Porter Farm Happening-September 5, 2009

In last week’s newsletter, we informed you of our new and exciting venture into organic fruit. However, a small error was made in the newsletter that we wanted to clear up. This past spring we actually purchased twenty two acres of land (we originally told you nine), and nine of those will be dedicated to fruit.
For the past eleven years we have been renting and working this ground, and it has already been certified organic. Before purchasing this land, we were thinking about new and different things that we could do at our farm. When this land went up for sale, our idea for growing fruit fell into place and we jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. If we hadn’t, we would not have had the chance to buy it again--farmland does not stay for sale very long in Elba!
We are very excited to purchase our fruit plants and trees this coming spring. Once again, thank you to all of our members for supporting us; without you, this would not have been possible!

Save the Date!
We will be having our annual CSA Fall Festival on Sunday, October 11 from 12-5 here at the farm. As always, we ask that you please bring a dish to pass for our potluck lunch. Activities planned for this year include hayrides around the farm, scarecrow making, and pumpkin painting. Pumpkins and gourds will also be available for you to take home.
We hope that many of you will be able to make it to this fun event. We always look forward to meeting you and showing you where your food comes from! More information about this event will be in coming newsletters!
What’s in this week’s bag??
 Green Bell Peppers
 Purple Bell Peppers
 Poblano Peppers
 Zucchini
 Yellow Squash
 Pointed Cabbage*
 Onions
 Bunched Beets
 Kohlrabi
 Tomato Berries
 Broccoli OR Kale**
*This cabbage is something different that we tried this season for our CSA. According to our seed catalog, this cabbage has sweet, tender, thin leaves for salads, slaws, or cooked dishes. Please let us know what you think!

**We were hoping to have broccoli for everyone this week, but the rain washed away and stunted the growth of our first planting. Therefore instead of letting the ones that were ready go to waste, we harvested what we could. Not all of you will get broccoli. If you don’t, you will receive kale in your bags. Our second planting of broccoli looks excellent and will be ready in a couple of weeks!
Farm News
We have had a wonderful stretch of weather here at the farm over the past week. It was great not having to change our plans due to an unexpected rain storm!
This week, Mike spent a lot of time baling hay. He was very excited to be able to do this—he was unable to get to the fields in July and August because of the wet conditions. Our crew also spent more time this week harvesting onions and other crops.
Last week, two of our workers stopped working at our farm. Maria will be returning to her job packing apples and Adriana has started school again. Each summer, Maria and Adriana help us out for about three months before apple season begins. In years past we have had problems filling positions here at the farm, but we are fortunate to have found a couple more workers to take their spots!

Porter Farms T-Shirts
We are continuing to sell our CSA t-shirts. If you are interested in purchasing one, please mail us a check for $22 by September 26, and include your name, address, phone number, distribution group, and the size/quantity of shirts being ordered. We will mail them to you when they come in!
For those of you who ordered t-shirts in July and August, they will be in shortly and we will mail them to you!

Pineapple and Roasted Poblano Salsa
Ingredients:
-3 medium fresh poblano peppers
-1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 –inch dice (about 4 cups)
-1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
-3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
- tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
-1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
-1/4 tsp. kosher salt
-1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat boiler.
2. On large rimmed baking sheet, broil peppers 2 inches from heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until blistered and blackened on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes. (Alternatively, char by holding with tongs over gas flame, turning until blistered on all sides.) Transfer to medium bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let steam 10 minutes.
3. Peel, core, and seed peppers, then cut into 1/4-inch dice. In large bowl, combine peppers and remaining ingredients and toss well. (Salsa can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve.)
Source: www.epicurious.com