Week 4 of 26: Savor the greens, summer is coming!

Summer Squash season has begun!

Announcements:

Our grass-fed meat inventory has been updated with what’s in the freezer
Pre-order now to grab along with your next vegetable CSA pick-up!

Right now we have a few different steak cuts available as well as some roasts! We also expect to have more ground beef and more steak cuts available mid July!

U-Pick Strawberries in field b4 seemed to have slowed down it seems, while berries are still there the hunt gets harder. Hopefully the later ripening variety pull through and those hot days didn’t damage too many flowers on the plants. Stay tuned!

  • Remember share’s will start growing in size and weight, it is convenient to try to bring a few bags or even boxes to use to take your share home.

This Week’s Share

Garlic Scapes
Green Onions
Fennel
Kohlrabi
Salad Greens
Kale Collards and Chard
Summer Squash

U-Pick:

Strawberries up in B4 will be open Monday-Saturday, Stay tuned for updates!

Located in herb garden

  • Calendula

  • Mulberries (tree is to the right of the garden)

  • Oregano

  • Thyme

  • Mint

  • Sorrel

  • Garlic Chives

  • Lemon Balm

  • Sage

  • Any Flowers in the garden

Recipes:

Pasta with Tomatoes and Kale

Prep Time: 5-10mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 20-30mins

Yield: 4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 bunch green onions, including half of the greens, thinly sliced

1 cup thinly sliced kale

2 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme

Salt and ground black pepper

2 medium summer squash or zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch thick half moons

1-pound dried pasta

2 tablespoons minced basil

½ cup halved cherry tomatoes

Freshly grated Parmesan, optional

While water is heating for the pasta, heat half the oil and butter in a wide skillet over low heat. Add the green onions, kale, lemon zest, thyme, and few pinches salt and cook slowly, stirring occasionally.

  • When the water boils, salt it, add the summer squash, and cook until partially tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

  • Scoop it out, add it to the kale and green onions, and continue cooking.

  • Cook the pasta, drain it, and then add it to the pan.

  • Raise the heat and stir in the remaining oil, basil, tomatoes, fresh pepper to taste, and a few tablespoons cheese.

  • Divide among pasta plates and grate a little cheese over each portion.

Coming Soon

As the heat keeps rising, we will see the greens start to fade away, so please savor them while they last and keep cranking out those tasty salads!

The Kale and Collards are still going strong so expect hearty bunches in this department.

In the coming weeks we will see the emergence of summer crops, like our cucumbers!

Here is a snapshot of our seasonal vegetable crew for the 2022 season. From the left to right we have Gabi, Michael, and Olivia.

Each one will be doing their part to keep this veggie train moving! Many thanks go out to them as they are the backbone to our success doing a bulk of their day in the field, maintaining the crops.

-See you soon

-The Clagett Crew

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-6:30 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 3 of 26: The share's keep growing!!

The cows grazing over a cover crop in order to incorporate it back into the field, which in a few months will be used for our garlic crop. This is a way of tilling the soil less in order to keep the living organisms intact, leaving a healthier soil behind. Not to mention the tasty treat the cover crop is for the cows!

Announcements:

  • U-Pick Strawberries will remain open everyday except for Sunday’s for the remainder of the strawberry season! They are really starting to ripen and should be around for a couple more weeks!

  • Any plant containers less than 4” of less from your Spring plantings we will gladly take, and will be able to reuse them for next year.

  • Still figuring things out about our CSA? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

This Week’s Share

Garlic Scapes
Green Onions
Baby Bok Choi (Pac choi)
Kohlrabi
Purple top Turnips
Salad Greens
Kale Collards and Chard

U-Pick:

Strawberry U-pick open Monday-Saturday
Closed Sundays

Berries should keep going up in production and as other varieties start to ripen as well, so please join us on a couple occasions during our strawberry season.

When you arrive please park by the garage area and walk from that point as the roads are not meant for a lot of traffic, and getting stuck may be an issue.

Calendula bed in bloom! These Flowers are edible , the petals can make a perfect garnish to a spring salad for an extra pop of color. It also has many medicinal qualities, Read more about it here.

Located in herb garden

  • Calendula

  • Mulberries (tree is to the right of the garden)

  • Oregano

  • Thyme

  • Mint

  • Sorrel

  • Garlic Chives

  • Lemon Balm

  • Sage

Recipes:

Buttered Radishes on Eggs and toast

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Yield: 2 servings

  • Radishes! (up to a whole bunch)

  • 2 tablespoons good unsalted butter

  • 6 scallions, diced

  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

  • pinch of salt

  • 2 eggs

  • 2 pieces of bread, toasted

  1. Prep the radishes by removing tops and roots. Slice in half lengthwise and set aside.

  2. In a skillet, heat butter over medium low heat. Add in scallions and let cook until beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add the radishes, thyme, and salt to the scallions. Cover and let cook, stirring once or twice, until radishes are tender but still have a bit of crispness to them, 5-6 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.

  3. While radishes cook, poach eggs. I find I have the best luck with this technique. If you don’t like runny eggs, this would also be great with scrambled or hardboiled.

  4. To serve, place toast on two plates, divide radish mixture, and top each with a poached egg.

Coming Soon

Fennel is a unique crop, you can use the bottom as well as the tops as a garnish to your dishes!

In the next few weeks we should see more salad and cooking greens before the summer heat makes them too bitter.

Fennel should be making an appearance next weeks and our cabbages are starting to head up nicely.

Summer Squash hadn’t sized up as much as we had expected, but they will definitely be in our share’s next week!

We will be keeping busy maintaining our fields by doing those big tasks like mulching, twining up tomatoes, and weeding all of our crops- also, sweet potato slips will be arriving to plant next week!!!

Special thanks to Daisy troop 21053 for stopping by to help keep up with the flower and herb garden!! Between the weeding and planting their efforts were greatly appreciated.

-The Clagett Crew

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-6:30 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 2 of 26: U-PICK Strawberries this Memorial Day weekend!

Photo taken by Elissa
The strawberries really enjoyed the warmth this weekend!

Announcements:

  • U-Pick Strawberries are making a debut THIS WEEKEND
    Saturday May 28, starting at 1pm Saturday through Memorial Day- More info in U-pick section!

  • Grass-fed meat is being inventoried to sell at our farm location during CSA pick-up times. Updates coming next week!!

  • We will re-use the plant containers!!! If you still have them from last week, we will gladly stash them for next year’s batch to reduce our need to use more plastic containers

  • Did you miss any previous emails answering all your pressing questions about how to pick up your CSA share, when and where to go, and what to do if you skip a week? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

This Week’s Share

Garlic Scapes
Garlic Scallions
Lettuce
Strawberries
SALAD gREENS
Yukina Savoy
Kale Collards and Chard
Hakurei Turnips and Radishes
3 Seedlings to take home for planting

U-Pick:

STRAWBERRIES!!
We will be open for u-Pick starting
1pm Saturday May 29 through sundown Monday Memorial Day!

Bring your own containers, and pick all the ripe berries you can find- the redder, the better! Also note, the further into the field you walk can sometimes pay off in a good berry hull.

When you arrive you will follow signs that will lead you to a place to park your vehicle as the strawberry field is not located near our pick-up location. The parking lot is smaller, so just be mindful to park out of the way of others to come and go.

They will be located at the bottom field B4, which we will have marked for you as well to lead the way to our strawberry patch

Due to our hilly property and need for crop rotations we sometimes have to pick strawberry fields in less than ideal locations. Be prepared to do a little walk up to the field once you walk- the hill is a little steep.

All of these other items can be found in the herb and flower garden directly by pickup at the farm. Please remember to only pick what is on this list in order to avoid damaging crops that are not ready yet.

Sage in the herb garden with it’s purple flowers

  • Oregano

  • Thyme

  • Mint

  • Sorrel

  • Garlic Chives

  • Lemon Balm

  • Sage

Recipes:

Turnip Dhal

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • 1 tsp curry leaves ((optional))

  • 2 roma tomatoes

  • 2 kohlrabi or turnips*

  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin

  • 1/2 tsp garam masala

  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander

  • 1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne**

  • 1/8 tsp turmeric ((optional))

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 3/4 cup red lentils (160 g)

  • 1 3/4 cups water (450 ml)

  • 3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk (175 ml)

  • fresh lemon juice and rice for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Mince the garlic. Peel and dice the turnips. Wash the tomatoes and dice them as well.

  2. Add 3-4 tbsp water to a pot, add the garlic and curry leaves and sauté for 2 min.

  3. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 min. Then, transfer the diced turnips to the pot, stir and cook covered for 2-3 min.

  4. In the meantime, rinse and drain the lentils. Add the lentils, spices, water and coocnut milk to the pot and bring to a boil. Then, simmer slightly-covered on low for 17-20 min.

  5. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and brown or basmati rice. Store leftovers in the fridge. As the dhals may thicken in the fridge, add a bit of water when reheating it on the stove.

From Veggiejam.com

Coming Soon

Do you see all those little squash forming at the base of the flower buds! This variety is call Green Machine- let’s find out why!

Summer Squash should be making it’s appearance next week, giving us a taste of those summer staples.

More greens to fill out the rest of our Spring season, which should include items like Cabbages, tasty salad blends, and larger Kale and Collard bunches.

The Summer crops are all in the ground and looking very happy still, now to keep up with those weeds that also like to grow well after rain and warm days.

-The Clagett Crew

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-6:30 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 1 of 26: It's So GOOD to be back

Photo taken by Jared Planz as he raced to get some more seeds planted ahead of the rain this past week! All the new baby crops are very happy-now let’s bring on some warm sun!

Announcements:

It is now officially WEEK ONE!!
You’ll receive a weekly email much like this one, from us on Wednesday by 2:00pm, letting you know what items you may expect in your CSA share each week.

  • Like most years, the first weeks are smaller than most. Enjoy these early weeks for the delicious salad greens!

  • Did you miss any previous emails answering all your pressing questions about how to pick up your CSA share, when and where to go, and what to do if you skip a week? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

This Week’s Share:

Garlic Scallions
Hakurei Turnips
Strawberries (1/2 pint)
Salad greens
Tatsoi / Collards
3 Seedlings to take home for planting

U-Pick:

Only pick from what is on this list- as you may damage crops that are not ready

All of these items can be found in the herb and flower garden directly by pick-up at the farm

  • Oregano

  • Thyme

  • Garlic Chives

  • Lemon Balm

  • Sage ( it has purple flowers right now!)

