“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” – Russell Baker

Ain’t that the truth?  Here at Frog Bottom as I’m writing this it’s 96°F, with a heat index of 108°F. While Ali, Joseph, Eric, Heather, and Claire tend to the irrigation, keep all the animals well watered, staff the CSA pickups, and daydream about swimming in the James River, Arlo and I are doing what we can to stay cool: lots of iced coffee (for mama), peach and basil smoothies (for both of us), picture books read while parked between two fans, splashing in a cool bathtub.

Perhaps the heat has addled our brains, because we’re also slow-roasting tomatoes.

I suppose it’s a stretch but I argue we can still call this a great activity for a sticky summer day, since, after all, slow-roasting doesn’t involve very much participation or even movement on your part.

Slow-roasted tomatoes are simple as can be: put your tomatoes on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle generously with salt.  Toss.  Roast in a low oven (about 225°F) for three or more hours, until nice and wrinkly.

We decided to slow-roast today because the tomatoes are in in a big way – more than we can eat even when we eat them three meals a day.  So we’re roasting them, and, if we don’t eat all four pans in one sitting, we’ll freeze as many as we can.  There’s little that lifts the spirits so well, in the deep dark icy depths of winter, than these little bursts of summer flavor.  (Well, maybe pesto as well – make some; it freezes great too!)

Slow-roasting is more method than recipe.  Play around!

For example:

Cook them in a hotter oven for less time, if you need to.  I prefer to roast them low and slow, because it really concentrates their sweetness without drying them out  — sometimes I even set the oven as low as it will go and slow-roast them overnight — but they’re quite delicious any way you do them.

These don’t need anything more than olive oil and salt, but those two ingredients can also anchor more complex flavors from additional herbs and spices.  Try chili pepper or cayenne.  Try them with fresh or dried thyme or rosemary or oregano.  Cumin is also very good!

Or try adding some balsamic vinegar too.  That gives them a lovely pungent sweetness.

Use bigger tomatoes, coarsely shopped, and seeded if you have the patience – or not.

Later in the summer, when our Roma or paste tomatoes are in, we’re mad for pomodori al forno – a dish of lightly herbed slow-roasted tomatoes that marinate in olive oil with parsley and garlic for a couple hours before you eat them with goat cheese and bread. It’s out of this world.

But for now, plain old slow-roasted cherry tomatoes will do.  They will most certainly do.

We love them straight out of the pan … tossed in a green salad or potato salad or pasta salad … stirred into a frittata before it bakes … alongside roasted eggplant and caramelized onions and tangy goat cheese as crostini toppings … on pizza.

There are lots of tomatoes in the CSA shares this week, and more are available at market.  Here are some more recipe ideas.  Tomato season comes but once a year.  It lasts awhile here in Virginia – tomato plants adore this heat! – but before you know it, it’ll be time for kabocha squash soup and kale chips.

How have you been eating your tomatoes this year?

It’s still technically the holiday weekend, right? We meant to post this yesterday, but we lingered at our friends’ potluck into the evening last night, popping cherry tomatoes into our mouths, watching toddlers chase cats and tackle dogs, and cutting just one more slice of peach pie.

But we do aim to make Weekend Links a regular feature here — a list of articles, recipes, and other fun stuff that’s been inspiring or amusing us lately.

Read on!

Mitch and Heather picking your basil!

First things first: it’s a Pie Party tomorrow! If you can, join the almost 1,400 (!!) people who are baking pies and posting their photos and experiences on Facebook, Twitter, or their blogs. This event evolved quite spontaneously during discussions on Facebook and Twitter but it took off like hotcakes.  Read more about it here – and make pie!

Are you intimidated by making pie dough? I feel more at ease in the kitchen than just about anywhere else, and yet until fairly recently I was scared of pie dough. I definitely allowed all the talk about cold butter and not overworking the dough to get in the way of delicious, homey pie.  But you know what?  It’s not so hard!  We’ve been using the pie dough recipe in this Orangette post – easy peasy!  And if you need to avoid gluten, try the recipe in the Pie Party post on Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.  (Did you learn how to make pie from your grandmother, your dad, your next door neighbor?  We’d love it if you could share the recipe in the comments!)

