What to Do With Your Share---Week 11

I cannot recall when I have lived through a milder August. A month in the 80's did wonders for the farmers and the plants. We planted the kale on 8/1 and they have grown into robust plants that we hope will produce until Thanksgiving and beyond.

These greens go well with the other items in your share, in particular the potatoes and rosemary. They say when things are in season they naturally go together, and this week's recipe is an example of that.

Potatoes and Kale with Rosemary
Ingredients:
2 pounds of potatoes, cut into chunks and
1 bunch kale, destemmed and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the kale, salt and pepper. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the cooked potatoes, reduce heat to medium, cover. Cook for 4 minutes.
3. Stir in rosemary and oil. Cook for 5 more minutes or until desired tenderness.

In the Share: Week 11

GREENS CHOICE  The greens are back!  A mixed kale bunch or Swiss chard.

PURPLE VIKING POTATOES  Expect a good amount of potatoes for awhile.  Thanks to the CSA we got the last of them out Labor Day weekend.  Here's to Labor!

RED ONIONS  A nice mix of varieties.

SWEET PEPPERS  They are ripening slower now with the cool temperatures.  46 degrees F is the forecast for tonight.  Brrr!

CUCUMBER OR SQUASH  Last of the season we think.

ROSEMARY  One beautiful bush in the corner of the high tunnel is growing gangbusters!

IN TWO WEEKS:  Potatoes, garlic, carrots, greens, maybe radishes.

FARM REPORT:
The natural world has been center stage on the farm for the better part of the summer.  The double rainbow/solar eclipse juggernaut continues.  Everywhere we turn there is some creature that is beautifully unique and intricately working on it's task at hand.  Gathering food from the fields is our work whether winged or on foot.

a blue-winged digger wasp on the garlic chives

The wild patch of sunflowers provide a tall offering of pollen and nectar.

Meanwhile on land others hunt live prey.

Praying mantis

This is not even including the large pileated woodpecker who has been in the trees surrounding our field for the past few weeks.  It's the size of a crow and just as loud.  Back on land the Monarch caterpillars are on the vining milkweed and growing nicely.   Hopefully cold weather holds off long enough for all of the farm's harvesters to finish their work.

In the Share: Week 10

SWEET PEPPERS  the plants are loaded with red and yellow fruits.

CUCUMBERS

GARLIC  hardneck

TOMATOES the peak has passed, so maybe this is the last week for awhile.

SQUASH a zucchini or yellow squash

CARROTS orange sweeties

BASIL

IN TWO WEEKS:  more peppers, squash, potatoes and onions with maybe some greens.

FARM REPORT:

This week was incredible.  I really have lost the words, so I'll mostly let the photos speak for themselves.

We cannot complain about this year's harvest.  One highlight are the purple potatoes.

On Friday the farm was covered in a full double rainbow.

And then on Monday we had a magnificent view of the solar eclipse.  The skies seemed to part just for our ragtag group of 100 members, friends and family.  See Tom's post for photos of the incredible eclipse.

What to Do WIth Your Share---Week 10

Hard to talk about anything but the eclipse watch party this week. Drama filled the day for the attendees. Rain, clouds, lightening and discouraging weather apps lowered expectations for the day. But then, just as the moon started its transit, the clouds cleared. It was the clearest of skies for totality, as the moon's shadow ran across Fair Share Farm.

Here are a few highlights:

Lots of rain

Pre-eclipse potluck

Here come the moon

Instant photo of totality

Videographer Paul Shirley from Austin took this video of the eclipse at our farm. Thanks for this wonderful record of this event @paullikescameras. 

In the Share: Week 9

SWEET PEPPERS  our pepper plants are growing gang-busters.  These waist-high plants are loaded with ripening fruits.  Our favorite, Carmen, has a slender sweet red fruit.

TOMATOES  Another nice round from our little tomato patch.  We have now picked over a ton (that's 2,000 lbs. folks off of 200' plants)

RED POTATOES

WALLA WALLA ONIONS  Sweet ones should be used soon.

