First issue free: the Broadsheet -- zine of Broadacre Farm
The Broadsheet is free to CSA sharers of Broadacre Farm. This first issue is free for anyone to explore ideas in local food, Midwestern terroir, and the launch of Broadacre's first ever CSA, with shares delivered June 19, 2014. Seventeen-plus future issues! Published June-October.
The Broadsheet - Broadacre Farm's 2014 CSA, Week One - Vol. 1, Issue #1
what's in your share / what's in season
fruit rhubarb
root gobo / burdock
herb dill
herb sorrel
herb Swiss mint*
herb bee balm*
herb chives and
edible flowers chive blossoms*
mushroom Giant panus mushroom
(Lentinus levis)
greens 'Blushed Butter Oak' head lettuce*
greens stinging nettle tips
greens Salad of the Seasons Mix
(stellaria leaves and flowers, wood sorrel leaves, baby kale, red clover petals, dianthus and sedum flowers)
Use first Mushroom, bee balm, and head lettuce.
Best keepers Rhubarb, sorrel, gobo, and nettles.
* Frustrating last minute damage by cooler frost which nearly destroyed everything at 3:30 AM and resulted in damage to the noted items. Everyone got a little something extra to make up, and there will be more mint and bee balm on the way.
I just picked up my share. What now? There are no mnemonic devices yet as to best storage techniques, but until I have a format here are a few best practices suited to Week 1.
+ If it's an herb that's on a stalk that you use fresh (like dill or chives), you can store for up to a week when un-banded and set in a glass of water. Then, fix a plastic bag over and secure with a rubber band.
+ Long herbs on a stalk that you can eat fresh (but are best dried, like bee balm and oregano) should be eaten fresh within a couple days. Drying herbs from your share is easy - simply bundle and hang upside-down in a warm area with good air flow out of direct sunlight.
+ Shoots and stalks (like rhubarb) can be stood up in water, but this can be cumbersome - store in the humid crisper. I am trying to avoid wrapping anything in plastic film, and if I wrapped at all, it would be in this category.
+ Greens should be kept in the humid crisper, too, and always do better sealed in a bag. I've found that a paper towel in the bottom will absorb excess moisture following washing, leading to longer storability of greens. Our non-GMO bio-plastic produce bags did not arrive before Thursday, so bags for now are plastic.
Quick Picks
Pesto - stinging nettle tips, bee balm, chives + olive oil, garlic, salt, sunflower seeds
Wild pasta or risotto - bee balm, chives, mushroom, and gobo
Green eggs - stinging nettle tips, dill or bee balm or chives + eggs
Miso soup - gobo, chives, stinging nettle + miso
Cobbler - rhubarb, mint + orange zest
Lebanese beef or lamb meatballs - Swiss mint, bee balm, chives and blossoms + grassfed beef or lamb
Simple syrup - rhubarb or Swiss mint (for dessert glazes, pancake topping, or cocktails) + sugar, water
Dried herbs - Swiss mint, bee balm, chives and blossoms, or dill + string
Oatmeal topping - rhubarab + apple, sugar, orange zest, and rosewater
Half-wild mojito or ice tea - Swiss mint, bee balm
Tempura or fritters - chive blossoms
Infused vodka - dill, Swiss mint, or bee balm + vodka
Notes on packaging First, I was unable to locate an wax box supplier who could send affordable bushel boxes, and drove to Woodbury to get the closest replacement based on dimensions - ¾ bushel boxes. The express shipping charge raised the cost to over $12 per box! They should be around $2 to be a good value. However, 1 bushel boxes will be used probably starting Week 3. Wax boxes are not recyclable, but they are quite reusable and are a reliable way to keep produce fresh as I learned when subscribing to the Featherstone Farm CSA. As for plastic packaging within the share, we aim to use as little of it as possible, and where possible will search for non-GMO bio-plastics, compostable packaging, paper bags, parchment paper, string, unbleached paper towels, and sometimes vegetables loose in the box.
Stellaria This lettuce-flavored wild green is completely edible, from leaves to stems to flowers, and so I've included all three in the Salad of the Seasons Mix. It grows in cultivated areas, wild spots, marshy areas, tall grass, the shade beneath boxelders, everywhere. I've had it in burgers, beneath chunks of watermelon and feta in a salad, and dressed with Bragg's vinaigrette.
Giant panus mushroom - This is exactly the kind of fly-by-night item I dreamed of including - wild mushrooms. We take great care with wild mushrooms before anyone is allowed to eat it. We take notes on habitat, growth surface, the shape and size of cap and stipe (stem), color, texture, scent, any bruising or staining characteristics, color of the spores, time of year, and any standout identifiers such as rhizomorphs beneath the bark of a host tree, a hairy stipe, or drops of 'milk' when cut. We use taxonomic schedules to rule out any lookalikes, and slowly go through checking the positive identification characteristics. When all the research is done, we cook and eat a small amount, and abstain from alcohol.
