GROCHÉ ORGANIC FARMS, LLC 5463 Lade Beach Rd., Suamico, WI (920) 412-1869

ALL SHARE SIZES: DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR OWN BAGS WHEN PICKING UP SHARES!

WEEKLY SHARE

Anticipated

SPOTLIGHT: • ATTENTION: WILL WORK FOR

VEGETABLES! The farm still has one more worker share spot avail-able. If you or someone you would know would like to work a few hours a week and get paid in vegetables. Please spread the word. If interested, contact Brian at (920) 412-1869.

• ATTENTION SMALL SHARES: Your

shares will be transported in WHITE boxes this week. Please bring your own bag(s) to pick up.

• WEILER ACADEMY IS OPEN! Reg-ular share pick-up will resume at the Weiler Academy location.

• BEES! Did you know there are bee hives on the farm? This week we observed a buzzing cloud of bees form a ball in an apple tree. This is called a swarm. The queen and a portion of her hive leave to find a new location– the remainder stay to crown a new queen.

• SANDY BROOK FARM MEAT CSA Looking for protein to go with your vegetables? Check out Sandy Brook Farm. They offer a CSA op-tion. Although they are not certi-fied organic, they follow organic procedures and create a stress-free environment for their ani-mals.

July 12th, 2017

FEATURE RECIPE: KOHLRABI FRIES

• 2 kohlrabi

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp chili powder

• 1/2 tsp cumin

• Pinch of salt

• Pinch of Onion Powder

Directions:

1. Cut off stems and peel kohlrabi until you only have the tender insides left. With a sharp knife, slice into long, thin strips.

2. Toss in bowl with olive oil and seasonings.

3. Bake cut side down at 425° for 25 minutes or until tender. Flip half way through.

4. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce such as ketchup or process the following ingredients to try them with a Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce (1 cup sour cream, Juice 1 lime (approx. 2 tsp), 1 tsp cilantro, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 tsp salt).

Depending on your share size, you may find...

•Butterhead lettuce

•Romain

•Red crisp lettuce

•Peas

•Boc choy

•Radishes

•Zucchini

•Yellow Squash

•Pattypan (scallop) squash

•Kohlrabi

•Parsley

•Kale

stance, a few people filled in for our first CSA

share pick up day. Jessica’s dad, Keith, came to

the farm to help harvest, weed, and move

chickens onto the grass plots. The chickens are

very happy in the fresh air, pecking the ground

as they should. With the messy chickens moved

out of the brooders, the turkeys are enjoying

their additional space and fresh bedding. They

are even starting to find their gobble too.

Even though the crops have been a little unhap-

py this season, the lambs and chickens aren’t

complaining. They are happily munching on all

the scrap and cast away crops. We hate to

waste any crops and put them to use even

when they are not marketable.

FARM HAPPENINGS.

Even though there has been lots of extra frus-

tration and work due to weather and field

conditions, we have been able to celebrate

plenty! AJ took last week off to celebrate the

Fourth of July and his birthday, but came back

with some big news...he’s engaged! For those

of you who don’t know AJ, we will be getting

to know him more as the season goes on. He

loves the farm so much that Groché will be

growing his wedding flowers next summer!

We also want to show appreciation for all of

the members, new and returning, and friends,

family, and workers who have been pitching in

extra time and talents this season. For in-

Brian

Groché Organic Farms, LLC (continued) July 12th, 2017

VEGGIE TIPS and TRICKS:

Summer Squash — (zucchini and yellow)

Be careful not to damage these fragile vegetables when handling. Ideally, sum-mer squash prefer a cold humid environ-ment such as your crisper drawer in the refrigerator, but they can also tolerate being left at room temperature for up to 3 days if you are low on fridge space. Wrap cut ends in damp paper towel to help retain moisture. Stored in refrigera-tor, zucchini can last up to 1 week.

Root Vegetables — (radishes, beets, carrots, kohlrabi, parsnips, etc.)

Remove tops before storing! When left on, the greens and stems can draw mois-ture and nutrients from the roots. Don’t throw away the greens though. They can be used in dishes as garnishes or an extra punch of flavor. When removing greens, leave about 1-2” of stems behind. Store leaves as you would any leafy green and use within 2 days. The roots can be stored in the crisper drawer loose as long as there is sufficient moisture. If you are unsure if there is enough moisture, place a damp cloth in the drawer with your veggies. If root vegetables start to shriv-el, soak in ice cold water for at least 1 hour in the fridge before use. Radishes, kohlrabi, and carrots can be cut and stored in a bowl of water in the refrigerator for a quick-grab snack!