I don’t have a great segue here – I do love pie – but I’m considering signing us up for the 30 Day Vegan summer session beginning August 15. This is a whole foods online workshop led by Heather of Beauty That Moves.  It’s for anyone interested in eating more vegetables and seeking a more balanced, centered approach to nourishment: vegans who feel they’ve been eating too many processed foods, people considering becoming vegan, or folks (like us) who aren’t vegan but who are looking for some inspiration and love the idea of getting some fresh perspective with a community of other eager eaters. The session costs $45 and includes access to a private blog, video cooking classes, loads of recipes, and one-on-one guidance from Heather if you need it.

Hey! Our farm was featured in an NPR story about cooking from a CSA share! Nicole Spiridakis’s “Oh the Things You Can Do With a Farm-Share Box” is one of the best things we’ve ever read on the challenges of learning to cook from what’s really in season.  She brings a spirit of adventure, ingenuity, and fortitude to her cooking – go get inspired!  I’m especially eager to try her Farm Egg Soufflé With Vegetables as soon as our new chickens start laying.

Here’s another great piece on making the most of a CSA share.  Author Kate McDonough shares several tips, including this shift in thinking: do your meal planning for the week after you pick up your share.

And here’s one more on cooking from a CSA share, from Meagan at The Happiest Mom. This one is really about coming up with a focused and mindful approach to summer eating.  Her Six-Meal Shuffle approach to menu planning is especially encouraging and I think we’re going to give it a try!

And a few fun links to round things out: How close to a train track can you set up a vegetable market? Have you tried an Eastside Fizz yet this summer?  And are you as excited as Guy Clark is about homegrown tomatoes?  I know we are!!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! May there be lots of good food, fireworks, and lightning bugs in your (near) future.

Long golden days, these.

Celery is making its first appearance of the season in the CSA shares and on our market tables right now.  Farm celery is not your average party tray crudité, so we thought we’d make a proper introduction.

The Roman poet Horace wrote, “Fill the cups with Massic wine, which makes us forget all our ills; imbibe the flowers of these mighty springs, and make in haste crowns of ache (celery) and myrtle.”  This is a very pretty way of saying the ancient Romans believed wearing celery wreaths was protection against hangovers!  Could this be where the idea of a celery stalk in a Bloody Mary comes from?

The celery we grow is certainly potent stuff!  We don’t blanch the stalks, so this celery is dark green, full of nutrients, and packed with flavor.  Use it sparingly.

Storing celery: Celery has a very high water content, so get it into a cold fridge as soon as possible.  It’s best stored in a loosely closed plastic bag, sprinkled with water every day or two to help prevent dehydration.  If it seems a bit limp when you’re ready to use it, you can crisp it up by putting it in a bowl or dish of ice water in the fridge for a few hours.

Using celery: Celery is commonly used raw to season all kinds of salads.  Try a potato salad with our new potatoes and celery!  Remember that our celery is much stronger than supermarket celery, so you’ll need less of it.  Cooked, it lends a lovely flavor to casseroles and stuffings.  It’s also in the trio of aromatics (along with carrot and onion) that make up a mirepoix, a classic flavor base for stocks, sauces, soups, and stews.  The ratio is two parts chopped onion, one part chopped celery, and one part chopped carrot.  Mirepoix can even be used to add complexity to storebought stock and broth; just simmer it in the stock (about a quarter pound mirepoix per pint stock) for half an hour.  But its familiar status as condiment or seasoning belies celery’s identity as a vegetable in its own right.  It can be a major ingredient in a puréed soup.  This week I’m of a mind to try a chilled celery and beet soup, topped with a little yogurt or crème fraiche – I’ll report back!  And braising!  Braising turns celery, which I, frankly, sometimes find too assertive, into something tame and sweet.  Try slicing the stalks in half lengthwise and putting them in a casserole dish with a couple cups of stock (or water), a few tablespoons of lemon juice (or wine), a few tablespoons of butter (or olive oil), and some salt and pepper; cover tightly with aluminum foil and cook at 350° for an hour and a half.  Drizzle with melted butter and parmesan and run it under the broiler until the cheese is browned, or cool and toss with your favorite vinaigrette, or drizzle with brown butter.

