What to Do With Your Share---Week 23

We expect to see a big change in the field tomorrow. The summer crops will be dying, after having produced an impressive harvest. This time of the season can be rather abrupt, but we welcome it as a sign to move on.

The plants are going, but the fruits remain this week. There is still a splash of color in with those green peppers and tomatoes. One good combo of your many share items is a hearty hash.

There are at least three hash recipes that have appeared in the blog. A sweet potato cabbage hash, beet hash, and green bean, potato, onion hash. These recipes generally involve shredding or dicing the major ingredients, and pan frying them until browned. Tonight's combo for us included white sweet potatoes, green and hot peppers, onions, and dill.

To plagiarize our 10/6/09 blog post... As year 6 10 of the CSA draws to a close "what do I do with green tomatoes?" hopefully isn't a questions members have in mind. Fried green tomatoes, green tomato and pepper relish, green tomato salsa, and green tomato curry are but a few of the recipes from our archives. Tried and eaten many times by us farmers, we can attest to the wonderful flavor green tomatoes can impart upon a dish.

In the Share - Week 22

BROCCOLI (F/P) We have picked most of the first heads and now are picking the side shoots.  Full shares get broccoli and a choice of more broccoli or cauliflower.

SWEET POTATOES (F/P)  big, beautiful orange-fleshed Beauregards

LETTUCE (F/P)  A mix of varieties from the field.

BULB FENNEL (F/P)  Whoa there, the fennel has grown fast and large.  See Tom's post for some culinary suggestions.

CHOICE OF GREENS (F) Bok choy, tat soi, kale or arugula

BEETS OR SWEET PEPPERS (F/P) 

KOHLRABI (F)  These are the larger, fall season varieties.  Don't let their size scare you, they are tender and juicy.

GARLIC (F/P)  We are saving all of the rest of the garlic for planting later this month. 

TOMATOES (F)  We picked green tomatoes today.  Expect them in your share next week.  Until then enjoy the last of the ripe ones.

WATERMELON RADISH (F/P)  See Tom's post for more on this vivid fall treat.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, thyme, or rosemary


NEXT WEEK:  Broccoli, green peppers, green tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, carrots, lettuce and leeks.

FARM REPORT:

The farm crew gave up a day off last week to take advantage of the beautiful weather for re-siding the back of the barn.  Thanks to a good platform designed by my dad, we had a sturdy work area.  The old lumber came off quickly in the morning and the boards went up in the afternoon.   

The end result looks pretty nice if we do say so ourselves.

With frost coming any day now, we have been very focused on harvesting the tender crops.  The sweet potato harvest continues with 400 feet left to dig.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 22

Last year, because of the hot, early spring the season was ending this week. This year, due to the cold, wet, late spring we still have two weeks to go. And a good thing, because there is lots in the field to harvest and eat.

One new item is the watermelon radish. We plan to have more in future shares for those of you that are fond of them. And what's not to be fond of. This year they are at their juiciest.

If you are not familiar with them it is worth noting that almost all of the radish's hotness is in the skin. Cut it into rounds and peel, and you have the most striking raw vegetable you will ever ate. Great to snack on, or grate into a salad as a colorful addition.

Peel the heat off the radish (or keep it on for a kick)

Bulb fennel is also new to the shares this week. Use it anywhere you would celery. It is also great chopped and added to a fresh lettuce salad, or roasted.

As far as the sweet potatoes go, we received a great recipe suggestion last year and put it in the blog-Roasted Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges. It is a regular dish for us, perfect for the toaster oven.

While we are feeding you, we are also feeding the soil and our new batch of chickens. We recently turned under our summer cover crops to let them digest in the ground until the spring. The chicks are being fed a ration of organic grains, along with some of the tomatoes, lettuce leaves, and other goodies that would normally go to the compost pile. They are also feeding the soil as we move their trailer down the beds. Thanks go to Kathi Whitman for selling us the trailer and run before she moved to Utah.

Rocky loves the newly spaded beds

Chick trailer, "breezeway", outdoor run and electric fence

In the Share - Week 21

romaine lettuces

LETTUCE (F/P) Our best guess is that last hot spell gave the lettuce a fright because almost half of our varieties are going into premature bolt, including some precious heads in the high tunnel.  Crud!  Others are holding on strong and everybody will get one of those until they run out.  Some may also get some baby heads that had to be cut before they get their full bolt on.

TOMATOES (F/P)  The harvest is dwindling, but the plants continue to slowly ripen fruit.  We barely missed a frost this weekend so we'll have them for at least another week.

LEEKS (F/P)  The first digging of the fall leeks.  Can't wait!

BROCCOLI (F/P)  The broccoli is starting to settle down a bit and cold nights make it sweet.

CAULIFLOWER (P)  Partial shares get a choice of cauliflower or more broccoli.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)  The ripe ones are getting scarcer but these warm days help. 

CARROTS (F)  Orange sweeties from our recent digging.  There's another bed out there that we are looking forward to eating all winter.

BOK CHOI (F) We planted whatever seed we had left including red ones, white-stemmed and green-stemmed varieties.

HERB CHOICE (F)  Cilantro, dill or basil.

NEXT WEEK:  More peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and beets.  Bulb fennel debuts.

FARM REPORT:

Fall is easily our favorite time of year.  The air is clean and crisp.  Snuggled in our hoodies and jackets we are greeted by the morning sunrise a little later every day.  With nothing left to plant, we focus on the harvest.

fall morning radish pull

In any extra time we have on CSA mornings, we tackle the sweet potato harvest which is breaking all previous records.  Last week we dug a whopping 680 lbs. out of a 200 ft. row.  With several more rows to dig, we encourage anyone who still owes hours to get on out here. 

