Harvest Kitchen

All the weeks are busy at Harvest Kitchen this fall.  A quick review of this blog reveals that I’ve described every week recently as busy–not sure what else I can say about that, except that we’re all working super-hard!  We’re lucky to have such a hard-working crew.  It’s good to have Emmy, our inventory manager, back from her vacation.  We missed her while she was gone, and she’s clearly back to work as everything is looking well organized in the pantry, and I hope she’ll have our basics re-stocked soon.  She’s even established a new (and urgently needed) system for organizing the utensils.  Other rockstars this week include Melanie, who’s doing a great job of helping with distribution and basically keeping the rest of us from going crazy over the details.  I know that Samir is winning hearts and minds as he learns the ropes on member distribution too.  As always, everyone on the crew is giving their 100%, but I especially want to celebrate those three this week.

Sorry I don’t have any pictures this week–I guess I was too busy to pull out the camera.  Next time, I promise!

In farming news, this is a special time of year.  With the autumnal equinox comes a new season and a change in the fields.  More than the cooler temperatures, plants and creatures notice the shorter days and the decreased daylight.  Since the equinox, nights are longer than days, and we’re beginning our descent into winter.  We’re seeing the last of our summer crops: tomatoes, summer squash, and chard are winding down, even as frost hardy fall and winter crops like kale, root veggies, and asian greens come to the fore.  There are some crops that bridge the gap–feeling like summer fruits while still ripening in the cooler days. These include eggplant, peppers, and sweet potatoes.  We’ll be enjoying all these and more in the coming weeks.

This week our chefs have plotted a menu that celebrates some classics from American Chinese restaurant menus.  I hesitate to call this menu strictly Chinese, but we all know these favorite dishes from Chinese restaurants here in the US.  Here’s the plan:

Omnivore Menu

Sweet and Sour Chicken – My personal favorite off the Chinese Restaurant menu, but as you’ve never imagined it: local flour and free range chicken, fresh peppers and other veggies–and a few non-local pineapples thrown in for good measure.

Pepper Steak – Highland Beef from Mclaughlin and tons of fresh sweet peppers from all our favorite farms combine for a new high point of tastiness

Fried Rice – Back Forty Acres eggs, Tantre peas, plenty of ginger, and so much more–this side dish goes beyond

Egg Rolls with Ground Pork – Ground pork from Black Oak Farm and all of our favorite veggies fill these crispy, tasty rolls.

Egg Drop Soup – Chinese restaurant standard re-imagined with all local ingredients from Harvest Kitchen. Need I say more?

Vegetarian Menu

Mu Shu Vegetables with Pancakes – Another old favorite, our tasty fall veggies come with two pancakes, all ready to serve mu shu style!

Stir Fried Vegetables and Greens – Stir fry is one of the best ways to enjoy the flavors of fresh vegetables.  Ours is no exception!

Hot and Sour Soup – A standard of Chinese restaurant cuisine, this vegetarian soup is perfect for an autumn day.

Fried Rice – Back Forty Acres eggs, Tantre peas, plenty of ginger, and so much more–this side dish goes beyond

Vegetarian Egg Rolls -  All of our favorite veggies fill these crispy, tasty rolls.

That’s it! Be excited!

Mary

Samir makes shucking corn look fun

It’s been another busy week here at Harvest Kitchen.  After recovering from last Sunday’s tomato day, we pushed straight into another round of food preservation by putting up 7 bushels of corn on Friday.  We’re also enjoying the change in the weather we’re seeing–these cooler days are a nice change of pace, though farmer friends are bringing in the frost-sensitive crops as quickly as possible.

