2012 Lentil Trial

 

Lentil Harvest

2012 Lentil Trial

The Lentil Trial was planted on May 25, 2012.

It was harvested on September 16, 2012.

The lentils grew without any problems or diseases.  Only one variety, did not produce a harvest, PI 486128, which shattered when removing it from the field, leaving only a handful of lentils.

June 21, 2012

The Lentils were planted with mycelium and the soil was composted the previous fall.

It was irrigated via recycled rubber hose with micropores.  It received irrigation throughout the summer every two weeks, and probably could have gone to every three weeks.   Lentils were very drought tolerant. 

We were very impressed with the way Lentils smothered out weeds.  We only weeded them once during the season, and they held their own through the rest of the summer.  The lentils began flowering in August.  By late August they began to dry down and we stopped irrigation in September.  By mid September they were ready to harvest.  During harvest, we put tarps in the field, identified where each variety began and ended, cut the plants from the roots, and placed each variety on a separate tarp.  We then moved them to the barn to continue drying down.

July 23, 2012

We found the lentils to be a completely trouble free crop.  The gophers hardly bothered them, and you can see they are very active in the photo on July 23.  Note the missing beans from the trellis.
 
Our problems with the lentils only came about post harvest.  We were not able to process them with any of our regular equipment.   The lentils would not go through the pea sheller, or our bean sheller. 

We ended up threshing them by stamping on them in tarps and winnowing.  This was very labor intensive and we were not able to process them until January.  As many of you know, at that point in September, we had our hands full of melons, squash and beans to harvest.

August 10, 2012

We did discover that after winnowing in front of a fan, the lentils come out cleaner by floating in clean water.  The jar on the right shows lentils just winnowed and the other jars all show lentils that have been washed and the debris floated away.  After washing we dried them overnight in the dehydrator, with air only, no heat.  These lentils were then placed in the freezer for 4 days, prior to moving to refrigerated storage.

We did not find signs of weevils or any other pests in the dried lentils or while they were in the field.

August 27, 2012

In 2013 Spring, we discovered that the shattered lentils re-sprouted in the field.  Unfortunately, this Spring was extremely hot and dry and the irrigation has already been pulled out of this field.  So we were not able to save them.  But that they dropped seed in August and returned the following spring leaves us to believe that we can treat them like favas or lupinis, planting them in Autumn, the same time we plant garlic.  Which we plan on doing for Fall 2013.

We believe that lentils have potential as a crop that we do not harvest, as a legume, they will continue to improve the soil in marginal areas and we believe that they have potential as a crop that we do not harvest, but instead run chickens on.

Not every crop that we trial ends up having a potential for our CSA customers.  Some just benefit the farm, and some have benefits and uses that we have not discovered yet.  After removing the seeds, we found that the vines made excellent compost.

September 16, 2012 Harvest Day

We here at Foothill Farm would like to thank the USDA for allowing us the opportunity to experiment with their germplasm.  We would especially like to thank Clarice Coyne for her knowledge and continued help with our on farm trials.

The lentils used in this trial were:  Baby Blue which we purchased commercially,  PI 632632 - French, PI 606609 a French DuPuy Lentil, PI 298122 - French,  PI 298121 - French, PI 486128 French Du Puy Lentil, PI 616674 - French.  All seeds with a PI designation are from the USDA.

A small amount of the seeds from this trial will be offered at Homegrown Goodness.  If you are looking for a large amount of seeds for eating or planting, look for lentils for sprouting.  These offer a much better deal than purchasing them 100 seeds at a time.

 

Locavores May 13, 2013

What's in the box?

Rain rain everywhere but here.

Lettuce, braising greens Pak Choi and Komasu, Beets,  a wee bit of broccoli, Turnips, Mare des Bois Strawberries,  spinach -last of the season,  artichokes, peas, fresh garlic and parsley.  If you got a box, you also received squash & flowers. 


Why are there no eggs? 


Okay, there are no eggs because there are 4 hens who have disrupted the entire flock.  We've had to move them to the maternity ward.  Two hens have hatched their clutches, and 2 are still sitting. 

Okay, where's the missing hen?

Since all of the eggs are fertile, whenever a hen gets broody, Leo gives her a clutch, a separate box and moves them into the Chickery.  Where we tend to them separately.  However, when ever one hen gets broody, the whole rest of the flock acts silly.  Hens climb on top of hens.  Some stop laying.  Some lay on the ground instead of in their boxes. 

