What to Do With Your Share---Week 23

Another year, another Week 23. It's always something different it seems. The diminishing conditions of the last few weeks has ended the season for some plants this year. Others, sitting on higher ground, are doing well but looking forward to some drying out.

It was wet this week when we took some time off the farm to explore our watershed. From Missouri City to Sibley to Floyd, we were in bottoms. The wildlife put on a good show, doing what they do. For the yellow mud turtle life is best sunning on a log in the backwater of a mighty river. They are endangered in Missouri so we felt fortunate to be able to see some.

Through all the rain there are some very lush areas on the farm One is the bulb fennel patch. It is a great vegetable for this time of year. Cook it alongside onions, leeks and garlic to enhance a dish. Fresh in a salad it provides for good breath and digestion.

Asian greens are also peaking and ready for harvest. A stir fry is a great fall meal that can include most anything in the share. Treat fennel as you would celery in a dish, and don't forget to add a hot pepper.

In the Share - Week 22

CAULIFLOWER OR BROCCOLI F/P

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  A big bag for everyone.  See Tom's post for easy ways to use them/preserve them.

HOT PEPPERS F/P  A selection of jalapenos, Anaheims and hot wax.

EGGPLANT F  We picked baby eggplant in case we had frost.

CARROTS F/P  More snack-size ones.

ONIONS F  storage yellows and reds.

LEEKS F/P  The white part of the leeks are very nice this year - so long they barely fit in the crates!

GREENS CHOICE F  Swiss chard, kale or bok choy

GOLD BALL TURNIPS W/TOPS F  These are great stewing or roasting turnips.  Like most roots they store best without their tops, so separate them before you refrigerate them. 

TURNIPS AND RADISHES P

TOMATO F

NEXT WEEK:  More cauliflower, broccoli, turnips, lettuce and greens.  Potatoes, garlic and beets.  New:  the first of the bulb fennel.

FARM REPORT:
An extraordinary week has passed that included a five inch rainstorm, the threat of frost and Tom away at his niece's wedding.  All went well as the farm crew kicked into high gear to make it happen.  See Tom's photo of the bride escorted by her Tom's sister, Fran and husband Woody.  Congratulations to Barbara and Mike! 

Last week I mentioned how lucky we are to work in the beautiful outdoors with rainbows overhead and such.  Three days later we get this lovely sight...

After two days of rain, the forecast for Friday night fell to 36 deg. F.  Not knowing for sure if a frost was coming or not, we decided to bulk harvest the peppers, eggplants and tomatoes and pull out the row cover for the lettuces, fennel, chard and herbs.  Saturday morning came with only frost on the roof, but not in the fields.  All of our work is not in vain as we are now well-prepared for the next time frost threatens. 

Temporary covers protected the crops in the high tunnel during the frost scare, but  by Monday we were ready to put the real cover on.  It is always exciting to play with a 40' x 100' piece of plastic.  This time went much better than last year.  The biggest change is that we are using a single layer instead of a double layer.  This makes it a lot lighter and easier to attach.  Also, less plastic! 

What to Do With Your Share---Week 22

I dined off-farm this weekend, attending my niece Barbara's wedding in Evanston, Ill. This 3 day convergence of family was a splendid time. It included some deep dish pizza and other excellent food.

Woody, Barbara and my sister Fran

We are in the last stage of that time of year when summer and fall crops are available together. Your stir fry can include eggplant, or you can cook cherry tomatoes with your broccoli. It is also the time to stock up, even if for just a short time, on any excess produce.

You may find yourself with a lot of peppers this week. Take any extra and clean them, cut 'em into chunks and put in a freezer bag. They are now a convenience food. They fry up well, and are perfect in fajitas, eggs, or over pasta.

We hope that you have made good use of the herb selections this year. While the basil never recovered from the damp coolness of June, our stores of dried herbs have provided for the shares. We enjoy the hot peppers. Much of their heat is in the seeds. You can snap the stem off and shake out the seeds before crushing it, to cut down on the heat. Or just leave it whole and drop it into a slow cooking dish.

dried cayenne peppers

In the Share - Week 21

BROCCOLI F/P  Partial shares get a choice with cauliflower.
 
POTATOES F A mixture of Desiree (pink) and Bintje (yellow) varieties

SWEET POTATOES F/P  The sweets did not do well this year.  We can only figure our cool summer stunted their growth.  What we have is nice, but in limited supply. O'Henry (white) and Beauregard (orange) varieties.

