Farm Happenings at Oak Spring Farm
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Farm Happenings for July 27, 2021

Posted on July 21st, 2021 by Lisa Duff
Good afternoon Farm-ily!
Beautiful week it has been and we have begun the big potato harvest! We grow a variety of potatoes to include fingerlings, red, blue, white & yellow of varying sizes for a variety of uses!  It's a beautiful thing to harvest garlic, onions and potatoes in the same month since they all go so well together. Better yet we have celery for you this week as well. It is small and very flavorful. Perfect in that summer potato salad. 
bread share: cinnamon raisin
cheese share: garlic chive or cheddar
fruit share: either plums or peaches!
 
 
Storage Tip of the week:
Keep your potatoes, garlic and onions in a cool, dark place. Don't refrigerate garlic and potatoes it encourages sprouting! Onions can be refrigerated when fresh....and this week they are still fresh.
 
Recipe of the week: (with commentary from OSF farm market loyalist Bob Jones.)
 
Potatoes Provencal
You can adjust proportions to your liking.  For instance, my original inspiration (taken from Simply Recipes) called for 2lbs of potatoes.  Since I am cooking for two, I reduced it to 1 lb.  Love olives?  Add more!  Likewise, it is best served at room temperature, so you won't need to worry about timing with other dishes you may be serving.  We have made it in the winter with chunks of full size potatoes, but this dish REALLY shines in early summer when most of the ingredients are available fresh at the farmer's market or from your CSA share.   
 
1-2 lb new potatoes.  Cut larger ones in half to about 1".  1lb is about one dry pint.  
1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4" wedges in the direction from top to root
6 cloves of garlic, crushed with peels removed, cut roughly in half the long way
12 cherry tomatoes, or 2-3 regular tomatoes cut into 1/2" wedges
12 pitted olives
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 Tablespoon of dried herbes de Provence (or 2 Tbls of chopped fresh herbs)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste (2-3 grinds for us)
 
 
1.  Preheat oven to 400F
2.  Toss ingredients together in a large roasting pan until everything is covered in oil and herbs
3.  Roast for 15 minutes.  Stir and reduce heat to 375F.  Roast for 15 minutes and stir.  Roast for 15 more minutes for a total of 45 minutes roasting time.  Onions and tomatoes should be soft and a little carmelized.
4.  Let cool to room temperature and garnish with chives
 
Yield:  1lb of potatoes will serve 2-3
 
Serving:  This dish has a lot of flavor, headed up by the herbs and olive oil.  On the plate, these will run over and introduce themselves to the neighbors, so it is best served with something that won't argue.  We love it with a simple pan-seared or grilled salmon.  Wine?  A rose from Provence, bien sur!