Recipes:

Grilled Garlic Scallions

Total: 8 min (Prep: 5 min, Cook: 3 min, Yield: 2 servings


Ingredients

1 bunch scallions, root ends trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Prepare an outdoor grill or sauté pan to medium high heat. Brush the scallions with olive oil. Lay the scallions on the grill/pan until you see distinct cooking marks, about 2 minutes. Turn the scallions over and cook about 1 minute more. Transfer to 2 plates and serve warm. Enjoy!

-from FoodNetwork.com

Coming Soon

Tomatoes in the rainstorm, so much potential in each plant! Did you know some varieties of tomatoes can produce up to 50-80 pounds per plant?

In the next few weeks we have items like green onions, summer squash, as well as more greens each week before the days get too warm.

We will also have in store some cool Mircrogreens! These are similar to sprouts but are grown in the soil.

Also many more strawberries are expected to ripen!

As the season progresses we can look forward to all the summer crops we grow- the tomatoes, sweet peppers, chilies, and our cucumbers are all in the ground!

See you vvvery soon!
-The Clagett Crew

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-6:30 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

CSA Starts NEXT WEEK

Red Kale planted into our clover strips thriving! photo by Elissa Planz

Reminder to our 2022 Shareholders,

The wait is over and the time has finally come to pick up your produce! The first share starts just next week and we are more than ready to get back into the fields to harvest some fresh veggies.

Our spring fields look aaamazing. And while we don’t like to count food until it’s back at the washing station and put out for display, we’re predicting a great season with lots of tasty veggies in this year’s harvest.

Please note, shares will start out lighter in the beginning and get larger as the weeks progress and the plants size up. You’ll receive an email from us every Wednesday by 2 p.m. letting you know what to expect in your weekly share, along with updates from the farm team.

In the first few weeks, you may expect the following items to pop up:

  • Spicy mix, arugula, peashoots, and lettuce, followed by kale and collards as they size up

  • Hakurei turnips and radishes

  • Garlic scallions and green onions

  • Summer squash (Look for these in Week 3 or 4.)

  • Strawberries (These are just starting to ripen due to the cold nights we’ve been experiencing, but we expect them to be ready by Week 2 or 3.)


We are very excited for how this year is going so far and what is to come. Between the veggies that are already planted and an abundance of beautiful flowers in the ground, we should have plenty to harvest this summer!

Our first share pickups will be
Wednesday, May 18
Clagett Farm, Upper Marlboro
3:00 - 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 19
Philip Merrill Environmental Center, Annapolis
4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 21
Clagett Farm, Upper Marlboro
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

This cool lettuce variety called Mayan Jaguar is not disappointing as it grows those lush, colorful leaves. Strawberry plants are also making progress, with bright white flowers already popping up. Each one of those will be a yummy berry very soon!

TIPS FOR WHEN YOU ARRIVE

  • At the farm:
    The pickup site can be found by making left at the first fork in the road when entering the farm. Continue up the hill past the 3 barns. At the top of the hill, you will turn right to immediately find us in the building perched up to the right.

    We have a small parking area directly across from the pick-up site and then a larger area if you continue just up the hill a bit more past our pizza oven. Please do not park along the road or in the driveway near this building, as it creates blind spots for drivers to see pedestrians.

  • Annapolis location:
    We will be located underneath the Phillip Merrill Center, in the front corner spots facing the water, feel free to park inside the garage if there is space, or right outside, out of the way of traffic.

  • We will not be requiring face masks around the pickup site but please practice social distancing to make everyone feel comfortable as they gather their shares for the week.

  • Try to bring something to put your produce in like a tote bag or reusable shopping bag. Items like salad greens may come already portioned in a produce bag to reduce touching.

  • We will have instructions for how to gather your portion of the share listed on the boards at each table for each item. Please let us know as you go if you have questions about the options. (We love to talk produce!)

  • Please be patient as those in front make their decisions and resist the urge to jump ahead in line without permission from those who arrived before you.

  • We often have a bin of “culls” or bruised/damaged produce. Shareholders can take home as much as they would like from this labeled bin, so keep an eye out!

  • Until U-pick has been opened, please ask before cutting anything from the herb garden. Items like basil were just planted due to a late frost and need time to grow into their new homes.

DON’T FORGET TO ENJOY THE FARM

Once you have gathered your share, feel free to roam around and explore the farm. We just ask that guests remain respectful and not take vehicles off the gravel roads and onto the farm roads we use to access fields.

Dogs are also welcome all places but directly around the pickup area. Four-legged guests must also must be leashed at all times for the safety of our farm animals.

Meet the team!

Get to know some of our faces you’ll be seeing around the farm this year. Below is a snapshot of the core team that works their magic to manage all aspects of the farm’s operations. (Stay tuned for highlights of our amazing seasonal staff and volunteers that help to make each harvest possible!)

We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones next week as we kick off another great season of our CSA. If you have any questions, check out our Frequently Asked Questions page or send us an email at clagettfarm@cbf.org.

See you soon!

-The Clagett Crew

Farm Updates for 2022 Season

First Week of CSA Shares
Wednesday May 18
Thursday May 19
Saturday May 21

CSA shares are still available for 2022!

If you have not already secured your organic produce hurry before shares sell out for the year!

Grass-fed Beef Sales

Spring beef is for sale while supplies last. There are many options available for all freezer sizes. Grass-fed beef and lamb from Clagett Farm is delicious and healthy—and good for the environment.

BURGERS AND BREWS

Saturday, May 14
Noon - 4:00 p.m.

Future Harvest, Go Grassfed, and CBF present Burgers and Brews for the Bay: A Farm-to-Table Event.

Join us for a fun day on the farm and enjoy fresh cuisine prepared by local chefs, paired with thirst-quenching regional craft beers. There will be seven different food stations highlighting local, pasture-raised meats and dairy, and local vegetables. While walking between stations, take in the ambiance of Clagett Farm, a working regenerative farm with a 250-member CSA and pasture-raised beef and lamb.

This event hosted right at the farm, and it is a family-friendly event with hay rides, fun educational stations, and opportunities to view grazing cows and sheep and historical barns on our picturesque farm in gorgeous Prince George's County.

A New Season

We have lots happening on the farm as we all transition into the spring season without our humble leader, Michael Heller. Clagett’s manager of 40 years has retired from running this amazing farm and moved onto a charming five-acre property not far away. For those of you who know Michael, it comes as no surprise that he’s already set up with his own sheep herd!

This year, we expect to keep moving forward with all we have learned while under Michael’s leadership. Our team is optimistic about carrying on what Michael built with our piece of the world in farming and in our community.

As we enter this new season, we wish you a happy spring and hope to see many of you out on the farm very soon!

-The Clagett Farm Crew

Important Information for Dupont Shareholders

To Our Dupont Shareholders,

We recently received news that the Dupont Circle property that housed our CSA pick-up location had been sold. This put our whole team in a difficult situation and, after much deliberation, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue CSA pick-ups at the Dupont Circle location.

On the bright side, we will still offer pick-ups on Wednesdays and Saturdays at Clagett Farm, just down the road in Prince George’s County.

If you would like to join us for this year’s CSA season but are concerned about transportation, consider an arrangement with others in your area and rotate which shareholder picks up for the whole group. This would lessen not only the numbers of drives but also your collective carbon footprint. The Clagett Crew is also happy to help coordinate if we have any interested parties so please let us know if that’s you!

However, we do realize that this may not be convenient or even possible for everyone and that this may be goodbye for now. Hopefully you’ll still join us for future events at Clagett Farm. (Keep an eye on CBF’s event calendar as the weather gets warmer.)

While it is sad to end such an amazingly supportive community relationship, this could also be a great opportunity to explore other inspiring farms in your own neighborhood. Here are some standout farms that are either based in or deliver to Washington, DC with CSA programs of their own.

DC Based Farms:
 Common Good City Farm · Three Part Harmony Farm
Cultivate the City

Delivers to DC:
 Even’ Star Farm · Little Farm Stand· Owl’s Nest Farm
Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op · Washington’s Green Grocer

You can also check out CBF’s Buy Fresh Buy Local Chesapeake resource page to access our food guide and find farmers’ markets, farm to table restaurants, and more across DC and Maryland.

Whichever path you choose, please take with you our sincerest thanks for al the support you’ve given us over the years. And know that you will always be a part of the Clagett Farm story.

With gratitude,

The Clagett Farm Crew

Week 26 of 26: The Last Share of 2021!

Seasonal changes are on full display as we enter the final week of this year’s CSA. Photo by Jared Planz

Announcements:

This will be the last share!

Our 2021 season is a wrap this week—and what a great season it has been!
So far this year we have donated about 17,000 pounds worth of produce, and harvested almost 70,000 pounds overall.

That is an amazing amount of food brought in from the fields and it could not have been done without all the help from the great people who choose to come to Clagett Farm. The work being done here at the farm is vital to the work being done by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as a whole, as the way we grow our food has a huge impact on our environment.

Here at Clagett, we strive to keep learning ways to rebuild the soil on our 283 acres and continue to collaborate with other farmers through networks like Future Harvest, Buy Fresh Buy Local, and the Maryland Grazers Network. With these types of efforts, we are able to keep moving toward a regenerative model of producing and consuming fresh local food while continuing lead by example as we work together to SAVE THE BAY!

Below are some highlights of those people and their efforts this season!

Photos by Jared and Elissa Planz

Wreath Sale

We are happy to announce that we will be selling handmade holiday wreaths again this season.

Farm Pick-up Day: Saturday, December 4, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the same area as your CSA pick-up.

Annapolis Pick-up Day: Thursday, December 2, from 3 p.m. to 5p.m. also in the same location as the CSA pick-up, in the front corner of the parking garage under the Philip Merrill Center.

End of year survey

If you have a moment, please take this brief survey. It will help us know how to keep improving our CSA!

How to Purchase a Share next Year

As a current member, you will be alerted first when shares will be available to purchase. This will happen early next year.

PURCHASE Additional GARLIC BELOW

Garlic is still available for purchase in larger amounts and will be cleaned off like before.

This Week’s Share:

  • Garlic

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Bok choy and tatsoi

  • Arugula and Tokyo Bekana

  • Root medley

  • Sweet peppers

  • Optional poblanos

U-Pick:

  • Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes (Find these across from the field with three barns, near the main office. The tall stalks that have died back are hiding these treasures below. You can park in the grass along the road, but be sure to leave room for traffic to move past)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Thyme

RECIPE:

A bit about garlic!

In the last few weeks, we have been serving up quite a bit of garlic so we wanted to be sure everyone knows that your bulbs should last for about three to five months. Just be sure to store them in cool, dark place. (Ours keep fine in the dark corner of the kitchen pantry until about February.)