Do you have any favorite family recipes for celery?  Please share in the comments!

And bon appétit!

Sometimes of a Monday morning, the sun is fierce and the list is long and the back is weary.  But we look around then, too, and we see this good good life, and we get back to work.

All these photos are from this morning.  I once swore I’d never have a smartphone, that it didn’t fit in with the ways we’re trying to slow down and pay attention — but boy am I happy to discover it’s just another tool.  It’s the way I use it that matters.  I love tucking it, with its tiny camera, into my pocket and setting off for a walk on the farm with the little guy.

For those who are curious: the pigs have been in a small yard their first week here, so we can finish the fencing around their whole two acres and so they can get a sense of where their home is before exploring all the nooks and crannies of their corner of the farm.  We were a bit worried they’d find the big space a little frightening.  But they’re settling in sweetly, and the fence is almost done, so we’re excited to give them full run of their acres, sometime tonight or tomorrow!

Here’s something delicious to do with a few of your many many cucumbers this week: tzatziki! It will wow your friends and family and your only regret will be that you didn’t make double the recipe. This stuff goes fast.

Tzatziki is a classic Greek appetizer made from strained yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and herbs, and similar dishes are made all over the Middle East and Mediterranean.  It manages somehow to be both refreshing and substantial at the same time, which is exactly what I’m after these days.  Heavy braises and long slow roasts make me sweat just thinking of them – but these hot sticky early summer days are tiring, and a girl needs some fuel!  Enter tzatziki.

Here’s our version.

Our only caveat is that you need to plan ahead here.  The recipe is straightforward and easy, but you’ll need to strain your yogurt, and salt and drain your cucumbers.  And ideally you stick it in the fridge for a couple hours after you mix it up, to let the flavors blend.  So it’s not something you can whip up at the last minute for a potluck or to accompany a Sunday dinner outside by the grill – although it would be right at home in either of those settings!

Frog Bottom Farm Tzatziki

1 quart yogurt (preferably full fat with no added stabilizers or sweeteners – just cultured milk; or, substitute 2 1/2 cups Greek yogurt and skip the yogurt straining step)
2 large cucumbers (or 3 picklers), peeled, seeded, and chopped (instructions below)
1 tablespoon salt
juice of one lemon
one clove garlic, chopped
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or mint or both
additional salt and pepper to taste

First, strain the yogurt. We use a nylon nut milk/sprouting bag like this, but you could also use coffee filters or cheesecloth. If using a nut milk bag, hang it into a large jar (a half gallon or one gallon jar works well) and secure with a rubber band.  If using coffee filters, line a colander or large strainer with two coffee filters and set the colander/strainer inside a large bowl.  Cheesecloth can be used either way. Carefully pour the yogurt in.  Whichever method you use, you want to leave room for the whey to drain out of the yogurt, so be sure the bottom of your bag or filter isn’t touching the liquid as it drains out.  Some whey will drain out immediately, but be patient; the longer you can wait, the creamier your tzatziki will be.  You could probably use the yogurt after 45 minutes or so, but wait about two hours if you can.  Or strain the yogurt the day before you make the tzatziki and store it in the fridge overnight. When we use a quart of Dannon All Natural Plain Yogurt, we end up with a little over two cups of thick strained yogurt and a little more than a cup and half of whey.  We’ll try straining our own yogurt later this summer, and anticipate the ratio of yogurt to whey will be a bit different.

(Don’t pour that whey down the sink! It’s full of good healthy stuff including lots of Lactobacilli, which are said to be good for gut health and general immune health. It will last for about forever in the fridge. You can add it to a smoothie, use it in place of water or other liquids in baked goods, use it as a starter culture for all kinds of lactofermented fruits and vegetables and beverages, use it in soaked grains like overnight oats … most recently we’ve been using it in a our daily almost-no-knead bread and in a pickle recipe, which we’ll share here soon.)

