Here is your 10th and final basket!

Doro and I have been honored that you have trusted us to help fill your bellies, these past three months. Here is what the ground grew you (together with our help, of course):

Okra, tomatoes, mild Hungarian peppers, butternut squash, cantaloupe or mini-melon, corn (rescued from the potential future ruining by both raccoons and the swelling of Hominy, by Doro), carrots, beets, mixed greens (collards, swiss chard, kale), and basil. Not too shabby, for a couple of wannabe farmers without their kids around to help of late =P

Please RSVP on Evite (check your spam folder) for the share picnic next Saturday, Aug. 28th. It will be lovely to celebrate with you all one last time... and, to show you a good time on our front and back yards to boot!!!

PS -- Doro rocked out this year, y'all don't even know how much she helped with everything. Heck, she was bossing ME around half the time. Maybe she should run the share, next year... =)

Basket #9

Folks, here's what is in your second to last basket:

Little butternut squash, garlic, small cabbage potatoes, cucumber, corn, okra, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, baby melon, and, a specially delivered (from Golden Acres farm in GA) plastic jar of ghost and Carolina dealers reapers LOL.

If you're adventurous don't throw away the carrot tops... there are recipes (pesto, others) that make use of their unique flavor :)

Basket #7... documented!

Sorry for the delay here; I'll include a pic and synopsis as has been standard... but the main thing is, I also wanted you to have a recipe for using the staghorn sumac seedheads to make a tasty sour beverage similar to lemonade. Anyhow, first things first:

Here's watcha got: one regular zucchini and one pattipan squash; sweet Hungarian peppers, purple and green basil, okra, cucumber, arugula (bagged), tomato mix (containered), spearmint

And now, a simple recipe for sumac-ade:

1) Clip ripe staghorn sumac seedheads (you know they're good if they are coated with white, or if you kick them and get a sour kick!)

2) Stuff the seedheads as densely as you can, into whatever jar you have. Keep the stemside up.

3) Fill water up to but not exceeding the cut stem-ends of the seedheads

4) Cap jar if you have a cap (ideal), and let sit for 24-48 hours (later = better sour twang). Shake for 30 seconds straight on multiple occasions within the day or so, to improve flavor!

5) Pour through filter/sieve to catch bits (tea leaves strainer works well) into another jar, add sugar to taste and shake to help dissolve the sugar

6) Chill and serve on ice

I will bring more next week, let me know how it goes!!!

Our sixth basket... having fun yet?

Love you all for sponsoring our caring for these plants, against all the odds! Hope you enjoy what's in this week's basket):

And a loose tomato, not pictured...

This week every basket got:

1) One GIANT zucchini (or, a large and small one = two in total)

2) One loose 'sandwich' tomato (ripe)

3) A container with a pittance of golden cherry tomatoes as well as both a mature and a 'needs to table-ripen' slicer tomato

4) not-hot banana peppers (loose) as well as hot cousins of them (in ziplock bag)

5) Lots o' cucumbers... here's a fun recipe (named 'Mizzeria' in Polish):

    - shave cucumbers into very thin coins, peeling first if desired

    - stir in sugar (only a sprinkling), salt & pepper, a splash of white wine vinegar and either high-fat yogurt or sour cream (preference)

    - serve as salad

6) Kale

7) Eggplant

8) Beets

9) Green beans

10 (not pictured) Collard greens -- batched in bundles of 8, these can be prepared pretty much any way cabbage can -- cooked or raw. Just don't expect the same 'snappy' texture =)

As I said, it means a lot to us that you join with us in this endeavor!!! Until next week...

Last week's share basket (#5) was our heaviest, largest-volume one yet...

