In the Share: Week 14

In the Share: 

LEEKS: Last night we sautéed leeks with garlic and fennel, added canned smoked clams, and served it over lentils which turned out to be a really quick, nutritious and delicious meal. 

BULB FENNEL: Along with using it in the recipe above, it is great chopped into a fresh salad. 

BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE: Lots of fixings for a great fall salad. I can’t get enough butterhead lettuce. 

RED LEAF LETTUCE: These heads are sizing up as the days shorten and cool down a bit. 

GARLIC: A head of storage garlic. Keep it in your crisper between uses as garlic wants to sprout this time of year.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: This has become such a staple in our kitchen from now through to Spring. 

SPINACH: We had our first harvest this week as we thinned the plants to six inches apart. 

KALE/CHARD/BOK CHOI CHOICE: Many greens are at their peak right now. Tonight a fried rice stir fry with bok choi makes a hearty meal out of our veggies and eggs. 

Farm report: 

We are making the most of the dry, warm weather to wrap up the end of the outdoor season. A freeze is in the forecast for Friday morning and the harvest is in earnest. We have filled the walkin cooler to the brim with Napa cabbage, daikon radishes, green cabbages and bok choy. The last of the outdoor CSA lettuces, fennel and bok choy are coming in and going out in this week’s shares. After this week, the bulk of the harvest will be coming from the high tunnel. 

Sprouting broccoli, spinach, Swiss Chard, lettuce, bok choi, tat soi, celery, turnips, onions and radishes are thriving inside. At the moment, inside is not so different than outside as we have a pretty big remodel going on. 

Nine years ago when we built the high tunnel we used the standard Douglas fir boards for the bottom and top of the side walls. Sadly, with continual exposure to weather and constant humidity, it did not take very long for the wood to rot. When we looked at replacing the boards, we decided to spend more to get steel boards that have a longer lifespan. While we are happy with our decision, the work of attaching the steel to the structure has required some brute strength to drill countless holes through the steel. Luckily the crew has some muscle and after a bit of trial and error, we should be wrapping up the project tomorrow with time to spare before the freeze.

The plants inside will appreciate cooler weather.  They have quickly grown to a hefty size and need to slow down if we hope to hold them until the last week of the CSA in November.  We don't begrudge the end of summer, but look forward to the crisp days to come as life retracts towards our winter rest. From here onward we must soak up the sun while we can and enjoy the beauty of the natural world around us.

In the Share: Week 13

In the Share: 

NAPA CABBAGE: The heart of a good kimchi, these are the ones in our ferments. You can make your own with ingredients from the share. A nice mix is to have your kimchi be about 75% napa, and 25% root vegetables and spices. Check out the blog from October 2008 for a recipe https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-to-do-with-your-share-week-22.html 

ONIONS: Beautiful red onions. These onions store well and are multi-purpose. 

BOK CHOI: Fresh from the field, it will complement the napa in a kimchi. We used it in a nice stir-fry tonight. 

 GREEN PEPPERS: The last of the season. Good addition to the potato salad recipe below. 

POTATOES: German potato salad always goes good this time of year. Check out our September 2009 blog for a recipe. https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-to-do-with-your-share-week-18.html 

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: This recipe http://www.fairsharefarm.com/archive/info/Newsletter/2006/v3%20I18%20September%2013.pdf from our September 2006 newsletter for a curry might also help you use up any eggplant or peppers you have on hand. 

PURPLE DAIKON RADISH: A great addition to a kimchi recipe. It is also wonderful and colorful when grated into a salad. 

HERB: We will be harvesting the last of several herbs before the frost hits this week. Selection will vary. 

Farm report: 

Fall is officially here! The sun now begins its retreat to the darkness of winter. 

 

 Fall brings frost and one may come as early as Friday morning. Amongst the many preparations for frost , we continue to care for the last of the monarch nursery. Several have made the transition in the last few days including both of the chrysalis that attached to our dining room chairs. 

The fields that were in crops this year are now blanketed in their winter cover crops. Rye, vetch, peas and oats are growing despite a lack of rain for most of September. We have missed most of the big downpours and are very dry at the moment. Luckily we continue to irrigate and the fall crops are doing well. 

In the Share: Week 12

 

In the Share: 

LETTUCE: We’ve been looking forward to the return of the lettuce harvest. This week’s varieties are crisp and crunchy. 

