CSA #24

Dear CSA-ers,

This week’s preassembled bag will include Malabar Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, Collard Greens, Watermelon Radishes, Eggplant-Pepper Mix, Parsley, and Chives. Custom orders may be placed between now and Tuesday evening on the website at http://magneyfarm.locallygrown.net/market

Wow! For such a wet start to this year it has been an impressively dry late summer. This is favorable to the local row croppers who have begun the corn harvest but presents a challenge to us at our small acreage vegetable farm. We are having to make use of irrigation every day. As part of our commitment to sustainability, and just plain common sense, we are utilizing some of the most efficient irrigation technologies available. Namely, we are using “drip tape” which is buried in furrows about 2” deep and delivers water directly to the root zone of our growing plants. In this way, we lose significantly less water to evaporation when compared to overhead watering and can effectively deliver more soil moisture in less time. Thank goodness for that!

As of this week all the Fall brassicas are planted and there are only a handful of things that will be planted outdoors. Mostly, these are our late lettuce and direct seeded crops. By the day, we are exactly one month ahead of where we were last year, which is great progress! This week we will begin, in full, the process of clearing out the high tunnels and preparing them for winter crops. Rest assured tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants will be around for a few more weeks as we are starting with the tunnel that held cucumbers. A farm is very much a rhythm and we just try to move in step.

This week’s featured vegetable is collards! That’s right, collards make their triumphant return from summer hiatus to grace the bags this week. Collards are a densely nutritious leafy vegetable, most regarded for its high levels of Vitamin K, which serves to strengthen one’s blood. It is also an abundant source of trace minerals and dietary fiber. These collards are special as they represent our first foray into seed-saving for production purposes. Employee Patrick has taken it upon himself to breed and curate some of our varieties in order to achieve vegetables that grow better in our soil and climate. Additionally, this helps reduce our seed cost, which easily exceeds 4 digits over a year’s time. So far, these collards look healthy, and we look forward to hearing what you think of the first generation of “Magney Collards.”

As always, we’d like to thank you for your support of our farm. This week, we’d like to give a special shout-out to Christine L. in Murray, for sharing an awesome recipe for stuffed eggplants with us. Though eggplants aren’t prominently featured in this week’s bag, we’ve gone ahead and included this great recipe in the event you have some you’re looking for a way to use. We love when you reach out and share recipes and ideas with us! We’re so happy to be a part of your community.

Sincerely,
Magney Legacy Ridge Farm Team

Stuffed Eggplant

Adapted from littlesunnykitchen.com blog :

Instructions:

Ingredients
6 mid-sized Eggplant
1 cup uncooked rice
2 tomatoes diced
1 onion diced
5 cloves garlic minced
Parsley chopped
Mint leaves chopped (optional)
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp baharat seasoning
1 tbsp salt
8 cups water or vegetable stock
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 clove garlic minced
2 bay leaves
To prepare the eggplant:
Cut the stems off and hollow out the centers of the eggplant to make room for the stuffing (removing the seed cavity but leaving ¼” to ½” of flesh around the edge). To do this, you will need a zucchini corer or paring knife to get rid of the flesh.
For the stuffing:
Start by pouring warm water over rice and leave aside for it to soften a little.
Dice onion, tomatoes, and mince some garlic. Roughly chop parsley and fresh mint leaves.
Mix all of the ingredients together with olive oil, salt, cumin, baharat mix and black pepper. Add the rice and mix. Your stuffing is now ready.
Stuff the eggplants with the rice veggie stuffing, but make sure that the rice takes only two thirds of the space in the eggplant and is loose as the rice will expand while cooking and can become a bit messy and eggplants might even break.
To cook the stuffed eggplants:
Arrange the stuffed eggplants in a pot. Then add water or vegetable stock and cook for 15 minutes.
Add tomato paste or blended tomatoes with garlic, 2 bay leaves and a few mint leaves (fresh or dried). Cook on medium heat for around 40 minutes or until the rice is soft.
Cover with a plate to help the eggplants stay in place, you could also place a mug on top if the plates starts to move.
Cook for about 40 minutes, or until the eggplant are cooked and soft. While the eggplant cook, try the sauce and see if it needs more salt. Add more salt to taste.
Serve warm in a plate or bowl with some extra tomato sauce from the pot. Eat with yogurt or pita bread.