Final harvest!!!

It's been great growing for this cool community here in Bedford and we plan on continuing. Jeff is finishing the CSA building into a small  fall/winter farm store where you can find organic veggies, meat and eggs. You can check out the blog for recipes, updates on the farm-to-table restaurant, the farm store opening and the kind of veggies you can find there. We will also contact all of our members via phone to update them about the opening of the farm shop. If you are not a CSA member and would like to be contacted personally for the farm buzz, email or call.  

Thank you and see you next year!!!!

Mandi Horn

Horn O' Plenty

mandisahorn@gmail.com

(814)285-2658

The last harvest...

tomatoes

peppers

turnips

radishes

pea shoots
strawberries

mizuna

chard

onions

thyme, oregano & sage

Turnips are often boiled but are also great raw: Sliced very thin, or thin matchsticks or shredded and added to salads or slaws for crunch. Try them roasted or steamed tossed with butter or your favorite oil and herbs for a simple side dish. Or you could mash them like potatoes or puree them into creamy soups like butternut squash soup. Dice turnip and add to hearty soups or braised or roasted meat dishes. Don't forget that the turnip greens (leaves) make a great meal as well. Turnips go well with chervil, chives, lemon, honey, sherry, mushrooms, fennel seed, coriander, nutmeg, turmeric and of course anything goes well with cream, bacon, salty cheeses such as Parmesan. Use your imagination and enjoy these turnips!



Radish and Turnip Salad:

This cool and crunchy salad make a great side dish.

12 radishes sliced very thinly.

3 small turnips sliced very thinly. (I use a mandolin for both turnips and radishes)

1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon vinegar

juice of half  lime

1 tablespoon chives chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir gently but combine thoroughly. Taste and season with salt to "pop" the flavors.

Pickled Turnips:

6 cups water

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup ginger peeled julienned

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 bunches of small to medium sized turnips (add some radishes if you wish)

*(optional) 3 small (1- to 1 1/2-inch-long) fresh hot chilies, split lengthwise in half

Bring water, vinegar, sugar, and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil in a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Cool, then stir in chilies, ginger, and garlic. Scrub turnips in cold water and trim, leaving 1/2 inch of stems attached. If any are ping-pong-ball size or larger, halve or quarter. Pack turnips into glass jars or a glass bowl and pour in cooled pickling liquid, dividing chilies, ginger, and garlic among jars. Chill, covered, 1 day for flavors to develop.

Note: Pickled turnips keep, chilled, up to 1 week. Color may fade if using radishes; vegetables will wrinkle after 2 days.



Thursday's harvest

The end of September is nearing and so ends our C.S.A.  By the calendar, we are as far as we can get from the spring equinox and after today, we have one final harvest left for this year. I feel this is the appropriate time to thank you for your commitment to eat local, organic produce this season. We hope you have enjoyed watching the progression from early spring through late-summer and having a connection to our farm (and family). It has been an a fairly exceptional year for us and we hope for you as well.  As with every year, certain things do very well and others flop pathetically. Such is the life of a farmer...  We thank you for your support and patience, and to thank you for joining us this year, we are going to be sending special invitations specifically for our CSA members to join us in a pre-opening dinner at our new farm-to-table restaurant.  Plans to break ground for the restaurant begin this fall, and the opening is anticipated sometime this coming spring. Soon, we will all be joining each other! Thanks again!

Weekly Harvest 

cucumbers

green tomatoes
green beans

radishes

carrots

peppers

pea shoots

kale/collards

leeks

sorrel

rosemary & mint

Radish Slaw Recipe:

(This is our new favorite slaw!!!)

3/4 Pound radishes shredded

1/2 small cucumber sliced thinly and chopped

1/2 med pepper sliced thin then chopped

1 small onion thinly sliced

1/4 cup kale julienned

For The Slaw Dressing:

1/2 cup vinegar

2 tablespoon honey

salt & pepper to taste

Mix dressing together, and mix slaw together and combine. Serve same day.

