Blog
Your Canning & Freezing Guide
As we move into the summer season it is time to start thinking about preserving the summer harvest for those cold winter months!
Here is our canning & freezing guide to make sure you don’t miss out on preserving any of your favorites.
Despite the cold/rainy weather the crops we have in the fields are looking great! We are harvesting lots of greens, rhubarb, green onions & spring sweet onions. Tomatoes and cucumbers from the greenhouse.
Coming soon…sugar snap peas, new potatoes, broccoli and strawberries.
All of the summer markets are open now! You can find our market schedule HERE.
We look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you for supporting our farm!
Our Favorite Rhubarb Crisp
Rhubarb season is here and this easy rhubarb apple crisp is a favorite in our house.
- 3.5 cups rhubarb chopped
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 apple, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Combine all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour into a 9 x 9 glass baking dish and set aside.
- Combine the topping ingredients and mix thoroughly. Crumble evenly over the filling.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
We hope that you enjoy this spring favorite just as much as we do! 🙂
Warm up with the Veggie Stew!
Wow, what a week it has been! Definitely one that we will remember.
The kids have snow day # 6 tomorrow. We are all getting restless and I think that the kids are even ready to go back to school.
We have been enjoying warm comfort food the last few days. I wanted to share one of our favorites:
Veggie Stew
Ingredients:
- 1/3 c. flour
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
- 1 ½ lb boneless stew beef, cut in 1 inch cubes
- 2 T. oil
- 3 cup water
- 5 medium carrots, peeled and quartered
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1/2 celery root
- ¼ c. water
Directions:
Combine flour, salt and pepper, coat meat with seasoned flour. Save remaining flour. Brown meat in oil in a large kettle. Add water and cover. Simmer for 1 hour until meat is tender. Add carrots, potatoes, onions and celery. Return to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes. Blend ¼ c. water wth remaining flour. Add to stew, stirring gently; cook until thickened.
This soup is sure to warm up the whole family!
Ready to get out of the house? Plan a trip to the farmers markets on Saturday. We will have everything you need to make this soup along with fresh greens and cherry tomatoes if you are craving a spring salad. Ground beef will be on sale this Saturday, 8lbs for $38.00.
Have a great weekend, stay warm!
A potato is just a potato, right?
Have you ever been to the market or farm store and thought…
A potato is just a potato, right??
What is with all of the colors?
Those purple ones…are they really potatoes?
Find out what is special about each one of 8 potatoes we grow!
Blue Potatoes – This beautiful potato is full of antioxidants because of its color. It has a sweet, nutty, earthy flavor and is perfect for boiling, baking, mashing, grilling and frying.
Butterball Potatoes – A creamy, rich, buttery potato. Perfect for steaming, baking, frying & mashing.
Fingerling Potatoes – This potato has an earthy, nutty flavor. Good for roasting and steaming.
Purple Fingerling Potatoes – An antioxidant packed potato because of its beautiful purple color. It has a dry, earthy flavor and is good for roasting and steaming.
Red Skin Potatoes – This customer favorite has a mild, earthy, buttery flavor. They are perfect for boiling, mashing, baking or roasting.
Russet Potatoes – This dry potato has a mild, earthy flavor and are good for baking, mashing or fries.
White Potatoes – The white potato is more starchy and has a rich, nutty flavor. It is perfect for baking, roasting or frying.
Yukon Gold Potatoes – This all purpose potato has a creamy, buttery flavor. It is great for roasting, grilling, mashing, sauteing and boiling.
The best way to store your potatoes is in a cool, dark place. **Note: In the early summer when we have our new potatoes it is important to keep them in the fridge! The new potatoes are dug when the plants are still green and the skins are very tender.
Potatoes are one of our favorite things to grow. While we love to eat them all I think some of our favorites are Red Skin & Yukon Gold potatoes. Of course, Red, White & Blue potatoes are a must during the summer holidays!
Let us know below which kind of potato is your favorite!
Start your year out right!
Happy New Year!
The holiday parties are done.
Do you feel like you have eaten to much sweet, unhealthy food the last few weeks?
Are you ready to eat healthy?
Start 2019 out right!
