Week 20
We did it - we grew veggies - you ate them(I hope) - success! On a whole it has been the most challenging year of farming we have had. We sincerely hope you didn't notice. We did our best to stay true to our mission of selling high quality produce, but at times it was a struggle. Mostly this is tied to some irrigation issues we had - it is a long boring story, particularly if you aren't a farmer, but it was stressful. With the fall rains, it is mostly behind us. However, it did contribute to the smaller size of both last week's leeks and this week's parsnips. Small vegetables still taste great and preceding any vegetable with the word baby is trendy - so there is that. I am pretty sure I am giving myself a pep talk here. Let's talk about you.
You all are great. Many of you stuck with us as we changed our model and some of you joined with out even ever having had our produce. Thank you for trusting us to grow your food. I did miss chatting with you about all the delicious things you made with your produce as that is one of my favorite parts of my job. Even at market pick-up, I was often too busy to chat much. If you made anything you really liked and it is easy to find the recipe on the Internet you should send me a link or snap a photo and email it to me. Or you can put it in the comment section and share it with everyone.
It has been the week of the squash as we try to eat a bunch of the varieties we are selling. We ate two of the new butternuts we trialed and I made the butternut squash queso from the Thug Kitchen. It was so flavorful. They have a unique writing style, I assume to try to set themselves apart from other vegan lifestyle blogs, but be warned it involves a lot of swearing. Because we are not vegan we actually made the squash sauce for the nachos and topped them with black beans, some grilled peppers and a little cheese. The sauce softened the chips a bit and for that reason I think I enjoyed it more when I ate it the next day as dip for the chips. Thinned out just a bit I can see it being delicious as a sauce on some enchiladas.
I still have lots of squash dishes I want to cook this season including spaghetti squash carbonara, a butternut and miso soup and these sweet potato cakes that I am thinking I can make subbing squash for sweet potatoes.
We are finishing the season with a really pretty box. We trialed the red napa last year and planted it this year specifically for the CSA. I apparently cut it kind of close on the seeding date but I scoped it out on Friday and feel pretty confident there are enough sized up for everybody. Phew. I made the most beautiful slaw of my life with a red napa, some shredded carrot, cilantro and a sesame vinaigrette. It is mild and eating it raw gives you chance to really take in its beauty.
Thank you again for supporting local organic agriculture!
Parsnips
Rainbow Carrots
Butternut Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Shallots
Red Napa Cabbage
Kale - Large Only
Yellow Onion - Large Only
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Week 19
Our stand at the market moved fully into fall this week with a big pile of winter squash at one end. I love setting up the squash display although it means we schlep a lot of squash back and forth to market. We have been eating a lot of the new varieties and I am hoping I won't burn myself out on winter squash before winter arrives! Our days are still packed with harvest, but we should find time for more clean-up as the week goes on. Our seed garlic arrived this week and our garlic beds are almost prepped.
I had someone hold up a bunch of carrots at market not long ago and ask me how we get them to all grow the same size. I pointed out to her that there were bunches of other sizes in the pile but that we sort them as we clean them and then put similar sized carrots in a bunch. She looked at me like I was out of my mind! I though of it as I was writing this because I am hoping to give you all rainbow carrots this week or next week and they can be hard to sort and size because the different varieties grow so differently. I think to maintain sanity we will just put those in your boxes without the tops and randomly sized.
Lettuce
Carrots
Scarlet Queen Turnips - These can be enjoyed raw but they become sweeter when cooked. We slice them thin and sautee them in butter.
Silver Bell Squash - An older variety introduced in the 1950's. We grew it maybe 5 years ago and liked it a lot. It will slowly turn pink in storage but it stays delicious into the winter and stores well.
Leeks
Potatoes
Garlic
Arugula - Large Only
Peppers - Large Only
Our stand at the market moved fully into fall this week with a big pile of winter squash at one end. I love setting up the squash display although it means we schlep a lot of squash back and forth to market. We have been eating a lot of the new varieties and I am hoping I won't burn myself out on winter squash before winter arrives! Our days are still packed with harvest, but we should find time for more clean-up as the week goes on. Our seed garlic arrived this week and our garlic beds are almost prepped.
I had someone hold up a bunch of carrots at market not long ago and ask me how we get them to all grow the same size. I pointed out to her that there were bunches of other sizes in the pile but that we sort them as we clean them and then put similar sized carrots in a bunch. She looked at me like I was out of my mind! I though of it as I was writing this because I am hoping to give you all rainbow carrots this week or next week and they can be hard to sort and size because the different varieties grow so differently. I think to maintain sanity we will just put those in your boxes without the tops and randomly sized.
Lettuce
Carrots
Scarlet Queen Turnips - These can be enjoyed raw but they become sweeter when cooked. We slice them thin and sautee them in butter.
Silver Bell Squash - An older variety introduced in the 1950's. We grew it maybe 5 years ago and liked it a lot. It will slowly turn pink in storage but it stays delicious into the winter and stores well.
Leeks
Potatoes
Garlic
Arugula - Large Only
Peppers - Large Only
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Week 18
With a possible frost in the forecast and limited crew we have had a busy week. I am happy to say that all the winter squash is out of the field, my dahlias are all tagged and we got one last good picking off the zucchinis. I am hoping to cover peppers and maybe some lettuce later today. Those of you who pick up at the house will have to navigate around a few squash bins. At the moment squash storage is split up with most of it at the South Bay location but we needed to use the building at our house for some of it.
Carrots
Delicata Squash - We sliced some of these into half moons and roasted them on a cookie sheet the other night just so I could be confident they were ready to eat - so good. Hope you enjoy them.
Spinach
Zucchini - We will continue to have some zucchini because we planted a late round in one of the hoop houses but this will be the last time we have enough quantity to put them in your boxes.
Potatoes- Yellow Finn is our yellow fall storage potato this year and it is not has pretty as the potatoes you have been getting but, the skin blemishes are superficial.
Red Onion
Savoy Cabbage - Large Only
With a possible frost in the forecast and limited crew we have had a busy week. I am happy to say that all the winter squash is out of the field, my dahlias are all tagged and we got one last good picking off the zucchinis. I am hoping to cover peppers and maybe some lettuce later today. Those of you who pick up at the house will have to navigate around a few squash bins. At the moment squash storage is split up with most of it at the South Bay location but we needed to use the building at our house for some of it.
Carrots
Delicata Squash - We sliced some of these into half moons and roasted them on a cookie sheet the other night just so I could be confident they were ready to eat - so good. Hope you enjoy them.
Spinach
Zucchini - We will continue to have some zucchini because we planted a late round in one of the hoop houses but this will be the last time we have enough quantity to put them in your boxes.
Potatoes- Yellow Finn is our yellow fall storage potato this year and it is not has pretty as the potatoes you have been getting but, the skin blemishes are superficial.
Red Onion
Savoy Cabbage - Large Only
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Week 17
Another damp Sunday morning. I have not checked the stats but I know we have had more rain than usual for September. I have mixed feelings about it. It speeds up decay in the garden and forces us to transition to fall crops maybe a tad bit before they or we are really ready. It does look like there is some sunshine in the forecast for the week and I am hopeful we will have sunny days to harvest winter squash. It comes out of the field much cleaner on a sunny day. It may have some soil spattered on it but that wipes off fairly easy. Wet dirt that is smudged all over the squash requires a lot of wiping to get it ready for market. You can expect to see some delicatas in the box next week. We also grew a pretty blue grey squash called silver bell for the CSA. There will only be spinach in the large share boxes this week but everyone should get it soon. Kelly and I were harvesting cauliflower on Friday and I was coming up with mental rough draft of what would be in the boxes this week. Kelly was harvesting out of the bed next to the daikon radishes which are covered with row cover. I asked him to reach in and grab a daikon so we could see if they were sized up and ready for the boxes. He pulled out what is probably the largest daikon we have ever grown which sent us both in to a fit of giggles. Yup. They are sized up. Daikon is great raw but you should also try cooking with it. Don't be intimidated by the word radish or by its size. It is actually pretty mild and versatile.