KALE: Such a versatile vegetable.  This week we have been enjoying kale as a green addition to vegetable stew of potatoes and carrots. 

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: The crop is looking great, so expect broccoli in the shares for the rest of the CSA season. 

SWEET PEPPERS: We grilled out this past weekend and were reminded of how great these are off of the grill. 

EGGPLANT OR OKRA: The okra is waning with the recent cool down. Eggplant is also great on the grill. Marinate an hour or more with salt, vinegar and oil. Cook until charred and soft.  

CARROTS: Out of cold storage from the July harvest, they are sweet and were great on our fresh lettuce salad tonight. 

GARLIC: Chop it and add to some roasted eggplant or peppers. 

DAIKON RADISH: The CSA is getting the more petite variety we grow, not the foot long ones we use in the fermenting kitchen.  To temper the heat of fresh daikon chop it up, add salt and let it set a bit.  We like to cut the daikon into matchstick shape for raw snacking or as part of a stir fry. 

Farm Report: 

Today there was haze in the sky from the cataclysmic wildfires in the west, almost 2,000 miles away. I guess some of us needed a reminder of how interconnected we all are on this small planet. No wall can keep out the impact of global climate change. The longer we delay and deny in the face of overwhelming evidence, the more we will all suffer. 

Farmers have a front row seat to the changing climate as we work long hours in the open air. Extreme weather is an occupational hazard.  When we see photos of farm workers harvesting under orange skies we feel that the debate should be over, it is time to get to work fixing the problem. 

One way we combat climate change on the farm is by growing cover crops that increase the carbon stored in our soil’s organic matter. Pictured above is the beautiful crop of sorghum Sudan grass and Crotelaria that we incorporated into the soil this week. As it breaks down it will feed the garlic crop that we will plant in a month’s time. 

Our monarch nursery continues. Right now we have five caterpillars still growing, with twice that having transformed into chrysallis. It is amazing to watch the transformation which we have had the good fortune to catch twice. It is over in just a few minutes.

One managed to escape the nursery and set up shop under one of our chairs!  I guess when the time comes, the chair will have to move to the porch for awhile.

By next writing, we should have had several emerging as butterflies.  Fingers crossed!

In the Share: Week 2

In the Share: 

TAT SOI: As deep green as can be, tat soi is mild enough for a fresh salad, a stir fry, or even a kimchi. Some of this week’s bunches have some flowertops, all of which is very edible and add color to your dish.

RED LEAF LETTUCE The lettuce is starting to size up well. The “New Red Fire” variety is both crispy and tender.

BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE: A favorite around here. Cut it into wedges and dress with shredded root vegetables, nuts, raisins and dressing.

RADISH/SALAD TURNIP BUNCH: The radish is crisp and fresh, while the turnips are sweet and juicy. These are some of our best.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: It seems to us that the broccoli is only getting sweeter. It is good both raw and cooked when topped with mustard vinaigrette.

ASPARAGUS: The asparagus plants are starting this season strong and we are happy to be able to get a bunch to everyone. Snap off the tough, white end and enjoy this spring treat. We dusted the spears with garlic and onion powder before frying in a little oil until crisp.

CILANTRO/DILL BUNCH: A fresh garnish for most anything you cook, we like to add it to yogurt to make a dressing/dip.

SPINACH OR CHARD: These two greens are actually in the same botanical family. Only spinach is recommended for fresh eating. This week’s chard is bagged, so there is not as much stem as with the bunches. So all you have to do is rinse it, cut it up, and add it to your pasta sauce, soup or potatoes. 

Farm report: 

Greetings from the farm! Our “home office” is the great outdoors which is a lot quieter these days without the community working with us. In the evening we go indoors and catch up on the news and our hearts sink, but during the day our spirits are lifted by the natural world that surrounds us. The high tunnel has never been happier.

Turnips, red lettuce, spinach and sprouting broccoli fill the frame. All of what is in the share this week, except asparagus, is coming out of the high tunnel. After this share, the indoor pickings will be slim and we will need to rely on the outside fields to keep us fed. The freeze two weeks ago did do some damage. It may be a lighter share in two weeks as a result.

The freeze came under the covers.  Some of the strawberry flowers were lost. Any with black centers won’t bear fruit. Luckily many more healthy flowers are blooming now.