Next, prepare the cucumbers. This process takes about 45 minutes, largely unattended.  We pick our cucumbers quite young and of course never wax them, so we rarely peel or seed them for any recipes.  However, tzatziki really does benefit from cucumbers that have had a lot of the liquid removed.  First, peel the cucumbers.  Then seed them.  You can cut them in half lengthwise and run a spoon along the seeds, scooping them out.  Or quarter them lengthwise and use a small paring knife to cut out the seeds.  Next chop up the cucumbers and place them in a colander, place the colander in a large bowl, and sprinkle the cucumbers with about a tablespoon of salt.  Toss.  The salt will draw water of out of the cucumbers.  Let them drain for about half an hour.  Press to release any remaining water, and then pat them dry with a paper towel.

Now you’re ready to mix it all up! Put the strained yogurt in a large bowl.  In a food processor, blend the cucumbers, the lemon juice, the garlic, the herbs, and a few grinds of black pepper until well blended.  Add the cucumber mixture to the yogurt and stir to mix.  Taste to see if you need additional salt; we don’t find it necessary.

Tzatziki tastes best if you put it in the fridge for a couple hours to allow the flavors to meld. But we won’t tell anyone if you dig in right away.

* * *

Serving ideas: Use tzatziki as a dip for vegetables like carrots or cucumbers.  Spread it on crackers or nice bread.  Use it as a spread in a sandwich with other summer vegetables.  Add it to falafel in a pita.  It’s also a great side dish or dipping sauce for meats and fish.

(Photo of the finished tzatziki coming soon! We ate our last batch so fast we didn’t get a photo.)

Well! It’s been nearly a month since our last post here.  Looks like our big plans for more recipes, cookbook giveaways, more interviews, an easy-to-use recipe index, and discussion forums are taking some time to implement.  We’re still learning to juggle the start of the CSA season and life with a toddler.

Things have been busy over at the farm Facebook page though!  We encourage you to check in there regularly to share your recipe ideas, get ideas from other CSA members and market customers, and enjoy some more snapshots of our farm season.  You don’t even have to have a Facebook account!

We hope to be back later in the week with some tasty ideas for using cucumbers.  (In the meantime, our “How to be cool as a cucumber” post should help.)  And until then: some photos from the last month.

And boy, do we!  We smell like dirt plus some.

We used that Margaret Atwood quote right about this time last year, and we’ll probably be saying it to ourselves again come June 2012.  Our farmers market season started a few weeks ago.  Our CSA starts next week! And the story all spring long has been rain rain rain. So in between thunderstorms, we scramble and sweat to get as many beds tilled, as many seedlings planted, as much compost spread, and as many rows weeded as we possibly can.  It’s kind of hard to believe Eric, Shannon, Tim, and Ali, along with James, Josh, Troy, and Matt, are still standing.

We have lots of fun plans in mind for this space this season: more interviews, more (and better organized) recipes, a monthly cookbook giveaway.

But for now, there are tomatoes to stake.  And chard to pick.  And lettuce to wash.  And two trucks to load. So I’ll let the pictures do the talking, and we’ll see you here again soon!

(One small piece of business: the CSA starts next week, so if you or a friend has been thinking about joining – you’ve still got time! Sign up here.)

(Do you know you can click on any of these pictures to see them large? Kinda fun.)

Well hello!

Our growing season began in February, when we seeded our first leeks. But between welcoming new crew members, starting more seed, marketing the CSA, nodding in satisfaction and hungry anticipation as the greenhouse began to fill with seedlings, smashing our heads against the desk as we heard the tractor repair estimate, praying for a dry spell so we could get out into the fields, and chasing after one very awesome 17-month old, we’ve neglected this online space.

But we’re back! Today we’re thrilled to interview our very own Shannon Convery. She drives a mean tractor, transplants beets and picks tomatoes faster than lightning (and faster than Ali!), and has already conscripted Arlo onto the turnip-washing team.  She was on the Frog Bottom crew in 2009 and 2010, and this year she’s headed quite a bit further afield to use her agricultural skills and infinite good cheer in some incredible new ways.  Read on for Shannon’s thoughts on the rhythms of the growing season, farm field yoga, and the future of the local food movement – and to learn a really, really nice surprise.