Out at Community Farm, we’re coming to the end of the most

We're proud of our pretty California rolls!

delicate crops–chard, tomatoes, summer squash, and basil are all pretty much at an end.  Peppers and eggplants may continue a while longer if it gets a bit warmer again. Otherwise, we’ll begin to enjoy the hardy autumn crops like Asian salad greens, bok choi, cabbage, root veggies, and more.  It’s hard to feel sad about the end of the summer with tasty treats like these on the horizon.  Other farmers are also preparing for winter: Shannon Brines of Brines Farms, who grows delicious greens in his hoop houses, reports that this is an important time for seeding crops in the hoop houses so he’ll have greens all winter–he’s glad to clear the summer crops out to make room for the winter seeds!

Cynthia shucking corn

This week’s theme in the kitchen is Cajun/Creole. The chefs have come up with a flavorful menu of favorites for you:

Omnivore Menu

Jambalaya with Rice – Rich flavors, spices, vegetables, and of course sausage and chicken. Couldn’t ask for more on a crisp fall evening!

Grits Supreme – Reimagining a traditional southern food, our grits go beyond: look out for chard, tomatoes, bacon, and more.

Gumbo – A stew so hearty it could walk away! We won’t have seafood, but you won’t miss it in the mix of flavors.

Fried Green Tomatoes – The perfect first-frost food

Vegetable Ribbon Salad – Crisp and refreshing.

Vegetarian Menu

Corn for the winter!

Vegetarian Muffuletta – Roasted eggplant and other veggies with vegetable relish and flatbread.

Red Beans and Rice – Simple, healthy food never tasted so good

Farro Jambalaya – Another vegetarian twist on our favorite Lousiana stew

Grits – For our veggie menu, grits become a classic side dish.

Vegetable Ribbon Salad – Crisp and refreshing.

That’s all!

See you this week.

Mary

Tomato Day madness

I hope you’ll forgive the lateness of this post–I usually write these on Saturdays, and here it is, already past 10 on Sunday! And I’m thoroughly exhausted.  Wait until you hear why–it’s been such a busy weekend here at Harvest Kitchen.

First off, I saw many HK members, friends, and supporters out at the HomeGrown Festival last night.  For those of you who missed it, this annual event takes place at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and is a celebration of our local food community.  Even though I was tired from doing my regular stand at the Farmers Market in the morning, I was excited to be at HomeGrown representing the Harvest Kitchen.  If you stopped by my booth, you would’ve seen me passing out fliers and displaying a slideshow with pictures and videos from the kitchen, many of which have previously made an appearance on this blog.  Later in the evening, I was able to slip away from my table (thanks, Melanie!) to get some dinner and a (local) beer and listen to some awesome local musicians.  If you didn’t make it to HomeGrown this year, be sure to keep an eye out for it next year as it’s a great celebration.

Tomatoes in the sink being washed

But HomeGrown was just a warm up for the real event of the weekend for Harvest Kitchen–TOMATO DAY.  This special day is an annual event for us–the day when we try to put up all the tomatoes we’ll need for the whole winter.  We bought 30 bushels of tomatoes–around 1500 lbs–from our friends at Goetz Farm and began processing them on Friday.  But the official tomato day was today, Sunday, when the HK team kicked it into high gear to get those tomatoes washed, blanched, peeled, packed, and frozen.  Ryan came up with an efficient system for blanching, and Dayna kept us organized, and the rest of us just pitched in and got messy.  I know we’ll appreciate this hard work when we’re eating LOCAL tomatoes this winter!

After two busy days in a row, I know you won’t mind if I keep this post brief.  This week’s menu is a California Theme–I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I know this menu looks tasty!!

Omnivore Mains

Pamela and Dayna hard at work

Chicken Wrap Sandwich – Our “happy hens” local chicken combines with the freshest local veggies and fruit in this perfect “carry to the office” sandwich.

Steak Salad – McLaughlin Highland Beef with with tomatoes, pickled red onions, arugula, fresh mozzarella, radish and more, this is more of a meal than a salad.

Troy and Pamela - score and core team!

Vegetarian Mains

Veggie Wrap Sandwich – Roasted veggies including peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and more make the ideal vegetarian “carry to the office” sandwich.

