April News and Buying Club

Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!

We want to take a moment to update everyone on farm happenings and also to announce our buying club will be opening this Tuesday (4/22), with deliveries Friday (4/25) and Saturday (4/26).  If you would like to order, go to our website and purchase a free winter buying club membership (http://www.dancinghenfarm.com/purchase.html) .  Please know, we at the farm, need time to activate your account before you can order, so register as soon as possible.  Also this buying club is separate from the buying club offered to our CSA members, so members who have signed up for a CSA buying club will need to also purchase the free winter buying club so they can order products outside of our CSA delivery dates.

We think spring has finally sprung!  We still are not out of danger of frost and freezing overnight temperatures, but the really cold temperatures and the snow should be done for the season. 

So what does this mean for us here at the farm?  It means our seed houses are filling up with trays and trays of seedlings, our fields are getting tilled in preparation of planting, farmers markets are starting up, and our chickens are laying lots and lots of eggs!

We finally have peas and potatoes in the ground.  Our early pea harvest will be a bit later than recent years, but we are planning on a good harvest of snow, sugar snap and shelling peas for our second or third week of CSA deliveries.  We have a small planting of potatoes in one of our unheated greenhouses.  These will be harvested young as tender new potatoes.  This will the first time we have tried potatoes in the greenhouse, so stay tuned for how these turn out.  We generally plant quite a few potatoes out in the field and we have about a quarter to a third of our potatoes in the ground with more to follow in the next few weeks.

We have also started our root crop rotation of field plantings, with beets, carrots, turnips and radishes all being planted last week.  The radishes should germinate quickly and we anticipate radishes in the first weeks CSA boxes.  Scallions are onions will be planted this week, with scallions the first of these crops to be harvested.

The seed houses are filled with trays of cooking and salad greens.  These seedlings will be planted in the field shortly.  Look for kale, swiss chard, Asian greens and salad greens as early items for the CSA.  We have started seeding our warmer season plants, including tomatoes.  Our challenge now is finding enough space for our seedlings before they get planted out.  The tender plants still need protection from chilly overnight temperatures and we never seem to have enough greenhouse space this time of year.

Our laying hens are really enjoying the warmer temperatures and greening up of the farm.  It is so nice to see happy chickens foraging for weeds and insects!  The longer day length means they are once again starting to lay lots and lots of eggs.  We will be getting more laying hens towards the end of May.  Our first batch of meat chickens arrive this week

.

The CSA is filling up nicely.  We are allowing for a few more memberships this season, so we do still have memberships available.  We are now a Choice CSA, so all members can choose from a list of seasonal items each week.  Part Share members choose 6 items each week and Full Share members choose 10 items each week.  Egg shares are also available to CSA members.  If you have questions about how our Choice CSA operates or our delivery locations, please contact us.

As mentioned above, we are starting our buying club up this week.  Ordering will open Tuesday at 5 am and close Thursday at 11 pm.  All ordering is done online, so to place an order, you will need to register with our website and purchase a FREE winter buying club share.  We will deliver Friday night to Bloomsburg and Saturday morning to Dallas and Forty Fort.  This may be one of our only buying club dates for the spring and all product will be limited.  Please sign up and place your orders early, product is available first come first serve!

We are featuring eggs this week!  Our chickens have free access to our organically managed fields and a their diet is supplemented with organic soy free local grains.  On farm, we eat lots and lots of eggs.  A favorite is what we call green eggs.  Sauted greens mixed in with scrambled eggs as they cook.  We often make extra greens for dinner, so we can add them to our breakfast or lunchtime eggs.  Here are some websites with some good ideas and recipes for pastured eggs:

http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/11161-10-fun-easy-ways-to-cook-eggs.html

http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes

Our farm calendar for the next few weeks includes Farmers Markets at Bloomsburg University on Friday 4/25 and 5/2 from 8:30 to noon.  We are having a vegetable growers open house and potluck on farm on Saturday 5/3, from 10 am to 1 pm.  This is a PASA (Pennsylvania Association of Agriculture) sponsored event and all are welcome to stop by, see the farm and enjoy some conversation.  On Saturday May 10, we will be at Forks Farm for their first market of the 2014 season.  The Hopkins Family, at Forks Farm run a great market, well worth the trip!  (www.forksfarmmarket.com)

A quick comment on our website.  We are still working at cleaning up the financial aspect of the site.  We will be working on it tonight.  But some of your accounts may still show a previous balance owed, even though you know your account does not have a balance.  Please know we are keeping track of payments the old fashioned way (pen and paper!) and will hopefully get the website up to date shortly.  Thank you for your patience with this.  If you have questions or concerns about your account status or balance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

As always, thank you for your continued support of our farm and local agriculture! 

