In the Share - Week 12

TOMATOES (F/P) It is “deliously hot” at the farm according to one of our recent guests. Nothing tastes better than a ripe heirloom tomato grown in a hot, dry Midwestern summer.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) We don’t wash any of our tomatoes on the farm. It keeps them tasty and healthy. Wait until you are ready to eat them and give them a quick rinse.

SALSA PACK (F/P) The tomatillos are putting out the fruit right now. Que rica la salsa!

CARROTS (F/P) More big orange ones from the last harvest.

PURSLANE (F/P) What’s that, you say? Isn’t it a weed? Actually purslane is quite tasty and full of Omega 3s. Read Tom’s post for more info.

TROPEA and WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F/P) See Tom’s post for a great onion and tomato sauce recipe. I’m eating it right now and it is divine!

OKRA, SWEET PEPPERS AND EGGPLANT (F) Hopefully soon we’ll have enough sweet peppers for everyone. They are starting to ripen in large quantities. The damaged ones always ripen first, so there will be a crate of “seconds” to take what you want.

HERBS (F) Basil and summer savory

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, salsa packs, okra and peppers. Potatoes and garlic.

FARM REPORT
Here we are at the mid-season mark. Week 12 of 24 has arrived. Now is a good time to pause for a moment and assess the weeks behind us and look to the weeks ahead. Overall, Tom and I were really pleased with the spring and early summer shares. Despite a shortened strawberry season, the shares were hefty thanks to some big lettuces and spring turnips, among others.

The summer started out pretty good with a nice carrot and beet harvest. The summer squashes, cucumbers and beans started out promising but the later plantings have fizzled in the hot, dry conditions.
Right now we are thrilled, if a bit daunted, by the tomato harvest. Last week alone we picked 1,600 lbs. of heirloom, hybrid, paste, drying and cherry tomatoes. Currently, the overabundance of tomatoes is making up for the lack of many of the other summer fruits that have withered in the heat. As CSA farmers our first priority is to fill the shares by minimizing our risk of crop loss. That’s why one of our big investments on the farm is a reliable irrigation system. The system is working very well right now, but it has it’s limits. We have a lot of field to cover, including full-grown summer crops that need a deep drink and newly planted fall crops that need steady moisture. We have had a difficult time getting some of the fall crops established. When the temperatures are extreme some seeds refuse to sprout and flowers drop without forming fruit.
Not all crops are faring poorly. The heat-loving sweet potatoes and okra are thriving. We also have a good crop of onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots that will keep us in staples for a good while. The winter squash and melons bit the dust early on due to the dry weather. A few winter squash may go in the shares next week. For the fall there are rows upon rows of newly transplanted cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli that will hopefully fill our bellies in October if we can keep them alive until then. But really there’s only one constant when it comes to Missouri weather, it’s bound to change soon. Just last weekend we got a nice break and a little rain shower during the Saturday harvest. We managed to squeeze everyone in the packing room until it stopped.

In the Share - Week 11

summer harvest

TOMATOES (F/P) We thought last week’s harvest was pretty good. This week is monumental. Over 800 lbs. just today. Each share is getting about 5-6 lbs. We will pick the cherry tomatoes tomorrow and likely have lots of them too. Here’s a photo i.d. of some of our heirloom varieties:

clockwise from upper left: Green Zebra, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Pineapple, Cherokee Purple, Amana Orange and Rose.

KENNEBEC POTATOES (F/P) an old-time favorite from Maine. They are great mashed or baked.

HARDNECK GARLIC (F/P) Musik garlic is a porcelain hardneck variety and one of our favorites because of it’s huge cloves that make adding lots of garlic to every dish easy.

SALSA PACK (F/P) The tomatillos are producing well. Pick up some extra on the bulk list and preserve some chile verde for the winter.

CABBAGE (F/P) It is perfect weather for some coleslaw.

EGGPLANT or OKRA (F) We picked the eggplant smaller this week as the blast furnace in our field is taking its toll. A few less fruit to care for will hopefully help the plants hold on a while longer.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) You don’t have to be a celebrated chef to appreciate Fair Share Farm cherry tomatoes, but when they are served to you in a duck egg pasta with chanterelle mushrooms and rabbit you look at them in a whole new light.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Basil, summer savory, thyme, tarragon or a dried herb.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes and salsa packs. Carrots and onions. Perhaps some ripe sweet peppers.

FARM REPORT
The events of the last week seem like a dream to me. On Sunday Tom and I were sweating in the herb garden pulling weeds. Just a few hours later we sat just a few feet away and dined on seven-courses of local food skillfully done with 150 new friends. Read Tom’s post for all the details on Outstanding in the Field including some photos of ours and more from our neighbors at the table who took lots of great shots.