Tofu Salad – The vegetarian version of a steak salad, crammed with tomatoes, pickled red onions, arugula, fresh mozz, radish, and more. This salad is more of an entree and is another perfect “take to work” food!

Soup and Sides

Tomato Soup – Summer’s freshest flavors–organic, heirloom tomatoes give Campbell’s a run for their money…!

California Rolls – All your favorite seasonal veggies in fresh, crunchy, Cali rolls!

Zucchini Side – It wouldn’t be summer without summer squash.  This chef’s special side will feature summer squash and whatever else the chefs dream up!

that’s all

zzzz

Mary

Kat and Melanie, the cheerful tubbing queens

Here at Harvest Kitchen we’re taking a deep breath this weekend, getting ready for a big week ahead.  Yes, it’s finally upon us, the much-vaunted “Back-to-School” season.  We have quite a few new members for this mini-season (all of our current summer members, of course, will be continuing until November).  We’re especially excited to have all the new folks who found us through Living Social coming on board this week.  Still, it’s a bit daunting–suddenly having to increase production.  I have complete confidence that we’ll be able to do it, but it’s going to be an adventure to make it happen.

Fortunately, there are a lot of good things going for us at this challenging time.  First off, we’ve got GREAT

Ryan processing the tomatoes

support from our community–members, friends, fellow food entrepreneurs, farmers, staff, family, and more.  We were even (apparently) the subject of an engrossing discussion on an Erb Institute email list this week–I can’t wait to hear more about what they concluded!  On the staffing side, it’s a bittersweet time, as several long-time HK workers move on to new adventures.  At the same time, we’re excited about new people coming on board to help us.  This week’s hero is probably Troy, an awesome young man who’s focusing 100% on our dishroom.  We’ve never had one person specifically doing dishes at HK before, and I can’t think what took us so long! If I’d known someone could approach dishes with such a good attitude and

Troy, the hero of the dishroom

work ethic, I’d have hired Troy months ago.  We’re so glad to have him.  We’ve also got Pamela, an ace new prepper, Vik who took charge of the dal last week, and Samir whose friendly demeanor is clearly going to make him a customer favorite. I hope everyone who has the chance to enjoy HK food realizes that it is truly made with love by our awesome team.

Out at the farm, food continues to flood in.  August and September are times of great abundance and bounty.  Fresh tomatoes are at their peak, and other late summer crops like eggplant and peppers are flowing in as well. Yum!

This week’s menu has a Campfire theme, in honor of the Labor Day holiday and the end of the vacation season…

Omnivore Mains

Gorgeous Peppers

Pulled Campfire Beef  The taste of summer campfire cooking: slow-roasted, pulled beef, full of juice and flavor.

Chicken Chili – Our hearty chili is more than a meal in itself–loaded with veggies and our “happy hen” chickens, everyone will be asking for seconds.

Vegetarian Mains

Quinoa-Stuffed Zucchini – A perfect summer meal, stuffed squash are filled with a flavorful filling of quinoa and veggies.

Vegetarian Chili – A longtime HK favorite, our vegetarian chili is so hearty and veggie-rich that you’ll never miss the meat.

Sides and Accompaniments

Southwestern Verde Rolls – Flour tortillas stuffed with all the green veggies we can lay our hands on (and believe me, that’s a lot of veggies!)–full of crunch and flavor

Baked Beans – It wouldn’t be a campfire without them! Ours are way more interesting than the traditional out-of-a-can version, but just as filling and warming.  (Omnivore Baked Beans will contain Pork Belly!)

Tortilla Chips and Black Bean Corn Salsa – Need I say more?

Corn Griddle Cakes – All the chefs are bringing in their griddles and we’ve got several cases of fresh sweet corn standing by.

