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
Sunday, August 25, 2019
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
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