Summer CSA-Week 3 and Garden News

Dry.
That seems to be how the year is going.
A dry winter, dry spring and dry summer.
I can't believe how dry. My clay is superb at holding the moisture, but there's not really any moisture to hold on to.

So we water. Right now too we are thick into the weeding  and assorted duck dilemmas.
Okay...so Pavlov seen above popping out of his egg is not a duck dilemma. By the way, no one is in agreement with the name I gave the little soul. I like it.  Isn't he (she) fabulous?
But my two big boy ducks can't seem to get along. One is always charging the other, head down, full speed ahead.
The girls are doing as Indian Runners do. Dropping their eggs here, there and everywhere. Some we find, some the racoons find. It is incredible to me that Indian Runner ducks still exist. They have no mothering instinct whatsoever. At least mine don't. I'd like to think I've been a fine role model too.
The ducks have been naughty too. Dang.
I went out tonight to do a bit of watering and my newest planting of chard has been mowed down.
Last week it was the soybeans for edamame. They appear to be coming back, but will it be just so they can be eaten prematurely again?
What's with those ducks? I've not had these problems before.
The baskets today had, amongst other things a good healthy dose of Sylvetta arugula-zesty and pungent. There was garlic, basils, lettuces, summer squash in some baskets, beets in others. Rat tailed radishes (lots more on the way), oregano-thyme mint, a greens mix (chard, chicory,brassica) and probably a few other things that I can't think of right now.
The summer harvest explosion is not upon us yet. But it will be.
Still to come are loads of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, ground cherries, cukes and zukes, beans, brassica crops, sweet corn, lots more beets and carrots,...and on and on. Some pretty cool things too. I'm excited. Hope you are too!
Now-what to do with all that arugula?
I thought soup- a chilled soup. This recipe looks like it is worth playing around with. Give it a go! I sure am.

Chilled Arugula Soup with Preserved Lemon

I dig garlic

Anthony Sedlak's Heirloom Tomato Pasta Bake with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Thanks Nancy, for passing along this recipe which I am posting in honour of a young chef who passed away over the weekend. Anthony Sedlak  was well known for his show, The Main on the Food Network, and will be missed by many. His love of heirloom tomatoes was well known.


Rest in peace.






*Heirloom Tomato Pasta Bake with Fresh Tomato Sauce**


1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
6 x basil leaves
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chopped yellow or orange tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
salt
1 x 500 gram bag rigatoni
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup black olives, finely chopped
1  heirloom tomatoes cut into wedges
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese (add a little dried oregano and freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you wish)
good quality extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
2  fresh basil leaves, torn


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In a large wide sided pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly golden, 2-3 minutes. Add basil and pepper, and let basil fry lightly in oil, about 1 minute.


Add tomatoes, and allow to cook down, 10-15 minutes, or until tomatoes start to break down. The oil and tomato juice will emulsify to make a sauce.


Crush tomatoes slightly, and season with salt. Remove from heat.


Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of salted water, according to package directions. Remove from water when slightly undercooked, as the pasta will continue to cook when baked.


Add drained pasta to tomato sauce, stirring to combine. Add Parmesan cheese and half of the olives. Stir to combine. Transfer pasta mixture to a 9x13 casserole dish.


Alternate heirloom tomato wedges and dollops of ricotta evenly on pasta. Sprinkle with remaining black olives. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.


Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden and crusty on top. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh basil.

This recipe is pictured on  :
http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.ca/2010/09/heirloom-tomato-pasta-bake-with-fresh.html

also at:   http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Salad/Tomatoes/recipe.html?dishid=9199

A Genetically Modified Apple?

The following is a CBAN alert I received today. I had no idea a GM apple was in the works, let alone close to be approved. One question:why? I'd rather live with an apple that browns. You?




GM Apple Closer to U.S. Approval: Farce of Canadian public consultation exposed

July 9, 2012. Ottawa - Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted over 160 pages of data from Okanagan Specialty Fruits pertaining to their request for approval of a genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) “non-browning” apple.(1) The U.S. public now has 60 days to comment before a final decision is made by U.S. regulators.

This public comment period in the U.S. comes just six days after the closing of a public comment period in Canada, July 3, 2012. However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s comment process was based on two pages of bullet points describing the data submitted by the company – the data itself was not provided.

“The CFIA should be deeply embarrassed for wasting Canadian’s time on a false invitation to comment on the GM apple,” said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. “The CFIA public comment period was always a sham because it was based on no data but this farce is now completely exposed.”

“It was simply an insult to ask Canadians to guess what data was submitted by the company,” said Sharratt, “Its high time Canadians had some democracy on this question of genetically modified foods.” CBAN has sent a letter to the CFIA expressing frustration about the lack of transparency and asking for an immediate halt to review of the GM apple.(2)

The U.S. announcement comes just days after a consumer poll commissioned by BC and Quebec apple grower associations found that 69% of Canadians do not want the GM apple.(3)

“This GM apple is a useless waste of time from start to finish,” said Wendy Wright of the Okanagan Greens Society, “The only conclusion is to stop this GM apple right away before our markets are damaged.”

Before reaching a final decision on the GM apple the U.S. government will also prepare an environmental assessment document for public comment, though similar assessments of other GM crops have been challenged in U.S. courts as inadequate. The timeline for a decision in Canada is unknown.