This is the inaugural interview in a series we’re pretty excited about.  Throughout the season we’re going to be talking with people connected to the farm in all kinds of ways.  We hope the interviews will enrich the story of the farm we’re trying to share here, as well as give some insight into what is necessary to sustain a local food system where eaters and farmers alike are truly thriving.

Let’s get started!

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Hi Shannon!  Tell us a little about where you come from.  Where did you grow up?  Did you have any farming or gardening experience as a child?

We moved around quite a bit, but the town I more or less grew up in is Kennebunkport, Maine. I spent some of that childhood on a farm my parents rented and were sort of caretakers for. We had cows, sheep, chickens, geese, a goat and a pig, so my brother and I learned the value of hard work at a pretty young age and it’s definitely molded who we both are today.

What were you doing before you came to Frog Bottom?

I was living in Providence, Rhode Island, working for a small gift company doing a little bit of everything.

What drew you to farm work in general and to Frog Bottom specifically?

I got pretty burnt out on city life and just really wanted to get back to the basics. Things move so fast and we take a lot of things for granted, so I initially started looking into farming to just breathe some fresh air and think about what I wanted out of life. As I started looking into internships, emailing farmers about the work and learning what they were passionate about, something just clicked and I realized this was where I needed to be. I looked at a lot of farm websites, and was pretty instantly drawn to Frog Bottom through all the info and pictures they had posted. I remember getting an amazing email back from Lisa that was just as lengthy and personal as the inquiry email I had sent her, so I had pretty much made up my mind that this was the place for me.

How did you describe your farm job to people?  What kinds of tasks did you do in a normal work week?

I liked to tell people that I did a little bit of everything. The early spring is a lot of greenhouse work and getting the fields ready for transplanting (when they dry out). Spring and summer tend to really kick your butt in terms of the amount of work that needs to get done and hoping the weather doesn’t make things more difficult. There’s that breath of fresh air as soon as you look at the empty greenhouse and realize everything is in the ground … and then the panic that there’s a lot of work to make sure they all live. Every day had something new in store for me, so it was hard to come up with a good job description. I really did a little of everything and I learned something new about the farm and my capabilities on a daily basis.

Moving from the city to the country is a big transition!  Any thoughts on that?

It’s definitely a big shock to the system! I knew I was going to be the only worker for a couple months last year and was actually kind of excited for some alone time. After the first month, I was begging for Claire and Joseph to get here and keep me company. Haha! There’s definitely a transition period any time you move someplace new, but having the right attitude and finding fun in the simple things is the key to a positive outcome.

What did you find most difficult or challenging about the work?

The 115 degree days! Haha! Honestly, the most challenging thing, for me, was getting my body used to starting back up in the springtime. Those first few weeks back at work usually include a lot of stretching, Aleve and hot water bottles on the old back. Once you can bend over and touch your nose to your knees again, you know you’re in the clear.

Most surprising?

Last year, especially, I was most surprised at my threshold for heat. Us Mainers aren’t built for hot summer days over 85! I remember looking at the weather online one week in August and having a sense of relief at the fact that it wasn’t supposed to be over 95 for a few days.

Most satisfying?

I think the most satisfying moments occur when you work your buns off all afternoon transplanting and you finally stand up and look back at everything in the ground as the sun sets. Those are not only the most satisfying, but the most beautiful moments on the farm.

Can you talk about your experience getting to know CSA members and market customers?

This was one of my favorite aspects of working at the farm! I’m a pretty outgoing person, so being able to connect with the families that support us came really natural to me. They’re all so supportive and appreciative of the hard work we do, so it’s kind of a battery charge to get to talk to them and hear all about the meals they cooked. I didn’t go to market much last year, but I did the Wednesday CSA pickups in Richmond, so my Church Hill peeps usually got a very caffeinated Shannon asking about their week and talking about life back in Pamplin.

Why do you think local foods matter?

I could talk about this for pages and pages, but I’ll try to give a brief summary. Local EVERYTHING matters! I think it’s our job as a community to support one another. I’ve always worked for small family businesses and the motivation to do your best is so much bigger when you can directly see the result of that hard work. It’s the same with being a consumer. If you buy all your food from the farm or market down the road, you know everything you spend goes into helping a family/individual succeed. There’s no bailouts for the small guy/gal, so it’s our job to take care of one another!