 ...and yet, because of the crunch for time in putting it together, we didn't get to snap any photos of it. =( In any case, I just wanted to make this post to bookmark that last Wednesday's 20lb-baskets DID INDEED HAPPEN (and were not a figment of my imagination, etc.) LOL

Out of 30-ish broccoli heads grown so far, only this ONE has looked 'normal' / like a supermarket one... LOL

We figured that because you all would be able to recognize / already have recipe ideas for everything both in the basket and in the side bags, that not getting a separate basket picture this time would be sufferable. Anyhow, for the record, there was lots within (and without) the basket last week:

Potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers (out the wazoo, officially), green beans, hungarian 'hot' (they're actually quite mild) as well as bell peppers, basil, and then lettuce and broccoli by choice (and in a separate grocery bag).

Won't be able to beat this week's basket for the rest of the season, I imagine... although we certainly will keep getting all that's good in the garden, out to you all every week. Looking forward to tomorrow already! =)

Week 4... a heavy one

 Folks,

This week brings some peculiar sorts of productivity... early potatoes for you, and homemade duck-egg mayonnaise... read on:

Green beans, salad cucumbers, onions, early potatoes, cabbage, garlic, hungarian hot peppers, basil, rosemary, squash (large pattipan, large zuch or two smaller of either), and duck-egg mayonnaise.

There's extra lettuce and also chard for whomever wants it, I told you I'd hook you up with extra this week. More greens than you can shake a 10ft pole at lol...

Here's what's in this week's basket... (#3)

Hey-yo... long day, gotta get this info out to you all though, so you know what you're working with + have a tip or two... so here goes:

Don't forget, you can click on it to enlarge it... if that helps! =)

Lettuce greens -- one thing we've actually gotten good at growing the past couple of years... the amount of slug pressure about two months ago was just WHOA, though... glad we managed to hand-evict all thousand-or-so of those troublemakers!

Radichetta -- basically a low-bitterness commercial cultivar related to dandelion. We did not forage these, but rather grew them from seed packets we ordered. Try mixing it in with other soft greens in a salad, or lightly wilt and season like you would cooked greens

Kohlrabi -- grate it into a small portion and season with vinegar or mayonnaise like slaw, or slice thin and raw and season lightly (or, dip in luxurious real-cream ranch dressing, like I do to this and broccoli =P)

Cucumbers -- hooray for new stuff!

Sunburst pattipan squash -- sorry not enough yet on the plants to include multiples, good flavor... the key, as with all squash, is to get some caramelization going (see https://www.thekitchn.com/pattypan-squash-recipe-23058706, for example, for more info)

Kale -- just a splash of it, honestly. Many uses for this stuff

'Green' garlic -- you can either use the cloves over the next week or two and enjoy the uniquely sharp taste of truly fresh-from-the-ground garlic, OR... leave off the ground in a cool, dry place (basement?) for the next two weeks, and then enjoy chipping away at it long-term. NB: It will NOT have a long shelf-life, if you don't take this important drying-out / skin-hardening step!

Basil -- Some purple, some the more common deep green. An old friend for most

Milkweed florets -- Doro and I have been cultivating for the past few years a special perennial patch of milkweed taken from the prairies surrounding Chicago that framed our earliest days living together here in the states... and it is doing well enough now, that we can share a little of this special foraging treat with you. Just stir-fry briefly (a few minutes) with butter and a bit of salt... tastes like a mix of broccoli, asparagus, and a faint hint of caper.

Daylily flowers (not pictured) -- also foraged; eat fresh, either diced up and adding fun color to a salad or arguably more-boldy whole, as a salad topper or sandwich topping.

And last and definitely also a bit LEAST: French breakfast radish. I have to apologize, as normally I get to sample a crop before deciding it goes in the share basket. These appeared and felt not at all overly ripe, but are also (very atypically) our first root crop after the bad-for-root-crops hot and dry spring we've had this year. Doro and I noticed that one we tried to cut up this evening was a little tough on the outside. CAVEAT EATOR... but hopefully only very few are like this!