The aerial shots were from the last transmissions of our first drone-SKYBOT-1. Too lightweight for a stiff wind, we lost the little guy in the pond. The pics do a good job of showing how we have changed from a rectangular farming system to one on the contour.

 The swales are placed to move water throughout the farm, rather than letting it rush away and erode the soil. The space between the swales, (aka, the “alleys”) is where we will be growing our crops, pasturing livestock, planting perennials, and managing water. We are glad we could get a view from above of what we have been doing. It helps us better visualize our progress.

In the Share: Week 14

BULB FENNEL: Chop the white part of a couple stalks along with some fronds and add to any fresh salad.

SWEET POTATOES: Dug several weeks ago and cured in the greenhouse. We’ve cutting them into wedges and covering with a cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic rub. Toss in olive oil, then the spice mix, and bake at 425 30 minutes or until browned and tender.

LEEKS: Started in the greenhouse in February and in the ground since March, these slow growing cousins of onions are worth the wait. Check out this recipe from our first season in 2004. www.fairsharefarm.com/archive/info/Newsletter/2004/week_18_september22.pdf

LETTUCE: Big, leafy heads from the high tunnel.

ASIAN GREENS: It’s a great time of year for a fresh stir fry. Check out these recipes from our first blog of 2011 https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/2011/05/welcome-to-vegetables.html

KALE OR CHARD: happy, leafy greens

GREEN PEPPERS: Summer’s swan song, a great stir fry addition.

SAGE: Chop the sage leaves fine and add them to the sweet potato rub described above.

RECIPE: Going through old blogs checking for leek recipes, I came across the final blog of 2016. https://fairsharenews.blogspot.com/2016/10/what-to-do-with-your-share-week-24.html. Leeks and fennel were center stage, just as they are this week. It’s a nice tradition to carry on.

FARM REPORT:
Just two weeks ago, the summer sizzled and the fields were full of flowers and a buzz with insects including a migrating monarch who is hopefully far to the south by now.

Saturday morning, frost laid a heavy blanket over the farm. In a few hours, the heat-loving plants were gone and our fields turned into a graveyard. Only the hardiest roots and leafy greens survive. In anticipation for the big event, the farm crew worked quickly to dig the sweet potatoes and pick crate after crate of green peppers.

Meanwhile, inside the protected high tunnel the plants are happily oblivious to the drama.

Nature puts on quite a show out here. You never know what you are going to see next. After one little shower last week, this was the view from the farm house.

Fair Share Farm CSA---Week 15

BOK CHOI: These hearty Asian greens love to grow in the fall. They are getting bigger by the day. Enjoy them in a stir-fry or any other way you would use a mustard green. They make a simple dish if sautéed with garlic and garnished with some lemon. They are also great in a stir-fry soup.

ONION: The last of the season, these wonderful alliums are the storage variety and should hold well, though they are good enough to eat right away. A little stronger than the sweet onions of the spring and summer, they are great cooked.

RADISH: Growing a perfect radish is harder than you think, but we may have nailed it this week. These beauties out of the high tunnel are a gorgeous red color with very little heat. Juicy and crunchy they are good in a salad or as a sandwich with cheese or butter.

SALAD TURNIPS: Harvested out of the field, these turnips are a little blemished but packed with flavor. A little peeling may be in order, but then simply slice them up and eat them raw. Or add them to the above mentioned stir-fry soup.Yum!

GARLIC: Garlic returns to the shares. We use it in just about everything we cook. It's earthy flavor captures the essence of the farm.

LETTUCE X 2: The lettuce this week and next is coming from the high tunnel. They need to be picked this week as most of them are peaking. The flavor and nutrition comes from our efforts to constantly increase the high tunnel's fertility, through animal rotations, cover cropping, beneficial insect habitat,  water management, and reduced-tillage.

GREENS CHOICE: The greens abound right now. Choices include sprouting broccoli, kale and chard.

HERB CHOICE: We will be clipping down the rosemary plants in the high tunnel to prep for the coming winter. We hope to give everyone a sprig or two mixed with other herbs. Check the label on the crate for your choices.

This week my sister Jeanne Ruggieri and her husband Alan, as well as a high school chum of mine, Joe, paid the farm a weekend visit. It was a splendid time that included CSA work, winemaking and relaxing. It was a beautiful time on the farm. We are always glad when friends and family come to visit so they can better understand what life on the farm is really like.

