QUAIL HILL FARM E-NEWS - Peconic Land Trust

July 18, 2007
Vol. 2, July News
Peconic Land Trust: 631.283.3195
Quail Hill Farm: 631.267.8492
qhf@peconiclandtrust.org
www.peconiclandtrust.org
QUAIL HILL FARM E-NEWS
QUAIL HILL COMMUNITY FARM is a Community Supported Agricultural project (CSA)
that helps to ensure the survival of agriculture on Long Island's East End by bringing
together community members, farmers and agricultural land in a relationship of mutual
support. QHF is owned and operated by Peconic Land Trust.
IN THE FIELDS and AT THE STANDS
Vegetables: arugula, basil, cucumbers, fava beans, fennel, garlic, kale, mizuna, lettuce,
potatoes, radishes, raspberries, scallions, string beans, summer squash, Swiss chard,
turnips and the Oriental greens sensopai and toraziroh (best sauteed in oil and garlic).
Herbs: basil, borage, bronze fennel, chives, cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, summer
savory, tarragon, thyme
Flowers: ageratum, bachelor buttons, calliopsis, calendula, kiss me over the garden
gate, red tassels, zinnias
COMING SOON
Vegetables: beets, carrots, shallots, tomatoes (cherries by end of July)
Flowers: cockscomb, cosmos, globe amaranth, scabiosa, sunflowers
UPCOMING EVENTS
COMMON TABLE DINNER: August 25
TOMATO TASTING: September 1
Help at the Sag Harbor Farmer’s Market – Those members we called are
unable at present to assist at the market. Can you help? Saturdays, 9-12, or any
portion of those hours…….please call Annie at 267-8492
Please submit announcements, recipes, events, or anything you
would like included in the next newsletter to
qhf@peconiclandtrust.org

WEATHER REPORT: A Conversation with Scott by Jane Weissman
Like any farmer, Scott is hedging his bets, So
far, it’s been a very good year. No doubt, everyone
picking in the fields will concur, harvest baskets
overflowing. The weather is a major factor and having
a great crew certainly has helped, too and it couldn't
have been better, Scott explains. June was
spectacular, sunny days, and cool breezy nights
enjoyed by both people and crops. The humidity
stayed low which plants like as long as they get
water and we did have to irrigate a bit. All in all,
excellent growing conditions. Plants have matured
quickly.
As many of us recall, 2006 was a tough
growing year, frustrating for both farmers and share
members. Not only was the weather too extreme, it
constantly flip-flopped. It was either too hot or too
rainy. Five-inch downpours after weeks of no rain
hinders as much as it helps. According to Scott, The
past few weeks have been friendly to the plants. No
extremes. We had two nice rains and they were
gentle enough (a half to an inch). The timing was
perfect, too, providing a nice boost to the potatoes
and the garlic just before it got harvested.
The farmers have planted more than ever
before and everything looks good. The peas had a
good long run and, for those who haven’t heard, it
was crows with whom we were sharing the shucking
peas something Scott had never seen. It was great
to see fresh garlic at the stand this past weekend.
Despite last autumn’s heavy rains, which washed out
a goodly number of plants, we will enjoy it for the
rest of the season and there will be plenty for winter
shares, too. There will just be a bit less seed from
our own plants for seeding in October
The early potatoes are in and it was good to
literally get our hands in the dirt, a sure way to
unearth even more of those delicious spuds. The
farm is growing about 20 varieties, many in the Town
Lane fields including some trial plants thru NOFA.
One new variety is King Harry, special to Scott as
Harry was his father’s name, which has hairy leaves
to repel Colorado potato beetles. Good news: they
came, they were conquered, they are gone.
It’s a treat to have lettuce pretty continually
throughout the season. There’s a patch coming
along on Hurricane Hill, but as deer have on occasion
made a meal of it, lettuce is also grown on Town
Lane behind an impregnable deer fence. It was some
of that got harvested and brought to the farm stand
this past weekend, including a new variety, Cimarron,
red, crunchy and delicious.
The cukes are in, as early as this correspondent
can remember. The Armenian variety, long, skinny
and curved, a favorite, takes longer to mature and
should soon be ready. The eggplants look
good and are about to flower. They are a bit
slow this year as they like hot weather,
which only recently set in. Plus they had to
fight off the beetles And the tomatoes are
pretty unbelievable. Things have been going
so well that the farmers had time to put in a
third planting (usually not done) on Town
Lane another 600-700 seedlings. And those
dang crows pulled out every one of the
plants. Adding insult to injury, they didn’t
even bother to eat them.
The farmers are already looking to fall
crops. The autumn squash was seeded and
has germinated nicely. Sweet potatoes were
planted and they too look good. Scott
explains that sweet potatoes are not related
to potatoes. While both are tubers, they
belong to different families. Not a
nightshade (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant),
sweet potatoes are a member of the morning
glory family. And what gets planted is not a
seed potato (a chunk of potato with an eye
or spud), but rather a root with a couple of
leaves. Also sweet potatoes are not yams,
even though many are marketed as such. It
turns out that yams don’t even grow in the
U.S.
Days and days cultivating, a fancy
word for weeding. The onions which will get
harvested when the tops die back in early
August, maybe late July, have already been
hoed four times. Not too long ago, the
farmers spent an entire day cultivating
melons, and only just some of them.
All this work is enormously helped by the
efforts many terrific volunteers. Thanks always
to Nick, ever ready to lend a hand. And
appreciative thanks to Matt and Max, Gilda
and Mel Berger’s grandsons, who are here
for July and spending many days at the
farm. And to Sean, and to John Landes.
Recently, a group joined the farmers in
weeding the raspberries, making picking for
members a lot easier: Ira, Ursula and Frank,
Fran and Landon, and Jane as well as Max,
Matt and Sean.
Happy harvesting and healthy eating!

EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
POT LUCK SUPPER: July 21, 2007
QUAIL HILL FARM'S 4TH ANNUAL POT LUCK SUPPER
A Thank You From the Quail Hill Farm Committee
We would like to thank all who came to the Pot Luck Supper last Saturday evening. Your
food was glorious, your children and guests enchanting and the smore's divine!
If you missed it, try to come next year and partake in some of the magic of belonging to a
CSA farm community. Thanks also to the Peconic Land Trust for donating the libations and
to our outstanding interns who worked all day, joined us for dinner and cleaned up after
we all went home. There have been requests for copies of the recipes of the dishes served
at the dinner. If you are so inclined, email Linda Lacchia lles@optonline.net and we will
circulate them to members who request it. Some will be published in the next edition of
this newsletter.
“The Real Dirt on Farmer John”, Saturday, August 1
A superb, award winning documentary about an Illinois farmer whose home farm has been
transformed into a dynamic CSA and learning center will screen at the Sag Harbor Cinema.
Scott has traveled with this colorful character and recommends the experience!
For the real dirt on Farmer Scott tune in to WLIU, 88.3, Wednesdays at around
8:30 a.m., “In the Morning” (Nature: news and views).
TOMATO TASTING: September 1, 2007
the 10th annual
GREAT TOMATO TASTE OFF
Saturday, September 1, 2007: 9-12 in The Apple Orchard
Taste and rate the 50 varieties of tomatoes grown at Quail Hill Farm. Cherries, paste,
standard. Red, pink, yellow, orange, purple and green. This year, the farm has planted 21
new varieties. Let's see how they stand up to our favorites.
A fact sheet with descriptions of all the varieties will soon be at the farm stand.
Volunteers are needed!
To harvest on Friday and run the event on Saturday!
Watch the farm stand for a sign up sheet.
Or contact Jane: urbecoart@aol.com, 212.989.3006
To help offset event costs and to generate revenue
(which helps keep share prices down) we are charging:
$10 nonmembers
$5 members (suggested contribution),
Free: kids under 12