Also, one share member let me know that he had a hard time using the stalk of the walking onion from a week or two ago, that it was fibrous. Now, I did pick and cut up and eat raw as well as test-fry one of these at the time, and it was not fibrous at all... and I also went for a consistent snapping-off when harvesting the stems and aerial bulbils. In any case, I'm sorry if you got unlucky there/then, as well. I will aim to make it up to you, with something extra in the next basket.

In the meantime, email me any fun recipes you find... and, may the rains and sunshine be appropriate in the coming weeks -- and the pests discovered (and remedied) early!

Basketto numero due... prego!

OK, I know 'Basketta' is not Italian... the inclusion of the letter K is a dead giveaway. Maybe baschetta is a better fake Italian word? =) Anyways, here is this week's loveliness, followed by a description:

Here's whatcha got this week -- 

a handful of onions, greens and all -- eat it ALL, please!

bundle of swiss chard -- is there any other national denomination of chard? Again, plz eat it all!

bundle of garlic scapes -- such a yum balance of garlic and leekiness

one head 'o lettuce greens -- one person got a MASSIVE head, everyone else got a substantial one :)

kohlrabi -- you can eat the leaves and the orb-like body... nevermind the little colored depressions on the body, there is nothing inedible about a slug pre-approving a nibble here or there (before we remove and skyrocketed them down the hill!)

radichetta -- a special, cultivated dandelion-like green with very minimal bitterness... you can probably sautee and serve these, no special tricks required (outside of a 'lil butter, sweetness, sour, or mix of those)

lamb's quarters -- we let this forage green grow up every year in our garden, looking forward to breaking off the tender top parts of the stalks for our members. Prepare leaves as you would any spinach recipe, including lightly cooked (ie topping on pizza) or raw on sandwiches. Stems you should discard.

SUPER-SPECIAL BONUS VIAL = some of my homemade apple cider vinegar; its sweet and sour and superyummy, kinda like a fine aceto basalmico (basalmic vinegar)... if you don't thing you'll use it, plz keep and bring back to next share meeting... very precious stuff and I'd like to not waste any of it :)

Send us a cool recipe or two, if you end up using something new (or trusted) and really liked the result!

best,

Matt

 

Basket #1 of 2021... diving in!

Folks, so glad to being you your first basket of goodness! I'm gonna try to keep this post short, and just enumerate what is in there... but first, a general tip: we lightly rinse all our stuff, do give it a second rinse just to be sure. OK here's a pic of a dissected basket this week:

We've got:

Spinach greens (in zip lock)

Garlic scapes... super-yum, use sunflower seeds for a cheap and yummy pesto

Salad greens -- various varieties, everyone got a 'head' :)

Sprig of oregano

Egyptian walking onion stalk (all parts are edible; you can pluck and replant the top bulbils if you want to try cultivating a growing patch of this for yourself)

Tatsoi (Asian greens)... very mild, can use for a lot of things (including making kimchi ;)

Dandelion greens -- well, dandelion and a couple of very closely related species... the first stars of spring, they get a better jump on the growing season than anything else I know! Be generous with your sour, sweet and oil, the only tricks I know to get kids OK with eating them (can also mix lightly into a fresh salad, if you are used to eating greens)

Well, email me any recipes you end up using, bring your basket back next week, and we really hope you get to use and enjoy everything!

Doro and Matt and the gang

Loving the springing of Spring!

Doro, about to take some kale and collards for a stroll !

Every year it is a blessing to see the plants, trees and shrubs slowly re-animate (and re-green) themselves. From the wild onion tufts, to the exploding leaflets of the brambles (blackberries, raspberries and such), to next dandelion rosettes... and then, spring beauty, and young sassafras leaves, and evening primrose rosettes sticking their heads up... culminating (at least, in my foraging mind's-eye) in the luxurious patches of stinging nettle that reliably dominate their surroundings (and, beg to be harvested).

spinach, kohlrabi, tatsoi greens, radicetta, mixed lettuces...