That said, next year we will likely not see a garlic bulb until June. We love to preserve a bulk of ours to see that we are not without our delicious garlic for too long. Here are some ways to keep easy-to-use minced garlic on hand into early spring. This information was found at Allrecipes.com, so if you’re looking for more, that’s a great place to start!

how to process

Once the garlic cloves are peeled, it's time to mince. For large quantities of garlic, a food processor or a blender is going to be your best bet. Process/blend your garlic cloves to your desired consistency—this could be anywhere from a fine paste to a chunky, minced consistency. Note: For Method #2, you will need to process your garlic with oil (the ratio is two parts oil to one part garlic). 

For small quantities of garlic, mince as you normally would using either a knife, a garlic press, or even a microplane grater. 

How to Store and Preserve 

Method #1: Preserving Garlic in Jars With Oil 

Store-bought minced garlic is often packed in oil and jarred, and this same storage method also works for homemade garlic. The oil protects the garlic from air, helping to preserve its flavor and color. 

However, the USDA warns that there is a botulism risk associated with storing garlic in oil at room temperature and even in the refrigerator over longer periods of time: "Research performed by the University of Georgia confirmed that mixtures of garlic in oil stored at room temperature are at risk for the development of botulism. Garlic in oil should be made fresh and stored in the refrigerator at 40 degrees F or lower for no more than 7 days. It may be frozen for several months." 

Store-bought, pre-minced garlic in oil is treated with preservatives to prevent the development of harmful bacteria. So, keeping track of how long your garlic has been in the refrigerator or freezer is imperative when using this method at home. 

Here's What You'll Need: 

  • Minced garlic

  • An airtight container, either plastic or glass

  • Vegetable oil of your choice (we recommend olive or avocado)

  • Something to label the container with (masking tape and a marker will work)

Instructions: 

  1. Add your minced garlic to a clean, airtight container—wide-mouth mason jars are an excellent freezer-safe option.

  2. Top off with oil (choose an oil with neutral flavor like olive oil or avocado oil), until the garlic is completely covered, leaving ½-inch of headspace.

  3. Seal and label the containers with the date. Refrigerate for up to one week, or freeze and use within about three months.

Always use a clean, dry spoon to remove the garlic from the jar when you're ready to use. This will prevent contamination and mold growth. 

Method #2: Freezing Garlic in Portions

This method is preferred if you want to store your garlic in individual portions to add to your recipes as you go. 

Here's What You'll Need: 

  • 1 part whole, peeled garlic cloves

  • 2 parts oil (we recommend olive or avocado)

  • Food processor or blender

  • Measuring teaspoon

  • Baking sheet or ice cube tray

  • Freezer-safe bag

  • Marker (to label bag with the date)

Instructions: 

  1. Add peeled garlic cloves and oil to a food processor or blender and pulse/blend until you've reached your desired consistency.

  2. Scoop out one teaspoon at a time of the garlic and oil mixture and add to either a baking sheet or an ice cube tray.

  3. Flash freeze the garlic by placing the baking sheet or ice cube tray in the freezer for several hours, or until frozen solid.

  4. Transfer the garlic chunks to a freezer-safe storage bag, label with the date, and store for up to three months.

When you're ready to use your garlic, simply add it to your dishes straight from frozen. 

Gleaning:

What is gleaning?!

Gleaning is simply the act of collecting leftover produce from the fields. After the CSA is complete, we will open the fall greens field for u-picking.

This will be open from Monday, November 15 until Friday, November 26. You may come during all daylight hours. Please note that it is good practice to close the gates behind you!

You may want to consider bringing bins/bags for produce, gloves, knives to cut the greens, and plenty of warm clothes.

Out in the field, there will be a variety of greens with labels at the end of each row throughout field B4. (This is the same exact area as the spring strawberries.) When you come, please park at the main office area and follow the red signs leading you up the hill.

Some things you may find in good quantities:

  • Salad Greens: Tokyo Bekana, arugula, spicy mix

  • Roots: daikon, watermelon, turnips (smaller ones)

  • Bok choy and tatsoi (smaller heads)

Goodbye, but only for now. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and look forward to another awesome year together in 2022!

—Warmest wishes from the crew at Clagett Farm

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 25 of 26: November is Here!

A morning sunrise on the way to harvest vegetables. These calm mornings full of bird songs and morning light have been a wonderful way to start the day. Photo by Jared Planz

Announcements:

Next week will be the last share

Remember, you can come and collect a maximum of two shares at a time. Feel free to come both Wednesday and Saturday if you would like, to collect any extra shares remaining.

Meat Sales SOLD OUT!

We aim to continue to provide individual meat sales next season.

Wreath Sale Coming Soon

We are happy to announce that we will be selling handmade holiday wreaths again this season.

Pre-order should begin next week for you to reserve a wreath for this holiday season.

Our wreaths are made from foliage harvested from the farm with a mix of flowers either grown here or sustainably purchased from other growers.

CBF Proudly announces OUR New CEO

Hilary Harp Falk

We are thrilled to announce that the CBF Board of Trustees has selected Hilary Harp Falk, a proven expert in large-scale ecosystem restoration, leading organizational change, and coalition building, to be CBF’s next President and CEO.

Photo by Dave Harp

PURCHASE Additional GARLIC BELOW

Garlic is still available for purchase in larger amounts as well and will be cleaned off like before.

This Week’s Share:

  • Garlic

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Spicy mix and Tokyo Bekana

  • Purple top turnips

  • Kale and collards

  • Eggplant

  • Sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers and poblanos

A nice glimpse of the salad green beds we will be harvesting this week. Also in the background, you can catch Alex and Elissa getting ready for some harvesting!

Photo by Jared Planz

U-Pick:

Some new additions! They will be marked with the same red signs that you saw for the strawberry U-picking we had in the spring.

  • Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes (Find these across from the field with three barns, near the main office. The tall stalks that have died back are hiding these treasures below. You can park in the grass along the road, but be sure to leave room for traffic to move past. More info on these below.)

  • Hot/mild chili peppers

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

what are sunchokes and how do you harvest them?

Here you can see Jared in our row of sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes. They are a root vegetable that can be found in the tuberous rhizomes of these lovely, yellow flowering plants—which are related to sunflowers. You may have noticed these beautiful blooms earlier in the summer months. These tubers look a lot like ginger, but have a whole different taste profile. The sunchokes are similar to potatoes but with a much nuttier flavor. Unlike potatoes, can be consumed raw as well as cooked.

To harvest, just pull up and place the dried stalks aside. You will then want to dig in the area below to gather up the beautiful little roots. See them pictured above!

RECIPE:

Green Curry Lentil Soup

This soup packs in all the ingredients that would make your doctor happy (lentils, sweet potatoes, leafy greens!) but is bolstered by fiery Thai green curry paste to keep things interesting. Store-bought Thai curry pastes can vary widely in flavor and intensity from brand to brand, so there are also lots of aromatics like onion, ginger, and garlic to ensure there’s plenty of flavor to balance the earthy lentils.

BY CHRISTINA CHAEY

Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 one-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus mor

¼ cup Thai green curry paste

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into half-inch cubes

¾ cup brown or green lentils

4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 13.5 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk, shaken well

4 cups (loosely packed) baby spinach leaves

½ tsp. fish sauce (or more to taste)

Small handful cilantro leaves with tender stems and lime wedges (for serving)

PREPaRATION

Step 1

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger; season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent and starts to soften—about 3 minutes. Add curry paste and cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pan constantly, until paste is fragrant and slightly darkened and mixture starts to stick to pan—about 3 minutes.

Step 2

Stir sweet potato and lentils into onion mixture. Add broth and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook soup, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are cooked through and lentils are tender but not mushy—about 20–25 minutes.

Step 3

Add coconut milk to soup; return to a simmer. Add spinach and fish sauce. Cook just until spinach is wilted—about 30 seconds. Taste soup and season with more salt and/or fish sauce if needed.

Step 4

Ladle soup into bowls and top with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Final share:

  • Salad greens

  • Bok choy and tatsoi

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Root medley

  • Peppers, sweet/mild/hot

  • Cabbage leaves

  • Garlic

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 24 of 26: Fennel, Daikon, and Chinese Cabbages

Early morning over the pick-up location at the farm. Photo by Jared Planz

Announcements:

Only Three More Weeks This Season!

As we start winding down this season, please remember you can come and collect a maximum of 2 shares at a time. Feel free to come both Wednesday and Saturday if you would like, to collect any extra shares remaining.

Meat Sales

We still have a few New York Strips, and Delmonico in stock. These cuts are available for cash only and all cuts are under $10 per cut. In order to purchase, please inquire when picking up your share (for on farm only).

Information About Our Garlic

We have decided to increase the amount of garlic that everyone will be receiving in their share. In order to keep up with the new volume that we intend to give out, the farm has decided to give out that garlic uncleaned. It will still be the same beautiful garlic that you have been getting all year with just a few extra garlic papers wrapped on them. We still intend to sort out any garlic that does not meet with our standards.

PURCHASE GARLIC BELOW

Garlic is still available for purchase as well and will be cleaned off like before.

This Week’s Share:

  • Garlic

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Tokyo Bekana

  • Kale and collards

  • Fennel

  • Daikon radishes

  • Chinese cabbages (small heads)

  • Bok choy and tatsoi

  • Peppers — green bells and sweet

  • Optional chili peppers and poblanos

Recently found on our fennel was this caterpillar Papilio polyxenes, also called the parsley worm at this stage because of its love of parsley. Watch out—they like dill as well. Here at the farm, we do a gentle relocation project in the herb beds. This caterpillar will become the American swallowtail, or parsnip swallowtail butterfly, commonly found throughout much of North America.

U-Pick:

  • Hot (and not so hot) chili peppers

  • Basil: Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

Evidence of what remains of the lettuce. We have a lot of pressure with the deer and ground hogs on the farm, and these tasty greens we grow are hard to resist. Sadly we were not able to keep them from having a feast this weekend.

We will save what little they left for us and keep on growing!

RECIPE:

Fennel can be mysterious to those who have not used or seen it often in dishes. So this week, we’re highlighting a Cooking Light resource for fennel that has a few recipes you can try.

“All parts of the fennel plant—bulb, stalk, and the feathery fronds—are edible, and will add texture and flavor to salads, slaws, pastas, and more. Thinly sliced raw fennel bulb adds a sweet licorice flavor and crunchy texture to salads. To slice the bulb, stand it on the root end and cut vertically with a sharp knife of mandolin. To soften the flavor of the bulb, try braising, sautéing, roasting, or grilling it.