As we head into the second month of fall the summer cover crops have given up their spirit. So we mow them down and turn them in so that they can provide nutrition to the land when the growing season begins again in the spring.

And if you have not made your farm shift yet for the year we have 3 Saturdays left for the season. We are appreciative of the work the CSA performs at the farm every year. The benefits are countless, both for us and for you.

Week 3: Spring, gone so soon?

In The Share:
SPROUTING BROCCOLI:  Our new favorite plant on the farm.  It seems to handle the temperature swings better than most of our other cool season (ha!) crops.  No need for trimming, just chop it up or eat it whole, it is wonderfully tender.

ASPARAGUS:  Enjoy it while it lasts!

LETTUCE:  Usually we pick the lettuce the day before it goes to our CSA members, but the heat sent us in to save the last of the crops out of the high tunnel before they cooked.  Some of their outer leaves are tip-burned. If you tear that part off, there's still a good amount of juicy center.

SWISS CHARD:  One of our favorite greens to add to almost any dish. This first picking from the field is very tender and fresh.

RADISHES AND TURNIPS:  The heat has turned them spicy, so we recommend a quick stir fry. If you are eating them fresh a little salt can help with any bitterness.

KALE: A first picking here too, these leaves are ready for your recipes.

CILANTRO AND DILL:  The herb bunches this week are a lush as anything we have every grown. This abundance calls for making a dip, heavy on the greenery. To 16oz of sour cream add 3/4 cup chopped herbs, 2 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Good with raw sprouting broccoli.

Farm Report:
The heat is on!  It takes a toll on the cool season crops like lettuce.  This week's lettuce has been under shade cloth for the past week as we attempt to hold it for the CSA shares.  Butterhead lettuce and 90 degree temperatures don't mix so good.

While the Spring wilts away, Summer is in the ground and growing.

All of the first round of hot weather crops are in:  tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, okra, tomatillos and eggplant thanks to the hands of many.

Speaking of farm hands, Tom and I wanted to give a shoutout to Semra Fetahovic, who apprenticed on the farm in 2015 and has returned to work with us for the next month.  Semra is set to complete her Masters in Organic Agriculture at a German university.  When not helping with turnip picking, she is helping us with our Instagram feed and ferment sales. Check out the Instagram stories from today at fairsharefarm!

CSA Week 2---Great Greens and More

In The Share
TAT SOI: When a vegetable is this deep green, you know it's good for you
RADISHES: Slow to grow this spring, these are the first
BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE: The first butterhead of the season is always a treat
RED LEAF LETTUCE: Good for everything from sandwiches to salads
SPROUTING BROCCOLI: The plants in the field have started to make their first flower buds. Look for this broccoli cousin in your share for awhile.
BRAISING MIX: Greens that are best sautéed, perfect for a dish of mac & cheese & greens
GARLIC CHIVES OR ARUGULA:  Every dish deserves a little topping.

What to Do With Your Share
This is a good time of year to take advantage of the opportunity to add such an array of delicious, fresh greens to your meals. We offer a couple of suggestions here to compliment your shares. On the Asian green side of things, here are recipes for both bok choy soup and stir fry soup. These are both especially good if you have a good broth to use. Some folks keep it creamy with coconut milk.

The braising mix and sprouting broccoli make a nice addition to either a boxed or home-made version of mac & cheese. Greens can be a part of many dishes, adding both heartiness and nutrition.

Farm Report
It has been quite a couple of weeks since we last wrote.  On Tuesday last, we were a part of a six-person crew that carried out a controlled burn of the 150 acres of native grasses on the family farmland that surrounds us.

This was not our first rodeo, as they say, and we managed to get it all done safely by the early afternoon.  If you look closely, in the background is the green oasis of Fair Share Farm surrounded by the smoldering moon scape.

Native grasses have a long relationship with fire which reduces the competition from cool season grasses and shrubs, while at the same time cleaning up old thatch that can smother the new season's growth.

Meanwhile, the vegetable farm work continues at a Spring sprint.  The fields are filling up with the last of the cool season crops.  The weather has switched from winter to summer in a short week's time, so we will see how all of our lettuces, cabbages, carrots, onions and potatoes hold up.  The potatoes are just now peaking out of the soil.

Our new flock of laying hens (I guess they are technically pullets) are getting close to 3 months old and growing well.  We are hoping they start laying by the end of July.