Welcome! See you this week…

Mary

Kim and Stephanie cooking up next week's menu

The big news in the local food scene this past week is Hollerfest.  This amazing music fest features some of Michigan’s top musical talent, all playing their hearts out to an intimate gathering at our friends’ Frog Holler Farm in the Irish Hills of Michigan.  Last year, Hollerfest was one of the highlights of my summer, and I know that many many Harvest Kitchen staff, members, farmers, and friends were out there–hopefully dancing, camping, singing, eating great food, and more.  I, personally, was unavoidably absent!  I had the honor of attending the wedding of my dear friend Laura in Philadelphia.  Laura, the bride, was one of the first student workers I ever supervised, when I first became a food service supervisor at the dining hall in college.  So there’s a food tie-in! However, attending the wedding put me right in the path of Hurricane Irene.  It was quite an adventure, but I’m glad to report that I’m home safely, despite cancelled flights, power outages, downed trees, tornado warnings, and more.  My fancy shoes may never be the same again, though! I’ve never experienced a hurricane before.  The worst of the storm came through in the night, so I actually slept through it, but I did see a lot of preparations, including big signs on the highways saying “Hurricane Warning in Effect–Be Prepared” (helpful).

Tomatoes ready for Caprese Salad

At Harvest Kitchen, this past week has been a rollercoaster.  For those who hadn’t heard, we were the “Local Deal of the Day” on Living Social this past Tuesday.  We have been utterly overwhelmed by the response–it was amazing to have the chance to put our business in front of so many people who would otherwise never have heard of it, and so many people seem so eager to give HK a try.  It’s creating some challenges on our end, but I am totally confident that the HK crew can rise to meet the occasion.  Watch out, because here we come!

Here’s the menu.  It’s an Indian Themed week this time!

Omnivore Mains

Tandoori Chicken- Chickens from our local “happy hen” farmers roasted with brilliant homemade tandoori sauce

Lamb with Green Curry – Local, organic lamb with spicy, delicious green curry sauce

Served with a side of creamy, bean-y Dal

Vegetarian Mains

Vegetable Curry – All our favorite summer vegetables in a flavorful, spicy curry

Cumin-Spiced Lentil Burgers – Another veggie-burger creation–this time with an Indian spin.

Served with a side of savory Spiced Potatoes

Sides

Stephanie carving the Capiccola (homemade smoked ham)

Homemade Chutney – No curry dinner is complete without this sweet-and-savory condiment

Cucumber-Yogurt Salad – Creamy and refreshing, a perfect pair with spicy Indian food

Jasmine Rice – Fluffy and perfect to accompany any of this week’s mains

Chickpea Stew – Loaded with fresh vegetables, our chickpea stew is an ideal main or side.

That’s all for this week!

Mary

Seven Layer Salad

Hello everyone,

The big news this weekend is, of course, the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival.  This fun and entertaining festival is all over Ypsilanti, but a big part of it was taking place on Cross Street, right outside the Harvest Kitchen.  What a crazy and fun weekend! The festival got started on Friday night, with tents set up on Cross Street and tons of people walking around, taking in the sites.  We got quite a bit of additional traffic in the kitchen–more than we usually have on Friday evenings.  But it was only a precursor to the rest of the weekend.  Our new chefs, Kim and Stephanie whipped up a local and organic take on traditional festival foods (Organic corn dogs with chipotle ketchup, anyone?–they were so delicious) and were cooking up a storm all day Saturday.  Michelle really took the lead on making Harvest Kitchen a part of Heritage Festival–they had a table, tent, and more set up on the sidewalk and were selling cookies and milk, drinks, sauces, granola, buttons, and so much more.  I stopped by briefly after Farmer’s Market as I do every week to unload, and it was a madhouse.  Thank goodness for faithful HK helpers Cynthia, Kevin, and Dayna being such good advocates for the food, as well as Peter unloading the Community Farm veggies despite the roads being closed, and Ryan doing dishes.  Phew!  There were probably more helpers who I didn’t see. Anyhow, it was so fun to be part of the Heritage Festival and hopefully lots of Ypsilanti folks got to find out more about us at the same time.

