Thank you to Lee Carella (aka Athens Food Warrior–great!) for visiting the farm and writing this STUNNING bio of our farm: Tastes like Family Values: Lazy Willow Farm – Washington, Ga. It was great to meet you and (p.s.) now whenever your name pops up on our order sheets, I smile.
Farm Photos – Greenhouse
This is a picture of Ben cutting baby lettuce leaves in one of our greenhouses. We used to sell mixed bags of the lettuce, but that was a LOT of work, so we’ve switched to growing lettuce heads instead.
Crazy Carrots
You know what they say about try, try again. When it came to carrots, we took this to heart. Before farming full time, we had had very little success growing them in our back garden, but that loosing record didn’t perturb us. No sir. We tried again when, and this time we got carrots—embarrassingly small and stringy carrots but carrots all the same!
It goes to show how insanely popular a vegetable they are that we sold the baby roots. (The photo makes them look big, but they were *really* tiny. But multicolored!)
We’ve kept trying, determined to have a legitimate crop, but honestly, we didn’t really believe that it would happen—at least, I didn’t.
Meet St. Valery. Our first ever carrot that reached the 3/4 lb size. I’m still giddy about the memory of pulling those suckers up.
This year has been our best ever carrot crop. We didn’t grow the variety we have in the past, but we plan on doing that next year. And now that we have experienced BIG carrots, we’ll be very, very, very sad if the small ones pay us a future visit.
Garlicky Roasted Roots
Black Winter Radishes
If you’ve got an hour of your evening to spare and a hodgepodge of roots at your disposal, then this is a great one-two punch.
~4 to 5 servings~
Ingredients:
An assortment of any of the following: carrots, beets, radishes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips (wish we could grow them!!), winter squash (we realize this isn’t a root but it’s GREAT roasted), etc. Use enough to fill an entire cookie sheet.
Salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the roots into 1 inch pieces. If you are using beets, winter radishes or parsnips, peel them first as the skin toughens and turns slightly bitter when roasted. Toss the cut up roots in the oil and salt and place on a cookie sheet. Put in the center of the oven for a little over 1 hour, tossing every once in a while.
Now the GARLIC! When the roots have cooked the hour and are tender, slightly shriveled and turning somewhat brown, remove from the oven. Chop at least 1 Tbs of garlic—you can use whatever amount you are most comfortable with—toss the garlic with the roots, place the cookie sheet back into the oven for 2 more minutes. This toasts the garlic and perfumes the roots. Remove from the oven, toss again, taste for salt and serve!
~This recipe comes from Lazy Willow Farm~
Tomato Sauce w/ Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables
St. Valery Carrots
A fantastic, simple winter-time pasta sauce.
~6 servings~
Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh, ripe tomatoes OR 2 cups canned
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped onion
Salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 lbs pasta (many pastas go well with this sauce, especially spaghetti and penne)
Directions:
Put the tomatoes in a saucepan, add the carrot, celery, onion, and salt, and cook with no cover on the pan at a slow, steady simmer for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time.
Add the olive oil, raise the heat slightly to bring to a somewhat stronger simmer, and stir occasionally while reducing the tomato to as much of a pulp as you can with the back of the spoon. Cook for 15 minutes, taste for salt and toss over cooked pasta.
~This recipe comes from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan~
A Garlic Explosion
The family room looks like a garlic explosion.
A friend actually said just that today when she stepped through the front door and saw the carnage. But we assured her that it had been far, far worse two days ago when we had been in full force of separating our seed garlic into individual cloves. Then the room had been covered in confetti garlic skins, tubs of discard, and bowls mounded with cloves. It was a sight. I should have taken a picture.
We’re proud to say that we take our garlic very serious. Most of the seed garlic we’ve planted for 2012 has come from our 2011 crop with just three new varieties that we’ve bought in to try (excitement!!). We’re talking about 4,500 cloves separated and planted.
~
Here’s our list of garlic for 2012:
Creole Red
Polish White
Chesnok Red
China Stripe (New one!)
Mystery Turban (New one!)
Red Janice (New one!)
S & H
Silver White
~
Start reading these up! All these varieties came direct (at one point or another) from Filaree Garlic Farm. They rock. And so does garlic.
Photo of the Week – Beets & Carrots
I took this photo last spring when we were taking Amarillo carrots and Early Wonder beets to the Athens Farmers Market. Both vegetables have been notoriously difficult for us, and therefore, we get ridiculously excited when—not only the crop germinates—but they actually plump up into legitimate roots. Our carrot and beet crop this year has been shocking with enormous bottoms. When we first started pulling up St. Valery carrots (some of them weighing up to 3/4 of a pound!), Mom kept saying, “I’m speechless! I’m speechless!” over and over again. Maybe she wasn’t that speechless after all.
Frittata with Tomatos, Onions, and Herbs
A frittata is an open-faced Italian egg dish. There is a basic method of cooking a frittata but the variations in ingredients are endless. For example, this recipe calls for basil only, but when it’s no longer in season, we’ve used parsley, thyme, and even sage in its place.
~4 to 6 servings~
Ingredients:
3 cups onion sliced very thin
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1 cup fresh, ripe tomatoes OR 1 cup canned tomatoes
5 eggs (preferably free ranged)
2 Tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 cup fresh basil, torn into pieces
2 Tbs butter
Directions:
Put the onion, olive oil, and some salt into a large saute pan, turn the heat on to low and cover the pan. Cook until the onion wilts and becomes greatly diminished in bulk, then uncover and continue cooking until the onion becomes colored a rich golden brown. Be careful that it doesn’t burn.
Add the tomatoes and salt, turn the ingredients over thoroughly to coat well, and adjust heat to cook at a steady simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the oil floats free of the tomatoes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl until their heat abates. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the cooled tomatoes and onion, a pinch of salt, the grated Parmesan, and a few grindings of pepper. After mixing thoroughly to combine the ingredients well, add the torn-up basil or any herb of your choice. Melt the butter in the pan, and when it begins to foam, add the egg mixture and place the dish in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes or until the frittata is no longer runny. For an attractive browned top, place the pan under the broiler when the eggs are set and cook until nicely browned.
Frittatas are excellent leftovers, served hot, cold, or at room temperature. They also make a fancy brunch or lunch.
~This recipe comes from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan~
Smothered Cabbage, Venetian Style
Here is an excellent way to prepare cabbage. You can use Savoy, red, or green.
~6 servings~
Ingredients:
2 lbs green, red, of Savoy cabbage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs chopped garlic
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 Tbs wine vinegar
Directions:
Detach and discard the first few outer leaves of the cabbage. The remaining head of leaves must be shredded very fine (you can use a food processor instead of shredding the leaves by hand). Discard the inner core.
Put the onion and olive oil into a large saute pan, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a deep gold, then add the garlic. When you have cooked the garlic until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the shredded cabbage. Turn the cabbage over 2 or 3 times to coat it well and cook it until it is wilted.
Add salt, pepper, and the vinegar. Turn the cabbage over once completely, lower the heat to minimum, and cover the pan tightly. Cook for at least an hour and a half, or until it is very tender, turning it from time to time. If while it is cooking, the liquid in the pan should become insufficient, add 2 Tbs of water as needed. When done, taste and correct for salt and pepper. Allow it to settle a few minutes off heat before serving.
~This recipe comes from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan~
What’s Coming In?!
Mixed Lettuce Heads
Lettuce heads are!
We’re growing a variety of different heirlooms: Speckles (super tender and spotted), Tango (crazy frilly), Parris Island Cos (very crisp), and Rouge d’Hiver (red and French).
Where to get them:
Our CSA