Farmer Don and Joan
Dancing Hen Farm
www.dancinghenfarm.com
570-925-0263

Today is the opening day of baseball season.  With this on his mind and a snow and ice storm raging on the farm, Farmer Don picked up his pen yesterday:

The setting, with upcoming baseball season upon us, is a baseball game between the Dancing Hen Farmers and the Mother Natures.  Farmer Don will be your announcer here at the stadium know as Dancing Hen Farm.  We are in the bottom of the third inning.  A recap of the game so far shows a close game with Mother Nature pitching an assortment of polar vortexes and snow storms at the Farmers in the first few innings.  The Farmers came through this onslaught and managed to still get a few men on base.  Kale, escarole, dandelion, lettuce, collards, kohlrabi, celery and spinach all battled bravely and got on base, ready to score.

The farmers were pitching plastic for the first few innings and doing okay.  So well, that the plastic came off here in the bottom of the third, with Mother Nature getting a little soft.

Well today's scorecard has Mother Nature throwing ice balls so the Farmers brought out the relief pitcher, fabric row cover, to protect the early hitters.

So, we will wrap up today's broadcast as Mother Nature accumulates ice balls, as the Farmers' biggest fans, Shady and Rosie, watch from the warm dugout, out of the onslaught.  They know the Farmers have many more innings to generate more runners.

But, keep in mind fans, as was so eloquently stated at a sustainability workshop this winter, "Mother Nature bats last...." 

Stay tuned....

Mother Nature finished the inning with 5 inches of snow and the game goes on.........

Food Pictures

One great thing about living on the farm is the food.  We love to cook and we love to use our own farm fresh products!  And when we remember, we love to take pictures of the food we cook.

Kale Carrot Quinoa Pilaf with Baked Salmon

Grilled Beef Salad.  Happy Birthday Farmer Don

Dancing Hen Farm Raosted Chicken, Potatoes and Yellow Beans with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

Zucchini Cakes Topped with a Cherry Tomato Salad

Zoodles with Meat Sauce

Nutritional Newsletter Week 8 - Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Things are really speeding along here at the farm, what with August just around the corner.  It’s hard to believe that in a few weeks the leaves will slowly begin to fade into their brilliant red, orange, and yellow hues.  But fear not, for August brings with it more mouth-watering vegetables that will allow us to hold onto summer for just a little while longer!

Featured Item:
This week we will be featuring our abundant summer squash which includes zucchini, yellow squash, and pattypan squash.  All three types are very versatile and make an excellent addition to any summertime dish.

Nutritional Highlights:
Summer squash has a very high water content which makes it perfect for those hot summer days as it may help to prevent dehydration.  The high water content also means that it is low in calories, coming in at about 14 calories per 3 ½ ounce serving according to Michael Murray, N.D., author of The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods.  It is also a good source of vitamin C, carotenes, and potassium.  In addition, summer squash may also help to prevent cell mutations that can lead to cancer.

Recipe Ideas:
• Can be eaten raw; makes a wonderful addition to salads
• Grill it
• Add it to a stir fry
• Roast it (especially delicious when roasted with a little olive oil, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil)
• Add it to any of your favorite egg dishes
• Slice into long, thin strips, sauté until softened, and use in place of pasta
• Make zucchini bread or cake (very similar to carrot cake)
Follow the links provided below for some really tasty recipes:
• http://www.molliekatzen.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipe=zucchini_pizza
• http://www.grouprecipes.com/116102/zucchini-feta-pancakes.html
• http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/summer-squash-soup-with-pasta-parmesan-10000001809036/
• http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spiedini-of-chicken-zucchini-with-almond-salsa-verde-10000001809112/
• http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/yellow-squash-ribbons-with-red-onion-parmesan-10000001065511/
• http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bread-10000001809024/

Have fun and enjoy!