GARLIC F/P  More softneck Artichoke

CHOICE F/P  Sage, tarragon or radishes

TOMATOES F  A mixture of a few slicers and cherries

SWEET PEPPERS AND EGGPLANT P 

KOHLRABI F/P  Plenty of members mention their disinterest in this vegetable.  We usually eat it raw after peeling it well.  A yogurt or peanut dip makes it even better.

GREENS CHOICE  F  Swiss Chard, bok choy, or rapini (our rapini has no broccoli florets but we are picking it anyway as it is huge and won't fit in the crates if it grows any more)

HOT PEPPERS F  jalapenos, anaheims or hot wax.

NEXT WEEK:  More broccoli, cauliflower, greens, peppers and eggplant.  Carrots and onions

FARM REPORT:

This has to be the best time of year to be a farmer.  The harvest is in,  the days are getting shorter,  and the weather is perfect.  As if it wasn't nice enough, we were graced by a beautiful rainbow at sunrise the other morning.

Another benefit on the farm has been the arrival each week of the cheese share.  This week our cheese shares will feature the award-winning Franklin Island feta from Ken and Jen Munro at Goatsbeard Farm.  Back in August this very cheese was awarded a Silver from the American Cheese Society.  Read all about it here.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 21

It seems that weather-wise we must have matched a record for most consecutive beautiful days and nights. The crops are enjoying it too, especially when we give them a good drink from the pond. The sun helps with that also.

For us it has been stir-fries lately. The eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, bok choi, greens, garlic, leeks and other fine vegetables have been filling our wok regularly. It is always great to see a crop like eggplant achieve the luster of its first fruits again at the end of the season.

The sweet potatoes are freshly cured and ready for cookin'. I suggest starting the sweet potato season with roasted and spiced wedges. Mayonnaise and malt vinegar are both good accompaniments.

On Saturday after the morning harvest I went with John and Dustin over to Parker Farms for an open house. I had not been to Tom and Paula's since they raised the hog population on the farm. It was a happy bunch of pigs and piglets everywhere we went. A beautiful Missouri farm.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 20

I may have come to realize that the first day of fall is my favorite day of the year. While the daylight has been waning since the first of summer, it is late September that promises some rest. The magnificent weather of the last week has been a nice touch too.

In the kitchen the share continues to change. We welcome leeks this week, and pair them with some beautiful red onions. Add garlic, and you have the trifecta that makes up three lily soup. If you have any potatoes you can make the classic leek and potato soup, or a nice potato and kale/greens soup.

water droplet on the kale

Another idea for the greens is that of a hot dressing. The lettuce from this week and last is quite crisp. It can hold up to a strong dressing. The non-vegetarian version consists of small pieces of chopped bacon cooked up and mixed with some honey or sugar, and vinegar. Yum.

In the Share - Week 20

LETTUCE F  I wish we had more of these crunchy heads, but we'll have to wait for the butterheads and leaf lettuces to mature a bit longer.

CARROTS F/P  These are the perfect snacking size.

RED ONIONS F/P

LEEKS F/P  The first digging of the fall leeks. It looks to be a good crop.

CABBAGE F  Tendersweet lives up to its name.

BROCCOLI P  We have just enough heads for the partial shares this week, but full shares will get some next week and hopefully for many weeks to come.

TURNIPS AND RADISHES F  Just a few of each.  The trick with eating them raw is to never cut them in advance and then leave them dry.  Eat it right away or dress it with vinegar, oil or salt.

TOMATO/CHERRY TOMATO F/P  Just a bit for everyone and make sure to let them ripen on your countertop.

PEPPERS AND EGGPLANT F

GREENS CHOICE F/P  Bok choy, arugula, rapini

NEXT WEEK:  More greens, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant and peppers.  Potatoes, garlic and kohlrabi return.

FARM REPORT:

equinox sunrise

The fall equinox marks the moment when our days and our nights are equal.  After that, fall begins the lengthening of the nighttime.  Days getting shorter means the plants grow slower and many people assume that this means farmers get some time off.  Well, we do... but in December.  Right now we are as busy as ever.  We are pushing through these gorgeous days to get the fall crops in order.  The high tunnel is filling and the fields are weeded and watered.  Out in the cabbage patch we caught a visitor that is usually too quick for the camera.

The dew has been heavy lately and she was surely to wet to fly away.  It is amazing to think how far this little, delicate creature has to go from here.  We hope her time in our fields were a benefit and that she finds her way home safely.