Potato Leek Soup with Sorrel Recipe:(The sorrel in this recipe makes the soup all lemony.)

2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 medium to leeks, cleaned and chopped, using all of the whites and at least half of the greens
3 cups chicken broth, veggie broth or water
4 oz. sorrel, taken off the thick part of the stem and chopped roughly
1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream or milk, to taste
salt and pepper
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
*optional yogurt or creme fraiche

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil and butter. Add the leeks and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes and the stock or water. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.

Turn off the heat. Add the sorrel . Transfer to a blender in batches and blend until smooth. When the soup is all blended, add the milk or cream and rewarm gently, taking care not to boil.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve garnished with the yogurt or creme fraiche.

September 15th harvest

green/wax beans

scotch bonnet & jalapeno peppers

radishes

radish greens

brussels sprouts

mibuna

sorrel & basil

Mibuna is a delicious delicate green in the mustard family. It is great raw in salads or perfect lightly cooked and seasoned, like chard.

Pickled Greens Stir-fry... In this recipe I used radish leaves and mibuna for the greens, scotch bonnet for the peppers and also chopped brussels sprouts stirfried in, and last, some sorrel that I chiffonade and added it in raw very last!

Here is a link for the delicious Pickled Greens Stir-fry: (You can add any cooked meat to this stir-fry to make a main dish). http://www.highdesertgarden.com/2011/06/pickled-asian-greens-xue-li-hon.html 

Farm harvest and Farm-to-table restaurant...

A note to everyone,

Only three more weeks left to the CSA.... so sad.  However we do have something to look forward to and that is the restaurant coming soon - this spring!!!  Horn O Plenty Farm-to-Table Restaurant will be located in the small town of  Wolfsburg, off Route 30, just outside of Bedford on the original Lincoln Highway. Soon our farm-fresh restaurant will be serving lunch and dinner, and our menu will coincide with the season's harvest from our farm and other organic, biodynamic and ecologically conscious farms within our region. This is a picture of the old log/stone house build by William Todd, a descendant of Mary Todd, Abraham Lincoln's wife. It is the second oldest house in Bedford County and we are converting this gem into a restaurant with a wood-fired masonry oven, this is truly an exciting time!

Our quail just begun laying eggs! These little birds and their eggs are so tiny and cute... but maybe everything tiny is cute! We have around 20 packs of ten eggs available for sale at the farm for $3.00. We also have a sale on our free range chicken eggs for $2.00/ dozen. Swing by the farm, or let Jessica, at Wholesome Living, know your interested and I can arrange to drop them off on the next harvest day.

Harvest hugs,
Mandi

September 8th harvest...

green beans/wax beans

peppers

tomatoes

french breakfast radishes

zucchini

scallions

kale/collard greens

celery

tarragon, thyme & sage

Green Bean and Tomato Salad with Tarragon Dressing:
3 quart green and yellow string beans
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 green oinions, chopped
2 tbsp chopped tarragon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
salt to taste

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the beans until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain the beans and spread them on a large baking sheet to cool. Pat dry.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the shallots and tarragon and season with salt and pepper. Place the beans and tomatoes in a large bowl, add the dressing and toss well. Transfer to a platter and serve.

Green Bean, Mozzarella & Sesame tossed with Honey Mustard Dressing:
2 quarts green beans beans
6 chicken eggs or 12 quail eggs
8 oz mozzarella, preferably buffalo
toasted sesame seeds

dressing:
4 tblsp cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
12 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

1,Steam the snap beans until just done.

2.Put the eggs in a pan cover with water and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and leave the eggs in for 10 minutes for chicken eggs and 1-2 minutes for quail eggs.  Put the eggs in cold water before shelling/peeling them.

3.Cut the mozzarella in small cubes and set aside. Divide the eggs in two.

4.Whisk the ingredients for the dressing or put them in an empty glass jar,with a lid and shake.

5.Put the beans, eggs and mozzarella on a dish, drizzle plenty of dressing over and sprinkle it all with toasted sesame seeds!

Serve with a nice bread.