Lettuce
Carrots
Specialty Pepper - Either sweet pimentos, poblanos or shishitos. The pimento or sheep nose peppers are hands down, in my opinion, the best sweet pepper we grow - and they are cute. The poblanos this year are a new variety, but have the same rich flavor and heat that is typical of them. Steak tacos with rajas or rajas con crema are a couple of our favorites. Shishitos became trendy in food magazines several years ago, but ya know, things are a bit slow to make it to Olympia. Blistered shishitos are a breeze to make and are delicious.
Kale
Daikon Radish
Broccoli
Spinach - Large Only
Onions - Large Only
Another damp Sunday morning. I have not checked the stats but I know we have had more rain than usual for September. I have mixed feelings about it. It speeds up decay in the garden and forces us to transition to fall crops maybe a tad bit before they or we are really ready. It does look like there is some sunshine in the forecast for the week and I am hopeful we will have sunny days to harvest winter squash. It comes out of the field much cleaner on a sunny day. It may have some soil spattered on it but that wipes off fairly easy. Wet dirt that is smudged all over the squash requires a lot of wiping to get it ready for market. You can expect to see some delicatas in the box next week. We also grew a pretty blue grey squash called silver bell for the CSA. There will only be spinach in the large share boxes this week but everyone should get it soon. Kelly and I were harvesting cauliflower on Friday and I was coming up with mental rough draft of what would be in the boxes this week. Kelly was harvesting out of the bed next to the daikon radishes which are covered with row cover. I asked him to reach in and grab a daikon so we could see if they were sized up and ready for the boxes. He pulled out what is probably the largest daikon we have ever grown which sent us both in to a fit of giggles. Yup. They are sized up. Daikon is great raw but you should also try cooking with it. Don't be intimidated by the word radish or by its size. It is actually pretty mild and versatile.
Lettuce
Carrots
Specialty Pepper - Either sweet pimentos, poblanos or shishitos. The pimento or sheep nose peppers are hands down, in my opinion, the best sweet pepper we grow - and they are cute. The poblanos this year are a new variety, but have the same rich flavor and heat that is typical of them. Steak tacos with rajas or rajas con crema are a couple of our favorites. Shishitos became trendy in food magazines several years ago, but ya know, things are a bit slow to make it to Olympia. Blistered shishitos are a breeze to make and are delicious.
Kale
Daikon Radish
Broccoli
Spinach - Large Only
Onions - Large Only
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Week 16
As I am sitting here, a little damp from morning harvest, with the front door open, I am wondering if I shouldn't close it and pop on the heat for just a minute. For someone who works outside all day I am such a baby when it comes to being warm (as in very warm) when I am inside. Perhaps I will build our first fire of the season.
We are having farmers over tonight with a theme of food that you didn't eat enough of this summer and I am really not feeling all that summerish at the moment. I am sure I can change my tune if I just think about the fact that I am not going to eat a tomato for many months starting very soon!
Hope you all are enjoying the rain.
Green Beans - We were really on the fence about planting green beans. They can be hard to sell at a price that justifies growing them and they just never do as well for us as we think they should. After 10 years of them not really working that well in our system and our downsizing it seemed like a good time to let go of them. Then I got sad about it one May day and planted a bed in a part of the field that has always had hideous weed pressure. I knew it was less than ideal but it was one of the few places on the farm that wasn't already mapped out. Well, that went about as well as one would have expected. After the spring carrot field turned into our last planting of zukes and cukes there was about a hundred feet of empty space. Hmm, I thought, is it too late? Almost too late, but they made it and are in your box this week. We ate some grilled on a salad with grilled steak, grilled onions and blue cheese and they were so good that we ate some again the next night.
Rainbow Chard
Carrots
Garlic
Potatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Radish - Large Only
Herb - Large Only
This green beans goma-ae calls for mirin and is the recipe I use, but many recipes don't call for it if you don't have it and don't want to buy it. They typically use a little more sugar. With just a few ingredients it is an easy dish and incredibly delicious. The Asian grocer, Arirang out by the Goodwill in Hawk's Prairie sells already toasted sesame seeds if you want to eliminate a step. Some stores also sell them pre-ground but I don't think Arirang has them packaged that way.
As I am sitting here, a little damp from morning harvest, with the front door open, I am wondering if I shouldn't close it and pop on the heat for just a minute. For someone who works outside all day I am such a baby when it comes to being warm (as in very warm) when I am inside. Perhaps I will build our first fire of the season.
We are having farmers over tonight with a theme of food that you didn't eat enough of this summer and I am really not feeling all that summerish at the moment. I am sure I can change my tune if I just think about the fact that I am not going to eat a tomato for many months starting very soon!
Hope you all are enjoying the rain.
Green Beans - We were really on the fence about planting green beans. They can be hard to sell at a price that justifies growing them and they just never do as well for us as we think they should. After 10 years of them not really working that well in our system and our downsizing it seemed like a good time to let go of them. Then I got sad about it one May day and planted a bed in a part of the field that has always had hideous weed pressure. I knew it was less than ideal but it was one of the few places on the farm that wasn't already mapped out. Well, that went about as well as one would have expected. After the spring carrot field turned into our last planting of zukes and cukes there was about a hundred feet of empty space. Hmm, I thought, is it too late? Almost too late, but they made it and are in your box this week. We ate some grilled on a salad with grilled steak, grilled onions and blue cheese and they were so good that we ate some again the next night.
Rainbow Chard
Carrots
Garlic
Potatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Radish - Large Only
Herb - Large Only
This green beans goma-ae calls for mirin and is the recipe I use, but many recipes don't call for it if you don't have it and don't want to buy it. They typically use a little more sugar. With just a few ingredients it is an easy dish and incredibly delicious. The Asian grocer, Arirang out by the Goodwill in Hawk's Prairie sells already toasted sesame seeds if you want to eliminate a step. Some stores also sell them pre-ground but I don't think Arirang has them packaged that way.
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Week 15
We are going to hit you with one last dose of summer! Your boxes will still have summer items in it in the coming weeks, but this box is chock full of summer. The field cherry tomatoes have been slowly succumbing to disease over the last month and I think this rain will put that into overdrive. The cucumbers and the zucchini are slowing down as well.
We loose a crew member this week and another next week. It feels like it is decent timing. The very end of the month with two more people gone might get a bit iffy, but I am really pleased with what we have accomplished in the past two weeks and I think stuff looks solid going into fall.
Kelly has been handling the water on the winter squash and I hadn't been over to look at the field (they are all by themselves in a different location) in a couple months. I turned the water on last week and walked around. I was pleasantly surprised. Kelly had talked a lot about deer damage and while there was plenty of it, all and all it looks good. The first thing I always look at is the size and quantity of the delicatas. That is my indicator of how everything will pan out and I am happy with what I saw.
But back to summer for now...
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Zucchini
Sweet Pepper
Arugula
Lettuce
Beets - I made this beet and red onion tarte tatin last week and loved the flavors in it. The puff pastry, tart presentation made it very pretty, but I realized I don't care a lot about store bought puff pastry and since I have no intention of making it myself, I might skip that part. However, I will most definitely be making the beets again. I ended up draining a little liquid off before I added the puff pastry so it wouldn't get soggy when I flipped it and I think that was a good decision.