A couple of hens, climbed into boxes and proceeded to sit on nothing.  Now that's just plain unreasonable, and they got kicked out of the hen house.

Dixie Chick with the band

Some hens take their jobs very seriously.  Folded Comb here for example, if Leo or I don't lift her off the nest everyday, she goes  into a trance state and neither drinks nor eats.  Her mother was the same way.  Cuckoo Marans are known to be a broody type chicken.  I like that, because each spring, new chicks are hatched to replace the older hens.  Last year, Dixie Chick only hatched roosters.  So one of the older roosters (not George), but another was replaced with Stewart (Stewie).  Stewart is very excited to have his own flock, and after a few weeks with the traveling hens, we'll put him with the main flock and let George retire with the traveling hen troupe.

On the farm
The cukes, zukes and some early squash went in last week.  So I felt safe sending out the end of last season's squash.  Since this was harvested in October, you should eat it soon.  Anyone who saves seeds for me from their squash (remember what color it is) will get something special in their box.  It's hot and I don't think that the spinach or lettuce will continue much longer. 

The onion trial, finally flowering to make seeds.

Over Mother's Day weekend, we frantically kept watering, trying to keep up.  With each day in the 90's and the hot wind a blowing, as soon as one row got watered, it was ready the next day to be watered again.  Leo spent way too much time in the sun, and by Sunday evening was feeling pretty poorly.  So take his reminder, to take it easy out there as it starts to turn into a bake oven!


Beet Cake

• 4 medium beets, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• Salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Vegetable oil cooking spray

1. Cover beets with 2 inches water in a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until very tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp paring knife, about 30 minutes. Drain. Puree beets in a food processor until smooth.
   
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Whisk in eggs, water, oil, vanilla, and 1 1/4 cups beet puree (reserve remaining puree for another use).
   
3. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan (3 inches deep) with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment, and coat with spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Turn out cake from pan, and discard parchment. Let cool completely, right side up.
   
4. Transfer cake, cut side down, to a platter. Pour chocolate glaze over the top, and let set, about 30 minutes.
   
   
   
   Now this recipe is from Martha Stewart who says you can't taste the beets.  I can taste the beets and I like it still.  Serve it with plenty of Vanilla Ice Cream...
   

This is what I made for me for Mother's Day.  Along with beet greens and pickled beets, spaghetti with meatballs and spinach in a basil lemon sauce.  Yes, I had everything I liked.  I hope all you did too.

Have a great week.

Mer Folk CSA - March 8, 2013

What's in the box?

Leo ditches me by hiding in the asparagus.

Lettuce, braising greens - all Asian - Komatsu/Bekana/Choi, Amaranth, Turnips, First Mare des Bois Strawberries of the season,  spinach,  fresh garlic and parsley.  If you got a box, you also receive artichokes and rutabagas.

This week's special gift:  salsa and corn meal.






Amaranth
Think of Amaranth as a stronger spinach.  They are loaded with C & A.  It is NOT good raw.  Yuck, spit.    However, it is really yummy cooked.  Last night for dinner I mixed it with the spinach and we wolfed it down:

Making Hay

James Beard Creamed Spinach & Amaranth
Wash your greens and take the amaranth of the stems.  Chiffonade them.  In a frying pan put 2 T of butter and 2 T. of cream.   Add the greens, and stir till wilted.  Add salt, pepper and serve.  I added Gorgonzola to the cream mixture (because I had it).  It's also great in Indian food and Chinese Food.




Rutabagas
If you are having trouble with rutabagas, go here and make this:  http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2013/03/deborah-madison-rutabaga-in-season-recipe.html  (I use the Deborah Madison Vegetarian cookbook pretty much all the time).

Parsley

Beth washing veges

One of my favorite things to do with parsley is to make parsley butter.  Wash and chop about 1/2 a bouquet of parsley and mix it in with one cube of softened butter.  Take the green parts of the fresh garlic, chop it fine.  Now spread it on French Bread, sprinkle it with salt and paprika.  Broil it and you have delicious garlic bread.  Parsley butter with or without garlic can be used to make spinach or braising greens.  Add a little lemon and put it on potatoes.  With just plain parsley and butter, you can make a mean scrambled egg.  Parsley will keep fresh in a vase on your counter for a week, as long as it has water.  Take it out of the vase and lay it on a cookie sheet and let it air dry to save some for later.