Giant panus mushroom is like an oyster, used to be in the oyster family, and some call it the 'woolly-legged oyster'. It is not as tender as an oyster, but that toothsomeness makes it ideal for slicing thin and frying. It 'holds up to cooking' just like they say about apples. Joe and I brushed off the ever-present debris and ate it with butter, asparagus, gobo, green onions, white pepper, and a tiny sample of coral fungus.
Mushroom pro-tip regarding alcohol - It's best to abstain from alcohol while eating any mushroom that's new to you. Even edible mushrooms can cause some upset when paired with booze. So skip the wine this time and enjoy some fungal goodness with the morning scrambled eggs, or a mushroom-hash-on-toast for an easy lunch.
Mushroom pro-tip regarding cooking - Don't eat this or any other mushroom raw. With one exception for the ubiquitous white button mushroom, wild mushrooms are almost never eaten raw. That's partly because the flavor develops in cooking, often imparting umami flavor to grains, sauces, or fat. Raw mushrooms, on the other hand, have scents like cucumber-watermelon (dryad's saddle) or anise-citrus (giant panus). The best way to enjoy this state of the mushroom is simply take a deep breath.
Mushroom pro-tip regarding washing - Wild mushrooms and mushrooms in general are not washed because it rapidly increases spoilage because of their soft tissues. Instead, they are brushed with special mushroom brushes, although any brush would work - a brand new hairbrush with bristles, a paintbrush, or one of those free toothbrushes that accumulate after dentist visits.
Stinging nettles - A nutritional powerhouse, stinging nettles are de-stinged by cooking - a quick boil will render them harmless. Don't touch them raw or you'll get a minor skin irritation for a few hours. Best in pesto. This is the end of the season for nettles, after which bugs destroy the leaves and the flavor goes metallic.
Bee balm - Perhaps my favorite herb along with tarragon, flower gardeners know it as monarda. It grows wild, too, and has a savory mix of flavors ideal for any Mediterranean cooking from Italian to Lebanese. Referred to sometimes as 'horsemint', it tastes like a otherworldly blend of thyme and mint, with an oregano finish. I love flavoring wild rice with it and other wild herbs like juniper berries.
Preview for the next weeks Blackcap raspberries, green gooseberries, Egyptian walking onions …
- Barrett Johanneson
The Broadsheet - Broadacre Farm's 2014 CSA, Week One - Vol. 1, Issue #1
what's in your share / what's in season
fruit rhubarb
root gobo / burdock
herb dill
herb sorrel
herb Swiss mint*
herb bee balm*
herb chives and
edible flowers chive blossoms*
mushroom Giant panus mushroom
(Lentinus levis)
greens 'Blushed Butter Oak' head lettuce*
greens stinging nettle tips
greens Salad of the Seasons Mix
(stellaria leaves and flowers, wood sorrel leaves, baby kale, red clover petals, dianthus and sedum flowers)
Use first Mushroom, bee balm, and head lettuce.
Best keepers Rhubarb, sorrel, gobo, and nettles.
* Frustrating last minute damage by cooler frost which nearly destroyed everything at 3:30 AM and resulted in damage to the noted items. Everyone got a little something extra to make up, and there will be more mint and bee balm on the way.
I just picked up my share. What now? There are no mnemonic devices yet as to best storage techniques, but until I have a format here are a few best practices suited to Week 1.
+ If it's an herb that's on a stalk that you use fresh (like dill or chives), you can store for up to a week when un-banded and set in a glass of water. Then, fix a plastic bag over and secure with a rubber band.
+ Long herbs on a stalk that you can eat fresh (but are best dried, like bee balm and oregano) should be eaten fresh within a couple days. Drying herbs from your share is easy - simply bundle and hang upside-down in a warm area with good air flow out of direct sunlight.
+ Shoots and stalks (like rhubarb) can be stood up in water, but this can be cumbersome - store in the humid crisper. I am trying to avoid wrapping anything in plastic film, and if I wrapped at all, it would be in this category.
+ Greens should be kept in the humid crisper, too, and always do better sealed in a bag. I've found that a paper towel in the bottom will absorb excess moisture following washing, leading to longer storability of greens. Our non-GMO bio-plastic produce bags did not arrive before Thursday, so bags for now are plastic.