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
We are going to hit you with one last dose of summer! Your boxes will still have summer items in it in the coming weeks, but this box is chock full of summer. The field cherry tomatoes have been slowly succumbing to disease over the last month and I think this rain will put that into overdrive. The cucumbers and the zucchini are slowing down as well.
We loose a crew member this week and another next week. It feels like it is decent timing. The very end of the month with two more people gone might get a bit iffy, but I am really pleased with what we have accomplished in the past two weeks and I think stuff looks solid going into fall.
Kelly has been handling the water on the winter squash and I hadn't been over to look at the field (they are all by themselves in a different location) in a couple months. I turned the water on last week and walked around. I was pleasantly surprised. Kelly had talked a lot about deer damage and while there was plenty of it, all and all it looks good. The first thing I always look at is the size and quantity of the delicatas. That is my indicator of how everything will pan out and I am happy with what I saw.
But back to summer for now...
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Zucchini
Sweet Pepper
Arugula
Lettuce
Beets - I made this beet and red onion tarte tatin last week and loved the flavors in it. The puff pastry, tart presentation made it very pretty, but I realized I don't care a lot about store bought puff pastry and since I have no intention of making it myself, I might skip that part. However, I will most definitely be making the beets again. I ended up draining a little liquid off before I added the puff pastry so it wouldn't get soggy when I flipped it and I think that was a good decision.
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Week 14
Happy September. A farmer friend got married yesterday and at the reception we were all rejoicing at the arrival of September. The first part of the month is actually a lot like August, but it really is the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of life returning to a more reasonable pace.
We aim to get onions out of the field this week. We should have had them out before the rain last week. Somehow we didn't look at the weather for a few days and we missed the rain prediction. It wasn't the best thing for them, but they seem to be okay. We are in the midst of peak harvest in terms of the amount of time it takes up in the day and we haven't had a chance to get much else done on the farm over the past week. It is the final push. Onions and some weeding need to happen this week and then we will shift into clean up projects when time allows at the end of the harvest day. We will have another push at the end of the month when it is time to pull winter squash. Nothing to it but to do it!
I noticed someone left a post card for the Hunger Walk. If any of you saw the card and are vaguely interested in donating but just need it to be a little more convenient I am including a link here to the donation page. I don't typically talk much about social justice issues around food because I don't really see this as a forum to talk politics but let's face we are all incredibly lucky to eat the food we do. I can't tell you how many conversations Kelly and I have around the intersection of our desire to grow food, our need make a living/pay our crew and the cost and affordability of the food we grow. Anyway, everyone needs to eat and this walk supports three great organizations.
Carrots
Slicing Tomato
Small Melon - cantaloupe, or charentais, or honeydew
Broccoli
Potatoes
Cauliflower-Small Only
Eggplant - Large Only
Garlic - Large Only
Happy September. A farmer friend got married yesterday and at the reception we were all rejoicing at the arrival of September. The first part of the month is actually a lot like August, but it really is the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of life returning to a more reasonable pace.
We aim to get onions out of the field this week. We should have had them out before the rain last week. Somehow we didn't look at the weather for a few days and we missed the rain prediction. It wasn't the best thing for them, but they seem to be okay. We are in the midst of peak harvest in terms of the amount of time it takes up in the day and we haven't had a chance to get much else done on the farm over the past week. It is the final push. Onions and some weeding need to happen this week and then we will shift into clean up projects when time allows at the end of the harvest day. We will have another push at the end of the month when it is time to pull winter squash. Nothing to it but to do it!
I noticed someone left a post card for the Hunger Walk. If any of you saw the card and are vaguely interested in donating but just need it to be a little more convenient I am including a link here to the donation page. I don't typically talk much about social justice issues around food because I don't really see this as a forum to talk politics but let's face we are all incredibly lucky to eat the food we do. I can't tell you how many conversations Kelly and I have around the intersection of our desire to grow food, our need make a living/pay our crew and the cost and affordability of the food we grow. Anyway, everyone needs to eat and this walk supports three great organizations.
Carrots
Slicing Tomato
Small Melon - cantaloupe, or charentais, or honeydew
Broccoli
Potatoes
Cauliflower-Small Only
Eggplant - Large Only
Garlic - Large Only
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Week 13
Last week we were surprised to find that we had more watermelons on Monday than Korean melons. As a result Monday received watermelons and everyone else Korean melons. Melons are so tricky. They never pick the same year to year. Watermelons in particular are tough. We look for three things, a yellow spot where it sits on the ground, leaf dye down at the junction of the stem and the plant and tendril dye down in the same spot. We also thump them. Not a single one of those things is a guarantee and on every variety it is a different combo of how brown the leaf and the tendril need to be. On top of that there are always watermelons that refuse to follow the rules. We sample a lot of them each year trying to figure out each variety. I frequently get asked at market how to pick out a good watermelon and there isn't really a good answer. Once a watermelon is off the plant it is hard to tell if it will be good.
Everyone will get some sort of melon in their boxes this week and hopefully next week as well. At this point we have only picked Korean melons and watermelons. There are several more varieties we are waiting on.
Carrots
Lettuce
Kale or Chard
Persian Cucumber
Tomato
Melon/Watermelon
Cauliflower - Large Only
Parsley - Large Only
Last week we were surprised to find that we had more watermelons on Monday than Korean melons. As a result Monday received watermelons and everyone else Korean melons. Melons are so tricky. They never pick the same year to year. Watermelons in particular are tough. We look for three things, a yellow spot where it sits on the ground, leaf dye down at the junction of the stem and the plant and tendril dye down in the same spot. We also thump them. Not a single one of those things is a guarantee and on every variety it is a different combo of how brown the leaf and the tendril need to be. On top of that there are always watermelons that refuse to follow the rules. We sample a lot of them each year trying to figure out each variety. I frequently get asked at market how to pick out a good watermelon and there isn't really a good answer. Once a watermelon is off the plant it is hard to tell if it will be good.
Everyone will get some sort of melon in their boxes this week and hopefully next week as well. At this point we have only picked Korean melons and watermelons. There are several more varieties we are waiting on.
Carrots
Lettuce
Kale or Chard
Persian Cucumber
Tomato
Melon/Watermelon
Cauliflower - Large Only
Parsley - Large Only
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Week 12
If you have been a supporter of local farms for a while you probably remember Boisfort Valley Farm. They went to the Oly market and had several hundred CSA members in the greater Seattle area. They stopped farming a few years ago and took on a couple more traditional 9-5 jobs. This year they decided to plant/sell corn and pumpkins along with the 9-5 gigs. Last night they told me that commodity farming is the new niche farming. I have thought about it quite a few times since then and for this area, and I think many more semi urban areas, it is probably true. The current trend in farming in this area is small scale, intensive farming focusing on high profit crops. Land is expensive and small scale farming allows one to farm and support oneself on much smaller acreage(less than two acres typically). Our farm, at seven acres, is not that kind of farm, but we are still a very small farm. We like being diversified, but also have recognized that our scale we can't grow everything. I think the long term health of our local food systems depends on having farms of all sizes.
Grilled cabbage is great. This recipe, with a chimichurii and and mustard maple tahini, turns what most people think of as a pretty mundane veggie into something special. It is really flavorful. I suspect you could get away with just making one sauce or the other and still have an enjoyable dish.
Bell Peppers - Our bell peppers are just starting to ripen. The stand out at the moment is a green to orange bell pepper from Adaptive Seeds. Many of you will have an orange pepper, others probably a golden yellow variety called Flavorburst. Everyone will also get a purple pepper.