On the farm
Over the weekend we planted cukes and zukes.  I hope to get the squash in by Friday.   Green beans are up!  Which means we'll see them in June.  Peas and lettuce are hating life.  That last little hot spell made them very unhappy.  The tomatoes are up and flowering, so by the Forth of July we should be eating maters.  I'm very sad that all those clouds passed without a drop of rain.   Beth and I decided that if you have something you can get more, but if you have nothing, you can't get any.  Hence, the rain...it's going where they don't need it.

Onions flowering

I'm not sure if we'll even see peas this year.  Remember the bumper crop we had last year?  The complete lack of rain and the excessive spring heat have kept them very small.  I picked one bag this morning.  Last year,  I picked 10 every other day!  Well hopefully it will be a good year for corn, tomatoes and hot weather crops.

Have a great week.  Please remember to return the cloth bags. 

Locavores CSA April 29, 2013

What's in the Box

Next year's onions

Turnips Joseph's Purple Top, Radishes, Asian Greens - Komatsuna, Toyko Bekana & Vivid Choy, Spinach - Nero & Matador, Fresh Garlic, Blue de Solaise Leeks, Herbs - Rosemary & Oregano, Corn meal, Fennel - Montebianco, a few artichokes, and this weeks special gift:  Jam

This is a very short post, as the heat is excessive and I need to keep watering.

On the farm:
The hay was cut, the polenta corn was planted, in the sprout house and waiting to go in:  cukes, zukes, squash, celeriac & fennel.  The heat looks like it's going to put an end to many Spring crops, and we can only hope for a bounteous Summer harvest.

Mer Folk CSA April 24, 2013

Corn thinking about 4th of July

What's in the box?

There were a few artichokes and a few eggs, not everyone got these.  Also, lettuce, braising greens, radishes, rhubarb, carrots,  Nero Spinach, some kale chips, mint and parsley,  Oranges, If you got a box, you also receive Komatsu,  and this week's special gift:  Soap! Also if you have a box, roses. 


Artichokes
These are beautiful purple French Artichokes.  The do have many thorns.  The best way to attack them is to hold them by the base and trim off the thorns.  I'm thinking of planting another row, I like these so much.

Komatsu
Originally developed in Edo (Tokyo's former name), komatsuna was formally named when a visiting shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune  stopped for a meal at a temple. Loving this new vegetable nearly as much as I do, he asked its name. The story goes that the monk answered that it had no name; it was just a green they grew and ate regularly. Like any shogun worth his salt, Yoshimune immediately righted the situation. Taking the name of the nearby river, Komatsu.   We use Komatsu like spinach, braising it in olive oil and sprinkling it with Sushi Vinegar, adding it to Miso Soup, slathering it with dressing and putting it in a muffletta sandwich.  These greens won't be with us long, so enjoy their spring freshness.


Rhubarb
Ours is a mix of Champagne & Greenville Rhubarb, waiting in the wings is Turkish Rhubarb.  It takes 3 years to get Rhubarb from seed.  This is the first patch on the farm to finally really get going.  Leo and I maintain another patch in Greenville.  So hopefully, you'll get rhubarb at least one more time.  I'm hoping to have enough to make a pie with. 

Rhubarb at the back of the newly planted Basil

Oatmeal-Rhubarb Bars

    1 cup All-purpose flour
    3/4 cup Oatmeal -- uncooked
    1 cup Brown sugar -- packed
    1/2 cup Butter, unsalted -- melted

    1 cup Sugar
    2 teaspoons Cornstarch
    1 cup Water
    1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
    4 cups Rhubarb

    Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and butter until crumbly. Press 1/2 into greased 9" pan. Add rhubarb, cut in 1/2" pieces. Combine sugar, cornstarch, water and vanilla; cook till thick and clear. Pour sauce over rhubarb. Top with other half crumb mixture. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

What do seedlings whisper in the night?  We want beds!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

    1 1/2 pt Fresh strawberries; halved
    2 c Sliced fresh rhubarb (2 to 3 medium stalks)
    1 1/2 c Sugar
    6 T Quick-cooking tapioca
    Unbaked pastry for double-crust 9-inch pie
    Milk as needed
    Sugar as needed
    Flour as needed

   Mix strawberries and rhubarb with 1 1/2 cups sugar and the tapioca; let stand while making pastry. Divide pastry in half. On lightly floured surface roll out one portion 1 1/2 inches larger than inverted 9-inch pie plate. Fit into plate and trim crust even with edge. Fill with fruit mixture. Roll out remaining pastry; lift onto pie. Trim crust 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate.