Luke and Lorne leading the way

When the planting ends, work on the infrastructure begins.  First on the list, the back of the barn.  Some of you may remember when we re-faced the front of the barn two years ago.  Some of you even helped us on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year.  Luckily we stayed injury-free and the barn is much improved.  This time around because of the lay of the land we are fifteen feet up off the ground for the entire project.  For this reason, we are sticking with the "professionals" on this job.  The farm crew plus an extra hand here or there should be able to get the job done. 

back of the barn (before)



What to Do With Your Share---Week 21

Change is setting in. Less than a month ago we had a 5 day stretch of 95-100 degrees. Now we are dodging frost and living comfortably. October days can be the most beautiful of the year. The cooler temps help the fall plants grow best, and have also slowed down many of the munching bugs.

Rocky joining us for the morning harvest

The stars in the field lately have been the broccoli and cauliflower. It has been wonderful eating as much as we can. They are two of the best raw vegetables to eat for nutrition, taste and texture. And if you have a favorite dressing, they are the perfect vessel.

Peeled broccoli has beautiful color too.

We eat lots of our broccoli simply cooked; by steaming and then mixing with some butter, lemon juice and salt. It's good at any temperature.

The other thing we do a lot of is peel our broccoli stem. Fresh broccoli is tender throughout. It is a shame to waste anything but a little peel and a trimming of the end. If you have not done this before , we hope you try it and get even more of a meal from your share.

In the Share - Week 20

BROCCOLI (F/P)  The broccoli packs a flavor punch this week.  We are blaming those hot days in our recent past.  Steamed with some butter and lemon is all the help it needs.

TOMATOES (F/P)  The harvest is about over, so enjoy them while they last.

CABBAGE (F/P)  Choice of Chinese (Napa) or standard cabbage.  See Tom's post for some helpful hints for making slaw.

SWEET PEPPERS (F)  Ripening is slowing down considerably.  Expect green ones soon.

SWEET POTATOES (F/P)  O'Henry are creamy yellow sweet potatoes.  These are the first of many yellow and orange sweet potatoes out in the field waiting to be dug.  If you still need to punch in your hours, come out on a harvest day and more likely than not we will be digging the sweets! 

BROCCOLI OR CAULIFLOWER (F)  Full shares get a choice of either more broccoli, or a cauliflower.

ARUGULA (F/P)  Our second planting is coming on well and the lettuce isn't quite ready, so enjoy an arugula salad this week.

RADISHES (F/P)  If the heat of the radish is too much for you, try lightly steaming or dressing with a honey vinaigrette.

HERB CHOICE (F/P)  Sage, cilantro and basil

GARLIC (F/P)

NEXT WEEK:  More peppers, broccoli and cauliflower.  Leeks, carrots, beets and lettuce return.

FARM REPORT:

What a whirlwind of a week it has been.  Thursday we replaced the plastic on our 30 x 96 ft. high tunnel.  It was quite the job for six of us and luckily we didn't rip it in two, but we sure tried!  It went better than our first attempt a year ago and we have new ideas for improvements in 2014.  Today we put the ends and doors back on so she's ready to be buttoned up when frost threatens. 

This week we also began to break new ground in the far field below the grapes.  In 2012, sheep on loan from the Parkers grazed.  This summer the chickens ran through.  Now it is our turn.  Tom took out Grandpa, the family's 1962 International 504 bought used by John Graff, Sr. in late sixties. The discs are of a similar vintage. After several passes the ground is chopped up a bit and ready for spading.

Add in the regular harvest routine and then, by some miracle, Tom and I escaped the farm for a full 48 hours.   Between the Saturday rain (very nice!) and Monday afternoon we lounged at a B & B in St. Joseph, Missouri.  It was a welcome rest after the normal rollercoaster of a season we get here on the edge of the prairie.  Besides napping and eating too much pizza, we also managed a walk along the river, 3 antique malls, and several museums.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 20

Time for fall cabbage this week. And choices abound as we hand out round, flathead and Chinese varieties. They are all good eaten raw in a slaw. The trick to a good slaw is to shred the cabbage, salt it (about 1 tbsp. per medium head) and let it sit in a colander and drain for about an hour. Shake and press off any excess water and you have slaw that will remain crunchy and not get watery.

The next step in slaw making is choosing what extra ingredients to add, and what dressing to make. The first thing is to see if you have any veggies in your fridge or share that would enhance a cabbage salad. Peeled and grated kohlrabi, radishes, peppers, pears, apples, raisins, and nuts all go well in slaw. Herbs like cilantro, parsley or chives make a good garnish.

For the dressing the possibilities are pretty endless. We often use either an Asian dressing (sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, honey, ginger), a Mediterranean one (olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, garlic), or a mayo style (mayonnaise, white vinegar, honey, ground black pepper).

For the first time since early March, Rebecca and I were off the farm overnight. We took a two evening rest in St. Joseph, Missouri. It was well worth the journey as we stayed amused and relaxed.

Our visit to the Glore Psychological Museum included a look at the impressive vegetable production, storage and processing operation of the former State Lunatic Asylum No. 2. As the copy below shows, they weren't small potatoes (the facility housed 3,000 people). From what I can tell from the lower photo, they even fermented cucumbers in quantity.