Winter Pickup Saturday, 2/6/10

Vegetables safe under row cover in the greenhouse.

Vegetables safe under row cover in the greenhouse.

Blue Moon Winter Pickup returns this Saturday, February 6.

Everything went splendidly two Saturday’s ago, so we’re going ahead with the program. The only sad news is that Prairie Fruits is out of cheese for a while. They will be back at the end of the month.

For details about how the whole thing works, please read the post from the 1/23 Pickup.

A couple of reminders:

1. We are going to close the survey on Wednesday night this week. That will make our Thursday harvest easier.

2. When you come to get your veggies, nothing is pre-bagged. That gives you the chance to choose and weigh up your own vegetables. It is hard to get an exact weight on veggies, so just try to get it as close as possible and when you bring us your bags, we’ll weigh them to get the exact price.

3. The best way to order is to receive the survey as an email. To get our emails, just send us a message at bluemoonfarmurbana@gmail.com

Here’s the link to this week’s survey:

Click here to order

Winter Pickup Saturday January 23rd

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It’s finally here, the Blue Moon Winter Pickup, starting this Saturday, January 23.  Next Pickup will be in two weeks.   We’ve decided to try something a little more organized than the regular farmer’s market,  we are using a service called SurveyMonkey, which allows you to place an individual order by filling out our survey. Not only are we offering Blue Moon veggies, but Prairie Fruits Farm is also offering a variety of cheeses. Here’s how it works:  You get the survey as an email, which tells you what is available for the upcoming Saturday delivery. You fill it out and send it back to us before Thursday noon. This means you just click “Done” at the end of the survey. Then you show up between 9-12 on Saturday at the delivery location, which is in the indoor eating area outside the Common Ground Food Co-op in Lincoln Square Mall. You get there by going out the back door of the Co-op, or entering the mall in the Health Alliance area, east side of the mall. You will pay for your orders at that time.

Important reminders:

1.  Winter harvest is trickier than summer harvest in that it takes longer to harvest, and we have less of it. Also, it’s darn cold out here. Therefore, if you place an order, PLEASE PICK UP YOUR ORDER. We don’t want to harvest too much, and lose that produce, and we don’t want to harvest too little, and incur your disappointment. You must return the survey before noon on Thursday, or we can’t get you your order. We will be using the survey numbers to know how much to harvest.

2.  The survey itself should be self-explanatory and simple to use, but let us know if the questions are confusing in any way. The only question you must answer is the first one, in which you provide your name. Then you can order whatever you want.

3. Please write down your order and bring it, to keep things moving. Or else we are going to have to thumb through a cumbersome order sheet searching for your name while your fellow customers are tapping their toes. You pay when you have the veggies in hand.

4.  Please bear in mind that we are trying something new, so feedback is welcome, and we might have to tweak the system in the future.

5.  If all goes well we will do this again in two weeks….

6.  Saturday’s Produce is available only for those who place an order.  This is not a Market.

7.  If you want to receive regular emails  about how to get Blue Moon Farm produce, and are not already on the list,      please send us an email at bluemoonfarmurbana@gmail.com.  Put in the subject heading, “put me on the list”


Click here to order

Make Hot Pot

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This is a really fun way to visit with friends.   Look on line for real Chinese  hot pots or use your fondue pot to heat broth used for cooking.  Prepare broth, dipping sauces and chop veggies and meats you will eat in advance.

  • Prepare a vegetable or chicken broth with a generous or possibly even excessive amount garlic and ginger.  I add in some MEMMI noodle soup base, shoaking cooking wine, and light soy sauce.  Top with chopped green onions, cilantro.
  • Cube tofu, set rice vermicelli noodles in a bowl,  clean and slice shiitake mushrooms, separate white oyster mushrooms
  • Clean and separate leaves that are hand sized (4-6 inches) napa cabbage leaves, bok  choy, any type of greens including spinach and arugula, quarter and slice carrot, leeks, potatoes
  • Very thinly slice eye of round steak, pork or chicken
  • Chopped cilantro and green onions

Red chili sauce

In a food processor blend until smooth:

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ¼ cup garlic bean paste
  • ¼ cup red chili sauce
  • 3 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup Shaoxing (rice) wine or sake
  • 3 tablespoons imported, roasted sesame oil
  • 1-2 tablespoons water

Garlic dipping sauce

  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated garlic
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Go to Lincolin Square for the Inside Story

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Roasted turnips

IMG_2470.JPGClean turnips, remove tops and cut in halves or quarters to make approximately 1.25 inch diameter pieces.  Coat with olive oil and bake in a ceramic baking dish and bake for 15-30 minutes until soft (350- 400 degrees).  The time and temperature can be adjusted to cook along with other things (squash or potatoes).   Salt and pepper IMG_2470.JPGto taste.

If you bake along with other veggies (carrots, potatoes, onions) the turnips will be very soft by the time the carrots are cooked.  This is good, but if you want them to be ‘done’ (remain intact) at the same time you can partially cook the potatoes and carrots in the microwave before combining and baking.  Again, clean, cut into pieces of a similar size,  place in a ceramic dish, cover and then nuke for 4-6 minutes depending on the quantity.