On the home front, summer keeps rolling along, full of an abundance of vegetables.  In the Harvest Kitchen we’re bidding farewell to some of our workers who are returning to school and other adventures.  Enjoy the video below that shows the making of those beautiful Seven Layer Salads we had last week.

 

Out at Community Farm, the mosquitoes are worse than ever.  It’s pretty unbelievable–but I know you don’t want to hear me complaining about them anymore.  You’ll be interested to know, however, that an informal poll of our other farm sources reveals that the mosquitoes are terrible across our foodshed.  Paul

Kim, Cynthia, and Lotus hard at work

from Tantre says he’s never seen them this bad in Michigan.  Chrissy from Frog Holler told me that some Frog Holler farmers are sleeping under bed-sized mosquito nets.  Basically we’re all holding out for a cold snap or dry spell to kill them off!  But other than mosquitoes, things are great at the Farm.  Fall crops are coming along nicely.  We transplanted the last of the baby lettuce.  I know they’ll grow up quickly! Did you know that there’s a huge crossover between staff at Community Farm and staff at Harvest Kitchen? Besides myself, Kat, Peter, Emmy, Dayna, and Lotus all work or volunteer regularly at Community Farm.  I hope all of them find the same satisfaction I do in seeing the food through from seed to plate.  It’s an incredibly rich and rewarding transformation.

That’s all for the news, but here’s the menu–Italian Theme this week!

Putting it all together

Omnivore Mains

Zimpana Layered Italian Casserole with Beef – Loaded with cheese, tomato sauce, and vegetables, this layered casserole is reminiscent of lasagne.

Chicken Florentine with Lemon Herb Fettuccine – Oven-roasted local chicken with greens and a side of lemon-herb fettuccine.

Vegetarian Mains

Zimpana Layered Italian Casserole – Reminiscent of lasagne, this casserole is full of delicious Italian flavors and tons of local vegetables.

Ratatoille – Classic French summer stew full of the freshest local vegetables: zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and more

Side Dishes for Both

Antipasto Salad – A classic Italian salad of tomatoes, olives, pickled peppers, mozzarella, red onion, and, in the omnivore edition, home-cured capicola (spiced cured ham).

Caprese Salad – The flavors of summer! A classic tomato-basil-fresh mozzarella salad.  Couldn’t be fresher or better!

Italian Wedding Soup – Traditional soup with meatballs (or vegetarian “meat”balls), chard, and pasta. Bursting with flavor.

Packing tomatoes for winter

Do you feel like this summer is flying by? Everyone I talk to says it seems to have gone more quickly than usual.  It’s also been more extreme than usual, I think.  The spring and early summer were extremely wet and cold, the month of July was extremely hot and dry, and now, in August it is extremely mosquito-y.  I’m not kidding!  We’ve never seen mosquitoes this bad at the Community Farm before.  And it’s not just out at the farm–even at home in Ann Arbor I can’t sit outside, and a visiting friend had to run from her car to the house to avoid being attacked by the bloodsuckers! I was lucky to be warned by Farmer Kari that the mosquitoes were just as terrible out at the farm on Tuesday night, so on Wednesday I was prepared.  In spite of the heat, I wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and took a scarf to wrap around my head, over my ears, and around my neck.  I felt like a movie star in disguise–I wish I knew how to tie my scarf like a hijab! Head nets were also essential equipment this week at the farm–mosquitoes will swarm your face if that’s all they can reach.  In spite of being bundled up and persecuted by mosquitoes we got a lot of good work done–the fall rutabaga crop is thinned and weeded, and in spite of the rains they show good germination.  This is good news as far as I’m concerned–I love rutabaga!