Fennel stalks can take the place of celery in soups and stews, and can be used as a bed for roasted chicken and meats. Use fennel fronds as a garnish or chop them and use as you would other herbs, like dill or parsley. Oh, and one last thing—fennel and seafood go together like peas in a pod.”

Cooking fennel, roasting it in the oven, cut into thicker slices with other root vegetables, is always a go-to when you have them on hand. Feel feel to also add them to the sauté pan or a hot stir fry!

Daikon Radishes can also be pretty unique, this article helps explain them quite a bit and gives a few more recipes to try!

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens, we plan for more spicy mix and Arugula

  • Okra, we are pausing this week and will pick what may size up next week

  • Sweet potatoes, we are expecting them until the last share!

  • Peppers, sweet/hot both we are also expecting to have plenty until the last share

  • Cabbage leaves

  • Garlic

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 23 of 26: Sweet Potatoes and Fall Greens

We are truly settling into fall with all of these glorious sweet potatoes! They certainly bring a warmth to these cooler, shorter days. Photo by Jared Planz

Announcements:

Meat Sales Update

We have sold out of ground beef for the season. However, we still have a few specialty cuts on hand. We have New York Strip, Delmonico, and a couple pieces of Filet Mignon. These cuts are available for cash only and all cuts are under $10 per cut. In order to purchase, please inquire when picking up your share (for on farm only).

PURCHASE garlic

Volunteer Group Highlights

Hannon Armstrong

Hannon Armstrong brought 12 people to help around the farm on Tuesday. They were wonderful help with harvesting our bounty of sweet potatoes! You may remember Hannon Armstrong as the group that sponsored our recent acquisition of six wonderful bee hives.

Elysian Energy

Elysian Energy brought 10 people to help around the farm on Monday. They tactically harvested ginger from the greenhouse, finished picking the winter squash in the field, cleaned garlic, and even helped clean up in the tree nursery!

This Week’s Share:

Our beautiful display of peppers!

  • Garlic

  • Sweet Potatoes

  • Ginger

  • Salad greens

  • Winter squash

  • Kale and collards

  • Turnips

  • Bok choi and Tat soi

  • Eggplant

  • Peppers — green bells and sweet

  • Optional chili peppers, okra, poblanos

U-Pick:

  • Hot (and not so hot) chili peppers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley (Last week for rows in G2 field)

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Last week for Flowers (Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia, and others)

While picking okra, the staff crowded around in amazement at this bumble bee’s work ethic. Look at all of that pollen!

Photo by: Elissa Planz

Recipe:

Sweet Potato Hash

Check out this wonderful sweet potato hash recipe from Chefling.com:

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato peeled, and diced 1/4"

1/2 large red pepper diced 1/4"

1/2 large green pepper diced 1/4"

2 Tbsp diced shallots

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried parsley

dash cayenne pepper

3–4 Tbsp olive oil

Cooked in seven simple steps!

  1. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet

  2. Add potatoes, peppers, shallot and spices

  3. Sauté 5 minutes, stirring halfway through

  4. Cover skillet and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring 3 times (this will steam potatoes)

  5. Remove cover and continue cooking for about 10 minutes until potatoes and peppers are soft (add more olive oil if needed)

  6. Adjust seasonings if needed

  7. Add cooked egg on top if desired

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens are amazing, and you’ll have them until the end. The arugula and spicy mix have more heat these days, so consider a creamy, mellowing/sweet salad dressing.

  • Sweet potatoes should continue until the end of the season, and they are another great crop that last for quite a few months. Try to store them in a cool, dry place away from other vegetables and resist the urge to wash them. ( It’s nice to use up smaller ones first as they tend to dry out faster.)

  • Lettuce heads will start to appear in two weeks.

  • Heads of bok choi and tat soi at least one more week.

  • Daikon radishes and purple-top turnips.

  • Peppers, eggplant, chilies, and okra continue, albeit a little more slowly with these shorter days and cooler night

  • Fennel will be starting next week.

  • Smaller Chinese cabbage will be available in the next couple of weeks.

  • Cabbage leaves (our cabbage may not fully head up in time for the season, but fear not—we should be able to give out some cabbage leaves soon!

  • Garlic

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 22 of 26: Grower Says Goodbye

This is me (Carrie Vaughn), my daughter, Amelia, and her dog Bingo. It will be tough for all of us to leave this beautiful home! Photo by Dave Vernon

This is me (Carrie Vaughn), my daughter, Amelia, and her dog Bingo. It will be tough for all of us to leave this beautiful home! Photo by Dave Vernon

Announcements:

A Note from Carrie

As my 23rd growing season at Clagett Farm wraps up, I’m easing into a new job as Farm Director for Building Bridges Across the River in Southeast D.C. But don’t worry—your farm is in great hands! Dave Vernon (13 years), Jared Planz (6 years), Elissa Planz (6 years), and Alex Outten (4 years) have ample experience between them and will steer the ship capably for the remainder of this season (5 weeks to go!) and in 2022.

I’d love to thank you personally for our years together! Amelia and I are having a farewell party near the washing station on Saturday October 30. Swing by so we can raise a glass together. Dupont members, I’ll be at the first half of your pickup today (October 13) in case you can’t get yourself to the farm.

—Carrie

This Week’s Share:

Jared Planz and Will Grinnell load up with a jackpot of delicious turnips. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Jared Planz and Will Grinnell load up with a jackpot of delicious turnips. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

  • Salad greens

  • Butternut squash

  • Kale and collards

  • Hakurei turnips and watermelon radishes

  • Bok choi and tat soi

  • Eggplant

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers, okra, and pink beauty radishes

U-Pick:

The U-Pick list has remained pretty consistent the last few weeks:

  • Hot (and not so hot) chili peppers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia, and others)

This photo from 1999 demonstrates how much the farm has changed! The silos were sold, and we built our washing station in its place. The greenhouses in the foreground were replaced by a larger one, and the house and sheds on the right side of the photo have been torn down. We’ve added the tree nursery and a tall deer fence. The spot where I was standing to take this photo has been planted with blueberry bushes (which the birds have enjoyed more than we have, for better or worse). The only things that remain from this photo are the garage in the middle and the trees!

This photo from 1999 demonstrates how much the farm has changed! The silos were sold, and we built our washing station in its place. The greenhouses in the foreground were replaced by a larger one, and the house and sheds on the right side of the photo have been torn down. We’ve added the tree nursery and a tall deer fence. The spot where I was standing to take this photo has been planted with blueberry bushes (which the birds have enjoyed more than we have, for better or worse). The only things that remain from this photo are the garage in the middle and the trees!

Recipes

Soup!

If I had to choose one meal to eat for the rest of my life, it would be soup and salad. There are endless variations, and I find soup immensely comforting, particularly this time of year.

  • CSA shareholder and CBF staff member David Tana offered us this recipe for Creamy Turnip Soup, which he says was the perfect use for our hakurei turnips.

  • I’ve been telling everyone to let your butternut squash sit for a month or more before eating so they sweeten up. I cubed and roasted a butternut last week that had some insect damage, and man, it was sweet and delicious! So in my humble opinion, the wait is over. There are limitless butternut squash soup recipes to be found. The one I’ve linked here calls for roasting the squash first, which is a must for me. If you don’t have a carrot in your fridge, don’t bother adding it—I find it inconsequential. Also, I’m partial to adding blue cheese instead of or in addition to the cream. But sometimes I leave out the dairy altogether and its still perfection. Roasted, salted, winter squash seeds (pepitas) are another great garnish for butternut squash soup.

Coming Soon:

  • Sweet potatoes next week, God willing and the creek don’t rise.

  • Salad greens are amazing and you’ll have them until the end. The arugula and spicy mix have more heat these days so consider a creamy, mellowing salad dressing.

  • We should get one more week of ginger before the season is over.

  • Heads of bok choi and tat soi at least one more week.

  • Radishes and turnips will continue through the end, including daikon radishes and purple-top turnips.

  • Peppers, eggplant, chilies, and okra continue, albeit a little more slowly with these shorter days and cooler nights.

  • Oh my heavens, so many heads of garlic! Sometimes we’re so busy harvesting we don’t get a chance to tidy up the garlic before it’s on the bench for your share. Before you take your two heads, give them a squeeze. If there are any soft cloves, pass the head to us and take a different one. Thanks for your help!

It embarrasses me how little my style has changed in all these years. Even today, I’m still wearing baggy clothes, button-down, thrift-store shirts dotted with tractor grease, and a baseball cap. This photo from 2003 includes Rob Vaughn. He and I farmed together for our first 18 years at Clagett. We were married on the farm and have since parted ways. I’m so grateful for the joy, wisdom, and love gifted me by the passage of time, this beautiful place, and all the people I’ve worked with and served over the years. That includes you! —Carrie

It embarrasses me how little my style has changed in all these years. Even today, I’m still wearing baggy clothes, button-down, thrift-store shirts dotted with tractor grease, and a baseball cap.

This photo from 2003 includes Rob Vaughn. He and I farmed together for our first 18 years at Clagett. We were married on the farm and have since parted ways. I’m so grateful for the joy, wisdom, and love gifted me by the passage of time, this beautiful place, and all the people I’ve worked with and served over the years. That includes you! —Carrie

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 21 of 26: Your Body Craves Greens

Bok choi—a real stand-up vegetable. Photo by Jared Planz

Bok choi—a real stand-up vegetable. Photo by Jared Planz

Announcements:

There’s still some grassfed ground beef available. Grab some while you can! Available for pickup at Clagett Farm only. Anyone can purchase (including people who aren’t CSA shareholders).

  • $10/pound

  • $45 for 5 pounds

The perfect holiday gift that doesn’t require shipping from China. Who doesn’t love garlic?!

  • $8/pound for CSA shareholders

  • $12/pound for others

 

  • The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a founding member of the Million Acre Challenge. Our mission is to bring a million agricultural acres of Maryland farmland into regenerative soils management. This includes collecting data at Clagett Farm as part of a study of which farming practices are most effectively improving soil health. You’re helping this effort as one of our customers. Thank you! Soil health helps reduce the impacts of climate change, improves the nutrition of your food, and is the foundation of a rich, healthy ecosystem.

This Week’s Share:

Fresh, young ginger is almost too gorgeous to eat. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Fresh, young ginger is almost too gorgeous to eat. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

  • Ginger

  • Butternut squash (Note that your butternut will improve in flavor over the next few months as long as it doesn’t develop a soft spot, so don’t be afraid to leave it on your counter for a while.)

