News From the Farm: Potatoes

The potato is so versatile. Baked, mashed, boiled, roasted or fried, it is a staple food in most parts of the world. On the menu in both highbrow and lowbrow restaurants, many Full Belly CSA members have become well versed in various ways of using our potatoes. Here are some examples, just a sampling of the possibilities.

Latkes -- these are fried pancakes of potato and egg, often topped with sour cream or applesauce. Latkes are eaten in many traditional cuisines and there are related names for the Latke in Hebrew, Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian, Bavarian and Swedish. There's a potato latke recipe on the Full Belly web site.

Potato Pierogi's -- these are dumplings made by preparing a light flour dough and rolling it around a mashed potato filling before boiling. Families in the U.S. with members from the generation that immigrated from Central and Eastern Europe cook the pierogi using recipes passed along at family gatherings as a part of old traditions still full of life.

Potato Gnocchi -- another dumpling, this one from Italy, usually served with your favorite pasta sauce. They are made with a mixture of potato and wheat and are quite small -- not much bigger than a thimble. There's a recipe on www.foodnetwork.com.

Shepherd's Pie -- a dish of meat with a topping of mashed potato. Lamb is diced and cooked with onion, garlic and vegetables. Mashed potatoes are added on top and the casserole is put into a broiler to brown and crisp the top.

Cornish Pasty -- this is a filled pastry case, commonly associated with Cornwall in Great Britain and with Cornish miners who immigrated to the USA. A circle of pastry is folded around the filling, which can be potatoes and other vegetables, or meat, or a combination. Wikipedia has a discussion of the pasty including a history and the remark that: "The native Cornish pasty industry is able to source a large percentage of ingredients locally. In 2005, 5,700 tons of potatoes, 5,200 tons of beef, 310 tons of onions and 1,550 tons of swede were produced by Cornish farms for the Cornish pasty industry."

Roasted New Potatoes -- a Full Belly favorite. See our recipe on the recipe page of Full Belly's web site.

Spanish Tortilla -- one of the best of all omelets. The word "tortilla" has a more general meaning than to signify the corn or flour tortillas that have become ubiquitous in the southwest. There is a recipe for Spanish tortilla on the recipe page of Full Belly's web site.

Potato Bread -- yes, you can replace up to a third of your flour with mashed potatoes and bake a soft, moist loaf of bread.

Hash Browns and Home Fries -- a staple breakfast food at diners, but they have much more charm when you make them yourselves at home! How about you try the recipe for French Bakes that aren't deep fried? This recipe has been tested with our new potatoes -- http://capayvalleyfarmshop.com/farmnews/french-bakes/.

Payment Reminder

Monthly and quarterly payments are due soon!

If you get your box on a Tuesday or a Saturday, payments for July are $68 (4 boxes) or $98 for a box plus flowers. For Tuesday home deliveries in the East Bay the cost is $96 for boxes and $126 for boxes plus flowers.

If you get your box on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the cost is $85 (5 boxes) or $122.50 for boxes plus flowers. For Wednesday home delivery in the East Bay, $120 for boxes, $157.50 for veggies plus flowers.

Quarterly payments (July through September) are $214.50 for deliveries on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday (13 boxes). If you get boxes plus flowers on those days it is $312. For Tuesday home deliveries, quarterly payments are $305.50 for boxes or $403 for boxes plus flowers.

Quarterly payments for Wednesday deliveries are $231 (14 boxes) or $336 for boxes plus flowers. For home delivery in the East Bay it is $329 or $434 for boxes plus flowers.

Thank You! Enjoy your veggies.

Don't forget our friends at the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic (www.charlottemaxwell.org). Charlotte Maxwell is a primary care facility that serves low-income women with cancer, providing therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy, massage and Chinese and western herbs. The Full Belly CSA has been providing 5 veggie boxes per week to the clinic, using volunteer drivers to make the deliveries. Donations to this effort go directly to provide food to the Clinic customers.

Full Belly Organic Lamb Available

We have a limited supply of our organically raised lamb to offer to our CSA customers. The lamb is available as a half (approx. 20 pounds of meat) or a whole (approx. 40 pounds) and will be ready for pick up at selected CSA locations around the 10th of July. The deadline for orders is Friday, July 3rd. Please contact Becky in our office by emailing becky@fullbellyfarm.com. She will contact you with paperwork, etc. to fill out for the lamb purchase.

Thinking Ahead to July 4th Weekend

Full Belly will make all of our regular deliveries over the July 4th weekend. Please remember to cancel your box ahead of time if you are going to be out of town that Friday or Saturday. We are not going to be able to honor your requests if they come in the day before your box was planned!

Unpasteurized, Organic, Frozen Apple Juice

Quarts are $4 or 2 for $6.

Full Belly's apple juice will be delivered once per month to your CSA drop sites. It will arrive frozen, in ice chests with a list on the chest of the people whose juice is inside. The next delivery week will be July 7th through 11th. Deadline for orders is July 3rd. Note that with a pre-order, apple juice can be picked up any week at our Farmers Markets.

Food Safety Regulations in Washington D.C.

There has been a lot of discussion on the internet lately about proposed federal food safety legislation. A number of bills have been introduced and preliminary oversight hearings were held on March 26. This is the time in the process when grassroots organizations are putting forth their ideas and making their positions known. However, many of the messages circulating on the internet are incorrect, potentially leading to the impression in Washington D.C. that sustainable agriculture activists are ill-informed. For example, while we do not support HR 875 (Senator DeLauro's bill) it does not ban organic farming as has been reported in e-mail messages. Community Alliance with Family Farmers is working with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition to make recommendations. We will keep you all informed when the time comes for us to make our thoughts known.

ON SALE! Full Belly Wine For Your Spring Picnics!

Full Belly Farm, in partnership with our friends at Full Moon Vineyards is offering 2007 Rose and Red wines made with our organically grown grapes.
Our wines are on sale for your Spring picnics:
Rose: $12/bottle (this includes tax)
Red: $17/bottle (this includes tax)
10% discount for cases (including a mixed case).

You can pick up your order at one of the Full Belly farmers markets (Tuesday afternoon in Berkeley, Thursday morning in San Rafael or Saturday morning in Menlo Park). Case quantities can be delivered, depending on location. If you wish to order some, call (530-796-2214) or email (csa@fullbellyfarm.com) for details. Checks should be made out to Full Moon Vineyards.

Schedule of Capay Valley Events

Recipes and Other Web Site Improvements

This is the time of year that we can turn our minds to various projects, one of which became a priority because many of you asked for it in the customer survey. We have started archiving our favorite recipes on the Full Belly web site. On our recipe page, if you choose "recipe archives," you will be able to download recipes that feature certain vegetables commonly found in your boxes. We will be adding to those recipes as time goes by. The recipe page is at: www.fullbellyfarm.com/recipes.html. So far we have only posted a few recipes for beets, broccoli, cabbage, daikon, greens and winter squash. More are coming.

In addition, we have added a page that describes our wine and our holiday boxes. You can now download order forms for either at: www.fullbellyfarm.com/wine.html.

Special Orders!

Sun Dried Stockton Red & Yellow Onions -- $4 for 1/4 lb. bag with a nice label or $12/lb. bulk
Corn Meal -- $4 for 1 1/2 lb.
Sun Dried Peaches -- $5 for 1/2 lb. or $10/lb.
Walnuts -- $8/lb.

Call or e-mail us with your order and send a check to Full Belly Farm, P.O. Box 220, Guinda, CA 95637.

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