RESOURCES:

SaveTheFood.com

UW Extension

University of Minnesota Extension

Letter from Brian:

Weather Impact on the CSA Dear Members,

As I sit down this morning to write this to you, I only have to look out-side to see the reason why, once again RAIN. Something so necessary for our crops yet when you get the amounts we have almost every day, it is not good at all. Weather has chal-lenged us significantly this year. Not only the excessive rain, but a cold May and unusual hot spell mid-June have created problems for several of our crops. The results of these factors have been delayed field work, poor seed germination, crops growing three times slower than they should, and vegetable quality not where we would like it. The excessive rain has affected us the most. Our plants are having a hard time breathing with their roots submerged in water and unable to get the air they need. This situation creates a drowning effect and does not allow the plants to take up nutrients properly. All of our crops are 2-5 weeks behind due to delayed field work and poor growing condi-tions with potatoes being the latest at 5 weeks behind schedule.

In addition to the crop delay, we have lost several crops this year. Spinach, one variety of salad mix, 1st sweet corn seeding and arugula were lost to poor germination and quality. Other losses to this point are 40% of our head lettuces and 50% of our boc choy due to bolting. Bolting occurs when a plan is extremely stressed to a point it feels it will not survive and it prematurely generates a seed head. At this point the vegetable turns

Storing Your Veggies

bitter and is not saleable. The water stress plants were under was com-pounded by high mid-June tempera-tures resulting in the bolting. These losses hurt, but it does make our sheep and chickens happy as they enjoyed almost all of our bolted lettuce and boc choy. The mid-June heat has also affected our early broc-coli and cauliflower, but the total impact won’t be known for 2-3 weeks. Our team has worked hard with many long days, dawn to dusk, with several hundred extra man-hours required to deal with Mother Nature’s temperament. While this might seem a little gloomy and somedays do feel this way, there is a lot of hope for the season. As of to-day, 80% of crops are planted and the last week of light rains and actu-ally two days of no rain resulted in good plant growth.

What this means for you, our mem-bers and supporters, is we believe we can keep CSA boxes full for the season; although variety may suffer a little. There are many wonderful great tasting vegetables to come and we greatly appreciate your patience in receiving them. We hope you en-joyed your first box. Please let us know what is working for you and what is not. We greatly appreciate your support and we are very en-couraged for a bountiful season. If you are a person of faith, a little prayer for less rain and a late frost wouldn’t hurt.

Thanks and wishing you all of God’s Blessing!

July 12th, 2017

July 7th, 2016

Stuffing

• 1 cup kale, stems removed

• 1 garlic cloves

• 1 green onion, white part only

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

• 2 medium zucchini

• 1/2 cup kale, finely chopped

• 1/4 cup toasted walnut (or nut of choice), finely chopped

• 2 TBSP fresh herb of choice such as parsley

FEATURE RECIPE: KALE-

STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS

Directions: 1. Cut zucchinis in half lengthwise and scoop out a shallow trench. (You can add the scooped out

part to the stuffing if you’d like.)

2. Bake in oven cut side down 400° for 5 minutes while you process the “stuffing”. 3. Process all “stuffing” ingredients in food processor until smooth. 4. Stuff the zucchini boats with kale mixture. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until browned

and tender. 5. Garnish with extra kale, toasted walnuts, greens onion greens, and fresh herbs.

STORE: 5-7 days refrigerated in plastic

bag in crisper; wrap stems in damp

paper towel.

CLEAN: Rinse under running water,

but not until you are ready to use it.

Soaking pulls out some of the water-

soluble nutrients and too much mois-

ture encourages wilting and spoiling.

EAT: Best when cooked or sautéed. It

has a more mild flavor and tender tex-

ture than kale. Add it to recipes in-

stead of spinach or kale. Stems can be

eaten too, but need to be cooked

longer.

Groché Organic Farms, LLC (continued) July 12th, 2017

Have a question or idea for a future newsletter?

Please share your thoughts with Brian, Chris, Jessica, or any of the workers at the farmer’s

markets. We would love to make this something that is educational and fun—something you

look forward to reading each week! And we are always looking for tried and true recipes to

share using some of your favorite vegetables!

—————————————————————————————————————-

Swiss Chard

Adapted from Fifty Shades of Kale by Drew

Ramsey, M.D. & Jennifer Iserloh

These are just some of the beautiful blossoms

around the farm. They definitely help break up

the green and brown landscape.