  • Salad greens: Tokyo bekana, spicy mix, and arugula

  • Hakurei turnips

  • Bok choi, tat soi, and collards

  • Eggplant

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers, okra and pink beauty radishes

U-Pick:

The U-Pick list has remained pretty consistent the last few weeks:

These Tobago Seasoning chilies look like traditional habaneros, but in fact they have no heat at all—just the flavors of a habanero. You can eat it whole without a single tear in your eye. Think of the practical joke potential! Photo by Carrie Vaughn

These Tobago Seasoning chilies look like traditional habaneros, but in fact they have no heat at all—just the flavors of a habanero. You can eat it whole without a single tear in your eye. Think of the practical joke potential! Photo by Carrie Vaughn

  • Hot (and not so hot) chili peppers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia, and others)

Recipes:

Hakurei Turnips

I know, I know—some of you (many of you) think you dislike turnips. But the turnips this week are out-of-this-world juicy, crunchy, and sweet. Bring a paring knife to your pickup and plan to eat one on your way home. They’re that good!

Hakurei turnips. Photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton.

Hakurei turnips. Photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton.

  • Try cutting 1/2-inch slices of hakurei and using them like crackers. Some topping ideas:

    • Cheddar and apple slices

    • Pesto, olives, and an oil-cured, sun-dried tomato

    • A dollop of smoky baba ganoush and a green herb as garnish

  • Slice the turnips thinly (use a mandolin if you have one) and make a salad with them alone or with the salad greens in your share. Or you can combine with thinly sliced apple and/or fennel.

    Top with some toasted nuts (pecans, for example) and dress with a vinaigrette. You can make a great dressing by putting in the blender:

    • A chunk of ginger

    • A shallot

    • A clove of garlic

    • Some orange or orange juice or (my favorite for ease) a spoonful of OJ concentrate

    • Soy sauce

    • Rice vinegar

    • A bit of salad oil, such as grapeseed

  • The greens on our turnips are exceptional right now. Here’s a recipe where they cook quickly with some miso butter. Mmmmm…miso butter…

  • Here’s a recipe for a Japanese quick pickle called Asazuke. They recommend letting the turnips marinate for 1-3 hours.

  • This recipe replaces potatoes with roasted turnips in a “No-Potato Salad”.

  • If you don’t get around to eating them right away, remove the greens. The turnip roots can stay in the crisper drawer of your fridge for a long time, stretching your CSA veggies into the winter.

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens are unstoppable! Yahoo, salad until the end!

  • We should get one more week of ginger.

  • One more week of winter squash, primarily butternut.

  • Bok choi and tat soi are luscious and will continue at least two more weeks.

  • We underestimated the Hakurei turnips, which will last several more weeks. Watermelon radishes weeks 22 and 23. Daikon radishes and purple-top turnips weeks 25 and 26.

  • Peppers, eggplant, chilies, and okra continue, albeit a little more slowly with these shorter days and cooler nights.

  • Heads of garlic will continue until November, when we’ll switch to giving out loose cloves.

  • Sweet potatoes expected week 23, probably through 26.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 20 of 26: The Salad Days

Whichever greens make it home in your bag, they’re going to be spectacular! Photo by Fred Delventhal

Whichever greens make it home in your bag, they’re going to be spectacular! Photo by Fred Delventhal

Announcements:

Clagett Farm’s grassfed ground beef is very popular! We’ll sell out in the next week or two. Available for pickup at Clagett Farm only. Anyone can purchase (including people who aren’t CSA shareholders).

  • $10/pound

  • $45 for 5 pounds

We’re glad we’re not selling out of garlic, because that would mean we'd failed to meet your needs with the CSA. Perish the thought!

  • $8/pound for CSA shareholders

  • $12/pound for others

 

  • Reminder: Please wear a mask at the CSA pickup site. Thank you!

  • Congratulations Ann Jennings! Ann was just named by Governor Northam as Virginia’s Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources. We went to a lot of staff retreats with Ann over the years when she was the Executive Director of CBF’s Virginia offices, and trust us when we say Governor Northam could not have chosen better!

This Week’s Share:

A ripe butternut in repose with a seminole that hasn’t quite finished ripening to its full color. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

A ripe butternut in repose with a seminole that hasn’t quite finished ripening to its full color. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

  • Butternut squash! (Note that your butternut will improve in flavor over the next few months as long as it doesn’t develop a soft spot, so don’t be afraid to leave it on your counter for a while.)

  • Bok choi

  • Salad greens: Tokyo bekana and arugula

  • Collards and kale

  • Hakurei turnips and French breakfast radishes

  • Eggplant

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers and okra

U-Pick:

U-Pick is available all week for the crops on this list:

Cayenne chilies. Photo by Fred Delventhal

Cayenne chilies. Photo by Fred Delventhal

  • Hot (and not so hot) chili peppers.

  • Ground cherries

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia, and others)

Recipes:

Bok Choi

Bok choi benefits from simplicity. Most recipes do very little to mask its clean, bright, crunchy taste.

Bok choi, photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton.

Bok choi, photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton.

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens, kale, and collards are growing well and you’ll see quantities increase over the next few weeks.

  • Bok choi for another week, followed by heads of tat soi.

  • Watermelon radishes, probably weeks 21 and 22. Hakurei turnips through week 21, at least. We expect some daikon radishes for week 26.

  • Peppers, eggplant, and okra will continue for a while, but you’ll see a gradual decline in quantity.

  • Heads of garlic will continue until November, when we’ll switch to giving out loose cloves.

  • The sweet potato forecast continues to be for week 23.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 19 of 26: Glorious September

Our new water wheel transplanter! It’s much less finicky and more efficient than the old tobacco transplanter we’ve been using for the past three decades. Here, you can see Liana Rosenblum (volunteer) and Elissa Planz transplanting Chinese cabbage. Jared Planz is driving. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Our new water wheel transplanter! It’s much less finicky and more efficient than the old tobacco transplanter we’ve been using for the past three decades. Here, you can see Liana Rosenblum (volunteer) and Elissa Planz transplanting Chinese cabbage. Jared Planz is driving. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Announcements:

Clagett Farm’s grassfed ground beef is for sale! $10/pound or $45 for 5 pounds. Available for pickup at the farm only. Anyone can purchase (including people who aren’t CSA shareholders).

We continue to have garlic for sale—only $8/pound for CSA shareholders! $12/pound for others. Our garlic will last an additional 3 to 5 months in the pantry.

 

  • Reminder: Please wear a mask at the CSA pickup site. Thank you!

  • Did you know that the Chesapeake Bay watershed has a resident species of otter? River otters live in the tidal areas near us, including the Patuxent River and the Anacostia. Check out some fun facts about these adorable neighbors here.

This Week’s Share:

Spicy mix, ready for picking. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Spicy mix, ready for picking. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

  • Ginger!

  • Salad greens: Tat soi, Tokyo bekana, and Spicy mix

  • Tender collards and kale

  • Tomatoes, mostly cherries

  • Hakurei turnips and French breakfast radishes

  • Eggplant

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers and okra

U-Pick:

U-Pick is available all week for the crops on this list.

  • Tomatoes and chilies, across from the washing station, inside the fence, below the high tunnel

  • Ground cherries, beside the sunflowers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia, and others)

Recipes and Tips:

Young Ginger!

If you haven’t used fresh, young ginger, you’re in for a treat. Here’s some tips:

  • It’s more tender, mild, and less fibrous than what you normally find at the store, so you can eat larger chunks and it doesn’t need peeling.

  • It can be easily frozen whole if you don’t plan to use it within the next few weeks. Just pull it out of the freezer, grate off the amount you need, and then return it right away to the freezer.

  • We’ll include a bit of stalk with the ginger, and sometimes some roots. Steep these parts in boiled water for a great ginger tea. Or add them to the water you use to cook rice or soup and then remove them before eating (similar to how you cook with lemongrass).

  • If you’d like to replicate the pickled ginger that typically comes with sushi, this is the type of ginger you need to use.

  • Add the ginger to smoothies or add slices to your sautéed vegetables (since it isn’t fibrous, it doesn’t need to be grated).

  • Ginger has medicinal benefits galore! Among other things, it’s anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and eases indigestion. And if you’re having nausea from motion sickness or pregnancy, ginger is very effective.

  • Once you’re done using your little pumpkin for decoration and you’d like to eat it, pumpkin goes deliciously with ginger, such as in this easy recipe for Pumpkin and Ginger Soup. (Save yourself the trouble of peeling and grating the ginger as instructed—just chop it up instead.)

Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing

Put the following ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Once it’s finished, taste for your preferred flavor. You might want to add even more ginger! This recipe is adapted from VeganHighProtein.com.

  • 3-inch piece of ginger, chopped into chunks

  • 1 shallot, peeled and chopped into chunks

  • 1 quarter of an apple, peeled

  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled

  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce

  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar

  • 1 Tbsp sugar or 3/4 tsp agave

  • 1 Tbsp sesame paste (This is toasted, ground sesame seeds; tahini is a good substitute, but since it isn’t toasted, you might want to replace some of the grapeseed oil with toasted sesame oil.)

  • 1 cup grapeseed oil (This has a neutral flavor and can be easily substituted with other oils)

Stir Fried Ginger Quinoa with Mixed Vegetables

This is a recipe highly adapted from Food and Wine. Feel free to follow my lead and adapt liberally to the vegetables you have at hand. Unless you have leftover quinoa (or rice) on hand, begin by cooking the quinoa while you prep the other ingredients.

  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce

  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

  • 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce (can substitute with hoisin)

  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

  • 3 small, ripe peppers

  • 4 okra pods, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

  • a handful of greens, cut into ribbons (tat soi, collards, kale or spicy mix would all work here)

  • 3 hakurei turnips, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 1 chili of your choice, minced (include seeds and ribs if you want the heat)

  • 1 shallot or 3 scallions, chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2-inch piece of ginger, sliced

  • 3 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled

  • 2 eggs, beaten (can be easily substituted with tofu; scramble it separately, as with this recipe, instead of following the instructions below)

  • Salt and pepper

  1. Stir together the soy sauce, sesame oil, and oyster (or hoisin) sauce and set aside.

  2. Heat the first tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the okra and peppers. Stir minimally (to keep the okra from getting gooey)—just enough to soften the vegetables on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

  3. Heat the pan again and add the greens and turnips. Push them around a minute or two until the greens have brightened up and wilted and the turnips are softened a bit. Remove from the pan and set aside.

  4. Add the second tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat it up again. Add the chili, shallot (or scallions), garlic, and ginger. Stir until fragrant (about 30 seconds), then add the quinoa. Push the quinoa around until it’s hot. Then push it to the outsides of the pan, leaving an empty space in the middle.