Onions - Sweet. These will be of all sizes. Some of you will have more traditional large sweet onions and some of you will have smaller sweet onions.
Zucchini - I made the most incredible pork burgers last Tuesday. I added an egg and some shredded zucchini because I think it helps the texture. I seasoned it with garlic and onion and a bit of clove, cinamon and star anise(I was trying to capture the memory of a vietnamese pate) and we had it with pickled daikon and carrot and some sliced cucumber on a bun - a bahn mi inspired pork burger.
Cabbage
Cherry Tomatoes
Melon - Maybe. We had someone out sick on Friday and Kelly and I didn't make it back to the melon patch to harvest until 6:30pm on Friday. We had yet to harvest a single melon, but we knew they were close. We found a couple Korean melons to harvest and a tested a few watermelons. I have to admit I was so relieved there weren't a bunch of melons. However, there were a lot of Korean melons that looked close and I am hoping we will have them for everyone. I saw this melon's flavor described as cucumber, honeydew and cantolope all in one. It starts off more in the honeydew/sweet cucumber realm and then picks up some richer notes as it gets riper. I actually like it closer to the honeydew/cuke zone. I have also had people tell me it has notes of pear. It is mild but also delicious. It really is its own thing. I don't bother removing the seeds, it is the most flavorful part, but not everyone is into it.
Arugula - Large Only
Lettuce - Large Only
If you have been a supporter of local farms for a while you probably remember Boisfort Valley Farm. They went to the Oly market and had several hundred CSA members in the greater Seattle area. They stopped farming a few years ago and took on a couple more traditional 9-5 jobs. This year they decided to plant/sell corn and pumpkins along with the 9-5 gigs. Last night they told me that commodity farming is the new niche farming. I have thought about it quite a few times since then and for this area, and I think many more semi urban areas, it is probably true. The current trend in farming in this area is small scale, intensive farming focusing on high profit crops. Land is expensive and small scale farming allows one to farm and support oneself on much smaller acreage(less than two acres typically). Our farm, at seven acres, is not that kind of farm, but we are still a very small farm. We like being diversified, but also have recognized that our scale we can't grow everything. I think the long term health of our local food systems depends on having farms of all sizes.
Grilled cabbage is great. This recipe, with a chimichurii and and mustard maple tahini, turns what most people think of as a pretty mundane veggie into something special. It is really flavorful. I suspect you could get away with just making one sauce or the other and still have an enjoyable dish.
Bell Peppers - Our bell peppers are just starting to ripen. The stand out at the moment is a green to orange bell pepper from Adaptive Seeds. Many of you will have an orange pepper, others probably a golden yellow variety called Flavorburst. Everyone will also get a purple pepper.
Onions - Sweet. These will be of all sizes. Some of you will have more traditional large sweet onions and some of you will have smaller sweet onions.
Zucchini - I made the most incredible pork burgers last Tuesday. I added an egg and some shredded zucchini because I think it helps the texture. I seasoned it with garlic and onion and a bit of clove, cinamon and star anise(I was trying to capture the memory of a vietnamese pate) and we had it with pickled daikon and carrot and some sliced cucumber on a bun - a bahn mi inspired pork burger.
Cabbage
Cherry Tomatoes
Melon - Maybe. We had someone out sick on Friday and Kelly and I didn't make it back to the melon patch to harvest until 6:30pm on Friday. We had yet to harvest a single melon, but we knew they were close. We found a couple Korean melons to harvest and a tested a few watermelons. I have to admit I was so relieved there weren't a bunch of melons. However, there were a lot of Korean melons that looked close and I am hoping we will have them for everyone. I saw this melon's flavor described as cucumber, honeydew and cantolope all in one. It starts off more in the honeydew/sweet cucumber realm and then picks up some richer notes as it gets riper. I actually like it closer to the honeydew/cuke zone. I have also had people tell me it has notes of pear. It is mild but also delicious. It really is its own thing. I don't bother removing the seeds, it is the most flavorful part, but not everyone is into it.
Arugula - Large Only
Lettuce - Large Only
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Week 11
I would love to tell you about all the fabulous food I made last week but all I can think of that I ate were eggs, peaches, tomatoes, burrata and tater tots. I will have to see if I can pull it together a bit this week and feed myself a little better. We did get some food put up for the winter though and that is a relief.
With almost all our transplanting done we are focused on weeding and harvesting. We had a year of horrible weed management in the front field by South Bay Road last year and killing weeds has been a never ending mission this season. Most of that field is being doubled cropped which helps push down the weed bank. Of course that is only if we stay on top of all the weeds that germinate this season. When we hand weed beds we are only killing weeds that have germinated from the top couple inches or so of the soil. There are still millions of weed seeds deeper in the soil. Having multiple crops in the same year means you are working the field multiple times, bringing more weed seed to the top to germinate and be killed (hopefully). The downside is that excessive tilling has a negative impact on the quality of the soil. It can damage soil structure, decrease organic matter and effect the ability for the soil to hold water.
Mechanical tilling, when it was first introduced, or even just mechanization in general, was a boon to farmers. Suddenly farming became easier. For example, cover crops and fertilizers could be worked into the soil better. Previous crops could be tilled in quickly and beds made more level. It is interesting to think about how what was once seen as progress and the way of the future is now looked at with concern...kinda like tater tots...which while horrible, really do taste amazing on a tired August afternoon.
Have a great week.
Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumber
Napa Cabbage - I love this stuff!
Celery -
Potatoes - Harvest Moon has a dark purple skin and a gold flesh.
Tomato - Small Share
Cherry Tomato - Large Share
Broccoli - Large Share
I would love to tell you about all the fabulous food I made last week but all I can think of that I ate were eggs, peaches, tomatoes, burrata and tater tots. I will have to see if I can pull it together a bit this week and feed myself a little better. We did get some food put up for the winter though and that is a relief.
With almost all our transplanting done we are focused on weeding and harvesting. We had a year of horrible weed management in the front field by South Bay Road last year and killing weeds has been a never ending mission this season. Most of that field is being doubled cropped which helps push down the weed bank. Of course that is only if we stay on top of all the weeds that germinate this season. When we hand weed beds we are only killing weeds that have germinated from the top couple inches or so of the soil. There are still millions of weed seeds deeper in the soil. Having multiple crops in the same year means you are working the field multiple times, bringing more weed seed to the top to germinate and be killed (hopefully). The downside is that excessive tilling has a negative impact on the quality of the soil. It can damage soil structure, decrease organic matter and effect the ability for the soil to hold water.
Mechanical tilling, when it was first introduced, or even just mechanization in general, was a boon to farmers. Suddenly farming became easier. For example, cover crops and fertilizers could be worked into the soil better. Previous crops could be tilled in quickly and beds made more level. It is interesting to think about how what was once seen as progress and the way of the future is now looked at with concern...kinda like tater tots...which while horrible, really do taste amazing on a tired August afternoon.
Have a great week.
Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumber
Napa Cabbage - I love this stuff!
Celery -
Potatoes - Harvest Moon has a dark purple skin and a gold flesh.
Tomato - Small Share
Cherry Tomato - Large Share
Broccoli - Large Share
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Week 10
Happy August.
Last week's rain was a nice surprise and I am looking forward to this week's heat although it does present some challenges for harvest and transplanting. It is great weather for killing weeds and ripening tomatoes.