In the midst of the big event, we were still full-time farmers and this was a big harvest week on the farm. The last of the garlic was dug and hung in the barn and all varieties look pretty good. On Saturday an extraordinary crew of CSA members brought in the bulk of the onion crop, over 1,800 row feet of onions and laid them all out on the screens in the upper barn. This is also peak tomato season and this year the fruit are really coming in. We picked over 1,000 lbs. of tomatoes last week and it looks like we are going to top that this week.

All of this work and more got done despite the blazing heat. We continue to keep to our “tropical” schedule of starting early, breaking at mid-day and doing more in the evenings. The plants would surely love to take a break at mid-day also, but instead we are trying to keep the water flowing all day every day. The water pressure does not allow for all crops to be watered at once, so each section of the field gets a half-day of watering before it’s on to the next one. So far we are managing to keep the plants alive for the most part. A good summer thunderstorm full of a couple inches of rain would be much appreciated however.

What To Do With Your Share---Week 11

Sunrise tomato harvest

When a bounty of food enters the home, a plan is needed to make the most of the surplus. With this week’s share one thing you can do is eat as many fresh tomatoes as you can, as such windfalls are fleeting. Eating a whole fresh tomato, cut into thick wedges, and topped with some salt and olive oil is an opportunity that should not be missed. The simpler the better.

You can also juice them into a drink. Tomato juice with some salt, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco is a refreshing drink.

You can also make sauce. We made some on Monday with a couple crates of tomatoes one step away from compost. Slicers like you are getting are make a tasty sauce, but it is a bit thin unless you cook it down. We cook ours in an electric roaster on the porch. It keeps the house cooler.



Another option is to freeze your excess tomatoes. Drop them into a pot of boiling water for 45 seconds to one minute, then remove with a slotted spoon, and place in cold water. The skins should be cracked . Peel the skins off the tomatoes, squeeze and drain them before placing in a freezer bag.

Outstanding in the Field Dinner

Well the Outstanding in the Field Dinner was a rousing success. After all the planning and preparing to host, things went off as well as we could have ever hoped for. The weather cooperated, as it was the coolest day in the last week or so.

My sister Fran and her husband Woody visited for the weekend. Along with some good family time, Woody helped us put up our new barn door the morning of the dinner. That, along with all the onions the CSA crew helped us harvest and fill the barn with gave the old timbers a new shine.



Things began on Saturday night when the OITF crew rolled onto the farm near midnight after a 14 hour trip from Colorado. The next morning they slowly roused themselves before quickly hitting full stride.



We walked the farm with founder Jim Denevan, discussing how to lay things out. He then mulled things over with his staff and they promptly set up the communal table in the field where it rose up and over a ridge. One of the guests said you could see the curvature of the earth.It was neat to watch their efficiency and timing. We really enjoyed their visit.







Next the restaurant crew arrived after working all night. They too went right to work. That included cooking the ribeye in a charcoal roaster. A picture of the roaster in action is here. This link has been shared with us from Bud Hirsch, who sat at the table with us and has linked an entire album of photos from the dinner.



150 people trickled onto the farm around 5pm for a reception and farm tour and electric tractor demo by Rebecca. We then sat down to a dinner in our field that included green bean lollipops; duck egg fettuccini with goose confit, chanterelles and cherry tomatoes; and roasted Majinola Wagyu rib eye, carrot gnocchi, onion, arugula, romaine with sweet vermouth and black raspberry. Jonathan Justus and his staff cooked an incredible meal. I get tired just thinking about all the effort they put into it. All of the guests seemed to have a wonderful time.

Bulk List---Week 11

Paste tomatoes (firsts) - $3.00/lb; $2.50/lb over 10 lbs
Tomato seconds (heirloom and hybrids) - $2.50/lb; $2.00/lb over 10 lbs
Drying tomatoes: $4.00/qt
Tomatillos: $2.00/lb
Salsa Packs: $2.50/pack
Jalapenos: $2.50/pint
Swiss chard: $3.00/bunch
Carrots: $3.00/bunch
Herbs (summer savory, tarragon, thai basil): $2.50/bunch
Large basil bunch: $3.00/bunchJalapenos: $2.50/pint

Medium and large/slicer pickling packs are available in a limited quantity this week, depending on harvest. If we cannot fill your order this week you will be put on a wait list for next week.
When placing your order, be sure to specify what types of aromatics you want. Choices are:
cornichon (tarragon, thyme, garlic, onion, hot peppers, grape leaves)
dill (dill flowers, onion, hot peppers, grape leaves)
garlic (garlic, hot peppers, grape leaves)
Pickle pack (medium cukes): $14/pack
Pickle pack (large cukes): $12/pack