-Lydia

Week 7 Newsletter

Welcome to Week Seven

I'm still waiting for the cool down that the weather people keep talking about.  Here on the farm the weather continues to be hot.  Our harvest this week turned out to be a wet one with the veggies and the farmer all taking an outside bath.  Maybe we will get that cool off in September!

Looking at the calendar and I see July slipping away into August, with so much left to do.  As it is each year, no rest until week 22 in November, but alas the rewards for the effort are countless.

Just the ever increasing variety of harvest being passed along brings a smile to the face.  The first of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant went out this week.  Expect a lot more of these to follow.  Summer squash continues to thrive.  Our dinner last night of zucchini skillet cakes was awesome.  Thanks Farmer Joan for a wonderful meal.  I think tonight it's grilled eggplant creamed feta, a recipe borrowed from Nigel Slater's book "Tender.   A Cook and his Vegetable Patch".  Thanks Ellen for the wonderful cookbook.

Week One for the Back Mountain Market was a huge success!  So nice to see all the familiar faces.  A special thank you to Serena, our new Sales and Marketing Intern.  Look for her behind the market table and say "Hi".  This week we will be at both Forks Farm Market in Orangeville and the Back Mountain Library Market in Dallas. 

This past week the farm did suffer some loss.  We experienced our first major fox attack.  Multiple chickens fell victim to the fox, as Farmer Don and the dogs were just a little late to get out and chase the fox away.  Looks like the fox and the farmer will be going at each other for a little while longer.

Time to move on to the fields with lots of planting, projects and harvest to complete.

Have a great week, be safe, be well and bring on the cool down!

Farmer Don.

Recipes

Summer Squash harvest is in full swing here at the farm.  Lots and lots of zucchini and yellow summer squash being harvested and therefore going out in boxes each week.  If you find yourself with too many zucchini on hand, I would suggest grating and freezing it.  I generally grate the squash and place it in a colander to drain and then I squeeze out extra moisture before freezing.  The frozen grated zucchini works great for baking, so I measure and freeze in one cup portions.  I just saw an idea to form the grated zucchini into one cup balls, freeze them on a cookie sheet.  Once frozen the zucchini balls can be placed in gallon sized bags. 

Grilling summer squash:  If larger cut fruit in thirds, otherwise cut in half or leave whole.  Brush with olive oil and place on grill.  Grill on both sides.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, add salt and pepper to taste and top with a bit of fresh grated parmesan cheese.  A real farm favorite!

Zucchini Skillet Cakes (adapted from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen):

2 medium large zucchini, grated
1 egg, beaten (vegans can use 1/4 cup of pureed tofu, per Madison)
1-2 tbsp chives, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tbsp dried marjoram (or 2 to 3 tbsp fresh)
grated zest of 1 very small lemon
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/8 cup capers
olive oil
salt & pepper (be careful with the salt, as capers can be quite salty)

Sprinkle the grated zucchini with salt and place in a colander to drain for 15 minutes. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the grated zucchini using your hands or the back of a large wooden spoon. The more moisture you can remove, the easier it will be to keep the cakes together when frying.

In a large bowl, mix together the beaten egg, chives, garlic, parsley, marjoram, and lemon zest. Add the zucchini, breadcrumbs, and capers.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat some olive oil over med. heat. Spoon out desired amount of mixture and form into a round cake in the frying pan.  Cook until the bottom is firm enough that you can flip it. (I found it easier to cook several smaller cakes, although the recipe suggested one large cake.  Smaller were easier for me to flip!) Cook on the other side until firm. Keep warm on a plate in the oven until all the cakes are cooked.

To serve, we generally top the cakes with either a fresh salad of tomatoes or small bit of homemade tomato sauce.  

Garlic Scape Pesto

Thanks to CSA member Sarah for sharing a picture of the pesto she made with scapes and basil from her weekly box of veggies.