Quick Picks
Pesto - stinging nettle tips, bee balm, chives + olive oil, garlic, salt, sunflower seeds
Wild pasta or risotto - bee balm, chives, mushroom, and gobo
Green eggs - stinging nettle tips, dill or bee balm or chives + eggs
Miso soup - gobo, chives, stinging nettle + miso
Cobbler - rhubarb, mint + orange zest
Lebanese beef or lamb meatballs - Swiss mint, bee balm, chives and blossoms + grassfed beef or lamb
Simple syrup - rhubarb or Swiss mint (for dessert glazes, pancake topping, or cocktails) + sugar, water
Dried herbs - Swiss mint, bee balm, chives and blossoms, or dill + string
Oatmeal topping - rhubarab + apple, sugar, orange zest, and rosewater
Half-wild mojito or ice tea - Swiss mint, bee balm
Tempura or fritters - chive blossoms
Infused vodka - dill, Swiss mint, or bee balm + vodka
Notes on packaging First, I was unable to locate an wax box supplier who could send affordable bushel boxes, and drove to Woodbury to get the closest replacement based on dimensions - ¾ bushel boxes. The express shipping charge raised the cost to over $12 per box! They should be around $2 to be a good value. However, 1 bushel boxes will be used probably starting Week 3. Wax boxes are not recyclable, but they are quite reusable and are a reliable way to keep produce fresh as I learned when subscribing to the Featherstone Farm CSA. As for plastic packaging within the share, we aim to use as little of it as possible, and where possible will search for non-GMO bio-plastics, compostable packaging, paper bags, parchment paper, string, unbleached paper towels, and sometimes vegetables loose in the box.
Stellaria This lettuce-flavored wild green is completely edible, from leaves to stems to flowers, and so I've included all three in the Salad of the Seasons Mix. It grows in cultivated areas, wild spots, marshy areas, tall grass, the shade beneath boxelders, everywhere. I've had it in burgers, beneath chunks of watermelon and feta in a salad, and dressed with Bragg's vinaigrette.
Giant panus mushroom - This is exactly the kind of fly-by-night item I dreamed of including - wild mushrooms. We take great care with wild mushrooms before anyone is allowed to eat it. We take notes on habitat, growth surface, the shape and size of cap and stipe (stem), color, texture, scent, any bruising or staining characteristics, color of the spores, time of year, and any standout identifiers such as rhizomorphs beneath the bark of a host tree, a hairy stipe, or drops of 'milk' when cut. We use taxonomic schedules to rule out any lookalikes, and slowly go through checking the positive identification characteristics. When all the research is done, we cook and eat a small amount, and abstain from alcohol.
Giant panus mushroom is like an oyster, used to be in the oyster family, and some call it the 'woolly-legged oyster'. It is not as tender as an oyster, but that toothsomeness makes it ideal for slicing thin and frying. It 'holds up to cooking' just like they say about apples. Joe and I brushed off the ever-present debris and ate it with butter, asparagus, gobo, green onions, white pepper, and a tiny sample of coral fungus.
Mushroom pro-tip regarding alcohol - It's best to abstain from alcohol while eating any mushroom that's new to you. Even edible mushrooms can cause some upset when paired with booze. So skip the wine this time and enjoy some fungal goodness with the morning scrambled eggs, or a mushroom-hash-on-toast for an easy lunch.
Mushroom pro-tip regarding cooking - Don't eat this or any other mushroom raw. With one exception for the ubiquitous white button mushroom, wild mushrooms are almost never eaten raw. That's partly because the flavor develops in cooking, often imparting umami flavor to grains, sauces, or fat. Raw mushrooms, on the other hand, have scents like cucumber-watermelon (dryad's saddle) or anise-citrus (giant panus). The best way to enjoy this state of the mushroom is simply take a deep breath.
Mushroom pro-tip regarding washing - Wild mushrooms and mushrooms in general are not washed because it rapidly increases spoilage because of their soft tissues. Instead, they are brushed with special mushroom brushes, although any brush would work - a brand new hairbrush with bristles, a paintbrush, or one of those free toothbrushes that accumulate after dentist visits.
Stinging nettles - A nutritional powerhouse, stinging nettles are de-stinged by cooking - a quick boil will render them harmless. Don't touch them raw or you'll get a minor skin irritation for a few hours. Best in pesto. This is the end of the season for nettles, after which bugs destroy the leaves and the flavor goes metallic.
Bee balm - Perhaps my favorite herb along with tarragon, flower gardeners know it as monarda. It grows wild, too, and has a savory mix of flavors ideal for any Mediterranean cooking from Italian to Lebanese. Referred to sometimes as 'horsemint', it tastes like a otherworldly blend of thyme and mint, with an oregano finish. I love flavoring wild rice with it and other wild herbs like juniper berries.
Preview for the next weeks Blackcap raspberries, green gooseberries, Egyptian walking onions …
- Barrett Johanneson