  5. Pour the egg into the empty space and scrape it around constantly until it’s softly scrambled.

  6. Add everything to the pan that had been set aside (sauce, peppers, okra, turnips, and greens). Stir until everything is mixed and heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens, kale, and collards should continue for the rest of the season.

  • Bok choi, Chinese cabbage, and heads of tat soi will make appearances this fall. Bok choi will be first, probably weeks 21 and 22. The Chinese cabbage will be last, since we’ve only just transplanted it—probably week 26.

  • Butternut squash is coming soon, probably next week.

  • After a few weeks of these French breakfast radishes, we’ll probably start giving out Watermelon radishes, probably weeks 21 and 22. Hakurei turnips will continue for several more weeks. We expect some daikon radishes for week 26.

  • This might be the last week of ripe tomatoes.

  • Peppers, eggplant, and okra are just now showing signs that they have passed their peak growth rate. But they are still going strong and won’t end completely until we get some cold temperatures. Dare I say it, they might even survive until the end of the season.

  • Keep calm, garlic on.

  • Sweet potatoes are growing nicely. We’ll probably begin giving them out week 23.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 18 of 26: Fall Salad Greens!!

Arugula, looking luscious. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Arugula, looking luscious. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Announcements:

  • We have garlic for sale—only $8/pound for CSA shareholders!

  • Reminder: Please wear a mask at the CSA pickup site. Thank you!

This Week’s Share:

  • Arugula and Tokyo Bekana (a very mild mustard green that tastes and looks like lettuce)

  • Tomatoes — cherries and full-size

  • Hakurei turnips (even turnip haters should try a bite of one of these sweet, crunchy gems) and Pink Beauty Radishes

  • Eggplant

  • Garlic (If you’re starting to accumulate a stockpile, don’t worry! They store for months. You’ll be glad to have them in the winter—almost as glad you’ll be if you roast a few heads for dinner tonight.)

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers, tomatillos, and okra

CBF staff member Johnny Ryan weeding the kale and surrounded by some volunteer buckwheat. The buckwheat is a weed in this field right now, but it’s hard to begrudge a flower that’s so lovely and delicious to honeybees. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

CBF staff member Johnny Ryan weeding the kale and surrounded by some volunteer buckwheat. The buckwheat is a weed in this field right now, but it’s hard to begrudge a flower that’s so lovely and delicious to honeybees. Photo by Carrie Vaughn

U-Pick:

U-Pick is available all week for the crops on this list.

  • Tomatoes and chilies, across from the washing station, inside the fence, below the high tunnel

  • Ground cherries, beside the sunflowers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Sunflowers, Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia and others)

Recipe:

CSA shareholder Rachel Zuercher sent us this great tomato soup recipe that she made with Clagett Farm ingredients. Thanks Rachel!

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Roasted Tomato SouP

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  • 1.75 pounds of fresh tomatoes (preferably not varieties that are too sweet), halved

  • 1 onion and/or equivalent shallots

  • 1 head garlic, top third cut off to expose the cloves

  • olive oil

  • salt and pepper

  • 3 cups vegetable broth

  • 1-2 bay leaves

  • a handful of fresh thyme sprigs

  • chopped basil (for garnish)

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the halved tomatoes (cut side down), onion, and garlic on the sheet.

  3. Drizzle olive oil over everything and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  4. Roast for ~40 mins or until the tomatoes start to blister.

  5. Transfer the tomatoes, onions, and de-skinned garlic (just squeeze the cloves out) to a soup pot. Pour any remaining tomato juice from the baking sheet into the pot.

  6. Add the vegetable broth and herbs to the pot. Simmer for ~25 minutes.

  7. Remove the bay leaves and remaining thyme sprigs.

  8. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth.

  9. Garnish with fresh, chopped basil.

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens will continue in fits and starts through the end of the season (mid-November). Kale and collards are coming soon.

  • Winter squash will return, probably next week.

  • Turnips and radishes will continue on and off, with different varieties, through the end of the season.

  • Fresh ginger soon! Probably next week.

  • Enjoy these final, sweet weeks of tomatoes. We’ll miss them when they’re gone! You’ll know the era has ended when you see green tomatoes in your share (and I mean the unripe ones—not the green zebras).

  • We think peppers, eggplant, and okra will continue producing until the end of the month and maybe longer, depending mostly on evening temperatures. These tropical plants will survive some cold nights but, you know, their joie de vivre will leave them.

  • Garlic, your two heads never fail to delight.

  • We’ll probably give out sweet potatoes in late October.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 17 of 26: The Mingling of Summer and Fall

Sweet Oranos peppers are on the staff list of All Time Best Vegetables. Photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton.

Sweet Oranos peppers are on the staff list of All Time Best Vegetables. Photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton.

Announcements:

  • Based on the recent evidence of the transmissibility of the COVID-19 Delta variant, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation asks that all customers and staff, including those who have been vaccinated, wear masks to the CSA pickup sites. We appreciate everyone’s patience as guidelines shift with the changing circumstances. Our top priority is keeping the most vulnerable among us healthy.

  • Note that U-Pick is available all week now. It’s no longer restricted to Wednesdays and Saturdays.

  • We’re now selling garlic! CSA shareholders pay only $8/pound. Non-CSA shareholders pay $12/pound. We’re not ready yet to sell in wholesale quantities (over 10 pounds in one purchase). You can purchase online or pay cash when you get here.

This Week’s Share:

  • Acorn squash

  • Tomatoes — cherries and full-size

  • Asian pears or potatoes

  • Radishes

  • Eggplant

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Optional chili peppers and okra

Photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton

Photo by Clay Dunn and Zach Patton

U-Pick:

  • U-Pick is now available all week for all crops, including tomatoes and chilies. The tomatoes and chilies are across from the washing station, below the high tunnel.

  • Ground cherries, beside the sunflowers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Sunflowers, Zinnias, Gomphrena, Tithonia and others)

Recipes:

I asked Chef Matt Finarelli for a recipe that uses our sweet and bell peppers, and he offered these delightful grilled fajitas. If you’re not a meat-eater, consider marinating super firm tofu in place of the beef.

Tequila-Marinated Skirt Steak Fajitas

The flavors of tequila, lime, and chilies come through so large and deliciously in these amazing fajitas. They grill up great, or use your oven’s broiler to make them any time!

Serves 4-6

  • ½ cup blanco tequila

  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice

  • 1 Tbsp kosher salt

  • 1 Tbsp sugar

  • 2 fresh cayenne chilies

  • ~3 lbs skirt steak, in 3-6 pieces ideally (hanger steak is also great but needs extra marinating and cooking time)

  • 4 cups peppers – a mix of green, orange and red – cut into strips

  • 1 large red onion, julienned

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Warmed flour or corn tortillas

  • Guacamole, hot sauce, crema, shredded cheese for serving (as desired)

  1. Combine tequila, lime juice, salt, sugar, and chilies in a large sealable plastic bag. Add the steaks, take out the excess air, and seal the bag. Rub marinade all over the steaks.

  2. Let steaks marinate for 1–2 hours at room temperature (or 3–6 hours in the fridge) turning over occasionally.

  3. Heat grill for two-zone grilling, one side medium-high, the other medium-low.

  4. In a large bowl, toss peppers and onion with olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

  5. Place a vegetable roasting basket (or cooling rack) across the grates of the hot side and grill the peppers and onions on the hot side. (You’ll want to close the top of your grill for most of this to let the peppers soften nicely.)

  6. Move the vegetable basket over to the cooler side of the grill to keep them cooking lightly and finish up while you’re cooking the steaks.

  7. Remove the steaks from the marinade, shake dry, and season with black pepper.

  8. Place steaks on hot side and grill all over to place a nice sear on the outside of the steaks. A thin steak like skirt will likely only need a lovely sear on the outside to be finished perfectly. If you want it a little more done, move it over to the cooler side with the vegetables to finish cooking through without burning.

  9. Let steaks rest for 2–5 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain of the meat.

  10. Serve as fajitas with the grilled peppers and onions in tortillas.

Feel free to add other toppings you like as well. I’ve listed some of my favorites above in the recipe.

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Eggplant, tomato, mozzerella stacks

CSA shareholder Maureen Clapper shared this missive:

“OMG - the Annina eggplant (the speckled one), with the Marmalade (yellow-orange) tomatoes and fresh mozzarella...HEAVEN. Sauté eggplant slices in skillet at medium-low heat; cook 7–10 minutes; flip; add salt, black pepper and Aleppo pepper. Cook the other side for 7 minutes. At 4 minutes to zero, add tomato slices and salt. At 3 minutes to zero, add mozzarella slices and shake with black and red peppers.”

Thank you, Maureen!

Roasted Okra and Potatoes with Pecans

This dish really is just three ingredients, but when it comes together, the balance of colors, flavors and textures is pure magic!

by Chef Matt Finarelli

Serves 4

  • 1 lb small red potatoes, quartered

  • 1 lb okra, stemmed and halved lengthwise

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil

  • 1 Tbsp ground sumac

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • ⅓ cup pecans, roughly chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 450° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.

  2. Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once water boils, let boil for one minute, then drain completely and place in a large bowl.

  3. Place okra in the bowl with the potatoes, toss with oil and season with sumac, salt, and pepper.

  4. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheets and roast in the oven until potatoes are browned, about 20–25 minutes.

  5. While vegetables are cooking, toast pecans in a sauté pan over medium heat until nicely browned.

  6. When vegetables are done, remove from oven, season with salt and pepper, top with pecans and serve.

Coming Soon:

  • Salad greens might begin next week!

  • We might have a pause in winter squash after we give out the acorn squash while we wait for the butternuts to finish ripening.

  • The small, red radishes will continue for another week, followed by hakurei turnips.

  • We have some beautiful ginger this year. We hope to give it out several times, possibly beginning week 19.

  • These are the last few weeks of tomatoes.

  • We think peppers, eggplant and okra will continue producing until the end of the month.

  • Garlic, BFF.

  • The sweet potato outlook is good, but still distant.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 16 of 26 : Fiery Hot (Chili) Summer

The chilies are getting hotter as the summer progresses. Can you help us put them in order of heat? Take a mix of chilies home and tell us how they rank, if you dare! Photo by Carrie Vaughn

The chilies are getting hotter as the summer progresses. Can you help us put them in order of heat? Take a mix of chilies home and tell us how they rank, if you dare! Photo by Carrie Vaughn

Announcements:

  • Yes, in spite of the rain, we will have the CSA pickup Wednesday afternoon/evening on the farm and at Dupont. But as always, if you’d rather double up another day, you can skip coming out in the deluge.

