FYI: This newsletter is being sent to all shares. Both A and B week half shareholders will
receive
the weekly newsletter, even on weeks they do not receive a CSA box.
Week Nine- August 4
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In this section of the newsletter, we will provide a weekly update about issues we're facing in the field, as well as the successes we would love to share with you.
It has been an amazing week at Wellspring!
After almost 10 months in the ground, the garlic plants were finally ready to be harvested this week!
It took about two days to dig up all of the bulbs, sort them, and hang the bunches to cure. We cure the garlic by hanging it in dry, shaded places with plenty of air circulation.
In 2-3 weeks you will start seeing cured garlic in the boxes, but for now, the garlic is still considered fresh and will need to be refrigerated
.
Here are some photos from the garlic harvest!
Photo 1: Farm crew pulling garlic bulbs from tractor-loosened soil, Photo 2: Garlic plants in the field. The bulb grows below the soil surface.
Photo 3: Hanging garlic
We LOVE Agri-Corps!
We are lucky enough to have a super cool group of kids staying on the farm for the week-long Agri-Corps camp. In addition to helping out in the field, they are learning all about planning out an agricultural model. We are especially looking forward to having them join us at West Bend Farmers Market on Saturday 7:30-11:00am. They will be putting together a marketing plan and selling vegetables in the Wellspring booth. Please come out to the Saturday farmers market to support the kids and say hello!
GIANT ZUCCHINI!
In addition to the smaller zucchini in this week's box, please be sure to take 2 GIANT zucchini which will be in a separate box at your pick up location. Any abandoned zucchini will likely be wasted, so please be sure to take them! They are great for making zucchini bread and stuffed zucchini boats! See recipes below.
Have a wonderful week shareholders!
Caleb & Theresa
Co-Farm Managers
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Sign up for your Fall/Winter Share Today!
We're only one-third of the way through the CSA season and believe it or not, we already have winter on our minds!
If you've enjoyed your summer CSA boxes, we hope you will join us for the fall/winter season with our storage crop shares! These shares consist of a larger, 1 1/9 bushel box of various storage crops (onions, carrots, winter squash, etc) as well as our frost-sweetened winter greens.
Boxes will be delivered to your pick up site every other week - Thursday, October 27th, Thursday, Nov. 10th, and ending TUESDAY, November 22nd (3 boxes total). These make great shares for storing and eating through the winter OR cook a Thanksgiving feast! We provide storage tips like "store carrots in a box with newspaper in a dark corner of a closet or basement". Delivery will NOT be available at West Bend Farmers Market.
The price of the fall/winter share is $180. The delivery fee is $12-16 depending on your location, or free if you are picking up on the farm. To sign up, please email Theresa at [email protected] and include your name, phone, and preferred pick up location. She will follow up with payment details and answer any questions you many have.
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Hello! I'm new to Wellspring this season and I am sooooo happy to be involved with this great organization. I learned about Wellspring when I met Mary Ann (Wellspring's founder) while attending one of her presentations in the community. I fell in love with her passion for compost and the earth. This was all during a time in my life when I was starting to truly connect with the environment and food system.
I was attending Concordia University in Mequon at the time and working toward my degree in environmental science. Many of my classes focused on the detriment of farming. I sat through lecture upon lecture about chemicals, pollutants, and water runoff all caused by agricultural operations. It was depressing. I was becoming afraid to eat food from the grocery store because I knew there was no way you could possibly wash pesticides and herbicides off produce by running it under water in your sink. Out of fear and my love for plants, I began growing my own vegetables. Our family installed a raised bed garden in the backyard, but that wasn't enough space, so our flower beds and patios become garden space too. I grew veggies everywhere! I had developed a true passion to grow my own food and was completely in love with the idea of organic agriculture.
After graduation, I was lucky enough to work as an intern at an organic CSA farm in Northern Wisconsin. I spent 9 months learning how to grow vegetables and work with the land instead of against it. I was hooked and knew that I was destined to work in the world of organic agriculture.
In 2012, my journey continued as I moved to Western Wisconsin to work for a large farmer-owned marketing cooperative, called Organic Valley. This opportunity allowed me to learn about the processing, marketing, and financial sides of farming. I started off in quality assurance and spent my last two years there in public affairs. I was working for a great company that was doing great things for farmers, but something was missing.
After 4 years of being away from the farm, it was time to get back in the soil. I reconnected with Wellspring and I am
so happy to be involved with Wellspring once again.