THE APPRENTICE: Meet ANNA
When I was asked to include the scone recipe I baked for the Opening Day Farm Breakfast in the July newsletter, a fitting
theme came to mind for my newsletter introduction to you.
When Brett and I came to work at the farm, something happened for me that resulted in a new focus on food: we always liked
eating well, but now we think about food all the time. The change could be something as simple as the transition from
sitting in a chair all day to doing farm work increasing our appetites. But more than that, I think what happened really was
that at some point I realized that when we farm, we are making food all day long.
Pruning raspberry canes is making jam, seeding lettuce becomes making salad, cutting seed potatoes isn’t that far from
mashing potatoes. I don't know why the connection between daily farm work (and not just the end point of harvesting) and
meals was elusive to me for so long, but it was exciting to realize the connection in full force, to grasp what a special thing it
is to be able to feed people.
At work our conversation frequently turns from crops to the subject of food – what to do with various vegetables, what to eat
for lunch, and what was eaten for dinner the night before. I have discovered how many serious food people have been
attracted to the farm. Foodies, a group I never would have thought to associate myself with in my pre-farm life now doesn’t
seem so far-fetched a way of describing what I am involved. Lately, Brett and I have been reading aloud recipes from
magazines or cookbooks, questioning one another on the techniques and ingredients as a sort of guessing game. I find myself
wondering how and why I have made do for so long without such things as a food processor or a bundt pan.
If farming vitalizes one’s relationship with food, then cooking seems equally to encourage recipes.
The scone recipe I used for the opening day breakfast is from The Foster's Market Cookbook, but with my own tweaks in the
version printed here. Aside from a few trial batches before the breakfast, I had never made scones before. I'm not sure that
I did things exactly the way scones are "supposed" to be made, but this is what I ended up with as my favorite. I will warn you
though: scones are a pain to make. But following these directions should get you a decent scone. Don’t give up at the point
when you have a sticky buttery blob: they will bake just fine.
Scones
4 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 sticks cold unsalted butter cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Optional: ½ cup dried fruit, set in lukewarm water for a few minutes. For fresh fruit like raspberries add 2 cups and use 2-3
tablespoons less buttermilk. For adding rhubarb toss it first in sugar and sprinkle the top of the scone with cinnamon sugar.
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk.
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. LIGHTLY grease 2 baking sheets and set aside.
3. Combing flour, heaping ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Add the cold butter to flour mixture and cut in using pastry cutter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal (sort of
likr rolled oats) or pulse in a food processor 10-12 times. Do not overwork dough or allow the butter to get soft,
return to fridge if it’s too warm.
5. Add 1 ¼ cup buttermilk (some recipes call for half-and-half, but buttermilk which is lower in fat makes the scones
lighter and flakier) and mix until just combined and the dough begins to stick together. Add the remaining buttermilk
one tablespoon at a time if the dough is too dry. Note: if adding fruit fold in now.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Note: the dough will probably look like a mess at this point, shaggy
and not very cohesive, but as you pat it into two 6 inch circles about 1 ½ inch thick it should come together. The
dough will probably be sticky because of the butter, try not to have too much contact because that will make the
butter melt into the batter. Cut each round into six pie wedges. Use a spatula to lift the wedges to the lightly
greased baking sheet.
7. Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle top with scant ¼ cup sugar.
8. Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and firm to tough. Cool on a baking rack.
NEXT ISSUE: Meet Joe & Annie

CROSSWORD PUZZLE: by John de Cuevas
Wrap-around Crossword Puzzle - by John de Cuevas
Instructions: So lve this puzzle the
way you would any normal crossword
puzzle but notice its unusual features.
Words wrap around. That is, across
words that don't end at the right
continue on the next row, and down
words that don't end at the bottom
continue in t he next column. What's
more, four across words and four down
words (their clues are marked by an
asterisk) won't fit in the grid unless
one of the ir letters is removed. Those
eight letters, taken in the ord er they
occur in across and down words, spell
a two-word phrase that defines the
mystery entries. (If you like this puzzle
and want to see others like it, visit my
website, www.puzzlecrypt.com, but be
warned, the puzzles on the site are
much more difficult than this one.)
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15
16 17
18 19 20 21 22
23 24
25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32
33 34
35 36 37
Across
1. Mystery entry
3. Song
4. Flower
6. Cultured milk
9. Aggregate
11. Tradesman
13. *Treat with partiality
14. Cries
15. Potato, for instance
16. Do again
17. What farmers do to soil
18. Post
20. Milk curd
23. *Dog
24. Revolve
25. Shirker
27. Italian poet of the 16th century
30. Pleasantry
31. Lake or tarn (uncommon word)
32. Nobleman of low rank
33. *Fruits
34. Coffin carrier
35. *Obstruct
37. Mystery entry
Down
1. Good Samaritan
2. Having distinction
3. Swine
4. Mystery entry
5. *Farmer's tool
7. Festive occasion
8. Northern Ireland
10. Bleaching agent
11. Use up
12. Choose
16. What farmers need now and then
18. *Aquatic mammal
19. *In a fervent manner
21. Manage with economy
22. *Support
23. Pointed end
26. Enzyme produced by the kidney
28. Theater
29. Hindu garment
30. Mystery entry
31. Lady in charge
34. Nimbus
36. Minister
Copyright 2007. John de Cuevas. All rights reserved.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION : by John de Cuevas
(for the June Puzzle)
F A R M Q U A I L H I L L
E P E E U N C L E E R I E
T E A L O D I L E R A N T
E X P O R T E D B R A N D O
D O E R S O U L
R E M I S S S T A N D A R D
E R I C A S P O R T S C A R
A R A A W A R D O N O
C O M M U N I T Y C A R G O
T R I A N G L E G U N N E D
T I L L S O R T
R E F U T E S C A L A W A G
O M A R P I C O T C A N E
M I R E O R A T E I C O N
P L O D D A N T E D O N E