  • This is the last chance to order oysters for your Labor Day weekend. Pickup is this Thursday, 4:00–6:00 p.m. in Annapolis, and anyone can order (tell your friends!). This happens to be the first-ever harvest for Pirates Cove Oyster Company. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation created a mentoring program to get more watermen in the business of raising oysters for a sustainable harvest and a saved Bay. You can help this farmer get his business started!

  • There’s a fun history behind one of the chili peppers pictured above—the Buena Mulata (bottom right corner). This beautiful chili seed was saved by the folk artist, WWI veteran, and seed saver Horace Pippin in Pennsylvania. CBF staff and CSA member Josh Kurtz warns us the pepper is plenty hot in the violet stage when we’ve been picking it. But if we left it on the plant, it would continue to ripen to yellow, orange, brown and red. Like most peppers, the flavor gets fruitier as it ripens, but don’t expect it to have less heat!

This Week’s Share:

  • Pea shoots

  • Choice of pie pumpkin or acorn squash

    • Winter squash store very nicely outside the refrigerator, so you can keep the pumpkin as a decoration until you’re ready to bake it. It’s a small variety for eating, rather than the watery, stringy giant pumpkins that people use for jack-o-lanterns. Keep an eye on your winter squash. If one develops a soft spot, cut that part out and bake it right away.

  • Red potatoes

  • Tomatoes — cherries and full-size

  • Cucumbers

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Choice of chili peppers, okra and tomatillos

U-Pick:

Tomatoes and Chilies in the field:

  • LIMITED TIME: U-PICK tomatoes and chilies are ONLY OPEN Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to dark and Saturdays 1:00 p.m. to dark.

  • U-Pick is for CSA shareholders only. You do not need to sign up.

  • It’s a surprisingly tight space between rows, and the plants are delicate. Please avoid leaning on the tomato plants or stepping on the vines. Expect to spend some time low to the ground on your knees. And expect to walk 400 feet on uneven ground in tall grass.

  • Please bring containers and a mask. Even if you’re vaccinated, wear your mask if you are in close quarters with people outside your household.

  • Expect lots of cherry tomatoes and not very many full-size tomatoes.

Herbs, etc:

  • New: Ground cherries beside the sunflowers

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers (Sunflowers, Zinnias, Gomphrena, Cosmos, Tithonia and others)

Recipes:

Chef Matt Finarelli has two ways to use your summer vegetables in pasta. One roasts the vegetables in a hot oven, bringing out a richer flavor. The other leaves the vegetables raw, which takes advantage of the bright, fresh tomatoes we can enjoy at the end of summer. Thanks, Matt, for your recipe contributions! (And if you’re lucky enough to attend one of his cooking class parties, you can learn the trick to cutting up a pepper without leaving a mess of seeds on your cutting board!)

Pasta Provencal with Basil, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes and Olives

  • 1 pound farfalle

  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • 1 ea red pepper, stemmed, seeded, ribs removed, cut into small/medium dice

  • 2 cups small cherry tomatoes, halved

  • 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted, halved

  • 8 oz fresh mozzarella, shredded

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

  • ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

  • 1 bunch fresh basil leaves, shredded (~½ cup)

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente; drain.

  2. Pour pasta into a large serving bowl and toss with 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil.

  3. Add red pepper, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and garlic. Toss to combine.

  4. In a separate small bowl, combine remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Whisk together and pour over the pasta salad. Toss to combine.

  5. Add pecorino, parmesan and basil, and gently toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then serve warm or at room temperature with extra grated cheese.

Linguine with Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Pesto

from Chef Matt Finarelli

Garlic, zucchini, and tomatoes get puréed with toasted sunflower seeds, fresh basil, and parmesan to make a rich, delicious pesto. Serve with Italian sausages or meatballs if there are people who also want some meat with the dish.

  • 8 cloves garlic, peeled

  • 3 pints grape tomatoes (or 1½ lbs coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes)

  • 4-5 ea small zucchini (~1½ lbs), trimmed and sliced

  • 7 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 7 Tbsp shelled, roasted, salted sunflower seeds, divided

  • 3 cups fresh basil leaves, divided

  • 3 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

  • 1 lb linguine

  • 1 ea fresh tomato (~4-5 oz), diced

  • 8 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-sized pieces

  1. Preheat oven to 450° F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking sheet or aluminum foil.

  2. Place garlic cloves, tomatoes, and zucchini in a large bowl. Add 3 Tbsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

  3. Roast vegetables in oven, stirring every 5 minutes until nicely browned – about 15-20 minutes. (Increase roasting time to 25-30 for chopped fresh tomatoes).

  4. Set vegetables aside to cool to room temperature.

  5. Place cooled roasted vegetables in a blender; add 3 Tbsp sunflower seeds and 2 cups basil leaves. Puree together while slowly pouring in the remaining 4 Tbsp olive oil.

  6. Pour pesto into a bowl, and stir in the parmesan cheese. Set aside.

  7. Coarsely chop (or tear) the remaining basil, and set aside.

  8. Cook linguine until al dente, and reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl.

  9. Toss pasta with pesto, and use some of the cooking water (if needed) to help it spread throughout the pasta.

  10. Add the diced fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, reserved 1 cup chopped/torn basil, and reserved 4 Tbsp sunflower seeds. Toss to combine.

  11. Serve warm with extra parmesan for garnish.

Quick Pickled Cucumber and Red Onion Salad

from Chef Matt Finarelli

While this may look like a salad you’d sit down and tuck into, it’s much more of a garnish. In fact, this recipe came from a restaurant I worked (Rustico) where it was the garnish for our grilled New York Strip Steak! It’s also a great accompaniment to oysters, much like a spicy mignonette.

Makes ~1½ cups

  • 1 cup rice wine vinegar

  • ½ cup water

  • ¼ cup sugar

  • ¼ tsp turmeric

  • 1 clove garlic – minced

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 2 ea cucumbers

  • 1 ea small onion

  • 1 ea serrano pepper (optional)

  1. Combine rice wine vinegar, water, sugar, turmeric, garlic, and salt in a small saucepan, and stir to dissolve. Heat over medium high heat to bring to a simmer.

  2. While the pickling liquid is heating up, peel the cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise and remove all the seeds. Then slice the cucumber thinly on a bias to make thin half-moon shapes. Place in a large bowl.

  3. Slice the red onion very thinly, and slice the jalapeño (if using) into thin rounds. Place the onion and pepper in the bowl with the cucumber.

  4. Once the pickling liquid comes to a boil, immediately pour it over the cucumber mixture.

  5. Allow everything to cool to room temperature together, then serve as a garnish for meats or as a small side salad, or on top of stir-fries.

Cayenne chilies, photo by Clay Dunn

Cayenne chilies, photo by Clay Dunn

Coming Soon:

  • We’ll have more types of winter squash in the weeks to come.

  • Radishes will begin week 17 or 18 and should continue off and on through the end.

  • We’ll have at least one more week of Asian pears.

  • A modest supply of tomatoes, heavy on cherries, will continue through mid-September.

  • Peppers of all kinds and okra are seeing a nice lift in production. We’re guessing that continues through the end of September.

  • Tomatillos are continuing to fruit but the end is neigh.

  • We have lots of garlic, and as soon as we have a few rainy days of work, we’ll get enough cleaned to start selling it for those who want more than two heads/week.

  • Eggplants will be at your pickup site at least once more, probably twice.

  • Sweet potatoes are looking good, but after last year, I’m assuming nothing. Fingers crossed.

  • You’ll start seeing salad greens around week 19 and kale and collards shortly after.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 15 of 26 : U-Pick Tomatoes! (Limited Times)

Some of our tomato plants are so lush, they make a green tunnel for the harvester. Photo by Carrie Vaughn.

Some of our tomato plants are so lush, they make a green tunnel for the harvester. Photo by Carrie Vaughn.

Announcements:

Oyster Sale.jpg

  • Pirates Cove Oyster Company is selling oysters during our CSA pickup in Annapolis on Thursday, September 2. Visit piratescoveoysters.com/CBF to order.

  • We’re welcoming the break in the rain that’s forecast for this week. The fields have been quite wet, and it’s making it tricky to get your fall crops planted. But we’re not complaining! The rain was not so over-abundant to drown any crops, and we could spend our time weeding instead of irrigating.

    Win a Prize!

  • Do you prefer to eat meat that’s locally grown and healthy for you and the environment? We have just the sweepstakes for you! Go to GoGrassfed.org and enter to win prizes such as regular deliveries of grassfed meat to your home every month for a year ($1000 value). While you’re on the website, you can explore a directory of local farmers, learn why you would want to eat meat from animals raised on a leafy green diet (as opposed to packing animals in a barn and feeding them corn and soy), watch a cool movie, and more. Clagett Farm’s very own Michael Heller is one of the organizers of GoGrassfed, so trust us—it’s a legit sweepstakes and the website is a great cache of information. Don’t miss out!

This Week’s Share:

  • Asian Pears

  • Tomatoes — cherries and full-size

  • Cucumbers or squash

  • Garlic

  • Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers

  • Chili peppers — currently picking Shishito, Poblano, Anaheim, Cayenne, and small quantities of Aji Chinchi Amarillo, Tobago Seasoning (a habanero without heat), Jalapeno, Serrano, and Buena Mulata.

  • Okra, tomatillos or onions

U-Pick:

TOMATOES! And chili peppers, too!

  • LIMITED TIME: U-PICK tomatoes and chilies are ONLY OPEN Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to dark and Saturdays 1:00 p.m. to dark. THIS IS IMPORTANT!

  • As always, U-Pick is for CSA shareholders only. You do not need to sign up.

  • It’s a surprisingly tight space between rows, and the plants are delicate. Please avoid leaning on the tomato plants or stepping on the vines. Expect to spend some time low to the ground on your knees.

  • Please bring a mask, even if you’re vaccinated, and wear it if you are in close quarters with people outside your household.

  • There’s not a large quantity, so this will not be the year you fill your freezer with tomato sauce. But there are lots of delicious sun gold cherry tomatoes which are great for the people in your life with big eyes, tiny hands, poor impulse control, and a lot of enthusiasm. (By the way, send us your photos of tomato U-Picking!)

  • Don’t forget to bring your own containers.

  • This is not a good activity for someone who has difficulty walking 400 feet or more through tall grass.

Our regular U-Pick selection of flowers and herbs is the same as last week.

Photo by volunteer, Diane Williams.

Photo by volunteer, Diane Williams.

Recipes:

CSA member Dale Rubenstein recommended this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine June 2021, which uses soba noodles and also “noodles” made from squash.