In the kitchen, things are busy too.  Goetz Farm sold us 10 bushels of tomatoes this week which we spent a lot of

Stephanie and Ryan making meatballs

time on Thursday and Friday processing for winter.  I’m sure we’ll have a big day sometime soon when we’ll do a huge number of tomatoes all at once, but in the mean time, we’re getting little bits done as we can.  Stephanie led us in drying a few cases of tomatoes as well as peeling and dicing them.  Many thanks to the hardworking Friday evening crew (Lotus, Dayna, Diala, Ryan, Laura, Kim, Jake, and Vincent) who stayed late to get these tomatoes processed and the kitchen cleaned up.  We’ll be thanking you when we’re eating these delicious tomatoes in January!

So, this week’s menu has an Americana Theme.  Here’s the plan:

A stack of pita bread

Omnivore

BBQ Chicken – Our favorite free-range chickens with our homemade BBQ sauce makes for a summer feast. Pair with

Chopped Kale Salad – A slaw-style salad with dark leafy greens.

Apple Sauce-stuffed Pork Chops – The first apples of the season pair with our happy hog pork chops from Black Oak Farm. Sweet and delicious!

Bacon Mac and Cheese  – A special twist on a crowd-pleasing fave,this mac and cheese goes above and beyond.

Zucchini Sautee – A side dish featuring everyone’s summer favorite squash is a light accompaniment to the mac and cheese

Melon Mint Soup – The latest in our series of chilled summer soup shows of the sweetness of the melons highlighted with the brightness of mint.

Green Salad or Cuke Salad – Chef’s choice this week!

Vegetarians

Our friend Kevin of Green Giraffe Window Services cleaning our front window

Succotash – It doesn’t get much more Americana than this–our version of this classic dish will feature corn, beans, tomatoes, chard, and so much more. I can’t wait to try it!

Veggie Macaroni Bake – A summery take on Macaroni and cheese, featuring tons of vegetables and lots of cheese.

Zucchini Sautee- A side dish featuring everyone’s summer favorite squash is a light accompaniment to the mac and cheese

Melon Mint Soup – The latest in our series of chilled summer soup shows of the sweetness of the melons highlighted with the brightness of mint.

Chopped Kale Salad – A slaw-style salad with dark leafy greens.

Green Salad or Cuke Salad – Chef’s choice this week!

So much bounty! Get excited!

Mary

Cashew Veggie Patties getting tubbed

Hello HK Fans,

Hope all is well with you.  It’s been a busy week here at Harvest Kitchen.  The big news around here is (as we hope you all know) we’re offering a 12-week Back to School Season this Fall.  This runs simultaneously with the last 12 weeks of our summer-fall season, but we hope it’ll be a chance for people who travel a lot during the summer to get in on the HK action for the autumn, as well as being a great way for new members to try out HK for a shorter season.  Please help us spread the word by telling your friends and colleagues.  I can confidently say that HK food is better than ever and the veggies are thriving–it looks like it’s going to be an awesome fall, and I hope that many new folks will join us and become part of the fun!

Sinks full of Kale!

In cooking news, we spent some time on Friday blanching and freezing some greens–we’ll be able to pull them out of the freezer this winter to enjoy the fresh flavors of summer even when the snow flies.  This summer has been the best the Community Farm has ever had for kale and collards (and that’s saying something), so even after using as many as we could, we were getting behind and the cooler was beginning to be overwhelmed with cases of greens. So, Friday afternoon Lotus, Ryan, and Laura put in some solid work washing, blanching, squeezing, packing, and freezing our green leafy friends.  In the process a dance was invented…watch the video below for a glimpse of Friday afternoon in the kitchen.

Out at the Farm things are going well.  The Thursday team had a long discussion of the practice (by conventional feed corn farmers) of hiring teenagers to “detassle” the corn.  All the glory goes to the person who can explain exactly WHY this is done (and why we don’t have to do it to our sweet corn…).  We also got some good work done on the seemingly endless task of thinning the fall carrots.

The chef team has done some creative thinking to come up with this awesome Mediterranean menu:

Omnivores

Fresh pico de gallo

Beef Kabobs with Chimichurri Sauce – Flavorful beef kabobs loaded with seasonal vegetables and topped with Argentinian green Chimichurri sauce.