CSA Week 1---Our 15th Season is Underway

Swiss chard and alyssum in the high tunnel

In The Share
CABBAGE: From cold storage.  These are sweet right down to the core, so don't throw that core out but enjoy it as a crunchy snack.  
CARROTS: Another vegetable we have kept in cold storage to hedge our bets. Harvested in early November, they are a real treat.
BOK CHOI: Fresh from the high tunnel.  Check out our stir fry primer blogpost from 2010.
SPINACH: Enough for a good omelet or a hearty addition to a salad.
CHARD OR SPROUTING BROCCOLI: If you are new to the CSA, the sprouting broccoli can be chopped or used whole, no trimming necessary.
GREEN GARLIC: From the field.  They are smaller than other years, but very tender.  Tonight I chopped it up and added it to sautéed chard during the last minute of cooking.

Farm Report
Greetings and welcome to the first week of the 2018 CSA!  We, farmers Tom and Rebecca, have joined forces on the blog. From now on, you will have one blogpost from us for each CSA share instead of us writing separate ones.  Tom is still covering the how to eat things portion and I cover the farm report with some overlap.

This space is where I (Rebecca) usually gripe about the weather, but holy hell what a Spring this has been!  Ice, snow, and freezing temperatures for the last three weeks have thrown our schedule for a loop.  We did our best to adapt to the forecast by double covering all of the transplants already in the field, holding the many more inside the greenhouse and putting covers on all of our tender seedlings that had just popped their little heads above the soil.  It appears our efforts have paid off.

Sprouting broccoli happy under cover

With the forecast looking warm for the foreseeable future, we have wasted no time getting back to planting.   

freshly planted cabbages

Amidst all of the weather drama, we must also acknowledge a milestone.  This year marks the fifteenth year of the Fair Share Farm CSA!  The community of good folks who have supported the farm over the years are many and we would like to thank you all.  Whether you are brand new to the CSA or a 15-year veteran we are filled with gratitude for the life that you have breathed into our family farm. 

If you want to get a snapshot of our first CSA year, check out our blog post from 2013 where we reminisce about it:  First year of the CSA. It is part of a series we did in 2012 recounting the history of the farm and farmers back during our 10 year anniversary. So enjoy those past chronicles as we begin another season.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 14

The cool down that has been October has started my cravings for cold weather comfort food. Soups and stews are back on the menu, and there is a bounty on the farm this fall. It has been a good season to preserve, and hope you can take advantage of the opportunities this year has presented. Check out the bulk list for recipes for pickled beets and green pepper relish.

The ripe sweet peppers that are still filling the harvest crates are a great compliment to the other vegetables in the share. A stir-fry with this week's greens is always enhanced by colorful, fresh peppers. Add some broth, stock, ferment juice, or other cooking liquid and you can have a wonderfully hearty soup.

Stir-fry ingredients

What to Do With Your Share---Week 1

Welcome to the first week of the 2017 CSA season. Looking forward to sharing another year of farming with you. We are glad you have returned as we re-shape the CSA for a year.

One thing that isn't changing is that we will put out these blog posts on Tuesday night to help you better enjoy the share. If you are looking for a recipe suggestion you can start a search right here on our blog, as we have posted recipes for every share since 2008.

If you want to cook fresh, you can chop up just about everything in the share, dress it, toss it, and eat it. For a spicy dressing try a sesame oil based Asian dressing, or a creamy one using some Fair Share Farm eggs.

If you want to cook the veggies check out our stir fry primer and Spring Stir Fry recipe. That includes the gailan or sprouting broccoli. It is one of our favorite vegetables and we plan to grow more this spring.

Ferment Share:
This week's ferment share is what we call a sauerkraut slaw. Made with our best storage vegetables, it is great as a condiment, or as a side slaw. Put it in a soup, on top of a fresh salad, on a grilled cheese sandwich, or to accompany some fish.

We are happy to be starting our ferment sales. We may have a lag as we wait for this year's first harvests. We hope it will be a year filled with variety for you.

tree frog in the marjoram transplant

What to Do With Your Share---Week 7

I'm not sure that we have ever seen such an abrupt segue between spring and summer. With 11 days in the 90's leading up to the first day of summer, it is already mid-summer hot.

One crop for us that we can time well with the summer solstice is the Walla Walla sweet onions. They bulb up based on hours of daylight, so they are actually one of our more predicable harvests. Tonight when I cut one up I couldn't tell if my knife was extra sharp, or the onion was especially tender. If you like raw onions, these are prime.