In the Share: Week 10

TOMATOES (F/P) The tomato crop is in and lookin good.
GREEN BEANS (F/P) Last pickin’s off the first planting. Partial shares get a choice of beans or a salsa pack.
COLORFUL CARROTS (F/P) Not all carrots are orange.
WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F/P) Sweet and mild, they are a quality fresh onion
SALSA PACK (F/P) Roasted or fresh, add a tomato and the pack makes a salsa muy bueno
CUCUMBERS (F) Some large picklers and regular slicers. Let us know how you like the varieties
SUMMER SQUASH (P) Rounds and pattypans
HERB CHOICE (F) Mixed bunches including parsley, basil, thai basil, thyme, summer savory, tarragon, or jalpenos or dried herbs.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and squash. Potatoes and garlic.

FARM REPORT
The high pressure dome of air sitting over us has brought lots of heat, and a south of the border farm schedule. In order to do all we have to do in this oppressive heat we are starting at sun-up and working past mid-day before taking a siesta until 6pm. It has worked well and our interns Luke and Kim have sweated it out with us, giving their all to help us harvest, pack, hoe, tie tomatoes, weed, irrigate, sow cover crops, take care of the sheep, etc.

We are moving to a new carrot bed this week to bring you the annual “colorful carrots.” Orange, red, and yellow, they are great for the palate and the eye. Varieties include White Satin, Yellow Sun, Dragon (purple) and our favorite orange, Bolero.


sweet potatoes happy in the heat

Tonight’s evening work stint has been taken over by the tomato harvest’s shear volume. We hope you enjoy this week’s share, one of our best tomato harvest’s yet. More to come next week and we hope for a while.
We have also been spending time preparing for the Outstanding in the Field dinner this Sunday. As Ronny, the host at Justus Drugstore told us last month, “It’s a big deal.” We have been planning and working to show the farm in a good light and provide a subtly beautiful Missouri farm setting for the event. Some details we won’t know until the dinner table arrives, so we will have to be nimble on Sunday morning when the OITF crew arrives.
Thanks again to all for your help and support. And we look forward to seeing some of you at the dinner.

Bulk List Update and Canning Class Info

For those of you interested in learning about water bath canning, fellow CSA member Emily Akins and I will be teaching a class at Bad Seed on Sunday July 31 from 1 to 4 pm. All the info you need on the class, the cost, and how to sign up is at http://www.badseedkc.com/farm/classes-events/. If you have never canned and are interested in learning the basics and a bit more, take advantage of this class.

For those of you that already know what to do, this email is to inform you that with this morning’s harvest the paste tomatoes have started ripening, and are coming off the vines by the bushel. We have 6 different varieties of paste tomatoes planted, of varying shapes and sizes. There are all great for making sauce, salsa, chili sauce, whole tomatoes, and any other recipe that calls for a meaty love apple.

We also have “seconds” of the slicers we hand out. These tomatoes may have cracks, bug holes, or serious “cat facing” that requires trimming them a bit. They can be a bit fragile, as they can have some damage, so be prepared to use them fast. They don’t make a thick sauce like the paste tomatoes, but are good for canning and a multitude of other uses.

One more note, the paste tomatoes are picked with a good overall blush, but take a while to ripen. So what we send in can be a few days away from being dead ripe, giving you time to prep for your tomato preserving. Prices are below.

We also have Principe Borghese drying tomatoes, perfect for the dehydrator, and a limited supply of extra salsa packs and tomatillos.

Paste tomatoes (firsts) - $3.00/lb; $2.50/lb over 10 lbs
Tomato seconds (heirloom and hybrids) - $2.50/lb; $2.00/lb over 10 lbs
Drying tomatoes: $4.00/qt
Tomatillos: $2.00/lb
Salsa Packs: $2.50/pack
Jalapenos: $2.50/pint
Swiss chard: $3.00/bunch
Carrots: $3.00/bunch
Herbs (summer savory, tarragon, thai basil): $2.50/bunch
Large basil bunch: $3.00/bunch

Medium and large/slicer pickling packs are available in a limited quantity this week, depending on harvest. If we cannot fill your order this week you will be put on a wait list for next week.

When placing your order, be sure to specify what types of aromatics you want. Choices are:
cornichon (tarragon, thyme, garlic, onion, hot peppers, grape leaves)
dill (dill flowers, onion, hot peppers, grape leaves)
garlic (garlic, hot peppers, grape leaves)

Pickle pack (medium cukes): $14/pack
Pickle pack (large cukes): $12/pack