Some Veggie Prep Tips + Our Weekly Harvest

Hi there! The weather's starting to get hot - how are you staying cool? We like to take a cool dip in the creek right behind the fields; it's a great perk of our farm. 

The harvest this week includes: 

kale, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choy, beets, carrots, potatoes, fresh onions, head lettuce, swiss chard, fresh garlic, hakurei turnips

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In addition to our classic wood-fired white bread we usually have there will also be wheat and rosemary bread! 

We want to share some simple prep tips today to help you manage all those leafy veggies you get from market - especially if you have a CSA box. Sometimes all the greenery can fill up the fridge and make using them a little bit daunting. Taking a bit of time to prep your veggies (30 min to an hour) will make cooking and meals more enjoyable throughout the week. 

Here are some tips:

Remove the leafy green tops from root vegetables. Discard the inedible ones - things like carrot tops, and set aside the edible ones like beets and turnips. 

Give everything a quick final rinse, washing off any remaining grit from the fields. A nail brush or something similar will help you scrub the grooves of root veggies. Squeeze them lightly in a clean dishtowel to dry them off. 

Have some zip-lock bags or food containers handy to store things you're not using right away as you prep them. 

Remove stems and ribs from hearty leafy greens like kale or chard and either tear or chop them into smaller pieces. Trim and cut up more delicate turnip and beet greens as well.

Bonus kale tip - if you're using it for a raw salad, sprinkle it lightly with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice and massage away! It'll make it so much more tender. 

Separate lettuce or cabbage leaves from the heart so they are ready to use; leave them whole if you're planning on wrapping things in them or chop them up for salads and stir-fries. You can also do this with bok choy - the white stem part is edible and tender after cooking. 

Trim and chop the other veggies according to how you want to use them - you can slice, dice, and store and they'll be ready for all kinds of recipes when it's time to cook.

Some extra info on the interesting-looking kohlrabi - remove the greens coming from the center orb, then peel it and cut it up as you would like. It's delicious raw with your favorite dip or in stir-fries. You can even make soup with it! 

Hope these tips both simplify and make cooking more enjoyable with your freshly harvested veggies. If you ever have questions or need suggestions on how to use something please feel free to contact us or ask us at market!! 

Have a great weekend, seeya soon!

Luke + Meghan 

The Weekly Harvest

This week's harvest includes:

  • kale
  • broccoli
  • cabbage
  • kohlrabi
  • bok choy
  • beets
  • carrots
  • potatoes
  • fresh onions
  • green onions
  • head lettuce
  • baby greens
  • swiss chard
  • fresh garlic

and of course our handmade wood-fired bread will be available as well!

See you at the market :)

Kale + Mushroom Strata

We like eating food as much as we like growing food...sometimes more! So we're excited to start sharing some recipes using our farm-fresh ingredients. 

On the menu this week - a kale and mushroom strata. What is a strata, you might ask? It's basically a savory bread pudding - warm, melty, and cheesy with a crispy top crust. Perfect for brunch, as a side dish...or maybe just for whenever. 

It's an especially useful dish when you haven't gotten around to eating your bread right away and it's a little stale; that staleness helps the bread soak up all of the milk and broth. 

We used our handmade wood-fired loaf, but if you want to use another kind of bread that's okay too. For best results choose a nice rustic loaf with a good crust and a fluffy crumb.

Here's how to make it - if you want to make it for breakfast or brunch and you're short on time in the morning you can put it together the evening before and just pop it in the oven in the morning. It's both a lovely entree when paired with a side salad and a hearty side dish. 

Kale and Mushroom Strata

  • 1 loaf Shiloh Farm wood-fired loaf, cut into 1" cubes
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 8 oz (1 small container) crimini mushrooms, washed and finely chopped
  • 3.5 packed cups fresh kale, roughly chopped 
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1.5 cups half and half
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup white cheddar (Aldi sells a delicious block!), finely grated
  • 1 cup parmesan, shredded
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme (optional, but it adds great flavor)
  • 6 large eggs
  • salt + pepper to taste

Toss the bread cubes with 1/2 cup of the half and half and garlic powder and set aside

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. 

In a large skillet, heat enough olive oil on medium-high heat to coat the bottom of the pan generously. When it's hot, toss in the garlic and saute until it's lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and kale and saute with some salt and pepper until the kale is completely wilted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for a minute.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, mix together the eggs, remaining half and half, and chicken broth, a pinch of salt + pepper, and set it aside.

Add the kale and mushroom mixture, white cheddar, parmesan, and fresh thyme to the bowl with the bread and toss until it's all well-combined, then put all of it into a greased 9x13 baking dish.

Pour egg, half and half, and broth mixture over all of it evenly and press the bread in to let it soak. 

Pop it in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes; it's done when the top is golden brown and any visible egg mixture is set, only slightly jiggly. 

Remove it from the oven and let it cool a bit; it's best served hot! If you want to reheat leftovers it'll taste best heated up in the oven to crisp the top up. Enjoy friends!!  

This Week's Harvest

Hello everyone! Hope you are safe and things are back to normal from the big storm this past weekend.

This is what we've got in our harvest this week for the market + CSA members: 

  • green onions
  • kale
  • broccoli
  • strawberries
  • radishes
  • beets
  • fresh garlic
  • bok choy
  • swiss chard

We'll be at the Downtown Green Market in Cookeville this Saturday with fresh veggies and handmade, wood-fired bread - see you there for some shopping or a CSA pick-up! 

a fresh loaf of wood-fired bread

a fresh loaf of wood-fired bread

Cover Crops

Cover crop in bloom! Wheat, crimson clover, Austrian winter peas, daikon radish, turnips. It prevents erosion, fixes carbon and nitrogen into the soil, feeds soil biology, provides habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects, and is also great sheep food. It will get worked into the soil to decompose, then we will plant sweet potatoes!

Lambs!

Our two sheep are now four!

Mid January our ewe gave birth in the middle of the night. We have one rejected lamb that we are caring for, multiple bottle feedings throughout the day and lots of love. In all everyone/ everything is doing well and the farm keeps growing.