We’ve got lots of fresh, green veggies this week. In addition to the usual suspects of spinach and cilantro, we’ve got Red Russian, White Russian, Green, and Red kale,Swiss chard, collards, perpetual spinach, parsley, carrots and many potato varieties for this Saturday.
The pickup/market location will be at Prairie Fruits farm, from 9-12: directions to Prairie Fruits. Crops are limited, we’re not sending an order form this week, so show up early to get the good stuff.
Prairie Fruits Farm is also offering great breakfasts from 9-12 on Saturdays (delicious, according to several customers who raved about it last Saturday) as well as baby goat viewings. Produce from Tomahnous farm will also be there.
We’ll be back at Lincoln Square mall in two Saturdays and will have an order sheet posted for that pickup.
This week we’ve got spinach, cilantro, kale, chard, collards, perpetual spinach, carrots and lots of potatoes. We’ve got different varieties of kales now, which we will be bringing along with the chard, collards, etc. on a first-come, first-served basis. We’re also going to be bringing several different types of potatoes that we have smaller quantities of, some reds and fingerlings, in addition to the Green Mountain and Laratte Fingerlings. Those are not on the order form, but there will be plenty at the stand. Need Pesto? Check out the recipe below.
This upcoming market, March 20, will be at the same time and same place as always, 9-12, Lincoln Square Mall, in the Common Ground Food Co-op “food court” behind the store.
Here’s how it works:
You click on the survey and answer the questions. You have to answer the first two, which are your first and last name. After you answer the questions, you click “Done”. That automatically saves your order. You have to fill it out by Wednesday night.
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. There is no pre-pay, folks just pay when they pick up their veggies.
Also, we don’t bag the order beforehand. When you get there, you find your name on one of the order clipboards, review your order and cross your name off. Then, using one of the scales, you can bag your veggies, trying to get the weight around what you ordered (it doesn’t have to be exact), and then bring your order to our scale, and we’ll figure out the price from there.
I got this very easy recipe from Jesse Cool (1,2). (This was a really nice lunch that involved my brother, her son, and a terrible mishap with a tray of olives but ask me about that later).
Clean and prepare 2-3 cups of cilantro. Two bunches from Blue Moon would cover this. Remove nice-quality leaves from the main stems.
Grate 1-2 cups of sharp Italian cheese. I usually mix 2:1 cilantro to cheese to start and adjust to taste and use a mix of romano or reggiano parmesan. Take care not to use a cheese that is too salty because this can overwhelm the taste. When in a rush, I do this all in the food processor so first grate the cheese and then dump it out before replacing the blade with the chopper.
In the food processor with the dicing or chopping blade:
Dice 3-4 cloves of garlic and 1 to-2 red chili peppers. Vary this to suit your taste- don’t be afraid to add lots of garlic. I would use 2-3 hard neck-cloves and 1.5 dried peppers if they are hot.
Add the cilantro and pulse to coarsely chop the leaves. Do not over do this.
Add the cheese and olive oil (1/4 to 1/2 cup) pulse to blend to make as smooth as you like. I leave it so different pieces of the ingredients can be distinguished.
We usually toss this with warm pasta but our first introduction to it was as a layer inside lasagna. The point is, feel free to invent. I have seen folks do variants by add lots of oil and spinach before blending to make a runny bright green dressing. The cilantro pesto goes really well with a sharp or sweet side, sun dried tomatoes and or balsamic vinegar.
We’ve got another pickup this Saturday. In addition to the expected line-up of spinach and potatoes, we’re putting cilantro back on the order form, as well as green onions, and tatsoi.
We will also be bringing as first-come, first-served:
Kale
Carrot seconds (still good, still sweet)
As you can see, the greenhouses are starting to produce more, so that means more variety for your table. We will be closing the survey on Wednesday night, but you can always come by on Saturday to buy what we didn’t include on the order form (kale, green onions, or carrots), or whatever we might have extra of.
By the way, when writing in the amount of an item you want in the survey, it makes tabulating easier if you just type a plain number, like “2″, not “2#”, or “two”.
For those of you who haven’t done this before, there are instructions below under the survey link. To get this order sheet as an email, just send us an email at bluemoonfarmurbana@gmail.com
You click on the survey link and answer the questions. You only have to answer the first two, which are your first and last name. Then you order what you want. When typing in the amount of a veggie that you want, just type a plain number, as opposed to spelling the number or adding any symbols. After you answer the questions, you click “Done”. That automatically saves your order. You have to fill it out by Wednesday night.
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. There is no pre-pay, folks just pay when they pick up their veggies.
Also, we don’t bag the order beforehand. When you get there, you find your name on one of the order clipboards, review your order and cross your name off. Then, using one of the scales, you can bag your veggies, trying to get the weight around what you ordered (it doesn’t have to be exact), and then bring your order to our scale, and we’ll figure out the price from there.
We always bring some veggies, like kale or green onions, that are not included on the order list, because we don’t have enough of them to guarantee filling orders. They are available for purchase first-come, first served.
Another chance to order winter veggies from Blue Moon farm. This Saturday, Feb. 20, same time, place, and procedure. This week we are offering our kale, cilantro, and green onions on a first-come, first-serve basis, so get there early. Also, we’ve got carrot seconds this week that will be available. That means the twisty or broken ones that didn’t make the first cut. We are sold out of the carrot firsts. We will beb closing the survey again on Wednesday night.
Reminder: the best way to get the survey is to send us your email at bluemoonfarmurbana@gmail.com.
For those who haven’t done this before, please read the instructions on the two previous posts to get the details.