Mediterranean Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce – Savory meatballs with a creamy fresh cucumber-yogurt Tzatziki sauce.

Chilled Creamy Tomato Basil Soup – The name says it all–tomato and basil combine for the ideal summer flavors.

Sauteed Greens – This has been the best summer EVER for kale and collards at the Community Farm–and we’re not keeping their healthy savor to ourselves.  Enjoy this side of greens with any of this week’s main dishes.

Five Bean Salad – Crisp and refreshing, our five bean salad is the perfect lunch or side on a summer’s day.

Potato Salad – No green salad this week, so instead we’re loading your plate with potato salad! Not that flavorless picnic staple, our potato salad features newly dug potatoes and other fresh veggies.

Dayna working the food processor

Vegetarians

Black Bean Falafel with Tzatziki Sauce – Mediterranean flavors combine in our delicious falafel patties, served with creamy cucumber Tzatziki Sauce.

Summer Green Pie – Filo dough crust overflows with delicious fresh greens in this crispy summer favorite.

Chilled Creamy Tomato Basil Soup – The name says it all–tomato and basil combine for the ideal summer flavors.

Sauteed Greens – This has been the best summer EVER for kale and collards at the Community Farm–and we’re not keeping their healthy savor to ourselves.  Enjoy this side of greens with any of this week’s main dishes.

Five Bean Salad – Crisp and refreshing, our five bean salad is the perfect lunch or side on a summer’s day.

Potato Salad – No green salad this week, so instead we’re loading your plate with potato salad! Not that flavorless picnic staple, our potato salad features newly dug potatoes and other fresh veggies.

Yup, it’s not your imagination–the abundance of summer is making the share size a bit bigger each week!

Have a good one.

Mary

Kat stirs up the N African Vegetable Stew

This weather is getting pretty crazy, but at least we finally got RAIN!  I had the great joy to get to be out at Community Farm on Thursday morning after the huge rainfall of Wednesday night.  What an amazing experience!  To begin with, the rain gauge was literally filled up to the brim–it’s not even gauged all the way to the top, so we’re not totally sure how much rain we got, but probably over 6 inches.  Farmer Anne says they’ve *never* gotten so much rain in a single event before.  For comparison, a normal rainfall is usually around .25 or .5 inches.  6 inches is a crazy amount of rain to get!  Getting lots of rain even after a drought can sometimes be a problem, but this rainfall was very serendipitous.  Firstly, there was no wind with the storm, so no crops were blown over.  Secondly, thanks to the fact that the Community Farm uses raised beds, almost no crops were standing in water after the storm.  Even in our lowest-lying fields, there were only a few areas where the beds themselves were flooded.  So, fortunately, our plants will be able to drink their fill from this abundant rainfall without getting drowned.  There were also very few areas where crops were washed away.  All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the drought.  Farmers Anne and Paul were very much in a celebratory mood on Thursday morning, and they took all of us apprentice farmers on a safari around the farm to see the result of the rain.  Kristin took pictures, and as soon as she shares them with me I will post them here, but for now imagine in your mind’s eye: the rain gauge filled to the brim; A field of crops with water standing in the pathways but none covering the beds; beautiful tomatoes, corn, and more drinking up and growing strong!  Hooray!

Here at Harvest Kitchen, our menu is taking on a distinctly Latin flavor this week!

Omnivores

Cubano with Stuffed Pork and Mojito Sauce – I just picked up a pound of fresh mint from Tantre farm to make this exquisite mojito sauce–a perfect pairing with the stuffed pork.
Cuban Chicken Taco with Fresh Cabbage Slaw and tortillas from the Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory
Pairs perfectly with Spanish rice
White Bean Cassoulet – The smokey flavor of bacon and surprise vegetables (…chard and more!…) make this a dish to savor.
Gazpacho – Who can get enough of these chilled soups at this time of year? Not us! Stay hydrated..

