In the Share: Week 10

 In the Share 

MUSIK GARLIC: Our hardneck garlic is at its peak right now. Use it fresh in the purslane salad recipe below. 

TOMATOES: A continuing mix of colors and varieties. 

CARROTS: These carrots are nice and sweet after a month in storage. Grate them fine into a salad, or snack away. 

SWEET PEPPERS: The August ripening is bringing red, yellow and orange sweet peppers to the shares. 

ZUCCHINI AND YELLOW SQUASH: With these cooler days a casserole is in order for those summer squash. Here is a recipe from our 2017 newsletter http://www.fairsharefarm.com/archive/info/Newsletter/2007/v4%20I7%20June%2027.pdf OKRA, 

EGGPLANT, SALSA PACK OR BEANS: Depending on your distribution day and our harvest, you will have a choice from this list. 

PURSLANE: Rebecca has been snacking on this in the field and now’s your chance. Check out Wiki for some great recipes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea. 

BASIL: This herb keeps coming back. Enjoy the taste of summer 

Farm Report

The last two weeks have been a blur. It is peak farming season with the summer harvest coupled with planting and tending the fall crops. The purslane in your share is a byproduct of how busy we are. The fall cabbage was almost engulfed in what is often identified as a weed. 

Treating it as such, the crew tackled the field one morning and now it has since doubled in size. 

However, not all the cabbage survived the foot of rain back in late July, but in its place grew the purslane. Purslane is often disregarded, yet its roots go back to ancient human history. The Greeks, Native Americans, many have enjoyed its succulent, tangy flavor and spoke of its curative properties. 

The monarch butterflies are a common site at the moment. The last generations are underway as the southward migration has begun. We’ve been able to see a few cocoons hatch in person. One we rescued from the tomato patch and held in our house until a thunderstorm could pass. We feel fortunate to work in the fields as they flit by. Double so, when there are two. 

We encourage everyone to plant native flowering plants that provide nectar for the monarchs, and plant milkweed species especially since it is the only family of plants on which they will lay their eggs. 

Speaking of eggs, this morning, 88 new fuzzballs arrived via our dependable servants at the US Postal Service. The day old chicks spent their first morning out of the shell in transit, but today they moved into their cozy brooder coop. 

These little girls will hopefully be laying lots of eggs come February and March 2021. Until then, they lift our spirits with their cuteness. 

In the Share: Week 9

In the Share

ZUCCHINI and YELLOW SQUASH: Our second planting of squash is quite happy at the moment. Everyone should get both types in their share. We fry them up with sweet onions and sweet peppers for a really flavorful vegetable side dish. 

TOMATOES: Peak season is here and the selection is also at its finest. We find there is no better time to enjoy a fresh tomato than right now. Panzanella is a great way to have them, or in a gazpacho. 

POTATOES: Mainly red potatoes this week. We will be digging some white and yellow ones as we clear out the patch too. My Cincinnati roots will give me a hankering for German Potato Salad. 

ONIONS: This will be the last of the Walla Walla’s. They are quite sweet and go well in all the recipes noted above! 

EGGPLANT OR OKRA: This has been a week of baba ganoush making. I made a large batch and froze it in pint containers. It is a really good, and quick, farm lunch. We use it as a spread on a sandwich that you can jazz up with whatever is seasonal. 

SALSA PACK: Fresh salsa is hard to beat and these ingredients are always a good combo. 

PEPPERS: They are starting to ripen and bring out their sweetness. Fry them up with some squash and onions. 

HERBS: Basil along with some rosemary sprigs. The fresh rosemary is especially nice on steamed potatoes with a little butter and salt. 

Farm report 

What lovely weather in which to work.  Every time I curse our midwestern weather, it goes and changes.  It's a very pleasant change both for all of us who work outside for a living and the plants and other animals that live on the farm.    

We have been happily planting the fall crops in this weather.  The last big rainfall was on the way as we finished putting in a big planting of kale, sprouting broccoli and napa cabbage. 

A pretty heavy downpour came and watered them in for us!

After a few days of dry weather, we were able to mulch the patch.

The last three days have been perfectly beautiful for outside work. Today we collected the tarp from where it has been killing fescue for the past month and placed it in the high tunnel. The dark, humid environment the tarp creates forces weed seeds to sprout and die while at the same time encouraging healthy soil life and decomposition of the cover crop. It will stay in there for the next month, until we are ready to plant for the winter season. 

But let’s not talk of winter now, enjoy being outside and soaking up the sunshine. I think that’s what this guy has in mind (or, it might be a female, hard to say).