Carrots store really well in the refrigerator.  And the size of the carrots does not correlate to taste, texture or woodiness.  The carrots in your share this week are big, juicy and delicious.  Moreover, regardless of the color (yellow or orange) they are loaded with lots of beta-carotene and vitamin A (430% of your daily allowance).

As Paul and I sat down to figure out the coming harvest, especially for winter storage, we counted beautiful beets (red, Chioggia and golden), celeriac, leeks, winter squash, turnips and winter radishes on the bounty list.  On the sparse list – brussel sprouts (don’t cry Sarah M). It’s a tough year for brussel sprouts, the cold weather in the spring affecting germination and the hot dry summer affecting growth and disease.  I’m a little worried about the winter spinach, as only within the past two weeks has the soil in the hoophouses cooled off enough to germinate the spinach seed.

It feels really good to be going into the winter with some great produce bountiful in the field and a solid fall harvest schedule.  Besides the final four weeks of your CSA share, you’ll find a bountiful fall storage share (still a handful of shares available, fill out CSA enrollment form at website) and months and months of great eating at our two winter farmers’ markets – Madison and State Fair Park in Milwaukee.

While my Mom packs up her small garden, having pulled all the vegetables and hard covered her perennial plants for the expected first snow this week (northwestern Wisconsin), here at JenEhr we’re still going strong – both root/storage vegetables and greens.  Paul just pulled the most beautiful eggplant from the hoophouses, with at least one more harvest of tomatoes and peppers on the way.

And this week – broccoli, big beautiful heads of Farmer Paul’s favorite to grow – he loves growing brassicas with broccoli first, romanesco second and cauliflower a very close third.  Enjoy the bounty these next few weeks as we amaze you with what the farm and crew can do for you.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Carrots – 5lb
• Celery
• Fennel
• Hakuri Turnips
• Yellow Onions
• Red Kuri Squash

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 19



And while the “storage” root crops make their way to the coolers, there are still lots of great green –above ground- vegetables coming into their peak.  The mesculan mix, cauliflower, romanesco, celery, fennel and later this week even broccoli.  We’re loving these warm days for all the harvest and harvest and harvest.

And while it feels like Farmer Paul is only in harvest mode, he sneaks away for an hour or two to plant spinach in the hoophouses for winter, keep the water running on the fennel and leeks inside the haygroves, get fields ready for garlic planting and make lists of other field work jobs that need doing before the first snowfalls. It is a time of year where we seem to have more energy as we go about our daily tasks.

Perhaps it helps that the days are so pleasantly warm, sunny and just beautiful.  Perhaps we gain extra strength from the cool nights and better sleep. Maybe it is simply the cycle of life, that we have a burst of energy as we prepare for winter, mimicking the nut gathering squirrels, doing it all before the weather ends it all.  On the other hand, perhaps (as Paul believes) it’s the winning confluence of the Badgers, Packers and Brewers J.  Whatever the reason, we find we are eating lighter, have more energy and even more enthusiasm this time of year.

I personally believe that the season has finally turned around.  Until these past few weeks, the growing season has been one of the worst ever, for JenEhr and most other vegetable farms in the region.  While it seems a distant memory, the cold wet springs followed by a very long hot and extremely dry summer created problems with everything and made additional work for everyone here at the farm.  So we’re happy when finally cauliflower, romanesco and soon broccoli make their way to maturity.  We’re tickled pink that the soil is cool enough to germinate seeds and that we’re not having to run irrigation 12 to 18 hours each day (yes, that’s each day, 6 to 7 days per week).

So enjoy the fall weather, gather energy from the great food coming your way and prepare for the languid days of winter, where mother nature forces us to sleep longer and rest with the earth.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Mesculan Mix
• Celeriac
• Red Potatoes
• Romanesco
• Carrots
• Blue Ballet Squash
• Celery
• Fennel
• Yellow Onions

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 18

So first, my compliments for taking on locally grown organic food grown and eaten when seasonal.  That is a huge challenge that while difficult at first, can positively change the way you eat for the rest of your lives.  (First year CSA members, please note that the first year is the hardest – most folks report that year two is much easier and by year three, eating from your CSA share is not only enjoyable but as easy as shopping at the grocery store).

