MEADOWLARK FARM WINTER SHARE NEWS

                                                                                        1-02-09

Dear winter community of friends,

          Happy New Year to all!  We send to you our warmest wishes for the upcoming year and hope that the wheel will carry you into fertile ground....It has been a pleasure and a blessing to provide these winter boxes of veggies to you.  Thanks for your support and your adventurous spirits.  It takes a special person to get excited about rutabaga and celery root!  The root cellar is a shadow of it's former self when in October it was full to the ceiling with boxes of veggies.  Now, what's left is a smattering of food for our family as well as the potatoes that we save as seed for our farm and other csa farmer friends.  This makes us feel rich.  We have our next year's crop of potatoes waiting to be graded, sorted, weighed and organized and we save the farm $1000 doing so.  We actually make some money or barter services with some of our friends(blueberries from the Wares, maple syrup from the Wells, the Community Farm Newsletter from Five Springs Farm) from the potato crop, so their value is high.  Speaking of potatoes, your box today includes:  7# of Kennebec potatoes, many of which bring new meaning to the word "lunker", 3# sugarsnax carrots, 2# of little beets in a plastic bag, bigger lutz storage beets loose in box, 7# of yellow onions, garlic galore, green cabbage, a wee bag of small potatoes and a paper bag of dried rosemary. 

All of the seed catalogs are in now, waiting in a stack and the beautiful flowers and colors  beckon.   We are hoping to work on our 2009 brochure and survey for 2008 next week and we look forward to your feedback and thoughts for next season's collaboration.  We really appreciate the time you take to fill out the survey; your input helps steer the wheel toward ordering seeds and planning what we will plant for 2009.  We take your ideas very seriously! 

                             SKILLET POTATO AND CABBAGE PANCAKES

-1  c. shredded cabbage              -2 ½ c. grated potatoes, any kind          -1/4 c. onions

-1 clove garlic, minced                -1 egg, beaten                                      -1 ½ t.salt

-1/2 t. freshly ground pepper     -1/4 c. butter                                     -2 TBL veg.oil

Steam cabbage until tender, about 15-20 minutes.  Place the grated potatoes in a clean dish towel.  Gather up the edges, twist the towel tight and hold the bundle over the sink.  Squeeze as much moisture out as you can.  Combine potatoes, cabbage, onion, garlic, egg salt and pepper in a bowl, mixing well.  Use your hands to squish some nice, thin, loose patties.  Combine butter and veg. oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until butter melts.  Add as many patties as will fit in your skillet without overcrowding, press down on them firmly with back of spatula.  Cook until pancakes are browned to your liking, 7-10 minutes.  Flip and repeat.  Top with sour cream, applesauce or ketchup.  Enjoy this last box and we will be in touch very soon.  Love, the meadowlarks