    Fold top crust under bottom crust; seal together to make a standing rim and flute edge. Cut vents in top crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 400 F. oven 60 to 70 minutes, or until filling bubbles in the center. After 30 minutes of baking, check pie occasionally and cover edges with foil, if necessary, to prevent browning. If pie begins to boil over, place foil beneath pie plate. Cool thoroughly before cutting. Makes one 9-inch pie.  Too bad our berries are not ripe.  I guess I might have to go out and BUY some!

Takes a lot of sittin' gettin' chicks to hatch

French Breakfast Radishes
Chop all the radishes you received
Chop a few sprigs of mint leaves and a few sprigs of parsley leaves
Mix with a cube of softened good butter
Spread it on Good French Bread and grate some sea salt on top

This simple recipe is great with a side of soup, a cup of tea or a glass of milk.  Turnips can be eaten this same way.  If you haven't found a way to like cooked turnips, peel them and eat them raw!

Ed Brown, Zen chef and seer, who in his book, Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, wrote,“Delight moves through radishes and people alike,” he writes, “letting things speak, perhaps even sing for themselves.”

On the Farm

George Large and in Charge

We're still a few weeks away from peas.  The plants are so confused, we had frost and frost damage followed by a mini heat wave.  The potatoes look gruesome and thankfully I had not set out the peppers or eggplant yet.  They're in now.  Soon to be planted, zukes, cukes, more corn more beans, come on in the water's fine.  My fine friend from Alabama, Dar Jones, sent us 3 new green beans:  Striped Creasy Cutshort, Emerite, and Turkey Craw.  Dar is the only one I know who could send me a traditional Southern cornfield bean and a fine French Filet (Emerite), in the same package.  I will be planting green beans every few weeks to see us through most of the summer.

Crazy hens are all trying to sit on eggs.  Every night Leo goes out and breaks it up.  Four hens all trying to sit on top of each other to claim the eggs.  Meanwhile Leo has been casting aspirations on George the Rooster, who's the father of his country...Eggoland.   Leo maintains that at 4 years old, George may not have the agility to "take care of all the hens".  There's no viagra for roosters or retirement homes.  Leo is going to let me move George to a smaller flock and we'll put his son, Stewart (Stewie) in with the main flock.  Alas for Washington, that means his number is up.  George is the best rooster I have ever had.  I sure hope Stewie inherited his "talents".

Have a great week.

Locavores CSA April 15, 2013

What's in the box?

There were a few asparagus, and a few artichokes and a few eggs, so if you got one of these, you didn't get the other.  Also, lettuce, Swiss Chard, wildings, rhubarb, Turnips (last of), carrots, spring onions, Spinach, kale chips, mint,  last of the Blood Oranges, last of last year's garlic, and this week's special gift:  Soap! Also if you have a box, roses.

Soap:

Well it's time for spring cleaning.  You all scrub up so nicely!  My friend Tina raises goats in Alaska, and I promised her I'd send some of her luffa goat soap to my CSA.  I love her soap and have it stashed in drawers all over the house.  I particularly like this soap when I come out of the garden.  I get really really dirty and this helps me clean up.

Wildings:

In the wildings

In days gone by, we used to have these women who would come out the farm each Spring and gather all the mache and lambs quarters and amaranth that came up.   So this year I gathered up some of these for you along with a little portulaca.  Sprinkle some in a salad,  put them in soup.  Since the plant contains oxalic acid, it should be cooked in a steel pan, not in aluminum.  lambs quarters are loaded with vitamins A, C, K and potassium, calcium and iron.

Rhubarb
This is the very first of the early rhubarb.  I'll post some recipes later.  This is champagne rhubarb and another strain from our Greenville house, which we have no idea, but we think some sort of Victoria cross.  This early rhubarb is not as red as folks expect.  But every bit as tasty.  I have never found a recipe for making Rhubarb Champagne, or even Rhubarb Wine.

Artichokes

These are new plants this year.  So, we won't get as many as last year, but next year, they should be really productive.  Right now the Pugliese and the Romanesco are both making thistles.  Hold these firmly at the bottom and hack off the spines, or use a pair of scissors and snip them off before cooking.  Ouch, these hurt to pick!  The French artichokes will be a bit later than these Italian ones.  I'm keeping track of who got these, so I can make sure everyone gets them. Also, I'd like to thank those folks across the pond who went through a lot of trouble to help me get some great artichoke varieties! 