I am beyond proud of Wellspring, our staff, interns, worker shares, and volunteers. It is amazing to be part of such a great community all working toward the same goal of changing our broken food system, starting with education and local food.
One last thing before this turns into a book...
I want to say THANKS to you, our shareholders. Without your support, we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing. Thank you for giving us all the opportunity to grow! It has been great getting to know many of you and I look forward to seeing more of you this season!
Have a beautiful day.
Theresa
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| Name of Vegetable/Fruit |
Quantity in Box |
Storage |
| Red Head Lettuce
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1 head |
Fridge
Hint: If lettuce begins to wilt, soak for 10 minutes in ice cold water. Spin in a salad spinner or let sit in a colander until dry enough to store in container
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Chard
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1 bunch
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Fridge
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Fresh Garlic
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2 bulbs |
Fridge, Store in airtight container or plastic bag.
This garlic is not cured and
must be refrigerated.
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|
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2-4 heads depending size |
Fridge
|
Sweet Onions 
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3-5 depending on size |
Fridge
|
Eggplant 
|
1-2 eggplant, depending on size
|
Fridge
|
Winterbor Kale 
|
1 bunch |
Fridge, Store in airtight container or plastic bag.
Hint: If leaves begins to wilt, soak for 20 minutes in ice cold water. Let sit in colander until dry enough to store in container
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Zucchini
|
6 zucchini - mix of varieties |
Fridge |
|
Cucumber
|
3 cucumbers |
Fridge
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Parsley  |
1 bunch |
Fridge, store with bottom of stems in jar with 1-2" water.
Do not submerge leaves.
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Basil  |
1 bunch |
DO NOT REFRIGERATE, store on kitchen counter top with bottom of stems in jar with 1-2" water.
Do not submerge
leaves.
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Mint  |
1 bunch |
Fridge, store with bottom of stems in jar with 1-2" water.
Do not submerge leaves.
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Tomato
 |
1-2 depending on size |
Store at room temperature out of direct sunlight |
Broccoli  |
1-2 heads depending on size |
Fridge |
Head Lettuce - Excellent for a salad or lettuce wraps!
Chard - Check out those beautiful colors! Chard can be prepared similarly to spinach and eaten raw or cooked. Try adding to a salad or sauteing will herbs and oil.
Fresh Garlic - Slightly different than the green garlic you saw in your CSA box in spring. The cloves are fully formed and have a nice strong garlic flavor. The papery skin between the cloves is not dried and the bulbs have not be cured, so they need to be refrigerated.
Farao Cabbage - Farao is the round, more traditional cabbage like you find in the grocery store. Makes excellent stir fry, kimchi, or coleslaw.
Sweet Onion - We're so please with the amazing flavor of the onions we've been harvesting. This variety is super sweet and is great raw or cooked.
Eggplant - Purple and beautiful! We're growing four different varieties of eggplant at Wellspring. Each can be used interchangeably in recipes. Try sauteing, baking, or grilling. Check out the fast and easy baba ganoush recipe below!
Winterbor Kale - It is delicious fresh, sauteed, or baked. Great in frittata recipes and soup too. This variety makes extra crunchy kale chips!
Zucchini - Super versatile and can be added to warm and cold pasta dishes. Try making zucchini chips or zucchini noodles (zoodles)!
Cucumbers - The varieties we grow are great for salads, slicing, and refrigerator pickles.
Giant Italian Parsley - Parsley is one of the best know herbs and is also very
versatile
. Add it to pasta and meat dishes
Basil - It smells so good! Try using it in Italian dishes like pesto, lasagna, and caprese.
Mint
- Super refreshing!
Mint
can be added to iced beverages, such as iced tea, water, or mojitos. Try adding to desserts like ice cream and brownies. Also great in Greek cuisine including lamb recipes and stuffed grape leaves. Yum!
Tomato - Look who made it into this week's box! We know you've been waiting patiently and it's officially tomato season! We had just enough to sneak 1-2 red tomatoes in each box. Don't worry, you will be seeing a ton more in the coming weeks!
Broccoli - Try it fresh, cooked, or even grilled. A shareholder recently recommended grilling the whole head with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
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Recipes
Simple Baba Ganoush
Ingredients
1 medium or 3/4 of a large eggplant
1 large clove garlic, grated or finely minced
1 lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp Tahini
sea salt
Optional: 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, parsley or basil, chopped
olive oil (for roasting)
Instructions
Preheat oven to high broil (or medium if you have the ability) and position a rack at the top of the oven.