We have harvested all the Chinese cabbage, getting it out of the heat and into our new cooler. We like it so many ways; cooked in a stir fry, chopped into a slaw, or fermented into kim chi. If you want to ferment the cabbage, or other items in your share, we suggest you go to our friends Tara Whitsitt's Fermentation on Wheels page.

Potatoes are earlier than ever this year, and we hope you can taste the freshness in these early diggings. While varieties may vary this first harvest, any will go well in a hash. We suggest the substituting them in the sweet potato cabbage hash recipe from the fall of 2012.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 4

May has been great this year. If we were a baseball player we would have a pretty good batting average. Our weakest hitter so far has been the root vegetables, but hakurei turnips and a few radishes finally step up to the plate. Looking forward to keeping them on the roster for the near future.

A favorite of ours with the hakureis is a curry from this blog exactly 5 years ago in 2011. We also recommend the curried spring vegetable stir fry from 2014.

The Asian greens haven't seemed to stop growing. This week's bok choi is a variety called joi choi. The bed it was planted in this April had some remnant seeds of buckwheat in it. These small grain plants are not a real weed problem, as they are easily hoed out or killed by frost. The flowers are an early source of food for flying insects and perhaps a reason we have so few pests this spring.

The herb choice this week is a mixed bunch. See if you can tell the parsley apart from the cutting celery and the dill from the herb fennel. This group of herbs are all ready for picking now and can be used to garnish just about any dish. Try the cutting celery with a stir fry, or the herb fennel with your chard.

We hope you got the email about the  strawberry patch Upick. It is open until it runs out of berries for members and their families. The kiddos who have come so far have all left red-handed. It is supposed to be a beautiful week and we need a least a few folks to keep the patch picked.

In the meantime we can spend some time getting the tomato beds weeded, staked and mulched. Make hay while the sun is shining.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 2

Things are growing fast out here. The alliums are plumping up, greens are peaking, and the first fruits of the season are here. We like what we see out there right now, and are enjoying the nice harvest.

For the next several weeks it will be stir-fry season. The Asian greens are quite happy with the weather and have sized up as well as they can during spring. So this time of year we like to link you to Twenty Tips for Stir-frying by Rhonda Parkinson. Another suggestion is Stir Fry Soup from our blog five years ago.

Bok choi

Tonight at dinner we made a fried rice with egg and vegetables.  Regularly having cooked rice in the fridge, a boatload of vegetables, and fresh eggs at hand makes this a go-to meal. We cook the veggies first, add several eggs to the middle of the wok to scramble, throw in some rice, stir it together. and cook until the rice crisps up a bit. A hearty meal.

On the way to making fried rice with egg and vegetables

Our recipe above is a little ahead of the harvest curve, with some hakurei turnips and gailan, but it can be made with most any of the roots and greens you have in our share. Short on fresh ginger, we even used crystallized ginger for flavor. What doesn't get eaten tonight is perfect for lunch.

In the Share: Week 28

lacewing on the lettuce

LETTUCE  blushed butter oaks.  Lacewings eat aphids which can sometimes be a pest in protected environments like the high tunnel.  It is nice to see our beneficial friends.

ARUGULA  big leaves from the high tunnel.

RADISHES  sweet red ones from the high tunnel

BROCCOLI/GAI LAN  the bunches will include both - stems, leaves, buds are all edible.

SPINACH the first pick from the high tunnel

CILANTRO  big plants are thriving in the high tunnel

TOKYO BEKANA  This is a new one for all of us.  Similar to Napa cabbage but more open.  It grew pretty large, so plan on some stir fry or coleslaw soon in your future. 

BULB FENNEL  from the field.

POTATOES choice of Desiree or Fingerling varieties

NEXT WEEK:  lettuce, carrots, greens, herbs, garlic

FARM REPORT:

Once again post-season baseball for our hometown team, the Kansas City Royals, coincides with our post-season.  The extended season for 53 shares starts this week with greens from the high tunnel, fennel and broccoli from the field and potatoes from storage. 

The farm has been a quiet place these past few days.  The employees and apprentices finished their season on Saturday. Before they left, we built a big raised bed with old stones from the barn.  After the deluge we experienced this summer, raised beds seem like a safe bet. 

Royal blue skies