Sesame Soba and Squash Noodles

  • 2 summer squashes (yellow or green, about 1 pound), spiralized into “noodles”

  • 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

  • 8 oz soba noodles (soba are typically made from buckwheat; some brands are gluten free)

  • ¼ cup ponzu sauce (or 2 Tablespoons soy sauce + ½ Tablespoon mirin + zest & juice from one lemon)

  • 2 Tbsp tahini

  • 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

  • 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

  • ¼ tsp kosher salt

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

  • 3 scallions or one bunch chives

  • 2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish (toast lightly for better flavor)

  • Cilantro for garnish (optional)

  1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the soba noodles according to package instructions. In the meantime, put the squash noodles and corn into a large colander in your sink. Once the soba are finished cooking, pour the pot of water and noodles into the colander of vegetables and allow to drain.

  2. In a large bowl, mix the sauce ingredients (ponzu, tahini, oil, vinegar, and salt). Pour the noodles and vegetables from the colander into the bowl and add the tomatoes, scallions/chives, and toss. Garnish with sesame seeds and optional cilantro.

Serves 4

Lucky for us, I have a good friend who teaches fantastic cooking classes for home cooks like ourselves. He spends a lot of time testing each recipe and making them easy to understand, and I cajoled him (it wasn’t hard—he’s a generous guy) into letting me include some in your next few newsletters. Thank you Matt! And if you’re looking for a fun party for your friends, I can’t recommend his virtual cooking classes enough — finarelli.com.

Summer Vegetable Casserole

from Chef Matt Finarelli

  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

  • ½ lb Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced ¼” thick

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

  • 2 small red or orange sweet peppers, thinly sliced

  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • 1 tsp thyme leaves

  • ½ lb plum tomatoes, sliced ¼” thick

  • 2 small zucchini (~½ lb), sliced on a bias ¼” thick

  • 3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat a 9-inch baking dish with olive oil.

  2. Spread the potatoes in the dish in an even layer; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.

  3. In a bowl, combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Arrange two-thirds of the bell pepper mixture over the potatoes and drizzle with oil.

  4. Top with the tomatoes and the zucchini; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.

  5. Cover with the remaining bell pepper mixture and sprinkle with the cheese.

  6. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 30–40 minutes.

  7. Increase the oven temperature to 425° F. Uncover the casserole and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender and glazed on top.

  8. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Ethiopian Okra and Tomatoes (Bamya Alicha)

from Chef Matt Finarelli

  • 3 Tbsp clarified butter

  • 1 cup onion, minced

  • 2 ea large tomatoes, diced

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

  • 1 tsp Berbere spice

  • ½ tsp ground cardamom

  • ¼ tsp ground fenugreek

  • ¼ tsp nigella seeds

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 4 cups small okra pods, stems and tails removed, cut into 1½” pieces

  • 1 ea serrano chile, seeded and minced

  • Injera bread to serve

  1. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

  2. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 4–5 minutes.

  3. Add the tomatoes, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

  4. Add the garlic, ginger, Berbere, cardamom, fenugreek, and nigella seeds and stir to combine. Season to taste with a generous dash of salt and pepper.

  5. Add the okra and cook at a light simmer—uncovered—for 20 minutes. Add a little splash of water as it cooks if needed.

  6. Add the serrano chile and cook for 5 minutes longer.

  7. Season to taste again with salt and pepper.

  8. Serve hot or at room temperature on Injera as part of an Ethiopian meal.

Coming Soon:

  • Pea shoots! These little green sprigs taste like snow peas and make a fun addition to a tomato salad. Think of it as a teaser for the salad greens coming this fall. They’ll be ready in two weeks.

  • Asian pears will continue at least one more week.

  • A modest supply of tomatoes, heavy on cherries, will continue through mid-September.

  • Next week, the potato finale.

  • Green bell peppers (these are unripe) and the red and orange peppers (these are sweet because they are ripe) will continue through mid-September. Hot chili peppers will do the same. Of course, the soothsayer is only guessing. Only time will tell when cold nights inspire the plants to quit fruiting.

  • Tomatillos probably one more week.

  • Okra is going strong. We expect it to carry on through the end of September.

  • Garlic is our abiding friend.

  • This week, everyone should have had eggplants once. Your pickup site will probably get it once more at some point in September.

  • Winter squash plants are still looking good! We’re anticipating mid-September you’ll get your first taste, beginning with acorn squash.

  • The rain has held up some of the fall plantings, so we think you’ll see your first greens around the end of September and continuing through the end of the season. Some other things to expect this fall: sweet potatoes, radishes, turnips, cabbage, beets, and fennel.

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.

Week 14 of 26 : Released From Summer's Blast Furnace

Dedicated volunteer Diane Williams captured this shot at the CSA pickup last week. Thank you for all your hard work setting up the vegetables for the CSA pickup, Diane!

Dedicated volunteer Diane Williams captured this shot at the CSA pickup last week. Thank you for all your hard work setting up the vegetables for the CSA pickup, Diane!

Announcements:

Featured farmer oyster sale

Pirates Cover Oyster Company is selling oysters during our CSA pickup in Annapolis on Thursday, September 2. Visit piratescoveoysters.com/CBF to order.

At checkout, select “Pickup” as the order type, then choose “Chesapeake Bay Foundation Headquarters” as the pickup location from the dropdown menu. Select September 2, 2021 as your pickup date.

  • Last week was a scorcher. We feel lucky to be alive! No one suffered heat exhaustion, and we are especially grateful for the kind souls who brought us popsicles and cold drinks—particularly when the power went out on Wednesday (we’re looking at you, Aretha Carr).

  • Hungry for some good news? The infrastructure bill that was just passed by the US Senate includes $238 million in additional funding for the Chesapeake Bay Program (helping states achieve the 2025 pollution reduction requirements of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint). You can read details about this big Bay success here:

    Statement from CBF President William C. Baker on Senate Passage of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill - Chesapeake Bay Foundation

  • If you know and love anyone in Afghanistan or Haiti this week, we are thinking of them and wishing, WISHING for a bright future resilient to the storms ahead and a responsive, competent government of their community’s own choosing.

This Week’s Share:

A lot like last week!

  • Tomatoes

  • Cucumbers

  • Garlic

  • Yellow onions

  • Squash

  • Red potatoes

  • A green bell or ripe, sweet pepper

  • Choice of beans, okra, chilies, or tomatillos

U-Pick:

In our herb and flower garden behind the washing station:

  • Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)

  • Garlic chives

  • Lemon balm

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Parsley

  • Sage

  • Shiso

  • Sorrel

  • Thyme

  • Flowers and ornamental greenery for your vase.

In field G2, which is beside the parking area, next to the washing station:

  • Parsley

  • Basil of various types

  • Sunflowers are spectacular!

  • Zinnias, Cosmos, Gomphrena, and Tithonia flowers

This is a moment captured from a Student Leader trip that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s educators brought to Clagett Farm earlier this summer. Did you know your student can take one of these trips? Check out the options for outdoor field trips (subject to change according to pandemic guidelines) to learn about the Chesapeake Bay and spread the word to your students’ teachers.

This is a moment captured from a Student Leader trip that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s educators brought to Clagett Farm earlier this summer. Did you know your student can take one of these trips? Check out the options for outdoor field trips (subject to change according to pandemic guidelines) to learn about the Chesapeake Bay and spread the word to your students’ teachers.

Recipes:

Fried rice is one of those recipes that can accommodate all kinds of vegetables that you have handy. Here’s the basics:

  • Use leftover rice if you have it. If you don’t, make the rice and leave it in your fridge for a day. For a nice big main entre, make about 3 or 4 cups.

  • Scramble a couple eggs or rip up a block of firm tofu and sauté it with some salt and turmeric (for the yellow color). Set aside.

  • Mince your garlic and hot chilies and chop up your other vegetables into small, bite-size pieces: Summer squash, onions, beans if you have them, peppers, and some okra for the adventurous. In the largest sauté pan you have, sauté all the vegetables until they are tender and browned. You might need to add the vegetables in stages—if you crowd the pan too much they will all steam instead of browning. Set aside.

  • Now it’s time to crisp up the rice. Spread it out on your big, hot, oiled pan with the heat up, and let it sit (don’t stir it around) until it gets brown and crispy. Then flip it all over and crisp it up some more.

  • Add in the vegetables and egg or tofu. Pour in a few tablespoons of soy sauce (I like to add a little liquid smoke in this step, as well) and grind some black pepper on top. Frozen peas or edamame are also a nice touch if you have them. Stir it all together and taste for seasoning.

  • If you picked some garlic chives from the herb garden, toss them (minced) on top liberally as a garnish. Scallions would also work (if you can believe it, I still had a few garlic scapes and some green tops from the shallots in the back of my fridge).

  • Serve!

Coming Soon:

  • Asian pears! Probably beginning next week and continuing for a few weeks.

  • We expect to hold steady at about a pound of tomatoes per shareholder per week for a while (fingers crossed). We’re trying to figure out if there’s a way to give you all an opportunity to U-Pick tomatoes before the end of the tomato season. If we do, please don’t expect this to be the year you go home with a big haul to can or freeze. The sun golds are growing like crazy, so we can at least be glad for those little bursts of flavor!

  • Squash and cucumbers are still looking good and will continue through the end of the month.

  • We’ll get one more week of red-skinned potatoes, probably week 16.

  • We’re starting to see more of the orange (Oranos) and red (Cornito Rosso) peppers that we love so much. Slowly but surely, the peppers are producing more fruit.

  • This year we planted a mild habanero. I know, right? We didn’t realize there was such a thing, so we decided it would be fun to try. We didn’t want to confuse anyone, so we did NOT plant the more typical super-hot habanero this year. This fruity, mild habanero is called Tobago Seasoning and it looks like they are just starting to ripen.

  • Tomatillo plants are starting to show their age. If you have plans to make salsa verde, you should do so before the end of the month.

  • The deer made quick work of the few red okra plants we had. But you’ll keep seeing green okra for another month.

  • Garlic forever!

  • The eggplants continue to be sparse but resilient.

  • Sweet potatoes still have a long way to go, but the winter squash is making some serious-looking fruit! We’ve held off the groundhogs and deer, but with all this rain, there’s still a chance that blight will wipe out the plants before we get to the finish line. Since we’re optimists, we think this is going to be a great year for butternuts, spaghetti squash, and acorn squash.

  • We’ve just seeded a number of greens and roots for late September through mid-November. Thank you, Jared, for planting during that heat wave!

Thank you for Supporting our Farm!

CLAGETT FARM

Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.

DUPONT CIRCLE DC

Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

ANNAPOLIS

Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.