We went to a pot luck last night at a neighbor's house and I brought two dishes perfect for the hot weather. One, was a Thai glass noodle salad dish, that was similar to this one, but I skipped the pork and the fresh shrimp since the host was grilling salmon and chicken. I have made it with with pork and shrimp and it is great but it is also great and even more simple to prepare with out them. I love the texture of mung bean noodles and I love dishes that can be adapted to whatever veggies I have on hand. The fruit vendor at market had his first round of free stone peaches and I also made a caprese salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, peaches and Thai basil with a drizzle of an aged balsamic vinegar. I have seen assorted versions on the Internet for a while now and had never tried one. It was a hit and I really liked the slightly more anise flavor of the Thai basil with the peaches but I suspect regular basil would have been just as good.
Lettuce
Garlic
Onion - hopefully bunched tropea longs. They are great for salads and grilling.
Zucchini
Cherry Tomato
Broccoli
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Bell Pepper - Large Only
Happy August.
Last week's rain was a nice surprise and I am looking forward to this week's heat although it does present some challenges for harvest and transplanting. It is great weather for killing weeds and ripening tomatoes.
We went to a pot luck last night at a neighbor's house and I brought two dishes perfect for the hot weather. One, was a Thai glass noodle salad dish, that was similar to this one, but I skipped the pork and the fresh shrimp since the host was grilling salmon and chicken. I have made it with with pork and shrimp and it is great but it is also great and even more simple to prepare with out them. I love the texture of mung bean noodles and I love dishes that can be adapted to whatever veggies I have on hand. The fruit vendor at market had his first round of free stone peaches and I also made a caprese salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, peaches and Thai basil with a drizzle of an aged balsamic vinegar. I have seen assorted versions on the Internet for a while now and had never tried one. It was a hit and I really liked the slightly more anise flavor of the Thai basil with the peaches but I suspect regular basil would have been just as good.
Lettuce
Garlic
Onion - hopefully bunched tropea longs. They are great for salads and grilling.
Zucchini
Cherry Tomato
Broccoli
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Bell Pepper - Large Only
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Week 9
This past week a dear friend and her family came to stay with us for a few days. Maryanne and I spent our junior year of college living and studying in Rouen, France. The study abroad program connected her family and mine so that I could catch a ride with them to airport to meet up with the rest of the study abroad group. We were friends instantly, talking nonstop the entire two hours to JFK airport. France was incredible and without that year in France, I don't know that I ever would have found my way to a life in agriculture. I was fascinated by their food systems. I loved the regional pride they took in certain foods that could only be found in one region of the country and was struck by the joy people took in eating. It was the nightly cheese plate that stuck with me the most and I knew I wanted to learn more about making cheese. It took me ten years to follow up on that dream. When I left Colorado for Maine to learn cheese making, I had no idea that it would be the the other most transformative year of my life. I learned a lot about making cheese that year, but more importantly I discovered farming and I met Kelly. Maryanne was living in Maine and I spent a lot of time at her house, sharing food, doing laundry and hanging out on my day off. She has been a part of two of the most important years of my life, not just in terms of my interest in agriculture, but really just in general. We hadn't seen each other in about six years, but it didn't feel that way. It was so wonderful to spend time with her and her family and also to be reminded of why I fell in love with farming and how I got to this spot. I also slacked a bit on doing farm work which was an incredible luxury for July and I feel ready for August! A special shout out to Kelly who was so supportive and who along with our crew picked up my slack so that I could enjoy having my friend in town.
The heat has given us a boost and the first good harvest of slicing tomatoes happened on Friday. I was also surprised to see how much the melons have grown in the past week. Stuff happens so fast this time of year, it can be hard to keep up, but so far so good. I was particularly pleased we got the parsnips and leeks weeded. I don't know how many of you missed getting them in your boxes last year but I really missed having them to both sell and eat.
Carrots - We have a crew member out this week and we are going to save a bit of time by giving you carrots without the tops. The only purpose the tops serve is that they look nice, which admittedly I put a lot of value in, but these will taste just as good.
Beets
Lettuce
Potatoes - We have moved our next planting of potatoes and these will be true new potatoes with very thin skins. If you pick up at our house you can see the potatoes flowering in the back field behind our house.
Japanese Cucumber - Our favorite cucumber - has a thin skin and is more perishable than the type you had in your boxes a couple weeks ago.
Slicing Tomato
Kohlrabi
Cherry Tomato - Large Only
This past week a dear friend and her family came to stay with us for a few days. Maryanne and I spent our junior year of college living and studying in Rouen, France. The study abroad program connected her family and mine so that I could catch a ride with them to airport to meet up with the rest of the study abroad group. We were friends instantly, talking nonstop the entire two hours to JFK airport. France was incredible and without that year in France, I don't know that I ever would have found my way to a life in agriculture. I was fascinated by their food systems. I loved the regional pride they took in certain foods that could only be found in one region of the country and was struck by the joy people took in eating. It was the nightly cheese plate that stuck with me the most and I knew I wanted to learn more about making cheese. It took me ten years to follow up on that dream. When I left Colorado for Maine to learn cheese making, I had no idea that it would be the the other most transformative year of my life. I learned a lot about making cheese that year, but more importantly I discovered farming and I met Kelly. Maryanne was living in Maine and I spent a lot of time at her house, sharing food, doing laundry and hanging out on my day off. She has been a part of two of the most important years of my life, not just in terms of my interest in agriculture, but really just in general. We hadn't seen each other in about six years, but it didn't feel that way. It was so wonderful to spend time with her and her family and also to be reminded of why I fell in love with farming and how I got to this spot. I also slacked a bit on doing farm work which was an incredible luxury for July and I feel ready for August! A special shout out to Kelly who was so supportive and who along with our crew picked up my slack so that I could enjoy having my friend in town.
The heat has given us a boost and the first good harvest of slicing tomatoes happened on Friday. I was also surprised to see how much the melons have grown in the past week. Stuff happens so fast this time of year, it can be hard to keep up, but so far so good. I was particularly pleased we got the parsnips and leeks weeded. I don't know how many of you missed getting them in your boxes last year but I really missed having them to both sell and eat.
Carrots - We have a crew member out this week and we are going to save a bit of time by giving you carrots without the tops. The only purpose the tops serve is that they look nice, which admittedly I put a lot of value in, but these will taste just as good.
Beets
Lettuce
Potatoes - We have moved our next planting of potatoes and these will be true new potatoes with very thin skins. If you pick up at our house you can see the potatoes flowering in the back field behind our house.
Japanese Cucumber - Our favorite cucumber - has a thin skin and is more perishable than the type you had in your boxes a couple weeks ago.
Slicing Tomato
Kohlrabi
Cherry Tomato - Large Only
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Week 7
Many of the crops that like heat get covered with floating row cover when we transplant them. Floating row cover is a very light weight spun poly that adds a little warmth and protection but still allows light and water to pass through it. For things in the cucurbit family like zucchinis, cucumbers, melons and winter squash it also protects them from the cucumber beetle. We like to leave the cover on as long as possible, not taking it off until we see the plant starting to flower. This past week we uncovered the melons and this coming week we will remove it from the winter squash. Typically the winter squash are attempting to spring loose by the time they flower. Yesterday Kelly took the tractor over and rototilled the paths while the squash is still contained. Hopefully we will get a chance to uncover it tomorrow. Before we had cucumber beetles, we still used row cover for heat, but we would be little more casual about it. If we were reusing row cover and it was just a little short we would leave a dozen or so plants uncovered with the idea that we would cover them later (ya, right). One thing that proved to us was that it really makes a difference. Plants that get covered get off to a much quicker start and seem more productive. Looking out at a field of white is less pastoral but the advantages of using it more than make up for the looks and cost of it.