Of course, the seasons have greater and greater unpredictability these years, so there can also be quite some disappointment... for example, that cold flash we had about a week ago killed every last fruit blossom that was on our twenty-or-so-fruit-trees mini-orchard. Its nice to have a reminder of how fragile things can be. I mean, even as preparations are as thoroughly made as possible, there are always circumstances outside of our control!

...lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, okra... mmm!

Anyways, enough waxing poetic, a couple of important updates about this year's share:

1) Please make sure you are by now getting these blog posts delivered direct to your inbox; I will follow up with a Google Groups message to double-check, but double-check your spam folder!

2) Our very good friend and organic / locally sourced ingredients baker-friend Laura Walton is offering a 'baked goods' addition to the share this year. If interested, $30 gets you one serving of whatever yumminess she will bake for us weekly (and just before share pickup), while $60 gets you two. Please message her at thecrunchybaker@gmail.com for more info, or just to let her tell you how you can pay!

3) We are aiming for the first share to come out June 2nd, and barring more than two members telling us its an absolute non-starter, we'd like to keep last year's pickup day, time and place of Wednesdays from 4-6PM at the Wedge. Please email me if you have serious qualms about this, or if you've found some kind of alternative that promises to be even more magical than this place! =)

Tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes... oh my!

There will be a LOT of transplanting of things into the garden over the next month, so wish us luck in keeping them well fed, watered, and protected from insects!!!

- Matt, Doro and the gang

Welcome to growing year 2021, at Coburn Cove Cooperative! =)

First off, let me thank you all for being a part of our community-building, food-growing, space-and-time sharing enterprise LAST year (2020). It was a weird year that definitely now has a younger, square-peglike sibling... but you worked together with us to make the veggie, eggs and baking share from CCC possible. You rock! I think that was our fifth year so far, since starting in vacant urban lots in Chicago several years ago, that we had people sign on to help us grow food for ourselves and them by sharing in the tools, consumables and work-time expense.

Our veggie plot rolodex. Recently updated, with new 2021 contacts ;)

This year our cooperative is welcoming several new members, and also having one (maybe more; I haven't heard back from everyone I emailed several months ago) depart. I have tried to leave everyone I have NOT definitely heard a 'no, thanks' from on the distro list for the blog, but the peeps that have followed up with my email offers + payment instructions so far this year are the following: Jane Anne, Jessica, Marcel, Calder, and Kimberly. If you haven't paid yet and want to, please confirm your intent NOW with an affirmative email and either a check in the mail or a PayPal plop =)

Those rows don't tidy back up themselves, you know...

A few weeks ago we started our first batch of seedlings for the garden, and are about to move them outside to make room for another round... cross your fingers and/or pray for us that we manage to keep the frost off each successful eviction from our warm and artificially lit basement-bunker seed-starting room!

The most tedious work in the garden (absent weeding and trying to fight off pests, which is a unique blow-by-blow delight reserved for mid-summer =/) is nigh... we are hand-amending the rows with lime and topsoil presently, and will follow that with newspaper mulching (once you get to know clay, you know how much of a d@&n baby it can be about drying out) as well as traditional mulching with double-ground wood chips. These are the days when gym memberships seem a pretty dumb re-engineering of otherwise natural processes, for sure!

What's missing? Well, mulch, more mulch, weed fabric, drip hoses, protective fencing, eh... (I'm getting faint just thinking about how far we've still got, before even we start 'greening' the dag-gum thing) =P

A week or so ago we managed to plant potatoes and new onions, and are waiting to see them sprout as the first intentional greenings at the plot. Next on the list will be some experimental direct seeding with some more 'expendable' early spring crops (meaning, ones I found for a GREAT deal at AgCare on Smokey Park Hwy). And then, there is plenty of non-share-related homesteading work staring me squarely in the eye.... namely, getting the various fruit trees in our little orchard properly weeded and mulched. And then, on the horizon, transplanting the seedlings into bigger pots. And then...

...well, let me cut this short for now, and just say that things are fully into 'beginning' again on our grounds... and it feels not only good, but proper.

- Farmer(-ish) Matt and the Gang