And, as always, all this comes with Green Salad and a house Dressing.

Vegetarians
Vegetarian Vegetable Taco – A delightful combination of favorite summer veggies, served with Slaw and Tortillas from the Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory
Coconut Cashew Veggie Patty – Can’t get enough of these creative veggie “burgers”.  Consider pairing with
Spanish rice with green olives

White Bean Cassoulet – The vegetarian version will feature creamy beans and tons of surprise vegetables (…chard and more!…).  Certainly a dish to savor.
Gazpacho – Who can get enough of these chilled soups at this time of year? Not us! Stay hydrated..

And, as always, all this comes with Green Salad and a house Dressing.

Woo! That’s all!

See you this week.

Mary

Stephanie laughing and peeling cukes

Oh my, I don’t think I can remember a hotter week. It seems like it’s been impossible to escape the heat and humidity. Here at the kitchen, we’re all thankful that we got the AC fixed before this heatwave began. At the farm we’re doing all we can to stay cool and safe. Drinking cold water, dunking our arms, heads, and t-shirts in buckets of well water, wearing sun hats–these are our techniques for keeping cool most of the time, but this week was extreme.  On Wednesday we filled one of the kiddy pools we usually use for veggies with cold water and dipped our feet.  On Thursday (was that the hottest day?) we finished work early and went to Friends’ Lake for a swim.  A few farmers went down with heat prostration, but Farmer Anne reports that all are recovered and back at work.  Jonathan Goetz of Goetz Farm told me that it was 126 F in his fields on Monday when I called to order more green beans, but he may have been exaggerating. There’s no doubt it was HOT, though.

Many of our crops love this hot weather–tomatoes and Sweet

Lilah working on the chard wraps

potatoes should be particularly good this year thanks to the extreme heat. However, we all need rain.  Out at Community Farm we continue to irrigate regularly with our extensive (efficient) drip irrigation system, but everyone I talk to is longing for significant rain. I asked Kenny King of Frog Holler Farm if they’d gotten any rain in any of the storms this week and he said they’d gotten some on Thursday, but that they could use that amount on a daily basis!

In honor of the heat wave, this week at the kitchen we’re focusing on a light, cold, refreshing menu.  No one wants to eat much hot food in this weather, so we’re making fan favorites that won’t require too much re-heating.  Hopefully you’ll find these delights just the thing to sustain you this week.  here’s the plan:

Omnivores

Spring Rolls with Chicken Fresh spring rolls with loads of crunchy vegetables and humanely raised chicken from Back Forty Acres. Served with creamy peanut sauce.

Pretty Kale Stroganoff!

Zucchini Boats – A classic favorite of summer menus, our stuffed zucchini is full of flavor–they feature Black Oak Farm ground pork, tomato sauce, bulghur wheat, and more.

Chilled Fennel Soup – Clear, cold, and full of the fresh flavor of fennel, this soup is the perfect refresher on a hot summer day.

Kale Protein Salad – Low on carbs, high on protein and rich in flavor, this cold salad is hearty, healthy, and refreshing.

Green Salad Mix with fresh basil lime dressing

Vegetarians

Vegetarian Spring Rolls – Fresh spring rolls with loads of crunchy vegetables–Harvest Kitchen chef Emmy claims she can make spring rolls with as many as 14 Community Farm vegetables. We’ll see how far we get! Served with creamy peanut sauce.

Darwaut – Spicy North African Vegetable Stew – Chickpeas, zucchini, carrots and more served in a flavorful North African-spiced tomato stock. Served with a serving of brown rice.

Chilled Carrot Soup with Cumin and Lime – We made this last summer and Harvest Kitchen customers are still talking about it. This cold soup is refreshing and bright–perfect for a hot day!

Kale Protein Salad – Low on carbs, high on protein and rich in flavor, this cold salad is hearty, healthy, and refreshing.

Green Salad Mix with fresh basil lime dressing

Enjoy!

Mary