I thought last week's box was lovely as I was packing it. This weeks box isn't as bountiful ,but it will contain some of our first cherry tomatoes. Ahh, summer. We gorged ourselves on apricots, blueberries and peaches this week. Tomatoes and stone fruit are a couple of the things I look forward to most this time of year. I bought some delicious peaches at market the same day I was given a small depression glass mixing bowl by someone who knows I love old dishes of all sorts. The peaches and blueberries looked so beautiful in the blue glass and it gave me a reason to use some adorable pink depression glass custard cups I picked up at a yard sale last winter. I will admit that most of the time I enjoy choosing what plate I want to use for a particular dish as much as I do making and eating the food. As tiring as July can be, it is also a wonderful time of year- good food, nice weather. We ate outside most nights last week. One night as dusk set in we were treated to watching three barred owls fly around. They were making short trips from tree to tree in our orchard sometimes landing on the ground and calling to each other the whole time. They were so close, it was an amazing thing to see.
Hope you all have some nice meals this week! So far the only thing in my meal plan is to make some peach ice cream.
Carrots - I know some of you are keeping up with the carrots because you are buying extra at market. For those of you who need some inspiration we love the carrot salad from the Portland restaurant Kachka. Admittedly, I have never eaten there, but a customer turned me on to the cookbook of the same name. We served it this winter along with a few other root vegetable salads and some pierogis at a dinner party and everyone loved it. The link is a little strange, but it was the only place I could find it. If you look towards the top of the page when you open the link you will see that it is showing on 1 of 5 pages in the cookbook where the salad is mentioned. You will have to click next to see the actual recipe. Russian Korean Carrot Salad
Cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Herb Choice - Mostly basil or parsley.
Green or Purple Bell Pepper
Scallions - I think in most years we are giving you bunched onions at this point in the season. They are a bit behind this year. I am still confident they will size up, but for now we are sticking with scallions
Green Beans - Large Only
Collard Greens - Large Only
Many of the crops that like heat get covered with floating row cover when we transplant them. Floating row cover is a very light weight spun poly that adds a little warmth and protection but still allows light and water to pass through it. For things in the cucurbit family like zucchinis, cucumbers, melons and winter squash it also protects them from the cucumber beetle. We like to leave the cover on as long as possible, not taking it off until we see the plant starting to flower. This past week we uncovered the melons and this coming week we will remove it from the winter squash. Typically the winter squash are attempting to spring loose by the time they flower. Yesterday Kelly took the tractor over and rototilled the paths while the squash is still contained. Hopefully we will get a chance to uncover it tomorrow. Before we had cucumber beetles, we still used row cover for heat, but we would be little more casual about it. If we were reusing row cover and it was just a little short we would leave a dozen or so plants uncovered with the idea that we would cover them later (ya, right). One thing that proved to us was that it really makes a difference. Plants that get covered get off to a much quicker start and seem more productive. Looking out at a field of white is less pastoral but the advantages of using it more than make up for the looks and cost of it.
I thought last week's box was lovely as I was packing it. This weeks box isn't as bountiful ,but it will contain some of our first cherry tomatoes. Ahh, summer. We gorged ourselves on apricots, blueberries and peaches this week. Tomatoes and stone fruit are a couple of the things I look forward to most this time of year. I bought some delicious peaches at market the same day I was given a small depression glass mixing bowl by someone who knows I love old dishes of all sorts. The peaches and blueberries looked so beautiful in the blue glass and it gave me a reason to use some adorable pink depression glass custard cups I picked up at a yard sale last winter. I will admit that most of the time I enjoy choosing what plate I want to use for a particular dish as much as I do making and eating the food. As tiring as July can be, it is also a wonderful time of year- good food, nice weather. We ate outside most nights last week. One night as dusk set in we were treated to watching three barred owls fly around. They were making short trips from tree to tree in our orchard sometimes landing on the ground and calling to each other the whole time. They were so close, it was an amazing thing to see.
Hope you all have some nice meals this week! So far the only thing in my meal plan is to make some peach ice cream.
Carrots - I know some of you are keeping up with the carrots because you are buying extra at market. For those of you who need some inspiration we love the carrot salad from the Portland restaurant Kachka. Admittedly, I have never eaten there, but a customer turned me on to the cookbook of the same name. We served it this winter along with a few other root vegetable salads and some pierogis at a dinner party and everyone loved it. The link is a little strange, but it was the only place I could find it. If you look towards the top of the page when you open the link you will see that it is showing on 1 of 5 pages in the cookbook where the salad is mentioned. You will have to click next to see the actual recipe. Russian Korean Carrot Salad
Cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Herb Choice - Mostly basil or parsley.
Green or Purple Bell Pepper
Scallions - I think in most years we are giving you bunched onions at this point in the season. They are a bit behind this year. I am still confident they will size up, but for now we are sticking with scallions
Green Beans - Large Only
Collard Greens - Large Only
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Week 6
All but a very small section of garlic, Spanish Roja, is pulled and drying in the barn. The garlic field is being flipped for fall carrots that are due to be seeded in one week. The quick flip of fields and getting two crops out of the same space has been a regular strategy this summer. We really haven't downsized plantings much, but our space has been downsized by a little over 20 percent. In my mind it didn't seem like that would be as difficult as it has been. Our labor is considerably higher than last year and I am not exactly sure why, but I suspect loosing Shincke is contributing to it. Every year is different. Every year we hope to be better farmers and better managers. I think both Kelly and I are really struggling with that this year. It is much easier to become better at something when you first start doing it. We are in our 12th season of farming and our drive to always be better is still there, but it seems harder to make large improvements. The transition to South Bay has gone okay, but it hasn't simplified things as much as we had hoped. I still am not happy with the flow of our new washroom and walk-in or the organization of all our stuff. I don't think I realized how many systems we had in place. Those systems just kind of formed naturally and got tweaked a little each year. I thought we would take all that knowledge, bring it to South Bay and set up a perfect system, but it is just going to take a bit more time than either of us expected...story of lives :)
We started going the Oly market all four days last week and we applied for a double stall/permanent stall assignment. Up until this week we showed up at 8:55 and waited for our name to be called based on a seniority system. We then unloaded the van, parked it a couple blocks away and then set up, all in under an hour. We never knew if we would get to spread out into an extra space or not. Now we can show up earlier and just head to our stall! It feels so much better. We also hired another person. She will cover crew taking summer vacations and work on Fridays since we will be loosing a harvest position to work the market on Friday. July is always a hectic month. While you all are still in the first half of your CSA season, July is the month that really sets us up to sell through November. Today I am seeding the last round of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, all of which should be planted in the field by August 1st. Seed, weed, harvest, repeat! The motto for July is now or never. Well, there is always next year, but I promise I am still trying to make this year the best yet.
On that note, I am off to seed.
Enjoy your week. Hope you all had a nice holiday.
Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Zucchini
Garlic
Cauliflower - If you don't have cauliflower this week you will next week. I am hoping we can harvest enough for everybody but we might have to do one size share this week and the other size next week.
