Fall is for organic green beans! As the nights cool down, the days shorten and humidity starts to leave us, the green beans on the farm seem to explode. September and October bring some of the best beans of the season, flavorful, crisp, plump and dark green. “SNAP, SNAP” is the sound of the fresh green beans. With little insect pressure and moisture in the ground, the beans will take off in size and double every 5-7 days. Normally, we harvest the beans three times a week and are included in our CSA shares as well as farmers market’s produce assortment. If your looking for purchasing organic green beans, check out our farmers markets page and pay us a visit in September and October.
Sweet, juicy, Athena cantaloupes are being harvested now at Delvin Farms and are perfect for a summertime mint, lime and cantaloupe chiller. Grown organically and enjoyable anytime of the day in summer, I wanted to try a different way to consume this delicious melon. Despite not having a great blender, I’ve been determined to make a fun chiller this summer. This was so quick to make and made a Saturday afternoon a lot more fun & refreshing. In the dog days of summer, this chiller is a treat!
Cantaloupe is naturally hydrating and helps with inflammation and digestion. Don’t you love knowing the benefits to simple fruits & vegetables?
+ 1 large cantaloupe from Delvin Farms
+ 1-2 handfuls of fresh mint leaves
+ 1/2 lime, juiced
+ 3 tablespoons honey
+ Sparkling mineral water
Dice cantaloupe and blend with lime juice and honey. Add in mint leaves at the end and pulse quickly. Pour mixture over ice, about 2/3 full in your glass. Top with sparkling mineral water and garnish with more mint, to your liking.
— Amanda Barnhart is an art director, food enthusiast, and cat lover. She curates & photographs new recipes weekly on her vegetarian food blog, PlatedColor.com. You can see more photos and read about this recipe there.
CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)– Supporting Farm and Community. Delvin Farms Organic CSA is Nashville’s largest and one of the longest running CSA programs. Our CSA delivers freshly harvested produce to over fourteen pickup locations in Nashville area from Mid May through the end of October. Why CSA? It it for me? Read on.
July CSA box. Blackberries, tomatoes, garlic, cherry tomatoes, kale, cabbage and potatoes
Summer is in the air and as it was once said “A young man’s fancy turns to love”. But lately, with more and more community awareness of the importance of buying local, spring not only brings images of young love, it brings images of sweet, sweet strawberries. It brings images of freshly harvested vegetables plucked at the peak of maturity in the early morning dew from a local farm right in your own community. Those tantalizing thoughts then turn to investing your food dollar into a local farm through a CSA program.
CSA is so much more than just “supporting” a local farm, it supports the community. Think of it as your food dollar at work to keep communities alive. Much of your CSA dollar is reinvested locally on employee wages as well as countless community businesses supported by local farms. Land purchases, farm equipment, fuel, utilities, seed companies, local Farmers CO-OP, tire companies (have you ever priced just one huge tractor tire?) truck purchases, truck rentals, organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion, worm castings, seeds for cover crops like wheat, rye, vetch and yes, even sunflowers are purchased by farmers. When you purchase your CSA, farmers in turn use their dollar in the community, supporting local businesses and employees of that said business.
Running a farm is a delicate balancing act which requires careful scheduling, knowledge of the weather, botanical expertise, labor management and a sundry of other skills. CSA provides a living connection between farms and the communities they serve.
At Delvin Farms our commitment is growing the best quality, certified organic fruits and vegetables and delivering them to our members at the peak of freshness, packed with nutrition supplied through our rich, nutrient dense soil. There is a lot that goes into a CSA box, but the most important thing is the care that goes into land and the commitment to grow your food in the most healthy, environmentally sound soil without pesticides, herbicides or harmful chemicals. These are two things that we have cared deeply about since the first day that our first CSA share went out, and it will be the two things that will be our top priority for years to come.
Summer time is here. Last week it rained while it was also sunny, creating a heavenly smell with humidity touching every pore. I love summer & the fresh produce it brings to the farmer’s market from Delvin Farms. Summer to me means fries and cookouts and veggie burgers and grilled eggplant. Potatoes are one of my favorite foods and in addition to roasting or baking them, I thought it would be fun to see if I could tackle the ole’ fashioned FRY in honor of summer! Sweet potato fries come to life in the sauce they are dipped in. Because I couldn’t pick between a basic garlic aioli sauce or a honey mustard sauce, I decided to make both.
The garlic aioli won my vote while the honey mustard won my husbands. The next time you make sweet potato fries, serve with a variety of dipping sauces. Why not?!
SWEET POTATO FRIES:
+ Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into long rectangles or wedges
+ Coconut oil
+ Black truffle sea salt
—Preheat the oven to 425. Peel and cut the potatoes into long rectangles or wedges. Coat in warmed coconut oil (coconut oil is a solid until it is warm). Season with black truffle sea salt and place directly on a baking rack. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, turning over the potatoes mid way through so they can get crispy on both sides.
GARLIC AIOLI CHIVE Sauce:
+ 4 to 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped. (Shown here are green garlic cloves from the Franklin Farmer’s Market)
+ salt & pepper
+ lemon juice
+ 1 cup mayonnaise
—Pound garlic cloves with salt and pepper until a smooth paste forms. Stir it into the mayonnaise and add fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste. Garnish with fresh chives, salt and pepper.
LOCAL HONEY MUSTARD Sauce:
—Whisk the following ingredients together and garnish with fresh basil leaves:
+ 1/2 cup organic mayonnaise
+ 1/4 cup mustard
+ 2 tbs local clover honey
— Amanda Barnhart is an art director, food enthusiast, and cat lover. She curates & photographs new recipes weekly on her vegetarian food blog, PlatedColor.com. You can see more photos and read about this recipe there.
Running a farm is a delicate balancing act which requires careful scheduling, knowledge of the weather, botanical expertise, labor management and a sundry of other skills. CSA provides a living connection between farms and the communities they serve.
