Frosty Mornings

We have turned another corner with our first frost in the meadow garden on Thursday morning. We lost our cucumbers, zucchini, basil, peas and those beans we mentioned last week. The cucumbers and basil did not do well from the beginning. Our nighttime temperatures are too low to provide a good growing environment for those warm weather loving crops. In our future business plan we will construct high tunnels, unheated greenhouses, to prolong the season and generally increase temperatures through the growing season. These will help immensely with our ability to grow a wider variety of those warmer weather crops and will allow us to grow more successions of cooler weather crops.

Garden Share

Green Beans (Mattic’s Orchard)

Broccoli

Green Cabbage

Carrots

Corn (Mattic’s Orchard)

Cucumbers (Mattic’s Orchard)

Mint

Oregano

Green Lettuce

Walla Walla Onions

Scallions

Zucchini

Fruit Share

1 bag peaches

1 bag gala apples

Both from Austin Family Farms

Green Beans

Though we will not be seeing our green beans this season, we do have another installment from Mattic’s Orchard in Olathe. Here are some tasty looking recipes to help you use them.

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/002129wax_beans_with_mint.php

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007267mexican_green_bean_salad.php

Cucumbers, Greek Oregano and Mint

Last summer we had a Greek Family visit our home and they cooked us a fantastic Mediterranean feast. The top one is from our recipe library and the bottom recipe is one of the dishes the family prepared. They are delicious together.

Tzatziki

32 oz. yogurt

1 ½ cup shredded cucumber

¾ tsp. salt

2 T. chopped mint

¼ tsp black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. Olive Oil

Mix ingredients together and enjoy or for a more authentic experience drain yogurt overnight through a colander lined with paper towels, placed over a bowl, covered in the refrigerator. Transfer drained yogurt to a bowl. Rinse and dry the colander. Put shredded cucumber in colander and sprinkle with salt. Toss and allow to drain 15 min. Squeeze excess moisture until just moist. Mix drained yogurt with cucumbers and all remaining ingredients. Drizzle with oil.

Smirnaika (read the whole recipe before starting)

2 lbs ground beef or buffalo

Oregano

Salt and pepper

1 onion

4-5 cloves garlic minced

3 pieces dry bread torn into small pieces or food processed with a few Tablespoons olive oil to moisten

1.Hand mix/knead above ingredients

2.Form mixture into 2 ½ inch long by 1 inch high loaves

3. Make a bowl of flour for dredging the meat loaves.

4. Heat olive oil in a skillet.

5. Roll loaves in the flour and fry briefly in the skillet until flour is nicely browned.

6. Place loaves in a baking dish.

The Sauce

2 cans diced or pureed tomatoes

Put in the frying pan with the meat oil. Add salt and pepper and chopped oregano.

Bring to a boil to reduce liquid

Pour sauce over meat loaves and bake in the oven at 350˚ for approximately 30 minutes or until meat is cooked and sauce is bubbly.