CUCUMBERS

SQUASH either 1 zucchini or yellow squash.

BASIL

IN TWO WEEKS:  more peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and garlic.

FARM REPORT:
With half of the harvest behind us and half left to go, 2017 is the running for the best season yet.  Add to it this beautiful mid-70s temperatures and you've got the frosting on the cake.  It is a good time to be a farmer, for sure!  The favorite vantage point to capture the beauty of the season is in front of the peppers with the sunflowers towering overhead.

While we tend the home field of crops, the far field continues to grow chickens and cover crops.  We moved both hen houses to new spots in the field this week.  When we move them it is a good chance to count as each chicken comes out of the coop.  We had been worried that we had lost some to predators, but nope we still have about 100 between the two flocks.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 9

The mildness of August so far has been refreshing. I think the plants and chickens have enjoyed it too. It's been a good time to harvest, as the potatoes are ready to be dug, and the peppers continue to ripen.

A standard dish around here with the type of ingredients in this week's share is fried potatoes with sweet peppers and onions. Our recipe from 2009 has a few extra ingredients in it, so you can do the same and add whatever else suits your hunger and taste.

Another nice thing to add to a fried potato dish is Fair Share Farm sauerkraut. The two are a great combination.

The first jars of this year's kraut are destined for the Ferment Share members, and all of you who use the bulk list. The cabbage is from our spring harvest, and the salt is from an ancient sea deposit in Redmond, Utah. Good stuff.

In the Share: Week 8

**I wanted to make sure people had seen the Facebook event for the Solar Eclipse August 21st.  CSA members past and present, friends of the farm:  you are all invited but BYOG (bring your own glasses). We bought a package of 20 but figure to use them for those who forget.  We will have over 2 minutes of totality here. Plus come at 11 am, bring a dish and we'll have a picnic.  It would be great if you could RSVP on Facebook so we know how many to expect.  We are keeping it pretty simple, since it is a workday for many of us.  Bring camping chairs, blankets, whatever other picnicy things.  Feel free to make it as fun as you have time.  We will provide drinks, farm veggies, and plenty of sky for viewing.  Finger crossed for sunny skies.

COLORFUL CARROTS  a mix of yellows and orange varieties.

TOMATOES  we have been pleasantly surprised by the productivity of our little patch.  Cherokee Chocolate (big and brown) is our new favorite, although it's sister, Cherokee Purple (big and purple) is pretty hard to beat.

SWEET PEPPERS  All of this heat has sped up the ripening of our sweet peppers.  And they say every cloud has a silver lining.

CUCUMBERS  The cucumbers from the pickling patch that grow too big for our pint jars are the perfect for slicing,

JALAPENOS The plants are loaded with fruit.

GARLIC Musik, a hardneck type.

BASIL Just what you need for your tomatoes

IN TWO WEEKS:  tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, onions, and cucumbers

FARM REPORT:
Late July on our farm is about as busy as we get.  The tomato and cucumber harvest happens three days a week and in between we are digging carrots and potatoes, weeding the late summer crops of sweet potatoes and cucumbers while we attempt to get the fall seeds and plants in the ground.  Meanwhile, this happened:

We try to save mellower jobs for the late afternoon when it is the hottest, like seeding flats for the fall, working in the air-conditioned kitchen making kraut or sorting tomatoes, but you can't avoid working in the heat entirely.  Crops need to be weeded and watered, fruits picked and beds prepped. The last task of the day is to check on the chickens.  We often bring them special treats.  Discarded cabbage leaves, tomatoes and cucumbers are common these days, but their favorite treat are the Japanese beetles.  We collect them with a trap and empty them in the chicken yards.

There's nothing like the end of July on the farm.  When the crops are happy, lush and green all appears right with the world   We invite all CSA members to join us on the farm for the harvest on any Saturday morning (8-12).  If you need me to re-send your invite to signup genius, let me know.  Carrots and potatoes could use a quick exit from the fields, so any hands are appreciated.  Thanks!