Where do you think the local foods movement is headed in the coming years?

There’s always so much talk about the local foods movement being a “fad” and only catering to the people that have the time and money to eat locally. I think there’s been a lot of positive attention focused on local foods in the media lately, so I’m hoping that has a huge impact on the longevity of the movement. Between the Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative and Jamie Oliver taking on cafeterias in the public school system, it’s out there for people to realize we need a change.

Where are you headed in the coming years?

Well, I spent part of the winter in Texas, working at Texas Specialty Cut Flowers.  I decided not to stay all winter but I am glad I had the experience. I admire large scale production farmers for the amount they get out there, but I’ve ultimately decided that staying closely connected with the people that support your business/lifestyle is more important.

The one thing I really loved about Texas is the closeness of their community and, in turn, their intuitive locavoreness (did I just make up a word?!). The farmers market scene wasn’t really big there, not because being a locavore wasn’t important, but because they just called up a friend or neighbor if they needed something. Also, there are a TON of food co-ops within the city of Austin, so even the city kids don’t necessarily have to rely on Whole Foods for local and organic. It’s kind of like Richmond, but 50 times bigger and with more bike lanes!

I could talk forever about my love for Austin, but you can go visit Edible Austin and read up on it for yourselves.

I spent the rest of the winter back home in New England, braving the weekly blizzards, drinking hot coffee, making pesto bread, and getting in some much-needed family time.  I also traveled to Sri Lanka to visit Claire, who is working at an NGO there called the Sewalanka Foundation!

The big news is that I signed up for Peace Corps.  It’s been quite a waiting game but I just found out I’ll be shipping off to Cameroon in August to work in agroforestry!  I’m really interested in becoming more involved with the food justice aspect of agriculture and helping to get better food to low income families, so we’ll see where the wind takes me after Peace Corps.

We know Shannon is itching to get started with her life in Cameroon … but we’re beyond excited to share: she’s coming back to Frog Bottom for a few months before she heads off!  She arrives next week.  We can’t wait.

We’ll get right to it: this is a recipe every CSA member everywhere should have in their arsenal.  It’s easy, it works with just about any vegetable you find in your share these days (except the leafy stuff like lettuce and cooking greens), and it’s seriously delicious.

To braise means to cook in a small amount of liquid in a covered dish for a long time at a relatively low temperature. It’s a perfect cooking method for the tough roots, firm winter squashes, and strong-tasting cabbages you’re seeing in your CSA shares and on market tables everywhere right now. Braising tames even the most pungent vegetables into something earthy, tender, and sweet.

Here’s the basic idea: grab a couple casserole dishes.  Chop two or three or four kinds of vegetables very coarsely, arrange them in crowded single layers in the dishes, and douse with olive oil and/or broth and/or white wine and/or water.  Add salt, pepper, and red pepper.  Cover tightly with foil and cook in a 325°F oven for about two hours, turning the vegetables about midway through the cooking. And that’s it!  (If you have time, uncover the dishes, turn the oven up to 400°F, and cook everything for another 15 minutes to brown the vegetables lightly. But if you’re ready to eat, you can certainly just dig right in.) This dish is a classic example of the whole being far, far greater than the sum of its humble parts.

Tonight’s version includes arrowhead cabbage, Sunshine kabocha squash (from our friends at Waterpenny Farm in Rappahannock County, since our winter squash fared so poorly this year), and rutabagas.  It, along with some gingerbread and whipped cream, will warm our bellies as we say our sad goodbyes to Shannon, who’s leaving us this week after two years on the Frog Bottom crew.

It’s also delicious with carrots (coming soon in the shares!) and onions.  We often add garlic — keep the cloves whole and unpeeled, and everyone can squeeze their own garlic from the peels when they eat (it’s fun!).  It’s very, very good with a poached egg on top.  And chicken is a perfect addition — just tuck some legs or wings in among the vegetables.  Or try it with sweet potatoes, beets, turnips…

Read the step-by-step instructions over at Orangette.