And this week, I’m going to challenge you even more.  There are some fantastic, off-beat things in your share this week.  Nothing you haven’t seen before, but some new vegetables that will give you an opportunity to stretch your cooking wings.

Start with the radishes – People tell me they either love or hate radishes – period.  So this week, try a thin slice of the beauty heart and black Spanish radish.  Then peel off the skins and try again.  Thinly sliced or grated raw is super.  If still not your cup of tea, roast the radishes, grate and sauté or try the Japanese one pot hot pot recipe in this week’s newsletter.

As a matter of fact, take a quick trip to a nearby Asian food store and shop for a few of the ingredients in the recipe.  The Japanese one pot cooking is so restorative during the colder months and very easy.  While it seems foreign, the Japanese hot pot is simply an Asian version of the Midwestern stew or soup.

And that romanesco in your share this week – take a few minutes and gaze upon its beauty, set it in the middle of the kitchen table and ask your kids to write a story, poem or haiku about the vegetable.  Then steam it up, add it to pasta or just break off pieces and eat raw, while reading your creative pieces.

For 14 days, Farmer Paul and I are reducing our sugar and crab intake, a reset of our digestive systems in preparation of the winter months (maybe just preparing for Thanksgiving dinnerJ).  This morning’s breakfast included two pasture-raised eggs, one slice pastured bacon, a sauté medley of peppers and celeriac beside a big crispy serving of hash delicate.  Yep, I grated a raw delicate squash, and cooked it just like hash browns.  So crispy, sweet and a nice substitute for the potatoes.  Thinly sliced radishes crispy from the refrigerator and romanesco florets work as mid-morning and –afternoon snacks.  Big salads and roasted chicken for lunch or supper.

Try something new this week, take chances in the kitchen this week, shop for a new spice, page through more cookbooks and most of all – have fun, play with your food.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Salad Mix
• Leeks
• Golden Potatoes
• Romanesco
• Carrots
• Radish Mix
• Delicata Squash
• Celery
• Yellow Onions

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 17

What the predictions of frost this week means is the end of some of our favorites, like basil and maybe even some of the tomatoes if they’re grown outside.  Temperatures in the low 30’s will ding the beans and frost the tips of your most delicate flowers.  On the up side, a quick dip in the temperature may kill some insects and nip some of the annual weeds.

What will happen over the next several days here at the farm starts with a mad harvest of a few things – beans for sure.  For the past week, Farmer Paul has been closing up the hoophouses at night, keeping the tomatoes and basil toasty warm, then opening them up again after the sun has warmed temperatures up ten degrees.  He’ll continue to plant winter spinach for harvest December through April harvest and proceed with the fall/winter hoophouse planting schedule.

Most of the root vegetables should do just fine in the ground, even if their leaves get slightly frosted.  Soil is a great insulator, keeping the soil temperatures above the frosty air temperatures.

The good news is that like all other autumns, we’ll have several weeks of beautiful fall “Indian Summer” days after this frost and the one that normally occurs at the full moon in early October. Perfect for family weekends and being outside watching football and soccer matches. The cold snap might even lessen the pollen count that has most of us sneezing with a slight allegerie sniffle.

Monday (today) September 12^th is a full moon, with the next full moon on October 11^th.  Those are the days that we worry about for frost.  A full moon on its own does not contribute significantly to temperature. However, overnight temperatures are often colder with a full moon because there are few or no clouds to trap and hold in the day’s warmth (like how a blanket works). When the sky is clear after sunset, the day’s heat radiates to space, chilling the air near the surface, increasing the chances of frost, especially in the fall months.

What’s Good to Eat
This week’s box:

• Frilly Mustard
• Mini Plum Tomatoes
• Roma Tomatoes
• Eggplant
• Italian Frying Peppers
• Celeriac
• Beets w/greens
• Kohlrabi

JenEhr CSA Share newsletter 14