Garlic Scapes are the flower stalk of hardneck varieties of garlic.  The flower stalk is snipped off (harvested) to allow the garlic plant to direct energy into making a nice large garlic bulb.  The scapes are edible and can be used in a variety of ways.

Here at Dancing Hen Farm we use them in most dishes this time of year, as we would garlic bulbs a bit later in the season.  Dice them small and add them to stir frys or even raw to salads.  Or make pesto!!

Week 6 Newsletter

Welcome to Week 6!

Last week was relatively quiet on the farm with lots of planting and project week.  The week wrapped up with a Forks Farm Market on Saturday.  A real fun market with the opportunity to visit with many members and friends of the farm.  So nice to see and talk to so many folks who support the farm and care about the community around us.  Thanks to all who came out!  This coming Saturday we will be in Dallas at the Back Mountain Memorial Library Farm Market.  Come out and say "hi" and meet your farmer!  We will be featuring our nutrient dense organically grown vegetables as well as eggs from our free range chickens.  New this year, we will be selling broiler chickens at the Back Mountain Market.  These are chickens raised on our pasture and fed locally sourced organic grains. 

This week on the farm is shaping up to be a slow one, as two of our helpers have been given the week off due to the extreme heat.  The farmer and Neil will take care of chores and projects, but just too hot to have a crew working in the fields.  They say relief is on the way Saturday, so we look ahead and endure until then.  Lots of water going out this week, as we will keep the roots of the crops cool and moist to help with the heat stress they will be facing.  Animals will be our largest concern, keeping them watered and nourished our main priority.

Crop wise, I am always looking ahead.  Thoughts are on for fall production, our needs for that, as well as maintaining the crops we already have in production geared for fall harvest.  These include all the winter squashes, brussel sprouts and other late maturing crops.  The time is now to prepare and plant all the fall broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.  Root crops for the fall also need to be in the equation, while the last seeding of some crops will occur in the next few weeks.  A farmer always has to look ahead and prepare for the next planting.  As the seasons come and go it is key to be ready when the time is right.

So, time has come to do those chores.   Enjoy those veggies, have a great week and stay cool.

Farmer Don

Recipes:

Foolproof Vinaigrette
(This is from one of Farmer Don's favorite magazines "Cooks Illustrated".  I have not tried this yet, but --- The magazine states that  "a problem with making vinaigrettes is preventing the oil and vinegar from separating.  Adding a bit of mayonnaise (which doesn't affect the flavor) provides an emulsifier that creates a lasting bond" and therefore keeps the separation from happening.)
This vinaigrette makes about 1/4 cup and the magazine states that as being enough to dress 8 to 10 cups of loose packed greens.

1 TBS Wine Vinegar (red, white or champagne)
1 1/2 tsp minced shallot
1/2 tsp regular or light mayonnaise
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper
3 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Combine vinegar, shallot, mayonnaise, mustard, 1/8 tsp salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.  Whisk until mixture is milky in appearance and no lumps of mayonnaise remain.

Place oil in a small measuring cup so that it is easy to pour.  Whisking constantly, very slowly drizzle oil into vinegar mixture.  If pools of oil gather on the surface as you whisk, stop addition of oil and whist mixture well to combine, then resume whisking oil in a slow stream.  Vinaigrette should be glossy and lightly thickened, with no pools of oil on its surface.  (Vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.)

Sauteed Fennel & Zucchini 
Serves 4 to 6
1 tbsp. olive oil 
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced 
1 to 2 zucchini (or yellow squash), sliced 
1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano 
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar 
1/4 cup pine nuts 
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
First, toast your pine nuts in a dry skillet (stir, or shake pan often) until lightly browned and fragrant. Transfer to a small dish and set aside. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the fennel and zucchini and cook, stirring constantly, until they are cooked through but still crisp-tender, about 7 - 8 min. Stir in the vinegar and oregano, and season to taste w/salt and pepper. Add pine nuts and heat a minute or two more. Serve hot.

Fennel and Orange Salad
from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

1 fennel bulb
2 oranges
juice of 1 small lemon
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Remove leafy tops and root ends of fennel bulbs. Slice trimmed bulbs crosswise into thin, bite-size slices; place in bowl. Section oranges into bowl, squeezing in extra juice as well. Stir in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.