- Our CSA program will help you to eat more healthy, local produce.
- Try new recipes and new types of food.
- Know where your food is coming from.
- Support a local family farm!
Weekly produce boxes will include a variety of fresh veggies. Pick up is available at our farm (5888 120th Ave, Holland) and for employees at Bronson Hospital or Gentex.
One of these locations don’t work well for you? You can also join our farmstand CSA program with pick up’s at the Muskegon Farmers Market or Bank Street Winter Market in Kalamazoo. Farmstand members are able to choose their share from everything we have available.
Sign up for healthy local produce today! The weekly box program begins next week and the deadline to sign up is this Friday, so don’t wait!
Any questions please email lindsey@crispcountryacres.com
We hope that you all have a great 2019!
– Lindsey
How to create a farm market breakfast. (Or lunch, or dinner!)
There is so much going on this time of year. Planning, shopping, wrapping and baking. Are you feeling stressed to cook a healthy supper for you family?
This quick & easy recipe was shared by a CSA member a few years ago. It is called Farm Market Breakfast, but we enjoy this recipe for lunch and supper as well.
Farm Market Breakfast:
Ingredients:
3–4 strips bacon
2 large potatoes or the equivalent
½ onion, chopped into bits
3 cloves garlic, chopped into bits
1 generous bunch of leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach, whatever is fresh)
Eggs
Cheese (optional)
Hot pepper flakes (Optional)
Directions:
1. Cut the bacon into medium-size bits and start frying it over high heat.
2. Wash the potatoes, cut out the bad bits; peel if you must. Score them with a fork and put them in the microwave whole for 2 to 4 minutes until they are almost done.
3. Chop the heated potatoes into medium-size chunks and add them to the skillet (with the bacon). Stir to evenly coat them in the bacon fat.
4. Let potatoes cook with the bacon for a few minutes. When the potatoes start to crisp up, add the onion bits and garlic. Stir.
5. When everything is just about ready, fry the eggs in another skillet.
6. At the last minute, add the greens to the potato, bacon, and mushroom mixture. Stir, allowing the heat of the other ingredients to cook them just slightly.
7. To serve, add a whopping spoonful of the vegetable mixture to a plate. Add grated cheese (if you wish). Add the egg. Add a splash of hot pepper flakes (if you wish).
Wondering if you have a favorite healthy quick & easy go to recipe? Let us know below!
How to get 4 – 40 times more nutrients!
Sounds too good to be true right?!
I thought so to when I first read it.
Microgreens have 4 – 40 times more nutrients by weight than their fully-grown counterparts. (Source: NCBI)
That is huge.
It can be hard to make sure that you get all the nutrients needed.
Microgreens will make this much easier.
These mini greens pack in a full punch when it comes to flavor and nutrition.
They contain polyphenols that prevent the build up of harmful free radicals. They improve heart health and reduce your chronic disease.
Microgreens taste just like the flavor of the matured crop. The celery micros taste like celery, pea micros taste like sweet peas and so on. We grow several varieties. (Our spicy mix is my favorite.)
Treat microgreens just like your lettuce. Wash and dry with a salad spinner. Store in your fridge.
Enjoy them as a garnish, as a tasty addition to sandwiches or as a salad.
We grow many varieties and they can be found at the farm store or any of the winter farmers markets.
Give these delicious, healthy mini greens a try!
How to get the most out of your winter root veggies!
Winter is here.
Gone are the days of fresh green beans and sweet corn.
You may be thinking…
“I want to eat local, but what is there to eat in the winter?”
“Ok, you have root veggies but they look kind of odd.”
What do you do with them? What do they taste like?”
I was thinking the same thing a few years ago.
When we were first married I bought a cauliflower from the grocery store. My farmer husband showed me what disease it had and how old it was.
After the cauliflower incident he told me that even in the winter, we don’t need to buy veggies at the grocery store.
The next day he brought home a bag of root veggies.
I thought to myself… I can do potatoes and carrots, but what in the world do you do with a beet or that odd looking celery root.
It took a while, but I figured out what to do with everything and now we don’t have to buy any veggies at the grocery store.
Are you ready to give the root veggies a try?