OF OTHER INTEREST
EDIBLE FLOWERS
by Jane Weissman
Many flowers at Quail Hill Farm are edible: a few ornamentals as well as the
blossoms of some vegetables and herbs. They can go into salads and/or used
for garnish. Some can be fried up. Put herb and greens flowers in a jar of water
-- they look great on a kitchen windowsill -- until you need them. Every day or
so, change the water and snip the ends to keep them fresh.
ORNAMENTALS:
Calendula and Nasturtium petals provide lovely color and a hint of spice.
VEGETABLES:
When Broccoli Raab, Mizuna, and Arugula go to seed or bolt, they produce an edible
flower. Like their leaves their flowers are a bit peppery. Cut the stems long and
keep them in water. Pinch off the freshest flowers when you’re ready to use
them.
If you’re frying up Zucchini flowers, try stuffing them with basil leaves or a half
teaspoon of goat cheese or gorgonzola dolce before dipping them in a flour and
water batter. Add ground black pepper and/or hot pepper flakes to the batter for
a little zing. Sprinkle salt over the fried blossoms.
HERBS:
In June, try Chive flowers. Just pull apart the small flowers that make up the
purple globe. Also, try frying up unopened Sage flowers. Cut the stalk to include
the buds and three or four pairs of young leaves. Until Dill flowers go into a
pickling brine, they are lovely in bouquets. Down in the valley, Borage is growing
between the rhubarb and raspberries. The nodding blue flowers taste a bit like
cucumbers, very nice in salads. Stick three or four Lavender blossoms in a cup of
sugar and let stand overnight. Then use the sugar for baking pound cake or
shortbread.
THE GOODNESS OF GARLIC
This appeared in Gourmet Weekly on June 28, 2007:
Garlic is good for you. But you don't need me to tell you that. What you might
not know is that chopping garlic releases its cancer-fighting properties, but
cooking it kills them. At least, cooking it right away. A new study by the
American Institute for Cancer Research shows that when chopped garlic is
allowed to rest for ten minutes before heating, it retains most of its anticancer
protection. For lovers of the stinking rose, this is very good news. From now on,
make chopping garlic the first thing you do when you start cooking. You'll have
good taste and good health. —Ruth Reichl

THANK YOU
FARM BREAKFAST
Breakfast is a notoriously difficult meal to serve with a flourish.
-- Clement Freud
Thanks to a great group of volunteers, the 11th annual farm breakfast on Saturday, June 23 -a
beautiful, sunny, not too hot day -- was a perfect affair.
Jane who organized the breakfast extends BOUNTIFUL THANKS (in more or less the order of
making the breakfast happen) to:
On Friday (and before)...Scott (who also did the coop order) and farmers Joe, Brett, Anna and Annie who
mowed the orchard, picked rhubarb, transported kitchen set up, tables and packing crates, and...
... Nick for helping to set up the Apple Orchard.
PLT's Laura Fischer and Pam Greene for daily ongoing assistance.
Alice Kaltman and Katy Brennan who washed coffee pots, mugs, bowls and all the farm's
harvesting containers, transforming them into sparkling compost and recycling bins.
Robert Schwagerl who over the years has turned our cooking space into a sleek, efficient outdoor
kitchen -- a long way from those first breakfasts turned out on a couple of backyard gas grills.
Pauline Yeats and Judy Freeman for making the strawberry rhubarb compote.
Jo, Patty and Peachie at the Green Thumb in Water Mill for selling us potatoes and onions at cost. And
Ronnie Grill, Susan Cook and Lindsay Morris for roasting the potatoes. And Gordian and Gabriele Raacke,
with a peeling assist from Bettina Volz and Don Lenzer, for making the onions.
Ursula Lee and Liadain Smith for harvesting the herbs for the potatoes and eggs.
The Iaconos whose hens were prolific enough to supplement Quail Hill eggs altho this year farm
hens produced all the eggs we needed.
And on Saturday...Early arrivals (6 a.m. onwards) Martha Sutphen, Susan C., May Kuckro, Francesca J, Nick,
Gordian, Kevin Coffey, Carla Ash and Jerry Pluenneke for setting up on Saturday morning.
Dorothy Donovan, Johanna Ellner, Linda Lacchia, Jonathan Groffman, Martha Sutphen, Gabriele and Bettina
who staffed all the tables: breakfast admission, utensils, books,and t-shirts, mugs, At the
Common Table info and the QHF membership raffle.
Kevin C. who kept Robert and Gordian in pancake batter and Chris Schwagerl who joined the merry
band.
Jane Umanoff, Susan C., Kathy Masters, and Hilary Leff who made the softest, tastiest eggs and
reheated the potatoes, and Bernadette Costanzo who performed admirably as sous chef.
Thanks to Linda L. and Linda Golden and the unknown baker of those marvelous scones for
supplying the muffin table. (Next year, more baked goods, please and thanks.)
Sean Mulligan, Susan Taylor, Doug Mucaire, Steve Frankel and Gardner Frankel who joined the clean-up
crew -- Gordian, Scott, Nick, Kevin and Kathy, and many more -- transporting supplies, compostibles
and recyclables to the farm shop and washing the coffee cups and pots.