Bok Choy - Large Only
All but a very small section of garlic, Spanish Roja, is pulled and drying in the barn. The garlic field is being flipped for fall carrots that are due to be seeded in one week. The quick flip of fields and getting two crops out of the same space has been a regular strategy this summer. We really haven't downsized plantings much, but our space has been downsized by a little over 20 percent. In my mind it didn't seem like that would be as difficult as it has been. Our labor is considerably higher than last year and I am not exactly sure why, but I suspect loosing Shincke is contributing to it. Every year is different. Every year we hope to be better farmers and better managers. I think both Kelly and I are really struggling with that this year. It is much easier to become better at something when you first start doing it. We are in our 12th season of farming and our drive to always be better is still there, but it seems harder to make large improvements. The transition to South Bay has gone okay, but it hasn't simplified things as much as we had hoped. I still am not happy with the flow of our new washroom and walk-in or the organization of all our stuff. I don't think I realized how many systems we had in place. Those systems just kind of formed naturally and got tweaked a little each year. I thought we would take all that knowledge, bring it to South Bay and set up a perfect system, but it is just going to take a bit more time than either of us expected...story of lives :)
We started going the Oly market all four days last week and we applied for a double stall/permanent stall assignment. Up until this week we showed up at 8:55 and waited for our name to be called based on a seniority system. We then unloaded the van, parked it a couple blocks away and then set up, all in under an hour. We never knew if we would get to spread out into an extra space or not. Now we can show up earlier and just head to our stall! It feels so much better. We also hired another person. She will cover crew taking summer vacations and work on Fridays since we will be loosing a harvest position to work the market on Friday. July is always a hectic month. While you all are still in the first half of your CSA season, July is the month that really sets us up to sell through November. Today I am seeding the last round of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, all of which should be planted in the field by August 1st. Seed, weed, harvest, repeat! The motto for July is now or never. Well, there is always next year, but I promise I am still trying to make this year the best yet.
On that note, I am off to seed.
Enjoy your week. Hope you all had a nice holiday.
Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Zucchini
Garlic
Cauliflower - If you don't have cauliflower this week you will next week. I am hoping we can harvest enough for everybody but we might have to do one size share this week and the other size next week.
Bok Choy - Large Only
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Week 5
This morning we walked around and checked in on some things that we suspected should be close to harvest. We uncovered the cauliflower this morning in hopes that it might be ready for this week's CSA, but it is still a week or two out. Field cucumbers should start picking tomorrow and the zucchini is finally taking off and looking nice. We also have a new variety of chard that we hope to put in your boxes next week. The rainbow chard is pretty, but I am on the lookout for one whose flavor leans a bit more towards spinach.
This morning when we went to load cabbage out of the walk-in at the house the temperature was reading 26 degrees. It doesn't look like we lost any cabbage, but I am not sure what the situation will be tomorrow. If it is freezing we will turn it off before we load it, which will keep everything cool enough. Fortunately we just got a larger walk-in at the farm up and running this week and the older small walk-in is also still running so the cabbage has a place to go while we sort the situation out. Don't be concerned if the walk-in is turned off.
Happy Eating!
Carrots
Lettuce - Hopefully little gems for everyone
Snow Peas
Cabbage
Scallion
Cucumber
Basil - Large Only
Broccoli - Large Only
This morning we walked around and checked in on some things that we suspected should be close to harvest. We uncovered the cauliflower this morning in hopes that it might be ready for this week's CSA, but it is still a week or two out. Field cucumbers should start picking tomorrow and the zucchini is finally taking off and looking nice. We also have a new variety of chard that we hope to put in your boxes next week. The rainbow chard is pretty, but I am on the lookout for one whose flavor leans a bit more towards spinach.
This morning when we went to load cabbage out of the walk-in at the house the temperature was reading 26 degrees. It doesn't look like we lost any cabbage, but I am not sure what the situation will be tomorrow. If it is freezing we will turn it off before we load it, which will keep everything cool enough. Fortunately we just got a larger walk-in at the farm up and running this week and the older small walk-in is also still running so the cabbage has a place to go while we sort the situation out. Don't be concerned if the walk-in is turned off.
Happy Eating!
Carrots
Lettuce - Hopefully little gems for everyone
Snow Peas
Cabbage
Scallion
Cucumber
Basil - Large Only
Broccoli - Large Only
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Week 4
We started pulling garlic this week. Those of you who pick up on Monday will see the start of it hanging in the metal building. This starts the transition of that building from soil and fertilizer storage to curing and storage spot for garlic, then onions, then squash.
We had a lot of enjoyable meals this week. It started out with a charred snap pea and burrata salad that reminded me how good snap peas can be when lightly cooked. I seared them in a hot cast iron, but would like to grill them next time. I was a little on the fence about whether I liked the mix of raw and cooked peas, but it does make for a more interesting texture. The mint and lemon zest really iced the cake. I also made a golden coconut broth with crispy tofu a great vegetarian food blog. I increased the miso and tamari while decreasing the water a tad to make a richer, more savory broth. The crispy tofu is easy and fantastic. I used roasted zucchini and snow peas. Typically when making that kind of dish I just add the veggies to the broth, but cooking them separate worked great. One of the points of making that dish was to make extra rice for this crispy rice bowl with ginger scallion vinaigrette that we discovered over the winter and can't stop eating. It is just so easy and really adaptable. In the winter we used shredded daikon and carrot, but last week we used carrots, cukes and raw peas. I love it the fried egg, but we have also topped it with salmon and grilled chicken.
Carrots
Beets
Potatoes - The plan was to give everyone the white and pink potato Warba last week and the red skinned potato Cheshire this week but we culled more Warba than expected and a few of you ended up with Cheshire. Kelly and I both think it is the tastier of the two and you will all be getting it this week. It has a deep yellow flesh, occasionally streaked with red and a waxier texture. We sold out of them at market yesterday and so I dug a few this morning and snapped this pic. I just love it when all the potatoes stay attached to the plant. In general they aren't as big as the Warba but they are plentiful.
Zucchini
Snap Peas
Garlic
Lettuce - Large Only
We started pulling garlic this week. Those of you who pick up on Monday will see the start of it hanging in the metal building. This starts the transition of that building from soil and fertilizer storage to curing and storage spot for garlic, then onions, then squash.
We had a lot of enjoyable meals this week. It started out with a charred snap pea and burrata salad that reminded me how good snap peas can be when lightly cooked. I seared them in a hot cast iron, but would like to grill them next time. I was a little on the fence about whether I liked the mix of raw and cooked peas, but it does make for a more interesting texture. The mint and lemon zest really iced the cake. I also made a golden coconut broth with crispy tofu a great vegetarian food blog. I increased the miso and tamari while decreasing the water a tad to make a richer, more savory broth. The crispy tofu is easy and fantastic. I used roasted zucchini and snow peas. Typically when making that kind of dish I just add the veggies to the broth, but cooking them separate worked great. One of the points of making that dish was to make extra rice for this crispy rice bowl with ginger scallion vinaigrette that we discovered over the winter and can't stop eating. It is just so easy and really adaptable. In the winter we used shredded daikon and carrot, but last week we used carrots, cukes and raw peas. I love it the fried egg, but we have also topped it with salmon and grilled chicken.
Carrots
Beets
Potatoes - The plan was to give everyone the white and pink potato Warba last week and the red skinned potato Cheshire this week but we culled more Warba than expected and a few of you ended up with Cheshire. Kelly and I both think it is the tastier of the two and you will all be getting it this week. It has a deep yellow flesh, occasionally streaked with red and a waxier texture. We sold out of them at market yesterday and so I dug a few this morning and snapped this pic. I just love it when all the potatoes stay attached to the plant. In general they aren't as big as the Warba but they are plentiful. Zucchini
Snap Peas
Garlic
Lettuce - Large Only
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Week 3
Even during the busy season I find a bit of time to look at cookbooks and food blogs. One blogger/cookbook writer who I like a lot is Andrea Nguyen. She has written several Vietnamese cookbooks, but her blog is a bit more diverse in its recipes. The other day I stumbled on an entry from 2017 that talked about Joyce Chen. Chen, who was born in China, opened several restaurants in Boston in the 60's and 70's, had a cookbook, a cooking show briefly on PBS and a line of stir fry sauces. Despite my New England upbringing and my childhood admiration for Julia Child, who filmed her cooking show on the same set as Chen, I had never heard of her. Her story is interesting and I am excited to have a cookbook to keep my eye out for when I am in used bookstores. My collection of cookbooks is bordering on absurd, but every time I pull one down thinking I should pass it on I change my mind. I just love them and the history they contain. I ended up making the recipe for Peking meat sauce noodles that Nguyen adapted from Chen's cookbook. It was incredibly savory and great for this time of year. I adapted it a bit myself and used frozen udon noodles mainly because I like any excuse to eat them. I love how thick they are and I love the springy/chewy texture. The recipe was great because it calls for both radishes and radish tops.
