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.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 19

Seuss sweet pepper

It appears that fall is creeping in. Just a couple weeks ago it was 100 degrees, but now the nights are cool and the weather favors the autumnal vegetables. We fall in that category too, as the heat of summer is over and we feel a little less worn at the end of the day.

One fall crop that is prime at the moment is kohlrabi. Returning members should remember last year's post by our friend Cole Rabi. Follow the link and learn some basics for eating this crunchy treat.

Here at the farm we have been doing a lot of tomato eating and preserving. Tonight, after previously prepping and cooking down our chili sauce, we are canning it. We use the Ball Blue Book recipe, which is similar to one in our July 29, 2008 blog from member Ann Flynn.



Cover crop and high tunnel

Yet another good recipe for this summer/fall mix of vegetables is Cauliflower puttanesca. From way back in our September 15, 2004 newsletter, this dish is from the newsletter of Rebecca's old CSA in SF, Terra Firma. You don't have to add anchovies or olives, but it sure helps make the dish.

In the Share - Week 19

CAULIFLOWER OR BROCCOLI (F/P)  These plants withstood a lot of heat late into their maturing season, but some are bulking up fairly well.  A hearty thank you to the CSA members who got the weeds in check last week!  We hope to have both for several more weeks.

TOMATOES (F/P)  Today was the last big picking of tomatoes with most of the hybrid reds ripe and the heirlooms dwindling.  The paste or Roma tomatoes will keep coming for a while.

LETTUCE (F/P)  Mostly green crispheads that can take some summer heat. 

KOHLRABI (F/P)  We tasted one today and we were happy we did - very tender and juicy was the result.

BEETS (F/P)  The beets are going bonkers out there - they grew to a large size while we were occupied on other things.  Don't worry, they are still sweet and tender.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)  Loads more of these big beauties this week.

GREENS CHOICE (F)   Several of our fall greens are sizing up.  You'll have a choice of kale, rapini or broccoli raab, or Swiss Chard.

HERB CHOICE (F/P)  Basil, marjoram and thai basil.

ROMA TOMATOES (F)

CHERRY TOMATOES (P) 

NEXT WEEK:  More tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower.  Sweet potatoes, cabbage and garlic.

FARM REPORT:

Two and a half inches of rain soaked in well.  The soil is loose, full of worms and a pleasure to dig into.  A sure sign of fall, we dug the first sweet potatoes on Saturday.  They are curing in the greenhouse and should be in the shares next week.  Tom has flail-mowed the sorghum sudan cover crop that many of you saw at the farm in the past few weeks.  That's next year's fertility which will be turned into the soil later this week. 

In the Share - Week 18

red peppers

LETTUCE (F/P)  Welcome back, you ruffle-headed beauties!

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P)  and you too, turnips...

TOMATOES (F/P)  A few less than last week, but still a nice amount.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)  We've never grown such huge, beautiful peppers.  Enjoy!

CARROTS (F/P) 

BROCCOLI (F) Use soon, as it is a bit squirrelly.  Not sure what is causing it to unevenly ripen, but it got stressed by some combination of weather, soil and water. 

ROMA TOMATOES (P)

CHERRY TOMATOES (F)

GARLIC and HOT PEPPERS (F/P)  Tom has more info. on cooking with the hot peppers in his post.

NEXT WEEK:  More tomatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli, lettuce and turnips.  New will be Napa/Chinese cabbage and eggplant.

FARM REPORT

Many of you have met Lauren Semivan at the farm this summer.  She and her new husband, Lorne, are headed towards a farm of their own and are apprenticing here in preparation.  Lauren is an accomplished art photographer with works in museums and galleries.  She has been working this summer during the little time we leave her on a new series of composed photographs.  Some bits and curiosities from the farm have even made the cut.  This week she and Lorne travel to New York City for an opening of her work at the Bonni Benrubi gallery on Wednesday night.  Go here to see the show.  Best wishes for a dazzling time! 

 

Before they left, the farm managed to have quite the party. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who made our first on-farm CSA potluck and 10th anniversary of the CSA a swinging success. 

 

 

The rain stopped just in time to have a dry afternoon with very pleasant temperatures.  The baby chicks in their run provided quality entertainment to kids of all ages. 

 

 

As always, the membership cooked up some delicious fare plus a lovely cake to cap the day off. 

 

 

Here's to the next ten!