Slice your eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds and sprinkle with sea salt and place in a colander in the sink to drain any excess liquid. After 10 minutes, rinse slightly and then pat dry between two towels.
Arrange on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Roast for 5-10 minutes, turning once or twice, until the eggplant is softened and golden brown. Remove from pan, stack and wrap the rounds in foil to lock in moisture - wait 5 minutes.
Peel away most of the skin of the eggplant (a little is OK) and add flesh to a food processor. It should be soft and tender and the skin should come off easy.
Add lemon juice, garlic, tahini, a pinch of salt and mix until creamy. Add herbs last and pulse to incorporate. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. I added a bit more tahini and another pinch of salt.
Serve with pita and/or pita chips and veggies. Will keep covered in the fridge for several days.
Ingredients
2 cups whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ thinly sliced sweet onion
2 tablespoons sunflower oil or olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 long cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick
12 mint leaves, cut in thin ribbons.
Instructions
In a bowl, mix yogurt, garlic, onion, oil and salt together until smooth.
Chill until ready to serve.
Just before serving, mix in cucumber and sliced mint.
Add salt to taste if necessary, garnish with mint leaves and serve.
Grilled Zucchini and Yogurt Dip
Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 pound total)
1 small garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
Prepare grill.
Cut zucchini lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and grill on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until very tender, about 5 minutes on each side.
Mince garlic with salt and mash to a paste. Finely chop zucchini and stir into garlic paste with remaining ingredients.
Serve dip with bruschetta.
Napa Cabbage Dolmas
Adapted from Rooted Spoon Culinary in Viroqua, WI
 Ingredients:
1 head cabbage, cored & leaves separated
1⅔ cups water
2 Tbsp. olive or sunflower oil
1 cup white basmati rice
¼ cup onion, chopped
2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme, minced (or 2 tsp fresh)
1 tsp. dried (or 1 Tbsp. fresh) dill
½ tsp. each salt & pepper
Juice & zest of 1 lemon
Instructions:
Trim the ribs off the largest leaves of the cabbage, reserving the smallest inner leaves. Steam the large leaves for about 4 minutes, until tender, soak in ice water until cool, & drain.
Chop the inner leaves.
Rinse rice in fine mesh strainer until water runs clear.
Bring water to a boil. In a heavy bottomed medium sauce pan with lid, heat oil.
Add onions & sauté for a couple minutes.
Add chopped inner cabbage leaves & garlic.
Add thyme, dried dill (if using fresh dill, add it at the end instead), salt & pepper & rinsed rice.
Stir for a couple minutes. Add boiling water, cover, turn down heat, & cook until rice is tender & all of water is absorbed.
Let cool for about 10 minutes, then fold in lemon juice & zest (& fresh dill, if using).
Lay out a blanched cabbage leaf & put in enough filling to be able to roll it up like a cigar, or burrito.
Place seam side down on a platter & repeat with remaining leaves.
To serve, drizzle with a bit more oil & garnish with a sprinkling of thyme, dill, or parsley, if you wish.
Eat warm or cold. Keeps for several days.
Double-Chocolate Zucchini Cake
This recipe is from Scotch Hill Farm and is featured in the cookbook "From Asparagus to Zucchini" (FairShare CSA Coalition, 2004).
2 ½ cups flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or carob powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk on hand, put 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in ½ cup milk and let curdle for 10 minutes.)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 bag (12 ounces) chocolate or carob chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Whisk in oil, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Combine wet ingredients with dry and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs stuck to it.
Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients
3 zucchini
1 pound pork sausage
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Trim stems from zucchini and slice lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and put in bowl. Mix seeds with sausage, garlic, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese. Stuff squash with sausage mixture and place in 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour sauce over squash and cover pan with foil.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until sausage is cooked. Remove foil and cover with mozzarella cheese. Cook until cheese is melted.
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with Chef Greg & Orry
León
315 E Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Enjoy seasonal cooking while seeing the re
cipe prepared and having the opportunity to taste it and then go home with the recipes. Fast and easy is the mantra for these classes so that
you can find ways to incorporate these healthful, delicious veggies into your busy life.
Monday, August 8
-- Tomatoes!
Monday, September 12
-- Carrots and Fennel!
Monday, October 17
--
Winter squash and Cauliflower
!
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Save the Date for our Agri-Culture Fest
Saturday, Oct. 8
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
FREE Festival with music, games, workshops, hay rides and more!
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