-30-

For more: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, 613 241 2267 ext. 25; Wendy Wright, Okanagan Greens Society, (cell) 250 469 1881.

NOTES: (1) The data released on the GE apple by the U.S government can be seen at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/10_16101p.pdf
(2) This letter from CBAN to the CFIA can be viewed at http://www.cban.ca/content/view/full/1302
(3) The BC Fruit Growers Association and the Quebec Apple Producers Association released the Leger poll on July 3, 2012. The poll can be found athttp://www.bcfga.com/files/file/Report%20on%20GE%20survey%20-%20July%203%202012.pdf

Guest Post-Jo's Magic Mulligatawny Soup

Hey everyone!  It's me, Jo, the "green greens-eater", back for another guest blog posting.

I'm hot off the heels of one of my incapacitating stomachaches -- the ones I talked about briefly in my last post.  It's been a lifelong battle trying to figure out what triggers them.  Historically, it's been peppers (green, red, hot, etc), avacado, eggs, banana, kiwi, canteloupe... but also I have had run-ins with mango, berries, peaches, raisins... I hesitate to call them food allergies, because I'm not anaphylactic, and I occasionally CAN eat those foods (it's hit and miss), it's just that it sometimes results in severe pain that is 10/10 on my pain scale, narcotics don't touch it and the pain lasts 8-10 hours.  Needless to say, I TIPTOE AROUND FOODS.  My GI doctor diagnosed me with something called gastroparesis, and I medicate for that, but the meds don't always work.  So I tiptoe.

This week, I barely touched the contents of my basket.  I am like a little kid who bit into a lemon, made that face, and swore off lemons for life.  I need to get back on that horse and just try again, but it's scary after one of those stomachaches.  

I was thinking this week I was going to make soup.  There were a lot of little things in my CSA basket last week and this week.  Little beets, little carrots.  Leafy greens.  Some new things like purslane and sorrel.  I'd never heard of those before.  I'm pretty good around a pot of soup -- even in my Kraft-Dinner-eating early 20s, I always could throw together a pot of homemade vegetable soup.  And with the advent of the hand blender and a can of beans, I discovered you could make anything kind of look like a hearty bowl of goodness, so I'm rarely scared off soups.  Some years ago I happened upon a recipe for Mulligatawny soup that changed my life.  There were a kajillion ingredients (or so it seemed) and near the end I tasted it and thought it was magical.  Then I added the coconut milk and thought it doesn't get any more magical than that.  THEN I added the cilantro.  OHMYGOD you can't top this!!  THEN!!!  I added the lemon juice, and nearly fell of my chair.  It was around then that I realized it's really hard to screw up soup.

(I'll include the recipe at the bottom -- it's vegan/vegetarian and delightful)

I know it's 40something degrees out there, and I know the idea of a bowl of hot soup hardly appeals, never mind simmering something on the stove for an hour.  You can crockpot soups.  Or install an air conditioner in the kitchen, like I did.  It's the only AC in the house, but it motivates me to get in there and stay in there!  

Flash forward a day --

The heat broke and it's it's in the balmy 30s now.  Ahem.  I skipped the soup this week.  I went back to my old standby... sauted greens and tomatoes in with some curry and beans.  I substituted garam masala for the red curry I used last week and added a liberal amount of coriander.  I used "Great Northern Beans" this week, instead of my old standby, chick peas, and quickly realized there is a reason chick peas are my old standby. HA!  I much prefer them.  But I have never met a bean I didn't like at least a bit, so this pot will get eaten, for sure!  I'll include a picture (last week's picture didn't upload properly)

I've been eating the baby carrots straight up, and chowing down on the celery leaves (I forget what Linda called them).  On the whole, despite my minor setback, I'm still "doing greens" as I've taken to saying.  :)

I would love to get some recipes in the comments of what you guys are doing with your weekly baskets!  I'm still at the point where I don't know what a lot of the stuff is.  I'm sure I put some stuff in the saute today that didn't belong there (basil, maybe?), alas, it came out yummy!




*********************

Jo's Magic Mulligatawny Soup

Ingredients:

(you will need a hand blender for this dish)

some olive oil
some butter (ghee) (optional for vegan recipe)
2 onions (chopped)
2 sticks of celery (chopped)
fresh garlic (optional)
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp curry
1 tsp black fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
3 tbsp flour
6 cups vegetarian soup broth
2 carrots (chopped)
2 potatoes (chopped)
2 tomatos (chopped)
half a can of lentils
half a can of coconut milk
juice of half a lemon
cilantro

1. Heat the oil and the butter in a soup pot. Substitue all oil for butter
if you want this recipe to be vegan.
2. Brown the onions and the celery. Feel free to add some garlic, too, if
garlic is your thing.
3. Add all the powders (curry, coriander, garam masala, cumin, pepper and
flour to this mixture. Stir it to a paste. Add the 6 cups of soup base and
mix (before it burns!! HA)
4. Add the lentils, chopped carrots, diced potatos and diced tomatos. Simmer until veggies
soften. Stir periodically. Probably 20 minutes tops.
5. Take the pot off the stove, and use a hand blender to blend all
ingredients. 
6. Simmer about 10 more minutes.
7. Remove from heat and add (in this order) the lemon juice (stir), the
coconut milk (stir) and the chopped cilantro. Serve with brown or wild rice.

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!