First, let start out with what they all are:
What do they taste like? Here is my description of them:
Beets: We grow 3 kinds – Golden, Candy & Red. Golden beets are the most mild beet that we grow. They do not have a strong earthy flavor and are great for a person who does not like red beets or have not tried them before. Candy beets are a really pretty pink & white stripped on the inside. They are not quite as sweet as the golden, but not as strong as the red beets. Red beets are your traditional beet flavor.
Rutabaga: Rutabaga is a golden color on the bottom with a purple top. They are more milder in taste than a turnip, often substituted for potato when mashing.
Turnips: Turnips are very white on the bottom with a purple top. They taste like a cabbage/radish cross.
Parsnip: They look like a white carrot, but have a thicker skin. They are sweeter than a carrot when cooked.
Radish: These come in lots of colors & varieties. They have a spicy, peppery flavor.
Celery Root: This odd looking veggie does get the attention it deserves! It tastes just like celery. Great to be eaten raw, added to salads, roasted or for soups.
Carrot: Carrots come in all colors. Our carrots are super sweet and delicious raw or cooked.
How to I store them?
We recommended that you leave your root veggies in a bag or container where they won’t be in the air. They also need to be kept in the fridge. If you leave them out of the bag or on the counter they will get soft.
What do I do with them?
The first thing I always recommend to do is roast them. Roasted veggies can bring out completely different flavors, often making the sweeter. Here is how we recommend to roast them.
Need more ideas? Check out the recipe section of the website for tons more recipes. The recipes are organized by the crop along the right hand side. Find the veggie you are looking for and click on it for more ideas.
I hope that this helps you give them a try! Trust me, they really are delicious and it is possible to eat only local food in the winter months.
Along with the root veggies we also have greens, brussel sprouts, potatoes, fall squash, onions, apples, eggs, meats and more available so you definitely won’t be going hungry this winter.
What is your favorite root veggie? Let us know below!
A farmers dream, made possible by YOU!
Several years ago we had a dream.
We wanted to farm year-round.
There was not enough income to support all of the families during the winter months. And so, other employment need to be found. The economy was not great and finding a place to work for just a few months out of the year was difficult.
They would also plow snow for extra income. This lead to many 18 hour days with out much time for rest or family. After a busy summer this was exhausting and not what we had wanted for our family.
So we set out with a goal… find a way to sell product year round.
We started with a few restaurants that would order our root crops in the winter. It was just Saturday deliveries with a small pick up.
Then a winter market opened.
Then we started a winter CSA.
We expanded our offerings, added some greenhouses and finally, after several years, we did it. Enough restaurants jumped on board. More winter markets had opened, and the winter CSA grew. Our dream became a reality. We were able to farm year round. No more early morning snow plowing, no more long days of never seeing each other.
This is our fourth winter now and not only are able to keep our three farmers busy but also EIGHT employees. Eight employees! How amazing is that!?!
Do you know why this has been possible?
It is because of YOU!
You choose to shop at the local farmers markets even in the cold winter months.
You choose to enjoy meals at restaurants that support local farmers.
You choose to join our winter CSA.
YOU CHOOSE TO SUPPORT A LOCAL FARM!
When this time of year comes around I remember that dream. Remember how far we have come and are so grateful.
Thank you for supporting our farm. Thank you for supporting our family. We truly could not do this with all of you.
Wishing you many blessings this Thanksgiving season,
– The Visser Family & CCA Crew
Move over pumpkin, try this Nantucket Pie!
Earlier this week my daughter Ellie made this pie for us. It is simple and DELICIOUS!
Nantucket Pie
2 1/2 cup cranberries in the bottom of a buttered deep pie dish.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over the berries.
Beat Together;
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Pour butter, sugar flour, eggs and vanilla over cranberries and bake for 30 – 40 minutes at 375 degrees.
We are selling Thanksgiving Boxes this year and cranberries will be included. This recipe will also be included in the box!
Did you know cranberries are grown in Michigan?
We had no idea until we moved. There are cranberry bogs just down the road from our house and we thought our customers would enjoy them just as much as we did. They are a fun treat this time of year.
What is your favorite cranberry recipe?