Kale Chips

There's 2 kinds, I don't know which you got.  One is terriyaki, and one is just cider vinegar.  What to do with them...sprinkle them on salad, put them in a soup.  Last year some folks loved these and some folks hated them.  Chose your camp.  One CSA member even asked for the recipe and went to the market, bought kale and made jars of these.  They ate them straight out of the jar.   I'm a soup girl myself.  You can hide anything in soup. 

Have a great week.  As you work through the veges, hang the bags out to dry and return them in your box, next week.  They also can be washed in the washing machine and dried in the dryer.  Also, please return the jars with the rings.  The rings help the jar edges from getting chipped.
 
See you next Monday.  Have a great week.

April 10, 2013 CSA - Water folk

What's in the box?

First Artichokes of the season

Asparagus, Beets, Turnips, Braising Greens, Radishes, Blood Oranges, Spring Onions, Old Garlic - Use it up!  Corn Flour,  Herbs - I'll do a tutorial on these later under a special post, Lilacs, Dry Beans and this weeks special gift:  Zuke Relish.  Two of you even got artichokes - mind the thorns, after all they are only thistles.

Remember, if you have a bag, you may not have received some of these items. 

This is probably the last week for asparagus, now it must rest till next spring.  Leo and I are going to try and compost it heavily this winter, to see if we can delay it till the CSA actually starts!

Asparagus going to Fern

Asparagus Cream


Makes 1 ½ cups
1 lb asparagus, snapped where they naturally bend (save the stems for asparagus stock)

2 ½ cups chicken stock or vege stock

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

½ teaspoon lemon juice

Salt to taste
Pour the chicken stock in a low pan and add the asparagus. Poach the asparagus, uncovered, until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool in the stock. Drain the asparagus but retain the stock.
Place the asparagus in a food processor with ½ cup of the stock. Add the garlic, lemon juice and salt to taste. Process to a smooth puree. (Add more lemon juice if you like.)
Spoon the cream into a small freezer container and freeze for up to 8 months. To defrost, place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, or place in a bowl of water on the counter. Do not leave at room temperature for more than four hours.  I stole this recipe from one of my favorite chefs, Eugenia Bone.  Please, give this a try on ravioli!  Oh yum!  

 Lots of life waiting to be planted

Braising Greens

Wash!  Use in Soup or Stir Fry. Add a little garlic to oil, add greens chopped in 1 inch pieces, cook 3 minutes.  Remove the mid ribs to get a better cooked green.  Leo and I used to go to sell at a farmer's market, where there was a marvelous vendor with the most interesting produce.  Every time I asked her how something was used, she would say, Stir Fry or Soup!  About 10 years later, Leo and I figured out that her entire diet consisted of Stir Fry and Soup.  The greens of turnips and beets can be used this same way.

Potatoes and Garlic

How about that Wind?

Shesh, It's too windy to plant, till or do anything other than water.  The roof blew off the chicken house.  Last year it flung itself on the barn roof.  This year it only landed in the field.  So until it calms down out there, I will have to content myself with continuing to plant things in trays in the green house.  That way, we'll try not to get behind.  Above, eggplant, peppers, herbs, flowers all waiting their chance for a piece of soil.  On the other side of this sprout house is all the squash you can imagine, after delivering today, I will start melons to trays as well.  Thankfully, not as many as last year.  Now that the trials are over.  If you tried to read the December trial and couldn't I fixed it today.  For some reason after the "Blogger" updates, they all came out backwards!

The rose that ate San Martin  

Once upon a time, a man took his son to the nursery to buy something for the boy's mother for Mother's Day.  The selected a wee miniature stick of a rose, and came home and planted it for her.

20 years went by, and the little bitty thing is eating the barn.  Note how the back of the barn is starting to fold under the weight of her.  Now you know why Leo will not let me plant any more vines.  I suspect in another 20 years, this rose will have swallowed the barn, the house, and probably me as well.    Right now she's in glorious bloom and smells like apples.  Alas the wind is frying flowers left and right.  Poor lilacs! 

Beth stopping to enjoy the morning.

Coming soon....spring garlic, so use that old stuff up. 

Have a great week.