Lettuce
Carrots
Snap Peas
New Potatoes - These potatoes will not store for long. They should be used soon.
Cucumber
Radishes - Radishes aren't just for salads. They can be roasted or sauteed as well.
Strawberries - Large Only
Even during the busy season I find a bit of time to look at cookbooks and food blogs. One blogger/cookbook writer who I like a lot is Andrea Nguyen. She has written several Vietnamese cookbooks, but her blog is a bit more diverse in its recipes. The other day I stumbled on an entry from 2017 that talked about Joyce Chen. Chen, who was born in China, opened several restaurants in Boston in the 60's and 70's, had a cookbook, a cooking show briefly on PBS and a line of stir fry sauces. Despite my New England upbringing and my childhood admiration for Julia Child, who filmed her cooking show on the same set as Chen, I had never heard of her. Her story is interesting and I am excited to have a cookbook to keep my eye out for when I am in used bookstores. My collection of cookbooks is bordering on absurd, but every time I pull one down thinking I should pass it on I change my mind. I just love them and the history they contain. I ended up making the recipe for Peking meat sauce noodles that Nguyen adapted from Chen's cookbook. It was incredibly savory and great for this time of year. I adapted it a bit myself and used frozen udon noodles mainly because I like any excuse to eat them. I love how thick they are and I love the springy/chewy texture. The recipe was great because it calls for both radishes and radish tops.
Lettuce
Carrots
Snap Peas
New Potatoes - These potatoes will not store for long. They should be used soon.
Cucumber
Radishes - Radishes aren't just for salads. They can be roasted or sauteed as well.
Strawberries - Large Only
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Week 2
Last week was a hustle. We had a bunch of flats that NEEDED to be transplanted and the first week of CSA and Chehalis always stresses me out a bit. I was bummed snap peas weren't picking yet, but also a little relieved. On Friday afternoon, about an hour after the crew should have gone home we threw the last shovels full of dirt on the row cover we use to get the winter squash off to a good start and called it a week. Everything that needed to get planted did and I went to bed Friday night incredibly relieved. A former employee came in on Saturday and he and Kelly tied up some loose ends and got the drip irrigation set up for the squash while I went to market with another crew member. This week we will plant out melons and our second succession of peppers. It is unusual to have two successions of peppers in this part of the world because they are a heat loving crop. We started doing it last year so we would have green bells for the co-op for a longer period of time. We have a couple new melons in the mix that I am excited about. However, melons can be risky so I seeded larger amounts of two of our reliable favorites for your farm shares. Lettuce and salad get planted out every week and they are on the agenda as well. Field zucchinis are pretty close and these next couple weeks will see more time spent harvesting and less time transplanting as all of our longer season warm weather crops will be out by the end of this week.
I hope you all made some good meals with your boxes last week. This box will be pretty easy to eat without even turning on the stove if you are so inclined.
Carrots
Cucumber - These are out of a hoop house. Field cukes are about a month out.
Broccoli
Peas - Snap or Snow - Hoping to get as many of you snow peas as possible but if there aren't enough there may be some snap peas as well (large share) or instead of (small share) snow peas.
Salad Turnips - These are milder than radishes and are great raw or cooked. For some people the greens are the best part so please give them a try.
Strawberries - I hope I don't regret putting them on the list. They are a maybe and I might be being optimistic.
Salad Mix - Large Only
Last week was a hustle. We had a bunch of flats that NEEDED to be transplanted and the first week of CSA and Chehalis always stresses me out a bit. I was bummed snap peas weren't picking yet, but also a little relieved. On Friday afternoon, about an hour after the crew should have gone home we threw the last shovels full of dirt on the row cover we use to get the winter squash off to a good start and called it a week. Everything that needed to get planted did and I went to bed Friday night incredibly relieved. A former employee came in on Saturday and he and Kelly tied up some loose ends and got the drip irrigation set up for the squash while I went to market with another crew member. This week we will plant out melons and our second succession of peppers. It is unusual to have two successions of peppers in this part of the world because they are a heat loving crop. We started doing it last year so we would have green bells for the co-op for a longer period of time. We have a couple new melons in the mix that I am excited about. However, melons can be risky so I seeded larger amounts of two of our reliable favorites for your farm shares. Lettuce and salad get planted out every week and they are on the agenda as well. Field zucchinis are pretty close and these next couple weeks will see more time spent harvesting and less time transplanting as all of our longer season warm weather crops will be out by the end of this week.
I hope you all made some good meals with your boxes last week. This box will be pretty easy to eat without even turning on the stove if you are so inclined.
Carrots
Cucumber - These are out of a hoop house. Field cukes are about a month out.
Broccoli
Peas - Snap or Snow - Hoping to get as many of you snow peas as possible but if there aren't enough there may be some snap peas as well (large share) or instead of (small share) snow peas.
Salad Turnips - These are milder than radishes and are great raw or cooked. For some people the greens are the best part so please give them a try.
Strawberries - I hope I don't regret putting them on the list. They are a maybe and I might be being optimistic.
Salad Mix - Large Only
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Week 1
The farm is looking great from the road. Way better than the weedy corn we had up front last year. That was kind of embarrassing, but August is tough sometimes. Up close there are a few small problems, but all and all we are off to a good start. We have a great crew and each day we cross a ton of tasks off our list. Of course we are constantly adding more to the list, but we are doing a pretty good job of keeping plants healthy and keeping the weeds down. That is successful farming at its core.
We look forward to seeing all of you and we hope you are all looking forward to a season of good food!
Red Leaf Lettuce
Lacinato Kale
Scallions
Garlic Scapes
Green Cabbage
Radishes
Something Green - Large Only - I know, so vague!
We love making pizza with the garlic scapes and kale. It can go two ways. Blend the scapes with nuts and oil and spread on the dough. Top with mozzarella, dollops of ricotta and tons of chopped kale. Or you can make the pesto with the kale and put chopped scapes on top of the pizza. Scapes can also be grilled or roasted. We use them in the place of garlic a lot this time of year because last year's garlic is long gone and it feels so wasteful to pull the green garlic before it is sized up. Hope you enjoy them.
The farm is looking great from the road. Way better than the weedy corn we had up front last year. That was kind of embarrassing, but August is tough sometimes. Up close there are a few small problems, but all and all we are off to a good start. We have a great crew and each day we cross a ton of tasks off our list. Of course we are constantly adding more to the list, but we are doing a pretty good job of keeping plants healthy and keeping the weeds down. That is successful farming at its core.
We look forward to seeing all of you and we hope you are all looking forward to a season of good food!
Red Leaf Lettuce
Lacinato Kale
Scallions
Garlic Scapes
Green Cabbage
Radishes
Something Green - Large Only - I know, so vague!
We love making pizza with the garlic scapes and kale. It can go two ways. Blend the scapes with nuts and oil and spread on the dough. Top with mozzarella, dollops of ricotta and tons of chopped kale. Or you can make the pesto with the kale and put chopped scapes on top of the pizza. Scapes can also be grilled or roasted. We use them in the place of garlic a lot this time of year because last year's garlic is long gone and it feels so wasteful to pull the green garlic before it is sized up. Hope you enjoy them.
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